Gone but not Forgotten
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Benjamin T. Wakins Log Cabin by Laurie Searle - April 9, 2018
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The chimney ruins are all that remain of the Watkins log cabin in Chatt Hills
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The lonesome chimney ruins that dot the countryside of Chattahoochee Hills have become an iconic symbol of our rural heritage. Once the heart of nearly every home in our community, these brick and mortar sentinels remind us of a time gone by.
One such chimney drew the attention of the Chatt Hills History Club in 2009. While researching the historic cemetery of Benjamin T. Watkins (1797-1867) and his wife Hannah Lassetter Watkins (1809- 1851), last seen near the Watkins log cabin on Hutcheson Ferry Rd, all we found was the chimney ruins. However unlike too many homeplaces that have been lost to Father Time, we learned that the Wakins log cabin had been rescued, moved, and restored as part of the Georgia Log Cabin project. Nine years later we rediscovered the cabin on a journey that took us to Crawford Georgia and may one day bring the Watkins log cabin back home to Chatt Hill. |
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A historical journey - March 2018
The two-hour drive to Crawford Georgia was filled with non-stop chatting, the result of two history buffs sharing stories and tall tales about life in Chatt Hills. Carole Lassetter Harper, who grew up in Palmetto and moved to “the country” in Chatt Hills in 1964, has spent a lifetime researching the history of her family, neighbors, and community. I developed a love for local history when I moved to Chatt Hills 20 years ago. Together we were like teenage girls at a slumber party; excited and giddy, we couldn’t seem to stop talking about our first love (history). And then we reached the red gate at Grove Creek Farm. At the far end of a well-kept pasture, we saw the object of our journey – the Watkins log cabin – and suddenly we were speechless. CONTINUED - Page 2 |
The Watkins log cabin at Grove Creek Farm in Crawford, GA
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