TALIAFERRO COUNTY, GA - HISTORY  Raytown

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:  Terri Saturday tlsaturday@nu-z.net

Column originally published in Advocate Democrat

Raytown

At first I thought this article was going to be
the smallest yet written for the advocate but
after visiting the Washington Library the smallest
article became the largest.  I took it on myself
to slice the article up in hopes the natives of
the county would update the records I have located
on the subject before telling about the occupants
held within...

About six years ago, I took a drive toward the
little  Raytown District, as originally created,
lies in the northeast corner of Taliaferro County.
It was bounded on the North by the Little River,
on the east by the Williams Creek, on the south by
Beaverdam Creek and on the west by the south
branch of Hardins Creek.  It is a country of
rolling hills clothed in pine forests and
pastures, and of streams bounded by rich alluvial
lands thick-set with hardwoods.

When, in 1826, part of Wilkes County was cut off
to form Taliaferro County, the Raytown District
became part of Warren County, and it remained as
such until a small section south of Beaverdam
Creek, was transferred to Taliaferro County 10
years later.

Raytown itself remains a quiet village, comprising
of two Churches, two stories (now closed) and
about two hand fulls of homes scattered through
out the village.  Anyone riding through would
undoubtedly say, "Nothing of importance can be
found here."  In a sense he would be right, but in
a larger sense he would be wrong for the Raytown
hills and valleys known the tread of many famous
men, some of whom but briefly passed this way, and
some of whom planted seeds and prospered. (I would
love to hear from you if you grew up in this area.
Another article will follow holding many names
that held the soil in Raytown.)

More than two hundred years ago the Williams Creek
formed part of the western boundary of the infant
colony of Georgia.  The Quakers, under John
Maddox, had established a thriving community in
this area, but beyond the Williams Creek lay the
Indian lands.  But the Indians had become indebted
to the traders, and in order to pay off these
debts, had, at the Great Council in Augusta in
June of 1773, agreed to convey to Colony some two
million acres of their land.  Colonel Barnett was
accordingly appointed to make a survey of these
Ceded Lands, which also came to be known as the
New Purchase


William Bartram, who was in Georgia gathering
specimens of shrubs and unknown flowers for his
patron, Dr. Fothergill, on hearing of this asked
permission to accompany the surveyors. Such
permission was readily granted and he hurried to
Augusta to join the expedition.

The party under Col. Barnett journeyed from
Augusta to Wrightsborough, the Quaker community
under John Maddox.  Toward the end of June they
made camp on the Williams Creek, and the next
morning crossed over into the Indian Lands, and
into what is now known as the Raytown community.

The most famous of those who lived in Raytown was
Alexander Stephens.  When his father, Andrew
Baskins Stephens, died in May of 1826, and his
stepmother a week later, Alexander and his
brother, Aaron Grier Stephens, came to live with
their uncle, Aaron W. Grier, brother of their
mother Margaret.


On the road to Raytown you may pass two signs,
first the one on the left, about 3/4 miles from
there, in the Grier family cemetery, is the marked
grave of Brig. Gen. Aaron Grier, born near here
Dec. 2, 1794. His house stood about a mile west of
Raytown. It was a one-story rambling house, sold
and unpretentious. Unfortunately it was destroyed
by fire in the 1920s. When quite young, with Gen.
Floyd, he fought the Creek Indians, distinguishing
himself at the Battles of Autossee and Chalibbee
in Alabama. Promoted rapidly for his military
talent, he became a Brig. Gen. in the Indian and
later the Mexican Wars. In 1826, his home became
that of his orphan nephew, Alexander H. Stephens.
He lived to see his nephew and ward become vice-
president of the Confederacy but died during the
war, January 14, 1864.


On the right side of the road, on this land, is
the plantation home of his father, Aaron Grier,
Sr., Revolutionary soldier, Robert Grier, founder
of the nationally famous "Grier's Almanac," was
born in 1782. Growing up in frontier Georgia,
Grier did not have a formal education -- but he
did have access to his father's extensive library,
where he read voraciously. An amateur astronomer
and accomplished mathematician, Grier put his
knowledge to good use by publishing an almanac
predicting sunrises and sunsets, lunar eclipses
and phases, plus general weather trends. So
accurate and popular was his almanac that it
became an annual publication until Grier's death,
at which point another publisher took the reigns,
and then another. Grier's Almanac has now been
published annually for almost two hundred years,
and its sales have exceeded two million. First
published in 1807 as "The Georgia and South
Carolina Almanack," the almanac made Robert
Grier's name a household word in the nation until
his death in 1848. Published continuously since
its founding, it became "Grier's Almanac" soon
after Robert Grier died

Circulation is almost 2 1/2 million copies
annually. While the almanac is Grier's lasting
claim to fame, he did play another important role
in Georgia history. His sister, Margaret, died
three months after the birth of her son in 1812.
Grier and his family assumed a considerable role
in raising the child, especially after his father
died in 1826. The boy always felt close to his
uncle, and like the young Robert, enjoyed reading
in his grandfather's library. 

Georgia can thank the Griers for doing such a fine
job of raising their orphaned nephew, for he
became one of the most distinguished and
intellectual figures in Georgia and southern
history -- Alexander Hamilton Stephens.


Alexander came to Raytown when he was 14, and here
he lived during his formative years. From his
uncle’s he and his brother walked across the
fields to Locust Grove to get their early
schooling. While he was going to school here he
attracted the attention of the Rev. Williams, a
Presbyterian minister, who had come to Raytown to
establish a Sunday School. When Sunday School
opened Alexander entered as a student, but almost
immediately promoted to a teacher. It was the
community that suggested Alexander to study law. 

The wealthy resident of Raytown, Charles Mills
later sent and funded the young Alex in Washington
in his studies.


While serving in Congress in the 1840s, Stephens,
at the prompting of his knowledgeable uncle,
proposed legislation to establish a national
weather bureau. Stephens ultimately went on to
serve as vice-president of the Confederate States
of America. 

Grier, meanwhile, became wealthy from his almanac
publishing and purchased a home in Butts County,
Georgia, where he lived out the remainder of his
years. He died and was buried there on May 4,
1848. The remarkable astronomical calculations
which led to the publishing of the almanac were
made on the large boulders in the fields near this
road.

First published in 1807 as "The Georgia and South
Carolina Almanack," the almanac made Robert
Grier's name a household word in the nation until
his death in 1848. Published continuously since
its founding, it became "Grier's Almanac" soon
after Robert Grier died. Circulation is almost 2
1/2 million copies annually. You can view a saber
donated by Grier to his famous nephew in the
Victorian home of Alexander Stephens. Ask our
Margie Edwards if you may take a look at it when
you visit the home.

Ray's Place, oldest community in Taliaferro
County, was, in the late 1790's and early 1800's,
a recreation center on Little River for the
"livelier social set" of Washington. It was named
for a Ray family from New York who lived in
Washington for several years. In later years the
famed Wrightsboro Road came through Raytown and
the stage road from Double Wells (Barnett) to
Washington.

The parents and grandparents of Jefferson Davis
owned plantations near Raytown in the early
1800's. Betsy Elizabeth Davis stayed on the
plantation and married John Moore of Raytown.
Betsy was the aunt of President Jefferson Davis
who, was born in Kentucky only a few month after
his parents left Taliaferro County. Mrs. Davis,
fleeing Federal forces in 1865, spent a night in
Raytown. Betsy Moore is said to have been an
outstanding mathematician, and legend has it that
eminent scholars would come from Augusta and
Athens to ask her help in solving some problem
they had found too difficult. In 1835, what is now
known as Raytown was comprised of one store, one
grocery, and one dwelling house. An Irishman
O’Leary owned the old residence standing on the
extreme limit of Main Street and owned the land
around it.

With him boarded the village physician, also an
Irishman, Dr. Quinlan by name. He was a single man
the time of his advent in our little community,
but soon after married a daughter of Dr. Sims, and
a sister of his land lady

Mrs. O’Leary. The little community grocery and
store were owned at that time by Mr. James Brooke,
son of Josiah Brooke. In 1831, a man by the name
of Joe Luckett had a store down near where the
Methodist Church now stands. The store stood back
a few paces from the road. He had a well dug right
at the end of piazza, and early one cold morning
being under the influence of strong liquor, he sat
down in a chair near the edge of the piazza and
toppled over into the well.

Raytown was an industrious neighborhood. There was
reported more general prosperity there than any
part of the country at the turn of the century.

There were 3 stores in Raytown. A new store owned
by Barnett Bros. Co. of Sharon was operated by
Nathaniel Barnett.

More on Raytown on my next adventure

Terri Kimbrel Saturday