In an effort to learn more about the land that has come to be known as Old Town, we traveled to numerous destinations and exhausted the many resources we researched. This paper is the culmination of a ten week long research project that was begun to examine past ownership and structural improvements to the land. While our findings are limited, we have shed new light on a particularly dark area in Old Town's existence. We hope that this information proves to be helpful in some way to those that continue to do research and excavation to further open and explore the mysteries that are Old Town.
George Galphin, frontier tradesman extraordinaire and superintendent of Indian affairs for the Georgia Royal government, was originally granted the land for the old Indian village of Old Town in the mid-1700's. Here along the Ogeechee River, approximately seven miles southeast of present-day Louisville, Galphin established his trading post and his land cession negotiations with the Creek Indians of Central and South Georgia. Galphin continued his trade with the settlers and Indians for the next twenty years and he watched his establishment evolve into a flourishing economic and political entity. During the American Revolution, Old Town shrank from the limelight, but still retained some strategic importance because it was used by the Tories as leverage against Galphin for his continued neutrality in the fight for American independence. Although Galphin did, for the most part, remain neutral in the Revolution, he assisted both the British and American forces when it was most advantageous to him. The assistance he gave to the Americans brought the wrath of the British and in 1779, a band of Tory settlers and unhappy Indians plundered the commissary at Old Town. The marauders absconded with 1400 pounds of skins and 7000 pounds of goods. Galphin was also captured and taken to Savannah where he was accused of high treason. However, on December 1, 1780, before the trial could commence, he passed away. George Galphin's death signifies the beginning of the forgotten era of Old Town.
After his death, Galphin's land and belongings were divided according to stipulations in his will. His son Thomas received cattle, horses, a grist mill, and saw mill located on the north side of Town Creek. Thomas also received 350 acres of land along the Ogeechee. His other son John, born of the Indian Metawney, received cattle and the land upon the Ogeechee known as Old Town. This transfer from George to John Galphin was the first of many transactions that would send the Old Town property further and further away from the Galphin family. This would also start the many disputes over the rights and land entitlement of future owners and squatters on the Old Town property.
John Galphin's infamous stint as Old Town's overseer began in 1780 at the demise of his father, George. John and his brother George ran the trading post as co-directors for several years before eventually allowing the area to fall into disrepair. John and George moved further up the Ogeechee River, a few miles northwest of Louisville, and established a new trading post and community known as Galphinton. They moved here as the Georgia frontier and settlers expanded westward. Their new endeavor at Galphinton was less spectacular than Old Town had been and thus, the Galphins incurred large debts. Because their debts were so high, they were unable to continue their ownership of Old Town. Unfortunately, they were forced to sell the property in 1786, to Robert Forsyth of Augusta.
Forsyth, an absentee landowner, bought Old Town as an investment. Although he did little to maintain the property himself, he hired squatters to live on and farm the land. Forsyth pursued mercantile interests in Augusta, while squatters such as Michael Burke worked the land in Jefferson County. Burke, who would later play a role in the fight for property rights to Old Town, had made several improvements to the land he squatted on.
Burke, an enlisted man in Michael Rudolph's company, was stationed at Fort Massachusetts when he deserted near Rock Landing Station on June 25, 1791. In an effort to locate him, the following information was published in the February 25, 1792, edition of the Augusta Chronicle:

As early as July 7, 1792, just one year after desertion, Burke had married Ann Fishbourn and the two obtained rights to the land formerly owned by Ann's late husband, Colonel Benjamin Fishbourn. By November 29, 1794, Burke had become a doctor and had been appointed by the Legislature to be the State Health Officer of the port of Savannah. In December 1797, Burke was elected as Junior Grand Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Georgia.
At the time of Robert Forsyth's unexpected death in 1794, the Old Town estate was passed from Robert to his teenaged son John. John would eventually graduate from Princeton, become a lawyer in nearby Louisville, and later, the Govenor of Georgia.
Although he and his family only lived at Old Town a few years, John Forsyth made a number of improvements to the property . Among those improvements were a plantation house and six outbuildings that are still in existence. John oversaw daily operations at Old Town, in addition to practicing law in Louisville. He and his family ran the plantation for approximately one decade before experiencing financial difficulties. Instead of giving up an aspiring political career, Forsyth decided to put his property on the market for sale.
Learning that Forsyth had advertised the Old Town property for sale, Michael Burke became furious. Burke, a squatter on the land since Robert Forsyth owned the property, felt as though he were entitled to a portion of the Old Town lands. The portion of land that he claimed was under cultivation and had been improved. To that end, Burke staked his claim to this portion of the property in a letter to the editor of the Louisville Gazette and Republican Trumpet.

Before Forsyth could complete the sale of his property, Old Town, along with a house and lot in Louisville belonging to Michael Burke, were seized by the sheriff of Jefferson County. These properties were sold to satisfy debts incurred against James Scott and others. A notice in the December 11, 1807, edition of the Louisville Gazette and Republican Trumpet advertised this sale which was to be held on January 5, 1808.

At the sheriff's sale on January 5, 1808, the property was obtained by Thomas Galphin, one of the other claimants in the Burke-Forsyth property dispute. Hardly one year after the first sale, Thomas Galphin, suffering from the same financial difficulties that had plagued most of Old Town's owners, was forced to sell his late father's former estate to settle past debts. The Marshall's Sale notice read,