Oglethorpe County Wills and Estates
Oglethorpe County was created on December 19, 1793, from Wilkes County and was named for General James Edward Oglethorpe the founder of the Georgia colony in 1733. The Creeks and Cherokees occupied this territory prior to that time. In 1794 a portion of Greene County was added to Oglethorpe, and the Oglethorpe/Greene county border shifted several times in 1799. In 1811, Madison County was created taking land from Oglethorpe. In 1813, Oglethorpe acquired land from Clarke County. Taliaferro County took land from Oglethorpe in 1831, and Oglethorpe received land from Madison County in 1842.
The first permanent settlements in what is now Oglethorpe County were along the Broad River and were settled by Virginia planters in the 1780s and along Long Creek near the town of Lexington.
Wills
- Will Book A Transcribed (1793-1807).
- Will Book A Transcribed (1793-1807).
- Will Book A Abstracted (1793-1807).
Indexes to Oglethorpe County Probate Records
- Will Book B Transcribed (1807-1826).
- Will Book B Transcribed (1807-1826).
- Will Bk C (1826-1834).
- Will Bk D (1833-1866).
- Will Bk E (1863-1886).
- Annual Returns (1798-1814)
- Annual Returns (1815-1830)
- Annual Returns and Estates (1815-1831)
- Annual Returns (1822-1828)
- Annual Returns (1828-1837)
- Annual Returns (1830-1832)
Marriages
- Marriages from Newspapers (1885-1886)
Miscellaneous Wills & Estates
- David Barnett (1835)
- William Lumpkin (1847)
- Alexander McEwen (1827)
- A. D. Matthews (1897)
- Berry Matthews (1845)
- John P. Matthews
- William Matthews (1804)
- William Matthews (1878)
Origins of Early Settlers
Traced Genealogies:
Oglethorpe County Families
| Bowling | Collier | Crowley | Finch |
| Freeman | Gilmer | Gilmore | Goolsby |
| Greenwood | Hardeman | Harvie | Hatchett |
| Hodge | Lankford | Lester | McElroy |
| Olive | Phillips | Richardson | Stubblefield |
| Traylor | Warnock | Wise |
John Hardman
There were two brothers of Welsh descent who came from Augusta County, Virginia. One went to Tennessee. However, John Hardman settled in Lexington, Georgia where he took up a land grant for military services. He died there in about 1796. His son, John Hardman, was one of the first clerks of the Superior Court and married a daughter of the Atlanta real estate philanthropist, Vines Collier.