Benjamin Pickett

On the rolling hills along Pickett's Mill Creek, Benjamin Pickett owned a 300-acre farm and mill that gave the stream its name. Benjamin Pickett was 32 years old in August of 1860. His 23-year-old wife of 10 years, Fanny (Martha), had given birth only three months before to a baby girl. By a previous marriage he had three children: Malachi, nine years old; William G., four years old; and a daughter, Louisa, six years old. Ben Pickett's farm was appraised at $2,000, and although he was not as well off as his father, he was one of the more prosperous farmers in the district.

Benjamin Pickett was an officer in the district militia, he then on March 12, 1862 joined Company D of the 1^st Georgia Cavalry and received a $50 Bounty. On August 5, he was elected second lieutenant of Company D. Ben would return home on sick furlough early in 1863; at home Malachi Pickett sold J. C. Harris 300 acres including the land east of Ben's home all the way to the Cobb County line, and half-interest in the grist mill on Pickett's Mill Creek.

When Ben Pickett returned to the Army of Tennessee, he left his family behind him for the last time: Martha, 26, his wife; his sons Malachi, 12, and Billy, seven; daughters Louisa, nine, and Mary, three; and a slave named Martin. When he was Killed at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19,1863,Ben and the 1^st Ga. Cav. was under the command of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, the army sent back his cavalry saddle, his double-barreled shotgun and his Colt pistols. On November 2, Martha Pickett sold this along with his $50 watch and all perishable property for $2,483.25.

If Ben Pickett would have lived he would have found his way home with The retreating Army of Tennessee. He would on May 27,1864,seen fighting on the doorsteps of his house and Confederate troopers on the creek bank, by the mill, in the timber, and along the grain fields. Benjamin Pickett's burial location is unknown, therefore with the consent of the Pickett Family, the Gm. William J. Hardee camp #1397 of Dallas, Ga., has placed an In Memory Of marker at the New Hope Cemetery, in Paulding County. It is located under the large cedar tree near some of the Pickett family.

We would also like to thank Martha J. Thomason, a direct descendent of Old Maiachi Pickett, for her support of History and Heritage for the Pickett family.

-Written By [SCV Patrick Cleburne Camp] Cmdr. Wayne Willingham