From the DILLARD = ANNUAL,=20 Volume 5; January, 1998, pages 4-8.

Dillards and Johnsons, Early Alabama Pioneers,

By Hugh S. Johnson

Copyright =A9 1998 = by Hugh S.=20 Johnson.

I can't think of a more delightful spot than Dillard, Ga. today. I'm = honored=20 to be a part of this family reunion.=20

I would like to share a little background on the events leading up to = my=20 presence here today. During the past couple of years, I have had = occasion to=20 sell some timber. To accomplish those sales to my best advantage, I = called upon=20 Barnard Malcolm Dillard (who we fondly call "Chick") to help me. He and = Mrs.=20 Dillard were residing in my hometown of Fairburn at the time, and Chick = is known=20 as the best professional timber man anywhere. During the course of our = business=20 relationship, I probably bored Chick to tears with stories about my = family in=20 their early days in Alabama. I also told him that in doing some = genealogical=20 research certain Dillard names kept cropping up.=20

When Chick asked me to come up here to share some of this information = with=20 you, I replied that everyone here would have vastly more knowledge about = the=20 Dillards than I have. Chick replied, "yes, that's true, but come on up = anyway."=20 I believe he invited me because he just likes to hear a flatland version = of=20 history occasionally. Anyway, here goes.=20

I have focused upon happenings in early Alabama because that's where = both my=20 maternal and paternal ancestors wound up. I have also found that some = Dillards=20 were also key players in this early Alabama scenario.=20

The first territory in Alabama was acquired about 1814 following the = Creek=20 Indian Wars at which time the military strength of the Creek Nation was = broken=20 by United States troops under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of = Horseshoe=20 Bend on the Talapoosa River in Talapoosa County, Alabama. The Federal = Government=20 maintains a military park at this site today.=20

Immigration into Alabama started soon after the Creek Indian War, and = the=20 Dillard family was apparently represented in Alabama very early by a = female=20 member. The Rev. George E. Brewer, in his 1832 History of Coosa = County,=20 Alabama, which I found in=20

Begin page 5 = of the:=20 DILLARD ANNUAL, Vol. 5, Jan., 1998, Copyright =A9 1998 by = Hugh S.=20 Johnson.

the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, writes as = follows:=20

"Among the earliest settlers of Coosa County, one of its public = spirited men=20 was Capt. Reuben Jordan. If not himself born in Virginia, his family = were=20 Virginians claiming descent from Pocahontas, the Princess of the = Powhatans, the=20 savior of Capt. John Smith.=20

In 1818 Reuben moved from South Carolina to Montgomery County below = Wetumpka=20 bringing his wife, a Miss Dillard with the children, the Negroes and a = good many=20 Negroes of his uncle Elmore Jordan for whom he was to make a crop = preparatory to=20 the future coming of his uncle to Alabama.=20

By his first wife, Miss Dillard, he had five children: John A., James = A.,=20 Lucinda P., Mary E., and Pocahontas. John A. Became a prominent = physician in=20 Alabama and moved to Texas before the Civil War where he added to his = medical=20 reputation. He left a son and two daughters."=20

One year after the Jordans moved to the state, Alabama became a part = of the=20 Union but its geographic configuration was nothing like it is today = since most=20 of the Eastern part of Alabama was still in the possession of the Creek = Indians.=20

In 1832 at Cusseta (now in Chambers County directly west of West = Point,=20 Georgia) negotiations were entered into with the Creeks to cede to the = United=20 States all of their land East of the Mississippi River in exchange for = land in=20 present day Oklahoma.=20

Time does not permit me to go into all of the fighting and treachery = which=20 took place on both sides leading up to this point. Suffice it to say = that the=20 native American naturalistic way of life was doomed from the outset when = it was=20 confronted and finally engulfed by the structured economy and technology = of the=20 European immigrants to these shores.=20

The final act leading to the removal of the Creek Indians to the West = was=20 accomplished in 1832 by their chiefs at Washington in the presence of = the=20 following Georgians and Alabamians: William R. King, C.C. Clay, John = Tipton,=20 William Wilkins, Samuel Bell, John Crowell, and John Hunt Broadnax. A = daughter=20 of John H. Broadnax, Rebecca, is my Great, great, great grandmother.=20

This Washington Treaty of 1832 gave to Alabama all of that part = embraced in=20 the counties of Coosa, Talladega, Calhoun, Etowah, Cleburne, Tallapoosa, = Randolph, Chambers, Lee, Russell, Barbour, Bullock, Macon, and Clay. = This was a=20 new Alabama with its present geographic configuration.=20

After the final Treaty of Removal in 1832 the Federal Government = provided for=20 a survey of all of the newly acquired Alabama lands dividing the lands = into=20 townships and ranges. Each township and range has 36 sections. Each = section is=20 one mile square.=20

Begin page 6 = of the:=20 DILLARD ANNUAL, Vol. 5, Jan., 1998, Copyright =A9 1998 by = Hugh S.=20 Johnson.

Under this treaty, each Indian head of household was granted by the = Federal=20 Government about 300 acres which they were free to sell. The land not = granted to=20 the Indians was sold at public auction at the land office in the = district in=20 which the lands were located, with the notable exception of special = military=20 reserves set aside for military land bounties and salt works given to = the State.=20 All public land acquired under the Treaty of 1832 was sold at public = auction.=20

Ruth Royal Crump the present historian of Chambers County, Alabama = has=20 diligently copied every original land sales transaction which took place = in=20 Chambers County. She has published these transactions in a book = entitled, The=20 Original Tract Book for Chambers County.=20

This book lists the following transactions involving persons named = Dillard:=20

In Township 21, Range 25, Sections 29 and 35, George W. Dillard = purchased at=20 auction in 1836 478 acres and in the same year Samuel Morrell and = Lorenzo D.=20 Dillard purchased 40 Acres.=20

In Township 22, Range 25, Sections 28, 31, and 33, Lorenzo D. Dillard = and a=20 person known variously as Samuel Morrell and Lemuel Morrell purchased = together=20 238 acres in 1838.=20

Additionally, Lorenzo D. Dillard was awarded a grant of 39.66 1/2 = acres from=20 the Federal Government for his service as a private soldier in Capt. = Young's=20 Company of Alabama Volunteers in the Florida War against the Seminoles. = This was=20 in 1852.=20

In 1840 George W. Dillard purchased from E-Far-Emarthle or E-Molly (a = Creek=20 Chief) 320 acres.=20

Nathaniel Dillard in December of 1834 purchased 160 acres in Township = 23=20 North; Range 26 East, Section 23. This makes him one of the earliest = purchasers.=20

I was interested to find that adjoining the land of Nathaniel, = Robert, James=20 S., John, Jabez, and William Johnson purchased altogether about 1000 = acres=20 between 1834 and 1839. James S. Johnson Was my great, great grandfather. = The=20 lands of Nathaniel Dillard and the Johnsons was situated around = Macedonia=20 Baptist Church about four miles North of Lafayette, Alabama. I recently = visited=20 this community. The church is still active and it's still beautiful = land.=20

When the Johnsons and the Dillards purchased this land the Indians = were still=20 present. In 1836 there was an Indian uprising.=20

Governor George R. Gilmer, who was Governor of Georgia during this = era in his=20 book entitled Some Sketches of the First Settlers of Upper = Georgia=20 published in 1855, describes=20

Begin page 7 = of the:=20 DILLARD ANNUAL, Vol. 5, Jan., 1998, Copyright =A9 1998 by = Hugh S.=20 Johnson.

this uprising in Alabama when he and his wife visited relatives there in = 1836:=20

"In 1836 I left home in Lexington, Oglethorpe County for Alabama. = During my=20 absence I was nominated by the States-Rights Party as a candidate for = elector of=20 the President and Vice President of the United States. As we traveled = from=20 Columbus, Georgia toward Montgomery through the Creek Indians we found = them in=20 the greatest excitement on account of the near approach of the time for = their=20 removal from the country they occupied to the territories provided for = them=20 beyond the Mississippi and also by the great frauds practiced by the = whites in=20 purchasing the reservations secured to them by the terms of the Treaty = between=20 the Government and the Tribe. They were ready for murder and preparing = for war.=20 We found them drinking and carousing at every stage coach station on the = road. A=20 few miles beyond the village of Tuskegee we passed late in the evening = three=20 Indian males standing by the side of the road in a deep hollow and near = a swamp=20 with rifles in their hands. I saw from their look that the devil was in = them. I=20 requested my wife not to look back or show any concern, then we drove as = fast as=20 possible. That night a family of white people living close by were = murdered by=20 the Indians. Another group of travelers by stage out of Montgomery were = fired=20 upon. They cut the horses from the stages and fled on their bare backs. = The=20 Indians burnt the stages and the baggage they did not want."=20

If it sounds like the wild west - it was!=20

Moving forward in time, my great, great grandfather, James S. = Johnson, didn't=20 remain in Alabama very long before selling out and moving to Texas. = Quite a few=20 settlers in Chambers County did likewise about this time. In addition to = the=20 Indian uprising in 1836, farm prices crashed in 1837.=20

But things began to improve. Governor Gilmer writes about the lure of = Texas=20 in his book. He writes:=20

"one of my Georgia relatives couldn't resist the temptations of the = rich=20 lands in Alabama where he acquired a large tract of land of the greatest = fertility, and made money beyond example. His land increased in value = until he=20 was offered $10 an acre for it. He heard that land of equal value and = production=20 could be purchased in Texas for $.25 per acre. He left his home and = family to=20 search for land in Texas then inhabited by Spaniards and Indians and was = the=20 receptacle of all sorts of robbers and cutthroats. This money madness = was so=20 contagious in Alabama that I overheard my carriage driver offering to = bet=20 another driver $40,000."=20

James A. Michener writes further about this Texas mania in his book = The=20 Eagle and the Raven. He writes: "Davy Crockett a Tennessee Whig, = after=20 serving three terms in the National Congress refused to kowtow to the = dictates=20 of his fellow Tennessean President Andrew Jackson a Democrat. His fiery=20 independence cost him his seat in Congress. Upon returning home he told = the=20 voters "You may all go to hell, I'm going to Texas." And like=20

Begin page 8 = of the:=20 DILLARD ANNUAL, Vol. 5, Jan., 1998, Copyright =A9 1998 by = Hugh S.=20 Johnson.

others of that time who had experienced defeat, he lit out for wild = adventures=20 then available in "Texas", abandoning his family."=20

Crockett was killed along with 185 others (mostly from the southern = states)=20 in the Alamo. This happened in 1836.=20

My great, great grandfather, James S. Johnson, and his wife Elizabeth = Ann and=20 Thomas Johnson didn't remain long in Texas. While fighting with the = armed forces=20 of the Republic of Texas, he was seriously injured. With their two sons, = Joseph=20 Jerimiah and Thomas Layfayette, they returned to Coosa County Alabama = and=20 settled near my grandmother's people who by this time were operating a = rather=20 large slave generated cotton operation in Coosa County, near a community = named=20 Equality.=20

Moving quite a bit further ahead in time to the War between the Union = and the=20 Confederacy, my great grandfather, Joseph Jerimiah, was 22 years old. In = 1862 he=20 enlisted in the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers, a cavalry unit of the = Confederate=20 Army. He served until wounded and captured in November of 1864 near=20 Sandersville, Georgia where General Joseph Wheeler and his meager = cavalry forces=20 were pitted against Sherman's 160,000 plus army marching to the sea. My = great=20 grandfather spent the last year of the war in the notorious camp for = Confederate=20 prisoners at Point Lookout, Maryland. He survived and returned to = Alabama.=20

During the war and after the war my great grandfather cherished the=20 friendship of three boys who served with him in the 53rd Alabama. They = were:=20 Louis Allen, Jim Davidson, and Henry Dillard. This information was = supplied to=20 me by my great aunt.=20

I have tried to get more information about them from the Confederate = military=20 files of the Alabama Department of Archives but have so far been = unsuccessful=20 since the muster rolls for the 53rd Alabama are missing.=20

The story goes that Louis Allen was mortally wounded at the Battle of = Brices'=20 Cross Road in northern Mississippi. Before dying he made my great = grandfather=20 promise that he would name his first son for him. Well, his first son = was a=20 daughter and they named her Lou Allen Johnson. I am told also that he = remained=20 in contact with Davidson and Henry Dillard throughout his life. If = anyone can=20 shed any further light on Henry Dillard, I wish you would.=20

In summary and in closing, the journeys of our families are amazingly = parallel. I take great pride in knowing that families like ours have = made a=20 substantial contribution toward making this the great country that it = is.=20

I would certainly appreciate the opportunity to learn more about the = Dillards=20 I have mentioned this morning. If you can help me, please do. I greatly=20 appreciate this opportunity to meet each one of you and share in this = great=20 reunion.=20

End of: "Dillards = and Johnsons,=20 Early Alabama Pioneers," By Hugh S. Johnson,
DILLARD ANNUAL, = Vol. 5;=20 Jan., 1998, pages 4-8

The DILLARD = ANNUAL - =A9 - is=20 a non-profit journal of Dillard family history published annually by the = Dillard=20 Family Association beginning January 1, 1992. All individual articles = are the=20 property of each writer. John M. Dillard, compiling editor, Post Office = Box 91,=20 Greenville, South Carolina, 29602. E-mail John M. Dillard at: dillard@netside.com.=20

DILL= ARD=20 ANNUAL Table of Contents =B7 =B7 =B7 Dillard = Family=20 Association =B7 =B7 =B7 Top=20 of this article=20