The 1820 Land Lottery was the third

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

of the Georgia Land Lotteries, a lottery system used by the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

between the years 1805 and 1833 to steal and redistribute Cherokee and Muscogee land. The 1820 lottery was authorized by the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

by acts of December 15, 1818, and December 16, 1819. The lottery redistributed land in Baldwin and

Wilkinson Wilkinson or Wilkinsons may refer to: Businesses and brands * Wilko, formerly Wilkinson Hardware, a British retail chain * Wilkinson Sword, a British manufacturer of razor blades, formerly swords, motorbikes and other products ** Wilkinson TMC ...

counties. The 1820 lottery were used to steal

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

land and redistribute it to

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s. Following the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

(1813–1814), President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

demanded from the Muscogee an immense area of land which would become the southern third of the entire state of Georgia. A second section of land in northeast Georgia was included. This other, smaller section defined the eastern end of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

for 12 years. Muscogee land was stolen and redistributed in Appling, Early, Gwinnett, Habersham,

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

Irwin Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango Co ...

, Rabun, and Walton counties. The size of stolen lots were either 250 acres or 490 acres. Drawings for the lottery occurred between September 1 and December 2, 1820. Fortunate drawers from the previous 1805 and 1807 lotteries were excluded (with an exception for families of orphans consisting of more than one person), as well as draft resisters who refused to fight in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

or the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States of America and Republic of Texas agains ...

, and any resident of "the lottery territory previous to the extinguishment of the Indian title".

Fortunate drawers

Thomas Stamps Sr. of the Stamps family was a fortunate drawer, receiving 250 acres (1 km²) in present-day

Gwinnett County Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, being located about northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Georgia Land Lottery Records Research Guide
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

Land Lottery A land lottery or land ballot is a method of allocating land ownership or the right to occupy land by lot. Some examples are: * Moses' allocation of Promised Land territory to the Israelite tribes by lot, as mandated in Numbers 26:55 and 33:54 an ...

Georgia Land Lotteries Government of Georgia (U.S. state) History of Georgia (U.S. state) Muscogee Lotteries in the United States

Fortunate drawers

See also

References

External links