HISTORY

HISTORY

The Historical Collections of Georgia by White references Oglethorpe County as below:

OGLETHORPE COUNTY.

LAID out in 1793. Part taken from Greene, 1794. Parts of Oglethorpe added to Greene, and parts of Greene added to Oglethorpe,1799. Part set off to Madison, 1811; a portion taken from Clarke,
1813; a part set off to Taliaferro, 1825; a part added to Madison, 1831. Named after General Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia.
Length, 28 m.; breadth, 16 m.; area square miles, 448.
The face of the country is hilly: the western part is red land, the central gray, and the eastern partakes of several varieties. The lands upon Goose Pond have long been noted for their fertility.
Broad River separates the county from Elbert, and the Oconee forms part of its western boundary.

LEXINGTON is the county town, 64 miles N. N. E. of Milledgeville,
distinguished alike for the hospitality and intelligence of its inhabitants.

Bowling Green, Bairdstown and Woodstock, are pleasant villages.
The climate is mild. We insert a few instances of longevity.
Mr. CLIFFORD WOODRUFF died over 104 years of age; Mrs. TAY-
LOR over 80; CHARLES STRONG, 84 j Mrs. STRONG, 80; General
STEW ART, 70, a soldier of the Revolution; CHARLES CARTER, 88;
JACOB EBERHART, 83; SAMUEL WARD, 85.
Education has always been appreciated by the citizens of this
county.
Extract from the Census of 1850.-Dwellings, 819; families, 820 ;
white males, 2,228; white females, 2,154 free coloured males, 2;
I free coloured female. Total free population, 4,385 ; slaves, 7,874.
Deaths, 175. Farms, 555 ; manufacturing establishments, 13 . Value
of real estate, $2,163,078; value of persona] estate, $4,235,515.

580
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GEORGIA.
Oglethorpe boasts of having furnished a number of distinguished men, the history of many of whom is given in this work. Hon. STEPHEN UPSON, an eminent lawyer long resided in this county. At the time of his death, in 1824, he was esteemed one of the first men in Georgia.
The Hon. WILLIAM HARRIS CRAWFORD resided in this county. His history shows how much may be done by study, industry, and honesty. He was born in Amherst County, Virginia, on the 24th of February, 1772. Mr. Crawford's family were from Scotland. His father came from Virginia in 1779, and settled in Edgefield District, South Carolina; and in 1783 he removed. to Columbia County, Georgia, where he died five years afterwards. W. H. Crawford was a lad during the Revolution, and was rarsed with the hardihood of those scuffling times.
After the death of his father, Mr. Crawford, in order to aid in the support of his mother's family, devoted himself to the business of in-struction, for several years, until Dr. Moses Waddel opened a classi- cal school in Columbia County; when, feeling the importance of a knowledge of the languages, he resolved to avail himself of this excellent opportunity of obtaining an acquaintance with the classics, and accordingly became a 'Student in Dr. Waddel's academy, where his progress was so great, that he was soon employed as an assistant.
After remaining in this academy two years, he came to Augusta, and formed a connection with Charles, afterwards Judge Tait, in the management of the Richmond Academy. In 1799 he removed to Lexington, and commenced the practice of law; and it was not long before his talents and great attention to business placed him at the head of his profession.
At the period when Mr. Crawford first commenced practice, the upper counties of Georgia were monopolized by a clique en-gaged in legislative speculations. Efforts were made to secure his co-operation in these iniquitous proceedings, but with no success. For four years he represented Oglethorpe County in the Legislature of Georgia. In 1806, he was elected to the United States Senate, and in 1811 re-elected without opposition. In this body he occupied a pre-eminent station; and upon many important and exciting questions, evinced a judgment unsurpassed by that of any member of the Senate. In 1813, President Madison offered him the appointment of Secretary of War, which he declined. He was then sent Minister to Paris, where he remained two years, during which time he not only showed himself to be a fearless advocate of his country's rights, but gained the favour of Parisian society by his open manners and instructive conversation. When he returned to the United States he was appointed to the War Department, but in which he served only for a brief period. In October following, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury, and continued to discharge the duties of this import-
ant office until 1825, with an ability which men of all parties acknowledged. In 1825 he received a flattering vote for the office of President of the United States. In 1827, upon the death of Judge Dooly,

OGLETHORPE COUNTY.
581
Mr. Crawford was appointed judge of the Northern Circuit, which office he held until his death, which occurred in Elbert County, September 15, 1834, aged sixty-two years. His remains lie at Woodlawn, his seat in Oglethorpe County.

Miscellaneous
FIRST GRAND JURY.

JOHN LUMPKIN.
JOHN MARKS.
ANDREW BELL.
CHARLES HAY.
RICHARD GOLDSBY.
JOHN GARRETT.
ROBERT BEAVERS.
JEFFREY EARLY.
WILLIAM PATTS.
ROBERT MCCORD.
JAEL HURT.
JESSE CLAY.
JOHN COLLIER.
ISAAC COLLIER.
JOHN SHIELDS.
PRESLEY THORNTON.
HUMPHREY EDMONSON.
JAS. NORTHINGTON.
THE annals of this county afford some interesting incidents. From an address delivered by the Hon. George R. Gilmer, at Athens, we
make the following extracts :- Miles Jinnings was a leather stocking old man, who lived, when the Yazoo
Act passed, in the county of Oglethorpe, at the place now known as the Crabtree. He had been, before he moved to Georgia, an Indian-fighter on the fron-
tiers of Virginia and North Carolina. He retained during life the gun with which he fought at the great battle of the Point, where the Indians of the West,
under Logan, did not yield the victory until after they had fought the white hand to hand, from sunrise until dark. On the morning of the day of the first general meeting of the people of Oglethorpe, after the passage of the Yazoo Act, a neighbour, who lived on the other side of the Crab-tree, stopped at the gate, whilst Miles Jinnings made ready to accompany him. Jinnings put a rope in his pocket before he left home. He was a silent man, and said nothing about his purpose. Upon being asked by his neighbour what he intended doing with the rope, he replied, "Hang Musgrove." When they arrived at the Court-house from their distant part of the county, all the people had assembled. Miles Jinnings hitched his horse, went into the crowd, pulled from his pocket the rope, and holding it up at arm's length, cried out" "Neighbours, this rope is to hang Musgrove, who sold the peoples' land for a bribe." The lashing of the surge upon the shore, when the ocean is driven by the most furious storm, was not louder than the noise of the people, excited into tumult by Jinnings's words, and the sight of the elevated rope. No human power could have saved Musgrove from hanging, if Jinnings' neighbour had not given him notice to make his escape.
There was no school in the Goose-Pond neighbourhood, on Broad River, from its first settlement in 1784 until 1796. The first teacher was a deserter from the British Navy, who only qualification was, that he could write. He whipped according to navy practice. On cold mornings, when fire could not conveniently had, he made the children join hands and run round and round, whilst he hastened their speed by the free application of the switch. He was knowing in all sorts of rascality. Observing the son of a very poor man eating mutton for his twelve o'clock meal, he inquired of him where his mutton came from. The little boy answered, "that daddy had caught a stray sheep in the brier-patch." He forced the locks of several of his employers, in search of money, was detected, and punished at the public whipping post.

[Brenda Pierce]