Among the various tidbits of information scattered in numerous books and other sources was this gem from the book "Douglas County, Georgia, From Indian Trail to Interstate 20":
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It is a simplification to assume that slavery was the only issue of
the war. The purchase of a slave was
indeed a major investment. In an 1841
document executed in Randolph County, Alabama, one James M. Clements sells to
John M. Dorris of Cherokee County, Georgia, "a certain negro girl by the
name of Temp about nine years old for and in consideration of the sum of
seven hundred dollars." This was
a princely sum and the vast majority of Southern men who fought for the
Confederacy were not slave holders. [1] |
Note that $700 dollars in 1841 is about $21,000 today! The author's point is well made although it is hard for me to consider my ancestors as wealthy; However, personal wealth before and after the Civil War were dramatically different in the South. The author of the book (Fannie Mae Davis) probably did not know who James M. Clements and John M. Dorris were so she made no inference of any familial connection. We now know that James M. Clements and John M. Dorris were brothers-in-law. Rev. John M. Dorris married James' sister (Elizabeth). This document also shows that Rev. Dorris was still in Cherokee County in 1841 (now Fulton County in the Crabapple/Milton area).
Newspaper Clipping, John M. Dorris living in Cherokee County, Georgia
(Southern Banner, April 20, 1839; Georgia Historic Newspapers)
Note: The $20 reward offered is the equivalent of about $560 today - A considerable sum.
Old Map indicating the location of Social Hill in Cherokee County, Georgia
(Internet sourced, non-copyright; unknown author)
(Internet sourced, non-copyright; unknown author)
Note: On this map, Social Hill appears to be the intersection of 2 major roads: Probably present day Highway 372 and Providence Road. There is a historic road sign nearby which reads as follows: "Social Hill, The settlement of Social Hill grew around the 1834 establishments of Providence Baptist Church and the local post office. This community became an active trade center located on heavily traveled trade routes to the native Cherokee towns. In 1846, the Social Hill Post Office was included on a tri-weekly, two horse mail hack route from Marietta to the fold fields of Lumpkin County. The post office was situated near here, as was common at rural crossroads during that era." Rev. John M. Dorris owned land here - land plats show three lots (668, 701 and 702, 120 acres total) along Chicken Creek. This area is now mostly very expensive horse farms and estates.
1855 Campbell County Tax Register
(Ancestry.com)
(Ancestry.com)
1870 Map of Campbell County Indicating Land Lots Owned By Rev. John M. Dorris
(GA Archives)
Note: According to John B. Bailey [2] and others, the early post office for "Dark Corner" was located in land lot 220 and 221 which was a short distance from Rev. John M. Dorris's land.
Dorris land that today spans Paulding and Douglas Counties, north of Douglasville
(1896 Map Courtesy of the Library of Congress; Annotation by the author)
Weddington, Polk, McClarty and Dorris lands
near the old Dark Corner community of Campbell County
(Douglas County Library with annotation; New Dorris annotation by the author.)
Present Day Land Location of Rev. John M. Dorris
(Courtesy Google Maps; Annotation by author)
Present Day Land Location of Rev. John M. Dorris
(GA Archives; Annotation by author)
Land Sold by Prosser Clements to Rev. John M. Dorris near Villa Rica, Georgia
District 6, LL 227 and 228
(Bing Maps)
(Bing Maps)
Present Day Location of Land Sold by Prosser Clements to Rev. John M. Dorris
(Prosser and Rev. Dorris were brothers-in-law)
(Prosser and Rev. Dorris were brothers-in-law)
(Google Maps)
Elizabeth Clements Dorris Obituary January 26, 1873
(Southern Christian Advocate, March 19, 1873)
Rev. John M. Dorris Obituary
(Paulding New Era, June 20, 1884)
Reconstruction Oaths
(Georgia Archives)
by Harold Edwards, 1984
Rev. John M. Dorris, Savannah District, Little Ocmulgee Circuit, ME Church
(The Athenian, March 7, 1828;Georgia Historic Newspapers)
Rev. John M. Dorris, Columbus District (Without an appointment, ME Church
Note Richard J. Winn - Carroll Mission - See Winn family notes.
(Augusta Chronicle and Georgia Advertiser, February 20, 1830: Georgia Digital Newspapers)
Rev. Robert Lewis Edwards, The "Holy Ghost Preacher" of the South Carolina Conference. Born Newberry County, SC; Buried Old Salem Methodist Church, Dawsonville, GA.
Rev. Robert L. Edwards
(The Methodist Review Quarterly, Volume 69)
Rev. John Bolton Quillian. Born in Habersham County, Georgia. Buried in the Douglasville City Cemetery, Douglasville, GA. Rev. Quillian was one of the first pastors of the Douglasville Methodist Church. His home on Campbellton Street in Douglasville still stands and is used as a private residence. Interestingly, on the 1870 census for Cobb County (Austell/Powder Springs), Rev. Quillian is listed as living almost adjacent to Thomas M. Hollis. Thomas Merriman Hollis' exact relationship to me is not known; However, it is an interesting coincidence. Rev. Quillian was the pastor of the Causey's Chapel in Austell, Georgia. Causey's later became the Austell Methodist Church.
Family lore is that the present day Douglas County courthouse sits on land that was once owned by the Dorris family. My great grandmother Elizabeth Josephine Dorris Davis is said to have owned the land at one point and even my grandparents (Thomas Hollis and Zettie Jackson) may have had possession of it for some time. The road that runs beside the courthouse is named Dorris Road. I will have to find time to research the land records to prove this family story but it sounds plausible.
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[1] Fannie Mae Davis, "Douglas County, Georgia, From Indian Trail to Interstate 20", (Wolfe Associates, 1987)
[2] John B. Bailey, "The History of Dark Corner, Campbell County, Georgia", (2014, Lillium Press)
(This page was updated on 6/15/2023)