Wilcox County Georgia

Time 2020-12-16 02:03:20

Web Name: Wilcox County Georgia

WebSite: http://www.wilcoxga.com

ID:135517

Keywords:

Wilcox,County,Georgia,

Description:

Hello, Wilcox County Georgia researchers! We are Janet Moore and Janice McGough and we are your hosts for Wilcox County. We welcome your suggestions and comments on what you would like to see posted here. If you have bible records, cemetery records, family stories, will records, deed records, county history or any other information that you would like to share with others, please contact us, Janet and Janice. If you can e-mail, snail mail or FAX them, just send them on and we will get them online for you. Wilcox County was created from Dooly, Irwin, andPulaski counties 22 December 1857. Wilcox County was named for General Mark Willcox, state legislator and one of the founders of the Georgia SupremeCourt. These counties were the home of many Revolutionary War Soldiers who were granted land or drew land in the land lotteries. Shortly after Wilcox County was created, the Civil War was fought and, once again, Wilcox County volunteers fought bravely in battle. For more information on these early soldiers, please see our military pages. The settlers came for the free land and stayed for the beautiful streams, rivers and pine forests. It was the land of milk and honey, if your cow survived, and your sweet tooth made you crazy enough to fight the bears and bees for it. The pioneers of the Georgia frontier had made it to Ocmulgee River by 1804. The Ocmulgee River is the area's largest river. This river was the only boundary between the pioneers on the east bank and the Creek Indians on the west. It was a situation filled with conflict resulting in bloodshed on both sides of the river. Some of the major battles of the Creek Indian War were fought on the banks of the Ocmulgee. The Ocmulgee was the river transportation in the early days.The Alapaha River winds through the western section of the county. These Wilcox county sections of the river were the favorite grounds of marauding Seminole Indians in 1836-1837 time frame.There are also some nice springs in the county, among them is Poor RobinSpring andOscewitcheeSpring. Poor Robin Spring is said to have been named for an Indianchief who was said to have been healed after bathing in its ice-cold waters.The spring became a popular mineral spa. A venison ham more than100 years old was taken from the depths of the spring and found to be petrified. Oscewitchee Spring, also a cold spring, was once a very poplar recreationalarea. Many family reunions have been held there with the watermelonsbeing kept cool in the shallows. Lookhereif you would like to see some younguns having a good time at the spring.Both springs are privately owned now.Plans to extend the railroad into Wilcox County were finalized in early 1887. On October 17, 1887 the first train came roaring down the track to a new town that had been formed at the focal point where the railroad crossed the Hawkinsville-Irwinville Road. The new town was Rochelle. The railroad was a magnet that attracted newcomers to Wilcox county and they came in droves. New stations sprung up due to demand. Colonel Hawkins, the railroad magnate received all these appeals for new stations and post offices while in Europe with his young daughters. He named one station Alamo and left it to his daughters to name the rest. They chose the names of the cities they had enjoyed in Europe: Seville, in Spain; La Rochelle, in France; Milan in Italy; and Rhine for the Rhine River. The new station at Ashley Pitt's store was simply called Pitts.There are four major municipalities in Wilcox County,Abbeville, Pitts, Pineview and Rochelle. Abbeville is the countyseat, however, Rochelle is the largest of the four.Surrounding counties are Crisp, Turner, Ben Hill,Telfair, Dodge, Pulaski and Dooly.Farming was the major occupation of the early settlers and a large portion of Wilcox County residents farm today. The long summer season and mild winter are ideal for the farming of many crops. Farmers and their families bought very few items from the store. They raised sugar cane to make their own sugar and syrup, grew vegetables in their gardens which the women canned to preserve for the winter, made their own soap, and raised corn which they ground into grits and meal. They raised cows, pigs and chickens for the family food. Some of the old smokehouses where the meats were cured are still standing today. Wilcox County is the state's second largest producer of watermelons and among the top producers of cantaloupe. Peanuts, corn, soybeans, cotton, tobacco and pecans are also profitable crops for the local farmers. In earlier days turpentine industry was thriving and many people made their living harvesting and selling rosin, lumber and turpentine. Each May The Ocmulgee Wild Hog Festival is heldin Abbeville. There is plenty of barbecue, arts and crafts,a hog baying contest, a display of wild boars, an unusual beauty pageantof men and an antique car show. Want more information?.... just email themat wildhogfestival@yahoo.comResearch sources for the history portion of this page: The Passing of the Pines by Mary Lou McDonald and Samuel Jordan Lawson III. Published and copyrighted 1984. A History of Savannah and South Georgia by William HardenHuxford Genealogy Society PublicationsThe Georgia Genealogists PublicationsPersonal memories of Zaroga GoffPersonal memories of Hazel Helms Gordon Rootsweb Mailing List allows you to join a mailing list for correspondence with other researchers of Wilcox County. You can also search the mailing list archives for information on you family lines by clicking on the link below.If you have records that pertain to Wilcox County Georgia, please submit them to Janet and Janice. Your help is needed in cemetery surveying, census transcribing, and many other projects. We are also very interested in family stories and pictures, church records, deeds, military records and anything else you would like to share.Janet Moore and Janice McGough email We thank youfor dropping by! This page was last updated

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