The First While Settlers. It is not certainly known when the first settlement was made by whites within the limits of what is now Murray County.
The Cherokees had become fairly civilized, were, as a rule, peaceably disposed, and had made some progress in the common arts of his white neighbors. They cultivated patches of corn, potatoes, tobacco, etc. They owned horses, had fixed places of abode, and some of them even owned negro slaves. Some of them would weave willow baskets and make various useful or ornamental articles which they exchanged for the white man's goods. They had learned the use of firearms and were expert at fishing and hunting.
Before the beginning of the nineteenth century Murray had become a favorite resort for traders, adventurers and fugitives from justice. Rev. W. J. Colter says in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate of Jan. 21, 1910: "From 1828 to 1838 was a most trying decade for the white settlers in that section. The nation bordering on four States was a refuge for outlaws and one of these white men was more to be feared than the Indians. Without the protection of law, exposed to the badness of white men and to the enmities of the merciless Indians the people were in constant dread."
James Vann. About the year 1800 James Vann fled to this wild region to escape prosecution for murder. He was a man of wealth and began trading with the Indians. His store was located where Dr. Steed's drug store now stands. George Cleveland came with him and drove cattle to Charleston after goods for the store. Vann was not an Indian chief but a pure white man. He married an Indian girl by the name of Gann. He had two sons, James and Joseph. This is according to statements made to the author by Mr. Jesse Jackson a few weeks before his death.
The Vann House, as it is commonly called, was built about 1806. It stands just north of Spring Place and is said to be the oldest house in the State. It is certainly one of the oldest in North Georgia. The brick were burned near King's Spring, and mortar was made by tramping mud with mules and oxen. It has been said that Vann had the brick sent over from England, and that the Indians carried them on their backs front Savannah. This was unnecessary, as well as unreasonable, as the best brick clay was on every hand.
Vann's Quarter, as it was called, was located on Mill Creek. He owned a large tract of land and had a great number of slaves. He often had as many as twenty or thirty plows running in one field. In an old court record may be found an injunction against Wm. N. Bishop forbidding him to trespass upon twenty-three specified lots of land—the property of Joseph Vann.
Rev. W. J. Cotter, of Newnan, Ga., is perhaps the only person living who has a personal knowledge of this period of Murray's history. It is through his kindness that many of the most interesting and reliable incidents have been saved, to future generations. (The reader is referred to a series of articles by Rev. Cotter in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, which appeared during the year 1910.) He lived in Murray from 1832 until 1838. He remembers Joseph Vann as the builder of the Vann House. He says: "He (Joseph Vann) was six feet six inches tall and a man of wealth, fond of horses and racing. I saw him in 1833. His negro quarter was three miles out, at Mill Creek. The brick house was made of good material, planned by a skilled architect and the work was done by a master builder. This magnificent residence was the equal of any in the civilized portion of the State and there was not another like it from the Chattahoochee to the Tennessee river. Joseph Vann left it in 1834. The government had enrolling agents there and all the natives who accepted the terms received ample pay for all their improvements." The house is still in a good state of preservation and is owned and occupied by Mr. Dee Kemp.
The Moravian Mission. About 1817 two Moravian missionaries, Rev. Abraham Steener and Rev. George Byhon, came to Vann, as the trading station was now called. They began their labors in teaching the red man the truths of civilization and Christianity. Charles Hucks is said to have been the first convert. They erected buildings. The mission school stood just a few rods east of Lucy Hill Institute, Spring Place. They did well and prospered greatly until the trouble between the whites and Indians came. They then went elsewhere. The old mission building stood until after the war, when Mr. I,em Jones tore it down.
Vann's children attended this school. Prof. Humphrey Posey was one of the early teachers.
A Lock of Washington's Hair. An incident of more than local interest might be mentioned in this place (Christian Advocate, Feb. 17, 1910). Mrs. Anna R. Kliest Gamboll, wife of Rev. John Gambol!, of Spring Place, Ga., while teaching in Bethlehem, Pa., met Gen. George Washington and received permission to clip a lock of hair from his head. Before her death she gave it to the daughter of Abijah Congor, a Presbyterian missionary among the Cherokees. Miss Congor married Mr. Delazon W. Clark, also a missionary at Spring Place, 1823. The precious souvenir of the "Father of His Country" was finally enclosed in a handsome gold locket and placed in the Museum of the Moravian Historical Society, at Nazareth, Pa.
Murray County History 1911