330 HOUSTOUN COUNTY. 



The fruits are apples, pears, figs, plums, &c. 



This section of the State is rich in flowers : the fringe- 

 tree, the silk-weed, trumpet-flower, and many others. 



Climate, Diseases. — This county is as healthy as most 

 parts of Georgia similarly located. The season of 1847 was 

 very wet, and there was much sickness among the inhabitants. 

 In fact, all the sickness for the ten previous years would not equal 

 that of this year. The diseases most common are bilious and 

 intermittent fevers. The instances of longevity are the follow- 

 ing : — Simpson Chance died at 90 ; Thomas Dozier at 84 ; 

 Aaron Low at 80; Mrs. Ellen Dupree, 83. 



Early Settlers. — Howell Cobb, David Clark, Allen Wig- 

 gins, Rev. J. Fulwood, Heardy Hunter, John Hardy, Wm. 

 Smith, Robert Saunders. 



Name. — The Houstouns are among the most ancient and 

 reputable families in Georgia. The name often occurs in the 

 history of our State, when it was under the direction of the 

 Trustees under the royal Government, and after it had in com- 

 mon with the other colonies declared itself independent. A 

 Dr. William Houstoun was employed, as early as 1732, to col- 

 lect plants for the colony of Georgia ; and the public garden 

 in Savannah was indebted to him for many tropical plants 

 which he had obtained in the West Indies. Sir Patrick Hous- 

 toun was a prominent man under the royal government, being 

 Register of Grants, and one of the Counsellors, when John 

 Reynolds was Governor of Georgia. John Houstoun, a son of 

 Sir Patrick Houstoun, in honour of whom this county is named, 

 was among the earliest and most zealous advocates of the co- 

 lonies. On the 14th of July, 1774, a notice appeared in the 

 Georgia Gazette, published in the city of Savannah, calling 

 upon the inhabitants of the province to assemble, for the pur- 

 pose of taking into consideration the oppressions of the colo- 

 nies, to which was affixed the name of Mr. Houstoun, associa- 

 ted with those of N. W. Jones, George Walton, and Archibald 

 Bulloch. Pursuant to this call, a number of the citizens, not 

 only of Savannah, but of several distant parishes, convened, 

 and after nominating John Glenn, Esquire, Chairman, they 

 appointed a committee of thirty gentlemen to prepare and re- 

 port resolutions to be recommended to the whole province for 



