Baldwin County GaArchives History .....Early History of Baldwin Co. 
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        BALDWIN COUNTY.

  THIS county was first laid out by the Lottery Act of 1803; parts added from 
Wilkinson, Washington, and Hancock, 1807; parts added from Washington, 1812, 
and a part taken from Washington, 1826. Organized in 1805. Named after the 
Hon. Abraham Baldwin. The Oconee runs through the middle of the county, into 
which Fishing and other creeks empty.

  MILLEDGEVILLE is the seat of justice for the county, and the capital of the 
State of Georgia; situated on the west side of the Oconee River, in lat. 33° 
4' 10". West ion, from Washington, 6° 19'. It is distant 659 miles S.W. of 
Washington City; 158 N. W. of Savannah; 89 W. S. W. of Augusta; 193 N. of 
Darien; 32 E. of Macon, and 125 E. N. E. of Columbus. The town was named after 
Governor John Milledge. It was made a city in 1836. The Legislature first held 
its session here in 1807.

  The STATE-HOUSE stands upon an eminence, about three-fourths of a mile from 
the river. In it are rooms for the Legislature, offices for the Governor, 
Secretary of State, Treasurer, Comptroller, and Surveyor-General; and rooms 
for clerks, committees, &c.

  The PENITENTIARY iS located at Milledgeville.

  The outer walls of the Penitentiary are made of brick, averaging twenty feet 
in height, by two and a half feet thick, containing within the walls two and a 
half acres. The cells, or prison proper, are contained in a three-story 
granite building, two hundred feet long by thirty feet broad. They are on each 
side, and divided into four wards, designated by the letters A, B, C, and D. 
These cells are numbered on the doors, beginning in each ward at No. 1, and 
rising until all are numbered in each respective ward. The occupants are also 
numbered, corresponding with the letter of the ward to which they belong. The 
present workshops were constructed in 1844. They are built of brick, one story 
high, of nine feet pitch, with jointed sheathing, and covered with shingles. 
The form at its common centre is that of an octagon, with three of its angles 
cut to a straight line, leaving five angles of thirty feet each, which angles 
being all open, they present so many openings into as many shops, each one 
hundred and fifty feet long, by thirty broad. There is in the inclosure a two-
story building of brick, forty feet square, in which are apartments for the 
sick, female convicts, &c.

  STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM.-Number of buildings for patients, 2. Size of buildings-
height, four stories; length, 129 feet; width, 39 feet. Number of rooms for 
patients in each of the two buildings, exclusive of those used for bathing 
purposes, &c., 63; size of those rooms, ten feet by nine. Extent of ground at 
present belonging to the Asylum, forty acres.

  The Milledgeville Manufacturing Company is located at Milledgeville. 
Capital, $83,000. Main building four stories high, built of brick. 3,136 
spindles; 53 looms.

  In the vicinity of Milledgeville there is much to interest the geologist. 
Sir Charles Lyell, President of the London Geological Society, who visited 
Georgia in 1846, in a volume which he afterwards published, has some valuable 
remarks on the subject of the boulders of granite lying on the surface of the 
soil in the vicinity of Milledgeville.

  Midway, one mile and a half from Milledgeville, is the seat of Oglethorpe 
University. This institution is under the government of the Presbyterian 
Church, represented by the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia. The College 
commenced operations in January, 1838. The main college building is of brick, 
two stories high, besides a basement. The central part contains a fine chapel; 
whole dimensions, 52 feet front by 89 feet deep, including a colonnade 14 feet 
deep Attached to the building are two wings, 30 feet front by 34 feet deep, 
three stories high. In the basement and wings are 16 rooms, for library, 
museum, &c. On each side of the campus there is a row of dormitories of one 
story, for the accommodation of the students. The other buildings are the 
President's house, the Academy, and a building used for recitations.

  Scottsborough, named after General John Scott, four miles south of 
Milledgeville, is a pleasant summer residence.

  Fort Wilkinson is on the Oconee, three miles below Milledgeville, famous as 
the place where a treaty was held with the Creeks in 1802. (See under the head 
of "Treaties")

  The climate is regarded healthy. The cases of longevity that have come to 
the compiler's knowledge are, Mrs. MARTHA THOMAS, now living, aged 107 years; 
Mrs. MARTHA BASS, died at the age of 83; Mrs. EDITH HOWARD, 89; Mrs. SUSANNA 
JACKSON, S4; Mrs. MYRIC, 85; JESSE DOLES, 85; Mrs. HUSON, over 80; WILLIAM 
MCGEHEE, 80; JOHN DISMUKES, 93.

  According to the census of 1850, this county has 647 dwellings, 647 
families, 1,885 white males, 1,637 white females, 19 free coloured males, 5 
free coloured females. Total free population, 3,546. Slaves, 4,602. Deaths, 
77. Farms, 240. Manufacturing establishments, 3. Value of real estate, 
$1,051,350. Value of personal estate, $2,058,778.

  Among the early settlers were, Major JOHN HOWARD, HERBERT REYNOLDS, General 
JOHN SCOTT, General JETT THOMAS, Captain AUGUSTINE HARRIS, Colonel ABNER 
HAMMOND, Major THOMAS H. KENAN, JESSE SANFORD, LAZARUS BATTLE, HINES HOLT, 
GEORGE R. CLAYTON, Dr. THOMPSON BIRD, Colonel Z. LAMAR, CHARLES MALONE, 
WILLIAM and ARCHY DEVEREAUX, W. D. JARRETT, THOMAS NAPIER, D. FLUKER, A. 
GREENE, and R. WHITE.

  Several prominent men of the State have resided in Baldwin. Among them may 
be mentioned Major JOHN HOWARD, a gentleman of most excellent character; 
ROBERT RUTHERFORD, a lawyer of distinction, and of great energy of character; 
JOHN W. DEVEREAUX, an honest and enterprising citizen; S. GRANTLAND, an 
editor, and member of Congress; SEABORN JONES, now of Columbus, acknowledged 
to be one of the best lawyers in Georgia; AUGUSTINE HARRIS, a gentleman of 
great probity of character; General JOHN SCOTT, a resolute, persevering man; 
THOMAS FITCH, an able lawyer, and of unimpeachable integrity; Dr. SAMUEL 
BOYKIN, a man of science. Drs. FORT and WHITE now reside in Milledgeville, 
standing high in their profession, and acknowledged by all the citizens of 
Georgia to be upright and kind gentlemen.

Miscellaneous.

The following items are taken from old Milledgeville papers .

   "Duncan M'Krimmon, a resident of this town, was a Georgia militiaman in the 
service of the United States during the late Seminolean war. While stationed 
at Fort Gadsden on the Appalachicola, he one morning went fishing, and in 
attempting to return, missed his way, and was several days lost in the 
surrounding wilderness. After wandering about in various directions, he was 
espied and captured by a party of hostile Indians, headed by the well-known 
Prophet, Francis, who had an elegant uniform, a fine brace of pistols, and a 
British commission of Brigadier-General, which he exultingly showed to the 
prisoner. Having obtained the satisfaction they wanted respecting the strength 
and position of the American army, they began to prepare for the intended 
sacrifice. M`Krimmon was placed at a stake-and the ruthless savages, having 
shaved his head and reduced his body to a state of nudity, formed themselves 
into a circle and danced around him some hours, yelling all the while most 
horribly. The youngest daughter of the Prophet (who is about fifteen years of 
age, and represented by officers of the army we have conversed with to be a 
woman very superior to her associates) was sad and silent the whole time-she 
participated, not in the general joy, but was evidently, even to the 
affrighted prisoner, much pained at the savage scene she was compelled to 
witness. When the fatal tomahawk was raised to terminate for ever the mortal 
existence of the unfortunate M'Krimrnon-at that critical, that awful moment, 
Milly Francis, like an angel of mercy, placed herself between it and death, 
resolutely bidding the astonished executioner, if he thirsted for human blood, 
to shed hers, being determined, she said, not to survive the prisoner's death. 
A momentary pause was produced by this unexpected occurrence; and she took 
advantage of the circumstance to implore the pity of her ferocious father, who 
finally yielded to her wishes, with the intention, however, it is believed, of 
murdering them both, if he could not sell M`Kriminon to the Spaniards, which 
was luckily effected a few days after at St. Mark's, for seven gallons and a 
half of rum. As long as he remained a prisoner, M'Krimmon's benefactress 
continued to show him acts of kindness. Now, the fortune of war has placed her 
in the power of the white people-she arrived at Fort Gadsden not long since, 
with a number of others that had surrendered, in a starving condition. We are 
gratified to learn, that a proper respect for her virtues induced the 
commanding officer, Colonel Arbuckle, to relieve her immediate wants. 
M`Krimnnon appears to have a due sense of the obligation he owes the woman who 
saved his life at the hazard of her own-he left town last week to seek her, 
and as far as may be in his power to alleviate her misfortunes. It is also his 
firm determination, we understand, if she will consent, to make her his wife, 
and reside, provided he can prevail upon her to do so, within the settled 
parts of Georgia."

  "INDIAN TALK.-On Saturday, the 19th of July, 1811, a company of fifty-seven 
of our red brethren of the lower Creeks, of whom twenty-two are of 
distinction, encamped on the banks of Fishing Creek, about a mile from the 
State-House. On Sunday, about twenty attended Divine service at the Methodist 
Meeting douse, and their deportment was such as to evince they were disposed 
to be orderly and attentive. On Monday, at 10 A. M., thirty-eight assembled in 
the Representative Chamber in order to have a talk with his Excellency the 
Governor; they were attended by Colonel Hawkins, the United States Agent for 
Indian Affairs, and Mr. Timothy Barnard, as interpreter. A numerous concourse 
of ladies and gentlemen were present. About 11, the talk was commenced. The 
principal speakers were Tustunnuggee Hopoie, or Little Prince, Micco Thlucco 
of Cusseta, (known in the treaty at New-York by Birdtail King,) and 
Tustunnuggee Hutkee-known by the whites as Wm. M'Intosh, who was one of the 
deputation that made the last treaty at Washington City. The purport of the 
talk was a reciprocal assurance of amity and friendship, and a desire to 
cultivate a more close attachment and friendly intercourse between the white 
and red men-to be of one house and one fire. Tustunnuggee Hutkee, among other 
things, said, he was pleased to see so many white men, because they could hear 
what they had to say, and tell others. That whenever persons were intoxicated, 
they looked upon them as beside themselves, and took no notice of what they 
said or did-this was their manner of treating white men, and they expected to 
receive the same treatment in return. That the old people would soon be gone, 
and this talk was intended for the rising generation, and to evince to them 
that their young men would as anxiously cultivate a good understanding with 
their white brethren as their fathers had done. They informed Governor 
Mitchell that they had some other matters to mention, but would make him 
acquainted with them through Colonel Hawkins. After the talk was concluded, 
about twenty of them, Colonel Hawkins, Mr. Barnard, &c., dined with the 
Governor. It affords us pleasure to state that not the least complaint of 
irregularity or riotous behaviour occurred; and brotherly love and harmony 
mutually subsisted whenever the white and red men were together.

  "It thus appears that rude and uncultivated minds are susceptible of the 
finest sensibility, of the warmest attachments, of the most inviolable 
friendship, and that they sometimes practise virtues which would do credit to 
a people the most refined and enlightened."


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
OF
GEORGIA
CONTAINING THE MOST INTERESTING
FACTS, TRADITIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, ETC.
RELATING TO ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES, FROM ITS FIRST 
COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.

BY THE
REV. GEORGE WHITE, M.A.,
AUTHOR OF THE "STATISTICS OF GEORGIA."

NEW-YORK:
PUDNEY & RUSSELL, PUBLISHERS,
No. 79 JOHN-STREET. 1854.


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