Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsJohn Willcox, Jr. Built Poleboats And Fought Indians
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
As John Willcox, Jr. sat on the big front porch of his home on a rainy February day in 1818, near Willcox Lake in old Telfair County, he must have thought of the faraway days of Pennsylvania, where he was baptized, in the Catholic faith of his fathers. And of his North Carolina days, growing up as a youth in the dangerous days when the Crown of England and the Regulators of his father, John, did battle along the fields and roadways of Deep River. It was a wonder he was even here at all; his father had almost been hanged by those emissaries of the King. The iron works had been destroyed and his father had died. John Jr. felt it was time to head for other pastures. And though the grass was not growing under his feet he had wanted it to be greener.
So, he had decided to move further south - to the enticing lands of south Georgia where challenge and prosperity held out their welcoming arms. The prospects of prosperity seemed fine but the challenges were becoming a bit bothersome. Too many Indians. Could hardly get a poleboat built and launched before the Indians would cross the river again for another raid. Not so long ago they had massacred nearly a whole family - the husband had gone to build a mill for a fellow, had dreamed his family had been massacred by the Indians, and fearing the worst, rushed home. He was too late - the dream was only too true. His family was dead. Then the Indians had attacked and seriously injured John Rabun up near the old homeplace just below Hartford. And Arthur Lott had been savagely killed while trying to move his family to Mississippi. John Willcox worried about these kinds of things but he knew the country had been at war - the War of 1812 - and he knew he had built poleboats for that cause. And now that War was officially over but the trouble continued. If the settlers would only stay on their side of the river and the Indians on their side he figured it might work out but he was soon to see it didn't work that way - in either direction! They were crossing both ways - the settlers were crossing and the Indians were crossing. That could only mean trouble. The end of the War of 1812 just seemed to be the beginning of another. The Indians kept coming.
But, all this aside, he reminisced about coming down to Georgia with his brothers Thomas and James. They all had families and now their families would be having families, just like his children. There were going to be lots and lots of Willcoxes around. The thought must have come to him - had his father gotten on the wrong end of the King's rope, there would be no Willcoxes in South Georgia. That would have ended it all. John was glad that didn't happen.
John, Jr. thought about how he had first settled in 1807 in what was to become Pulaski County. He, like the Biblical patriarch of old, dug a well, and it was forever known as Traveler's Well and many a thirsty sojourner swilled the cold refreshing water from its cistern. From there John moved to a part of old Telfair County which is now in Dodge. Here he built boats for use in the War of 1812 , except on days like today, when it was raining cats and dogs - he didn't build anything. He just sat on the big front porch and thought about the past, the present and the future.
And, since he was a fun-loving man he was probably thinking of the next get-together at his big house. Nothing like having the kin and neighbors over for a lot of singing and eating and good clean fun. Not that some people always immediately enjoyed the pranks John would pull on them but sooner or later they realized it was all in fun and he loved them all along.
He even loved the Protestant preachers but at times they were not so sure. You see, the backwoods reverends were always trying to convert John. Now converting an old Catholic like John was about like changing the minds of the settlers and the Indians about crossing that Ocmulgee River - it just wasn't going to happen anytime real soon. But John always welcomed them to his home even though he had to employ some "good humor" every now and then to put them in the road again - on the way to proselytizing some worthier prospect. And even at that some of them never did figure out why they couldn't change the man who had words said over him in the old cathedral in Philadelphia to one who could be dipped in the waters of the Ocmulgee and come up a bona fide Baptist or Methodist or some other brand of Protestant. Had John thought about it, he would probably have reminded them that the first known baptizing in the Ocmulgee was that of two Indians by a Roman Catholic Dominican priest in 1540. And he might have.
Regarding his personality and religious bent we find these lines in a book about his father and him:
"Next to granting his neighbors a favor, he loved a joke at their expense. Many excellent stories of his boyish love of fun are still told in the family. Because John was a Roman Catholic, the unlettered circuit riders and hardshell preachers of his acquaintance were not always charitable in judging his religious views. Whenever one of those attempted to convert John Willcox to his faith or criticized his creed, it was his delight to play off some prank on him, but the preacher left his house with heavier purses and saddlebags than he came with. Nothing pleased him more than to gather his friends and relatives under his roof, and the hospitable entertainment made them come often and wish to stay long. The old house was a jolly place on these occasions, and no laugh rang any louder than the master's."
"John Willcox, Jr. made no pretenses to piety, but he gave liberally to worthy causes and cheerfully assisted when his help was needed."
An indication of his benevolence and philanthropy can be seen in the fact that "he was one of the first subscribers to the fund to build Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia, the oldest female college in the United States."
If you have been in the area between Jacksonville and Rhine known as Temperance and Willcox Lake, you have been around where John Willcox settled and built boats. If you have been to the Old Concord Cemetery, you visited near the site of old Fort Adams, one of General David Blackshear's strongholds during the War of 1812. Fort Adams, one of a chain of forts, was built to protect the settlers from the Indians. Fort Clark was where the present Blockhouse Baptist Church and cemetery sit. The third fort in Telfair was Fort McIntosh at Horse Creek.
Well, the rain had finally stopped; General Andrew Jackson and his men had crossed the river and some of John's neighbors were about to do the same thing. It looked like John was going to have to take another recess from boat building. And this time it wouldn't be because of rain.
Credits:
Telfair History Book, 1807-1987;
Willcox Family History by Martha Albertson;
John Willcox's Iron Enterprises by George Willcox;
John Willcox (1728-1793) by Historical Research Company;
Pioneer Days Along the Ocmulgee by Fussell Chalker;
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others;
various other sources.
