INTERESTING BITS OF HABERSHAM COUNTY HISTORY PART 2 EARLY HISTORY OF HABERSHAM VERY IMPORTANT TO GEORGIA Miss Addie Bass Habersham county was formed from a part of a land grant ceded from the Cherokee Indians in 1817. The county was organized in 1818 and named for the famous Revolutionary leader and later Postmaster General, Joseph Habersham. The county site was chartered in 1823 and named for the Revolutionary General Elijah Clarke. Gen. Clarke spelled his name in the old way with the final E, and for this reason the E is retained in Clarkesville. This little city has the distinction of being the only one of the nineteen Clarkesvilles in the United States. Originally Habersham comprised the present county, a large part of White and Stephens counties and a small part of Banks county. (White county was formed from Habersham and Hall in 1837, and Stephens county from Habersham and Franklin in 1905). Soon after and even during the Revolutionary war white men came to the Indian lands from the Carolinas and lived along the banks of Tugalo river and also on the Georgia side. Among these was James Jarrett, whose descendants still own farms in Stephens county--whole original deeds came from the Indians. A man named Van Diverre or Vandiver lived near Tullulah Falls, and Gen. James Wofford came farther into the county and lived with the Indians. The white people who bought land before the county was ceded to the goernment bought it from the Indians through their chefs. But any Indians who wanted to could clear and improve land and give it to his children. As long as he or his children remained on the land it was his, but if he moved away the land and improvements became the property of any Indian who took possession of it. There were many well to do Indians, and half-breeds in the county at the time it was organized who had good farms and owned slaves. Among these Indians we find the James Stan Waitee, Black Watt Adair, Red Watt Adair, Jim Vann and Lynch. By the beginning of the nineteenth century quite a number of whites had ventured into this section and rented or bought land from the Indians. Among these English settlers we find many names of citizens of the county at the present day. By the time the county was organized settlements had been established in several places along the banks of the Soque River near and where Clarkesville now is, on the Tugalo at the Jarrett settlement, in the Nacoochee Valley the Williams settlement and in the Batesville District near Providence church, which were the largest settlements. Among the names of the English inhabitants are Jarrett, Devereau, Van Diverre, Wofford, Hill, Sutton, Williams, Free, Crow, Sisk, McClure, Burton, Dover, Cooley, Chastain, Fry, Trotter, Bowen, Tatum, Davis, Deal, Ivester, Stewart, Hames, Harshaw, Brookshire, Waldrep, Kimsey and Gabrels. The "Covered Wagon" settlers who came to Habersham before and after its organization were substantial, God-fearing citizens and became the backbone of the county. Soon after the county was organized gold was discovered and many settlers attracted by the gold came. Among them we find the names of Elibu Barclay, the Lambert brothers, A. J. Nichols, William Hackett, John Fuller, Alex Mauldin, William Hiers, S. H. (?) Alley, Jesse Norris, John S. Dobbins and Elijah Starr. Many of these were the first settlers of Clarkesville. There was a wealthy class of people also attracted by the gold and the wonderful climate from Savannah, Charleston and parts of North Carolina and Virginia, bought large tracts of land and put their slaves to digging for gold. These people built homes -- either permanent or for summer use -- and brought an air of refinement and culture to this section that is usually found only in old communities. Among these we find the names of Dr. George Duval Phillips, General B. F. Patton, S. A. Wales, John A. Stanford, William Smith, Alex Erwin, Judge William Laws, Govenor Alsten, of South Carolina, Richard Habersham, Richard Ownes, General B. R. Wyley and John B. Ward. Judge J. W. H. Underwood, the noted wit of the Georgia bar, presided over the court of Habersham many years. Among the lawyers of Habersham were Col. Stamper, a brother-in-law of Judge Underwood, also noted for his wit and peculiarities, Elibu Barclay, John H. Jones, M. J. Walker, Calvin Hanks, S. A. Wales, J. H. Trippe, Phillip Martin and Thomas Rush. Some of the early representatives of the county to the legislature were General Wofford, Col. Cleveland, Dr. John Bailey, Dr. George D. Phillips, Thos. M. Kimsey, William Grant and James C. Jarrard. Dr. Phillips introduced and put through a bill known as the "Poor School Fund", providing for a fund for the education of children of parents too poor to pay their tuition. This was the first school law passed after that one in the Constitution providing wild lands for the establishment of academies in the different counties. Mr. Chastain was Representative to Congress and Hon. Richard Habersham was also Congressional Representative. His home is now owned by Mr. J. A. Erwin. It is about four miles from Clareksville on the Tallulah Falls Highway and is a quaint building of the old architecture. In every settlement there was a church. Most of these were of Baptist denomination. Bethlehem Church, one mile from Clarkesville, was the first church in the county, and Providence Church, near Lake Burton, was the second. The Metholdist had a campground at Mossy Creek, now in White County. Among the early ministers of the Gospel in Habersham were Singlton Sisk, Thomas M. Kimsey, James C. Jarrard, Frederic Canup, Benjamin Jones, Grover Trotter and Jesse Morrison of the Baptist denomination, and Jack and William Deavors, Wilkes Leonard and Andrew Robertson of the Methodists. In 1838 the Episcopalians built a little church, which is still standing in Clarkesville. In this church the convention was held which nominated Rev. Stephen Elliott as the first Bishop of Georgia. A few years later a Presbyterian church was built also in Clarkesville. It wa dedicated by Dr. Nathan Hoyt, grandfather of the first Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. The first bank in Habersham was a branch of the Georgia R. R. Bank of Augusta, with William Frederick Dugas as the cashier. The first newspaper was "The Angus," which was soon followed by "The Northeast Georgian" published by J. J. Patton. There was an iron mill established on the site of the Habersham Cotton Mills, four miles from Clarkesville, and a cousin of President Van Buren, Jarvis Van Buren, came out of New York to take charge of the work. Later the mill was used by the Confederacy during the War Between the States. Short session schools of usually three months were held in most of the settlements, the church being used for a school house. Singing lessons and penmanship were taught by some traveling teachers in courses of about two weeks duration. Clarkesville prepared for college. Rev. Stanhope Erwin was one of the very earliest teachers. Mr. Blair, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Round and Mr. William Rogers were also early teachers. In 1850 there was built a school for girls known as Tallulah Female Institute, Rev. R. C. Ketchum being principal. During the war this school was closed and never afterwards opened. The wealthy persons in the county too far away to patronize the Clarkesville schools usually had governesses in their homes. The delightful climate of Habersham has attracted health and pleasure seekers since its earliest days, and for many years Clarkesville was one of the most popular summer resorts in the state. The old stage coach running between Clarkesville and Athens brought many visitors to its holtesls and private homes. The first hotel was the Fuller House, which stood on the east side of the square. A hotel stood where the Mountain View is and was kept by Lewis Levy, of Augusta. It was later bought and improved by Mr. Reuben Nash and wa called the Habersham House. The Allegheny House on Washington Street was kept by Mrs. Collier. Many persons from the coast owned summer homes in Habersham. These made the village and community very gay in summer. When the Indians were removed from Georgia, Gen. Scott was sent from Washington to take care of the removal. He called upon Georgia to furnish militia companies to do the work. General Benjamin Patton, of Clarkesville, had charge of the removal from northeast Georgia, and a company of Habersham militia were among those under him. Habersham played an active part during the War Between the States. Rev. Singleton Sisk was her delegate at the Secession Convention and volted for secession. Habersham county had eight hundred voters in 1861 and had one thousand soldiers in the army. Habersham county men were in nearly all of the great battles in the east and many in Johnson's and Hood's divisions. Company K of the 24th Georgia Division was a Habersham company with Capt. Robert McMillan, its first captain. Capt. John G. Porter succeeded him and was mortally wounded, and Capt. Ezekiel Fuller succeeded Captain Porter. Dr. James Philips equipped a company but refused to accept an office. Company E of the 16th Georgia Division was largely composed of Habersham men and Capt. Styles was its captain. E. S. Brasley commanded a company from Clarkesville which went in Phillip's Legion. All of these companies belonged to Cobb's afterwards Wofford's Brigade, McLaws Division, Longstreets Corps, Lee's Army. Solomon Van Devierre was the first captain of a company made up at Clarkesville that served in the 52nd Georgia Regiment. Col. Charles Phillips was Colonel and after his capture, Capt. Rufus Asbury was acting Colonel until the close of the war. After the war Habersham suffered the depression of the reconstruction period, that other parts of the state went through, but as there were not as large a proportion of the wealthy class, the change was not as noticeable as in some other parts of the state. In 1875 the Southern Railroad, then called "The Air Line", was built and the town of Toccoa came into existence and was soon a flourishing little city. In 1881-82 the Tallulah Falls Railroad was built and Cornelia was formed at the junction, which also grew rapidly. Mount Airy, Baldwin and Alto, on the Southern Railway also came into existence. Mount Airy, Turnerville and Tallulah Falls became popular summer resorts. Toccoa having grown larger than Clarkesville aspired to become the county site of Habersham and in 1898 made a move for this purpose. The fight was hard and at times bitter. Mr. William Crane, an old lawyer and Charles L. Bass, a very young one, stumped the county for Clarkesville. Clarkesville won. During that time the Court House which was situated in the center of the square was blown up. And when it was rebult it was placed opposite the square in its present situation. But Toccoa felt she must be a county seat, so she started a campaign for a new county and Clarkesville bid her God speed, and in 1905 the legislature created the county of Stephens with Toccoa as the county seat. Soon after the Southern Railroad was built there was a colony of German Swiss came to the county and started New Switzerland. They planted grape vines to make wine on a large scale, but before the vines were large enough to make the business profitable, Habersham became dry by reason of local option and many of the Swiss moved away. Some took up farming or trades and later took out papers of citizenship. After Habersham became dry a company of prohibitionists from the north and west established a town on the Tallulah Falls Railroad and named it Demorest for the well known prohibitionist, Jennings Demorest. Demorest is the seat of Piedmont College -- a splendid school, a college which was founded by Rev. C. C. Spence in 1897 as J. S. Green Collegiate Institute. In 1905 when the Legislature, at the earnest desire of Governor Terrell, determined to establish an Agricultural and Mechanical High School in each Congressional District, Clarkesville bid for the Ninth District school. Other towns in the district were working for it and promised more money than Habersham could possibly raise. But because of the many small donations and large number of signers to the petition, the committee realized that though poor, the people wanted and felt the need of the school. So it was given to Habersham and built two miles north of Clarkesville. The results of the work of the school have shown the wisdom of the founders of the institution in establishing the school "In The Hills of Habersham".