An announcement of the marriage of Thomas Willis Fortson to Miss Minnie F. Getzen appeared in the Columbus Daily Enquirer Sun on March 26, 1885. The couple had married in Curryton, SC on the 24th and were arriving in Columbus the 26th and having a reception in their honor. Thomas Willis was the son of Thomas Daniel Fortson and Georgia A. Mealing. Thomas Daniel Fortson, sisters Jane and Harriet arrived in Columbus from Elbert County, GA with their married sister Elizabeth and her husband Isaac Almond after the death of their father Jesse Fortson in the late 1830’s. Thomas married 1) Eliza Pruitt and they had one son, Henry. After Elizabeth’s death in 1851, he married Georgia A. Mealing. Thomas Daniel became a prosperous planter, he also ran a general store and a gristmill on Heiferhorn Creek. In 1858 he built his home at the corner of Fortson and Almond Road near the Muscogee Harris County line. The Fortson house was a one story Georgian cottage built in the Greek revival style. Thomas Willis was born in 1860. During the Civil War, Thomas supplied the Confederate army with meal. After Thomas Daniel Fortson died in 1885, Thomas Willis became the owner of his father’s property. The area originally known as Blanchard’s Crossing was renamed Fortson in 1885 after the Columbus and Rome Railroad built a station on the Fortson property. Thomas Willis Fortson was named station agent. (Thomas Willis opened a post office in the general store and served as postmaster until his death in 1932. His son Luther Getzen Fortson became postmaster and ran the general store until his death in 1963). After Thomas Willis and Minnie Getzen wed they settled in the Fortson area and raised six children. In the late 1880’s Minnie’s parents, Samuel and Frances Mealing Gezten came for a visit. They fell in love with the area and decided to stay. They moved into the house built by Thomas Daniel Fortson for his sister. The house, across the railroad track, was half in Muscogee County and half in Harris County. Mrs. Getzen was fond of saying they ate their meals in Harris County and slept in Muscogee County. The Getzen’s organized the Getzen Memorial Church in 1904, still active today. Mrs. Fannie Getzen had been a teacher in South Carolina and when they settled in their new home she opened a small one room school near her home. Many of her students were from the Mulberry Grove area in Harris County. They included members of the Binns, Davis, Jones and McCrary families. Later she moved her school into Muscogee County and taught until her death in 1932. The Fortson family has retained ownership of the home until today.
Fortson Home Fortson Road Fortson, Ga
(This story is a very relevant one in my life. Thomas Daniel Fortson and my third great grandfather Osborn Ely’s lands adjoined the other. Thomas Daniel Fortson witnessed Osborn’s will. Many members of my Reese and Smith family attended the Getzen Memorial Church and are buried in its’ cemetery. I grew up in the Fortson area and visited the general store many times as a young child.)
Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun, March 26, 1885, p.4 The Macon Telegraph, December 17, 1885 History of Harris County, Georgia 1827-1961, Louise Calhoun Barfield Historical Collections of the Georgia Chapters Daughters of the American Revolution, Elbert County, Grave Gilliam Davidson, 1929, p.139
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