FRANKLIN.
Franklin county, which was laid off in 1784, named in honor of Benjamin
Franklin, embraced a very large part of upper Georgia, extending from
the borders of what is now Rabun and Towns counties to Clarke, from the
Savannah river to the Oconee in Hall and Jackson.
It is still quite a large county of high hills and narrow valleys,
lying along the base of the Blue Ridge, with some large and fertile
valleys along the Tugalo and the Savannah. The county site,
Carnesville, was laid out in 1805, and was named in honor of Thomas
Peter Carnes.
Franklin has sent forth into other parts of Georgia many most excellent
people. It was for a long time by its location shut out from the world,
but since the building of the Southern railway and the branch to
Elberton it has been brought into close contact with other parts of the
State.
The people generally have been people of moderate means, but famous for
thrift, plainness and independence. It adjoined Anderson district in
South Carolina, and as Scotch-Irish people came from Pennsylvania into
western North and South Carolina their children came to Franklin in
Georgia, but with them came many of pure English origin. The Cleveland,
Humphreys, Gorham, Payne, Harden, Echols, Watson, Little, Chandler, and
Blair families are all Scotch-Irish; while Wilkins, Sewell, Epperson,
Rucker, Terrell, Hooper, Shannon, and Stovall are names of English
people who came to this country from Virginia or North Carolina.
Lands were given away to actual settlers. They were productive, the
health of the people good, and the population rapidly increased.
The Presbyterians, who came into Franklin at a very early day,
organized several churches over a hundred years ago, which are still in
existence. The Rev. Mr. Cartledge, who resided in Franklin, was pastor
of one church for fifty years, having the longest pastorate ever held
by a preacher of any name in Georgia.
The Methodists and Baptists came into the county at an early day and
are very strong in the county. There are two famous camp-grounds
belonging to the Methodists in the county where meetings have been held
annually for many years. There has always been a good high school in
Franklin, and good common schools are found in every neighborhood.
Franklin was very thinly settled for a considerable time after it was
laid out, and in 1790 there were only in all the vast area which it
covered 1,041 people, of whom 156 were slaves. When it was much reduced
in size in 1810 there were 9,156 free and 1,056 slaves; in 1830 there
were 10,107, of whom 2,370 were slaves.
There was up to 1792 great danger from Indian forays, and the scattered
inhabitants lived much of the time in blockhouses. Near this period the
Indians massacred a family of nine persons at one time, but after the
formation of the Union in 1789 the troubles with the Cherokees were
largely settled, and there was but little disturbance after that time.
The county is now much worn, and the people are generally in moderate
circumstances, many of them quite poor, but the population is still
considerable, being in 1890 over fifteen thousand of all classes. The
people are entirely dependent on agriculture but are very industrious
and moral, and are a happy, independent people; and while there is
little attention paid to the higher education, there is a general
attention to the fundamental branches of English.
Franklin county is one of the oldest in the state and from
it as originally created, several other counties have been formed. It was named in honor of Benjamin
Franklin. Previous to the formation of
Stephens county in August 1905, it was bounded on the northeast by
South Carolina, from which it was separated by the
Tugaloo river, on the southeast by Hart county, on the south by
Madison, on the west by
Banks, and on the northwest by Habersham. It
is
extremely
well watered and the lands along the
streams produce
abundant crops of cotton, corn, potatoes, and the small grains. The timber is principally of the hardwood
variety, such as hickory, maple, ash, birch, gum, some pine and the
various kinds
of oak. The county is engaged to some
extent in manufacturing, especially at Carnesville, Lavonia and Royston. Transportation is furnished by the Elberton
& Toccoa division of the Southern railway. The schools, both public
and
private, are excellent. The best known
is the Lavonia institute at Lavonia. Near
Carnesville, the county seat, are the Franklin
Springs,
the waters of which are strongly impregnated with iron and which are
much
resorted to by invalids. This portion of
the state was for many years exposed to the assaults of the Indians. Blockhouses and forts were erected in almost
every part of the county for protection, yet the settlers endured
cruelties,
the very recital of which would chill the blood. During
the
Creek
war
the county furnished an
entire company, which was commanded by Captain Morris.
One of the earliest settlers of the county
was Capt. James Terrell, who, through living in a neighborhood noted
for its
loyalist tendencies at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, at once
declared
for the colonies and served in the Continental army until disabled by a
musket
ball which shattered his hip. He died in the county at the advanced age
of 77
years.
(Source:
Georgia Sketches of Counties,
Towns, Events, Institutions, and
Persons, VOL II, by Candler &
Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Towns,
Hamlets
and Villages
Martin, a town in the
northern part of Franklin county, was
incorporated by act of the legislature on Sept. 7, 1891. In 1900 it had
a
population of 160. It is on the Elberton & Toccoa division of the
Southern
railway, has a money order postoffice, with rural free delivery,
express and
telegraph service, and is an important trading and shipping point.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed
by Kim Mohler)
Garlandville,
a post-hamlet of Franklin county, is about five miles southwest of
Lavonia, on the Southern railroad, which is the nearest station.
The population in 1900 was 51.
(Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906.
Transcribed by Marilyn Clore)
Henry,
a post-hamlet of Franklin county, is located near the Banks county
line, about ten miles from Estanollee, which is the nearest railroad
station.
(Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906.
Transcribed by Angelia Carpenter)
