Glennville was one of the earliest white settlements in the Old Creek Indian Nation. James Elizabeth Glenn, who named the town, and his brother Thompson Glenn arrived here in 1835, but during the Indian uprisings of 1836 they had to evacuate; all buildings were destroyed and the remaining settlers were killed. During the same uprising, Thompson Glenn is credited with effecting the removal to Columbus, Georgia, of the entrapped white citizens of nearby Roanoke, Georgia. After the removal of the Indians, Glennville was resettled and rapidly attracted settlers whose social and cultural standards led to its being known as "The Athens of the South." At its apex, the town had collegiate institutes, finishing schools, a military academy, classic churches, and stately homes. In 1854, John Bowles Glenn left Glennville to establish a school at Auburn and became the first president of its board of trustees; through successive changes, that school became Auburn University. Glennville was also the home of the only known lynch mob that bought a newspaper advertisement, acknowledged the deed, and published their names; the victim, a convicted murderer, was a member of a prominent Barbour County white family, and the incident brought national attention to the town. Its failure to accept a railroad, seen as "an intrusion on their way of living," proved to be the herald of the town's demise.