Last Updated On 18 August 2011

The current Morgan County location is included as a part of the territory obtained from the Creek Indians by a treaty at Fort Wilkinson, on the 16^th day of June, 1802. This area was made into three counties, Wayne, Wilkinson and Baldwin. Morgan County was subsequently divided from Baldwin County. The lands were opened for settlement by a lottery conducted by the State, the terms of which are fully set forth in the Act of the Legislature and approved by John Milledge, Governor, on the ll^th day of May, 1803. The numbers of all the lots of land were put in a box, together with enough blanks to make the number of tickets equal to the number entitled to draw. Each free white male between ages of 21 and 50 had one chance. An act "to lay out and identify six new counties Out of the counties of Baldwin and Wilkinson" was passed by the Legislature and signed by Jared Irwin, Governor of Georgia, on December 10^th, 1807. Morgan County was named in honor of General Daniel Morgan. General Morgan served on Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec in 1776, commanded the riflemen at Saratoga in 1777 and defeated British General Tarleton at Cowpens in 1781. After the War he served two terms in Congress.

A number of communities have existed from the early history of Morgan County until the present. I've been able to document the following communities: Apalachee, Aqua, Austin, Bethany, Blue Springs, Bostwick, Broughton, Buckhead, Cowan, Dogsborough, Dorsey, Drexel, Ebenezer, Enterprise, Evansville, Fairplay, Godfrey, Harvey, Hulette, Kingston, Madison, Mallory, Newborn, Ninnersville, Nolan, Palestine, Pennington, Reese, Rehoboth (ville), Rutledge, Stallings, Swords, Union Mill, Warings, Wellington and Zachry. Many of these communities no longer exist, but some still flourish today.

Madison, Georgia

By Act of 1808, Madison was made the county seat. Large plantation owners built fine homes in rural Morgan County while some built stately mansions in the county seat, Madison. Madison, a popular tourist destination today, became a hub of "King Cotton." As a result, the economy moved forward all during the first half of the 19th century. Most of Madison's fine structures were completed between 1830 and 1860.

During the Civil War, Madison was one of the few towns not destroyed by General Sherman's Union Army during their "March To The Sea." After burning Atlanta, General Sherman's army began leaving a path of destruction 60 miles wide from Atlanta to Savannah. Part of General Sherman's army, under the command of General Slocum, came very near Madison during their trek to Savannah in November, 1864. Senator Joshua Hill of Madison was a strong supporter of the Union. So strong were his convictions that he resigned his seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1861when the Georgia delegation voted to secede from the Union. Senator Hill previously convinced General Slocum to spare Madison's homes and businesses. The story is told that Senator Hill led a group of men who rode out to meet with the General just to remind him of the agreement they had made. General William T. Sherman documented this account in his memoirs. Click here for more information.

The Town Of Madison: Its Beginnings
By Marshall W. Williams