Georgia: Morgan County: THE TOWN OF MADISON: ITS BEGINNINGS ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store this file permanently for free access. This file was contributed by: Morgan County Archives Mr. Marshall W. Williams P.O. Box 130 Madison, GA 30650 (706) 342-3605 ==================================================================== THE TOWN OF MADISON: ITS BEGINNINGS by Marshall W. Williams In 1802 a "treaty"was signed between the State of Georgia and the Creek Nation wherein the Creeks ceded to Georgia a large tract of land lying between the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers. In 1803 the state legislature had this land surveyed, and divided up into land lots of 202 1/2 acres each. There were two land lotteries held: one in 1805 and a second one in 1807. A separate survey was made for each lottery, and the lot lines from the first survey did not quite match that of the second. Thus, there are fractions of land lots in the center of the county, where the two surveys joined. The lottery of 1805 included districts in the counties of Baldwin, Wayne, and Wilkinson. Eligible drawers in the land lottery were as follows: (a) A bachelor 21 years old or over, 1 year residence in Georgia, and a citizen of the United States, 1 draw. (b) A married man, the same qualifications as the bachelor, 2 draws. (c) A widow with minor child, 1 year residence in Georgia, 2 draws. (d) a Minor orphan, or family of minor orphans, with father dead and mother dead or remarried, 1 draw. There was a fee of $8.10 for a 202 1/2 acre lot for the fortunate drawer. Of course, a great many people drew blanks, winning no land. The area which eventually became the Town of Madison was in the 5th land district, in land lots numbered 35 and 36. These two lots were won in the lottery by Edmond Bradberry, who drew lot 35, and Johnson Porter, who drew lot number 36. The main street in Madison is the approximate dividing line between the two lots, though a small portion of lot 35 extends just to the northwest of Main Street. As reported in Deed Book A, pages 337 and 338, Morgan County Superior Court, Bradberry sold lot 35 to Elisha (sometimes spelled Elijah) Wyet (also spelled Wyatt). This was on January 20, 1806. Johnson Porter sold his lot 36 on January 19, 1809, to a group of men which may have been a real estate group. These men were James H. Nickelson, James Cunningham, and Ezekel E. Park of Greene County, and Joseph Phillips, John Fielder, and Henry Carleton of Morgan County. On January 10, 1809, Elijah Wyatt (see above note re the name) sold 25 acres of lot 35 to the same "real estate group" mentioned above. The deed stated that the sale "included part of the Town of Madison as laid out by Lewis McLean". The earliest reference I have found to the Town of Madison occurs in a book entitled A Compilation of the Laws of the State of Georgia, printed by Adams and Duyckinck, of Augusta, pages 482 and 483. This was an act by the Georgia legislature to establish a county seat for Morgan County, and was dated December 22, 1808. Here the legislature designated that the name of the town should be Madison. On April 7, 1809, the "real estate group" sold to The Inferior Court of Morgan County "a tract or parcel of land situate, lying, and being in the county aforesaid [Morgan] including the Town of Madison......." This latter deed was discovered in a batch of loose papers returned by the State Department of Archives and History to the Morgan County Superior Court, and now housed in the county archives building. This deed has not been seen in a great many years because the deed book in which it was recorded was lost many years ago, and there is now no official recording of the sale. This deed book in which this deed was recorded was designated as Deed Book D, page 261, and the deed was recorded 1 March, 1810. Now, the sale of lots in the Town of Madison began on February 23, 1809, when $5,780 in lots were sold. Lot number 1 was sold to Absalom Kees, for which he paid $170. This is the lot, 100 x 200 feet, on the east corner of Jefferson and North 1st Streets. On this date (February 23), lots 1 through 26 were sold (refer to the attached 1809 map of the Town of Madison). These lots were apparently sold by the private real estate group, before the Inferior Court of Morgan County obtained title to them. Then, after the sale to the Inferior Court on April 9 of the 25 acres "including the Town of Madison", another sale was held on May 11, 1809, no doubt this time by the Inferior Court. At this time lots 27 through 48 were sold, the latter being the lot where the old McGeary Hospital building stands. Then, in July, 1809, another sale of lots was made, this time for lots 49 through 56. On 17 April, 1810, another sale was held, this time lots 57 through 66. Now, the only extant city map as originally drawn shows only lots 1 through 48. The exact location of all other lots is at this time uncertain, but the evidence is that they lie in the neighborhood of Central Avenue, Old Post Road, and Academy Streets. In May, 1809, the Inferior Court of Morgan County ordained that Lewis McLane, the surveyor, should lay out additional lots to the "northwest and west" of the town of Madison. This no doubt accounts for the numbered lots above 48. Many of the purchasers of the lots stayed and became long-time citizens of the town, though many buyers used the event solely as an investment, selling their lots for a greatly increased price within a year or so of the original purchase date. In the beginning, many homes lined Main Street, first called Monroe Street, even in that portion where brick store buildings now exist. Gradually, however, the homes were phased out in favor of store buildings, lawyer's offices, and even saloons. By 1820 there were still only 37 heads of household listed in the Federal Census for the Town of Madison. However, the "City District", which includes the area around Madison as well as the town, had 72 male tax payers listed in the tax digest for that year. The 1820 census lists 1,722 people in this district, including all white persons and all slaves. Many wealthy plantation owners built large "mansions" in town, some of which still exist.