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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 -
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