HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY,
GEORGIA
"THE MOTHER
OF COUNTIES"
Henry County, Georgia,
was so-named to honor the American Patriot Patrick Henry.
The County was created on May 21, 1821 by an act of the
state legislature and approved by Governor John Clark on
Christmas Eve later that year.
At the time of the
Revolution, the settled portion of Georgia consisted of
a narrow strip of territory along the seaboard and the Savannah
River, which had been ceded by the Indians in three treaties
in 1733, 1763 and 1773. During the Revolutionary War, the
Indians sided with the British. As punishment, in 1783 they
were forced to cede lands lying about the sources of the
Oconee River. In 1789, a treaty surrendering all claim to
the land east of the Oconee River, was made. In 1802, Georgia
ceded the Western territory between the Chattahoochee and
the Mississippi to the National Government binding itself
to remove the Indians from Georgia. Under this agreement
small cessions were obtained, extending the boundary of
Georgia to the Ocmulgee River.
Henry County's
land was acquired in the first Treaty of Indian Springs
which was signed by government officials J. McIntosh, David
Adams, Daniel Newman, William McIntosh, and Creek Nation
representatives Tustunnugee Hopoie and E. Fau Emauthau.
The agreement was signed at the Creek capital, Indian Springs
in present Butts County on January 8, 1821. The Creeks ceded
all land between the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers, north and
west of previous cessions, with the exception of a reservation
of 1,000 acres around the Springs, a tract around the agency,
which should have become the property of the United States
when the agency was removed, and 640 acres on the West bank
of the Ocmulgee to include the improvements of the Chief
General McIntosh.
The area was then
opened for legal settlement by Georgia citizens. Four other
counties aside from Henry were created from this territory
by the same legislative act; Fayette, Monroe, Houston and
Dooly. Twenty-one additional counties were subsequently
formed out of these original five. Henry County, as first
surveyed, was almost seventy miles in its greatest length
and width and included all or parts of the present counties
of Newton (created in 1821, partly from the older counties
of Jasper and Walton), Dekalb (created in 1822 and from
which Fulton County, including the city of Atlanta, was
formed in 1853), Butts (created in 1825), Spalding (created
in 1851), Clayton (created in 1858), and Rockdale (created
in 1870). A portion of Henry County, now lying in Clayton,
was added to Fayette County in 1822.
On Dec 17 1823
McDonough was incorporated in honor of Commodore Thomas
McDonough, hero of the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War
of 1812. By 1827 McDonough contained a brick courthouse
in the Public Square and a two-story brick building for
the Henry County Academy. It also boasted its own post office,
as well as a number of stores, mechanic shops, several taverns
and inns, and Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
The town was a relay station on the New York to New Orleans
stagecoach line, and was connected by other stage lines
with Fayetteville and Decatur, and with Macon by way of
Jackson. Two additional stagecoach routes passed through
the county which connected Fayetteville with Jackson and
Macon, and Fayetteville with Decatur. Henry County is rich
in history and culture. There are beautiful homes and scenic
landscapes all just a few miles away from Atlanta.
BOOKS -
Henry County, GA
LEGISLATION
- Land & Deeds In Henry Co, GA
LEGISLATION
- Henry County Formation & Boundary Changes
LEGISLATION
- Election Districts In Henry County
LEGISLATION
- Mail Routes In Henry County
LEGISLATION - Medical Board
LEGISLATION
- Railroads in Henry County
LEGISLATION
- Incorporating Shearer Mineral Springs, Henry Co., GA -
1840
Surveyor General's Office - 1821
University of Georgia Courthouse
Website - with links
to other historical information & maps
National Register of Historic Places in Henry Co., Ga.
Political Graveyard Site - Linked to Henry Co., Ga Info
U S Census Bureau
Quick Facts
Return to Home Page
This
page was last updated on -02/05/2016
Compilation Copyright
2002- Present
By Linda Blum-Barton
- All Rights Reserved
|