Ancestral Homeland
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A VISIT TO OUR ANCESTRAL
HOMELAND
By: Joe Taylor
Around 1780, our ancestor,
Richard Bracewell, moved from the Tarboro, North Carolina
area to Washington County, Georgia on to "new
land's, being taken from the Indians and given to
settlers on a lottery basis.
In 1793-94, Richard's son,
another Richard, married Charity Scarborough, and their
first child, James, was born at Allen's Fort, located on
the Oconee River in what later became Laurens County.
On July 19, 1815, Richard
bought lot #205 (202½) acres and on the 25th bought lot
#206, all totaling 405 acres for $1,000 in notes.
These tracts were just west of Allen's Fort in a newly opened section designated as the Pine Tucky district of Laurens County. The tracts are located about 10 miles south of Dublin Georgia near a settlement called Rock Springs.
The Bracewells lived on this property until at least 1832.
I recently visited (4-27-81) this area with our kinsman, Ronald Bracewell, who is diligently putting together the complete record of the Bracewells from the time of their arrival in America.
The country is largely pine and oak forested, sandy hills, with a few cultivated acres, and looks like the area around Cleveland and Livingston, Texas.
We visited Rock Springs Baptist Church and Cemetery, (established 1834), which had several Bracewells as founding members. The cemetery is well kept and has 40-50 Bracewell tombstones as well as many others of wives who were born Bracewells. A second cemetery, called the Smith Cemetery, was smaller, well kept, and had a good representation of Bracewells, including Ronald's great grandfather, Seaborn A. Bracewell.
It was a pleasure to visit with Otis Bracewell and his wife. They are a delightful couple who will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in August.
Otis is 77 years old and the recognized authority on all of the Bracewells in the Laurens Country area over the past century. He is very energetic and active and relates Bracewell genealogy with no uncertainty in great detail.
Otis is a carpenter. Before he retired, he built private homes as well as major commercial projects in different parts of the United States. Since "retirement", he has slowed down to a 50-hour week in his shop at home doing cabinet work, furniture repair and refinishing, and sharpening saws for everyone for miles around. He puts in a lot of time with his large garden and many fruit trees, and spends a good deal of his free time with his boat on the Oconee River, only a half mile away, fishing.
Otis gave us a demonstration of the proper method of filing saw blades, while at the same time filling us in on many details of Bracewell lineage. Otis has many pieces of interesting hand made furniture and tools. Naturally, he wouldn't let me leave without giving me one of his cherished tools as a memento of our visit. I think you will agree that Otis has many traits that mark him as the type of Bracewell we know.
I was not surprised to find that Laurens County Bracewells are fine, God fearing people, who enjoy visiting and discussing Bracewell history.
If you have occasion to be in this area of Georgia, I recommend you plan to stop in Dublin.