Editing Lowndes County, Georgia (section)

==History==

===Native Americans and the Spanish===
The land that became Lowndes County had historically been inhabited by the [[Timucua]]. During most of the age of European colonization, the area of modern Lowndes County was part of the colony of [[Spanish Florida]]. From approximately 1625 to 1657, the Spanish Empire maintained a Catholic mission to the Timucua, dubbed Mission Santa Cruz de Cachipile, in the southern portion of Lowndes County near present-day Lake Park. In the centuries that followed, Timucua civilization collapsed due to slave raiding and disease.

The [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek Nation]] peoples moved into the area and, by the early 19th century, they were well established here. On December 15, 1818, European Americans organized what they called Irwin County, which had been settled by pushing out the Creek people. In the 1830s Georgia and the federal government completed [[Indian Removal]] of most of the Native Americans from what became the state.

===Early county history===
Lowndes County was established by an act passed by the Georgia legislature on December 23, 1825. It was formed out of the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th land districts of [[Irwin County, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite act |title=  Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, Passed Milledgeville, at an Annual Session November and December. 1825.|number= 54 |language= en |date= December 23, 1825|article= To form two new counties from the counties of Irwin and Decatur}}</ref> The county was named for [[William Lowndes (congressman)|William Jones Lowndes]] (1782–1822), a prominent South Carolina lawyer and Congressman. His father [[Rawlins Lowndes]] had been a [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] leader and was elected as South Carolina Governor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n190 191]}}</ref> The [[Coffee Road]] was an improved trail first cut by Georgia militia to supply federal troops in Florida during the Creek Wars. It was the first route through the area of Lowndes County and opened up the area to white settlers.

During the first few years after Lowndes County was organized, its courts met at the tavern owned by Sion Hall on the Coffee Road, near what is now [[Morven, Georgia]] in Brooks County, on the west side of the Little River. The first county seat was established at Franklinville (sometimes spelled Franklynville) by the Georgia General Assembly on December 16, 1828.<ref>{{cite act |title= Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, Passed in Milledgeville at an Annual Session in November and December, 1828 |number= 136|date= December 16, 1828 |article= AN ACT to make permanent the site of the public buildings in the county of Lowndes, and to name the same.}}</ref> Franklinville was located about 5.6 miles to the east of Hahira in the eastern half of land lot 50 in the 11th land district; it was named after statesman and Founding Father of the United States, [[Benjamin Franklin]].

At the time of the 1830 federal census, Lowndes County had 1,072 white males, 1,044 white females, 156 male slaves, 179 female slaves, and 4 [[free people of color]], for a total population of 2,455. The introduction of steam-powered ships on the Withlacoochee and Little rivers led to a shift in the population toward the rivers. In December 1833 the state legislature passed a law establishing a new county seat at a place to be called Lowndesville. The law called for a courthouse, a jail, and a town to be laid out within land lot 109 in the 12th land district. This land lot is near the present Timber Ridge Road in Lowndes County.

It is uncertain why the plans for Lowndesville were abandoned, but in December 1834, the state legislature authorized commissioners to select a suitable site for a courthouse so that the county seat could be moved away from Franklinville. In October 1836, another group of commissioners was advertising for contracting proposals for the construction of a brick courthouse at [[Troupville, Georgia|Troupville]]. By Summer 1837, Troupville and Franklinville were both serving as courthouse sites. This continued until at least 1838. In December 1837 [[Troupville]] was incorporated. Rumors of the coming of the Brunswick and Chattahoochee Railroad, the opening up of Florida, and the prosperity of the surrounding farmland led to the growth of Troupville and Lowndes County in general. In 1845, the remaining county-owned land at Franklinville was sold at the courthouse in Troupville.

The closest battle to Troupville between Native Americans and whites was at Brushy Creek on November 10, 1836, in modern [[Berrien County, Georgia|Berrien County]]. [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek Nation]] people were passing through Lowndes County to join the [[Seminole]] in Florida. [[General Winfield Scott]], commander of United States field forces in the area, intended to stop the Creek movement and did. Virtually no Native Americans were left in South Georgia.

In February 1850 Lowndes County lost land to the formation of [[Clinch County, Georgia|Clinch County]]. At that time the eastern border of Lowndes County was defined as the [[Alapaha River]].<ref>{{cite act |title= Acts of the State of Georgia, 1849-50.|number= 145 |date= February 14, 1850 |article= AN ACT to lay out and form a new county from the counties of Ware and Lowndes, and to provide for the organization of the same.}}</ref>
By the time of the 1850 census, Lowndes County had a free white population of 5,339, a free colored population of 20, and a [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] population of 2,355. Lowndes County lost additional territory with the establishment of [[Berrien County, Georgia|Berrien]] and [[Colquitt County, Georgia|Colquitt]] counties on February 25, 1856.

===Establishment of Valdosta===
Many residents of Lowndes County were unhappy when the [[Atlantic and Gulf Railroad (1856–79)|Atlantic and Gulf Railroad]] announced June 17, 1858, that they had selected a planned route that would bypass Troupville. On June 22 at 3:00 AM, the Lowndes County courthouse at Troupville was set aflame by William B. Crawford, who fled to South Carolina after being released on bond.

On August 9, a meeting convened in the academy building in Troupville at which it was decided to create from the area of Lowndes County to the west of the Withlacoochee River a new county to be called [[Brooks County, Georgia|Brooks County]].<ref>Shelton, Jane (2001). ''Pines and Pioneers: A History of Lowndes County, Georgia 1825-1900.'' Lowndes County Historical Society. {{ISBN|9780877970347}}.</ref> Brooks was established on December 11. On December 13, 1858, the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill establishing [[Echols County, Georgia]].

In December 1859, the Lowndes County board of commissioners were instructed by an act of the Georgia legislature to purchase land for a new county seat; it was to be along the line of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and as close to the center of the county as possible. As part of the same act the Brooks-Lowndes County border was adjusted so that the east bank of the Little River formed the border.<ref>{{cite act |title= Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, Passed in Milledgville, at an Annual Session in November and December, 1859.|number= 370 |date= November 21, 1859|article= An Act to remove the county site of Lowndes county, to change the line between said county and the county of Brooks, and for other purposes. }}</ref>

Land belonging to William Wisenbaker was chosen as the site of the new county seat of [[Valdosta, Georgia|Valdosta]]. The arrival of the railroad led to the downfall of Troupville and the rise of Valdosta as a center for the economy of south Georgia. The shifting county boundary lines led to population loss for Lowndes County. The 1860 census showed the county having 2,850 free whites, no free persons of color, and 2,399 slaves.

===Civil War===

No battles during the [[American Civil War]] were fought in Lowndes County. Several regular Confederate Army companies were raised from the population. Those included:
* Company I "Lowndes Volunteers", 12th Regiment Georgia Infantry.
* Company G, 26th Regiment Georgia Infantry. Also known as New Company G, 13th Regiment Infantry.
* Company D, "Berrien Minutemen", 29th Regiment Georgia Infantry.
* Company D, "Valdosta Guards", [[50th Georgia Infantry Regiment|50th Regiment Georgia Infantry]].

State Guard units included:
* Company B, "Lowndes Mounted Infantry" 11th Regiment Cavalry, Georgia State Guards.

In addition, two [[Georgia Militia]] companies were partially raised from the population in early 1864 following the reorganization of the militia.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Scaife|first1= William R.|last2= Bragg|first2= William Harris|title= Joe Brown's Pets: The Georgia Militia 1861-1865 |year= 2004|location= Macon, Georgia|publisher= Mercer University Press|pages= 304, 310|isbn=978-0865548831}}</ref> Those included:
* Company I, 11th Regiment Georgia Militia (which was also partially raised from the population of [[Ware County, Georgia]])
* Company I, 12th Regiment Georgia Militia (which was also partially raised from the populations of [[Mitchell County, Georgia]] and [[Talbot County, Georgia]])

Lowndes County also had a home guard unit, but it was only called into action once in the fall of 1863. In that instant some soldiers' wives in [[Thomasville, Georgia]] were threatening to break into a Confederate Government Commissary to feed their starving children. In April 1864 a group of women rioted at [[Stockton, Georgia]] after a local store owner refused to take [[Confederate States dollar|Confederate money]] in exchange for yarn. They took all the yarn in his store. At the same time, armed women stole a wagon load of bacon from a government warehouse. A mob of women also went on a rampage for similar reasons in [[Naylor, Georgia]] at about the same time.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Williams|first1= David|last2= Williams|first2= Teresa Crisp|last3= Carlson|first3= David|date= 2002|title= Plain Folk in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate Georgia |location= Gainesville, Florida|publisher= University of Florida Press|pages= 85–87|isbn= 978-0813028361}}</ref>

In February 1864 members of Company I "Woodson Guards", 32nd Regiment Georgia Infantry camped overnight in Valdosta at an area south of the railroad while on their way to [[Battle of Olustee]] in northern Florida. It was to be the closest fighting came to Valdosta during the Civil War. Valdosta became a home for many refugees fleeing into south Georgia due to [[Sherman's March to the Sea]]. Among those refugees was the family of [[Doc Holliday]]. Other refugees came by the railroad from Savannah and the [[Sea Islands]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Shelton|first= Janes|date= 2001|title= Pines and Pioneers: A History of Lowndes County, Georgia 1825-1900|location= Valdosta, GA |publisher= Lowndes County Historical Society|pages= 142–149|isbn=9780877970347}}</ref>

===Reconstruction===
In the years right after the Civil War, members of Company "G", 103rd [[United States Colored Troops]] were stationed at Valdosta as part of the military occupation of the South during the Reconstruction era.

Several years after the Civil War, 112 African American men, women, and children moved from Lowndes County to Arthington, [[Liberia]] in 1871 and 1872. Some settled there permanently to make their home in a colony established for free American blacks; a small number returned to the United States. Their emigration was supported by the [[American Colonization Society]], which had been working since the antebellum years to relocate free blacks to this new colony in West Africa.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lowndes County Emigrants|url=https://www.valdosta.edu/academics/library/depts/archives-and-special-collections/regional-history/liberia-emigrants.php|website=Valdosta.edu Regional History|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref> African Americans dominated the new colony (and future country) both socially and politically well into the 20th century before indigenous peoples, the majority within the borders of the country, came to power.

Prior to 1872, the southern border of Lowndes County and of Georgia was slightly farther south. The border when Lowndes County was created was along what was called McNeil's Line. A dispute over the border between the states of Florida and Georgia later developed (see ''[[Florida v. Georgia (1855)|Florida v. Georgia]]''). In 1857, the governors of the two states appointed surveyors for a joint survey of the border. This led to the creation of the Orr and Whitney Line, which was agreed to by the United States Congress on April 9, 1872.

===20th century to present===
In 1899 the cotton mill town of [[Remerton, Georgia|Remerton]] was established, and by 1920, Lowndes County lost some territory when [[Lanier County, Georgia|Lanier County]] was established.

==== Lynching of Mary Turner and killing of her unborn child ====
In 1918, a white planter was murdered in Brooks County. He was known to have mistreated his black workers. Sidney Johnson, one of his workers, was suspected in his death. Mobs of whites hunted in Brooks and Lowndes counties for Johnson, rounding up and killing at least 11 other black men and one black woman and her unborn baby in what historian Meyers called "a lynching rampage." One man was killed in Lowndes County and the others in Brooks. [[Mary Turner (lynching victim)|Mary Turner]], the married mother of two young children and eight months pregnant, was brutally murdered in Lowndes County, near Folsom Bridge on the Little River. The unborn child was then cut from her womb and its head crushed by a booted foot of one of the participants in the lynching. Her husband had been lynched the day before although neither had anything to do with the white planter's death.<ref name="meyers2006killing">{{cite journal| author=Meyers, Christopher C| title=" Killing Them by the Wholesale": A Lynching Rampage in South Georgia| journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly| year=2006| volume=90| number=2| pages=214–235| publisher=JSTOR| url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_q6VhhkczIYU2hSTHJtbHFmWGc/view?usp=sharing |access-date=May 14, 2013}}</ref> None of the lynching participants were prosecuted.

On May 15, 2010, a historical marker memorializing "Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage" was placed near the lynching site in Lowndes County and dedicated.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2014 |title=Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918 - Georgia Historical Society |url=https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/mary-turner-and-the-lynching-rampage-of-1918/ |access-date=November 12, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> The plaque includes a description of the associated murders of black people by white mobs in 1918, especially the lynchings of the Turners.<ref name=ramos2010>{{Cite news
|last = Ramos
|first = Kara
|title = Remembering a dark page of history
|work = Valdosta Daily Times
|location = Valdosta, GA
|access-date = May 23, 2013
|date = May 15, 2010
|url = http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x712209351/Remembering-a-dark-page-of-history
}}</ref><ref name=marker>{{Cite web
| author = Georgia Historical Society
| title = Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918
| work = Historical Marker Index
| access-date = May 23, 2013
| year = 2010
| url = http://www.georgiahistory.com/markers/4092
}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2018}}
In July 2013, the plaque was found to have five bullet holes shot by an unknown vandal.<ref name=walb>{{Cite web
| author = WALB
| author-link = WALB
| title = Reward offered after historic marker shot with bullets
| access-date = February 10, 2015
| year = 2013
| url = http://www.walb.com/story/22854193/reward-offered-after-historic-marker-shot-with-bullets
}}</ref>
Since 2013, the plaque now has as many as 27 bullet holes and more recently, was struck multiple times by “some kind of off-road vehicle,” Mark Patrick George, coordinator for the Mary Turner Project, announced in October 2020. The historical marker has been since removed. Project officials said the historical marker will be stored until re-installment plans are made. It is unclear if authorities are investigating the latest vandalism incident.<ref name=KENNEY>{{Cite web| last = Kenney|first=Tanasia| title = Historical marker at site of pregnant woman's lynching is removed, GA officials say|website=[[Miami Herald]]| access-date = October 12, 2020| url =https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article246404680.html}}</ref>

==== World War II ====
On September 15, 1941, [[Moody Air Force Base]] opened. it was part of the federal government's investment in military facilities in the South. The region received considerable Federal monies during World War II.