HISTORY OF PAULDING COUNTY
John Paulding
(1759-1818) was one of the men that captured British spy Major
Andre during the American Revolution. The county was named in
his honor in 1832. For John's bravery and valor he was presented
a medal by General George Washington and soon after his death
the City of New York raised a monument to Paulding over Benedict
Arnold's grave commemorating his contribution to the Independence
of the United States. Major Andre was Benedict Arnold's accomplice
in the General's betrayal of the Country.
Paulding County was one of the ten (10) counties made up from
the first Cherokee County and was one of the most remote areas
in North Georgia. Only a single minor east-west route ran through
Paulding county at that time. This route began at the "Shallow-Ford"
of the Chattahoochee, and thus ran south of Kennesaw Mountain
and due west to Alabama, where it passed near the present-day
town of Dallas.
This area was claimed by both Creek, who dominated the southern
portion of the county and Cherokee which controlled the north
portion of the county. In 1825 Chief William McIntosh signed
"The Treaty of Indian Springs", which chained the removal
of the Creek in 1825, only the Cherokee remained.
The County was for the most part divided into 160 acre lots in
the Land Lottery of 1832, although a small portion in the NE
corner was distributed out as smaller 40 acre gold lots. The
County was recognized on December 3, 1832 by the Georgia Legislature.
The first county seat was Van Wert. Van Wert was named for the
Van Wert that was involved in the capture of Major Andre. In
1838, the remaining Cherokee were moved west to Oklahoma on the
infamous "Trail of Tears".