From Gary Aden to Gary Aden      
Email Dated 8/17/2001

     I have been to the Augusta- Louisville Georgia area in the past
and identified itinerant sites visits on that occasion. On this visit, I
will try to view newly identified sites as well as see the ones I didn't
have time to pursue before. Of course, the omnipresent research of clues
to William Allen's origins will continue. Georgia was where it all began
and is centered for the  William ALLEN family, his son, William B., and
grandson, John William Barkley,  and the  related marital surnames of
BARCLAY, OLLIVER and CAMP(Ragsdale). I will begin my trip in Savannah
searching for ship lists from the Port of Savannah for immigrants circa
1760-1775. I constantly remind myself that family lore and DAR datings
of William Allen's birth year and year of immigration have never been
documented. Pay records from the Battle of Brier Creek during the
Revolutionary War make me believe that the name of one of the four
brothers that immigrated with him was Robert; furthermore, that this is
the only documented Revolutionary War engagement that can be documented
for William Allen. 

      After I leave Savannah, I will go to Sylvania, Screven County,
Georgia. I will proceed about 11 miles northeast of the town to
Brennen's Bridge Road at Big Creek near State Highway 301 where I'm told
there is a 4' x 8' marker commemorating the Battle of Brier Creek with
text inscription and diagrammatic details of the engagement. The actual
battle site can be viewed at the nearby Tuckahoe Wildlife Management
Reserve. If a knowledgeable ranger is around, it may be possible to gain
an onsite perspective of the battle. Considering the importance that the
Americans of the time attached to  this battle and the unusually large
force that was marshalled for the engagement, it seems unfair that the
Battle is barely mentioned in Revolutionary War history books, but
patriotic fervor has a way of crowding out inglorious military defeats.
I will be trying to figure out the details of how William Allen could
have been wounded and where. I will also be trying to view the site on
the Savannah River where so many patriots drowned trying to flee from
the British. I may even be so fortunate as to observe where General Ash
ill advisedly bivouaced his forces(See attached pages). 

      My next stop will be at the Louisville Georgia Public Library just
to view my fourth great grandfather's name on the REVISED MAP OF LAND
PLATS OF BIG CREEK, BURKE AND WARREN COUNTIES UNTIL 1796, THEN JEFFERSON
COUNTY. Unfortunately, I learned on my previous visit that there was
little or nothing more to learn in the area. I have attached the
documentation of my prior search of courthouse records from 1790 on.
Prior to 1796, Louisville was part of Burke County. The records that do
survive are incomplete because of the by now familiar refrain of
"courthouse fire". I did note on prior visits that certain cross bridges
traverse an  Allen Creek, but I don't know whether a followup would be
productive.There were a number of Allens in the area from circa
1770-1790 and they apparently were not related. Suffice it to repeat,
the original settlement at Queensborough is gone.

      On the prior visit, we made an unproductive visit to Sparta in
Hancock County. This is a "black" county with a truly remarkable old
courthouse. 

      Prior to 1803, William Allen removed his wife, Elizabeth "Betsy"
Barclay Allen, and all four of his children, William B., Robert,
Eliazar("Beverly") and Thomas, to Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia
where he died in 1806. My research places  William Allen's plantation in
the vicinity of Allen Creek(not the same one as mentioned above in
Jefferson County)  near an old cemetery about 51/2 miles north of
Jefferson, Georgia, northwest of the intersection of I 85 and US Route
129. The location of his burial site is unknown, but an knowledgeable
observer has surmised that it is on the old Montgomery place, a notable
Southern family to whom William Allen and his wife were related(See
map). Elizabeth Barclay Allen remarried in 1814 to Judge Robert
Smithwick. Judge Smithwick is buried in Forsyth County, but the burial
site for Elizabeth is unknown. There is documentation of the William
Allen family worshipping at the Thyatira Presbyterian Church. The Camp
family were instrumental in organizing that church. 

     My final visit in Georgia will be to the site of a Georgia
Historical Marker at Bethlehem United Methodist Chhurch, Bethlehem which
was dedicated and placed as of 31 August, 1991 on which is inscribed:
"BETHLEHEM UNITED METHODIST CHURCH- Oldest Methodist Church in Barrow
County organized in the 1780's. Services first held in log hose two
miles N. E. of present site. In 1790 a church was built nearby. The
present site was originally a camp ground with an arbor, tents &
cottages for camp meetings. Arbor used as mobilization center during War
between the States. Exact date church moved to this site unknown. Land
deeded by Reverend John W.B. Allen to trustee in 1847. First church here
torn down in1878 and another erected. Present church was built in 1949
and a memorial added in 1967. Nanthex and steeple added in 1970." It
should be noted that Abner Camp, Reverend Allen's father-in-law,  served
as a trustee of the church while Reverend Allen himself conducted part
of his ministerial duties at the church during the time he was in
Georgia before he went to Texas. Reading the section on the Olivers in
the following pages is essential to understanding and enjoying the lives
of two very interesting people in my pedigree- Susan Oliver and Rev.
John W.B. Allen. Next stop(optional): Alabama

      Gary Carl Aden 8/10/2001