Oglethorpe County History
This area was originally part of a large tract of land surrendered by Creek and Cherokee Native Americans to the Colony of Georgia in the treaty of 1773.
Oglethorpe County, established in 1793, is one of the oldest established areas in NE Georgia. It was named for General James Edward Oglethorpe founder of the colony 60 years earlier. Kennedy, a trapper, was the first known to settle here. Farmers soon had good tobacco crops. Tobacco was replaced by cotton, which remained the dominant crop until drought, the boll weevil and the Great Depression spelled its downfall.
For almost a half century after its establishment, Oglethorpe County was a leader in the political, social and economic life of Georgia. Because its history includes so many important institutions and prominent men in the state and the nation, it has been called and truly was the "Mother of Statesmen".
Early Oglethorpe County notables include:
- William H. Crawford (1772-1834) - Minister to France, U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, nearly successful candidate for President of the United States
- George Mathews (1739-1812) - Revolutionary hero and twice Governor
- Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was a teenage resident and later the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- Wilson Lumpkin (1783-1870) - Governor
- George R. Gilmer (1790-1859) - Twice Governor
- Joseph H. Lumpkin (1799-1867) First Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, framed the state's penal code, cofounder of the Lumpkin Law School at UGA
- James Monroe Smith (1839-1915) renowned agriculturist and plantation owner of historic Smithonia.
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