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Jackson County, Georgia (about 1801-1813) Following the
changing boundaries is burdensome to genealogy researchers, as it would seem
people moved but more the truth is that new counties were formed and boundaries
changed over time, as the size of the earlier county was reduced, and or new
counties were formed. This is
certainly the case in Jackson County. Franklin
County was formed in 1784 as one of the original Georgia Counties, and named for
Benjamin Franklin. It covered a
large part of upper Georgia, including a portion of South Carolina.
In all about 11 present day counties comprised the newly formed Franklin
County. Twelve years later, in
1796, Jackson County was cut from within Franklin County.
Its original size extended way beyond its present size to include all of
Barrow, Clarke and Oconee Counties, and a portion of Madison County.
In 1801, Clarke County was formed from Jackson County.
The above map of Jackson, Barrow, Clarke County and parts of other surrounding counties shows the following locations where residents of the time (1796-1818) recorded land transactions. Of interest and recorded as living there were: Myers, Jacob Walnut Creek He was the grandfather of John C. Myers who married Bud Mullins' daughter Nancy. Abraham Myers was also recorded as living here, who was the father of John C. Myers. Strickland, Solomon Shoal Creek A Solomon Strickland signed both of Bud Mullins' Revolutionary War Pension application and his will 1846-1850. Sparks, Absalom Big Shoal Creek (now Oglethorpe County) Absalom is the brother of Mathew Sparks II. Traylor, Randolph Shole Creek In 1797 he bought the land from William Sparks I. It is believed the families intermarried. Kirkland, William Mulberry River William's daughter, Elizabeth, married Thomas Mullins, believed to be the brother of May Mullins, and probably the nephew of Bud Mullins. In one of the land transactions it refers to a Mullins Shop on Cedar Creek, near Mulberry "Creek". Harper, Robert Cedar Creek Lived on Cedar Creek where it flows into the Mulberry River. George Harper stated in Bud's Revolutionary War Pension Application that he had known Bud for 40 years, which would put them together here in Jackson County. Childers, John Little Curries Creek Lived on Little Curries Creek of North Oconee. Bud's oldest daughter, Rebecca was believed to have married a Childers. Bud, nor any
other Mullins, are not
recorded as ever owning land in Jackson County, Georgia.
Bud and his family were most likely renters, squatters, or sharecroppers.
A squatter would live on land whose owner was unknown or absent, whereas
a sharecropper would “share” in the crops of a landowner. Prior to his leaving Georgia, in 1792, Matthew Sparks II received a land grant for 200 acres in Franklin County (Jefferson County in 1796), the location of which has not been researched, but it is expected to be the land he moved to in 1801, according to his Revolutionary War Pension Application. This land is on Mulberry fork, as it was called then, now known as the Mulberry River. The Mulberry River flows from Hall County, through Jackson County, empting into the Middle Oconee River WNW of Athens, GA, in now Clarke County. The river is the boundary between Jackson and Barrow Counties. Following Matthew II to that area in about 1804-06 is Bud MULLINS and his ever-growing family. They settled in the area of the Mulberry River and north to the Walnut Creek branch of the Middle Oconee River. The birth locations of Bud's children were determined by reviewing their birthplaces from future censuses. Once the birthplace of Reuben MULLINS, his son born in 1806 is determined, a closer date of their move from North Carolina might be determined. By this time, Bud has the following children, if our order of birth is correct:
To this area also moved the children of Lone MULLINS. Whether he and or his wife died in Spartanburg, NC, or in Georgia later is not known. However, from the records searched, the four sons ended up with Matthew Sparks II and Bud in Jefferson County. Malone “Lone” MULLINS children are believed to be:
Living in the area of the
Mulberry River was another family, that of William Kirkland, evidently a
prosperous farmer with several pieces of property, and a number of daughters.
Recorded there on 12/10/1808 was the marriage of one of his daughters,
Elizabeth, to Thomas MULLINS. Actually
one record has the marriage between Thomas Williams and Eliza Kirkley1,
while another has the names as Thomas MULLENS and Eliza Kerkby.2
Either the writing or interpreting of the writing was difficult to
ascertain, which would leave future researchers in a quandary.
However, there were no Kirkley or Kerkby families living nearby, and in
fact, future documents confirm that her name was Kirkland.
This Thomas (#4 above) is believed to be the son of Lone MULLINS. It definitely was not Bud’s son as this Thomas probably
dies within the next few years, between 1811-1817, and Elizabeth MULLINS is
mentioned in several future deed transactions for her father’s estate, but
Thomas is not recorded again. As has been stated before, there
are no surviving censuses for Jackson County for the years 1790, 1800 and 1810.
We can learn who was there from land deeds, tax records, and court
records. From these records, the
following MULLINS’ names appear:
A very interesting deed record of Jackson County was in Deed Book G, pages 286-287, recorded March 23, 1821:
This is obviously referring to the widow of William Kirkland whose daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Mullins. According to my deductions this Thomas is the son of "Lone" Mullins. It gives us information that Thomas, or someone in his family, was in business, not farming and that his shop had been closes for some time. Also that his widow owned the land nearby. Also living nearby were the Harpers. On August 21, 1818 a deed (Jackson County Deed Book G, pg. 23) was written selling land on the Walnut fork of the Oconee River. Tabitha Harper, administratrix of the estate of Alexander Harper sold 341 acres previously surveyed from a grant to Zachariah Cox. The deed was witnessed by George Harper. George Harper ends up with Bud Mullins in Paulding county where in 1854 George states that he has known Bud for 40 years, putting them together here in Jackson County in 1814. Walnut Creek and Mulberry Creek, as they are now known, both begin in Hall County. The trip Bud would have taken from the upper end of Walnut Creek to Flowery Branch on the Chattahoochee would not have been more than 10 miles. Bud, and his family, along with the rest of the family of May MULLINS, left Jackson County for Indian lands sometime prior to 1817. During that period, Bud’s final two children were born:
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