Available Indexes Grantee County of Residence Military District Land District

DeKalb History Center 1821 Georgia Land Lottery for DeKalb County

In 1821, the State of Georgia held the fourth of its seven land lotteries, to distribute the tract of land ceded to the United States by the Creek Nation of Indians in the Treaty of Indian Springs (January 8, 1821).  This tract included what is today DeKalb County.  Each lot was 202‡ acres and the fortunate drawer could claim his grant by paying a $19.00 fee.

 Those persons eligible to draw were:  

• Bachelor, 18 years or over, who had been residents of the United States and Georgia for three years  -  1 draw
  

• Married man, with a wife and/or minor son under the age of 18 and/or unmarried daughter; resident of United States & Georgia for 3 years  -  2 draws
  

• Widow, 3 year resident of Georgia  -  1 draw
  

• Family of minor orphans, father dead, three year residence in Georgia  -  1 draw
  

• Family (3 or more) of minor orphans, father and mother dead  - 2 draws
  

• Family (1 or 2) of minor orphans, father and mother dead  - 1 draw
  

• Widow, husband killed or died in Revolutionary War, War of 1812 or Indian War  -  2 draws
  

• Orphan, father killed or died in Revolutionary War, War of 1812 or Indian War  -  2 draws
  

• Child or family of children of a convict, 3 years residence in Georgia  -  1 draw

There are no applications on file, nor any written documentation of the fortunate drawers eligibility.  The fortunate drawers swore an oral oath in order to be eligible to receive a grant in the 1821 Land Lottery.

 In some cases, the original recipient of the grant, for whatever reason, failed to pay the $19.00 fee to claim their prize.  In such an instance, the grant reverted to the State to be awarded a second, or even a third or fourth time.   There are no records of recipients who forfeited their prizes.  The date show is when the grant was claim by the person whose name appears in the column labeled ìfortunate drawer.î

 These records were copied from the original lists recorded by the State of Georgia Office of the Surveyor General.  The originals are preserved at the Georgia Department of Archives and History, located at 330 Capitol Avenue SE, Atlanta, Georgia  30334, and may be viewed by appointment.  They are also available at the Archives on microfilm (Drawer 286, Roll 46).

 The information is arranged alphabetically by drawerís last name (Fortunate Drawer); county of residence; militia district within the county of residence; the land district; lot number; date the grant was claimed and finally any remarks noted.

 Where names were abbreviated, such as Wm. for William or Jas. for James, the full name was spelled out for the sake of clarity.  Otherwise, misspellings were left as they were written by the original clerk.

 Modern day DeKalb County includes all of Districts 15 and 18, most of District 16, and a few lots in Districts 11 and 12.  These were granted in the 1821 Land Lottery.  A small number of lots in District 6, on the border between Gwinnett and DeKalb are included, although they were awarded in the 1820 or Third Land Lottery of Georgia.

 -Carol Purdy, Stone Mountain, Georgia