Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia, of the Cherokees, and the Author
Gilmer, George R.
Synopsis "Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia, of the Cherokees, and the Author"
The first part of his book is an account of the settlement made by a number of Virginia families on Broad River, immediately after the revolutionary war. In tracing the causes of the present happy condition of the people of Georgia to the character of the settlers, the Author infers that low, impotent, beggarly men and women had not the strength, activity, enterprise, nor spirit, to separate themselves from their accustomed haunts, their kindred and country, to encounter untried and unknown difficulties in a new land beyond a vast ocean. And that the strong, the brave, the determined to be free, must have made up the migrating class from Europe to the Colonies. He shows how the descendants of these emigrants, operated upon by the desire of bettering their condition, left the old States to form settlements in the new. How the Harvies, Meriwethers, Taliaferros, Gilmers, Mathewses, Barnetts, Crawfords, Johnsons, Jordans, and McGehees removed, with their families, from Virginia to Broad River at different times from 1733 to 1790. How they were descended from the most vigorous and industrious class of the Irish, Scotch, English and Welsh. And how the Dutch, French and Italian blood added to the crossings which gave value to the stock. He describes how these settlers formed the most intimate friendly social union ever known among the same number of persons; how exceedingly active they were in business; economical in their expenditures; honest in their business dealings, and how they prospered beyond example. He hopes that though now scattered widely apart through the southern and southwestern States, his book may unite them together once more in the kind feelings of kinsfolk. The second part describes the settlement made by the North Carolinians in that part of Georgia which is now included in the counties of Wilkes and Lincoln. The Author shows that some of them were prominent among the southern people in their struggle for independence, and that many have filled the highest offices of the State since that struggle ended successfully. He mentions as particularly distinguished' Clarke, Dooly, Hart, Jack and Dabney. The third part describes the Creek and Cherokee Indians; the relations between them, Georgia, and the United States; the causes and manner of their removal to the west of the Mississippi, and some incidents in the private and public life of the Author.
