spective
States who came at subsequent periods to make a home in Georgia. They
were models to the youth of their respective neighborhoods, and gave
tone to the character of the population for many years after they were
in their graves. About the same time, the Earlys came from Virginia,
and the Abercrombies from North Carolina, and located respectively in
the new counties of Greene and Hancock. They were all men of strong
character, and all exercised great influence with those who accompanied
or came to them at a subsequent period.

Among the very first to locate in Greene County was Colonel David Love,
from North Carolina, and soon after came the Nesbits, Jacksons, and
Hortons; all of whom settled upon the head-waters of the Ogeechee and
upon Shoulderbone Creek.

The country was very attractive, the soil very generous, the water
good, and the health remarkable. The general topography of Middle
Georgia (as that portion of Georgia is now termed) is unsurpassed by
any other portion of the State for beauty--hill and dale, the one not
rising many feet above the other, generally with beautiful slopes, and
scarcely at any place with so much abruptness as to forbid cultivation.
Upon these lovely acclivities were built the cabins of the emigrants,
at the base of which, and near the house, was always to be found a
fountain of pure, sweet water, gushing and purling away over sand and
pebbles, meandering through a valley which it fertilized, and which
abounds in shrubs flowering in beauty, and sheltered by forests of oak,
hickory, pine, and gum.

Those who first came were frequently compelled to unite in a settlement
at some selected point, and, for defence against the inroads of the
savages, were obliged to build stockade forts, with blockhouses.

Nature seems to have prepared, during the Revolution, men for subduing
the wilderness and its savage inhabitants. They cheerfully encountered
all the difficulties and hazards thus presented, and constantly pursued
their object to its consummation. They came from every section of the
older communities, and all seemed animated with the same spirit. They
were orderly, but rude; and though beyond the pale of the law, they
were a law unto themselves; and these laws were strictly enforced by a
public opinion which gave them being and efficiency. With remarkably
simple habits and very limited opportunities, their wants were few; and
these were supplied by their own industry and frugality u