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Walker
County
History
Source: History of
Walker County, Georgia
Contributed and Transcribed by: Frances Cooley
Walker County was named for Major Freeman Walker of Augusta. He was one
of the leading members of the bar in his day and was for some years a
Senator from Georgia.
Organized in 1831, the Legislature of Georgia organized all the
territory of Northwest Georgia into one large county, called Cherokee,
because of the Cherokee Indians in that part of the State. Northwest
Georgia was at that time, and is even yet, often referred to as
Cherokee, Georgia.
It was seen at once that this area was entirely too extensive for one
county, so one year later, in 1832, the county of Murray was laid out
from Cherokee. Murray was composed of all that territory extending
into the northwest angle of the state and from which afterward the
counties of Walker, Whitfield, Catoosa, Gordon, Dade, and Chattooga
were carved.
In 1833 when the Legislature again assembled the county of Walker was
organized. At this time the territory of Walker included not only its
present area, but all of Dade, and large parts of Whitfield, Catoosa,
and Chattooga.
In 1837 all of Walker's territory west of the top of Lookout Mountain
was cut off and the county of Dade was established as the most
northwestern county in the state.
In 1838 another portion was cut off from Walker and the county of
Chattooga was established.
Then again in 1853, more territory was extracted and the county of
Catoosa was made a county.
Also, in this same year, 1853, and again in 1859, other portions of
Walker's territory were dished out to enrich the county of Whitfield.
Walker County was inhabited by the Cherokee Indians until 1838.
The town site, La Fayette, county seat of Walker County, was laid out
by Benjamin Wheeler in 1835.
Wm. Perry opened the first store there in 1836.
In 1837, Spencer Marsh, also David Stewart, engaged in the mercantile;
business there.
John Caldwell opened the first hotel at La Fayette and was elected the
first clerk of the county.
Wm. Fortner was the first sheriff.
La Fayette was principally settled by Democrats, of whom Marsh,
Stewart, Caldwell and Fortner were the most prominent. Perry, the first
merchant, was a Whig.
Judge Kenyan held the first court in Walker County in a rude log house.
He was a stern judge and felt very indignant at the rudeness of some of
the natives during his first term of court. There being no jail he had
no means of enforcing proper respect for the dignity of the court. The
second time he arrived to hold court he came on horseback. He had
a coil of new rope which he threw on the floor in the court house. When
asked by one of-the lawyers what the rope was for, he said that he was
going to hog-tie the first man who failed to respect his court. It is
useless to say the rope was never used, as it commanded order,
among the rude natives.
There are some conflicting statements as to the date of settlement
in Walker County of one of the most prominent families, a member of
which has attained to national popularity. Hon. John B. Gordon was
made famous as a Confederate leader, represented his State in the
United States Senate after the war, then governor of the State and
again elected to the United States Senate.
The first mail route in the county ran from Chattanooga to Rome. The
first mail carrier was Ab.Wisdom. He made the trip from Chattanooga and
return once a week.
La Fayette was the first post office in the county. Mail matter was
five or six weeks old before it reached its destination.
In that early day there was a stage line from Augusta to Knoxville,
Tennessee, which carried the mail.
About the year 1840 a mail route was established from La Fayette to New
Town, in Gordon County. Although the mail was carried but twice a
month, was a great convenience.
Roads were rapidly opened and churches were organized in almost every
neighborhood.
Humphrey Posey, a missionary appointed by the Philadelphia Association
to preach to the Cherokee Indians, organized Shiloh and other Baptist
churches in the county.
About 1837 or 1838 Shiloh was organized with seven members. Constantine
Wood and wife, Thomas Kite and wife, and three negroes belonging to
James Young, Abram, Milly and Oney. Antfoch and Peavine and some other
Baptist churches were organized about the same time, and churches of
other denominations were organized at the same time in almost every
neighborhood.
The first court after the organization of the county was held in a
little log cabin near Chickamauga, at which two Indians,
Pocketbook and Cach, were tried for murder and both were convicted and
hanged.
In 1838 the court house was finished and the first court in that
building was presided over by Judge Hooper, who resided in La Fayette
at that time.
The old brick academy was also built about the same time and about the
first school in the county was taught in it.
Spencer Marsh, John Caldwell, Samuel Fariss and some others were
prominent in managing the affairs of the county. Spencer Marsh was
among the first merchants to open a mercantile business in the new
town.
At that time dry goods were bought in northern cities and shipped to
Augusta. They were hauled in wagons from that place to almost all parts
of the state.
The Indians were carried from the state in 1838. They were all
collected in this section and guarded in a fort a short distance
northwest of La Fayette near where the Union Cotton Mills now stand.
These poor children of the forest were grief stricken at the thought of
leaving their native hills. When the last handshaking took place all
parties gave expression to their grief.
Many fell prostrate on the ground and begged the soldiers to shoot them
that they might be buried in the land of their births. The line of
march, the Trail of Tears, to the west was marked by their graves.
Towns,
Hamlets
and
Villages
Flintstone,
an
incorporated
town in the northern part of Walker county, is on the
Central of Georgia railroad, and in 1900 reported a population of
257. It has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph
service, several stores with food local trade and does some shipping.
[Source: Georgia: Sketches,
Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions & People, Vol. 2, Publ. 1906
Transcribed By: Maggie Coleman]
Geary, a
post-hamlet in the northwestern part of Walker county, is a station on
the short line of the Central of Georgia railroad that runs from
Chickamauga to Durham.
(Georgia:
Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and
Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906. Transcribed
by Marilyn Clore)
High, a post-hamlet
in the southwest corner of Walker county, is in a mountainous district.
Sulphur Springs, on the Alabama Great Sourthern 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 Angelia Carpenter)
High Point, a
post-village of Walker county, is on the Chattanooga Southern railway,
fifteen miles northwest of the county seat. The population in 1900 was
55.
(Georgia:
Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and
Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906. Transcribed
by Angelia Carpenter)
Kensington, a village of Walker
county, is on the Chattanooga Southern railroad, at the point where it
crosses Chickamatiga creek. It has a money order postoffice, with rural
free delivery, express and telegraph service, and is the
principal trading and shipping point for that part of the county.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of
Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler
& Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Tracy McAllister)
Lytle, a village in the
northeastern part of Walker county, is on the Central of Georgia
railroad, not far from the Catoosa county line. It is also called
Battlefield Station, as it is opposite the Chickamauga national
park. It has an international money order postoffice, a telegraph
office, some mercantile interests, and in 1900 reported a population of
46.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of
Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler
& Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Joanne Morgan)
Martindale, a post-hamlet of Walker
county, is on the Central of Georgia railway, not far from the
Chattooga county line.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of
Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler
& Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Kim Mohler)
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