Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I, Part 61

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1148

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839

OGLETHORPE

Created by Legislative Act, December 19, 1793, from Wilkes County. Named for the illustrious Founder of the Colony of Georgia-General James Edward Oglethorpe. Lexington, the county-seat, named for the historic town of Massachusetts, on the commons of which occurred the famous battle of the American Revolution. When organized Oglethorpe embraced parts of three other counties: Madison, Taliaferro, and Clarke.

Gen. Oglethorpe's Epitaph in Cranham Church. Volume II.

Cherokee Corner. Cherokee Corner, a famous locality in Oglethorpe, was so called because at this point the boundary line between the Cherokees and the Creeks formed an angle, from which it was conven- ient to reckon distances. The exact spot was marked orig. inally by an old tree which retained for more than a century the indentations made by the surveyors. It prob- ably dates back to the year 1773, when the territory embraced within the original limits of Wilkes was first acquired by Governor Wright from the Indians. There is here located one of the oldest Methodist churches in Upper Georgia. Bishop Asbury preached in this neigh- borhood soon after the country was opened.

Mell's Kingdom. Chancellor Mell, during his long con- nection with the State University, at Athens, served a church of the Baptist denomination in the lower part of Oglethorpe; and to the people of this section the good Chancellor became such an oracle of wisdom that the whole area of country for miles around was called after him "Mell's Kingdom."

Woodlawn: The Home of Wm. H. Crawford.

Page 197.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

Where Two Noted

Georgians Sleep.

Volume II.

Upper Georgia's One of Georgia's most historic Oldest Presbyterian Church. land-marks is the old Presbyterian Church at Lexington, in the sacred precincts of which repose two illus- trious Georgians : George R. Gilmer and Stephen Upson. It was organized in 1785, two years after the Revolution, by a noted pioneer evangelist, the Reverend John New- ton ; and, unless an exception be made of the Independent Presbyterian church, of Savannah-never in organic con- nection with other religious bodies of this faith-it is probably the oldest Presbyterian church in the Synod of Georgia .* At Darien there was a church prior to this time; but it suffered complete extinction during the Spanish wars. At Midway there was a center of Pres- byterianism, but the church at this place was organized upon Congregational lines. The name by which the church at Lexington was first known was Beth-salem; and at the the time of organization it was located some two miles distant from the present site. Mr. Newton, who was the first Presbyterian minister to preach the gospel on the frontier belt of Georgia, served the Church as pas- tor for twelve years. When he died, in 1797, he was buried in the old church-yard; but, one hundred years later, in 1897, his body was taken up and re-interred in the Pres- byterian cemetery, at Lexington. Mr. George C. Smith, the present clerk of the session, assisted Mr. Newton's grandson in accomplishing this removal. The original agreement between pastor and people, executed in 1785 when Mr. Newton first took charge, is still in the posses- sion of the church. The munificienut salary which the pastor was to receive, according to the ternis of this con-

* History of the Presbyterian Church in Georgia, by Rev. James Stacy, D. D., pp. 26-28, Atlanta, 1912.

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tract, was fixed at fifty pounds and twenty shillings per annum.

Mr. Smith is the custodian of a precious keep-sake in the nature of a little book, containing the texts from which this pioneer divine preached while pastor of Beth- salem church, from 1785 to 1797; and he also treasures a record of baptisms, to which great value attaches. Both of these genuine relics of the early days of Presby- terianism in Upper Georgia were sent, through Mr. C. A. Rowland, of Athens, to the Jamestown Centennial Expo- sition, where they attracted much interest.

It was at Lexington, in 1828, that the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, now located at Columbia, S. C., was first established, and the house in which this famous school of the prophets was organized was still standing in 1912-after the lapse of eighty-four years. There will be found elsewhere in this work a statement to the effect that the first Presbyterian minister ordained in Georgia was the Reverend John Springer, whose ordination occurred in Wilkes, under the famous poplar. The ap- parent contradiction may be easily explained. Mr. New- ton preceded the latter into Georgia by at least six years ; but he was already an ordained minister when he entered the State, while Mr. Springer was not until the dramatic scene in which he figured in 1791 occurred.

Shaking Rock. Some half a mile from Lexington on land which belonged at one time to Governor George R. Gilmer, there is a curiosity of nature in the form of a huge mass of rock so delicately poised and so peculiarly shaped that it possesses a certain vibratory motion which can readily be observed. In former times a child, by merely touching his finger-tips to the rock, could make the immense boulder perform strange feats of magic. But greater muscular force is required at the present day to produce these results. The supposition is that the point of oscillation has become gradually blunted or has by slow degrees sunk deeper into the ground.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

Shaking Rock is located at the entrance to a chasm which has a sheer drop of over 100 feet known as Lover's Leap. The legend which attaches to this weirdly beauti- ful spot is that many years ago an Indian maiden of the powerful tribe of Cherokees was wooed and won by a pale-face invader. The girl's father, who was a great chieftain and a mighty warrior, determined to make an end of the matter. So, one day, he secreted himself be- hind Shaking Rock, which was the trysting-place of the happy pair. When the lovers came hither as usual to whisper soft words of endearment, the old father sud- denly and unexpectedly made his presence known. In speechless terror, the girl threw herself into the arms of her lover. They stood on the perilous edge of the cliff, and, as the infuriated old Indian advanced another step toward them, they leaped into the abysmal depths and were dashed to pieces upon the rocks below.

Numbers of people annually visit the spot where this romantic incident is said by tradition to have occurred ; but whatever may be the truth in regard to the legend there is no room for skepticism concerning the natural phenomenon which is here presented. The wonderful formation speaks for itself. It has been estimated by an expert that the rock weighs 27 tons. The measurements are as follows: length 18 feet, width 10 feet, height five feet. Shaking Rock is located on property today owned by Dr. W. H. Reynolds, of Lexington.

Original Settlers. In 1784, a colony of Virginians, under the famous George Mathews, came to this State and settled upon the Broad River, in what was originally the county of Wilkes; but when from this mother of counties in Upper Georgia was formed the new county of Oglethorpe, a large percentage of the settlers found themselves to the west of the line thus drawn. According to Governor Gilmer, who sprang from this

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OGLETHORPE

pioneer stock, the first comers into Oglethorpe, by virtue of this partition of territory, were as follows: George Mathews, Reuben Jordan, Thomas M. Gilmer, John Gilmer, James McGee, Joel Barnett, John Bradley, Jona- than Davenport, William Harvie, John Marks, James Marks, Frank Meriwether, Tam McGhee, Micajah Mc- Gehee, James Bradley, and a number of others. But as soon as the new county was organized there began to pour into this section a stream of settlers from other localities.

Isaac Meadow was likewise among the new arrivals. His grandfather came from England to Virginia where he founded the Meadow family in America, after which he settled in Georgia. Both of the parents of Isaac Meadow, together with a twin brother, were killed by the Indians.

George and John Lumpkin-father and son-came to Oglethorpe in 1784 and settled on Long Creek. The Governor and the Chief-Justice were sons of the latter.

The Popes were also early settlers. Middleton Pope was a wealthy planter, who lived a few miles to the south of Lexington. He married Lucy Lumpkin, a daughter of Governor Wilson Lumpkin ; and from this union sprang a daughter Sarah, who became the wife of David C. Barrow, Sr. and the mother of two distinguished Georgians- Chancellor David C. Barrow and United States Senator Middleton Pope Barrow.

The list of pioneer settlers in Oglethorpe includes also John Hardeman, the father of Thomas Hardeman, Jr., a former member of Congress and of Robert U. Hardeman, a former State Treasurer; the Reverend John Newton, who organized the oldest Presbyterian church in Upper Georgia; Pleasant Robertson, Guy Smith, Richard Col- bert, and a number of others. Many of these early set- tlers were veterans of the Revolution. John and William Andrews, both patriots of '76, are buried somewhere in Oglethorpe, presumably near Lexington.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

At the first session of the Superior Court of Ogle- thorpe, the following pioneer citizens qualified as Grand Jurors: John Lumpkin, John Marks, Andrew Bell, Charles Hay, Richard Goldsby, John Garrett, Robert Beavers, Jeffrey Early, William Patts, Robert McCord, Joel Hurt, Jesse Clay, John Collier, Isaac Collier, John Shields, Presley Thornton, Humphrey Edmonson, and James Northington.

Meson Academy, at Lexington, is one of Georgia's educational land-marks. It came into existence when the county of Oglethorpe was first organized, and as early as 1810 was a widely patronized institution, in which the English and Latin languages were taught. The great William H. Crawford was at one time a member of the board of trustees.

Oglethorpe's Noted At the close of the Revolution, there was brought to this county the escut-

Residents.

cheon of a household whose repre- sentatives have been conspicuous in the public life of this State since Georgia has been a commonwealth-the Lumpkins.

Wilson Lumpkin, the first member of the family to achieve note, was a member of Congress, a Senator of the United States, and Governor of Georgia. He was also an instrumental factor in the building of the Western and Atlantic Railroad-a far-sighted man of affairs, quick to grasp the possibilities of the iron horse as a motive power of civilization.

Joseplı Henry Lumpkin was Georgia's great Chief- Justice. When the Supreme Court was organized in 1845 he was called to preside over this august tribunal, in association with Hiram Warner and Eugene A. Nisbet ; and for twenty-one years he occupied this exalted seat of honor. As an orator he has probably never been sur- passed in the melting power of appeal.

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OGLETHORPE

His distinguished grandson of the same name is to- day an occupant of the Supreme Bench.

John Henry Lumpkin was for eight years a member of Congress. He was also a jurist of note and a candi- date for Governor in the famous convention of 1857 when a deadlock gave the nomination to Joseph E. Brown.

Joseph Henry Lumpkin and Wilson Lumpkin removed from Lexington to Athens; while John Henry Lumpkin settled for the practice of law at Rome.

But there were other members of the family who re- mained in Oglethorpe; for here was born Samuel Lump- kin, who likewise rose to a seat on the Supreme Bench of Georgia.

The great William H. Crawford, a native of Virginia, came from Columbia to Oglethorpe in 1799 and settled in the town of Lexington. He established his country-seat at Woodlawn, some three miles distant, where his grave is still to be seen; and the locality is today marked by the village of Crawford. In the opinion of many com- petent critics this distinguished Georgian was the great- est intellect of his time. He was minister to France dur- ing the days of the First Empire, was a member of Con- gress and a United States Senator, became Secretary of the Treasury, and, except for an attack of paralysis, might have clutched the highest office in the nation's gift.

His noted son, Dr. Nathaniel M. Crawford, a Baptist theologian and scholar, once president of Mercer Univer- sity, was born at Woodlawn.

In the office of Mr. Crawford, a Georgian whose name was destined to become illustrious, began the practice of law-Thomas W. Cobb. He became a jurist of note, a member of Congress, and a United States Senator.

Here, too, was born Joseph Beckham Cobb, his son, who afterwards removed to Mississippi, where he be- came a power in State politics and a noted author. He wrote a novel entitled : "Creole Days, or the siege of New

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

Orleans," besides two other volumes-"Leisure Hours" and "Mississippi Scenes."

Stephen Upson, one of the foremost lawyers of Geor- gia at a time when Forsyth and Berrien were his competi- tors for the laurels of eloquence at the bar, came to Geor- gia from Connecticut, and settled at Lexington, where he lies buried.

Governor George Mathews, a soldier of the Revolu- tion who brought a colony of Virginians to the State in 1784 and who afterwards became Governor, lived in Ogle- thorpe for a number of years, after this part of the county was cut off from Wilkes.

George R. Gilmer, one of Georgia's most illustrious sons, who was twice Governor of the State, who served with distinction in Congress, who wrote a history of the famous Broad River settlement, and who spent his last years in collecting a cabinet of rare minerals, was a life- long resident of Oglethorpe. He sleeps today in the beautiful cemetery at Lexington.

The noted Dr. William H. Felton was a native of Oglethorpe; and here was born the great financier of Athens-Ferdinand Phinizy, who at the time of his death was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Georgia.

Here lived the Barrows; and at the old family home- stead not far from Lexington was born Middleton Pope Barrow, who became a United States Senator and a jurist and David Crenshaw Barrow, the present distinguished Chancellor of the University of Georgia.

Charles Dougherty, a noted ante-bellum jurist who afterwards removed to Athens, was a native of Ogle- thorpe.

George F. Pratt, a dominant factor for years in public affairs, resided at Lexington, where he died at the patri- archal age of 94.

John C. Reed, a gallant Confederate soldier, a lawyer of distinction, and the author of a number of standard

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OGLETHORPE

law-books, lived at one time in Oglethorpe. One of the last productions from the pen of Colonel Reed was a history of the celebrated Ku Klux, of the period of Re- construction.

Henry K. McCay, a distinguished jurist, who served on the bench of the Supreme Court of Georgia and on the bench of the United States District Court in Georgia, be- gan the practice of law in the office of Chief-Justice Joseph Henry Lumpkin.

Here lives William M. Howard, a brilliant lawyer, who for years represented this district in Congress and who upon relinquishing legislative office, was made a member of the tariff commission by President Taft, with headquarters in Washington, D. C., and here lived Judge Hamilton McWhorter until his removal to Athens.

Six counties of Georgia have been named for resi- dents of Oglethorpe-Lumpkin, Crawford, Cobb, Upson, Dougherty, and Gilmer.

Three Governors have come from this county-Wilson Lumpkin, George R. Gilmer, and George Mathews; four United States Senators-Wilson Lumpkin, Thomas W. Cobb, William H. Crawford and Pope Barrow; three Judges of the Supreme Court of Georgia-Joseph Henry Lumpkin, Samuel Lumpkin, and Henry K. Mc' ay; seven members of Congress-Wilson Lumpkin, John H. Lump- kin, Thomas W. Cobb, William H. Crawford, George R. Gilmer, William H. Felton and William M. Howard; two heads of universities-Nathaniel M. Crawford and David C. Barrow; and one Chief Justice, Joseph Henry Lump- kin.

But the list will not be complete without adding there- to the name of Georgia's foremost farmer-James Mon- roe Smith.

The owner of twenty thousand fertile acres of land in the Georgia uplands, from which he gathers annually

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

more than two thousand bales of cotton, in addition to other enormons crops, this prince of planters is the owner of an estate at Smithsonia more regal in extent than many of the German principalities and larger than some of the cantons of Switzerland.

PAULDING

Created by Legislative Act, December 3, 1832, from Cherokee County. Named for John Paulding, one of the captors of Major Andre, whose arrest led to the conviction of Benedict Arnold. Dallas. the county-seat, named for Hon. George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, Vice-President of the United States, during the administration of James K. Polk.

John Paulding, by reason of his part in the dramatic capture of Major Andre, became one of the great popular heroes of the Revolution. The State of New York made him the gift of a handsome farm, on the out- skirts of the town of Cortlandt. Congress granted him an annuity for life, in addition to a silver medal, the pre- sentation of which was made by General Washington, in the presence of the American army. Soon after his death, the Corporation of the City of New York reared a hand- some monument over his grave, hearing this inscription :

"Here repose the mortal remains of John Paulding, who died 18th February, 1818, in 60th year of his age. On the morning of the 23rd of September, 1780 accom- panied by two young farmers of the county of West- chester, whose names will one day be recorded on their own deserved monuments, he intercepted the British spy, Andre. Poor himself, he disdained to acquire wealth by the sacrifice of his country Rejecting the temptation of great rewards, he conveyed the prisoner to the American camp; and by this act of self-denial, the treason of Arnold was detected, the designs of the enemy baffled, West Point and America saved, and these United States, now, by the Grace of God, free and independent, rescued from the most imminent peril. "

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PAULDING

Van Wert, the original county-site, was named for a companion of John Paulding, who shared with him the honor of capturing Major Andre, thereby exposing the treason of Benedict Arnold. Subsequent to the removal of the county-site to Dallas, the town of Van Wert gradually disappeared until today its location is uncertain.

The Battle of New Four miles north-east of Dallas lies Hope Church. the famous battle-field of New Hope Church. Here one of the most stub- born fights of the bloody Atlanta campaign occurred in the late spring of 1864. Says Prof. Derry :* "It was ascer- tained that Sherman's forces had crossed the Etowali to the Confederate left. Johnston marched promptly to meet them and took a position extending from Dallas to the railroad. There now occurred a series of engage- ments between portions of the two armies, which Johnston and Sherman agree in calling the Battle of New Hope Church. The first of these occurred on the 25th of May when the head of Hooker's column came upon Stewart's division near a little meeting house known as New Hope Church. Hooker formed his division in parallel lines and promptly attacked but his vigorous assaults resulted in a succession of bloody repulses. Two days later Sherman sent Howard with two divisions to turn Johnston's right. At Pickett's Mill, thinking he had reached the extreme end of the Confederate line, Howard ordered an assault. The charges of the Federals were repulsed, as How- ard himself says, with much loss. The Confederates gathered up as trophies 1,200 small arms. The acknow- ledged loss to Howard's corps at Pickett's Mill was 1,500 men. Cleburne's loss was 400. The next day McPherson tried to withdraw from Dallas. But Bates' division of Hardie's corps, quickly assailed him meeting a repulse in

* Story of the Confederate States, by Joseph T. Derry, pp. 344-345, Richmond, Va., 1898.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

which they lost about 700 men." Sherman in his official report called the engagement at New Hope Church a "drawn battle." Nevertheless he was thwarted in his purpose, which was to cut off Johnston's supplies.

Original Settlers. As given by White, the original settlers of Paulding were : Whitmael A. Adair, William A. Adair, Mitchell S. Adair, Thomas Reynolds, George Lawrence, Garnett Gray, Mr. Forsyth, and Lewis M. Matthews.

To the foregoing list of pioneer settlers may be added a few other names. William Allgood settled in Pauld- ing in 1833. Two sons, William O. and Charles D., fell during the Civil War; while another son, Judge E. W. Y. Allgood, became ordinary of the county and served in the State Senate. Thomas Clay, a native of North Carolina, settled in what was then Cobb, afterwards Paulding, in 1840. His father, John Clay, a veteran of the war of 1812, reached the age of 93 years. Near him, at the same time, settled James T. Carter, Sr., whose father Robert Carter, was likewise a veteran of the second war with England. The latter reached the age of 105 years. George Law- rence, a native of North Carolina, came to Paulding in 1837. His father, John Lawrence, was for eight years a soldier of the Revolution. Stacy Cooper settled here in 1847. He witnessed service when a lad in the War of 1812. The list of early settlers includes also; Michael Austin, Bailey Bone, James Foote, who built one of the earliest taverns at Dallas; Archibald Holland, Joseph Howell, Andrew McBrayer, John W. Moon, Henry Lester, Joseph G. Blance, S. W. Ragsdale, and John Jones.

851

PICKENS

Created by Legislative Act, December 5, 1853, from Cherokee and Gilmer. Named for General Andrew Pickens, of the Revolution, the field of whose military operations included a large part of Upper Georgia. He was in command at the famous battle of Kettle Creek. Jasper, the county- seat, named for the gallant South Carolinian, Sergeant William Jasper, who fell mortally wounded at the siege of Savannah, while seeking to rescue his fallen colors.

Talking Rock was an Indian settlement, on a creek of the same name, famous among the Cherokees. It was so called from a rock somewhere in the stream below the present railroad station. The peculiar echoes proceeding from this rock, in response to any shout or noise made in the immediate neighborhood, is supposed to have sug- gested the name. There is also a local tradition to the effect that the Indians held important council meeting's at this rock; but according to Mooney, an ethnologist of the United States Government, the etymology of the word is against this derivation.

Original Settlers. See Cherokee and Gilmer, from which two counties Pickens was formed.

Samuel Tate, a pioneer land trader, with his two sons, Stephen C. and William Tate, were among the earliest settlers of Pickens. The sons became indentified in after years with the development of the famous marble quarries in this section of the State. Both have since passed away, but the great marble interests which they established here have grown to colossal proportions. Today the pay roll for the two quarries at Tate and Nelson amounts ap- proximately to thirty-five thousand dollars per month, and the beautiful specimens of marble which are cut from these quarries, in massive blocks, for building purposes, are shipped to every part of the United States, and even to remote parts of the earth. The Georgia marbles have

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

· been used to construct some of the most palatial buildings in America, including the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washi- ington, D. C. and a number of State capitols. Stephen C. Tate was the father of the present executive head of the various Tate industries, Samuel Tate, the second. Wil- liam Tate was the father of the present District Attorney of Georgia, formerly a member of Congress, Farish Carter Tate.

The Darnells were also early settlers of Pickens. Sion A. Darnell's father was an ardent Union man; and after the ordinance of secession was passed at Mil- ledgeville the Unionists, who were strong in Pickens, placed a United States flag in front of the court-house in Jasper, and kept it there for months until it was finally beaten to pieces by the wind. The wife of Charles Car- roll, af Carrollton, was a Darnell. Sion A. Darnell com- manded a regiment of troops in the Federal Army dur- ing the Civil War. He was afterwards United States District Attorney, and a man of prominence in Republi- can circles. The list of early settlers of Pickens includes also : William H. Simmons, who married a daughter of the famous Beverly Allen, an account of whose some- what singular career is elsewhere given ; James A. Rhyne, Isaac Grant, James Simmons, William T. Day, and oth- ers. The two last named pioneer citizens represented Pickens in the Secession Convention at Milledgeville .. James Simmons was one of the six members who entered a formal protest against the ordinance of secession.

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Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I, Part 61

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co. Number of Pages: 1148

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1148