Photos courtesy of Susan Harrington

Old Hartford Road Marker
Inscription:
    HARTFORD ROAD 1812
STATE CONSTRUCTED MILITARY NECESSITY
BLACKSHEAR LINE OF COMMUNICATION
WAR 1812
JOHN KING, THOMAS DURHAM,
THOMAS M'GINTY
BUILT WILKINSON COUNTY PORTION
THOMAS M'GINTY'S TAVERN
STATE COACH SITE
JOHN BALL CHAPTER, D.A.R., 1927

The old Hartford road marker was placed at the intersection of the Macon-Irwinton highway (Hwy 57, marked on D.O.T. map) near Gordon in October 1927 by the John Ball Chapter of the D.A.R.
     Those participating in the program were:
Harbard Stokes - played bugle at beginning
Mrs C.G. Chapman, of Danville - in charge of the program
Dr. W. B. Goddard, pastor of Friendship Primitive Baptist Church - invocation
Mae Lamb - leading singing of "America"
Address by Victor Davidson, giving historical account of the road.
Eugene Anderson of Macon - Indian history of the state.
Marker unveiled by Laura Frances Green and Dean Duggan
Wreath placed by Fletcher Hanson and Harold Carswell
Mrs J. W. Hooks, regent of chapter, presented the marker to the county
Dr. R. E. Evans, chairman of the board of county commissions, made the acceptance speech.
Mrs. H. M. Franklin, of Tennille, state regent made the closing address.
source: The Atlanta Constitution Nov 5, 1927



ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA: PASSED AT MILLEDGEVILLE
At an Annual Session, IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1810
1810 Vol. 1 -- Page: 99
Sequential Number: 058
Type: AN ACT

Full Title: To authorize certain commissioners to lay out a road from Milledgeville to the town of Hartford in the county of Pulaski, to [Illegible Text] the road now open from Hartford to the Twiggs county line. 1822 Map

§ 1. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same it is hereby enacted, That Aaron Feagen and B. M'Crary be, & they are hereby appointed Commissioners for the county of Baldwin, and that John King, Thomas Durham and Thomas M'Ginty be, and they are hereby appointed Commissioners for the county of Wilkinson, and Robert Sherrard, John Hays and Thomas Dennard be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners for the county of Twiggs.

§ 2. And be it further enacted by the [Illegible Text] aforesaid, That all the hands subject to work on roads, agreeable to the general road law in this state, residing within three miles of said road, shall [Illegible Text] liable to work on said road, under the direction of the aforesaid Commissioners, and in default, they shall be subject to the same fines and penalties as are [Illegible Text] by the general road law of this state.

§ 3. And be it further enacted, That the said Commissioners shall carry the road as is hereafter [Illegible Text] out, to wit; from Milledgeville to [Illegible Text] Ford on Commissioners Creek; from thence [Illegible Text] Green's Ford on Big Sandy Creek; from thence [Illegible Text] Pasmore's on the Old Uchee Path; from thence [Illegible Text] Luke Bozeman's on Shellstone creek; from [Illegible Text] to intersect the road as aforesaid.

§ 4. And it is hereby enacted, That the said [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] with full power and [Illegible Text] to carry this law into effect; [Illegible Text] is also made the [Illegible Text] of the aforesaid commissioners to attend to [Illegible Text] same, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

BENJAMIN WHITAKER,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
JARED IRWIN,
President of the Senate.
Executive Department, Georgia,
DAVID B. MITCHELL, Governor.
Approval Date: Assented to, 15th December, 1810.

Source:Georgia Legislature Documents. Georgia's Virtual Library



According to Victor Davidson's History of Wilkinson County "every able-bodied man between the ages of sixteen and fifty living within three miles of this road was drafted to build it."
 
 


                      Copyright Eileen Babb McAdams 2006