Beaver Dam Creek Land Grant Leads To Soldiers Fortune

With his casualty discharge papers and 'Land Grant' abstracts in hand, John Ichabod made his way home to Kiokee Creek.  Waiting for him there were his mother, sisters, and Lucy Eunice Marshall. 

In time, after recovering from his wounds received on the battlefield,  John traveled to Franklin County and his Bounty Land Grant of 287.5 acres on Flat Creek which later was known as Beaver Dam Creek.  He filed his Grant with Franklin County, and the original is now in the Georgia Dept. of History and Archives.

John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice were married in 1781, two years after his discharge.   There is some question as to the place they were married as some records indicate they were married in Richmond County, near Kiokee Creek where both of their parents resided in 1781.  Another source claims they were married in Windsor, Connecticut where Lucy was born, and where she and her father the Reverend Daniel Marshall had relatives.

During the first year of their marriage, at least, they resided in Richmond County where their first son, Ichabod Byrd was born.  By 1783 the couple had moved to Franklin County, presumably having established a home on the Bounty Grant land.  Their second son Marshall was born in March 1783 in Franklin County.  A year later a third son, John was born, but records show him as born in Gwinnet County.

Again, Franklin County Records indicate John sold some of the Land Grant acreage to neighbors, and as late as 1821 his name is associated with land transactions of Beaver Dam Creek, although his name does not appear on the Extant Tax Lists.  Finally in 1821 and Executor's Deed gives a new boundary for the John Pittman Property and is granted to the descendent of one of the early neighbors.

In 1788, John is recorded as a Magistrate Judge in Richmond County which confirms the change of residence as early as 1784 when son Marshall was born.   It is known that he later sold his Bounty Land Grant property in Franklin County along with other land in Washington and Wilkes Counties and moved to Gwinnet County between Pinkneyville and the Chattahooche River. A Ferry across the Chattahooche River was called Pittman's Ferry and Pittman's Crossing on the Southern Railroad was well known.

After son John, the rest of the Pittman children were born in Gwinnet County.   Altogether, eight sons and one daughter were born to the union of John and Lucy Pittman.  They spent the rest of their lives in Pinkneyville, Gwinnet County, and at the time of his death, John Ichabod was one of the richest men in the state of Georgia.  He resided with his son Daniel N. at the time of his death on December 12, 1831.  Lucy Eunice died ten years earlier on October 17, 1821.  It is believed they were both buried in The Pittman Cemetery near Pinkneyville.  However, their gravesites are in question and therefore, their Find A Grave Memorials are registered at The Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Norcross, Gwinnett County, Georgia.  A rather ironic twist of fate for a Baptist Preachers Daughter and  the son of a Baptist Deacon.