Historic River Valley Counties of Georgia: Amos Smith's Carp Pond

An article appeared in The Daily Enquirer Sun on March 19, 1886 concerning Mr. Smith's Carp Pond at Mountain Hill, Georgia. Amos Smith was born in Rising Sun, Maryland on February 1, 1831. His parents were Samuel and Anna Moore Smith. The Smiths were Quakers. As a young man, Amos served an apprenticeship for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Maryland. He became a skilled metal worker. At the age of twenty one he came by boat to Savannah and decided to move to Harris County, GA. He settled in Whitesville, Ga though for a while he worked as a hand on a boat on the Chattahoochee River. Amos Smith married Frances Maddox in Harris County, GA on January 21, 1857. After a short time, he moved back to Whitesville and started a photography business. Smith also ran a blacksmith shop and repaired clocks. At the close of the Civil War Amos moved his family a few miles down the road to a little community called Talleytown and built his home. He was on a committee that changed the name of Talleytown to Mountain Hill. He had built a two story home and opened a store in the front of his home. He also ran a mill and built the first one room schoolhouse in the community. The Smiths were Methodists and attended the Mountain Hill Methodist Church (no longer in existence). When the Mountain Hill Methodist Church burned, the family attended Sardis Methodist Church and later Whitesville United Methodist Church. Amos Smith was a popular member of the Mountain Hill Community. Along with his carp ponds, he was a beekeeper. He furnished honey for the community and surrounding areas. He was fond of animals, caring for wildlife brought to him. His little collection of animals was known as the Mountain Hill Zoo. Amos became the last postmaster of Mountain Hill in 1874. Amos Smith died on May 6, 1908 and was buried in the Whitesville Methodist Church. Amos Smith’s daughter-in-law Henry Lou Calhoun was a charter member of Mountain Hill Baptist Church.

Family of Amos and Frances Maddox Smith

Annie (10Nov1857) m. Johnnie Williams

Lily Eva (4Jan1860) m. Brazilla Whitten

William Alexander (machinist) (5Aug1867) m. Henry Lou Calhoun(17Dec1872-15Jul1915) (daughter of James Henry Calhoun and Georgia Frances Duke)

Clara Josephine (1Mar1867) m. John Tillery

Sallie Jane (10Aug1873-10Jul1890)

James Bonner (10Aug1873-1946) m. Pearl Woolbridge

Connie Estelle (6Jan1878) died in her teens

Albertine (17Oct1882)

Family of William Alexander Smith and Henry Lou Calhoun

Amos (2Dec1891-6Feb1935)

Charlie Franklin (6May1889-9Feb1956)m. 1)Clementine C. Knight 2)Emily Grant