RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 1, 2017
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
Happy New Year! Hopefully, 2017 will be the year when many genealogists will discover some of those “missing links.”
Already the author of books concerning Elbert County, Georgia, court minutes, Michael A. Ports now turns his attention to records pertaining to land in the Peach State. One of his latest publications is JEFFERSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, LOTTERY DRAWERS FOR 1827 AND 1832.
After former Creek Indian lands were ceded early in 1825, Georgia Governor George M. Troup authorized the Fifth Land Lottery, also known as the 1827 Land Lottery, to distribute the acreage. In order to achieve that goal in an orderly manner, the act provided for the creation of five new counties: Carroll, Coweta, Lee, Muscogee, and Troup. The Surveyor General of Georgia was assigned the task of dividing each county into numbered land districts and then partitioning each district into numbered lots.
In 1830, Georgia Governor George R. Gilmer authorized the Sixth Land Lottery after the Cherokees ceded their land. Also known as the 1832 Cherokee Land and Gold lotteries, the acts provided for the creation of a very large Cherokee County, in which the Surveyor General again performed the assignments of dividing and numbering the land. Because of its size, in December 1832, the original Cherokee County was separated into ten new counties: Cass (later renamed Bartow), Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, and Union.
Reproduced in Ports’s volume are the lottery rolls which identify Jefferson County people who were eligible to participate in the two lotteries and the number of draws they were allowed. The rolls also furnish the names of the “Fortunate Drawers,” who won parcels in the former Indian lands. Additional information about individuals may include marital status, military service, and family relationships. Celia ROSIER, for example, was listed as a widow; John S. HOLDER had been a Revolutionary soldier; and Polly BLUNT was the orphan of Isaac BLUNT.
Since the names of approximately 2,000 persons appear in this volume, Portis’s material supplies useful supplementary information about many of them. Because the lotteries occurred between censuses, for instance, the rolls place individuals in a certain place at a certain time. In addition, the miscellaneous remarks, such as someone being an orphan or a soldier, may provide avenues for further research. For all these reasons, JEFFERSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, LOTTERY DRAWERS FOR 1827 AND 1832 will be of special interest to genealogists tracing families in this particular area.
The 126-page publication has soft covers, a general introduction, a map, and a full name index. Names and information about participants are arranged in easy-to-read tabular form. Accompanying the tables are data about the individual militia districts and explanations of the two lotteries and the qualifications needed to be a participant.
To the book’s price of $18.50, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $5.50 for one book and $2.50 for each additional copy; for UPS, the cost is $7.50 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book. The volume may be purchased by check, MasterCard, or Visa from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (for phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com).