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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 12. 2022
The Widow Franklin - The facts, myths, and legends
The story of a true 19th century female pioneer
Annabel Ballew, seen here speaking at the most recent
meeting of the Ball Ground Historical Society. Literally
raised amidst the ruins of the Franklin and Pascoe mines,
she is considered the preeminent historian of the local gold
mines. Her parents reside in the Pascoe House which was
built by John Pascoe, the founder of the Pascoe Mine.
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Legend has it that Mary
Franklin was a destitute
widow who won 40 acres of
land in the Georgia Land Lot
tery of 1832. The tract was
located on the banks of the
Etowah River in extreme
northeastern Cherokee
County. Upon hearing ru
mors of "claim jumpers" on
her newly acquired property,
she traveled on a mule for
several days from her resi
dence in South Georgia to in
vestigate.
Arriving at her property
and learning the rumors were
true, Franklin hired gun
slingers to remove the squat
ters which numbered as
many as 20.
Gold had been discovered
in Georgia in 1828, and the
claim jumpers were panning
for placer gold. The Widow
Franklin as she has come to
be called returned to south
Georgia to put her affairs in
order, then returned to estab
lish a stamp mill and founded
the Franklin Gold Mine. Tier
mine became one of the most
lucrative and productive gold
mines in the eastern United
States, and at its height, ri
valed the production of some
of the more famous mines in
California and Colorado.
Much of the legend is
true, yet there is much about
Franklin's story that is not,
with her story becoming al
most mythical over the past
century-and-a-half. The facts,
myths, and legends of the
Widow Franklin were uncov
ered at the most recent meet
ing of the Ball Ground
Flistorical Society when
Annabel Ballew was the
guest speaker.
A teacher at Freedom Ele
mentary School in Cherokee
County, Ballew is considered
by many to be the most pre
eminent historian of the local
gold mines. As a child, she
was literally raised on the
very tract of land where the
gold mines were located. Tier
parents live in the Pascoe
house, which was originally
owned by John Pascoe, a
neighbor to Mary Franklin
and rival gold miner. For
many years, Ballew has done
extensive research on the
Franklin, Pascoe, McDonald
and other mines.
One myth that Ballew
busted is that the Widow
Franklin was "penniless." In
fact, she was far from "desti
tute." Many of her forefathers
and family members held
judgeships or were members
of the Georgia Legislature.
Some fought in the American
Revolutionary War in such
famous battles as Camden
and King's Mountain, includ
ing a Brigadier General of the
state militia and a colonel
who was the American com
mander at King's Mountain.
Franklin's roots can be traced
to the "landed gentry" in
Great Britain. A son-in-law,
Charles J. McDonald, served
as the Georgia Governor
from 1839 to 1843.
Franklin became a widow
in 1816, and in what was al
most unheard of for a 19th
century woman, Mary
Franklin was named the ex
ecutrix of her husband's es
tate. She was left with a very
large estate with extensive
land holdings and funds. In
fact, from 1817 to 1833, she
was involved in litigation
with the state of Georgia over
alleged "missing hinds" from
her husband's estate. How
ever, Franklin eventually
won the suit after it was de
termined she "was not re
sponsible" for any missing
money.
There is also no evidence
supporting the legend that
Franklin hired gunslingers to
remove the squatters on her
land. Ballew said the only ev
idence that Franklin ever em
ployed "hired guns" is that
after her mine began opera
tions, she employed a Cap
tain Benjamin Cleveland,
believed to be a Franklin rel
ative, to guard the wagon
shipments from the mine to
the Dahlonega mint. Cleve
land was, at one time, a guard
at the mint.
Another myth was that the
Widow Franklin only em
ployed slaves in her mine.
She acquired over two dozen
slaves over the years, and
some did work in the mines,
albeit, alongside other min
ers. However, according to
Franklin ledger accounts,
Ballew discovered that Mary
Franklin actually paid those
slaves for "working more
than their normal hours," so
it is believed that many of
those slaves worked in the
An almost "mythical”
character in north Georgia
folklore, the Widow
Franklin, founder of the
Franklin Gold Mine, was a
remarkable woman and a
true 19th century female pi
oneer and entrepreneur.
Purported to be a "penni
less, " destitute woman,
Franklin actually had a
large estate inherited from
her late husband with "ex
tensive land holdings."
mines "voluntarily."
Mining operations at the
Franklin Mine began in 1840
and a dam across the Etowah
was approved by the legisla
ture in 1845 which enabled
the river's water to power the
stamp mills. Her mine pros
pered until Franklin's death in
1858, and after a mining hia
tus from 1861 to 1865 be
cause of the Civil War, the
Franklin Gold Mine eventu
ally changed hands and
names numerous times.
Northeastern capitalists
bought many of the mines
and consolidated them into
even larger operations. The
most notable of these was
wealthy Philadelphia railroad
magnate J. M. Creighton, re
sulting in the Franklin Gold
Mine later being known as
the Creighton Mine, and lo
cally as the Franklin-
Creighton Gold Mine.
Productive mining opera
tions continued throughout
the remainder of the 19th
century and even into the
20th century until catastrophe
struck in 1907. There were as
many as seven separate shafts
being mined by the Franklin-
Creighton Mine, but the most
lucrative shaft ran directly
under the Etowah River. That
shaft collapsed and the wa
ters of the river destroyed
that shaft as well as all the
others. Another local legend
says the waters of the Etowah
actually flowed in reverse as
the water filled the void.
Ballew says that as far as she
knows, the legend of the
backward flowing river is
factual.
Fortunately, the collapse
occurred during a lunch
break and there were no fatal
ities or serious injuries. This
accident, however, meant the
eventual demise of the
Franklin Gold Mine because
any further mining could not
be accomplished without
massive and expensive re
pairs of the entire operation.
Officially, operations contin
ued for another half-dozen
years, but with no mining,
only the reprocessing of pre
viously extracted ore that had
accumulated at the mine site.
A ELECT A
A proven Leader you can Trust
Steve
EZT Fiscally Responsible
Our board must be fiscally responsible with the tax dollars entrusted to
it. This was violated completely last year when our sitting
superintendent was fired without cause at a cost of more than $400,000
to our citizens. All of us thought of much better uses of this money. It
costs a significant amount of money to operate our schools. I want to
work with our other board members and superintendent to insure we
are getting the most for our money. Are there creative things we can do
to realize more revenue or reduce costs? Our community has entrusted
us to insure these tax dollars are being managed well.
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In this rare photograph, one of as many as seven shafts operated by the Franklin Gold
Mine is pictured. In 1907, the collapse of the operation's most lucrative shaft, which ran
directly beneath the Etowah River, meant the end of the Widow Franklin's gold-mining
legacy. As the waters of the river filled the void, the Etowah actually flowed in reverse.
This late 19th century photograph, the most well-known photo of the mine, was taken
when the Widow Franklin's mine was known locally as the Franklin-Creighton Gold Mine.
The dam in the foreground, approvedfor construction by the legislature in 1845, is located
not far off Yellow Creek Road and today remains only as rapids in the Etowah River.
In the next two meetings
of the Ball Ground Historical
Society, the topic will turn to
local education when on May
24th, the guest speaker will
be Caroline Turner, long-time
Cherokee County educator
and former Ball Ground Ele
mentary teacher. On June
28th, Gene Norton, former
Ball Ground teacher and bas
ketball and football coach,
will be featured.
These upcoming meetings
will be held at 7 p.m. in the
council chambers of Ball
Ground City Hall. To attend
the meetings, membership in
the Ball Ground Historical
Society is not required and as
always, the public is cor
dially invited.
(Unless otherwise noted,
all photographs are courtesy
of Annabel Ballew.)
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