The Pinderton Triangle
See an 1838 Map of Georgia (The Tourist Pocket Map of the State of Georgia) showing SE corner of Lee County, east of the Flint River, which became part of Dooly County and then Worth. You can use the “zoom in” button to get a detailed view of the area.) The only town shown is Pinderton (later Pindertown). The 1839 map at the same site shows the same area in Lee County. Albany, Ga., then in Baker Co., has what appears to be an indicator for a steamboat landing on the Flint River.
Of the three 1845 maps at this site, two show Pinderton in Lee County and one (by Burgess) shows it in Dooly County, as does the 1846 map by Sidney Edwards Marse. In fact, the 1846 Marse map appears to be a copy of the 1845 Burgess map with a different background and coloring. The town name fonts and placement and even the steamboat indicator are exactly the same. However, the 1846 H. N. Burroughs map still shows Pinderton as part of Lee County, but perhaps it was made in 1845 and not published until 1846. It could be that the area was split after the first two maps were made. The 1845 state census of Dooly County, listing Joseph Gray, was taken in September.
At least by 1837, there was a stagecoach road running from Milledgeville through Pinderton and a few miles east of Albany down to Tallahassee, according to History of Worth County, Georgia, by Mrs Lillie Martin Grubbs, 1934. It took 3 days from Milledgeville to Pinderton ($12) and three more days to Tallahassee ($13) via Bainbridge. A partial transcript of this history is available: Chapters 1-3, Chapters 4-8, Chapters 9-12. An excerpt:
Pinder Town and The Old Stage Coach Road
After the Indian land cession at Indian Springs in 1821, the white settlers bought the village of Pinder Town from the Indians. It became a town of considerable importance. For a long time it was the only postoffice between the Ocmulgee and Flint Rivers, south of Macon. This postoffice was established in 1825. It was the postoffice for Albany until 1836.
. . .
Pinder Town was at the head of navigation on the Flint. This gave it fine prospects. The white settlements were made in and around this place. The late Mrs. Elizabeth (Vines, Kemp, Westfall) Forehand, the mother of Mr. John H. Kemp: near Isabella, said her father, Hiram W. Vines*, moved to Pinder Town when she was about five years old or about 1839. She said, as they were moving into that section, he asked someone how far it was to Pinder Town. The reply was, "You are in Pinder Town now.
She said for about ten miles up and down the river was called Pinder Town, or as far as the white settlements extended. Her father brought slaves and stock. He bought the Ford Mill. The school she attended was a log house with dirt floor, puncheon seats, a shelf around the room for the books, and on which the advanced pupils learned to write. She was considered too young to learn to write. Because she was so anxious to learn to write, her father secured a teacher from Albany that came about once a week to give her writing lessons.
The Stage Coach Road from Milledegville to Tallahassee went through Pinder Town. . . .
*Note by wrm: There is no Vines on the 1840 Lee County census. There is an H W Vines in Crawford County, Georgia (2nd county north of present-day Dooly): 1m 15-20, 1m 20-30; 2f under 5, 1f 10-15, 1f 20-30. In 1850 Dooly County, Hiram W Vines (age 34) is enumerated at #15, four entries from B O Pearson who was Pinder Town postmaster in 1848, while Joseph Gray was at #77. Another Hiram Vines, age 68, was in the Spillars household at #55, between Samuel C Lippitt and Abner Holiday. In 1860 Worth County, Hiram W Vines was enumerated at #345 adjacent this same Spillars household, while Joseph Gray was at #308.
According to a list of postmasters in this history, Pinderton was in Dooly County in 1825, then put into Lee County by 1833. The name was changed to Hollidaysville on Oct. 23, 1844 and the post office discontinued Apr. 17, 1856. The GaGenWeb Lee County list of Pindertown postmasters goes only to 1842, with the next entry being “moved to Dooly”. This implies that, by the time it changed to Hollidaysville in 1844, it was in Dooly.
Andrew J Tison was postmaster of Pinderton in 1840 and appears on the Lee County census adjacent R G Ford and B O Pierson (postmaster 1848) and on the same page with Simeon L Holliday (postmaster 1834), Joseph Gleaton (2 males, 50-60 and 60-70, and a male 15-20), Samuel C Lipit, William J Ford (postmaster 1839), William W Tison and Abner Holliday (postmaster 1844). William Posey is on the following page. In 1850 Dooly County, Joseph Gray is listed at #77, W W Tison at #72, R G Ford at #53, Samuel C Lippett at #54, Abner Holiday at #56. Listed adjacent to Joseph Gray on one side is William Posey and on the other is a younger Joseph Gleaton (age 27). B O Pierson is at #11.
From the proximity of all these people to Andrew J Tison and the other Pinderton postmasters in 1840 and to Joseph Gray in 1850, the logical conclusion is that the Grays lived in or very near Pinderton.
