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