Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 45

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274

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Where Gen. Mcintosh Signed His Death-Warrant in the Famous Treaty at Indian Springs in 1825.

THE VARNER HOUSE:

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CALHOUN

cost General McIntosh his life. Under the head of Car- roll County will be found an article which tells how Gen- eral McIntosh was murdered. Mrs. Alfriend is sure to succeed in her patriotic undertaking. She comes of fine old Revolutionary stock, and defeat is a word with which she is absolutely unfamiliar. Her great-grand- father, Joseph Winter, was Secretary of the Committee on Safety, on Washington's staff, and read the Declara- tion of Independence to the public in New York, on July 18, 1776, at which time the British coat-of-arms was torn from the front of the City Hall. Her grandfather, John Gano Winter, was one of the greatest promoters and financiers of this State.

CALHOUN

Morgan. On February 20, 1854, an Act was approved creating out of Baker and Early Counties, in the extreme southwestern part of the State, a new county, to be called Calhoun, in honor of the great apos- tle of Nullification. The Inferior Court of the county was empowered to select a county-site and to superintend the erection of buildings. The site selected was called Morgan. There was an old family of this name residing here when the town was established, which makes us question the none too well authenticated tradition that it was named for General Daniel Morgan, of the Revo- lution. On March 5, 1856, the town was formally char- tered with the following-named commissioners: W. G. Pierce, W. E. Griffin, George Goodson, John Shropshire and Hiram Morgan.'

Arlington. Situated on the dividing line between Calhoun and Early Counties, is Arlington, a rapidly growing city, which will doubtless some day be the capital of a new county in this part of Georgia. The town was named for General Lee's old home on the Potomac River,

*Acts, 1855-1856, p. 381.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

and was granted a charter of incorporation on September 13, 1881, at which time the corporate limits were fixed at one half a mile in every direction from the depot of the Sonthwestern Railroad. But the necessi- ties of growth within the next decade demanded a new charter; and, on October 9, 1891, the town was incorporated hy an Act repealing the old charter and designating Hon. N. A. Beckom to hold the office of Mayor, and Messrs. J. S. Collins, S. T. Nance, D. A. Carter and G. W. Harrison to serve as aldermen, pending an election to be held on the first Tuesday in September, 1892.1 The present public school system was established in 1905, with Messrs. G. W. Harrison, Y. W. Fudge, W. H. C. Cunning- ham, J. S. Cowart, R. H. Bostwick and H. M. Calhoun named as the first official board of trustees. The commercial enterprises of the town are financed by strong banks, and there are few communities in the State with a finer body of enterprising business men. Many beautiful homes have recently been built in Arlington, some of which would be an ornament to Atlanta 's far-famed "Peachtree. ''"

CAMDEN

St. Patrick. At the close of the Revolution, there were few settlements in Camden, except on Cum- berland Island, and for a number of years the county was unrepresented in the State Legislature, due to the scarcity of population. But the need of a town on the mainland was fully realized. Accordingly, a number of the new settlers on Cumberland Island undertook to build a town on the north bank of the St. Mary's River, at a place called Buttermilk Bluff. On December 12, 1787, a tract of 1,672 acres was purchased from Jacob Webb, who held an original grant from the State. The price paid for this land was thirty-eight dollars. There must have been an Irishman among the number, for the name given to the new town was St. Patrick. Each sub- scriber was to own four lots, on one of which he was to build within six months a house covered with shingles ; and if he failed to comply with this agreement, he was to forfeit his land. The town was laid out in 1787 by James Findley, County Surveyor; and the first settlers of St. Patrick were: Isaac Wheeler, William Norris,

1 Acts. 1890-1, Vol. II, p. 867.

2 Acts, 1905, p. 429.

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Nathan and Wm. Ashley, Jas. Seagrove, Lodwick Ashley, Jas. Findley, John Fleming, Robert Seagrove, Henry Os- borne, Thomas Norris, Jacob Weed, John Alexander, Langley Bryant, Johnathan Bartlett, Stephen Conyers, William Ready, Prentiss Gallup, Simeon Dillingham, and Richard Cole. The streets of the town were named in honor of these men. St. Patrick was the first county- seat of Camden. On an old ballot list prepared for the first town election in 1788, appear some additional names, showing that among the new settlers were : Talmage Hall, James Woodland, Thomas Staffold, John King, and others. In 1792, the name of the town was changed by an Act of the Legislature to St. Marys .*

St. Marys. 1

Volume I. Pages 350-356.

Some of the To add a few names to the above list: Na- €

Pioneers. than Atkinson, a native of Northampton County, Va., became a resident of Camden, in 1785, followed some ten years later by his brother John; and from these progenitors have sprung one of Camden's most distinguished family connections. Isaac Lang arrived soon after the close of the Revolution and located where the town of Jefferson afterwards arose. His descendants for more than a hundred years have been prominent in county affairs. Likewise among the early arrivals were David and Hugh Brown. The for- mer married a Miss Atkinson, and became a wealthy planter. The latter also accumulated a large property. He is said to have been a man of massive intellect, and holds the record for length of service in the Legislature. John Hardee came from North Carolina in 1788, and founded the family from which the great Confederate tactician, Gen. Win. J. Hardee, sprang. Thomas Miller,

*History of Camden County, Georgia, by James T. Vocelle.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

a Scotchman, was also an early settler. He was an an- cestor of Judge Andrew J. Miller, for whom Miller Coun- ty was named. Gen. John Floyd, his son, Gen. Charles R. Floyd, the Hazzards, the Scarletts, the Holzendorfs, the Demeres and the Hulls were also pioneer families of Camden. Here also at one time lived the famous McIn- tosh family; and what is now known as Refugee Planta- tion, was granted to George McIntosh when Georgia was a Province of England.

Former Days Camden County was the home for many years of Captain Recalled. William Cone, a distinguished fighter in the War of 1812. He was also great Indian fighter, and the story is told of him that on one occasion he was captured by the Indians, who were delighted at having in their possession the "Big Captain." They carried him to their camp and after binding him and placing him between two warriors, they lay down to sleep. During the night Cone managed to get loose from his fetters, and after taking all the shot from the gun shells of his captors, without arousing them from their slumbers, went down the road about one hundred yards from the camp, and sat down awaiting day- light. Great was the consternation of the Indians when they awoke and found their prisoner gone. They had only to go a short distance, however, before they came across him seated on a log. One warrior raised his gun to his shoulder and fired. Cone placed his hand to his heart and showed the shot to the Indians, but the shot had been in his hand all the while. Another Indian fired at him with the same effect, and then convinced that Cone was what they had always suspected him to be, the Evil One, took to their lieels and fled. Captain Cone represented Camden County for many years in the General Assembly of the State, and, although uneducated and unpolished, rose to a high place in that body. He was the father of the late Peter Cone, of Bulloch, who was long a commanding figure in legislative halls.

The house is still standing in St. Marys, where many years ago Aaron Burr was entertained as the guest of Major Archibald Clark, then a dis- tinguished resident of the old town. Major Clark was a warm personal friend of the former Vice-President. It was not long after this visit that he was captured in Alabama on the charge of conspiracy against the United States government. Major Clark also entertained General Winfield Scott at his residence in St. Marys, when that distinguished fighter was returning from the Indians wars in Florida. It is said that General Scott was so tall that he was obliged to bend his head in order to enter Major Clark's front door. During the War of 1812 the English occupied St.

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CAMDEN

Marys. Major Clark was at that time collector of the port and had quite a lot of government money in his possession. The British, after making an unsuccessful attempt to get this money, took Major Clark a prisoner and carried him away from his home. Mrs. Clark, who was a descendant of Captain Wordsworth, of Charter Oak fame, was often forced to entertain the British at her home. One day a British officer was seated in the parlor, and looking down at the carpet on the floor, remarked: "' Mrs. Clark, I see you have the British crown in your parlor." "Yes," replied Mrs. Clark, "but it is under our feet."

Colonel Edmound Atkinson, who commanded the 26th Georgia Infantry during the Civil War, was a native of Camden. He was a gallant officer and a kind and considerate commander. Judge Spencer R. Atkinson, an ex-justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and Judge Samuel C. Atkinson, a present member of this same high bench, are distinguished sons of Camden. Their father was the late Captain A. S. Atkinson, and their mother Miss Mary A. MeDonald, daughter of ex-Governor Charles .J. Mc- Donald. Camden County furnished to the Confederacy, during the Civil War, one lieutenant-general (William J. Hardce), five colonels, fourteen captains and two full companies of soldiers, all out of a white population of 3,000.

Coleraine. Volume I. Pages 358-359.

Camden's Noted

Residents.

Volume I. Pages 361-362.

Fort Tonyn. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Charles and Germyn Wright, brothers of Governor Wright, of Georgia, built a fort on their lands on the St. Marys River. As near as can be ascertained this fort was located where Scrubby Bluff now is. The Wrights called it Fort Tonyn, after the royal Governor of Florida. Fort Tonyn became a rendezvous for all the Tories and outlaws in this part of the country. Spoils were brought to this place and divided among the members of this gang, who bore the appellation of Florida Rangers. But when General Howe, in 1778, reached Fort Tonyn, on his way to East Florida, he found the fort evacuated and demolished *

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

CAMPBELL

Early Settlements In 1826 there were living in Campbell and Pioneers. on well-tilled plantations the Colquitts and the Randalls. John Colquitt and Mrs. Randall were brother and sister of Hon. Walter T. Colquitt, the noted jurist and statesman. Judge Col- quitt was also an early resident, coming from his home in Walton County to Pumpkintown Ferry, on the Chatta- hocchee, where he bought lands of one Sanford Bell, who was later killed in the Texan war of 1836. The fertile lands were slowly settled because of the dread of an ont- break of the Creeks against Chief William McIntosh. It was generally supposed that an attack would occur from the Campbell or Coweta side of the Chattahoochee, but the party of Indian warriors who murdered Gen- eral McIntosh formed in Alabama at a time when the waters of the Chattahoocheere swollen by a freshet. When the son, Chilly McIntosh, escaped in a travelers' coat and swam the river with the treaty papers, it was Cheadle Cochran, of Campbell County, who first gave him aid.

Since the white man's ownership, the county has not been rich in fish or game, but it abounds in Indian legends and relies. Numerous trails leading to the Five Notch Road can be found, also plateaus in the creek bot- toms, where their corn dances occurred. These were witnessed surreptitiously by the Colquitt and Randall slaves.

There is a steep hill called "Slip-Down Mountain" between Pumpkintown and McKoy ferries. Tradition says that a fierce battle happened here between the Chero- kees and Creeks, in which the vanquished were pushed into the river. This was verified in 1890 by the high waters washing up particles of human bone, also beads, pots and arrows.

On the Douglas side, above Campbellton, is a mound now covered with a pine growth, said to be the grave of an Indian queen, Anawaqua. A strip on either side

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CAMPBELL

of Sweetwater was neutral ground, where Creeks and Cherokees made treaties. Here Gov. Charles McDonald owned a mill site which he sold to Pendleton Watson. In the section near "Salt Spring," or Lithia, the first white settlers were the Watsons, Stricklands, Duncans, Mc- Lartys, McElroys and Van Zants .*

When the time was ripe for the establishment of a county-seat, Judge Colquitt proposed Pumpkintown. Even today its broad fields present a prosperous, invit- ing aspect. The cheery breezes whisper of thrift and en- terprise. But Pumpkintown lost.

Historic Campbellton Eight miles above Pumpkintown three brothers, Alfred, George and Lang Camp, owned large plantations, adjoining which was the uncleared tract of Frank Irwin. The latter planned a town called Campbellton, and offered free lots to those who would live upon them. It was the accepted county-site. A substantial brick court-house was built in 1828 by Contractor Glascock, and still stands on an old red hill overlooking the river. The Colquitts, dis- gusted, moved to LaGrange, the Randalls to Alabama.

Judge Colquitt, though an eminent jurist, was also a man of varied affairs. His business agent in charge of his mercantile and farming interests was young Benja- man Camp, who came with him from Walton to Camp- bell. Selling his share of the Colquitt interests for ne- groes, he participated in the general exodus from Pump- kintown, went to South Carolina and married. Return- ing in 1834, he bought the lands of Tarleton Sheets, Ben- nett Lee and Billy Johnson, nearer Campbellton, and be- came a pioneer of progress in Campbell. Campbellton was then a flourishing town, with commodious, elegant homes. Prominent people were the Lathams, Smiths,

*Authority: Mrs. Lee C. Moore, now of Decatur, Ga.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

Cantrells, Hornsbys, McClures, Gormans, McKoys, Beavers, Butts, Hopkins and Blacks.

Across the river were the plantations of Wade White, Alston Arnold, James Nelson, Thomas Camp, the Hintons, Hammonds, Bullards, Rutledges, Longinos, Clecklers, Varners and Hutchinsons. Near Sand Town lived the Danforths, Campbells, Bryants, Wilsons and Aderholts. Here lies buried a Revolutionary soldier, John Gibson.

For many years the planters hauled their cotton to the Angusta market, returning with the luxuries of life. They had the necessities at home. The houses in the clearings were of the log double-pen style. Later, weather boarding, an upper story and shed rooms were added. The open areaway became a hall, with a square portico, and columns at the front. The kitchens were in sepa- rate out-buildings. Schools were conducted by itinerant Northern or Irish masters, of whom the first requirement was the ability to make rapidly and well a goose quill pen. The Friday afternoon sessions were devoted to lessons in etiquette.

The high schools in Campbellton and Palmetto pre- pared the young men for the University.

Crowds always thronged Campbellton during court week and on muster days. The center of interest to the young, next to the Judge's silk hat or Colonel Camp's plumed headpiece, was the ginger cake cart of old Mis- tress Teale. Once some mischievous boys pushed it down the hill into the river, but reimbursed the distracted old lady.

There was much wealth in Campbellton, but the spirit of the place was neither commercial nor intellectual. It was simply gay. The perpetual pursuit of the frail pop- pies of pleasure; the curse of drink; the bitterness of the Reconstruction era, resulting in tragedy and murder, blighted its growth. The best blood of its citizenship, which was largely professional, was sacrificed to the Confederacy. The drift of population toward the route'

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CAMPBELL

of the West Point Railroad left Campbellton in isolation. Among the citizens who left to give their energy to the upbuilding of Atlanta were Lucius J. Gartrell, Alfred Austell, Jett Rucker and W. J. Garrett.

In 1870 the county-seat went to Fairburn, and at that time in Campbellton stood rows of good houses, aban- doned, with hearthstones long cold, and weeds overrun- ning the flowers at the doorstep-a deserted village, memory-haunted, more to the taste of Poe than of Gold- smith. Today a shadow broods over the country road, once a street of life and joy. While the court-house, academy and Masonic lodge stand dark and silent, two churches on their original sites have opened their doors, Sunday after Sunday, to the people of the country-side.

Occasionally another sleeper finds rest among the mossy marbles of the old Methodist church-yard. Old Campbellton is with the past. New Campbellton consists of two modest dwellings nestling near the country store.

Fairburn. Fairburn, the present county-seat of Camp- bell, was incorporated by an Act of the Leg- islature, approved February 17, 1854,1 at which time it was on the old boundary line between Fayette and Camp- bell counties. But subsequently an Act was passed an- nexing a part of Fayette County to Campbell; and in this Act, approved October 17, 1870, provision was made for a new county-site, as follows :2 "Be it further en- acted that the county-site of Campbell be, and is hereby moved to some convenient and suitable place on the Atlanta and West Point Railroad, in Campbell County; that such place be selected by a popular vote of all the citizens entitled by law to vote in the County of Camp- bell, laid off and described in section eighth of this Act, which election shall be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November next, at the several precincts in- cluded within the limits of the county; that the superin-

1 Acts, 1853-1854, p. 244.

2 Acts, 1870, pp. 15-16.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

tendents of said election shall meet at Campbellton, on the day after the election, and consolidate the election returns of said county-site before the Ordinary, who shall, with four commissioners to be selected by him, residing near the county-site, without delay, purchase a sufficient tract of land for the court-house and jail, and proceed to build the same out of any funds belonging to the county, not otherwise appropriated, etc." Under the terms specified in this Act, Fairburn was made the new county-site of Campbell, in the late fall of 1870. Among the early settlers in this neighborhood, the names most prominent were McBride, Brewster, Short, Roan, Henderson, and Roberts.

Palmetto. The town of Palmetto was chartered by leg- islative act, approved February 18, 1854, and the following well-known residents were named as the first commissioners: Willis P. Menifee, Samuel Swan- swer, James J. Beall, Reuben Melsaps and John M. Edwards .* But the town existed as an unincorporated community for several years prior to the date of this charter; and the name is said to have been conferred upon the little village at this place by a company of South Carolina soldiers en route to the Mexican War. Pal- metto, at an early date, restricted the sale of intoxicating liquors. The present public school system of Palmetto was established in 1885. Some of the most substantial families in this vicinity during pioneer days included the Watts, the Gentrys, the Joneses, the Griffiths, the Mc- Larens, the Tatums, the Menefees, the Hollemans and the Cochrans.

*Acts, 1853-1854. p. 264.

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CANDLER

Metter. On July 17, 1914, Governor Slaton approved a bill creating by Constitutional amendment the new County of Candler. It is to be carved out of terri- tory formerly embraced within three contiguous coun- ties, to-wit. : Tattnall, Bulloch and Emanuel. Metter, a wideawake little town, on a branch line of the Central of Georgia, will be the new county seat. There was prac- tically no opposition to the measure at this session of the Legislature, as the various counties affected by the proposed legislation were friendly to the bill; but in former years the champions of the measure have waged a losing fight against bitter opposition. Since the cre- ation of the new county involves an amendment to the Constitution, it is first necessary to submit the same to popular vote for ratification; but the result can be safely foreshadowed. The new county is named for Governor Allen D. Candler, one of Georgia's most dis- tinguished sons. On the field of battle, in the halls of Congress, in the chair of Governor, in the office of Secre- tary of State, and, last but not least, as Compiler of State Records, he was called upon to serve the State in many distinguished capacities; but in not one of these high stations did he fail to approve himself a statesman and a man.

Says the Atlanta Constitution: "Governor Slaton on Friday signed the bill creating the new county of Can- dler, and thus ends one of the most determined fights waged in the Legislature. The effort of the people of Metter to secure the creation of the county of Candler is only equaled by that of the people of Winder, who succeeded some days ago in passing the bill to create the county of Barrow. The first bill to create Candler County was introduced ten years ago. For ten sessions the people of Metter have been knocking at the doors of

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS.

the General Assembly, and finally they have been suc- cessful. This success is largely due to F. H. Sills, editor of the Metter Advertiser, and Dr. W. D. Kennedy, who helped finance the project. Dr. Kennedy was the first to conceive the idea of a new county. Three years ago Mr. Sills was put in charge of the campaign, and during that time he has given the legislature no rest. Governor Slaton signed the bill with a special fountain pen, which the people of Metter presented to Mr. Sills in recogni- tion of his services. Candler County will have a popula- tion of 12,725; tax values of $2,729,000, and an area of 361 square miles."

CARROLL

The Murder of General McIntosh. On the west side of the Chattahoo- chee River, within the borders of the present County of Carroll, stood the old home of General William McIntosh, the famous chief of the Cowetas or Lower Creeks. The unfriendly In- dians, piqued by the relinquishment of the Georgia lands. were bent upon the death of the brave chief, at whose door lay the responsibility for the treaty at Indian Springs. He was accordingly condemned in general council, under color of what was claimed to be an unwrit- ten law, exacting the forfeiture of life for the offence in question. Quite a party of Indians, numbering in the aggregate one hundred and seventy, undertook to exe- cute the sentence; and, proceeding furtively to the home of General McIntosh, they concealed themselves under cover of the woods until just before dawn, on May 1, 1825. They were provided with light-wood knots, for the purpose of setting fire to the house, and they were also well armed.

Before emerging from ambush, they first sent an interpreter, James Hutton, along with two Indians, to ascertain, without arousing suspicion, what temporary

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sojourners the MeIntosh abode sheltered. In an out- house in the yard, which was usually allotted to guests, the chief's son, Chilly McIntosh, was found, sharing the apartment with an old peddler. But the spies barely put foot upon the doorstep before the young man, guided by instinct, scented danger, and leaped at one bound through the open window. Fire was opened upon him, but the shots failed to overtake the mercurial youth.

And now the entire body of Indians surrounded the house in which General McIntosh slept, and began to light the fagots underneath the doors and windows. The sti- fling smoke awoke the brave chief, only to greet him with the crackling flames and to show him in the funeral glare of the red torches what deadly peril surrounded him. It was the most lurid dawn upon which he ever looked; and, fully comprehending the awful horror of the wild scene, he realized that he was now to perish amid the blazing rafters of his home. But the proud old Indian spirit within him nerved his sinews for the ordeal. He was determined to die game; and, though denied the honors of equal battle, he could at least greet the shades of his ancestors with the war-cry upon his lips.

Behind barricaded doors, with the aid of an Indian friend who was the only other occupant of the building at the time, he returned for several moments the blasting fire which came from the red belt. But an entrance was soon forced; and, hurling himself upon the invaders who now rushed in, the faithful ally was the first to fall, rid- dled with bullets. General McIntosh, retreating up the stairway in the suffocating smoke, fired shot after shot as he went, making the foul murderers pay heavy cost for the life which they were now about to take. But at last the brave chief lay prostrate upon the floor bleeding from countless wounds. And now the fiendish glee of the red devils filled the air with the most infernal music of pandemonium. They sang and danced and shouted about the mutilated hody while the flames underneath and around roared and seethed. It was like the glimpse which one might get at hell-gate.

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Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 45

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co. Number of Pages: 1274

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274