Lagrange, Troup County Georgia History
"Toward the western border line,
Near Chattahoochee's silver stream,
where groves of maple, oak and pine
Drive off the sun's too garish beam,
A village sits, amid classic shades."
--E. Y. HILL from his poem "Georgia."
In 1825 the Indian Springs treaty was made whereby Georgia
secured from the Creek Indians the vast tract of land lying between the
Flint and the Chattahoochee rivers. Troup County, one of the five made from
this territory was opened for settlement in 1827. Many stories had gone into
Greene, Wilkes, and other older counties, of the fertile soil, the virgin
forests, the wild game, and the friendly Indians, so many settlers traveled
by wagon, or on foot, into this new country, and came into possession of
land by a lottery grant, or by purchase from some fortunate grantee.
These early pioneers began building sturdy log houses, cutting the logs from
the forest and hewing them with a broad axe. Some of these early houses were
built with lofts reached by ladders in order that the women and children
could escape from wolves while the men were working in the fields and
forests. These early settlers were soon joined by other pioneers, many from
Virginia and the Carolinas, for after the Revolution many pioneers were
seeking land grants, wherever they could be obtained.
From September of 1824 to December of 1825, LaFayette was a guest of the
American nation, and during this time for two weeks he was the guest of our
Governor Troup of Georgia. So great was the appreciation of his services to
the nation and the admiration of his ideals, that when this small settlement
decided to incorporate the community, in a town meeting called for the
purpose of naming the town on motion of Julius C. Alford, it was named by a
unanimous vote LaGrange, in honor of the estate of LaFayette in France.
The selection of the site for the county town, or county seat, devolved upon
the five judges of the Inferior Court: James Culberson, Samuel Reid, James
Maddux, John E. Gage, and Whitfield H. Sledge. Samuel Reid, who lived near
Whitfield Crossing, favored a site near Mountville; John E. Gage, who was
interested in the promotion of the town of Vernon on the banks of the
Chattahoochee River, favored Vernon as the county town. The Inferior Court
being unable to agree on either site finally agreed to place the county town
about half way between the two contesting communities, and the final
selection was land lot 109 in the 6th land district. This lot was drawn in
the state lottery at Milledgeville by Bailey Reed, a citizen of Oglethorpe
County, on May 21, 1827, who sold the lot to Buckner Beasley for $300..00 on
February 15, 1828, and Beasley in turn sold it to John Pinckard for $500.00
on February 28, 1828, and Pinckard sold it to the Inferior Court of Troup
County for $1,350.00 on March 5, 1828.
Troup County
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