Devil’s Half Acre 

by Carillon Orban

Devil’s Half Acre - what a strange name for a piece of property!  I just had to find out more.   Not sure what the devil is going on, but besides the Devil’s Half Acre here in Putnam County, it seems the Devil has a lot of half acres.  I found them in Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia.  Out west, there are Devil’s Half Acres in Oregon and South Dakota.  There are also Hell’s Half Acres in South Carolina, Texas, and Wyoming.

Lynn Stanford, a retired Eatonton police officer and Vietnam Vet whose family goes back to 1798 in this area, gave Jene Welch the following information:

Lynn’s great-great-great grandfather, 14-year-old Leven Stanford, left Warren County with his 20-year-old brother.  They went west to the edge of the frontier (Indian territory).  This was before the creation of Baldwin County, which later contained what is today’s Putnam, Hancock, and Baldwin. 

They purchased a small acreage of land at a crossroad and opened a trading post and store which really was a saloon.  The acreage was located where Hwy 212, Bradley Road and Rabbit Skip Road converge.  This crossroads soon became known as Stanfordville.  Thousands of settlers were flooding the area following the land lottery of 1792.  While some families settled in the area, many of the men were unmarried and looking for a good time. 

In 1926, the Messenger reproduced a letter from Benjamin Bustin who reported that his great-grandfather, Christopher Bustin, said that Half Acres had its name when he arrived after serving in the War of 1812.  By the time Christopher Bustin arrived, there were 3 saloons on that half acre.  Along with ‘Brushy Knobs’ in Morgan County, they were called the worst places in Georgia!

There was also a newspaper article from 1960 written by Patty Almy.  She wrote that Stanfordville was called Devil’s Half Acre because it was the meeting place for all the lawless men from Putnam, Baldwin, Jasper, and Jones counties.  It was said that the first half acre was purchased for a saloon by a man named Stanford.  This all happened in the late 1700s or early 1800s.  The article said “whiskey flowed like water from the saloons.”  Gambling, bare-knuckle fighting, cock fighting and horse racing (not the genteel harness racing) were daily occurrences.  Some of the local Indians would gamble and buy whiskey with their winnings.

Eventually, with the help of the Methodists, the area became a thriving community.   However, after the Civil War, people started moving away, abandoning homes and buildings.  Stanfordville is now a very quiet wooded area.

Fred Ward, former Putnam County Commissioner and owner of Kinorhook BBQ, relayed his family’s story about Devil’s Half Acre to Sandra Rosseter. 

One of his ancestors was a plantation owner who had five sons by slaves.  He raised the boys and as he was dying, he called them in, showed them a map of his property and told them he was giving each an equal share.  One of the sons said, “What about this half acre?”  The father replied, “I don’t care, give it to the devil.”

Another version that Fred had heard was a story about the father dividing up the land with a 1/2 acre left over.  One of his sons was reported to have said that the 1/2 acre wasn’t worth anything and “to hell with it; give it to the Devil.”

According to ancestry.com, Fred’s great-great-great grandfather, William Nelson Williams, was a white Plantation owner who had three sons. The youngest, Jackson Williams, was born to a slave mother but was freed at birth.

Jackson Williams received land from South Carolina to Florida.  He also owned slaves.  According to Fred, he moved from place to place on his land, siring children wherever he went.  He fathered five sons by slaves and freed them at their birth.  His land was inherited by his sons.  Fred’s great grandfather, Jackson Williams Jr. was born in Jones County.  While Fred’s great grandfather did not arrive in Putnam County until 1910, it is quite possible, with all the Devil’s Half Acres in this country, that his family also owned a Devil’s Half Acre!  

Carillon Orban is a long-time Docent and Board Member of the Old School History Museum. She is also a member of the Plaza Arts Center Board and serves as Secretary.