EARLY COUNTY. 219 



20 from Blakely, 35 from Porter's Ferry, and 55 from New- 

 ton. 



Climate, Diseases, Longevity. — This section of our State, 

 except in the hme-land valleys, is decidedly healthy. There 

 are no diseases peculiar to the county. Pneumonia sometimes 

 occurs, but no cases of consumption have ever been known. 

 Among the oldest inhabitants were Mrs. Roberts, who is said to 

 have been over 100 at the time of her death ; Mr. Dill, Mr. 

 Z. Cowart, and Mrs. Rebecca Collier, over 80 ; there are now 

 jiving Mr. and Mrs. Golding, both near 90 ; and Mr. and Mrs. 

 Yeldell, both over 90. 



Early Settlers. — Benjamin Collier, the Sheffields, Judge 

 Bush, Joseph and Richard Grimsley, the Hayes family, Jesse 

 Brown, Alsey Harris, Robert Jackson, the Porter family, and 

 others. 



Face of the Country, Nature of the Soil. — The face 

 of the country is gently undulating, almost without an eleva- 

 tion worthy of being called a hill, and two-thirds covered with 

 forests of the tallest long-leaf pine. The surface is not a white 

 sand, but is largely mixed with oxyde of iron underlain by red 

 clay. On the Chattahoochee river, and several large creeks i 

 which drain the country, there are tracts of rich lands with oak 

 and hickory growth, the product of which in cotton may be 

 estimated from 800 to 1,200 lbs. per acre, in corn from 16 to 

 35 bushels, wheat 6 to 12 bushels, and the production in oats 

 is equal probably to any lands in Georgia. There are some 

 excellent pine lands. 



Religious Sects, Education. — The Baptists are the most 

 numerous. There are Episcopal and Reformed Methodists. 

 Education has recently engaged more attention than formerly, 

 although the number of schools is still small. 



Mills. — Saw-mills 6, grist-mills 11. 



Mineral Springs. — On the Chattahoochee, on the planta- 

 tion of Mrs. Glenn, there is a spring impregnated with the pro- 

 perties of sulphur. 



Minerals, Rocks. — No primitive rocks are found. Con- 

 cretions of iron, fossils, marl, and such other formations as be- 

 long to southwestern Georgia. 



Productions, — Cotton, corn, sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, 



