EMANUEL.
It was made in 1812, and named in honor of that staunch Maryland Whig,
David Emanuel. It comprised a large body of almost exclusively pine
woods. There were a number of streams running through it: the Ohoopee,
the Canoochee and Ogeechee rivers and a number of large creeks. Though
there were large swamps, the lands bordering the rivers were not
arable, and there was no attention paid to agriculture. The one
industry of the country when it was first settled was stock-raising. On
account of its large size it was called the State of Emanuel. The first
settlers were generally poor, but were able to make a good living, and
were independent. They were of that class of piny woods people which
occupied nearly all this section of the State, and whom we have so
often described.
The first settlers were, according to White: James Moon, Wm. Stephens,
Henry Darden, George Roundtree, Richard Edinfield, M. Thigpen, A.
Gardner, N. Rowland, E. Swain, James Tapley, John Small, James Hicks,
Wm. Phillips, I. Sutton, E. Lane, B. Johnson, John Wiggins, P. Newton,
Wm. Rowland, Wm. Norris, I. Norris, Wm. Douglas, S. Powell, John
Rhiner, M. Curl, S. Kennedy, E. Coleman, D. E. Rich, E. Wilkes, S.
Williamson, B. Keys, J. C. Sumner.
There was much about Emanuel and all these pine-barren counties to
attract men of small property who loved a free and independent life.
The first settlers were mainly cattle-rangers. In the latter days they
were timber-rangers, sending their fine timber to the Savannah market.
They spent the summer in hewing logs for their rafts, and in the winter
floated them to the Ogeechee canal and to Savannah. They had few wants,
and the money they received for their timber was, much of it, laid
aside for future use. Next to timber the main resource was cattle- and
sheep-raising. There were a little corn and sugar-cane and some oats
raised; but the agricultural value of the lands was overlooked until
the war ended and the commercial fertilizers were found suited to the
land and cotton was cultivated to profit. The rail roads penetrated the
county in search of timber for the mills, and the turpentine farmer
leased the land and bled the trees and set up his still. Emanuel then
began to improve in every way, and has gone steadily forward until
there are several flourishing towns in the county.
For many years the only denominations of Christians were the Methodists
and Primitive Baptists.
Swainsboro and Stillmore and Adrian are thriving towns with good
churches and good schools.
Towns, Hamlets and Villages
Garfield, a village of Emanuel county, is located
about
eighteen miles northeast of Swainsboro, on the Millen &
Southwestern
railway. It has a money order
postoffice, an express office, some stores, and enjoys a good local
trade. The population in 1900 was
104.(Source: Georgia Sketches of
Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons,
VOL II, by Candler
& Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Gertman,
a post-village of Emanuel county, is located a little northeast of
Pendleton Creek and about twelve miles southwest of Swainsboro.
Covena, on the Central of Georgia railroad, is the nearest station.
(Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906.
Transcribed by Marilyn Clore)
Kemp, a
post-hamlet of Emanuel county, is located about five miles southwest of
Swainsboro, which is the nearest railway station.(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906.
Transcribed by Tracy McAllister)
Merritt,
a post-hamlet of Emanuel county, is about four miles southeast of
Summertown, which is the nearest railroad station.
[Source: Georgia Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events,
Institutions, and Persons, Vol 2, Publ 1906. Transcribed by Tracy
McAllister]
