Online Images of Butts County Wills, Estates, Marriages
Butts County was created in 1825 from portions of Henry and Monroe Counties. The name was taken from Captain Samuel Butts, a member of the Georgia Militia who was killed in the battle against the Creek Indians during the War of 1812. The town of Jackson was in honor of Andrew Jackson, a Georgia Hero, whose campaigns against the Creeks were memorable to Georgians; and also for his victory over British forces at the Battle of New Orleans. Researchers should search Henry County Records; particularly the deeds where many Butts residents are found.
Find your Ancestors in the Georgia Bible Records You cannot find One ancestor without finding Two
Images of Last Wills and Testaments 1821 to 1841
Names of Testators: Atkinson, Arthur, Barkley, John, Barron, John, Blessell, Elisha, Blessell, Elisha, continued, Flewellen, Louiza, Heard, Stephen, Holly, Jacob, Knight, Walter, Lawson, Adam, Lindsey, Samuel, Malone, John, Messer, Isabel, Patrick, John, Reynolds, Thomas, Rhodes, William, Smith, John, Spear, orphans, Spears, Joseph, Stark, Samuel, Taylor, George, Taylor, John, Taylor, Joseph, Waldrip, Abraham, Walker, James, Wooten, James
Online Images of Wills and Estates 1845 to 1855
Names of Testators: Allison, William, Andrews, John, Atkinson, Cornelius, Berry, David, Dillon, Henry , Fielder, Joseph , Grier, Robert, Harrison, Benjamin, Lee, Harvey , Lofton, John, McGuire, Abin , Newton, Olive, Preston, John , Still, Bartholomew
Online Images of Wills and Estates 1849 to 1857
Names of Testators: Andrews, John, Atkinson, Cornelius, Allison, William, Bailey, Charles, Bankston, Olive, Camp, James, Cargile, John, Conger, Eli, Curry, Harriet, Dillion, Henry, Douglas, Robert, Douglas, Sarah, Fielder, Joseph, Gray, James, Greer, James, Hammond, W. J., Harrison, Elizabeth, Humber, Robert, James, John, Jarrell, William, Jinks, Joseph, King (minors), Lacy, Thomas, Lofton, John, McClure, James, McCord, Sarah, McCUne, Cornelius, McCune, James, McDaniel, John, McGuire, Abiah, Meridith, Elizabeth, Moore, Willis, Newton, Oliver, Nolen, Richard, Redman, William, Reeves, Green, Slaton, Mandane, Smith, David, Spencer, Thomas, Staton, H. P., Slaton, Samuel, White, Robert, Woodward, Aaron
Indexes to Probate Records
- Will Book A (1850 to 1896)
- Will Book B (1897 to 1948)
- Wills, Appraisements, Sales, Annual Returns 1826 to 1841.
- Appraisements, Sales, Annual Returns 1836-1845
- Wills and Annual Returns 1845 to 1851
- Wills, Appraisements, Annual Returns 1849 to 1857.
- Annual Returns and Vouchers 1852 to 1855
- Sales and Appraisements 1852 to 1874.
- Annual Returns and Vouchers 1864 to 1888
- Annual Returns and Vouchers 1889 to 1901
- Annual Returns and Vouchers 1896 to 1901
Marriages
- 1827 to 1870
- General Index 1876 to 1896
Tax Digests
- 1831
Finding Old Church Records
The early churches were the foundation of religious and social life in America, especially in rural developing areas. Elder B. M. Camp of Dallas, Georgia, baptized his members under a waterfall on old High Shoals Road. The graveyard was nearby, and a little one-room church building. This is typical. So what kind of records does the researcher expect to find in such a setting? Minutes, membership lists, baptisms, births, deaths, and ex-communications. Camp preached at High Shoals Primitive Baptist Church for more than 40 years, and like so many other rural churches, when he died, the records disappeared. That does not necessarily mean that the old records do not exist today. While out in the field, we have to ask local people for such things and follow the clues where they send us. It may not be as good as a church record, however, is the cemetery itself because it provides specific dates. Too the layout of the plots is revealing. Families frequently shared the same story of land or were buried nearby. Sometimes it is easy to find unmarked graves within the same field or to notice a depression in the soil. Look for broken tombstones. Slate was a popular medium that breaks easily and is sometimes found under the dirt within the grave plot. I consistently tour the surrounding area to see if any stones were taken somewhere else, like into the woods. The landscape was different from what we see it. Some of the oldest graveyards were thoroughly vandalized. An example is colonial cemeteries where unpopular clerics or British subjects lay. All in all, very few church records survived and were published. Ministers kept records of performed marriages but only sometimes took them to the county courthouse to be recorded there. That is why there is such a gap in the first marriage records. Sometimes marriage dates are recorded on tombstones or obelisks like those found in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. However, the alternate source is the family bible.
The Students of an 1895 8th Grade Class Were Smarter than Today
If you think that because of the unique advances of society in technology, math, and science make the farmers of past generations less intelligent, think again! I remember that during the 1950s through the 1970s, all we heard from politicians was that we needed better teachers and to pay them more. That was the solution to better learning! However, flatly stated, the political encouragement to attend school resulted in soothing the lazy tendencies of people not to step up to the plate and of ” dummying down” the student curriculum. Hence, the educational books themselves dropped the old curriculum of history and literature, and instead of preparing students to meet the challenges of tomorrow, they produced and promoted destructive liberal agendas. An 1895 examination of an 8th Grade test given to students in Salina, Kansas, reveals how much more educated those old farmers were. Just imagine what the students of yesteryear could do with today’s advances!
Grammar (Time, one hour)
- Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
- Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
- Define Verse, Stanza, and Paragraph.
- What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of doing, lie, lay and run.
- Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
- What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
- Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
- Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
- A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
- If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
- District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school for seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
- Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
- Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
- What are the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
- Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
- What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
- Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
- Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
- Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
- Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
- Show the territorial growth of the United States.
- Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
- Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
- Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
- Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?
Orthography (Time, one hour)
- What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
- What are elementary sounds? How classified?
- What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
- Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.
- Give two rules for spelling words with the final ‘e’. Name two exceptions under each rule.
- Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
- Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
- Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
- Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
- Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
- What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
- How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
- Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
- Describe the mountains of N.A.
- Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall, and the Orinoco.
- Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
- Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
- Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
- Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
- Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.
When the Creeks were Removed from Georgia
In 1818 the Creeks conceded land from the mountains of Habersham County to Albany to the United States. This represents a landmark period for genealogists as to the departure of the Creeks from Georgia. To this end, the 1833 Creek Census (Lower Creeks and Upper Creeks)are available on Georgia Pioneers Also, lists of Colonial Indian Traders. The land included all of Butts County except the Indian Springs Reserve. At the time, the Ocmulgee Reserve remained in possession of the Creek Nation. As a result, some of the old families in the vicinity have Creek ancestors. Apparently, many mixed-blood Creeks elected to take state citizenship in order to continue living near the sacred site of Indian Springs. For example, Mikko William McIntosh, who served as a Brigadier General during the War of 1812 and theCreek Civil War (known as the Red Stick War) built a home there and began developing a plantation.
Tales of Genealogy Woe
Genealogy Tips by Jeannette Holland Austin
One can just about read the history of any given community by reading gravestones. The proximity of the dates of death, particularly of children and mothers, help to define epidemics such as measles, cholera, smallpox, diphtheria, and typhus, to name just a few. America has gone through many medical transitions, from cures and vaccines to the discovery of new strands of the virus. The health of a community helps to tell the story of families and answer ” why?” to certain situations. My grandmother was cautioned by her mother not to consider a certain beau for matrimony because he had health issues. In those days, women were considering marriage as a life-time-experience and one in which the husband supported her needs. Reading the old newspapers helps to determine more. When a wife left her husband, he posted a notice in the newspaper stating that he was not responsible for her debts. Too, she returned to the home of her parents. If she was abused, it was the duty of a brother to confront the husband. This sort of behavior spread like wildfire – and sorely affectionate reputations in all facets of the business. Because a bad marriage could disrupt the good reputation of families, the parents assisted in locating a proper husband. My grandfather was a good person, never ill a day in his life. But one day, he climbed up on the roof to make some repairs and fell off. The result was that he died. That left my grandmother, a young woman in her early forties, a widow for the rest of her life!