After James Oglethorpe founded the city of Savannah and the state of Georgia in February of 1733, it was only naturally a matter of time before westward expansion began.Much of this original migration followed the Savannah River up toward Augusta.
However, two divergent corridors developed through what we know as Central Georgia.
The earlier corridor followed a line through what was, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries Wilkinson, Baldwin, and Washington counties.Major cities included Eatonton, Monticello, Madison, Milledgeville, all of which at that time were a part of Baldwin County, Greensboro, which was a part of Washington County.This area was quick to develop and prosper, proving to be influential in the development of Baptists in the state of Georgia.
The second corridor, which developed much later, included the land between the Ocmulgee and Flint Rivers.This land belonged to the Creek Nation of Indians until January 8, 1821 until Chief William McIntosh signed the Treaty of Indian Springs, which ceded this land to the United States.
Link Below
In order to distribute this land, Georgia held its fourth land lottery, known as the 1821 Land Lottery. The land in and surrounding the city of Locust Grove was included in this lottery.
Very early history of Locust Grove, part 2
The Land lottery of 1812
Land included in the 1821 Land Lottery was divided into five counties. Those counties were Fayette, Henry, Monroe, Houston, and Dooly counties. The land was further sub-divided into land lots.Each lot consisted of 202.5 acres, or 2970 feet square.
The smallest of the counties was Fayette.It contained only four land lots.Monroe County contained 15 land lots.Houston and Dooly Counties both held 16 land lots.Henry County was the largest of these new counties with 18 lots.
The map in section one, located in the area titled "History of the town of Locust Grove" to the left of this article indicates that Henry County included the present day cities of Atlanta and Decatur.The western boundary followed the current border between Fulton and Cobb Counties.The eastern boundary went through much of present day DeKalb and Rockdale Counties, much of Newton County, and the western portion of Butts County.
The city of Macon was eventually located on the far Eastern border to Houston County.Thomaston was on the Southwest side of Monroe County.
The land lots were numbered.Those land lot numbers from 1821 are still in use today by the Henry County Tax Commissioner’s office, and it is a simple task to discover the original white owner of the land on which individuals currently live.
A bachelor, 18 years old or older, who had lived in Georgia for three years and who had been a US citizen for three years was eligible to have his name placed in the drawing one time
A married man with a wife and/or a son under the age of 18 or an unmarried daughter (note;there was no age limit for having an unmarried daughter) who had lived in Georgia for three years and who had been a US citizen for three years was eligible to have his name placed twice in the drawing.
A widow who had lived in Georgia for three years was eligible to have her name in the lottery once. The family consisting of minor orphans (three or more) whose mother and father were dead was eligible to have their names placed two times.
A widow whose husband was killed or died in the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812 or the Indian War, who had been a resident of Georgia three years, was eligible to have her name placed two times. An orphan whose father was killed or died in the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812 or the Indian War, who had been a resident of Georgia, was eligible to have their name placed twice. The child or family of a convict who had been a resident of Georgia for three years was eligible once.
Any “fortunate drawer” in a previous drawing was excluded.
No application was necessary.No written statement or oath was necessary in order to have one’s name included in the lottery.The only thing necessary was to swear to an oral oath that a person met the requirements to be included.Persons who had previously entered a lottery but who had not been awarded a lot were also automatically re-entered.
The Treaty of Indian Springs was signed January 8, 1821.The lottery drawing was held on May 15, 1821 at the state capitol building in Milledgeville, GA.
There were more people desiring pieces of land than there was land available.The overseers of the lottery probably wrote the names of the counties and lots available on sheets of paper and added them to a pool.A number of blank sheets of paper were also added to the pool so that every lottery entrant was able to receive a sheet of paper.I have not discovered yet exactly how the lottery was carried out or whether or not a person had to be “present to win”.It is interesting; however, to note that people who selected empty sheets of paper were said to have “drawn a blank."
The winner of each lot of land was required to pay $19 in order to pay for expenses.If winners were not able to pay the fee, they were not entitled to claim their spot of land.
Just for information’s sake.
Current downtown Locust Grove was located in lot 185.The lucky winner of land lot 185 was a man named James Cremeen, who was listed as being from Hancock County. (Sparta) (Remember that the counties today are not necessarily in the same location as they were in 1821).
Warren Holder Park was located in Land Lot 189.The winner of that lot was Allen Williams, from Pulaski County.
The home of Kathy Colvin Engeman, the first president of the Locust Grove Heritage Foundation, and husband Bob located on LeGuin Mill Road,
was in land Lot 199.Hugh Cannon from Chatham County (Savannah) was the first white owner of that land.
The homeplace of the McLendon’s was in Land Lot 219.Its first white owner was Joshua Cannon, from Greene County ( Greenville).
Land lot 184 was awarded to Dennis Colson of Screven County.Land Lot 198 was awarded to Wiley Abney of Elbert County (Elberton).
In a previous article, it was noted that the earliest settlers of the interior of Georgia were located along a corridor running from Savannah to Augusta, and northwest along a corridor to the north of the Ocmulgee River.Note that all of those people named winners of land were originally from that geographical area.
to haveheir names place