The History of Talbot, Taylor, Wilkes, and Warren Counties in Georgia

The East Central Georgia to West Central Georgia Connection: A Brief Synopsis into the Georgia Counties of Talbot, Taylor, Warren, and Wilkes and Their Family Affiliations

Wilkes County

Wilkes County, named for British politician and supporter of American independence, John Wilkes, is considered Georgia's first county established by European Americans. It was the first of eight original counties created in the first state constitution on February 5, 1777 with the other seven counties being organized from existing colonial parishes.

Wilkes was unique in being land ceded in 1773 by the Creek and Cherokee nations in their respective Treaties of Augusta. It is located in the Piedmont above the fall line on the Savannah River. Interestingly, between the years 1790 and 1854, Wilkes County's area was reduced as it was divided to organize new counties as population increased in the area. This is a very significant fact in history as the Heath, Hubert, Barrow Searcy, Dickson/Dixon, Flewellyn/Fluellen, Harrell, Thweatt (also spelled Thweat, Threatt, Threat), Barksdale, Bonner, Ivey, Cody, Battle, Skrine, Hillsman, Felts, and other allied families first came to Georgia by way of Wilkes County before migrating to other surrounding counties and further migration westward to Talbot, Taylor, Harris, Macon, and Muscogee counties in west central Georgia. The Georgia legislature formed the counties of Elbert, Oglethorpe, and Lincoln entirely from portions of Wilkes County whereas Madison, Warren, Taliaferro, Hart, McDuffie, and Greene counties  were created partially from Wilkes County lands.

Since Wilkes County played an important part in the fabric of the Unites States history, it also has played an important role within the fabric of the Hubert, Heath, Barksdale, Runnels, Greene, Thweatt, Searcy, Ivey and Battle families whose long standing history and ties to Wilkes County as well as subsequent counties formed from Wilkes or portions of Wilkes County. Wilkes County was the site of one of the most important battles of the American Revolutionary War to be fought in Georgia. During the Battle of Kettle Creek in 1779, the American Patriot forces were victorious over British Loyalists which in that time was a huge victory for the new nation fighting for independence and freedom.



Geology.com Georgia County Map



Another great role in history involved enslaved African Americans (during this time in history referred to as Negroes) forced to reside and work on the new formed southern plantations.  During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, colonists used enslaved African Americans to clear land, cultivate plantations, and create elaborate estates for the slave owners, and process the cotton in this area. Many may not realize that in the new America during the late 1700s, the cotton crop growing was long-staple cotton. Long-staple cotton would not grow in this area of Georgia and short-staple cotton required much labor to process. A prominent and well known man, General Nathaniel Greene was associated with the Hubert family though the marriage of one of his officers to a Hubert woman. Colonel John Rutherford was married to Mary Hubert, daughter of Benjamin B. Hubert and Mary Williams-Hubert. As mentioned, the Hubert family is one of Wilkes County’s oldest and prominent families which eventually settled in an area of Wilkes County that became a part of Warren County in 1793. Not far the Hubert plantation, Gen. Greene owned a plantation donated to him by the state of Georgia called “Mulberry Grove” where Catherine Greene employed a tutor working at Mulberry Grove by the name of Eli Whitney. In 1793, Eli Whitney, a Yale graduate,  and his fellow Yale graduate, Phineas Miller, patented a cotton gin which in one day could process hundreds of pounds of cotton. Because of this new machine, slavery in the south became more important and vital to the plantations survival and to the wealth of the slave owner community. 

Because of the newly developed cotton gin, the machine allowed mechanization of processing of short-staple cotton making its cultivation profitable in the upland areas. As a result, there was a dramatic increase in the development of new cotton plantations throughout the Deep South to cultivate short-staple cotton and this affected the Heath, Hubert, Battle, Barksdale, Searcy, Ivey, Sibley, Dixon/Dickson, Felts, and Thweatt families on a grand scales as they required manual labor to maintain production and to maintain the ever growing plantations thereby acquiring more slaves which contributed to the ever present southern divide from the northern states. In addition, settlers increased pressure on the federal government to remove Native Americans, including the Five Civilized Tribes from the Southeast. As a result of the Georgia settler’s pressure, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830.

Warren County

Warren County was created on December 19, 1793 and is named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War. The county seat, Warrenton, was founded in 1797 as seat of Warren County. It was incorporated as a town in 1810 and as a city in 1908. Other cities and communities include Cadley, Camak, Elim, Jewell, Mesena, and Norwood. Warren County’s history and association with the Heath, Hubert, Harrell, Barrow, Bonner, Cody, Barksdale, Battle, Dickson/Dixon, Skrine, Hillsman, Rudiselle/Rudsille/Rudison, Flewellyn/Fluellen, and Ivey families to name a few is directly associated with the history of Wilkes County displayed above.

I had the distinct honor and privilege to visit Warren County in October 2014 for the Hubert Family Reunion which was my first time visiting as well as my first time attending a Hubert Family Reunion. More to come in another post on the Warren County visit and Hubert Family Reunion. Warren County's history is directly related to Wilkes County as stated above as Warren was formed out of Wilkes County and as a direct result, much of my family research in Georgia ties directly to both Wilkes and Warren counties and ultimately back to the Carolinas and Virginia.

Talbot County

Talbot County was created by a December 14, 1827, act of the Georgia General Assembly from a portion of Muscogee County. Taylor County was created from a portion of Talbot County in 1852. The County was named after Georgia Governor Matthew Talbot.  Talbotton, which was also named after Governor Talbot, was founded in 1828 as seat of the newly formed Talbot County. Talbotton may be best known in history as the place where the immigrant Straus family got their start in retail sales in the 19th century. Decades later, the Straus family acquired R.H. Macy & Co. in New York and eventually turned it into the famous Macy's chain. Other districts and cities include Junction City, Woodland, Manchester, Geneva, Box Springs, Centerville, Roughedge, and Tax.

Many families from Wilkes, Warren, and surrounding counties to include Monroe, Hancock, Greene, and Jones migrated to Talbot County in the mid 1800s during a time of the great westward expansion and association with the building of the Georgia railroad. Anyone conduction genealogical research in Talbot (which is West Central Georgia) will most definitely have ties back to Wilkes and Warren counties (which is East Central Georgia). As for my direct family research, the families that surface the majority of times includes the Heath, Hubert, Ivey, Flewellyn/Fluellen, Searcy, Adams, Sibley, Carraker, Bonner, Harrell, and Matthews to name a few. More specifically, my key interest lies with the Heath and Hubert families and their direct migration to from Georgia to east Texas. But no just the Heaths and Huberts as I'm learning more and more through cluster genealogy research, all families were connected at some point and many migrated together. For more information on the Georgia to Texas migration, see Roots of the Tree: Understanding the Georgia to Alabama to Texas Connection.

Taylor County

Taylor County was created on January 15, 1852, by an act of the Georgia General Assembly from portions of Macon, Marion and Talbot counties. The county is named for Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States. The land for building the courthouse was purchased from Andrew McCants, John T. Gray, John Sturdivant, John L. Parker, and a Mr. Covington (from  assembly meeting minutes dated March 8, 1852). Militia Districts and towns (listed with associated District numbers) in the county included Prattsburg 737, Hall 743, Reynolds 741, Butler 757, Cedar Creek 1071, and Whitewater 853.

Taylor County is directly related to the families of Talbot County and surrounding counties to include Harris, Macon, Dooly, Muscogee, Randolph, Marion, Upson, Schley, Houston, Peach, Bibb, and Meriwether. Many of the aforementioned families, especially the Heath, Ivey, Searcy, Adams, and Sibley families have strong ties to Taylor County and surrounding counties and the very fabric of west Georgia and east Alabama. Ongoing family research is being conducted to continually document the family ties as well as bridge the gaps between our Ancestors and present day generations of their descendants.

Originally Written and Submitted September 22, 2015 via my online Ancestry Family Tree with Additional Family Information updated March 2017

Dante' Eubanks