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Rabun County, Georgia
A Proud Member of the Genealogy Trails Group
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Hello and welcome to the Genealogy Trails website
for Rabun County, Georgia.
This County is available for adoption.
Our goal at Genealogy Trails
is to help you track your ancestors through time and place by transcribing genealogical and historical data and
placing it online for the free use of all researchers.
This is a continuation of
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to expand into other states. We welcome your feedback and comments, and your data contributions.
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who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be as successful as
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As early as 1760, explorers came to the area now known as Rabun
County. In the 1700s, the population of Cherokee in the area was so heavy in the area that this portion of the
Appalachian Mountains were sometimes called the "Cherokee Mountains." The early explorers and settlers
divided the Cherokee people into three divisions depending on location and dialect, the Lower, Middle, and Over-the-Hill.
There were at least four Cherokee settlements in what would later become Rabun County. A Middle settlement called
Stikayi (Stiyaki, Sticoa, Stekoa) was located on Stekoa Creek, probably southeast of the present-day Clayton. An
Over-the-Hill settlement called Tallulah was located on the upper portion of the Tallulah River. There were also
two Cherokee settlements of unknown division, Chicherohe (Chechero), which was destroyed during the American Revolutionary
War, located along Warwoman Creek, east of Clayton, and Eastertoy (Eastatowth, Estatowee) which was located near
the present-day Dillard.
John Dillard and his family were among the first documented settlers in the area in 1794 as a result of a land
grant for his service in the American Revolution. The settlers were initially tolerated, but tensions increased
as displaced Cherokees moved in from other areas.
The Georgia General Assembly passed an act to create the county in December 21, 1819 becoming Georgia’s forty-seventh
county. The northern border of the county was established as latitude 35°N, which is the boundary between Georgia
and North Carolina. The county is named for William Rabun, who served as the 11th Governor of Georgia from his
election in 1817 until his death in 1819. In 1828, the Georgia General Assembly transferred a portion of Habersham
County to Rabun County. In 1838, the legislature redefined the Rabun-Habersham county line. In 1856, the legislature
used portions of Rabun and Union Counties to create Towns County
During the Civil War, Rabun County was one of only five Georgia counties that did not secede from the Union. Although
the county was largely untouched by the Civil War, the area did border on anarchy during that time. Rabun County
did field two regiments for the Confederate cause: Rabun 24th Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company E, Rabun Gap
Riflemen; and Rabun 52nd Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company F, Beauregard Braves.
With an average annual rainfall of over 70 inches, Rabun County has the
title of the rainiest county in Georgia and one of the rainiest counties east of the Mississippi River.
The county seat is Clayton, Georgia.
[Source: wikipedia.org]
Cities and towns
Clayton. Incorporated: December 13, 1823;
Dillard. Incorporated 1906
Mountain City: Incorporated: 1907
Sky Valley. Incorporated: 1978
Tallulah Falls.
Tiger. Incorporated: 1904
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Online Data
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Biographies
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Births
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Cemeteries
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Census
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Church Histories/Records
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County Records
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Court Records
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Deaths
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Family Bibles
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History
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Marriages
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Military
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Newspaper Data
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Obituaries
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Surnames
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Wills/Legal Records
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Website Updates:
29 Feb 2008: BURTON obit
27 Dec 2007: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 Mortality Indexes; Death Records |
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