(Continued)
Here is the transcribed legislation from 1818, 1819 that created Gwinnett County and the transcribed legislation that created Barrow County in 1914.
I have also included a few old maps that I found which show how the county line was drawn/interpreted differently by each map publisher. If one carefully studies these maps, it is quickly apparent that none of these maps are in agreement with one another with respect to the Gwinnett-Hall-Jackson boundary lines in the general area where William Clements' home was located. They do appear to show that the Mulberry River was used as a portion of the line; However, the river is not drawn the same and/or is drawn more as a generalization rather than a specific line. It may have been a common practice then given the limited resources and inability to actually survey these lines 100%.
I have attempted to "match" the 1818 and 1819 legislation with many of these maps but I am not experienced enough in surveying nor can the maps be relied upon to come to a conclusion about a specific point - only a general area.
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To organize the counties
of *Walton, Gwinnett, Hall, and Habersham, and to add a part of Jackson
county to each of the counties of Walton, Gwinnett, and Hall, and a part of
Franklin county to the counties of Hall and Habersham.
Sect. 1 BE it
enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the state of Georgia,
in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the
same, That all that part of the county of Jackson, which lies south east
and south west of a line to commence on the Appalachee river, where the
dividing line between the counties of Walton and Gwinnett strikes the same,
and continuing the course of said line until the same strikes the Hog
Mountain road thence down the same to the southern line of said county;
thence along the same line to the Appalachee river, shall be added to, and
make a part of the county of Walton; and all that part of said county which
lies above the above prescribed line, and thence along the road which passes
Thompson's mill to the Mulberry Fork of the Oconee river, thence a direct
line to the corner of Gwinnett county on the top of the Chatahoochee ridge,
shall be added to, and become a part of Gwinnett county; and all that part of
Jackson county, which lies north west of a line, to begin at the house of William Clements, and running
parallel with a line, commonly called Hawkin's line, to the present line of
Franklin county, be added to and become a part of the county of Hall; and all
that part of Franklin county which lies north west of a line beginning on the
Tugalo river at the mouth of Walton's Creek, and running up said creek to the
Unacoy road, then till Blair's road
crosses the same, thence along said road to Tate's bridge, thence along the
road to the Silver Shoals on the Hutson Fork of Broad River, thence to the
south west corner of Habersham county, be added to and become a part of
Habersham county: and all that part of the county of Franklin, which lies
north west of a line thence direct to the place where the dividing line
between Jackson and Hall counties strikes the Franklin, shall be added to the
county of Hall.
BENJAMIN WILLIAMS
MATHEW TALBOT Assented to, 19th December, 1818
WILLIAM RABUN, Governor
Note: Sect. 2 – 13 deal with the organization of the counties and county business (judges, courts, militia, etc.) and do not relate to the boundary lines so it is not included in this abbreviated transcription. The reader can view the complete act online via Google books.
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To alter and define the
line dividing the counties of Jackson and Gwinnett, and to alter the line
dividing the county of Gwinnett and the county of Hall. Sect. 1 BE it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the state of Georgia, in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the line dividing the
counties of Jackson and Gwinnett, commencing at the point where the line
dividing the counties of Walton and Gwinnett strikes the Hog Mountain road,
and thence along the road which passes Thompson's mill, shall extend from
said mill along an old road to Langston's mill, on the Mulberry fork of the
Oconee River, thence up said fork to where the line dividing the counties of
Hall and Gwinnett crosses the same, be, and the same is hereby declared to
be, the line dividing the counties of Jackson and Gwinnett. Sect. 2 And be it further enacted, That the
line dividing the counties of Hall and Gwinnett shall commence at the mouth
of Shoal Creek, thence by a direct line to a point three and three-fourth
miles north-east of a stake, the present corner of Hall and Gwinnett
counties, on the Chattahoochee ridge, and on the line running from thence to William
Clements, thence along said line to the Mulberry Fork of Oconee river. Sect. 3 And be it further enacted, That it
shall be the duty of the Inferior Courts of Hall and Gwinnett counties to
employ a fit and proper person to run said line, and the expenses to be
equally paid out of the county funds by said counties. Sect. 4 And be it further enacted, That the laws militating against this law be, and the same are hereby repealed.
DAVID ADAMS
MATHEW TALBOT
Assented to, 29th November, 1819 JOHN CLARK, Governor |
Laws of the State of Georgia, 1810-1819, published 1821
(Online)
(Georgia Archives)
(University of Georgia Online)
(Gwinnett Historical Society)
(University of Georgia Online)
(University of Georgia Online)
(Bing Maps; Annotation by author)