USA > Georgia > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county > Part 2
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
awful story to the returning husband and father. Later, the bell was used on the farm of Judge Tar- ver to mark the beginning of the day's work, and to call the hands in to dinner. It has been laid aside now for years, but is a living link which ties the present to a historic past.
South of General Wood's fort, across Williamson Creek, a party of Indians surprised a home and killed the father. They scalped and carried off his daughter, but were overtaken by a band of whites, hastily assembled, and a battle was fought not far from the J. J. Polhill place. The Indians were de- feated and several killed. The girl was rescued and afterwards recovered and married a Mr. Eason. She lived to a goodly old age, and was the grand- mother of Mrs. Uriah Anderson, whose home, near Old Bethel Church, is now owned by Mr. Ben Kitchens.
Few counties have sent forth a greater number of good citizens whose descendants have scattered into nearly every part of the world. Jefferson has been more famous for its large planters than for its pub- lic men, but it has produced not a few of distinction.
Ex-Governor Johnston was a citizen of Jefferson County. He was a native of Burke County, born September 18, 1812; graduated from the University of Georgia; practiced law in Augusta a short time,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
then moved to Jefferson County, and was early men- tioned as a youthful giant who fought with burnished steel. He was twice governor of Georgia, a senator in the United States Congress, judge of superior court, nominated for Vice-president of the Confeder- ate States, and was a member of the famous Georgia convention which met in Milledgeville January 16, 1861, to decide whether or not Georgia should secede from the Union. After the war, he was again elected with Alexander Stephens to the Unit- ed States Senate, but they were not allowed to take their seats because Georgia had not complied with all the requirements put on her by the Federal gov- ernment, chief among which was ratifying the fourteenth amendment, conferring citizenship on the negroes, so lately slaves.
Ex-Governor Johnston doubted the wisdom of secession, and took no active part in affairs during the war. He returned to his plantation, near Bar- tow, and to his home, Sandy Grove, which was filled with many interesting things connected with his eventful life. He was serving as judge of the supe- rior court when he died. Judge Johnston was famous for his power as a platform speaker, for his deep devotion to his friends and intense hatred of his foes. He married a Miss Polk, a niece of Pres. James K. Polk. Governor Johnston is buried in
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what is called the New Cemetery in Louisville. A monument marks his grave, having on it the simple inscription : "Ex-Governor Herschel V. Johnston, Born in Burke County, Ga., Sept. 18, 1812; Died in Jefferson County, Ga., Aug. 16, 1880."
Hugh Lawson, whose father came into Georgia from North Carolina before the Revolution, a cap- tain in the Revolution, one of the commissioners for the sale of confiscated property and for selecting the place for a State-house, and one of the trustees of the University, was brought up in this county.
Judge Roger Lawson Gamble, who was a member of Congress, long lived in Louisville.
Chesley and Littleberry Bostwick, both officers in the Revolution, lived in the county; also the Cobbs, Lamars, Rootes and Flournoys. Capt. James Mer- iwether, a brave Revolutionary soldier from Vir- ginia, died in this county October 25, 1817. Gen. George Stapleton, another Revolutionary hero, a Virginian by birth, settled in the county and reared a large family. He died May 30, 1832.
Maj. John Berrien, father of the Hon. John M. Berrien, at the dawn of the Revolution visited Geor- gia, and at the age of fifteen was appointed a lieu- tenant in the First Georgia Regiment, and was pro- moted to a captaincy in the same. When General McIntosh was appointed to a command in the
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Northern army, Major Berrien was selected by him as brigade major, and in that capacity he joined the grand army at Valley Forge. He was wounded at the battle of Monmouth and decorated by Washing- ton with the order of Cincinnati, and later became president of the Georgia branch of this organiza- tion. The emblem of this order was an eagle. Major Berrien was born in the famous Berrien man- sion, near Princeton, N. J., from which Washington issued his farewell orders to his army at the close of hostilities. He lived several years in Louisville, but died in Savannah.
Benjamin Whitaker, speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives for a long time, lived and died in Jefferson County. United States Senator Gunn also lived in Louisville, and is buried in the old cemetery there.
Governor Howell Cobb and Gen. T. R. R. Cobb were natives of Jefferson, but were reared in Clark County. Howell Cobb, Sr., an uncle of the Gover- nor, resided in Jefferson. He was a member of Congress 1807-181I.
One of the early settlers of Jefferson was Am- brose Wright. His son, Major General A. R. Wright, became an officer of high rank in the Con- federate Army, and an officer of distinction. The present Comptroller-General of Georgia, William
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A. Wright, who has held this office for thirty-six years, is a grandson. A brother of Gen. A. R. Wright, Col. H. G. Wright, was a native of Jef- ferson and has several descendants living in Louis- ville.
Daniel Hook, an eminent pioneer minister of the Church of the Disciples, resided for several years at Louisville, where his distinguished son, Judge James S. Hook, Commissioner of Education, jurist and scholar, was born.
The celebrated Patrick Carr, who is said to have killed one hundred Tories with his own hand, lived and died in Jefferson. He said he would have made a good soldier, but the Lord made him too merciful.
Among the other soldiers of the War of Inde- pendence who came from this immediate vicinity were: Gen. Solomon Wood, a captain in the Revo- lution, afterwards a general of militia; Aaron Thomlinson, an officer under General Green; Ches- ley Bostwick and Littleberry Bostwick, both officers; Seth Pearce and William Lyon. Chief-Justice James Jackson, a grandson of the old governor, was a native of Jefferson. Here also lived Brigadier- General Reuben W. Carswell, a distinguished Con- federate soldier and a jurist of note. Dr. Tilman Dixon, of Louisville, was a student at Richmond Academy during General Washington's visit to
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Georgia, and being an honor boy, received an auto- graphed book from the General.
Capt. James Meriwether and George L. Staple- ton, Sr., were Revolutionary patriots, and served their country with honor and distinction. John Peel, and an old patriot by the name of King, whose grave in the old cemetery at Louisville is said to be in a neglected condition, were also Revolutionary heroes of Jefferson County.
In 1810 the population of the county was 3,775 free, and 2,336 slaves; in 1830, 3,662 free and 2,647 slaves, and in 1850, 3,717 free and 5,637 slaves. As the records show, the number of slaves increased rapidly after the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1792. The owners of large plantations moved to the cities and left the farms in charge of overseers, who cultivated mostly cotton, the work being done by the slaves. The history of the invention of the cotton gin is as follows : Eli Whitney, at the time of inventing the cotton gin, was a guest at Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, Ga., the home of Gen. Nathaniel Green, of Revolution- ary fame. After the death of the General, his widow married Phineas Miller, tutor to Gen. Green's children, and a friend and college mate of Whitney's. The ingenuity of the Yankee visitor, as exhibited in various amateur devices and tinkerings
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
about the premises, inspired the family with such confidence in his skill that, on one occasion when Mrs. Miller's watch was out of order, she gave it to Mr. Whitney for repair, no professional watch- maker being within reach. Not long after this a gentleman called at the house to exhibit a fine sample of cotton wool, and incidentally remarked while dis- playing the sample "There is a fortune in store for some one who will invent a machine for separating the lint from the seed." Mrs. Miller, who was pres- ent, turned to Whitney and said, "You are the very man, Mr. Whitney, for since you succeeded so well with my watch, I am sure you have ingenuity enough to make such a machine".
After this conversation, Mr. Whitney shut him- self closely in his room for several weeks, and at the end of this time he invited the family to inspect his model for a cotton gin. It was constructed with wire teeth on a revolving cylinder. However there was no contrivance for throwing off the lint. Mrs. Miller, seeing the difficulty, seized a common clothes brush, applied it to the teeth, and caught the lint. Whitney, with delight exclaimed, "Madam, you have solved the problem. With this suggestion my machine is complete".
In 1828 Mr. John Schley went to Philadelphia and bought from Alfred Jenks, of Bridesburg,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
Penn., the first machinery for making cotton bagging and spinning yarns ever brought to Georgia. The machines were shipped to Savannah, and hauled by wagon two hundred miles to the interior of the state into Jefferson County. There, on Reedy Creek, Mr. Schley established his factory. The journey from Louisville to Philadelphia took Mr. Schley six weeks of constant travel on what was then known as the Alligator line of stage coaches. In his factory Mr. Schley ran four looms for weaving cotton bag- ging, making from 300 to 400 yards a day. Of yarns, he spun from 200 to 300 pounds per day. For this he received from $1.00 to $1.50 a pound; the market being among the country people who worked it up into homespuns. In 1834 Mr. Schley moved his factory to Richmond County, and named the new site Bellville.
In 1777, in the city of Savannah, the first Con- stitution of the State of Georgia was adopted. Among other things provided for the welfare of the citizens was the requirement, that schools should be provided in every county in the state.
In 1786 Governor Telfair was elected governor of Georgia. The law-making powers had assembled alternately in Savannah and Augusta, but these places were so distant for representatives from the northern section of the state to reach, that Governor
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
Telfair appointed three commissioners to select a place for the state capital, as follows : Nathan Brow- son, William Few, and Hugh Lawson. These men were also to provide for the erection of a building for the various departments, and for establishing a State University. The capital and university were to be in twenty miles of Galphinton which was at that time near the center of population in Georgia. The town was to be called Louisville. It was named Louisville, for Louis XVI. of France. The commis- sioners were authorized to buy one thousand acres of land and to lay out a part thereof for a town which should be known by the name of Louisville. Various causes hindered the completion of these plans-lack of sufficient funds, and the death of the contractor during the construction of the State House ; but finally, in the Constitution of 1795, the new town was designated as the permanent capital. Forty acres had been laid out in squares and streets, patterned after the city of Philadelphia, and the lots sold at auction. The first report of the com- missioners was made in 1791, another in 1792, and still another in 1793, all of which reports show the hindrances that had been met. The contractor, who died during the building of the state house, was Reuben Coleman. Also suits had been filed against the commissioners but finally, with help given by the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
legislature, they promised to have the work finished in two months. This state house was ten years in construction, and was the first one built by the state. The houses used in Savannah and Augusta were rented. In 1796 the seat of government was moved to Louisville, and Jefferson County was laid out.
The first session of the legislature was held in Louisville in 1796. It is not known exactly when the last session was held there, but a report of the Acts of the Legislature printed in Louisville, in 1805, records an act passed at Louisville December 2, 1804, to make the town of Milledgeville the per- manent seat of government of this State, and to dis- pose of a certain number of lots therein. Louisville must, therefore, have been the capital as late as 1805, as it evidently took months, at least, to erect the buildings, and to prepare the town of Milledge- ville for the purpose.
When the capital was removed to Milledgeville, the state house was turned over to the county of Jefferson. It was used for some years for the county court house, but finally it became so dilapidated, that it was necessary to replace it with another. This, in 1904, was in turn replaced by one of the hand- somest court house buildings in the state, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars. Louisville was not very prosperous after the capital was moved to Milledge-
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
ville, until the Louisville and Wadley Railroad was built, about 1875, connecting the town with the Cen- tral Railroad at Wadley. The Louisville Gazette, founded in 1796, was one of the pioneer newspapers of Georgia. The handsome oak press used in pub- lishing the Gazette, was bought in England. It was afterwards sold to the Georgia Messenger of Ma- con. According to a local authority, when the pres- ent court house was built, an excavation was made which disclosed the foundation of the old State Cap- itol; and by a singular coincidence, this corre- sponded exactly with the plans for the new edifice.
Among the early settlers were William Hardwick, John Fulton, the Clemmons, Pattersons, Roger and Hugh Lawson, William Gamble, Captain Haddon, Captain Connley, Andrew Berryhill, the Shellmans, John Berrien, the Hamptons and the Whiteheads. Most of these came from North Carolina, Virginia, and North Ireland. Among the latter were Hugh Alexander, James Harvey, Z. Albritton, Charles Harvey, Thomas Atkinson, Garland Hardwick, Dave Alexander, Joseph Hampton, Henry G. Cald- well, Esq., D. Hancock, Isaac Coleman, William Hannah, Isaac Dubose, W. P. Hardwick, Marth Dorton, G. W. Hardwick, David Douglas, John Ingram, George Evers, George Ingram, John Evans, William Kenedy, R. Fleming, John Land, R. Flour-
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
noy, William Lowry, John Finley, Samuel Little, John Green, James Meriwether, R. Gray, John Martin, John Maynard, William Peel, Jesse Pau- lett, Love Sandford, Robert Prior, Henry Tucker, Jesse Purvis, Andrew Thompson, John Reese, Ben- jamin Warren, Jesse Slatter, John Warnock, M. Shellman. All these received grants of land in the county.
Along the banks of the Ogeechee and on the nu- merous creeks were large bodies of fine oak and hick- ory land, and away from them were wide areas of pine forests. The first industry of the people was stock raising, and little else was attempted for sev- eral years. Then some tobacco was planted and a tobacco warehouse built, located on the Ogeechee, a few miles from Louisville.
The climate of Jefferson County is mild. Lands are increasing in value.
Instances of longevity are the following: When the census of 1850 was taken, there were living Hannah Young, aged 80; Abraham Beasley, 81 ; Ann Justice, 92; Margaret Stapleton, 82; Joseph Price, 82; Patty Collins, 92; Sarah Worrell, 81 ; James Gunn, 81 ; Mary Patterson, 98 ; Nancy Davis, 92; Sarah Marshall, 82; James Sherod, 81; Jane Neely, 82 ; Mille Pierce, 92 ; Rachel Gordon, 91.
Most of the early settlers of Jefferson were pa-
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
triots of the Revolution. Following are some names of those who received land grants prior to the Rev- olution, and settled in the township of Queensboro. Most of these were emigrants from North Ireland, as follows : Z. Albritton, John Allen, David Alex- ander, Hugh Alexander, Matthew Barr, Samuel Barren, Thomas Atkinson, John Bartholomew, Mitchel and Thomas Beatty, James Blair, James and John Boggs, James Breckinridge, John Brown, William Brown, John Bryant, John Bushby, John Campbell, John Cary, John Chambers, Alexander Chestnut, Isaac Coleman, George Cook, Robert Cooper, John Crozier, John Dickson, M. Dorton, Isaac Dubose, David Douglas, Robert Duncan, John Evans, John Finley, James Fleming, Robert Flem- ing, Samuel Fleming, Richard Fleeting, John Gam- ble, Robert Gervin, John Gilmore, R. Gray, John Green, David Green, James Haden, Joseph Hamp- ton, D. Hancock, Robert Hanna, William Hanna, William Harding, Garland Hardwick, C. W. Hard -~ wick, W. P. Hardwick, James Harris, Sherrill Hartley, James Harvey, James Hogg, Henry Hurd, John Ingram, David Irwin, Isabella Irwin, Jo- seph Johnson, John Kenedy, Isaac Laremore, Hen- ry Lewis, Samuel Little, Matthew Lyle, Samuel McAlister, John McClinigan, Elizabeth McClini- gan, William McConky, William McCreery, James
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
McCroan, Thomas McCroan, Patrick McCullough, B. McCullers, Patrick McGee, Adam McIlroy, James and John McKelvey, Moses McMichan, James McMichan, Daniel McNeill, John Mack, Patrick Mackay, William Mackay, John Mar- tin, John Maynard, James Meriwether, Robert Miller, John Mineely, Andrew and Matthew Moore, Adam Morrison, John Murdock, Arthur O'Neil, Jesse Paulett, John and Richard Peel, Robert Prior, Jesse Purvis, John Reese, Clote- worthy Robson, James Rogers, Robert and Edward Rogers, David Russel, Robert Sampson, William Sampson, Love Sandford, Joseph Saunders, John Scott, M. Shellman, James Simpson, George Thomp- son, Jesse Slatter, William S. Kelley, Walker Stev- ens, Edward and George Thompson, John Todd, John Toland, James Tonkin, Henry Tucker, Esther Tweedy, John Warnock, Robert Warnock, Benja- min Warren, John Wilson, Seb Witherup, Thomas Wolfington, James Gunn, Moses Newton, William Walker, and James Corvan.
Following the famous meeting at Tondee's Tav- ern, Savannah, when, on August 10, 1774, resolu- tions were adopted looking toward severing alle- giance with Great Britain, a protest was entered from the Parish of St. George Sept. 28, 1774, condemning the action of this meeting, and signed by the greater
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
number of settlers of St. George's Parish. Despite the protest, delegates from this parish were sent to the Provincial Congress which met in Savannah July 4, 1775, at which time the tie of allegiance to England was severed; and throughout the Revolu- tion the Parish of St. George was the abode of the most intense loyalty, to the patriotic cause, and the theater of some of the most tragic engagements.
It was at Louisville in 1798, that the celebrated convention met, which framed the State Constitu- tion under which Georgia lived for seventy years. Similar gatherings had been held in 1789 and 1795, but few amendments were made to the original Con- stitution of 1777. Previous to this, at a session of the legislature in 1789, provision was made by an amendment to the Constitution, to remedy any de- fects. This convention met in Louisville in May, 1795. Noble Wimberly Jones, of Savannah, was elected president and the session lasted three weeks.
The seat of government was moved from Augusta to Louisville at this time, and several constitutional changes made. General James Jackson was elected governor of Georgia in 1798. He was the idol of the people, and his administration was distinguished by the adoption of the great Constitution of 1798, framed by the convention which met in Louisville in May, 1798. This convention was composed of the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
greatest men in Georgia, men who had steered the Ship of State successfully through the recent trying years. In the two previous conventions, of 1789 and 1795, the law-makers had imbedded in the organic law a provision debarring ministers of the gospel from membership in the General Assembly of Georgia. Another resolution to the same effect was proposed at this time; but the great Baptist divine, Jesse Mercer, was on hand to challenge the propriety of such an action. When the resolution was introduced, he at once proposed to amend by ex- cluding also doctors and lawyers. He succeeded in making the whole affair so ridiculous that the matter was finally dropped; and since 1798 the legislative doors have swung wide open to representatives of the cloth. It was in May of 1798 that the Constitu- tional Convention met in Louisville, and elected Jared Irwin president. It remained in session three weeks and the task of considering the Constitution which the state required, after the Constitution of the United States was adopted, was perfected, duly signed, and became the fundamental law of Georgia. At this session the Yazoo papers were burned.
The State Legislature again met in Louisville the second Monday in June 1799. The twenty-four counties of the state were represented by twenty- four senators and seventy-five representatives. An
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
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interesting measure was the adoption of the great seal of the state. The seal adopted was a circular disc, several inches in diameter ; on one side a view of the seashore, with a ship bearing the flag of the United States, riding at anchor near a wharf, re- ceiving on board hogsheads of tobacco and bales of cotton, emblematic of the exports of the state; at a little distance, a boat landing from the interior of the state with hogsheads, boxes, etc., representing internal traffic; in the background, a man plowing and a flock of sheep under the shade of a tree. The motto on this side "AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE" 1799. On the reverse side three pillars supporting an arch, with the word "CONSTITUTION" engraved on it, as the emblem of the Constitution, sustained by the three departments of the government. The words, "WISDOM, JUSTICE, and MODERATION," were engraved on a wreath around these pillars, one word on each pillar, and near the left-hand pillar, a man with a drawn sword represented the military defense of the state. The inscription on this side of the seal, "STATE OF GEORGIA" 1799.
This great seal was adopted October 8, 1799, and when made it was deposited in the office of the Sec- retary of the State, to be attached to all official papers of the State. The old seal was formally broken in the presence of the governor. Quite a
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
romance attaches to the history of this great seal adopted by the convention in Louisville in 1799.
Since the granting of Georgia's Colonial Charter, in 1732, there have been three great seals which had to be affixed to the most important official trans- actions; first, the Colonial Seal or Seal of the Trustees ; second, the Provincial Seal or Seal of the Royal Governors; third, the Great Seal of 1799 which is still in vogue, linking the Georgia of to-day with the Georgia of the eighteenth century, and put- ting us in touch with the closing scenes of the Ameri- can Revolution. This great seal was adopted by the State February 8, 1799, and, except for a brief pe- riod during the days of Reconstruction, it has been constantly in use for more than one hundred years. On account of its extreme age it now makes a very indistinct impression and needs to be retouched by the skillful hands of an engraver.
This seal consists of two solid plates of silver, each of which is a quarter of an inch thick, by two inches and a quarter in diameter. It is kept in the office of the Secretary of the State. It was first used July 4, 1799. To use the Great Seal, wax is rolled into thin wafers, gilt paper, cut circular in form, the exact size of the die, with serrated edges, is next laid upon each side of the wax wafer; and, at the same time, ribbons are inserted between the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
wafer and paper discs. This done, the wafer is placed between the plates of the disc and stamped tightly, leaving the devices imprinted on either side of the soft wax and revealed, like an engraving, on the gilded paper, which is attached by narrow rib- bons to the document of the State, forming what is known as a wax pendant. The custom of attaching seals to official documents is extremely ancient, dat- ing back to earliest manuscripts of record in the old- est states of the Union; but a method of stamping which cuts an impression in the paper to be attested is now the custom, and naturally the use of the wax wafer by means of ribbons has become obsolete. Georgia is the only state that follows the old cus- tom. It takes twenty minutes to attach the Great Seal to a document, and is used only on documents of extraordinary character, viz : charters, land grants and commissions to public servants including Gov- ernors, State House officials, Judges of Supreme Courts, and Solicitors-General. It is also used in attesting every official paper going out of the State, but for ordinary transactions the Seal of the Secre- tary of the State is employed.
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