Dodge County GaArchives History .....Old Trails ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 28, 2004, 12:01 pm OLD TRAILS. IT IS SAID that the Indians had a trail leading from near the forks of the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers, following closely the Ocmulgee Swamp to Hartford, and remains or signs of this trail may still be seen in places. The Indians had no permanent settlements in this section. Their towns and villages were located where they could find more fertile soil. It is said that the Indian women cultivated the land, and were wise enough not to waste their labor on unproductive soil. But their hunting parties made distant expeditions and roamed everywhere, having certain convenient places for locating their camps where they could cure and secure their meat until they were ready to return with it to their settlements, where the women and children cultivated the little patches. The white side of the river continued so thinly settled after the Indians had sold and abandoned it to the whites, that small hunting parties of Indians would occasionally cross over the river to hunt on this side. Sometimes from two or three to half a dozen in a party would visit some of the white settlers, and it is related that the visiting Indians would approach so silently and stalking-like that they would never be seen until they were at you. Their first greeting or salutation would be a sort of grunt. The Chicken Road. There is a road through the county known as the "Chicken Road." This road extends from the Oconee River, near Dublin, to Hartford. It has borne the name of the "Chicken Road" since the oldest inhabitants can remember, and the supposition or general belief is that it was an Indian trail which was made by a tribe of Chickasaw Indians who roamed from the Oconee to the Ocmulgee River. It is a public road now and traverses one of the best sections in the county, passing through Chester and Empire and thence to Hartford and Hawkinsville. The Old River Road. The public road from Hawkinsville, or Hartford, to Darien along the Ocmulgee and Altamaha Rivers was made by General Black-shear. The portion of the road through this section was probably opened in 1812 or 1813, when the forts and blockhouses were built in the country to protect the settlers from Indian attacks. In January, 1815, General Blackshear marched his army over the road when he was ordered from Hartford to Darien to protect the coast from the British who had landed in that vicinity. He posted the road, placing the mile posts one and a quarter miles apart; the posts remained so for many years and are so remembered by many of the older residents of the county. On his march to Darien Gen. Blackshear camped at Soldiers Branch between Jacksonville and China Hill where some members of his company died and were buried near the road. He arrived at the Little Ocmulgee River, near Lumber City, on January 25 or 26, 1815, remaining until the 27th, arranging to cross the river with his army. Much of the interesting history of this county occurred in the immediate territory traversed by this road along the Ocmulgee River. It is generally referred to as "the old River Road," and it passes near Daniel's Mill Pond, one of the most picturesque spots in the county. It also passes Rocky Springs and River Bend, two more beautiful sites, continuing on by Temperance, China Hill, Jacksonville, (formerly the capital of Telfair County), Clayville and Lumber City. Prior to the War Between the States there was considerable wealth and culture along this road, in fact it was principally settled by the aristocracy of this section. The slave holders settled along the river where the lands were more fertile than the interior, and on account of .transportation facilities on the river. There were planters of wealth and high social standing and men of note who resided along this road, among whom were Gen. Mark Willcox, Indian fighter and member of the legislature in whose honor Wilcox County was named, Gen. John Coffee who fought under Gen. Jackson in the British and Indian Wars and who served two terms in Congress, dying just as he was elected for the third term. He died in 1836. There were other men along this road who served the State well in peace and war, among whom were lea Adkins, Revolutionary soldier, John Daniel, Revolutionary soldier, the Bryants, Hamiltons, Humphreys, R. D. Mitchell, George M. Willcox, Kaynor Lowery, Alec Ragan, Simeon Bishop, and others. This old road is one of the most beautiful driveways in this section. In many places it is bordered with giant oaks and cedars marking the remains of the beautiful old colonial homes, most of which have passed into decay at this time. Some few of the old mansions are still standing, and it is with a feeling of sacredness to travel along this route and in fancy see the beautiful homes, with the belles and beaus of yesterday passing in and out and down the cedar bordered walks, the girls dressed in their crinolines and hoop skirts and the young men in their quaint costumes of the long ago. In the quietude, with only the rustling of the leaves and the singing of the birds, methinks I hear the sound of the harp and the tripping of dainty feet, intermingled with the heavier tread, in the dance of the minuet. But gone are these maidens fair and lovers bold, dust to dust have they returned, and their descendants are scattered like the leaves in autumn. "The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tarn's walls, As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So glory's thrill is o'er, And hearts, that once beat high for praise, Now feel that pulse no more" Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY COPYRIGHT 1932 By MRS. WILTON PHILIP COBB Printed by FOOTE & DAVIES CO., ATLANTA. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/dodge/history/other/gms561oldtrail.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb