The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-16
lHwIN coUNTY'S> BIG JUMP.
~ THAN Dot BLED IN PoPULA-
.,,o~ N TIKI LAST DECADE.

ceorgin-FitzgeraId, the Magic
c,.v of Irwin, Whose Population
,.oreased From so to 1000 In
r,,rae Ycars-The County One of
10 Most Prosperous in South
c.orgia-SOme of the People Who
nave Made 1t What 1t Is.
,.,-ip county increased 116 per cent.
ronulation in the last decade, thus
oLine it the second county in Geor-
:, IN growth during that period. Its
o,rlation by the last census was 49,
s,s irwin once embraced about all the
,and in Southern Georgia, and is the
.,otber of many counties, and among
~ offsprings are the prosperous
.ornties of Thomas, Lowndes, Col
ouitt Coffee, Berrien, Brooks and
others.
The county was laid off under the
lottery act of 1S1s,and until within the
lost Afteen years was without a rail-
road. It was named after Jared Irwin,
North Carolinian of Irish descent,
whose parents came to Georgia and
settled in what is now Burke county.
While he was a youth he served in the
revolutionary army, and became
brigadier general of militia later in
rfe and took part in the Creek War.
He was thrice elected Governor of the
state. and during his first term signed
the act repeating that great land steal,
the Yazoo law. He lived and died in
Washington county. History says he
was "a very pure man and an excel
lent neighbour" He died the same year
that Irwin county was laid out; it
was then about ten times its present
only All inhabitants.
The lands are rolling, like the swell
Of the sea after a storm, and the soil
very fertile. While sawmills and tur-
pentine operators have made inroads
into the great pine forests of the coun-
". there is still a large area unclear-
ed. and the investor who desires to
hold for a profit, or clear the land for
farming viii sfind no better opening
than Irwin county offers.
While there have been many new
comers into the county in the last ten
years, the old families are numero Gus;
among them may be mentioned the
Pauiks, the HenderSons, Clements,
Dormneys, Hogans, Lukes, Fletchers,
ETC. The people are thrifty and intel
ligent The principal product is cot
ton, but corn, wheat and sugar cane
are raised In large quantities, and
Judging from the hogs that are to be
seen in the towns, as well as on the
roads and elsewhere, Irwin county
should be considered a good county
for that valuable animal, which an
lrishman described as one that ate
everything that man would not eat,
and then was eaten by man.
1t is my opinion that it will not be
many years before Wiregrass Georgia
will be supplying the state with Its
hog meats, instead of the far West.
The county is making reputation
for small and large fruits. Strawber-
ries grow in abundance, as do Japan
plums, peaches, melons, etc. Thomas
g. Fletcher last year raised IFS bales
Of cotton on 200 acres OF land.
Some years ago while in Virginia,
where l spent three months in attend
ing a member of my family who met
with a serious accident, l noticed how
the farmers in that state disposed of
their surplus products. Buyers, with
temporary headquarters al the near
est railroad stations, went from farm
to farm, bespeaking horses, cows,
hogs, turkeys, and everything that the
farmer raised and had to spare; prices
being agreed upon, they returned lat
ter paid for what they bought, and
took the purchases away. In this man
ner the buyers gathered together the
surplus of the farms and shipped
them to the city markets, max
ing a profit on their transactions;
the farmer turned what he did not
want into money, and also saved the
cost Of caring for surplus products. l
do not think any surplus of stock or
other saleable products can be found
on a Virginia farm after the fall
months. If the 11armer were sure of
ready sale of the little things that are
raised on every Georgia farm, he
would give more attention to raising
them, and gradually such products
would increase and add largely to his
income. 1t seems to me that even at
this time Wiregrass Georgia offers
rich harvest for buyers of the surplus
OF the farms.
The largest place in Irwin county is
Fitzgerald, the next Ocilla, then Syc-
amore, followed by Mystic and Irwin
Vile.
MY nrSt stopping place IN Irwin was
at the Magic City of Fitzgerald, 16S
miles west of Savannah, an enterprise
lnaugurated by P. H. Fitzgerald, of
Chicago as an old Soldiers Colony,
and its population grew in three
years from so to 1000 people. The in
nuX of people from the North and
west was phenomenal and at one time
looked as though it would be an inn
mense city. Apparently there was a
sreater desire to speculate in town
Iots than settle upon the land, the like
Vi which can not be bettered in the
world, and the population disappeared
uhul according to the census of 1900,
had only 1,S17.
fitzgerald, however, was not born
70 die, and I think 1 may safely say
mat 1000 may be added to the above
nsures the increase in population
sInce the census was taken. When the
own was laid out there was not a
iaLfoad nearer than Lulaville to-day
II mas four railroads, and every new
.ellroad scheme in Georgia appears
TTII i to reach the Magic City.
mere are seven railroads in Irwin
s.1ouhty, the Seaboard Air Line, Allan
az ana Birmingham, Georgia Southern
o Gnu FLORIDA, Triton and Northeastern,
GIlla and Irwinville, Hawkinsville and
aIoFlda Southern, Fitzgerald, Ocmul-
&C. ana Red Bluff; the four first men
uoned enter Fitzgerald. With water
o ~Urhs' electric lights, banks, hotels,
toiuihodlous stores, a cotton factory,
factory, saw mills, two newspapers
anu fertile country like Irwin, with
I energetic population at its back,