Built 1828 (1828) NRHP Reference # 97000301 Area 26 ha Nearest city Barnesville | Architectural style plantation plan Opened 1828 Added to NRHP 17 April 1997 | |
 | ||
The Benjamin Gachet (/ɡæ'ʃɛɪ̯/) House (historically spelled Gachette) is a historic residence on GA 18, 3 miles west of Barnesville, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1997. The home is located at the crossing of Five Points Road and Piedmont Road, now known as the Milner Cross Roads, originally used as trails by Native American tribes.
Contents
The General LaFayette connection
Benjamin Gachet was a French nobleman who fled from a revolution in San Domingo and settled in what is now Lamar County. A historical marker dedicated by the Lamar-LaFayette Chapter of N.S.D.A.R. is at the site, stating that General Marquis de LaFayette stayed with Gachet at the home on March 19, 1825, during an official visit to Georgia.
However, the general was still in Savannah on March 19, 1825. It has been determined that this visit to the Gachet House never occurred. LaFayette maintained detailed diaries of his travels and no record exists of this visit. The Indian trails that were traveled were more than 50 miles away, a considerable distance at the time.
Additionally, Benjamin Gachet lived in Jones county adjacent to Baldwin county, where Milledgeville was being visited by General LaFayette in 1825. Historians surmise that the general visited Gachet around that time and location.
So a family connection existed between the Gachets and the LaFayettes.
The home
The home was placed on the register, in part, due to it being an almost pristine example of plantation plan architecture. The chimneys and much of the clapboards are original. The kitchen, on the back of the house, off of the porch, was rebuilt. The two front bedrooms originally had separate entrances for each. The rooms have been referred to as "traveler's rooms", "preacher rooms" and "stranger's rooms". The Gachet house was known as a stagecoach stop in its history. Benjamin Gachet died at age 36 leaving several minor children and Mrs. Gachet likely earned a living to support her children by operating this stagecoach stop.
Caroline M. Gachet
Mrs. Gachet eventually sold the property to her son-in-law, Benjamin M. Milner, and moved to Alabama.
The gravesite of Caroline M. Gachet (November 12, 1792 USA - December 24, 1876) is believed to be at the Enon Cemetery in Bullock County, Alabama.