Wilkinson County Wills and Estates
Wilkinson County was an original county, taken from Creek Indian Lands distributed in the 1805 and 1807 Land Lotteries. The county seat, Irwinton, was named for Governor Jared Irwin. Research Emanuel and Laurens Counties.
Images of Wills
Wilkinson County Wills 1817-1860 (abstracts)
Images of Wills 1883 to 1894
- Testators:
- Bloodworth, Miles
- Calloway, Louiza
- Duncan, Thomas
- Dupree, James
- Eady, John
- Fountain, William
- Hatfield, Samuel
- Holland, Wiley
- Holliman, Z. T.
- Jackson, James
- Jackson, James H.
- Mill, Elisha
- Nesbitt, James
- Outlaw, Bently
- Pierce, James
- Pittman, James
- Solomon, David
- Solomon, Jane
- Smith, George W.
- Stevens, James
- Van Landingham, William
- Walden, Linson
- Whipple, Eliza
- Whitaker, William
- Yarbrough, Elijah
Images of Annual Returns 1827 to 1833
- 1785-1821
Loose Marriages
- 1806-1834
- 1819-1836
Indexes to Marriages
- 1790-1832
- 1832-1856
- 1856-1867
- 1867-1871
Indexes to Probate Records
- Annual Returns and Estates 1820-1853.
- Miscellaneous Estates 1827-1838
- Miscellaneous Estates 1838-1847
- Wills 1873-1922
- Wills 1923-1946
Marriages
- Images 1823 to 1828
- Index 1865-1882
- Index 1882-1891
- Index 1891-1903
Miscellaneous Records
- Bush, Samuel (a minute book entry)
- Vincent, Sion
Traced Genealogies: Wilkinson County Families
| Bivins | Bloodworth |
| Cannon | Cobb |
| Cook | Guerry |
| Hatcher | Nesmith |
| Paul | Peacock |
| Ross |
Good Plowable Dirt
Tracing the ancestors can be truly difficult. In fact, it is a down-right brain exercise, trying to remember names, dates, and places. And then reason out why people took the plunge and crossed the seas, and then moved around the country so much. It seemed that they were on an endless trek to find the proper home. Or, more directly put, they were searching for fertile land simply because good plowable dirt was the means to prosperity. Consider all of the ingredients which comprise healthy pliable soil. To, in order to enrich the soil to plant a few flowers we go to the store and purchase bags of dirt. In the olden days, a hand-driven plow and/or mule was used to perform the bemoaning physical task.
The Georgia Land Lottery
The Georgia Land Lottery of 1805 brought many people to Georgia for the opportunity of free land. The ” List of Persons Entitled to Draws” contains the names of almost 24,000 participants and more than 500 additional named persons, including guardians, parents, and spouses. The registration period was May of 1803 to March 1, 1804, but to qualify, participants had to have been residents of Georgia from May 1802 and pay a fee of 12.5 cents per draw. The list contains the names of men 21 years or older, widows with minor children, and orphans. Edmund Hogan traveled from Anson County, North Carolina, and took his draw. He became the Sheriff in Wilkinson County from 1807 to 1808 and served as a Senator from Laurens County from 1809 to 1813. From 1810 to 1813 he was a Lieutenant Colonel commanding the 36th Regiment which included Laurens and Pulaski Counties. Later he moved west, to Arkansas.