1785 Peitition signed by Richard's Grandfather

The Womack family was about to be expelled from their homestead on the Rocky Comfort Creek at the forks of the Ogeechee River in Burke County Georgia.

The Ogeechee River

Richard Womack, the head of the family, signed a petition with his neighbors, calling for a halt to the sale of these lands. The petition was addressed to Samuel Ebert, the governor of Georgia. The petition notes that the settlers were under the impression that the land was vacant at the time that they settled, and that they were the first settlers in the area and had "stood as a wall" against the Indians and had made considerable improvements on the land. According to the petitioners, they were living in one of the few liveable areas covered by the survey- most of it being barren sand hills. They ask that the land sale be postponed. The sale was indeed postponed- final outcome unknown to me. One of the other  nine signatures was by neighbor Captain Blasengame Harvey- under whom Jesse Womack served in the Revolutionary War.

 Richard Womack Sr. died in July of the same year- about age 75. Soon afterward, his son, Jesse Womack, led his family westward through Georgia.

Petition of the Inhabitants of Burke County Georgia to Samuel Elbert, Governor 1785 May 5 (Telamon Cuyler, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/zlna/id:tcc940