Jacob “Jake” Hutchings was born into slavery around 1830 or 1831. Historical sources differ on his birthplace.  The Jones County historical marker and Georgia’s HR 2093 record him as a native of Virginia, while the 1870 Census lists him as a native of South Carolina. This is likely due to the white patriarch of the Hutchings family, Robert Hutchings, being born in Virginia and later settling in Jones County. However, sources do agree that before the Civil War Jake was enslaved by Richard Henry Hutchings, the son of Robert Hutchings. Jake Hutchings taught himself to read and write and worked as a skilled stone mason both during and after slavery. His descendants described him as “a tall, very strong man with long arms and great stature, with a presence that was undeniable.”

Much of Hutchings’s stone masonry work can be found throughout Jones County including cemeteries, street curbs, the steps of the former Clinton courthouse, and the retaining wall at the Jones County Courthouse.  He also hand-quarried a 28-acre granite boulder field in Clinton that would later bear his name as “Jake’s Woods.”  Hutchings  acquired this quarry property during Reconstruction. 

After emancipation, Hutchings took several roles in Jones County. He worked as a teacher, minister, farmer, and owner of a small grocery store. By 1870, he owned $1,500 in real estate and $200 in personal property. Hutchings also became deeply engaged in Black political organizing. Like many others of the Original 33, he attended the Georgia Black Convention of October 1866 and became a leading political organizer in the following year. He also attended the Georgia labor convention of 1869.

In the spring of 1868, as the Original 33 were being elected to the Georgia General Assembly, Jake Hutchings campaigned for a seat representing Jones County. He ran against a white Democrat and did not initially secure the majority of votes so his opponent was seated. But Hutchings successfully contested the election results, and with Republicans holding the majority in the assembly, he was ultimately seated as Representative for Jones County. 

The story of his journey to take his seat has been passed down through the family. As Hutchings’s decendant Kevin Brown recounted in a 2026 WABE radio piece, “The story goes that on his way to be seated he wore his tall black silk hat and he drove his horse and buggy all the way to Atlanta.” It is an image that speaks to the dignity and determination that Jake Hutchings demonstrated in claiming his rightful place in the Georgia General Assembly.

As author Carolyn White Williams noted in her 1957 History of Jones County: 1807-1907, “The Republicans being in the majority … seated Jake as Representative of Jones County. This is the only time that Jones County was ever represented by a Negro.” Hutchings continued his legislative service in the state House of Representatives in 1871. Though not formally counted among the Original 33, Hutchings was in fact the 34th Black member of the Georgia General Assembly elected in 1868: the “Original 33 Plus One,” as Georgia Representative Carl Gilliard would later call him.

Hutchings’s influence during the Reconstruction period extended beyond his legislative work. Democrats in Jones County themselves attributed the fact that there had been “no serious collision” of the races during Reconstruction to the steadying influence of the Black assemblyman.

Jake Hutchings and his wife Emily (listed in the 1870 census as born in Georgia in 1833)  had two children: Julius Hutchings (1852–1918), Emma Mae Hutchings (born 1855.) In the 1880 census, Julius is listed as living with his parent and working as a school teacher. Jake Hutchings died in June of 1909. His legacy has endured through both his descendants and the land he worked. The Hutchings family stewarded Jake’s Woods for generations until, in June 2022, they worked with The Conservation Fund and Jones County to see the 28-acre property permanently protected. Jones County officially acquired the site in February 2023, and it opened as a public park in 2024, offering rock climbing, bouldering, and greenspace to the community. “The granite blocks that Jacob quarried for these woods can be found all over the county, including at cemeteries, street curbs and even the steps of the former Clinton courthouse,” said Florence Walker, Jake’s great-great-granddaughter. A historical marker honoring Jake Hutchings was placed in Jones County in 2007. His descendants, including Cynthia Phillips and Kevin Brown, continue to advocate for a fuller memorial to honor his place in Georgia history.

Although Hutchings was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1868 alongside the Original 33, he was not formally included in that count because his seat came through a contested election rather than a straightforward victory. His opponent was initially seated before Republicans in the majority moved to unseat him and place Jake as the rightful representative of Jones County. For over 150 years, that distinction kept his name off the list. It was descendants Cynthia Phillips and Kevin Brown who brought their ancestor’s story to Georgia Representative Carl Gilliard, who confirmed that Hutchings had in fact been seated following the 1868 elections and began championing his inclusion, calling the group the “Original 33 Plus One.” That advocacy resulted in the Georgia House of Representatives passing House Resolution 2093 on April 2, 2026, which formally recognizes and commends Hutchings. Efforts continue to ensure he is represented alongside the Original 33 in the planned monument at the Georgia State Capitol.

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Sources:

Jones County History and Heritage, Inc., “Jacob Jake Hutchings,” https://www.jonescountyhistoryandheritage.com/jacob_jake_hutchings

DorMiya Vance, “‘I claim the rights of a man’: The story of Georgia’s Original 33 Black legislators,” WABE, June 19, 2026, https://www.wabe.org/the-story-of-georgias-original-33-black-legislators/

Val Keefer, “Jake’s Woods Acquired by Jones County,” Morning Ag Clips, February 21, 2023, https://www.morningagclips.com/jakes-woods-acquired-by-jones-county/

Georgia House Resolution 2093, 26 LC 129 1541, https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74706

Carolyn White Williams, History of Jones County: 1807-1907 (1957)

Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders during Reconstruction, Revised Edition

Edmund L. Drago, Black Politicians & Reconstruction in Georgia: A Splendid Failure

Friends of Jones County Cemeteries, “About Jones County Cemeteries,” http://www.friendsofcems.org/jones/default1.htm

Brian Brown, “Hutchings-Carr House, 1810-1811, Clinton,” Vanishing Georgia, April 26, 2021, https://vanishinggeorgia.com/2021/04/26/hutchings-carr-house-circa-1811-clinton/