James A. Everett

Here on the Indian Path that connected two Indian Trails, from Hartford to Fort Hawkins and from Barnard’s Crossing to the Old Creek Agency, James Abbington Everett established, in the 1820’s, the Indian Trading Post around which Fort Valley arose. He married Mary Beaufort Greene in 1835. At his death, in 1848, he owned 242 slaves, and more than 12,000 acres of land. A public benefactor, he gave land for church and school use here, secured for Fort Valley the Southwestern R.R., and devoted his wealth to Christian Education in Georgia.