USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II > Part 72
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OCONEE
Historic old Watkinsville.
Watkinsville, the county-seat of Oconee, is one of the most historic towns of Geor- gia, reaching back over the dusty stretch of more than a hundred years to the heroic age of the
*Grandmother Stories, by Howard Meriwether Lovett, pp. 163-171.
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
pioneers. In 1801, by an Act of the Legislature, Clarke County was formed out of a part of Jackson, on what was then our western border, and named for the valiant Rev- olutionary leader, General Elijah Clarke; while the county-seat of the new county was called Watkinsville, in compliment to Hon. Robert Watkins, of Augusta, one of the State's ablest lawyers. Thomas Booth was prob- ably the earliest settler on the site of the future town, but Dr. Harden soon followed him and built a handsome home on what is still known as Harden's Hill, later the property of Hon. B. E. Thrasher.
Bishop Haygood's One of the first lawyers to open an 1
Old Home. office at Watkinsville was Green B. Haygood, Esq., whose son, Atticus G. Haygood, a native of this town, was destined to become a prince of preachers and one of the tall landmarks of Southern Methodism. Bishop Haygood filled many ard- uous roles. As a minister of the Gospel he possessed few equals. As an educator he stood at the very fore- front. As a profound theologian he moulded the minds of men. As a writer he wielded not only a trenchant, but a fearless pen; and as a bishop of the church he proved himself to be a man of God divinely called to a great work. On account of some of his advanced views, especially on the race problem, he did not escape criti- cism, but he lived to witness a radical change of senti- ment on this line, and to inaugurate a new era in the South. His sister, Laura, a noted educator, who devoted the last years of her useful life to missionary work in China, was likewise a native of Watkinsville.
Rev. John Calvin Johnson, a name which no one in Watkinsville can mention except with honor, was for years a commanding figure among the pioneers, a man of great influence with the people and of great favor with God. Walter Johnson, his son, was for years tax-col- lector of the county, while his grandson, John Calvin, Jr.,
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OCONEE
afterwards held the office of Ordinary. Oconee's carliest probate judge was Asa M. Jackson, a man greatly be- loved, whose tenure of service covered a period of forty- seven years, one of the longest in the history of the State. His successors in office have been: James R. Lyle, B. E. Thrasher, H. A. Thomas, John Calvin .John- son, Jr., and A. H. Morton. The first court-house was a frame building, reared in 1806. It was afterwards re- placed by a large structure of brick, covered with blue stucco and shaded by immense oaks. This fine old build- ing was erected by John Birch, grandfather of the late Chancellor Walter B. Hill, of the University of Georgia.
Recollections of Judge Overby. Judge Basil H. Overby, one of the first advocates of temperance in Georgia, though not a resident of Watkinsville, was affiliated to some extent with the people of the town by ties of marriage. His first wife was a daughter of John and Sarah (Barton) Thrasher, and by reason of this fact he was always close to the people of Watkinsville and often a visitor here. There was not a finer character during his day in Georgia than Judge Overby: eloquent, magnetic, fearless, public-spirited. His daughter-in-law, Mrs. Earle Overby, perhaps the best loved woman in Watkinsville, still treasures among her keepsakes a little pamphlet which bears this title: "Basil Overby Union, Daughters of Temperance, No. 11." -It is dated 1853; and, in view of the marvelous world-wide growth to which the great W. C. T. U. movement has attained, it is a matter of the most intense interest to scan the pages of this little pamphlet, in which the modest beginnings of a great modern reform are reflected in print. Mrs. Overby is a brilliantly cultured woman, a great lover of books; and such is the esteem in which she is held by every one in Watkinsville that a splendid library has been established, bearing her name; and this library is one of the glories of the little town.
Judge Overby's second wife was the youngest daughter of General Hugh A. Haralson, and a sister to Mrs. Logan E. Bleckley and Mrs. John B. Gordon. Though he died early in life, Judge Overby has left the int. press of his genius upon the State. Nor does the man who espouses a weak cause, when a tremendous moral issue is at stake, deserve any less to be admired than the man who presides over a great tribunal of justice or leads an army to battle. His children by the first wife were: Barton, Nick, Earle, Mrs. James Middlebrooks, Mrs W. W. Price and Mrs. Robert Winship. There was only one child by his second marriage, a daughter Lizzie, who married Captain Charles W. Williams. The latter was given
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
a General's commission at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, but died of yellow fever in the Philippines. Basil O. Lenoir, a son of Mrs. James Middlebrooks by her first marriage, is today one of the most useful men in the government service, entrusted frequently with delicate and dif- ficult commissions.
Pioneer Families of the Town. To mention by name only some of the other pioneer families of Watkinsville, the list includes: the Greshams, the Lees, the Applings, the Elders, the Thomases, the Ligons, the Billupses, the Paines, the Taneys, the Harrises, the Durhams and many others. In 1871, by an Act of the Legislature, Athens was made the county-seat of Clarke, a removal credited to Judge Emory Speer, even then a power in politics, though a young man in his twenties. Great dissatisfaction was aroused, especially in the territory around Watkinsville; and such was the pressure brought to bear upon the Legislature that, on February 25, 1875, a new county called Oconee was created out of Clarke, with Watkinsville for its county-seat. Since 1819 only two men have suffered the death penalty in Oconee, a record which attests the law-abiding character of its citizens. But there is little cause for astonishment. The ethical standard was set years ago when Micajah Bone, Esq., was presented to the Grand Jury for swearing and for taking his Maker 's name in vain.
tionary Soldiers.
Graves of Revolu- In the county cemeteries near Watkinsville the graves of four Revolutionary soldiers have been located. These are Josiah Elder,* David Thurman, Colquitt Freeman and John Freeman. Applications for markers have al- ready been made by Mrs. Robert Smith, at Watkinsville.
OGLETHORPE
Historic Old Much of Georgia's history, in ante-bellum
Lexington. days, was made by a group of statesmen whose homes are vet standing amid the historic shades of the little town of Lexington. Gilmer, Upson, Lumpkin, Cobb, Crawford-these are names which have made the annals of Georgia resplendent.
*Not David Elder, as stated in Vol. I.
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OGLETHORPE
But here they are found in the minute-books of church sessions, and in the records of town meetings, while the great men who modestly wore them were known chiefly as neighbors, whose crowning traits, in village eyes, were those of the country gentleman of the old school. On December 19, 1793, Oglethorpe was formed from a part of Wilkes, and under the provisions of this same Act Lexington was made the county-seat. The town was incorporated by an Act providing for its better regulation, on November 24, 1806, at which time the following town commissioners were named, to-wit .: Mat- thew Gage, George Phillips, John Gresham, Thomas W. Cobb and George Paschal .* The famous Meson Academy, at Lexington, is almost as old as the town itself. It was founded as the Academy of Oglethorpe County, but on November 27, 1807, it became Meson Academy, in honor of a wealthy townsman, Francis Meson, who bequeathed to the school a large estate, real and personal. At the same time the following board of trustees was chosen to govern the school under its new name: John Lump- kin, William Harris Crawford, Benjamin Baldwin, George Phillips, James Luckie, Obediah Jones and Thomas W. Cobb. The Presbyterian Church at Lexing- ton is the oldest church in the Synod of Georgia. In the cemetery adjacent to this historic landmark sleep Gov- ernor George R. Gilmer and Hon. Stephen Upson, for each of whom a county has been named. Here lies also the founder of the church, Rev. John Newton, a prince of pioneer evangelists, and here rests Carlisle Mckinley, a noted Georgia poet and a kinsman of the martyred President.
Recollections of Gen- eral Oglethorpe. "It is an interesting fact in the history of this celebrated man that he lived to see the infant colony become a great and free State. Among the very earliest to call on John Adams, the first Ambassador of the United States to the Court of St. James, was Oglethorpe. He who had planted
"Clayton's Compendium, p. 307.
.
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
Georgia and nursed the royal colony in its fcebleness, joined hands with him who had come to the British Court the representative of its national independence. Well might Edmund Burke tell him that he was the most extraordinary person of whom he had ever read; for he had founded the province of Georgia; had absolutely called it into existence, and had lived to see it severed from the empire which created it and become an independent State.
"The evening of his life was mild and pleasant. His bodily and men- tal vigor remained to the last; and, in the society of one of the most de- lightful literary circles of England, composed of Johnson, Goldsmith, Whar- ton, Burke, Burton, Mrs. Garrick, Mrs. More, and others, he passed in London, or at Cranham Hall, the quiet and peaceful hours of social life. Hannah More, whose praise is itself renown, thus graphically describes him in a letter to her sister: 'I have got a new admirer, and we flirt together prodigiously. It is the famous General Oglethorpe, perhaps the most remarkable man of his time. He is the foster brother of the Pre- tender, and much above ninety years old. The finest figure you ever saw. He frequently realizes my ideas of Nestor. His literature is great; his knowledge of the world extensive; and his faculties as bright as ever. He is one of the three persons mentioned by Pope still living: Lord Mansfield and Lord Marchmont are the other two. He was an intimate friend of Southern, the tragic poet, and all the wits of the time. He is perhaps the oldest man among the gentry now living; and he could have entertained me by repeating passages from Sir Eldered. He is quite a preux chevalier- heroic, romantic and full of the old gallantry.' "*
The Lumpkin Family Record. Among the earliest settlers of Oglethorpe were the Lumpkins. They came from Virginia, and, according to land-grants, there were quite a number of them, and they appear to have taken an active part in the Revolution. John Lumpkin was the father of the two distinguished Georgians: Governor Wilson Lumpkin and Chief Justice Joseph Henry Lumpkin.
Wilson Lumpkin was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Walker, who bore him seven children:
1. Lucy, who married Middleton Pope; of which union was born Sarah, who married David C. Barrow, the father of Hon. Pope Barrow, former United States Senator from Georgia, and of Dr. David C. Barrow, Chancellor of the University of Georgia.
2. Ann, who married Augustus Alden.
3. Pleiades Orion, who married Margaret Wilkinson.
*Wm. Bacon Stevens, M. D., D. D., in History of Georgia, Vol. I, pp. 207-8, New York, 1847.
927
OGLETHORPE
4. Wilson.
5. William.
6. Elizabeth, who married O. B. Whatley.
7. Samuel H.
Governor Lumpkin's second wife was Annis Hopkins, who bore him tivo children :
1. John C.
2. Martha, who married Thomas M. Compton. It was in honor of the Governor's youngest daughter that the Southern terminus of the West- ern and Atlantic Railroad was' christened Marthasville. In 1847 the name of the village was changed to Atlanta.
Joseph Henry Lumpkin married Callender Grieve. She bore him five children :
1. Marion McHenry, who married General Thomas R. R. Cobb, of which union were born several daughters, one of whom married Augustus L. Hull, another Captain Henry Jackson, and the youngest Hon. Hoke Smith, Secretary of the Interior, Governor and United States Senator.
2. Joseph Troup, who married Margaret King.
3. Callie, who married Porter King, from which union came Hon. Porter King, former Mayor of Atlanta.
4. William Wilberforce, who married Louisa King, from which union came Colonel Edwin K., a prominent lawyer of Athens, and Hon. Joseph Henry, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
5. Lucy, who married William Gerdine.
6. Edward P.
7. James M.
8. Charles M.
9. Miller G.
10. Robert C.
11. Frank, who married Kate Wilcox.
Hon. Samuel Lumpkin, late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, was a nephew of Wilson and Joseph Henry Lumpkin. The late distinguished John H. Lumpkin, of Rome, jurist and Congressman, was also a kinsman.
Oglethorpe's Fa- mous Quarries. Some of the finest granite in the State is quarried today on land which formerly belonged to the estate of Governor George R. Gilmer, near Lexing- ton, but which is now owned by Judge Hamilton MeWhorter, of Athens. The magnificent Georgia State monument in Chickamauga National Park was built of stone from these quarries; and there is not a memorial in the park more universally admired. Nor is this due so much to the artistic design of the monument as it is to the superior quality of the stone out of which this splendid shaft is fashioned.
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
PAULDING
Van Wert. In 1832, Paulding County was organized out of a part of the Cherokee lands and named for the celebrated John Paulding, one of the captors of Major Andre. Under the provisions of this same Act, Van Wert was made the county-seat. This town, named for a companion of John Paulding, who aided the latter in making his famous capture, was incorporated by an Act approved December 27, 1838. It became an important center for the slate-mining industry in Georgia, and was made in 1866 a terminal point of the Cartersville and Van Wert Railroad, but with the rise of Rockmart, only half a mile distant, Van Wert began to decline, and is today only a suburb of the latter- town.
Dallas. On December 20, 1851, an Act was approved taking from Paulding and Floyd Counties a large body of land, out of which to form the new County of Polk. In readjusting the border lines, Van Wert was left on the edge of the new county, making it neces- sary to choose a new county-site for Paulding. Accord- ingly, the Inferior Court judges were authorized to select a new site for public buildings, and out of this legislative enactment grew the present town of Dallas, named for Hon. George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, who was after- wards made Vice-President of the United States. The town was incorporated on February 8, 1854, with the following commissioners, to-wit .: John S. Poole, Garrett H. Spinks, James H. Ballinger, Hezekiah Harrison, and James S. Hackett. The Male and Female Academy was chartered in 1860.
PICKENS
Jasper. In 1853, Pickens County was organized from Cherokee and Gilmer, and, under the provisions of the same Act, Jasper was made the county-seat, named for Sergeant Jasper, while the county itself memorialized General Andrew Pickens, both Revolutionary patriots of South Carolina. Perhaps a large element of the coun- ty's population at this time was from the Palmetto State. The town was incorporated December 22, 1857, with the following-named commissioners, to-wit .: A. K.
929
PIERCE-PIKE
Blackwell, John A. Lyon, Adin Keeter, L. W. Hall and George W. Harman.1
PIERCE
Blackshear. Blackshear, the county-seat of Pierce County, was incorporated as a town on De- cember 16, 1859, and was named for General David Black- shear, of Georgia, a noted Indian fighter. The county itself, formed out of Appling and Ware, was named for President Franklin Pierce. On December 7, 1860, the old Blackshear Academy was chartered, with the follow- ing board of trustees: J. A. Harper, E. D. Hendry, D. R. Milton, C. S. Youmans, John W. Stephens, John T. Wilson, Benjamin Blitch, William Goettee, John M. Jen- kins and James B. Strickland.2 The present public- school system of Blackshear was established in 1893. Hon. W. G. Brantley, a former member of Congress, and Hon. J. Randall Walker, a newly elected member, are both natives of Pierce. This was also the home of Hon. John C. Nicholls.
PIKE
Zebulon. In 1822, Pike County was organized out of Mon- roe. Under the provisions of an Act, approved in the year following, the county-seat was located at a little village called Newnan, commissioners for which were named as follows: Samuel Mitchell, William Mitch- ell, William Myrick, Nicholas Johnson and Hugh F. Rose.3 But Zebulon became the county-seat within a short while thereafter, and was incorporated as a town in 1825. Both the county and the county-seat were named for the famous explorer, General Zebulon M. Pike. With the establishment of the town, a school was started for boys, and on December 25, 1837, a charter was granted for the Zebulon Female Academy, the trustees of which
1 Acts, 1857, p. 180.
2 Acts, 1859, p. 134.
3 Acts, 1823, p. 186.
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
were named as follows : Robert Walker, John Hall, Richard S. Walker, Jeptha V. George, Thomas B. Daniel and William Harris .* In 1852, a charter was granted for the Zebulon Branch Railroad, to connect either with Barnesville or with some convenient point on the Macon and Western Railroad.
Barnesville. Prior to the year 1820 Gideon Barnes, with his family, left his native State of Virginia and came to Georgia, bring- ing with him five or six head of stock and five slaves. Charles Wallace Graddick, his great-grandson, has in his possession the original deed to a lot of land, for which Gideon Barnes traded an Indian pony in full pay- ment thereof. On this lot, near the western stage route, where the roads from Zebulon to Forsyth, Jackson to Thomaston, intersected he built a log cabin for a home, and one for a store, and the settlement was known as Barnes' Inn. One of the slaves could cook like "de fo'ks in Virginny," and the fame of the inn went abroad in the land. The primitive house stood for many years and was enlarged from time to time. A shed to the front made a long veranda that boasted benches and a shelf the length of the house, on which were stationed, like sanitary sentinels, tin wash-pans, buckets and towels, proving that clean hands and a pure heart were prenatal with the plucky little city that makes no false claims in her plea for civic jus- tice. Here youths and maidens loitered on the Sabbath day, and John Alden and Priscilla lived again.
Willis Jay Milner, was the next settler recorded. In 1823 he made a trip to Jasper County, and brought his bride on horseback to his cabin in the woods. He built and sold seven houses in as many years in the vicinity of Barnes' Inn, and thus came into existence Barnesville, one of the proudest little cities' in Georgia. Among those who laid the foundation were Jack Jenkins, Zack Fryer and Josiah Holmes. Later came Charlie Turner, Alvis Stafford, Dan Hightower and the Elder boys, Jack and Hub. The Elder boys were successful young merchants, and during the famine in Ireland they shipped a cargo of corn to the sufferers across the water. Soon church spires pointed heavenward, and two remarkable schools' attracted families worth while. Dr. Holly and Dr. Blackburn were the first physicians. They were followed by Dr. Wright, Dr. McDowell and Dr. Perdue, who were pillars of faith in time of need. Dr. Lavender and Dr. Fogg were the dentists who did perfect work, with no promise of the painless impossible. After recovering from the shock of war the ambitious village set stakes for a full-fledged city, and is steadily pulling to them. The Murphys, Blalock, Frank Reeves, Robert Mitchell and many other families of sterling worth added merchants, farmers, manufacturers and
*Acts, 1837, p. 15.
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POLK
professional men to the high-toned citizenship. Charles E. Lambdin founded Gordon Institute and every March an appreciative people delight to honor his memory with exercises of Founders' Day. And the buggy factories have had much to do with the making of the town. Jackson G. Smith's two sons and C. O. Summers were born to the genius of the business, and within a few years the Franklin Company has made a marvelous record. The only misfortune Barnesville feels, and to which she yields, is her political geography, which nothing can remedy but the wisdom of granting the new County of Lamar.
Authority: Mrs. J. W. Reeves, Barnesville, Ga.
POLK
Cedartown. Under an Act approved February 8, 185-4, the site of public buildings for the new County of Polk was made permanent at a place called Cedar Town. At the same time a charter of incorpora- tion was granted, in which the following commissioners were named, to-wit .: Augustus N. Verdery, Benjamin F. Bigelow, Brooks M. Willingham, Jesse M. Wood and Hezekiah Witcher.1 But Cedartown was already an im- portant village when Polk County was organized. On December 19, 1834, the Cedar Town Academy was char- tered, with Messrs. John Kerley, Jacob Scott, Larry Witcher, John Witcher, Sr., and Ephraim Mabry as trus- tees. As a community of cultured people, Cedartown began to attract attention long before the Civil War; and, on March 5, 1856, a somewhat ambitious local enter- prise bore fruit in a charter for the Woodland Female Academy. The trustees of this institution were: Edwin Dyer, Edward D. Chisholm, Springer Gibson, Thomas H. Sparks, William Newton, David S. Anderson, A. N. Verdery, William A. Mercer, Abner Darden, Carter W. Sparks, Joel H. Ferrell, Wilson O. B. Whatley, Alfred F. King, Edward H. Richardson, William Peek, Lazarus W. Battle and William E. West .? This list is important at the present time, chiefly for the list of pioneer names
1 Acts, 1Sk53-1854, p. 224.
2 Acts, 1855-1856, p. 28S.
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
which it still preserves. Cedartown has enjoyed a rapid growth of late years. It is the home of Hon. W. J. Harris, Director of the Federal Census; of Hon. G. R. Hutchins, a distinguished lawyer and legislator; and of other noted Georgians. In Volume I of this work will be found an extended list of former residents, to which number may be added Hon. Frederick L. Blackmon, a brilliant Alabama Congressman.
Rockmart. One of the best-known towns of Georgia before the war was the old town of Van Wert, the original county-site of Pauld- ing; but when the new county of Polk was created in 1851, out of a part of Paulding's territory, Van Wert was included in the section allotted to Polk. This necessitated a change in the seat of government from Van Wert to Dallas, the present county capital. Cedartown was made the county-seat for the new County of Polk, while Van Wert, stripped of her civic honors, was left near the eastern edge of the new county, with her proud spirit broken by her adverse fortunes. Van Wert began to decline; but with the development of the slate industry in this neighborhood, sub- sequent to the war, arose the modern town of Rockmart, less than a mile distant. On August 26, 1872, Rockmart was granted a charter of incor- poration with Hon. C. T. Parker as Mayor, and with Messrs. W. Ferguson, Thomas Moon, T. G. Ingraham, W. H. Hines, and S. K. Hogne as Coun- cilmen.1 The name "Rockmart" indicates the chief industry of the town. This name was coined from the two component words "Rock" and "Mart. " The quarries at this place are world-renowned. Today Van Wert is only a suburb of Rockmart.
PULASKI
Hartford. The original county-seat of Pulaski County was Hartford, a town which long ago ceased to exist. Its charter bears date of December 10, 1811, at which time it was chartered with the follow- ing named commissioners, to-wit .: Thomas A. Hill, Solomon A. Hopkins, Elijah Wallace, William Lyon, and Henry Simmons.2 The town was named for Nancy Hart, of Elbert, one of the most famous heroines of the Revolution. Only the barest fragments of this old town still survive. Pu- 'laski County was formed in 1808 out of Laurens. One of the earliest settlers at Hartford was Dr. Joseph Reid.
1 Acts, 1872, p. 244.
2 Lamar's Digest, p. 936.
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PULASKI
Hawkinsville. In 1837, the county-seat of Pulaski was removed to Hawkinsville, a prosperous town on the opposite side of the Ocmulgee River, after which the fortunes of Hartford began to decline. Haw- kinsville was incorporated as a town on December 2, 1830, with the following residents of the town named as com- missioners :: Robert N. Taylor, John Rawls, John Mc- Call, Jacob Watson and David B. Halsted .* The Haw- kinsville Academy was chartered in 1831, with most of the above-named residents as trustees. Surrounded by a rich agricultural section and connected with the out- side world by railway and steamboat facilities, Hawkins- ville is one of the most prosperous towns of the middle belt.
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