Adams Family
"Clippings from an Old Paper: Weekly Tribune," Lavonia Times and Gauge
4 June 1920, excerpt from the Weekly Tribune 2 May 1890.
THE ADAMS FAMILY.
There are three or four families by the name of Adams in this county that
so far as I know are not connected. The family whose history I propose to give
is the family of Absalom Q. Adams belongs, some members of whom have lived in
the neighborhood of Allen's Camp Ground for three quarters of a century.
The grandfather of A. Q. Adams, in company with two brothers, came from
Wales during the last century and settled in Virginia. One of the brothers
settled in Mass., and nothing is known of the other. The family is related to
John Adams of Revolutionary fame and also second president of the U.S. The
grandfather and grandmother died early in life, leaving three small
children--one boy and two girls. The boy Absalom who was the father of A. Q.
Adams was taken by an uncle by the name of Deal Baker who in the last century
settled on Shoal Creek then in this county.
Absalom Adams married Mary Prickett, who lived on Hunter's Creek, and on
lands now owned by Joel Addison and J. R. Cox. After marriage Absalom settled on
what is known as the old Adams place, on which H. F. Holly now lives near
Allen's Church, and which has been in the family to the present time. Mr. Adams
died on the place in the year 1803. As an evidence of the fleeting and
evanescent character of human events among the common class of people, and the
little we know of the history of our town and county, I will mention a fact
probably unknown to any citizen of Carnesville except the writer, Israel
Prickett, a brother of Mrs. Mary Adams, was for years a citizen of Carnesville
and a prominent and leading merchant of the town, yet I dare say that most of
our readers and all who reside in Carnesville, never heard his name.
Absalom and Mary Adams raised 12 children, seven girls and five sons. The
oldest daughter, Nancy married James Stubbs and moved to DeKalb county and died
there long ago.
Julia married Andrew J. Neese, a Methodist minister who belonged to the
Georgia conference. Both died in Atlanta more than thirty years ago. They left
only one child whose life was given for the lost cause. He sleeps in the state
of North Carolina, on the Atlantic shore, and I trust his grave will receive its
tribute of flowers on this day, the day set apart to decorate the graves of our
heroic dead.
Neoma married B. T. Biggers and lived many years in Habersham county where
she died two years ago. Mrs. Biggers and her husband raised a large family of
children.
Sarah married George D. Fowler who settled in this county on Hudson river,
Below Jones Bridge, where he died several years ago. Mrs. Fowler died in 1888 in
the 88th year of her age.
Mary married Clement G. Chandler. She and her husband are living in Hall
county, Georgia, a few miles from Maysville.
Elizabeth married Joe Hutcherson of Elbert County. They afterwards settled
on Nail's Creek in this county, where Mr. Hutcherson died five or six years ago.
Mrs. Hutcherson is still living and is in the 76th or 77th year of her age.
Phanetta, the youngest daughter was never married. She died at 34 years of
age and died youngest of any of the large family.
Israel Adams the eldest son married a Miss Dobbs, daughter of Peter Dobbs,
who then lived on the place whereon Hyram Vaughters afterwards lived, and now
known as the Vaughters place. After his marriage Israel Adams moved to DeKalb
county where he died 27 years ago.
John married Susan Reynolds, of Elbert county, settled near Ebenezer church
in this county where he lived until his death in 1863. His widow and several
children still live on that place.
James married Sarah Donaldson of Dahlonega, Ga., who had an eighth of
Cherokee blood in her veins. Mr. Adams went to California in 1851 where he
engaged in the hunt for gold eight years. He returned to his family with five
thousand dollars, and lived on a stream in Lumpkin county known as Long Gulch
until last year when he moved into Hall county. He and his wife are still
living.
Wilburn M., married Rosanna C. White and lived on the old Adams place during
life. He went down beneath the tide of war in Atlanta in 1864. His widow lives
in Fairburn with her son, Wilson M. Her eldest daughter, Julia, married H. F.
Holly and Sallie, the youngest married John A. McKay. Both live in this county.
The youngest child Absalom Quincy was born on the 26th of June 1829. He
lives on Hunter's Creek near the old homestead and is a staunch and well known
citizen of the county. He went to California with his brother James in 1851
where he remained three years. After his return he married Francis J. Vaughters,
daughter of Hyram J. Vaughters on the 23rd day of December 1858. Mrs. Adams died
March 22nd 1886.
In August 1888 Mr. Adams married Mrs. Mary Chatman of Greenville, S. C.
Mr. Adams raised nine children all of, whom are living but one.
Lee, the eldest is conductor on an electric car in Atlanta.
Bright the second child died in 1873 or 1874. He was a very intelligent and
promising boy.
W. Q. P. Quincy is in Atlanta and holds the position of conductor on a dummy
line. I take pleasure in making a statement that reflects much credit on Quincy.
Since he has been in Atlanta as regularly as the month rolls round he sends
$9.00 of his earnings to his father. Not many can be found who furnish such
evidences of final affection.
The eldest daughter Mary J. E. (Katie) married W. F. McConnell not long
since and lives in Carnesville.
Francis A. S. (Anna) and Sarah T. C. (Lula) are young ladies just blooming
into womanhood are among the brightest and cleverest girls of our county.
The other members of the family are George A. S., Rosa J., and Charles A.,
and are only children.
The members of the Adams family were upright, intelligent and progressive
men and women--have always stood high among the people of this county and so far
as I know or have known them personally they are religiously inclined and
staunch members of the Methodist church.
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Aderhold Family
"Clippings from an Old Paper: Weekly Tribune," Lavonia Times and Gauge
9 April 1920, excerpt from the Weekly Tribune 21 Feb 1890.
The Aderhold Family.
The ancestors of the Aderhold family of this county came from Germany and
settled in Virginia several hundred years ago. They were Quakers and left the
old country on account of religious persecution. The family now living in this
county have very little information of their anterior to the time of John Conrad
Aderhold, the grandfather of H. D. Aderhold of our town. He had several children
among whom were Abram, Isaac and Lewis, all well remembered by the old and
middle-aged citizens of this county. Our information in reference to the family
Isaac Aderhold is very limited, and we are unable to recall any members of the
family in this part of the country except Mrs. Jones who is a daughter, and Dr.
A. R. Jones of Lavonia, who is a grandson of Isaac Aderhold. He died near
Carnesville sometime in the sixties. Mr. Aderhold was a man of peculiar
appearance--grave, staid and silent, and always impressed with the idea that he
could say many wise things if he only would.
Lewis Aderhold lived for a long time in Flintsville district, where there
are now many of his descendants. Among his descendants are John B. Aderhold, who
lives near Carnesville, the family of Frank M. Aderhold, who lived in
Flintsville district, Mrs. Martha Williams, wife of J. W. Williams, Mrs. Sarah
Payne wife of John B. Payne, Mrs. Rhoda Cleveland, wife of Milton Cleveland,
Mrs. Anna Crump, wife of W. C. Crump and Miss Mary Aderhold who has never
married. Mr. Aderhold married Miss Susan Barton about 65 years ago. Both have
been dead for several years.
Abram Aderhold who lived in and near Carnesville for many years was born
about 1787 either in North or South Carolina, and after becoming a citizen of
this state lived first in the present limits of Hart county. He married Sarah
Harber, daughter of Isaac Harber about the year 1810, and who was related to the
present Harber family of this county. Mr. Aderhold raised a number of children.
The oldest child Catherine, married Charles W. Sewell, better known to our
people as Woodson Sewell. Mr. Sewell raised a large family of children but the
only member that is now living in this county is Mrs. McFarland, wife of T. A.
McFarland, one of the best citizens and most solid and successful farmers in the
county. Frank Sewell one of the oldest children, has been for several years a
citizen of Habersham county and is a prosperous man. One of his daughters
married William Brackett, a son of Felix Brackett, who was a Baptist minister
and a man of good deal of originality, and a very executive man. Mr. Brackett
and wife now live in Tennessee.
Abram Sewell one of the oldest sons of C. W. Sewell studied medicine and
graduated with distinction, settled in Texas, acquired fame as a docor, and has
made a large fortune, and we learn that he is now engaged in banking or
financeering. Thomas, a younger son than Abram, studied medicine, settled in
Texas, and has become famous as a physician. C. W. Sewell died, in this county
several years ago, and his widow died in Tennessee a few years later.
John H., the third child of Abram Aderhold, was a Baptist preacher of
considerable ability, and lived and preached in this county for many
years. After the close of the war he moved to Gordon county and died about the
year 1870. His first wife was a Miss Stubbs of this county who died young
leaving two children, Mrs. McHannan and J. H. P. who now lives in Green
county. He contracted a second marriage with a Miss Wilson of Jackson
county. Mrs. Aderhold, the second wife is still living and was in Carnesville a
few days ago. She has one child in the county, Mrs. Winnie Brown, wife of John
Dozier Brown, who lives near Martin in this county, and is an excellent man. The
third child Elizabeth, married Levy Sewell and lived in this county for almost
half a century. He and his wife are both living in Texas, and so far as we know
have only one child living in this county to-wit: J. A. Sewell of Bryants
District, who is a staunch and leading citizen of this part of the county.
The fifth child, George W., was accidentally scalded to death when a very
small boy, Lewis Moulder, a brother-in-law of Abram Aderhold, who was a
dissipated man, and at the time under the influence of liquor, accidentally
turned a pot of boiling water upon him and he was burned to death.
Dr. Henry D. Aderhold, the sixth child of Abram Aderhold, is so well known
to the people of this county that its hardly necessary to mention him. He
studied medicine under Dr. Jesse Low, of Lawrenceville, and practiced his
profession for two years in Gwinnett county. He first attended the medical
college of Augusta but graduated in the Atlanta college in 1848, Dr. Aderhold
married Miss Amanda Patrick daughter of John H. Patrick in 1852. She lived less
than two years, leaving only one child, Miss Mary, who married R. D. Yow, who is
the most wealthy and one of the most progressive men in this county. Mr. Yow
represented the people of this county most acceptably both in the State Senate
and the House of Representatives.
In 1855, Dr. Aderhold married Miss Fannie Jones, daughter of Joseph H.
Jones, late of that county. The second Mrs. Aderhold died in 1857 or 1858 and
some eight or ten years ago, Dr. Aderhold married Mrs. Jane Allen and had two
children--Miss Fannie, who is now in the Female Seminary at Gainesville and Miss
Sue, who is a student in Prof. Morris' school in Carnesville.
Dr. Aderhold is now verging on to three score and ten and is a well
preserved man of this age. As a physician he has been conservative, painstaking
and careful and has acquired a reputation unsurpassed by any doctor in North
East Georgia.
Dr. William V. the seventh child of Abram Aderhold, graduated with
distinction as a doctor and was a professor in the Atlanta Medical College from
the time of his graduation until the war broke up the college. He died seven or
eight years ago in Lexington, Ga.
Rebecca married Cuthbert Ayers and has been dead for many years. Abram C.,
the youngest son of Abram Aderhold married a Miss Johnson of Hart county and is
now a citizen of Texas.
The Aderholds are noted for their integrity of character, firmness and
fixedness of purpose. The strong religious sentiment and fervor that induced
them to leave their home across the Atlantic for conscience sake and seek
freedom in a new world, is still manifest in the family. The entire family are
almost without exception, members of the church, mostly, if not altogether
Baptists, and we have noticed the large development of veneration in many
members of the family which is especially large in the head of Dr. H. D.
Aderhold. It was also especially prominent in Abram, Isaac, John, H. and Mrs.
Woodson Sewell.
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Old Franklin: Anderson
Groves H. Cartledge, "Old Franklin: Our County As It Was
Before and Soon After the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century," Franklin County Register
[Carnesville] 19 July 1887.
OLD FRANKLIN
Our County as it was Before and soon After the Beginning of the Nineteenth
Century.
Prominent men who Controlled Affairs in Old Times.
Thomas Anderson resided on the Grove river on the west side. He was tall in
statue [stature] and of handsome and noble personal appearance, even in old age
when I first made his acquaintance thirty-five years ago. He survived to the age
of about ninety, and passed above about fourteen years ago. In the war of
1812-14 Georgia organized a brigade of volunteers under the command of Gen.
Charles Floyd to fight the Creek Indians and the British in the southwest. Two
companies from Franklin county joined Gen. Floyds army. Capt. Sandridge from the
eastern part of the county commanded one company and Capt. Thomas Anderson from
the Western part of the county commanded the other company. Capt. Sandridge who
was a man of wealth, was esteemed by his men a brave man, and a good officer;
but rather stiff and haughty in his manners; and he was therefore not very
popular. And when the war was over, although he was several times a candidate,
he was only once or twice elected to a seat in the Legislature. At a later date
he settled a little west of the Hudson river, and later still about 1850 he
removed to the west. I never saw him, but I have been told by old people that he
was a good man, possessed of more than ordinary intelligence and force of
character, but not very familiar and sociable in his manners and his
associations with his fellow men. Capt. Anderson was not only a brave man, and a
good officer, but in manners he was the very opposite of Capt. Sandridge. Off
duty he associated with his soldiers, who were his neighbors and friends, on
terms of the most perfect equality and famliarity, and thereby endeared his men
to him very greatly and rendered himself popular. The first Colonel who
commanded the regiment, to which Capt. Anderson's and Capt. Sandridge' companies
belonged was Harris of Elbert county. But in their first battle with the Creek
Indians--(the battle of Calabee swamp I believe) the Colonel forsook his men and
took refuge among the baggage wagons. The battle was a surprise attack at night.
Col. Harris was cashiered for cowardice, and Samuel Groves of Madisen county was
elected in his place. But notwithstanding the desertion of their Col. in the
battle of Calabee swamp the brave men led on by their brave Captains under the
lead of the impetous Gen. Floyd chased the Indians until they dispersed and took
refuge in the swamp which was not to be enetered by white men at night. Col.
Groves who succeeded Col. Harris in the command of the regiment was my mother's
brother, and when I was a boy, I loved to be present, when he and any of his old
soldiers met and fought over their battles with the Creek Indians. Once the
regiment went to Mobile to meet the British, but the British commander withdrew
his troops from before or below Mobile to re-enforce [...]* at New Orleans and
thus the brave volunteers from Franklin, Madison, Elbert and other counties in
North east Georgia, never had the pleasure of meeting their white foes, but did
have the pleasure in helping completely to whip out the dusky allies of
England--the treacherous Creeks. By his gallantry and by his attention and
kindness to his men in the war, Capt. Anderson rendered himself the idol of his
soldiers, and made himself one of the most popular and influential men that ever
lived in Franklin county. After the war he was elected General of Malitia, and
long served in that capacity with universal commendation. After serving his God
and his generation throughout a long and a very useful life, he was at length
garnered home like a shock of corn fully ripe. Such men are an honor and
blessing to their race, and passing upward leave their example and their
influence as a benediction to their posterity, to their survivors, and to their
country.
Of Gen. Andersons' sons, Thomas Dr. Harry and James Anderson are dead. The
only surviving son is Capt. Enoch Anderson of Banks county; and he is now far
advanced in years, and for more than 50 years he has carried in his body a
bullet shot into him by a Creek Indian in the war with that tribe in 1836, on
account of which he now draws a pension. From him I hope to learn soon more
about the part Franklin county bore in the last Creek war. For the Creek war in
1836 resulted in the removal of the Creek Indians to the Indian Territory, where
they have since resided. No county in Georgia was ever more hampered or hindered
in growth than was Franklin for the first few years after its organization. On
the southwest and west its boundaries were coincident with the lines of the
Creeks and Cherokees, and on the north only a dry line, Wofford's trail,
separated the county from the Cherokee nation. During the war of the revolution
both the Creeks and the Cherokees allied themselves with the British and did
much damage to the whites in Georgia and elsewhere. At the close of the war the
Cherokees were compelled to buy peace by giving up the large body of land, which
was at first included in Franklin county, and for the same reason the Creeks
gave up a still larger territory, which was formed into Washington county as
before stated. And although compelled to sue for peace, and to make some
atonement for their wrongs wantonly perpetrated upon the whites during the war;
yet with all the treachery and unforgiving malice which characterized the
American Indians; they were as long as they remained in the State, ever ready to
make predatory raids upon the peaceable white settlers. Some instances of the
kind will here after be given. To protect peaceable citizens the United States
government established a fort and garrisoned it with a few regular soldiers in
what was then Franklin but now Madison county. The community is still known as
Fort Lamar. A little later the United States built another fort higher up on the
Hudson river at Silver Shoals four miles above the present site of the town of
Homer. Besides these government forts and garrisons, every neighborhood in
Franklin had their own stockade forts, with cabins enclosed to which they betook
themselves, when threatened with hostile raids. The construction of these forts
and some incidents connected with them will be the subject of my next article.
G. H. CARTLEDGE.
* unreadable
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Ayers Family
"Clippings from an Old Paper: Weekly Tribune," Lavonia Times and Gauge
11 June 1920, excerpt from the Weekly Tribune 16 May 1890.
THE AYERS FAMILY
The numerous families by the name of Ayers living in Franklin, Hart and
Habersham counties, so far as is known belong to the original stock. Nathaniel,
Daniel and Jed Ayers were brothers or perhaps half brother and either they or
their father before they were born came from Virginia and settled in what is now
part of Hart county, but probably at that time within the territory of Franklin.
We know but little of the family of Jed Ayers as neither he or his descendants
have lived in this county recently.
Daniel Ayers lived in this county for many years and died here some ten or
fifteen years ago. Among his children were Sam, Nat and Frank, the two former
were recently citizens of Banks county. Frank's whereabouts, if living, is not
known to the writer.
The family of Nathaniel Ayers is best known to the people of our county. He
was married to Micah Walters on the 12th of January 1813. Several of their large
family of children died early in life. Among those who lived to maturity were
Jane A., Elizabeth, Moses P., Jeremiah W., Judith, Charles F., and Robert W.
Jane A., married Jno. W. Dodd in 1834. Elizabeth married G. W. Keeling on
the 5th day of September 1841. Moses P., married Sarah Ann Addison, Sept. 1849
and Jeremiah W., married Lucy Guest daughter of Samuel Guest on Feb. 26th, 1847.
J. W. Ayers was best known to the readers of the Tribune of any member of
the family. His father Nathaniel, moved to Habersham county when J. W. was a
very small boy. Mr. Ayers moved into the neighborhood of Carnesville sometime
prior to the war, and during or so on after the war, he became a citizen of
Carnesville where he resided the remainder of his life. He engaged in the
mercantile business soon after the unpleasantness between the states, and not
long afterward he also engaged in the tanning business. His first wife, Mrs.
Lucy Ayers died on the 22nd of September 1876. Mrs. Ayers was a most excellent
woman in every sense of the word, and few women have lived in Carnesville who
had so strong a hold on the affections of the people, or whose death was more
deeply deplored.
Mr. Ayers contracted a second marriage on the 2nd day of August 1877, this
time with Louisa E. Langston. The children of the first marriage are Sanford M.,
now a prominent citizen of Carnesville and who some twelve or fifteen years ago
was united in marriage with Miss Emma Williford who died a few years ago. He has
long been successfully engaged in the tanning business and the manufacture of
leather. He is somewhat prominently before the people at this time as a
prospective candidate for the Legislature.
The oldest daughter, Mary E., married Dr. J. R. Tucker and resides in
Carnesville. The second son Thomas W., married a Miss Skelton of Hartwell and is
now practicing medicine in Jacksonville, Ala. Joseph R., married Miss Minnie
Hemphill and lives on the old Hemphill farm a few miles below Carnesville. Lucy
J., married Dr. J. C. LeGrand and lives in Anniston, Ala. The only child of the
second marriage is Emma E., better known as Lizzie who lives with her mother in
Carnesville and is now a good sized school girl.
J. W. Ayers was a good citizen and a good neighbor, a leading member of the
Baptist church and a man who stood high in the estimation of the citizens of
this county. He died of pneumonia fever, Jan. 13th, 1885. The last act of his
life was somewhat remarkable. Most men attempt to hamper the future actions as
of the wives by limitations in their wills but not so with Mr. Ayers. He left
his entire property to his wife to be used and disposed of as she saw fit,
without any limitations or restrictions whatever, only that what might not be
disposed of at her death be equally divided among his children. His widow lives
in Carnesville and is one of the most estimable women of our county.
David C. Ayers, son of Nathaniel was a very promising young man but died at
the age of twenty three [in] 1854. Charles F., died at his residence near
Clarkes Creek Church a year or two ago. Robert W. lives in Habersham county,
near the old homestead.
Nathaniel Ayers, the grandfather of the family mentioned above, moved from
Shoal Creek church to Habersham county more than sixty years ago, and lived
there until the time of his death, which occurred May 10th, 1846. He was a
prominent man of Habersham county and for that time was a man of considerable
means. His descendants were men and women in good standing and of sterling
worth.
J.S.D.
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Carson Family
"Clippings from an Old Paper: Weekly Tribune," Lavonia Times and Gauge
7 May 1920, excerpt from the Weekly Tribune 28 March 1890.
The Carson Family.
John English Carson, the grandfather of A. P. and J. L. Carson came from
Ireland and settled in Orange county, N. C. sometime in the latter part of the
last century. He married Margaret Hunter of N. C., and not long afterward moved
to Greene county, Ga., where he lived one year thence to Franklin county and
settled on Nail's Creek and on the place where William Harbin now lives. In 1838
he moved to Cobb County, Ga., and remained there a few years after which he
returned to this county where he died about 1848.
John English Carson and his wife were members of Hebron church and staunch
Presbyterians. They raised seven children, five girls and two boys, most of whom
were born in N. C.
The oldest daughter, Nancy, married Richmond Skelton of Elbert county and
lived and died in that county.
Mary married Levy Crow of this county--a brother of Thomas Thompson Crow
formerly of this county, and both of whom died very old men a few years ago. Mr.
Crow moved to Cobb county, Ga., where both he and his wife died long ago.
Susan married Frank Glenn. They went west and have been lost sight of.
Frances married Solomon Dobbs and moved West and the family in this county
know nothing of them or their descendants.
Lucinda, the youngest daughter married Jackson C. Payne, a brother of J. M.
and Rev. David Payne. They moved to Mississippi many years ago. Mr. Payne is
dead but his widow was living when last heard from.
James, the oldest son married a Miss Westbrook of whom we can learn nothing.
His first wife died and he married a second time--a Miss Garner--a relative of
the Garner family of this county. He moved to Mississippi. He married Cynthia
Miller, a sister of Asa and Uriah Miller in the year 1827. Soon after marriage
he joined the Baptist church and became an active and earnest minister. Sometime
later there was a division in the church on the question of what is generally
known as the hard shell doctrine. Mr. Carson took the hard shell side and
preached that doctrine as long as he lived. He served as a Justice of Peace of
this county for many years and was noted for his knowledge of the law. Mr.
Carson was a man of striking integrity and noted for his plain straight forward
way of transacting all his business affairs. He lived a long and useful life,
having resided for fifty six years on the farm where he died--on Crocketts Creek
in this county. He died in the 84th year of his age, on the 9th day of March
1883 at the old homestead and was buried on the farm and near the house where he
lived so long. His widow is still living on the farm and is a hale woman for her
years. He raised nine children seven boys and two girls. All lived to be grown,
married and had families. He contributed seven sons to the defense of the lost
cause one of whom, Jonas M. was Lieutenant in the Company known as the Tugalo
Blues, was killed in the second battle of Manassas, and at his own request was
buried on the battlefield, where he sacrificed his life and sleeps with many of
the gallant southrons, who, on that memorable day went down with him beneath the
red tide of battle. His widow Mary F. Carson is still living in this county and
has never contracted a second marriage.
John C., the third son, was wounded in a picket combat in Tennessee, and
died from the effects of the wound in Newmarket Hospital in 1863. His wife was a
daughter of Henry F. David and after Mr. Carson's death married David Dalrymple
and still lives in this county.
Augustan L., died in this county years ago, and his widow and several
unmarried children live in a few miles northwest of Carnesville.
The fourth son, Henry D., is a citizen of Arkansas and has been for a number
of years.
The remaining sons, Alfred P., Robert H., and George L., are merchandising
in Gainesville.
Dicy C., married F. P. Neal, and Cynthia C., married W. B. Neal and live in
this county. The descendants of David Carson in this county number more than
100. He and all his family and descendants of whom we have any knowledge are men
and women of stern integrity and unbending connections.
J. S. D.
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Crockett Family
"The Murder of Crockett Family Told Again: Old Time
Indian Massacre--The Mother and Eight Children Were the Victims," Franklin
County Register [Carnesville] 15 Nov 1887.
THE MURDER OF THE CROCKETT FAMILY TOLD AGAIN.
Old Time Indian Massacre--The Mother and Eight Children were the Victims.
EDITOR REGISTER:--Your correspondent, Shrimps, in the Register
of Nov. 1st, asks for the number of the Crockett family murdered by the Indians
and also the date of the tragedy. If your correspondent had read the Register
during the last summer he would have learned all that is known of the Crockett
family. Twice within the last ten years the tale of the massacre has been
published in the Register, the last publication having been made last summer.
The date of the tragedy is not known. It was probably about 1790, the county of
Franklin having been laid off in 1784. The family consisted of nine persons, the
widow and eight children, the oldest son William being twenty-five years old,
and expected to be married a week later. Most of the children, tradition says,
were daughters. When the late James II Little, Esq. then a very young man rode
up to warn the family of the danger from the Indian raid, William Crockett was
sitting in the door making a pair of shoes to wear at his own wedding the next
week. And being pressed for time, he resolved to risk the danger from the
Indians.
Doubtless your correspondent is misinformed when he says that
Mr. W. B. Detter is now using in building a new house, the same sills, joists
and rafters which were in the house in which the Crocketts were murdered. The
Crockett house was a mere log cabin, and stood near the creek, and I suppose the
very last relic of it has long ago disappeared. I suppose the sills, joists and
rafters which Mr. Detter is using, belonged to the old Mangum house. After the
Crockets, a Mr. Mangum the father of the late Howell Mangum obtained possession
of the Crockett tract of land, and built a new house, which formerly stood near
Mrs. Coker's, and has been moved a time or two. Tradition, the truth of which I
cannot vouch for, says that when old man Mangum about the beginning of this
century built his new house he removed the monument of rocks from the one grave
in which all the Crocketts had been burried by their neighbors and built them
into his chimney. The rave was on a bluff near the creek. All the statements I
have given were heard thirty-five years ago from the lips of old people, who
have long since gone to their eternal home.
Respectfully,
Groves H. Cartledge.
----------------------------------
"The Crocketts: More about the Early
Times in Old Franklin," Franklin County Register [Carnesville] 20 Dec.
1887.
THE CROCKETTS.
MORE ABOUT THE EARLY TIMES IN OLD FRANKLIN
EDITOR REGISTER: In your issue of Nov.
15, Rev. Groves H. Cartledge replys to Shrimps in regard to the murder of the
Crocket family.
It is true, I have not been reading the REGISTER during the
last summer, but I have been talking to some old people about the tragedy, and I
find that they differ with Mr. Cartledge. Mrs. T. C. Lecroy an aged lady, having
been born and raised near the scene of the tragedy, states that she has often
heard her grandmother speak of the murder, stating that one young daughter made
her escape, she, (her grandmother), being in the fort, on the night of the
killing. Now the question arises if the young girl made her escape what became
of her. Can anyone give any account of her.
Some differ with Mr. Cartledge as to the date of massacre.
The Methodist church at Ebeneezer Franklin county, was an organized church 103
years ago. The Baptist church at Nails creek is said to be 100 years old. It is
probable that there was settlers enough to organize these two churches before
the murder at the Crocketts. It is not probable that the murder took place
before the county was laid off in 1784.
Mr. W. B. Detter is satisfied that the sills, joists and
rafters that he used in building his new house came out of the old Crockett
house, it having been moved four or five times. He received information from Mr.
Jackson Williams an old citizen who was born, raised and died near the scene of
the murder.
SHRIMPS.
ASHLAND, GA.
Note: See also,
Early History of Franklin Co.-Rev. Cartledge pt. 2,
on the
Franklin County History page.
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Harrison Family
"Clippings from an Old Paper: Weekly
Tribune," Lavonia Times and Gauge
2 April 1920, excerpt from the Weekly Tribune 31 Jan 1890.
The Harrison Family.
The Harrison's are among the oldest families of this country, and figured
largely in public affairs at different periods in its history. The immediate
members of that family that has lived at Carnesville, was Benjamin Harrison,
who came from Virginia, in the latter part of the last century or the early part
of the present and settled on or near Lightwood Log Creek
in the present
territory of Hart County, then Elbert county. The only member of his family of
which we have any knowledge was John B. Harrison who was long a citizen of this
county and town and who died in Carnesville about forty years ago. He married
Miss Elizabeth Barton of Elbert county about the year 1823, and several years
after the death of Mr. Harrison she married Joseph H. Jones and died in 1863.
John B. Harrison represented the county in one or two sessions of the
Legislature, but held no office so far as we are able to learn.
Hon. James A. Harrison was the oldest child of John B. Harrison and has been
a considerable factor in the politics and public affairs of the county, has been
engaged in merchandising, teaching and farming, all with fair success. He held
the office of sheriff some time before the war. In 1860 he was elected to the
ofice of Ordinary, which he filled for a period of two terms or for eight years.
In 1863 he was elected to the House of Representatives from this county, and
again in 1866 he was elected to the same office. At least fourteen yars of his
life have been spent in the discharge of the duties of the most important
offices of the county. His first wife was a daughter of William Little, and
after her death he married Miss Nancy R. Cochran, on the 20th day of October
1864. James A. Harrison is now farming in the western part of this county and is
a well preserved man of about 65 years of age and takes interest in all matters
pertaining to the welfare of the people and country.
Of John B. Harrison's eight other children, five were girls. Rhoda, the
eldest married E. M. Cobb, and died 25 or 30 years ago. She was the mother of
John Cobb of Toccoa. Mr. Cobb himself died at Toccoa last year.
The second daughter, Adaline, married John M. Bagwell, a merchant of
Carnesville, and both fell victims to a malignant type of fever that prevailed
in Carnesville in 1863. Of their several children, two only live in this county
to-wit: Mrs. Ida Blackwell, wife of J. C. Blackwell, and Mrs. Maude Tabor, wife
of J. F. Tabor of Lavonia.
The third daughter Elizabeth, married Dock King, son of Thomas King. Mr.
King died some years before the war and his widow and only child have since
died.
The fourth daughter, Vastine, married William King who lived only for a
short time. Both brothers were buried on the hill east of J. P. Adairs dwelling,
the stones that mark their resting places can be seen from the village. Mrs.
King married H. P. Holloman more than thirty years ago, and they are now living
in Palmetto, Ga.
The fifth and youngest daughter, Francis, married William Holly whose name
is familiar to our readers as household words. Mr. Holly is a man of superior
intellect, a good talker, carries in his mind an unlimited supply of anecdotes
and as a story teller we have never met his equal. The family now lives in
DeWitt county, Texas. John V. the second son married Miss Frances Gilelspie and
died soon after the war. His widow married A. D. Fuller and is living in
Atlanta; Thomas J., the third son who lives in Carnesville and is extensively
known in the county was a small boy at the time of his father's death. He joined
the Confederate army at the breaking out of the army, was wounded in his left
foot near Darbytown in Va., on the 18th day of Nov. 1864, and became necessary
to amputate the limb above the ankle, and he is now receiving a handsome pension
from the state as a partial compensation for the loss. In 1872 he was elected
tax receiver of Franklin county and held the office six years. On March 6, 1876,
he married Miss Dora Bagwell daughter of W. W. Bagwell. During the last four
years of Judge Tribbles service as ordinary he filled the position of clerk or
deputy. Mr. Harrison is an unusually quiet, silent man, but has a keen sense of
humor and makes many worthy remarks.
The youngest son, Virgil M., was about 18 years old at the beginning of the
war, went out with the first company from the county, and lived only a few
weeks.
Robert Harrison and his son, Larkin, both of whom died a few years back near
Crump's Mill, Thomas and Oliver Harrison who lived and died on Tulaloo River,
Martin and Shack who lived in South Carolina, John W., Robert O., William B.,
and in fact all the Harrison's of this county belong to the same stock of
Benjamin Harrison.
The Harrison family taken as a whole was quite prosperous in ante bellum
days but as their property consisted largely of slaves, the fortunes of war
reduced their circumstances greatly. The name has been a popular one and
different members of the family have often come to the front in the management
of public affairs.
J. S. D.
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Hayes Family
"Clippings from an Old Paper: Weekly Tribune," Lavonia Times and Gauge
18 June 1920, excerpt from the Weekly Tribune 23 May 1890.
THE H. H. HAYS FAMILY.
Harmon Hayes was born in Anderson county, S. C., about the month of March
1817. He married a Miss Teat in S. C., about the year 1840. Something over forty
years ago he moved to Georgia and resided in this county in the neighborhood of
West Bowersville until he moved to Flintsville district a few years ago. Mrs.
Hayes died in 1863, leaving ten children.
In 1867 or 68 Mr. Hayes married Peggy Crow who died in the year 1880 or 81
leaving three children. A few years later he married a third time. Mrs. Hayes
being Miss Eliza Davis daughter of Hezekiah Davis, an old citizen of this county
who died a few years ago. The offspring of this marriage are two children.
Mr. Hayes was elected to the office of Coroner of Franklin county some
twelve or fifteen years ago, which office he held continually to the time of his
death. His numerous opponents always consoled themselves and accounted for their
defeat by alleging that Mr. Hayes had taken a homestead on the office.
He was a first rate citizen, a man of staunch integrity, and an excellent
moral and was held in high esteem by the citizens of this county. His health
began to fail last autumn and it was apparent that his lungs and heart were
seriously affected, and that he was incurably diseased. Suffering little or no
physical pain, he gradually grew weaker until his death which occurred in April
1890 a week or two after his 73rd and a half birthday. He was a man of robust
health and iron frame and constitution and mind and body seemed to have suffered
but little from age.
Cynthia, the oldest child who has never married, Eliza Casey, wife of James
Casey, Rebecca Vandiver, wife of Thomas Vandiver, Waddy T., Cynes N., William
H., Martina Fulbright, wife of William Fulbright, and Nancy, who is unmarried
and the children of the first marriage that are now living, all live in this
county except Cynthia and William H., who reside in Hart county.
David E., Emma, and Theodocia, the children of the second marriage are just
grown and living on the homestead with his widow. The offspring of the third
marriage are quite small children. Mr. Hayes left fourteen living children and
many grandchildren and there is but little probability of the family becoming
extinct.
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Family Histories Part 2
Hemphill Family
Morris Family
Rampley Family
Stonecypher Family
Stovall
Family and Pocahontas
Vandiver Family
Wheeler Family
Wofford and Little
- Old Franklin
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2002 - 2005
Melinda Reddish
All rights reserved.
1878-1910
