FORSYTH COUNTY. 255 



Religious Sects, Education. — Baptists, Missionary and 

 Anti-Missionary ; Presbyterians of old and new- school, Metho- 

 dists, Episcopalians, Universalists and Bible Christians. There 

 are 15 Baptist churches, 18 Methodist, and 2 Presbyterian 

 in this county. More attention is paid to education than for- 

 merly. There are about 30 schools in the county. 



Climate, Diseases, Longevity. — The climate is as healthy 

 as any portion of Cherokee Georgia. Typhoid fever, pleu- 

 risies, &c., are the most common diseases. The cases of 

 longevity are the following : Mr. Barnett, 80 ; Mr. Rogers, 

 80 ; Mr. Hill, 80 ; John Samples, 80; Mr. Wills, 90 ; has voted 

 for every President. Several other cases occur, but our limits 

 will not permit us to name them. 



Minerals. — Forsyth lies in the gold region, and it is be- 

 lieved that gold can be found in almost every branch in the 

 county. Sawney's mountain, near Cumming, contains an 

 abundance of gold, and indeed it may be regarded as an im- 

 mense mine of gold, Strickling's mines have produced finely, 

 and in various parts of the county the precious metal exists. 

 Silver and copper are found in several places. Two or three 

 diamonds have been found. Iron, talc, and many of the pre- 

 cious stones, such as the ruby and garnet. We cannot afford 

 space to dwell largely on the mineral resources of this section 

 of the State. They are inexhaustible, and can never be fully 

 known until our Legislature orders a geological survey of the 

 State. 



Mounds, and other Objects of Interest. — On Mr, 

 Rogers's plantation, 12 miles south of Cumming, on the road 

 to Lawrenceville, are several small mounds. On the road 

 from Canton to Dahlonega, 10 miles northwest from Cumming, 

 is a very remarkable rock. It is an unhewn mass of granite, 

 eight and a half feet long, and two and a half feet wide. It is 

 three-sided, with irregular converging points, upon which are 

 characters, seventeen of them varying in shape. The largest 

 circles are eight inches in diameter. From its appearance it 

 must jiave been wrought at a very remote period. The de- 

 signs are very regular, and it is probable that they were 

 executed by the same race of people who constructed the 

 mounds in this and other sections of the State. What the 



