The Georgia Trail This is a working document so it is not and may never be completely finished or without errors. Most of the information collected has been proven or has come from credible sources. Some of the speculated information is based on families that migrated together or ended up in the same areas. It is a composition of petitions, tax list, census and passed down folklore along with historical events of our country. Wilkes County Georgia is where many of our ancestors migrated to in the late 18 th century. Located near Augusta where the first settlement began at Fort Heard sometime after 1720. White settlers that had colonies along the Savannah River were kept out of the Little River area by the Indians. In 1763, a treaty was signed between the Colonial governors of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and the Indians proclaiming Little River as the boundary between them and the white settlers. But the white men drew the Indians into making trades and building a debt they could not pay. So as concession they offered up the land for their indebtedness even though they were suspicious of the white man. In 1773, The Cherokee and Creek Indians relinquished more than two million acres in the upper/middle northern part of Georgia. This was called The Ceded Lands which soon would be known as Wilkes County and eventually split off into other counties such as Franklin, Jackson, Clarke, Baldwin, Hancock, Warren and others. Settlers from South Carolina, Virginia and from as far away as Scotland came to purchase large tracts of land for no more than five schillings an acre. Some of the land was given by Bounty Grants to veterans of the Revolutionary War. Early records show on October 15, 1773 Benjamin Thompson with his wife and 12 sons and 5 daughters received 750 acres on Rocky Creek, north side of Little River including improvement made by Thomas 1
Crocker. Thomas and Arthur Crocker and Benjamin Thompson were found on a petition filed by James Hammett in Spartanburg, 96 th, South Carolina on July 5, 1771 in a dispute over land. James and brothers John, William and Robert Hammett were showing up on early court and tax records for Wilkes County as early as 1779. Thomas Crocker, listed as a planter, shows up again as administrator of will for Joseph Harper on January 15, 1784. That same year was when numerous families from several Counties of Virginia migrated to the same area. The families included Brewer, Crowley, Fletcher, Hooper, Myrick, Strong, Wakefield, Moore, Thompson and Young. Jeffrey Crowley, William Strong and George Young Sr. traveled together from Pittsylvania Co. VA that winter. This is the same year that William, Burwell and George Brewer Jr. along with families and cousins were said to have come from the Brunswick Co., VA area. Howell Brewer was also on a petition signed in Wilkes County that year. The Howell Brewer that was found in Georgia from 1784-1805 was probably Howell Jr. born C1742, the son of Howell Brewer & Marian May and nephew of Burwell, cousin to William. Howell Brewer Sr. born 1722 was the youngest son of George Brewer & Sarah Lanier. After Sarah died George Brewer married Alice Burwell and had son Burwell. It is unknown but a possibility that most if not all that left Virginia and were in Wilkes County Georgia by 1785 may have traveled together. November 27, 1786, Peter, Daniel and Jacob Bankston of Wilkes County Georgia are shown selling land to Matthew Wood. This land belonged to their father Laurence and was willed to their mother Rebecca Hendricks. The land was in Philadelphia, PA. And stands recorded in the Docket of the State of Penna. Burwell Brewer s son William born 1756 had daughters Elizabeth & Sarah who were married to Leslie & Simeon Bankston, sons of John Bankston. John Bankston born 1754 was the son of Jacob Bankston born 1731 & Elinor Cox. Jacob & Elinor also had a son named Elijah born 1756 who was the father of Elijah Jr. born C1792 who married Rachel Crocker, daughter of Arthur Crocker & Elizabeth Wakefield. Elizabeth Wakefield was the daughter of 2
Henry Wakefield and Elizabeth Alexander and her brother Charles B. Wakefield born 1780 married Anna Wakefield who was the daughter of Rachel Martha Bankston born 1760 and another Charles Wakefield who was said to be a distant cousin of Charles B. & Elizabeth. Rachel s brother James born1765 married Judith Lee and had son Andrew Bankston born 1787 in North Carolina. Rachel Martha and James were children of Andrew Bankston born 1727 who was also the son of Laurence and Rebecca. In 1789 Thomas Crocker was said to be living in Greene County GA in the William Houghton district along with Charles, John and George Brewer. This is the county where Henry Brewer is shown to be a resident in 1798, 1801 and on the 1805 land lottery. On a will for David Peeples of Greene County GA in 1798, Henry Brewer was listed as a witness. Henry was also found in the Greene county deed books at least three times in land transactions. On May 7, 1799 he sold 103 acres to Nathan Gooch for $600 recorded on June 14, 1803 then again on July 3, 1799 Henry was found selling 103 acres for $200 to George Brewer recorded on August 9, 1800. Just four months prior to buying the 103 acres from Henry Brewer, Nathan Gooch is shown selling 103 acres to Benjamin Moore for $400 which was recorded on June 14, 1803 also. William Crocker also owned and sold land in Greene County in 1807. Thomas Crocker, in 1793, is among tax defaulters list for Washington County GA. In 1794 on the Hancock Co., GA tax list Howell, Isaac, John Brewer along with Thomas, John, Elijah and Clement Moore were all listed in the Sanford district and tax payers list for 1795. Arthur Crocker was found on the tax list of Hancock Co., GA, Sanford district in 1796 and as a resident of Hancock Co. on the 1805 land lottery. James Crocker, in 1798, is listed on a tax list for the Sanford district. Howell Brewer is then found on the tax list in Clarke Co., GA, Reynolds district in 1802 along with Elijah Bankston Sr. These two men are also listed as residents of Clarke Co., GA on the 1805 land lottery list along with Jacob & John Bankston, William Crocker & John Wakefield, William Strong, and 3
many other Bankston s. The Creek and Cherokee Indians occupied the upper region of Georgia starting at about the Jackson and Hall counties border in the early 1800 s until they were forced out about 1830. From 1785 to 1809 passports were issued by the Governors of Georgia to residents of respectability to have safe travel to western and northwestern territories. Henry Brewer of Greene County was among 21 men who received such a passport on December 21, 1801. Henry was among seven of those listed with families. But for some reason most of these men were still in Georgia and registered for the 1805 land lottery. Residents of Georgia could register as early as May of 1803 for Indian land that was ceded in 1802. Also in 1805, the government negotiated the Treaty of Tellico with the Cherokees and the Treaty of Washington with the Creeks allowing the right to open and operate roads through Indian lands. The road that would be used to connect white settlers with new frontier in Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois was known by several names. The most used name was The Federal Road also known as Georgia and Cisca Road. Much of this route followed an old Cherokee trading path and would later be part of what is known as the Trail of Tears. The Federal Road also had a route that ran from the same area in Georgia to the lower part of Alabama to Fort Mims close to the Mississippi border. Some of the interconnected family members did leave Georgia before many of the others. Henry Wakefield, father of Elizabeth Wakefield Crocker, was in Smith County Tennessee with second wife Mary Simpson by August 1800 when their second son John was born. This is where Elizabeth s brother, Charles B. Wakefield married Anna Wakefield, as mentioned, in Smith County, Tennessee in 1801. In documents titled The Territorial Papers of the United States was a petition to congress signed by inhabitants of Randolph and St. Clair Counties. This petition to the Senate and House of Representatives was asking as true citizens who left the more thickly populated parts of the United States they be granted every possible right to purchase the land in what was most 4
Southern Illinois as soon as the land was put up for sale by the government. A reference was made to the fact that Spain was inviting them to move across the Mississippi to Missouri. The names were many of those who settled into Shelby County. These included Charles Wakefield Sr. and Charles Jr., James Wakefield and Andrew Bankston. The first settlements east of Silver Creek were made by these men and others in the year 1804. By 1807 these squatters were allowed to make application for land. Andrew Bankston is shown situated on Silver Creek joining James Crocker. It appears that many of those still in Georgia who did not receive land in the 1805 lottery left Georgia and headed northwest to Tennessee, Kentucky or Illinois or went west to Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas or Louisiana. Henry Brewer was found on the 1820 census living in Christian County Kentucky in the township of Hopkinsville. Many of the men or families listed on the Georgia passport with him in 1801 are found in neighboring counties in Kentucky and Tennessee. Henry was listed as a farmer on the 1820 and 1830 census. I believe Henry Brewer to be the father of Jacob Fletcher Brewer born 1794 in Georgia and was married to Edeith Crocker, also daughter of Elizabeth and Arthur Crocker who was last found in Georgia on an 1807 Baldwin county tax list along with Isaac Brewer. Arthur and family and Elijah Bankston Jr. left Georgia not long after this if not that year. It is believed that Henry Brewer was married to Catherine Moore. Although documented proof has not been found it would have been very probable with the connections that have been proven and with large Moore family that was in Georgia at the time and the many that migrated to the same areas. Henry Brewer is said to have been born in Wilkes County Georgia in 1767 and Catherine Moore born in 1770. This would coincide with the ages found on the 1820 and 1830 census. It is not known, at this time, what line Catherine descended from. Though she may have been related to Benjamin Moore who was in Greene county Georgia then listed in Christian county Kentucky in 1820. Henry is said to have been a son of Howell Jr. but this cannot be proven either. Some have Howell Sr. 5
as his dad but there has been so much confusion over the two Howell s that it probably will never be known unless the family bible is found and has the records recorded as mentioned in Isaac Brewer s revolutionary war pension application. Isaac was born May 15, 1763 in Wilkes County Georgia and states in his pension file that he was the son of Howell. Henry could very well have been a brother of Isaac. There was a Henry Brewer in almost every line that descended from George Brewer and Sarah Lanier. There were two Henry s in Christian County on the 1820 and 1830 census. One was from North Carolina and was a revolutionary war veteran who received land there in 1805. There were two more Henry Brewer s in St. Clair Illinois in 1820 but these two and the Hubbard Brewer that was listed were also believed to be from North Carolina. Around the time Illinois became a territory, marriage records for St. Clair, Illinois show that Elizabeth Betsy Crocker married Simeon Wakefield on June 5, 1808. Andrew Bankson married Elizabeth Moore on May 1, 1808 and Elijah Bankston Jr. married Rachel Crocker on November 28, 1809. Much of St. Clair County was un-ceded Indian lands in 1810, especially the northern and eastern areas. Elijah Jr. and Andrew were both great-grandsons of Laurence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks. On June 14, 1812 the United States had declared war with Great Britain. Many of the men already mentioned were now found on the muster rolls in the Illinois territory. In Captain Jacob Short s Company of mounted rangers Andrew Bankston is Second Lieutenant. The Privates listed were: Elijah Bankston Jr., Jacob and Thomas Crocker, James and William Moore, Charles, George and John A. Wakefield. These men were called into actual service from February 27, 1813 to May 31, 1813 by Governor and Commander-in-Chief Ninian Edwards. In Captain Nathan Chambers Company of militia listed James Bankston as a Sergeant and James Crocker as a Corporal. The Privates were: Patton Bankston, William and John Crocker, Robert Moore, Simeon and William Wakefield. They were called 6
into service from April 12, 1813 to May 12, 1813. Jacob Fletcher Brewer is believed to have married Edeith Crocker C1813 with their first daughter being born in 1814. Thomas Crocker was the first of the Crocker family to purchase land in the Illinois area on September 10, 1814 in St. Clair County. He acquired 480 acres in all which eventually is acquired by his son Arthur before 1818. It is assumed that Thomas had died before this since he is not found on the 1818 or 1820 census. On the 1820 census Jacob Fletcher Brewer is found with two sons under 21, 1 over 21 and two females. He is listed living next to Arthur, Jacob and Elizabeth Crocker. Also next to him was Daniel Strong who may have descended from the Strong family that was in Georgia. Jacob Fletcher Brewer Sr. is shown on census to have been born in Georgia in 1794/95. He is first found in Washington Co., Illinois in 1820 married to Edeith Crocker daughter of Arthur Crocker and Elizabeth Wakefield. Arthur s will was dated February 27, 1835 and it s believed he died a short time after. Elizabeth died in 1842 and the estate was divided among the children. Jacob was a juror of the first grand jury of Shelby County Illinois on September 15, 1828. He later, in 1837, purchased 200 acres in that county for $1.25 an acre. On December 21, 1838 he purchased 40 more acres from Seaburn and Mariah Brewer for the sum of $3.20 with Maria signing a release of right and dower to the sale. It is not known how this Seaburn was related but he and Mariah would be found in Webster County Missouri on the 1870 census. Seaburn is shown to have been born in 1817 and has a son named Samuel T. born 1859 in Illinois. Henry and Catherine Moore Brewer were also believed to have been the parents of William H. Brewer who was in Jackson County Illinois in 1820 and died March 2, 1869 in Fayette County Illinois and left everything to his wife Jane. Another son was to have been Samuel who died in Shelby County Illinois C1860 and left everything to his wife Susanna. One of these two could have been the parents of the Seaburn Brewer that was married to Mariah. On the 1840 census Jacob and Edeith are listed in Shelby County having three sons and two daughters living at home. The 7
eldest son, John Wesley, married America Hunter sometime before 1844 when their first child was born in Kentucky in 1844. John and America would have two more in Kentucky before their son Seborn is born in 1850 in Illinois. America was the daughter of David Hunter who resided in Hopkins County on the 1820 and 1830 census. This county was seated next to Christian County where Henry Brewer resided on these censuses. So it s possible that John W. may have met America while traveling from Illinois through Hopkins County to Christian County to see his grandparents Henry and Catherine. Still in Shelby County, Jacob and Edeith are shown with Jacob Jr. and youngest daughter Margrett still at home. Jacob Sr. is shown to have $1,200 in real estate. Jacob Jr. married Ruth Tipsword on July 19, 1851 in Shelby County. Ruth died sometime after the birth of their daughter Julia in 1853. Jacob Sr. and John W. are listed on a tax list for Polk County Missouri in 1854. This is also where Jacob Jr. was remarried to Maranda Clark on December 15, 1856. In 1860, Jacob and Edeith along with sons John Wesley, Samuel T., and Jacob Jr. with their families are found the 1860 census it shows that neither Edeith nor Jacob could read or write. Even though Jacob Sr. did well as a farmer with land value of $2,000 and $1,000 in other assets reported. It is believed that Jacob Sr. died sometime before 1865 around the end of the civil war. Edeith, along with Maranda s father William Clark, traveled by horse and wagon to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to bring home John W. who had been injured in the war. John W. died a few weeks later of small pox. Jacob Jr. and family are found in Nodaway Co., Missouri on the 1870 census where Jacob Jr. is listed as a shingle maker. From there they moved to Monona County, Iowa where Jacob Jr. died of Typhoid fever on Nov.15, 1878. He is buried in the Belvedere Cemetery in Monona County., Iowa. Jacob Jr s widow, Maranda, and family remained in Monona County, Iowa. Two of their sons, William and Sylvester, would eventually marry sisters Dora and Libbie Piatt. They were the daughters of Lafayette Piatt and Eliza Cole. William and Sylvester s brother, 8
George, was engaged to Katie Piatt. She was said to already have the wedding dress when it was called off. Supposedly George was not well liked by Lafayette. Sylvester and Libbie would eventually divorce which was uncommon for the time. Will and Dora remained in Monona Co. and are both buried there along with their son Aaron and daughter Maude. Sylvester lived with Will and Dora at the time they were expecting their son along with a farm hand named Aaron. They both told Dora if she named the baby after them they would buy the baby s first outfit. So she named their son Aaron Sylvester and both had to live up to his word. December 2, 1886, Maranda married Charles Henry Cooper, father of her son-in-law Charles Leroy Cooper (Sarah s husband). Maranda died November 10, 1903 and is buried in the Belvedere cemetery in Monona County, Iowa next to Jacob Jr. The proven part of this Brewer line starts with Jacob Sr. Because of early census records being destroyed in fires and such. Much of the line prior to Jacob Sr. is put together by linking the interconnected families and where they migrated to and with whom. With so many of the Brewer line having the same given name the only way of knowing who was who was to connect their path with their wife s family or someone who had migrated to the same places as them. With so much information being lost and with so much being misconstrued it would be hard to prove or disprove this ancestry prior to the 19 th century. Until a family bible, a will or some documented proof shows up and has our lineage all written down for us this would be my best speculation for now. Notes of interest: As mentioned some of those who left Georgia at the turn of the 19 th century chose to go west. Clark Crocker born C1776, Arthur s brother, was found in Lauderdale, Mississippi in 1850. Arthur s son Clark born C1793 in Georgia was in Illinois in 1830, Bossier, Louisiana in 1850 and listed on the will for a William C. Thompson in Marengo County Alabama in 1854. This would be in the same area that many Brewer s migrated to that still may be linked after more digging has been done. 9
Children of Howell Brewer Jr. born C1742: 1. Isaac Brewer b. May 15, 1763 in Wilkes Co. GA and died 1852 in Talladega Co. AL 2. Henry Brewer b.1767 d. after 1830 married Catherine Moore b.1770 d. after 1830 in Christian Co. KY 3. Reuben Brewer b.1769 in NC d. April 22, 1866 in Clinton Co., OH, married Celia in GA 4. George Brewer b.? married Martha Simms of S.C. Probably the George on the 1795 Hancock Co. tax list and or the one Henry sold land to in Greene Co. GA July 3, 1799. George died April 1, 1838 in Lawrence Co., TN 5. Simon Brewer b.c1775 lived in Coosa Co. AL testified on Isaac s rev. war pension application Children of Henry Brewer and Catherine Moore 1. William H. Brewer born before 1794 as was his wife Jane. probably C1791. William died March 2, 1869 in Fayette Co. IL. 2. Samuel Brewer b.c1793 married Susanna. He died 1860 in Shelby Co. IL leaving farm land to Susanna. 3. Jacob Fletcher Brewer b. 1795 d. C1863 in Polk Co. MO married to Edeith Crocker. 4. Daughter born after 1810 according to 1820 census. Not listed on 1830 census. Children of Jacob Brewer Sr. and Edeith Crocker: 1. Surena Lureny Brewer baug.26,1814 d.april 7,1858 married to Hanson Middleton 2. John Wesley Brewer, b.1817, d.1865, Benton Twp., Polk Co., Missouri married Mary America Hunter b.1814 in Kentucky 3. Samuel T. Brewer, b.1819; m. Lucinda Nance 10
4. Lucinda Brewer, b.1823; m. Jackson Price. Lucinda is found living in the household with Maranda (Jacob Jr. s widow) and family in 1880 (Iowa census). 5. Seborn Brewer, b.1825 6. Jacob Fletcher Brewer Jr., b.june 4,1829 IL, d.november 15,1878 IA, married first to Ruth Tipsword, b.1831, Fayette, Illinois; d.c1854/55. 2 nd marriage was to Maranda Clark, b. August 16, 1834, Ohio; d. November 3, 1903, Monona Co., Iowa. 7. Margrett Brewer, b.1832 Children of John Wesley Brewer and Mary America Hunter: 1. Elizabeth Ann Brewer, b. February 19,1844, Hopkins Co., Kentucky; d. November 4, 1926, Ralston, Oklahoma. Married to Nathaniel Stewart Collins, b. May 19,1845; d. August 22, 1902 2. Jacob Fletcher (Middleton?) Brewer, b.1847, Kentucky; d.?, married first to Allsa Elizabeth Collins, June 3, 1866. 2 nd marriage was to Lydia Matilda Peters in 1880. 3. Nancy Brewer, b.1848, Kentucky; d.?, m.? 4. Jeremiah Seborn Brewer, b.1850, Illinois; d.?, m.? 5. Angeline Brewer, b.1852, Illinois, d.?, m.? 6. Eda Brewer, b.1854, Missouri; d.?, m.? 7. John W. Brewer, b.1855, Missouri, d.?, m.? 8. Sarah M. Brewer, b.1856, Missouri; d.?, m.? Children of Samuel T. Brewer and Lucinda Nance: 1. Elizabeth Brewer, b.1844, Illinois; d.?, m.? 2. Artissima Brewer, b. 1846, Illinois; d.?, m.? 3. Eda Brewer, b.1848, Illinois; d.?, m.? 4. Arano D. Brewer, b.march 1850, Illinois; d.?, m.? 5. Lafayette Brewer, b.1859, Missouri, d.?, m.? 6. Samuel Laycent Brewer, b.1860, Missouri, d.? married Martha Frances Julian Lakey 7. Nancy C. Brewer, b.1862, Missouri; d.?, m.? 11
8. Pleasant M. Brewer, b.1862, Missouri; d.?, m.? 9. Kisiah A. Brewer, b.1865, Misouri; d.?, m.? Children of Jacob Brewer Jr. and Ruth Tipsword: 1. Julia Brewer, b. July 28,1852, Missouri; d.?, married to William Smith on August 25, 1870, Nodaway Co., Missouri. Children of Jacob BrewerJr. and Maranda Clark: 1. Hannah Jane Brewer, b. January 25, 1857, Polk Co., Missouri; d. March 12, 1934, married to Andrew Jackson Hutcheson on December 4, 1873, Mills, Iowa. 2. Zara Leonides Brewer (Lee), b. February 24, 1859, Polk Co., Missouri; d.?, married on February 22, 1883 in Monona Co.,Iowa to Hannah Kesterson 3. Christopher Columbus Brewer(Lum), b. February 13, 1861, Missouri; d.?, married September 17, 1881 to Ellen Troth,b.1861 Mills, Iowa 4. Elmer Elsworth Brewer, b. June 28, 1863 (no info on this child, not found on census). 5. William Sherman Brewer, b. February 20, 1866, Nebraska; d. 1929, married September 17, 1887 to Dora Jane Piatt b. January 18, 1869, d. November 20, 1952. 6. George McCllen Brewer,(Twin), b. March 11, 1868, Nebraska: d.?, married December 24, 1891 in Onawa, Monona Co., Iowa to Elsie Bell, b. 1874, Iowa. 7. Sarah Ellen Brewer, b.march 11, 1868, Nebraska; d. September 12, 1925, Castana, Monona Co., Iowa; married May 7, 1887 Onawa, Iowa to Charles Leroy Cooper b. April 29, 1860, Oswego Co., New York; d. July 1, 1924, Castana, Iowa. 8. Sylvester Enoch Brewer, b. March 20, 1872, Missouri; d.?, married December 2, 1894 in Onawa, Iowa to Libbie Piatt, b. 1876, d.? 9. Jacob Oscar Brewer, b. August 23,1874; d. November 11,1876. 10. Nancy M. Brewer, b., April 18, 1878, Iowa; d. December 4, 1878 12
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