Jackson County, Georgia - Chapter 11, 1914

It was now January 1795. Except the efforts made to kidnap one of their best-loved citizens, the Talasee Colony and the inhabitants of Beadland had been free from any immediate danger, and were eminently prosperous and well contented.

They knew that the Lower Creeks were giving the citizens of Bryan, Liberty, Mcintosh, and other adjacent counties serious trouble; but as the whites under Col. Josiah Tatnall, uncle of our Josiah Strong, and for whom he was named, were constantly victorious, they had little fear that the disturbance would reach so far into the wilderness as Talasee and Snodon. Nevertheless they whetted their knives, picked their flints, kept their powder dry, and Tata Nyxter and Ocean Scupeen patrolled the country day and night. Anything that escaped the eyes of those two boys was hard to see, indeed. The people knew that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

The winter was intensely cold - colder, the oldest natives said, than they had ever known before. The ground had been covered with alternate layers of frozen rain and snow for six weeks with no prospect of an early change. Animals and birds became ravenously hungry. Panthers and wolves, troublesome at any time, were more dangerous than ever before. Hundreds of them were shot in the yards around the cabins during the day, and at night they were kept at a respectful distance by roaring fires in the chimneys and by burning pine knots outsides the houses. Sometimes even these precautions did not effect their purpose.

One night a gang of wolves being made ravenous by smelling the blood of a deer that Mr. Draper had dressed that day, broke over, to them, the mysterious circle, and rushing between the fires, besieged the house itself.

them tore away enough of the shutter with his strong teeth to admit its head, and while struggling to get its body through the opening Lion tore its throat open - his favorite way of dealing with an enemy.

The living wolves outside soon began to devour the dead ones, and when they came to the one fast in the door shutter they pulled it away and still another poked his head through the opening. Helen, whose rifle had just been discharged, split its head open with an axe. That, eventually, ended the battle as the wolves still living being gorged with the slain, retired from the field.

The cracking of bones, the lapping of blood, and the fierce growls of the monsters outside all intermingled with the sharp crack of those rifles inside and one at an unknown place, created a horrid din that words can not describe.

It was afterwards found that the firing of the unknown rifle came from the spreading branches of a tree whither Ocean Scupeen, seeing the danger to which his friends were exposed, had, at the risk of his life, climbed to help defend those he loved. At a time of great need the boy did heroic service that dreadful night.

As the body of the large wolf whose head Helen cut open was not eaten, he was supposed to be the leader of the pack, which also helps to explain the sudden termination of the attack. Had he gotten through the door others would have made desperate efforts to follow.

Such hunting droves of half-starved wolves became so common that work and travel were almost suspended and the people were compelled to give exclusive attention to their destruction. The natives throughout the country suffered more than the whites because their means of defense were not so good. Soon after the attack on the Draper home an Indian, accompanied by his squaw who was carrying her papoose, as native children were called, were followed by several wolves to Snodon. As dark came on the animals became bolder and pressed the natives so closely they were compelled to climb a tree to save themselves.

The weather was so cold that the mother's numb fingers refused to obey her will, and the child fell to the ground where it was instantly devoured. When relief reached them sometime afterwards, they were no nearly frozen they could not walk.

In 1837, when Snodon was well known as Jug Tavern, a scrubby blackjack was pointed out by an old native called Jolly Jumper, as the tree from which the Indian child fell. It stood on the north side of Hog Mountain road opposite the present residence of Mr. Wiley Bush of Winder.

From the time of the first settlement of the country to sometime about the thirties of the last century, Beech creek, because of the dense canebrakes which grew upon its margins, was called the panther's stronghold. Hence its name, Taurulaboole, which means "screaming panther." The excessively cold winter drove these animals from the canebrakes to the hills where they became dangerous.

Early one morning Loyd Upson, a little boy whose father, Jabin Upson, was a newcomer living near Mr. Draper, was seized by a panther and carried to the woods. Helen Draper, hearing the cries of the boy, took her father's heavy rifle and in her usual headlong way, hastily pursued the animal. When within from thirty to forty yards of it she gave a loud scream. The brute, doubtless thinking that another panther was following, turned to investigate the matter. As it turned an ounce ball entered its body a little behind the right shoulder and passing through imbedded itself in an oak tree which stood a few yards distant. Leaping high the animal gave a dying scream which released the boy and they fell together on the ground.

The boy scrambled away on his hands and one leg, the other being so badly torn that he could not use it. Such was Helen Draper, the touch of whose hand had been characterized as being "as soft and gentle as the whisper of an angel." And so it was when gentleness was required.

"Mother," said the boy, after he had been carried home, "she wrapped her apron around my leg while the smoke was slowly coming out of the muzzle of her gun."

The boy's wound finally healed, but he was a cripple for life. His mother afterwards made him "a-round-about" coat of the panther's skin, and one of his greatest joys was to wear it in Helen's presence and rest his head upon her knee, while she patted his red, plump cheek with her "soft and gentle hand."

In 1813, when Capt. Carnes was in Jefferson, beating for volunteers to meet the British on the Atlantic coast, Loyd Upson, then a good-looking young man, was the first to offer his services.

Being rejected because of his lameness, he took a battered bullet from his pocket, and turning it with his fingers said thoughtfully: "Perhaps it is for the best. I intended to remould this bullet and kill some redcoat with it. When Nancy Jane [meaning his rifle] speaks, she always means death. As it once saved my life it seems, after all, wrong for me to kill another with it."

The disappointed young man returned the bullet to his pocket and limped away with tears in his eyes. Two years later he was accepted as a volunteer and did valiant service in the battle of New Orleans. On the 8th of January 1815, when the battle was raging all along the lines, Gen. Jackson noticed a soldier several steps in rear of his command. He was loading and shooting as deliberately as if at a country shooting match. He wore a broadbrimmed wool hat, and every time he took aim he turned up the front part of the brim, and a man fell. "When this had been repeated several times, Jackson, overcome with admiration, approached the soldier and asked: "My brave boy, what are you doing here by yourself?"

"Well, you see. General" was the answer, "I am lame and can not keep up with the boys. So I am out here fighting on my own hook." "What is your name and where from?"

The foregoing incidents are given, not as all of the kind that occurred in the country; but to illustrate the prevailing conditions under which the pioneers of Beadland labored. Helen

Several more weeks passed after the dangerous animals had been mainly subdued by the rifle and starvation before the intense cold abated. Those which withstood the vigor of the winter best, were deer, rabbits and squirrels. This was of great benefit to the people, for though lean, they were eatable. Dear subsisted largely on moss which was found near the roots of large trees, on decaying timber and on rocks. It was said to be interesting to see them cutting ice from rocks with their sharp hoofs. Rabbits (hares) or Molly Cotton Tails, as the people called them, lived on bark, chiefly of the sassafras, laurel and alder. Squirrels dined on hickory nuts, chestnuts and acorns which they had wisely stored away during the previous autumn - a custom which they still pursue. Tell who can how a squirrel finds the proper place to dig a hole through the snow to unearth a nut which he had buried there months before.

Of all the small pests to which the people were subjected, the ground rat was the most troublesome. These little stubby-tailed rodents were very numerous, and being driven into houses in search of something to eat, made them almost uninhabitable. They even gnawed on the feet and noses of people when asleep. One which Ocean Scupeen said "had a sweet tooth in its head," took a snip from Helen Draper's lip, and the boy was wicked enough to say that he did not "blame the rat, but commended it for its good taste."

So many birds starved and froze to death that the great number then existing was never afterwards attained, some species becoming almost extinct, and a few entirely so. Turkeys and partridges, the most valuable of all, were too lean for table use, and boys sometimes killed them with sticks. A drove consisting of ten or twelve turkeys became so gentle that Helen and Mera fed and sheltered them through the winter. When warm weather came they refused to leave their kind friends and followed the girls like a shadow, and this was the beginning of domestic turkey raising in northeast Georgia.

During the coming summer, when Gov. George Matthews was making a tour of the country with a view to the organization of the then much-talked new County of Jackson, he stopped at Snodon for dinner and dined upon one of Helen and Mera's tamed turkeys because others were thought to be too poor to set before a governor.

It was so toothsome that his Excellency asked the girls to sell him a pair. They did not want to sell their pets; but being such an august purchaser, they finally consented to let him have a pair for fifteen shillings (English coin) - a very good price.

Having divided the shillings equally, Mera looked curiously at the first money she ever possessed, and really not knowing its value, at once gave it to the still suffering Loyd Upson who, as she said by way of justifying her action "was not able to help himself."

From whence came such a sentiment from a young girl of the wilderness? Her association, though brief, with Banna, Marzee and Helen, had, perhaps unconsciously implanted it in her naturally noble heart.

When the governor was ready to leave he turned to Mera, and doubtless because of her beauty and elegant figure, looked at her a long time. The girl blushed and he broke the silence by saying: "You are certainly a beautiful girl and I intend to send you a handsome sweetheart. As I am traveling on horseback I can not carry the turkeys with me; but I will send for them before long. Mino will come for them, perhaps next week. He is a very handsome young brave and has an excellent character. He is as fleet as the wind and as quick as an arrow. Should you and Mino love each other, and I think you should because you are very much alike, the Governor of Georgia will come all the way here to perform the marriage ceremony."

At the mention of "marriage ceremony" Mera suddenly ran to Helen and threw both arms around her neck, "No, sir, Mr. Governor, I'll never leave such a friend as this for any one," answered back the girl, patting Helen on the shoulder, and sealing her vow with a kiss.

The anxiously awaited "next week" came, and the handsome young brave came with it, as provided by the Governor. Handsome he was, sure enough, and sure enough he and Mera were so much alike that they would have passed anywhere as twin brother and sister. It was amusing to see them looking at each other. Mino evidently fell in love at first sight, and on the second day of his visit he resolved to ask Mera to become his wife and go with him to the silently flowing water of Salwigee (Broad) river, from whence he came. But the girl was shy and provokingly distant, always retreating to Helen like a child to its mother when among strangers. Neither Miss Draper nor her friends were willing to part with their pet without a struggle. Still her lover was so handsome and pleasant in his manners, talked English even better than Mera herself, and showed so many traits of civilization, that Helen wanted her to treat him at least with respect.

At last when the young brave had almost despaired of bringing the girl to terms of either acceptance or rejection, he sat down and leaned against a tree that grew in the Charmed Circle to brood over his condition. While sitting there Hoochlechoopah, Mera's father chanced to pass near. The young brave looked up, the man stopped, and their eyes met. Having looked at each other for a short time, the passing Indian turned suddenly and without speaking a word, retraced his steps hastily.

The young brave was astonished, and thinking the big stranger meant some harm, was at a loss to know what course to pursue, finally deciding that as the turkeys had to be carried to Gov. Matthews, it would be best for him to leave the country, at least for the present and return at some future time. Arising to carry out his resolutions, he naturally looked in the direction

*For a complete record of the settlements on Broad River, in what is now Oglethorpe and Elbert Counties, see Gov. Gilmer's "Early Settlers of Upper Georgia." - Ed.

taken by the retreating stranger. To his astonishment he saw the same man who was closely followed by a woman, approaching at a brisk run. Though a little flustered he returned to his seat and awaited the result calmly. "Look and see, Nyrulyn," said the man, as he came near. "I think," he continued with some excitement, "that the man sitting by the tree is your long-lost brother ! ' '

Nyrulyn went nearer, intently gazed into the eyes of the stranger, and going still nearer, turned up a sort of cap which he wore and passed her hand over his forehead slowly. Then she took one step backward, stood trembling for a moment, advanced, and, throwing her arms around the bewildered man, exclaimed exultingly :

"0 my long lost brother, little Adra Axter. I am your sister Nyrulyn. I know you because you are so much like our mother, and by the three-cornered scar on your forehead. I have described it many times over when trying to find you. At last ! At last ! Thank the Great Spirit ! At last ! At last ! ' '

The emotions experienced that evening were strange indeed. The newly found brother at once realized that his love for Mera must take a different direction to that for which he had so ardently hoped for a few hours before ; while she was utterly astonished to find that her relations to the handsome boy were to be about the same as if he were her brother, and that she must call him uncle. Nyrulyn was so greatly elated that she sent for her only other brother, Notha Neva, who, it will be remembered, lived on the lower waters of Sandy Creek. Tata Nyxter was the messenger, to whom that distance seemed as nothing.

Mino, whose real name was Adra Axter, was stolen from his parents when nearly three years old by a roving band of Cherokees, who, not knowing his name, called him Mino. They kept him a slave until nearly grown and sometimes used him very roughly. Finally, his proud spirit rebelled, and finding an opportunity to escape, he made good use of it. Though followed, his wonderful fleetness enabled him to escape his pursuers. While wandering over the country aimlessly, he fortunately fell into the

Tata Nyxter accompanied by his former friend, Notha Neva, soon returned to Snodon. The meeting of the brothers was very affecting, and though the resemblance was not so great as that of Nyrulyn and her daughter, they would have passed for brothers anywhere.

A short distance above the mouth of Sandy Creek there was a small lagoon or shallow lake, surrounded by a dense growth of cane, briers and other small swamp growth. On its north side was a slightly elevated plot of dry land on which stood a little hut made of poles and covered with canes and clay mortar. As a Bohuron Tata Nyxter was well acquainted with the ground, knew the purposes of the hut and the exact location of the only path that led to it. When passing on his way to Notha Neva's home in the almost interminable wilderness which lay a short distance east of the creek, he noticed that the path had been traveled recently. At first he thought it only a common occurrence -ind passed on. But knowing that the path led to the "Secret Council Chamber" of the Bohurons, the further he went the more he became convinced that in all probability something unusual was on hand. Hastening on he told his host of the discovery made, and was informed that strangers had been recently seen going towards the swamp beyond the creek on several different occasions.

Even against the advice of his friends, he resolved to investigate the matter that very night. He knew that if the strangers were Bohuron leaders, they would sleep in the hut until about midnight, and broil their meat and talk over their plans before daylight. Kesolving that if discovered he would claim the rights of the clan himself (for the use he had made of the King Phillip's arrow was still unknown to any besides the few who knew

Judging that the coast was clear, he crawled upon his hands and knees near the hut and concealed himself in a cluster of scrubby laurel that grew near the lake and between it and the hut, wisely thinking that no one would be likely to come or go in that direction.

By and by some one was heard snoring in the hut and the spy knew it was inhabited. He thought it the loudest snoring he had ever heard, and presently another, evidently annoyed at the discordant sound said snappishly : ' ' Huh ! Huh ! Huh ! Up wake ! you the country alarm!"

A long-drawn yawn was heard, and the snoring ceased. A long talk followed of which the spy barely heard enough to convince him that his suspicions were well founded. Soon, however, a light appeared in the hut, and the boy knew that meant broiling meat, and maybe, roasting an ash cake. Silently stealing near, he looked through a small opening in the wall and saw two men sitting near the fire broiling bear meat. The odor was delightful, yet he dared do nothing but look and listen.

One of the men was Wokolog, a well-known Bohuron leader, who, of all Indians, Tata Nyxter and his father most hated. The other was a stranger dressed in skin decorated with bear and eagle claws. On his head was a sort of skullcap from which protruded quite an array of fine feathers (Ostrich), of a kind the spy had never seen before. This indicated that the stranger was from a distance. Really he was a fine-looking fellow of medium size, whose features, form, dress and movements strongly reminded one of Yrtyrmyrmyrmysco.

From all that was said the stealthy listener learned that the stranger's name was Bonoaguartah, brother of the slain Bohuron chief, and that his presence in the country was to reorganize that clan and avenge the death of his brother. That as the curious arrow that killed the chief must have been furnished or used by some pale-face, any white man or woman, not even excepting the royal blooded Banna, or any Indian friendly to the whites, should be the object of their vengeance, and that they would be ready to start upon the war path at half of this moon.

As the new moon went down a little after dark that night, "at half of this moon" meant about thirteen days hence. As was afterwards learned nearly two weeks were allowed so as to give recruits expected from the low country time to arrive.

Having gained this startling information, Tata looked at the stars, and finding that daybreak was near, hastened away as he had come. Soon he and Notha Neva was on a brisk run for Snodon, which accounts for their early arrival there.

Arrangements were at once made to inform all the citizens of Beadland and of the Talasee, Fort Yargo, Thomocoggan, Yamaeutah and Groaning Rock colonies of the impending danger. The bearer of the news to each place carried a written message of which the following is a copy:

"Danger threatens. We have lots of dry powder. If necessary come help us burn it. Bearer will give particulars. Hurrah for success. Devotedly,

As the time for Mino's departure was at hand, he took affectionate leave of his relatives and their friends saying: "If danger comes Mino will be with you. He too knows how to use the cracking rifle as well as the twanging bow."

Accompanied by Notha Neva, each carrying a turkey, the brothers left Snodon with some sadness. As messengers of the people of Beadland, they went by the way of Thomocoggan, Yamacutah and Groaning Rock.

The colonists being already well provided with arms and ammunition, the next thing deemed necessary was an effective organization. They could, all told, muster a force of 98 fighting white men, and about half that number of women, many of them, perhaps all, being as heroic in case of necessity as Helen Draper herself. Besides all of them, including Nyrulyn and Mera, were dead shots, and as effective at the port hole and sometimes in the open field as any man.

After an absence of a few days which Umausauga had spent among his personal friends, he returned with 17 loyal followers, which, when added to the proscribed Indians, Umausauga, Etohautee, Tata Nyxter, Hoochleehoopah and Notha Neva made a fighting contingent of 22 friendly natives, making a total of 120 available men. Besides, if the fight continued to be a local one as was supposed, they expected valuable aid from their sister colonies.

Johnson Josiah Strong was elected Commander-in-Chief, and the white men, being divided into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd companies, Joe Lavender, Ed Damron and Abe Trent were their commanders, with the rank of Captain. Ocean Scupeen was quickly selected patrolling scout.

Umausauga was placed over the natives with Tata Nyxter patrolling scout. To complete the organization Helen Draper was elected viva voce to lead the women, with rank of Captain.

To show the spirit of that girl more fully it may be said that after her election she stepped in front and said, "All commanders-in-chief have aides. I therefore appoint Banna Mar de Vedo Strong, Marzee Marcum, and Mera Hoochleehoopah my aides-decamp. Comrades, take due notice thereof and govern yourselves accordingly, though I don't know just what that means. Hurrah for success."

"Hurrah for success," shouted all the men, and each one felt that a true Joan of Arc was among them. So far as doing anything the girl commander thought little of her shout, and less of her appointments at the time, but "Hurrah for success," became the battle cry of the colonists, and her aid did as much to achieve "success" as any other three soldiers in the field.

Note: This closes the record of the Talasee Colony, just as the "Old General" left it. Evidently, he intended following the progress of this colony "on and on and on" in their successful efforts to build homes and settle, with the help of the other colonies scattered over the county, this the garden spot of Georgia. But the grim reaper, death, cut short his labors.

With all due respect to the other settlers of the county, it must be seen, from records in our court-house, that this colony was the most influential of any in the county at that time.

As the different parts of the county were settled and the people began to get on their feet, so to speak, the Talasee section began to give way, and to swing backward for a while. Such is life. The pendulum will go from one extreme to another. To-day all sections of the county are about evenly represented in governmental affairs.

But, after all is said, the history of the Talasee people is the history of Yamacutah; and the history of Groaning Rock is, virtually that of Snodon and on through the list. Thomocoggan was as great as Stonethrow, (just over the line in Hall County, now) and Yamtrahoochee was as great as any in the list. So none of them can say "I did it" but "We did it by each other's help." - Ed.

How true is the word of God: "One generation passes away, and another generation cometh ; but the earth abideth forever. There is no remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after."

We want to tell you some things that happened when the twang of the Indian 's bowstring was heard in almost every forest, but that was not much worse than the crack of the pistol as heard in modern times. Then the rattlesnake was coiled in almost every path, the scream of the panther was heard on almost every hill, and the howl of the wolf echoed through almost every valley; but these threatenings were not one whit worse than some of the dangers that menace modern society.

Your forefathers dreamed of unrestricted liberty in the boundless forest and in the national councils as well. The modern dream is largely of ambition, and the accumulation of riches, of homage to fashion, ease and elegance, the emoluments of office and of the loudest cry calling for extraordinary privileges to a favored few.

But after all, your social gatherings like those of to-day, your intelligence and refinement, your schools and colleges, your churches and Sunday-schools, your asylums and hospitals, your home and foreign mission boards, your Bible and publishing houses, your railroads, automobiles, telegraphs, telephones, sewing machines, farming tools, cotton factories and rolling mills, are all infinitely superior to anything known one hundred years ago.

A century ! That is a long, long time. Very few of the human race live that many years. While I do not believe that the Bible fixes the limit of human life at the age of three score and ten, as David is supposed to do in the 90th Psalm, it is a well-attested fact that the majority of the race die young. While we know comparatively little of the age reached by those who lived in this county one hundred years ago, it is safe to say that none of them are living now. They all sleep in the arms of our common mother earth, and how still they lie!

They toiled hard, and met and overcame many dangers. Their hopes and aspirations were as strong as yours, but along different lines. They wrote little, but said much. As far as the record goes, and as far as legitimate conclusions can be drawn from it, a great majority of them were good, substantial people. They were as true to themselves, to their families, their neighbors, their country and their God as any who lived in that age of the world. They were pioneers: the settlers of a frontier country. Their heroic struggles to overcome the unbroken wilderness inhabited by wild beasts and wilder men are worthy of all praise. Of course they made mistakes. With the light of the present generation before them they would have done better. But with all their disadvantages, they built better than they knew. With their primitive axe and scooter plow and rifle gun they laid a glorious foundation upon which the present generation has erected a monument of which no citizen need be ashamed.

The comfortable dwellings in which good cheer and a Godgiven hospitality reign supreme, and the well cultivated farms, made picturesque by plows that cut the ground like a thing of life, and with harrows, rakes and weeders that smooth it over like a fancy flower-bed, all - all tell us that the people are prosperous and happy. May joy and contentment always be the pleasing compensations of such a noble people.

I have spent more than three-fourths of a long lifetime in close relations with the boys and girls of Jackson County. For thirty years I passed more than half my time with her noble band of school teachers.

The inspiration received from her children and the uplifting influences of her teachers have been of more benefit to me than all other earthly things combined.

It has been said by one of the most profound thinkers of the age, that, "To be less than twenty years old, and live in the beginning of the 20th century, is a greater fortune than has ever

Look well to your laurels, and live up to your great opportunities. No other generation ever had such favorable and far reaching ones. Your opportunities are already made - made for you. In no other age of the world have such great efforts been made for the education of the young as have been made for you. Your ancestors had no such opportunities. Eoman-like they had to make a way or find one, and they generally had to make it. And now to give you some idea of primitive life in this country, we will go back to the first permanent settlement made by white people within the present limits of Jackson County.

Perhaps there are comparatively few people now living in the county who know that there is such a place in it as the "TUMBLING SHOALS." For more than a generation no road, public or private, has led within sight of them ; and like most other things pertaining to the early settlement of this country by the Anglo-Saxon race, their history has never been written. They are about one mile below the well-known Hurricane Shoals, on North Oconee river, where the water goes whirling around one end of a solid rock dam built by the hand of nature, and then ripples over a series of minature falls in such a way as to seem that one wave rolls or tumbles over another. Hence the name, which comes from the Cherokee word, YAMACUTAH, signifying to tumble.

In 1784 Jordan Clark and Jacob Bankston,* two enterprising and adventurous young men, came from Virginia to Wilkes County, Georgia. There they met with a roving band of Choctaw Indians who told them of a strange old camping-ground which they called Yamacutah. They said it was located on the banks of Etoho (Oconee) river, some two days' journey towards the setting sun; that the Great Spirit once lived there; and that since his disappearance Indians sometimes went to the place to walk the paths which God once trod, and then hastened away, as He had done, without leaving a trail to show which way they went.

Having their curosity aroused, Clark and Bankston at once resolved to go and see if the Choctaws had told them the truth. Late on the afternoon of April 22, 1784, they reached a series of small shoals, which they immediately recognized as Yamaeutah, While the stream was small and the shoals modest, they were curious, and their surroundings were sublime and awe-inspiring far beyond anything known to the present inhabitants.

Trees of fabulous dimensions interlocked their ponderous branches, and the acorns and chestnuts of the previous year literally covered the ground. The glaring eyes and startling bound of the red deer, the wild chattering of a multitude of birds, and the warning signal of the rattlesnake, told the newcomers that such beings had seldom, if ever, been there before.

Distant some twenty yards, a great black bear was perched in the fork of a tree. As he moved his forepaws with the evident intention of descending, a ball from Clark's deadly rifle crashed through his head. Curious to say, as was afterwards learned, that bear's life was the first ever known to be taken at or near Yamaeutah. After a "delightful supper of broiled bear ham," as the adventurers described it, they slept by turns, through most of the night, and with the rising sun began a careful examination of their surroundings.

About seventy-five yards from the west end of the natural rock dam they discovered a curious upright statue a little over four feet high. It was made of a soft talcose rock, 13 inches square at the bottom; but the top, from the shoulders up, was a fair representation of the human figure. The shoulders were rudimentary, but the head was well formed. The neck was unduly long and slender. The chin and forehead were retreating. The eyes were finely executed, and looked anxiously to the east. It stood at the center of an earth mound (17) seventeen feet in circumference and six feet high. Around it were many other mysteries which will never be fully explained. Only a few of them may be mentioned now.

Four paths, doubtless the ones the Choctaws mentioned, led, with mathematical precision, from the base of the mound to the cardinal points of the compass. Though it seemed that no other part of the forest had been trodden by human feet, these paths were as smooth and clean as a parlor floor. The scrubby cane, which seemed to have been planted by design along their margins, was as neatly trimmed as if the work had been done by a professional gardener. And here, amid those gloomy solitudes the natives believed that our God, their Great Spirit, had walked as a man walks along his homeward pathway.

The statue was found to be the center of an exact circle about one hundred and fifty yards in diameter. Its boundary was plainly marked by holes in the ground three feet apart. The holes to which the paths ran in a straight line from the center were much larger than the intervening ones; and before them, inside the circle, were what seemed to be stone altars of varying dimensions. At the end of the path running to the north was a single triangular stone; at the east were five square stones and four steps; at the west, four stones and three steps; at the south, three stones and two steps. Upon the upper surface of all the stones except that at the north the effect of fire was plainly visible and doubtless had been used for sacrificial purposes.

All the paths terminated at the altars except the one running to the east. At this the trail parted, and, uniting beyond it, continued a short distance and then, much like an ascending column of smoke, disappeared, gradually. The account given by the Choctaws was verified. On the smooth surfaces of the stones were deeply cut both three and five-pointed half moons, whose horns turned in different ways.

Outside the circle were many ash heaps, beaten hard by the heavy hand of time, and over some of them were growing gigantic oaks and towering pines, as if to mark the grave of the dead past.

Having studied these and other features of the vicinity, the adventurers went back to their starting point with a determination to return and make a permanent settlement at Yamacutah.

For reasons already given it was considered Holy Ground: the Indians' Palestine. If on the war path, they went around it; if enemies met there they became friends as long as they remained there ; by mutual consent of all the tribes the life of neither beast or bird, nor any living thing, should ever perish there. It was ever to be a place of refuge and never to have upon it the stain of blood. The killing of the bear by Clark was the first breach of law in the Holy Ground, and led, a few years later to open hostilities between the red and white men who lived in this part of the country.

On the 20th day of the following June Clark and Bankston returned to Yamacutah and began the first permanent settlement of white people within the present limits of Jackson County. They were accompanied by John Harris, a nephew of Nancy Hart, of revolutionary fame, and who became extensively known as Black Harris. He was a skillful workman in both wood and iron, and of almost unlimited resources in strategy and cunning.

A small cabin, which at once became dwelling-house and workshop, was soon completed. Here such articles were made as seemed necessary to their simple wants. I now have a cupboard which was made by John Harris in that shop in 1785. It was made of boards split from a huge pine tree that grew ^^pon an ash heap near the eastern altar. Though one hundred and twenty-one years old, it is still solid in all its points, and no modern mechanic can excel the workmanship.

This ancient "dresser,"* as the maker called it, together with a curious cluster of pine cones* that grew upon the tree of which is was made ; an acorn* which fell from an oak that reached its ponderous branches far over the talcose statue ; and some other things, I keep as mementoes of the shadowy past. When in want of curious mental food, or a desire to leap at a single bound from the present back to the long-gone past, I look at these relics of a former age, and with the old Saxon poet who, after his failure to penetrate the future, cried out: "ROLL BACK! ROLL BACK! Oh, wheels of time, roll back ! and let me realize something of the difference between then and now."

The following year, 1785, was a memorable one. In May there same a cold wave which killed many large trees. The bird family was almost exterminated, and a large eagle, accidentally feeling the warmth of the cabin, became domesticated and remained a pet for several months, when it left wearing a bell which John Harris had fastened around its neck with his name and date engraved upon it. In 1790 this romantic bird was killed in the vicinity of Augusta. Even so large and hardy animals as wolves and panthers were found dead in the forest, and many fish were frozen in solid ice.

But the most remarkable phenomenon of that, or perhaps of any other year since the crufixion of the Son of God was the Dark Day on November 24th. It has never been explained, and the splendid illumination of the 20th century casts no light upon the cause of the darkness. Though the sun was visible all day long, and appeared to be much larger than usual, it omitted no light except such as may be seen while passing through a dense fog at night. The whole of animated nature on the Western Hemisphere was astonished on that day, and all who had ever heard of the final judgment listened in anxious expectation of hearing the longdrawn blasts of Gabriel's trumpet to wake the sleeping dead.

But only that which took place at Yamacutah concerns us now, and the tenth of that can not be told here. Even such strong and heroic men as Clark, Bankston and Harris were anxious, talked in whispers, and sat by their cabin all day. Various animals passed by in utter confusion, and several opossums and raccoons crouched near them, and though they sat with rifles across their knees, not a gun was fired the whole long day.

During the day many Indians came, and seating themselves around the mystic circle, gazed steadfastly towards the central figure. This they continued all day, and perhaps all night; for when next morning they saw the sun rise bright and golden as ever, they arose as one man, went inside the circle, and solemnly walking along the path to a step as regular as the beating of a

This was the last time this curious performance ever took place at the Tumbling Shoals, or anywhere else so far as I ever heard. What did it mean ? Was there any more in it than a mere heathen ceremony ?

In the early part of 1787 the little settlement was increased by the arrival of an important family consisting of Dale Clover, Mrs. Mary Clover, and their two children. Flora, a daughter four years old, and Egbert, a litle boy just beginning to walk. They came directly from Virginia by request of Clark and Bankston, who were near relatives of the Clover family.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Clover were educated and refined. The latter was very beautiful, and her little daughter even more so. Clark, Bankston, Harris and Clover were revolutionary soldiers, were Free and Accepted Masons, members of the Baptist church, and after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, shook hands with George Washington for the last time. Who is not proud to live in a county first trod by such men?

The population of Tumbling Shoals and vicinity had been increased to 42 men, women and children. Among them were Jared Cunningham, James Montgomery and Dr. Henry Therrauld. Cunningham settled at Hurricane Shoals, and one of our districts was named after his son, John.

Just here one of the strangest romances known to real life might be unearthed by the professional writer. Montgomery afterwards moved to where Cabin Creek church now stands, and building the first cabin there both the creek and church built near it took that name.

Dr. Therrauld was an extraordinary man and his life would fill a volume of thrilling interest. He administered the first professional dose of medicine ever taken by a citizen of Jefferson, The patient was Mrs. Thomas Jett. He helped to build the first Baptist church organized in the county, and preached the first sermon delivered there. The church was called "Etoho, " but was changed to Oconee, and stood some two miles east of the present Oconee church.

Several good, substantial dwelling-houses, a strong fort, a small grist mill, a successful iron furnace and a school house had been built at Yamtrahoochee (Hurricane Shoals). The first school in the county was taught here by our same Dr. Therrauld, with a maximum number of ten pupils.

Iron ore for the foundry was digged from the mines near the present city of Commerce, and from near Dry Pond, where many tons were taken and carried to be smelted at the Shoals.

Fragments of pots, ovens and skillets were thick around the old site until 1840, when the great Harrison flood, as the big rain was called, swept away almost every vestige of its former life. Then work had to start anew. The old furnace was kept in operation as late as the sixties, during the civil war.

Trou'ble with the Indians had been brewing for some time and open hostilities began in 1801, with varying results until the gage of battle was decided in favor of the white people, but at the fearful cost of Dr. Therrauld 's life - a loss as great as Jackson County ever felt. In these conflicts Clark, Bankston, Harris, Clover, Cunningham, Montgomery and Therrauld always composed the front rank.

Only a few incidents may be given. One afternoon when most of the men were at work in a corn field, with their rifles hanging down their backs in deer-skin pouches made for the purpose, little Egbert Clover, who had left the fort unobserved, was violently seized by a painted Indian warrior. His mother who was an expert with the rifle ran out at the only door, and just as she saw her little boy's brains dashed out against a large rock, she fired and the Indian fell dead.

John Harris made a razor strop of skin taken from that Indian's back, and many razors were afterwards sharpened on it. This is a grim feature of the times; but remember what Sherman said about war.

Only a short time after this sad event, Flora Clover, sister of little Egbert, and Susan Bingham, the 13-year-old daughter of Hiram Bingham, mysteriously disappeared from home. For six long, painful weeks, every possible effort was made to discover them ; but without avail. When all hope was well-nigh gone, a man of gigantic proportions was seen approaching the fort with a white handkerchief streaming from the muzzle of a long rifle, and another covering the lower part of his face. Finding that he was seen, he deliberately placed the paper under a flat rock and went away as he had come, with a bold, lordly step. The paper, written in elegant style, read as follows :

"A little after dark to-night, leave the key in the lower door of the furnace, and about 12 you may find Flora and Susan inside. Place an invisible guard. ALISCO."

The anxiety of the evening was great beyond description. The instructions given were strictly followed. About 1 o'clock that night, the huge form of a giant leading two girls approached the door, the great key made by John Harris turned in the lock, the girls were gently lifted inside, the door silently closed, and the giant disappeared in the deep shade of the trees. A few minutes more and Flora Clover and Susan Bingham were in their father's arms. There was joy at Yamacutah that night.

In the meantime, other settlements had been made in the territory. At Stonethrow, now Gillsville, were 43 settlers ; at Groaning Rock 47 ; at Talasee, afterwards Clarksboro, were 51 ; at Thomocoggan and vicinity 63 ; Yamacutah 42, and at places settled by families, 104, making the population of the county at the time of its organization 350 white people.

In 1795, the year before Jackson County was organized, there died near where Berea church is, a man by the name of Patrick Shaddon, the grandfather of Mrs. John Jacobus Flournoy* of local celebrity.

A part of Shaddon 's estate was a well-grown ox that ran through the woods as wild as a buck. Somehow, this ox, or Shaddon's steer, as he was called, became public property. Though he ran like a race horse and jumped over fences like a deer, he was finally captured and broken to harness by a famous Indian whose

*John Jacobus Flournoy was a deaf mute and was a man of means. He knew the handicap under which the "deaf and dumb" have to live. He, therefore, set to work for state aid for the unfortunates that had not the money to attend schools in the North. He was largely instrumental in establishing the school for special instruction at Cave Spring. - Ed.

name was Anaxieorn, The strange feature about the matter was that while in harness and at work he was entirely gentle and docile ; but as soon as turned loose he ran away at full speed as wild as he ever was, and as difficult to capture. It became a custom that whoever caught the Shaddon steer was at liberty to work him one week, but must then turn him loose.

On one occasion he was chased by men on horseback as far as the vicinity of Jefferson, William T. Brantly, a young man then living at Thomocoggan, and who could throw a lasso as well as a Mexican ranchero, joined in the chase and soon captured the prize with his unerring rope. As soon as the ox found that his foreleg was hampered he submitted without a struggle. He was his captor's property for six days, and the first plowing ever done in Jefferson territory was during the next day when Mr, Brantly plowed the public square with the Shaddon steer.

About this time most of the citizens living within the original boundary of Jackson, but then known as Franklin County, assembled at Thomocoggan to consider various public measures. This was the first step taken towards organizing a new county, but they failed to agree upon any other name than a general one, "THE WHITE MAN'S CONFERERACY. " It retained this distinctive title for many years after the county was organized.

Also, about this time, the "Confederacy," in common with other parts of the world, was visited by the "JERKS," a queer disease, if a disease at all, and in this part of the country was called, "The Move-a-Diddles." People sitting or standing quietly at work were seen to jump suddenly, sometimes as far as five or six feet at a single bound, while every muscle in them would jerk and twist in fearful contortions for some ten or fifteen minutes. Then the whole body became rigid and was incapable of motion for about the same length of time. This was followed by a dull stupor that sometimes continued for several hours, and, as a good old lady of the times said, made her feel "like she had the jimjams." As I do not know how the jim-jams feel, I can not give any further description.

two children in each family, both girls being about 17 or 18 years old, and the boys about half grown. They were all unusually bright and intelligent, and the girls unusually beautiful. One day Matthew, the son of Thomas Groves, suddenly became sick when his mother was absent. Having lain as if asleep for a few minutes, he opened his eyes and told his sister Lucy that he was dying, and that his cousin, Nellie, the daughter of George Groves, was dying also. He then closed his eyes and said :

It was soon found that Nellie Groves had expired in about the same way. They were buried in one grave, each with Bible and prayer book as directed by Matthew's last words.

For a long time Lucy Groves was silent and moody. She in some mysterious way became both Nellie and Lucy Groves. She often went to her Uncle George's house and did work just as Nellie had planned it before her death. A finger ring and some other articles that could not be found by the family were produced by Lucy upon a moment's notice. Even the secrets between Nellie and the young man to whom she was engaged to be married, were well known to Lucy in every particular. Some said they ought to marry and they did marry, though Lucy said she never loved him till after Nellie's death.

Other instances of this kind have been known in the history of the human race; but it is a psychological phenomenon that, so far as I know, is not understood.

The first county site of Jackson was at Clarksboro about one mile north from Talasee Shoals ; but the cutting off of Clarke made it necessary to move our capital nearer the center of the county, and a committee composed of George Wilson,* James

Pittman and Josiah Easley selected the place, not because it was surrounded by a broad, extended plain ; but because it was, and still is, as near the center of the county as they could determine ; because that four bubbling springs poured forth as many fountains of pure, crystal, life-giving water; and because it washed its face every time it rained. They named the place Jefferson,* after Thomas Jefferson of Virginia,

When Xerxes marshaled his vast army on the banks of the Hellespont, he wept because of all that great multitude not one man would be living 100 years hence. And well might Xerxes weep ! He had visited only the tomb of Adam ; and not one ray of light came from its dark, mysterious depths. We have visited the tomb of Jesus - the open, not closed sepulchre of a crucified Redeemer, and it is radiant with light and glory - have almost heard the angelic anthem that rolled over the plains of Bethlehem, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth, peace; good will towards men."

Oh, Jefferson ! Jefferson ! Standing almost alone among the red hills of Georgia where no great thoroughfare, teeming with busy life and great purposes ever passes by, what have you done? Surrounded on every side by working, pushing, wide-awake rivals, where lightnings flash from hill to hill, and thunders roar along their winding valleys, what have you done? Listen not in echo, for the answer.

*It is a very difficult matter to determine just when Jefferson was made the seat of county affairs. In 1799 the courts were held in Kirkpatrick's house, but does not say where this gentleman's house was. In 1802 the court met in the court-house. But where? In 1804 they were using a courthouse, according to the records. But where? The records show that the court was held in the court-house at Jefferson in 1805. The Acts of the General Assembly state that a committee was appointed to select a place for the court-house, and at the next session that act would be repealed and another committee appointed.

It is almost certain, however, that Jefferson was considered the county site as early as 1803, and in the year 1806 an Act was approved "Making Jefferson the permanent place for the court-house and for holding the courts, ' ' - Ed.

Most of the potentates of Europe, and all the learned physicians and scientists of the world have desired to visit Jefferson, and many have written about it. In Bristol, England, there is published a medical journal called "The Jeffersonian, " not for Jefferson, the politician ; but for our Jefferson, the mitigator of pain and suffering.

It is because that here Dr. Crawford W. Long discovered the anaesthetic properties of sulphuric ether ! And Jefferson was immortal! Go to the blood-red battlefields of America, Europe, Africa and Asia, look at the great hecatomb of amputated limbs of wounded soldiers, and the surgeons will tell you that all of this was done without pain.

Go to the hospital where every breeze is laden with the groans of the suffering, and ask the nurses who flit from couch to couch like angels of mercy, who is the greatest and best loved doctor there and, as if by one voice, will come the answer - CRAWFORD LONG OF JEFFERSON !

Those of us who have heard his gentle step in the sick room, seen his beaming smile, and almost effeminate features, and know the sterling worth of his character as a high-toned, Christian gentleman, love to join in with the loud acclaim - All honor to Dr. Crawford W. Long and to Jefferson, from whence he first started on his glorious mission of mercy.

And other great and good men have lived there. High on the roll of honor is the well-known name of "WILLIAM DUNCAN MARTIN." Tennyson has well said that, "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die."

This is also true, and William D. Martin wears a crown to-day, and it is set with many glitering diamonds whose brilliancy will never grow less. His crown is Martin Institute. The jewels which sparkle in it are the great number who have entered its doors as pupils. They represent almost every phase of noble life known to human endeavor. To many lands they have carried glad tidings from Jefferson.