Lee County Georgia History .....Lee County History from Historical Collections of Georgia ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.genrecords.net/galee ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb by: Tim Stowell tstowell@chattanooga.net Dec 2003 Page 511 of Historical Collections of Georgia by Rev. George White, M. A. 1854 LEE COUNTY This county was laid out in 1826; part set off to Muscogee and Marion, 1827; part taken from Dooly in 1827; part set of to Randolph in 1828; and part set off to Sumter in 1835. It is 40 m. in length, and 25 m. in breadth; square miles, 1000. It was named after Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, who on the 7th of June, 1776, in his place in the Congress of the United States, moved "that the colonies declare themselves free and independent." The soil is fertile, producing cotton, corn &c. STARKVILLE is the seat of justice, situated nearly in the centre of the county, 130 miles S. W. of Milledgeville. The town was made the county site in 1832, and named after Major-General John Stark, of Revolutionary memory. Palmyra is situated on Kinchafoona Creek, ten miles from Starkville. Watson's Cotton Gin Factory is located in this village. The articles manufactured are said to be unrivalled in their performance and durability. The machinery is propelled by water-power taken from a subterranean stream which runs at this place from twelve to fifteen feet under the surface of the earth. The limestone has been excavated down to the stream, and a head of water raised sufficient to run the machinery for the gin factory and the grist-mill. The creek upon which the factory is built runs into Kincefoona, about three hundred yards distant. Extract from the Census of 1850, - Dwellings, 550; families, 550; white males, 1,576; white females, 1,449; free coloured males, 7; 1 free coloured female. Total free population, 3,033; slaves, 3,626; Deaths, 117. Farms, 387; manufacturing establishments, 7. Value of real estate, $1,148,224; value of personal estate, $2,207,702. Among the early settlers of this county were Mr. Woolbright, Dr. Mercer, John McClendon, Wm. Spence, Joshua Clarke, J. O. Edwards, John Lawhorn, John Cock, Abraham Dyson, Lewis Bond, Wm. Janes, E. Janes, D. Janes, D. Sneed. OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOIL, BY DR. MERCER- The middle and eastern portions of this county rest upon tertiary limestone, which is found at depths varying from twenty to fifty feet. It is the chief obstruction in sinking wells; nevertheless, water is generally obtained by penetrating it thirty or forty feet. This rock makes good, but not very white lime. The free and general use of it in agriculture would greatly improve the soil, and promote the health of citizens. This limestone is covered by a bed of earth destitute of fossils, and consisting of sand, page 512 clay, and water-worn pebbles of primary rocks. It is a diluvium, having evidently been transported from the older parts of the continent. The smaller streams, as well as the Flint River, have washed away this diluvium in their courses down to the limestone, and in this also have dissolved channels, in which they now flow. Rain-water, charged as it always is, more or less, with carbonic acid, percolating through the diluvium, has dissolved here and there subterranean channels and caverns in the limestone, and these, giving way from time to time to the superincumbent weight of earth, have formed the lime-sinks and ponds that diversify and distinguish the topography of the county. Strewn over and imbedded in the diluvium are innumerable fragments of burrstone, the remains, no doubt, of a bed once much more continuous than the present, the softer portions having been destroyed by the combined agency of rain, fire, and frost. The fossils prove that it belongs to the same division of rocks (Eocene) as the limestone below. Great quantities of these fragments of burrstone have been deposited in the beds of the water-course in the natural process of their formation, and from aggregation constitue the existing shoals that obstruct their navigation. DESTRUCTION OF AN INDIAN TOWN - In this county there was formerly an Indian town called Cheba, and sometimes Au-muc-cul-la. It was destroyed by a force under Captain Wright on the 23rd of April, 1818. It's destruction produced great excitement in the country, and gave rise to a spirited correspondence between General Andrew Jackson and William Rabun, then Governor of the State of Georgia. It was asserted that the inhabitants were friendly to the whites; that they had supplied our army with a large quantity of provisions; that some of the sick soldiers had been left under their protection; and that forty of their warriors were at that very time fighting for the United States under General Jackson. It was declared to be an offence of such enormity as to be without a parallel in history, &c. We have taken pains to collect the facts connected with this affair, as far as we were able, and believe them to be substantially the following: -- In March, 1818, Governor Rabun requested General Jackson to station a sufficient military force on the frontier, to protect the most exposed parts against the incursions of the Indians. To this application no answer was given. Governor Rabun, believing it to be his duty to provide for the safety of the frontier inhabitants, ordered Captain Obed Wright, with a sufficient force, to proceed immediately against the Felemma and Hopaunee towns, the inhabitants of which were known to be decidedly hostile, and had committed many murders. The orders of Governor Rabun confined Captain Wright specially to this object. Captain Wright took up the line of march from Hartford, in Pulaski County, with Captains Robinson and Roger's companies of mounted gunmen, Captains Dean and Child's Infantry, together with two detachments under Lieutenants Cooper and Jones - in all about two hundred and seventy effective men. When the detachment reached the neighborhood of Fort Early, they wer informed that a celebrated old chief, Hopaunee, page 513 whose town had joined the hostile party, had removed; that he was at that time living in the village upon which the attack was made, was considered as their principal leader, and that a great portion of them was under his immediate direction. Captain Wright considered himself authorized to attack it, as being one of Hopaunee's towns. The town was attacked on the 23rd of April, 1818, and in the course of two hours the whole was in flames. About ten of the inhabitants were killed. General Glascock, of the Georgia Militia, in a letter to General Jackson, dated April 20, 1818, in detailing this transaction, says, "When the detachment arrived at Cheha, an Indian was discovered grazing some cattle; he proposed to go with the interpreter, and bring any of the chiefs for the captain to talk with. It was not attended to. An advance was ordered. The cavalry rushed forward, and commenced the massacre. Even after the firing and murder commenced, Major Howard, who furnished you with corn, came out of his house with a white flag, in front of the line. It was not respected. An order was given for a general fire, and nearly four hundred guns were discharged at him before one took effect. He fell, and was boyonetted. His son also was killed." Governor Rabun regretted very much this occurrence. Captain Wright was arrested by order of General Jackson, but was released by the civil authority. Governor Rabun had him arrested afterwards, and the President of the United States ordered him to be placed in the custody of the Marshal, but he made his escape.