Here on the Indian Path that connected two
Indian Trails, from Hartford to Fort Hawkins
and from Barnard´s Crossing to the Old Creek Agency,
James Abbington Everett established
in the 1820´s the Indian Trading Post around
which Fort Valley arose. he married Mary Beaufort
Greene in 1835. At his death in 1848, he
owned 242 slaves, and more than 12,000 acres
of land. A public benefactor, he gave land
for church and school use here, secured for
Fort Valley the Southwestern R.R. and devoted
his wealth to Christian Education in Georgia.