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Note: Hosea (pronounced "Hosey" by the family) together with his father Abraham and his brother Benjamin came from the vicinity of Old Dutch Forks, Laurens County, SC and settled in Coweta County in 1828 on what we now call "the old Gray place' about 6 miles East of Haralson. Earlier members of the family are said to have emigrated to South Carolina from Scotland. When these 3 men, apparently by themselves, first arrived in Coweta County they brought with them the only saw mill machinery in that part of the county (i.e. the SE corner). They built a log cabin (dirt floor) to live in until the sawmill could be erected. It was a water-powered mill and thus required construction of a mill pond, and a water sluice and wheel race to drive it. From this mill came much of the lumber used in settling that part of the county as well as the adjoining county of Spalding (Griffin). A substantial home located in a beautiful grove of oaks was eventually built to house Hosea's large family stemming from his second marriage, his first wife and their two children having died at a very early age. Homer Gray, Jr. recalls visiting in this home many times as a young boy in the 1920's. The Grays originally made their living by buying and cutting virgin timber. In "those" days, a part of every timber cutting deal was that you had to "take the land" when you cut the timber so that the original owner was relieved of the taxes on the land. Hundreds and hundreds of acres between Haralson and Dead Oak Creek were eventually acquired by the Grays in this manner. There is a story about a man living between Haralson and Senoia who "in the worst way" wanted to buy a doublebarrel shotgun owned by Hosea. After some back-and-forth over the deal, Hosea finally swapped the gun to him for 17 acres of land! Hosea was recognized as a "true conservative'. In his later years when people would come to him wanting to buy some land, he required that they rent it from him for two years. During this time he observed their conduct, their industry and their character and only if in his judgement they would "make good citizens" would he sell the land. During the Civil War, he was appointed by the governor of GA to the "Home Guard". This was an organization of elderly people who had a defined area of responsibility to look after and report on the welfare of the citizens living therein.
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