History of Greene County, Georgia, 1786-1886, Part 2

Author: Rice, Thaddeus Brockett
Publication date: 1961
Publisher: Macon, Ga., J.W. Burke Co.
Number of Pages: 690


USA > Georgia > Greene County > History of Greene County, Georgia, 1786-1886 > Part 2


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Georgia has the largest forest area, 23, 750,000 acres.


Georgia is first in production of peaches, watermelons, peanuts, pimentos, pecans, sweet potatoes and bees.


The highest point in Georgia is Brasstown Bald in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachains, 4,784 feet above sea level.


The "Golden Isles" off the Georgia coast stretch from the Savannah River to the St. Mary's River.


Georgia is the largest producer of kaolin and china clays. It's marble and granite is of the nation's finest.


The State motto is: Wisdom, Justice and Moderation. The state flower is the wild Cherokee rose, the state bird is the brown thrasher. Georgia's star on the blue field of the United States flag is the fourth from the upper left-hand corner, as she was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution in 1787.


Georgia was one of the eleven seceding states which form- ed the southern Confederacy. She gave her men, food and supplies to sustain Gen. Lee's legions during the fratricidal strife of the 1860's. From the ashes of war she finally arose like the proverbial phoenix and became a commonwealth of confident forward looking people now facing the nuclear age fraught with wonders and dangers.


C. Williams


xxi


CONTENTS


Note: To have completely indexed each name appearing in this book would have required 100 pages additional, which the limited budget did not per- mit. The content listed here is complete and all lists of names are arranged alphabetically or in chronological order.


CHAPTER I


Before Greene County Was Formed


1


White Men Move In 4


Treaty at Shoulderbone With the Creeks


5


Before the Territory of Greene County Was Set Apart 8


CHAPTER II


Greene County Organized


12


Nathaniel Greene


14


Settlements 16


Map of Georgia in 1732


23


Greene County Indian Mounds


25


Ancient Letters with Spanish Governor of East Florida 28


The Georgia-Tennessee Line Surveyed


31


CHAPTER III


Greene County's Early Settlers


34


Census


50


Census in 1859


51


Greene County Census Takers 1810


51


Census by County


52


Town Hall Meeting


52


Free Persons of Colour


57


Greene County People in the 1790's


59


Record of the Inferior Court


60


CHAPTER IV


Villages, Postoffices, Roads and Railroads


63


Park's Bridge


63


Veazey


63


Woodville


64


Richland Creek


65


Carey


65


Cawthorn


65


Greshamville


65


Ruth


65


Richland Farm


66


Wrayswood


66


Grantville


66


Daniel's Spring


67


Shoulderbone Creek


67


Rock Landing


67


Public Square


67


Bethany


68


Union Point


68


xxiii


70


Liberty


70


Scull Shoals 70


Greensboro


70


White Plains


71


Jefferson Hall


72


Penfield


72


Greensboro Formed Three Years Before George


Washington Became President


74


Greensboro's First Postoffice


76


Greensboro's Old Postoffice Cabinet


80


News Items of More Than 100 Years Ago


82


Courthouse


85


Greene's First Railroad and Roads


86


Boats on the Oconee


90


Greene County's First Roads


94


The Old Three-Chopt Road West


97


Historic Highway No. 15


99


Highways of 100 Years Ago


102


CHAPTER V


Churches


104


Bethany Presbyterian


104


Liberty Chapel Methodist


107


Shiloh Baptist


108


New Hope Baptist


108


Baird's Baptist


108


Scull Shoals Baptist


109


Falling Creek Baptist


109


Richland Creek Baptist


109


White Plains Baptist


109


Fort Creek Baptist


110


Shoulderbone Baptist


110


Powelton Baptist


110


Greensboro Baptist


111


Smyrna (Siloam) Baptist


113


Friendship Baptist


113


Union Point Methodist


113


New Siloam


113


Siloam Presbyterian


113


Penfield Baptist


113


Macedonia


113


Union Point Baptist


113


Veazey Baptist


115


Woodville Baptist


115


Greensboro Second Baptist


115


Goshen


115


Phillips Mill Baptist


117


Greensboro Presbyterian


117


Union Meeting House


117


Greensboro Methodist


120


Bethesda Baptist


120


Episcopal of the Redeemer


120


Catholic Church


121


Salem Methodist


122


Hastings Methodist


122


Wesleyan Methodist


122


Oakland Presbyterian


122


xxiv


Siloam


Penfield Presbyterian


122


Bishop Andrew and the Schism in the Methodist Church


122


Mell's Kingdom 123


Our City of the Dead


127


The Oliver Porter Cemetery


132


Churchyard at Bethesda Baptist Church


133


Landmarks and Legends


135


CHAPTER VI


Growth


140


Early Manufacturers


144


Cotton Gins


144


Georgia's First Paper Mill


145


Greene County Industries


148


Pistol Factory at Greensboro


150


Other Minor Factories


151


The First Cotton Bagging


151


Gold in Greene County, 1854


154


Templeton Reid's Coinage Attacked


156


First Record of Davis and Barber Clocks


158


Early Newspapers


160


Greensboro's Hotels and Taverns


161


The Doherty Hotel


162


Strain-Stratham Hotel


163


Doctors


166


Practicing Medicine Long Ago


168


Hog Killing, 1845


173


Corn Shuckings


174


Neighbors


174


Slaves


175


Peace and Plenty, 1820-1860


177


Clouds Gather


181


Recreation and Clubs


184


Second July 4th Celebration


187


White Plains Independence Day


188


St. Marino Lodge No. 34


191


Memorial to Anderson Terrell


194


Recreations and Amusements


195


Garden Club


196


Greensboro Fair Association


196


First Fair at Union Point


199


CHAPTER VII


Education


202


Chestnuts and Rabbit Tobacco


204


First Schools


206


The Poor School Fund


209


How the Poor Fund Was Administered


211


Greensboro Female Academy


214


William H. Seward, Teacher


219


Other Schools


220


Colored Schools


223


The Buildings


226


Traditions


230


A Long Forgotten Benefactor of Poor Children


232


University of Georgia Lands


221


History of White Plains School


234


XXV


Selling Off the College Lands


235


Mercer


238


How a Christian School Was Financed by a Jew


253


Mercer at the Close of The War, 1865


255


New Mercer at Macon


256


Key to the Map of Penfield


256


CHAPTER VIII


Historic Homes


262


Thornton House


265


Oak Hill


266


Neeson House


267


Lindsey-Durham Place


268


Davis Residence


268


Jefferson Hall


270


Paradise Hill


272


Park Home


272


Hawthorne Heights


274


Cunningham Home


276


Radford-Nicholas Home


276


Merritt Home, Other Old Homes


276


Chappel Home


278


Dr. John E. Walker Home


278


Davis-Evans Home


280


Copeland-Evans Home


280


CHAPTER IX


Personages


281


Waddell, Moses


281


Wilde, Richard Henry


281


Davis, Charles Alfred


282


Copeland, Edward A.


283


Weaver, Benjamin


284


Stocks, Judge Thomas


284


Clark, Elijah


286


Early, Joel


288


Early, Peter


290


Dale, Samuel


291


Grier, (Greer) Thomas


296


Park, James Billingslea


296


Pierce, Bishop George Foster


298


Kilpatrick


300


Fauche, Jonas


302


Mercer, Rev. Jesse


304


The Clark-Mercer Legend


310


Mercer at Penfield


311


Poullain, Dr. Thomas N.


312


Porter, Oliver


313


Janes, Dr. Thomas Gresham


314


Nisbet, Judge Eugenius and Others


314


Cummings, Rev. Dr. Francis


315


Grier, Robert


316


Carter, Artist P. P.


316


Fitzpatrick, Benjamin


317


Clayton, Phillip


319


Williams, James Cranston and Sons


319


Rice»Thaddeus Brockett, Maymie Bowen Rice.


320


xxvi


T. B. Rice's Grandfather


324


Cobb and Dawson, Two Noted Senators of U. S. 325


Thornton, Redmon 326


Walker, Dr. John E. 327


Saunders, Julius


328


Redd and Other Prominent Families


328


Jackson Day Dinner 329


A Greensboro Row 332


Origin of Feud Between John Clark and William Crawford


334


CHAPTER X


Facts About Greene County and Greensboro 339


Greensboro, 1786-1860 348


David Love and Love's Spring


349


Greensboro As I Knew It 353


Herald-Journal 356


1873, Herald-Journal 359


1880-1940, Greensboro As Rice Knew It 360


Mural in the Postoffice 368


Greensboro's First Waterworks 370


1890-Greensboro 374


How Greensboro and the County Appeared to a Traveler in 1839 375


The 100,000 Class, (1941)


380


CHAPTER XI


Section I


Wars and Soldiers, 1783-1835


382


Muster Roll of Dragoons 384


Military Records, 1783-1815 388


Greene County, Indian War, 1836 388


Revolutionary War, 1775-1781 389


Revolutionary Soldiers 389


Revolutionary Soldiers Who Died Here


396


Greene County Honors the Memory of Heroes


397


Section II


War Between the States


399


Enrollment of Militia Co. District 146-47 403


Greene Rifles - Phillips Legion


404


Stephens Light Guards, Co. 1,8th Ga. Reg. 1861


405


Muster Roll of the 17th Ga. Militia


407


Military Records - 1867-65, Reg .G. M. Hdq. 16th Ga. Brigade July 26, 1861 409


Confederate Soldiers Buried at Penfield


413


Sherman's Raiders


414


Patriotic Women


415


Jefferson Davis Currency


418


The Confederate Note


419


Confederate Half Dollar


420


Confederate Coinage 420


The Last Silver Dollar of Confederacy


423


Section III


Reconstruction


423


CHAPTER XII


Laws, Courts, Banks and Duels


430


Courts and Law 432


xxvii


434


Crime


Inferior Court Records 1861


437


Practice of Law and Physics


438


Slave Owners 438


When War Clouds Hovered Over Greene


442


Judge Samuel Sibley


443


Constitutional Convention, 1789


444


Constitutional Convention of Ga.


445


Constitutional Convention of 1788


446


Historical Tid-Bits Gleaned from Old Records


447


First Filibustering in Ga.


452


Courthouse Burned


453


Duels


453


When Forgery Was Punishable by Death


454


Banks, 1857


456


Stores and Banks


459


CHAPTER XIII


Dixiana 463


The Old Outhouse


463


Georgia Hospitality in 1790


464


Short Paragraphs From Old Newspapers


469


President Jefferson Davis at Parks' Mill


472


Cracker's Neck 475


478


Stories of Cracker's Neck


479


Judge Garnett Andrews Memories of Old Bethesda Church 484


Gen. Andrew Jackson Visits Greensboro


490


CHAPTER XIV


Greene County Marriage Records, 1786-1873 494-632


CHAPTER XV


Officers of Greene County 633


Justices of Peace - 1799-1829


635


Grand Jurors, 1790 642


County Surveyors, 1786-1914


642


Treasurers, 1786-1914


642


Clerks of Superior Court, 1790-1920


643


Court of Ordinary, 1799-1924 643


Coroners


643


Sheriffs


643


Tax Collectors


644


Justices of Inferior Court, 1785-1868


645


Judges of Superior Court, 1807-1960


646


Bibliography


647-648


xxviii


"Lingerlonger" in Cracker's Neck


ILLUSTRATIONS


Thaddeus Brockett Rice ii


Map of Greene County xii


How Georgia Looked in 1732 22


Mural in the Postoffice 79


Courthouse in Greensboro 84


Last Legal Ducking in Georgia 433


The Town of Penfield 257


Salem Baptist Church


Indian Fort on the Oconee


Samuel Dale


292


William Seward


Bishop George Foster Pierce


William H. Kilpatrick


William Heard Kilpatrick, Jr. 299


Thomas Stocks


Billington Sanders


Mrs. Billington Sanders


Rev. Jesse Mercer


303


Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus B. Rice


321


Judge James B. Park


James Cranston Williams


William C. Dawson Louisa M. Alcott 318


Greensboro Methodist Church


Powelton Baptist


White Plains Methodist


Marker at Powelton Church 119


Walker's Methodist Church


Greensboro Presbyterian


Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Greensboro Old Union Church 116


Macedonia Church Woodville Baptist Greensboro First Baptist Greensboro Second Baptist 114


Bethesda Baptist Church


Liberty Methodist Bethany Presbyterian Shiloh Baptist 105


Mercer Chapel Penfield Presbyterian Ciceronian Hall, Mercer Penfield Cemetery 239


xxix


Charles A. Davis Home Jefferson Hall, before restoration,


Jefferson Hall, after restoration 269


Williams Home Old Vincent House Cunningham Home Radford Home 277


Thomas Stocks Institute


Greensboro Female College


213


Hawthorne Heights Cunningham Home T. B. Rice Home P. F. Merritt Home


275


James B. Park Home


Room Where Jefferson Davis Slept 273


Siloam Baptist Church


Union Point Methodist


New Siloam Methodist


Siloam Presbyterian 112


Old Rock Jail Paradise Hall


Thornton House Ruins of Thos. P. Janes Home


271


Thomas Greer and Lititia Greer 295


Davis-Evans House Copeland-Evans House 279


Old Cromer House Judge James B. Park Jr. Home Redmon Thornton Home Building of Mercer at Penfield 264


xxx


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


ERRATA


Page No.


Printed


Correct


26 (3rd Par., Line 4) Byar Veazy


Dyar


63


Veazey


65


Cawthorn Cawthon Jernigan


77 The clipping referred to with reference to the mural in the Greensboro Post Office was missing from Dr. Rice's file. See pages 368-370.


86 92 (Peter Early, Gov. Ga.)


Gwn (Allison) Gwyn


1818-1815


1812-1815


96


Ezekeil (Park)


Ezekiel


106, 315, 352


Cummings (Rev. Dr. Francis)


Cummins


119 Picture lower right


White Plains White Plains


Methodist Church BAPTIST


143


Ducking picture referred to is shown on Page No. 433


152 5th Par. 1837


(Mrs. Park died in 1936, and Mrs. Lewis in 1955)


167 194 222


Stapper (Dr. J. A.)


Stapler


J. L. Calloway


J. S. Callaway


McWhorther (B. F.)


McWhorter


190 and 222


McGibboney (T. H.)


McGibony next


276 (11th line)


new Copeland (E. A.)


Copelan


280


basetent


basement


one floor


two floors


280 (Copelan-Evans home) 301


Wlliiam (Kilpatrick) William


328 and 361


Tolbert (J. E.) Torbert


340 341


Yoraba Yoruba


347 (Dawson home) Standing in Greensboro 1936. Demolished and modern brick dwelling built on lot by owner, Mrs. C. L. Rhodes. 356


Arnold (Copelan, Armor


Seals &)


372


Fister (Miss Julia) Foster


375


Buice (DeForest) Byce


375


Torning morning


Stevens (Alexander Hamilton)


Stephens


381 415


Quoting Edmond Burke-insert "who" after the word "He"- Should read "He who will not look into the past ... etc." 478-79 "Miss . ... Davison." Insert in blank "Pearl." (M. 2-19-1903)


1936


276, 277 and 280


Robenson (Philip) Robinson


69


Jernagin


CHAPTER I BEFORE GREENE COUNTY WAS FORMED


The Colony of Georgia was founded on the 12th of Feb- ruary 1733. The Battle of Bloody Marsh was fought on July 7,1742. From the establishment of the Colony of Georgia until the time of the Revolution, Savannah was the seat of govern- ment; and, during this time Georgia's Chief-Magistrates were as follows: James Oglethorpe, William Stephens, and Henry Parker. Governors of the Colony; John Reynolds, Henry Ellis, and Sir. James Wright. Governors of the Province; James Ha- bersham, who was Governor ad interim while Sir James Wright was absent in England, on the eve of the Revolution; Archibald Bulloch and Button Gwinett, Presidents of the Executive- Council, or Provisional Governors, and John A. Treutlin, the first Governor of the State, under the Constitution. (1777- 78)


A Spanish coin slightly larger and thinner than a U. S. quarter dollar, was ploughed up in a field about three miles north of Greensboro on the farm of Mrs. C. E. Monfort. The lettering around the court of arms reads : Hispania Rex. 1718. The reverse side shows : Phillip-vs v* d* g *. The Spanish court of arms is mounted with the Crown. Just under the crown near the top of the court of arms on the left, is the letter R, and on the opposite or right hand side, is the letter S.


Similar Spanish coins have been found in Greene County at Dover and other sites of old Indian Villages in the north- west section of the County. Some historians contend that these coins were spent among the Cherokee Indians by De Soto's soldiers while they were searching for gold in Georgia. Other objects of Spanish origin have been found in the same sections, and it is a reasonable conclusion, that De Soto's men traded them to the Indians as they passed through. His line of march was from Silver Bluff, South Carolina, where he landed, across the Savannah river and through the Cherokee country to the gold region of northeast Georgia. It is said that he despoiled some of the tribes and drove them into Florida. Some contend that a remnant of both Creeks and Cherokees


1


2


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


were driven to Alachua, Florida and formed a nucleous of the Seminole tribe that still exists in that State. Others contend, that the word Seminole means renegade, and that the Semi- nole Indians of Florida, sprang from the renegades of the Cher- okee and Creek tribes that went from this section.


The existence of village sites and mounds on the Oconee river attest the fact that Indians, other than the Creeks had lived here.


Probably the earliest record was written by a ranger as- signed to General Oglethorpe's party, when he was making a tour into the Indian country in 1739 to establish friendly re- lations between the English and the natives. About 1777 Wil- liam E. Bartram, botanist and explorer wrote of the Great Buffalo Lick in Greene county.


It is believed by archeologists that these burial mounds on the Oconee, pre-date the journey of De Soto in 1540. These mound-builders also fortified their villages and cultivated the nearby fields for possibly 150 years. Perhaps the powerful Creeks came in around 1540-1600, from the West, to occupy these lands along the rivers, and here they traded with the English in Carolina.


Each tribe had its chief or Mico, who was subordinate to the chief of the Confederacy or Nation. A General Assembly of the chiefs met in May in the principal village to consider all matters of importance. Indians who had broken the law suffered without murmer the beatings or death meted out to them for punishment.


Milfort described an Indian village of the Creeks as fol- lows : In each village was a public square and in each angle of the square were three cabins of different sizes, making twelve in all. Each cabin held from 40 to 60 persons and they were built close together. The chief's cabin was first in rank and faced the rising sun. At one side was a great cabin where general meetings were held. The old men lived in the three cabins facing the setting sun, symbolic of their waning years. In the public square were the obelisk pole, the slave posts where


3


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


captives were bound and tortured, and the chunke (ball) grounds.


The Creeks were tall and robust with regular features. Their skin was reddish brown copper, with coarse black hair. The women were rather short but well formed. Before they began trading with the Europeans they wore scanty clothing made of skins. They wore moccasins in the winter and went barefoot in the summer. The head bands were decorated with beads and feathers and worn on special occasions.


The women wore a short skirt from waist to knees and a diagonal cloak thrown over one shoulder leaving the other one bare. Before a woman married she wore her hair long, hanging down her back but after marriage she arranged her hair in a neat knot on the nape of her neck.


Both sexes were tattooed. The children went naked until about fourteen years old. Later the Indians adopted the white settlers manner of dress.


The Creek Indians were a proud, haughty race, brave in war, ambitious of conquest, restless, hospitable to strangers and generous to the vanquished tribes. They were good trap- pers, hunters and builders, but would rather fight than farm.


The Creek's religion centered around the sun as a symbol of power and a Great Spirit, also maize, animals and fire. The swift and strong eagle was revered by the Creeks. They be- lieved in immortality of the soul and placed in the graves of their dead, articles to be used in the next world. (Milfort)


Along the Oconee and Ogeechee rivers the Indians lived, hunted and fished. Their graceful canoes would split the shin- ing waters on these rivers as they sought fresh hunting and fishing grounds or went to war.


The Englishmen at Savannah made a treaty with the lower Creeks, and gained lands along the coast in 1733. Two years later the fort at Frederica was built below the mouth of the Altamaha river. In 1739 the leaders of the three tribes, Creeks, Chickasaws and Cherokees met with the Englishmen at


4


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


the new town of Augusta. It was agreed for the English only, to settle the south side of the Savannah river.


For thirty years the Creeks and Cherokees along the Oconee were unmolested because the English had their hands full with the Spaniards on the south and the French and In- dians in the north. So the English settlements grew slowly until 1769-70 when white men began to follow the fur traders west of Augusta.


In 1773 the Indian chiefs were called to Augusta and there they reluctantly signed a treaty ceding two million acres of land to Georgia as settlements for debts owed by them to the mer- chants of the State.


WHITE MEN MOVE IN


The lands ceded by the Indians in 1773 cornered in the headwaters of the Ogeechee at Great Buffalo Lick about twen- ty-five miles from the mounds on the Oconee river. A party of surveyors, hunters, Indian guides, astronomers and land spec- ulators met at the Lick to lay out the boundaries of the ceded lands.


When the Revolutionary War was over the soldiers were offered free land in Georgia. Settlements grew rapidly. In four years the land ceded in the treaty of 1773 was formed into Wilkes County and settled.


In 1783 Georgia called upon the Indians to give up lands lying between Wilkes County and the east bank of the Oconee. Such a treaty was signed, but the Creek leaders were aroused, saying that only two out of a hundred chiefs were present and the treaty was invalid. The second treaty was worse, they said, and that six of their tribe were carried to Augusta as hostages. Now, while Georgia and the Indians were haggling over their treaties, the Georgia legislature created Washington County and Franklin County out of these ceded lands.


A stream of settlers from Virginia and a group of Scotch- Irish Presbyterians from N. C. settled on the forks of the upper


5


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


Ogeechee river and called their settlement Bethany. The rich red lands on the east side of the Oconee above and below the upper shoals were soon taken up. (Scull Shoals) This was the first settlement in what later became Greene County. (Feb. 3, 1786)


TREATY AT SHOULDERBONE WITH THE CREEK INDIANS IN 1786


When the Shoulderbone Treaty was signed by the Creek Indians on the 3rd day of November 1786 by John Habersham, Abraham Ravolt, J. Clements, James McNeil, John King, James Powell, Ferdinand O'Neal, and Jared Irwin on part of the State of Georgia, and sixty (60) Chiefs of the Creek Nation including Opohethle Mico King of the Tallesses, there was at least some hope of peace with the troublesome Creeks along the Oconee river, and settlers began clearing lands and building homes in the new County of Greene.


The Creeks had violated the Treaty that they had enter- ed into at Galphinton on the 12th day of November 1785 and their acts of hostility were fully discussed before entering into the new Treaty at Shoulderbone. The Commissioners insisted on full restitution of all property taken from the white citi- zens who were living in the territory that had been ceded by them, and in addition, the Creeks agreed to deliver as many of their Warriors to be put to death, as citizens they had murder- ed since the Treaty of 1785 was signed. The exact number to be delivered is somewhat hazy, the agreement reads as follows: "First, The Indians for themselves and the rest of the kings, head men and warriors of the Creek nation, do promise and engage that six of their people who were of the parties that murdered the same number (say six) of the white inhabitants last spring shall be put to death in a manner satisfactory to the person or persons whom his honor the Governor or Commission- ers may send to see it done. And that the white people who were the means of the said murders being committed shall be removed from the nation without delay."


6


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


As further proof that the Creek Indians were not sincere in the treaty obligations that they had assumed, they again vio- lated their agreement by crossing the Oconee river on May 29, 1787 and killed and scalped two men, captured one Negro and stole fourteen horses. They were followed by the militia and twelve of their number were killed. Their chiefs and leaders pretended to the Governor and Commissioners that those who were killed were innocent of the atrocities that occurred on May 29th, as they belonged to the lower towns, while the guilty ones belonged to the upper towns. This gave the Indians a pretext to claim that they had been wronged by the whites and they demanded that as many whites be turned over to them, as had been killed of their people. Of course the Governor refused to acceed to their demands as he knew that in reality, this was a retaliation for the six warriors that had been put to death under the terms of the Shoulderbone Treaty of the year before. How- ever, the Creeks were determined to get even, and deliberately planned the massacre that took place in 1787 when Greensboro was burned and 31 citizens killed and twenty wounded, and a number taken prisoner. This convinced the Governor and the people of Georgia that powder and lead afforded the citizens better protection from the treacherous Creeks than all of the Treaties that had ever been, or ever would be signed by them.


The white people referred to as living among the Indians and were "the means of said murders being committed" and whom the Indians promised to remove from the nation without delay, would naturally bring up the question, who were they ? A careful study of the "marvelous development" of Wilkes and Columbia counties referred to by Judge George Walton in his charge to the jury when the first Court was held in the new County of Wilkes, will enable the reader to surmise who some of these renegades were. And the fact that his court's first cases had to do with atrocities committed by Tories upon the helpless women and children of that section while their fathers and brothers were away from home fighting for the liberty of the American people and against the tyranny of Great Britain, would indicate that the Tories were as mean as the Indians and no doubt incited them to many cruelties upon the defense-


7


HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY


less people of that section. The Court record of Wilkes county shows, that in spite of the fact that five out of the first eight Tories tried and convicted were recommended to mercy, the feeling against them was so great that eight of them were hanged.




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