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 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
534
TATTNALL COUNTY.
hard service he was made prisoner at the siege of Charleston. He was discharged on his parole, returned to Virginia, and again mingled among his neighbours. He moved with his family to Georgia, in 1784 or 1785, and soon made himself one among the most useful citizens in the State. He was President of the Senate, Judge of the Superior Court, Trustee of Franklin College, and member of Congress. The Legisla- ture which rescinded the Yazoo Act paid to his integrity the singularly high compliment of electing him Judge, although he was not a lawyer. Col. Taliaferro was stout in person, six feet high, with regular, handsome features. His understand- ing was good, and his conversation agreeable. Army inter- course had given him the manners and information of a gentleman.
TATTNALL.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT .- Bounded N. by Emanuel ; N. E. by Bulloch; S. E. by Liberty ; S. W. by Appling; and N. W., by Montgomery. Laid out from Montgomery in 1801, and portions of it added to Montgomery in 1812. It is 35 miles long, and 34 wide. Square miles, 1190.
RIVERS, CREEKS. - The Ohoopee river flows through the centre of the county. The Alatamaha flows on the south- west part, and the Cannouchee on the northeast. The other streams are Pendleton's and Rocky creeks, emptying into the Ohoopee from the west; Slaughter, Inman's, Cobb's, and Milligan's creeks, discharge themselves into the Alatamaha. Battle and Thomas creeks flow into the Ohoopee from the north- east ; Wolf, Hound, Dry, Cedar, and Bull creeks, discharge themselves into the Cannouchee.
POPULATION, TAXES, REPRESENTATION .- The population in 1845 was 1,902 whites, and 606 blacks; total, 2,508. Amount of tax for 1848, $946 67. Sends one member to the Legislature.
535
TATTNALL COUNTY.
POST OFFICES .- Reidsville, Perry's Mills, Surreneys.
TOWNS .- Reidsville, the county site, is situated on a high and sandy hill, about four miles from the Ohoopee. It has the usual county buildings, and a population of 50 inhabitants. From Statesborough it is 40 miles ; from Swainsborough, 45 miles ; from Mount Vernon, 35 miles; from Hinesville, 40 miles ; from Darien, 70 miles ; from Savannah, 65 miles ; and from Milledgeville, 120 miles.
EARLY SETTLERS .- Ezekiel Stafford, Ezekiel Clifton, Ben- jamin Stripling, George Payne, John Mobley, Joseph Bell, Stephen Matlock, William Mann, William Hodges, and others.
CLIMATE, DISEASES, LONGEVITY .- The climate is healthy. Diseases are almost unknown. There are many persons now residing in the county over 80 years of age; among whom are Ezekiel Clifton, Ezekiel Stafford, Edward Kennedy, Thomas Bourke, and others.
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE .- The people are sober, indus- trious, and hospitable.
RELIGIOUS SECTS, EDUCATION .- Methodists and Baptists. About 30 churches in the county. Education is neglected.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, NATURE OF SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, MARKETS .- In the lower part of the county bordering on Liberty, the land is level. The other part may be called hilly. The soil is light and sandy, with the exception of that on the streams, which is stiff. The productions are the same as those of the adjoining counties. Cotton averages 600 pounds per acre; corn, 15 bushels ; 1500 bales of cotton annually made. Mar- ket, Savannah. Large quantities of lumber are sent to Darien and Savannah.
VALUE OF LAND .- The value of land ranges from 50 cents to $1 per acre.
MILLS .- Saw-mills 15; grist and flour-mills, 23.
EXPENSE OF LIVING, PROVISIONS, &c .- Board, $6 per month ; provisions about the same as in the adjoining counties. Negro men hire for $80, and women for $40 per annum. White labourers get $10 per month.
VALUE OF TOWN LOTS, &C .-- The value of town lots is $464; stock in trade, $4,250; money at interest, $17,727.
NAME .- General Josiah Tattnall, in honour of whom this
-
536
TATTNALL COUNTY.
county is named, was the son of Colonel Josiah Tattnall, and was born at Bonaventure, below Savannah, a place owned by his grandfather, Colonel Mulryne. Colonel Tattnall had been an officer in the British colonial service, and had received two wounds in the wars of Carolina and Georgia against the In- dians. His military character being high at the commence- ment of the Revolution, he was offered the command of the forces raised for the defence of Savannah. Although opposed to the measures of England, he was also opposed to an appeal to arms, and declined the offer. He would not take up arms. against Georgia, and he left the country (no neutrals being tole- rated), carrying with him to England his son Josiah, the subject of this memoir, then eleven years old. The father soon re- crossed the Atlantic to Nassau, in New Providence, leaving the son at Eaton school, under the care of an uncle. Here he remained for eighteen months; after which his uncle placed him on board of a man-of-war ship, to prevent his return to his native Georgia. He was under the patronage of the cap- tain, with assurances of rapid promotion if he behaved well. The ship was bound for India. Neither the glare of power or of profit seduced his affections. A large proportion of the crew were Americans, forced on board. Mutinies occurred, and the generous boy, with the Americans, was turned over from ship to ship. Having procured a little money from his godfather, a gentleman of the name of Elliott, who had lived in Georgia, unknown to parents or uncle, he found his way back to America. Whilst under the British flag, some question arose upon the matters in issue between the two countries, when Tattnall maintained the cause of his native land. A duel was the result, in which he wounded his antagonist. At the age of eighteen he landed, without a shil- ling in his pocket, on the north side of the Savannah river, and travelling alone on foot through the country, arrived at Purys- burgh, where he crossed into Georgia, and then joined the army of General Wayne, at Ebenezer. The war was closing, and no opportunity was presented for drawing his sword in defence of freedom. On the surrender of Savannah he was immediately placed in office. The whole of Chatham at that time constituted but one regiment. He was soon Captain of
537
TATTNALL COUNTY.
the White Bluff District, in which was situated Bonaventure, and then very densely inhabited. In 1792 he had command of the Chatham artillery, which is now one of the most respect- able companies in the State. In 1793 he became Colonel of the regiment. In 1800 he was elected Brigadier General of the First Brigade of the First Division. In his military capa- city he rendered important services in 1788 and 1793, in or- ganizing detachments of militia sent from Chatham into the counties of Bryan, Liberty, and McIntosh, then much harassed by the Creek Indians. In 1787, at the head of a body of light infantry, he was engaged in an expedition under Col. James Gunn, composed of South Carolina and Georgia troops, which destroyed large and well fortified camps of slaves, in open insurrection, on the waters of Abercorn creek. The slaves were led by certain notorious negro brigands, who had acted with the British at the siege of Savannah, and had been particularly active against that portion of the American assail- ing forces commanded by Col. Laurens, and in which the brave Jasper received his death-wound. This was the most serious insurrection that ever occurred in Georgia. It had its origin in the year 1786. The negroes had been embodied many months, and were many hundreds in number, were well armed, and so formidable, that after various attempts in both years to subdue them, a body of Catawba Indians, and some pieces of cannon, were in this expedition employed against them.
In 1797 and 1798, Col. Tattnall was much engaged, when not in attendance upon the sessions of Congress, in the drill of his regiment, war and invasion by the French being antici- pated. The civil services of this eminent patriot were much more important, He was frequently sent to the Legislature. He served in the year 1796 at Louisville, in the General Assembly that rescinded the Yazoo Act of January, 1795. Against that infamous speculation he was the determined foe, and was the leading member of the Senate, as General James Jackson was of the lower house, who carried through the rescinding act. So sensible was the Legislature of 1796 of his ardent devotion to the interests of Georgia, that they passed an act relieving his brother, John Mulryne Tattnall,
538
TATTNALL COUNTY.
from the pains of the confiscation laws, and elected Colonel Tattnall Senator in Congress, to serve out General Jackson's term. It was believed that the speculators, having been de- feated in Georgia, would renew the war against her rights in the Federal Legislature, and Tattnall's talents and influence were called into requisition to defeat them on the floor of the national Senate. His correspondence with the Executive of Georgia shows with what fidelity he discharged his trust on this and on every other matter interesting to the State. In general politics, he was of the republican party. In 1798 he retired for a short period from public life to Bonaventure, extending a refined and elegant hospitality to all who visited him. In November, 1801, he was elected Governor of Geor- gia. In the same year, by the same Legislature, he was made a Brigadier General. As further evidence of his great popularity, and the sense Georgia had of his purity of charac- ter and high public service, the Legislature took off the name of his father from the confiscation acts, with full liberty to remove into the State with his property, subject to his sole and entire future disposal, and restored him to all the rights of citizenship. Gov. Tattnall had the inexpressible pleasure to sign the act absolving his own father,-the only act, it is believed, ever approved by a Governor of Georgia with words of comment preceding the Executive signature. These were words of gratitude from a public servant to his country, for good rendered to his earthly parent. Nor was this all ; for the same Legislature laid off the county of Tattnall, and gave it its name. The government, a brigadier generalcy, the par- don of his father, and a county named after him, at one and the same session !
In 1802, from extreme ill health, he surrendered the Exe- cutive chair. In October he sent a message to the Legisla- ture, about to meet at Louisville, giving an account of the affairs of the State during his short administration, expressing his sorrow that the rupture of a blood-vessel rendered it im- possible for him to be with them, and that it was necessary for him to withdraw from public life. He assured them that were he blessed with sufficient health, both duty and inclina- tion would forcibly urge him to a continuance in office for
539
TELFAIR COUNTY.
the constitutional term. "Indeed, said he, were this not the case, I should be deficient in gratitude to my country for the distinguished marks of favour and confidence I have so fre- quently experienced, which claim, and I trust I may be per- mitted to say, secure my lasting affection and devotion to her service." Governor Tattnall went without delay to the West Indies, where he died in June, 1804. His dying request was that his body should be removed to his native State. The Hon. Nathaniel Hall, of Nassau, to whom the management of his affairs was committed, complied with his last wishes, and accompanied his remains to Georgia, and deposited them in the burial-ground at Bonaventure.
He left two sons. The one, the chivalric Colonel Edward Fenwick Tattnall, who was an officer in the United States army in the war of 1812, and wounded at Point Peter, near St. Mary's, in Georgia, the effects of which he felt during his whole life. This high-minded gentleman afterwards became eminent in the State Legislature and Congress, and dying early in life, was buried by the side of his father. The other, Commander Josiah Tattnall, of the navy, was at the repulse of the British at Craney Island, in the same war, and a volun- teer in the battle of Bladensburgh. Subsequently he was with Decatur at Algiers, and at a later period on the African sta- tion, and very lately, in the war with Mexico, has been dis- tinguished. He was wounded in the wrist by a musket-ball in an engagement with the Mexicans, and before the Castle of San Juan D'Ulloa gained for himself a wreath of imper- ishable fame, as the commander of the Moscheto fleet."*
TELFAIR.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT .- Bounded N. by Pulaski, N. E. by Montgomery, S. E. by Appling, and S. W. by Irwin. Laid out in 1807. Part added to Montgomery in 1812, 1820, and 1833. It is 23 miles long and 18 wide, containing 414 square miles.
* The compiler of this work is indebted to Col. J. W. Jackson, of Sa- vannah, for the above memoir.
540
TELFAIR COUNTY.
RIVERS, CREEKS .-- The Ocmulgee and the Little Ocmulgee, or Auchee-Hachee, are the most considerable streams. The creeks are numerous, such as Sugar, Cedar, Alligator, Horse, Turnpike, &c.
POPULATION, TAXES, REPRESENTATION. - The census of 1845 gave this county a population of 1986 whites, and 767 blacks ; total, 2753. Amount of State tax for 1848, $841 13. Sends one representative to the Legislature.
POST OFFICES .- Jacksonville, Copeland, Lumber City, Tem- perance, Ocmulgeeville.
EARLY SETTLERS .- Charles Mckinnon, John Wilcox, Gen. Coffee, Colonel William Ashley, Duncan McRae, Murdock McDuffie, Norman Mc Leod, and others.
TowNS .- Jacksonville, the capital, is situated one mile from the Ocmulgee river, 104 miles S. of Milledgeville, 45 from Hawkinsville, 53 from Dublin, and 40 from Mount Vernon. Population, 60. It has the usual county buildings and four stores.
Lumber City, 16 miles below Jacksonville, was once in a very flourishing condition. It was built by a northern com- pany. The saw-mills erected by this company, together with their other property, were valued at $500,000, and four years ago all were sold by the sheriff and tax collector for $500.
NATURE OF THE SOIL, PRODUCTIONS .- The soil is sandy, but productive, particularly on the streams. The swamp lands on the Ocmulgee and the Hammocks are very rich, but subject to overflow. The chief productions are corn, cotton, sugar- cane, wheat, oats, rye. Corn averages 15 bushels per acre ; cotton produces 500 or 600 lbs. per acre. About 800 bales of cotton are annually produced. Many persons are engaged in the lumber business. Farmers send their produce to Sa- vannah.
MILLS .- Eight grist-mills, three saw-mills.
CLIMATE, DISEASES, LONGEVITY .- The climate is generally healthy. Remote from the streams fever is unknown. There are many persons of advanced age now in the county. Daniel McInnis, Joseph Williams, and John Wilcox, are over 80 years of age. One among the most remarkable cases of longevity is that of James Thomas, who died in this county on the 10th of April, 1802, in the 134th year of his age. During the greatest
-
541
TELFAIR COUNTY.
part of his life he lived temperate, and his exit was unaccom- panied by pain. He retained his mental faculties to the last. His eyesight was so little impaired that he could read print without the assistance of glasses to the last year of his exist- ence.
RELIGIOUS SECTS, EDUCATION .- The Baptists and Metho- dists are the most numerous sects. Education is neglected, although not to the extent that it was formerly. The children of the poor are only provided for by the general poor school fund.
ROADS AND BRIDGES .- The roads and bridges are not in a very good condition.
NAME .- Edward Telfair, from whom this county derives its name, was born in Scotland, in 1735, on the farm of Toron Head, the ancestral estate of the family, and which has since been sold to the Earl of Selkirk. He received an English education at the grammar school of Kirkcudbright.
At the age of 23, he came to America as an agent of a mercantile house, and resided some time in Virginia. He afterwards removed to Halifax, N. C., and subsequently to Georgia, and in 1766 settled in Savannah, and engaged in commercial pursuits. When the storm of the American Revo- lution began to lower, Mr. Telfair was found among the sons of liberty who determined to resist to the last extremity the tyrannical measures of the mother country. At the memor- able meeting of the patriots, held in the city of Savannah, on the 27th of July, 1774, he was placed upon a committee ap- pointed to draw up resolutions expressive of the determination of Georgia to co-operate with the other Colonies in defence of their violated rights. About this time the citizens of Boston were suffering much inconvenience from the effects of the Boston Port Bill; and their distressed condition had excited a feeling of commiseration throughout the Colonies. The
friends of liberty exerted themselves to render every assistance in their power to the inhabitants of Boston. Contributions in money and provisions were sent to them from various sections ; and although Georgia was weak, and incapable of sending much aid, she resolved to do all which her means would allow. Accordingly, a committee was appointed to receive
35
542
TELFAIR COUNTY.
subscriptions for the relief of the suffering Bostonians, and Mr. Telfair had the honour of being placed upon this com- mittee. In the memoir of Mr. Habersham, on page 304 of this work, allusion is made to the breaking open of the Magazine, and seizure of the powder, in Savannah. Mr. Telfair was one of the brave band associated with Mr. Habersham in that bold undertaking. A reward was offered by Governor Wright for the persons who had seized it, and though they were well known to some of the members of his privy council, yet they were not arrested, and the powder soon spoke for itself, to the dread of the British and Tories.
When the exigency of the times demanded the appointment of a Council of Safety, `such had been the devotion of Mr. Telfair to the cause of freedom that he was honoured with a seat in this illustrious body.
Throughout the whole revolutionary struggle he bore a con- spicuous part, and was intrusted by his fellow-citizens with the highest offices.
In February, 1778, he was elected by the House of As- sembly of Georgia, one of the delegates to represent the State in the Continental Congress, and took his seat in that body on the 13th of July following, and on the 24th of that month signed the ratification of the articles of confederation. In November of that year, he obtained leave of absence, returned to his seat on the 15th of May, 1780, and continued a member until January, 1783, when his term of office expired.
Early in this year he was appointed, by the Governor of Georgia, one of the commissioners to form a treaty with the Cherokee chiefs, which was finally concluded on the 30th of May, 1783, establishing the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Cherokee nation.
In May, 1785, he was re-elected a member of Congress, but did not take his seat.
He was Governor of Georgia, from the 9th of January, 1786, to the 9th of January, 1787, and again from the 9th of November, 1790, to the 7th of November, 1793.
During General Washington's visit to Georgia, in May, 1791, he was brilliantly entertained by Gov. Telfair, at his family residence, near Augusta, called the Grove ; and on the
543
TELFAIR COUNTY.
departure of the General, he addressed to him the following letter, which is still preserved in the archives at Milledge- ville :
To His Excellency Edward Telfair, Governor of Georgia, Augusta, May 20th, 1791.
SIR :- Obeying the impulse of a heartfelt gratitude, I ex- press with particular pleasure my sense of obligations which your Excellency's goodness and the kind regards of your citizens have conferred upon me. I shall always retain a most pleasing remembrance of the polite and hospitable attentions, which I have received in my tour through the State of Geor- gia, and during my stay at the residence of your government.
The manner in which you are pleased to recognise my public services, and to regard my private felicity, excites my sensibility, and claims my grateful acknowledgment. Your Excellency will do justice to the sentiments which influence my wishes, by believing, that they are sincerely offered for your personal happiness, and the prosperity of the State over which you preside. GEORGE WASHINGTON.
McCall in his History of Georgia, makes honourable men- tion of Governor Telfair. In Congress he obtained much celebrity by his ability as a financier; and it is affirmed that the plan adopted by Congress for raising money to carry on the war originated with him.
Governor Telfair died at Savannah, 17th Sept., 1807, in the 72nd year of his age. 1
Thomas Telfair, one of his sons, was a member of Con- gress from 1813 to '17. He took a conspicuous part in the de- bates of that Congress, upon protection of domestic industry, and the Tariff for that object. He warmly opposed Mr. Calhoun, and the Protectionists of that day. He was one of the Georgia delegation who voted for increased pay to mem- bers of Congress, and the people of Georgia elected an entirely new delegation to express their disapprobation of that mea- sure.
Mr. Telfair's letter to his constituents on that occasion, contains sentiments highly honourable to his manly indepen- dence of character.
544
THOMAS COUNTY.
THOMAS.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT .- This county has Irwin on the N., Lowndes on the E., Florida on the S., and Baker and Decatur on the W. Laid out from Decatur and Irwin, and organized in 1825. Length, 37 miles ; breadth, 25. Square miles, 925.
RIVERS, CREEKS .- The rivers are the Ochlockonee, which rises in Irwin, flows in a southwesterly direction, and empties into the Apallachee bay. The Mickasuckee has its origin in this county, flows southeast, and empties into a lake of the same name in Florida. The Aucilla also rises in this county, flows south, and discharges itself into the bay of Apallachee. The streams of less note are Proctor's, Barnett's, Mule, Bridge, Turkey, Tom's, Walden's, Tired, Ocopilco creeks, &c.
POPULATION, TAXES, REPRESENTATION .- Thomas, in 1845, had a population of 4,150 whites, 3,899 blacks ; total, 8,049. Amount of taxes for 1848, $3,332 81. Entitled to one repre- sentative to the Legislature.
POST OFFICES .- Thomasville, Duncanville, Grooverville, Boston.
TOWNS .-- Thomasville is the capital, situated 9 miles E. of the Ochlockonee river, 206 miles S. of Milledgeville, 22 from Florida, 40 from Tallahassee, and 45 from Bainbridge. It con- tains a court-house and jail, two hotels, two churches, six stores, two blacksmiths, one tailor, one saddler, one shoe- maker, one wagon-shop, six lawyers, and three physicians. The hotels are said to be well kept. Population, 500. It is a healthy place, and the citizens have a high character for intel- ligence. Made the county site in 1826. The Fletcher Insti- tute is located at this place.
Grooverville, 18 miles S. of Thomasville, is in the southeast corner of the county.
Duncansville is 12 miles S. of Thomasville.
RELIGIOUS SECTS, EDUCATION. - Methodists and Baptists are the prevailing sects. Education receives considerable attention. There are about fifty schools in the county. Num- ber of poor children, 289. Educational fund, $250 65.
545
THOMAS COUNTY.
ROADS, BRIDGES .- The roads and bridges are kept in good order.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, NATURE OF THE SOIL, PRODUC- TIONS .- This is a level county. The soil is sandy, but pro- ductive. The lands in the vicinity of Thomasville are very fine. The productions are the same as those of Lowndes. Cotton grows finely. Oranges, figs, and melons, are very superior. Between 10,000 and 12,000 bales of cotton were made in this county the last season.
MARKETS .- St. Mark's, Tallahassee, and Newport.
CLIMATE, DISEASES, LONGEVITY. - The climate does not differ materially from that of Lowndes. Bilious fevers occur on the water-courses. Mr. Joseph Anderson died in this county at the age of 100. There are several persons now living, over 80 years of age.
EARLY SETTLERS .-- Among the early settlers were John Paramore, C. Atkinson, E. Blackshear, N. R. Mitchell, John Hillbryan, &c.
MILLS .- Saw-mills, 11 ; grist-mills, 21; one wool-carding machine.
MINERAL SPRINGS .- There are two or three springs, con- taining medicinal properties, in the county.
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE, AMUSEMENTS .-- The people of this county have a high reputation for industry and hospi- tality. Hunting and fishing are the chief amusements.
VALUE OF TOWN LOTS, &C .- The value of town lots is $26,950. Value of stock in trade, $51,500. Amount of money at interest, $145,185.
NAME. - This county bears the name of General Jett Thomas, who was born on the 13th of May, 1776, in Culpep- per county, Virginia. His father came to Georgia about 1784, and settled in Oglethorpe county, where he became a promi- nent man, being Senator from that part of the State for seve- ral years. His son had no other advantages of an educa- tion, than were to be found in the ordinary schools of the country ; but he was early distinguished for the solidity of his understanding, and his fondness for mechanical pursuits. He learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed for many years, amassing by it a large fortune. He first resided in
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.