Fort Gaines is a small rural community founded in Southwest Georgia in 1814, and located in Clay County, Georgia. Fort Gaines was known by the Indians as A-Con-Hollo-Way Tal-lo fa (Highland Town) and established as a frontier fort in 1816 by Gen. Edmund P. Gaines. It was chartered as a town in 1830 and named for Gen Gaines. A shipping point for cotton planters for many miles on both sides of the Chattahoochee River, it was the most important point between Apalachicola and Columbus until the railroads in 1858.
One of several forts on Georgia’s western frontier for the protection of white settlers, Fort Gaines was established in 1816 by order of Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, commander of a large district, who used this as his headquarters. Containing two blockhouses, the 100-foot square fort was enclosed by a stockade eight feet high. During 1817, when Indians were active in the area, settlers look refuge in the fort, garrisoned by Federal troops under Gen. John Dill. Maintained for a number of years, the fort stood on the brow of the bluff just below the confluence of Town Branch with Chemochechobee Creek.
In 1836 under the command of Col. J. E. Brown, the Fort Gaines Guards were organized. They were one of the best and, later, the oldest military organizations in western Georgia. Kept intact between wars, the Guards fought in the Indian and Mexican Wars. In 1861, 120 men under Capt. B. A. Turnipseed, as Co. D, 9th Ga. Regiment, Tige Anderson’s Brigade, Longstreet’s Corps, fought gallantly through the War Between the States. Of the original 120, only 13 remained to surrender at Appomattox. Reorganized in 1868, a detachment of the Guards under Lt. E. A. Greene, volunteered service in 1898 in the Spanish-American War. The Guards were disbanded about 1910.
Born in Culpeper County, Virginia on March 20, 1777, the son of James Gaines, a veteran of the American Revolution. Edmund is known for arresting Aaron Burr at Wakefield, Alabama. After his distinction service during the War of 1812, Edmund Gaines was made an adjutant general and served with General William Henry Harrison's army at the Battle of the Thames. A number of places in the United States were named in his honor, including Gainesvilles in Florida, Texas, and Georgia; and Fort Gaines, Georgia.
Born in Darlington District, South Carolina on 8 June 1788; the son of Job Dill and Mary Thompson. John married the former Miss Elizabeth Stewart. He passed away on 20 Jun 1856 in Ft Gaines, Georgia.
Born in County Antrim, Ireland on 15 June 1763; the son of Walter and Margaret Brown. John and his parents emigrated to America, arriving the 17th of December 1767 at Charleston, S.C. They settled in Chester, S.C. near Fishing Creek. Rev. Brown married the former Miss Mary McCullough in 1788. Rev. John Brown was third President of the University of Georgia (1811–1816). He died in Fort Gaines, Georgia on December 30, 1842.
Born in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, USA on 22 Dec 1823; the son Luther Coolidge and Betsey Jenne. Norman F married Julina Sprague Hall. Norman was the uncle of President Calvin Coolidge, who had come to Georgia for the climate and became President of the Cotton Hill Male and Female Seminary in 1854; remaining there until 1862. He passed away on 9 May 1896 in Gwinnett, Georgia.