"1807 Land Lottery Registrants of Hancock Co., GA" By Nathan Mathews Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, pp. 74-100, Vol. 38, No. 2, Summer, 2002. Captain Coffee's District Name/# Draws to which entitled Elizabeth Poythress 1 Orphs. of Fras. Poythress 1 Note: There were 7 Georgia Land Lotteries. In only one lottery, the first in 1805, were the lists of registrants as well as "fortunate drawers" both uniformly preserved. Since as a practical matter, the 1805 lottery for those eligible amounted to a chance for "free money" (a winning ticket could be sold), the 1805 list of lottery registrants is regarded as a fairly good proxy for an 1805 Georgia census. For the other 6 (1805-1832) lotteries, contrary to the rule, a rare list of registrants will sometimes turn up in a county courthouse. Author Mathews has turned up such a list in the Hancock County Ordinary's office incorrectly labeled "Tax Digest, 1806, Hancock County" and is presenting the list as previously undocumented information. Other than revealing to us that there were no Poythress registrants in Hancock County in 1807 OTHER THAN the two above, serendipitously for us the matter is irrelevant. The two Poythress entrants above were both "fortunate drawers" and would have appeared in the 1807 public record in any case. All of the information above, as well as detailed information on multiple Poythress registrants and "fortunate drawers" in each lottery is contained in an 18 page study titled "Georgia Land Lotteries and Poythress Participants" available by request. It is digitalized and will be returned as an e-mail attachment (with corrections or additions solicited). Maynard