Wednesday, March 21, 2001
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Wednesday, March 21, 2001 |
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May-Peeples house rich in Fayette history By CAROLYN CARY
Just 11 years after the formation of Fayette County, a man named Druery May built a two-story house at the corner of what is now Redwine Road and Ga. Highway 74 south. He was born in North Carolina in 1783, the youngest of seven children born to James May and Lydia Bishop May. The family moved to Georgia about 1787. In 1809 May married a widow, Anna Moses, who had three children, and they had seven of their own. He had served in the War of 1812 in Captain Tooke's Company from Pulaski County. In 1824 he came to Fayette County and purchased 2,000 acres on Whitewater Creek and in 1832 built the current house. It is believed to be the second oldest house in the county. One of his grandchildren, Joseph Jennings May, is the highest ranking Confederate officer buried in Fayette County. He was a colonel. May died in 1841 and is buried on some of his original land, on what is now Wellborn Chase Drive in Peachtree City. This same plot was used by the early members of the Holly Grove A.M.E. Church, which is 104 years old. Many of his descendants corresponded for years and in 1996 they decided to have a get together in Peachtree City, meet for the first time and compare genealogy. They came from as far away as California, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. The Georgia State Society of the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812 conducted a special ceremony at May's gravesite, and the newfound "cousins" all participated. May's house passed through several hands before Swain Peeples bought the house and 238 acres of the surrounding property in 1944. Current owner Charles "Lou" Pailer III bought house and five acres in 1980. The house and its surrounding five acres are currently up for sale, and current owners are seeking to have the home's zoning changed to commercial. Those descendants are hoping that the next time they visit, their ancestor's historical home will still be there.
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