Towns County, Georgia GAGenWeb Site

Towns County, Georgia

In March and April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Georgia Comprehensive Genealogy Database. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Georgia, where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an individual were found in more than one county, they could be located in the index.

At the same time, volunteers were found who were willing to coordinate the collection of databases and generally oversee the contents of the web pages.

My name is Tim Seawolf-Self. I'm responsible for Towns County. If you would like to contribute your information to this page, please let me know.

Assistant: Linda Garrett, Archivist

Georgia State Coordinator: Linda Blum Barton
Assistant State Coordinator: [vacant]
Northeast Regional Assistant: Liz Nash

If you would like to participate in The Georgia GenWeb Project
by hosting a county or volunteer to help in the project,
please contact Linda Blum Barton

GAGenWeb County Selection Table

Towns County, Georgia History

Towns County, the 117th county formed in Georgia, was created in 1856 from parts of Union and Rabun counties. It was named for George Washington Bonaparte Towns, who was governor of Georgia from 1847 to 1851. Towns County is in the scenic mountains of Northern Georgia.

Chatuge Lake is located in the northern part of the county and reaches into North Carolina. It is a storage facility for the Tennessee Valley Authority and is also a public preserve. Hiawassee, the county seat, and the lake area have long been popular tourist areas. In the 1800s through the 1930s, wealthy families from the lowlands would "summer in the mountains" to escape the heat and disease more prevalent in the more populated areas.

Senator Zell Bryan Miller, a former governor of Georgia, was raised in Young Harris, Towns County. In the early 1960s he and his wife were publishers and editors of the Towns County Herald, a weekly newspaper based in the county seat of Hiawassee. Young Harris is also home to
Young Harris College.

SPECIAL NOTE:

I would like to find someone from Towns County who is
interested in the Native American history of Georgia and who lives in Towns
County. Our organization is working with others to bring the beginning of the
Trail of Tears history into Georgia where it belongs. Georgia was the last
location of the Cherokee Nation of Georgia prior to the 1838 removal - although
portions of the nation extended into Alabama and Tennessee, the capitol was at
New Echota, in Gordon County. Fort Chastain, a removal fort is located in
Towns County. We are in need of documenting the history of this fort along with
locating any other existing sites. If you are or know someone who might be
interested in this effort, please contact me...
Leslie Thomas
Communication Chair

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Also, check out:

UNION County, GA MAILING LIST. In association with the Union County, GA USGenWeb page. To subscribe, send subscribe to: [email protected]

MURRAY County, GA MAILING LIST. In association with the Murray County, GA USGenWeb page. To subscribe, send subscribe to: [email protected]

FANNIN County, GA MAILING LIST. In association with the Fannin County, GA USGenWeb page. To subscribe, send subscribe to: [email protected]

CLAY County, NC MAILING LIST. In association with the Clay County, NC USGenWeb page. To subscribe, send subscribe to: [email protected]

TOWNS COUNTY MESSAGE BOARDS

RESOURCE PAGE

Queries

Please post your contributions directly to the RootsWeb-hosted Board. You may wish to place queries on both the GenConnect Board and this Website.

TOWNS COUNTY QUERIES

For more data and documents, visit the
Union County, GAGenWeb Archives
hosted by Debra Crosby

Brigham Young University Family History Archive

FAMILY TREES

We'll be happy to publish yours!

The Descendants of John Battles Johnson
contributed by Sharon Houston

For the complete 1880 census, please visit the FamilySearch site maintained by
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

TOWNS COUNTY GEORGIA FOSTERS FROM CENSUS YEARS 1860-1930

TOWNS COUNTY PHOTO GALLERY

Please contribute photos of Towns County, especially civic buildings and points of interest

Photo Gallery, page 1
Photo Gallery, page 2
Photo Gallery, page 3

Documents Contributed by Anita Winkler

The Ephraim Byers Family
in Towns and Union Counties, Georgia

by Don Byers

INDIVIDUAL WEBSITES RELATING TO TOWNS COUNTY

Family History 101.com (main page)

Georgia State Site (sub-page)

The Maddox Family Connections, by Brent Maddox

Towns County Links

Towns County Lookups

Towns County Queries
2004-2005

Georgia GenWeb Links

Other Georgia Links

Surrounding Counties

TOWNS COUNTY ARCHIVED INFORMATION
by Jason Lee Edwards

CENSUS

Citizens of Towns County Georgia,
1860 Census Index
by Frances T. Ingmire
Available at:
APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY, Belk Library, Boone NC
CALL # F292.T65 I62 1986
LOCATION: REFERENCE
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH
Salt Lake City, UT

Towns County Georgia Census Records, 1860-1900
transcribed by Jerry Taylor
Available at:
GEORGIA STATE ARCHIVES, Atlanta, GA
CALL # F292.T65 E32
LOCATION: REFERENCE
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH
Salt Lake City, UT

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES

Cemetery Surveys, Inc.

Saving Graves--Georgia

Towns County Georgia Cemeteries
by Ted O. Brooke
Available at:
WALLACE STATE LIBRARY, Hanceville AL
ARKANSAS HISTORY COMMISSION, Little Rock AR
DAR LIBRARY, Washington DC
ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER, Atlanta GA (F292.T65 B76 1996)
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES & HISTORY, Atlanta GA (F292.T65 B76 1996)
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, Athens GA (G 929.509 BRO)
SEQUOYAH REGIONAL LIBRARY, Canton GA
CHEROKEE REGIONAL LIBRARY, LaFayette GA
COBB COUNTY LIBRARY, Marietta GA
CHATHAM LIBRARIES, Savannah GA
MOUNTAIN REGIONAL LIBRARY, Young Harris GA (F 292 T65 B76 1996)
DUCKWORTH LIBRARIES, Young Harris College, Young Harris GA (F292.T65 B76 1996)
NEWBERRY LIBRARY, Chicago IL
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, Fort Wayne IN
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, NYPL Research Libraries, New York, NY
MURPHY PUBLIC LIBRARY, Murphy NC
NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES, Raleigh NC
KNOX COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, Knoxville TN (929.37582 B872T)
DALLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY, Central Branch, Dallas TX
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH, ("The Mormon Library") Salt Lake City, UT
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN, University of Wisconsin-Madison WI

We Are Proud to Be the
OFFICIAL OBITUARY ARCHIVES
of the
NORTH GEORGIA NEWS
Archivist and Transcriber: Linda Garrett

This feature has been temporarily disabled
as of December 15, 2013

Saving Graves--Georgia

MARRIAGES

Marriage Records, 1856-1900, Towns County Georgia
transcribed by Jerry Taylor
GEORGIA STATE ARCHIVES, Atlanta GA
CALL # F292.T65 T30
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH, Salt Lake City, UT
CALL # 975.8282 X2t

Georgia GenWeb Links

Georgia GenWeb

GAGenWeb Archives

US GenWeb

Georgia in the Civil War Message Board

Georgia--1883--Military Pensions (Early Wars) (contributed by Joy Fisher)

Towns County Links

Towns County, Georgia Surnames

Post your surnames here at this NEW FORMAT! Contact me for posting

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U/V W XYZ

TOWNS COUNTY RESOURCES
Researched by Barbara Caramba-Coker

LIBRARY Towns County Public Library 99 South Berrong St Hiawassee, GA 30546 Phone: (706) 896-6169	LIBRARY Mountain Regional Library 698 Miller Street Young Harris, GA 30582-4016 Phone: (706) 379-3732	COUNTY RECORDER Towns County Clerk Of Court P.O. Box 178 Hiawassee, GA 30546 Phone: (706) 896-2130
NEWSPAPER Towns County Herald Mall-Main Hiawassee, GA 30546 Phone: (706) 896-4454	NEWSPAPER University of GA EITS Weekly News	ORGANIZATION Georgia Historical Society P.O. Box 5063 Rome, GA 30162
ORGANIZATION Georgia Genealogical Society P.O. Box 54575 Atlanta, GA 30308 Phone: (706) 475-4404	ORGANIZATION Northwest Georgia Historical & Genealogical Society P.O. Box 5063 Rome, GA 30162	ORGANIZATION Towns County Historical Society P.O. Box 35 Hiawassee, GA 30546
ORGANIZATION Union County Historical Society P.O. Box 932 Blairsville, GA 30514
BOOKS
Minutes of Old Union Baptist Church in Young Harris, Towns County Georgia transcribed by Jerry Taylor AVAILABLE AT: GEORGIA STATE ARCHIVES, Atlanta, GA CALL # BX6480.Y68 O42 LOCATION: REFERENCE	Hearthstones of Home - the History of Towns County Georgia by Jerry Taylor AVAILABLE AT: ATLANTA-FULTON CENTRAL LIBRARY, Atlanta GA (F929.3758 TOWNS) GEORGIA STATE ARCHIVES, Atlanta GA (F292.T65 T305) UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, Athens GA (F292.T65H420 1983) SEQUOYAH REGIONAL LIBRARY, Canton GA (G 975.828 HEA) LAFAYETTE-WALKER COUNTY LIBRARY, LaFayette GA COBB COUNTY CENTRAL LIBRARY, Marietta GA FORSYTH COUNTY LIBRARY, Cumming GA HALL COUNTY LIBRARY, Gainesville GA VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY, Valdosta GA (F292.T65 T31) APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY, Belk Library, Boone NC (F292.T65 H43 1983) MACON COUNTY LIBRARY, Franklin NC NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, New York, NY (975.8282 D2h) GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH, Salt Lake City, UT STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN, University of Wisconsin-Madison WI Please contact Webmaster for more information	Northeast Georgia - A Brief History (Habersham, Lumpkin, Rabun, Towns, Union, and White Counties) by Carroll Proctor Scruggs

Ask your local librarian to obtain print sources on this page through InterLibrary Loan

Surrounding Counties

Georgia Map Showing Towns County

White