Tax Digests, Deeds, etc.

 JACKSON and HALL COUNTY, GEORGIA

The first record we have for any of these Clements men owning property in Georgia is Culliver in 1788 for a land transaction.  Then we have records for the rest of them starting about 1802.  Most appear to have purchased land but did not actually live on the land for a few years after it was purchased.  

Tax Digests

Ancestry.com and the Jackson County Historical Society have a number of the original early Tax Digests for Jackson County.  Ancestry.com has copies of the originals online and the Historical Society has the original Tax Digest books.  Some of the records are clear and easy to read while others are very faded with handwriting that is difficult to decipher.  Also, many are not indexed which makes for very time consuming searches.  Shown here is what I have culled from these various records but this is by no means a complete search:

 

1798

No Clements men shown.

 

1801

Culliver Clements - Captain Townsend's District, now a part of Hall County (D258).  No location is given so he may not have lived on the land at this time.  Other names of interest in this same district are Valentine Horton and Benjamin Horton (possibly related to Prosser Horton).

 

 It appears that Culliver may have been the first of our Clements ancestors to arrive in Jackson County, Georgia - based solely on this tax digest.

 

1802

James and his son William - James and William are living in Captain Alexander Reed's District.  This district was later known as 248;  Also known as Randolph, Key, Martin, McKinney, Deaton and Hanson District.  Other names nearby in the same book are Charles Price, Benjamin Watts, James Telford, Daniel Clower, William Bennett, and Elisha Winn.  

 

Note that Daniel Clower, Elisha Winn, and Charles Price are shown in Cochran's District on the 1801 Tax Digest.  Charles and Benjamin Clements are listed on the 1810 census living in Captain Cochran's District.

 

1803

Culliver & Benjamin - McConnell's District (D258) - Formerly Jackson, now Hall County.  Culliver and his Benjamin are listed close together.  Benjamin Whorton is listed on the same page.

 

James & his son William - McEver's District (D247) - Formerly Jackson, now Gwinnett (Hog Mountain).  Charles Price and Benjamin Watts are nearby.

1809

William - Captain Joseph Whorton's District.  Land location is not noted.  Other names on this same page are several McConnells and Montgomerys.  William Clements probably moved from the land that he occupied as reported on the 1803 tax digest.

 

Benjamin - Captain Samuel Windham's District.  Land on the Little Mulberry River.

 

Charles & James - Captain Alex. Harpers District.  Land on the Mulberry River.

 

Charles and James are listed fairly close together on the same page.  Other names on this same page are  Richard J. Watts, Charles Price and several McEvers.

 

Culliver - Captain Wilson McKinney's District.  Land on Mountain Creek. Other names on this same district are Richard Winn, Lemuel Winn, Abner Winn, Tandy Key, Daniel Clower, James Cochran, James Horton, Samuel Hamilton, John Randolph, Hosea Camp, Reuben McClung and several Venables.  

 

1810

William - Captain Whorton's District.  Land location is not noted.  Other names on the same page are William, Abraham, Benjamin and Joseph Whorton (Listed close to William Clements).

 

Charles & James -  Captain Alexander Harper's District. Other names listed on the same page are several McEvers and McConnells. 

 

Culliver - Captain Wilson McKinney's District (D248?).  Other names listed on the same page are John Randolph, Mitchell Bennett, Lemuel Winn, James Cochran, and Richard Winn.

There are few certain tax digests from 1811 to 1819 and I suspect that the 1820 and 1821 are incomplete.  Therefore, I was not able to get any good data after 1810.  I also did not search the tax digests after 1821 since it is known that my Clements ancestors were known to have been living in Gwinnett County once it was formed in December of 1818.   The Jackson County Historic Archives maintains most of these later tax digests for those researchers ambitious enough to sort through them.

It is unfortunate that the Gwinnett County courthouse was destroyed in 1871 in a fire that took out most of the early county records.  So, we have virtually nothing on the land records for the Clements men while they lived in Gwinnett County. We do have the 1820 Gwinnett Census as well as a few other tidbits.  

Jackson County Land Records

The records below are from the land records located at the courthouses of Jackson and Hall Counties and the records available on microfilm located at the Georgia Archives.  The Gwinnett County records were destroyed in 1871 (courthouse fire) and anything prior to 1871 or so is lost.  There are a few court records but no land records.  Without the Gwinnett records it is virtually impossible to have a complete picture of the Clements family land holdings and thus the records below are from the period before Gwinnett County was created.

1. Charles Clements to John McEver, 50 acres, Mulberry River; Witnesses James Cleghorn, James Wardlaw, J.P., Jan 23, 1818, Deed book O, page 198.
   
   
   
   
2. William McCree of Oglethorpe County to Culliver Clements, 275 acres, part of 1000 acres originally granted to Charles Sewell in 1788, Walnut fork of the Oconee; Witnesses William Bell, Stephen Bennett, June 8, Deed book D, page 439.
   
   
   
   
3. H (Hugh) Montgomery to Charles Clements, 68 acres, waters of the Oconee, bounded on West by Telfair (Taliaferro?), NE by Hargroves, SE by Walnut Fork; Witnesses Robert Montgomery, James Thurmond, J.P., Dec 5, 1803, Deed book D, page 548.
   
   Hugh Montgomery was the Cherokee Indian Agent during the removal of the Indians from Georgia (RE: Trail of Tears).  He was also heavily involved in surveying and other governmental activities in frontier Georgia.  His brother is Major James McConnell Montgomery of Standing Peachtree/Fort Peachtree fame.
   
   
   
4. Benjamin Watts to Charles Clements, 400 acres, Watts Creek, including the place where Charles Stewart now lives; Witnesses Larkin Roach(?), Alexander Wardlaw, Dec 13, 1805, Deed book D, page 595.
   
   
   
5. Charles Clements to John Todd; 168 acres, south of the Walnut fork of the Oconee, originally granted to Dennis Humphrey; Witnesses William Branham, John Glenn, J.P., Apr 13, 1813, Deed book F, page 46
   
   
   
6. Charles Clements to Culliver Clements, waters of the Oconee bounded by Telfair & Hargroves (Taliaferro?); Witnesses John McConnell, Benjamin Watts, J.P., Deed book F, page219, Jan 1, 1811.
   
   
   
7. Charles Clements to John White, Mulberry fork, originally granted to Anthony Powell; Witnesses William Wardlaw, James Wardlaw, J.P., Feb 12, 1818, Deed book F, page 443.
   
   
   
8. Culliver Clements to Stephen Bennett, 128 acres, Walnut fork of the Oconee, originally granted to Charles Sewell in 1788; Witnesses Jonah or Joseph Pruitt, James Patterson, Richard Major, Deed book N page 444.
   
   
   
9. James Clements to William Clements, 550 acres, Mulberry Fork; one of the boundary points is the "mouth of a branch:; Stark's line is noted, Hobb's Gin is noted; Witnesses Richard Watts, Ephraim Barker,  Aug 27, 1817, Deed book G, page 158.
   
   James is selling land to his son William.
   
   
   
10. Marcy Mitchem (?) to Charles Clements, 200 acres, Mulberry fork, joining Thomas McAdams and Andrew Hamilton; Witnesses William Giddens, William Alexander; March 26, 1816, Deed book G page 24.
    
    
    
11. William Clements to Edward Harrison, 500 acres, Mulberry Fork in Jackson and Hall County, part of William Starke's survey, beginning on Wahoo Corners of Mulberry to Mathew Longs corner at the mouth of the branch, old Gibson home noted; Witnesses William Vowel(?), Barnacke McClendon, J.P., Nov 1827, Deed book H, page 434.
    
    Winifred Clements, wife of William, gives up any claim to land above.
    
    Note: This record is also in the Hall County Deed's office, Book C, page 35 dated 23 Nov 1827.
    
    
    
12. Marcy Langley, Wiley Langley and James Langley to James Clements, 100 acres, Mulberry fork of the Oconee, including plantation where said Langleys now live; Witnesses Edward Adams, H. Montgomery (JIC), Robert M. Hamilton, John Langley, Sept 14, 1815, Deed book H, page 378.
    
    Are these Langleys a part of the same Langley family that married into the Merck and Dorris families?
    
    
    
13. Eldridge Hargrove to Charles Clements, parcel of land granted to Dennis Henby, except that part interfered by an old survey by Telfair, which leaves 210 acres, Telfair's line, Henby's line, bounded SW by William Hays and all other sides by vacant land which are part of the original survey; Witnesses John Wright, N. Hobson, P. Kolb, J.P. recorded by Edw. Adams, Feb. 5, 1828, Deed book D, page 165.

 

HALL COUNTY RECORDS

1. Charles Clements to John McConnell, both of Jackson County, GA, 300 acres on the Walnut Fork of the Oconee River, lying in Jackson County; Witnesses, Robert Barnwell, James Wardlaw, JP, Deed book A, page 42, December 26, 1818.
   
   The John McConnell noted above is probably Major John McConnell, the War if 1812 veteran.   John and his wife moved to Cherokee County where they died and are buried.  His lands in Cherokee County were not far from the lands of my Dorris ancestors.  John McConnell's father was a Patriot soldier in the South Carolina Revolutionary War effort.  John was a sheriff and also served as a Inferior Court Justice.  The mill that he ran was said to be on the Walnut River in Jackson/Hall County.  The mother of Major James McConnell Montgomery (Standing Peachtree, Fort Peachtree) was a McConnell.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. James Clements to Washington Chamblee, 150 acres, William Clements' line noted, other landmarks noted but not legible, William Starks' survey; Witness is illegible, Jos. Morgan, JIC, Deed book A, page 431, February 17, 1821,
   
   
   
3. James Clements of Gwinnett County to Mathew Long of Pendleton, SC, 300 acres on Mulberry Fork, John Barnwell's line, Starks line, Glover's Mill (Creek?); Witnesses Francis Comer and George Tippens, Book A, page 169, August 5, 1822.
   
   
   
4. James Clements to John Barnwell, 5 acres in Jackson County, North side of Mulberry , Young's Creek, Langley line noted; Witnesses Abraham Martin, James Wardlaw, J.P., Deed book D, page 466, August 23, 1836.

We also have an 1820s Hall County Tax Collector record for an Adam Clements who could be a son of Charles or Culliver.

Adam Clements, 1820s Hall County Tax Collector Document

(GA Archives)

(This page was updated on 8/7/2022)