Shakerag
The oldest house in old Milton County, and now the oldest house in Fulton County, is the home of John Rogers. John Rogers controlled a ferry over the river as well, and before the removal lived along the Federal Road in Gwinnett County until he married Charlotte who was a Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee are a matrilineal people. This means that children are born into the clan of their mothers. When young men marry, they leave their family and move in with their wife’s family and all his children will belong to his wife’s clan. Because John Rogers had married an Indian, he was now considered a Cherokee and could live on the Cherokee side of the river. He found it less expensive to take his two story house off its foundation, float it across the river, and transport it up out of the flood plain. Therefore, his house is now the oldest house on this side of the river. He moved his house in approximately 1820.
Warsaw already existed; however, he found it difficult to travel that distance in any reasonable time. He founded a new Methodist Church, called Antioch, nearer to his house. There was also a much more important trail and later road that crossed the river just north of his ferry: McGinnis Ferry. The trail that included Collins/McGinnis Ferry reached all the way to Augusta, and became one of the most important trade routes of the early nineteenth century. After crossing the Chattahoochee, traders looked for an easy rest. Chief Vann operated the nearest tavern well in Forsyth County, so enterprising souls created a couple of taverns near McGinnis Ferry. Slowly a community formed with the requisite stores, blacksmith shops around the taverns.
However, one of the important questions regarding this and many other communities is how the name was chosen. Some speculate that the name refers to the rag one shakes to tell passing trains, and maybe stage coaches, to stop the train, and maybe stage coach, to get the mail. The legend I heard, however, concerned a bobcat that terrorized the community’s laundry. The wives of the community would do their laundry and hang the clothes to dry out back overnight. During the night, some animal would rip the laundry off the line and, shaking the clothes to rags, scatter the laundry over the back yard. One night, one of the residents saw a bobcat shaking the rags, and then everyone knew who was shaking their rags. They let the bobcat go, and the community got its name.
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Copyright 2007-2009 by Tim Spruell