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 46
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THOMAS COUNTY.
Oglethorpe, and then in Milledgeville, where he built the State House. He afterwards removed to Athens, and married Miss Susan Cox. He was here engaged to construct the buildings of Franklin College, and whilst thus employed, aided by Dr. Meigs, who gave him the use of his library and afforded him other facilities, he improved himself in some of the higher branches of education. So great was his thirst for knowledge, that after spending the day in the labours of his profession, he would devote the greater part of the night to study. In this manner his mind became stored with useful information. In the war of 1812 he commanded the artillery attached to the army of Gen. Floyd, in his expedition against the Creeks. At the battle of Autossee, he distinguished himself for gal- lantry. In the account which General Floyd gives of this battle, he says : "Capt. Thomas's artillery marched in front of the right column on the road." "Capt. Thomas and his com- pany killed a great many Indians, and deserve particular praise." In the engagement at Camp Defiance he rendered important services, and in the official statements of that affair it is declared " that the steady firmness and incessant fire of Capt. Thomas's artillery and Capt. Adams's riflemen preserved our front line ; both of these suffered greatly." Gen. Thomas possessed the art, in an eminent degree, of animating his men on the field of battle, and perhaps there never was a braver band than that which composed his artillery company. In the heat of one of the battles just mentioned, one of his pieces of artillery had but three men left, and the matchmen were shot down in succession. At this moment, when the Indians seemed deter- mined to take possession of the cannon, when ten men out of thirteen were weltering in their gore, and nothing but inevi- table destruction appeared to await the remaining three, Ezekiel M. Attaway,* with heroic firmness, wrested the tra- versing handspike from the carriage of the gun, exclaiming to his two brave comrades, " With this I will defend the piece as long as I can stand-we must not give up the gun, boys -- seize the first weapon you can lay your hands upon, and stick
* It would give the author great pleasure to insert the name of the county in which this gentleman resides, but this he has been unable to ascer- tain. Of such a citizen, Georgia may well be proud.
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TROUP COUNTY.
to your posts until the last." We mention this incident to illustrate the spirit of the men under the command of Capt. Thomas. Soldiers animated by such a leader, are capable of accomplishing any thing. Upon his return to Georgia, after the campaign, he was greeted every where by the plaudits of his countrymen, and the high office of Major General was conferred upon him. Gen. Thomas died on the 6th of Janu- ary, 1817. He had long suffered with cancer in one of his eyes, and although he submitted to several operations, they were not attended by any alleviating effects. A gentleman who was intimate with Gen. Thomas, informs us that he was endowed with extraordinary intellectual strength. He was brought up to habits of industry and self-reliance, which dis- tinguished him through life. His sound judgment, inflexible honesty, and energy of character, insured him success in all his enterprises, private and public.
TROUP.
BOUNDARIES, EXTENT .- This county is bounded N. by Coweta and Heard; E. by Meriwether ; S . by Harris; and W. by Alabama. Laid out in 1826, and parts set off to Meri- wether and Harris in 1827, and a part to Heard in 1830. It is 28 miles long, and 24 miles wide, and contains 672 square miles.
RIVERS, CREEKS .- The Chattahoochee runs through the county ; and Yellow Jacket, Beach, Maple, Long Cane, Flat Shoal, Wehatkee, and White Water creeks, are its tributaries.
POPULATION, TAXES, REPRESENTATION. - Population in 1845, 8,337 whites, 7,942 blacks ; total, 16,279. Amount of taxes returned for 1848, $6,373 09. Sends two representa- tives to the State Legislature.
POST OFFICES .- La Grange, Antioch, Cane Point, Long Cane, Mountville, Asbury, Troup Factory, Hogansville, Ver- non, West Point.
TOWNS .- La Grange is the seat of justice, situated six miles S. E. of the Chattahoochee river, 130 W. of Milledgeville, 20
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from Greeneville, 30 from Newnan, 22 from Hamilton, 42 from Columbus, and 17 from West Point. The lots were sold on the 1st of May, 1828. It has a brick court-house, a jail, a fire-proof clerk's office, three churches, two hotels, ten or twelve stores, physicians, lawyers, mechanics' shops, &c. Business to the amount of $175,000 per annum is done in this town. Popula- tion about 1,500. The schools of La Grange for many years have been the theme of admiration. The school buildings are capacious and neat, provided with libraries and philosophical apparatus. Lectures are regularly delivered, and the principles of science illustrated by experiments. The grounds connected with the institutions are ornamented with trees, and every method is adopted to render school pleasant to the pupil. The town is healthy, and the water excellent. No place in Georgia can boast of a population, from its foundation to the present time, possessing greater merits in point of refinement of man- ners, benevolence of feeling, general intelligence, and moral worth, than La Grange. Incorporated in 1828. The country in the immediate vicinity of La Grange is highly improved, presenting numerous beautiful mansions surrounded by grounds ornamented with flowers and trees.
Mountville, nine miles from La Grange, on the road to Greeneville, contains one church, two doctors, and several mechanics' shops. Population about 200.
Harrisonville, ten miles from La Grange, contains a church, store, grocery, &c. Population about 60.
West Point, on both sides of the Chattahoochee, 16 miles from La Grange, has two churches, four or five stores, &c. Population, 200.
Long Cane is nine miles west of La Grange.
Vernon, on the Chattahoochee, is six miles from La Grange.
EDUCATION .- In no part of Georgia are the means of education so extensively diffused. From the earliest settle- ment of the county, the subject of education has occupied the attention of the citizens. Schools are established in nearly every neighbourhood. Many of the seminaries of learning would do credit to any community. Some of the gentlemen having charge of the education of youth in La Grange, have favoured us with the following statistics.
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La Grange High School has two teachers, and 71 pupils. The course of study embraces an extensive reading of the Greek and Latin classics, mathematics, and the various branches of an English education. The school is situated in a beautiful and retired part of La Grange, and is daily advancing in the confidence of the public.
La Grange Female Institution was founded in 1845. It is situated in a beautiful oak grove, half a mile from the public square. Incorporated in 1846, and power conferred to award diplomas, medals, and collegiate degrees. It has six instructers, and 140 pupils.
La Grange Female Seminary. This institution is situ- ated in a beautiful part of the town. The main edifice is a large building, three stories high, including the basement, affording apartments for lodging, study, lectures, recitation, &c. The institution was established in 1843, by the Rev. John E. Dawson. It is now under the direction of Mr. Mil- ton E. Bacon. It is an individual enterprise. The Board of Instructers consists of eight Professors. The plan of instruc- tion is strictly collegiate. The institution is well supplied with chemical and philosophical apparatus, minerals, library, &c. The number of pupils averages over 100 .*
Number of poor children in the county, 213. Educational fund, $184 72.
ROADS AND BRIDGES .- The roads and bridges are kept in a good condition. At West Point there is a bridge over the Chattahoochee, 550 feet in length; cost $16,000.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, NATURE OF THE SOIL .- The coun- ty is broken. The land is generally productive, but some parts much worn. The soil is mostly of the red description, adapted particularly to grains. Value of land, from $6 to $10 per acre. The western portion of the county is peculiarly adapted to the cultivation of wheat.
PRODUCTIONS .- Cotton is the principal product. Corn, wheat, rye, barley, &c., are successfully cultivated. About 15,000 bales of cotton are annually produced.
* There is also an excellent school at Brownwood, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Smith, but we were unsuccessful in our efforts to obtain an account of it.
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TROUP COUNTY.
MARKETS .- Columbus and Griffin. Merchants buy in Charleston and New-York.
VALUE OF TOWN LOTS, &c .- The value of town lots is $111,674. Value of stock in trade, $96,675. Money at inte- rest, $237,540.
MANUFACTURES, MILLS .- Troup factory, ten miles S. E. of La Grange. Capital, $42,000. Owners, Robertson, Leslie & Co. Spindles, 1,600 ; operatives 65, all whites. Yards of osnaburghs made per day, 900 ; bunches of yarn do. 100.
The goods are sold principally in the adjoining counties ; and a considerable quantity sent to Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and New-Orleans. The orders for the goods amount to double the quantity made. This factory took the first honour for osnaburghs at the Agricultural Fair held at the Stone Mountain, in 1848.
Woollen goods will be made this year. Great attention is paid to the character of the operatives, and none are received but those having testimonials of good and industrious habits. The Company are about to erect a building for a church and Sunday school. No ardent spirits are allowed on the premises.
There are in the county 10 flour-mills, 14 grist-mills, 11 saw-mills, and 2 wool-carding machines.
MINERALS .- Granite, and several varieties of rock, fit for building. Near Hogansville, carbonate of iron exists. Some lead has also been found. Beautiful amethystine quartz oc- curs near Dr. Austin's ; and tourmaline of uncommon beauty in several sections. Gold is found near Tavor's mills ; and asbestos and soapstone in several places. Evidence of lime- stone are found on Mr. Greene's farm, four miles from La Grange.
MINERAL SPRINGS .- There are no springs of great celebrity. Chalybeate springs are numerous. There is one seven miles west of La Grange, and another on Mr. Bacon's lot, in La Grange.
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE .- The character of the people is almost without reproach. Men of high standing exert their influence in favour of morality and good order. Few crimes have been committed in the county, and the public records ex- hibit the gratifying fact, that for nearly three years after the
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TROUP COUNTY.
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organization of the county, no presentment was made by a grand jury for immoral conduct.
RELIGIOUS SECTS .- Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians.
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS .- The first court in this county was held at the house of Mr. Weaver, July, 1827-Judge Colquitt presiding.
The first indictment against any citizen of Troup county, was for horse-stealing.
The first presentment was for an assault.
No execution has taken place in the county since its or- ganization.
EARLY SETTLERS .- John E. Morgan, James Culverson, W. J. Starling, George H. Traylor, Nicholas Johnson, Silas Tatom, W. C. Mays, James Williamson, Rev. Caleb W. Key, Samuel Reed, John E. Gage, R. H. Lane, Henry Rogers, Wilson Williams, James Amos, Thomas Cameron, General Harralson, General Bailey, John Hill, Daniel Robertson, and Colonel Newsome, and others.
CLIMATE, DISEASES, LONGEVITY .- The climate of Troup is generally favourable to health. On water-courses, as is the case in all parts of Georgia, fevers occur. There are now living, George Trash, 80; Mrs. Martha Stevens, 100; John Patterson, 82; Elizabeth Gordy, 84; Mrs. Gray, 84: Mrs. Frances Thornton, 102; Elizabeth Thomas, 85: Lyddel Es- tis, 85; Mrs. Martin Estis, 81; Thomas Smedley over 83 ; Simon Hughs, 80; Lodwick Alford, 80. Malden Amos died at the age of 99; Mins Sledge, upwards of 80; Mrs. Rallins, 92 ; Mrs. Battle, 90 ; Mr. Potts, over 95 ; Mr. William Tho- mason, a soldier of the Revolution, was 92 at his death ; Jo- seph Johnson was 86 ; a negro man, an African, belonging to the Rev. Mr. Wilson, died a few years ago at the age of 140 ! and Benjamin Hemp at 100.
NAME .- Colonel George M. Troup, after whom this coun- ty is named, was born at McIntosh's Bluff, on the Tombigbee, in what was then the territory of Georgia, now Alabama, in September, 1780. After receiving the rudiments of a classical education in McIntosh county, in his father's house, and after- wards in Savannah, he was sent to Erasmus Hall, a cele- brated Academy conducted by Dr. Peter Wilson, in Flatbush,
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Long Island, State of New-York. Thence he went to Prince- ton College, where he graduated honourably. On his return to Savannah, he studied law with Mr. Noel. He early evinced a disposition for public life, provided political advancement might be attained without demagoguism. His talents and honesty gained for him the friendship of General James Jack- son, when Governor, who appointed him his Aid. In 1800, before he was twenty years of age, he was invited by the republicans of Chatham county to represent it in the Legisla- ture. This he declined, because of his minority. In a letter to General Jackson, he exhibits a sound republican feeling, from which, it is confidently asserted, he has not deviated a tittle down to the present day. He says, " I received an invi- tation from the republicans of Chatham to stand a candidate at the late election for representative. Constitutionally un- qualified to take my seat, in a successful event, l very reluc- tantly declined. The great crisis at which we have arrived, demands the patriotic exertions of every citizen of this country. The most important salutary benefits are suspended on the issue ; and if the numbers, together with the talents, which the republicans can command, are called into action, we can- not fail of a complete and decisive victory." The crisis was that of 1800-the contest beween Adams and Jefferson.
In 1801 he yielded to a second application, and was elect- ed a representative. In the Legislature he at once occupied a high position. In 1802 he was again elected, and again in 1803. In 1804, he removed to Bryan county, where he re- sided some years. In 1806, he was elected to Congress. As formerly, he abjured all arts before the people, refusing to solicit their suffrages, but ready to obey their call. This has been the rule of his political life, never to electioneer. He was a member of the House of Representatives until 1815, when he withdrew to private life. His support was given to the ad- ministrations of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison, possessed of the confidence of both. As a representative of Georgia, he was distinguished by his opposition to the compromise made by the Federal Legislature with the Yazoo speculators. As a Legislator of the Union, he sustained the war measures which were adopted towards England. He was Chairman of the
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Committee on Military Affairs during nearly all the war. Na- turally fervid, he was impassioned in debate; scrupulously honest, he was listened to with respect ; devoted to his coun- try, he gave to her all his heart and all his mind. During, or about the close of the war, he married a Virginia lady, from whom spring his descendants, a son and two daughters, and his grandchildren, the children of Thomas M. Forman, Esq., lately Mr. Bryan, of Glynn county. The elder children of Mr. Forman by Miss Troup, bear the name of Bryan, and are the great-grandchildren of Jonathan Bryan, illustrious in the annals of our State.
In 1816, in opposition to his own wishes for retirement, Col. Troup was elected a Senator in Congress over Dr. Bibb, a very distinguished servant of Georgia, who recently in the Senate had rendered himself unpopular, by supporting " the compensation law." Dr. Bibb's term would have expired on the 3d of March, 1817, but he resigned, and the Legislature, in addition to the ensuing full term, conferred the vacancy on Colonel Troup. He continued but two years in the Se- nate. In 1830, the State being divided into two great parties, known as the Crawford and Clarke parties, Colonel Troup was induced, by urgent application of his friends, to consent to become a candidate for Governor. General John Clarke was elected by a majority of thirteen votes. Again, in 1821, General Clarke was elected, beating Colonel Troup by a ma- jority of two votes. The writer of this memoir well remem- bers the intense excitement that preceded this election, and the course of Colonel Troup at Milledgeville. His supporters urged him to visit the members, and to canvass for their votes. He refused, alleging truly, that " a candidate for the executive chair should not debase that high office by seeking to influ- ence the legislative votes. He had refused through life to electioneer, and he was too old to do it now." Again, in 1823, he was a candidate, and the election resulted in his elevation to the chief magistracy. His opponent was the Honourable Matthew Talbot. Well was this for Georgia; for a struggle was approaching, demanding at her helm a man of soundest judgment, and of undaunted heart.
For a correct understanding of Governor Troup's difficul-
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ties with the General Government, it must be remembered that Georgia had, in 1802, sold to the United States all her lands west of the Chattahoochee, and of a line from that river to Nickajack on the Tennessee. It was solemnly agreed in the articles of cession, that the United States should ex- tinguish, at their own expense, the Indian title to "all the other lands within the State of Georgia, as early as the same could be peaceably attained on reasonable terms." From 1802 down to 1823, although some acquisitions of land had been made, the agreement remained unexecuted. The States of Mis- sissippi and Alabama, which had been erected out of the ceded territory, were filling up with population, (the Indian title there and in Eastern Tennessee being in course of extinction,) and there was cause of apprehension, from a growing senti- ment at the North, believed to be in some considerable degree encouraged by the authorities at Washington, that the Indians, both Creeks and Cherokees, might be, for many years more, fastened upon our domain, if, indeed, not permitted to try upon it the experiment of independent self-government. To ex- tinguish the Indian title to all lands in Georgia, was a matter of compact and duty unfulfilled. Its extinction in other States was matter of National policy. Georgia had, except in time of war and public distress, urged upon the Government the performance of this duty. She had never failed to do hers, in any one particular, to her confederated sisters,. A morbid philanthropy, in high and low places, preferred the supposed welfare of the savage, to the undoubted rights of our State, as the same philanthropy, now a wicked fanaticism, has since advocated another race before the happiness and peace of Southern freemen.
The Legislature of 1823 required the Governor elect " to use his exertions to obtain from the United States the extin- guishment of the Indian title to all our remaining territory." He immediately opened a correspondence with the Secretary of War, which resulted in a commission to Duncan G. Camp- bell and James Meriwether, two distinguished Georgians, to treat with the Creek Indians. A council was held in Decem- ber, 1824, at Broken Arrow, on the Chattahoochee. Had the authorities of the Creek Nation been left to their own discre-
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tion, the success of the Commissioners would have equalled their wishes; but it was discovered that the Indians had been influenced by the United States sub-agent, Walker, by their interpreter Hambly, by Missionaries, and by Cherokee chiefs, to refuse a cession; and it was believed that this was done with the connivance of John Crowell, the agent. The nego- tiation altogether failed. It was in evidence that Crowell and his brother had declared " that Georgia should get no land from the Indians while Troup was Governor." Empowered so to do, the same Commissioners met the Creeks in council again at the Indian Springs, on the 12th day of February, 1825, and concluded with them a treaty of that date. But the Indians ceded to the United States, for Georgia, their right to all their lands in Georgia, and also ceded a portion in Alabama, and agreed to remove to the West, before the first day of Septem- ber, 1826. The most perfect justice was done ; they were to receive acre for acre in Western lands, and four hundred thousand dollars in money. The attendance of chiefs was a good one, and much larger than usual when chiefs only are invited. No fairer consideration was ever given for Indian relinquishment. Crowell, the agent, attested the treaty. The next day he set off for Washington, to protest against it ; but Mr. Monroe submitted the treaty to the Senate, by whom it was solemnly ratified.
A short time after this, the celebrated chief and warrior, General William McIntosh, whose whole life had been devoted to Georgia as well as to his own tribe, fell beneath the blows of assassins, when reposing in his own house, on our own soil. The hostile Indians surrounded his home, cowardlike, in the midst of night, fired it, and, as he attempted to leave it, perfo- rated his body with a hundred bullets. He had given his in- fluence in favour of the treaty, and was a friend to Georgia. The Indians who slew him pretended that it was done in exe- cution of some unwritten law of their country, as a punish- ment for the cession of land. McIntosh, friendly to Georgia, had, on our Governor's application, assented, for his people, to an immediate survey, so as to prepare for white occupation on the first of September, 1826. This brave warrior and the other treaty-making Indians had borne arms for the United
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TROUP COUNTY.
States ; those opposed to the treaty had been hostile in the war with Great Britain in 1812, 13, 14, and 15. So faithful had he been to us, that British blandishments had failed to affect his attachments ; and, as a just reward for his fidelity and bra- very, a brigadier general's commission had, in that war, been sent to him from Washington. Again, in 1817 and 1818, he served under General Andrew Jackson against the Indians of Florida. The Indians friendly to the treaty were the same who had made previous cessions, against their power to make which no word had been uttered. They were the proprietors and occupants of the ceded lands, and in battle had conquered, in times past, the recusant Indians : those opposed were inha- bitants of the interior country, altogether in Alabama, and little concerned with the question. But a few years before General Jackson had treated the latter as a conquered people, and had prescribed to them their bounds.
The Governor convened the Legislature in May, 1825, in extra session, and recommended that the acquired land be sur- veyed. An act was passed accordingly. A strong resolution was adopted, calling upon the President to remove the Indian Agent from office, as the enemy of Georgia, and as faithless to his Government. Mr. John Quincy Adams had become Pre- sident. He refused to remove him, but instituted an inquiry into his conduct, appointing for that purpose " a Clerk of Bureau." He also commissioned Major General Gaines to repair to Georgia, " to suppress the disorders of the Nation and compose its dissensions." These two high functionaries made their appearance in the State, and forthwith evinced an unbecoming partiality for the Agent and for those Indians who were inimical, and manifested a disposition to set at naught, and to trample upon, the rights and dignity of the State of Georgia. She had, unhappily, long been divided into two bit- ter parties, of late years principally upon personal grounds, and " the Major General Commanding" very soon manifested his alliance with that in opposition to the then Chief Magis- trate. The Governor appointed Commissioners, as enjoined by the Legislature, to inquire into the delinquency of the Agent. When attending conferences held by General Gaines with the Indians in Georgia, upon her own soil, they were debarred
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from facilities of communication with them, to which, as the representatives of a sovereign State, they were entitled. The " Clerk of Bureau" and " the Major General Commanding" went beyond their allotted duties, and reported against a treaty which had not been submitted to them; the spotless charac- ters of Campbell and Meriwether were traduced, and the treaty was declared to be " tainted with intrigue and treachery." Mr. Adams determined to re-submit the treaty to Congress, and prohibited the survey ; the Governor determined to hold it as valid, and, in due time, to survey the land; but he in- formed the President of the United States that the survey should be suspended until the Legislature should again meet. And, referring to General Gaines, assures the President that were he " to send the General to him in chains, he would trans- gress nothing of the public law." He demanded his imme- diate recall, and his arrest, trial, and punishment, under the rules and articles of war, for having, in his correspondence and publications, insulted the Chief Magistrate of Georgia. Such was the law. But, in utter disregard of our Legislature and of our Governor, Crowell was not removed from office ; Gaines was not court-martialled ; and the murderers of McIn- tosh were not punished !
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