Built by Aaron Strickland, this late Queen Anne cottage is the oldest house in Claxton. I’m unable to confirm a date, but it likely dates to the late 1890s or early 1900s. Clara Varnedoe (1884-1978), who served as Evans County School Superintendent from 1929-1940, lived here for many years.
Yet another of the “Collins Row” homes, this Craftsman cottage was built by Joe Hendrix for Benjamin Bradley Edwards (1884-1964) & Myrtie Collins Edwards (1888-1983) and was owned by her descendants for several generations.
One of the “Collins Row” houses, this Craftsman bungalow was built for William Levy Newton (1896-1965) and his wife, Ada Collins Newton (1899-1958).
Built for a Mr. Carr in 1892, this Queen Anne house was purchased by the Collins family in 1894. As each of the Collins children grew up, they were given a lot on the block. The neighborhood was known as “Collins Row” and was ruled by Maggie Collins (1877-1964), who was lovingly known as “Big Chief”.
Source: Evans County Centennial Commission, Driving Tour of Historic Homes & Landmarks, Claxton, 2014.
Nearly lost, these two tenant houses stand at the edge of the road, ghosts barely hidden by woods. Tens of thousands of such houses once dotted the landscape of South Georgia, but I find fewer with each passing year.
I’ve heard that this has been torn down to build yet another Dollar General, as of summer 2019.
Oral tradition suggests that this Plantation Plain farmhouse was built for Jonathan Bacon Brewton (1827-1897) by Amos Hearn, the builder of the nearby A. D. Eason House. Brewton was the son of one of the area’s earliest settlers, Benjamin Brewton, who came to Tattnall County (now Evans) in 1794 from Warren County. He married Margaret Everett in 1848 and one of their sons, John Carter Brewton, was a co-founder and the first president of Brewton-Parker College.
Jonathan served as Clerk of the Superior Court of Tattnall County and two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives . From late 1862 until early 1864 he was active in the 5th Georgia Cavalry but returned before war’s end upon his election as clerk of the court. In 1865 a foraging party of Union troops passed through the area and ransacked the house. After the war, Brewton continued his enterprises and also operated a general store and post office. The community around the house and store was known as Haw Pond at the time. Brewton also owned a gristmill, lumber mill and cotton gin. Brewton’s heirs sold the house to one of their former sharecroppers, James A. Hendrix, in 1936. The Willcox family has owned it since 1990.
Source: Pharris DeLoach Johnson, Houses of Heart Pine: A Survey of the Antebellum Architecture of Evans County, Georgia.
I believe the precinct houses are called courthouses in this area.
Abraham Darlington Eason (1816-1887) was the youngest son of William Eason, who founded the first Methodist church (Mt. Carmel) in Tattnall County after migrating from Colleton County, South Carolina. Abraham married Susan Tillman (1827-1907) in 1843. The young coupled settled near the Tillman ferry operation on the Canoochee River, in what is now the community of Undine. They first built a log house. Abraham was very industrious and deeply involved in the community, serving in the state house, as justice of the Inferior Court and tax collector and receiver. In just a few years he had acquired over 5500 acres, which he doubled with the purchase of his father-in-law’s estate in 1851. (This historical background comes from the excellent work of Pharris DeLoach Johnson, Houses of Heart Pine: A Survey of the Antebellum Architecture of Evans County, Georgia).
In 1854, Eason began acquiring materials for the construction of a permanent home to replace the log cabin and in 1856 hired Amos Hearn, a local carpenter, to complete the project. As with nearly all large Southern houses of the era, slaves were likely integral to the construction process. The family still owns many of the detailed ledgers A. D. kept during construction of the house. Meticulous attention is being afforded its restoration of the house. I spoke at great length with the present owner’s (Paul Eason) son, Joey McCullough, about the process and the family is very committed to maintaining the integrity of this important landmark.
A tobacco barn built in the 1930s remains on the property.
A log corn crib is present, as well, but the only thing holding it up are the trees that have grown up beside it.
