Decatur-Clay County GaArchives Biographies.....McGinty, Abednego 1800 - unk
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Jerry McGinty mcgintyboy@aol.com July 31, 2007, 8:26 am

Author: Jerry McGinty

Abednego McGinty, b. 1800 in GA (confirmed by the 1850 and 1860 census), d. 
unknown. He relocated to Decatur Co. (Bainbridge, GA) before 1824. In 1824/25, 
he was the “receiver of taxes” in Decatur Co. He actually paid taxes in Capt. 
Carson’s district. The January 20, 1825 court records show that he was a member 
of the jury in a murder trial. In January, 1831, he was the successful bidder 
to construct a new, brick courthouse for $4120. For unknown reasons, the 
building was not completed. In February, 1832, the court canceled his contract 
and awarded it to another man who completed it (History of Decatur County 
Georgia, Frank S. Jones, 1980). Two hundred thirty two acres of his land in 
Decatur Co. was later sold in a sheriff’s sale. There is a general index card 
in the National Archives showing that he was a corporal in Wimberly’s 1st Reg. 
of the GA Militia, in the Seminole War, 1817-1818. His brother, Isaac, served 
in this same unit. The State of GA Military Records, roll 40, box 16, pg. 134, 
show him as an ensign in Decatur Co. from 29 October 1824 until 22 June 1825.  
Page 134 shows him as a 2nd lieutenant in Putnam Co., July 1825 (GA Archives).  
He was stationed in FL, and shows in the 1830 census of Quincy, Gadsden Co., 
FL. His daughter, Ann, was born there. The Military Record Book of 1829-1841, 
p.83, located in the Georgia Department of Archives, shows him listed as a 
colonel in the 88th Reg., GA Militia (Early Co. GA), and as being commissioned 
on August 27, 1835.  To attain the rank of colonel indicates that he spent a 
great deal of his life serving in the Georgia Militia.  He was the commanding 
officer at Ft. Gaines (est. in 1816) in Early Co., GA in 1836.  This fort was 
named for Edmund P. Gaines who was second in command to then General Andrew 
Jackson during the Seminole wars. This part of Early Co. is now Clay Co. 
(formed in 1854). This was on the extreme frontier at the time and there were 
many problems with hostile Indians. There are several letters in the archives 
that he wrote to the Gov. of Georgia asking for workable muskets and other 
desperate needs for his men. There are also interesting documents in the 
Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia, showing 
some of his actions while at Ft. Gaines.  These include the forming of military 
units to defend against the Creek Indian uprisings.  Early Co. is in extreme 
southwest GA, next to Seminole Co., and near the FL border.  It is interesting 
to note that the second Seminole War started in 1835, and lasted for seven 
years. Also of note is that his older brother, Washington, served in the first 
Seminole War in 1818.  

He is shown in the 1840 census of Early Co., GA, under the name A. McGinty, in 
a section of the census record covering the personnel stationed at Ft. Gaines. 
He was in Capt. Wilson’s district. There are two children shown, a son under 
five years old (Robert T.) and a daughter (Ann) between ten and fifteen years 
old.  He is listed at age 40-50, with his wife, age 30-40 (pg. 113). On July 
13, 1844, he was given military land warrant 8778 in Barbour Co., AL., for 
80.22 acres. By October 1, 1845, he was shown as living on this land in Barbour 
Co., AL.  Pres. James K. Polk signed this land patent document.  Barbour Co., 
AL is directly across the river from Ft. Gaines, GA. He is then listed in the 
1850 census in Macon Co., AL, pg. 199, at age fifty, living in the home of John 
A. Boling, with wife, Elizabeth, age forty-five and son, Robert T., age ten. 
His occupation is shown as carriage maker. We then see him listed in the 1860 
census of Macon Co., along with a wife, which, on the census sheet, looks like 
either Mrs. Ellia or Ellisa (short for Elizabeth), and son Robert T., age 
twenty. His occupation is then postmaster of Union Springs and the U.S. postal 
records show his appointment to this position in 1857. Based on the obituary of 
son, Robert T., who died at age eighty-five, the family moved to Union Springs 
in 1850. No further records have been discovered on Abednego, but Elizabeth is 
shown living with her daughter, Ann McGinty Rutherford in the 1870 Union 
Springs, Bullock Co., AL census.  Bullock Co. was formed from Macon Co. in 
1866. Son, Robert T., is also shown in Union springs, Bullock Co., AL in the 
1870 census (pg. 41/219) as a farmer, age thirty, with wife, Martha and three 
children, Walter, George and David.  James Watson, a farm hand, is also living 
with them at this time.  Robert and family show again in the 1880 census in 
Bullock Co. Robert died in April 1920 and is buried at the Oak Hill cemetery in 
Union Springs with wife, Tommie. He had been the city Sexton for over thirty 
years. I visited this gravesite in February 2004. Daughter Ann Louisa, married 
Patrick Henry Rutherford in Macon Co., AL, 10 Nov 1846. They show in the 1850 
census of Barbour Co., and the 1860 census of Macon Co., AL. Robert T. and 
Patrick Rutherford both served in the 61st AL during the Civil War. Rutherford 
could have died in the war, because his wife, Ann, is a widow in the 1870 
census.



Additional Comments:
Abednego McGinty was a career Army officer in the Georgia Militia. One of his 
first assignments brought him to Decatur Co., GA., shortly after the county was 
formed. He was the tax collector there in 1824. 

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