Transcribed and Compiled by: Linda Ward Meadows, National Board Certified Teacher

Table of Contents

Introduction

Dedication

"Post Offices were Center of Nineteenth Century Communities"

Ledger Book #1

Ledger Book #2

Ledger Book #3

Lowndes County, GA Agricultural and Manufacturing Census Entries for Berry Wells 1850, 1860, and 1870

Index for Ledgers #1-3 and Agricultural and Manufacturing Census Entries

Berry Wells' Obituary Notices

Telfair County, GA Deed from Duncan B. Graham to Berry Wells 1843

Lowndes County, GA Slave Schedule Entry for Berry Wells 1850

Lowndes County, GA Deed from William Stafford to Berry Wells 1850

Berry Wells & Son Ledger Entry for M.H.Rogers 1867

Berry Wells' Master Mason Certificate Okapilco Lodge 1868

Bankruptcy Case Against B.F. Mosely, J.W. Wells, and Berry Wells 1877

Chatham County, GA Deed from Mrs. Eliza E. Groover to C.F. Stubbs for the "Wells Place" 1879

Chatham County, GA Deed from Charles F. Stubbs to William M. Hammond for the "Berry Wells Plantation" 1879

Lowndes County, GA Warrantee Deed from Jerry W. Wells to Mrs. Henrietta Wells 1884

Lowndes County, GA Warranty Deed from Mrs. Henrietta Wells to W.R. Wells 1888

Index for All Data Other Than That Found In Account Ledgers

INTRODUCTION

This book is a tribute to a man and his family, who impacted the development of settlement along Little River in Southwest GA. The transcriptions of the Berry Wells Account Records and compilation of data pertaining to this South GA pioneer settler reveal a man of diverse economic enterprises. His Account Records annotate Berry Wells' interactions among his neighbors in Telfair, Lowndes, Brooks, and Berrien counties from 1832-1871. In my efforts to transcribe these documents, I have retained the original spelling and punctuation used by Berry Wells. I have also included parenthetical explanations when notations were unclear and used a series of asterisks (******) to show the original page divisions in the ledgers.

This compilation of records is not listed in exact chronology, because Mr. Wells used all available space in his three ledgers, turning them upside down and sideways to record credits, debits, and court proceedings for overlapping years. The detailed Index that covers the three account records make this a user-friendly reference for locating families in the Southwest corner of what is now Cook County during the mid-to-late Nineteenth Century. The news articles, deeds, Slave Schedules, and Agricultural Census entries offer samples of information beyond the scope of Berry Wells' ledgers.

Berry Wells, Esquire does not attempt to detail the genealogy of the Wells family, but it does give information on many families, including the Wells family. The various names included in the enclosed entries depict moments in the lives of pioneer settlers in Telfair, Lowndes, Brooks, and Berrien counties, many of whom were Berry Wells' in-laws, neighbors, and other close relatives. The book provides unique references to Berry Wells' renting of his slaves to neighbors for extended periods of time. Wells carefully documented how much he was paid for the services provided by his slaves' labor.

Separate accounts found in the loose papers of Berry Wells included a ledger entry showing purchases made by M.H. Rogers from March 1867-January 1868. Those purchases reflect the variety of goods offered by "B. Wells & Son, Dealers in Dry Goods, Hardware, Boots, Shoes, Books, Stationery, & c." The measure of prosperity noted in the Agricultural Census of 1870 shows the Wells family's economic success after the War Between the States, but this success was soon to be tempered somewhat by economic burdens of Reconstruction.

In fact, by 1872, Berry Wells' fortunes seem to have reversed. Operating under the name of "Mosely, Wells, & Co," the firm owned by B.F. Mosely, J.W. Wells, and Berry Wells was adjudged bankrupt in the Southern District Court of the US on 5 June 1872. Various court proceedings mandated the transfer of property owned by Berry Wells to his creditors. Private land sales and other legal transactions were made until approximately 6170 acres of the "land known as the Berry Wells plantation" were sold by Charles F. Stubbs to William M. Hammond in 1879, for $6000, which was less than $1 per acre.

Although Land Lot # 470 in the Ninth District of Lowndes County (Berrien), where the Wells home was located, was one of the land lots involved in this bankruptcy sale, subsequent deeds show that this property changed hands several times. At some point, Berry Wells' son, Jerry W. Wells (Jeremiah), acquired Lot # 470, which he sold to his mother, Henrietta Rountree Wells, in 1884, for $3000, a cost of slightly more than $6 per acre.

Henrietta later sold that land to another son, Weston R. Wells, in 1888, for $3000. The warranty deed noted that this was the "place whereon Berry Wells now resides." Even though his land holdings were greatly diminished prior to his death in 1892, Berry Wells, Esquire's home was apparently secured through the efforts of his sons. Weston R. Wells continued to live on the property until his death in 1952.

This book is a story of economic interactions and the development of settlement seen through the eyes of one of the largest plantation owners in South GA. I trust that you will know the man and his times better after studying Berry Wells, Esquire.

Linda Ward Meadows, National Board Certified Teacher

SURNAMES REFERENCED IN BERRY WELLS, ESQUIRE'S ACCOUNTS

Anderson, Ashley, Baker, Barker, Barrow, Batten, Bennett, Bloodworth, Blount, Boles, Boyd, Bradford, Bradly, Briggs & Ashley, Brown, Butler, Carter, Castleberry, Castlebury, Caswell (Carswell), Church, Clanton, Clark, Clements, Colemon, Congar, Congoe, Crosby, Crumb, De Lyon, Dent, Doyle, Drawdy, Edmonson, Elis, Ellis, Fletcher, Flowers, Folsom, Force, Fountain, Freemon, Fussal, Fussell, Futch, Gaskins, Godwin, Graddy, Graham, Grantham, Griffin, Griffin, Hale, Hall, Ham, Hammons, Hams, Handcock, Harris, Hendley, Hollinsworth, Honeywell, Horne, Hourn, Howell, Humphreys, Hurst, Inmon, Ivey, James, Johnson, Joiner, Jones, Joyce, Kinard, King, Knight, Ladd, Lamkins, Lawson, Lindsey, Lovett, Lovetts, Lovit, Lovitt, Mabry, Malett, Malitrets, Marsh, Mathis, Mauldin, McCall, McClendon, McCrae, McCrane, McCraney, McCranie, McCrummon, McDaniel, McDermid, McInnis, McKinnon, McKinnons, McLane, McLean, McLeod, McLeods, McNaught & Ormons, McRae, Miller, Mims & Joyce, Minix, Moneyhan, Monk, Mooney, Moony, More, Morrison, Nash, Newport, Normans, Omons, Oneal, ONeal, Page, Parham, Parker, Parrish, Parrishes, Parrom, Patterson, Perkins, Perry, Pervis, Pike, Pope, Powers, Powhell or Pollhell, Roberts, Rogers, Ross, Rountree, Row, Rowe, Runnels, Rutherford, Samkin, Sapp, Scruggs, Shanks, Sharp, Sharpe, Simons, Sinclair, Sineth, Sirmans, Slaughter, Slauter, Smith, Smith & Griffin & Co., Spiers, Spires, Stephens, Strickland, Sutton, Taylor, Thompson, Tinsley, Tison, Turner, Tyson, Vanguson, Varn, Varne, Varns, Vickers, Vickery, Washburn, Watson, Webb, Webbs, Weeks, Wells, White, Wilks, Willcox, Williams, Willis.

* There are also many references to slaves and their labor, as well as listings by first names for many other people who transacted business at the Berry Wells Plantation.

Berry Wells, Esquire also includes several supplementary references, including deeds, that are indexed separately. That index includes the following surnames: Barfield, Chapman, Clements, Dasher, Davis , Ensley, Erskine, Folsom, Graham, Groover, Hammond, Hancock, Harrell, Hutchinson, Huxford, Kennon, Lovett, McDonald, McDougle, McIntyre, Meadows, Miller, Moore, Mosely, Myddelton, Newton, O'Connor, Parrish, Peeples, Rawlins, Roberts, Rogers, Rountree, Sharpe , Sirmans , Smith, Stafford, Stephens, Stubbs, Taylor, Webb, Wells, Winn. ************************************************************

Berry Wells, Esquire is 106 pages, single-spaced on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, fully indexed, and spiral-bound. TO ORDER Berry Wells, Esquire Plantation Accounts, Deeds, and Private Papers, SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER FOR $18.50 TO: Linda Ward Meadows,302 Val Del Road, Adel, Georgia 31620

**Be sure to include your return address, with zipcode.**

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