Dear Mr. Stone, You are correct in your statement that the area was devastated after the war. Two main weaknesses hurt the region on economic rebuilding after the war. The first was the area was a transitional community prior to the war. Families moved into the area for a few years then they moved on westward (westward meaning Alabama, Mississippi initially). Second was the limited resources. The agriculture community was largely subsistence farming (no moonlight and magnolias here). A few large farms. No large scale mining except around the Copper Hill, Tennessee area. What few jobs that were to be had were competed for heavily. Most tried to make a go of it but slowly. Soon a family would move out west. They would write back to friends and family and then more would move. The political atmosphere alienated ex-Confederates for several years after the war. They were disenfranchised and often lost land due to tax disputes. More than a few Unionist sought to address grievances that they had with ex-Confederates. This often came in the form of midnight visits with the ultimatum of be gone before sunset or you die. I can give example after example of this in Northeast Georgia and Eastern Tennessee. Two books that discuss this in depth in Eastern Tennessee are Mountain Rebels: East Tennessee Confederates and the Civil War, 1860-1870, by W. Todd Groce, and War At Every Door: Partisan Politics & Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee, 1860-1869, by Noel C. Fisher. A book has been recently published about the same subject about western North Carolina but I do not know the title. I am not aware of one for Northwest Georgia. I am not aware of Milton County being named after LTC Milton. He was assassinated in April 1872. I hope this helps all. Respectfully, Gerald D. Hodge, Jr. Niota, Tennessee War Between the States Historian Historian: 39th Georgia Infantry Regiment Web Master: http://39thGAVOLINFRGT.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html