The Layers of History at Cartacay Methodist Church

From Greg Kindall, Ellijay, Georgia:

“Built in 1859 to replace a 1834 structure, this fine old church is on the National Register of Historic Places. My 4th great-grandfather was a Civil War-era minister here.”

The town of Ellijay, in north Georgia, was once part of the Cherokee Nation. It was on “the Indian map,” territory that by treaty belonged to Indian nations, as shown here, and is now in Gilmer Couunty. The county is named in honor of George R. Gilmer, one of the Georgia governors who led the fight to open up the Cherokee country to white settlement. The 1834 structure would have been built just as the drive to remove Cherokees was approaching its climax. The 1859 building seen here would have been completed soon before north Georgia became a great combat zone of the Civil War. The region was the scene of the Battle of Chickamauga and General William T. Sherman’s advance toward Atlanta. It was in that era that Mr. Kindall’s ancestor would have been preaching there.