Ray City History Blog

Troupville, Lowndes County, GA

From pioneer times to the present day, Ray City, GA, has been under the jurisdiction of three different counties and six different county seats of government.  From 1825 to 1856  the community fell within the borders of Lowndes County. During that period, the county seat of government was first at Franklinville, GA, then briefly at Lowndesville, and about 1836 moved to the town of Troupville, GA. [A legal announcement in the November 7, 1837 Milledgeville Southern Recorder, pg 4, documents that public auctions were still being held at Franklinville at that date.]

Related posts about Troupville GA:

• Reverend William A. Knight at old Troupville, GA
• More About Troupville, GA and the Withlacoochee River
• An Antebellum Trial at Troupville
• Bowling at  old Troupville, Georgia
• Reverend John Slade of the Troupville Circuit
• Morz Swain was Innkeeper, Blacksmith, Sheriff & Jailor of old Troupville, GA
• Sheriff Swain and Legal Affairs in Old Troupville
• Morgan Goodgame Swain and the Estate of Canneth Swain
• Post Offices of the Old Berrien Pioneers
• Levi J. Knight and Lowndes First Superior Court
• A Plank Road for Troupville
• Judge Johnson of Jasper, FL had Troupville Connections
• Riders of the Troupville Circuit: Tillman Dixon Peurifoy
• Grand Jury Presentments of 1845, Old Lowndes County, GA

In its heydey, Troupville was the center of commerce and social activity for the region. Promoters of the town hoped to develop the Withlacoochee River as a navigable waterway.  In the Harrison Freshet of 1841, the town was inundated, the flood setting a high water mark on the old cypress tree there which set a record , according to the March 28, 1897 New Orleans Times-Democrat, which was not surpassed for 56 years.  The Harrison Freshet knocked out bridges all over the region and probably caused the loss of bridges on the Coffee Road, then the main thoroughfare passing through Lowndes County. “Few bridges on the common streams … stood the shock.” The Milledgeville Federal Union declared it a 100 year flood.  The “extraordinary flood…caused awful damage in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina” with major erosion, land slides, “roads rendered almost impassable, and plantations disfigured with enormous gullies.” In 1845, the citizens of Lowndes county petitioned the state legislature “praying that the State tax and 1846 and 1847, be retained by said county, to improve the navigation of the Withlacoochee river,” but the House committee on Petitions returned an unfavorable report.

Among the prominent pioneer settlers who frequented Troupville were the Knight family.  Reverend William A. Knight, was the religious leader of many of the Primitive Baptist churches in the area and the father of Levi J. Knight,  earliest settler at the site of present day Ray City, Berrien County, GA.

White’s Statistics of the State of Georgia, published 1849, describes Troupville thus:

Troupville is the [Lowndes County, GA] seat of justice, immediately in the fork made by the confluence of the Withlacoochee and Little rivers.  It has the usual county buildings, three hotels, two churches, four stores, several mechanics’ shops, two physicians, and four lawyers.  It is distant from Milledgeville 180 miles S.; 40 from Thomasville; 75 from Waresborough, and 75 from Irwinville.  It is a healthy and pleasant village.  Population about 20 families.

Here is a conceptual layout of Old Troupville adapted from a sketch of the town made by C. S. Morgan, and   superimposed on  a modern map of the confluence of the Withlacoochee River and the Little River .

Map of Troupville, GA adapted from C. S. Morgan

In addition to the structures depicted on this map, the following Troupville property owners are known:

• Lot No. 1       “on the east side of the Courthouse” property of William  McAuley prior to 1841
• Lot No. 2        1/2 acre “water lot”, Jesse Townsend, prior to 1846
• Lot No. 3        1/2 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot No. 4        1/2 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot No. 5        1/2 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844;  1/4 acre “water lot” property of Jared Johnson, prior to 1846
• Lot No. 6        1/2 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot No. 7       1/4 acre, Uriah Kemp, prior to 1839; south half (1/8 acre), Daniel S. Graham prior to 1841.
• Lot No. 8       Uriah Kemp, prior to 1839
• Lot No.  9      Uriah Kemp prior to 1839, Hiram Hall prior to 1842
• Lot No. 10     1/2 acre, Hiram Hall prior to 1842, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot No. 11     1/4 acre “well improved” lot owned by John Studstill up to 1845; Richard Allen after 1845
• Lot No. 13      south half (1/8 acre), James A. Boyet prior to 1842.
• Lot No. 14      “on the east side of the Courthouse” property of William  McAuley prior to 1841
• Lot No. 15      1/4 acre  “water lot”, Jesse Townsend, prior to 1846
• Lot No. 16       1/4 acre, William P. Murdoch prior to 1852
• Lot No. 17     Daniel W. Thomas – Ten Pin Alley
• Lot No. 21     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1846.
• Lot No. 25     1/4 acre, William Lastinger prior to 1840; Hiram Hall prior to 1842, Burnett & Hall  (Joseph S. Burnett and Hiram Hall) 1842 to 1843.
• Lot No. 28     1/4 acre mol, Thomas O. Townsend prior to 1847
• Lot No. 29     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1844, Samuel Maulden, prior to 1847
• Lot No. 32     1/4 acre, Hiram Hall prior to 1842, Burnett & Hall  (Joseph S. Burnett and Hiram Hall) 1842 to 1843;  John J. Underwood, 1843 -1844;  property of Hiram Hall, 1844 and described as   ” the place whereon John J. Underwood now [Aug 13, 1844] lives.”
• Lot No.  34    property of William McAuley prior to 1841
• Lot No. 35     Henry J. Stewart, , prior to 1850. Stewart was an Attorney at Law and served as Postmaster in 1848.
• Lot No. 37     Joseph S. Burnett and Hiram Hall prior to 1841
• Lot No. 38     1/4 acre, William McDonald, prior to 1838
• Lot No. 39     1/4 acre, William D. Branch, prior to 1840
• Lot No. 40     1/4 acre, well improved, property of James Radford prior to 1858
• Lot No. 41     1/4 acre, well improved, property of James Radford prior to 1858
• Lot No. 42     1/4 acre, William D. Branch, prior to 1840
• Lot No. 45     5 acres mol (Wilson’s Survey), Mikel Myers, prior to 1848
• Lot No. 46     Peter K. Baillie, prior to 1842
• Lot No. 48     1/4 acre, well improved, property of James Radford prior to 1858
• Lot No. 50     1/4 acre, “on which is situated the Methodist Episcopal Church,” property Duke K. Jimson prior to 1846.
• Lot No. 51     1/4 acre, well improved, property of James Radford prior to 1858
• Lot No. 53     1/4 acre, Duke K. Jameson;  also Richard W. Kirkland prior to his death in 1848
• Lot No. 57     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1846.
• Lot No. 58     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1846.
• Lot  No. 59    1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1844; Thomas O. Townsend prior to 1845
• Lot  No. 60    Thomas O. Townsend prior to 1945
• Lot No. 61      1/4 acre, Duke Blackburn prior to 1838;  Uriah Kemp,  prior to 1839
• Lot No. 64      1/4 acre,   Uriah Kemp,  prior to 1839; John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot  No. 65    Thomas O. Townsend prior to 1845
• Lot No. 66     Thomas O. Townsend prior to 1845
• Lot No. 67     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1846.
• Lot No. 68     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood prior to 1846.
• Lot No. 69     1/2 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot No. 70     1 1/2 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844
• Lot No. 72     Duncan Smith prior to 1846.
• Lot No. 73     2 acres mol, Lodowick Miller, prior to 1842
• Lot No. 91     1/4 acre, John J. Underwood, prior to 1844

SOME RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS OF TROUPVILLE, GA

• John Ashley, attorney, 1848
• Dr. William Ashley,
  Received his medical degree from UGA in 1845. Following further medical education in Philadelphia he moved to Troupville prior to 1850 and established a successful practice. He was a boarder in William Smith’s hotel, Tranquil Hall. In the Crisis of the Union in 1850, he was a pro-secessionist.
  • Georgia Smith Ashley, married in 1851
  • Anna Caroline Ashley
  • Daniel Cornelius Ashley
• Sumner W. Baker, attorney, 1856; Livingston’s Law Registry, 1859; resident of Tranquil Hall, 1860
• George W. Behn, attorney, 1845
• M. J. Bennett
• W. B. Bennett, attorney, Associate Editor of the Thomasville Southern Enterprise, 1858
• M. B. Bennett, attorney
• James B. Bliss, jeweler, 1843
• Elisha Ward Bozeman  – not a Troupville resident, but  in the 1850s he was  a “hack driver”  who regularly drove carriages through the town on the route from Thomasville, GA to Monticello, FL. He was later a resident of Quitman, GA
• Henry Briggs, Doctor and apothecary shop owner.
• Cyprian Brinson, 1857, member Bible Revision Association
• Anthony C. Bruner, Methodist Preacher appointed to Troupville station for 1842
• Joseph S. Burnett, sheriff, 1839
• T.A. Caruth, 1857 pastor
• John B. Cashan, merchant
  • Deborah Cashan, wife of John B. Cashan
  • Children of John B. Cashan
    Ann E. C. Cashan
    Sarah J. Cashan
    John B. Cashan, Jr.
    James S. Cashan
    Jones E. Cashan
• Albert Converse
• Mary Converse
• Reverend William B. Cooper, pastor of Little River Baptist Church/Troupville Baptist Church 1841-1853
  • Ann G. Cooper
  • Eugenia Cooper
  • Frances M. Cooper
  • Ann H. Cooper
  • Franklin Law Cooper
• Rebecca Perrill Cooper, sister of Rev. W. B. Cooper; married Berrien M. Jones; Mrs. Reba P. Jones, 1857, member Bible Revision Association
• Elizabeth Isabelle Cooper, sister of Rev. W. B. Cooper, school teacher
• . R. Creech, traveled to New York City, October 1857
• O. P.  Dasher, traveled to New York City, October 1857
• S. H. Dasher, 1857, member Bible Revision Association
• William H. Dasher, Attorney at Law, 1852-56
• T. S. Davies, Attorney at Law, doing business as the firm Davies & Rockwell, 1846.
• A. Davis, Pastor 1858
• William Wesley Dowling, Farmer 1849-1854
  • Ardelia Frier Dowling, Wife of William W. Dowling
  • Children of Ardelia and William W. Dowling
    John Moses Dowling
    Sarah Elizabeth Ann Dowling
    Ryan Eli Dowling
    Henry Taylor Dowling
    Mary Emily Dowling
• Thomas William Ellis,  Doctor and druggist; Agent for Dr. Allen’s all-healing ointment.
  • Piercy Dixon Ellis, wife of Dr. Ellis
  • Elisabeth Ellis, daughter of Dr. Ellis
  • Caroline Ellis, daughter of Dr. Ellis, married John B. Cashan in Dooly Co., 22 Jul, 1849
• Ryan Frier, co-minister of the Little River Baptist Church, 1842
• Reverend Jonathan Gaulden, organizing member of the Little River Baptist Church.
• William Oglethorpe Girardeau – of Monticello, FL, had a law office in Troupville, 1848, in partnership with Charles S. Rockwell
• William Godfrey, Grocery merchant circa 1850
• Henrietta O. Goldwire, member of the Little River Baptist Church; 1857, member Bible Revision Association
• James O. Goldwire, constituting member and deacon of the Little River Baptist Church
• Joseph J. Goldwire, resident, arrived at Pulaski House, Savannah, Nov 1, 1844; member of the Troupville Baptist Church; later assisted Rev. Charles Anderson in forming Macedonia First African Baptist Church of Valdosta
• Marie I. Goldwire, member of Little River Baptist Church
• William H. Goldwire, second pastor of Little River Baptist Church, Attorney at Law, 1852; Livingston’s Law Register, 1852. attorney, retired;
  • Ann C. Goldwire, Wife of William H. Goldwire
  • Children of Ann C. and William H. Goldwire
    Matilda M. Goldwire
    Sophia B. Goldwire
• Old Monday, a person enslaved by the Goldwires
• Thomas Butler Griffin
  • Jane Moore Griffin
  • Children of Thomas Butler Griffin and Jane Moore Griffin
    Marcus J. Griffin
    Samuel Moore Griffin
    Iverson Lamar Griffin
• W.W. Griffin, Methodist Episcopal preacher, 1843
• Mrs. J. S. Griffin, ; 1857, member Bible Revision Association
• Joshua Griffith, Sales Agent for the Wiregrass Reporter (Thomas County newspaper)
• Barney Howell –  in the 1840s “was mail carrier between this neighborhood [Thomasville] and Monticello, Florida, making the horseback journey with great regularity and going via Troupville, which was then county seat of Lowndes County.”   He was a resident of Thomas County and a brother of Caswell Howell, who served as one of the early members of the Baptist Church at Milltown, GA.
• Thomas Hughes Hines, Attorney at Law, residing at Stansell’s hotel, 1850; doing business as the firm Nelson & Hines, 1852, and on his own account in 1853
• Seaborn Jones, died November 9, 1849, accidently shot by his nine-year-old son, William Jones
• Jonathan Knight, hotel operator circa 1840-1849
• D. B. Johnson, student at Troupville Academy, circa 1849
• Isaac de Lyon, publisher of the South Georgia Watchman newspaper
• Leonoren de Lyon, editor of the South Georgia Watchman newspaper
• Robert Marlow, member of Little River Baptist Church
• R. J. McCook, Methodist Episcopal Preacher, 1856
• Charles C. Morgan
• David B. Morgan, Attorney
• William Louis Morgan,  Attorney at Law and Secretary of the Lowndes County Inferior Court; came from Macon to Troupville in 1842; beekeeper; Solicitor General of the Southern Circuit (1843); representative to the 1845 Georgia Democratic Convention; secessionist representative to the 1850 Georgia State Convention which produced the Georgia Platform; Livingston’s Law Register, 1852; grave at Sunset Hill Cemetery, Valdosta, GA
• Thomas L. Nelson, Attorney at Law, doing business as the firm of Nelson & Hines.
• Captain George W. Patterson, born in VA; lawyer and school teacher in Troupville from 1854 to 1860; relocated to Valdosta.
• James W. Patterson, Attorney, 1854
• Dr. W. H. Perry, of Troupville, received his medical degree in Augusta in 1843.
• Henry Peeples, Merchant
• John Peeples
• Richard Augustin Peeples, Merchant, later mayor of Valdosta
• Tillman D. Peurifoy, Preacher, 1840
• Col. Ephriam H. Platt, Attorney and real estate agent, 1853 -1858.
• George Robie, Teacher, 1842
  • Frances Barrett Robie, wife of George Robie
  • Georgia A. Robie, daughter of George Robie, b. 1842 at Troupville, GA
• Charles S. Rockwell, Attorney at Law, doing business in 1846 as the firm of Davies & Rockwell, and in 1848 as the firm of Rockwell & Girardeau; also taught school in Troupville; Livingston’s Law Register, 1852; moved to Thomasville before 1860.
• Mrs. S. J. Rogers, ; 1857, member Bible Revision Association
• John Slade,  Methodist preacher riding on the Troupville circuit.
• Aaron Smith – Storekeeper
• Duncan Smith, Secretary of the Democratic Party of Lowndes County, 1848; Clerk of court, 1851; Livingston’s Law Register, 1852. attorney, retired;
• Henry H. Smith, head of Troupville Bible Society, 1856
• Mose Smith – Storekeeper, owned the first store in Troupville
• Moses Smith, Jr.
• William Smith, Innkeeper of  Tranquil Hall and Postmaster of Troupville
• Samuel Spencer, Attorney at Law, doing business as the firm of Spencer & Stewart, 1843; prominent member of the Whig Party in Lowndes County;
• H. S. Stewart, Attorney at Law, doing business as the firm of Spencer & Stewart, 1843
• George W. Stansell, Hotel keeper
  • Eliza E. Stansell, wife of G. W. Stansell
• John Strickland
• Elizabeth Wooten Swain, 1st wife of Morgan Swain
  • Children of Elizabeth Wooten and Morgan Swain
    • Joel Wooten Swain
    • Rachel Inman Swain
• Rebecca Griffin Swain, 2nd wife of Morgan Swain
  • Children of Rebecca Griffin & Morgan Swain
    • Silvania Swain
    • Emily Swain
    • Thomas Swain
    • William Swain
    • Morgan Swain, jr
• Morgan Swain, Innkeeper, jailor, blacksmith, and sheriff
• Tarlton Swain, brother of Morgan Swain
• Daniel W. Thomas, Shopkeeper, residing at Stansell’s hotel, 1850.
• John Towells, Sheriff, 1844
• Solomon W. Walker, Farmer
•  Mary King Walker
  • Children of Solomon W. Walker & Mary King Walker
    • Solomon Wesley Walker
    • Matilda Walker
    • Nancy Jane Walker
    • Sophia Walker
    • Henry Clay Walker
    • William Webster Walke
    • Isham F. Walker
    • Mary Walker
• Lewis P. D. Warren, Attorney, admitted to the bar at Troupville, 1848

• 

  Powhatan B. Whittle

  Powhatan Whittle, Attorney; born abt 1832 in Virginia; arrived in Troupville 1854; a lineal descendant of Pocahontas;

• William Wilder
  • Sarah Wilder
    • Hopkins Wilder;
    • John W. Wilder;
    • Jane M. Wilder;
    • Bathsheba Wilder;
    • Andrew J. Wilder;
    • Edward Gross Wilder
    • Sarah E Wilder

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