Jasper County History
Jasper County was created December 10, 1807 from Baldwin County; number 31 in the order of creation, it was originally named Randolph County. (The present-day Randolph County was created on December 20, 1828). The name was changed December 10, 1812. Part of Jasper was set off to Morgan in 1815 and part to Newton in 1821. Jasper County was named in honor of William Jasper, who was an officer in Colonel William Moultrie's Second South Carolina Infantry, 1775. Jasper distinguished himself during the attack on Fort Moultrie, June 28, 1776 and was killed while planting the South Carolina Flag at the battle of Savannah, October 9, 1779.
Jasper County claims at least two notable people. Benjamin Harvey Hill was both a U.S. congressman and U.S. senator. He also served in the Confederate Senate and was a staunch supporter of Jefferson Davis. Monticello, a city in the county, is the home of country music star Trisha Yearwood.
Parts of Lake Jackson an the Oconee National Forest are located in Jasper County.
Dirt Trail Cuts Deep Into Past
by Bill Osinski, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 14
June 1998
Traces of a road deep into the nation's Indian, Revolutionary, and Civil War history are still around in Jasper county, and historians want to bring it back to life. They believe it belongs on the National Register of Historic Places.
It's not just another stretch of Georgia red clay. "It's the oldest dirt road known to Western
man," said Pam Hammonds, executive director of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce, who's part
of an effort to have a dirt road not just placed on the National Register of Historic Places but also made into a tourist trail.
The Seven Island Stagecoach Road runs through much of Jasper County and cuts to the very core of Georgia history. Before there was a recorded history of this continent, American Indians formed and used the trail for hunting trips from their settlements at a shoals area of the Ocmulgee River that came to be called Seven Islands.
The Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee was mentioned as a trading point in accounts of Carolina fur
traders that go back as far as 1670. In 1730, famed naturalist William Bartram described the area
in his journals as having an Indian settlement of about 1,400 people.
Up until 1790, when George Washington negotiated a treaty with the Creek Indians ceding land
for a stage coach trail that would connect Augusta with Mobile, Ala., Seven Islands was where America ended and the Indian lands began.
Stagecoach stops became settlements and, later, a few grew to towns. Throughout the early 19th century, the road was important to regional commerce. Seven Islands marked the upriver end of the navigable part of the Ocmulgee, so cotton growers would send their product to the mills near Seven Islands, to be processed and then shipped downriver.
Even after the railroad supplanted the river steamer, Seven Islands remained a commercial and historic hub. Jasper County historian John Harvey said there were cotton gins, grist mills, sawmills and textile mills at Seven Islands. During the Civil War, Sherman's armies crossed the Ocmulgee via a pontoon bridge at a spot not far upriver. The story to told that the Yankees
slaughtered hundreds of their spent mules and horses on one of the river islands rather than leave the animals for the Rebels.
One of the mills at Seven Islands was powered by water channeled through a mile-long canal, Harvey said. When the river water was diverted into the canal, the river was usually lowered to
the point where people could cross it from the Butts County side by stepping on river rocks.
"They said you could walker across the river without getting the tops of your shoes wet," Harvey said.
The mills operated until the cotton collapse of the 1920s and '30s. The abandoned buildings were torn down in the 1980s. Robert Jordan, a Monticello engineer and city councilman, has
plotted the route of the old stagecoach trail over a current road map of Jasper county. "Very
little of the original road is on existing roadways; some of it is out in the middle of fields,"
he said.
But there are still a few stretches of county-maintained dirt roads that actually may be part
of the historic trail. Except for the gravel, the settings seem much as they might have been in the early 1800s, when traveling 25 miles was considered a good, hard day.
Along the route, there are also a few remnants of those who lived there. At a place called Bethel Corners is a building that originally was a log cabin stagecoach stop. It was later bricked over and used as a country store.
Mostly, though, the stories of the lone-gone past are to be found in overgrown graveyards.
Dennis Dean, who identifies himself on his business card as a "Grave Seeker of Historical Relevance," has taken on the assignment of identifying the graveyards as a retirement avocation.
So far, his explorations through the records and the woods have located more than 230 graveyards.
Dean's research has been transferred into books available to genealogical researchers at the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce in Monticello.
In one graveyard not get form the Seven Islands Trail are more than 10 headstones marked only
with "RS"; Dean believes these are the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers.
That same graveyard may have been part of one of the county's original churches, St. Martha's Methodist Church. Dean said he thinks a stone wall within the graveyard might be the base of a monument to James L. Darden, the man on whose plantation the graveyard was built.
Darden was a Union sympathizer who rose to the rank of general in the Union Army and then
returned to Jasper to farm cotton. One reason the monument is now missing, and why the church
mysteriously stopped functioning, was that local sentiment ran heavily against the general and his home church, Dean speculated.
Hammonds said the plan for the preservation of Seven Islands Stagecoach Road would be to improve some of the stagecoach stop points along the way and make the route available to visitors.
Ultimately, she said, they hope to build a historical interpretive center on the banks of the Ocmulgee near Seven Islands.
Not a bad future for a country road that leads to the distant past.
The creation of Jasper Co., GA (first called Randolf Co.) was in 1807. The GA legislature appointed John Cargile, Solomon Strickland, Joseph Carter and John Martin as "commissioners" to choose a site for the county seat and sell lots. Land lot No. 56 of District 16 was chosen for the town which was to be called Monticello. Isaac Weldon had drawn this lot in the 1807 Land Lottery and he sold it to the county for $912.12 on Nov. 26, 1808.
The first lot of the newly-laid off town was sold to Nathan Williams on July 4, 1809. The purchase price was $255 for lot # 51. Other first recorded purchasers were: Richard Holmes, John Cashin and Eli Glover, Martin Hales, Joseph Crockett, merchant; Samuel Butts, merchant; James Armour, Solomon Strickland, Henry Walker, M. Moore, Charles Crawford, Jr.; Reuben C. Shorter, Anthony Dyer, Henry Stephens, Wm. Hitchcock, John Wood, Robert Kendrick, Gabriel Johnson, T.W. Harris, Thomas Beale, Simmons & Holifield, Hobson & Wilson, Grant & McBride, and Giles Tompkins of Putnam Co.
In 1829 Adiel Sherwood mentioned in his Gazeteer, Monticello had "55 houses, 19 stores, 8 shops, 3 doctor shops, 5 law offices, a female academy, courthouse, jail and houses of worship for Baptists and Methodists."
THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN
IN NOVEMBER 1969 BY HARVEY J. POWELL AND
WAS USED AS A HAND-OUT BY THE MONTICELLO-JASPER COUNTY, CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
BRIEF HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY, GEORGIA
By Harvey J. Powell
Jasper County was originally a part of Baldwin County. By an Act of the
Legislature of Georgia, dated 10th of December 1807, the counties of Jones,
Putnam, Morgan and Randolph (now Jasper) were created, being cut out of Baldwin.
Before Baldwin County was organized in 1803, all of this area was Indian lands
and no white man could own land therein.
This area was surveyed and laid out in land lots, each lot being forty-five
chains square, containing 202 l/2 acres. The lots were disposed of by lottery.
Monticello was laid out and made the county seat by an act of the Legislature
dated the 10th of December, 1808.
John Randolph, of Virginia, for whom the county had been named, fell into
disfavor due to his opposition to the War of 1812 with Great Britain. The
Georgia Legislature on the 10th of December 1812 passes the Act: “The County of
Randolph shall be called and known by the name of JASPER”.
RAPID GROWTH
The free land obtained by lottery, after clearing, was found to be well adapted
to the growth of cotton and corn and the rural development of Jasper County was
rapid. By the year 1810, the population had grown to be 7,573 and in 1820 it had
increased to 14, 614. Representation, then as now, was based upon population. In
the decade following 1820, Jasper County was entitled to one senator and four
representatives in the state legislature. No county in the State, at that time,
had more.
MEN OF DISTINCTION
Jasper County has been the residence or birth place of many men who have
achieved distinction in political and judicial fields.
David Adams served Jasper County as a representative in the Georgia Legislature
for eleven terms, beginning with the year 1811, and was Speaker of the House
1819-1821. He was a man of military ability also and rose to the rank of Major
General in the State Militia as did General John W. Burney.
Alfred Cuthbert, born in Savannah, Georgia, graduate of Princeton College, came
to Jasper County about 1809 and after serving in the Georgia Legislature as a
representative, was elected a member of the United States House (1813-1816) and
then to the United States Senate (1821-1827), (1835-1843).
Dr. David A. Reese came to Monticello, Georgia about the year 1820 and practiced
medicine. He served five terms in the Georgia Senate (1829-1836) and was elected
to the United States Congress and represented the then 7th Congressional
District of Georgia in the 33rd Congress (1853-1855).
John Gill Shorter, son of Dr. Reuben C. Shorter, was born in Monticello and
lived there until he graduated from the University of Georgia after which he
moved with his father in 1837 to Eufaula, Alabama, and began the practice of
law. He rose in his profession to become a solicitor, judge and war time
Governor of Alabama.
Eli S. Shorter, brother of John Gill Shorter and named for his uncle, Judge
Shorter, of Columbus, Georgia, was born and reared in Monticello, Georgia. A
graduate of Yale University, he served Alabama as a representative in the 34th
and 35th United States Congress (1855-1859). During the Civil War he was Colonel
of the 18th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, C.S.A.
Martin . Crawford, born in Jasper County, Georgia, March 17, 1820, a graduate of
Mercer University , was admitted to the bar in 1839 and practiced law in
Columbus, Georgia. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives
for three terms (1855-1861).
Robert P. Trippe, a Representative from Georgia in the 34th and 35th United
States Congresses (1855-1859), was born near Monticello, Georgia on December 21,
1819 and moved with his father to Monroe County, Georgia. After graduating from
the University of Georgia, he was admitted to the Bar in 1840 and practiced in
Forsyth, Georgia. He became a member of the First confederate Congress and in
later life became an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Benjamin Harvey Hill was born in Hillsboro, Jasper County, Georgia, September
14, 1823, and moved at an early age with his father to Troup County, Georgia. He
was a graduate of the University of Georgia and after serving in the Georgia
House of Representatives he became a Senator in the Confederate Congress
(1861-1865). After Georgia was re-admitted to the Union, he served as a United
States Representative in Congress (1875-1877) and United States Senator 1877
until his death in Atlanta, Georgia, August 16, 1882.
Charles L. Bartlett, born in Monticello, Georgia, January 31, 1853, was a
graduate of the University of Georgia 1871 and of the University of Virginia
1872. In 1875 he moved to Macon, Georgia and practiced law. He served in both
Houses of the Georgia Legislature from Bibb County. He became a member of the
United States House of Representatives and served nine consecutive terms
(1895-1915).
Jasper County, even from the time of its creation, has been included in the
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit. Residents who have become Judges of the Ocmulgee
Circuit were:
Term
Owen Holmes Kenan 1825-1828
Edward Young Hill 1838-1841
George T. Bartlett 1873-1878
Kenan moved his residence to North Georgia and became Judge of the Cherokee
Circuit (1835-1838). Edward Young Hill moved to LaGrange, Georgia and became
Judge of the Coweta Circuit (1844-1853) and was also an unsuccessful candidates
for Governor of Georgia in 1849 being defeated by George W. Towns. Charles L.
Bartlett, son of Judge George T. Bartlett, after moving from Monticello to Macon
in 1875, became Solicitor General (1877-1881) and Judge (1892-1894) of the Macon
Circuit.
Residents of Jasper County who have served as Solicitor General of the Ocmulgee
Circuit were:
Term
Edward Young Hill 1831-1834
George T. Bartlett 1847-1851
William A. Lofton 1855-1868
Fleming Jordan, Jr 1868-1873
Doyle Campbell 1916-1925
CREEK WAR
In the year 1836, Georgia experienced an exciting but brief war with a large
force of Creek Indians from Alabama, who forced their way into southwest
Georgia, killing numerous settlers and burning their homes. A company of fifty
militia, under Captain Zachariah Roe, were drafted from Jasper County and on May
25 1836 “took up the line of march to rendezvous at Columbus.” Enthusiasm was so
great that Eli Glover, a merchant of Monticello, had little difficulty in
recruiting an additional company of fifty mounted volunteers, which he led to
Columbus and reported for duty to General Sanford. Captain Glover and his
volunteers fought so well in a skirmish in Stewart County that their conduct was
commended in a letter from General Sanford to Governor Schley.
CIVIL WAR
Jasper County, as did other counties in Georgia, furnished its quota of men and
material to the Confederate States Army during the disastrous Civil War.
The first company of volunteers was organized in 1861 by George T. Bartlett and
named the “Glover Guard” in honor of the company recruited by Eli Glover during
the Creek War. This company became officially Company “G” of the 4th Regiment,
Georgia Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia C.S.A. and participated in the heavy
fighting of that celebrated Army.
Another company, organized in March, 1862, named the “Jasper Volunteers” became
Company “B” of the 44th Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia
.S.A. and John C. Key, Captain (later elected Major). This company also
experienced much heavy fighting and suffered many casualties.
Portions of General Sherman’s Army passed through Jasper County on its “March to
the Sea”. Foraging parties of the Federal Army took what they wished, or could
find, of food, cattle, hogs, grain and destroyed by fire, or otherwise, much
property, such as cotton, for which they had no need.
RECONSTRUCTION
After the Civil War the Confederate veteran, many still suffering from his
wounds and with health impaired, returned to his farm with nothing to begin a
new with but his land and a determination to overcome all obstacles and
fortunately with the seemingly insatiable demand for cotton from the hungry
textile mills of Great Britain, the farmer was able to regain a livelihood.
When the freed former slave finally realized that he had to work for a living,
agriculture increased greatly. The demand for cotton persisted and the growth of
the staple was the economic mainstay of the County. By 1910, Jasper County was
producing as much as 35,000 bales of cotton per annum.
The population of the County grew with the increased production of cotton. The
zenith in population was reached in the year 1910 when the census recorded 16,
552 inhabitants. The arrival of the boll weevil put a stop to the one crop
agriculture and caused a rapid migration of farm labor from the County. The
population of Jasper County decreased from 16, 362 in 1920 to 8,594 in 1930 and
has continued to decline; the 1960 census being 6,135.
THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD
Macon, Georgia was laid out in the year 1823. Being located at the head of
navigation of the Ocmulgee River it grew rapidly in importance as a trade center
and cotton marker.
Jasper County farmers marketed their cotton in Macon. Wagons loaded with four or
six bales, pulled by a team of four mules, were required to transport the cotton
to market. A typical trip, if the roads were good, required three days. The
distance traveled the first day usually was to Sand Creek, in Jones County,
where camp was established for the night. The second day was consumed in making
the remainder of the distance to Macon, where the cotton was marketed and
supplies, such as hardware, sugar, coffee and sometimes articles of furniture,
were purchased and a return to the camp site on Sand Creek. The third day, if
everything had gone well, they made the distance home. A better way of
transportation would fulfill a great need but it was a long time in arriving in
the form of a railroad.
E.C. Machen, of New York, was a railroad promoter. He came to Macon in 1885 and
actively engaged in the promotion of a railroad to be built northward through
Jones, Japer and Newton Counties to Covington, Georgia. Mrs. Hannah S. Gould,
also of New York, became interested in the project and provided some financial
support. In June 1885 a charter was obtained for the road which was named the
Covington and Macon Railroad Company. The officers were: E. C. Machen,
president; B. W. Frobel, Vice President and general manager; L. W. Robert, Chief
engineer.
The laying of the rail reached Jasper in May 1887, and the arrival of the first
passenger train into Monticello, on June 2, 1887, was the occasion of a joyful
celebration.
The original object of the promoters was to build the railroad to Social Circle,
Georgia to form a junction with the Georgia Railroad at that location and to
obtain track age rights for operation of C. & M. trains into Covington. Plans
were changed and the railroad was built to Madison, Georgia. The Georgia
Railroad refused to grant track age rights and this caused the Covington and
Macon Railroad to extend their line northward from Madison to Athens, Georgia.
Construction was completed to that city in December 1888; the total length of
the railroad from Macon to Athens being 106 miles.
The C. & M. Railroad got into financial difficulties even before it was
completed. In 1887, it went into receivership and early in 1891, the
bond-holders took control and re-organized the capital structure under the name
of the Macon & Northern Railroad with both the Central of Georgia Railroad and
the Richmond and Danville Railroad having an interest. In 1896, the Macon &
Northern became a division of the Central of Georgia Railroad.
A railroad known as the Middle Georgia & Atlantic, which traversed the northern
part o Jasper County, was constructed from Eatonton, Georgia to Covington in the
year 1890. This railroad was also promoted by Col E. C. Machen.
EDUCATION
The need for educational facilities received the attention of the early settlers
and before 1820, a male and a female academy were established in Monticello,
each being under the direction of a board of trustees composed of some of the
most prominent citizens of the County. Academies were established in Hillsboro,
Georgia and elsewhere as the 1850 census records that there were six such in
Jasper County.
NEWSPAPERS
There is no evidence that a newspaper was published in Jasper County prior to
the year 1881 when the weekly “Jasper County News” made its appearance. Under
the editorship of Mrs. A. P. Penn and later her two sons, Fitzhugh and Thomas,
this paper provided excellent local news coverage and exerted much influence for
progress in the community. In 1903, its name was changed to “The Monticello
News” and has survived even to this day.
Other weekly newspapers, published in Monticello, which have come and gone were:
“The Southern Star”, name changed to “The Monticello Star” in 1892. Frank B.
Webb, editor was a graduate of Emory University (at Oxford, Georgia) class of
1891. This was a very good weekly.
“The Jasper County Plain Dealer”, a paper published by Negroes made a brief
appearance in 1897.
“The Monticello Advocate”, L. H. Reid, published suspended publication in
February 1901 after a brief existence.
In August 1910, Messrs Eugene Baynes, Nevin Tolleson and Hollis Pope commenced
publication of a weekly called “The Monticello Journal”. It ceased publication
with the May 4, 1911 issue.
UTILITIES
The first telephone system in Jasper County was completed in November, 1894. It
connected a store in the community of Maxwell to the Planters Warehouse which
stood on the now vacant lot in front of the Monticello Post Office. The system
was for the convenience of cotton buyers.
The first public telephone system was installed in Monticello during the year
1899 and was promoted by Dr. Shannon, of Cabiness and Mr. Kinard of Jackson,
Georgia. In 1900, it was sold to Messrs. Wiley Phillips and J.E. Hecht, of
Monticello, who operated it until June 1903 when Mr. Charles Ballard of
Eatonton, Georgia bought the system. By 1910, the Southern Bell Telephone and
Telegraph Company was the owner and had completely rebuilt the system with
connections to its long distance lines. Mr. C. H. Pope was made local manager.
ELECTRIC LIGHT SYSTEM
Credit for the installation of the first electric light system in Jasper County
must go to Mr. Bonner Jordan of Monticello, a man of much mechanical ingenuity
and enterprise. The system consisted of a small generating plant located on the
corner of Mill and South Streets having a wood burning, stationary steam boiler,
steam engine, a belt driven dynamo, switchboard and a small distribution line
which connected a few subscribers in the vicinity.
The Jasper County News proudly announced on January 10, 1901 that:
“The dynamo for the electric plant arrived and last Saturday night the electric
lights were turned on. So far the patrons are all highly pleased. Mr. Bonner
Jordan owns the plant, and if it proves successful, he will increase the
capacity and furnish as many lights as needed.”
The plant was not a financial success. Even after several increases, the rates
were inadequate. A “larger dynamo” and more wires were always needed; money for
improvement and expansion was difficult to obtain and breakdowns caused
deterioration in service. When it became apparent that the electric plant would
fail, the City of Monticello, unwilling to be without the service, made an offer
to purchase the plant, which Mr. B. Jordan and his financial backers were glad
to accept. On May 30, 1905 the City voted a $30,000 bond issue, $23,000 to be
used for the improvement of the electric system. When, in 1911, the Central
Georgia Power Company, who had just finished a hydro-electric plant on the
Ocmulgee River (Jackson Lake), offered to supply the power needs of Monticello,
the City accepted, glad to get out of the generation of electricity, but
retaining (even to the present day) its distribution system.
WATER WORKS
Mr. J. B. McCrary, a civil engineer of Senoia, Georgia (he became the most
prominent municipal engineer of his age) met with the Council of Monticello on
several occasions during the Spring of 1905 and convinced the city fathers upon
the city’s need for a system of water works. The authorization of the $30,000
municipal bond issue was the result.
The construction of the system began in January 1906 under the supervision of
Mr. Henry Taylor and was completed the middle of August of the same year. The
system was well designed and well built as the original stand pipe and mains are
still in use today. A completely new filer plant was built in 1946 and a quarter
million gallon, elevated, water tank was erected in 1954 which is located on the
corner of Frobel and Julia Streets.
The first public sewerage system for Monticello was installed in 1935-1936 with
the aid of the Federal Public Works Administration. The system was enlarged and
modernized during 1967 again with Federal financial aid.
NATURAL GAS SYSTEM
Robert P. Grey, an engineer, promoted the installation of a natural gas
distribution system for the City of Monticello during the years 1962-1963. The
nearest location of supply was the pipe line of the Southern Natural Gas Company
in Jones County, a distance of 27 miles. The City had to provide the pipe line
to connect with the source of supply. This increased the first cost of the
system considerably. Monticello voted a bond issue of 30 years 5 percent revenue
certificates to the amount of $525,000 to defray the cost of the installation.
The system was completed and placed in service by the Fall of 1963.
BANKS
The first bank in Jasper County was organized on the 2nd day of April, 1892 and
was named he Bank of Monticello. The directors were W. S. (Uncle Billy) Witham,
of Atlanta, L.O. Benton, J. H. Kelly, A. H. Jordan, L. Benton, of Monticello,
and R. S. Franklin and E. B. Smith of Jasper County. The Directors met and
elected W. S. Witham, President; J. H. Kelly, Vie-President; and M.S. Benton,
Cashier. The bank was first located on the north side of the public square (now
a barber shop) until 1910 when the Stone Building, located at the corner of
Washington and Warren Streets was purchased and converted to house its banking
offices.
The Bank of Monticello gave up its State charter in 1908 and became the First
National Bank of Monticello. The national charter was surrendered in 1964, and
the bank reverted back to a State charter and having the original name of Bank
of Monticello. It now occupies its handsome new building, styled after
Jefferson’s home, built in 1966.
The second bank to be organized in Monticello, Georgia, named the Jasper County
Bank, received its charter February 5, 1898 and began business the same day in
the store building of Lucian Benton. Later contractor Tom Gay built a suitable
building facing the public square on the corner of Washington and Warren
Streets. The first officers of the Jasper County Bank were: D. B. Benton,
President; Lucien Benton, Vice-President; Lovic Benton, Cashier. The directors
were: W. C. Leverette, W. V.B. Allen, J. L. Campbell, J. T. Benton and Bonner
Jordan. During the year 1926, “On account of curtailment in agricultural
operations and kindred lines in Jasper County”, the bank went into voluntary
liquidation, paid every depositor in full and every stockholder more than par
value on each share of stock.
On August 7, 1906, the Farmers Bank (now the Farmers National Bank) was
organized with Messrs. E. H. Jordan, R. L. Davis, J.D. Harvey, W. F. Jordan, C.
L. Henderson, J.A. Kelly, I.T. Kelly, D.N. Harvey and Sam Cohen being the
petitioners for the charter. A lot on the Warren Street side of the public
square in Monticello was purchased and a banking building, designed by Lockwood
Brothers Architects of the Jasper County Court House, was built thereon, by a
contractor W. J. Beeland, of Macon, who was also the builder of the Courthouse.
The Farmers National Bank did business at this location for sixty years until it
moved, In 1966, into its present facilities on the corner of Greene and Mill
Streets.
The Bank of Shady Dale, Georgia was organized in July, 1907, having a capital
stock of $25,000 and with C.S. (Mote) Thompson of Covington, Georgia, president;
and O. O. Banks of Shady Dale, Georgia, vice-president. The bank ceased
operation and liquidated in 1921.
The Bank of Hillsboro was chartered August 23, 1911 and began business August
30th in the same year with J. T. Garland, President and E. B. McCullough,
cashier. This bank became a victim of the great depression and a robbery, which
occurred on the night of April 17, 1934. The outlaws burned through the door of
the safe with a blow torch and made off with money and bonds valued at several
thousand dollars. The bank was forced to liquidate, with loss to both depositors
and stockholders, In 1935.
The sixth bank to be organized in Jasper County was the Citizens Bank, of Shady
Dale, Georgia. It was chartered February 6, 1920 and began business April 12,
1920 with D. N. Harvey, of Monticello, President and W. W. Perry, of Shady Dale,
cashier. Later the officials were J. H. Young, President; and O. H. Banks,
cashier; both of Shady Dale, Georgia. This bank is still in business, however,
in 1960 its location was moved from Shady Dale to Alpharetta, Georgia after Mr.
Sims Garrett purchased a controlling stock interest.
Of the six banks, which at one time existed in Jasper County, only two now
remain, viz. the Bank of Monticello and the Farmers National Bank, both located
in Monticello, Georgia.
INDUSTRIES
In October, 1899 Mr. Bonner Jordan sold his furniture store located in
Monticello to his brother and went to Augusta, Georgia where he purchased a
small manufacturing plant which produced bobbins and spools for textile mills.
Two of his cousins, Charles H. Jordan and C. S. (Mote) Thompson became
interested in the venture. A lot near the Monticello depot was purchased and a
building was erected into which the machinery from Augusta was installed. A
corporation charter was obtained with the name of the Southern Spool and Bobbin
Manufacturing Company having a capital stock of $10,000 divided into 100 share
of $100 par value each, and the company began business.
The first shipment of bobbins was made in February 1900 to a mill in Water
Valley, Mississippi and another to Augusta, Georgia. The bobbins were made from
unseasoned wood blocks and shrinkage in size of the finished product resulted in
many rejects from dissatisfied customers. This was a serious manufacturing
problem and by the end of the first year the company faced the prospect of
financial failure. Mr. Bonner Jordan and Mr. “Mote” Thompson withdrew and
directed their endeavors to other interests. Of the original trio, only Mr.
Charles H. Jordan remained.
Several men in Macon became interested In the possibilities of the bobbin plant
and a new company was organized in the fall of 1902, with a change of name to
Georgia Spool and Bobbin Company of Macon, Georgia with Charles H. Jordan as
General Manager. This company also met with financial difficulties and gave up
at the end of 1905.
Mr. Charles H. Jordan returned to Monticello and with family backing started a
new. The February 16, 1906 issue of the Monticello News stated:
“The Jordan Manufacturing Company has begun business in the building near the
depot formerly occupied by the Spool and Bobbin Company and in addition to
making bobbins, will carry on an extensive lumber business”.
The technique of making bobbins was mastered and the business became a financial
success. For over forty years, Mr. Jordan remained in control and accumulated a
modest fortune from the operation of the business.
In 1929, Jordan Manufacturing Company became the Jordan Division of the U.S.
Bobbin and Shuttle Company of Providence, Rhode Island, with Charles H. Jordan
as vice-president and director and his son, Leland K. Jordan, Southern sales
manager. The great depression of the thirties had its adverse effect upon the
textile industry as it did upon everything else; so the U.S. Bobbin and Shuttle
Company divested itself of the Jordan Division in 1939 and the Jordan family
again came into complete possession of the property. In 1940, when at the age of
69 years, Charles H. Jordan turned over the business to his two sons: Leland K.
Jordan and William Homer Jordan. In 1943, the Atlanta Belting company purchased
the Monticello plant and changed the name to the Monticello Bobbin Company and
have continuously operated the plant ever since. The industry has the
distinction of being the only one in the South and of being the oldest now
existing in Jasper County. It provides employment for approximately 45 persons.
In June, 1902, the Monticello Cotton Oil Company was organized with a capital
stock of $20,000. The petitioners for the charters were: E. H. Jordan, W. J.
Phillips, J. H. Kelly, L. O. Benton, Lucian Benton, J. T. Benton, J.D. Harvey
and J.W. Cannon. A. S. Thurman was the attorney. A lot of land along side the
railroad on “the Hill” was purchased, the mill was built and began operation
November 1902; all in less than six months time. The original capacity was
twenty tons of oil per day. This was one of the most successful enterprises of
its day. Later the mill was purchased by the Southern Cotton Oil Company, who
operated it for a number of years before discontinuing operation due to the
decline in cotton production within the County. About the year 1935, the mill
property was converted into a plant for the canning of pimientos. In recent
years it has been used as a feed mill.
Mr. B.C. Burgess, a mineralogist, while traveling through Jasper County about
1945, noticed that soil being used as a sub base on Highway No. 83 in the
Gladesville District contained a high percent of feldspar. Investigation of the
source revealed that there was a deposit of sufficient magnitude to support a
mining and processing operation. The Appalachian Minerals Company of Spruce
Pine, North Carolina, constructed a plant adjacent to the Central of Georgia
Railroad near Adgateville, and in 1947 commenced operations. After experiencing
a fire, which severely damaged the plant, the Appalachian Minerals Company sold
the property to the Feldspar Corporation in 1954, which corporation is presently
operating the facility, providing employment to approximately 45 persons with a
payroll of about
$310,000 annually.
Monticello Manufacturing Company, a garment factory located on the site of the
Broddus Family home, is the largest employer of female labor with approximately
150 on the payroll with total earnings of $525,000 per annum.
Lumber has always been of economic importance to Jasper County. The demand for
lumber and later for pulpwood, during World War II and since, has created a
rapid growth of the industry. At Farrar, Georgia there are the mills of the
Middle Georgia Veneer Company and Williams Brothers Lumber Company. Southwest of
Monticello at Minneta on Highway No. 83 and the Central of Georgia railroad are
the lumber mills of Frank G. Lake Company and J.C. Suttles Lumber Company and
the pulpwood yards of the Georgia Kraft Company and the Georgia Timberlands
Incorporated, and greatest activity of all, the $7 million plywood plant of the
Georgia Pacific Corporation, which will be completed by the end of year 1969.
A part of the Oconee National Forest occupies a considerable area of Jasper
County bordering on the Ocmulgee River. The U.S. Forest Service maintains a
local office in Monticello.
CONCLUSION
A new era has come to Jasper County. The economy based upon agriculture,
principally the intensive cultivation of cotton, Is gone forever. The original
inhabitants, if they could come back today, would be amazed to see their hard
won fields being planted in pine seedlings. Fields, formerly cultivated, are now
pastures for cattle or devoted to the growing of trees. Poultry houses are
numerous. The decline in population has ceased. A new economy, based upon
industrial activity has begun and the future looks bright.
Monticello, Georgia
November, 1969
Transcribed by Suzanne Forte ([email protected]), March 2001
EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK
THE KELLYS OF JASPER COUNTY, GEORGIA
Descendants of the Revolutionary Soldier
Jacob Kelly and wife Susanna Allen
Compiled by
Dorothy Kelly MacDowell
1984
Transcribed by Suzanne Forte ([email protected]) May 2004
(Transcribers notes: The following paragraphs deal mainly with the history and founding of Monticello, and some of the early settlers of Jasper County)
The business people of the city of today are the descendants of the early settlers of the county and of the town. Among the men who first entered in the mercantile business were Jesse Loyall, Jeremiah Pearson, M ---- Kellam, Buchanan & Jordan, William Cooley, John Baldwin, Samuel Fulton, Sr., Samuel Fulton, Jr., and Hurd and Hungerford, which last named was succeeded by N.B. & L. White. This firm continued until the death of Mr. L. White; after which it became N. B. White and N. B. White & Co., continuing as such until a few years ago, when it terminated on the death of Mr. N. B. White.
The lawyers of Monticello in the early days included Alfred Cuthbert and Joshua Hill, both of whom became United States Senators. John Dyer was admitted to the bar in Monticello, and practiced here until his death. Of the early physicians were Dr. Moses Champion and Dr. M ---- Anthony, the latter of whom afterwards founded the oldest medical college in the State, at Augusta. Of the early settler of the county was J --- Maddux, whose descendants are still in the city and county, all good citizens. Among them was Dr. W. D. Maddux, a noted physician in the town who died eight years ago, after a long and useful life, spent in the up building of the city and county.
Capt. Eli Glover, of the War of 1812, the Mexican War and Indian wars, was one of the early settlers whose descendants are still here holding prominent places and doing much for the advancement of the country. The Kelly family was a large one, and while at first they lived in the country, they later came into town and have been influential factors in the community for generations. Several of them are now engaged in the mercantile business on a large scale. William Penn settled in Monticello soon after it was laid out, and took a prominent part in the development of the city, as well as in farming. He also owned several large plantations in the county of Jasper.
With hardly an exception, the business men of the city are descendants of the first settlers. As Monticello was for years without railway connections, the people mingled but little with the outer world. For this reason, there has been but little new blood brought into the county; the same families that we find in the early days are the same of today. These were a sturdy race and shows in the successful lives of the people. but the original settlers belonged to a vigorous and virile race of men, and from the loins of these pioneers who laid the foundations of Monticello have come the men who directs its affairs today....
FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN JASPER. Nathan Fish, and his wife, Naomi Phillips, were the parents of the first white child born in Jasper. This couple had a son, Calvin Fish, born December 22, 1807 and died August 1, 1861.
SOLDIERS OF JASPER; SUPPLEMENTAL LIST: Elijah Cornwell, a Revolutionary soldier, is buried in the Cornwell family cemetery, near Alcovy River, about -- miles west of Mechanicsville. He served in the Virginia army, under General Greene. The Cornwells came originally from Cornwall, England. Wiley Hood, soldier of the War of 1812, and in the Florida Indian War, is buried at Murder Creek Baptist Church. William Robertson, soldier in the War of 1812, and in the Florida Indian War, is buried in Rocky Creek Cemetery, in the northern part of Jasper. William G. Smith, born in Virginia, in 1787, a private in Captain William Owen’s Company, 2nd (Jenkins) Regiment, Georgia Volunteers and Militia, War of 1812, is buried in the family burial ground, near old Murder Creek Baptist Church. His father, Guy Smith, was one of the early settlers of Oglethorpe County, was a Revolutionary soldier.
John Clark, volunteer soldier in the War of 1812, served in Capt N. T. Martin’s Company, South Carolina Militia. With his family he settled in Jasper County in 1830, on the Alcovy River, a few miles from old Bethlehem Baptist Church. He died in 1870, at the advanced age of ninety years and is buried in the family graveyard at the family homestead, where he resided for forty years. He was born in North Carolina. His wife was Miss Susan Parks, of Laurens, S.C. They were the parents of eighteen children and many descendants now live in the county and in various States of the union.
THE CONFEDERATE MONUMENT. On the court-house square, in Monticello, stands a handsome granite shaft, erected to the memory of the South's heroic dead. The monument was unveiled on April 6, 1910, at which time Gen. Harrison, who commanded the troops from Jasper County during the Civil War, delivered an eloquent address as the chosen orator of the day. Hon. Harvie Jordan acted as Master of Ceremonies, and Rev. W. D. Conwell offered the prayer of invocation. Mrs. H.C.Hill, on behalf of the local U.D.C. Chapter formally presented the monument to the city of Monticello and to the County of Jasper. To this address Major O. G. Roberts responded for the Confederate veterans; Hon. E. H. Jordan, for the county and Mayor Monroe Phillips for the town. Master Leland Jordan feelingly recited a selection entitled "The Daughter of Dixie, the Preserver of the Faith," while Miss Alice Baxter, Georgia State President, U.D.C., made a most delightful talk. Thirteen little granddaughters of the Confederacy, at a given signal, drew the cord which unloosed the veil. To Mrs. Green F. Johnson, President of the Chapter, was largely due the success of the movement culminating in this splendid shaft. The purchasing committee was composed of the following members: Mr. J. J. Pope, Mrs. M. Benton, Mr. Eugene Benton, Dr. C. L. Ridley, Judge J. H. Payne, and Miss Maud Penn. The monument is a work of art. It stands thirty-two feet high and is built of finely polished granite from the quarries of Elbert County, Ga. On the east and west sides there are imported statues of Italian marble, each of which is most exquisitely carved. On the south side of the pedestal is inscribed:
"Crowns of roses fade, crowns of thorns endure.
Calvarias and crucifixions take deepest hold of humanity; the
triumphs of might are transient; they pass and are forgotten; the
sufferings of right are graven deepest on the chronicles of nations."
On the north side is seen a Confederate battle flag with the inscription:
"To the Confederate soldiers of Jasper County, the record of whose sublime self-sacrifice and undying devotion to duty in the service of their country is the proud heritage of a loyal posterity"
"In legend and lay our heroes in gray
Shall forever live over again for us"
From GEORGIA’S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS, pages 808-813.
JASPER
OLD RANDOLPH. Jasper County was first organized as Randolph, under an Act approved December 10, 1907 (this should be 1807) by Gov. Jared Irwin. But John Randolph, the great Virginian, for whom this county was first named, having become unpopular in Georgia by reason of his views on certain public measures, the name of the county was, on December 10, 1812, changed to Jasper, in honor of the gallant Sergeant Jasper, who fell mortally wounded at the Siege of Savannah .......
MONTICELLO. Most of the early settlers of Jasper County, were native Virginians. This was perhaps one among a number of very good reasons why the county was first called Randolph. It also throws an important side-light upon the naming of the county seat; Monticello, for the old home of Thomas Jefferson. The town was incorporated by an Act providing for its better regulation, on December 15, 1810, when the following commissioners were named: Richard Holmes, Henry Walker, Berkeley Morgan, James Armour, and Francis S. Martin. The old Monticello Academy was chartered in 1815, but, on December 23, 1830, the Monticello Union Academy, a more pretentious educational plant, was chartered with the following trustees: David A. Reese, Fleming Jordan, Edward Y. Hill, Moses Champion, John N. Burney, Reuben C. Shorter and Benj. F. Ward. Monticello is a thriving town, progressive and wide awake, but tempered by a fine conservatism and by a splendid loyalty to the old traditions.
Some additional facts in regard to Monticello have been furnished by a distinguished resident of the town (Judge A. S. Thurman), Says he: in 1808 a commission was appointed by the Legislature to select and purchase a site for the public buildings of the county, the site to contain two acres. The commission found a very peculiarly formed hill, a central promontory with edges radiating there from on all sides except the north side, which was a very steep bluff, descending into a ravine, and from the base of the bluff sprang several bold springs of find water. The commission also purchased about two acres of this ravine, for the use of the county, and for the preservation of these springs for the public use. Ground for the county buildings was laid off in the form of a square, and in the center was built the fire court-house, a small log structure. And this soon began to grow a village, to which was given the name of Monticello, for the home of Mr. Jefferson. With the advent of the Iron Horse, Monticello became isolated, trade going to towns along the line of the Georgia Railroad and to Macon, until 1887, when a railroad was constructed through Monticello. At once, the little village took on new life, and now has a population of 2500.
Compilation Copyright 2003-2004 by Suzanne Forte
This page was last updated on -11/10/2005