LEAVES FROM OUR TREE:
Pioneer Settlers in Early Washington County, Georgia

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The following pages tell some of the stories of several of the earliest families to settle in the area known today as Washington County, Georgia, including the Bullard, Brantley, Daniel, Gilbert, Henry, Irwin, Lee, Lewis, Mason, Rountree, Smith, Vickers, Wood and related families. These families "traveled by horseback, ox cart and wagon train. Most were poor and came from North Carolina seeking a better life. When the travelers reached their destination, most of them lived in their wagons or make-do shelters until land could be cleared and homes built." (Logue, Amanda B., Compiler, Webmaster. Washington County, Georgia GenWeb Pages. [Online: hosted by RootsWeb. URL: http://www.rootsweb.com/~gawashin/GenWeb/])

Each family played a part in taming and civilizing a wilderness only recently ceded by the Indians. These sturdy pioneers set up their new homes in an area where "conditions were primitive and justice was rude but swift. For ten years after the end of the Revolution, most counties had neither courthouses nor jails. Trials were held in some private residence or under a tree." (Coulter, E. Merton. Georgia: a Short History. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1947,. p 196-7.)

Over the years and through the generations, members of these families migrated together in family groups from place to place, and married one another frequently. Quite often two or three siblings from one family married two or three siblings from another family. Most people married someone who lived within a five-mile radius of their homes.

We compiled the lineages of these descendants to the best of our ability and present them here. Many hours of work by many contributing family members have been put into the research and documentation of these family members. We all have attempted to make the following data as complete and accurate as possible, but we know that gaps and errors do exist. As with any genealogical research, this is a work in progress. Additions and corrections are welcomed. To protect privacy, we have omitted personal data on persons still living.

As a general rule the Webmaster updates this Web site at least once per year, and certain pages are updated more often. Check the date at the bottom of each page of this Web site to see when it was last updated. The Table of Contents below contains links to GEDCOM files for the descendants of these families on the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project. The Webmaster updates those GEDCOM files each time new data is added to the research group's central database, so the files on the WorldConnect Project always reflect the most current and complete family information in that database.

Visitors who print out data from this, or any, Web site, should also print out the source citations (if available). Our source citations are included on this Web site, but the Webmaster did not personally verify all of them. The Webmaster did categorize each source as either primary or secondary.

• Visitors may rely with reasonable confidence upon sources marked as "primary" since this category includes public records, photos of tombstones, family Bible pages, or original documents in the possession of the Webmaster or another family member. Images of many of these source documents may be included on this Web site.
• Visitors should verify all data from sources marked as "secondary" before relying on the information. Secondary resources include published books and genealogy reports, information shared over the Internet without source citations, undocumented family stories or legends, etc.
• If a source (usually a living family member) was marked as "primary and secondary," it means that person possesses primary family documents for him/herself, his/her own spouse, children, parents and possibly grandparents. However, for generations beyond the grandparents, the visitor should treat the data as coming from a secondary source and verify it.

Come with us as we trace the "Leaves from Our Tree."

Table of Contents

  History of Early Washington County, Georgia

In February 1784, an act of Georgia Legislature formed and defined Washington County from Indian Lands ceded in 1783. Washington was the ninth county formed in Georgia and is said to be the first in the nation to be named after George Washington. . Greene County portioned off in 1786. Hancock County partitioned off in 1793. Baldwin County partitioned off in 1807, and Laurens County laid off in 1811. In 1812 more land was added to Baldwin County, and again in 1826.

The Daniel and Related Families

Family of Joseph Daniel and Temperance Ann Lee

Family of Drury Gilbert and Mary Jane Daniel

Family of Moses Mosely Daniel and Sarah Frances Craft

Family of Judge Sampson Daniel and Mary Smith

Family of Silas L. Daniel and Rebeccah Mary Irwin

Family of Jasper Newton Daniel and 1st Elizabeth M. Flake; and 2nd Edith Elizabeth Manly

The Dudley Family of Washington County, Georgia

Family of Hugh Irwin and Martha Alexander

Family of John Lawson Irwin and Rebecca Sessions

Family of Alexander Irwin and Margaret Moore Lawson

Family of William Alexander Irwin and Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" Daniel

 Family of Sampson Lee and Geain (Jane) Lee

The Rutherford Family of Washington County, Georgia

Family of Jared Wood and Elizabeth Nance Rutherford

Family Of Needham Smith and Tabitha Tillman

The Mason and Related Families

Family of George Mason and Sarah --?--

Family of James Mason and Nancy Jane Hicks

Family of Henry Mason and Elizabeth Culpepper

Family of Elizabeth "Betsy" Mason and Judge Jethro Arline

Family of John F. Mason and Nancy Ann Daniel

Family of Dr. George Lee Mason and Mayme Vandella "Mary" Smith

Family of George Lorine "Lori" Mason and Georgia Chivers

Family of James Gordon Mason and Amy Estell Rountree

Family of Clifford Seals Mason and Lillian Adell Hooks

Family of Thomas Forrest Lewis and Annie Belle Mason
(Mamie's Twin)

Family of George Elbert Sherouse & Mamie Myrtle Mason
(Annie's Twin)

Family of Julian Darius Mason and Myrtle Houghton Key
(Dora's Twin)

Family of James Kinion Beckworth and Dora Pauline Mason
(Julian's Twin)

Family of Sara Lou "Sallie" Mason and E. P. Weathersbee

Family of John Irwin J. Bridges (2nd husband) and Mayme Vandella
"Mary" Smith

Family of William Watson Bridges and Jessie Ruth McBride

Family of Thomas Eugene Bridges, Sr., and Dorothy Pearl Smith

The Smith and Related Families

Family of Colby Smith, RS, and Anna Henry

First appeared in Washington County land records in 1786.

Family of Rev. Isaac Smith and Arsenia Brantley

Family of Rev. Dr. Benjamin Darius Smith and Dora Lavinia Rountree

Family of Dr. George Leon Smith and Maggie A. McLeod

Family of Dora Lavinia Smith and Dr. Thomas Eldridge Vickers

Family of Anna Elizabeth Smith and James Duncan Smith

Family of Mattie Mae "Doll" Smith and William Sanders Lawson

Family of William Fuller "Bud" Smith and Maude C. Mosley

Family of Frances Katherine "Dumpsie" Smith and
Albert Lafayette Henry, Sr.

Family of Mr. (unknown) Henry and Marietta "Mary" Baugh
of Jackson County, Georgia

Family of Judge George S. Rountree and Lavinia Neal

Ezekiel Daniel, Sr., in Triplicate

See the truth about the three separate and distinct men who lived overlapping life spans, but whom many family researchers unsuccessfully attempted to combine into one person. Only one of the men named Ezekiel Daniel, Sr., lived in Washington County.

Johannes Scheraus, a "Salzburger Immigrant" in Effingham County, Georgia

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