In 1874 when Mercer Association missionary Reverend J. D. Evans came to Ray’s Mill, Thomas M. Ray was deeply moved by the Baptist’s message. Evans and Ray were both Confederate veterans and US Census records prior to the Civil War enumerated them as “slave owners”.
During the Civil War, Evans had been Captain of the Berrien Light Infantry until he deserted in the summer of 1863. After the war Evans took up the gospel as a layman. In 1871 he organized a Sunday School at a log house near Morven, GA and was a founding member of Philadelphia Church there. Shortly afterwards he was ordained by Philadelphia Church and took up missionary work helping to found a number of Wiregrass Baptist churches. In 1874 this work brought him to Ray’s Mill.
At first the Missionary Baptist church meetings were held in the old log schoolhouse and big revivals that were held at Ray’s Mill in May and July 1874. Thomas M. Ray must have attended the events for he became instrumental in the formation of a Baptist Church at Ray’s Mill (see Men at Beaver Dam Baptist Church.) On September 20, 1874, a small group of followers met with Reverend J. D. Evans at the home of Thomas and Mary Ray to organize the church. Thomas M. Ray and David J. McGee were elected to represent the new church to the Mercer Baptist Association and were sent as messengers to the Valdosta Church. The Reverend J. D. Evans wrote a petitionary letter which they carried to the association. In November 1874 Thomas M. Ray was appointed to a church building committee along with James M. Baskin and David J. McGee. Ray served on the committed that selected and procured the site for the construction of the church building; He continued to serve on the building committee until his death.
The original wooden church building at Beaver Dam was constructed by William A. Bridges and James M. Baskin (see Baskin Family Helped Found Ray City Baptist Church). Construction began in January of 1875. Baskin and Bridges hand hewed the timbers to frame the church. Sawn lumber was purchased but had to be dressed by hand. The building was finished with windows and siding. The pulpit, table and pews were all built on site. J. M. Baskin made the doors himself.
Pastors of Ray City Baptist Church
John D. Evans 1874-1875 William E. Morris 1875-1876 George M. Troupe Wilson 1876-1876 John D. Evans 1876-1878 T. W. Powell 1878-1880 William Adolphus Pardee 1884-1887 John D. Evans 1887-1889 William Henry Dent 1890-1898 Malcolm Augustus Grace 1898-1900 J. L. Milner 1900-1901 H. C. Strong 1901-1903 W. J. Odom 1903-1903 W. J. Ballew 1903-1903 A. J. Gross 1905-1906 E. L. Todd 1906-1913 Perry Thomas Knight 1913-1917 M. L. Lawson 1917-1917 N. C. Wilkes 1917-1918 Clayton Samuel Yawn 1918-1921 W. Harvey Wages 1921-1922 J. C. Moore 1924—1925 A. W. Smith 1925-1925 Walter Branch 1925-1935 Carl W. Minor 1936-1937 C. Schwall 1937-1940 John W. Harrell 1941-1945 P. T. Peavy 1945-1945 John W. Harrell 1946-1953 Claude Tuten 1954-1958 C. C. Lynch 1959-1962 J. Ray Allen 1962-1963 Bob M. Brown 1964-1967 Allen Bates 1967-1972 Wiley Vickers 1973-1977 Dr. William Rathburn 1978-1990 Lee Graham 1990-2006 John E. Patten 2006 –
Nathan W. Byrd was one of the mail carriers for the post offices of Old Berrien County, GA. He carried mail on the postal route between Nashville, GA and Milltown (now Lakeland, GA) in the period after the Civil War. This road from Lastinger Mills at Milltown to the county seat at Nashville was one of the first public roads built in Berrien County. The route passed by the residences of Isben Giddens, Levi J. Knight, and John M. Futch, among others residing in the vicinity of Ray’s Mill, GA.
In 1875 Nathan W. Byrd was awarded the contract to carry mail between Nashville, GA and Alapaha, GA, 13 miles and back, three times a week. The trip was a four hour ride each way.
The 1876 records of the U.S. Congress show in that year Nathan W. Byrd also put in a bid to carry the mail on the route from Nashville, GA to Allapaha, GA.
1876 mail routes, Berrien County, GA
The route was awarded to William J. Nelson of Allapaha, who was contracted to provide the mail service, three round trips a week, for $190 per year. That sum would equate to about $49,300 in comparative 2013 dollars.
Nathan W. Byrd was born October 6, 1808, and raised in Sampson County, North Carolina. He was the only child of Robert Byrd and his second wife, Elizabeth Gulley. Nathan’s father, Robert Byrd, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War who served with the North Carolina militia from about 1777 to 1780. Nathan’s maternal grandfather, William S. Gulley was also a soldier of the Revolutionary War.
As a young man, Nathan Byrd came to Georgia where he met Ellen Gay, of Alabama. On January 24, 1834, the 25-year-old Nathan W. Byrd married Ellen Gay, age 16 and the couple made their home in Stewart County, GA.
Marriage license of Nathan W. Byrd and Eleanor L. B. Gay. August 14, 1834, Stewart County, GA.
Georgia, Stewart County I do certify that Nathan W. Byrd and Eleanor L. B. Gay were duly joined in Matrimony by me this 14th day of August 1834 James S. Lunsford, M.G. Recorded this 22nd day of August 1834 Thomas M. Dennis, Clk
The following year their first child was born, James Byrd, but the child died in infancy. A daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born to the couple in 1837, and in 1839 a second daughter, Martha, was delivered. The following year their son, William Byrd, was born. By 1840, the Byrds had moved to Houston County, GA where they appear in the census of that year, along with their three children.
Over the next decade, the couple added three more daughters to their growing family; Sarah (1843), Ellen (1846), and Susan Catherine (b. 1848). The Census of 1850 found them still living in Houston County. Nathan was a farmer with $2000 in real estate. At age 40, with four daughters and only one son, William, age 9, to help with farm labor, Nathan would have found it tough going. But the Slave Inhabitant Schedule in the 1850 Census shows that he owned three slaves.
Also enumerated in 1850 living in the Byrd household was 22-year-old William Gay, farmer. A search of the available records has failed to disclose the exact relation of William Gay, but it seems most likely that he is the younger brother of Ellen Gay Byrd. The parents of Ellen or William Gay are not known, the only clue to their origins being Huxford’s assertion that Ellen Gay was “of Alabama.”
In 1850, Nathan W. Byrd was a member of the Southern Rights Party of Houston County, a party dedicated to repelling “the efforts of the North…to interfere with [Southern men’s] rights in slave property.” At that time there was grave sectional contention over the future of slavery in this country. In September of that year, the United States Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, a package of five separate bills which defused the political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–American War.
Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865.
Each county was to select delegates to this convention. In Houston County, Nathan W. Byrd was appointed as an elector to nominate four Houston County delegates to the convention. In Berrien County, one of the candidates for convention delegates was Levi J. Knight, original settler at Ray City, GA. Levi J. Knight was a pro-Union man and lost out to candidates who favored secession.
The State Convention met at Milledgeville, on the 10th of December 1850 “for the purpose of taking into consideration the many aggressive measures persisted in by the North upon the institutions of the Southern States, and as far as possible and consistent with the provisions of the Federal Constitution, to redress past wrongs and insure sufficient protection for the future.“
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The Compromise of 1850, dealing with territory acquired during the Mexican War, had numerous critics despite its passage by Congress. Southerners were upset by the admittance of California as a free state, which gave free states a majority of votes in the U.S. Senate. Northerners protested the inclusion of a tough Fugitive Slave Act, designed to appease Southerners. Several Southern states, including Georgia, had highly vocal secessionist movements calling for immediate secession. The Georgia General Assembly authorized a call for a state convention to determine the state’s course. Howell Cobb, Alexander H. Stephens, and Robert Toombs, who represented Georgia in Congress, wielded their influence in Georgia in support of the Compromise. Of the 264 delegates elected to the special convention in November 1850, 240 were Unionists. A Committee of Thirty-three drafted a response, pages 14-26, adopted by a vote of 237 to 19. In it, Georgia gave a qualified endorsement to the Compromise so long as the North complied with the Fugitive Slave Act and ceased to attempt to ban the expansion of slavery into new territories and states. – Georgia Archives
The outcome of this 1850 Georgia Convention was a statement known as the Georgia Platform.
Supported by Unionists, the Georgia Platform affirmed the acceptance of the Compromise as a final resolution of the sectional slavery issues while declaring that no further assaults on Southern rights by the North would be acceptable. The Platform had political significance throughout the South. In the short term it was an effective antidote to secession, but in the long run it contributed to sectional solidarity and the demise of the Second Party System in the South.
Nathan W. Byrd served as a Grand Juror on the November 1853 term of the Houston County Superior Court.
Up to about 1854, the Byrds continued in Houston County with two more daughters added to the family; Caroline (1851), and Annie (1854). In February 1854 the Georgia General Assembly passed an Act creating Coffee County from portions of Clinch, Irwin, Telfair, and Ware counties. Seeking opportunity in the newly created county, Nathan Byrd relocated his family. Records show he served as a Grand Juror in Coffee County for the June term, 1854. Sometime before the 1860 census, William Gay left the Byrd household, or perhaps he remained behind when the family moved from Houston County. In Coffee County, a final child was born to Nathan and Ellen Byrd, a daughter, Eliza, born 1857.
When Douglas, GA was founded in 1855 as the seat of Coffee County, the Byrds were one of the first families in the new town. For a few years they operated a boarding house at Douglas. Perhaps the location was not conducive, or perhaps the looming war held back development, but the town was slow to develop. “From 1854, when Coffee County was created, until the 1880s, only a white frame courthouse, a hotel, a store or two, and a few houses occupied the site in the middle of the piney woods.”
National Archive records of Appointments of Postmasters show on October 34, 1856, Nathan W. Byrd was appointed postmaster at Byrd’s Mills, GA. In those days shortly after the creation of Coffee County, the only other post offices in the county were at Douglas, Ocmulgeeville, and Red Bluff. Nathan Byrd was succeeded as postmaster by James W. Overstreet on October 13, 1857.
On January 8, 1857, Nathan and Ellen’s eldest daughter, Mary Elizabeth Byrd, then 19, married Littleton L. Albritton in Berrien County, GA. He was a brother of Matthew H. Albritton. It was her second marriage; her first husband was a man named Mobley. Mary Elizabeth and Littleton Albritton were enumerated in Nashville, Berrien County, GA in the Census of 1860. Nathan Byrd and family were enumerated still living in Coffee County, in the vicinity of Bird’s Mill, GA.
The 1860 Gazetteer of Georgia describes Bird’s Mill as a post office and small village, one of only five towns in all of Coffee County. By this time daughter Martha had also left home. Their son, William Byrd, now 19, was working as a schoolteacher. Nathan Byrd owned $2000 in real estate and $3490 in personal estate. The Slave Inhabitant schedule in the Census of 1860 shows he owned three enslaved people, a 24-year-old black woman, a 3-year-old mixed-race boy, and a 3-month-old girl. In 2009 dollars his comparative net worth would have been about $1.85 million dollars.
According to Huxford, the Byrd family moved to Clinch County in 1861 and made their home at the community of Guest Mill. Little information is available about the historic community of Guest Mill. The location of “Guest” is shown on the U.S. Coast Survey Map of 1865, about nine or ten miles due east of Homerville, GA. The Guest Millpond Dam is drawn on the modern United States Geological Service (USGS) Sandy Bottom Topo map. Guest Millpond Dam is located in northern Clinch County, GA in the 1061st Georgia Militia District. The dam is located at the latitude and longitude coordinates of 31.1949275 and -82.8606999.
Guest Millpond, GA constructed by Duncan Giddens in 1840 and enlarged by Miles J. Guest in 1858. Nathan Byrd and his family lived in this community in the early 1860s.
Guest Mill Pond Historic Marker. Site of ante-bellum trading post. Dam constructed in 1840 by Duncan Giddens; acquired by Miles J. Guest.1858, and enlarged by him. Water power used for grist mill and gin. Election precinct.1850-1920; Justice of Peace Court held here for area now Clinch, Atkinson and Coffee counties. East one-quarter mile is Guest Mill Pond Cemetery where Lewis Sanders Nobles, Revolutionary soldier, died 1856, aged 96, is buried. John Williams, C.S.A., was killed by a deserter near here in 1864. Image source: David Seibert
Nathan W Byrd was enrolled in the militia of the 1061st GMD in 1861, and in 1864 he was enumerated there in the Census for Reorganization of the Georgia Militia. He was 55 years old and occupied in farming. Among his neighbors enumerated in the 1864 census was Miles J. Guest.
Around the end of the Civil War, Nathan Byrd moved his family across the Alapaha River about 25 miles southwest to Nashville, GA where his daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, Littleton Albritton, were residing. Huxford’s sketch details, “there Mr. Byrd bought a tract of land within the present limits of the town but at that time outside of town. He farmed there and also carried the mails between Nashville and Milltown (Lakeland) for some years.”
In the Census of 1870, Nathan and Ellen Byrd, were living in the 1157th Georgia Militia District, centered on Nashville, GA. Like other men of antebellum wealth in Berrien County, Nathan Byrd had lost most of his net worth after the war. By 1870 Byrd’s assets amounted to just 12 percent of their pre-war value, but he still had a farm. The 1870 Agriculture Census shows the Byrds were living on 30 acres of land, with three acres improved and the rest in woodlands. The farm was valued at $250 with $10 worth of farm equipment. Byrd owned one horse, two dairy cows and five other cattle, 15 sheep and 15 hogs. All together his livestock was valued at $273. He had 50 bushels of corn, 75 bushels of oats, and 150 bushels of sweet potatoes on hand. He had 60 pound of butter, 110 pounds of honey and 10 pounds of wax. His farm products included two bales of cotton, 400 pounds each, and 34 pounds of wool. The value of “home manufactures” was $106 and the value of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter was $114. The total value of all farm production including betterments and addition to stock was $682. Nathan Byrd was now 61 years old, still supporting his wife and two minor children.
The 1878 Berrien County tax records show Nathan W. Byrd owned 30 acres of land on Lot 190 in the tenth land district. This lot was on the east of Nashville.
The 1879 records show his neighbors included: John D. Calhoun on Lot 189; Daniel McCranie on parts of 190 and 225; and Levi Sapp on Lot 191; Thomas Asa Baker and his wife Nancy Griner Baker on parts of 191 and 192. Jane Ivey held an additional 90 acres of Lot 190.
This land was valued at $165 in land and $25 in “town property”. He owned $50 in household furnishings, $47 in livestock, and $15 in other property.
Nathan W. Byrd died at his home January 5, 1881. Mrs. Byrd died March 17, 1901.
Henry Harrison Knight with wife Mary Susan Ray and their son Levi Jackson Knight circa 1896. The Knight home was at Ray City, GA. Image detail courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com
Henry Harrison Knight, author of the original city charter of Nashville, GA, was a resident of Ray City. He served in the state Legislature as Representative of Berrien County and as a member of the Board of County Commissioners through several terms. In 1885, The Official Register of the United States listed H.H. Knight as Postmaster of “Ray’s Mills”, Berrien County, Georgia.
As a part of the Bicentennial Celebration in Nashville on the 4th of July, 1976, his grandson, Jack Knight, presented Nashville Mayor Bobby Carroll with a copy of the charter.
Copy of original city charter presented by Jack Knight to the mayor of Nashville, GA July 4, 1976
Nashville Herald July 8, 1976
Copy Original City Charter Presented by W. D. Knight
A highlight of the bicentennial festivities in Nashville Sunday, July 4, was a presentation of a copy of the original city charter from W. D. ‘Jack’ Knight. The charter was drawn up by H. H. ‘Henry’ Knight of Ray City, father of E. M. ‘Hun’ Knight, and grandfather of Jack. He served as representative from Berrien County in 1892-93. Passed in 1892 and signed by the governor on Dec. 20 of that same year, the charter stated the city limits extended one-half mile in all directions from the courthouse. Also. W. L. Swindle was elected the first mayor, along with five councilmen. Mr. Knight, who was born in 1840, owned one of the first stores in Ray City, and served as commissioner of Berrien County for three years. He also served in the Confederate Army where he was wounded on two different occasions. Mr. Knight was married to the daughter of T. M. Ray for whom Ray City was named. He died in 1899 and is buried with his wife in Beaver Dam Cemetery in Ray City.
WD Knight presents Nashville, GA City Charter to Mayor Bobby Carroll during Bicentennial Celebration, July 4, 1976. Image courtesy of www,berriencountyga.com
Ray’s Mill Founders Day, November 7, 1863 Ray City, Berrien County, GA
The gristmill at Beaverdam Creek commenced operation on November 7, 1863. Then known as Knight & Ray’s Mill, the construction was a collaboration between Thomas M. Ray and his father-in-law, Levi J. Knight.
1978 photograph of Ray’s Mill, Ray City, GA. Kids used roof of Ray’s Mill to slide into pond.
About 1863, Thomas M. Ray and Levi J. Knight observed that pioneers had settled southern Berrien County, GA to the extent that the establishment of a grist mill to serve the local community was warranted. With the assistance of slave labor, an earthen dam and concrete spillway was constructed to impound a millpond on the swampy headwaters of Beaverdam Creek. The mill house itself was constructed from the local timber; “The ceiling rafters were hand hewed and wood pegs were used instead of nails.”
Ray’s Mill, Ray City, Berrien County, GA
On November 7, 1863 Mr. Ray began operation of the mill, then known as Knight & Ray’s Mill. Powered by water from the pond, the mill could grind meal and hominy grits from corn.
The old mill hopper and mill rock at Ray’s Mill. Image source: Colquitt Electric Membership Newsletter (full article available at http://www.southermatters.com
Ray’s Mill was the first commercial enterprise of historic Ray City. At one time the mill was the central gathering place of this part of Berrien County, as men would take their corn there to be ground. “People would travel for miles by horsedrawn wagons to have several months supply of meal or grits ground for their family. This generally resulted in a a outing for the whole family.”
As Ray’s Mill was the best known landmark of the immediate vicinity, the growing community became known by that name also. The area’s first postal station was established as early as 1863. The 1864 Census for the Reorganization of the Georgia Militia shows that AK Harmon was then serving as a postmaster for the 1144th Georgia Militia District, which was centered on Ray’s Mill.
The location of the mill also became the site of the community’s first post office. In 1885, The Official Register of the United States listed H.H. Knight as Post Master of “Ray’s Mills”, Berrien County, Georgia. By 1886, The Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal reported that the community had a doctor, serving a population of 150 people. During the decade of the 1890’s Berrien county was one of the top ten fastest growing counties in Georgia. In the late 1890s and early 1900s David Rigell operated a general merchandise store located near the old mill. Rigell’s merchantile may have been only the second retail establishment at Ray’s Mill (now Ray City), although it is often incorrectly cited as the first.
The grist mill ceased operation in 1954 after 91 years of operation. Even though the town was incorporated as Ray City in 1909, it was still being marked on maps as Rays Mill as late as 1952.
The millhouse has since been torn down, but Rays Millpond remains as one of the eduring landmarks of Ray City, GA.
An old news photo showing remants of original equipment at Ray’s Mill.
Bessie was a daughter of Noah Webster Griffin and Lillian Melissa Knight, a granddaughter of William Washington Knight, and a great granddaughter of Levi J. Knight, and of Jesse Carroll, both pioneer settlers of the Ray City, GA area. Her parents grew up in the 1144 Georgia Militia District (Rays Mill District).
Bessie was born August 11, 1883. Tax records at that time show her father owned 175 acres on Lot #371, 10th Land District, Berrien County, GA, increased to 245 acres in 1884. The Griffin farm was in the Connells Mill district (Georgia Militia District 1329), just west of the Rays Mill community (now Ray City, GA), although at that time, the community of Ray’s Mill consisted of little more than the grist mill built by Thomas M. Ray and Levi J. Knight, and the store owned by Henry H. Knight.
Bessie’s early childhood, from 1883 through 1890, was spent on her father’s farm on the same Lot #371. Tax records of 1890 show Guilford I. Parrish, Molcie Parrish – wife of Elder Ansel Parrish, James W. Parrish, John S. Carter, Joel J. Carter, James P. Devane, Millard F. Devane, Georgia R. Devane, William E. Fountain Jr, John Webb, Thomas W. Ray, William W. Knight, Sovin J. Knight, and Matthew H. Albritton were among their neighbors.
Apparently, the Griffin’s moved to the Lower Fork district of Lowndes county (Georgia Militia District 658) before the birth of Bessie’s brother, Lester Griffin, in 1890.
Bessie Griffin married Joseph S. Bazemore on December 20, 1899, in Lowndes County, GA. The bride was sixteen; the groom was a 29-year-old farmer. Joseph Salem Bazemore was born March 10, 1870 at Hazlehurst, GA. He was a son of James J. Bazemore (1853-1893) and Mary Elizabeth McIntyre (1848-1924).
Marriage Certificate of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, December 20, 1899, Lowndes County, GA.
Bessie and Joseph were married by William W. Wilkinson, Justice of the Peace. In the 1850s, Wilkinson had been a neighbor of Jesse Carroll and of William J. Lamb (see (Bazemore-Griffin Wedding 1899.
Bazemore-Griffin Wedding, Dec 20, 1899, Lowndes County, GA. Image courtesy of Jim Griffin.
In 1900, the newlyweds were renting a farm in Lowndes County, in the Lower Fork District No. 658, next to the farm of Bessie’s widowed mother. Boarding with them and working as a farm laborer was William J. Lamb, and his wife Mary Carrol Knight Lamb. Among the neighbors were David and Rachel Passmore and their children.
1900 census enumeration of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, Lower Fork District, Lowndes County, GA.
By the census of 1910, Bessie and Joe Bazemore had moved to the Hazlehurst, GA area, Georgia Militia District #1364. Their place was on “Rural Route Road #1” near where it intersected with Graham & Smith Landing Road. Joe’s brother, Captain Bazemore, and his wife Ida were living next door.
1910 census enumeration of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, Hazlehurst, Jeff Davis County, GA.
Grave marker of John Gaskins (1802-1865), Riverside Cemetery, Berrien County, GA
John Gaskins was one of the early pioneers of Berrien County, settling along with his father, Fisher Gaskins, and brothers near present day Bannockburn, GA. They made their homes on the west side of the Alapaha River about 16 miles distant from today’s Ray City, GA location, settling there about the same time the Knights and Clements were homesteading in the area around Beaverdam Creek.
John Gaskins was born June 29, 1802 in Warren County, GA. He was the eldest child of Fisher Gaskins and Rhoda Rowe, and a grandson of Thomas Gaskins, Revolutionary Soldier. When John was around four or five years old, his parents and grandparents moved the family back to Beaufort District, South Carolina, from whence they had originated. The family appears there in Beaufort District in the Census of 1810. By the time of the 1810 enumeration, John Gaskins’ parents had given him four siblings – two brothers and two sisters.
But immediately following the birth of her fifth child, John’s mother died. He was eight years old at the time. His widowed father packed up the five young children and moved the family back to Warren County, GA. There, on January 17, 1811 his father married Mary Lacy. Her father, Archibald Lacy, was also a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and her brother was the Reverend John B. Lacy, who would later become a prominent Primitive Baptist Minister. Around this time John’s father was expanding his livestock business and began looking for good grazing land for his growing herds of cattle.
By 1812, John Gaskins’ father moved the family to Telfair County, GA where he acquired good grazing land for his cattle. His father and his uncle, David Gaskins, were very successful in the cattle business and soon had large herds, not only in Telfair County where they were enumerated in 1820, but also in Walton and other surrounding counties where good natural pasturage could be had.
Around 1821, the Gaskins again moved their families and cattle herds to the south, crossing the Ocmulgee River at Mobley’s Bluff and pushing into the new frontier of Appling County,GA. John, now a young man of 17 or 18 years old, made the move with his family. His uncle, David Gaskins, halted in an area of Appling County known as “The Roundabout”, situated in present day Atkinson County, where he found good range land for his cattle. John’s father took his herd across the Alapaha River into then Irwin County at a location that for many years was known as the John Ford.
The Fisher Gaskins clan, John’s father and his brothers, settled west of the Alapaha River a little south of present day Bannockburn, GA near the site of Riverside Church. On April 14, 1825 John Gaskins married Mary Pollie Barrow in Irwin County, GA. This was about 15 miles north of the area where the Knights and Clements were settling their families above Grand Bay, near present day Ray City, GA. John and Mary Gaskins established their homestead just to the north of his father’s place. By the end of 1825, the Georgia Legislature divided Irwin County and from the southern portion formed the new county of Lowndes.
On August 11, 1826 Mary Gaskins delivered to John his first son, Gideon Gaskins. A second son arrived on February 16, 1828, whom they named Fisher Jackson Gaskins; Fisher – after his paternal grandfather, and Jackson perhaps after Andrew Jackson, the Hero of New Orleans who would be elected President that year.
John Gaskins appeared as a head of household in Lowndes County in the Census of 1830, as did his father, Fisher Gaskins. About 1829 or 1830, John’s father moved his cattle across the county and settled on Lot 91 of the 9th Land District, which was subsequently known as the Chambliss place, and later became the home of George D. Griffin.
About 1831 a contagious disease struck Fisher Gaskins’ herd, killing off several hundred head of cattle and inciting the elder Gaskins to seek new pastures yet again. With the help of hired hands, among them a young John G. Taylor, he drove his remaining cattle into North Florida to settle in the area of Alachua County, FL. John and Mary stayed behind in Lowndes County (now Berrien), as well as John’s brothers, William and Harmon.
“When he moved to Florida, he [Fisher Gaskins] left much of his herds behind in Georgia to be looked after by his sons, John, William, and Harmon who by that time were grown. These herds multiplied and in turn, other herds were formed and placed about at various points in what is now Clinch, Echols and Lowndes counties and over in Florida, under the management of herdsmen, who for their services were paid at the end of the year a percentage of the proceeds of the cattle sold that year. The beef cattle were driven to Savannah and other distant places each year and sold. This arrangement with the herds and herdsmen continued with the elder Gaskins making periodic visits of inspection until his death, after which the three sons in Georgia received the Georgia herds in a division of the estate.”
Cattlemen like John Gaskins sold their Berrien County livestock at points like Savannah, GA or Centerville on the St. Mary’s River, or Jacksonville, Florida.
John Gaskins fought in the Indian War 1836-1838, serving in Levi J. Knight’s Militia Company. Georgia historian Folks Huxford wrote, “His home was visited by the savages on one occasion while the family was absent, and a good deal of vandalism and theft was committed.” John Gaskins and his brother William were among those who took part in the Battle of Brushy Creek, one of the last real engagements with the Creek Indians in this region.
At age 38, John Gaskins and family were enumerated in the Census of 1840, still living in the northeast area of old Lowndes county now known as Berrien County. His brother, William, was living next door, and nearby were the homesteads of David Clements and William Clements, and other early settlers.
In 1850 the Gaskins remained in Lowndes County. Enumerated nearby the Gaskins home place were the residences of General Levi J. Knight, William Patten, Hardeman Sirmans, David Clements, Moses C. Lee, and other early settlers. John Gaskins was a farmer, with $600 in real estate.
Around 1855 the Gaskins were involved in some sort of public disturbance in Lowndes county. Hardeman Sirmons, Benjamin S. Garrett, Drewry Garrett, Will Garrett, John Gaskins, William Gaskins, Gideon Gaskins, and Lemuel Gaskins were all brought before the Lowndes Superior Court for their involvement in a riot. In 1856, however, the Gaskins and their neighbors were cut out of Lowndes county and placed in the new county of Berrien. The defendants were able to have their case transferred to Berrien County in June of 1856, and apparently escaped serious consequences.
In the Census of 1860 John Gaskins appeared on the enumeration sheets listed next to Thomas M. Ray, who would begin construction of Ray’s Millpond just a few years later.
From 1858 to 1861, John Gaskins served as a Justice of the Peace in Berrien County.
During the Civil War five of his sons joined Georgia Volunteer Infantry regiments: Fisher J. Gaskins, William Gaskins, Lemuel Gaskins, Joseph Gaskins, and Harris Gaskins, .
Children of John Gaskins and Mary Pollie Barrow:
Gideon Gaskins, born 1826, Berrien County, GA; married Sarah Knight (July 17, 1831 – February 03, 1902); buried Riverside Baptist Church, Berrien County, GA.
Fisher J. Gaskins, Sr., born February 16, 1828, Berrien County, GA; married Elizabeth Sirmans, daughter of Abner Sirmans; served in Company I, 50th GA Regiment; died November 14, 1908, Berrien County, GA; Buried at Riverside Baptist Church.
John Gaskins, Jr., born January 16, 1830, Berrien County, GA; married Catherine Calder; died May 6, 1886.
Emily Gaskins, born 1832, Berrien County, GA; married Joseph Newbern.
William Gaskins, born March 5, 1833; married Elizabeth Clements, daughter of David G. Clements; served in Company I, 54th GA Regiment; died August 27, 1910; buried Empire Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Lanier County, GA.
Lemuel Elam Gaskins, born 1836, Berrien County, GA; married Sarah Ann Sirmans, daughter of Abner Sirmans; served in Company I, 50th GA Regiment; died October 26, 1862, Richmond, VA; buried Richmond VA, memorial marker at Riverside Baptist Church.
Joseph Gaskins, born April 28, 1840, Berrien County, GA; married Harriet Sirmans, daughter of James Sirmans; served in Company I, 50th GA Regiment; died February 4, 1911; Buried at Riverside Baptist Church.
Harmon Gaskins, born 1842, Berrien County, GA; died young.
Harrison “Harris” Gaskins, born April 5, 1842, Berrien County, GA.; married Roxanna “Roxie” Sirmans, daughter of James Sirmans, on April 17, 1862; served in Company K, 29th GA Regiment; died January 7, 1926; Buried at Riverside Baptist Church
Bryant Gaskins, born 1846, Berrien County, GA
Clinch County News April 23, 1937
John Gaskins – 1802-1865
Oldest son of Fisher Gaskins by his first wife. Came to Berrien while a youth, grew to manhood here. His wife was a daughter of Joseph Barrow… Immediately after their marriage John Gaskins and his wife settled on the Alapaha River a short distance north of the old home of his father and near where Bannockburn now is, and there they spent their entire married life together. The death of John Gaskins occurred at this home July 18, 1865; and 23 years later, January 6, 1888 his widow joined her husband in the spirit-land, at the age of 83. Both are buried at Riverside Cemetery and their graves are substantially marked. They were the parents of a large family of sons and daughters and their living descendants in this county to-day are very numerous.
John Gaskins was a man who spent his life at home and gave his time and attention to his avocation. The farm was made self-sustaining; work was the rule and grim want never came to stare the inmates of this farm-home in the face. Food for family and stock was well and abundantly supplied and the excellence of the range went a long way in helping him to provide meat for family and lay up money from the sales of beef-cattle. Deer and turkeys were plentiful and could be taken at any time. Fish abounded in the river and with all of these good things around life on the frontier was not so bad after all. Hogs grew almost wild in the hammocks and only required a few weeks’ finishing off with corn or field crops to be ready for slaughter. Cattle were let to go at large all the time except they were penned regularly for about six weeks during the months of April and May so that they may be marked and branded and kept under control; and the annual sale of these beef-cattle brought the gold in their homes against the rainy-day and old age.
John Gaskins took part in driving the last of the wandering bands of Indians from Georgia soil, and one of the last engagements with the redskins fought on Berrien county soil took place near the home of this old pioneer. His home suffered from Indian predations to the extent that the feather beds were taken out, the ticks ripped open, the feathers emptied and scattered and the ticks carried away with some other articles of the household. Some of these articles were recovered, among which was a beautiful pitcher which had been treasured as an heirloom for many years. The place where the pitcher was recovered after it had been cast aside by the Indians in their flight across the Alapaha River, is known to this day among the local inhabitants as “Pitcher Slough.”
Following the death of John Gaskins in 1865 his sons Fisher J. and John, Jr. served as the administrators of his estate.
Milledgeville Federal Union
August 21, 1866 — page 4
Georgia, Berrien County. Two months after date application will be made to the Court of Ordinary of said county for leave to sell the lands belonging to the estate of John Gaskins, Sen., deceased, for the benefit of the heirs and creditors of said deceased. F. J. Gaskins, John Gaskins, Jr. Adm’r’s. July 2d, 1866. WEC 50 9c
According to a history of the Wiregrass area published by the Coastal Plain Area Planning & Development Commission, Thomas M. Ray began operation of the grist mill originally known as “Knight and Ray’s Mill” on November 7, 1863.
Ray’s Mill, Ray City, Berrien County, GA
General Levi J. Knight, long time friend, partner and father-in-law of Thomas Ray, died on February 23, 1870 in the community he founded. Afterwards, Thomas M. Ray bought out L. J. Knight’s interests in the grist mill and the land, including water-flow rights, from the General’s estate. Over time the mill became the focal point of the community which came to be known as Ray’s Mill, GA, now known as Ray City, Berrien County, GA.
Matthew Hodge Albritton was born March 8, 1842 in Houston County, GA a son of Allen and Rebecca Albritton. His parents were well off. By the time of the Civil War, Allen Albritton had amassed a net worth that would have made him a multi-millionaire by today’s standards. Allen Albritton, was a farmer and owned land in the 5th District of Houston County, number not known, and adjoining the land of Stephen Castellow and others.
Matthew’s siblings were Littleton L. Albritton, Mariah Albritton, Mary Jane Albritton, William M. B. Albritton, George A. Albritton, Wright M. Albritton and Joe L. Albritton. About 1842, Matthew’s cousins, McCuin A. “Mack” Albritton and Matthew R. B. Albritton, also came to live with the family after the death of their father, McCuin Albritton, Sr. The boys, Mack and Matthew R. B., became legal wards of Allen Albritton, and their father’s property was sold off.
Administrator’s Sale on the Estate of McCuin Albritton, November 21, 1943.
Macon Georgia Telegraph November 28, 1843
Administrator’s Sale.
Will be sold, on the first Tuesday in FEBRUARY next, before the Court-House door in Perry, Houston county, within the usual hours, one-half of Lot of Land No. 195, in the 5th District of Houston county, containing 101 1/4 acres, more or less – belonging to the Estate of McCuin Albritton, deceased, late of Burke county. Sold agreeable to an order of the Inferior Court of Burke county, when sitting for ordinary purposes. Terms cash – purchasers to pay for titles.
James Grubbs, Admr.
Nov 21
On March 3, 1852 Matthew’s sister, Mary Jane, married Thomas M. Ray in Houston County, GA and the newlyweds moved to an area of Lowndes County that was cut into Berrien County in 1856. T. M. Ray founded a grist mill in 1863 in the southern part of Berrien County, in partnership with Levi J. Knight. This mill became the nucleus of the community now known as Ray City, GA.
Some time in the 1850s, Allen Albritton moved his family to Pike County, Alabama, near the town of New Providence. Matthew, William, George, and Wright all made the move with their father, as well as their adopted cousins Matthew R.B. and Mack. At least by 1857, Matthew’s brother Littleton L. Albritton and sister Mariah Albritton had followed their sister, Mary Jane, to Berrien County, GA where Mariah married Matthew R. Grace that year.
Allen Albritton established legal guardianship of Matthew R.B. and Mack Albritton in Alabama, and petitioned to be discharged from that responsibility in Georgia.
Georgia Weekly Telegraph, September 20, 1860
Georgia Weekly Telegraph September 20, 1860
GEORGIA, HOUSTON COUNTY.
Ordinary’s Office, for said County. Upon hearing the petition of Allen Albritton, Guardian of M.R.B. & M.A. Albritton, minors of McCuin Albritton, deceased, showing that he has recently removed beyond the limits of this State to the county of Pike, State of Alabam, and take with him his said wards, with their property, and has there been duly appointed Guardian of said minors. It is ordered that all persons concerned be and appear at the November Term of this Court, to show cause, it any they have, why said Albritton should not be discharged from his said trust. Given under my hand and official signature, the Sept. 6th, 1860.
W. T. Swift, Ordinary
In the Census of 1860, Matthew Albritton and his family were enumerated in Pike County, Alabama. Matthew, his brother William, and adopted brothers and cousins Matthew R.B, and Mack were all working the family farm. Their father and guardian, Allen Albritton, had $23,775 in his personal estate and another $9,000 in real estate.
About 1861, Matthew left the farm in Alabama and joined his brother and sister in Berrien County, GA.
In May of 1862, Matthew’s brother, Littleton Albritton, went to Nashville, GA where he enlisted as a sergeant in Company E, 54th Georgia Infantry Regiment,, the Berrien Light Infantry. On October 22, 1862 Matthew Albritton followed Company E to their encampment at Coffee Bluff near Savannah, GA where he enlisted as a private. Jehu Patten, of the Rays Mill District of Berrien County, GA, served as 4th Sergeant of Company E, and other soldiers in the unit included John Lee, George Washington Knight, James Madison Baskin, William Varnell Nix, Stephen Willis Avera, William J. Lamb, Samuel Guthrie, William Henry Outlaw, and Benjamin Sirmans.
The regiment served for some time in the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. During January and February, 1863 Company E was stationed at Coffee Bluff south of Savannah. The orders from March 1863 show Company E was among the units assigned to the Savannah River Batteries and other defenses.
In July of 1863, Company E and other infantry units of the 54th Regiment were moved up to the Charleston area, where they were involved in numerous engagements. On July 10 and 11, 1863, U. S. Army forces had made an assault against Battery Wagner on Morris Island, known as the First Battle of Fort Wagner. The construction engineer of Battery Wagner was Langdon Cheves; he was killed by one of the first shells thrown into the Battery, but the attack was repulsed. From mid-July to September 1863 the 54th GA Regiment was involved in the defense of Charleston Harbor at Battery Wagner. On July 16th, they fought in the engagement near Grimball’s Landing, James Island, South Carolina. A second assault was made on Battery Wagner July 18, but was also repulsed (Second Battle of Fort Wagner).
The 54th Georgia Regiment was reconstituted on April 22, 1864. The regiment moved to Dalton, GA arriving on May 2, 1864 and went into action in the Atlanta Campaign. They fought almost daily engagements. The last card on file in M. H. Albritton’s Confederate Service Records show he was issued clothing on May 8, 1864. At some point, according to later pension records, he was shot through the throat (date and place not given) and sent home.
Engagements of the 54th Georgia Regiment:
from May 7-13, 1864 demonstrations at Rocky Face Ridge;
May 14-15 actions at Lay’s Ferry, Oostenaula River, GA.; May 17 engagement at Adairsville,Ga.; May 19 combat near Cassville,GA.; May 25-26 Battle of New Hope Church.
On May 25-June 5 the 54th Regiment was participating in operations on the line of Pumpkin Vine Creek, Paulding County, just north of the town of Dallas, GA.
On June 10-July 3, 1864 Operations about Marietta and the Pine Mountain-Lost Mountain line; June 27 Battle of Kennesaw Mountain; July 5-July 17 Operations on the line of the Chattahoochee River; July 20 Battle of Peachtree Creek.
During the Civil War Matthew was shot in the throat. Following his injuries he was granted a furlough and returned home. In early April of 1865 he was making his way back north to rejoin his unit when he learned that General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox on April 7, 1865. He surrendered to Federal troops near Augusta, GA. He was paroled and returned to Berrien County. Later, he would receive a pension for his service in the CSA.
Susan Catherine Byrd
On November 28, 1869 Matthew Albritton was wed to Susan Catherine Byrd, the 21-year-old daughter of Nathan W. Byrd. Susan Byrd’s family had moved to Nashville, GA around the end of the Civil War. Her father was a farmer and also a mail carrier on the route between Nashville and Milltown (now Lakeland), GA.
Sophronia Albritton, born September 22, 1878; married William Guilford Devane.
Matthew Allen Albritton, born January 28, 1881.
Three years later, on July 16, 1885 Matthew, now 43, married again, this time to 27 year old Laura A. Myers of Nashville, GA. This was her first marriage. The couple had five children.
Children of Laura A. Myers and Matthew Albritton are:
Rena Albritton, born March 20, 1886 in GA.
Sarah Nina Albritton, born March 20, 1886 in GA, married Robert C. Register
Rebecca L. Albritton, born September 17, 1888 in GA.
Nona Hortense Albritton, born May 6, 1891 in GA.
Lola Alma Albritton, born Dec 1, 1893 in GA; married Caulie Augustus DeVane
Matthew Albritton died September 20, 1915 and is buried at Pleasant Cemetery near Ray City, Berrien County, Georgia.
Laura Myers Albritton died April 9, 1921. She was buried in Pleasant Cemetery.
Grave of Matthew Hodge Albritton, Pleasant Cemetery, Berrien County, GA. Image source: Charles T. Zeigler
Matthew Hodge Albritton submitted a Confederate Pension Application as an Indigent Soldier in 1906. Albritton’s physical examination by Dr. W. B. Goodman cited the old neck wound received in the Civil War, an injury in his right side abdomen “made by heavy lifting,” infirmity and old age.
In was not until after the Civil War that mail service at Rays Mill (Ray City, GA) became available. But the mail was one of the earliest public services provided in the Wiregrass frontier of Georgia and the postal service for the region of present day Ray City stretches back more than 185 years.
Access to this early postal service was hardly convenient. When pioneers like Levi J. Knight brought their families to Beaverdam Creek in the 1820s, this area of what was then Lowndes County was on the remote southern frontier. A small frontier community was beginning to grow about ten miles to the east, near the Alapaha River where Lakeland now is, where a settler named Joshua Lee had established a grist mill a few years earlier. Joshua Lee and his brother Jesse had come to the area in 1820 , and in 1821 began using slave labor and free labor to construct a dam to impound Banks Lake for a mill pond.
But, in 1825 no postal service had been established at the Lee Mill nor anywhere else in the region. In 1827, when an official post office finally was established, it was situated on the Coffee Road, some 25 miles from where the Knights homesteaded on Beaverdam Creek.
McCRANIE’S POST OFFICE
The first post office in Lowndes County (which then encompassed present day Lowndes, Berrien, Cook, Brooks, Lanier, and parts of Tift, Colquitt, and Echols counties) was established on March 27, 1827, at the home of Daniel McCranie on the newly opened Coffee Road. Coffee’s Road was the first road in Lowndes County, but it was only a “road” in the sense that it was a path cleared through the forest with tree stumps cut low enough for wagon axles to clear them. Officially, McCranie’s Post Office was designated simply as “Lowndes.”
The Waycross Journal-Herald April 8, 1952 Pg 3
The McCranie Family
Daniel McCranie settled on the Coffee Road on lot of land No. 416, 9th District of present Cook County, according to the writer’s information. It was at his home there that the first post office in Lowndes County was established March 27, 1827, and he became the first postmaster; was also there that the first term of Lowndes Superior Court was held in 1826. The next year 1828, the post office was moved down Little River to a new place called ‘Franklinville’ which had been designated the county seat, and there William Smith became the postmaster. The mail in those days was carried by the stage coach except to those offices off the main lines of travel when it was carried in saddlebags on horseback.
1830 Georgia map detail – original Lowndes County, showing only a conceptual location of Coffee Road, Franklinville, Withlacoochee River, and Alapaha River.
SHARPE’S STORE POST OFFICE The Milledgeville Southern Recorder, May 17, 1828 announced that Hamilton W. Sharpe had opened a post office at Sharpe’s Store, Lowndes County, GA.
Hamilton W. Sharpe announces post office at Sharpe’s Store, Lowndes County, GA. The Milledgeville Southern Recorder, May 17, 1828.
Milledgeville Southern Recorder May 17, 1828
A Post Office has been recently established at Sharpe’s Store, in Lowndes county, Geo. on the route from Telfair Courthouse to Tallahassee – Hamilton W. Sharpe, Esq. P.M.
Hamilton W. Sharpe served as Postmaster at Sharpe’s Store until 1836. At that time the name of the post office was briefly changed to Magnum Post Office, with John Hall appointed as Postmaster.
…the post office was moved down the Withlacoochee River to the home of William Smith on lot of land No. 50, 11th district of present Lowndes where the court house commissioners had only recently decided to locate the first court house and name the place ‘Franklinville.’ On July 7, 1828, the Post Office Department changed the name of the post office to ‘Franklinville’ and appointed Mr. Smith as postmaster.
Postmaster Smith’s annual salary in 1831 was $16.67.
FRANKLINVILLE The erstwhile town of Franklinville did not exist long – only about four years. At its best, it could only boast one store and three or four families and the court house.
The court house was built there in 1828-29, and was a small crude affair, costing only $215.00. The first term of court in it was held in the fall of 1829.
William Smith was the first one to settle there, and was living there when the site was chosen. The only other families to ever live there, so far as can be determined were John Mathis, James Mathis and Sheriff Martin Shaw. After a short residence there the three last named moved to that part of Lowndes cut off into Berrien in 1856.
There began to be dissatisfaction about the location of the court house. It was off the Coffee Road which was the main artery of traffic and communication, and from the beginning was not an auspicious location. The legislature in 1833 changed the county-site to lot of land No. 109 in the 12th district, about three miles below the confluence of Little River and the Withlacoochee River. It was named ‘Lowndesville.” The post office however was not moved there, but the little court house was torn down and moved there.”
By 1836, the federal government acted to ensure reliable postal routes to the post office at Franklinville to serve the residents of Lowndes County (although the county seat had been removed to Lowndesville.)
CHAP. CCLXXI.- An Act to establish certain post roads, and to alter and discontinue others, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following be established as post roads:
***
In Georgia—From Franklinville, Lowndes county, Georgia, via Warner’s Ferry, to Townsend post office, in Madison county, Territory of` Florida.…From Jacksonville, Telfair county, via Holmesville, in Appling county, and Wearesboro, in Weare county, to Franklinville, in Lowndes county.
***
Approved July 2, 1836
This post road, built with slave labor, ran through Allapaha (now Lakeland), passed just south of L. J. Knight’s place, and continued west to Franklinville. With a public road established, a stagecoach route went into service from Thomasville, via Frankinville, to Waycross.
Detail of J.H. Young’s 1838 Tourist Pocket Map of the State of Georgia showing the route from Waresboro to Thomasville, GA.
Detail of Burr’s 1839 postal map showing the route from Waresboro to Thomasville via Franklinville and Magnum, Lowndes County, GA
TROUPVILLE POST OFFICE
Only a year after the clearing of the post roads to Franklinville, it was decided to move the Lowndes county seat yet again, this time from Lowndesville to a new site, named Troupville, at the confluence of the Withlacoochee and the Little River (Map of Old Troupville, GA with Notes on the Residents).
November 10, 1841 letter from Samuel E. Swilley to Charles J. McDonald, Governor of Georgia, posted at Troupville, GA and reporting Indian activity in the area. Captain Samuel E. Swilley was a militia leader in the 1836-1842 Indian Wars in Lowndes County, GA.
In 1837, the transfer of the post office and Postmaster William Smith from Franklinville to Troupville inconvenienced many residents of north Lowndes county, possibly prompting the resumption of postal service at Sharpe’s Store on Coffee Road. The name of Magnum Post Office reverted to Sharpe’s Store Post Office, and Hamilton W. Sharpe was again Postmaster.
H. W. Sharpe re-opened the post office at Sharpe’s Store on the Coffee Road, Lowndes County, GA. Southern Recorder, April 18, 1837.
Unfortunately, Sharpe’s Store was even farther distant from Beaverdam Creek; the Knights, Clements, and their neighbors were left with a forty mile round trip to Troupville fetch the mail. Sharpe himself served as Postmaster 1837 to 1848. James Perry took over as Postmaster at Sharpe’s store from 14 December, 1848 to 16 August, 1849, when Sharpe returned to the position. John G. Polhill took the position 5 July, 1850, and Norman Campbell took over 21 August, 1850 to 21 July 1853 when the post office was moved to Morven, GA.
By 1838, Postmaster William Smith at Troupville was receiving weekly mail via routes from Waresboro and Bainbridge, and from San Pedro, Madison County, FL. In 1847 weekly mail was coming and going from Irwinville and Bainbridge, GA, and from Madison, FL. William Smith continued as the Troupville Postmaster until October 30, 1848 when attorney Henry J. Stewart took over. On August 16, 1849 William Smith resumed as Postmaster at Troupville.
Weekly service extended in 1851 to Waresboro, Albany and Irwinville, and to Columbus, FL.
Travel in the South in the 1830s
ALLAPAHA POST OFFICE
By the late 1830s, Allapaha (now Lakeland, GA), had grown into a bustling trade center with several mills and businesses. Ten miles east of Knight’s farm, Allapaha was situated at the point where the Franklinville-Jacksonville Post Road crossed the Alapaha River. In 1838 a post office was established there , and Benjamin Sirmans was the first postmaster. Weekly mail service berween Waresboro or Waynesville and Troupville came by Allapaha.
Early Postmasters of Allapaha (now Lakeland, GA)
Benjamin Sermons
Postmaster
06/27/1838
Isaac D. Hutto
Postmaster
05/03/1841
James S. Harris
Postmaster
03/05/1842
Samuel H. Harris
Postmaster
09/12/1846
Peter Munford
Postmaster
01/28/1848
James S. Harris
Postmaster
02/09/1849
Andrew J. Liles
Postmaster
11/27/1849
While Andrew J. Liles was Postmaster, the name of the town was changed from Allapaha to Milltown, GA.
FLAT CREEK POST OFFICE
Another early Berrien post office was located at Flat Creek, about 15 miles north of present day Ray City, GA. This post office was established on August 9th, 1847. At that time, Flat Creek was a growing community located on one of the first roads in Berrien County, and warranted the establishment of a post office. The community center was built largely by Noah Griffin with the aid of his sons and African-American slaves. “At the time of the establishment of the post office there was a saw mill, grist mill, cotton gin, a country store and farm, all owned and run by Noah Griffin and his sons…” The J. H. Colton Map of Georgia, 1855 shows the Flat Creek community situated on Lyons Creek, a tributary of the Alapaha River now known as Ten Mile Creek. The store at Flat Creek was located on a road that connected Irwinville and points north to the town then known as Allapaha (now known as Lakeland, GA).
HAHIRA POST OFFICE
On May 7, 1852, a post office was opened at Hahira, GA and Barry J. Folsom was appointed as the first postmaster. Randal Folsom took over as postmaster in 1858. The post office at Hahira was closed in 1866, and postal service did not resume there until 1873.
STAR ROUTES
When Berrien County was created in 1856, there were still very few post offices in the area. “These were supplied by star routes, the carrier rode horseback.” Prior to 1845, in areas inaccessible by rail or water transportation delivery of inland mail was let out to bid by contractors who carried mail by stagecoach. On March 3, 1845 Congress established an Act which provided that the Postmaster General should grant contracts to the lowest bidder who could provide sufficient guarantee of faithful performance, without any conditions, except to provide for due celerity, certainty and security of transportation. These bids became known as “celerity, certainty and security bids” and were designated on the route registers by three stars (***), thus becoming known as “star routes.” In rural areas, a bidder who could provide delivery by wagon, or even horseback, could win a Star Route mail contract.
NASHVILLE POST OFFICE
With the creation of the new county of Berrien in 1856, a public site was selected and Nashville was established as the county seat. The site was near the geographic center of the county and located on the Coffee Road, one of the earliest public roads in Georgia. “Previous to the creation of Berrien County there had been for many years a farm and public inn located at this point on the Coffee Road.” “The new county site had been laid out and christened and stores, shops and eating houses and other industries had been launched, where only a few months before there had been a farm and cow pens.”In 1857 a post office was established at Nashville to serve the new town and the county residents. The early road from Nashville to Milltown passed through the Rays Mill community by way of the residences of General Levi J. Knight, Isben Giddens, and John M. Futch. Although Levi J. Knight’s farm was situated at the midpoint on the Nashville – Milltown(Lakeland) road, it probably became a matter of convenience to post mail at Nashville as that was where the business of the county was conducted.
CONFEDERATE POSTAL SERVICE
With Secession, the services of the U.S. Post Office were lost to the South and to Berrien County. The Southern Recorder, Dec 29, 1863 reported on Acts passed by the[Confederate] Legislature and signed by the Governor, Joseph E. Brown, which included an act, “Requesting the establishment of a mail route between Milltown and Nashville in Berrien county.” The 1864 Census for the Reorganization of the Georgia Militia shows that A. K. Harmon was then serving as a postmaster for the 1144th Georgia Militia District, which was centered on Ray’s Mill. After the war, Nathan W. Byrd, a Nashville farmer and father-in-law of Matthew H. Albritton, served as the mail carrier on the route between Nashville and Milltown (Lakeland), GA.
RAY CITY POST OFFICE
After the Civil War postal service was established at the present site of Ray City, GA. The previous post, Posting Mail at Ray City, describes how the grist mill built by General Levi J. Knight and his son-in-law Thomas M. Ray on Beaverdam Creek became the first post station here.
Ray City History Blog 