Forsyth County Wills and Estates

Forsyth County was created in 1832 and named for John Forsyth, Attorney General of Georgia, 1808; U. S. representative; U.S. senator; U.S. minister to Spain, 1819-1823; thirty-first governor of Georgia, 1827-29; U.S. secretary of state under presidents Jackson and Van Buren, 1834-41. Forsyth County was occupied by Cherokee Indians and many trading paths led from this territory as early as 1731. In 1797 the settlers and traders wanted this path upgraded to a road and in 1803 the improvements were agreed to in the Treaty of Tellico and a building project begun. The well known James Vann of mixed blood Cherokee handled the negotiations won the rights to a lucrative ferry where the road crossed the Chattahoochee River and established his tavern at New Echota (still standing in the New Echota State Park). Vann had a lot of competition in the area, including Bonds Ferry near Baldridge Creek, Gilbert's Ferry on the road to Lawrenceville, McGinnis Ferry, Orr's Ferry, Warsaw Ferry, and, of course, Roger's Bridge. In 1830 Georgia decided to take all remaining Cherokee land in the State and divided it up into 160 acre lots (40 acres in the gold belt) and distributed by lot in the fifth and sixth Georgia Land Lottery in 1832. For the next six years Cherokee in North Georgia attempted to fight the settlers in court and the press and lost the battle. In 1833, the Cherokees began to be removed from Georgia to Oklahoma. The famous Trail of Tears removed Cherokees from their homes by force, while others were allowed to remain on their farms. The Cherokees were farmers. About 1924 a wagontrain of Cherokee descendants from Oklahoma entered Forsyth County with maps for the purpose of removing gold and silver from the Cherokee mines which had been deliberately hidden. Researchers should also search Hall, Cherokee and Gwinnett Counties.