|
Other Information:
The Dec. 24, 1821 act organizing Dooly County provided that until
the inferior court designated a county seat, court sessions initially
be held in the house of Isaac Jones (Ga. Laws 1821, p. 44). A
Dec. 10, 1823 act made the house of John Goldsmith temporary
courthouse until a courthouse could be built (Ga. Laws 1823,
p. 190). An act passed Dec. 20, 1824 continued Goldsmith's house
as the temporary courthouse (Ga. Laws 1824, p. 140). At some
point, a wooden courthouse was built in Drayton. In Dec. 1841,
the legislature moved the county seat from Drayton back to Berrien,
which it renamed Vienna. The legislation directed Dooly County
officials to make the move by Feb. 1, 1842 -- so presumably a
courthouse was quickly erected in early 1842. This wooden building
burned in 1847 and was replaced by another wooden courthouse
in 1849. This structure was later replaced by the current courthouse
in 1892 (see
early photo). The courthouse was renovated in 1963 and again
in the late 1980s.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Dooly County was created on May 15, 1821 by an act of the General
Assembly (Ga. Laws 1821 Extra. Session, p. 3). [Click here
to read the legal description of Dooly County's original boundaries.]
Dooly, Houston, Monroe, Fayette, and Henry County were created
in that order by the Georgia
Land Lottery Act of 1821, which was enacted at a special
session of the General Assembly four months after the Creek Indians
ceded lands between the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers (see
map) on Jan. 8, 1821 in the first Treaty of Indian Springs. Dooly County was organized by an act of
the legislature approved Dec. 24, 1821 (Ga. Laws 1821, p. 44).
Later, portions of Dooly County were used to create the following
counties: Worth (1853), Wilcox (1857), Crisp (1905), and Turner
(1905).
Georgia's 48th county was named for Col. John Dooly (1740-1780),
who commanded a regiment at the the Battle of Kettle Creek in
1779 and was killed at his home by Tories in 1780.
Click here
for more information on Dooly County history.
County Seat:
The Dec. 24, 1821 act organizing Dooly County authorized the
justices of the inferior court to select the location of the
county seat. Apparently, no action was taken by the inferior
court, for an act approved Dec. 25, 1822 named William T. Smith,
Asa Richardson, Daniel McNear, Reuben Mannen, and Ezekiah Fountain
as commissioners to pick a temporary site for the county seat,
"which shall be as near central as convenience will admit"
(Ga. Laws 1822, p. 122). Until such site was selected, the law
directed that Dooly County courts hold their sessions at the
house of Isaac Jones. What happened next is not clear -- but
on Dec. 10, 1823, the legislature named Blasingain Pollet, William
Hillard, Thomas E. Ward, Thomas Cobb, and Littleberry Richardson
as new commissioners to select a county seat (Ga. Laws 1823,
p. 190). Until a courthouse was erected, Dooly County courts
were to meet at the house of John Goldsmith. Again, there is
uncertainty about what happened next -- but apparently the commissioners
could not agree on the location of the county seat. On Dec. 20,
1824, the legislature named five new commissioners -- James Powell,
Etheldred Farcloth, Moses Ramsey, John Harvard, and William Slaid
-- to select the site for the county seat "as near the centre
of said county as convenience will admit of, paying due regard
to that part of the county which is most inhabited or likely
to be so. . . ." (Ga. Laws 1824, p. 140). Until such site
was selected, county elections and courts would continue to be
held at the house of John Goldsmith.
On Dec. 26, 1826, the legislature designated land lot 57 in
the seventh district as the permanent county seat of Dooly County
and directed that the site be known as Berrien (Ga. Laws 1826,
p. 93). The name honored John
Berrien (1781-1856), who at the time represented Georgia
in the U.S. Senate. On Dec. 23, 1833, the legislature changed
the name of Berrien to Drayton (Ga. Laws 1833, p. 322). William
Drayton, a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, had served
as chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee until his
term ended in March 1833.
A group of Dooly County residents were unhappy with Drayton's
location and signed a petition asking that the county seat be
moved to a site on the Flint River. On Dec. 25, 1835, the legislature
authorized Dooly County's inferior court to move the county seat
"to the most suitable situation on [the] Flint river, in
the ninth district of said county" (Ga. Laws 1835, p. 260).
The legislation also directed that if the county seat was moved,
the new county seat continue to be called Drayton. Subsequently,
the county seat was moved to a site near -- but not on -- the
Flint River. On Dec. 30, 1836, the legislature confirmed the
new Drayton as permanent county seat and incorporated it as a
town (Ga. Laws 1836, p. 272).
On Dec. 23, 1839, criticism over the location of Drayton led
the legislature to appoint William Smith, David Scarboro, Joel
Dorsey, James Oliver, Thomas Cobb, John Eubanks, and John Crumpler
as commissioners to select a new seat of government for Dooly
County -- one "which shall be as near the centre of the
county as convenience of water and health of situation will admit
(Ga. Laws 1839, p. 213). The act further directed that the new
county seat be named Glascock.
Nevertheless, Drayton continued to serve as county seat. On
Dec. 22, 1840, the legislature amended the 1839 legislation by
giving the authority to select a new county seat to the Dooly
County inferior court (Ga. Laws 1840, p. 149). Moreover, any
change would have to be approved by Dooly County voters in a
public referendum. Finally, if a majority of voters favored removal,
the new county seat was to be named Centreville.
If a referendum was held, it failed -- for on Dec. 11, 1841,
the General Assembly moved the county seat from Drayton back
to Berrien, and renamed the town Vienna (Ga. Laws 1841, p. 70).
Presumably, the name was based on the famous Austrian city of
the same name. On Feb. 18, 1854, the legislature incorporated
Vienna (Ga. Laws 1853-54, p. 273).
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 397.2 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 60th out of 159
Population:
Dooly County
City of Vienna
|
