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About The Knoxville journal. (Knoxville, Ga.) 1888-18?? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1889)
>'•. •****»■ VOLUME I. THE OLDEN DAYS. When Crawford County was First Settled. • THE MEN WHO HELD OEFICS JbiI the Times in tilts CounJ?, SIs.ly»fjwe Years Ago— E.ucal History. . Editor Journal. IVsr Sir: I now propose too mmencement ot a few brief sketches • t,. * county of Craw¬ ford and of Knoxville, in the times ot long ago, and- of some of the men who were on the stage-of life during a period covering a space of time of about forty years, from tbedaying out and orgauizati&U of the county to the breaking out of-the late war. I write entirely from memory, and, of course, am liable to make some mis¬ takes. but I desire in say in advance that I wi'I be as car-etui run! correct as‘the na¬ ture of the circumstances will admit. It may be asked,-why wtite of the coun¬ ty and of the men and matters long passed •away ? I can only answer, that in the county of Crawford I first saw-, the light; the days of nty childhood and early hood were ^passed in that county ; my playmates Were there. Many of the odes sleep the sleep that knows no waking, under the s d of that old county. Now i should anyone write a sketch of the or which I purpose writing, it ■would of great interest tome may feel an interest in that which I .write. The memory of my early- day* cluster close around‘the place of my nativity. The, scenes of that time are- indelibly stamped upon my mind ; those scenes are ever recurring to me.. It is natural that I, it? the declining years of my life, should urn back to the land and the people I love so well, and offer them a greeting in this wav. The county of Crawford was named for Mm.}]. Caw-ford, who was one of tbo brightest statesman that tbo great state of Georgia ever claimed. The county- was laid off in the year 1822. Knoxville laid off in 1823. The first election ever held in the coun¬ tv was in January, 1823. The following county officers were elected and commiss¬ ioned March It, 1823: Sheriff—Elijah A.mos ; Clerk Superior Court,—David P. Murray; Clerk Inferior Court—Martin T. Coroner— John Joyner; Counts Surveyor—.Daniel Rowe; Judges Inferior Court, commissioned Feb. 15, 1S23—John Samuel Langstooc and Robert Carter. At that tine the county was pioneer. the primeval- forest being* yet unbroken except in a few- spots. Game of every roamed the mm-naiued torest at wiil. Large herds of Isautiful dtev their food from the herbage of the hill and dale without fear of molestation-, now and then fi » arrow of th O red man, the principal occupant of the country that time, and who made it his fat ground. About that time the began to come in fast, and, the red turned his face to the west and -gave his inheritance to the paleface. The of the axe commenced to ring in the and game began to disapper. Soon Indian was seen, and game was hard find* Civilization had come to subdue, red man crossed the Flint river, A post was established se.xeu miles of Knoxville cn the east bank of the KNOXVILLE, GEORGIA,, FEB. 1, 1889 Flint, called the Agency. The county was rough , a rough set came to conquer and subdue it ‘ tju:: ed he the ground for thy sake Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to tbeo.” “In the sweat of thy face shalt tbott cat bread till thou return to the ground.” This decree of I he-great I AM. delivered in the garden, had gone forth in the world and sounded down through all strong and brave hearts, strong wills and dr e rmined minds to accomplish the work before them. Houses must be-built, ter for the work, animals must he erected, the. beautiful long, straight trees must fi Med with the axe, chopped- up and -split ii.,c i- its; fencing made to keep the stock off the crops; the ground cleared Off made ready for the plow : the surface tin- virgin soil torn up and the seed rv iu the ground-; then the tnrOm^h a few months, then harvest. All this, -and more, was sary before tire bread could lie placed the table. It is very hard for-those ti.- ages of time. The incoming-settlers C.v.v.-ford country-were not exempt the everlasting curse. The thorns and ctins were .there, the .stately oak, tolug pine, the forest in all its and I'lvoliaess, the hill, the dale, with 'creeks and rivulets throughout the co.u.tv— all,were there. Nature had ly endowed the county, but the nec-ssmry to life must be brought th -roundby the sweat of the face. had kv.J it. / ii-ve said that the country was rough, an- 1 -.’oat a rough set had come to and subdue it. This is true. It arc born and reared in the city or or these who were born, in a bowse rou.o led by fields already cleared and cultivation, to realize and appreciate mat. -r difficulties which over beset the onecr And when wo add the fact, the settlers were ever in’, of being killed by revengeful, savage ple, who wore not, far remnvedjfrom ami who regarded the white man as an infei h'-por, a usurper of their just and ngb cons inheritance, we may say that settlers wort more than ordinary wh. ii we take bravery and endurance the count. It was often the case rambling squads-, of Indians would the river and commit depredations upon the white settlers, and perpetrate of the most atrocious kind. This, howev er, happened at a more early period. ertholass, there was always a dread until the ludians were- removed on - tirely away. It -was work and watch. I don’t know whether there was much pray mg or not—I fear not. A' large majority of the settlers were the children of pioneer parents- who nad settled the country ther east. They were Anglo-Amcrhans. v * itli a small . percentage of Irish find Scotch. Itiey were frontiers men of the purest type. Soon the slaveowners followed, aud large plantations were opened up and flic best land in the country taken aud brought into cultivation. The creeks were spanned with bridges, good roads > were opened and kept up, corn meal and. flour mills were erected and put in operation on the creeks of the county, and the splendid water power, in a certain degree, was utilized. About the time of which I write, cotton gin, invented by Eli V< hitnev, into general use. Much cotton was duced, and then, as it is now, was the pie production from which money could be obtained anywhere and al any time the year. All of the cotton produced in the county found its market in Macou, then a small place. All through the fall and winter long trains of wagons could be seen on- most any day', hauling the cotton to Macon. The counties of Crawford, Tal¬ bot, Upson, Marion and Matson, all sent their cotton to Macon through the county of Crawford. It was a common thing to sec from ten to twenty wagons loaded with cotton, all drawn by four and six mules—generally very fine ones—directed by stalwart negroes,'--who took great pride in the good management of their teams, and-had them trained to perfection It was considered a disgrace among drivers to allow their teams to stall on the road. The cotton being sold and delivered, the wagons returned with all'kindkof merchan¬ dise. It is easy enough to see how Macon became a city, while' the home towns in the counties just named did not grow. In the first building up of Knoxville, it got its growth in ab-utfsixty years; ■ It never did improve any, and liow could it? when all the products of the county found a market in another town, and aik or nearly ail supplies tor the.county {except whis¬ key) were bought elsewhere. The nour¬ ishment was taken away, the child though fair and promising at first, became stunted and never did grow. And the wonder- is, that it did not die right out. It has slept a long time—three times as long as Rip. Van Wiukle did. It is hoped now that the steam whistle has waked it up, and that, it may rise in all grandeur and be¬ come it splendid place, The topography of the county is va¬ ried. The public road running from Ma¬ cou to Columbus is about the dividing line between the two sections of the coun¬ ty, the northern part bciug entirely differ¬ ent from the southern part. The- north era partis a hill' country, with stiff clay soil, all clay subsoil and very considera j-ble rock. Original growth—oak, hickory, dogwood, elm, ash, chestnut, interspersed with short loaf pine. There arc many i other varieties of growth not necessary to mention. The southern part of-the county is gen¬ erally level. Original 'growth—the long leaf yellow pine. The western part < f the county, extend¬ ing to the southwest, is a level pir.e coun , productive. Gy., and not. very A little south and east of the centre is a succession of sand hills, lying south of Uwectwatcr creek aud north ot Rich hill, covering a space of thirty or forty square miles, of the poorest land that l ever saw. There arc only a few spots -in this region that are of any value for agricultural pur poses- Growth-pine from thirty to forty feet high, and black jack. There are many cretaceous formations in this section which the jug makers turn to good ac enhut. This is the section where are sit uated id vny jug factories. J.his £ieat body of land, no doubt, was watted there by the action of the sea iu some period :n the past ages, That the sea was there in some time past is evidenced by Rich hill, which is a wonderful geological formation. This great mass of sea shells could not have been there, had the sea not brought them there: One cannot toll how much there is of that calcareous matter, from which a very good time can be made, aud I think, if properly manipulated, large quantities of acid phosphate might be obiained. Rich hill is a very high point. From there one can cover with the eve many square miles of the valley of the Octnulgee liver. With a good glass it is NUMBER 52 easy enough to see the city of Macon, though twenty-five miles away, Baklk. fSotr to <L’oEIect Tax, Tax Collector Thames of'this-county is a shrewd man, as is evidenced by the plan which he has adopted'to draw money out of fiix defaulters. After ho had issued fi fas against those who had not paid taxes, he offered to give a watch as a prize to the bailiff who would collect from These fi'fas and turn over to him the largest sum of money. The bailiffs realizing that ‘‘time is mon¬ ey.” have bean incited to much zeal and spurred up to lively competition, in their efforts to secure the coveted prize. ’Tis said that it is almost an impossibility for a defaulting tax payorof Crawford county to keep from shelling out his due* to state and county when he is besieged by a per¬ sistent bsiliff. who will 'take no denial. Bailiffs Hammack and Pres Smith are said to be the most zealous ones. Indeed, it is reported that when a man refuses to pay taxes to Hammack, and that officer ea ii not levy upon s" much of his -property as a blind rooster or a two-legged skillet, the worthy bailiff will shuck off his coat and proceed with his fistsjo derive satis¬ faction out of the body of such delinquent As Hammack i>, to use a slang expression, "much of a mau,” it is -seldom that he fails to collect. 'Tis thought by many that Bailiff K am mack's vest pocket will seem be the home of the shiny time-piece offered as a prize by the tax collector. A C«ei Kt-ply, We took a ride the ether dav— Her A pretty hair Ivas girl and I. blue curly, and her eyes As as azure sky. With rose-bud lips and pearly teeth' And rosy, dimpled cheek, One minute, stie looked saucy, The next one she looked meek - A long time I had loved this maid— How much no one can know,— But could not summon courage up To tell the fair cue so. At times I thought her actions showed That she for me did care : But. then, at. other times, lieu ways Plunged me in deep despair. That day I vow’d I’d learn my fate. For But. thought I’d best go siuw; iu such matters, too much Oft ruins things, you know. I sat and thought and thought, till I Conceived an idea bright; And reaching-down. 1 warmly claspec Her hand, so soft and white. Confidingly Within that little did hand my own rest ; My cup of jov did overflow When min;: sue gently pressed. My burning love 1 then declared, And drew her to my side, And asked tier very tend-ny If she would be my bride. Site drew herself away and said— My story here should end— She was engaged, hut always would Regard me as a friend. "Why did you let me hold your hand Unless for ma yon bnnest wired? To tittle so with love None but a flirt had dared • Oh I why did you “npouageTjrt: ? ' And Ton with cruel girl.!” provoking I ettell. laugh- ;v a most She saucily replied “If know you must, I’ll tell yonwvhy, (.‘gallant hold youth, iiR;id so bold, 1 let you my jnstfnow : Because that t.ai.d was cold. ’ JOHS'J-.W. Merchants can get wrapping paper at the'printing office at the l.ov." l iico of ceaits per pojimL - >- •
