Daniel Jackson was my 4th great grandfather. He was a Revolutionary War soldier serving with Elijah Clark as a "Refugee" soldier. He probably was born in Amelia County, Virginia. After the war, he was awarded land in Wilkes County, Georgia for his war service. One of the grants, and the one where his home was probably located, was at the confluence of Dry Fork Creek and Hood Branch (formerly Centerville Branch) just to the north of present day Rayle, Georgia. This land adjoined land owned by General Elijah Clarke. Today, this area is still mostly woodland and undeveloped.
For a plat map of this particular tract, see Daniel Nathan Crumpton's very informative book "Wilkes County, Georgia Land Records Volume One", page 68, published in 2014.
Plat map of Daniel Jackson's 300 acre bounty land per Daniel Nathan Crumpton's "Wilkes County, Georgia Land Records Volume One", page 68, published in 2014. Note the names Sherwood Wise, John Favor, Francis Callaway and Sanders Walker. Daniel's descendants married descendants of Sherwood Wise and John Favor. Sherwood and John were also Revolutionary War veterans. The Callaway family is known to have existed near the Rayle Community. This Callaway family has notable descendants Ely Callaway (Callaway Golf) and Cason Jewell Callaway (Callaway Gardens). [1] Sanders Walker's name can be found on numerous documents along with Daniel Jackson. Also note Elijah Clarke's land adjoining Daniel's land.
I have located this are on a modern day map.
Daniel Jackson's Wilkes County Georgia Bounty Land
(Bing map; Annotation by the author)
Daniel Jackson's Wilkes County Georgia Bounty Land
(Bing map; Annotation by the author)
And he is shown as a "Defaulter" on this tax record.
Tax Digest, Captain Gilmore's District, Wilkes County, GA. Daniel Jackson, John Favor, (Gov) Mathew Talbot and Francis Callaway. Other Callaway men can be found on the following pages in this same district (Gilmore's).
(Ancestry.com)
(Ancestry.com)
Daniel died in 1794 and numerous records from his estate administration file can be found at the Georgia Archives. From these records, we can infer several relationships: His sons were Robert, John, Joshua, Daniel and William. His son Robert was co-executor of his estate. No daughters are listed. No widow is listed; However, in Joshua Jackson's estate file (GA Archives), Daniel's wife's name was Sally (maiden name unknown). Jeremiah Reeves was the other co-exectuor. Some of Daniel's sons may have been minors at the time of his death. John was definitely a minor since we have a record where a guardian was appointed for him.
It appears that most of his sons remained on the lands awarded to Daniel in 1784 which he bequeathed to them in his Will. Three of his sons Daniel Jr, Joshua and John are all shown living on/near Dry Fork Creek in Captain John Fanning's District on an 1802 Tax Digest. It can be presumed that all three are living on the tracts that they inherited from their father; However, Joshua may have bought out his brothers William and Robert since he is shown with 150 acres.[2] Note that John Favor fought at the Battle of Kettle Creek and his daughter Sarah/Sally married Daniel Jackson Jr. Also note the close proximity to Jeremiah Reeves Sr. and Jr. on the tax document.
1802 Wilkes County Tax Digest for Captain John Fanning's District.
(GA Archives)
The plat below shows the land that he owned at the time of his death per his estate documents. This record clearly shows the names of his five sons.
300 acre land plat of Daniel Jackson at the time of his death listing his heirs.
(Georgia Archives)
The documents below show that Daniel was granted at least 500 acres of land.
Note the name at the bottom of the first of these grants: "S.Elbert". This was probably Brig. General Samuel Elbert the Governor of Georgia and the namesake of Elbert County, Georgia. He was a native of Savannah. He signed this grant while he was the Governor of Georgia. Elijah Clarke's name (Signature?) appears at the bottom of the 3rd and 5th grants. More on Governor Samuel Elbert
The name at the bottom of grants 2 and 4 may be that of Governor John Houstoun, son of Patrick Houstoun. Houston County Georgia is named for John Houstoun. More on the Georgia Houstoun family.
Also, note on the 3rd document the signature of Horatio Marbury. Horatio co-authored the book "Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia" in 1802. The other author was William Harris Crawford, the noted Georgia politician.
Documents
Documents 1-6 are courtesy the Georgia Archives.
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[1] All of us with Wilkes County, GA Callaway ancestry likely descend from John Callaway and Bethany Arnold. John was a Revolutionary War soldier from Bedford County, VA. My Callaway ancestry is from John and Bethany's daughter Bethany that married Joseph Hale Talbot. See my Callaway-Talbot-Colley family research for more.
[2] If one adds up the acreage of each son shown here, the total is 296 acres which is roughly the same amount of Daniel's original land bounty (300 acres) and what is shown in his estate files plat - it even shows the 46 tract that is mysteriously shown as being owned by John Dilacotes (John Derracott?).
(This page was updated on 5/20/2024)