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Archiver > GAWILKIN > 2002-01 > 1009899865


From: Doug Bell <>
Subject: Re: [GAWILKIN-L] Researching in Wilkinson Co
Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 09:44:37 -0600
References: <5.1.0.14.0.20011228091059.00a96070@pop-server.hot.rr.com> <p05100300b856adce3a9f@[192.168.1.102]>


> Many of the Wilkinson Co. folks were in early Burke Co., GA and yes
> the records there were destroyed as well but I was able to get a lot
> of info from book "The Families of Burke County, 1755-1855, A
> Census, " compiled by Robert Scott Davis, Jr. and Rev. Silas Emmett
> Lucas, Jr.

Burke county Georgia is some of the most rocky ground a genealogist
can have to plow. The above book has a lot of lists of Burke county
citizens from state and federal sources.

I would recommend the GenWeb and other internet sites for Burke
county as well as using the 1820 forward federal censuses.
Note everyone by your surname who appears on any census as well
as the neighbors about 10 houses in each direction. With luck
you can locate where a group of families moved in from unless
the family is an early arrival.

The TELAMON CUYLER COLLECTION University of Georgia Athens has
documents relating to Burke county in a private manuscript collection.

EVENTS IN THE LIVES OF BURKE COUNTY FOLKS as published in
"The True Citizen" 1882 - 1900. by Jo Goodson Knight.
BURKE COUNTY FOLKS 1882-1900
This has newspaper abstracts on Burke county families.
Why would a newspaper in the 1880s help with an old family?
Recollections of the oldest settlers were published in the 1870s
and 1880s as nostalgia articles that contain lots of pre courthouse
fire information. This also is the case for Washington and
Wilkinson counties. Georgia is doing a good job of publishing
newspapers. Would that other states learn from that example.

Another older book is History of Burke County, Georgia 1777-1950
by Albert M. Hillhouse.

Check the land lotteries for Georgia to see if your Burke county family
moved. The census can help with this as well. Sometimes a family
relative
will move to a county that hasn't suffered multiple courthouse fires
like Burke. It may not be your direct line but they can provide clues.

Burke county land was distributed by British crown grants in St. George
Parish and by Georgia state headrights. Lists of these have been
published.
Someone in Atlanta needs to get the metes and bounds descriptions of all
the land granted in Burke so they can be plotted on a modern map. This
would allow a partial atlas of landowners to replace the lost deed
books.
The archives charges too much for us out of state folks to work on this.

If you have an early Burke county before 1800 check also in Screven
formed 1793 and Jefferson formed 1796. These counties were formed
from Burke and still have their records.

> >>I am searching for information on Joseph Riley, wife-Lucy, who died
> >>in Wilkinson Co. in 1819. Caan you give me any clues where to look
> >>. The court house says everything was destroyed in a fire that
> >>would tell about him. Is that true?

Court clerks can help you get married, probate a will, or record your
property but they have virtually no experience in genealogy or history.
Some will also tell you the courthouse burned to get rid of you.

Davidson's History of Wilkinson County has a lot of information on
early families.

The deeds before 1854 burned in the fire. You still can get marriage
records, probate records and court records back to 1820. There are
censuses from 1820 forward and land lottery records. I believe 1805
covered Wilkinson county.
You should also look for published newspapers and church records.

Don't overlook the 1850 - 1880 federal census agricultural schedule and
the 1850 - 1860 slaveowners schedule of the census. These tell you a
lot of information about a family's land and slave ownership and
farming activities found nowhere else.

Burned counties aren't hopeless but they cost you a lot of money
and time to trace a family there. You have to collect EVERY mention
of the family along with relatives and neighbors.

I am putting together a land atlas for Monroe county Alabama before
its courthouse fire and would like to work on some projects for
Georgia in the future.

Doug Bell

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