Hancock

Families in Hancock County, Georgia Wills and Estates

The Creeks and Cherokees occupied this land until they ceded it to the State of Georgia in 1789 and 1790. Gwinnett County was named after Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Governor of Georgia, who died from wounds on May 19, 1771, after dualling in the streets of Savannah with General Lachlan McIntosh, commander of the American forces during the Revolutionary War. Persons who drew in the 1827 and 1832 land lotteries settled in Gwinnett County. The early settling families were: Andrews, Ambrose, Addison, Bracewell, Bridges, Bruton, Bullock, Burton, Burns, Brandon, Carter, Carroll, Choice, Chester, Cosley, Connelly, Cowan, Day, Deaton, Dover, Edwards, Dyer, Durham, Dunlap, Etheridge, Edwards, Glaze, Garmany, Franklin, Freeland, Flowers, Gresham, Gray, Holcombe, Howell, Jackson, James, Kicker, Killian, Kinney, Knight, Lankford, Lester, Light, Lockridge, Martin, Malone, Mann, McKinney, McGinnis, Maynard, Montgomery, Norton, Owen, Pace, Plunkett, Pool, Perkerson, Rakestraw, Rowden, Spruce, Snow, Terrell, Terry, Thomas, Tait, Warbington, Waits, Venable, Vinyard, Wells, Wiley, Whitehead, and others.

Families in Hancock County, Georgia Wills and Estates

Genealogists should research Hancock and Elbert Counties for families who settled together and inter-married. The scanned images of Wills and Estates not previously indexed (and thus ignored by most researchers) have been properly indicated and may be viewed by simply clicking on the link. If you did not previously have the time to search every page, it would be wise to use this site to find your lost generations of ancestors. Hancock was created in 1793 from Greene and Washington Counties, Hancock County. The county borders Baldwin, Glascock, Greene, Putnam (Oconee River), Taliaferro, Washington, and Warren (Ogeechee River), It was named after John Hancock, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Sparta is the county seat. Early settlers were General H. Mitchell, Bolling Hall, Charles Abercrombie, General Adams, Henry Graybill, Joseph Bryan, William Rees, Jonathan Adams, John Montgomery, Jacob Dennis, Archibald Smith, T. Holt,

Thomas Raines, James Bishop, Isham Rees, M. Martin, R. Clarke, R. Shipp, F. Tucker, L. Barnes, W. Wyley, William Saunders, James Thomas, Jesse Pope, Jonas Shivers, William Hardwick, L. Tatum, Robert Moreland, and William Pentecost. Hancock County should always be researched with Greene. The Hancock County Wills and Estates (inventories, annual returns, guardianships, vouchers, sales, etc.) were bound together in the same volumes for specific time periods. The records contain a great deal of probate information about the possessions of the deceased as well as how their estates were distributed to the heirs. Such details are of my interest to the genealogist assembling family puzzles. No index is included in any volume and I have never seen any published. Therefore, scanning these images helps the researcher find ancestors otherwise unknown and provides a great a new resource for all genealogists.

Tax Digests

  • 1796
    Images of Deeds
    • 1793-1798
    Origins
    • Origins of Early Settlers
    Hancock Wills 1804-1814 (abstracts)
    Online Images of Wills, Inventories, Returns, Guardianships, Sales, etc. Book G 1811 to 1815
    Testators: Adams, Isaac, Andrews, Milly, Battle, Benjamin, Bonner, Richard, Bordon, Benjamin, Brown, Aaron, Bullock, William, Byrum, Henry, Cadenhead, Thomas, Chambers, John, Dunn, Drury, Echols, Frederick, Elliot, Isaac, Ellis, Isaac, Flournoy, Gipson, Frazer, John, Furguson, Henry, Hart, William, Harvey, Sarah, Harwell, Mason, Hedge, Jeremiah, Howard, Joseph, Hutchinson, William, Leneaves, Samuel, McLemore, James, Moore, Jonathan, Picket, Halbert, Robertson, Nathaniel, Rutland, Martha, Sasnett, Richard, Smith, Nehemiah, Tatum, Nathaniel, Tison, Job, Turk, Theodocius
    Online Images of Wills, Inventories, Returns, Guardianships, Sales, etc. Book H 1811 to 1815
    Testators: Alford, James, Allen, Freeman, Allen, Harris, Andrews, Gray, Barnes, William, Breedlove, William, Buckner, Joel, Camp, Cloudsley, Chambers, Robert, Chandler, William, Danielly, James, Davis, Owen, Dent, William, Doughty, E., Duggar, Sampson, Evans, Stephen, Furguson, Henry, Gilbert, Thomas, Grant, Charles, Griffis, William, Grigg, Jesse, Hall, Hugh, Hall, Samuel, Capt., Hamilton, William, Harton, William, Humphrey, Willie, Jernigan, Needham, Johnston, Jacob, Langford, Euclid, Lewis, Gale, Lucas, James, Martin, Archibald, McCulluh, John, Medlock, George, Mershon, Enos, Morgan, Ellington, Peek, John, Read, Benjamin, Ross, Francis, Sallard, William, Ship, Frances, Ship, Richard, Simmons, Benjamin Sr., Smith, Nehemiah, Smith, William, Tait, Robert, Thweatt, James, Vickers, Thomas, Wallace, William, Webb, Francis, Welch, John
    Images of Wills, Inventories, Returns, Guardianships, Sales, etc. Book I 1815 to 1818
    Testators: Alford, Kinchen, Barnes, William, Bonner, Alexander, Boswell, Charity, Bynum, Byre, Daniell, James, Dennis, Daniel, Duke, Buckner, Easter, James, Evans, Stephen, Ezell, Jesse, Fort, Arthur, Foster, Philemon, Harrison, James, Harwell, Isham, Holsey, James, Johnson, John, Lassiter, Willis, Lewis, Sterling, Nolley, Richmond, Parham, Robert, Peek, John C., Sr., Peterson, John, Pike, Joseph, Pritchet, Philip, Rabun, John, Roe, Sarah, Ross, Francis, Sanders, Mark, Saunders, William, Simms, Robert, Stonum, Bryan, Thorp, Joseph, Thweatt, James, Tyres, Joshua, Wallace, John Sr., Waller, James
    Online Images of Wills and Estates, includes Annual Returns, Inventories, Guardianships, Vouchers, Book J, 1818 to 1824
    Testators: Andrews, Warren , Bosworth, Roderick, Burch, John, Byrom, Henry, Chandler, William , Clayton, Easter , Duckworth, Jacob, Eubanks, Thomas , Fort, Matthew , Gindratt, Henry, Griggs, William Sr., Hamilton, John , Hamilton, William, Holsey, James , Johnson, Nehemiah D., Kelly, John , Lenoir, Lewis, Lewis, Sterling, Lundy, Henry , Mathis, Charles, McAllister, David, Medlock, George , Michael, John , Moon, Susannah, Murphy, William , Pritchett, Joseph , Rabun, Matthew , Rucker, Littleberry, Saunders, William , Skinner, Oliver , Tyus, John , Waller, Nathaniel, West, Ephraim , Wiley, Isaac H. , Williamson, Elizabeth, Wing, William E.
    Online Images of Hancock County Wills,Book L, 1820 to 1828
    Testators: Barnes, Elizabeth;Bledsoe, Gilmore;Brown, William F.;Cannon, Eunice;Colquitt, Henry;Harris, Nelson;Kilgore, John;Lovett, Richard;Maddox, Samuel;Morrism Nathan;Pope, Jesse;Smith, Ezekiel;Stinson, Zadock;Traywich, Robert;Womack, Sherwood
    Online Images of Hancock County Will Book M, 1823 to 1828
    Abercrombie, John;Alford, William Sr.;Appling, Otho;Askew, John; Berry, John;Brooking, Edward;Denson, John E.;Dent, Peter;Grammer Peter;Graybill, Henry;Griffis, Dempsey;Griggs, John;Harris, Absalom;Henderson, John;Huff, James;Lucas, Joshua;McClellan, William;Miller, Charles;Miller, William;Peek, Henry;Ray, William;Reese, James;Sanders, Nathan;Simmons, Sarah;Taylor, Hugh;Temple, Nancy; Wright, Abednego
    Online Images of Hancock County Wills, Book N, 1831-1834 – Not enough space to add names here
    Indexes to Probate Records
    • Wills 1862 to 1881
    • General Estate Index
    • Divisions of Estates, Bk U, 1880-1958
    • Estate Sales 1863-1957
    • Guardian and Administrator Bonds 1856-1909
    • Guardian Returns, Vol. 3, 1895-1903
    • Letters of Guardianship/Administration 1860-1881
    • Letters of Guardianship/Administration 1882-1922
    Images and Transcripts of Miscellaneous Wills
    • Butler, Edmond LWT (1801)
    • Danielly, Arthur, deed (digital image)
    • Danielly, John, deed (digital image)
    • Harris, Absalom, LWT (1818), transcription
    • Holland, Benjamin, deed (digital image)
    • Rudisell, Henry, LWT (1807), transcription
    • Rudisell, John, LWT (1850), transcription
    • Rudisell, John, LWT (1804), transcription
    Marriages
    • 1808-1816; 1810-1823; 1823-1836; 1836=1852; 1851-1860; 1860-1866
    • Marriages from newspapers 1885-1886
    Military Records
    • 1863 Georgia Militia
    Images of Deeds
    • 1793-1798
    Origins
    • Origins of Early Settlers
    Traced Genealogies of Hancock County Families
    AaronAbercrombieAustinBass
    BattleChappellCoffee/CoffeyDevereaux
    DicksonGayHallHearn
    MillerParkerPikeRoss
    SimmsWaller

The Battle of Cold Harbor

John Marshall, a native of Virginia, settled in Hancock County, Georgia the early part of the 19th century. He was a Primitive Baptist preacher and a soldier in the war of 1812. His son, John Marshall, enlisted in the War Between the States and engaged in some hard-fought bloody battles, viz: Seven Pines, Cold Harbor, Chancellorsville, James Island, Ocean Pond, Weldon, Kurstin, and Bentonville. He was severely wounded in the battle of Cold Harbor, and was in the hospital for two months but spent three months at home recovering before returning to the army. He was again wounded at the Battle of Bentonville. When the war ended he resumed farming and bought his first land, a small farm in 1867, to which he has added. Ref: Memoirs of Georgia, Vol. I.

Granite Hill Plantation

The Granite Hill plantation was owned by Andrew Jackson Lane in the 1850s. The grounds consisted of 2200 acres and 22 structures. When the granite smokehouse (visible behind the main house) became the last surviving structure of the plantation, the main house was moved to Macon in 1968 and was destroyed by fire very soon thereafter.

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