Hawkins Line and Blair Line

 

The Hawkins Line is noted in the 1818 legislation that created Gwinnett County where William Clements' home was used as a boundary point.

There is a history of confusion with this reference.  The historical reference is often assigned to the "Four Mile Purchase" which is not correct.  Colonel Hawkins [5] was involved with the Four Mile Purchase, and two of the boundary lines possibly ran parallel the Hawkins Line, but the Hawkins Line does not appear to be specifically the same thing as the Four Mile Purchase.  The Four Mile Purchase was a strip of land located well to the north of the Walnut River that was added to Jackson County – land that was previously held by the Cherokee Indians. [1]  The Hawkins Line ran from the Apalachee River to the Currahee Mountain.  The Four Mile Purchase now is mostly in Hall and Banks Counties.  

Daniel Crumpton refers to the Four Mile Purchase as the Wofford Settlement in several of his maps; And two very large printings of his maps are hanging on the wall of the old Jackson County Courthouse in Jefferson Georgia.  These maps clearly indicate the Hawkins Line and the Four Mile Purchase as well as county boundary lines.  The maps appear to have been created by a group comprised of state historians, archivists and Daniel Crumpton (a noted Georgia surveyor).

Hawkins Line (Yellow)
(Daniel Crumpton Map; Jackson Historical Society)

Note that the Colonel James Blair noted on the road sign below is also an ancestor of mine: He is my maternal 4^th great-granduncle.  Col. Blair's "road" is mentioned in the 1818 Legislation that created Hall and Gwinnett Counties [1] [3].

Historical Road Sign on Highway 441 near Baldwin, Georgia[1] [3]
(Georgia Historical Society)

Col. Benjamin Hawkins
(Alabama Archives)

Blair Line in NE Georgia [4]

Colonel James Blair

(Internet sourced, no copyright)

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[1] Charles E. Grenville, A Compilation of the Laws of the State of Georgia: Passed by the Legislature Since the Year 1810 to the Year 1819…, (1821, T.S.Hannon), p. 194
[2] Farris W. Cadle, Georgia Land Surveying History and Law, (University of Georgia Press, 1991), p.84-85

[3] The accuracy of parts of the text contained on this sign are questionable

[4] The Blair Line road sign was no longer standing when I attempted to view and photograph while on several visits to the area in 2019 and 2020.  It may have been stolen or vandalized.  The sign should be located on GA 115 just west of junction with GA 105 in Habersham County - See here.  

[5] Col. Benjamin Hawkins was an Indian Agent with Federal powers.  For more information on him and his jurisdiction, see The Federal Road Through Georgia, the Creek Nation, and Alabama, 1806-1836, by Southerland and Brown, (The University of Alabama Press, 1989)

(This page was updated on 9/30/2022)