Early History of
Franklin County
Jessie Oliver, "Early History of Franklin County,"
Lavonia Times and Gauge19 May 1916.
EARLY HISTORY
Of Franklin County
1st Prize--ESSAY--(Miss Jessie Oliver)
The county was established in 1784 after a treaty with the Creek Indians.
It originally contained the greater portion of Northeast Georgia from the
Savannah River to the border of Rabun and Towns Counties, south to what is now
Clarke County and west to the Oconee River in Hall and Jackson Counties.
In 1790 there were in the county 1,641 people of whom 156 were slaves. In
1810 the county was reduced in size and the population was 9,156 free and 1,056
slaves. In 1830 there were 10,107 people of whom 2,370 were slaves.
The early settlers came from North and South Carolina directly into Georgia,
but they were descendants of Scotch Irish and the English who settled in
Pennsylvania and Virginia. These people have always been an industrious and
charitable set, though in very moderate circumstances.
Among the first settlers were L. Cleveland, Peter Williams, Joseph
Humphreys, N. Cleveland, John Gorham, Benjamin Echols, William Hardin, John
Smith, Col. James H. Little, Benjamin Watson, John Stoncypher, Clement Wilkins,
Samuel Sewell, Thompson Epperson, William Spears, William Blackwell, Russel
Jones, Daniel Rush, Mr. Gilbert, George Rucker, John Norris, James Terrell, S.
Shannon, Henry Smith, James Hooper, Peter Waters, Josiah and George Stovall,
Joseph Chandler and James Blair.
An interesting story is told of the bravery of one of Franklin County
volunteers who under the leadership of Captain Norris while fighting the Creek
Indians at Pea river, Alabama, on March 25, 1837 was caught by a number of
Indian Women. He dared not take advantage of them until two of them were about
to kill him when he drew his weapon killing both and making his escape.
A census in 1850 show a total free population of 9,131 whites and 2,382
slaves. The free colored males were 33 and females 22. Total population 11,568.
The total value of real estate was $1,293,827 and the total value of personal
property was $1,145,648. This gives a fairly accurate idea of the condition of
the county about a decade before the Civil war, after which came a stand still
along all lines.
Before the end of the century another large body of land was made available.
The Cherokees and Creeks took the part of the British in the war and committed
many crimes against life and property. In 1783 a raid was organized against them
and they were compelled to cede a tract of land lying about the sources of the
Oconee. This tract was divided by the Legislature in 1784 into two counties, the
Northernmost being named for Franklin, the southern for Washington. Immigrants
were invited. One thousand acres of land was set as the limit for each family
and a price of three shillings per acre was put on the land. This price
discouraged immigration, and the following year the law was amended so as to
require payment only for each acre in excess of one thousand acres granted to
each family.
This land also filled rapidly. The source of immigration was the Scotch
Irish settlements in the Carolinas. The population of North and Middle Georgia
soon exceeded that of South Georgia and the seat of government was moved to
Louisville in Jefferson County in 1796, but this proving an unhealthy place the
capital was fixed at the new town of Milledgeville in 1807.
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Early
History of Franklin County by Rev. Groves Cartledge (pt. 1)
Rev. Groves Cartledge, "Early History of Franklin County:
Written by the Rev. Groves Cartledge and Published in the Carnesville Register
in 1880," Lavonia Times and
Gauge 25 July 1919.
Early History of Franklin County
Written by the Rev. Groves Cartledge and published in the Carnesville
Register in 1880.*
During the War of the Revolution in 1776 Wilkes county was organized by the
legislature of Georgia. At the close of that contest for independence Wilkes
county was the most northern county in the state. The northern line of Wilkes
was started on the Savannah river at or near the mouth of Light-Wood Log Creek
and runs a little above the present sites of Hartwell and Danielsville, and
thence to Cherokee county. Cherokee county received its name from the fact that
before the formation of Franklin and Washington counties the territory of the
Cherokee Indians cornered at that place with the territory of the Creek Indians
and Wilkes county. At the close of the Revolutionary War the Creek Indians, by
way of indemnity to Georgia for injuries during the war, ceded to the territory
east of the Oconee River as low down perhaps as fifty miles below Milledgeville,
and the Cherokees also gave up to the state a large and very valuable scope of
their territory by way of indemnity. In 1784 the legislature in one and the same
bill erected the territory acquired from the Creek Indians, into a county under
the name of Washington, and the territory gained from the Cherokees into another
county under the name of Franklin. The two new counties cornered together with
Wilkes at Cherokee Corner, and the dividing line between them, was a straight
line from Cherokee corner to the Oconee river at the mouth of the Appalachee.
The boundry line of Franklin county thence was up to the Appalachee to High
Shoals, thence a straight line to Hog Mountain, thence a straight line to the
top of Currahee mountain, thence a straight line to the top of Oconee mountain
in Oconee county, S. C., thence a straight line to Eeowee river--the main branch
of the Seneca,--thence down the Seneca and Savannah rivers to the corner of
Wilkes at or near the mouth of Light wood Log Creek, thence with the northern
line of Wilkes to the beginning corner at Cherokee county.
Such were the original boundaries of Franklin county; and as thus destined
at its organization, it was larger than the whole state of Rhode Island, and
besides the territory now in it, the county embraced about half the land now in
Hart and Madison counties; all of the land now in Oconee, Clarke, and Jackson
counties, considerable portions of Walton, Gwinnett, Hall and Habersham
counties; all of Banks county, together with large portions of Oconee, Pickens
and Anderson counties, S. C. But some years after the formation of Franklin
county, South Carolina laid claim to the fork county between the Tugalo and the
Seneca. The issue turned upon the question--"which is the main branch of the
Savannah river, the Tugalo or the Seneca?" South Carolina contended that the
Tugalo was the main branch while Georgia held that the Seneca was the mainstream
and therefore the proper dividing line between the states. At length, about 1776
or 1777, the two states appointed Commissioners, to view the rivers, and decide
upon the true line. Judge Peter Carnes, a citizen of Franklin county, judge of
the Superior court and member of Congress, was appointed as Commissioner on the
part of Georgia. After viewing the rivers, the Commissioners at Beaufort, S. C.,
met and signed a paper known as the "Convention of Beaufort" by which the Tugalo
was agreed upon as the main stream and therefore the true dividing line between
the states. Thus Franklin county lost a valuable portion of her citizenry and
territory. Tradition says and perhaps says truly, although I do not vouch for
the truth of the story, that the South Carolinians at Beaufort feasted Judge
Carnes and dined and wined him, until he became jolly drunk, and then presented
him a paper of their own drafting, which he signed and gave up the rights of
Georgia. At any events, most people in this day as well as then, I think
regarded the Seneca as a larger stream than the Tugalo. However, the legislature
of Georgia in 1778 confirmed the "Convention of Beaufort" and South Carolina
extended her sway over a considerable portion of what was once Franklin county,
Ga. But to this day many people living in the fork country can get copies of
their original land deeds only by resorting to the Records of Franklin county,
Ga. In 1777 Jackson county was cut from Franklin county by a line running on the
top of the ridge which divides the waters of the Oconee and Broad rivers. In
1811 the upper half of Madison was taken from Franklin. In 1855 or 1856 the
upper half of Hart was cut from Franklin. In 1857 the largest portion of Banks
was taken from Franklin. Thus the old county of Franklin, the mother of
counties, has become cut and hacked until she has become only a small part of
her original self. And yet, I fear that there are some, who would be pleased to
see her cut and hacked at least one more time for their own accommodation .
Judge Peter Carnes, after whom the town of Carnesville received its name,
was one of the most noted men in the Early History of Franklin county. He was a
man of great talent, wit, inexhaustible humor, unrivalled conversational powers
and a very fine personal appearance and address. As a member of congress and
judge of the Superior Court he was very acceptable and popular. His honesty and
integrity, I believe were never questioned; but otherwise his moral were not
very correct. The love of wine and women seems to have been his greatest
weakness. Madam Rumer, long ago, affirms that the celebrated William Wirt of
Virginia, the great jurist, orator and Statesman, and at one time Attorney
General of the United States, was an illigitimate son of Judge Carnes by a
handsome young widow, and at one time the belle of Washington City. At all
events William Wirt in both body and mind was said to resemble Judge Carnes in a
very remarkable degree. There are still many persons in Franklin and Hart
counties who are related to Judge Carnes by blood; as for examples: the Carnes
of Hart, and the Chappelears of Franklin;; and our former excellent sherriff
James H. Chappelear is said to resemble his illustrious relation some what in
personal appearance but much more in wit and humor.
Judge Blair was a very prominent man in Franklin county, at an early day and
sometimes represented the county in the Legislature of the state. He removed to
Putnam county early in the present century; and thence to North Alabama. He was
a man of talents and much influence, but lost much of his reputation after
removing to Putnam county, by unfair dealing. I have heard Gov. George R. Gilmer
of Lexington, relate that when he was a young lawyer, he went to Putnam county
and volunteered his services at the bar to rescue his old school master out of
the clutches of 'Old im Blain' as he called him.
Another prominent man in the early annals of Franklin was a Mr. Wofford,
whose first name I have forgotten. He was the father of General Wofford, who
forty years ago was a leading man in Habersham county; and therefore the grand
father of General Wofford of Confederate fame of Bartow county. This old Mr.
Wofford was appointed a commissioner by the United States and by Georgia to
treat with the Chmerokee [Cherokee] Indians in regard to a section of territory
on the northern side of Franklin. Previous to this time some of the whites had
settled on the lands claimed by the Cherokees, and to prevent a difficulty
Georgia, through this Mr. Wofford, purchased from the Cherokees a strip of land
almost four miles wide on the upper side of Franklin county, which is still
called the four miles of the Wofford purchase.
James H. Little, Esq., and Gen. Thos. Anderson, were very young men among
the early settlers of Franklin; but both of them subsequently became very
prominent and useful men. They represented the county in the legislature many
years. They were men of strict morals, and died a few years ago at a very ripe
old age leaving behind them names conspicuous for probity and unswerving
integrity and patriotism. James H. Little, Esq., lived and died on Nails Creek
and the Littles and McEntires of Franklin county were some of his worthy
descendants. Gen. Anderson lived and died on the Grove Fork of Hudson river and
many of his posterity still reside in Banks county. General Anderson as Captain
commanded one of the companies raised in Franklin for General Flowd's army
during the war of 1812-1814, and Captain Sandridge, I think, commanded the other
company. Sandridge did not become as popular as did Anderson.
*Note: The newspaper Carnesville Register sited
here actually refers to the Franklin County Register, which was published
in Carnesville.
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Early
History of Franklin County by Rev. Groves Cartledge (pt.2)
"Early History of Franklin County: Written by the Rev.
Groves Cartledge and Published in the Carnesville Register in 1880," Lavonia
Times and Gauge 1 Aug 1919, Section 1.
Early History of Franklin County
Written by the Rev. Groves Cartledge and published in the Carnesville
Register in 1880.*
(Continued from last week)
Soon after the
organizations of Franklin County, three Revolutionary soldiers set together on
horses, back from North Carolina to select land and locate their soldier's
bounty--Warrants in the new County. They were Henry Parks, father of the late
Rev. Wm. J. Parks, Stephen Westbrooks, father of our worthy fellow citizen,
Bartley Westbrooks, and a Mr. Hudson, father of the late Col. Joshua Hudson.
There were no roads and few settlers in the western part of the county; but
following the Indian trails and deep paths, they reached a creek about a mile
below where Carnesville now stands. There was no ford and the banks were very
steep and slippery, and as the horse of Stephen Westbrook went down the steep
banks, he slipped and fell and plunged his rider head and ears in the creek.
From this mishap they called the stream, Stephen's creek, and it bears the name
to this day. Such is the tradition, at least, as I heard an old man relate it
nearly thirty years ago. Stephen Westbrook lived and died on Crockett's Creek.
Henry Parks settled and died on the Hudson, and so did Mr. Hudson and gave his
name to the stream. They were all good substantial and worthy citizens and have
many descendants in Franklin, Banks, Clark and elsewhere. Ebenezer church in
Franklin county, first bore the name of Westbrook's Chapel and Salem church, now
in Banks, was first called Park's Chapel. In his journal about 1800, Bishop
Asbury, styles them. In the early days of Franklin county, nearly every
settlement or neighborhood had its stockade of fort and cabins for the families
inside the fort. When there was any alarm of Indians, the several families would
leave their homes and flee for safety to their fort. He, who first saw the
danger was to give the alarm to others and they to others still, until the whole
settlement was duly apprised of the danger. There were many such forts in the
country and one of them stood between Nail's and Little's creeks, a mile west of
Col. James Little's residence, now the property of his grandson, C. H. Little,
Esq. About a mile north of Ebenezer church on Crockett's creek, there resided a
family by the name of Crokett, from whom the Creek took its name. The family
consisted of a widow with eight children, the oldest of whom was William, about
twenty five years old; the others were mostly daughters. One morning James H.
Little, then a very young man, rode post haste to Mrs. Crockett's and told
William that a large party of Indians were in the neighborhood, and urged him to
take the family to the fort forthwith. William Crockett was sitting in the door
making a pair of shoes for himself to wear to his own wedding which was
appointed to take place a few days from that time. Crockett said to Mr. Little
that there had been so many false alarms and that he was then very busy and much
pressed for time, and therefore he should risk the danger for once without
resorting to the fort. Mr. Little, not being able to persuade him to change his
purpose, rode away in haste to give the alarm to others. That day all the
families in the settlement except Crocketts's reached the fort in safety, and
next morning early, all the able bodied men except a sufficient guard for the
fort, shouldered their trusty rifles and mounted their horses, in pursuit of the
blood thirsty savages. They soon struck the trail and pursuid it to the widow
Crockett's, where an appalling sight met their eyes. The widow Crockett and her
eight children butchered and scalped, were lying in one bloody pile of death in
their own yard. The house and premises had been plundered and stripped of
everything, which could excite the cupidity of the greedy savages, and which was
transportable. Leaving the dead as they found them, the whites pursuid the
Indians to their own territory but could not overtake them. They then returned
to Mrs. Crockett's; buried the dead, and raised a monument of stones over their
common grave. But, sad to tell, the man into whose hands the Crockett's place
afterwards fell, hauled away that monument and built his chimney with those
stones. To rob the living is a great crime, but to rob the dead is an
unpardonable sin. The little creek near whose banks the murdered family was
buried in their common grave, is all that was left in Franklin county to bear
the name of Crockett. At the time of which I am writing, there was a fort on the
Savannah or Tugalo called McCoppin's fort; another on Webb's creek, on the land
now belonging to Captain Daniel Bush, called Bushs fort and still another near
the Hurricane Shoals, on the Oconee, besides Little's fort already named. Robert
McAlpine, whose name was usually pronounced McCoppin, was one of the first
settlers in Franklin county. His home was upon the Savannah or Tugalo, and the
fort bearing his name stood on his land. If any of the old citizens, now on that
side of the county know anything in regard to McCoppin's old fort and its
traditions I hope that they will enlighten us through the Register. Robert
McAlpine did not remain long in Franklin County, but moved to Green County,
Georgia and thence in 1797, too, he removed to East Tennessee, where he died.
His son, Robert McAlpine, was born in Franklin county and was educated in
Washington, Tenn. under the tuition of the celebrated Rev. Dr. Samuel Doak, and
as a captain he commanded a company in General Andrew Jackson's army in the war
of 1812-1814. At the close of the war he was ordained to the ministry in the
Presbyterian church. After teaching and preaching in Tennessee for several
years, he, in 1830 returned to his native state and setteld seven miles north of
Jefferson, where he taught and preached for several years and at the same time
preached in his native county, Franklin, at Hebron and New Lebanon (now Homer)
churches.
For a few months in 1831 and 1833, I attended his school and to him I owe a
debt of gratitude, incalculably great. He was prominently a good man, a very
learned, able and faithful minister and did a noble work for his native state.
In 1837 he moved to North Alabama, where he died about 1850. Rev. Robert
McAlpine left many descendents, who are following in his footsteps. Rev. John B.
McAlpine of Alabama, and his sister, Mrs. Pauline DuBose, wife of Rev. H. C.
DuBose, missionary to China, are grandchildren of Rev. Robert McAlpine and like
their grandfather, are an honor to Franklin county.
Col. James Little bore a Colonel's Commission in the war for Independence.
About the year 1785, or a little later he moved to Franklin county and took his
soldier's land-bounty on Nail's Creek including the mouth of Little's creek, and
from him the latter creek took its name. He was a man somewhat advanced in life,
with grown children at the time of his settlement in Georgia and did not long
survive. He divided his valuable tract of land between his two sons, James H.
Little, Esq., who has been previously mentioned and William Little, who removed
to Alabama about the year 1820. William Holbrooks, now owns and occupies the
tract which William Little sold to Maj. Alexander in 1820, and C. H. Little owns
and occupies the part that fell to his father, James H. Little, Esq. William
Fleming, Robert Fleming and their brother-in-law, William Ashe, settled in
Franklin county on Hudson river at a very early period. All of them had been
Revolutionary soldiers. William Ashe built the first mills where Burn's mill on
the Hudson now stands. He was a very quiet, substantial and peaceful citizen.
His sons were the late Col. William Ashe, Maj. A. F. Ashe, R. R. Ashe and John
Ashe of Alabama after whom the town of Asheville in that state was named. Robert
Fleming was a very quiet and retiring man, who stayed at home and attended to
his own business. His descendents, I believe, have all gone westward. William
Fleming was a man of energy and great force of character. He was one of the
first Elders of Hebron church. He died in Texas about 1849. Many of his
descendents reside in Lumpkin and Cherokee counties, Ga. When every settlement
had it's stockade fort, as has already been related, one morning William Fleming
shouldered his rifle and mounted his horse and rode into the range to look after
and salt his stock. After accomplishing his purpose, he turned the head of his
horse toward home. Before he had made much progress toward home however, he
espied three Indians in pursuit of him. He had just before made the painful
discovery that the lock of his gun was broken and his gun was useless. To flee
was his only means of safety. But his horse was old and sluggish, and the fleet
footed Indians gained on him rapidly, and soon one of them sent a bullet thru
his body. He did not fall however and although bleeding profusely, he determined
to resort to stratgy to save his life, if possible. Therefore, wheeling right
about so as to face the Indians, he called out at the top of his voice, "Here
they are boys, run quick and let us kill every one of the dirty red skins." And
suiting his action to his words he made toward the Indians and raised his gun as
if about to fire. The cowardly savages took to their heel's and soon fled out of
sight. William Fleming then hastened to the nearest fort, eight miles distant
and after several months of suffering finally recovered. In October 1832, when a
very small boy, I was in Carnesville for the first time, during several days of
the October term of the Superior Court. I was in company with Capt. John T.
Story, a native of Franklin Counay [County], but then a resident of Jackson
County. Storey was a tanner and then had a wagon load of leather to sell. John
Maples, whose wife was a Mabry, was then a tanner doing business in Carnesville,
and was a friend to Storey and not long afterward, bought Storey's place and
moved to Jackson, and thence after a few years, to Mississippi. My first day's
experience in Carnesville was a very painful one. I was only twelve years old
and very puny. Capt. Storey, was then a member of the Presbyterian church, and a
very sober and steady man. But on Monday, the first day of the term, he met with
a great number of old friends, many of whom he had not seen for a long time, and
those days it was almost universally the custom, for friends to take a social
glass together, when they met, especially after a long separation. During the
day Capt. Storey treated and was treated, so after that, when night drew on he
was as drunk as a sot and as helpless as a log. I knew not a man in the country
except Storey and there I was, a small puny boy, among perfect strangers, and
some of them as I had seen, very wicked men, with a very large and very drunken
and helpless man, two valuable horses, a wagon and a load of leather and some
money on my hands to take care of. For awhile my reflections were melancholy and
bitter indeed. But before I could decide upon what course to pursue, Col.
William Turk, one of the Grand Jury, whom I had never seen before that day,
passed our wagon and seeing Storey lying drunk came to me, and after asking me
some questions, called to his assistance, two other large men, one of whom was
John Maples. They soon lifted Capt. Storey, like a log into the wagon, and Col.
Turk went with me to the woods to a suitable camping ground, and remained with
me all night to assist me in taking care of Capt. Storey and his property. Such
was my introduction to one of nature's noble men, Col. Turk, and the affection
which I then conceived for him, grew and strengthened to the last throughout our
long intimate association. Next morning, Capt. Storey was sober, sick and sorry.
About six months afterward, he fell into the same sin at home. He then declared
that he would not drink any more even in moderation. He removed to Chattooga
county, Ga. in about a year after that spree in Carnesville. In 1844 he
represented Chatooga county in the state legislature, and I being there in
college near by the seat of government, we renewed our acquaintance. He removed
to Texas about 1847, and has been dead at least 20 years. Because I never
reported his fall in Carnesville until after he had made it public himself, some
months afterwards he seemed to have great esteem and affection for me as long as
he lived. He was a man of many noble and generous impulses of heart.
His grandfather, Anthony Storey of S. C., died of small-pox in the army of
the Revolution, and after the close of the war, his father, Maj. Edward Storey,
with two brothers, Thomas and Arthor Story, settled in Franklin county on Nail's
creek where Capt. John T. Storey was born. Capt. John T. and his father, Maj.
Edward Storey were both soldiers at the same time in Gen. Floyd's army in
1812-1814. Maj. Edward Storey and his good old wife, Aunt Peggy, as everybody
called her, were as good people as I have ever known. Maj. Storey was for many
years a worthy elder in the Presbyterian church at Thyatyra, Jackson County Ga.
In 1846 shortly before my licensure I attended a Camp Meeting at Thyatira and
lodged in the tent of my good old friend, Maj. Storey and aunt Peggy. About the
time morning preaching began on Sunday, several young men and women, who cared
nothing for preaching came from Jefferson and elsewhere and assembled in Maj.
Storey's tent to have a lively time. Their laughter and sportive noise became so
great as to seriously disturb the services at the stand, which was perhaps
several yards distant. As we were walking towards the tent, the old people were
consulting together as to what they should do. At length, they agreed that lest
they might do harm by giving a reproof, they would let the matter pass. As soon
however as we entered the tent, one of the young women approached Aunt Peggy,
and told her as they could not find seats at the stand they had taken seats at
her tent. Aunt Peggy replied in a very mild manner--"Well, you found seats a
plenty in our tent, and if you had been as eager to hear preaching as the rest
of us, you could easily have carried these seats to the stand. But as you did
not wish to hear preaching yourselves, you might have remained quiet here in the
tent, and refrained from disturbing with your noise, the rest of us who did wish
to hear the preaching. The whole crowd, about a dozen in number, hung their
heads in shame and confusion, for a few moments and then the same young woman
said, Mrs. Storey, I am sorry that we have hurt your feelings." Aunt Peggy
replied in a very solid but mild manner, "Well, I can say with the Apostle Paul,
I am glad you are sorry, and I hope your sorrow of a godly sort." She then
invited them to dinner and treated them as if they were her very best friends.
They never misbehaved on that camp ground any more.
When I was in Carnesville in 1832, the cake and beer, carts and wagons were
quite an institution connected with all public gatherings, such as courts and
Musters. During my stay in the village there on actual count, twenty eight
wagons and carts with cakes and beer standing every day on the public square.
Both sides of the Jarrett's Bridge road, above the graveyard in Carnesville were
then uncleared woods, and every night during court week, the woods on both sides
of the road were almost full of people camping out. I verily think there must
have been five hundred men and two hundred women camped there every night.
During that week, I saw and heard more wickedness than my green and
unsophisticated boyish mind had ever imagined possible. Besides the men and
women in charge of the cake wagons, a great many men and women, who were
parties, witnesses and jurors came in their wagons and carts and camped out and
stayed out all the week. Many of them were sober and civil people and like
myself were shocked and scandalized by the wickedness prevailing around them.
But many men and women, to attended court and camped out around Carnesville at
night for purpose of unmitigated evil. But that day is gone and may none like it
ever return. Sometime in 1832, a strange scene was witnessed in Carnesville. A
man with his family moving in a one horse wagon, from North Carolina to the
West, stopped at a store in Carnesville and said to the merchant that he wished
to buy some cheap wool hats for his boys. The merchant began to show the hats
and the man began to pick out and lay the hats to one side and called for more
until he had piled up more than a dozen. At last the merchant said, "In the name
of common sense, how many boys have you anyway?" The stranger replied, "Only
twenty-four sir, and they were all born at nine births at that." Where are
they?" Said the merchant. "Here," said the man "are some of them standing by me,
and the others are out in the street." "Bring them in." said the merchant, "I
want to see every one of them." The stranger soon brought the others with their
mother into the store. The merchant then stepped out and called in his neighbors
and friends to see the sight, and among the crowd they collected enough money to
buy the old man and his twenty-four sons a hat a piece, and sent them on their
way westward, rejoicing. I heard the story soon after its occurrence about the
time of my first visit to Carnesville in 1832. I always had some doubt about the
truth of it until my removal to the county in 1852, when some old citizen of the
village told me that he witnessed the scene. Six pair of triplets and three pair
of twins, exactly makes up the twenty-four sons at nine births. An eye witness
affirmed what the father and mother too, appeared as if they were good for at
least one dozen more. But whether the other dozen were ever born or not, I am
not able to say, for I never heard of them any more after they left Franklin
county. The government ought to have given that couple a large pension. Old
people are apt to think and to say, "Old days were better than these," But
Solomon says that in this they are not wise. It is certain that even fifty years
ago, intemperance, gambling, fighting and general licentiousness, were far more
prevalent in Franklin county and other places than now. In the early part of
this century, the Rev. Mr. Redwine of the Methodist Church the founder of
Redwine's church then in Franklin, but now I believe in Hart, Rev. Thomas
Newton, Presbyterian and first pastor of Hebron church on the Hudson, Rev.
Rueben Thorton and Rev. Mr. Meeks, commonly called "Daddy Meeks" both of the
Baptist Church and both residents on the Crow river, and a few other faithful
preachers, did all they could to stem the tide of evil sweeping over the land
and they did much good in their day and generation, and have long since gone to
their everlasting last. But, in spite of all the efforts made by them and others
equally as faithful, nevertheless, vice and immorality prevailed to a fearful
extent. Of the preachers just named, I have seen and heard only Rev. Ruben
Thornton. In 1834 at Harmony Baptist church in the lower part of Hall County,
Rev. Ruben Thornton, assisted the pastor, Rev. William Manning during a
protracted meeting. My father was then a member of that church and the pastor,
Rev. William Manning was a cousin. Rev. Ruben Thornton remained several days and
preached frequently. He was a large, portly man, with long hair as white as
flax. He was about sixty-five or seventy years old, and yet he preached with
great animation and power and as I write now, his image, as he appeared then in
the pulpit, rises up before my imagination as vividly as if I had seen him only
yesterday. During that meeting, I, a small boy, hoped that I obtained the pearl
of great price, and to this day, I cherish a lively affection for the memory of
Rev. William Manning, Rev. Ruben Thornton and Rev. Jerry Reeves, then of Hall
county.
Groves H. Cartledge.
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Population of
Franklin County by Districts
"Population of Franklin County by Districts," Lavonia
Times and Gauge 10 Sept 1920.
Population of Franklin County by Districts
The population of Franklin county has been given by districts and also
the population of the cities in the county with the exception of Canon. Canon is
in two counties which no doubt complicates the report so that it cannot be
obtained now. The City of Carnesville has an even 400 people as against 322 ten
years ago and 305 twenty years ago. As was given last week the population of
Lavonia is 1644 and Royston 1681. The following is a list of the militia
Districts of the county together with the population of each:
1920 1910
1900
FRANKLIN COUNTY-------------------------------------19,957
17,894 17,700
No. 206--Bryant, including Lavonia city-------------------------2,812
2,779 2,093
No. 210--Gunnell-----------------------------------------------1,206
1,044 1,483
No. 211--Flintsville---------------------------------------------
881 807
1,255
No. 212, Red Hill-----------------------------------------------1,271
1,000 969
No. 213--Gum Log---------------------------------------------1,178
1,107 1,334
No. 263--Dooley-----------------------------------------------1,065
941 869
No. 264--Carnesville, including Carnesville city----------------- 2,946
2,595 2,202
No. 370--Manley, including part of Royston city---------------- 2,261
1,959 1,321
No. 812--Stranges--------------------------------------------- 1,114
1,004 1,163
No. 1363--Canon, including part of Canon town----------------1,954
1,885 1,178
No. 1377--Wilborn---------------------------------------------1,104
1,063 1,070
No. 1420--Middle River----------------------------------------1,345
1,004 950
No. 1686--Ashland--------------------------------------------- 820
706 ---
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Schools and Education
“Franklin County: Its Soil, Health, Water, Power, Schools, Churches,
Railroads, etc. Schools and Education,” Franklin County Register
[Carnesville] 14 Jan 1887.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Its Soil, Health, Water, Power, Schools, Churches, Railroads, etc.
______________________
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
At the time of which I speak there was but little
system in the management of the school exercises. The pupils recited one and two
at a time, not in classes, and it was a sort of a snatch game as to who should
recite first. We sat on the end of bench near the teacher when reciting, and it
was not unusual to see a half dozen or more boys on the bench, ready to slide
into position one after the other. When the round of lessons had been made, and
the teacher ascertained the fact by inquiry, the second round commenced and
those who recited last, in the first round were frequently among the first to
recite on the second, and the forenoon or afternoon lessons were recited in five
or ten minutes of each other.
All spelled and read aloud who desired to do so, and
often by a preconcerted arrangement forty or fifty scholars would break forth at
the same instant at the top of their voices, and could have been distinctly
heard for half a mile. Such thing as a bell in a country school was unknown, and
when it was time to take in School, the teacher stood at the door and cried in
stentorian tones, “come to books.”
School children at that time and much later, were
greatly incensed at a ***. Ducking was the Orthodox method of punishing the
offender if caught, but in the absence of sufficient water we resorted to
bumping. The culprit was seized by the arms and legs by a force sufficient to
manage him, and was swung against a stump or tree until the supposed outrage was
thought to have been sufficiently punished. There was no fun in being bumped by
a crowd of angry boys. Offenders were generally on horseback, or had so far the
start, that it was a rare thing to capture them. The last offenders that I
remember seeing punished at mount Zion, were Ike and Andy Johnson. They were old
offenders, it was early in the morning and before the teacher arrived. They
misjudged our force and did not attempt to escape, and for once they reckoned
without their host. They were unable to get away from those present until
reinforcements arrived, when they were bumped till they begged for mercy, it was
a force struggle for a time, but we were rapidly reinforced by fresh arrivals
and soon had them under control and a detachment held one down while the other
was being punished. The strife was so long and noisy that Mr. Johnson who lived
nearly a half mile away heard it; and guessing at the cause came to the rescue
just in time to see her[sic] battered, dirty, panting sons released. Jeramiah
Cleveland of Martin doubtless remembers an encounter he once had with the Mount
Zion boys.
I went to school to Mr. Stonecypher again in 1841 and
by that time a better house had been built, with plank floor and I believe a
stone chimney. It had one door and a window on the opposite of the house and one
at the back end, each about 16 or 18 inches square. The cracks were lined with
boards on the inside and several years afterwards they were daubed with mud on
the outside.
Mr. Stonecypher taught several years after the new
house was built and I know not how many years before I was large enough to
attend school. School boys at that time were very anxious to turn the teacher
out on or about the last day of the school. The plan was to reach the house
early in the morning and bar the door and keep the teacher out until he promised
a treat. In 1840 the large boys intended to turn Mr. Stonecypher out on the last
day of the school, but they made a mistake in the time and the school was out a
week earlier than they thought.
On the evening of the last day, he rapped on his little
table and stood up as was his custom when he intended to give us a lecture, and
said “Now boys give me your profound attention.” This was the way he perfaced
all his lectures, but he did not lecture that day. His emotions were getting the
mastery, he hesitated a moment, broke out into a laugh and said it was the last
day of the school. While he laughed and tried to be merry, I remember that his
voice quavered and his eyes and cheeks were wet with tears.
As I have stated, he was a very stout, hale old man. I
have never seen any one who could throw a stone higher in the air than he. He
did not throw by slinging his arms behind him and above his head as we did, but
jerked as the boys called it, that is, threw the rock under hande, bringing the
arm to a sudden stop at the hip. The boys would often select nice smooth stones,
and he would stand at the rear of school house and jerk them over the tops of a
tall white oak and poplar that stood on the branch bank near the spring. He
jerked so well and so far that we were anxious to see him throw as we did, but
could never get him to do so. He would promise to throw and would drawn back and
run forward and make a great flourish just as the boys did, but would always
bring his arm down by his side throw up his right leg and jerk the rock under
it. The boys would remonstrate and he explained by saying that always when he
tried to thrown like a boy his right leg would fly up and the rock would go
under it. I understand now why he did not throw like a boy.
Every body called him Uncle Ben and he as a favorite
with all. He was a member of the Baptist church at Eastannalle at a time whereof
the memory of man ran not to the contrary. In his old age he requested to be
rebaptized, offering as a reason, that there was no one living who had seen him
baptized and some might doubt whether he had been baptized at all. He was a
Baptist and the main pillar of Eastannalle church, but totally free from
sectarian bias. I knew him intimately from my earliest recollection till the day
of his death, and never heard him censured for but one act of his life, and that
was I think a creditable and and a worthy thing. He took the love feast with the
Methodists at Mount Zion and gave umbrage to some of his Baptist brethren
thereby.
There were unruly and turbulent members in Eastannalle
church many years ago and they had some fierce quarrels and stormy times, but
Uncle Ben was never a partisan he was always peace maker. I well remember his
sorrowful face and the pathetic tones of his voice when he arose to speak on
such occasions. He was the son of John Stonecypher, a revolutionary soldier, who
lived and died on Eastannallee, and the father of Charles and Garnett
Stonecypher. He died in extreme old age a few years ago universally beloved and
respected. By common consent, he was reckoned the best man in that part of the
county. The purity of his life and his great moral worth has been so indelibly
stamped upon my memory, that whenever I hear a man spoken of as being extra pure
and good, the image of the old school master rises before me, and I wonder how
the good man would compare with uncle Ben.
Continued.
*** unreadable
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Schools and
Education--part 2
“Franklin County: Its Soil, Health, Water, Power, Schools, Churches,
Railroads, etc. Schools and Education: Old Gentleman Frazier,” Franklin
County Register [Carnesville] 21 Jan 1887.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Its Soil, Health, Water, Power, Schools, Churches, Railroads, etc.
_______________________
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
________________________
Old Gentleman
Frazier.
In 1842 a teacher from South Carolina named William
Frazier taught in Byrams district near where Union Grove Church now stands. The
school house was a hundred yards from the jubile road and about 60 yards north
of the spring now used by the church. It was built of logs with large cracks
between, and had a board roof and plank floor. The roof was very low, the
chimney was broad and built of sticks, the writing desk like the one described
at Mount Zion, the seats were made of slabs from the saw mill, such as are yet
to be found in some out of the way school-houses.
The teacher had acquired the sobriquet of Gentleman
Frazier in South Carolina, and was known by that name here. He was about 60 or
66 years old, neat in appearance, erect as an Indian, rather dark, and was
strikingly like George W. Adams a distinguished Georgian who died not long
since.
A seven year old boy never entered school with more
buoyant hopes or a more laudable ambition than I entered the school taught by
gentleman Frazier in 1842. Mr. Frazier was supposed to be a superior teacher,
and a great developer of the juvenile brain. My father had suggested that it was
possible for me to become a scholar, and to rise above the common mass if I
would only try. I remember the exultation I felt when, in answer to an inquiry
he said, I might even become a better scholar and a greater man than Uncle Ben.
The sequel proved Old Gentleman Frazier was not superior to Uncle Ben as an
educator and a trainer of children. Their methods were very much alike, but Mr.
Frazier lacked Uncle Ben’s boyish and cheerful good humor. He talked less and
whipped more. I was not a lucky offender in that school. Warren Byram, Tom
McJunkin and myself fell under the ban of his displeasure, and he usually made
us sit together on a short bench near his table. We were punished frequently and
sometimes severely, but probably always justly.
The school was large and flourishing and a goodly
number of grown girls and young men were numbered among the scholars. The girls
and boys were allowed to play together and associate freely, and the larger
girls and boys had a very pleasant social time that year. On Friday evenings we
had an extra spelling lesson, and sometimes reading exercises. At such times the
girls sprinkled the floor with white sand, and decorated the large fire place
walls and joists with plants and flowers. The little boys and girls were pressed
into service and scoured the woods for blossoms, and the boughs of large leaved
luxuriant bushes. The little, low, open school house situated far out in the
dense forest, decorated rudely but picturesquely without and within, was a
pleasant sight to look upon; and pleasanter still, to look upon the rosy and
blushing young women, the stalwart young men and sturdy children, all in Sunday
attire.
Gentleman Frazier was a very dignified old man, and
carried himself in a stately way. He spent a good deal of his time in teaching
his scholars how to deport themselves in company. We were taught that the right
thing to do upon entering a house, or meeting a person on the highway or
elsewhere, was to raise the hat with the right hand, bend the body forward and
make a backward movement with the right foot. The rules of the school required
us to salute all persons that we met on the way to and from school in that way,
and to go through a similar performance on entering the school house each
morning. Mr. Frazier taught at that place several years, and also at other
places in that part of the county. He spent most of his life in the school house
and was a good teacher for that time. He moved to Alabama about 1847 or ’48 and
died many years ago.
_______________________
BURGESS SMITH.
In the year 1844 or ’45 Burgess Smith taught school at
Mount Zion. He was a Methodist preacher and lived on Tugalo river near where it
is crossed by the Air Line rail road. Mr. Smith was a good English scholar, a
natural born teacher and a close student. He was far in advance of the teachers
of his day, and even now, the teachers who are his equals are few and far
between. The school house was made comfortable under his directions, and was
furnished with good desks and each scholar had a seat and desk that he could
claim as his own, and where others were not authorized to intrude. He introduced
the studies of English grammar, geography and Natural Philosophy, and often gave
plain instructive and interesting lectures on astronomy and other sciences. I
have never seen any man whose powers of arresting and holding the attention of
children were equal to his. The study of branches above arithmetic was
considered an innovation, and was met with some disfavor. Grammar and Natural
Philosophy were thought to be too deep for children, and many things taught in
geography were pronounced untrue. That the sun was stationary and the earth
round and that it revolved on its axis once in twenty four hours, was too
unreasonable to be believed. The children had unbounded confidence in Mr. Smith,
and accepted all he said as true, and accepted all that the books taught,
because he said they were true. He soon armed us with arguments to meet the
doubters and we had many fierce arguments, and some times with no less a
personage than Uncle Ben himself, who took the opposite side.
Under the teachings and influence of Mr. Smith the
children developed rapidly, and as he brooded among the families of his patrons,
his influence was felt in every house in that community. I could mention a dozen
names, including the most intelligent and spightly young men ever raised in that
part of the county before the war, who recieved an upward impulse at his hands.
As an educator and developer of children, as an interesting talker, as a man of
broad and liberal views and general intelligence, and as an attractive and
powerful preacher, this county has never furnished his serperior, and it is
doubtful if it ever produced his equal.
On one occasion the scholars entered a protest against
some of his rules and he readily explained his reasons for each rule laid down
for our government, but said if we could make better rules, he had no objection
whatever. He resolved the school into a sort of mass meeting and himself as
chairman, and the question of rules was taken up, every scholar had the
privilege of free expression of opinion and after a half days session all the
old rules were reenacted, and others more stringent adopted. At the conclusion,
he appealed to the manhood of his scholars, and urged them to stand by the laws
of their own making, and to assist him in inforcing them. The result was the
finest discipline and greatest harmony I have ever seen in a school. His
government was very democratic, and he always allowed the children a voice in
the management of the school and with good results in every instance.
Mr. Smith taught several years at Mount Zion,
afterwards on Broad river near where Mr. S. K. Cannon now lives, and later in
Elbert county where he died before the war. He was the father of Dr. Ben Smith
of Elberton, Rev. W. P. Smith a Methodist minister known to many of our people,
and J. Henly Smith of Atlanta.
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2002 - 2007
Melinda Reddish
All rights reserved.
1878-1910
