Whitfield County GaArchives History .....Introductory Material - History of Whitfield Co. 1936 ************************************************ 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 October 1, 2004, 9:55 am OFFICIAL HISTORY OF WHITFIELD COUNTY, GEORGIA BY WHITFIELD COUNTY HISTORY COMMISSION APPOINTED by The Grand Jury In accordance with Legislative action July, 1930 HISTORY COMMISSION: MRS. R. M. HERRON, SR., CHAIRMAN Miss WILLIE WHITE MRS. W. C. MARTIN MRS. CLARENCE FRAKER MRS. B. A. TYLER* W. C. MARTIN W. M. SAPP 1936 * Deceased. ----------------- Printed by The A. J. Showalter Company Dalton, Georgia 1936 ----------------- p. IV DEDICATION TO THE PEOPLE OF WHITFIELD COUNTY: To those pioneers whose sacrifice and service laid well the foundations, and whose careers illustrated an exalted conception of citizenship; To those who followed them, and after the clouds of war had lifted, gathered together the fragments of their fallen fortunes and built again a greater community, To those, who mindful of the heritage of the past, are participants in the progress and development of the county today, this volume is respectfully dedicated. ----------------- p. V Introduction The General Assembly of Georgia on August 23,1929, passed a resolution with an earnest appeal to the judges of the Superior courts of the state, to give in charge to the grand jury of each county in their several circuits the urgent request that they secure the consent of some competent person, or persons, to write a complete history of the formation, development and progress of said county. These histories were to be ready in 1933, and a copy of each to be deposited in the state Department of Archives and History in Atlanta, Georgia. Pursuant to this appeal Judge C. C. Pittman instructed the grand jury in July, 1930, to appoint a committee to comply with this request of the General Assembly. The grand jury, of which T. D. Ridley was foreman, appointed the following committee: Mrs. R. M. Herron, Chairman; Miss Willie S. White, Mrs. B. A. Tyler, Mrs. W. C. Martin, Mrs. Clarence H. Fraker, W. C. Martin and W. M. Sapp. The committee thus appointed began the work and vigorous efforts were made to gather all available material pertinent to the subject. This request of the General Assembly was complied with and a typed copy of the Whitfield County history was presented at the specified time. Copies were made of records in the Bureau of the Census, War Department, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.; Confederate Roster Commission and State Department of Archives and History and the Carnegie Library, Atlanta, Georgia. The records of Murray and Whitfield counties have been consulted. This has been augmented from many other sources, notably the files of the Dalton Citizen and a bound copy of the Dalton Argus from 1882 to 1892, presented by the late H. A. Wrench. ----------------- p. VI Material and records preserved over a number of years by the late Mrs. Warren R. Davis have been of great value. A number of articles published some years ago by the late J. C. Head, of Tunnel Hill, have yielded valuable material on the early history of the county. Our thanks are due Miss Ruth Blair, State Historian, the Bryan M. Thomas Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Governor John Milledge Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Service Star Legion, the Ordinary, Judge 0. M. Stacy, the Ex-county Commissioners: Messrs. J. A. Thomason, Troy G. Kirk, S. H. Wilson, and G. C. Stafford, who made a suitable appropriation for typing the history, and to the present Commissioner, Judge Harlan J. Wood, who has co-operated in every way with this commission. Appreciation is likewise expressed for aid contributed by John S. Thomas, Miss Eloise Bryant, Mrs. Penelope J. Allen, of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Ivan Allen, Atlanta, Georgia; Dr. W. K. Morehead, Andover, Massachusetts; and to the Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. Some histories are written for fame, some for the hope of material gain, and some for personal advancement. This history was written for none of these motives. It has been a labor of love by this committee, love for the noble men and women who laid a foundation for much of the happiness and prosperity we now enjoy. MRS. R. M. HERRON, SR., CHAIRMAN Miss WILLIE S. WHITE MRS. CLARENCE FRAKER MRS. B. A. TYLER* W. C. MARTIN MRS. W. C. MARTIN W. M. SAPP History Commission. *Deceased. ----------------- p. VII Foreword It is as well for a county, a state or a nation, as it is for an individual, to pause for a while now and then and cast a long look down the backward trail. It is well to bring to mind again the scenes of the past and to read therein the story of the development of the life of that community. It might seem to the casual observer that Whitfield county is but a counterpart of many others in Georgia, but such is not the case for there is a wealth of history and romance that center around this county. There are stories written large across these far blue hills, stories of years of battle, years of victory won in peace, years that have sculptured these hills, years that have painted them in colors strangely wonderful. There is legend and story here, there is history written in storm and sunshine, in war and peace. These scenes of history that we are seeking to preserve concern those who, in the main, played well their parts, whose patriotism, courage, determination and hardy resolution were not excelled by the people of any time. Is it not well for us to tenderly gather each thread and lovingly record each memory of these, our own people? These bits of facts and incidents recorded in these pages are typical of our knowledge of those stirring periods of our county's history. A little here and a little there has been recorded and remembered, but many of the thrilling details are lost beyond recall. There are epochs in the history of every place that are characterized by a nobler type of citizenry than that which falls to the ordinary lot of mankind, and which leaves its impress on those who come after. We can but feel that the generation whose memory has not yet grown dim in our minds, was of that type— that past which "being dead—yet speaketh" with tender and heroic grace. These men and women of Whitfield county speak to us of a great past, yet they speak to us more eloquently of the present and the future, bidding us to face a new age with courage and to go forward with new duties which our country's larger mission in the world now lays upon us. WILLIE DAVIS HERRON. (Mrs. Robert M. Herron). ----------------- p. VIII PREFACE to The Cherokee Indians of North Georgia In presenting this historical sketch of the Indian occupancy of Whitfield county the writer finds it necessary to state that the Cherokee lands were created December 26, 1831, by legislative act into one vast county—Cherokee. From this original county Murray county was formed December 3, 1832. It included within its boundaries that area which December 30, 1851, was cut off and became by legislative act Whitfield county. The city of Dalton, first called Cross Plains, came into existence about 1836 and remained for fifteen years in Murray county. Thus we trace our lineage and claim by rightful heritage the Cherokee Indian history of our mother county—Murray. -------------- Contents CHAPTER I NORTH GEORGIA INDIANS 1 Miss Willie S. White CHAPTER II WHITFIELD'S BEGINNING 39 Mrs. R. M. Herron CHAPTER III WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 55 Mrs. W. C. Martin CHAPTER IV RECONSTRUCTION ERA 71 Mrs. R. M. Herron CHAPTER V CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS 84 Mrs. C. H. Fraker CHAPTER VI ORGANIZATION OF CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 130 W. M. Sapp CHAPTER VII MODERN WHITFIELD 154 Mrs. B. A. Tyler* CHAPTER VIII GREATER WHITFIELD COUNTY 171 Mrs. R. M. Herron APPENDIX 175 W. M. Sapp, Mrs. B. A. Tyler* *Deceased. ----------------- File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/whitfield/history/other/gms185introduc.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 8.7 Kb