Working Resource Page of Selected Land Transactions and Documents For resources related to other lots, click here. Please note: This is a working document. As I learn, entries will be altered. Please consider the current edit as my best understanding, not the final understanding. I have and will alter conclusions as new facts emerge or as the preponderance of evidence shifts. The entries are inserted into the table according to the date of the transaction; it is impractical to re-number and edit the footnotes each time an entry is made. iow, a resource page as advertised, not a synthesis. The name of a Grantee/Grantor is italicized if he (she)--or spouse at the time of the transaction--is related by blood to me. Underlining indicates that the Grantee/Grantor is an ancestor. This page is not intended to be a complete list of transactions on the referenced lots. It begain as a requirement to document the history of the ownership of the Buck Sutton Old Home Place from 1911-2011 in order to complete an application for designation as a State of Georgia Centennial Famly Farm. Since then, as some topic merited attention, deeds, if any, were added to this documentation page. Last edit: 2014-12-12
Footnotes Follow the Quick Summary Table
Footnote 1. The name is specified as J.E. Connell Sr. in the heading, but as John E. Connell in the text (WE Connell to JE Connell, 1866, Lot 223). Also, in MM Griffin to JE Connell, 1864, Lot 193, the text specifies "Senior." I assume that this and other deeds in this table refer to John Ellis Connell (1821-1874), my 3d-great grandfather (Daddy's mother's mother's father's father), in part, because he lived on Lot 223 during his first marriage, 1841-1866, (as stated by both Hux & McM). Several deeds cited here specify more particularly (see below) where in Lot 223 he lived; curiously, however, he was enumerated in 1850 near the Parishes and Devanes and other Connells, putting him on/near the original Connell Plantation south of Nashville. fyi, the extant historical settlement on Lot 223 was the homeplace of Stephen M. Lewis until 1905 (as he mentioned in his deposition), when it became the homeplace of Samuel W. Watson; SM Lewis built the log house as indicated my Mama's Recollections. As alluded to, the Bond for Title (Frier-to-Connell, 1879) further indicates a more exact location for JEC's residence, namely, in Lot 223 S of the Nashville/Milltown Road. As far as I know, the only road that traverses 223 that would qualify would be the present Homerville Road (Hiway 168). I do not know exactly how that road might have run in 1879, but apparently it was altered somewhat in 1904 by my grandfather L.G. Outlaw just east of the location of the JEC place (Thanks to Judy Anderson Dasher for this clipping from the Nashville Herald: L. G. Outlaw and others apply for a change in the Nashville and Milltown road, in the 1157th district, beginning at the east end of L. G. Outlaw's land, running thence 588 yards in an easterly direction along a road already marked out through pond to intersect with said road east of said pond. This is to notify all persons that on the first Monday in October, said road will be finally granted, if no good cause is shown to the contrary. September 5, 1904. S. B. Dorminy, Chairman, Board of Co. Com. J. L. Herring, Clerk. In 1908 the road ran in the relevant region about as it does today, i.e., from near Corner 223/222/239/238 (= about where Skeet Range Road intersects with 168) NW to Nashville. Insofar as current homesites in this area, there are only two candidates that I know: The Stodgill Place and the land across 168 from the old Bob Akins Place. Of course, JEC's homeplace might not be noticeable today. A puzzle, still, but closing in. Samuel Connell (1805-1869, father of William Evander Connell (1829-1899) and brother of John Ellis Connell) had a son John Enoch "Jack" Connell (1836-1900), aka Jack E. Connell. Neither John Ellis Connell nor John Enoch Connell had a son named John E., so I infer that the "Sr." on the deed is simply to indicate the older of the two John E. Connells. There was also a William Edmund Connell (1881-1967) and another John E. Connell (1845 (46?)-~1916), son of Justice (or Justus) Connell as well as a John E. McConnell, who died Sep 1, 1863, while serving in the same Berrien County unit as W.H. Outlaw. See Pioneers WGA, vols 1&2; also Connell-Morris (R.H. McMillian). These notes simply emphasize the difficulty of keeping individual names straight, and I am working on inconsistencies (e.g., both are indicated in different places to be Berrien Co. sheriff at the same time and both are indicated in different places to be left-arm amputees). I've used the dob for Jack Connell that is consistent with the Lowndes Census, 1850. Presently, the best and almost certain interpretation is that William Evander sold to his uncle John Ellis. (Link to photo of WE Connell's second wife; her first husband, Mitchell Griffin (in the deed record above), was the son of James Griffin (also, in the deed record above) and a CSA casualty. NB who mfr this internal image efile is 366bn.jpg) It is easy for me to accept (see above) that the" Jr." was added as a convenience to avoid confusion as I myself did exactly the same. Thus, I have used "Jr." as part of my legal name (Veterans' Administration, Medicare, Voter Registration Card, all employment, publications, &c.) since I was about 10. I did not formally change my name; I simply started using "Jr." As Daddy told me, he was just W.H., but adopted William Henry (which appears on my birth certificate) when he went to Berry, which required a name, not initials only. He was no doubt named for his grandfather William Henry Harrison "Dick" Outlaw. My birth-certificate name is William Harrison Outlaw, but having two William H. Outlaws in one small town was too much. I used "III" for a short while before settling in with "Jr." because the former was pretentious and wasn't really the best solution. "Jr." has worked like a charm and few know it was an add-on, and of those, none care. I bet "Jr." and "Sr." solved problems for John E(llis) Connell and John E(noch) Connell, too. . . . but conjecture, even a well reasoned inference, is still short of fact. Missouri (also, Mazura) Waters first married Jonathan N. Knight (1836-1864) who died at home on sick furlough. Missouri Waters became the second wife of John Ellis Connell on August 29, 1869. After John Ellis Connell died, "she continued to live on the Knight farm . . . ." (emphasis mine, from Hux 7:227) The point is, John Ellis Connell removed from his homeplace in Lot 223, to go live on his second wife's estate. Edit (2015-09-10). Further inquiry clearly shows that John Ellis Connell (1821-1874) used John E. Connell Snr at times and that John Enoch Connell (1836-1900) was "always" designated as Jr. See our Virtual Cemetery. Also, it is now uncertain to me whether John Ellis moved from his land on Lots 222 & 223 to the Knight place. Footnote 2. I wish to acknowledge with the deepest appreciation resources that have made entries in this page much more meaningful to me. I have reproduced a limited number of special-purpose pages to remind myself of which individual is referenced. "Hux Link" refers to the vignette published in Pioneers of Wiregrass. Most of these were written by Folks Huxford, whose Nashville residence was in the neighborhood of my parents, and with whom they freely discussed his compilations; later volumes, which go further afield from Berrien, have been written by his successors. In my opinion, anyone with an interest in Berrien County pioneers must have access to this work. Purchasing the full set is one of the best investments I have made. Contact the Huxford Genealogical Society. "McM Link" refers to the vignette published in Record of Connell-Morris and Allied Families compiled by Berrien County native R.H. McMillan Jr. This is a marvelously detailed painstakingly compiled book, one that my mother contributed to, a fact that permitted me to make the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. McMillan. The Connells came to Berrien County very early and have untold descendants. It is a "must-have" for persons interested in the topic. (Don't loan it!) It is available from Mrs. Chris P. McMillan (daughter-in-law of the late authors) at 417 Park Ave N, Tifton, GA 31794. I also acknowledge gratefully the painstaking work of Sue and Johnny Hancock for their compilation of cemetery inscriptions; although my documentation includes visiting the graves myself, their book is my first go-to, and I are indebted in a special way to them. The Hancocks sell this book privately (117 Mary Lane, Rebecca, GA 31783). Wayne and Judy Dasher have reprinted "Clippings from the Nashville Herald" and "Wiregrass Obituaries & Death Notices," together summing to 20 volumes. Aside from specific information, which is there in abundance, there is an impression of the times that one obtains by perusing those pages. Use of any of that information is indicated. I highly recommend their reprints and wish I had purchased mine earlier. FMI, click here. Of course, compiling these data would not have been possible without the gracious assistance of the staff of the Berrien County Clerk's office and of Judge Griner and Bobby Swain. "SM Link" refers to example material available elsewhere on Southern Matters. Footnote 3. I assume that this is Reubin (Rubin) W. Connell, a son of John Ellis Connell (see Footnote 1). Reubin Connell is the ancestor of many Berrien Countians (e.g., Dr. Bobby Clyatt, Dr. Henry Lee Carlton, Jamie Connell . . . ). J.H. Kirby, I assume, is James H. Kirby who L.E. Lastinger (The Confederate War) shows as an NCO, then officer, of the Berrien Light Infantry, Co. I, 50th Regiment, Georgia . . .; he went AWOL in February, 1865, which I note without judgement or further knowledge. J.H. Kirby married, but had no children. Footnote 4. Stephen M. Lewis was married to Polly (Mary) Sutton (1857-1929), great grandfather Buck Sutton's sister. Steve and Polly were Aunt Lena's grandparents and also grandparents of Lonnie Lewis (my second cousin, once removed), making me, of course, related to, among others, David Conner, Pauline Beasley (how I would like to have one last conversation with her!), . . . . Several images are entered into SM. On Feb 3, 1980, I made a transcript of a conversation primarily between Daddy and Aubrey Sutton, which occurred about 1976. Mama (born 1918) was present, and during the conversation, she volunteered: "Uncle Steve cut the timber and built the house where Mama [=Addie F. Watson] lives when he bought it [=Samuel W. Watson Homeplace]. It was just a little bit of a house: a double pen log house. There was then just a little land cleared when he bought it. He cleared the rest of the land and the farm W.H. owns." However, SM Lewis only owned the Buck Sutton Old Home Place for less than two months, indicating he could not have cleared it. In addition, farming was already a going concern--a 2-horse farm--on the land making up the present day WH Outlaw Farm and the LS Watson Farm, as dicussed in detail below, when SM Lewis bought it (1884): In 1875, HG Avera (about which more in the next footnote) purchased from JH Kirby the Buck Sutton Old Home place and and 100 acres in the NE of Lot 223. This property essentially comprises the present-day W.H. Outlaw Farm (which I name after my father) and the LS Watson Farm. (See Footnote 24 and the link therein to visualize approximately the 100 acres in the NE corner of Lot 223, and which of it is in the WH Outlaw Farm (blue) and LS Watson Farm (red, labeled SWW).) In 1879, he bought 100 acres in the nw corner of Lot 223 (bounded on the west by the Wallace Warren Road and being on both sides, but mostly south of Outlaw Road). All of this land in Lot 223 was in the Samuel W. Watson Farm, est. 1905. In 1877, JH Kirby bought the land south of the W.H. Outlaw Farm and west of the creek, land that later was owned by Uncle Joe (JN Outlaw) and my grandfather LG Outlaw. HG Avera was enumerated as a farmer on pg 34 of the 1880 Census in Militia District 1157 as family number 305. (In 1870, HG Avera had been enumerated in his father's household in Militia District 1148, where they continued to live in 1880.) JH Kirby was enumerated as 304; his occupation was also farming. (Several other familiar families were enumerated in the same area. For example Uncle Berry's (BJ Connell) family was 303, Martin B. Clyatt's family was 298, and David P. Luke was 300.) In the Agricultural Census of 1880 HG Avera stated that he had 40 acres in tilled land (including fallow and grass in rotation). He owned 310 acres of woodland. His property summed to 350 acres, i.e., about 156 (Buck Sutton Old Home Place) plus 200 in Lot 223. He owned farm equipment, spent money on repairs and paid farm wages in 1879. He claimed only a minimum value for outbuildings. N.b., there is less than 40 acres of tillable land in the ne 100 acres of Lot 223 that is not now in the WH Outlaw Farm and LS Watson Farm. In the Georgia Property Tax Digest 1872-1877, HG Avera is shown as owning 256 acres, attributing it to Lots 222 & 223; i.e., this census was taken after he bought what is now the WH Outlaw Farm and LS Watson Farm in 1875, but before he bought the nw corner of Lot 223 in 1879. He indicates employing one farm hand. Again, as summary, I infer that HG Avera lived on and farmed somewhere in the present WH Outlaw & LS Watson Farms. Whether he farmed only 223 or only 222 or both and where his residence was is not revealed yet. However, it might be instructive to note that, in 1871, BJ Connell sold to JH Kirby the Buck Sutton Old Home Place (recorded as 100+ acres) for $150, but the 100 acres in the ne corner of Lot 223 for $350. It is inferred that the higher value for Lot 223 would be because it was cleared or had structures on it. SM Lewis did expand what became the SW Watson Farm to a 6-horse farm and unless I find differently, I will continue to believe that SM Lewis built the basic structure that was expanded into the residence of the SW Watson Farm. Edited 2013-02-10 Footnote 5. H.G. Avera is Harmon Gaskins Avera, the son of William M. Avera (1834-1896) who had a "fine plantation" on the Ten-Mile Creek (Hux 3:12). Harmon.'s mother was Harriet Jones, the daughter of Clayton and Malissie (aka Melissa) Jones. Malissie second married Harmon Gaskins, so apparently H.G. Avera was named after his mother's stepfather. Malissie nee Roland was my 2d-great grandfather's half sister (see grave marker). In this way, Harmon Avera is my half second cousin twice removed. He is listed in the Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893, years 1872-1877 as owning 256 acres in 222 & 223 valued at $500. Through H.G.'s grandmother, Malissie, I am also related to an array of other Berrien Countians, including the descendants of John A. Gaskins (e.g. Evon nee Gaskins Waldrop) and of noted historian W.H. Griffin (e.g. Winona nee Griffin Hendley). Although neither Nathan W. Byrd (Bird) (1808-1881) nor his spouse, Ellen nee Gay (~1816-1901), appear as a principal on this page, their progeny do. (1) Daughter Annie (b. 1854) first married H.G. Avera, the major subject of this footnote. (2) Daughter Martha (b. 1839 second married W.M. Avera--n.b. who sort out which? (3) Daughter Sarah (born ~1843) was the second wife of David P. Luke, landowner in table. (4) Daughters Ellen (b. 1846) and Caroline (b. 1851) married respectively, Henry B. Peeples and Silas Tygart whose names appear on the documents as officials. (About 1880, William M. Avera constructed Avera Mill Pond (nka Lake Lewis) across the Ten-mile Creek north of the W.H. Outlaw Farm. The mill operated until ~1960; Wallace Conner, Lonnie Lewis' son-in-law, was the last miller. See footnote 4. Notes on Avera Mill Pond made during an interview with the late Pauline Beasley will form the basis of a brief page on SM sometime.) Footnote 6. Jerry S. "Buck" Sutton was my great grandfather and the brother of Mrs. Stephen M. Lewis, see Footnote 4. Footnote 7. Samuel W. Watson was my great grandfather. Footnote 8. This deed mistakenly references Land Lot 190, which is in Nashville. The correct lot is 192. Footnote 9. Lucius G. Outlaw was my grandfather. Footnote 10. The present (2011-10-30) "W.H. Outlaw Farm," named after my father, comprises the "Buck Sutton Old Home Place," in Lots 222 and 193, and a smaller adjoining tract, in Lot 223, that was part of the "Samuel W. Watson Home Place." Footnote 11. Della S. Outlaw was my grandmother, and W.H. Outlaw and Buren P. Outlaw were her sons. Footnote 12. Mark A. Watson was my grandfather. Footnote 13. Lena B. Rowan nee Outlaw was Daddy's half sister on the Outlaw side and second cousin on the Sutton side. This sale was rigged. In brief, when Granny Della was murdered she, Daddy, and Uncle Buren each owned 1/3 undivided interest in the Buck Sutton Old Home Place. Granny Della's brother was the administrator, who advertised and sold to the highest bidder Della's portion. Aunt Lena bought it for a ridiculously low $35 and sold it the same day to Daddy and Uncle Buren. A longer and more fleshed out version can be found on page 19 of this document. Footnote 14. As alluded to previously, Samuel Connell was the brother of John Ellis Connell, my 3d-great grandfather. William E. Connell was Samuel's son. In the Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893, and in the years 1872-1877, William E. Connell owned 9095 acres, all except one tract (acreage not given) in the 10th District. One would surmise that he had no special attachment to the land addressed on this page. Footnote 15. John Ancel (or Ansel) Money (1826-1884) was the second husband of Elizabeth C. Connell, Samuel Connell's daughter. She was first married to James Lemuel Kirkland, half brother to my 2d great grandfather Mark R. Watson. Money, Berrien's first Tax Receiver (1856-1858) and his descendants are briefly profiled in Skeeter Parker's Biographies of the First Elected Officials, Justices of the Inferior Court, and Marking Commissioners of Berrien County, Georgia. Footnote 16. M.B. Clyatt, I assume, is Martin Burris Clyatt. Other transactions shown on this page spell out his first name, Martin. Footnote 17. The SW corner of lot 193 is the juncture of lots 192 (NW), 223 (SW), 222 (SE), and 193 (NE) and some of the land described is part of the presently constituted W.H. Outlaw Farm. See the map linked to the page heading. If it is a small and connected world, within Berrien County, GA, it is a tiny and knitted world. In this photo taken 2011-12-20, Fred E. Knowles Jr. stands at the juncture of these lots. To the viewer's right of Fred is the part of Lot 193 that was owned by his 3d-great grandfather John M. Griffin's brother James Griffin (q.v.). Fred is staring onto Lot 223, which was owned by Samuel Connell (q.v.), Fred's 4th-great grandfather. On the Connell side, Fred is my 5th cousin, once removed. James Griffin's son Solomon (Jerry Griffin's great grandfather) was an NCO in my great grandfather Outlaw's CSA outfit and signed the afidavit used to support g grandfather's pension beginning ~1894 (Outlaw had been injured lifting heavy iron on a gunboat and could not do the only work he knew, viz. farming and labor. My understanding is that pensions were only given to indigents and wounded, and Outlaw qualified on both counts.) For more on this Outlaw business, click here. Jerry Griffin is shown standing here in from of the late Jake Giddens residence, which was Griffin land and is again as his son Brian recently purchased it (8Mb image; cropped image showing just Jerry). On this outing (2012-03-10), Jerry reminesced about working this land as a youth; we also visited the Griffin cemetary (aka Ten-mile Creek Cemetary, essentially in the front yard), where James Griffin, Solomon Griffin and William M. Avera, all mentioned here, are buried. Footnote 18. A brief explanation of the cast of characters in this mini-saga is necessary, as it is convoluted, but the effort is well repaid as it turns out to be one of the most interesting accounts concerning these land lots. I augment my representation using various sources, particularly Hux and the deeds, &c. referenced here, but no imagination. What I say is true. Honestly, I have summarized the relationships, but grasping them all at once is a challenge. Jeremiah May (1834-1923) and his wife (Winnie Ann Akins, the daughter of William Green Akins) lived just west of the Ten-mile Creek from ~1880. Their homeplace is labeled on the 1908 Hudgins map of Berrien county as being on the 240/241 lot line. (Lot 240 and 222 have a common corner, so this location is very near the W.H. Outlaw Farm.) Goings-on at the Jeremiah May place are superbly described by his son, Judge Ellis Connell May (1868-1957), who was named after my 3d-great grandfather John Ellis Connell (again, strengthening evidence that JEC lived on Lot 223). E.C. May's book, Gaters, Skeeters, and Malary, is fascinating! Before I go into the main story, I mention another relationship: Jeremiah and great grandfather WHH Outlaw were comrades-in-arm, being in the same CSA company. Two other of Jeremiah's sons are pointed out: First, John A. (born 1862) married Martha Price, the sister of Jim Price, who murdered my father's mother, Della, who appears in the record above, and second, Sirman G. (born 1878), who operated a small county store about half-way between the Jeremiah May home site and the W.H. Outlaw Farm home site. Now, in the mid-to-late 1950s, I visited with Sirman and we enjoyed each other's company, he in his 8th decade, and I a pre-teen. This was before the era of fast-food restaurants and much of the business was snacks--a can of sardines, or a bottle of coke into which as soon as space permitted, salted roasted peanuts were poured. The moon pie and RC is not an inaccurate image, either. . . . and, there was talk, talk, talk, like when Mark Sutton said he'd never buy another coke now that they had gone up to six cents a bottle. It'd be a surprise if you were to know just how much cursing and storming around it took to say that. A little country store like this was also an excellent place to lay down gossip and find it improved and multiplied in short order. In the presence of others, I followed the rule that a child should be seen and not heard, but Sirman was not too busy, so when he and I were alone, he told the old news, as well as the new news, and I listened intently while sitting on an upturned Coca-cola-bottle crate. Often, the old news didn't put my family in a good light, and Mama, of course, denied it all. She didn't like Sirman because he said unflattering things about her family and she didn't like Sirman because of his tie to the man who killed my grandmother. (Just hold on, the tale will turn.) He told me that my great grandfather Samuel W. Watson tore up a graveyard that was in his (SWW) field, tossed the markers in the woods to the south, and plowed over the land, and it was all gone. (See Fn 24 for my best idea of the location of this cemetery at present.) Mama denied it; I will never know whether she actually did not know or thought it best not to know. And, at that time, no one else I talked to had any recollection of it. So, I just tucked the story away for >50 years, until I ran into the 1925 deposition by SM Lewis, see table, an epiphany. I knew then that Sirman had been honest all along, but the size of the graveyard and knowledge of persons buried there is still mostly unknown and perhaps unknowable. Sirman had told me that it was some of the people of Grandpa Sam's first wife, the daughter of Samuel Guthrie. But, that does not accord with logic because there is a very old Guthrie Cemetery about 8-10 miles further east where she was buried, i.e., about 2 miles into present Lanier County. He also told me that Grandpa Sam was called before the Grand Jury, but I searched (2011-12-08) the indicies of that era and nothing turned up, neither civil nor criminal. Finally, the full impact of this account must include the knowledge that both of Sirman's parents died while living with him, and important dates: Grandpa Sam bought his homeplace on Lot 223 in 1905 and he died in 1925, so whatever he did was done in this brief 20-year period. (Earlier, Sam had property to the east and, right before he moved back to Berrien, in Irwin County, fast by the place of John Boykin, great grandmother Elizabeth's father (a clip from the census record is posted elsewhere on SM).) Now, I shift to the other side. John J. Akins (1832-1864) was a CSA casualty and son of William Green Akins. At the expense of redundancy, note that John J. Akins was the brother of Sirman's mother. (Another daughter married Steven Willis Avera, hence the continuation of the name "William Green;" I digress, but for reason: WG Avera's wife is related to me through the Watson and Sutton sides, establishing kinship with Berrien Countians such as Lamar Roberts and with Alton Rowan by marriage.) John J. Akins' widow, Wincy (or Wealthy Ann), raised her children alone and died in 1905. Wincy was the daughter of Blackstone Mullis, my 3d-great grandfather, and therefore my 2d-great grandmother Fairby Sutton's sister. Fairby--herself also a CSA widow who remained unmarried--lived with her son my great grandfather Buck Sutton on the Buck Sutton Old Home Place, until she died in Dec, 1908. That is, again, at the expense of redundancy, when Wincy died, her sister lived on the farm that joined the SW Watson Homeplace. Now, this--from Hux 5:3--"she [Wincy] was buried in what is now a discarded graveyard and cultivated over in the field on the farm of the late Sam W Watson about three miles east of Nashville. (Authority for place of burial: W. Henry Griffin, Berrien county historian, deceased)." I mentioned earlier that Mama did not like Sirman and I promised the tale would turn. Maybe he did not like the Watsons because SW Watson, in an open and notorious fashion, desecrated his aunt's grave within 20 years of her burial. Humbling, isn't it, to place oneself in an adversary's position. When it is all said and done, we know the cemetery was in use by 1866 (see deed, above) and remained in use until at least 1905, when Wincy was buried there. A reasonable supposition is that at least several people were buried there, but we may never know the real number or the identity. What we do know is that old records as dry as deeds, depositions &c. can help us understand a complex person like my great grandfather SW Watson, who on the one hand had a drinking problem (1907-1908 Minutes of New Hope Primitive Baptist Church) and destroyed a cemetery and on the other felt personally obligated to investors who lost money in a failed bank on which he had an interest. Postscript. After this page was posted, I was informed that the person who destroyed the cemetery was not my greatgrandfather Samuel W. Watson, but his son-in-law Lewis Keeffe. The Clerk's office has no records of this offense by Uncle Lewis, though I did find three other offenses. Footnote 19. This is the legal description of the Buck Sutton Old Home Place, but the acreage in Lot 222 should be about 40 acres more. I believe that this deed is the first in which the crossing of the 192/193 line across the Ten-mile Creek is relevant. The approx. GPS (± 50 ft) of the SW side (Outlaw side) of the creek at this crossing is 31° 12' 6.7'', -83° 11' 40.2". An image (2012-12-04) of land line markers at this location is here. Footnote 20. The approximate GPS for the common corner of these lots is 31 11 56.65 N 83 11 39.42 W. Click here to see extract of field notes of C. McKennon, the surveyor who originally laid out the lot lines in ~1821. (Extracted with assistance of Wenda Gaile Bailey, a descendant of the surveyor, and with appreciation from pg 94 of this link: Georgia's Virtual Vault .) See also Footnote 17. Note McKennon's spelling of the Allapacoochee Creek (nka Ten Mile Creek). This land was originally in Old Irwin County from land "ceded" by Native Americans in 1814. In 1825, the 10th District was cut out of Irwin and into the newly formed Lowndes. In 1856, Berrien County was formed from parts of Lowndes (including the part of the 10th District containing these land lots), Irwin, and Coffee Counties. Footnote 21. J.B. Giddens is, I assume, Jimpsey B. Giddens. Please note (my handwritten notes on the Hux link) that two of Gidden's children married two of J. May's children (Footnote 18). J.B. Giddens married Nancy C. Kirkland, the daughter of Daniel Kirkland. Daniel has be said to be the son of Martha/Patsey Rouse, though not shown (?) on her gravemarker. Her son James Lemuel Kirkland referenced in the Hux link is however shown on her gravemarker. Mrs. J.B. Giddens' father Daniel was half-brother of my 2d-great grandfather Mark R. Watson. Maybe. Footnote 22. Reference: Lucas, Silas Emmett Jr. 1973 The Third and Fourth or 1820 and 1821 Land Lotteries of Georgia. Georgia Genealogical Reprints/Southern Historical Press. Easley (South Carolina, USA). This "info" link is a copy of the unnumbered page preceeding page 1. The "E1" link is a composite extract that I have made of 3 lines each of 6 pages that provide the grantees' names and residences. Note that the record indicates that Lot 192 was granted to two individuals; I speculate that the second (to Isaac Lester) is a transcriptional error (see the line directly above it). Lot 223 was also shown to be granted to two individuals and I cannot explain why. This composite was obtained by scanning ~20,000 lines of text in triplicate, and I concede I may has missed some. Regardless, the record must be augmented by going to the original source, so this entry is "working." Footnote 23. Mary Cummins (Brooks Militia District), Issac Lester (Haws Militia District (mistake?)), Cornelius McCarty (Marshall Militia District), Edmund Martin (address not given), Robert Hester (Simms Militia District), Samuel Miller (144th Militia District). Footnote 24. The land in lot 193 & lot 222 became the Buck Sutton Old Home Place. The other land is essentially the northern portion of lot 223 (more elsewhere on this point). Specifically--as it pertains to the present W.H. Outlaw Farm--the line for the 100-acre NE square would run west from the junction of 192/193/222/223 (i.e., the line between Herbert Watson and me, lot 192/223 line) and ~877 ft further west from the center of the Mark Watson Road (though from the original deed, I calculate the distance should be less, 670 ft). Southerly, the boundry runs along the 222/223 line to an agreed corner (i.e., 459 ft south of the center of the Mark Watson Road); from the original description (a square of 100 acres), I calculated the distance to be 275 ft. So, it is with the old descriptions (e.g., the 222/223 is N/S north of junction above, but 5⁰ W of N/S S of junction-- give-or-take 50 acres seems to be included in the more-or-less qualifier). The 38.9 acres from the original Samuel W. Watson Farm that was folded into the W.H. Outlaw Farm lies entirely within this 100-acre square, as does apparenlty all of the 42.0 acres distributed to Larry S. Watson. To visualize the 100-acre "square" in the northeast corner of Lot 223, I have taken a parcel map, added lot lines, and put in red the portion of the lot that is presently in the W.H. Outlaw Farm and in blue, the portion of the lot that is currently owned by Larry S. Watson. I also sketched out the "square" of 100 acres in the NE corner (i.e., starting at the corner 192/193/222/223 and going 45% of the line distance west, and then south by the same amount). (Obviously, since the lot lines were not parallel, the 100-acre "square" cannot be a square, either.) Click here. Of course, my delineations are not at the accuracy of current surveys, but probably exceed the accuracy available at the time the deeds were written. It is more than coincidental that the southern boundary of the 100-acre parcel coincides with current property lines. (At the expense of redundancy, the lineage of my portion of lot 223 and that of Larry Watson are the same, so the above quick summary table would pertain to his property as well as to mine.) Some elements of these old deeds are ambiguous and difficult to interpret cleanly, given the loss of land marks, the location of "agreed lines" etc. That's another story. However, the simplest interpretation of this Warranty Deed is that the cemetery (Ftn 18) was E of the Wallace Warren Road, thence E from its junction with Hiway 168 to a line drawn due S of the present Jimmy Lane residence, and N by the lot line (which is just north of Jimmy's house). Give or take, of course. This location is a little west of where I thought Sirman told me it was. But, with more documents, more will come to light, and this working page will be amended once again. Footnote 25. Irvin (aka Irving) Jones, a CSA casualty (2 Jul 1864), married the daughter of James Griffin (1813-1865), q.v., i.e., Jemima (1835-1907) (her second marriage, according to one source; after Irvin died, she marrried Martin Miller). Note above that this James Griffin in 1863--two years before his death--lived on what ". . . was later known as the Martin Clyatt farm in Berrien County," (Hux 1:101-102). Irvin was also the son of Clayton Jones, making him the uncle of H.G. Avera, q.v. Said differently, Irvin's maternal grandmother, Patsey/Martha Rouse Sirmons, is my 3d-great grandmother. Bee Branch flows SE from the junction of Land Lots 191/192/177/178 into the Ten-Mile Creek just north of what is now known as the Radio Station Road (earlier and still by some known as Mud Creek Road, cf. Lower Mud Creek Road=Hiway 168). Thus, the land north of Bee Branch in Lot 192 is (guessing) 75 acres. Footnote 26. Mama's handwritten notes are not exactly correct. Herbert did indeed get Tract 1, as stated. Mama did indeed get Tract 2 (before the drawing, it was agreed by all that whoever drew Tract 2 would trade with Mama because Tract 2 joined Daddy's land; Larry Watson remembers that Mama simply drew it obviating execution of the agreement). Tract 2 has now passed to me. Tract 3 went to Sam and has now passed to his son Larry. Lucille predeceased this platt, but her children, Lamar & Virginia Poole, were deeded Tract 4 & Virginia now owns it all, with the exception of a residential lot and ingress/egress, which is owned by her son, Michael. Note that the "estate," as used here, included the Mark A. Watson Homeplace (lot 223) and the Grandma Gaskins Place (lot 192). Footnote 27. J.A. Giddens is John A. Giddens (see deed). I assume that this John A. is the son of JB Giddens q.v. and who married Calista, the daughter of Jeremiah May q.v. See footnotes 18&21. However, "John A. Giddens" was not a unique name in the area. Footnote 28. On June 4, 1856, John C. Simms granted power-of-attorney to Thomas C. Grier (or Greer?) to conduct this transaction for him (Berrien Clerk's Office, A/121, recorded Mar 6, 1857). Footnote 29. A significant event following Daddy's sole ownership was the airplane crash. Footnote 30. Solomon Griffin married Nancy Gaskins, the daughter of Harmon and Malissie nee Roland (my 2d-great grandfather Mark R. Watson's half sister); see Fn 5. This established kinship with a number of Berrien Countians, such as Jerry Griffin (my half 4th cousin?). Footnote 31. I am perplexed by this deed. Part of the portion of Lot 193 that was presumably conveyed in this deed was already owned by JS Sutton, who conveyed it to LG Outlaw from whom it has passed to me. Perhaps I will find something later that will clarify the issue. (mfr who--swimming in my mind, but below the surface and out of sight, is a deposition by THT Sutton, who later "owned" the referenced land. In the deposition, in my memory, he disavowed the contested area. Keep thinking.) Footnote 32. Betsey (or Betsy) aka Elizabeth nee Boykin was the daughter of John D. Boykin, Irwin Co., GA. She first married SW Watson and bore MA Watson, my grandfather. SW Watson had previously been married and had two children that survived to adulthood by his first spouse. Later, Grandma married Marcus Gaskins, but no issue. Much more on other parts of Southern Matters. Footnote 33. There are two problems with this deed. First, it states Land Lot 190, when it should have been 192, as I mentioned with the deed written to SW Watson by SM Lewis. Second, the 2 acres in Lot 223 was also deeded by my grandfather MA Watson the same day. Heirs adhered to Grandma's deed, but it would not have really mattered because in the end it all went to one place. Thomas H. Talley Sutton (1862-1927), a descendant of Joshua Sutton, RS (my 6th-great grandfather), is my distant cousin. I knew his land as the Holland place, after Sutton's son-in-law Joe Holland (1874-1953). Elison Hendley bought the property and built across the road from the old home site, which today is only marked by a well. After Mrs. Hendley died, the land passed to Dan Alan Taylor, whose familyhad cared for her. Footnote 34. Mark R. Watson, my 2d-great grandfather, was the father of Samuel W. Watson. Footnote 35. Although described differently and with landmarks unknown to current viewers, these two properties are probably the same. Footnote 36. David Perry Luke photographs are displayed on the Berrien County Historical Society website (photo1, photo2, photo3). (mfr who efile respectively 366-bh1, 366-bh2, 366bh3). Footnote 37. The posted deed is apparently the original deed. I went to the Clerk's office 2011-12-19 with the plan to return this deed (it was in material from Mama & Daddy's estate & I assumed that it might have been checked out by the attorney who prepared the 1939 loan on the farm). I found, however, that the recorded deed, the words being the same as here, were there. However, the copy at the Clerk's office was a hand-written transcript, of course, with the word alignment being different than on the copy I have. Footnote 38. The posted deed is the original deed. It was inexplicably in my parent's estate. The deed in the Clerk's office is a written transcript. Footnote 39. MN Sutton is Mark (Marcus) N.Sutton, Daddy's first cousin on the Outlaw side and less related on the Sutton side. (Daddy's father L.G. was brother to Mark's mother, Eliza nee Outlaw.) Mark's parents lived on Lot 222, east side of the Ten-mile Creek, and thus were adjoining land owners with L.G. at his death. Later, Mark, an only child, inherited the property. There are two substantive mistakes in this deposition. First, he left out Aunt Lena, also an heir of her father, L.G. Second, the land referenced land is bounded on the south (not north) of Beaver Dam Bay. Footnote 40. JN Outlaw is Joseph N. Outlaw, brother of grandfather LG Outlaw and husband of Bertha nee Watson, g grandfather SW Watson's oldest child (and by his first wife, Martha nee Guthrie, daughter of Samuel). Uncle Joe was the administrator of grandfather LG's estate and apparently did not complete the documentation transferring the Buck Sutton Old Homeplace to Granny Della, Uncle Buren and Daddy. Further, the deposition is incorrect (see Footnote 39). Unbelievably, he himself owned the land actually described and it was his homeplace (he also owned other property in the vicinity). Footnote 41. Christine W. Outlaw, nee Addie Christine Watson, was my mother. The others listed, viz., Lucille Watson Poole, Samuel Lafayette Watson, and James Herbert Watson were her siblings. These indivduals, of course, appear in numerous places in SM. Footnote 42. Carolyn Christine Outlaw was my sister (another sister, Della Faye, died when 5 yo). My sisters are shown through SM. Footnote 43. The deed itself incorrectly states Lots 222 and 223, but all of the portion of Lot 223 in the WH Outlaw Farm was conveyed to me (next entry). The platt is correct. The subsequent transfer of Carolyn's part of the farm to me was in error also, presumably because the description was copied from this one. (A propagation of an error similarly occurred in the SM Lewis to SW Watson transfer, followed by the SW Watson to MA Watson transfer.) In the end, it doesn't matter since it was well defined by the platt, as mentioned, and all of the described property is mine anyhow. Footnote 44. This analysis contains errors. LG Outlaw died in 1918, not 1898. LG Outlaw had 4 heirs (Granny Della, Aunt Lena, Daddy and Uncle Buren) not 3. The acreage in Lot 222 is considerably understated. Footnote 45. As clearly as I am able to discern (written 3x on the deed), the grantor is James Griffin Snr. In the subsequent transaction (Jones to Griffin, Lot 193, 1856), I think Snr also follows the name, but am not completely sure. Look for yourself. The James Griffin whose life span was 1813-1865, the son of Thomas and Nancy Griffin, born Telfair County, was listed by Skeeter Parker as James Griffin, Jr., but the Hux Link gives no suffix for this individual. James Griffin (1813-1865) is the grandson of James Griffin RS, who is buried in an abandoned cemetary near Willacoochee (Hux 1:24), but the lifespan of James Griffin RS (1753-1836, Hux 1:99) excludes him. There were other James Griffins, but nothing fits as far as I know for them. I am purplexed that Snr. shows up in the deeds, but I'd guess that the final explanation would show that James Griffin Snr. is James Griffin (1813-1865).
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