The Families

The Coffee Family: In 1820, this family consisted of six brothers and one sister, all of whom had families of their own as far as I know. Documentation thus far supports only the families of Cleveland Coffee and Bashaba Coffee Jones, wife of William Jones, as being here in this time period. The other brothers were probably here as well. Edward Coffee shows up in the records in 1821. John died here in 1822. I haven't found Joel yet, but I know he was here later as his two sons were well known in their time. I have yet to find mention of Elisha and Elijah Coffee outside of Mr. Ritchie's work, but there are still many, many records to go through.

The Dillard Family: Much has been written about this family, considered to be THE first family in Rabun County by local historical scholars. Family lore has it that John Dillard, a Revolutionary War veteran, settled here long before the first land lots were laid out. His son, James Dillard, who married Sarah Barnard, is actually found in the records earlier than his father, having purchased land here in 1821. Similarly, I have not yet found a record showing Obediah Terry Dickerson's arrival here, but he is mentioned by Mr. Ritchie as having helped lay out the land lots for the county and for the city of Clayton, which would place his arrival here very early on. Obediah, sometimes referred to as "Terry", married Mary Dillard, daughter of John and Ruth Dillard. Besides James and Mary, John had possibly two children who settled in the Rabun Co., GA/Macon Co., NC area: Elizabeth Dillard, who married Henry Dryman, and Ruth Dillard, who married James Dryman. The Dryman family is well-established across the state line in Macon Co., NC. According to articles published by the Dillard Family Association, John and Ruth Dillard had at least four children other than the ones named here, though none of those children settled in this area.

The Jones Family: I do not personally know much about this family, other than to say that James Jones and Joseph Jones, who were also here before 1820, were not children of William and Bashaba Coffee Jones. William and Bashaba had 14 children. Ten came with them to Rabun County (probably from Pendleton Dist., SC, where William and Bashaba were reportedly married in 1800) and the remainder were born here. William was one of the men selected by the Georgia State Legislature to supervise elections of early county officials in 1819. On 8 Feb 1821, William purchased Lot 23 in the 4th Land Dist. of Rabun Co., GA from Nathaniel Peters of Putnam Co., GA. This transaction was witnessed by William Peters and Thomas K. Smith, JP.

The Neville Family: Jesse Neville lived in Pendleton Dist., SC, which was just across the state line from Rabun County in 1820. His son, William Neville, is mentioned several times in the earlier records of Rabun County but never actually lived here. Another son, Alexander Neville, married Nancy Jones, eldest daughter of William and Bashaba Coffee Jones. They lived in what is now Walhalla, Oconee Co., SC. As far as I know, this couple never moved here although they, too, are mentioned in early records. Jesse Neville had at least two daughters. The first was Edward Coffee's wife, Elizabeth Neville Coffee. The other was the wife of William Price, Rebecca Neville Price. A third daughter may have been Winnifred Neville Coffee, who married first to John Coffee, Edward's brother, and second to Solomon Beck. Update: Nancy () recently wrote with the following information: "Winnifred Neville Coffee was definitely a daughter of Jesse Neville. It is stated in an application made by her son William Alexander Beck on the Guion Miller Eastern Cherokee roll (They were rejected). These were my [ancestors]."