stallings island – Descendants of Rebellion

James Stallings: Revolutionary War Veteran

sherriecork — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 02:41:14 +0000

© Sherrie T. Cork
Please cite as:
Cork, Sherrie T. “James Stallings: Revolutionary War Veteran” Web blog post. Descendants of Rebellion. 21 August 2016.
In my last post about Stallings Island, I promised to tell you more about James Stallings and his neighbors. Well, I got sidetracked researching Revolutionary War bounty land grants, and I sure learned a lot in the process of putting this research together! A perfect example of how learning about and understanding historical context will help you connect records to people. In fact, this is entirely a digression into Georgia’s bounty land grant process and how I figured out who James Stallings the grantee was.
Because I started by researching land ownership, I had tracked down all of the headright and bounty land documents for James Stallings viewable on FamilySearch.org. The images in this collection were filmed from the collection at the Georgia State Archives and contain certificates, warrants, petitions and declarations associated with both Revolutionary War bounty land and land obtained on purchase or headrights from 1783-1909. Documents pertaining to a particular name are in one folder with no distinction made between people with the same name. In other words, the compilers didn’t separate one John Smith from another John Smith. Therefore, I couldn’t have concluded that there was only one James Stallings who received Revolutionary War bounty land in Georgia simply because there was one folder for James Stallings. Also, the folders in this collection may not contain the grants and plats associated with the warrants, so it is important to locate the grants and plats to confirm that land was actually granted, meaning ownership was transferred to the person for whom the warrant was issued. That was the case with the James Stallings folder. I enlisted the help of Don Evans, a researcher in Georgia, who located all of the state land grants and associated plats for James Stallings at the Georgia Archives.
I then had records for Lieutenant James, Captain James, Colonel James and citizen James. Was this just one guy? Or were there four men in Georgia named James Stallings? Interestingly, and very fortunately, there are several original documents surviving that were signed by James Stallings that also helped me determine just how many Jameses there were who received land grants in Georgia.

But first, let’s look at how the land grant process worked. There have been numerous books and articles published about the post-war land grants in Georgia. The most significant obstacle to this research was finding the most accurate information. In 1954, Alex M. Hitz published an article in the Georgia Historical Quarterly detailing Georgia’s land grant process following the Revolution.[1] Mr. Hitz begins his article with this sentence: “Very little that is authentic has been written about the land grants given by the State of Georgia immediately following the close of the American Revolution, and many erroneous ideas have developed during the years since.”[2]
Lloyd L. Bockstruck published his work Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants in 1998, which also explains the Georgia bounty land grant process.[3] Both authors point out issues with the process, such as the Yazoo Land Fraud, the issuance of duplicative warrants and erroneous notations made on documents years later. Hitz also points out that Lucian Lamar Knight’s Georgia’s Roster of the Revolution[4] identifies as a soldier every man for whom land was surveyed for certain acreage amounts, which is incorrect because some land was granted to assignees who were not soldiers.

Hitz and Bockstruck both include a chart showing the acreage granted per class, but they don’t agree. Bockstruck’s work attempts to provide a corrected roster of war bounty land grantees, but there appear to mistakes in this work as well. Bockstruck lists two entries for James Stallings in Georgia as follows:
“Stallings, James. Ga. Lieutenant, 21 Apr. 1784. 402 ½ acres.
Stallings, James. Ga. Refugee. 24 Dec. 1783. 250 acres.”[5]

Given all of this conflicting information, I’ll try my best to summarize the important points of Georgia’s process.
According to Bockstruck, the offering of land in exchange for military service induced men to serve and to win. Lands were not awarded until the war was won. The land granted was on the frontier, which installed military veterans on land still occupied by hostile peoples. Veterans would join local militias after the war. In Georgia, which was still sparsely populated, the land grants would induce men from other states to join Georgia’s forces. Georgia granted land in specified acreage assigned to class and rank, including refugees from the state and citizens.
There was a five-step process to obtaining a grant of land in Georgia:

Obtained certificate from commanding officer and submitted to Executive Council

Governor issued numbered certificate
Executive Council issued numbered warrant with instructions to surveyor
Surveyor surveyed land and made plat
Secretary of State issued grant after filing fees were paid[6]

There are some elements of the process that are very important to point out. First, a person could qualify for a grant under more than one class. Second, vouchers were presented to the Executive Council for Franklin and Washington County, but the land could be granted in any of the other eight Georgia counties that existed at the time (Wilkes, Burke, Richmond, Effingham, Chatham, Glynn, Camden, Liberty). Third, only the governor’s numbered certificate indicated the status of the recipient. Fourth, 15% was added to the acreage on the warrants if taxes were waived. So a warrant might issue for 250 acres, but the grant would be for 287.5 acres.[7]

Now let’s have a look at the documents in the James Stallings folder on FamilySearch. In the following table, the documents in the FamilySearch collection have a number in the # column. The number does not indicate the order in which they are found in the folder. I have grouped documents together that pertain to each warrant and arranged each set in chronological order. The documents in this table without a number in the # column are the plats and grants that were not in the FamilySearch folder.

#	Date	Description	County
1.	2/2/1784	Certificate of Col. Elijah Clarke[8]	Wilkes
2.	3/25/1784	Certificate No. 1068 for 250 acres per certificate of Col. Elijah Clarke; to James Stallings “as a citizen”; “doubtful” written on the top left corner[9]
3.	12/24/1783	Governor’s Certificate No. 6 for 250 acres certified by Col. James Jackson; “dismissed(?) as belonging to Col. Jackson’s Legion”[10]
4.	5/17/1784	Warrant for 402 1/2 acres; note: “altered to 690 acres on a reconsideration of Col. Jackson’s certificate”[11]	Washington
5.	2/21/1784	Commanding officer’s certificate, certifying service as refugee; “as a lieutenant and continued as such in my regiment until our return to this state”[12]
6.	2/24/1784	Governor’s Certificate No. 309 to “Lieutenant James Stallings as a refugee.” per certificate of William Candler. 250 acres is changed on this certificate to be 350 and a parenthetical says “say three hundred & fifty acres”[13]
7.	4/6/1784	Petition for Warrant of 690 acres; cover sheet says granted as lieutenant in refugeeship 350 acres + 15%, 21^st April 1784[14]	Washington
8.	4/27/1784	Declaration by James that he owned 16 slaves and never received a grant of land before or since the Revolution, except by purchase.[15]	Richmond
9.	5/17/1784	Warrant for 690 acres[16]	Washington
	6/6/1784	Plat for 690 acres on Oconee River[17]	Washington
	9/30/1784	Grant for 690 acres, bounded by Oconee River, Jeremiah Buggs and vacant land[18]	Washington
10.	5/17/1784	Warrant “on purchase” for 1000 acres[19]	Washington
	6/7/1784	Surveyor Plat for 1,000 acres on the Oconee River, bounded by James’ other land and vacant land[20]	Washington
	9/30/1784	Grant for 1000 acres, bounded by Oconee River, James’ other land and vacant land[21]	Washington
		Warrant missing
	2/20/1785	Plat showing Capt. James Stallings’ 1,000 acres bounded by Maj. Richard Call, James’ land on the Savannah River at the mouth of Red’s Creek, Pace’s land and others[22]	Richmond
	2/22/1786	Grant for 1000 acres, bounded by Call’s land, Wells’s land, Coopers and Stallings’ land and Pace’s land[23]	Richmond
11.	9/6/1784	Warrant for 150 acres, in lieu of part of 200 acres warrant issued to Isaac Rasor 4/5/1784; to be laid out joining his own lands [cover sheet says “Cert. Issued”][24]	Richmond
	10/10/1784	Plat by William Sims for 150 acres, shows Kiokee Creek running through South edge of property (refers to warrant of Charles Crawford of 9/6/1784)[25]	Richmond
	10/13/1784	Plat by William Sims showing 23 acres on the mainland and the balance of 50 acres split between seven small islands (shown in my last blog)(refers to warrant of Charles Crawford of 9/6/1784)[26]	Richmond
	1/15/1785	Grant for 150 acres bounded by James’ other land and vacant land[27]	Richmond
	2/15/1785	Grant for 50 acres and seven small islands, bounded by Savannah River, Downs’ land, Dodson’s land and Joseph Leslie’s land[28]	Richmond
12.	7/3/1786	Warrant for 5000 acres, in lieu of old warrant in Wilkes Co. dated 8/4/1786; Neville’s Creek and Ogeechie River[29]	Effingham
	12/9/1786	Surveyor Plat for 5,000 acres bounded by Widow Bowen, Elijah Bowen, Jonathan Cochran, Luke Pridgen, Ann Mary Lanier, Lewis Lanier and vacant land[30]	Effingham (later Screven)
	4/26/1787	Grant for 5000 acres, bounded by Widow Bowen, Elijah Bowen, Jonathan Cochran, Luke Pridgen, Ann Mary Lanier, Lewis Lanier and vacant land[31]	Effingham (later Screven)
13.	4/30/1799	Comptroller General’s Office, Louisville; certificate for “Col. James Stallings” audit of claim for check in 1795 for 150 pounds[32]	No county

The first set of documents with blue text all seem to pertain to what is ultimately one grant for 690 acres on the Oconee River in Washington County. 690 acres is the total of 402.5 (350 + 15%) and 287.5 (250 + 15%). According to Hitz, 690 acres is also the amount that captains in the Georgia Line received. However, there is no governor’s certificate that identifies James’ status as a captain, and he was a member of the militia, not the Georgia Line (U.S. Continental Army). Notice certificate number 6 is for 250 acres (287.5 when 15% is added) and states “dismissed as to Jackson’s legion.” Document number 4 is a warrant for 402.5 acres (350 + 15%) that states the total of 690 acres would be granted “in reconsideration of Colonel Jackson’s certificate.”
The Georgia Historical Society has an original letter with James’ signature in their collection. I obtained a copy. In the letter Captain James Stallings wrote from Savannah to Lieut. Colonel James Jackson (who later became governor).[33] The letter is dated 24 July 1782. In this letter, Captain Stallings notifies his commander that he is returning home. This is his signature on that letter, followed by “Capt. GLD” (Captain of Georgia Light Dragoons.)

Document number 7 in the table above is a petition whereby James petitions for a warrant for 690 acres. The petition states “…your petitioner is entitled to six hundred & ninety acres of land for his services pursuant to the certificates hereunto annexed and that your petitioner is desirous of making up the said lands in the county of Washington.”[34] Note ‘certificates’ is plural. The petition is dated 6 April 1784. The note on the back of the petition states “granted as Lieut. in Refugeeship 350 +15, 21^st April 1784.” Interestingly, 350 acres does not appear on either Hitz’s or Bockstruck’s tables of bounty award amounts according to rank or class.
This is the signature on the original petition:

On 27 April 1784, James Stallings signed a declaration (document number 8) in Richmond County, stating that he was a citizen of Georgia and had 16 slaves. This is the signature on the declaration:

Therefore, I believe that James’ 690 acres was comprised of 287.5 acres granted to him as a citizen per certificate number 6 certified by Col. James Jackson, and 402.5 acres granted to him as a refugee lieutenant. Because James received a certificate as a refugee, we know that James was a resident of Georgia when he joined the fighting. He was not living in another state before the war.
After the war, in 1785, James was commissioned as colonel in the Richmond militia.[35] There are letters signed by James available at the Georgia Archives, wherein James requests ammunition for the Richmond militia.[36]
Here is the signature on one of these letters dated 21 June 1786. James signs as “Col. BRC” (1^st Battalion of Richmond County Militia).

All of the signatures certainly appear to belong to the same James Stallings, so it would seem that he applied for bounty land grants under the various classes for which he thought he would qualify (citizen and refugee lieutenant).

Documents 1 and 2 are certificates by Col. Elijah Clarke. Document 1 indicates Wilkes County. However, there is no warrant and no grant for land in Wilkes County for James Stallings. The language in the certificate is different that the language in Candler’s certificate and seems to indicate certification of the class of citizens who met the requirement to not “plunder or distress his neighbors.”[37] I believe this certificate likely pertains to the same James Stallings and may have been prepared in contemplation of Col. Clarke’s participation in the Yazoo Land Fraud.[38] Note the document number 12 warrant states that it is in lieu of an old warrant in Wilkes County. Is it possible this 5,000 acre parcel in Screven is the connected to the Wilkes County certificate? The warrant states that the old Wilkes County warrant is dated 4 August 1786. I haven’t found a Wilkes County warrant with the date of 4 August 1786. Also, as of this writing, I haven’t located any direct evidence to connect Colonel James Stallings to the land in Screven. A mystery to solve!

The 1,000 acre parcel granted in Richmond County is likely a headright grant. A head of a family could claim 100 acres plus 50 for each member of the family, including slaves, up to $1,000.[39] James’ declaration states he owned 16 slaves, but he doesn’t claim any other family members. Accordingly, he would be able to claim 900 acres, 100 acres short of the 1,000 grant. Another mystery to solve!

Document 11, and the corresponding grants and plats, is partly the Stallings Island parcel. The total land granted in this transaction was 200 acres, and the warrant was issued to Isaac Rasor 17 May 1784 and was for a total of 287.5 acres (250 +15%). James Stallings signed a petition for this land to be granted to himself. Was this an assignment of 200 acres of Isaac Rasor’s land? The 200 acres that was granted to Stallings was granted in two separate parcels: 50 acres, including 23 acres of islands in the Savannah River; and 100 acres on Kiokee Creek, which is about 8-10 miles upstream from the islands. This is the signature on the petition:

In conclusion, James Stallings received a total of 690 acres of Revolutionary War bounty land, 200 acres of Isaac Rasor’s bounty land and a grant of 1,000 acres via headrights. More research is needed to determine if the James Stallings who had the 5,000 acres in Screven County is our Colonel James Stallings.
(James Stallings purchased other land as well, but this post analyzed only the land he acquired from state land grants.)

As always, I welcome comments and corrections.

References Cited:
[1] Gary B. Mills, “Georgia Bounty Land Grants,” Georgia Historical Quarterly 38 (December 1954).
[2] Hitz, 1
[3] Bockstruck, Lloyd, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants, Ancestry.com (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996), x.
[4] Lucian Lamar Knight, Georgia’s Roster of the Revolution (Atlanta: Index Printing Co., 1920).
[5] Bockstruck, 500
[6] Bockstruck, xii
[7] Bockstruck, x
[8] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81PP-7P7?i=328&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[9] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1PP-7R7?i=320&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[10] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1PP-7TR?i=338&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[11] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81PP-7GZ?i=330&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[12] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1PP-7P4?i=334&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[13] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1PP-7RJ?i=332&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[14] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81PP-7L1?i=336&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016.), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[15] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1PP-7TT?i=339&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[16] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1PP-7T2?i=318&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[17] Georgia State Archives, “Georgia Colonial and Headright Plat Index, 1735-1866,” georgiaarchives.gov (http://vault.georgiaarchives.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/platindex/id/31090/rec/8: accessed 19 July 2016), entry for James Stallings, citing Georgia Colonial and Headright Plat Index, Vol. A, pg 192.
[18] Georgia Surveyor General, Register of Grants, 1784. Book EEE : pg. 145, James Stallings (30 September 1784); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2 ‐ 2280, Microfilm Drawer 52, Box 20; Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[19] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81PP-72B?i=324&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016.), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[20] Georgia Surveyor General Plats, Colonial Headright Book, 1779-1785. Book A : pg. 192, James Stallings (7 June 1784); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2‐2218, Microfilm Drawer 51, Box 18; Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[21] Georgia Surveyor General, Register of Grants, 1784. Book EEE : pg. 176, James Stallings (30 September 1784); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2‐2280, Microfilm Drawer 52, Box 20; Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[22] Crumpton Plats, “Richmond County, GA Plats,” crumptonplats.com (http://www.crumptonplats.com/ : accessed 6 June 2016), entry for Richard Call, plat number RI0378f.
[23] Georgia Surveyor General, Register of Grants, 1784-1785. Book III : pg. 476, James Stallings (22 February 1786); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2 ‐ 2283, Microfilm Drawer 52, Box 23, Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[24] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1PP-75F?i=326&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[25] Crumpton Plats, “Richmond County, GA Plats,” crumptonplats.com (http://www.crumptonplats.com/ : accessed 6 June 2016), entry for Richard Call, plat number RI0045f.
[26] Crumpton Plats, “Richmond County, GA Plats,” crumptonplats.com (http://www.crumptonplats.com/ : accessed 6 June 2016), entry for Richard Call, plat number RI0038f.
[27] Georgia Surveyor General, Register of Grants, 1784-1785. Book FFF : pg. 451, James Stallings (15 January 1785); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2‐2281, Microfilm Drawer 52, Box 21, Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[28] Georgia Surveyor General, Register of Grants, 1785. Book GGG (P. 1 ‐ 292) : pg. 20, James Stallings (15 February 1785); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2 ‐ 2281, Microfilm Drawer 52, Box 21, Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[29] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1PP-713?i=316&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[30] Georgia Surveyor General Plats, Colonial Headright Book, 1779-1785. Book A : pg. 192, James Stallings (9 December 1786); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2‐2222, Microfilm Drawer 51, Box 22; Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[31] Georgia Surveyor General, Register of Grants, 1787. Book NNN : pg. 274, James Stallings (26 April 1787); Georgia State Archives microfilm, GRG 2‐2285, Microfilm Drawer 52, Box 25; Georgia State Archives, Morrow.
[32] “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images, FamilySearch.org ( https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1PP-7YF?i=322&wc=M61W-42S%3A200723401%3Fcc%3D1914217&cc=1914217 : accessed 14 June 2016), James Stallings file, Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, Georgia State Archives.
[33] Capt. James Stallings (Savannah, Georgia) to Colonel James Jackson, letter, 24 July 1782; privately held by Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia, 2016, letter addressed to recipient.
[34] “James Stallings” file, Georgia Headright and Bounty Land Records, digital images, FamilySearch.org.
[35] Judge Folks Huxford, abstractor, Genealogical Material From Legal Notices in Early Georgia Newspapers (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 1989), 260.
[36] File II, Reference Services, RG 4-2-46, Georgia Archives
[37] Hitz, 5
[38] Our Georgia History (http://www.ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/Georgia_headright_grants : accessed 16 August 2016), “Georgia headright grants.:
[39] Julia Ford Smith, Slavery and Rice Culture in Low Country Georgia (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1985), 25.

Stallings: What’s in a name?

sherriecork — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 21:14:07 +0000

“Stallings is the name given to a set of material and behavioral traits that are believed to signify a discrete Late Archaic culture of the Southeastern United States.”[1]
Stallings is also the surname of my children and their paternal ancestors from South Carolina.
If you are reading this because you are researching Stallings genealogy, then you may have already tried to find out who in the heck Stallings Island was named after and whether or not you’re related to its namesake.

First, I’ll get to the punch line: The island wasn’t named after immigrant Nicholas Stallings, Sr., and this article probably won’t tell you how you are related to Nicholas Stallings, Sr., but if your Stallings ancestors lived in Georgia, you’ll want to stay tuned!

Since I’m in California, I had some help with this research. First from Wyck Knox, who used to own Stallings Island, and then from Pamela Aban, a genealogist in Columbia County, Georgia, and from Greg Stallings, one of my fellow truth seekers in Ohio.

I can’t remember how I found out about Stallings Island in the first place, but it must have been from a random hit after exhaustive Google searching when I first started looking for connections to Stallings ancestors in the South. With so little knowledge of the area, and being so far away, it was difficult to get all the dots connected at first. What I started with was Lucy Adam’s article “Stallings Island: Archaeology, Activism, Art” published in Augusta Magazine online. Then I found Stallings Island on GoogleMaps about eight miles upriver from Augusta, Georgia in Columbia County and learned that the current owner is The Archaeological Conservancy.

After I dug a little deeper, I discovered the buried treasure of truth and began to find the genealogical dots to connect.

According to Adams’ article, Stallings Island was “named for James Stallings, who was a local plantation owner.” Adams also explained that Stallings Island is the namesake of Stallings culture, and its associated artifacts such as Stallings pottery. Stallings Island is a registered historic landmark and a significant archaeological record of the people who lived on the North American continent thousands of years ago. The island was inhabited by two distinct groups: the first group were hunters and gatherers from the Piedmont region and lived on Stallings Island from about 4,500 to 4,000 years ago; the second occupation was from approximately 3,880 to 3,500 years ago, when it was abandoned. This period is referred to as the classic Stallings period. The Stallings people made the oldest pottery found in North America. Adams also says of Stallings Island that 4,000 years ago it was situated where water “ran over the shoals.” [2]

The first person known to have conducted substantial archaeological digs on Stallings Island is Charles C. Jones, Jr., who explored the island in the mid-1800s and published his work Monumental Remains of Georgia in 1861.[3] In it, Jones says this about the island:

“A mile and a half above the place [“The Wash above Warren’s Spring], where the Augusta canal takes its inception – near the middle of the Savannah River – is Stalling’s [sic] Island, forming one of that numerous and beautiful group of islets, known in the neighborhood, as ‘the thousand Isles’.”

Later, an expedition to Stallings Island was conducted by the Peabody Museum in 1929 and a detailed report was published by William H. Claflin, Jr. in 1931, complete with photos of artifacts.[4] More contemporary scholarship has been published by anthropologist Dr. Kenneth E. Sassaman, who has furthered the research and corrected errors in previous reports.[5]

Now back to whom the island was named after. My day job is in the legal field, so I’ve learned to question everything, including the statement in Adams’ article that the island was named after James Stallings. And Adams didn’t say James owned the island, right? So who did?

Starting with what I knew and working my way back, I was able to locate the most recent property transfer deeds online. (Some deeds in Columbia County, Georgia are searchable and viewable online at: https://www.gsccca.org/search.)

Stallings Island was purchased in 1969 by Wyckliffe (“Wyck”) A. Knox, Jr., Lelia D. Barrett and W. Hale Barret from John W. Ayers and Jack E. Ayers.[6] Knox gifted the island to the Archaeological Conservancy in 1998.[7] Adams’ article also states that Knox had found the original land grant for the island. Well, I thought, I need to talk to Wyck Knox! Mr. Knox was most helpful and gracious and obtained certified copies for me of the documents showing the original owner of Stallings Island. Genealogist Pamela Aban filled in most of the blanks with a couple of trips to the courthouse and she took some great photos of the island.

Now that I’ve worked my way back, I will show you what we found from the beginning.

A warrant for 150 acres of land was granted by the Court of Justices of Richmond County (Columbia County was formed in 1790) to James Stallings on 6 September 1784. The warrant was signed by Charles Crawford.[8]

A plat of a survey for James Stallings by William Sims was recorded 13 October 1784 in Richmond County, signed by Charles Crawford. The plat shows a parcel of 23 acres on the Georgia side of the Savannah River, and several nearby islands of varying acreage (“the thousand isles”), all together totaling 50 acres. This 50 acres appears to have been part of land previously surveyed for James Gray in 1774, who assents to the land being granted to James Stallings.[9] As you can see here, one island is called “Red’s Island” and another is called “Bennett’s Island.”

The next recorded document I have been able to locate is a deed recorded June 13, 1838 whereby James G. Stallings purchases the island from the heirs of William Whitcomb(e). The property is described as “being that portion of the River tract of the Estate of Notley Whitcomb dec’d that was assigned to William Whitcomb,” and there is a plat showing 70 acres on the mainland and two islands in the river. The islands are not named.

In 1846 James G. Stallings sold the island to William Moyer. In a deed recorded 16 November 1846, James G. Stallings granted “all that tract or parcel of land surrounded on all sides by the waters of the River Savannah lying in the county of Columbia aforesaid opposite the lower part of the plantation of the said James G. Stallings on the mainland in said last mentioned county containing eight acres more or less, bounded on all sides by the waters of the Savannah and commonly known as Stallings ‘Big Island’.”[10] Only the island was conveyed with this deed.
William Moyer then sold the island on 20 August 1847 to Catherine Mixer.[11] In this deed the island still consists of eight acres and is identified as “Stallings ‘Big’ Island.”
Next, in 1870, the island was sold to John M. Rice by the executors of the will of Robert Clarke, Clarke having received the property from David Mixer.[12] In this deed, the island is:
“known as the ‘Island’ lying in the Savannah River near the Georgia bank by said river and opposite the plantation in Columbia County formerly owned by the said Robert Clarke and now belonging to the said party of the second part [John M. Rice] and others being in the same tract conveyed to Robert Clarke by David Mixer and containing ten acres more or less.”
There are several transfers between 1925 and 1938 between the Rice family and the Walton family, but none of those transfers refer to island. However, the land described in the Rice to Walton transfers appears to refer to the mainland plantation across from the island and simply omits mention of the island. The adjoining property owners are the same as those mentioned in the following conveyance of the island.

In 1938, Paul E. Walton and Sallie L. Walton sold the property to J.W. Ayers via a Warranty Deed recorded 30 August 1938, whereby 74 acres plus “all that tract or parcel of land, known as the ‘Island’ lying in the Savannah River and bounded on all sides by the Savannah River, and lying near the Georgia bank of said river and opposite the plantation in Columbia County, formerly owned by Robert Clark and by John Mason Rice and their subsequent grantees.”[13] This deed stipulates that the 74 acre parcel was stated to be 40 acres in previous deeds but that the Waltons actually owned 74 acres pursuant to a survey. This statement also ties in the deeds between 1925 and 1938, as those deeds describe 40 acres.

A Warranty Deed transferring Stallings Island from the Ayers family to the Knox family, recorded in 1969, states that the island is said to contain eight acres in various deeds, but at that time (1969), the island contained as much as 25 acres.[14] This deed includes an Affidavit of Possession and Facts Affecting Title signed by the seller John W. Ayers, in which he summarizes the title history of Stallings Island, the adjacent islands and 122 acres on the mainland. The title history includes the 1784 grant to James Stallings and other deeds mentioned above. Ayers indicates that the geography of the islands changed after dams were built. The affidavit also states the island is commonly referred to as “Stallings Island” or “Indian Island.” The affidavit refers to a plat of Stallings Island prepared by the Georgia Power Company.[15] Ayers granted an easement to the Georgia Power Company in 1944 to allow the company to install power lines on the island for the Stevens Creek Substation. On this plat the island is identified as “John W. Ayers, formerly Mildred Walton.”

In comparing the 1784 plat with the 1944 plat, it appears that Stallings island is the island referred to in 1784 as Bennett’s Island.
One of the obstacles in my research, of course, is the length of time between the island’s first land grant and today, not necessarily because I needed to locate 100+ year old documents, but because so many generations have lived near the island and the culture and geography have changed, along with nicknames for islands and landmarks. The name of Stallings Island has changed depending on the name of the owner, and on how the people in the surrounding communities viewed the island. The island had several nicknames: Bennett’s Island, the thousand isles, Walton’s Island, Indian Island, Goat Island. I wanted to be sure of two things: 1) that I was tracing the title correctly from grantor to grantee; and 2) that I was making sure the island identified in deeds and plats was indeed Stallings Island.

Also, there were several events that altered the geography of the island and the Savannah River since the original 1784 grant. The river around Stallings Island no longer runs “over the shoals.” The Augusta Canal was built in 1845,[16] there was significant flooding in the 1920s (see Sassaman) and construction of the J. Strom Thurmond dam and lake (formerly known as Clark Hill) began in the mid-1940s.[17]

In conclusion, the earliest reference that I found calling the island “Stallings Island” is the deed from Stallings to Moyer in 1846. Then came Jones’ work in 1861 where he referred to the island as Stallings Island, as did others in the field of archaeology from that time until now, even if subsequent owners renamed it. I suspect that the Knox family’s interest in preserving the island’s artifacts had something to do with the island regaining its identity. There is no indication that the island was named after the James Stallings who received the grant in 1784. The 1846 Stallings to Moyer deed is consistent with the statement in Adams’ article that the island was named after a local plantation owner and indicates that Stallings Island was named after James G. Stallings who was both a one-time owner of the island and a nearby local plantation owner in the timeframe when the name first appeared in records.

So who was the James Stallings who received the grant in 1784, and what is his connection to James G. Stallings who purchased the property from the estate of William Whitcomb? And what is the connection to Notley Whitcomb? Subscribe to my blog and find out!
© Sherrie T. Cork
Please cite as:
Cork, Sherrie T. “Stallings Island: What’s in a name?” Web blog post. Descendants of Rebellion. 30 April 2016.
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[1] Dobres, Marcia-Anne and John E. Robb. Agency in Archaeology. New York: Routledge, 2000. Google Books. Web. April 2016.
[2] Adams, Lucy. “Stallings Island: Archaeology, Activism, Art.” Augusta Magazine. October 2014. Web. 25 April 2016.
[3] Jones, Charles C., Jr. Monumental Remains of Georgia. Savannah: John M. Cooper and Company, 1861. Print.
[4] Claflin, W. H., Jr. (1931) The Stalling’s Island Mound, Columbia County, Georgia. Cambridge: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology Papers 14(1).
[5] Sassman, Kenneth E.; Meggan E. Blessing; Asa R. Randall (2006). “Stallings Island Revisited: New Evidence for Occupational History, Community Pattern, and Subsistence Technology” (PDF). American Antiquity 73 (3): 539–565.
[6] Columbia County, Georgia, Deeds, 107:615-618, John W. Ayers, Jack E. Ayers and Nellie Ruth Houghton to W.A. Knox, Jr., Lelia D. Barrett, and W. Hale Barrett, warranty deed, 16 December 1969; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Evans.
[7] Columbia County, Georgia, Deeds, 1905: 81-83, Wyckliffe A. Knox, Jr. to The Archaeological Conservancy, deed of gift, 22 September 1997; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Evans.
[8] Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, 1783-1909. Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2016. State Archives, Morrow
[9] Ibid.
[10] Columbia County, Georgia, Deeds, LL: 565, James G. Stallings to William Moyer, deed, 6 July 1846; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Appling.
[11] Columbia County, Georgia, Deeds, OO: 85, William Moyer to Catherine Mixer, deed of sale, 20 August 1847; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Appling.
[12] Columbia County, Georgia, Deeds, R: 169-167, Robert C. Clarke and Thomas M. Clarke, executors of the will of Robert Clarke, to John M. Rice, deed of sale, 17 February 1870; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Appling.
[13] Columbia County, Georgia, Deeds, 19:497-498, Paul E. Walton and Sallie L. Walton to J. W. Ayers, warranty deed, 13 August 1938; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Evans.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Columbia County, Georgia, Plat Cabinets, AAA: slide 108, no. 2, “Transmission Lines at Steven’s Creek Substation,” 17 June 1944; Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Evans. Plat in Deed Book 24:16 moved to Plat
Book C:40, then moved to Plat Cabinet AAA, slide 108, no. 2.
[16] Augusta Canal. Georgia Encyclopedia. Edward J. Cashin. University of Georgia Pres. 12 August 2005. Web. 4 April 2016. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/augusta-canal
[17] J. Strom Thurmond Dam and Lake. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Web. 4 April 2016. http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/About/DivisionsandOffices/OperationsDivision/JStromThurmondDamandLake/History.aspx