Side 1
Near this site, is the gravesite of Maj. Jeremiah Austill, folk hero & prominent figure in the early settlement of Clarke County. Born in 1794 in S. C., he lived, along with his parents, Capt. Evan and Sara Austill, among the Cherokee in Ga. Before moving here at 18.
He is best known as the "Paul Revere of Clarke County." During the Creek War, a Sept. 2, 1813 Red Stick attack on Ft. Sinquefield near Whatley prompted the teen to make a dangerous, solitary night ride more than 40 miles to dispatch assistance from the militia at Mt. Vernon. With Austill's news,
(Continued on other side)
Side 2
(Continued from other side)
the colonel ordered forts Glass and Madison evacuated to St. Stephens with the Austills, a few others, including Sam Dale, remaining. Afterward, he was among the scouts who fought the Red Sticks in the famous Canoe Fight on the Alabama River.
After the war, he was clerk in the store of his uncle, Col. David Files & moved to Mobile where he was appointed clerk of the county court & spent one year in
the state legislature. In 1840, he bought the Gullet Plantation south of Jackson, residing there until his death on Dec. 9, 1879.
Comments 0 comments