March 19, 2022: Doug Mabry and 20 hikers visited the site of the old Springer home place and cemetery off of Highway five west of McIntosh Reserve Park. The Springers settled in the area soon after Carroll became a county and their home place, known as Rotherwood, was perhaps the largest structure in the county for many years. In the early years, after the signing of the treaty giving Creek land to the US Government, and after the murder of Chief William McIntosh, the Springer lands were basically the “entrance to the rest of the county”. All the major “roads” west, north and south passed through the Springer property. Now the house is gone, and the cemetery is hidden in forest. Some years ago, the Sons of the Confederacy added markers to confederate graves in Carroll County, with four in the Springer cemetery. Threadbare Confederate flags still recall that project.
After Doug showed us a picture of the old Springer House, we walked around the site, exploring the lay of the land and observing rock outcroppings harking back to the mountain building era of colliding continents. We also tried to identify a jaw bone found on the site. After crossing highway 5, Doug located us on an area map, and pointed out the “crossroads” nature of the Springer estate. Reaching the cemetery, our group first milled about in the main part of the cemetery, inspecting the above ground granite slabs of the same era as the stone markers in the Bowen family cemetery in McIntosh Reserve. We then located many smaller graves in the surrounding forest, some clearly marked but others with only small markers or piles of stones.
After our hike to the Springer cemetery, some of us met for lunch with four descendants of William McIntosh and his first wife, Eliza Grierson. This family, from North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Munich, Germany, has recently become interested in exploring their family history and planned to spend the afternoon with Doug at McIntosh Reserve. In the picture, the four family members are standing between Doug Mabry and Gerry Lowrey.
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