Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 16A
-THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19,1980
Ferrying In Forsyth Was
Lucrative, Controversial
By JAYJORDAN
News Editor
In the days of our great
grandfathers, operating a
ferry was a lucrative enter
prize.
Consider the case of
Vann’s Ferry across the
Chattahoochee River.
In the early 1800’s the Fed
eral Road pushed out from
Georgia west into Alabama
and north to Tennessee. It
crossed the Chattahoochee
from Hall County into what
was then the Cherokee Na
tion at the site of Vann’s
Tavern Park on Lake Lanier
and went west along Georgia
Highway 369 and Hightower
Road. In its day, the Federal
Road was like an interstate
highway. It was a major
route to the westren frontier.
The Federal Road then
looked much like Hightower
Road now. It was walkable,
and a wagon could move at
about the same pace. A
horseman could make better
time.
But rivers, especially ones
too wide or deep to splash
through easily, were a real
problem. In the right
weather, a horseman with
nothing that wouldn’t dry
out in the sun might swim
his mount across. Everyone
else was stuck.
In 1804, Cherokee Chief
James Vann built a rude
flatboat, strung a large rope
across the river, tied the flat
boat to it by means of pullies
and short ropes and set him
self up in the ferry business.
Now, for a price, travelers
could cross the Chattahoo
chee dry shod. The pullies
and short ropes kept the flat
boar from drifting down
stream, and by pulling the
flatboat along the rope and
pushing poles, the traveler
could bring his wagon across
and stop at Vann’s Tavern,
or “house of entertain
ment.” Old Chief Vann did
rather well for himself.
County Historian Don
Shadburn related the story
of the ferries one Saturday
at breakfast to a reporter.
He continued:
As the frontier pushed
westward across Georgia,
the land was methodically
surveyed and then awarded
in lotteries held in Milledge
ville, then the state capital.
A huge drum was turned and
winning names were
matched up with land lots.
About 1820, one Richard
Winn drew the ferry lot on
the east bank of the Chatta
hoochee, opposite Vann’s
ferry, tavern and plantation.
In 1822, the General As
sembly authorized Winn to
operate a ferry on the Fed
eral Road. It set his prices,
required him to have the
ferry attended 24 hours a
day and spelled out his liabi
lites and responsibilities.
Winn promptly fobade the
Cherokee ferry to land on his
side of the river, effectively
putting them out of business.
Cherokees were not al
lowed to testify in court
against a white man, and
neither could they inherit
land. There wasn’t much
they could do, except com
plain to Col. Hugh Montgom
ery, the local Indian agent.
Montgomery didn’t respond
and the Cherokee Nation
filed suit for loss of revenue.
Meanwhile, the frontier
pushed westward again.
Forsyth County was sur
, I CUM MING I
PAWN SHOP
BUYING... -
RINGS & COINS & ip^m
COIN COLLECTIONS - ESTATES - HOARDS
BOUGHT FOR CASH - FREE APPRAISALS -
FOR BANKS - ATTORNEYS, ETC.
KRUGERRANDS
PAYING
*SOO UP.
INVESTMENT SPECIALIST
rTdR in9S ‘GOLD COINS . . Its nice to
Silverware' ‘SILVER COINS have extra cash
Sterling; ‘RARE COINS in the Bank.
LOCATED IN BENSON SPORTING GOODS.
I 887-5666 1
veyed and a lottery was held
in Milledgeville in 1832.
Land on the frontier was a
valuable quantity and specu
lators ran rampant. Often a
lot was sold and sold again
before the original owner
ever received title to it.
The ferry lot on the Chero
kee side of the river was
drawn and sold. At the time,
the ferry, plantation and
tavern were leased by a
white man, Thomas Bur
ford, incidently the first
elected surveyor of Forsyth
County. The law held that
Cherokees in physical pos
session of land could not be
evicted by the white men
who had drawn it in the lot
tery. There were not any
Cherokees living on the
ferry site, so Burford was
dispossed by John MacAfee.
Richard Winn bought the
ferry lot at some time or an
other, too. Both Winn and
MacAfee claimed the ferry
and neither would budge.
The case was in and out of
the courts for years.
Finally, in 1840, Winn had
to give clear title to the ferry
to MacAfee.
Ferrying was a lucrative
business and by 1836, there
were 11 ferries across the
Chattahoochee and Etowah
Rivers in Forsyth County.
In the very south, Waters’
Ferry was run by Major
George M. Waters, a vet
eran of the war of 1812 and a
quarterblood Cherokee.
Rogers’ Ferry, the next up
the river, was owned by
John Rodgers, an affluent
white man with an Indian
family. Both this ferry and
Waters’ were in what is now
Fulton County.
Collins’ Ferry, later Mc-
Ginnis’ Ferry, was owned by
Parker Collins, John Rog
ers’ brother-in-law.
Gilbert’s Ferry, later
known as Hutchins’ Ferry,
crossed near the mouth of
Dick Creek. This ferry was
partially owned by Wiliam
Rogers, a son of John Rog
ers.
Orr’s Ferry crossed the
Chattahoochee above Dave’s
Creek. It was later called
Strickland’s Ferry. A half
interest in the ferry was
HAM
5H00T....
EVERY SATURDAY UNTIL
CHRISTMAS - 10:00 A.M.
AT THE
V. F. W.
Hwy. 19 North - Cummng, Ga.
All proceeds will go for the
Christmas Food packages for
needy families in Forsyth
County.
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BLACKBURN’S FERRY
...on the Etowah
owned by Charlotte Vickery,
a halfblood Cherokee who
was married to the white
man Henry Vickery. The
couple had large holdings in
the southern part of the
county and at one time Big
Creek was known as Vickery
Creek. Charlotte Vickery
was the last Cherokee mixed
blood to live in in Forsyth
County.
Bond’s Ferry crossed near
the mouth of Baldridge
Creek. It was later Shad
burn’s Ferry and Pirkle
Ferry. It was owned by
Dave Cordery, the brother of
Charlotte Vickery.
Thornton’s Ferry was lo
cated near the mouth of Six
Mile Creek. It, too, was later
known as Shadburn’s Ferry.
Light’s Ferry was up
stream of Thonrton’s Ferry.
It was owned by Obediah
Light.
Winn’s Ferry was at the
crossing of the Federal Road
at Vann’s tavern and ferry.
Later the ferry was known
as Williams’. In 1836, the
owners were Winn and John
son K. Rogers, a native Che
rokee.
Winn’s Ferry was the last
on the Chattahoochee. Just
above it was Goddard’s
Ford and just over the then
Lumpkin County Line was
Wooley’sFord.
On the Etowah River,
Blackburn’s Ferry took the
Federal Road across just a
few feet from the present
Hightower Road bridge.
This ferry was owned by a
white man with an Indian
family, Lewis Blackburn.
Just east of Blackburn’s
Ferry, the Alabama Road
branched off of the Federal
Road and generally followed
Georgia 369 west. A branch
of this road led to Scudder’s
Ferry, which crossed the
Etowah downstream of
Blackburn’s. This ferry was
operated by Alfred Scudder,
Blackburn’s son-in-law.
By 1850, the usefulness of
the ferries was comming to
an end. During the next 50
years, they were either
abandoned or replaced with
bridges.
There was very little that
was substantial and perma
nent at a ferry site: the ferry
itself, the ferryman’s hut, a
wooden tavern perhaps.
Consequently, little is left.
A cursory investigation by a
reporter disclosed no evi
dence of Blackburn’s Ferry
on the Etowah River. An old
iron bridge at a ferry site is
said to be at the bottom of
Lake Lanier.
Vann’s Tavern was moved
in 1957 to the Cherokee capi
tal, New Echota, in Gordon
County. For over 100 years
prior to that, though, it was
the old Boyd family home,
and many of the Boyds knew
what their home had been.
About all that remains vis
ible to the public eye is the
names of roads: Cherokee
County has a Federal Road.
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MAP SHOWS THE 11 FERRIES OF 1896
...crossing rivers, (map by Don Shadburn)
■■■—— 4
3 TIMES DAILY.
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