THE
GREAT UNSEEN SPIRIT
A
Story of the Strickland Family
Submitted by
Charlotte Collins Bond
When I was a young child, my grandmother, Linnie Teate, lived with
us. She was a great story teller and each night I fell asleep
as she wove her spell. This was one of my favorite stories.
Granny said that when her grandparents
settled in Madison County,
the Indians were still in the territory. The grandparents
were Ephraim Strickland and his wife, Nancy Daniel. Ephraim
was the son of Solomon Strickland, Sr. and his wife, Amy Pace.
Solomon had been a Captain in the American Revolution. Ephraim
was named for his oldest brother, by the same name.
The older brother, Ephraim, was killed by the Indians in the last
Indian raid in Athens, Georgia
at Boggs Hill,
and the young Ephraim was born a few days later.
Ephraim's
mother, Mary [Polly], was the daughter of General Allen Daniel and
his wife, Mary Jones. Danielsville, Georgia was named for
him. He served in the War of 1812 and was a State Senator.
Mary Jones'
parents were Capt. Russell Jones & his wife, Ann Beasley.
Russell was also a Revolutionary soldier and a State Senator from
Franklin County.
Ephraim
Strickland, Granny 1/2s grandfather, had built his house in a beautiful
valley near Blue Stone Creek. They had a wide view of the
surrounding great hillsides.
One day they looked and saw a band of Indians on horseback sitting
all along the vast hillside. They had no idea what the Indians
had in mind. But remembering how his brother had died, Ephraim feared
they were a war party and that they would be massacred.
Ephraim and Nancy began to pray to God
for protection. They had a young baby and their instinct was to
protect the baby and hide him from view. That baby boy was
my great great grandfather, William Strickland,
who was born in 1816. There was a large black wash pot in
the yard where they did their laundry, so they laid the sleeping
baby on the ground and turned the wash pot over him. The curious
Indians approached the yard and started trying to talk to them.
They were making a lot of noise and the baby under the wash pot
woke up and began crying. The curious noise, seemingly coming
from nowhere, frightened the Indians and they fled in a great hurry.
The family was never bothered with visits from the Indians again.
They spread the word that this family had The Great Unseen Spirit
protecting them. And that they did! Unseen,
but not Unknown.
Charlotte Bond
January 29, 2001
