By Carolyn

Cary

The land creating our county was ceded from the Creek Indian Nation in January of 1821. That means we are an original county and not created from any others. We are the 49th county created in Georgia.

That first year was spent laying out land lot lines, creating squares of land, 202-1/2 acres each.

These squares of land were put into districts and we had four of them. Each district number and land lot number was put on an individual piece of paper to be given out in a lottery system.

Those living in the already established counties east of us had an opportunity to draw free land under these conditions: if you were a veteran of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 or Indian War, with a three-year residence in Georgia, you got two chances to put your hand in the "fish bowl"; if you were a widow with minor children, you also got one chance to draw; married men, with a wife and/or minor son under 18 and/or an unmarried daughter, having lived in the United States for at least three years and having lived in Georgia for at least three years, you got two chances, etc.

Now, let's say that we each live on one acre, and you know what you paid for that acre. The people drawing a 202-1/2 acre square of land only had to pay a $19 filing fee for the whole kit and caboodle!

Again, that first year was spent surveying and there were a few hardy souls who began to come and see just what kind of land paying out $19 had gotten them.

The county had to have a name, and we are reasonably sure that there were a number of Revolutionary War veterans who drew land here. It is also reasonable to assume that several of them probably fought under General Marquis de LaFayette and decided to name us "Fayette County."

The State of Georgia told each new county that they had to select a site for the County Seat, and it had to be equidistant in the county. Now I know what you're saying Fayetteville is not equidistant in the county. But remember what I wrote previously: that in 1821 our county went up to Atlanta over to the other side of Jonesboro. It was right in the middle of our boundary lines at that time.

The State of Georgia also decreed that besides creating a county seat equidistant in the county and establishing a courthouse, land must also be set aside for a Methodist Church, a Baptist Church and a Presbyterian Church, to be given them at no cost.

Can't you just imagine the State decreeing that now?

More on just how this was done next time.

Carolyn Cary is Fayette County's official historian and editor of "The History of Fayette County," published by the Fayette County Historical Society.

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