Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, GeorgiaPublished in 1974, Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia is a chronicle of sixty years of change in Clarke County and the city of Athens. In 1801, Clarke County, newly created from Jackson County, was virtually all Georgia farmland, and Athens was a portion of land set aside for the establishment of a state university. In those first years of the century, the university began with thirty or forty students. They received instruction from Josiah Meigs--president and faculty of the university--in a twenty-by-twenty-foot log cabin. By 1846, the population of the county was over four thousand, and the area prospered. Cotton mills dotted the banks of the Oconee River, the Georgia Railroad connected Athens with Augusta, numerous schools and churches had been established, and newspapers, banks, and small businesses were all part of the Athens scene. Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia is rich with detail. This historical narrative recalls not only the growth of industry, government, and education within Clarke County, but also contains many anecdotes of the early people who lived there. The chronology of dates and events and the comprehensive listing of public officials, professional men, planters, and businessmen found in the appendixes of Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia add to the value of this work of local history. |
Contents
THE MIDDLE YEARS 18291845 | 22 |
AN ERA FLOURISHES AND THEN DIES 18451861 | 41 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA | 68 |
How THE PEOPLE LIVED | 120 |
A ATHENS CLARKE COUNTY CHRONOLOGY | 158 |
Common terms and phrases
Academy Albon Chase Annals of Athens annual antebellum approved December April Asbury Hull Athenian Athens and Clarke Athens Council Minutes Athens Gazette August Augusta Chronicle Augustus Longstreet Hull Billups Buckingham building Census cents Charles Dougherty Clarke County Clayton College Company cotton county's Creek December 19 December 21 Doctor Early History Easley Edward elected factory February Franklin Georgia Express Georgia Laws Georgia Railroad grand jury Henry Hull History of Athens Howell Cobb Ibid included incorporated Inferior Court Minutes Jackson James Camak January John July June manufacturing March Meigs Milledgeville Mitchell Moore Negroes newspaper November Oconee River October Old South party persons Phinizy planters president reported Richards road September Southern Banner Southern Watchman Stevens Thomas Street Superior Court Minutes Tax Digests Thomas R. R. Cobb town University of Georgia Waddel ward Watkins Watkinsville Whig William L William Stroud Wilson Lumpkin Young L. G. Harris