Written in 1921, Ms. Hankinson details the early history of Henry County, GA.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY
By Mrs. R. H. Hankinson
On May 15, 1921, Henry County will have reached its one-hundredth birthday. In celebration of this event, Henry County will be “At Home” to her children at McDonough on Saturday, May 14th. These children are many, for Henry County at one time embraced, in whole or in part, Spaulding, Dekalb, Fulton, Newton, Butts, Rockdale, Clayton, and Campbell Counties.
The land obtained from the Creek Indians by treaty on January 8th, was divided by an act of the legislature of May 15, 1821, into the counties of Henry, Houston, Monroe, Dooly, and Fayette. John Clark was the governor of Georgia. The county was named after Patrick Henry, of Revolutionary fame, thus spreading the mantle of distinction on it at its birth. This distinction was further contributed to, when on December 17, 1823, the county seat was incorporated and named in honor of the hero of the war so fresh in the minds and hearts of the people, Commodore McDonough, who on September 11, 1814, won such a brilliant victory over the British on Lake Champlain. Further distinction was given the county by naming the town of Hampton after the Hampton family, famous soldiers of South Carolina.
Traces of the Indian possession of the county are still found in the broken bits of pottery and arrow heads occasionally picked up, in such names as Indian river, and Indian fisheries, and in a road known as the “Old McIntosh Trail” in Spaulding County, and which was the route followed by the Indians on their pilgrimages to and from the medicinal waters of Indian Springs.
Originally Henry County was about seventy miles square, and comprised eighteen land districts. It is now about twenty seven miles in length, and fifteen miles in width, and has one district left intact, the Seventh.
The earliest settlers came mainly from the counties of Morgan, Walton, Putman, and Jasper, and scattered over a broad area. The main point of entrance to the county was at the convergence of two Indian trails at a place on the Ocmulgee river, which was later given the name of Key’s Ferry after one of the earliest settlers, a name which has since spread to a road through the county, and to a street through the county site. This road was part of the stage coach line between McDonough and Madison. The names of the earliest settlers included Glen, Strickland, Heflin, Woodward, Blissett, McClendon, Turner, Harper, Griffin, Grice, Green, Russell, Johnson, Brooks, Jackson, Malone, Weems, Armstrong, Beard, Patillo, McCally, Brown, Sims, Moseley, Abercrombie, Gay, Dearing, Callaway, Jenks. Eason, Kirk, Smith, Tuggle, Lovejoy, Key, Terrell, Shaw, Lasseter, Clayton, Kimbrough, Pearson, Pate, Sellers, Wood, Barnes, Coldwell, McKnight, Patton, Steele, Stokes, Tye, Lemon, Speer, Price Nolan, Copeland, Carmichael, Berry, Ward, Stillwell, Markham, Cox, Wall, Crabbe, Clements, Brannan, Lowe, Campbell, Ray, Everett, Sloan, Stewtra, Peeples, Askew, Nolly, McDonald, Connell, Rodyhan, Terry, Setzer, Maxwell, Darbey, Hale, Goodwin, Pullin, Foster, Tidwell, Fargason, Varner, McDaniel, Bennett, Adams, Atkins, Tomlinson, Murray, Harris, Fears, Stockbridge, Sowell, Whittaker, Raven, and Crumbley.
Among the very first to come to the county were John Glen, Soloman Strickland and Wiley Heflin who settled on the Towaliga river. Aaron Woodward Elisha Blissit and Thomas McClendon came from Walton County about the same time, and settled on the Hampton road southwest of McDonough. Wade Turner and Roddy Harper went to the eastern part of the county and Mr. Hinton to Cotton Indian river. Mr. Frank Pearson, the progenitor of Mrs. Charles Bankston, of McDonough, settled east of McDonough, as did also William Wood. Thomas Russell came from South Carolina to McDonough. Jethro Barnes settled at Snapping Shoals, Jacob Hinton at Whitehouse, Parker Eason on the Towaliga river. John Dailey came from North Carolina to McDonough. Ezekiel Cloud came from Putnam in 1824. He was a distinguished Revolutionary soldier. Wade Turner came from Jasper County. His brother Allen Turner was a Methodist preacher of prominence, who once came within one vote of being made a bishop. He was so fired with the zeal of his work that he would inquire about the spiritual welfare of everyone he met, and was frequently known to hold prayer services by the roadside with chance passers-by. The Clements family came from Virginia to McDonough. Benjamin and Barton Crabbe came from Wiles County. Samuel Weems settled near Bear creek. Elijah Foster, from whom Mrs. J. B. Dickson is a lineal descendent, came from Virginia and settled near Jonesboro. The Copelands came from South Carolina in 1826. John Stillwell came from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Dr. Tye accompanied him about 1830. William Berry came in 1836 and settled west of McDonough. John Crockett came in 1840. W. A. Stewart came from South Carolina with his parents in 1833, aged four years. Abel Lemon came from South Carolina to Georgia in 1813, and later entered Henry County. Alexander Price came from Virginia and settled near Flippen. His original home is still in possession of the family. John Cox came to McDonough in 1838, some years after his brother Oliver. John Ward came from Putnam in 1845 and settled at Lovejoy. Q. R. Nolan came in 1846, Miss Pamelia Campbell came in 1848 and settled in McDonough. J. M. Carmichael came in 1849, and settled west of McDonough. Thomas Speer came in 1852. Col. C. T. Zachary in 1854, A. R. Brown in 1873.
On December 24, 1821, an act was passed by the legislature which provided for the election of five justices of the inferior court who should define the militia districts of the county, provided for the election of the officers for the county site. William Harkins, David Castleberry, Cheedle Cochran, Soloman Strickland, William McKnight, Charles Gates, Sr., and Lee Jeffers were named as commissioners to hold the election for the justices. Henry was placed in the western circuit. The Flint Circuit had been created of the five new counties by the legislative act of December, 1824, to be effective after the next meeting of the legislature. To this circuit Dekalb, Bibb, Pike, Crawford, and Newton were attached later. This first session of the couth was held on June 10, 1822, at the home of William Ruff, Judge Augustus Clayton presiding. It was for Judge Clayton that Clayton County was later named, and McDonough still boasts lineal descendents of the illustrious old founder in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Jullian Weems. This session of court lasted one day. Another one-day session was held on December 9, 1822 – Henry County then belonged to the Flint Circuit. William Harden was clerk, and a Mr. Cook solicitor general pro tem. The first session of the inferior court was held in March, 1825, with William Griffin, Garry Grice, Wade Turner, Joseph Green, and Thomas Russell presiding as justices, and Samuel Johnson serving as clerk. Cheedle Cochran was chairman of the first grand jury.
The first deed of record was drawn on March 7, 1822, between John and Mary Phillips, of Savannah and Thomas Elkins of land lot No. 71 in the Seventh district of Henry County. The first marriage was that of Bradford Hinton and Patience Lucre in November, 1822. Three marriages took place in the county during that year.
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