Cureton Plantation

Cureton Plantation. Chickamauga Campaign Heritage Trail. James William Cureton was born on December 25, 1829 in North Carolina. As a young man he went to Tennessee where he married Nancy Boyd. In 1849, he moved to Dade County in Georgia with the intention of finding a good site for a water powered mill. His household consisted of himself, his wife Nancy, his widowed mother, his sister Nancy, and her husband Alexander Smith. At that time, he owned two middle aged enslaved Africans. He located a good site for his proposed mill, and established his estate and called it “Dademont.” He built a mill dam and constructed a saw mill, a grist mill, and installed equipment to operate a water powered wool carding machine. He also manufactured furniture from local hardwoods. In 1859 he purchased "a Negro boy named John., The 1860 Federal census shows James Cureton as being 34 years old, living with his wife Nancy, age 30, a son John, age 11; a son George, age 9; another son William, age 5; and a daughter Mary, age 1. He owned three enslaved Africans and maintained one Negro house. At the start of the war James Cureton served as a sergeant in the 10th regiment of Georgia State Troops until that unit was disbanded in the fall of 1861. He then raised a company of men from the local area, called the “Dade County Invincibles,” that became Company D in the 39th Georgia Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army. Captain Cureton was away with the army when the Federal invasion took place in September of 1863., “With the repairs we have put upon the road,” General Negley, informed General Thomas on September 6, 1863 from Cureton's, “it is excellent to this point. The creek water is sufficiently good for cooking purposes. A safe and convenient camping ground with a field of matured corn nearby, a very suitable place for your headquarters, temporarily. At Cureton's there is an excellent spring; creek close by and good camping grounds. General Sheridan is here personally, and proposed to encamp his division here.”, At 11:30 a.m. on September 6, 1863 a member of Sheridan's command wrote: "We halted at a farm house which betokened a wealthy owner [James Cureton], as far as appearances went. We rested one-half hour in a beautiful grove, then took the rocky and dusty road, and moved slowly on. The heat was oppressive in the valley. Many of the men had to drop out; and at one p.m. the number of men present with the regiment at the head of the marching column did not much exceed one hundred. At 2:30 p.m. we bivouacked six miles south of Trenton on Lookout Creek.", Cureton remained with the Confederate Army until he was disabled by a leg wound during the battle of Atlanta. After the war, Cureton continued his milling operations and expanded his farming activities. He served several terms in the Georgia Legislature, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate., Captions (left to right): , . Site of Cureton's water-powered mills , . From the map of Col. William E. Merrill, Chief Engineer, Army of the Cumberland , . Carded wool bedspreads produced by Cureton's mill