ACS Celebrates 40 Years at Massee Lane: Needham Massee versus the South Western Railroad

摘要

When the South Western Rail Road Company planned a line from Macon, Georgia to Oglethorpe through Mar shall ville in 1850, doubtless the management and builders expected the countryside to be wild with enthusiasm and excitement. In some cases, their expectations were met. In one instance that is important to us, the irresistible force of progress met the immove-able object of one man's determination: Needham Massee was not anxious to part with any portion of his property. Born in North Carolina in 1779, Mas-see had moved to Wilkes County, Georgia in 1803, then to Fort Hawkins, later to be known as Macon. The Creek Indians were pushed further and further westward from one river to another, by a series of treaties. Land formerly occupied by the Indians was distributed by lottery in 1827, and Needham Massee acquired that land that became known as Massee's Lane in Houston, later Macon and Peach Counties. This plantation extended from Marshallville to the edge of Fort Valley.