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Jones County, Georgia History
Laid out in 1807; part added from Putnam, 1810; part to Bibb, 1822. Length, 21 m.; breadth, 18 m.; area square
miles, 378.
The chief river is the Ocmulgee.
The face of the country is hilly. The soil, though much worn, is productive.
Clinton is the county town, distant from Milledgeville 22 miles.
Blountsville, a small place, is 10 miles from Clinton.
Griswold's Cotton Gin Factory is situated in Griswoldville. Machinery moved by steam. Yearly average sales, 900
gins, worth not less than $40,000 ; saws worth about $80,000 ; 70,000 pounds of castings, mostly of iron, used
per annum; 50,000 pounds of wrought iron, 40,000 pounds gin-saw cast steel, and 200,000 feet of lumber. Annual
profits of business, $20,000. Connected with this establishment are two saws, cutting 600,000 feet of lumber per
annum, besides wagon, smiths' shops, &c. Whole number of hands employed, 80.
The most common diseases are fever and pneumonia.
Extract from the Census of 1850.—White males, 1,972; white females, 1,927; free coloured males, 17; free coloured
females, 29. Total free population, 3,945 ; slaves, 6,279. Deaths, 85. Farms, 405; manufacturing establishments,
15. Value of real estate, $1,373,625; value of personal estate, $3,525,464.
Among the first settlers were, Captain Jonathan Parish, Peter Clower, Henry Low, Wm. Williams, Wilkins Jackson,
Jeremiah Dumas, Thomas White, Jeremiah Pearson, Major Humphries, James and High Comer, Roger Mccarthy, Allen Greene,
BenJamin Tarver, Bailey Stewart, James Anthony, George Harper, John Chapell, Jesse M. Pope, Henry Pope, John Bayne,
StePhen Kirk, Wm. Carbanus, P. A. Lewis, James Jones, Wm. Jones, Robert Hutchins, James Grey.
Mr. Benjamin Reynolds died in this county, aged seventy-three years. He was a native of Caroline County, Virginia.
At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, he was too young to enter the service. As soon as his age would admit,
he, together with the patriotic citizens of that part of Virginia, so distinguished in the history of the Revolution,
took up arms, and entered the service of his country. At the end of the war he removed to South Carolina into a
neighbourhood distinguished for their loyalty to the British crown. Mr. Reynolds, from his zealous devotion to
the cause of liberty, encountered the most violent persecution from his misguided associates. After the purchase
of the land on which Jones County is included, he removed thither, being one of it earliest settlers.
John Lamar, Esq., died in this county. As a soldier of the Revolution, he was not only brave to a fault, but his
services were of long continuance, and his sufferings excessive. Very shortly after entering the army, he was deputed
with others to the performance of a perilous duty, in which he was deserted by his companions, and left to execute
the order alone, which he did to the admiration and astonishment of all. For this act of intrepidity and fidelity,
the Government tendered him a Lieutenant's commission in the regular forces, which, however, he modestly declined,
on the ground that he was too young and inexperienced to assume the responsibilities of the station, being at this
time only in his seventeenth year. He served under Generals Marion and Pickens, attached generally to the battalion
of the latter; was at the battle of the Eutaw, Cowpens, siege of Augusta, and in several other engagements ; once
taken a prisoner, but made his escape from the camp of Lord Cornwallis, rescuing at the same time one of his cousins;
was twice wounded during the war by the British, and once by the Indians, after his removal to Georgia.
Many of the citizens of this section of the State have done honour to it by their virtues and talents.
Dr. Hamilton, now of Cass, was a practitioner of medicine in this county for many years, and had a high reputation.
Colonel Robert Hardeman is well known as a courteous gentleman and eminent lawyer.
Interesting Trial.—In December, 1837, there was brought up and tried before the Superior Court of this county a
case which excited great interest throughout the country. A full account of it was given in a pamphlet, from which
the following extracts are made:
The maiden name of the mother of Jesse L. Bunkley was Elisabeth Slatter. Her first husband, the father of Jesse,
was William D. Bunkley. After the death of Mr. Bunkley, who left a large estate, his widow married Mr. Billingslea.
After the death of Billingslea, she married Samuel Lowther, Esq. Captain Jonathan Parish married the annt of Jesse
L. Bunkley by the mother's side, and in 1815, was appointed guardian of the person and property of Jesse. The estate
left to Jesse by his father was considerable. At the time when it was claimed by Elijah Barber, who personated
Jesse L. Bunkley, it is supposed that it would have amounted to between thirty and forty thousand dollars. Young
Bunkley having ample means to educate him in the best style usual in our country, was, from five years old, sent
to the first schools and academies in the vicinity, was prepared for college, and entered the University of Georgia.
As is too common with young men of fortune, Jesse L. Bunkley did not feel the necessity of personal exertion to
get him through the world. He was consequently wild and rude, though talented; his habits did not permit him to
remain long a student of the University. He made frequent excursions to our large cities and elsewhere, to indulge
in amusements more congenial to him than the strict rules of a college life. After he left college, in order to
indulge his disposition for roaming and amusement, he determined to make a trip to the westward and to New Orleans.
At this time, 1825, his mother lived about three miles from Clinton, Jones County, Georgia. She testified that
he left there on the 17th day of May, 1825, aged nineteen years and six months. She heard from him occasionally,
by letter and otherwise, for little more than two years. After this it was generally reported and believed in and
about Clinton, that Jesse L. Bunkley had died in New Orleans. And this report was so much confided in, that his
guardian paid out his estate to his brother, William D. Bunkley, (generally called familiarly Bob Bunkley,) who
was entitled to his brother's estate upon his death. William D. Bunkley has since died, and his estate descended
to his widow and children, residing in Alabama.
The following is the description given of Jesse L. Bunkley when he left Georgia : Light complexion, a little inclined
to be swarthy, light hair, yellow eyes, face full and round, a deep dimple in the chin, full jaws, the upper one
inclined to turn up when he laughed; nose large, and a little turned up at the end; large hips, large thighs and
legs, a full body, but slim round the waist. The middle finger of the left hand was bit off above the nail, the
nail entirely gone; a scar on the right side of the neck, under the jaw-bone, which grew up into a ridge ; a scar
immediately under the left knee-pan, directly across the leg. A mark is also described on a private part of Bunkley,
by Mr. Williams, who was present when he got the wound.
We collect, from the history of the case, that from about the middle of the year 1827, till about the year 1830,
or 1831, nothing was heard of Bunkley ; but the belief of his death generally prevailed among his relatives and
acquaintances in Georgia. About this time counter reports began to reach them that he was dead, and that he was
alive. Rumours reached Clinton that he had been seen chained to a block, working on the streets and the Levee at
New-Orleans.
About 1832 or 1833, the report became current that he was confined in the Calaboose, in New Orleans. About this
time a correspondence was commenced between a person in the Calaboose and a respectable gentleman of the bar in
Clinton, in which the former represented himself to be Jesse L. Bunkley, and wrote to the latter under that name,
with a view to procure money to aid him in his difficulties, from the estate left to his son by William D. Bunkley.
The individual in the Calaboose was visited by Major Wynn of Columbus, who knew Bunkley, but who identified him
to be the prisoner on his trial. He was convicted and confined in the Calaboose, under the name of Elijah Barber,
of having forged bank-notes in his possession. He afterwards opened a correspondence with the mother of Bunkley;
but failed to satisfy her of his identity. This individual had been well known to many persons in Georgia, for
a number of years. Many of the citizens of Gwinnett and other counties knew him well as Elijah Barber. He was recognized
by that name about Macon, Milledgeville, Augusta, and elsewhere. The citizens generally were acquainted with his
father, mother, and family. He was seen as late as the year 1828 in Milledgeville, and 1829 in Augusta, three or
four years after Bunkley left the State. He was a wild, dissipated, intemperate man, extremely illiterate, so much
so, that he could not write his name; and was frequently arrested for breaches of the laws.
Barber first demanded his estate of the guardian of Bunkley, by power of attorney, purporting to hare been written
in the State of Arkansas. The guardian suspected some unfairness, as he did not recognize the handwriting, and
believed Bunkley to be dead. He therefore refused to settle with the agent who produced the power of attorney.
A short time after this, the person representing himself as Jesse L. Bunkley, made his appearance in Jones County,
and after remaining there two or three weeks, demanded of Captain Parish the estate of Jesse L. Bunkley. He passed
by the name of Bunkley, and this personation and demand gave origin to the case here reported.
Elijah Barber (the man convicted) is about the ordinary stature, perhaps a little over it, said to be taller than
Bunkley when he left Georgia—spare madevery little bow-legged—somewhat thin-visaged, face rather long—complexion
ruddy—hair quite black, and black whiskers—deep blue eyes—sharp chin, without any appearance of a dimple—nose long
and sharp, a little aquiline, or turned down. On his left leg, about an inch and a half below the knee, is a scar
made obliquely up the leg. He shows a very small spot for a scar on the side of the neck under the right jaw-bone.
A very peculiar mark on a private member is proved. He has not lost any of his fingers—the nails are all on them,
and perfect. He has never been seen to write anything but Jesse L. Bunkley, and that badly.
One of the witnesses described a scar or scars on Barber's leg from the bite of a snake. Barber exhibited himself
before the jury, and scars were found oo his right leg, very much resembling the description of the wounds from
the bite of a snake.
Two objections were raised by the prisoner's counsel when the indictment was about to be read.
1st Objection: "That prisoner had not been served with a copy of this indictment."
2nd: " That the indictment has been amended by adding to it the name of a new prosecutor, the former being
dead, and that the statute of jeofails extends to civil and not criminal cases."
Which objections, however, were overruled by the court, who ordered the indictment to be read. Ninety-eight witnesses
were sworn in behalf of the State, and thirty-nine in behalf of the prisoner. The jury were out but a few minutes,
and returned a verdict of guilty. The prisoner was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at hard labour in the
Penitentiary.
The Solicitor-General, William G. Smith, Hardeman, Colquitt, and Reid, for the State, and James Smith and E. Y.
Hill for the prisoner.
[Source: Historical Collections fo Georgia by George White, 1855. - Submitted
by Brenda Wiesner]
History of Clinton
Clinton, until recently the county seat of Jones county, is located about two miles
south of Gray, the present county seat, and in 1900 reported a population of 324. It was incorporated in 1816,
has a money order postoffice, several good mercantile establishments, schools, churches, etc. Gray is the nearest
railroad station. On July 30, 1864, a skirmish occurred here, which was one of the incidents of Stoneman's raid.
(q. v.) When Sherman began his march to the sea in the following November one division of the Federal troops was
met near Clinton on the 20th and the advance driven back on the main body by the Confederates under Col. W. C.
P. Breckenridge. The Federals occupied the town on the 21st. A small body of Wheeler's cavalry made a dash on Osterhaus'
division and captured one man within a few feet of the general's headquarters. They were driven back by superior
numbers, when Wheeler coming up with two regiments turned the tide of battle and forced the enemy to abandon the
pursuit.
[Source: "GEORGIA : Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form" EDITED BY Ex-governor ALLEN D. CANDLER AND General CLEMENT A. EVANS,
VOLUME I , 1906 - Submitted by Brenda Wiesner]
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