Schley County GaArchives History .....Personal Account Concord Courthouse 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Michael Dixon   mickeydoodly@yahoo.com  February 5, 2006, 11:38 pm

Book Title: 

The court house at Concord has an interesting history, what little we know of 
it. The court house is a very small, one-room, frame building at the southeast 
quadrant of the Concord crossroads, across from the Concord UMC. 

It may date from the early years of Schley County (from 1857 
onward). We can only assume that it was used for official business 
pertaining to the law. Inside can be found the names of two justices 
of the peace, Stephen Murray and D.R. Murray. The former was my 
great-great-grandfather, and the latter, my great-uncle. They (or 
someone) scratched their names into the wood. 

It has been said that during the years that the court house was in 
use as such there was a barn or shed with a blacksmith's or 
farrier's shop on the same corner, close to the court house. Since 
basic transportation was by horse or mule, blacksmiths and farriers 
would have been needed in all communities (much as mill operators).

From census records it appears that the crossroads community we know 
as Concord went through several name changes, and for years was a 
voting precinct. It has been known as Nubbin Hill, Patton Hill, 
Beulah and Schley. The latter was the official name of the post 
office there until 1905 when it was closed; after that, rural routes 
were created and mail was delivered out of Ellaville.  (Note:  preceeding all 
of these all of these was a moniker of "St. Elmo." HH)

Through the 1940s and early 1950s the old court house was a favorite 
place for children to play, and they sometimes held mock court. My 
cousins and I played in the court house, and while I didn't know 
what a court was, it was fun to see others stand up front and 
pronouce sentence on those found guilty. 

Eventually the court house fell into disrepair. It was moved to a 
nearby farm to become a storage building. Several years ago some 
cousins with an interest in preserving the court house, as well as 
the old country store and an old house at Concord, got permission to 
move the court house back to its former location. They restored it 
and set it on supports made of natural stone, and it stands there 
today. I would guess it is one of a very few surviving country court 
houses in Georgia. Our cousins Linda Lurwig and Stephen Saunders 
restored it, for which we thank them.  


Additional Comments:
Some selected excerpts from what is believed to be Stephen Murray's log book 
as Justice of the Peace in this court house can be viewed at:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/schley/court/justice.txt

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/schley/history/other/personal37nms.txt

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