By CAROLYN CARY
ccary@TheCitizneNews.com

There are two meanings that are derived from the word “historical.” The actual meaning is any site over 50 years old but many feel it means “George Washington slept here.”

While the first meaning applies to an antebellum home at Redwine Road and Ga. Highway 74 South that is for sale, it is not without its own local history.

It was built about 1830-1832 by Druery May (you'll find his first name spelled three different ways in county records) in District 6, Land Lot 18. He has the distinction, it is believed, of being the only veteran of the War of 1812 buried in Fayette County.

He was born in 1784 and died Dec. 9, 1841. He married his wife, the widow Anna Moses, most likely in 1809. She had three children by her first marriage and May became their guardian.

He served in the War of 1812 from Pulaski County and was a corporal in Captain Tooke's Company.

The Mays had moved to Fayette County by 1824 (the county was formed in 1821) and he began his accumulation of land. By the time of his death his land totaled 2,000 acres. While most of it was in the area of his house, he also owned whole land lots (202.2 acres each) in a number of places throughout Fayette County.

He and his wife were buried on land that at the time was his “back yard” but is now located in south Peachtree City. It is situated in the back yards of a subdivision on Wellborn Chase.

This land was also shared by the early settlers of the Holly Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church, which still exists not far away.

In June of 1996, Mays' descendants, who lived all over the United States, decided they had been corresponding for enough years and met in Peachtree City for its first-ever reunion.

They arrived from California, Texas and Arkansas and points all around, enjoying a gravemarking ceremony held by the Georgia State Society of the National Society United States Daughters of 1812, Mays' descendants and the Fayette County Historical Society.

After Mays' death some of the names of owners include Fuller, Lindsey, Peeples and Pailer.

As is the case with any well-known property, myths have arisen. Among these is the use of the house by Sherman during the War Between The States. Not so, as the closest Union forces came to the house was 15 miles to the east. Also, a recent article states that Johnsons owned the house in 1925, but it was owned at that time by Lindseys. The article also stated it only had four owners, but there have been close to ten.

It is rich with its own history and one can only hope that a new owner will continue in the traditions of the original builder.