The following is an excerpt of a letter written September 24, 1904 by Henry Clay Neel, son of William Mitchell Cox Neel, son of Daniel Odum Neel.

"From what I have heard my father tell, my grandfather together with my grandmother and family moved from Twiggs Co. Ga. in Feby 1822. and settled at or near Fowlstown, eight miles south of Bainbridge, in what was then known as Early Co. Ga. Near where Bainbridge is, stood a blockhouse or Fort called Fort Hughes. Grandfather (as my father has often told me) lived there for a number of years afterwards moving near the Chattahoochee river in the neighborhood of Daniel Rambo where he died about the year 1852 or 54.

“During his lifetime he was at one time County Treasurer of Decatur Co. and Representative. After his death his widow moved to Jackson Co. Fla. where she died May 4th, 1859, aged 68 years, 1 month & 16days."

The following is an excerpt of a record provided by Mary E. Hatcher, daughter of Hazel Brewton "Pappy" Hatcher, son of Mary Arcenia Neel.

"Daniel...became a leader in the movement to create Decatur County out of newly created Early County. He was exceptional in that he could read and write and probably had a pretty good education compared with the other frontiersmen. (Six our (sic) of twelve members of the first coroners jury plus the coroner signed their names with a mark).

Daniel Neel and the others succeeded in getting the legislature at Milledgville (sic) to create the new county and he was elected the first clerk of the Superior Court and the first clerk of the Inferior Court. This was before any town was established and the first court and government was probably located on a log in some clearing or at some house or store, but the record appears absent.
The County was established in December 1823 by legislative act. The first court was held by Judge Thad G. Holt on January 10, 1825. I do not know where it was held. There was no business to transact and the court adjourned as soon as it was convened.
Neel was later treasurer of the county for many years. In 1829 he was defeated for the senate by a very close vote.

Daniel Neel is really the founder of Bainbridge. After the county was formed there was no town and no county site (sic). When settlers moved into the new country (sic) they pursued one of two courses of action. They either bought or were given "drawings" at Milledgeville, by means of which they drew by lot a 250 acre tract of land, or they came down and looked the land over before deciding what they wanted and then looked up the one who had drawn it. Either Neel alone or with the other leaders in the county picked the site of Bainbridge because of its central location, high healthy bluff on the river where old Indian trails crossed. Neel learned that the lot (222 in the 15th Dist.) had been drawn at Milledgeville by a man named William Harper of Flemings Dist. Jefferson County, Georgia, who was then living in Jackson County, Florida. Neel went to Florida and came back with a deed to the lot No. 222 (250 acres) which he bought for $20. This is now the heart of Bainbridge. The south line is College St., the east line is Scott St., the west line is Washington St., and the north line I think is Planter St....

Later Neel moved over into what is now Seminole County, spending a great deal of time in Jackson County, Florida. In the History of Jackson County, Fla. he is mentioned as one of the early settlers. His son WMC Neel was prominent in the life of that county. Daniel Neel died while living on Lot 204 in the 14th District of Decatur County (now Seminole) Georgia. His widow moved over into Jackson County, Florida where most of her children and grandchildren lived."