County Line Dispute Settled

Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 23. ~ The Barrow-Gwinnett county line fight has been decided by Secretary of State Phillip Cook in favor of Gwinnett county, his decision, rendered today, holding that the constitutional amendment creating Barrow county clearly defines the western border line of Barrow county to start at a point where Jackson, Hall and Gwinnett counties meet, and thence run straight down.

The fight was quite an important one in that section and the following opinion therefore, will be interesting:

“The above stated case, in which the boundary line between the counties of Gwinnett and Barrow was disputed, was heard on the 22nd of October, 1915, both counties being represented by their attorneys, and evidence and argument heard.

“The report of the official surveyor, in conjunction with the law and evidence submitted, contains on its face reasons sufficient to cause its rejection. In making this statement I mean no reflection upon the engineer who ran the line. I am impressed with his skill and sincerity and the deep study he made in an effort to run a line in accord with his interpretation of the law. Upon the map he officially filed in this office appear two lines No. 1, which is, in his judgment the proper boundary line, and No. 2, which would be the proper line provided his judgement was at fault. I mention this fact in no spirit of criticism, but to show that the surveyor, at the time of making the survey, must have entertained a doubt as to the correctness of his judgment.

“In creating the county of Barrow the legislature certainly intended to take a portion of Gwinnett county and place the same into the new county; this portion of Gwinnett is that part which would be effected by a direct line drawn from the corner of Hall, Gwinnett and Jackson counties, in a direct line to the center of the Appalachia river at Freeman’s Mill, and which is shown on his map as line No. 2.

“The first clause in the act: Beginning at a point amid-stream, where the Mulberry river crosses the Hall county line joining Jackson county, thence following the line between Hall and Jackson counties to the corner of Hall, Gwinnett and Jackson counties,” does not in my opinion effect the territory which is to be taken from Gwinnett, and has nothing to do with the boundary between the contesting counties; but the next clause, but the next clause, from the corner of Hall, Gweinnett and Jackson counties “thence in a direct line to the center of the Appalachia river at Freeman’s Mill is the one which takes territory from Gwinnett and places same into Barrow county. It is, therefore –

“Ordered: That the map of the survey of the boundary line between the counties of Gwinnett and Barrow, filed in the office July 22nd, 1915, by C. M. Strahan, engineer, be placed of record in this office, and it is further ordered and declared that the line marked Line No. 2 on said map is the true and lawful boundary line between the said two counties.”

This 23rd day of October, 1915.
PHILIP COOK,
Secretary of State