The following is from "History of Alabama and Her People" Alabama

Biography, vol. 2, p. 777, under biography of James Albert Estes, Sr.

His father, Cooper Bennett Estes, a native of SC. when a mere boy moved along with his father, Nathaniel Estes to Hart County, GA. where he grew into manhood and married Elizabeth Burton Ayers, a daughter of Jedediah Ayers, of Hart County, GA. Legend has it that Cooper Bennett Estes came from Edgefield Dist., SC.

Before 1840 Cooper Bennett moved to the Reed Creek Dist., of Franklin CO., GA. and lived in the vicinity of old Andersonville, SC.

In 1840 there was a great flood in the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers and the other streams in this section, the waters rose to a very high level, inflicting great damage. The mills and other machinery located there and many of the business were swep t away. The Tugaloo and Seneca rivers rose so high, practically all the buildings were rocking in the rampant waters, and most finally gave away. They rebuilt but all in vain, because in 1852 there was another great flood which demolished the to wn , this time it was not rebuilt. The great flood of 1840, the terrible drouth in 1845, then another flood in 1852, together with the coming of the railroad, which made water travel less important, spelled the final doom of this once prosperou s town and community.

Hart CO., GA. was created by an act of legislature on Dec. 7, 1853, and laid out in 1854, taken from territory of both Franklin and Elbert Counties. Big Lightfoot Log Creek was the original dividing line between these two counties, before Hart CO . was created. Reed Creek District which lies to the northern section of the county, was a part of Franklin CO.

After the creation of Hart CO. a site had to be established for a town and a county seat, as there were no town already in the county, they chose a spot as near the center of the new county as possible to accommodate all the residents of the ne w county, the site was in dense woods, on a high ridge of ground, from which several creek ran. The new town was called Hartwell.

Hartwell not only had no streets, it had no roads leading to it, there were roads in the county, but they did not come to the new town of Hartwell. Cooper Bennett Estes, Aaron Vickory and Jackson M. Walters were appointed special road commissione rs to review and lay out new road, which would lead from the populated areas of the county into town.

In 1859 Cooper Bennett and Elizabeth Burton Ayers Estes, moved to Fayette CO., AL. [Some sources give date 1856 was when he moved to Fayette County, AL.] Perhaps discouraged by all the hardships that had befallen them, the floods and the awful drouth that wiped out everything they had. Cooper Bennett and Elizabeth Burton Ayers Estes, settled in the Southern part of Fayette CO., they remained there the rest of their lives.

Cooper & Elizabeth had two sons killed in the Civil War; Nathaniel Monroe Estes
and John McCagie Estes.