|
History of Talbot County |
Originally Talbot County included part of Taylor County.
It was named for Matthew Talbot (1768-1827), a member of legislature.
First officers of Talbot County, commissioned Feb 9, 1828, were Abraham Laurence, Sheriff; Samuel C. Leach, Clk. Sup. Ct; William S. Goss, Clk. Inf. Ct; Benjamin Loyd, Surveyor; Hubbard Brown, Coroner.
Muscogee County extended from the Flint River to the Chattahoochee River and contanied some 2,000
square miles of territory.
Resource: Georgia Laws, 1826 pg 57-58
The General Assembly in 1827 passed an act creating Talbot, Harris, Marion and Meriwether Counties from the territory formerly embraced in Muscogee and Troup counties. Section 5 of this act pertained to Talbot County and provided: "that so much of the county of Muscogee as lies within the following boundaries to wit:
beginning at the southeast corner of Lot No 193 in the 17th District of the County of Muscogee, thence east to Flint River, thence up said river to the boundary line of the county of Harris, thences southwardly along said line to the geinning, shall form one other County called, Talbot.This act was signed on Dec 14, 1827 by Irby Hudson, Spearker of the House of Representatives; Tomas Stocks, President of the Senate;
In 1832 a portion of Marion County was added to Talbot County [Georgia Laws 1832, pg 50] and in 1847 that portion of Muscogee County lying in the fork of Baker and Upatoie Creek was made a part of Talbot county. [Georgia Laws 1847, pg 64]
After leaving Bavaria, Lazarus Straus dispensed his merchandise over several
states searching for a home for his family. In 1854, his wife and four
children, settled in a comfortable house one block from here.
An expert merchant and a learned man, he became actively identified at once
with the progress of Talbotton. From his humble beginning, Lazarus Straus
and his sons, Isidor, Nathan, and Oscar, reached the pinnacle of success in
the business, political, and civic affairs of our nation.
Talbot County
Talbot County was created by Act of Dec. 14, 1827 from Muscogee County.
Originally, it included part of Taylor County. It was named for Matthew
Talbot (1767-1827), member of legislature, member of the Convention that
framed the Constitution of Ga., President of the State Senate, Governor in
1819 after the death of Gov. Rabun until the election of Gov. Clark. First
officers of Talbot County, commissioned Feb. 9, 1828, were: Abraham
Laurence, Sheriff; Samuel C. Leech, Clk. Sup. Ct; William S. Goss, Clk. Inf.
Ct.; Benjamin Loyd, Surveyor; Hubbard Brown, Coroner.
Georgia Historical Commission marker, placed at the north east corner of
Courthouse Square in Talbotton in 1955.
First Session Supreme Court of Georgia
At Talbotton on Jan 26, 1846, the first meeting of the Supreme Court of
Georgia was held in the dining hall of the old Claiborne Hotel which sttod
one block west of this marker. Judge Hiram Warner and Judge Eugenius A.
Nisbet were present. Judge Joseph Henry Lumpkin, the other member of the
newly established Court, did not attend because of illness in his family.
At the Court’s first session James M. Kelly of Perry, was elected Reporter
and Robert E. Martin, of Milledgeville, Clerk. Martin was sworn in
Fifteen attorneys were admitted to the Supreme Court during the term held at
Talbotton in January 1846. The first lawyers in Georgia to qualify to
practice before Georgia’s highest court were: Alfred Iverson, Hines Holt,
James Johnson, Marcus Johnston and Adam G. Foster of Columbus; Barnard Hill,
Allen F. Owen, Edmund H. Worrill, William F. Brooks, Anthony G. Perryman,
Levi B. Smith, Stephen D. Heard, Marion Bethune, and J. L. Stephenson of
Talbotton; and Amos W. Hammond of Culloden.
Georgia Historical marker on the southeast corner
of Talbotton Courthouse
Square, erected 1953.
George Washington Towns
George Washington Towns was born in Wilkes County, Georgia May 4, 1801, and
died in Macon, Georgia July 15, 1854. A lawyer and resident of Talbotton,
Georgia. Towns served as state legislator, U.S. Congressman, and Governor of
Georgia (1847-51). During his administration he led the fight for the
amelioration of the slave code, obtained the adoption of the ad valoreum
system of taxation, completed the Western and Atlantic Railroad, and became
an early advocate of free public schools. Towns wrote Georgia’s inscription
on the Washington Monument: "The Constitution As It Is, the Union As It
Was."
Georgia Historical marker on the northwest corner of Talbotton Courthouse
Square
Zion Episcopal Church Erected 1848
The edifice has been spared modernization and is a perfect replica of a
typical English rural parish church of the Tudor-Gothic period.
The altar, communion rail, lectern-pulpit, and prayer desk are handmade of
native walnut. The entire structure is put together with wooden pegs and
handmade iron nails. The pipe organ, installed in 1850, and in continous use
ince that time, is a Pilcher and still is operated by hand pump.
The choir loft at the east end of the structure opposite the sanctuary,
above the narthex. Is flanked on each side, by a gallery, where slaves
worshipped prior to the conflict which many believed temporarily destroyed
Southern culture. Zion Church had its incipience from the missionary zeal of
the Rev. Richard Johnson and the financial assistance of South Carolina rice
planters.
Georgia Historical marker located near the back of the church st the
roadside of U.S. Highway 80. Erected 1955.
1831 Talbotton United Methodist Church
As Methodism moved across Georgia, in 1830 Jesse Sinclair and Henry W.
Hilliard were sent by the South Carolina Methodist Conference to the Flint
River Mission of which Talbot Co was a part. In 1831 this circuit became a
part of the newly formed Georgia Conference and by 1834 Talbotton became a
separate Charge.
Upon the incorporation of Talbotton on 20 December 1828 a lot was set aside
for a Methodist Church and deeded to it on 25 June 1831. Soon a substantial
wooden church was erected. In 1857 this building was replaced by the present
handmade brick church constructed by Miranda Fort.
Among the oldest original brick churches of the South Georgia Conference. It
is an outstanding example of Greek Revival Temple Architecture.
Georgia Historical marker.
The Church was also designated as a Methodist Conference Historical site in
1978, with a historical marker installed at the front of the building.
"United Methodist Historic Site No. 64".
Straus Home Site
In 1854, Lazarus Straus brought his wife and four children to Talbotton to
their first home in America. Here he established a store, the first in a
series that led to Macy’s, one of the leading department stores in the
world. Straus and his sons, Isidor, Nathan, and Oscar, are among those men
in American Jewry of whom all Jews are most proud. Isidor as a merchant,
Nathan as a pioneer in public health, Oscar as one of the earlier career
diplomats, and all as philanthropists and patriots, have won national
acclaim.
Two Georgia Historical markers erected 1958, one block east of the Straus
home site, on Washington Avenue.
Straus Home Site
Here stood the small frame house in which Lazarus Straus and his family
lived when they came to Talbotton in 1854. Seeking a new home in America
after leaving Bavaria, Straus visited Talbotton during a "court week" and
decided to make his home among its hospitable people.
His family, the only Jewish one in town, became identified with the progress
of the community.
The sons, Isidor, Nathan and Oscar, studied at nearly Collingsworth
Institute. Nathan and Oscar attended the Baptist Sunday School.
Lazarus Straus founded a mercantile business in Talbotton and a later one in
Columbus. After the War Between the States, he established a crockery and
glassware business in New York, a forerunner of Macy’s which became, under
the leadership of Isidor Straus, one of the world’s leading department
stores.
Oscar Straus, among the earliest career diplomats, served as minister,
ambassador, and cabinet member under Presidents Cleveland, McKinley,
Roosevelt and Taft. Author of several books, he wrote the widely read Under
Four Administrations.
Nathan Straus, leader in the fight for pasteurization of milk and a pioneer
in other health reforms, was known throughout his life as a great
philanthropist.
The Straus family is honored, not for its wealth, but for its outstanding
contribution to the American way of life.
Georgia Historical marker erected 1958 at the former site of the Straus
home, on the corner of Monroe Street and Jefferson Street in Talbotton.
Old Belleview
Ante-bellum settlement on the old Alabama Rd between the Chattachoochee at
Columbus & the Flint River at the Double Bridges.
Columbus was seized by Federal Cav. Under Gen. James H. Wilson April 16,
1865. The next day Minty’s div. Was sent forward to secure the Flint River
crossing at Double Bridges. This was done by the 4th Michigan & 3d Ohio
Cav., Col. B. D. Pritchard comdg., after a rapid night march & a surprise
attack, early the 18th.
The rest of Wilson’s forces left Columbus that day, following Minty’s div.
via Talbotton. Belleview, Pleasant Hill, Double Bridges, Thomaston,
Culloden-Macon, their destination.
Georgia Historical marker on Ga Hwy 41, near its inter-section with Ga Hwy
36 west in Talbot Co Land District 23.
Double Bridges
An ante-bellum Alabama Road crossing of Flint River at Owens Island, 1.25
miles N. of the old DuBignon Ferry & 2.5 mi. N.E. of this point.
Wilson’s Cav. Seized Columbus Apr. 16, 1865. On the 17th, Minty’s div. was
sent to blaze a trail to Macon. Minty sent the 4th Mich. & 3rd Ohio Cav.
Under Co. B. D. Pritchard on a night march to secure the Flint River
Crossing at Double Bridges, guarded by 50 Georgia Cavalry Reserves, under
Maj. N. C. Osborn. Pritchard, in a surprise attack, with over-whelming
forces, seized the island and the two bridges.
Wilson’s Raiders followed April 19-19, via Talbotton, Belle-view, Pleasant
Hill & Thomaston.
Ga Historical marker erected 1956 on Ga Hwy 36 East, about 2 miles from
Pleasant Hill.
Confederate Monument
Situated at the Courthouse Square in Talbotton, it was erected in 1904 by
the Alice Beall Matthews Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Present Day Talbot County
Present day Talbot County consists of the towns of Baldwinville, Baughville, Beall, Box Springs,
Brownsand, Centerville, Cunningham Crossroads, Geneva, Hawkins Crossroads, Junction City, Olive Branch, Pleasant Hill, Prattsburg, Sardis, Tax Crossroads, Woodland, Ypsilanti, and the county seat, Talbotton.
The county currently has a population of 6.498, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's statistics for
2000.
