USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 49
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* The most authoritative accounts of the Georgia heroine are furnished by Joel Chandler Harris, in his "Stories of Georgia," New York, The Ameri- can Book Co., 1896; and by Elizabeth Ellet, in her "Women of the American Revolution," (1851); reprinted, Philadelphia, George W. Jacobs and Co., 1900.
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visit to the State at this time is not without an adequate explanation. Says a newspaper article on the subject :1 "Fully determined to avenge the indignity offered him, Patterson persisted in his search, and subsequently offered a reward to any one who would name the man. But even this tempting bait elicited no response, and in the course of time Patterson died with his dearest wish unfulfilled. But he provided for a posthumous triumph by leaving in his will a codicil to the effect that a legacy of $1,000 was to be paid to the person who, in any future time, should reveal the secret to his executors or heirs. A copy of this will is said to be on file in the ordinary's office at Carnesville, Franklin County, Ga."2
Halcyondale, the plantation of Hon. A. G. McCurry, near Hartwell, has been in the possession of Mr. Mc- Curry's family for over one hundred years. It was from this farm that the cotton boats started to Augusta in former days. At the beginnng of the war, Mr. McCurry's father lost a rich cargo caused by the sinking of a vessel heavily loaded with cotton.
1Article in the Atlanta Constitution of Feb. 12, 1913, on "Mysteries of America."
2A new light was thrown on the mystery in 1885 when Mrs. Jenny G. Conely, of Athol, N. Y., came forward and announced that her father, George W. Tillerton, struck the blow, but was so terrified by the reports of Patter- son's anger that he retired precipitately from the town, and the family having heard of the sum offered, Mrs. Coneley implicated her father in order that she might obtain the reward. But she failed even although she related very graphic details of the occurrence as told her by her father. There was another claimant for the honor, Alban Smith Payne, M. D., who later became professor of theory and practice of medicine at the Southern Medical College, Atlanta, Ga. The encounter, according to Dr. Payne's statement, occurred in Richmond, Va., in May, 1852. He says: "I struck Patterson because I saw old Usher Parsons, the surgeon to Commodore Perry on Lake Erie, lying on his back in the road, unable to rise, his white hair streaming in the air, ruthlessly knocked there by a brutal bully, and I said, 'By the eternal, I will hit you, my man, and I will hit you hard.' And I did." Dr. Payne was a close friend of Oliver Wendell Holmes, John G. Saxe and Edgar Allan Poe, and a lineal descendant of Colonel Payne, who, it is said, once knocked down George Washington.
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"Center of the "Center of the World", a locality three
World." miles to the south-west of Hartwell, is one of the ancient land-marks of Upper Georgia. It was at this point that a number of Indian trails crossed, by reason of which fact it became a famous gathering-place for the red-skins. Important council meetings were held here. The region of country around Hartwell abounded in wild game of various kinds and the Indian hunters found it a convenient place at which to meet when in quest of pelts for the Augusta market, or when bedecked with feathers they started upon the war path. After the Indians were removed from this section, the locality was still used by the whites as a place of rendezvous for hunting, and they continued to call it by the name which the Indians bestowed upon it in the very earliest times: "Center of the World."
Original Settlers. As gathered from various sources, the pioneers of Hart who were most con- spicuous in the history-making affairs of the county, prior to the Civil War, were: F. B. Hodges, Sinclair McMullan, John B. Benson, J. V. Richardson, John G. McCurry, Dr. Joel L. Turner, Clayton S. Webb, Wm. R. Pool, Major J. H. Skelton, R. S. Hill, Peter L. Fleming, Sr., Micajah Carter, Capt. John F. Croft, Wm. F. Bow- ers, James B. Alford, James M. Williams, S. M. Bobo, S. V. Brown, Colonel R. J. D. Dunnett, F. L. McMullan, James Stapler, John Linder, James Vickery, William Vickery, and others. Major Skelton and R. S. Hill rep- resented Hart in the Secession Convention at Milledge- ville.
Amos Richardson, a soldier of the Revolution, lies buried at Sardis church. John McMullan, also a patriot of '76, fills a grave somewhere in Hart.
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John B. Benson, a wealthy pioneer resident of Hart, built the first house in the town of Hartwell. He also served in the State Senate during the Civil War period. Hon. A. G. McCurry married his daughter, and from this union sprang Julian B. McCurry, a distinguished legislator.
HEARD
Created by Legislative Act, December 22, 1830, from parts of three counties: Carroll, Troup, and Coweta. Named for Stephen Heard, a noted pioneer and patriot, who founded the town of Washington, Ga. Franklin, the county-seat, named for the famous New England philosopher and states. man of the Revolution, Benjamin Franklin.
Stephen Heard, patriot and pioneer, belonged to an English family with large estates in Ireland, but the subject of this sketch was himself a native of Hanover County, Va., where he was born in 1740. It is said that his father used a pitchfork upon a minister of the estab- lished Church of Ireland, in consequence of which the family escutcheon was borne somewhat hastily to America and planted upon the waters of the James. Coming to Georgia, in 1769, with several of his kinsmen, he settled in what was then known as St. Paul's Parish, but when new lands were purchased by Governor Wright from the Indians-possibly even before this time-he located at what afterwards became Heard's Fort, so called from a stockade which he here built with the help of his brother. During the reign of Toryism in Upper Georgia, his wife and babe were one day rudely thrust into a snow storm by the Tories, from which wanton act of cruelty both died; and if Stephen Heard needed an additional incen- tive to patriotism he found it in this tragic bereavement. Joining Clarke and Dooly he waged relentless warfare against the Tories, and also at intervals served the State in civil capacities. The circumstances under which Heard's Fort became at one time the capital of Georgia may be briefly told. During the absence from the State
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of Governor Howley, who was called to Philadelphia by an important session of the Continental Congress, the duties of Chief-Magistrate devolved upon George Wells, President of the Council, but he was killed almost im- mediately thereafter in a duel with Governor Jackson. whereupon Stephen Heard, who was next in line of suc- cession, became de facto Governor of Georgia; and, when Augusta fell into the hands of the Tories in 1780 he transferred the seat of government to Heard's Fort, where it remained until Augusta was retaken. After the cessation of hostilities with England, Stephen Heard be- came a justice of the county court and a Brigadier General in the State militia. He died at Heardmont, in what is now the county of Elbert, November 13, 1813, universally esteemed.
Original Settlers. The first comers into Heard, according to White, were: Colonel Dent, Win- ston Wood, John Ware, Daniel Whitaker, D. Sullivan, C. B. Brown, James Adams, Dr. Ghent, J. T. Smith, Thomas Pinkard, P. H. Whitaker, Elisha Talley, Dr. Joseph Reese, Bailey Bledsoe, W. Kirk, Rev. Samuel Lane, Rev. Jesse George, James Wood, J. Stevens, Rev. W. W. Stegall, and John Scoggins.
Major James Wood, a patriot of '76, died in this county, in 1836. Sarah Dickinson Simms, a heroine of the Revolution, lies buried at St. Cloud, in Bethel church- yard. She died in 1857, well advanced in years. She was a daughter of Capt. John Dickinson, of North Carolina, and the wife of Robert Simms, a private in the latter's company. With her husband she emigrated to Hancock County, Ga., and after his death removed to Heard.
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Judge W. R. Hammond, of Atlanta, a well-known jurist and lawyer, was born at Franklin, where his father, the distinguished Judge Dennis F. Hammond, was then practicing law. The elder Hammond afterwards removed to Newnan and finally in 1862 located in Atlanta.
HENRY
Created by Legislative Act, May 15, 1821, out of lands acquired from the Creeks under the first treaty of Indian Springs, in the same year. Named for the immortal Virginia patriot and orator, Patrick Henry, whose impassioned speeches in the House of Burgesses fired the patriotism of the Colonies. McDonough, the county-seat, named for the gallant hero of Lake Champlain, Captain James McDonough, one of the most distinguished heroes of the War of 1812. Originally Henry County embarced Rockdale, and in part: Butts, Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, Newton, and Spalding.
Soldiers of the Near the town of McDonough lies buried Revolution. an old Revolutionary patriot-Ezekiel Cloud. He served under General Elijah Clarke, and besides participating in the battle of Kettle Creek, he also fought at Briar Creek, the Second Siege of Augusta, Cowpens, Ninety-Six, Guildford Court House, Long Cane Creek, Wofford's Iron Works, and King's Mountain. In the last named engagement he was one of fifty Georgians sent to assist Colonel Campbell. After the Revolution, we find him fighting the Indians, notably at Jack's Creek, in 1787. Mr. Cloud was born on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, the date of his birth unknown. He died in Henry County, Ga., in 1850. Though he never acknowledged to being over 95, his daughter was heard to observe that he was 95 for eleven consecutive years. The grave of the old hero of inde- pendence was marked by the family, at the time of his death, but the vines have covered it since, and the original slab has long ago disappeared. Mark A. Hardin, for years Clerk of the Georgia House of Representatives, and Howell Cobb Cloud, a successful business man of Atlanta, are his grandsons. The former remembers the old
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patriot well, and on one occasion heard him state that a white horse was shot from under him at King's Mountain. Mr. Cloud received a land bounty for services performed at the Second Siege of Augusta. Four of his descendants have been regents of D. A. R. Chapters.
William Wright, a soldier of the Revolution, who came to Georgia from Virginia, is supposed to be buried somewhere near McDonough. Samuel Mclendon and Thomas Cook, both of whom died in Henry also belong on the list of patriots of '76. Thomas Mitchell a lieuten- ant in the Revolutionary ranks is supposed to be buried somewhere near MeDonough.
Original Settlers. As given by White, the original set- tlers of Henry were William Hardin, Jesse Johnson, James Sellers, H. J. Williams, William Pate, D. Johnson, W. H. Turner, M. Brooks, S. Weems, Woodson Herbert, James Armstrong, Robert Beard, James Patillo, Josiah McCully, Roland Brown, R. M. Sims, William Crawford, E. Moseley, John Brooks, who built the first mill, Reuben Dearing, Jacob Hinton, E. Brooks, John Calloway, B. Jenks, William Jenks, Colonel S. Strickland, Parker Eason, Joseph Kirk, William Grif- fin, Daniel Smith, H. Longino, William Tuggle, and John Lovejoy.
To the foregoing list should also be added Elisha S. Boynton, James W. Knott, Quincy R. Nolan, C. T. Zach- ary, William A. Fuller, Sr. Thomas Swann, John Thomp- son, Leroy Wilson, and James W. Knott.
In 1828 there was a newspaper published at Mc- Donough called the Jacksonian, owned and edited by
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Samuel W. Minor. It is said to have been the first sheet to nominate General Andrew Jackson for President of the United States.
On June 10, 1822, in the house of William Ruff, at McDonough, Judge Augustin S. Clayton presiding, the first session of the Superior Court was held and the fol- lowing Grand Jurors were empanelled : William Jackson, William Malone, James Sellers, James Pate, Thomas Abercrombie, C. Cochran, G. Gay, William Wood. Wilie Terrell, Jethro Barnes, Robert Shaw, James Colwell, John Brooks, F. Pearson William McKnight, B. Lasseter, Jacob Hinton, Jackson Smith, and S. Strickland.
Henry's Noted Governor James S. Boynton first saw
Residents. the light of day on a plantation in Henry,
to which county his father Elisha S. Bonton, a native of Vermont, removed sometime prior to 1833, the year in which the future chief executive of Georgia was born.
Here the noted Captain W. A. Fuller, who achieved distinction during the Civil War by recapturing the famous "General" from a party of raiders, spent his boyhood days.
General Daniel Newnan, a member of Congress and an officer in the State Militia was at one time a resident of McDonough.
HOUSTON
Created by Legislative Act, May 15, 1821, out of lands acquired from the Creeks under the first treaty of Indian Springs, in the same year. Named for Governor John Houstoun, a noted patriot of the Revolution, after- wards Governor and Chief-Justice of Georgia. Perry, the county-seat, named for Captain Oliver H. Perry, a gallant naval officer, who won his chief claim to immortality in the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. Six years later, on his thirty-fourth birthday, he died at Trinidad, on the coast of
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Spain, where he was buried with military honors. In 1826 his body was brought back to America, on the sloop-of-war, Lexington, for re-interment at Newport, R. I. Captain Perry was a brother of the no less distinguished American Commodore, Matthew C. Perry, who was styled "The Father of the Steam Navy" and who opened to commerce the hitherto closed port of Japan, an event to which dates the modern history of the Orient. When organized Houston embraced parts of four other counties: Bibb, Crawford, Macon, and Pulaski.
John Houstoun, was one of the most illustrious of Georgia's Revolutionary patriots, and it was only by the merest caprice of fortune that his name was not affixed to the great charter of freedom. He signed the famous card which appeared in the Georgia Gazette, on July 20, 1774, calling for the earliest assemblage of the people in Savannah to protest against the oppressions of England. He was therefore one of the prime instigators and organ- izers of the Sons of Liberty, in addition to which he was a member of the first Provincial Congress and of the first Council of Safety, and with Archibald Bulloch and Noble W. Jones, he was also chosen to attend the Continental Congress of 1774 but for lack of authority to represent the entire Province the delegation did not repair to Philadelphia, choosing rather to address a communication to .John Hancock explaining the facts. Mr. Houstoun rep- resented the town of Savannah in the Provincial Con- gress which met in Savannalı, on July 4, 1775, to sever the tie of allegiance to England. He was also the first delegate chosen at this time to the Continental Congress. Archibald Bulloch and J. J. Zubly were also elected and together they repaired to the seat of government. In the following year, Mr. Houstoun was re-elected. His col- leagues were Archibald Bulloch, Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, and George Walton. Mr. Bulloch was detained in Savannah by reason of his duties as President of the Executive Council. Mr. Houstoun left for Philadelphia, but he was called back to Georgia to neutralize the in- fluence of his former associate, Dr. Zubly, who had with- drawn from the patriotic ranks and was advocating sub- mission to England. The prestige of Mr. Houstoun, not only as a patriot but also as an orator, is distinctly attes-
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ted by this important commission. It was while he was thus occupied in checkmating the designs of Dr. Zubly that the Declaration of Independence was signed and though he was not enrolled among those who signed this sacred instrument he nevertheless belongs to the band of Liberty's immortals. In 1778, Mr. Houstoun succeeded John Treutlen at the helm of affairs and became Geor- gia's second Governor under the Constitution. He was again called to this high office in 1784; and two years later was made Chief Justice of the State. Governor Houstoun was born near the site of the present town of Waynesboro, in the parish of St. George, on August 31, 1744, and died at White Bluff, the old family home on the Vernon river, nine miles from Savannah, on July 20, 1796. His father, Sir Patrick Houstoun, was an English baronet. The family was one of high descent and of purple lineage, but it was none the less devoted on this account to the time honored principles of English free- dom. William Houstoun, a brother of the Governor, was also a member of the Continental Congress and a patriot of the Revolution.
Near the town of Perry rest the mortal ashes of Major James M. Kelly, the first reporter of the Supreme Court of Georgia. The grave is substantially marked by a handsome marble monument, now discolored with age, on which the following epitaph is inscribed :
Sacred to the memory of James M. Kelly, Esq. Born in Washington County, Ga., January 1795. Died in Perry, Houston County, Ga., January 17, 1849, aged 54 years. Respected and beloved, he lived and died an honest man. Major Kelly was the first reporter of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Somewhat intemperate in his habits during the early part of his life, Major Kelly overcame his infirmities, took a prominent part in public affairs, and was sent to
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the State Legislature, where he was instrumental in ori- ginating the Supreme Court. His work as a reporter was characterized by extreme thoroughness and five volumes embody the fruits of his labor. He lived to see these volumes quoted with respect by the profession in every State in the Union. Says Chief-Justice Lumpkin : "Having no off-spring on which to lavish his parental fondness, Kelly's Reports became the Benjamin of his old age."
Howell Cobb, an uncle of the Governor, was for several years a resident of Houston. He was a member of Congress and a wealthy planter. General Eli Warren an officer of note in the State militia lived at Perry. Brigadier General Charles D. Anderson lived at Fort Valley. Attorney General Thomas S. Felder was reared in the town of Perry.
Original Settlers. As given by White, the original settlers of Houston were Abner Wimberly, James Clark, David Clark, Allen Sutton, Allen Williams, Meredith Joiner, Thomas Gilbert, J. M. Kelley, Colonel Howell Cobb, Lewis Hunt, Daniel Dupree, Jacob Little, James Everitt, Rev. Daniel Mckenzie, Thomas Scott, David W. Mann, Henry W. Kaly, Jesse Pollock, Amos Wingate, James Duncan, and F. Patillo.
George S. Riley, a native of South Carolina settled in Perry at an early date for the practice of law. He was the father of Judge A. C. Riley of Fort Valley.
Colonel Samuel Bateman, an officer in the War of 1812 died in Houston, August 7, 1841. While engaged in the rescue of a wounded comrade who, was left on the field, in a skirmish with the Indians, his clothes were pierced by bullets but he escaped unharmed.
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IRWIN
Four miles south of Perry are the remains of an old fortification on which large trees were growing when the county was first settled.
The first session of the Superior Court, Judge Thomas W. Harris presiding, was held at Perry, in the house of Mr. Jacob Little.
IRWIN
Created by Legislative Act, December 15, 1818, out of treaty lands acquired from the Creeks in the same year. Named for Governor Jared Irwin, a Captain in the Revolution and a noted chief-magistrate of Georgia. Irwinville, the county-seat, also named for Gov. Irwin. Irwin embraced originally either the whole or a part of eight other counties: Ben Hill, Brooks, Colquitt, Lowndes, Turner, Thomas, Wilcox, and Worth.
Jared Irwin, was twice Governor of Georgia, first from 1796 to 1798 and second from 1806 to 1809; and while occupying the executive chair it devolved upon him to sign the bill rescinding the famous Yazoo Act of 1795. He also participated in the solemn ceremonial before the court house door in Louisville of committing the records of this iniquitous transaction to the flames. He was born in Mecklenburg County, N. C., in 1751. When a lad he came with his parents to Georgia, settling in what was then the Parish of St. George, afterwards the county of Burke, where he resided for thirty years. He was an officer of the Revolution, entering as a captain and re- tiring as a colonel; and at his own expense he erected a fort in Burke County for the protection of his neighbor- hood. He was a delegate to the Convention in Augusta which met to ratify the Federal Constitution, a member of the Convention of 1789 which framed the Constitution of Georgia, and President of the Convention of 1798 which remodelled the same instrument. He also repre- sented the State in important treaty negotiations with the Indians. Governor Irwin died at Union Hill, his country-seat, near Sandersville, Ga., on March 1, 1818,
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aged sixty-eight. He is buried in a church yard, not far from his plantation, on property given by him to Union Church. It is today owned exclusively by the Baptists who have changed the name to Ohoopee Church. In front of the court house in Sandersville, stands a monument erected by the State of Georgia to this illustrious patriot.
Where Jefferson Davis Was Arrested.
Page 13.
Original Settlers. The first comers into Irwin, according to White, were: John Dorminy, R. H. Dickson, M. McDuffee, L. Mobbley, John Henderson, Thomas Bradford, Lot Whiddon, Redding Hunter, John Joice, William Bradford, S. Griffin, James Wallace, James Allen, John Ford, Samuel Story, Thomas Gibbes, John Gibbes, William Fussells, and J. C. Summers.
On July 13, 1836, on the Allapaha River, near the plantation of Mr. William H. Mitchell, a battle was fought between the whites and Indians. Captain Levi J. Knight commanded the whites, numbering about seventy-five men. The Indians were defeated and all killed except five. Twenty-three guns and nineteen packs fell into the hands of the whites.
JACKSON
Created by Legislative Act, February 11, 1796, from Franklin County. Named for the illustrious old Revolutionary patriot, who afterwards resigned his seat in the United States Senate to fight the Yazoo Fraud, and who still later became Governor of the State: Major-General James Jackson. Jeffer- son, the county-seat, named for Thomas Jefferson, the Sage of Monticello. Originally Franklin embraced in large part three other counties: Clarke, Oconee, and Madison.
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Gov. Jackson died while serving Georgia in the Senate of the United States and was buried in the Congressional cemetery in Washington, D. C., on the banks of the Potomac. His grave is marked by one of the numerous square blocks erected by Congress to commemorate the services of distinguished public servants who died in official harness. As a memorial it is most inadequate and Georgia owes it to the memory of this devoted patriot to reinter his ashes beneath a handsome shaft of marble in her own soil. With his expiring breath he de- clared that if his breast were opened after death Georgia would be found lettered upon his heart. The inscription on the front of the monument reads :
"To the memory of Major-General James Jackson, who deserved and enjoyed the confidence of a grateful country. A soldier of the Revolution." On the back are these words: "He was the determined foe of foreign tyranny, the scourge and terror of corruption at home. Died March 19, 1806, in the 49th year of his age."
Joseph Webber Jackson, a son of the old Governor, became a member of Congress. Chief-Justice James Jackson, of the Supreme Court of Georgia, was his grandson.
Impetuous and high strung, Governor Jackson was easily provoked to anger. He became involved in a duel with Governor Wells, as the result of which the latter fell a victim on the field of honor. Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, is authority for the statement that the wounds which the old patriot received in personal com- bats caused by his relentless prosecution of the Yazoo conspirators undoubtedly hastened the end. Nor is there anything at variance with this supposition in the biog- raphy of him written by Judge Charlton. His devotion to Georgia may be said to have caused his death; and thus allied in double similitude to the ancient Tishbite, he not only drew down the fire of heaven to consume the
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workings of iniquity but he also rose to heaven in the flaming chariot of his zeal for righteousness to blaze upon Georgia's burnished scroll like another splendid Mars.
Winder. Winder, one of the most progressive towns of of North Georgia, is located on the Southern border of Jackson and is partially included in two other counties : Gwinnett and Walton. The original name of the town was Jug Tavern. Later for a short time it was known as Brandon and finally when the Seaboard Air Line was built and the town began to acquire a real com- mercial importance the name was changed to Winder in honor of the distinguished president of the railroad com- pany, Gen. John H. Winder, of Raleigh, N. C.
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