USA > Georgia > Greene County > History of Greene County, Georgia, 1786-1886 > Part 9
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old 48 to be coming in". About that time a column of smoke could be seen in the distance and old dependable 48 would come puffing up the tracks with the huge wheels charging, the engine pulling the tender then the baggage car and next the coaches.
The engineer was a hero to every boy and girl in the village, as he sat like a king at the throttle and would wave back a majestic gloved hand as he would glide by.
Strangers getting off the train were subjected to curious stares and the station agent always had a confidental word with the conductor before the train pulled out. There were packages and bags and the depot agent felt very important placing them in the old musty smelling depot.
Another way of transportation was the stagecoach which came into Greensboro from Athens, Washington, Sparta and Eatonton. Stops were made along the way to change horses, and let passengers get meals and lodging. There was much excitement when runaway horses tore down the street with the unwieldy coach lurching behind them. These coaches made about five or six miles an hour for about ten cents a mile.
It is hard for the young to conceive of this slow method of travel in the jet age in which they live.
Strange as it may seem the first proposition to build a railroad in the state of Georgia met with serious opposition. Old records of the Ga. Railroad Bank and Trust Co. sent James Camak and a Mr. Williams around the state to work up inter- est in the project. Conferences were held in most towns and an agreement was reached in Augusta whereby the railroad would terminate there and not go to Savannah, so as not to compete with the boat trade on the Savannah river.
The War Department sent two engineers down to investi- gate, and soon, the road was to run from Augusta to Athens with a branch road from Union Point to Greensboro. Then it was learned that a state road from Chattanooga, Tenn. through Ga. was coming and would come by Atlanta.
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For a number of years Athens was the headquarters for the Ga. railroad and all of its business meetings but the place was later changed to Augusta. The work of actual construction was started May 1833 and by 1837 trains were coming as far as Greensboro running about 12 miles per hour twice a day. One article in the newspaper said that night was made for sleep and not for traveling, and trains did not run at night for years.
The railroad reached Greensboro and J. Edgar Thompson was the chief engineer for the Ga. railroad. He bought a home in Greensboro and remained there many years. As the road pushed on to Marthasville, Thompson sold his home to Josiah Davis the clockmaker. In the corner of his yard there was a small two room house which was the first ticket office in Greensboro, used later by Davis to assemble his clocks.
It was really that mudhole in Greene County that caused the building of the first railroad in Ga., and the third in the United States. James Camak, William Williams, William Dear- ing and others were building the Princeton factory near Athens when the machinery which was very heavy was being moved from Savannah where ships had brought it from England by boat, by Augusta to Athens. This "rapid transit" method was by wagon teams of six mules each and took over a week. When they arrived on the muddy clay roads near Union Point these wagons, as I have said, bogged down in a mudhole and could not be extricated until the following spring.
These men were exasperated at this state of affairs and a meeting held in James Camak's library in Athens March 10th 1834. He was made Pres. and the following were made directors of the Ga. Railroad Company. William Williams, William Dearing, James S. Williams, William R. Cunningham, Elizur D. Newton, Alexander B. Linton, John Nisbit, William Lumpkin, Henry B. Thompson, John A. Cobb, Absalum Janes, John Cunningham.
After surveys and contacts were made an act of the Ga. Legislature in 1833 created the Georgia Railroad Company provided for the issuance of 15,000 shares of stock at $100.00 per share.
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Quoting from the Greensboro Herald Jan. 14, 1936 an article written by Henry Hardee and Charles Seaton from Savannah when they were in the 90's said, "In 1844, night passenger service on the branch of the Ga. railroad from Union Point to Athens was drawn by horse cars for five night's each week and on the sixth night a passenger coach was at- tached to a freight train drawn by the little steam engine called the "Firefly"."
The contractors for the building and grading of the Ga. railroad from Greensboro to the Oconee river were W.W.D. Weaver and William Cunningham from Greensboro, signed by them and engineer J. Edgar Thompson from the railroad. The timbers used for the track and the iron used for the rails were heavier than those used on the Athens branch.
Dr. T. B. Rice procured a four foot section of the original track used during the "horse-drawn days". W. B. Young of Bairdstown gave it to Dr. Rice. The timber was heart pine 6x6 inches. The groove worn by the 3 1-2 x 3-4 inch iron was spiked to the timber and this shows plainly as there is still one spike in the timber.
BOATS ON THE OCONEE
In a news item from the Augusta Herald on April 18, 1812 we find an article dealing with an inland navigation company on the Oconee River.
"An election held in Greensboro on Monday the 6th of Jan. last the following persons were duly elected as directors of the Oconee Navigation Company to serve for the term of one year, viz: Sterling Grimes, Joseph Cooper, Ezekiel E. Park, Henry W. Todd, John Garner, Zachriah Sims and Thomas Terrell.
At a meeting of the above directors they passed the fol- lowing resolutions, which in connection with the charter, form the fundamental laws for the government for the affairs of the company.
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Resolved that the capital stock of the Oconee Navigating Company shall be $30,000, which stock shall be divided into shares and half shares. The sum of $25.00 shall constitute a whole share and the sum of $12.00 and fifty cents shall con- stitute a half share. (There were other resolutions)
To The Public:
The advantages resulting from inland navigation are too self evident to render a comment on them necessary. The carry- ing into effect the object contemplated by the foregoing charter, will not only be of the first importance to the community but will also furnish the capitalist with an opportunity of turning his money to advantage, as he will discover by referring to sec- tion 5 of the act of incorporation.
The river has been minutely examined by a competent per- son, who has reported to the directors not only the practicabili- ty of obtaining good navigation thereon but that the obstruc- tions are much less formidable than have been generally con- jectured.
Encouraged by the amount already subscribed for (viz; one-third of the capital), and relying confidently on the liberal patronage of a generous public, the directors will in the month of May next, descend the river for the purpose of examining each obstruction and determine the method of removing them; with the expectation of commencing their operations in the court of the ensuing summer.
For the accomodation of the public, subscription papers are deposited with the editor of this paper, Mr. Denham of Darien, Col. D. McCormick of Dublin, Mr. Thomas of New London, Capt. Taylor of Sparta, H. Cox, of Clinton, Maj. Wilkins of Eatonton, Cunningham and David of Madison, Maj. George Moore of Oglethorpe County, Messers James Edwards and Co. of Washington and Wilkes Co. and Maj. Brown of Watkinville.
By order of the directors, James H. Nickelson Sec. Oconee Navigation Co. Greensboro, Ga., April 1, 1812
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The following constitutes the entire list of shareholders in the Oconee Navigation Company :
Thomas Reid, Thomas Chivers, James Cunningham, Eli- jah Reid, William Reid, Ruben Weaver, James Holt, John Garner, Thomas Garner, William Garner, H. Hays, James Chivers, A. Gaston, Frederick Johnston, James Park for self and Jas. Park, Jos. Park, Jefferson Park, John Park, Wallen Park, Madison Park and Columbus Park, all of these names were spelled Parke), Richard Park, Robert Peek, Wily Bryan, Josiah Watkins, Joseph Cooper, J. D. Fannin, Raleigh Holt, Daniel Low, Robert White, William A. Dunham, Scott Cray, John Hunter, James Hamilton, George Street, John Ross, Wm. B. Holzendorf, Jesse Lester, James Troup, Benjamin S. Lamb, Derwitt & May, Thomas Stocks, Nicholas Lewis, Peter Early, Zachariah Sims, E. Park, John T. Daniel, Payton Smith, Jere- miah Early, George Irving, Jacobus Watts, Henry W. Todd, Thomas Crawford Jr., Benjamin More, John Bethune, James Turner, David Roberts, James Mulkey.
Opposite the names of the Park boys appears this nota- tion : "Not entitled to vote." The assumption is that they were not of age, and their father bought the shares in their names.
Peter Early of Greene County was then Governor of Geor- gia (1818-15), and during that time the second War with England was fought and won. Governor Early placed the en- tire resourses of the State of Georgia at the disposal of the President of these United States, and in that way, he aided greatly in defeating the British.
In order to encourage water-transportation, the Georgia Legislature appropriated money to remove rock and other ob- structions in the Oconee River; and mill-owners were required to dig mill races from the head of the falls instead of damming the river, and in this way, the channel was kept open. ,
The Oconee was a clear stream in those days, and much deeper than it is at present. There were great forests along the banks of the creeks and rivers, erosion had scarcely begun, and fish were abundant in all our streams. There were many shoals
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to be sure, but the volume of water was sufficient to float the flat-bottom boats over the shoals.
There were few obstruction between Park's mill and Scull Shoals; and it is doubtful if boats ever ran between Scull Shoals and Barnett Shoals, near Athens, however, an attempt was made in the late 1830's, to convey a boat load of freight from Barnett Shoals to points in Florida; but was prevented from doing so by a dam across the river at Scull Shoals. This dam was built for the purpose of creating water-power to operate the Scull Shoals Cotton Factory.
Templeton Reid was the man whom the United States Treasury Department authorized to coin gold money in Dah- lonega. In the 1830's era "Uncle Sam" established his first mint for coining gold. If you happen to have any of these old Templeton Reid gold pieces tucked away in your trunk, you have a fortune and don't know it. One $10.00 Templeton Reid gold piece turned up in Milledgeville a few years ago and is said to have been sold for $3,500.00.
Speaking of gold being found in "them thar" hills of North Georgia, the discovery created a sensation similar to the "Gold Strike" in California in 1849 and poachers from the Carolinas and Tennessee flocked to that region in great numbers. Most of the mountain country was a public domain and belonged to the State of Georgia. In order to protect the gold deposits a Greene County man, Yelverton P. King was appointed custodian for the property, and through his efforts, the poachers were driven out-but not without resistance.
The Oconee Navigation Company proved to be a failure and was abandoned sometime during the 1820's. The charter was canceled and a number of toll-bridges were erected over the Oconee River. One at Scull Shoals, one at Park's Mill, one at Long Shoals Factory, and perhaps, others above and below Milledgeville.
Had Sidney Lanier cast his poetic eyes on the beautiful Oconee, he might have written a poem entitled the Song of the Oconee, to match the 'Song of the Chattahoochee," and he
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could have truthfully said that the soil from Hall enriched the Marshes of Glynn. The Oconee and Ocmulgee unite to form the Altamaha, and the rich soil around Darien came from north-east and central Georgia.
Speaking of Georgia's most beloved poet, Sidney Lanier, the writer sat on his knee many times when he was a school teacher in Prattville, Ala. The handsome face of Sidney Lanier was indelibly pictured on his childish memory, and he never hears a flute that he does not recall that face. Sidney Lanier spent many week-ends in my father's home, and they were close, personal friends. (T. B. Rice )
GREENE COUNTY'S FIRST ROADS
The first record of road-building in Greene County ap- pears in Book 1. Minutes of Greene Superior Court, Chief Justice George Walton presiding.
Justice Walton had personal knowledge of road conditions and the woeful lack of roads at that time, therefore, when Court convened in Greensboro in July 1790, he did not recom- mend, but ordered that certain roads be built. And his orders read as follows :
"Ordered" That a Road be continued from a Road already laid out from the Wilkes Court House leading toward Greene County Court House already open to the Greene County line crossing the Ogeechee near the head and that Robert Greer, Joshua Houghton and Thomas Houghton esq. be appointed commissioners."
The Greene-Wilkes county line at that time, was about where Route No. 12 passes under the Athens branch of the Georgia Railroad; and in all probability, the road that was built by Robert Greer and the Messers Houghton, following the present highway to just this side of the old Hart place, now owned by Mr. N. O. Williams. At that point, it turned to the left, coming this way, and came by the old Gwinn Allison place (now owned by Mrs. John T. Boswell), and by the Gheesling
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Pecan grove and on to Greensboro along the road used at pre- sent.
His Honor, Chief Justice George Walton, had to travel through that section as he made the rounds of his circuit, and the Greene Superior Court always followed immediately after the Wilkes Superior Court.
And, it is worth mentioning here, that Supreme Court Justices H. Osborne and George Walton formulated the rules governing court procedures in the State of Georgia; and these rules are recorded in Vol. 1, Minutes of Greene Superior Court.
The next road-building order issued on the same day, reads as follows :
"Ordered, That a road be built from the lower end of Greene County on the Ogeechee to join the road from Mit- chell's Bridge to the Rock Landing at the Piney Woods House and that George Bagby and Richard Lockhart be appointed commissioners."
"Ordered, That a Road be built from Thweat's Bridge on the Ogeechee River the best and direct way to the Rock Landing that is as far as the County line, and that Math Rabun, Jesse Pope, Charles Abercrombie and John Mitchell be appointed commissioners for the same."
"Ordered, That a Road be built from Thweat's Bridge by Powell Creek Meeting-house out to the Oconee River the best and most suitable way for the Shoulderbone people to trade to Augusta the Road to go as far toward the Oconee as the commissioners may think necessary at present, and that Henry Graybill, James Henry, Edward Butler and Robert Thomas be appointed commissioners."
Other roads were "Ordered" laid out as follows: From Cherokee Corner to Greensboro; and from Greensboro to the Oconee River at Zachariah Phillips Mill; and one leading out of "Sunbery neare" Hill's Mill the most direct way to the "Sholes" of Ogeechee ; and one from Greensboro to join a road that is cleared from Washington in Wilkes County to Stephen Heard's plantation on the line of Wilkes & Greene.
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The laying out of this last road, met with opposition on the part of one Emanuel Cheney who encouraged an affray and breach of the peace; and he was placed under a peace bond by Davis Gresham esq., an acting Justice of the Peace. He was released upon furnishing a bond of 50 pounds, sterling.
We wonder what our commissioners would do if the Su- preme Court was to give them such an "ORDER" now?
These minutes were all signed by Ezekeil E. Parks. Note the final "s".
All of these roads were built, and parts of them are still being used. The road from Rock Landing on the Oconee went via Powellton and on to the Ogeechee to Augusta. Later, this road came from Powellton via White Plains, and on across the Oconee River at Park's Mill. From there on it was known as the Seven Islands Road which extended to the Ocmulgee.
Parts of this road was used as a Stagecoach road from New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Columbus, Fort Hawkins and on by Washington, Ga., Petersburg, and on through South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The south to north bound stages crossed the east and west bound at Powellton.
The Cherokee Corner to Greensboro road, came via Scull Shoals and crossed and recrossed the Greensboro - Watson Springs road; but did not cross the Oconee.
These old roads are very important to county historians, as they lead to and by many landmarks that the casual obser- ver would overlook, and, old court records are also important. Civil suits, Indictments etc .; reveal the true character of the citizens. The old jury lists reveal who the "Esquires" were, and it is interesting to note a very small per cent of the jurors of the 1790's were "Esquires." This does not mean that the vast majority were "pleabs," but it does make one wonder why a few were always designated as "Esq."
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THE OLD 3-CHOP ROAD TO THE WEST
With our present paved highways leading in every direc- tion, and the wonderful concrete bridges over creeks and rivers, it is hard for us to visualize the difficulties our fore-fathers had as they trekked in search of homes in the unexplored country in the West; and few of us know that President Thomas Jef- ferson commissioned a Greene county man to lay out the first road from Georgia to the Mississippi River, and that this road led from Greensboro to what is now Vicksburg, Miss. However, that is exactly what happened, and Samuel Dale of Greene county, was the man who blazed that trail in the year 1801-4.
Samuel Dale was among the first settlers to come into this section while it was a part of Washington county, and he was one of the Dragoons who helped to patrol the frontier along the Oconee River. He was an officer under Captain Jonas Fauche, and he to, suffered losses at the hands of the marauding Indians. ,
The memory of this pioneer will be signally honored next year as is indicated by the following letter :
Europa, Miss Dec. 12, 1936.
Mr. T. B. Rice, Greensboro, Ga.
My dear Mr. Rice:
"I beg to acknowledge your letter of several weeks ago, and have neglected replying on account of pressing research work in connection with documents that relate to General Samuel Dale who formerly resided in Greene county, Georgia.
I appreciate the copy of the record of Dale's application for compensation for live stock stolen from him by the "Lower Creeks."
I am unable to furnish you with a record of Dale's special qualifications as a surveyor, but J. F. H. Claribone's "Life and Times of General Samuel Dale, gives the facts that Dale. Eaton, Easley, Joe Saunders, a half-blood, were named by President Jef- ferson to open a road from Greensboro, Ga., to the Bigbee settlements in Mississippi. From records here and in Alabama. they continued on to the Walnut Hills, now Vicksburg, Miss., reaching there in 1804.
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From Dale's journal, scattered parts of which are at Pensa- cola and in Birmingham. Dale and his companions set out from Greensboro, Ga., then on the outer rim of civilization, to mark a road to Turkeytown, now Centre, Ala., early in 1803. Turkeytown was the end of a Georgia mail route from the Oconee settlements, Milledgeville, Ga. From Turkeytown, Choctaw and Cherokee Indian runners carried the mail to Natchez, Spanish Mississippi.
The road that Dale and his companions opened came to be known as the famous 3-Chop-Way from Washington by Richmond to the imperial southwest.
Atlanta, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, Jackson and Vicksburg are cities that have sprung up along this old trail of 1803-the Sam Dale old trade route from the east to the west.
Dale, Eaton, Easley and Saunders had their Christmas dinner in 1803, on a spot three miles from the place where Dale is buried. La-Cha-Poka, a 7-foot Indian chief, was their guest. Dale built his home on the spot in 1831. La-Cha-Poka means, "here we rest"- the motto of Alabama.
La-Cha-Poka and James Dale, a brother of Sam's, are buried in the same graveyard with Sam.
Sam Dale, Sam Fluker the Indians called him, is buried in a pine thicket in the most desolated place that I have ever visited. For 95 years the old hero has lain there with none to do him honor. Greenwood LeFore, Choctaw chieftan, standing at Dale's grave on May 25, 1841 said; "Big Sam, you sleep here, but your spirit is brave and a chieftain in the hunting grounds of the sky."
We are going on a pilgrimage to the onely and God-forsaken grave of Sam Dale, the hero of the canoe fight and the famous ride from Milledgeville, Ga. to New Orleans in January 1815, on October 15-16, 1937. Come with us !!
We have a national committee to look after the pilgrimage program, and I am directed to ask you to serve on the committee for Georgia. Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have members on the committee.
We will have a meeting of the committee in Meridian, Miss., Jan. 29, 1937. I most cordially insist that you attend the committee meeting on that date. We will go to Dale's grave for the meeting.
Please inform me if we may include your name as a member of the General Dale Pilgrimage Society.
Please bring or send a wreath for the grave: it need be only a simple affair. We want to place several wreaths on the grave Jan. 29, 1937."
Yours very truly,
Signed: Jim Walton, Secretary, General Samuel Dale Pilgrimage Society, Europa, Miss.
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The old 3-Chop Road started at Greensboro and led to Park's Mill. However, it did not follow the present road that goes by Meadowcrest; but went about where the present high- way to Atlanta-Route No. 12 is located except, it crossed Rich- land Creek some fifty yards below the present concrete bridge and went up the hill that leads to the Baynes place, originally, the Early place, thence along the old road to a point about one-fourth of a mile beyond where Mr. John Hall now lives. Here, it turned to the left and intersected the present Greens- boro-Eatonton road to a point almost in front of the old Per- due home, and straight on to Park's Mill. This old road can be clearly traced through the woods directly in front of the Perdue home. From Park's Mill, the 3-Chop Road passed near where Madison now stands, and on in the direction of Monticello, and on west as indicated in the above letter. This road became known later, as the 7-Islands Road, so named because, it led by the 7-Islands in the Ocmulgee River.
In pioneer days, road-markings appeared on trees on each side of the road, and were never duplicated. For example; the 3-Chop Road was indicated by three distinct chops with an axe. Other roads were indicated by a greater or less number of chops. These road signs were observed by travelers as care- fully as we observe our highway signs of today.
If Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and other states are to honor this former citizen of Greene county by making a pil- grimage to his grave. Greene county should certainly send a wreath to place on his grave on January 29, 1937.
HISTORIC HIGHWAY NUMBER FIFTEEN.
Just as you leave the Athens-Madison Highway is the suburbs of Watkinsville, you will cross the line that divided Franklin and Washington Counties as they were in 1784. Two years later-Feb. 3, 1786, the county of Greene was created wholely out of Washington; and named for that matchless Re- volutionarv General, Nathaniel Greene. Greene County started at the Franklin County line and extended far below where
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Sparta now stands; and comprised a territory about one hun- dred miles long, by twenty miles wide, and was a sort of buf- fer between the civilized portion of Georgia and the Indians.
A comparatively few citizens settled in this territory while it was Washington County; but the rich land, fine healthy cli- mate, and good water, appealed to the brave men and women who like Joshua and Caleb desired to possess the land. Indian raids were fast and furious; and many of the early settlers lost their homes, horses and scalps.
The first point of interest after leaving Watkinsville and going east, is Scull Schoals, which is located just above where the highway crosses the Oconee River. This was probably among the earliest settlements in Greene County. The first casualty recorded in the new county occurred here. A Mrs. Cessna was scalped alive by the Indians while her husband was clearing land to plant a crop. The poor woman fled across the Oconee at a point known as the "cow-ford" and gave the alarm. The citizens were soon in persuit of the marauding Indians and overtook and slew them.
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