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A Sketch of Henry County and McDon
ough Before the War.
BY MISS ELIZABETH C. NOLAN.
Xo ne knows the difficulty of trying
to go back into the history of Henry
county until he tries it, and while I
cannot vouch for the validity of all I
write, and there probably are many
mistakes, still I -have done the best
1 could with the material I could
gather.
I would have found the task almost
impossible but for the “Memoirs of
Henry County,” written by Mr. T. C.
Xolan, some years ago.
Henry county is one of ths oldest
counties of middle Georgia. Where
we now see waving grain, luxuriant
corn and fleecy cotton covering our
broad acres was at one time the hunt
ing ground of the Creek savage, who
built his wigwam in the grand old for
est or by the banks of fretting streams.
Above Dailey’s factory, near the res
idence of Mr. John Rowan cn Wal
nut creek, and on a small stream call
ed Kate creek, may still be found the
fragments of broken pottery and small
anow heads marking the spot which
was once so prolific of Indian life.
Henry county was owned by one of
the tribes of the Creek Indians, who
at lhe time of the organization of the
county was presided over by a chief
whose name is intimately associated
with the history of our state. This
celebrated Indian was General William
Mclntosh. He became a very promi
nent character on account of the part
he took in the numerous treaties with
his tribe and the friendliness which
lie always displayed towards his white
neighbors. He w'as murdered by a
party of Indians for signing the “fa
mous treaty” at Indian Springs.
The route the Indians traveled in
going to and from the springs ran
through this county a few miles north
of Griffin and by the site of Double
Cabins, a portion of it being the road
running by Dr. Mitchell’s old residence
in Spalding county, which road today
is recognized as the “Old Mclntosh
Trail.” Originally, it was a mere worn
pathway through the wilderness.
Of course the minds of our early im
migrants were filled with terrible tales
so often told of the savages and their
cruelty.
While our early settlers were hearty
and healthy, yet sometimes they were
in want of medical assistance which
was difficult to obtain. This led them
to cultivate the knowledge of the
Creek Indians until they became ac
quainted with the medicinal properties
of a vast variety of plants and weeds.
These simple remedies are still be
lieved in by many of our old people.
Near the eastern line of Ilenry coun
ty is one of the most romantic places
in Georgia. It is known as “Indian
Fisheries.’’ It is situated on the Yel
low river and was the famous fishing
ground of the Creeks.
In the forks of Indian Creek and
Tcwaliga river there probably yet re
mains the partial embankment of an
old fort which bore indications of age
when the first settlers arrived in this
country and which the Creeks asserted
was erected by other inhabitants be
fore their time and memory.
Almost a century ago Henry county
was created and laid off. The Creek
nation had now been removed to its
reservation in the Indian Territory.
The last specimen of the Indian race
in Henry county was Indian Doc. who,
after an eventful life, spent his last
days in Hampton working around the
livery stable owned by Mr. Mitchell.
The boundaries of Henry county
were laid out and defined under an act
by the general assembly dated Decem
ber 24. 1821. by William Harkins, Da
vid Castleberry, Cheedle Cochran, Sol
omon Strickland, William McKnight,
Charles Gates, Sr., and Lee Jeffers.
The act was signed by David Adams,
speaker of the house of representa
tives; Matthew Tolbert, president of
the senate, and John Clark, governor.
The county was originally about 70
miles square, comprising a large por
tion of the present neighboring and
surrounding counties.
Originally Henry county consisted
of eighteen land districts. These dis
tricts have been divided more or less
among the following counties: Butts,
Spalding, Clayton, Fayette. Newton,
Jasper, Rockdale, Fulton, DeKalb. leav
ing but one unmutilated district, the
seventh.
The county is about twenty-seven
miles in length and fifteen in width,
containing about four hundred and
five square miles.
It received its historic name from
Patrick Henry, the great statesman of
Virginia.
Two rivers run through the county,
South and Cotton Indian. The To-
waliga rises in Henry, but flows in
the direction of Spalding.
Keys Perry was the crossing point
of the Ocmulgee and from this place
two Indian trails diverged, one lead
ing in a southwesterly direction to
wards the Cherokee country and the
other nearly west until it struck and
merged into the Mclntosh trail.
The early settlers of the county
came mainly from the adjacent coun
ti x f Morgan, Walton, Putnam and
Jasper.
Perhaps the first man to brave the
perils of the r.ew county west of the
Ocmulgee was UncfTfe Johnnie Glenn.
He built a dwelling on the Towaliga.
Those who came after him were Sol
omon Strickland, who settled w r hat is
known as the Moore place on the
banks of the Towaliga; Mr. Wiley Hef
lin, who settled low T er down on the
river; Aaron Woodward, Elisha Bles
sett and Tom McClendon, immigrating
from Walton county.
The immigrants were not confined
to any section. In every direction the
i prospects were inviting and settle
! ments began to scatter over a good
: deal of territory.
Mr. John Jackson settled the Kim
ball place, two miles southwest of Mc-
Donough, on the Hampton road. Wade
H. Turner and lioddy Harper moved
into the eastern portion of the coun
ty. Mr. Hinton went higher up on
the Cotton river to find him a
home.
The first session of court was held
on the tenth day of June, 1822, Judge
Augustus S. Clayton presided during
the term. William Hardin w r as clerk
of the court. Mr. Cook, solicitor gen
eral “pro tem.”
The first session of the inferior
court, as now appears on file, was held
in March, 1825, with William Griffin,
Garry Grice, Wade H. Turner, Joseph
P. Green and Thomas C. Russell pre
siding as justices, and Samuel Johnson
acting in the capacity of clerk of the
court.
The first deed of record was drawn
op, the seventh day of March, 1822, be
tween John F. Phillips and Mary Phil
lips of Savannah and Thomas Elkins
for lot of land No. 71, in the seventh
district of Henry. This lot is probably
the one afterwards owned by Captain
A. C. Sloan of McDonough.
The first marriage license that ap
peal's on record is that of Bradford
Hinton and Patience Lucre. This was
in November, 1822. There appears to
have been but three marriages in Hen
ry county in that year. *
It was very common for the farm
ers to give corn shuckings and log roll
ings, the people coming from twenty
miies or more to attend these gather
ings. If the customs and characters
cf our fathers were quaint and pecu
liar, they were, to say the least of
them, honest and without guile.
Mr. Frank Pearson, who settled near
the neighborhood of Turner’s Church,
was engaged in cattle raising, his cat
tle by the scores filling the swamps
of Big and Little Walnut creeks. Mr.
Pearson was the first constable that
ever served the county.
Other early settlers of the county
were William Hardin, Jesse Johnson,
M. Brooks, S. Weems, Woodson Her
bert, James Armstrong, Robert Beard,
James Patillo, Josiah McCully, Roland
Brown, R. M. Sims, E. Mosely, John
E. Brooks, Reuben Hearing, E. Brooks,
John Calloway, B. Jenks, William
Jenks, Parker Eason, Joseph Kirk. Wi
lliam and John Griffin. Daniel Smith,
William Tuggle and John Lovejoy.
The first grand jury was composed
of a class of men chosen on account
of their substantial characters. Major
Cheedle Cochran, the foreman, pos
sessed some eminent traits of char
acter, and had been one of the com
missioners chosen by the general as
sembly to lay out the limits of the
county. James Sellars, who lived at
the old “Greer place,” was one of the
purest patriots and best representa
tives that Henry county ever elected.
James Pate, who lived in the sixth
district, and was among the first
judges of the inferior court. William
Wood lived east of McDonough, on
the "Broomfield place.” He |was a
brother of Rev. John Wood, a Baptist
preacher. Jethro Barnes lived at
Snapping Shoals. John Brooks erected
the first grist mill that was ever built
in the county. Jacob HintojiJ flived
about where the White House now
stands. Judge Parker Eason built the
rock wall on the southern side of the
Towaliga. The others were: William
Jackson, William Malone, Thomas Ab
ercrombie, G. Gay, Wiley Terrill, Rob
ert Shaw, James Coldwell, Frank Pear
son, William McKnight, B. Lasseter,
Burt Lovejoy, Mr. Tuggle and Mr.
Strickland.
Items of taxation would be inter
esting. As our space is limited, I will
give only a few so that we may com
pare them with our own day and time.
In 1824 Robert Shaw was tax receiver.
Matthew Boston was assessed $1.25
and 7 1-2 mills on 1,300 acres of land.
Wade H. Turner gave in one poll,
four slaves and two and one-half lots
of land and paid his tax of $2.43.
Andrew M, Brown owned one slave
and four town lots at five hundred
dollars, and one profession (that of
attorney at law) for which he paid tax
amounting to $6.58. During that year
a general summary of the taxation of
the county amounted to $1,020.45.
Throughout the county game of va
rious kinds abounded. There were
deer, bears, wild turkeys, panthers and
wolves. A few small eagles were seen
occasionally. The wolves were very
destructive and on that account the
sheep had to be penned up at night.
The streams were full of fish. Deer
hunting was a great amusement. The
smokehouse of Captain Babb, near
Lovejoy, was lined with bristling ant
lers that fell under the fire of his ri
fie.
In every portion of the county the
rattlesnake was a common reptile. P
is related that Frank Pearson shot a
rattlesnake near Turner’s church that
was seven or eight inches in diam
eter and which had nineteen rattles
and a button. About one mile below
Locust Grove there used to stand a
groggery for the convenience of the
wagoners who carried their cotton to
market by this route. Over and around
the door was entwined the stuffed skin,
of a snake, which was a very unique
advertisement of a cross road bar
room.
Our farmers planted corn and but
little cotton, perhaps the reason being
that the lint had to be picked from the
seed with the fingers. This was usual
ly done around the fireside at night
and was a very laborious task.
In the early days home-made tobac
co was a great commodity in the mar
kets and was raised throughout this
section of the state.
Some minerals have been found in
different sections of the county. On
Mrs. Charles Walker’s farm is found
a mineral which resembles iron py
rites. Near the old homestead that
belonged to Colonel John Lowe may
be seen evidences of mineral existing
in small quantities. A vein is also
found a few miles southwest of Mc-
Donough. A spring highly charged
with mineral deposits is situated on
the premises lately occupied by W.
G. Miller.
The first campground was laid off
in what was later known as the Ro
wan settlement. It was at this place
that Dr. Francis E. Manson was con
verted. He afterwards became a
preacher and most valuable member
of the church. Some of his descend
ants moved to Maine. One son re
mained in Georgia and is now ordi
nary of Clayton county. Many of our
old citizens still remember Dr. Man
son’s high “dicky collars.”
One cf the most important events
connected with the history of Henry
county was the dissolution of the Bap
tist Church into two divisions recog
nized later as the Missionary and
Primitive Baptist. The differences oc
curred at a little church called Te
man situated a few miles from Mc-
Donough in the Turner neighborhood
and from that place sprung a division
that soon spread over the United
States. This sentiment of division be
gan in Henry county in 1825; but did
not come to a final termination until
1835 at Holly Grove Church in Mon
roe county. The first Primitive Bap
tist. Church in the county was erected
just this side of Hampton and was
probably under the direct supervision
of Billy Mosley.
Henry county is replete with the
memoirs of remarkable men. Mr. Eze
kiel Cloud moved here from Putnam in
1824. He was a revolutionary soldier,
and did signal service in that san
guinary struggle for independence. He
was in the bloody contest of the Cow
pens and the battle of Saluda. So uni
versally was he respected and honored
that it was an annual custom for the
militia to meet at his house on the
fourth of July and give him a sere
nade and military salute.
William Hardin was one of the first
residents of McDonough and kept a
hotel, which was afterwards run by
Mr. Asa Crabbe, the grandfather of
Jas. B. Crabbe. Hardin donated the
land recognized as the property of “Old
Shingle-roof Campground.” to have
and own so long as they held camp
meeting there, and when they ceased
to have annual services on the en
campment. then the property was to
revert to the heirs of his family.
Wade H. Turner moved to Henry
county from Jasper. Crossing the Oc
mulgee at Keys Ferry, he blazed a
way througn tho woods which at once
became a road and is used until this
day. He was a brother of Uncle Al
len Turner, a remarkable preacher of
the Methodist Church, and father of
Levy and Allen Turner of McDonough.
Mr. Turner donated the land upon
i which Turner's Church was built, and
it was at his house the first religious
service was held in the county.
Samuel Weems was an earnest ad
vocate of the state’s rights doctrine
He was father of Bartow and Dickson
Weems and father-in-law of Rev. H.
G. Andrews and Judge Sandy Murray.
He lived near Bear Creek.
The old sixth district furnished
some of our best old men. There
i lived Rowland Brown, who was bailiff
| for a long time. R. M. Sims, near
, whose residence was the justice court
ground. William Crawford, who serv
j ed many years as judge of the infe
rior court. Some of his descendants
are now living near Lovejoy station.
Hg was the great-grandfather of Geo.
G, Crawford, who has made quite a
success of mechanical engineering.
Elizah Foster came from Virginia in
1822. Seventeen years ago Mrs. J.
B. Dickson, his granddaughter, visited
the old home. At that time the can
non used in the skirmish of 1864 was
still in the yard. Mr. and Mrs. Fos
ter were roughly treated by the Yan
kees. Mr. Foster, who was quite an
old man, was carried away by them,
but succeeded in getting away and re
turned home next day.
Two of the most noted men that
ever lived in Henry county were Bil
ly Mosley and Garry Grice. Mosley
was a Primitive Baptist preacher and
lived near Double Cabins. Mrs. Mary
Stokes and Levy Cloud were among
his schoolmates. His first wife was
Miss Brcoks and his second wife Miss
Crumbly, who afterward married Mr.
Lester at the opera house in Atlanta
during the Cotton Exposition of 1895.
Mr. Lester claimed to be a hundred
and twenty-five years old at that time
and she was ninety-six. Mr. Mosley
was a Whig.
Garry Grice was a school teacher,
a man of considerable property and
a democrat. It w T as a peculiar habit
with him to oppose Billy Mosley on
every subject. Hence, whenever an
issue arose, Mr. Grice would never ex
press himself until he could hear defi
nitely from Mr. Mosley. Then he
would quote his favorite maxim, “Mr.
Mosley is on that side; put me down
on the other.”
The town of McDonough was incor
porated in the year 1823 while Geo.
M. Troupe was governor. The half of
lot Xo. 134, one-half of lot Xo. 123
and one square lot of land, all being
in the seventh district, was purchased
from Mr. Turner Evans for this pur
pose. Mr. Evans had bought lot 134
from John B. Teal in April, 1823, for
sooo.
The town was named in memory
of Commodore McDonough.
There was a good deal of fickleness
displayed in the selection of a county
site before tha present situation was
chosen. At first the commissioners
went out on Birch creek, and near
where Mr. Styles Carmichael after
wards lived, a place was mapped out
for the town, but before any build
ings were put in course of construc
tion it was thought' best to move it
near the "Big Spring” on the north
side of the present site.
The center of the town was intended
to be located east of Mr. Geo. Green's
residence.
Shortly after the foundation of the
town the people began to build on
the south side of the spring, which
resulted in the selection of the pres
ent site.
The first commissioners of the town
were William L. Clayton, James Kim
brough, Frank Key and Andrew
Brown.
Mr. Clayton wa s a merchant and oc
cupied a business house, on the site
of B. B. Carmichael's furniture store.
Mr. Clayton was a brother-in-law of
Mr. Hunt Clements, who resided two
miles east of the town.
James Kimbrough lived in the resi
dence later occupied by Mrs. Tabitha
Turner, which stood just back of the
Presbyterian Church.
Frank Key lived in a dwelling that
was situated in the northeast corner
of the Brown House garden spot, now
a part of the Alec A. Lemon estate.
Mr. Key was for some time in charge
, of the postoffice. He was also manager
jof the first hotel of the town. It was
a double log cabin erected where the
old Masonic hall stood. This corner
is now occupied by Smith’s drug store.
His widow bought and lived in a house
which stood near the school house, and
is now owned by Mr. Duley Nelson.
When Mrs. Key moved to Griffin. Mr.
jJ. B. Crabbe bought a set of chairs
from her. These chairs are now in
the possession cf his daughter, Mrs.
W. B. Kelley, and it is reasonable to
suppose they are a century old.
Andrew M. Brown lived on the pub
lic square. The house was near the
spot where Walker-Turner store is sit
uated. Ha was father of Judge Sheri
dan R. Brown.
The first court house cost about
SI,OOO, and was a plain plank build
ing.
Before any houses were built for
religious purposes, the people of all
denominations would assemble under
a shed erected on the corner of the
Xolley lot, where Mr. Atkinson at pres
ent has a grocery store.
The first house built within the town
of McDonough was occupied by Wil
liam Hardin, situated on the northwest
corner of the public square.
The second house, known as the
Connell House, was situated on the
site of Copeland’s store.
In 1824 there were five flourishing
dry goods establishments in McDon
ough, run respectively by Messrs. Clay
ton, Findley, Shaw, Kimbrough and
Hutchinson.
The first graveyard selected for the
town was on the northeast corner of a
lot belonging to the Presbyterian
Church and lying in front of Mr. J.
C. Daniel’s residence.
The first death that occurred in the
village was the little daughter of Mr.
Turner Evans. She was the first per
son. buried within the limits of the in
corporation. After the interment of
other bodies, another site was selected
for the cemetery upon the hill near
the old home of Captain A. C. Sloan,
where at that time stood the Method
ist Church. The burial ground was
changed to its present site, because it
was thought to be too near the Big
Spring. This land w>as donated to the
town by Judge Q. R. Xolan. Many of
the bodies were taken up ar.d remov
ed to the new location, but among
those W'ho still lie buried near the old
Methodist Church site are Mrs. Cook,
Mrs. Bradford, Mrs. William Brown
and Mrs. Hunt.
The first Baptist Church ever built
in the town stood just in front of Mr.
Scip Speer's residence. It was later
rolled up on the west side of the
public square, where it was still used
as a church for a time; then later
as a law office by Q. R. Nolan. It
was torn down last year.
Mr. Gamble was the first Presbyte
rian minister. He had previously
been the president of William and
Mary College. He came to McDon
ough about 182 C.
The first Baptist minister who ever
served the church at McDonough was
the talented Cyrus White of Jasper
County.
The first Methodist that was ever
sent upon the circuit was Mr. Bellah.
Mr. Fish conducted the first school
in an unknown log building, the floor
being nothing more nor less than
mother earth. The building stood on
the hill above the Big Spring. After
wards he moved his school’to a house
near the residence of Mr. N. A. Glass.
Later he taught in the Methodist
church which, as has been already
stated, was situated near the Sloan
iresidence. Later a Barge brick
school house wa s built upon the brow
of the hill above the spring, but was
destroyed by fire.
As far back as 1825 the residences
were rudely furnished with home-made
furniture. For a long time William
Hardin owned the only furniture of
any consequence in the town. This
set was purchased at Charleston,
South Carolina, for $1,000.00 and haul
ed by wagon from there to this place.
Mr. Holland was the contractor for
the old brick court house, but the work
was later given to Mr. Hitchcock. The
brick for this building was moulded
near the residence of Mr. Humphrey
Tomlinson.
The first fields that were ever clear
ed in the vicinity of the town were
the plateau not far from Mr. G. W.
Bryan’s home and a field in the rear
of the old McDonald home now divid
ed into lots known as Western
Heights.
At that time the whole site of the
present incorporation was covered
with a thick undergrowth of chinque
pin bushes.
The muster ground for the militia
to meet and drill upon was east of
Mrs. Mary Alexander’s residence. At
this time it was customary for the old
soldiers of the Revolutionary w r ar to
come to the muster grounds clad in
the full rigged costume of Continental
regiments.
General Daniel Newman was a not
ed resident of the town. He introduc
ed into this county the Jerusalem ar
tichoke and silk cocoons.
Bermuda grass was intrduced into
the community by Mr. Billy Beck who
at that time lived at the place after
wards known as the Lemon home
stead.
