USA > Georgia > Jackson County > The early history of Jackson county, Georgia. "The writings of the late G.J.N. Wilson, embracing some of the early history of Jackson county". The first settlers, 1784; formation and boundaries to the present time; records of the Talasee colony > Part 2
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Thus it seems that the new county was four times larger than at the present time, and included several places which have since become prominent in other counties. Josiah Meigs,* first President of Franklin College, now the State University, called his first class to order in Jackson County.
This extensive territory was called after Gen. James Jackson, of revolutionary fame, and not for Gen. Andrew Jackson as has sometimes been said. Though an Englishman by birth, no other
"White's Historical Collections," says "President Meigs commenced the exercises of the University when no college buildings had been erected. Recitations were often heard and lectures delivered under the shade of the forest oak, etc." P. 397 .- Ed.
matter of right. The country was said to have been loaned by the Creeks to the Cherokees. The first claim of the right to possess it at all, on the part of the latter tribe, was derived by success at a ball-game, at which the stake was the disputed country, and at which play the Cherokees were successful. This ball-game took place some time between the years 1816 and 1820.
"I understand that the President is of the opinion that the United States Government is bound, by its contract of 1802 with Georgia, as well as upon general principles, to permit no transfer of territory after that time from the Creeks to the Cherokees, or rather to disregard any contracts which may have been made between the two tribes. The Creeks having been the occu- pants of the country in 1802, and having parted with possession, it now belongs to Georgia, as the rightful owner of the soil.
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"Georgia considers herself entitled to immediate possession of the coun- try claimed, but is willing to have the right postponed for the attainment of a more important object. If that object is not affected by the means adopted during the present session of Congress, the State expects that the President will, so far as his own power extends, do her justice, by having
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man was ever a more faithful and efficient servant of Georgia than James Jackson. No "railing accusation" was ever brought against him except that he was accused of causing Franklin Col- lege to be located in Jackson County because it was named after him. Mild indeed; but even that was afterwards shown to be utterly false.
For a period of nearly five years the original lines of Jackson remained undisturbed. However, the steady increase of popu- lation, and the location of the State School where Athens now flourishes, called for still another new county. Accordingly by an Act approved on 5th of December, 1801, Clarke County, then including Oconee, was cut, largely from Jackson, by a line be- ginning "on the Appalachee river at the mouth of Marbury's creek; thence on a direct line to Richard Easley's mill (Talasee Shoals) on the middle fork of the Oconee river; from thence on a direct line to where the Oglethorpe line crosses the north fork of Brush creek; thence down the Oglethorpe line to the Appa- lachee river; thence up said river to the beginning."
Ten years passed away before Jackson was again called on for a division of her patrimony, by its citizens living east of Big Sandy creek. By taking a large part from Jackson, and smaller portions from Oglethorpe, Clarke, Franklin and Elbert Counties, Madison County was formed by an Act approved December 5th, 1811, and by "beginning on the Clarke County line on the ridge between Bushy and Beaverdam creek; thence a direct line to where the Jackson County line crosses Little Sandy creek; thence on a direct line to the fork of Big Sandy creek above Espy's Mill; thence up the eastern fork of the same to Knight's old store; thence to the head of Black's creek in such manner as to leave all the waters of Big Sandy creek in Jackson County."
the Cherokees removed from so much territory as is included in the treaty lately made with the Creeks.
"These remarks are submitted to the President with sentiments of most respectful consideration.
"GEORGE R. GILMER."
"To the President of the United States."
-Editor.
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The western boundary of Madison as above given; being some- what indefinite, the matter was not settled till a few years ago. The loss to Jackson by the formation of Madison County was not as great in territory as it was in citizenship. People in any part of the country with first-class citizens, and churches and schools, farms and shops, and all pursuits known to civilization, will pros- per and be perpetuated upon an ascending scale from generation to generation.
Still, mother Jackson had an immense territory as compared with her present limits, embracing a large part of what is now Walton, Gwinnett, Hall and Banks Counties. Besides, the year after Madison was formed, the usual rule was reversed by making Jackson larger.
In 1785, Col. Hawkins, the United States agent for Indian af- fairs, was ordered to run the Franklin line from the Currahee to the head of the Appalachee river, which is to this day known as the Hawkins line. However, the Georgia legislature of 1812 decided that Col. Hawkins did not run the line "agreeably to the true spirit and interest of the treaty held at Augusta on the 31st of May, 1783, and confirmed by the treaty at Shoulderbone, in 1786; but left on the Indian side certain lands, which, by the 3rd Section of the 4th Article of the Federal constitution, be- longed to the State of Georgia."
In pursuance of this decision Gov. Rabun, on the 7th of December, 1812, signed a bill adding to Jackson County, "all the land lying west and northwest of the Hawkins line, and on the waters of the Oconee, up the ridge dividing the waters of said Oconee from the waters of Chattahoochee river, commenc- ing at a point on the line run by Hugh Montgomery, where the same crosses the dividing ridge, between Oconee and Broad rivers; thence along said ridge a southwest direction to the inter- section of the Hawkins line."
This act, which is hard to understand, while greatly increasing the territory and Indian population of Jackson, added but few whites, most of whom belonged to the celebrated "Wofford Set-
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tlement," now in Hall. This colony of pioneers had been added to Jackson two years before; but it seems that the State govern- ment did not reach them, and was repealed before the Act of 1812.
The Augusta treaty which finally gave the Wofford Settlement to Jackson, was signed, with a cross, by fourteen Indians; and as four of them lived within the present limits of the county, their names are here given as a matter of curiosity :
Talasee King, for whom the Talasee Shoals are named. He lived on the road leading from the shoals to Athens, and about midway between Prospect Church and the large blackgum tree which marks the line between Jackson and Clarke Counties.
Okolegee, a prominent friend of the white settlers. His wig- wam stood on top of Tiptoe, now known as Price's Mountain, several miles above the present Price bridge, and where a battle was fought between Confederate and Federal troops in 1864.
Inomatuhata, whose home was on Pea Ridge, north of Winder. He lived in a picturesque house made of the branches of hickory trees, carefully intertwined and neatly plastered both inside and out, with a light, brick-colored mortar, the mixture of which, the writer believes, is now unknown. The roof was of moss, evi- dently taken from the swamps a few miles to the south, and growing, soon became impervious to water.
Inomatawtunsigna, who affixed to his name the characteristic title of "Head Warrior," lived near Arnold's old mill on Bear creek. His wigwam was of the common form, but unusually substantial. Though not an avowed friend to the whites, he was conservative, brave and intellectual.
I-no-ma-tu-ha-ta and I-no-ma-taw tun-sig-na were brothers, and claimed to be descendants of Mispenthe, an illustrious war- rior of a former age, and his Queen, Lutro, the "Moon Spirit." It is not known that either of the brothers left a namesake to try the jaw-breaking power of their pale-faced successors.
Of the five distinguished white men who signed the treaty, two of them, Andrew Burns and John Lamar, afterwards became
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citizens of this county and some of their descendants still live in it .*
The era upon which Jackson County entered in 1812, was an eventful one. Though rich in the integrity of her men, proud of the ennobling and elevating character of her women; and boast- ing of a surplus in her treasury, amounting to $57.061/4, fear and forebodings of an evil day began to dawn upon the people. Still a border county, and our Atlantic coasts blockaded by Eng- lish fleets; the flames of burning houses by night and the gleam of the Indian tomahawk by day, announced indiscriminate slaughter all along her borders and sometimes within her limits. The morals of the people, hitherto almost pure, became corrupt; drunkenness, almost unknown before, became common; and crimes of which the older citizens had never dreamed, were com- mitted, sometimes in open defiance of law. It is strange that de- moralization follows exciting times; but the old maxim that, "Hanging day is the worst in the year" is generally true. It is not certain that Jackson County has yet recovered from the blow then given.
Under the trying circumstances few men could leave their threatened homes to enter the second contest with the British lion and his whelps, the Creeks and Cherokees. Still out of a popu- lation of 227 taxpayers, the county furnished 23 volunteers who enlisted under Gen. Jackson, and all but three or four, who had died of disease, were with him at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Besides the volunteers, a Company of 40 men, styled the "Jackson Guards," under the command of the gallant Capt. Wil- liam Jones, patrolled the county, and were of inestimable ser- vice. What a crying pity that the history of the "Jackson Guards" has never been written.
*This treaty covered practically all of the old County of Franklin. The Acts of the General Assembly of Georgia, 1783, approving this treaty, states in Article III, that the Savanah river was considered the eastern line and "Beginning at a stream known as the Keowee and running in a westerly direction to the Currahee mountain; thence southwest to the head waters of the mout southern branch of the Oconee river (Appalachee), in- cluding all the waters of the same; thence down the river to the old line."
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After enlarging Jackson by the Act of 1812, it was six years before the pruning knife was again applied to her boundaries. As the tread of the Anglo-Saxon had taken its way to the west; as George Walton, Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall, good men and true, were without namesakes on the map of Georgia; and as Jackson could furnish good material to build their monuments, three deep cuts were made at one blow, creating, to a large ex- tent, our three charming daughters, Walton, Gwinnett and Hall Counties .*
The Act making these three new counties became a law on the 19th day of December, 1818, and says: "That all that part of Jackson County which lies southeast and southwest of a line to commence on the Appalachee river, where the dividing line between the counties of Walton and Gwinnett strikes the same, and continuing the course of said line until the same strikes the Hog Mountain road; thence down the same to the southern line of said county; thence along the same to the Appalachee river, shall be added to, and made a part of Waltont County ; and all that part of said county which lies above the described line ; and thence along the road which passes Thompson's mill, to the Mulberry fork of the Oconee river; thence a direct line to the corner of Gwinnett County on the top of the Chattahoochee ridge, shall be added to and become a part of Gwinnett County; and all that part of Jackson County which lies northwest of a line to begin at the house of William Clements and running parallel with a line commonly called Hawkins line, to the present line of Frank- lin County be added to and become a part of Hall." As this Act did not clearly define some of the northern boundaries of the new counties, the legislature of 1819 undertook to remedy the matter by enacting "that the line dividing the counties of Jack- son and Gwinnett shall extend from Thompson's mill on the
*See G. G. Smith's "The Story of Georgia and the Georgia People" and Charles H. Smith's, (Bill Arp) History of Georgia, pages 53 and 54. If the reader will make these references he will see that the northern and western boundaries of Jackson County were not well defined .- Ed.
tAccording to the Acts of the General Assembly, 1803, all the lands on the north and west of our county were called "The Walton Country."
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Oconee fork of the Mulberry river; thence up said fork to where the line dividing Hall and Gwinnett crosses the same."
This Act of 1819 was still so unsatisfactory that in December, 1820, an explanatory Act was passed with following preamble : "Whereas some of the lines dividing Jackson, Walton, Gwin- nett and Hall Counties were designated by old roads, not very much in use; and whereas persons living near such roads are in the habit of turning such dividing roads at pleasure round their houses, so as to throw them in which county they may see proper, so as to evade civil process, militia duty, payment of tax, and effect many irregularities contrary to the true intent and meaning of the aforesaid law. Be it enacted," etc. The Act then goes on to re-establish nearly the same original lines, and in the same indefinite manner. In some places their exact loca- tion is unknown to this day.
About the time Walton, Gwinnett and Hall Counties were sur- veyed, the Georgia legislature proposed to turn the Chattahoo- chee river into the North Oconee by digging a canal from the former to the head water of the latter. This novel measure, which was claimed to be practical, was, after a long debate, finally defeated, mainly by the wild and fiery eloquence of John Steb- bins, a member who lived somewhere on the lower waters of the Oconee. "What, Mr. Speaker," he exclaimed, "will become of me and my family, when the Chattahoochee, three miles wide, a thousand feet deep, and ten miles higher than the sea, is turn- ed loose at the rate of forty miles a minute, on lower Georgia. Why, sir, it will wash every one of us away, and if we don't get drowned we will wake up some morning and find ourselves a-straddle of logs floating about in the Atlantic ocean. Yes, sir, the mountains of North Georgia will come tumbling down here and knock our State House into a cocked hat, and people will look out of their top windows to see if old father Noah is again sailing around in his big ship. Besides all this, Mr. Speaker, if we turn the vast volume of water that is in the Chattahoochee from the channel where God made it to run, the Gulf of Mexico would go dry, and the fish, whales, alligators and snakes in it
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would stink so bad that nobody could live in ten thousand miles of its shore !"
Of course neither the speaker nor any one who heard him be- lieved what he said; but the speech from which the above is an extract, was the climax of ridicule, and had the desired effect. The measure failed, though it was not finally abandoned till some years after.
In the meantime some of the citizens who lived around Hur- ricane Shoals, believing that the Chattahoochee would soon come washing by them, applied for a new county to be called Unicoy, after the pretty daughter of the Indian chief, Alapaha, who had once lived near the Shoals. The bill to create a new county went down with the bill to create a new river. They died together; but it was not known that John Stebbins had anything to do with the county matter.
In pursuance of a law passed 24th of December, 1821, Jackson was again made larger by enacting that "the line dividing Franklin and Jackson shall commence where the Grove Level road strikes the Hall County line; thence along the said road to Malone's old store; thence a direct line to where the present Jackson County line strikes the Madison County line, and all that part of Franklin lying south and southwest of the aforesaid line, shall be added and become a part of Jackson County."
Sixteen years passed without any further change. In 1837 an additional part of Franklin was added to Jackson; and in 1850 a few hundred acres of Jackson were cut off to Clarke. In 1852 the line of Jackson was so changed as to include the residence of William Sanders in Madison. In 1856 the residence of Jesse Lord was transferred from Jackson to Banks, and the lands of David Smith in Gwinnett were added to Jackson. The planta- tion of George W. Hudson was taken from Jackson and added to Clarke in 1868; and the line between Jackson and Madison so changed as to add a part of the former to the latter, and a part of the latter to the former.
In 1870 the line of Walton was so altered as to include all the lands of D. R. R. Perkins in Jackson; and the line between Jack- son and Banks was materially changed as to begin "at the resi-
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dence of James H. Holland, on the Hurricane Shoals road; thence to General Thomas Anderson's; thence to Atkin's brick store; thence up the Clarkesville road to the line of Banks County, in- cluding all the lands in the above metes and bounds in Banks County."
This last Act was exceedingly successful in giving its "metes and bounds" so that they could not be understood; but all of the difficulties growing out of it have recently been adjusted to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.
In 1905 the people living southward of the Mulberry river, ap- plied for a new county which they proposed to name Stephens, with Winder for its capital. A large part of Jackson was involved and the new county party was strong and influential, but was un- successful.
Note: Again in 1913 an effort was made to cut a part of Jackson off and combine with a portion from each of Gwinnett and Walton Counties thereby forming a new county to be named Barrow County in honor of Chancellor Barrow of the University of Geor- gia. This failed, also.
-Editor. Barrow
County dermed in 1914.
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CHAPTER II.
THE COUNTRY-ITS INHABITANTS-FORESTS-STREAMS-BIRDS.
When the first white man, with his bold and fearless step came to what was then known as Franklin, but since 1796, as Jackson County, the conditions which he was called upon to meet were entirely different from anything known to the present genera- tion. The soil, being subject only to the stealthy tread of the native, the light foot-fall of the prowling animal, and the force of heavy rains being broken by dense forests, was so soft and mellow that the white man sank ankle deep as he passed over it. There was little undergrowth. By concert of action throughout the country, the natives burnt the woods during the autumn of every year. This custom kept small growth in check, destroyed millions upon millions of reptiles and insects, and the smoke arising from such a vast area of burning leaves and dry timber partially obscured the rays of the sun and produced the lovely Indian Summer of old times. Some of the undergrowth escaped the fire and is seen in the large trees which still remain in our scattered woodland.
For an unknown distance in every direction the country was covered with an almost unbroken forest through which wild animals and wilder men roamed at will both night and day. At the time of its first settlement by the whites, the country was not as thickly inhabited by native Indians as most of the adjacent territory. Perhaps this was partly owing to the fact that that part of it which lies between the Athens and Clarkesville road to the north and east and the Mulberry river to the south, was claimed by both the Cherokee and Upper Creek tribes, and passed from one to the other as the fortunes of war dictated. Another leading reason for this sparse population will appear as our narrative progresses. The territory was now in full possession of the Upper Creeks with here and there a family or an indivi- dual that belonged to the Lower Creek tribe. In manners, cus- toms and language these two divisions of the Creek Nation were
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almost identical; but, strange to say, they were not on friendly terms except in time of war with other tribes, and not always then. Those who lived within the present limits of Jackson County had all the leading characteristics of their race which are too well known to need repetition here. A few of them were capable of the most devoted friendship; but the great majority felt nothing but the most intense hatred for the "pale face" as they generally termed the white man. Nor can we reasonably blame him for this. Put yourself in his place. It is a serious thing for a stranger to come and take full possession of a man's home, and either kill or drive him away. It can be justified on the principle of the survival of the fittest only. If Moses led his hosts to the borders of Canaan and Joshua took possession of the homes of its inhabitants, it was for a far-reaching reason that has already wrought upon the destiny of the whole human race, not only for all time, but for eternity as well! It may be that the very people of whose homes our forefathers took possession were the descendants of those whom Moses led to Canaan and at last became lost among the nations-the ten tribes of Israel !
The natives found here were, and still are, called Indians, not because that is their proper name, but because, when first discovered, they were thought to be inhabitants of India, in Asia. This shows how little the geography of the world was known by Columbus and his compeers. However, when the natives finally came to know something of the different races of man- kind, they called themselves "The Red Men," and this is, perhaps the most appropriate designation by which they are known.
Their conceptions of a Supreme Being were of a high order, and almost universal. They fully believed in a future state of existence, and thought the after life a continuation of the first in every respect. They considered the emergence of a butterfly from its chrysalis a renewal of the life of the same insect that fluttered from flower to flower the summer before, and that after death they would do the same way in what they termed "The Happy Hunting Grounds of the Great Spirit." Deeming the life of a butterfly an illustration of their own, one of the few precepts which they taught their children was "You must not kill a
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cetace," as they called the butterfly. Though this belief was not universally entertained or even known, it was a fine conception of the mind of some heathen who never heard of the word resur- rection.
The Upper Creeks lived chiefly on wild animals and birds caught in the woods; on fish, mud turtles and terrapins found in the streams; on custard-apples or papaws which grew upon small bushes, but now almost extinct; on wild beans or mistiups which grew on vines in the fertile valleys, but totally disappeared after the introduction of cattle; on pig potatoes or oskones which still exist in some of our swamps; on wild grapes or unups which grew in great profusion, and were of a much better quality than now; and, when in season, largely on green corn which they call- ed emefila when soft, but ze maize when hard. As the time for eating this choice article of food approached, they manifested their delight by performing the emefila or Green Corn Dance. It was a weird and laborious performance and required the full exercise of all their physical powers. Sometimes they ground hard corn between two stones, or beat it in mortars cut in large flat rocks, and thus produced a coarse meal of which they made cake or bonokins. These they cooked in hot ashes, and they were said to be excellent eating. Our grandmothers perpetuated this custom of cooking ash cakes for many years, and carried the art to a high degree of perfection. The natives also made many kinds of soup, their favorite dish being a mixture of green corn and wild beans which they called succotash. They often cooked in earthen pots; but broiling was their favorite method of pre- paring fish and birds. It is not known that the Upper Creeks had any knowledge of salt, pepper, or other seasoning or flavor- ing ingredients.
Patches of corn were planted, cultivated, ground and cooked by the women exclusively. The tool chiefly used in its culti- vation, or we may say the plow, was made of the forked limb of a hard-wood tree, the point that entered the ground being somewhat hardened by a skillful application of fire. Within the memory of living man, a small plat of land now partly covered
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by the Commerce Cotton Mills, was thus cultivated by a very old Indian squaw whose name was Jillico.
Nearly all Indians were skillful in the use of the bow and the tomahawk. Some of them were experts to such a high degree of perfection as seem incredible to this age. These were used in the chase and in war. Fire arms were unknown to the natives of this immediate section until the latter part of the 90's of the 18th century. They were of Spanish make, and in the hands of the natives did little damage.
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