There are two

meanings that are derived from the word

"historical." The actual meaning is any

site over 50 years old but many feel it means

"George Washington slept here."

While the first

meaning applies to an antebellum home at Redwine

Road and Ga. Highway 74 South that is for sale,

it is not without its own local history.

It was built about

1830-1832 by Druery May (you'll find his first

name spelled three different ways in county

records) in District 6, Land Lot 18. He has the

distinction, it is believed, of being the only

veteran of the War of 1812 buried in Fayette

County.

He was born in 1784

and died Dec. 9, 1841. He married his wife, the

widow Anna Moses, most likely in 1809. She had

three children by her first marriage and May

became their guardian.

He served in the

War of 1812 from Pulaski County and was a

corporal in Captain Tooke's Company.

The Mays had moved

to Fayette County by 1824 (the county was formed

in 1821) and he began his accumulation of land.

acres. While most of it was in the area of his

house, he also owned whole land lots (202.2 acres

each) in a number of places throughout Fayette

County.

He and his wife

were buried on land that at the time was his

"back yard" but is now located in south

Peachtree City. It is situated in the back yards

of a subdivision on Wellborn Chase.

This land was also

shared by the early settlers of the Holly Grove

African Methodist Episcopal Church, which still

exists not far away.

In June of 1996,

Mays' descendants, who lived all over the United

States, decided they had been corresponding for

enough years and met in Peachtree City for its

first-ever reunion.

They arrived from

California, Texas and Arkansas and points all

around, enjoying a gravemarking ceremony held by

the Georgia State Society of the National Society

United States Daughters of 1812, Mays'

descendants and the Fayette County Historical

Society.

After Mays' death

some of the names of owners include Fuller,

Lindsey, Peeples and Pailer.

As is the case with

any well-known property, myths have arisen. Among

these is the use of the house by Sherman during

the War Between The States. Not so, as the

closest Union forces came to the house was 15

miles to the east. Also, a recent article states

that Johnsons owned the house in 1925, but it was

owned at that time by Lindseys. The article also

stated it only had four owners, but there have

been close to ten.

It is rich with its

own history and one can only hope that a new

owner will continue in the traditions of the

original builder.