Georgia

Biography of Dr. Nathaniel Polhill Jelks

Dr. Nathaniel Polhill Jelks, fourth son of James Oliver Jelks and Mary Polhill, was born July 18, 1845, in Hawkinsville, Pulaski County, Georgia, where he died March 28, 1911. When six years old his family moved to Oglethorpe, Georgia, after two years moving to Hamilton County, Florida, where he received his early education, later studying in Augusta, Georgia. In 1863 he entered the Confederate Army, enlisting in Company I, Second Florida Cavalry, under General Jones, a gallant command guarding the interior of the State. He was wounded at the Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, March 6, 1865, in which the enemy … Read more

Slave Narrative of Jennie Colder

Jennie Colder was born in Georgia on Blatches’ settlement. “Blatches, he kep’s big hotel, too and he kep’ “right smart” slaves. By the time I was old enough to remember anything we was all’ free, but we worked hard. My father and mother died on the settlement. “I picked cotton, shucked cotton, pulled fodder and corn and done all dat. I plowed with mules. Dis is Jennie Colder, remember dat. Don’t forget it. I done all dat. I plowed with mules and even then the overseer whipped me. I dont know exactly how old I am, but I was born … Read more

Indian Removal and the Legacy

[177]The articles of removal of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek were set into motion immediately. By 1831 and 1832 when Removal was in full force mixed bloods still maintained their positions of trust and authority within the tribe. During Removal the percentage of mixed-blood captains — the headmen and leaders of the organized emigrant bands bound for the new Indian nation -was greater than their percentage within the overall population of the tribe (see Chart 22). Their understanding of the English language and the ways of Americans became even more valuable as the bands of emigrants made their way … Read more

From Alliance to Removal

[138]Throughout the Jeffersonian period and later, the white countrymen and mixed bloods expanded their influence over the full-blood tribal members. One aspect of this can be seen by analyzing the ratio of full-blood to mixed-blood Choctaw signers of treaties with the United States. CHART 19 Breakdown of Choctaw treaty Signers Year Treaty Full Bloods Mixed Blood 1786 Hopewell 29  0 1801 Ft. Adams 15 1 (6%) 1802  Ft. Confederation 10  0 1803 Hoe Buckintoopa 10 0 1805 Mt. Dexter 14  9 (39%) 1816 Trading House 11 2 (15%) 1820 Doaks Stand 78 25 (24%) 1825 Washington 4* 4 (50%) 1830 … Read more

Jefferson, Mixed Bloods and Frontier Defense

[102]By the beginning of the nineteenth century at least two major changes had altered the political environment affecting the Choctaw Indians. Within the Choctaw tribe several countrymen were beginning to exert influence in tribal decisions. Although not yet accepted as equals to the chiefs, white men such as Nathaniel Folsom and John Pitchlynn were respected and utilized as counselors in negotiations between the tribe and American officials. External to the tribe, the United States had negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795 with Spain and assumed economic hegemony over the tribes which mainly resided on lands north of the … Read more

Sample of Mixed Blood Ubiquity: Representative Family Histories

The extant records concerning the traders and other countrymen are uneven in their coverage of mixed-blood families. Although only the better-known families were chronicled in the works of early regional historians and authors commenting on the Indian tribes, the existence of scores of surnames within these records indicates that mixed-blood families were widespread in the Choctaw nation. Over the space of several generations the mixed-blood families of the traders and countrymen began to move more and more towards the culture of their white kinsmen, especially if the white progenitor had stayed in one area and recognized the paternity of his … Read more

Choctaw Trade and Coexistence in the Nation

Choctaw Village near the Chefuncte, The women appear to be making dye to color the strips of cane beside them, by François Bernard, 1869

After the discovery of the new world, trade quickly became the most important interaction between the American natives and the colonists. For the Indians it was an extension and continuation of their inter-tribal practices. Reuben Gold Thwaites, an early nineteenth-century student of the American frontier, stated that “the love of trade was strong among the Indians,” and that they had a complex “system of inter-tribal barter.”  This existing trade system allowed the Europeans to quickly establish their own trade with the various tribes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. One of the foremost Indian trading nations was the Choctaw tribe, … Read more

An Affinity For Trade

Despite their early encounters with Hernando DeSoto, whose ruthless exploitation of the Native Americans was unabashedly cruel, the Southeastern Indians greeted white men with peaceful cooperation. Later European arrivals found that their success in the Gulf wilderness depended largely upon peace with the native inhabitants, or at least peace with one of the larger tribes.  Because no large deposits of gold or other precious metals were found, the Spaniards relegated the region to outpost status and made no major effort to colonize beyond settlements at Pensacola and later Mobile and New Orleans, and thus they had relatively little contact with … Read more

Introduction, Choctaw Mixed Blood

One of the most controversial areas of American history is that of Indian/white relations and the federal policies, which led to Indian Removal. In the early and middle nineteenth century the United States government embarked upon a program of wholesale government-sponsored emigration of tribes residing within the various states and territories. Later called the “Trail of Tears” this official program of tribal displacement was long the focus of American Indian policy and the genesis of the present-day reservation system. Although several northeastern and eastern tribes had been displaced earlier, the removal of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations … Read more

Georgia County Courthouse Addresses

Georgia Department of Vital Records Appling County 100 Oak Street Baxley, GA 31513-2038 (912) 367-8100 Jefferson County P.O. Box 658 Louisville, GA 30434-0658 (912) 625-3332 Atkinson County P.O. Box 518 Pearson, GA 31642-0518 (912) 422-3391 Jenkins County P.O. Box 797 Millen, GA 30442-0797 (912) 982-2563 Bacon County P.O. Box 356 Alma, GA 31510-0356 (912) 632-5214 Johnson County P.O. Box 269 Wrightsville, GA 31096-0269 (912) 864-3388 Baker County P.O. Box 607 Newton, GA 31770-0607 (912) 734-3000 Jones County P.O. Box 1359 Gray, GA 31032-1359 (912) 986-6405 Baldwin County 121 N Wilkinson Street Milledgeville, GA 31061 (912) 445-4791 Lamar County 326 Thomaston … Read more

Georgia Vital Records

Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking. When did the state start collecting vital records? The state vital records office maintains birth and death records filed from … Read more

Georgia Light Infantry – Columbus Muscogee County Georgia

J. S. CALHOUN, Captain. E. R. GOULDING, 1st Lieutenant. H. C. ANDERSON, 2d Lieutenant. W. B. PHILLIPS, 1st Sergeant. ASA B. HOXIE, 2d Sergeant. W. T. SMITH, 3d Sergeant. M. H. BLANDFORD, 4th Sergeant. R. R. HOWARD, 1st Corporal. A. SCOTT, 2d Corporal. TH. REYNOLDS, 3d Corporal. GEO. LINDSAY, 4th Corporal. Privates E. C. Allen Lucius A. G. Allen James Arledge Charles J. Barrow Leonidas T. Belk William Blankenship George W. Bronson Zachariah Boothe Amor Boyd Frederic E. Brooking Jesse S. Bryan Calvin Bryant Young G. Burke Lewis Chandler Cicero J. Clarke David S. Cooper Joseph Crepps James T. Cunningham … Read more

Canton Volunteers – Canton Cherokee County Georgia

K. GRAMLING, Captain. A. KEATH, 1st Lieutenant. W. F. MULLENS, 2d Lieutenant. W. G. GRAMLING, 1st Sergeant. S. J. COOK, 2d Sergeant. D. F. DANIEL, 3d Sergeant. N. F. STRAIN, 4th Sergeant. JOHN G. RHODES, 1st Corporal. ALLEN MOODY, 2d Corporal. ROBT. S. KNOX, 3d Corporal. JOSHUA HUGHES, 4th Corporal. Privates William T. Archer George F. Amos Alfred H. Burns Alexander F. Burns Daniel H. Bird Elijah W. Bond John M. Bond Joseph B. Cook William S. Cook John B. Cook Alfred Cook Ludy Cothren Chesley C. Curtis Wm. M. Camp Isaac W. Carpenter Lewis A. Carpenter David P. Copeland … Read more

Kenesaw Rangers – Marietta Cobb County Georgia

A. NELSON, Captain. JAS. M. DOBBS, 1st Lieutenant. W. J. MANAHAN, 2d Lieutenant J. H. MEHAFFEY, 1St Sergeant. H. TROTTER, 2d Sergeant. ANDREW B. REED, 3d Sergeant. JOSERP H. WINTERS, 4th Sergeant. S. M. ANDERSON, 1st Corporal. WM. D. NEAL, 2d Corporal. WM. D. GRAY, 3d Corporal. WM. H. CRAFT, 4th Corporal. Privates W. A. Appling Cicero H. Allen T. J. Boyce A. M Boyd. W. W. Brown Jesse Blackburn Thomas A. Burroughs John I. Bennett J. B. Burton Ephraim Bishop Daniel R. Bruce William Buse L. D. Buse John E. Conger E. W. C. Champion James J. Crawford J. … Read more

Fannin Avengers – Pike County Georgia

H. J. SARGENT Captain. G. D. ALEXANDER, 1st Lieutenant. H. B. HOLLIDAY, 2d Lieutenant. F. M. ISON, 1st Sergeant. G. D. JOHNSON, 2d Sergeant. WILLIAM F. MOORE, 3d Sergeant. ROBT. LATTIMER, 4th Sergeant. ALEX. 0. REED, 1st Corporal. T. D. PERTODY, 2d Corporal JOS. JOHNSON, 3d Corporal BENJ. F. INGRAHAM, 4th Corporal Privates Jonathan Allen Thomas R. Arnold William Aycock William E. Beall John H. Baker Osborn Brewer Cicero L. Brown George D. Boutwell John I. Belcher Thomas Burks Robert I. Bedell William D. Bailey David AI. Crenshaw Nathaniel L. Collins William T. Crawford Alfred Carpenter Henry F. Carpenter Henry … Read more

Crawford Guards – Moscogee County Georgia

JOAN JONES, Captain. R. G. MITCHELL, 1st Lieutenant. J. S. DISMUKES, 2d Lieutenant. T. SCHOONMAKER, 1st Sergeant. H. S. TISDALE, 2d Sergeant. A. M. SAULS, 3d Sergeant. D. A. WINN, 4th Sergeant.. JOHN MAY, 1st Corporal. JOHN LOCHABY, 2d Corporal. JAS. B. WELLS, 3d Corporal. N. J. PEABODY, 4th Corporal. Privates Matthew Allen William Barbarce Charles L. Bass J. R. Beck Tryon Best A. Blake Wesley R. Bradford Joshua Canter Thomas Carter Edmond Christian Reuben T. Clayborne Richard C. Clarke Daniel Crane W. G. Cunningham John H. Davis John C. Davis W. C. H. Doyle David B. Edwards Theophilus Fowler … Read more

Sumter County Volunteers – Americus Georgia

J. A. S. TURNER, Captain. 0. C. HORNE, 1st Lieutenant. J. COTTLE, 2d Lieutenant. S. P. WOODWARD, 1st Sergeant. N. N. THOMPSON, 2d Sergeant. L. T. TAYLOR, 3d Sergeant. G. HUGHES, 4th Sergeant. H. EDWARDS, 1st Corporal. C. H. COTTLE, 2d Corporal. M. S. THOMPSON, 3d Corporal. W. A. ELKINS, 4th Corporal. Privates Jeremiah B. Ansley Thomas J. Aiken James T. Ballard Joshua Boyd Salathiel Buckner John Burgess Abner B. Conner William J. Connier Norman Carmichael Elias Clarke John Clarke William B. Chandler John M. Cauthen Uriah Collpm William Champion George W. Compton Shadrick Crawford Daniel J. Derrizeaux George Derrizeaux … Read more

Macon Guards

ISAAC HOLMES, Captain. E. L. SHELTON, 1st Lieutenant. E. S. RODGERS, 2d Lieutenant WM. D. GRIFFIN, 1st Sergeant. J. B. CUMMING, 2d Sergeant J. A. McGREGOR, 3d Sergeant P. J. SHANNON, 4th Sergeant. A. B. ROSS, 1st Corporal. EDWIN HARRIS, 2d Corporal THOS. E. ORCUTT, 3d Corporal R. T. McGREGOR, 4th Corporal Privates James A. Abbott Wilson J. Aderhold Edmund Barnard James W. Beasley Orran W. Buffington Edward Curd Peter W. Clayton William J. Cumming Rufus Cook William Carter John W. Cooper John Cleesby James Carson John R. Candler William Davis Isaac Domingos John L. Fells William English James E. … Read more

Jasper Greens – Savannah Georgia

J. MCMANON, Captain. G. CURLETTE, 1st Lieutenant. D. O’CONNER, 2d Lieutenant JNO. DEVAVY, 1st Sergeant. M. CAREY, 2d Sergeant. P. MARTIN, 3d Sergeant. LEO. WYLLY, 4th Sergeant. M. FERRY, lst Corporal. P. TIERNEY, 2d Corporal. T. BOURSE, 3d Corporal. OWEN RIELLY, 4th Corporal. Privates. William Bandy W. D. Burke P. Bossu Francis Camfield James Chalmers P. Clark Patrick Cody John Coffee William Coffee James Coulihan Elijah Condon Joseph Davis Dennis Desmond Michael Downy Michael Duggan Francis Dutzmer Charles Farrelly Thomas Fenton David Fountain James Fleeting James Flynn William P. Fielding James Feely Patrick Gerrin Moses Gleason O. B. Hall Michael … Read more