Tattnall County, Georgia Genealogy and History - Presented by Genealogy Trails History Group

Created by Legislative Act, December 6. 1801, from Montgomery County. Named for General Josiah Tattnall, a distinguished Revolutionary patriot, who became Governor of the State and who, while occupying the office of Chief-Magistrate, was privileged to sign a measure removing the stigma of outlawry from the good name of his Royalist father and restoring to the Boo his beloved Bonaventure. (See Bonaventure: The Country-Seat of the Tattnalls. Originally Tattnall Included a part of Toombs. Reldsville, the county-seat. The local tradition in regard to the name though somewhat at variance with the spelling, Is well authenticated.* In the corner of the court house square there Is quite a depression, Including a point where reeds of the bamboo type abounded in the early days. It Is most likely that a creek or branch was here fed from fountain springs. The original county-seat was four miles distant on the Ohoopee River near Drake's Ferry, where the stream is today spanned by a handsome steel bridge. Reidsvllle became the county-seat in 1832.

Authority: Judge C. W. Smith, Esq., of Reidsville, President of the Tattnall Bank.

The principal towns of Tattnall—in addition to the county-seat—are as follows: Collins, Bellville, Manassas, Hagan, Claxton, Daisy, Glennville and Cobbtown. Collins was named for Perry Collins, Esq., a wealthy land owner, whose plantation was near the site of the present town. Judge E. C. Collins, of the City Court of Reidsvine, is a grandson of this pioneer citizen. Manassas was named for Manassas Foy, a son of George W. Foy, of Egypt, Ga. He was born on July 21, 1861, the date of the first battle of Manassas. He was a successful man of business, but died in the prime of life, at Statesboro, Ga. Hagan was named for Mrs. M. A. Smith, whose maiden name was Miss Hagan. She was a sister of Captain J. S. Hagan, for many years County School Commissioner of Bulloch. Daisy was named f*>r Miss Daisy Edwards, a daughter of T. J. Edwards, of Daisy, and a sister of Congressman Charles G. Edwards, of Savannah. She became the wife of Mr. B. E. Miller, of Claxton. Glennville was named for Rev. Glenn Thompson, a Baptist minister and a well known educator. Cobbtown was named for the Cobb family, a connection which is still somewhat numerous in the upper part of Tattnall. Bellville was named for Mrs. Fannie Bell Smith, the wife of James Smith, Esq. She was a native of the north of Ireland. Included among the descendants of this lady are the following grandsons: C. W. Smith, of Reidsville, President of the Tattnall Bank and Ordinary of the county from 1869 to 1000; Martin W. Smith, of Claxton, an ex-member of the State Legislature from Tattnall; Marshall A. Smith, of Hagan, formerly President of the Rank of Hagan; Judge Oscar M. Smith and Mr. Alvarado Smith, of Valdosta, Ga., and Mike M. Smith, Esq., President of the Orlando Bank and Trust Company, of Orlando, Fla. Claxton was originally known as Hendrix, but there was already a post office in Georgia bearing this name and the ladies of the community, asked to choose a name for the town, selected Claxton.

Original Settlers. The first comers into Tattnall, according to White were: Ezekiel Clifton, Ezekiel Stafford, Henry Holland, Stephen Mattock, William Coleman, William Eason, George Lewis, Joseph Collins, Nathan Brewton, Moses Jernigan, Jones Temples, B. Stripling, A. Daniel, John Mattox, Stephen Bowen, A. Bowen, A. McLeod, John McFarland, James Turner, James Jones, M. Jones, Jesse Collins, David Boyd, Allen Johnson, Elisha Parker, Elisha Curl, James Tillman, Daniel Highsmith, John McArthur, Alexander Gordon, John Jones, Joshua Dasher, Reuben Nail, Luke Sapp, Benjamin Sapp, John Sharp, Grove Sharp, Levi Bowen, Lewis Strickland, John Anderson, James Underwood, and John Dukes.

William Eason was the founder of Methodism in Tattnall. He lies buried at Mount Carmel, midway between Reidsville and Collins. On the one hundredth anniversary of the church, some few years ago, a monument was unveiled to the memory of this pioneer soldier of the Cross. Nathan Brewton, the founder of a noted family identified with this section of Georgia for more than a century, sleeps in the Brewton cemetery, one mile north of Hagan, where recently a handsome monument was placed over his grave. Simon J. Brewton, one of his sons, became a resident of Bulloch, where he was the only man in the county to defeat the celebrated Peter Cone for the State Legislature. Mr. Brewton was not a believer in railroads; and, according to tradition, his solicitude for the cattle cost his county one of the earliest lines projected in the State. When the Central of Georgia was surveying a route from Savannah to Macon, he used his powerful influence in the General Assembly to prevent the road from, passing through Bulloch. Samuel Brewton, a brother, was formerly a representative in the Legislature from Tattnall. The descendants of Nathan Brewton include : Rev. J. C. Brewton, D. D., President and Founder of the Brewton-Parker Institute and President of the Board of Trustees of Bessie Tift; H. J. Brewton, Clerk of the Superior Court of Tattnall; and Jonathan B. Brewton, Cashier of the Merchants and Farmers Bank, of Claxton.