Although it is in Henry County, at one time, all or part of the Nash Farm was located in Clayton County, which was created in 1858 from Henry and Fayette County. The original east line of the county ran between Land Lots 121 and 122, rather than 122 and 123 as it does today. The line was adjusted in the mid twentieth century. Originally, all of this land was part of Henry County, which was created in 1821 from lands acquired from the
Creek tribe in the Treaty of Indian Springs in 1821. The land was surveyed into 202.5-acre lots that were distributed in a lottery to qualified citizens of Georgia. The winner of these lots usually sold them to interested parties rather than settle the land themselves.
Early settlers to the area farmed cotton and corn and raised livestock as the principal products of their farms. Farms varied in size, with a number of local farmers owning large tracts and employing teams of slaves to work the fields. Other farmers had more modest holdings and relied on their families, tenants, or hired hands to tend the farm. The value of land in this part of Henry County increased significantly in the 1840's when the
Macon & Western Railroad was constructed through the area, making it easier for farmers to market their products in Macon and Savannah. The rail connection also brought more manufactured goods into the backcountry of Georgia.
The railroad followed the ridge between the Ocmulgee and Flint River drainages and passed about 2 miles from the Nash Farm property, which is located at the headwaters of Walnut Creek. The land is rolling and somewhat rocky, but is well-drained and suitable for cotton or corn production. Among the earliest roads through the area was the Macon or (Griffin) Road, which parallels the railroad and the other major road was the McDonough - Fayetteville Road connecting the county seats of Henry and Fayette counties. The McDonough - Fayetteville Road crossed the Macon & Western railroad in the vicinity of Lovejoy's Station. A road forked from the McDonough - Fayetteville Road at Farmer Road, (located two miles west of I-75) and it also ran via to Lovejoy from the direction of Mt. Carmel Road. Several early maps show the McDonough Road taking a more northerly east/west course between the two towns, roughly following the current McDonough Road (Burroughs 1846; Mitchell 1850). On these maps, the village of Fosterville is shown between McDonough and the railroad, in the vicinity of where McDonough Road today crosses Walnut Creek, (
Figure 5), at the (old Samuel Foster Home site). On the
Colton (1854) and the
Johnson (1858) maps, the McDonough - Fayetteville Road takes a more westerly route, roughly along the current Mt. Carmel Road, (
Figure 6). On these maps, Fosterville is shown close to or at the railroad and just south of the current McDonough Road. The 1858 map is one of the first to show the newly created Clayton County, which more clearly illustrates that the McDonough - Fayetteville Road ran in a northerly east/west direction. Lovejoy's Station first appears on a state map in 1863 (
Johnson 1863), and the McDonough - Fayetteville Road ran in the same direction, with Fosterville shown east of the railroad around the current Mt. Carmel area. It is likely that the main road to (Mt. Carmel ) from Lovejoy shifted south in the 1850's, while the northerly McDonough-Fayetteville Road remained open. When Lovejoy's Station was established, the more northerly route may have become the most preferred one. The 1865 Lindenkohl State map clearly shows Fosterville northeast of Lovejoy's RR Station. (
Figure 6B)
Some local family folklore places the First Fosterville Post Office across the road from the modern day County Line Methodist Church near the entrance of Pates Creek Sub-Division. It is well documented and interesting to note that Thompson Edward Nash was the first Post Office Master of Fosterville. (Source - Communication with Nash Family relatives - Nash Family Records - Photocopy of original "Post Office Master" certificate - Henry County Genealogy Society).
Most of the roads back during this period were maintained by nearby property owners because of the need to transport their crops either to McDonough or by the new Macon & Western Railroad. Two prominent wealthy planters, Stephen Green Dorsey and Thompson Edward Nash lived on the same stretch of the McDonough - Fayetteville Road in the vicinity of northeast Lovejoy. These men were both wealthy and had the resources to maintain good care of this stretch of road as their livelihoods depended on it.
The location of the roads is important to the Nash Farm site because the descriptions of the area from many Civil War sources reference the names of the roads. This can be confusing because they were generally referred to by the name of the town to which they led. Since there were two roads that led to McDonough from the vicinity of Lovejoy's, and the location of Fosterville did not remain constant, the same roads were referred to by different names, and different roads often had the same name. Two Civil War-era maps (
Poe 1877;
Ruger 1895) show slightly different roads plans in the area are different (
Figures 7 and 8). Both sets of maps are compilations, made by the army after the war from field maps and other maps used during the war. They represent conditions as they existed at the time the maps were made, but are not entirely accurate, since in many cases they were made by army surveyors in combat conditions. Example; (Ruger map was completed on September 2, 1864, at the beginning of the Lovejoy infantry battles). The fortifications on the Ruger map (indicated in blue for Union and red or Confederate appear to have been mapped years after the action was over and represent the positions of the armies at the time the positions were held on that particular day.
The Civil War maps show a more complex network of roads than the earlier state maps. Although the configuration of the McDonough - Fayetteville Road differs somewhat on each, they both show a road branching off of the road and leading to Lee's Mill, on Line Creek. This road ran beside the old (1855 era) Thompson E. Nash place and portions of it are still visible today. (Communication with Joe Acker, previous property owner, 2007). As evident, this road must have branched off north of the Nash Farm property. However, it could not have branched off Freeman Road in Clayton County because that road did not exist in 1864. Fosterville is not indicated on either of these maps, but it is referred to in Civil War correspondence, which seems to place it in the more northerly east/west location, on the McDonough - Fayetteville Road near Walnut Creek, as shown on the 1858 map (
see Figure 5). This makes sense because this area was also the location of the Samuel Foster family home, which location was prominently marked on both the Poe & Ruger maps at Walnut Creek.
Although the two Civil War maps were both compiled from field maps and other maps from the Civil War and purport to represent conditions during the war, there are differences between them and the way the area around the Nash farm property is represented. The Poe map (see
Figure 7) seems to represent the roads more accurately, and places most of the Confederate lines on the north side of the road while the Ruger map shows them on both sides of the road. The Poe map shows no house in the location of the current Nash Farm house. The Ruger map (see
Figure 8) shows a vacant house on McDonough - Fayetteville Road, but the road is not represented accurately so it is difficult to place the vacant house in relation to modern landmarks. The Ruger map accurately represents the locations of the Union and Confederate lines in relation to the current McDonough Road and Walnut Creek, however.
Deed research, reviews of Civil War records and accounts, and reviews of historical maps shed some light on the questions about Nash farm property and the historical events that occurred there. The results of this historical research are represented in the following chapters after a view of maps of Clayton & Henry County.
