USA > Georgia > Statistics of the state of Georgia : including an account of its natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history ; together with a particular description of each county, notices of the manners and customs of its aboriginal tribes, and a correct map of the state > Part 30
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356
JEFFERSON COUNTY.
January, 1795, he was at Augusta, where the Legislature was then sitting, the firm opponent of the celebrated Yazoo Act; but his efforts to defeat it were unsuccessful. But in 1796 he succeeded, with other patriotic men, in passing the law rescind- ing the Yazoo sales. In May, 1798, he was a member of the State Convention which framed the present Constitution, and warmly advocated that part of it which asserts the right of Georgia to the whole of her western territory. In October, 1798, he was elected a representative to Congress by almost an unanimous vote of the people; losing not more than three hundred votes out of nearly ten thousand. Mr. Jones was one among the most distinguished members of the republican party, and an eloquent speaker. He was op- posed to the administration of Mr. John Adams, and con- tributed much to the casting of the vote of Georgia for Mr. Jefferson. He died at his post at Washington City, on the 12th of January, 1801, having given evidence, that he was Georgia's friend, who would have sacrificed life and fortune to serve her. His remains lie in the Congressional burial ground, by the side of those of his political and personal friend, Gen. James Jackson. His descendants are found in the family of the Hon. William Law, of Savannah, who mar- ried his daughter.
There have been several other patriotic men in Georgia of the name of Jones. Among them, the venerable Noble Wim- berly Jones, the friend of Oglethorpe, who survived the Ameri- can Revolution, and lived to an extreme old age ; and his son, the late Judge Jones, who was a distinguished member of the Legislature from Chatham county, a judge of the Superior Court, and senator in Congress.
JEFFERSON.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT .- Bounded N. E. by Richmond, E. by Burke, S. by Emanuel, W. by Washington, and N. W. by Warren. Laid out from Burke and Warren, in 1796. It is 30 miles long, and 23 broad. Square miles, 690.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
RIVERS, CREEKS .- The Ogeechee is the principal stream, the tributaries of which are Rocky Comfort, Duharts, Dry, Big, and Spring creeks. Brushy and Reedy creeks discharge their waters into Briar creek.
POST OFFICES .- Louisville, Reedy Creek, Sylvan Grove, Woodburn, Fenn's Bridge, Spear's, Turn Out.
POPULATION, TAXES, REPRESENTATION .- The census of 1845 gave this county a population of 8,306, of which 3,535 were whites, and 4,771 blacks. State tax for 1848, $3,289 90 cents. Sends one representative to the Legislature.
RELIGIOUS SECTS .- Episcopal and Protestant Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Associate Reformed Presbyte- rians.
EDUCATION .- Some attention is paid to education. A con- siderable number of adults are unable to read or write.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, NATURE OF THE SOIL, VALUE OF LAND, PRODUCTIONS, MARKETS .- The county may be called level. The soil is diversified. A large portion of the land was formerly very productive. The lands are divided thus : 1st, the red' stiff soil; 2d, light chocolate; 3d, sandy. Pro- ductions-cotton, corn, wheat, rye, potatoes, &c. Cotton aver- ages 400 pounds per acre ; corn, 10 bushels ; wheat, 10 bush- els. The different fruits succeed very well. Land is worth $3 per acre. Amount of cotton produced annually 12,000 bales. Savannah and Augusta are the markets.
CLIMATE, DISEASES, LONGEVITY .- The climate is mild. The diseases are intermittent and remittent fevers. The in- stances of longevity are, Mr. Aaron Tomlinson, who died at 80 years of age. This gentleman was an officer in the Revo- lution, under General Greene. Mrs. Raiford died at 82 years of age. Dr. John Bouton was 87 when he died. Thomas Was- den was 80. William Lyon, over 88, a soldier of the Re- volution. General Solomon Wood died over 80. He was a captain in the revolutionary war. He distinguished himself by his opposition to the Yazoo law, held many offices in this county, and was highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens. John J. Schley died over 80. Jacob Sodown, a revolutionary sol- dier, was considerably over 80. There are now living, Mr. William Whigam, aged 80; Mr. Joseph Price, 79; Mr. Wil- liam Paradise, 82.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
TOWNS, &c .- Louisville is the county town, situated on Rocky Comfort creek, 54 miles from Milledgeville, 26 from Saundersville, 25 from Waynesborough, 45 from Augusta, 10 miles from the Central Railroad , and 110 miles from Savannah. It was once a place of importance. It was made the seat of go- vernment for the State of Georgia, by the Constitution, on the 16th of May, 1795, and continued such until 1804, when it was removed to Milledgeville. Since that period it has deteriorated. It has now a court-house, built of the materials which formerly composed the state-house, a jail, church, academy, one tavern, five stores, &c. Population 100. It was in Louisville that the papers connected with the celebrated Yazoo Acts were publicly burnt. About $25,000 worth of goods are annually sold.
Pine Hill, a summer retreat, four miles from Louisville.
ROADS, BRIDGES .- The roads are tolerably well kept. The bridges are six. Two over Rocky Comfort creek ; two over Big creek ; four over the Ogeechee river; all of which are generally in good condition.
MINERAL SPRINGS .- There is a spring near the Warren line called Jefferson Bath, supposed to be impregnated with mineral virtues.
Near Louisville is a spring formerly resorted to for its me- dicinal qualities.
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE, AMUSEMENTS .- The people are moral, industrious, and kind. Temperance has produced a great change in the habits of the people. The amusements are chiefly hunting, fishing, and dancing.
MILLS, &c .- Eight saw-mills ; 13 grist-mills ; 2 flour-mills. One burr stone quarry near the Ogeechee.
ORIGINAL SETTLERS .- Wm. Hardwick, John Fulton, the family of the Clemmons's, Pattersons, Lawsons, Gambles, Capt. Wm. Haddon, Capt. Patrick Connelly, Andrew Berri- hill, the Shellmans, John Berrien, the Whiteheads, Hamptons, &c. The most of the settlers of this county were from Ire- land, and located themselves three miles below Louisville, at a place which they called Queensborough.
DISTINGUISHED MEN. - Under this head we record the names of Benjamin Whitaker, long the able Speaker of the 1 .
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
House of Representatives, Judge Gamble, and Major John Berrien. The celebrated Patrick Carr, we believe, resided in this county. He was murdered, it is thought, by some of the descendants of the tories.
MINERALS, ROCKS .- There are several localities in which shell marl is found, particularly on Brushy creek. Near Louisville is found burr stone, equal, it is said, to the cele- brated French burr ; nodular oxyde of iron, agate, chalce- dony, hornstone, carnelian. Fossils of great variety and inte- rest are abundantly diffused, such as the Clypeaster, Spantangus, Anunchyles, Turritella, Ammonites, &c.
NAME .- This county was called after Thomas Jefferson. For nearly a century was this illustrious man engaged in the service of his country ; and probably next to Washington, the people of the United States are more indebted to him than any other man. He was born at Shadwell, in the county of Albemarle, Virginia, April 2, 1743, and educated at the College of William and Mary ; after which he studied law under the cele- brated George Wythe, afterwards Chancellor of the State of Virginia. When his oppressed country demanded his assist- ance, he cheerfully rendered it. With his able pen, he zeal- ously defended the rights of the colonies. In 1774, he published his summary views of the rights of the colonies in America, one of the greatest productions of the day, and which contributed much to open the eyes of his countrymen to the nefarious designs of the British Parliament. In 1775, he was elected a member of the Continental Congress, and continued until 1777. one of its brightest ornaments. The part which he acted in the Declaration of American Indepen- dence merits particular notice. On the 7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee submitted his motion for independence. It was debated until the 10th, when its further consideration was postponed until the 1st of July, and a committee in the interim was appointed to prepare the Declaration. The committee consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson were named as a sub-committee to prepare a draft. This was written by Mr. Jefferson, and submitted to Mr. Adams, who made no alterations. It was then presented
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
to the whole committee, when Franklin and others made some alterations. Some portions of it were omitted by Congress, but the spirit and arrangement remained the same as when reported. As a composition, the merit of it belongs to Mr. Jefferson. In 1777 Mr. Jefferson left Congress, and was employed for two years in revising the laws of Virginia. Im- portant statutes were made to conform to the republican senti- ments which the Revolution had introduced ; and by Mr. Jef- ferson's efforts, many wholesome changes were made in laws which militated against religious liberty. In 1779 he was elected Governor of Virginia. In 1781 he published his Notes on Virginia, a work which increased his fame as a philosopher. The work was written at his summer residence. " Whilst Jefferson was confined," says Tucker, " at Poplar Forest, in consequence of a fall from his horse, and was thereby pre- vented from engaging in any active employment, public or private, he occupied himself with answering the queries which Mons. De Marbois, then Secretary of the French Legation to the United States, had submitted to him respecting the physi- cal and political condition of Virginia, which answers were afterwards published by him under the title of Notes of Vir- ginia. When we consider how difficult it is, even in the pre- sent day, to get an accurate knowledge of such details in our country, and how much greater the difficulty must then have been, we are surprised at the extent of the information which a single individual had thus been enabled to acquire, as to the physical features of the State -- the course, length, and depth of its rivers; its zoological and botanical productions ; its Indian tribes ; its statistics and laws. After the lapse of more than half of a century, by much the larger part of it still gives us the fullest and the most acurate information we possess of the subjects upon which it treats. Some of its physical theories are, indeed, in the rear of modern science ; but they form a small portion of the book, and its general speculations are marked with that boldness, that utter disregard for received opinions which always characterized him; and the whole is written in a neat, flowing style-always perspicuous, and often peculiarly apt and felicitous."
In 1783, Mr. Jefferson was again elected a delegate to Con-
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
gress from the State of Virginia; and in 1784, was sent as Minister Plenipotentiary with Franklin, John Adams, Jay, and Laurens, to negotiate treaties with several European pow- ers. In 1785 he was appointed Resident Minister at the Court of France. Whilst in France, he was the object of admira- tion among literary men for his extensive knowledge. On his return to the United States in 1789, Washington appointed him Secretary of State, in which office he continued until De- cember 1793, when he resigned, and lived in retirement for several years. It was at this period that he was unanimously elected President of the American Philosophical Society. To fill a post which had been occupied by Franklin and Ritten- house, was considered by Mr. Jefferson as a great honour ; and whilst he presided over this useful society, employed his best exertions in advancing its objects. In 1797, when John Adams was elected President, Mr. Jefferson was chosen Vice-Presi- dent. When the period for another election arrived, he was elected President, to which office he was again elected in 1805. On the 3d of March, 1809, Mr. Jefferson closed his political career, and with the exception of excursions which business required, he resided 'at Monticello. Here strangers and foreigners repaired to see the Sage of America. Forget- ting the exciting subject of politics, he devoted himself to science. He commenced the University of Virginia by his own private donations. Mr. Jefferson was particularly friendly to Georgia. Whilst Secretary of State, in his correspondence with Hammond, replying to his complaints respecting laws passed in Georgia, he says : " The following are the acts of your catalogue which belong to this head, with such short observa- tions as are necessary to explain them. Beginning at that end of the Union where the war raged the most, we shall meet with the most repugnance to favour. If the conduct of Georgia should appear to have been peculiarly uncomplying, it must be remembered that that State had peculiarly suffered ; that the British army had entirely overran it-had held possession of it for some years; and that all the inhabitants had been obliged either to abandon their estates and fly their country, or to remain in it under a military government." Mr. Jeffer- son died on the 4th of July, 1826. During his sickness, he
362
LAURENS COUNTY.
was conscious that he could not recover. With each of his family he conversed separately, and to his daughter he present- ed a morocco case, which being opened after his decease, was found to contain a request that if any inscription was placed on his tomb, he should be described as the author of the De- claration of Independence, of the statutes of Virginia for re- ligious freedom, and the father of the University. On Monday before he died, he desired to know what was the day of the month, and upon being told that it was the 3d of July, he ex- pressed a wish to see the fiftieth anniversary of the Declara- tion of Independence. His wish was granted. His last words were, " I resign myself to my God, and my daughter to my country."
His remains repose at Monticello. A granite obelisk 8 feet high, and a piece of marble, mark the spot where Jefferson lies. The following is the inscription upon his tomb :
Here lies buried THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statutes of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.
Mr. Jefferson's life has been published, and those who de- sire to become familiar with his history will do well to refer to it.
LAURENS.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT .- This county is bounded on the N. by Wilkinson and Washington, on the E. by Montgomery and Emanuel, on the S. by Montgomery, and on the W. by Pulaski. Laid out in 1807, and portions of it added to Pulaski in 1808-9. It is 32 miles long and 22 wide, containing 704 square miles.
RIVERS, CREEKS .- The Oconee, which flows through the county, is the only stream of any considerable size. The creeks,
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LAURENS COUNTY.
all of which are tributaries of the Ogeechee, are, Deep, Buckeye, Big, Shaddock's, and Pues, on the east side; and White Water, Palmetto, Turkey, Hunger and Hardship, Okeewalkee, and Tickee Hachee creeks on the west.
POPULATION, TAXES, REPRESENTATION .- The census of 1845 gives to this county 3,258 whites, and 2,760 blacks ; total, 6,018. Amount of State tax returned in 1848, $1,757 45. Entitled to one representative to the Legislature.
POST OFFICES .- Dublin, Laurens Hill, Buckeye.
TOWNS, &c .- Dublin, the county seat, is situated half a mile from the Oconee river, 46 miles from Milledgeville, 60 from Macon, and 120 from Savannah. It has a good court-house, several stores, 65 houses, and 180 inhabitants. Colonel David McCormick and Jonathan Sawyer, Esq., were the most active in laying the foundation of this town.
The public places are, Thomas Cross Roads, Hampton's Mills, Laurens Hill, Buckeye.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, NATURE OF THE SOIL, AVERAGE PRODUCT PER ACRE .-- The face of the country is rolling, The soil has a clay foundation, with sand and vegetable mould in the pine, and a good mixture of lime with mould and sand in the oak. The great vein of soft shell limestone-which, be- ginning at Cape Hatteras, and running S. W. to the Missis- sippi, passing through this county-will always be a valuable resource to the agriculturist, both in maintaining the original fecundity of the soil and in affording the means of restoration by carbonate of lime or marl, which, in more or less variety, and in quantity inexhaustible, is found in most parts of the county. On all these lands the average product, with the usual cultivation, may be stated in cotton at 500 pounds per acre, corn 12 bushels, wheat 10.
CLIMATE, DISEASES, LONGEVITY .- The climate is as plea- sant as any in the United States-average temperature about 70. Vegetation suffers little from the cold. The diseases are bilious fever and fever and ague, confined chiefly to the oak woods. Of the pine region, at the distance of three-fourths of a mile from the swamps, it may with truth be said that no por- tion of the world is more exempt from all those diseases which afflict man.
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LAURENS COUNTY.
The instances of longevity are: Mrs. Elizabeth Hudson, 91 years old at her death; Jonathan Jones, 80; James Darsley, 90.
MILLS .- Saw-mills 12, grist-mills 20.
ORIGINAL SETTLERS .- General Blackshear, Colonel McCor- mick, Jonathan Sawyer, Colonel Hampton, the Robinsons, and others.
RELIGIOUS SECTS, EDUCATION, CHARACTER OF PEOPLE .- Methodists and Baptists are the prevailing denominations. Education is at a low ebb. Competent instructers are needed. There is an academy at Dublin, besides several district schools. The people are no better or worse than those of other counties, where no efforts have been made to place edu- cation on an enlightened and permanent basis. The popula- tion is nearly stationary, and exhibits no great signs of im- provement.
EMINENT MEN .- General Blackshear resided in this county. At the age of 16 he took up arms in defence of his country. In 1790 he came to Georgia, and defended the lives and pro- perty of the people during the incursions of the Indians on the frontiers. He died in 1817, at the age of 74, leaving behind him the character of a valued citizen, honest man, and brave soldier. The Hon. George M. Troup, so conspicuous in the history of our State, is a resident of this county.
ADDITIONAL REMARKS .- The oak and hickory lands consti- tute one-third of the cultivated lands of the county ; the remain- der are, for the greater part, the open pine woods and wire- grass. The wire-grass lands are easily susceptible of improve- ment : a little manure is sufficient to give from ten to twelve bushels of corn, ten to twelve of wheat, and 200 bushels of sweet potatoes. The wire-grass itself is valuable. There is no other known grass in the south, which resists the cold and furnishes food to cattle, sheep, and hogs, and in the spring or early sum- mer, to the table of the farmer the finest butter, rich in flavour and beautiful in colour. It is true that, as the season advances and winter approaches, this grass, like every perennial, be- comes coarser and tougher, and is therefore less relished ; but never so coarse or tough as not to afford aliment sufficient to sustain life. Besides the wire-grass, there is the lightwood,
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LAURENS COUNTY.
the poor man's fuel, and charcoal-a fire kindled in three mi- nutes for warmth, cooking, and for every household purpose. Should the time ever come when steam shall be found to be cheaper for every mechanical operation, upon an extensive scale, than water-power, the pine forests will be invaluable. Every material for building, of excellent quality, and abundant, is furnished by these forests. Tar and turpentine might now be made to great advantage. Such a combination of advan- tages makes this county, as well as others in the same parallel, a garden spot to the poor man, and a wide field to the manu- facturer of cotton and wool, whenever he shall find it his inte- rest to prefer steam to water-power.
PRODUCTIONS .- Cotton, corn, wheat, oats, sugar-cane, &c.
NAME .- Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens, whose name this county bears, was the son of the Honourable Henry Lau- rens, President of Congress, and was born in 1755, in Charles- ton, S. C. He received his early education in his native city, and in 1773 accompanied his father to Europe, and was placed at one of the best colleges at Geneva. In classical learning, polite literature, mathematics, and philosophy, he be- came a proficient. He was entered a student of law in 1774, but finding that the claims of Great Britain were interfering with the liberties of his country, he became anxious to place himself in the American army ; but his father expressing a wish that he should remain in England until his studies were completed, he continued until he was of age. He returned to Charleston in 1777, joined the army, and was immediately ap- pointed by General Washington his aid-de-camp. He dis- played great gallantry at Brandywine, Germantown, and Mon- mouth. After the battle of Monmouth, he attached himself to the army in Rhode Island, and greatly increased his reputation as a military man. In the session of Congress, 1778, this body re- solved, that " John Laurens, Esq., be presented with a continen- tal commission of Lieutenant Colonel, in testimony of the sense which Congress entertain of his patriotic and spirited services as a volunteer in the American army, and of his brave conduct in several actions, particularly in that of Rhode Island, on the 29th of August last." Mr. Laurens, however, declined this honour ; for however desirous of military fame, he was
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LEE COUNTY.
unwilling to accept an office which he thought might expose him to the jealousy of older officers. In 1779, the operations of the enemy were directed chiefly against the more southern States ; and as the post of danger was the one he always de- sired, he repaired to South Carolina. At Coosawatchie, defend- ing the pass with a few men against the whole of Provost's army, he was wounded. Garden, in his Revolutionary Anecdotes, says, " he probably was indebted for his life to the gallantry of Capt. Wigg, who gave him his horse to carry him from the field, when incapable of moving, his own being shot under him." He headed the light infantry, and was among the first to mount the British lines at Savannah. In the siege of Charleston he displayed great intrepidity. In 1781 he was sent by Congress on a special mission to France, to ask for a loan of money, and to procure military stores. For his success in this business he was honoured with the thanks of Congress. Upon his return, he immediately rejoin- ed the American army, which was then commencing the siege of Yorktown. The terms of the capitulation were arranged by him, and he received with his own hand the presented sword of Cornwallis. After this he repaired to South Caro- lina, a portion of which was still in the possession of the enemy ; and whilst leading a detachment against a foraging party of the British army, near Combahee, in South Carolina, the 27th of August, 1782, he received a wound which terminated his life. His character is thus given by Allen : "Colonel Laurens, uniting the talents of a great officer with the knowledge of the scholar and engaging manners of the gentleman, was the glory of the army and the idol of his country."*
LEE.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT. - Bounded on the N. by Sum- ter, on the E. by Dooly, on the W. by Randolph, and on the S.
* Ramsey's South Carolina. Allen's Biographical Dictionary. Garden's Revolutionary Anecdotes.
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LEE COUNTY.
by Baker. It is 40 miles in length, and 25 miles in width ; square miles 1000.
Lee county constitutes a portion of the territory acquired from the Creek Indians, lying between the Flint and Chatta- hoochee rivers, and west of the Chattahoochee, and was laid off in 1826 ; since which period, portions of it have been added to Muscogee, Marion, Randolph, and Sumter.
TowNS .- Starkville is the seat of justice, situated nearly in the centre of the county ; 130 miles S. W. of Milledgeville, 15 miles N. of Albany, and 25 miles south of Americus. The court- house and jail are inferior buildings, constructed of wood. It has a church of the Baptist denomination, stores, shops, and one hotel. Population, 100. The water is not good. The town was made the county site in 1832, and named after Major Ge- neral John Stark, of revolutionary memory.
Palmyra is situated on Kinchafoona creek, 10 miles from Starkville, and 5 from Albany. This was once a flourishing village ; but owing to its proximity to Albany, and its unhealth- iness, it is on the decline. About 10 families reside here.
DISEASES .- Intermittent and remittent fevers, but they are easily managed. Congestive fever, which sometimes occurs, is more difficult to manage. The western portion of the county is considered healthy for this part of Georgia.
MILLS .- Eight saw-mills, eight grist-mills, one merchant- mill.
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