xt71jw86m060 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt71jw86m060/data/mets.xml Dougherty County, Georgia Georgia Historical Records Survey 1941 Prepared by The Georgia Historical Records Survey, Division of Community Service Programs, Work Projects Administration; Other contributors include: United States Works Progress Administration, Division of Professional and Service Projects; x, 245 pages, illustrated, 28 cm; UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries; Call number FW 4.14:G296/no.47 books English Atlanta, Georgia: the Survey This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Georiga Works Progress Administration Publications Inventory of the County Archives of Georgia, Number 47 Dougherty County (Albany) text Inventory of the County Archives of Georgia, Number 47 Dougherty County (Albany) 1941 1941 2015 true xt71jw86m060 section xt71jw86m060 gm LI. M: “E“S W
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INVENTORY
of the
COUNTY ARCHIVES
OF GEORGIA
I IM F mf
· N0. 47 DOUGHERTY COUNTY
A (Albany)
i *i ;
THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY
‘ DIVISION OF PROFESSIONAL AND SERVICE PROJECTS
Q WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
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INVENTORY OF THE COUNTY ARCHIVES
or GEORGIA
NO. 47. DOUGHERTY COUNTY
(ALBANY)
Prepared by
The Georgia Historical Records Survey
Division of Professional and Service Projects
Work Projects Administration
A A Atlanta, Georgia
* The Georgia Historical Records Survey
’ January 1941
; W t r
{ .
?
f Historical Records Survey Projects .3
Sargent B. Child, National Director 'E
Frederick S. Hulse, State Supervisor _ g
Research and Records Section -
Harvey E. Beoknell, Director
Milton W. Blanton, Regional Supervisor
R. V. Connerat, State Supervisor
Division of Professional and Service Projects
Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner
Blanche N. Ralston, Chief Regional Supervisor
Jane Van De Vrede, State Director
l O
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
‘ Howard O. Hunter, Acting Commissioner `
Robert L. MacDougall, Regional Director
H. E. Harman, Jr., State Administrator Z
E
I Georgia State Planning Board, Sponsor %
Dougherty County Commissioners of g
Roads and Revenues, Cosponsor €
J
‘
_ FOREWORD
§ The Inventory of the County Archives of Georgia is one of a nwnber
- Or guides"€¤3`E‘§€6rT6aT‘¤Ta.%E?"i%.ZTs$E~€5a`i·°·5<1"#€hF5u',¢;here we unites states
by workers on the Historical Records Survey projects of the Work Pro-
jects Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inventory
of the archives of Dougherty County, is Ho. 47 of the Georgia series.
The Historical Records Survey program was undertaken in the winter
of 1955-56 for the purpose of providing useful employment to needy unem-
ployed historians, lawyers, teachers, and research and clerical workers.
In carrying out this objective, the project was organized to compile
inventories of historical materials, particularly the unpublished govern-
ment documents and records which are basic in thc administration of local
government, and which provide invaluable data for students of political,
economic, and social history. The archival guide herewith presented is
intended to meet the requirements of day-to—day administration by the
officials of the county, and also the needs of lawyers, businessmen, and
other citizens who require facts from the public records for the proper
conduct of their affairs. The volume is so designed that it can be used
by the historian in his research in unprintcd sources in the same way he
uses the library card catalog for printed sources.
The inventories produced by the Historical Records Survey projects
attempt to do more than give merely a list of records — they attempt fur-
ther to sketch in the historical background of the county or other unit
of govermnent, and to describe precisely and in detail the organization
and functions of the government agencies whose records they list. The
county, town, and other local inventories for thc entire country will,
y when completed, constitute an encyclopedia of local government as well
as a bibliography of local archives.
The successful conclusion of the work of the Historical Records
Survey projects, even in a single county, would not be possible without
l the support of public officials, historical and legal specialists, and
many other groups in the community. Their cooperation is gratefully
` acknowledged.
* The Survey program was organized by Luther R. Evans, who served as
Director until March l, l940, when he was succeeded by Sargent B. Child,
who had been National Field Supervisor since the inauguration of the Sur-
vey. The Survey operates as a Nation-wide series of locally sponsored
projects in the Division of Professional and Service Projects, of which
Mrs. Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner, is in charge.
» HOWARD O. HUNTER
j Acting Cmmnissioner
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F PREFACE
Q The Historical Records Survey was initiated in Georgia in October
§ 1956, as a unit of a Nation-wide program under the supervision of Dr.
F Luther H. Evans, National Director. The project at the beginning was
$ set up as a part of the Federal Writers' Project, but functioned there-
under for only a few weeks. The Survey became an independent unit of
Federal Project No. l on November l, 1956, and operated as such until
September l, 1959, when the transfer of the Survey to the status of a A
_ locally sponsored State-wide project was effected. The present State
Supervisor of the Survey was appointed on October l0, 19éO.
The principal objective of the Survey in Georgia is to prepare
complete inventories of the public archives of the State and its politi-
1 can subdivisions, and to make readily accessible to research students
and historians this large store of source material. A list of the
publications of the Georgia Historical Records Survey appears on page
2d5. Such a survey should greatly aid and encourage a more systematic
study of local governmental structure and point the way to an improve-
ment in the methods of storage and preservation of both current and
noncurrent records.
The arrangement of agencies in Part B of the inventory classifies
them according to governmental function; Administration; registration
of property titles; amninistratien of justice; law enforcement; finance;
t elections; education; health; welfare; public works; and miscellaneous.
_ Records are classified in general according to the agencies which make
· them, unless other disposition of the records is directed by law. Under
agencies, records have been classified, insofar as possible, according
to the subjects with which they deal.
Records are described in entries whose style is formalized to give
the following information; Title of record, dates for which available,
quantity, labeling of volumes or containers, information on missing
y records or discontinuance, variant titles, description of record con-
tents, manner of arraigement, indexing, nature of recording, size of
volumes or containers, and location.
The Survey is now engaged in preparing a comprehensive statement
l of the general law regulating county government to be entitled County
l Government in Georgia. lt is expected that this book will serve as a
handbook On*Eh¤ organization, structure, and evolution of county govern-
. ment and records in Georgia, and will make it unnecessary to repeat in
Y each inventory information applicable to all counties in the State. The
Q office essays in this inventory are, therefore, limited to the creation
. of the office and its present status, the manner in which it is filled,
. thc term, and special legislation affecting Dougherty County. Pending
Q issuance of the volume on County Government in Georgia, it is suggested
i that the reader consult the Inventory of the—County Archives of Georgia,
tl Ne. 106, Muscogee County for more detailed—essays than those found in -
Q the present inventory.
a
l The Survey was begun in Dougherty County in June 1959, and the
_ field work was completed in June 1940. The work was rechecked in July
and August.
$1 if
g i
i V vi
l Preface
ry _ I
For the completeness and accuracy of the inventory of the records g
the field workers are responsible. The historical sketch was written é
,1 by Raymond H. Corry, Assistant State Supervisor. The essays, entries, Q
and other sections of the Inventory were prepared by the State Office
staff and were edited by Harold Warnell, Project Technician.`
This inventory in final manuscript form was edited in the`Nationa1
office by Guy P. Timboe, assistant editor, and further reviewed by Mabel
S. Brodie, editor in charge of public records inventories.
The publication of this volume is made possible largely through the
assistance rendered on behalf of Dougherty County by the Commissioners of
Roads and Revenues. The valuable assistance rendered by other county of-
ficials of Dougherty County is also gratefully acknowledged.
Acknowledgement is also made for the aid_given by the various work-
ers and officials of the State and District offices of the Work Projects
Administration.
The inventory pf the County Archives pf Georgia will, when completed,
consist of a separate, numbered volume for each county in the State.
Each county unit of the series is numbered according to its respective
position in an alphabetical list of Georgia’s 159 counties. Thus, the
volume for Dougherty County becomes Ne. 47, in accordance with this list.
i The Inventory of the State archives, of county, municipal, and other
local records, will constitute separate series of publications. They are
in mimeographed form for free distribution to certain State and local
public officials, public libraries in Georgia, and to a lnnited number of
' libraries and govermnental agencies outside the State. Requests for
I information concerning these publications should be addressed to R. V.
Connerat, State Supervisor, Research and Records Projects, Ten Forsyth
Street Building, Atlanta, Georgia. ‘
FREDERICK S. HULSE
G State Supervisor 5
The Georgia Historical Records Survey Q
Atlanta, Georgia *
January 1941 ,
1 1
GEMEOFCMWMWS
Q General ‘ Page
F 1. Historical Sketch A ..,., M. H. ...........A .. ..... n.. ........ ..H. l
2. Governmental Organization and Records System ,..... . ........... Bl
A 5. Housing, Care, and Accessibility of the Records ............... 151
4. Abbreviations, Symbols, and Explanatory Notes .................. 144
County Offices and Their Records
I. Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues . ................, . 147
Minutes. Receipts and expenditures. Warrants.
Tax records. Audits. Deeds and contracts.
County bonds. Blueprints. `
II. Superior Court Clerk as County Recorder ........ . ............ W. U. 150
Realty and personalty: Filing docket; deeds;
mortgages; personalty; land title registers;
maps and plats. Homesteads. Charters of
incorporation. Trade names. Professional
registration. Soldiers. Miscellaneous.
III. Superior Court and Clerk . ......r...... U ..,........ ‘ .... . ....,...... ... 156
Civil; Case papers and pleadings; dockets; minutes
and proceedings. Criminal; Case papers; dockets;
minutes and evidence. Appeals. Juries. Financial.
Receipts for records. Notaries public. Voters.
Newspapers.
IV. Solicitor General. ...... .U ...,.. . ......... M ............................ 166
V. Jury Commissioners. ................... ... ..,................ . r............ 167
VI. Grand Jury. ....,. . .,........ . ...... M..... ..... I .... ,..U ..r........ 167
VII. Inferior Court -. ,__._, · .................. . ...... . ............. ,.; ......... 168
{ Sitting for county purposes. Sitting as a court
` of law.
i VIII. Court of Ordinary and Clerk .. ....................................... 169
Minutes. Estates; Case papers; wills; letters;
I dockets; minors' estates; representatives' bonds;
¤ inventories and appraisements; returns of rep-
resentatives; accounts; widews' year's support;
` dismissien, representatives of estates. Lunacy
Q records. Apprentices' indentures. Marriages. ‘
f Vital statistics. Homesteads and exemptions.
j Official oaths and bends. Confederate pensions
Y and records. Licenses and bends. Spirituous
` liquors. Estrays. Tax records. Maps. County
purposes.
gp ip
{ viii `
l Table of Contents page _ I
V? l
IX. County Court i ...t.»........A .M U.. ....o............ . .M ........... 182 @_
Civil; Dockets; minutes. Criminal; Case §
» I papers; docket. f
p X. County Court Solicitor ,... . ....... . .......... . ,..................~. 185
XI. City Court of Albany and Clerk .. ........ . ....................... 184 I
Civil; Case papers; dockets; minutes and pro- .
ceedings. Criminal; Case papers; dockets. i
Appeals. Financial. Juries. Miscellaneous.
XII. City Court Solicitor ..... . ...........................,. . ...... . ...... 189
XIII. County Probation Officer .. ..... . ...................... . ..,........ 189
XIV. Criminal Court ..........,. , ............... . ...........,............ .x . 189
XV. District Court ~ A----.--.---.----».- -·V~~· -·.- . »-·------..»..-.--· H. 189
XVI. District Attorney ....... . ..,... , .......... . ........ .n ....... .n.,., 190 p
XVII. Justice of the Peace Courts ............. . .... . ..................... 190
620th militia district. 945th militia district;
Case papers; dockets. 1097th militia district. V
I Miscellaneous. °
XVIII. Constables .... . ,...... .....r.n H... ......, , ._,.,_. ., ._... . .,..,l.. 195
p XIX. Juvenile Court ........ . ........._... . .......... . ....................... 195
I XX. County Attorney . ........,._,__,,._r,,, _ A_,. x.. ........,...,...... ... 194
XXI. Coroner M..l... ..... . ......., . ...... . ........... . .... . ...,........,. 194 ‘
XXII. Sheriff ,r.... . ..,.... . ,.... .. .......r... ..... ..... ..M. .......r., ..x 195 i
_ Executions and sales. ”Warrants. Service U
docket. Bonds. Prisoners. Correspondence. Q
I
XXIII. County Police. ..... . ........................ . ................»....... . 197 E
XXIV. Tax Receiver ... ..........,.,..................,...................,... 198 T
A Returns. Exemptions. Maps and plats Q
XXV. Board of Tax Assessors ................... -. ..... .. ............... 199 E
XXVI. Tax Collector V ........ .l ........... . ...... .. .............. . ..... . 200 Q
T Tax receipts and collections. Tax digests. E
Reports. Voters. Correspondence. é
I XXVII. Fiscal Depository .......,... . ........ , ,...... . .... ... ..,.. . ......... N 202 1
\
XXVIII. Registrars _ ____ __N .__ _ ______,_ _h U ___,______, ,_,, _______ .__ 202
I ix
Table of Contents Page
j XXIX. Board of Education _. _ ____ ,_, _____ __,. __4__,,_,,__,,,,_. .. ..... 205
{ XXX. Superintendent of Schools , ......... . ....... . ............. . ..... . 204
g Financial records.
XXXI. Board of Health ______._ .. ..., . ,............. . ....A... .. ...r... U. 205
XXXII. District Commissioner of Health __,,,____,......,.,. . ............ 205
Vital statistics. Medical exmninations.
Immunizations. Reports. Financial. Cor-
respondence. Miscellaneous. A
XXXIII. County Physician I _..r . ..,.n.. I. ......,. H. ...... ..M ........... 209
Examinations. ·
XXXIV. Department of Public Welfare .. .... M..i.. ................ ... 210
.App1ications. Cases. Investigations.
Special assistance. Financial. Reports.
Correspondence.
XXXV. Road Commissioners, U... .,... .U ... ,... .. ..., ..... . ,,... 214
XXXVI. Superintendent of County Farm and Convict Warden ......... 215
Prisoners. Financial. Reports. Blueprints.
Correspondence.
XXXVII. County Surveyor .i .... . ........... .1 .....»..... ... .............. . ..... 217
XXXVIII. County Agricultural Agent .. .... w.n.,. .......·................. - 217
Federal activities. 4-H club. Aerial photo-
graphs. Reports. Financial. Correspondence.
XXXIX. Home Demonstration Agent ......... ..n. ........ . ............... 220
Reports. 4-H club and home economic club
activities. Correspondence.
_ Bibliography . .... .n. .... ..-.....w ..........»... . ........·--- »» H. 225
I Roster of Officials of Dougherty County ... .... . ......... » 229
I Chronological Index ...._................ .. ...... n..H ..... .1 .. 251
.* Subject Index . ...... ...... ....... .. ..... ..A ...... .... .H 255
List of Publications of the Georgia Historical
» Records Survey ................................ . .......»... .. ..... 245
ILEUSTRATIONS
is Dougherty County Courthouse, Albany, Georgia .... . Frontispiece
~ Map of Dougherty County ............ . ...........».»...A. . ........ x
4 Population Chart of Dougherty County ................ U..... 79
Chart of Government, Dougherty County, 1941 ................. 80
Floor Plans, Dougherty County Courthouse . .................... 141
‘ X . 1
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/5 \ ) #9. A The boundaries of
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T" *$;Q`—1j_/> B2., (' N been changed several {
tm- ·\/ I »\ tlmes by the General
_ _\A T if 1 \< T Assembly (Ga. Acts
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Ma of Geor Iia showj.n_ location
P 8 st
of Dougherty County (stippled).
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Map of Dougherty County Tl
I
1. HISTORICAL SKETCH
Physical Characteristics
Dougherty County is located in the southwestern section of the State.
. It is roughly rectangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions, east and
west, and north and south, are about 28 miles and 12%-miles, respectively,
the total area being 545 square miles, or 219,520 acres.l On the north
Q Dougherty County is bounded by Terrell and Lee Counties; on the east, by
Worth County; on the south, by Mitchell and Baker Counties; and on the
I west, by Chickasawhatchee Creek which separates it fran Calhoun County.
Since the formation of Dougherty County, its boundary with Worth County
has been altered on several occasions by action of the General Assembly,
each tnne with a gain in territory by Dougherty.2
The physiographic features of the county are quite uniform, the
larger part of the county lying within the Dougherty Plain, a name given
to the smooth country of southwest Georgia. Conspicuous mnong the fea-
tures of the region are numerous, irregular-shaped depressions, or lnne
sinks, varying from a few rods in diameter to areas embracing several
hundred acres. Some of these depressions are dry and under cultivation;
others are filled with water; and still others are swampy, supporting
thick growths of cypress, bay, tupclo, and black gum timber and often
a dense undergrowth of switch cane, bamboo vines, or smilax, and other
water—1oving vegetation.5
. The creeks of Dougherty County flow sluggishly through wide, shallow,
swampy valleys. Chickasawhatchee Creek forms the western boundary of the
county. Tallahassee Creek is a tributary of Kiokee Creek which in turn
is a tributary of the Chickasawhatchee. In the eastern part of the county
the Flint River (called Thronateeska by the Creek Indians) has cut a well-
defined channel across the country in a winding course. The entire drain-
age of Dougherty County is through the Flint and its tributaries, finally
reaching the Gulf of Mexico through the Apalachicola River at Apalachicola
Bay on the coast of Florida. In the northeastern sectinn of the county
Kinchafoonee River and Muekalee Creek come together to form the Mucha-
foonee which flows into the Flint. Piney Woods and Dry Creeks are tribu-
taries of the Flint from the east. Cooleewahee Creek flows through the
central part of Dougherty, finally emptying into the Flint River in Baker
County. Radium Springs, fonuerly known as Blue Spring, located about
1 U.S. Bureau of Soils, "Soil Survey of Dougherty County, Georgia,"
- Field Operations pf thi Bureau of 82213, 1912 (Fourteenth Report),
p. 575.
2 ln 1854 land lots 251, 245, and 414 were added to Dougherty County.
_ Two years later lots 212, 216, 217, 242-246, 249, and 250 of the
g fifteenth district of Worth County were added to Dougherty. In 1858
2 more land in Worth County was added to Dougherty, but this latter act
= was repealed in 1866.-—Ga. Acts 1855-54, pp. 514, 519; 1855-56, p.
155; 1858, p. 45; 1866, p. 55.
5 U.S. Bureau of Soils, "Soil Survey," loc. cit., p. 574.
sz . li;
1 2
2
? Historical Sketch - Founding of (First entry, p. 147)
Albany
{ sg`
4 miles south of Albany, is the largest spring in the State of Georgia.l T
l A small portion of the county in the eastern and southeastern parts
y of the county has a gently rolling topography. The slopes are smooth
= and rounded with no ruggedness. The greater part of the farming land is
known as "red lands" and is heavier than that of other regions in south-
west Georgia. The "red lands" were originally covered with hardwood
forests, principally oak and hickory, with some longleaf yellow pine. The
"gray lands" are known as "pine barrens" and were for a long time consid-
ered inferior for fanning. In the original survey of the region the red
lands were laid out in lets of five—eighths of a mile square each, while
the gray lands were divided into lots of seven—eighths of a mile square
each. The red lands were intended for agriculture and the gray for graz-
ing land. With the introduction of commercial fertilizers the latter were
found to yield crops equal to those of the red lands.2
The climate of Dougherty County is temperate, with long, warm sum-
mers and short, mild winters. The average growing season extends from
the early part of March to about tho middle of November, a period of ap- _
proximately eight months. The average rainfall is about 50 inches which
is well distributed throughout the year.6
} Founding of Albany
The history of Dougherty County has its beginnings in the settle-
ment of the town of Albany in what was at that time Baker County. Unlike
most of the towns and cities of Georgia, Albany and its vicinity did not
grow up by accident. Its settlement was a deliberate commercial venture,
which succeeded largely through the work of one man-Nelson Tift. A
native of Connecticut, Tift aided his father in a mercantile business at
Key West, Florida, and from 1830 to 1836 was in business at Augusta,
Georgia. Early in March 1836 he received an offer for his services from
an establishnent in the town of Hawkinsville, Georgia, and by the middle
p of that month arrived there and began·his work of buying cotton and sel-
ling groceries.é About the first of September, Tift received a letter
l U.S. Bureau of Soils, "Soil Survey," loc. cit., pp. 574, 575. See
also map accompanying soil survey. —__. —~— —_—
I 2 Ibid., pp. 575, 578, 579.
5 Ibid., pp. 576, 577.
4 The Journal of Cel. Nelson Tift (manuscript in city c1erk's office,
city hall, Albany, Georgia), pp. 1-3, 22, 23. This journal of 151
_ pages kept by Tift contains entries from May 17, 1835 through April
6, 1856. There are several gaps, in some instances covering a num-
. ber of years. See also Biographical Directory of the American Con-
, gross, 1774-1927, pp. 1617, 1618. Several statements in regard_te
’ Tift in the Biographical Directory are erroneous and a number of
public positions which he holdiird omitted. Corrections will prob-
ably be made in a new edition of this valuable work which will be
published in 1941 by the U.S. Government Printing Office.
5
Historical Sketch - Founding of (Next entry, p. 147)
Albany
- from his employers, Holcombe, Peck & Company, urging himnto retain his pe-
S sition at Hawkinsvillc “with the understanding that I should have a very
respectable interest in a respectable establishment on the Flint River of
which I am to choose the . . . location & have the management-.“l
However, Tift did not accept the proposition made by Holcombe, Peck
& Company. He entered into an agreement on September 24, 1856, with a
hg group ef men headed by John Rawls, president of a bank at Hawkinsvillc,
to found a town on the west bank of the Flint River in Baker County “for
— the purpose of merchandising, Boating, Trafic (sic) &c.“ Interest in the
company, organized as "Rawls, Tift & Co.,“ was divided into 18 shares.
Tift was to receive three whole shares and an equal interest in three
_ other common stock shares. The property of the company was listed as "onc
rn Steamboat in complete order intended for the navigation of the Flint
° River and two lots of land situated on the west bank of the Flint river in
Baker County, intended for the location of a town-—." Tift was given
entire charge of the business of the company for 1 year for which he was
to be paid a salary from the common stock. 0n October 5, Tift made a pay-
ment of a thousand dollars and a week later began his services for the
’ company.2
When Tift arrived at Albany on October 15, 1856, he found Rawls and
Taylor, members of the company, already there “with a few hands & (they)
had com enced work on our Store house of howed logs-"§ Ho found it im-
possible to hire Negro hands for any length of time and was forced to
employ white laborers to carry on the work of erecting a few buildings.
Progress was slow, but by December a frame store and a small house had 4
O been erected, a batteau built, and timbers were ready for a warehouse in
which to store cotton. The town was laid out in lots and by the end of
* 1856 a few of these had been sold at $200 for corner lots and $150 for
middle lots.° The country around the young settlement was virgin terri-
tory, except for a few scattered farms. The opening up on the new
region was part and parcel of that great southwest migration which was
taking place in the first part of the nineteenth century. Although a
"war" had just been fought in Georgia and Alabama te remove the Crook
Indians westward, a few straggling bands ranged the country around Albany,
evidently trying to join the Seminoles in Flerida.5
The Mary Emelinc, the steamboat owned by Rawls, Tift and Company, ,
made its first trip up the Flint River toward Albany in January 1857.
For some reason the boat could not reach the settlement, and the goods
f Journal of Nelson Tift, p. 25. (
° Ibid., pp. 25-25. The other members of the company were R. N. Taylor,
H. V. King, F. J. Watts, and B. F. Watts. A copy of the agreement
_ forming Rawls, Tift & Ce. is entered in Tift*s Journal on page 24.
: Journal of Nelson Tift, p. 28.
é Ibid.
Ibid., pp. 26, 27. `·
gl"
4
A Historical Sketch - Founding of (First entry, p. l47)
A Albany A
had to be unloaded at Hell's Gate Shoal and sent up by barge. Tift pur- Y
l ~ chased two barges on which to send cotton to market at Apalachicola, A
Florida, and bring provisions on the return trip. In January 1857 he A
went down the river on the Mary Emeline and purchased about $8,000 worth
` of goods. The steamboat frE§uently—ran aground on the shoals and some-
times a week or more would pass before it could resume the trip up the
river. In early March 1857 the Mary Emcline reached Albany for the first
time. After having the freight remoyed,—E€ft sent 220 bales of cotton to
Apalachicola on the return trip, in addition to 40 bales taken on board
at Bainbridge. From Apalachicola he shipped the 220 bales to a cotton
factor at Charleston, South Carolina.1 Thus began the river trade with-
out which the county around.Albany could not have been opened so early _
to the extensive cultivation of cotton. The Flint River and later the
railroads were life lines to the markets of the outside world.
The Albany venture did not prove an immediate success. The stock-
holders of Rawls, Tift and Company became discouraged and sold their
interest to Nelson Tift, who never doubted that the region would soon
become an important part of the State. By May 1857 Tift had sold 15/18
of the three lots of land comprising the town of Albany to "The Flint
River Land Company of Macon, Georgia" for $8,000, of which $4,000 was
paid in cash and $4,000 in the scrip of the company. This money he do-
posited as security for his debts. In addition, Tift secured complete
control of the flatbeats. In June 1857 he estinnted he owned about
} $12,000 worth of property after deducting his debts. The young settle-
A ment hardly had got under way when the worst financial depression the
country had witnessed to that time began, and payment in specic was sus-
pended. Tift tried to get cash for his sales, and, if he cruld not, he
accepted notes. The problem of an adequate medium of exchange and bank-
; ing capital remained a problem of the new growing region of southwest
~ Georgia until after the Civil War.~
Life in the frontier settlement of Albany was simple, and nature
was bountiful in supplying those things which were needed. Tift busicd
himself with planting vegetables and setting out an orchard of apple,
A peach, and plum trees, as well as grape vines. He observed that the
opossums caught in the woods tasted "much like young pig.“ The rivers
provided an abundance of fish and turtles, the latter usually being »
penned in a spring to fatten.$
A 1 Jou