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A STANDARD HISTORY
OF
Georgia and Georgians
By
LUCIAN LAMAR KNIGHT
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME V
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO ; ; NEW YORK
1917
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i3l, 17
r«M 7 1918 1
COPYRIGHT I9I7
BY
The Lewis Publishing Co.
yGoosIe
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/^M4,^^
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Georgia and Georgians
Hon. Henky Bascom Strange. la the annals of the judiciary of Bulloch
County there is found no name that is held in higher honor, esteem and
confidence than that of Hon. Henry Bascom Strange, jurist, legist, publie-
spirited citizen and self-made man, whose rqpord in public and private life
aJike is one on which there is not the slightest stain or blemish. Few men
have gained more honestly or completely the admiration of their felloi*-
citizens, and the honor that has come to him has been gained without
animosity.
Judge Strange was bom in EfQngham County, Georgia, November 13, 1863,
the family homo being located at Mount Pleasant Landing, on the Savannah
Riyer. His father, the Rev. h. h. Strange, was born near Spsrtansburg, South
Carolina, and as a boy of twelve years was brought to Georgia, where he
spent the rest of bis life, bis mature years as a minister of the Methodist
Elpiscopal Conference and as a preacher of wide renown. lie died at tbe
age of forty-five years. He was married in Effingham County to Florence
Wilson, a native of that county, who is now living at Statesboro, at the age
of seventy-two years, and they became the parents of six children, of whom
five are still living : Dr. George P., a practicing physician of Effingham County ;
Henry Bascom; Berry L., a practicing attorney of Houston, Texas; Mrs.
Lizzie Graham, of Effingham County; and Mrs. Susie Ann Raekley, who is a
resident of Statesboro.
Henry Bascom Strange was but twelve years of age when his father died,
and at that time he became the sole support of his mother, this naturally
precluding the idea of any extensive educational training at that time. How-
ever, he had attended the public schools, and when twenty-one years of age
began earnestly the study of his chosen profession, and when twenty-two
entered the office of J, G. and T). H. Clark, of Tusculum, Georgia, spending
two years under the preceptorship of these gentlemen. He was admitted to
the bar May 14, 1888, under Judge A. P. Adams, of the Eastern Circuit, and
at once began practice at Guyton, where he remained four years. He came
to Statesboro August 9, 1892, and almost immediately took his place among
■ the strong and thorough attorney."* of the Bulloch County seat. As the years
passed he established himself more and more thoroughly in the confidence
of the people and began to give attention to public affairs. In 1905 he was
elected to the Georgia Legislature from the Seventeenth Senatorial District.
serving in that and the following year, and in 1908 and 1909 was mayor of
Statesboro and gave the people of this city one of -the best administrations
they have ever known. By this time it was recognized that here was judicial
timber, and in 1910 he was elected judge of the City Court, an office which be
held for four years. In 1915 he met defeat as a candidate for judge of tbe
Superior Court, Middle Circuit, by 100 votes. He is a member of the
Bulloch County Bar Association and the Georgia State Bar As-sociation. is
fraternally a Mason, and with his family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
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2286 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Judge Strange was married November 4, 1891, at Guyton, Georgia, to
Miss Laura Gertrude Fruetrell, daughter of A. J. Pruetrell, a well known
merchant still in business at Guyton. They have no children.
At the time of his retirement as judge of the City Court, Judge Strange
was presented with a gold-headed cane by the members of the Bulloch County
Bar Association, which body adopted the following resolutions: "Upon the
convening of the City Court, being the first retiring officers of Statesboro,
the following resolutions of appreciation were presented and unanimously
adopted and ordered' to be spread upon the minutes of the court. Judge
Strange. "Whereas, with the close of the year 1914, at the hour of midnight,
Hon. Henry Bascom Strange 's term of office as judge of the City Court of
Statesboro expired, after extending over the period of four years; and,
"Whereas, bis administration of that office was marked by a controlling spirit
of fairness and impartiality to all, rich and poor alike, without favor or
aJfection to any, no obligations save to discharge faithfully and fearlessly
every duty of the office and, "Whereas, during his term of four years he has
made for himself by bis striot adherence to the principles of right and
justice a name and a reputation as a judge of uuusual ability and has
demonstrated that he possesses a peculiar fitness for the judicial office, a fact
recognized by bar and laity alike ; and, "Whereas, he has uniformly sought to
administer the functions of his court with impartiality, tempering justice with
mercy, shielding the weak from the oppression of the strong, exercising
patience with the shortcomings and the inexperience of many of us who
have been practitioners in his court, placing his own experience and knowl-
edge of the law in the aid of the cause of justice, and in all his conduct of
that responsible office has shown an earnest desire and purpose ; Whereas,
despite the great volume of business — over 1,000 cases — set before him in
the four years, only sixteen eases have been appealed from his court to the
Court of Appeals, and of that number a reversal of his decision has only been
made in three cases, a record of appeals and reversals perhaps not excelled
by any other judge in the state ; Be It Now Resolved by the Bar of Bulloch
County, that we thus formally express to Judge Strange our regrets at his
retirement from office and express to him our cordial personal appreciation of
his excellent services as a judge, his splendid character as a man and citizen,
and his recognized ability as a fellow-member of the Bar, and that we tender
to him our sincerest wishes for a long and prosperous career at the bar, and
that the future may hold in store for him a judicial place of higher station;
and be it further resolved that these resolutions be entered on the minutes
of the court and a copy furnished Judge Strange."
Benjamin Franklin Johnson. It is an American's proudest boast that
he is a self-made man, the architect and builder of his own fortunes. This
has come to be true of the South to a much larger extent than it was in ante-
bellum days, when large estates were handed down from father to son, and
there were few manufacturing industries to give rise to opportunities for
self advancement. Today, however, the South is full of active, enterprising
men, who are investigating and developing her resources, and with the advent
of the mill and factory has come a wider and more substantial prosperity
in which all the people participate. Among those who are thus aiding in
the development of the City of Thomson, McDuffie County, Georgia, is
Benjamin Franklin Johnson, a leading business man and banker of this city,
which he is now serving in the office of mayor. Mr. Johnson was born in
"Warren (now McDuffie) County, Georgia, December 11, 1864, the son of
John F. and Effie Rec-se Johnson, who were natives of this county. The
father, who was a well known planter, died in May, 1865, his wife dying at the
age of seventy-two years. Tbey had but two children: Joel "Wigfall, now a
prominent citizen of Augusta, engaged in the real estate business; and Benja-
min Franklin.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2287
BenjainiD Franklin was only six months old when his father died. He
was educated in the country schools and the public schools of Thomson, and
at the age of eighteen years began farming in a modest way in McDuffie
County. After being thus occupied for six years, he came to Thomson, secur-
ing & clerkship with the J. A. Shields Mercantile Company, He remained
nine years in their employ and then resigned, accepting a position with the
T, A. Scott Mercantile Company, with which he remained seven years. With
these two concerns he gained valuable experience, as they were the leading
mercantile houses in Thomson at that time. "With a laudable ambition to be
his own master and become a power in the business world, Mr. Johnson
assisted in organizing the McDuffie Oil and Fertilizer Company, of which
he took the active management, and with which he has been thus connected
np to the present time. During the years that have since elapsed this con-
cern has grown and prospered, and now employs about thirty people, crushing
annually about 4,000 tons of cotton seed and distilling about 180,000 gallons
of cotton seed oil, for which a ready and profitable market is found. Mr.
Johnson is also the vice president and a director of the First National Bank
ot Thomson. This flourishing institution was organized in 1901 with a
capital of $25,000, subsequently increased to $90,000, and has a surplus of
undivided profits of $25,000. That Jlr. Johnson's fellow citizens have full
confidence in his ability and integrity is proved by the fact that in 1913 they
elected him mayor of the city, which office he still holds. He avails himself
of every opporUmity to promote local interests and will at any time cheer-
fully answer letters of inijuiry from prospective settlers pertaining to the
industrial or agricultural conditions and possibilities of this locality. Aside
from his personal interests already mentioned, he is actively engaged in farm-
ing, raising cotton, corn and oats. lie affiliates religiously with the Methodist
Episcopal Church and is a member of the JIasonic order.
Mr. Johnson was married in Thomson, Georgia, in 1902, to Miss Mary Lou
Lewis, of this city, a daughter of Thomas \. and Lou (McLean) Lewis. Her
father, who was for many years a well known merchant of Thomson, is now
deceased. Mr. and Mr.s. Johnson are the parents of two children: Effie
Lewis, born May 17, 1904, and Slary Ruth, born April 17, 1915. The career
of Mr. Johnson, as thus depicted, presents an inspiring example to ambitious
youths who arc gifted with the necessary qualities for success — ambition,
diligence, perseverance and integrity.
jr\RsK.\LL Wellborn Di'nn. Every community has its recognized leaders
to whom the people look for initiative action when any important measure is
proposed for the general good, or on whose exertions they chiefly depend to
bring about its final consummation. To this class properly belongs Marshall
Wellborn Dunn, one of the leading merchants of Thomas, McDuffie County,
who is now serving as county superintendent of schools. Mr. Dunn was
bom in Columbia (now McDuffie) County, Georgia, September 5, 1855. His
parents were Dr. William A. and Ada Louisa (Wellborn) Dunn, both natives
of Columbia County. The father, who was a graduate of Athens (Georgia)
College of Medicine, also of Jefferson College at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
practiced his profession for many years in his native county, until he was
forced to retire owing to a serious injury caused by a fall. He purchased the
old Isaac Ramsey Plantation of 1,000 acres, in MeDufHe County, and operated
it successfully for a number of years, aside from his medical practice. His
death, which took place in 1898, when he was seventy-six years old, was much
deplored, easting a shadow over the entire county. The reason was not far
to seek. A generous hearted southern gentleman of the ante-bellum type, of
a genial and joyous disposition, he never failed to respond to the call of duty,
cheerfully giving his services to all who were unable to pay for them ; so it is
little wonder that all who knew him loved and honored him. During the war
he volunteered as a Confederate soldier, hut was sent home by the Confederate
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2288 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Government to care for the wounded left behind. lie was a member of the
Masonic order, and both he aad his wife were active Methodista in religion.
The latter died in 1902 at the age of sixty-eight years. Of their family of
seven children two died in infancy, the others being as follows: Marshall
W,, subject of this biography, who was the eldest bocn ; Bthleen, wife of W.
R. Dnbson, of Ashburn, Georgia; Claudia, who married E. H. Bumside and
died in 1908 ; John Clarence, who is a planter on the old homestead, the
Ramsey plantation at Cobbhatn ; and Derreiie Duboise, who is a railroad con-
ductor in the employ of the A. B. & A. Railroad and resides in Atlanta.
Afarshall Wellborn Dunn was educated in country schools, which he
attended until reaching the age of sixteen, at which time he left school in order
to assist his father in the management of the plantation, of which he later
took entire charge, residing on it until 1909. He then organized a partner-
ship with W, T. Parish, under the style of Dunn & Parish, and founded a
general mercantile and supply house, which is now one of the leading busi-
ness concerns in Thomson, the enterprise having been successful. Mr. Dunn
has long taken a strong interest in educational matters, and his fellow citizens,
knowing him to be a good man to entrust with school matters, in 1899 elected
him a member of the board of education. After serving efficiently for several
years, in 1904 he was elected as county school superintendent, which position
he still retains. He took a leading part in the erection of the fine new high
school, completed in 1911, and which cost $20,000. In putting through this ,
project to its final consummation, he had to work hard to overcome the strong
opposition against it on the part of many citizens who objected to the city's
incurring so great an e-tpense, but persuasion and argument finally prevailed,
and it would now be hard to find anyone who does not take a pride in this
magnificent and commodious building, or who would wish to go back to the
old condition of things,-
Mr. Dunn was first married in 1884 to Miss Mamie Boyd, who died in
1902, She Iwre him four children, two of whom died in infancy. The suN
vivors are : -J. Boyd, born February 13, 1888, who is associated with the firm
of Dunn & Parish, and Marion W., born December 25, 1891, who is cashier
of the First National Bank of Elba, Alabama." On June 21, 1903, in Cobbham,
McDuflfie County, Georgia, Mr. Dunn married for his second wife, Miss Mattie
Neal, daughter of B. L. Neal, a Confederate veteran residing in Columbia,
Georgia, who was the son of Basil Neal, a soldier of the Revolution. Of this
second union Mr. Dunn has had three children bom to him, of whom one died
in infancy, the two survivors being: Marshall Neal, born April 19, 1904, and
Eugene Palmer, born August 27, 1905. Mr. Dunn is an active member of the
Methodist Church, he and his amiable wife doing what they can at all times
to advance the cause of religion and morality. Their friends are numbered
by the score, and there are few families in Thomson better known or more
highly respected.
Eugene Burton Russell. Journalism is probably the medium through
which men become more widely known than in any other avenue of business
or learned profession. Not always are they brought in this way before the
public as personalities, but more as influences, their printed thoughts and
opinions reaching thousands, where their spoken ones could be heard and
appreciated by only comparatively a few. Hence the responsibility of the
journalist is of exceeding weight, and a community may often be judged
by the stability and tone of its newspapers. There have been times — not too
infreijuent^ — 'When a newspaper has forced reformatory legislation, and occa-
sions have arisen where the fourth estate has been influential in changing the
public policies of the country. From college halls, Eugene Burton Russell
came to Cedartown, Georgia, and entered into newspaper life. During more
than a quarter of a century of connection with journalism, he has not only
succeeded in making a name and a place for himself in his adopted com-
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GEOBGIA AND GEOBGIANS 2289
munity, but baa also assisted materially in the deyelopment and prt^resa of
the locality where he chose to carry on his aetirities. He is now hall owner
of the Standard Publishing Cobipany, a thriving enterprise; editor of tha
Cedartown Standard, one of the best conducted newspapers in Northern
Georgia; and a man of influence in business, flnancial, civic and political
circles,
Mr. Russell was bom in Clyde, Ohio, January 10, 1863, and is a son of
William and Annie (Worst) Russell, natives of the Buckeye State. The
father, a man of education, passed his life in educational pttrsoita and died
iu 1889, and the mother died in Cedartown in 1915. His sister. Miss Delia
Russell, has been a teacher in the public schools here since 1895, and is well
and favorably known as an educator.
Eugene Burton Rnssell received his early education in the graded and
high schools of Clyde, Ohio, being graduated from the latter in 1880, at the
age of fifteen years. At iJiat time he began to leam the printer's trade,
thoroughly learning every detail of the bu^ess, in which he was in after
years to become most successful. At the age of twenty-one years, he entered
Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, and was duly graduated therefrom in 1887,
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the fall of 1888 Mr. Russell decided
to settle in 4he South, it being his intention to enter the real estate business,
and he accordingly came to Tallapoosa, Haralson County, Georgia, to look
over the ground for an opening. In the spring of 1889 he changed his mind
about remaining permanently at Tallapoosa, and came to Cedartown, where
the opportunity presented itself for him to enter the field of journalism.
The Cedartown Standard was offered for sale, and the county seat of Polk
County needed a good, live newspaper. Mr. Russell saw there was an openipg
for such a venture, if conducted along proper lines, and another young,
energetic and ambitious man, Mr. W. S. Coleman, became interested with him,
and the two bought out the stock and the newspaper outfit. Then began a
campaign that after a long, hard struggle eventuated in the building up of a
BUceeRsful and popular newspaper. For a time the old shop, type and presses
were used, but as soon as the partners found their business was growing
sufficiently to warrant it, they built a suitable and commodious brick build-
ing, and equipped this with the best of modern printing presses and linotype
machine^ and all equipment which goes to make up a thoroughly up-to-date
newspaper plant. The Standard has grown and expanded until, it now has
more than 2,500 subscribers, with excellent advertising patronage from the
merchants and professional men of Cedartown,
The Standard was founded by a stock company in 1^87 and was first
edited by the late Montgomery M. Folsom, of Atlanta, and one year later
was edited by Charles Langworthy, who conducted it until it was sold to its
present owners. Mr. Coleman, while still a half owner of the paper, has
devoted his attention entirely to other business since 1907. The Standard is
a well-edited, well-printed paper, its editor endeavoring to give his readers
all the reliable news, with up-to-the-minute editorials, all presented in an
interesting and entertaining form. Aside from the publishing of the Standard,
\he Standard Publishing Company carries on a successful job printing busi-
ness, having all facilities for first-class work of every kind.
Mr. Russell has interested himself in other ventures, financial and com-
mercial, and was one of the organizers, in 1908, of the Farmers and Mechanics
Bank of Cedartown, of which he is a member of the board of directors at
this time. He is secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and an enthusiastic
promoter of any movement that will make for better civic or business condi-
tions. He has taken a leading part in educational work in Polk County, and
for four terms was an active member of the school board, his further public
service including three terms as a member of the city council of Cedartown.
He is the member for Polk County of the board of trustees of the Seventh
District Agricultural and Mechanical School at Powder Springs, In political
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2290 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
matters he is a democrat, and has long been an active worker in the ranks of
the party. Mr. Russell is a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter of
Masonry, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is Past
Grand, and of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a Past Chancellor. His
religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which
he is steward and treasurer.
In 1889 Jlr. Russell was married to Miss Susie Robb, of Cuyahoga County,
Ohio, daughter of Jackson and Marie Antoinette (Chatfield) Robb, natives
of New England. Mrs. Russell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, and takes an active part in promoting education, literature,
philanthropy and civics, being a lady of culture, refinement and extensive
information regarding matters of importance. She was president for the
years 1914 and 1915 of the Cedartown Women's Club, which was organized
in 1910 and that same year joined the State Federation of Women's Clubs.
Julian IIabtridgb was bom ^a Savannah, Georgia, on September 9, 1829,
and died in Washington, D. C, on January 8, 1879. After thorough prepara-
tion for college he entered Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island,
after graduating from which he attended a course of law lectures at Gam>
bridge, Massachusetts; returned to his native state, read law in the office
of Judge Robert M. Charlton, was admitted to the bar, and opened a law office
in Savannah. Mr, Hartridge won success in his profession from the very
beginning. He served one term in the Legislature, and the outbreak of the
war found him a popular and prosperous man. He had served as a delegate
in the democratic convention which met in 1860 at Charleston, South Caro-
lina, and adjourned to Baltimore, Maryland. A Southerner in every fiber,
on the outbreak of the war he entered the army as a lieutenant in the Chatham
Artillery, one of the famous old organizations of the country, and served
in that position until he was elected to represent the First District of Georgia
in the Confederate Congress, thus serving until the close of the war. At the
close of the war he found himself a young man in the prime of life, but
with broken fortunes. He immediately resumed the practice of law. As
soon as the reconstruction act permitted and law and order was established,
he was chosen as chairman of the first convention which gave to the state
a governor who was the choice of the people. He was then made chairman
of tho state central committee of the democratic party. He was sent as a
delegate from the state at large to the Baltimore convention, and was one of
the electors at large from Georgia in the famous Tilden and Hendricks com-
paign of 1876. He was elected to the Forty-fourth and the Forty-fifth Con-
gresses and while' serving his second term, an illness from which no one
anticipated evil consequences took a sudden and unfavorable turn and caused
his death. The memorial services held by Congress on February 13th and
Mareh 1, 1879, tell at very considerable length of the man and his work.
Young L. G. Harris was bom in Elbert County, Georgia, and died in
Athens, Georgia. He was educated at the University of Georgia, and began
to practice law in the then Town of Athens, About 1847 a group of enter*
prising men led by Prof. Charles McKay organized the Southern Mutual
Fire Insurance Company, and Young Harris was selected as the secretary
and principal director. The company was successful from the start and
he was its managing secretary for nearly fifty years. Although he lived at
the seat of the university he took great interest in Emory College, and gave
to the college a president's home, and made other liberal donations. He is
also the founder of Young Harris College, in Union County, as its name
implies.
James M, Calhoun, William Lowndes Calhoxin, Lowndes Calhoitn.
At no time within a period of more than eighty years has the bar of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2291
Northwest Georgia been without the distinguished service and ability of a
member of the Calhoun family. The members of three successive generations
named above have each in turn followed the law, and in the ease of the first
two legal training and ability were fitly associated with distinguished public
service. All of these well known lawyers have lived in Atlanta, and it would
be impossible to report, however briefly, a history of the bar of that eity
without mention of these names. Such were their attainments and such the
impress of their service on the capital city that it will be appropriate to
devote considerable space to their careers, taking them in succession from
grandfather through father to grandson.
In many intimate ways was James M. Calhoun identified with the early
history of Atlanta. He was bom February 12, 1811, in the Calhoun Settle-
ment, Abbeville District of South Carolina. His father, who was a cousin
of the famous John C. Calhoun, was a planter in moderate circumstances,
while the mother was distinguished for intellectual culture and the virtues
of Christian womanhood. James M, Calhoun after the death of his parents
left the old homestead at the age of eighteen and removed to Decatur, Georgia,
and for several years lived in the home of his older brother, Dr. Ezekiel N.
Calhoun. For two years he attended the village school at Decatur and gained
a fair English education and some knowledge of the English language. In
the spring of 1831 he begian the study of law in the ofBce of Hon. Uines Holt,
and was admitted to the bar Bebruary 22, 1832. Since that date more than
eighty years have elapsed, and there has never been a year in that time in
which there has not been a Calhoun name on the bar enrollment of Northwest
Georgia. Df James JI. 's work as a lawyer, it has been said that he was noted
for his diligence as an attorney, and for many years enjoyed an extensive and
profitable practice. Among his partners at different times were Col. W. H.
Dabney, Cdl. B F. Martin, Col. A. W. Stone, and also his son William L.
Calhoun. Aside from the profession he was fond of agriculture, and made
the cultivation and development of his farm a recreation.
His first service that identified him with public affairs came in 1836,
when he became captain of a company during the war against the Creek
Indians and was temporary commander of a battalion which in July of that
year engaged in a severe and bloody battle with the Indians near Port
McCrary in Stewart County, Georgia. For a number of years he was one of
the stanch whigs of Georgia, and though residing in a district largely demo-
eratie was elected to represent the DeKalb County in the Legislature in 1837.
He was a member of the famous state convention of 1850 which Was called to
consider the series of compromise measures lately enacted by Congress and
took a prominent part in securing the passage of the resolutions ratifying
those measures. In 1851 he was elected a member of the Stat« Senate. In
December, 1852, he removed to Atlanta, and for many years his home was at
the head of Washington Street. He was senator from Fulton County in the
Legislature of 1855-56, and introduced and became author of many of the
important acts of thaf assembly, rendering special service as a member of the
judiciary committee. He was one of the vice presidents of the convention
which nominated Bell and Everett for President and Vice President of the
Unit(!d States in the campaign of 1860. Early in the war he was elected and
served as mayor of Atlanta during 1862-63-64-65. During the first year of
his term as mayor he was appointed civil governor of the city by General
Bragg, but d>;clined to act in that capacity, doubting the legality of the
appointment.
Of his subsequent career the best estimate and appreciation are found in
the words of a memorial adopted by his fellow members of the bar and
recorded in the minutes of the Supreme Court: "In 1864, during the stormy
period of the siege and occupation of the city by the Federal army, when
the Confederates evacuated the place, the unpleasant duty of surrendering ■
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2292 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Atlanta to General Shermau devolved on him. No one can fairly feel, or
actually describe the bitterness of his sorrow as he saw the a^d, the feeble,
and the helpless, laboring under the crushing weight of the exactions, robbery
and terror to which our afflicted people had to submit during the occupancy
and afterwards. His letter remonstrating against the order of General Sher-
man expelling the womeu and children from the city during the hard fall of
1864 will live in history and carry his name to posterity as a man of true
courage and generous sensibility. The letter of General Sherman in answer,
iu which occurred the expression 'war is cruelty and cannot be refined,' con-
veys but an imperfect idea of the feeling of indififerenee and revenge with which
our sufferings were viewed, and the temper with which the fagot was applied
to our cherished homes and rising city. Colonel Calhoun, in the midst of the
sea of fire around him, did what he could to support the weak and to aid the
suffering. As the city sank amid the lurid glare of incendiary war, its mayor
stood like Marius, looking in gloom and despair upon its dying embers. It is
a matter of sincere congratulation to know that be was spared by Providence
to see the city of his choice and his love arise from its ashes, and again put on
the beautiful smiles of peace and prosperity ; but from the tears and sorrow
of its thousands of victims of undeserved wrong and oppression the grand
proportions of opulence and refinement have returned to cheer and bless his
and their descendants. As a public speaker he was earnest, careful, often
vehement and impassioned. The latter, however, were exceptions to his style.
He argued to convince the understanding rather than to please the fancy.
As models for imitation, the zealous pursuit of his purposes by honest means,
and the reliant manhood of his nature, are worthy of public notice. In
private life he was gentle, truthful and courteous, without the tinsel of
attractive display in company which is possessed by some; he won the confi-
dence of those around him by his refined feelings and attention to' time, place
an<l person so well that few forgot a first interview with him, or ceased to
regard him with esteem and respect. His death occurred on the first day of
October, 1875, and he now sleeps in Oakland cemetery, and it may be truth-
fully said of hira that his life, taken altogether, was an eminent success and
he left the world with friends, relations and a great city to mourn his loss."
In 1832 James M. Calhoun married Miss Emma Eliza Dahney, daughter
of Anderson Dabney of Jasper County, Georgia. To this marriage there
were born eight children.
William Lowndes Calhoun, one of the eight children of James M. and
Emma Eliza (Dabney) Calhoun, was born at Decatur, Georgia, November 21,
1837. At the age of sixteen in 1853 he entered the law office of his father in
Atlanta, and continued his studies until admitted to the bar in 1857. He
then became associated with his father in practice, an association which was
continued until the death of the latter in 1875. In the flower of his young
manhood, and only a few years after taking up the practice of law, he
enlisted in March, 1862, in Company K of the Forty-second Regiment,
Georgia Infantry, becoming first lieutenant, and later rose to the rank of
captain. He was in the service until the close of the war, was at KnoxviUe,
spent six months in the memorable siege of Vieksburg, with forty-seven days
in the trenches; fought at Baker's Creek, and then was in Johnston's mas-
terly retreat through Georgia, beginning at Dalton and continuing until he
was wounded at Resaca. After recovering from his wound he saw some
active service toward the close of General Hood's Tennessee campaign, but
the final surrender occurred before he could rejoin his repment. After the
war he took up practice at Atlanta, and following the death of his father in
1875 continued practice alone until 1881.
His public life was only less notable than that of his distinguished father.
He was elected to the Legislature in 1872, serving in the sessions of 1873 and
■ 1874. and by re-election was in the sessions of 1875-76. He was a member
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GEORaiA AND GEORGIANS 2293
of sueh important eomraittecs as the general judiciary, corporations and
finance. It was a tribute to both his own ability and his honored father that
he was elected mayor of Atlanta in 1879, and he made his administration
notable in many ways. Perhaps his most important work as mayor was in
funding the city floating debt, which then amounted to $600,000, and which
bore a hi^h.rate of interest, which by this measure was reduced to a 6 per
cent rate. He also procured the legislation necessary for the beginning of
the street paving system. In 1881 he was elected judge of the Court of Ordi-
nary of Folton County, and was re-elected every four years until he had
given sixteen years of conseeufive service in the office. From 1889 to 1894
he was president of the Confederate Veterans Association of Fulton County,
and in that time increased its membership from 115 to 700. Judge Calhoun
died in 1908, and was at that time president of the Confederate Soldiers'
Home at Atlanta. For three years following 1890 he had been lieutenant
colonel of battalion, and fraternally was identified with the Masonic Order
and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
A judicious estimate of his character is as follows: "Judge Calhoun in
every capacity, as soldier, lawyer, judge, legislator and mayor, has displayed
the highest qualities of personal worth, capacity, judgment, well poised
temper and integrity. He is a well rounded character and model citizen.
Adding the finest suavity to his force of nature and well balanced intelligence,
he has held the esteem and confidence of the public and attracted respect by
his unvarying dignity. He was an influential legislator, grasping state ques-
tions and a leader in committee and on the floor. As a judge he has been
impartial, learned in the law and scrupulously upright. In his social and
domestic relations he is a delightful gentleman."
In 1857 Judge Calhoun married Miss Mary J. Oliver, who was bom in
South Carolina, and who died in 1905. They were the parents of sis children,
three daughters and three sons.
Lowndes Calhoun, who for the past twenty years as a member of the
Atlanta bar has endeavored to uphold the honorable distinctions associated
with his name in the profession, was the youngest of the three sons of his
father and mother, and was born at Atlanta February 2, 1872,
Atlanta has been his home all his life, and after attending the public
schools he entered the University of Georgia at Athens, spending two years
there, and after three years in the Washington and Lee University of Vir-
ginia, was graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1894. Returning to Atlanta he
took up the active practice of law, and has continued it without interruption.
He has never been a candidate for public office, and has preferred to give his
undivided time and attention to his profession and to such duties as come to
every public spirited citizen. He is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association,
is a democrat, and a Presbyterian.
On October 12, 1899, Mr. Calhoun married Miss Angela C. Woodward,
of Atlanta. They have one daughter, Emily, born October 12, 1902.
Hon, H. S. West, A member of the Georgia bar nearly thirty-five years,
Judge West has filled in his career with many activities and achievements as
an able lawyer. He is now judge of the City Court at Athens, and has been
in practice in that city for a quarter of a century.
Born in Gilmer County, Georgia, November 14, 1857, Judge West is a son
of Andrew J, and Leah (King) West, both of whom were bom in North Caro-
lina and came to Georgia when young people with their respective parents.
Andrew J. West was a soldier in the Confederate army during the war between
the states, and afterwards moved to Banks County, where he served as
sheriff a number of years and was also a merchant there. Prom Banks County
he removed to Habersham County, where'he died in 1890 at the age of sixty.
The mother died in 1911 at the age of seventy-one. They were the parents
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2294 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS '
of six uhildreo, three sons and three daughters, among whom Judge West
was the second in age.
As a boy he attended school at Homer, Georgia, and for one year was a
student in the agricultural department of the state university. With this
theoretical training he returned to his father's farm and made himself useful
as a practical agriculturist. However, he early determined that the horizon of
his life and experience should not be bounded by the farm, and in pursuance
of his designs made arrangements with Judge Sutton of Clarksville to become
his instructor in the law. Every Saturday, after a week of hard labor on
the farm, young West rode the distance of twelve miles from his home to
Clarksville, and there recited his lessons to Judge Sutton. It was in this
way that he slowly accumulated a sound knowledge of the law, and after
becoming sufficiently proficient took the examination and was admitted to
the bar in 1881. Few men are better grounded in the fundamentals of
jurisprudence than Judge West, and his determination and learning quickly
brought him a satisfactory practice at Clarksville, where he had his office up
to 1890. Since then his home has been in Athens, and in addition to a
private practice he has filled public offices during the greater part of his
residence in that city. Kor six years he was city attorney of Athens, and
in 1907 was appointed judge of the City Court, an office which he has now
filled continuously for eight years. Judge West also served for several
years in the Georgia Legislature as a representative of Habersham County.
His term of service began in 1886 and concluded with the year 1889. ■ The
Legislature of that time was notable for the presence of many prominent
men, and his early associations with them have developed into many strong
and lasting friendships.
Judge West is a democrat, is a member of the County and State Bar
associations and president of the Athens bar, and is particularly prominent
fraternally in the Royal Arcanum. He is past grand regent of the state,
and is also supreme representative for the state with jurisdiction both in
the United States and Canada.
In 1887 at Athens Judge West married Jliss Clarion Lampkin, a daughter
of Louis J. Lampkin. Her father was an early resident of Atheus and for
many years prominent in the life of that city. ilrs. West's parents are
both now deceased. To their union were born four children: Lucy, now Mrs.
Mathis. of Athens, was one of the first honor graduates of the Lucy Cobb
Institute, and is now teacher of oratory in the high school at Athens, being
considered one of the best teachers of expression in the state. Mr. and Mrs.
Mathis have two eliildrcn, Marion Rylander and Henry Edward Mathis.
Andrew Lewis West, the second child, was born in Athens, was graduated
from the University of Georgia in 1912. and was a member of the class of
1916 in the medical department of Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Ten-
nessee, taking his medical degree June, 1916. Henry Haynes West, born at
Athens, graduated from University of Georgia in class of 1915, in the law
department of the University of Georgia. In June, 1916, Frances Marion,
born at Athens, graduated from the Lucv Cobb Institute with the class of
1916.
Frederick Wahl, M. D. One of the physicians and surgeons of Savannah
who have made a successful record in their profession, both by the test of
experience and individual merits, is Dr. Frederick Wahl, who was first iden-
tified with this community as a druggist, and continued that business while
studying for medicine in the medical department of the University of
Georgia.
While his home has been in the South for many years, Doctor AVahl was
born iu Waterloo County. Ontario, -Canada, May 8, 1865. a son of Henry and
Dorothy (Herhcr) Wahl, both also natives of Ontario. Their respective
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2295
parents were natives of Bavaria and Hesse, Gennany, whence they came to
Canada and were early settlers in Ontario. Doctor Wahlls father and mother
were reared and educated and married in Ontario, and his father became
a prosperous farmer. His death occurred in Berlin, Ontario, May 22, 1871,
He was then a young man, having been bom January 1, 1840. The mother
is still living in Canada, at the age of seventy-five. There were six sons in
the family, only two now living. These are Doctor Wahl and his twin brother
Peter, who is a resident of Canada.
Doctor Wahl as a boy attended the public schools in Berlin, Ontario, and
soon after beginning his independent course in the world came to Augusta,
Georgia, wliere he was employed as an apothecary clerk. From that he got
into the drug business on his own account, and while carrying on that busi-
ness he became a student in the medical department of the University of
Georgia at Augusta. Doctor Wahl Was graduated M. D. in 1894. After
that he continued in the drug business for three years at Waynesboro and
at Augusta, and while in Augusta he conducted the City Dispensary from
1894 to 1897. He was also an interne in the Augusta Hospital.
Since 1897 Doctor Wahl has been identified with Savannah as the center
of his professional practice and his home. He enjoys the reputation of a
careful, painstaking and able physician. In 1907 he attended the Post-
Graduate Medical School in New York City, and has a certificate from that
institution. He is a member of the Chatham County and State Medical
societies and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he is first
major in the uniform rank of the Knights of Pythias. He also is a member
of the staff of the Savannah Hospital.
On October' 31, 1900, at Berlin, Waterloo County, Ontario, Doctor Wahl
married Alma Louise Illing. Her mother is still living in Canada. To
their union have been born two children : Alma Grace Wahl, bom in
Savannah August 22, T906, and now in school; Christina Dorothea Wahl,
bom January 15, 1909, and also in school. Doctor Wahl owns a comfortable
home in Savannah and has a dignified position in the community.
Cakl B. Copeland, The year 1915 finds four living generations of the
Copeland family represented in Georgia, and he whose name introduces this
review is a scioii in the third generation. He has been engaged in the prac-
tice of law in the City of Atlanta since 1911 and is one of the well fortified
and ambitious young lawyers who are making their influence felt in their
chosen field of endeavor, Jiis success having been unequivocal and his law
business at the present time being of substantial and important order, the
while his continued advancement in success and prestige is assured, for ability,
energy and worthy ambition all enter into his labors as a member of the bar
of the metropolis of his native state.
Carl Binion Copeland was born on a farm near Gumming, Porsyth County,
Georgia, on the 2d of September, 1888. and his earlier educational discipline
was obtained principally in the schools of Pulton County, within whose borders
his parents still maintain their home. He later passed two years as a student
in the literary and military departments of the North Georgia Agricultural
College, at Dahlenega, and in preparation for his chosen profession he com-
pleted a thorough course in the Atlanta Law School, in which he was gradu-
ated as a member of the class of 1911 and from which he received the degree
of Bachelor of Laws. He was forthwith admitted to the bar of his native
state, and has since been continuously engaged in the practice of liis profession
in Atlanta, his offices being at 407 Gould Building. Mr. Copeland is a demo-
crat in his political allegiance, is a Master Mason and holds membership in
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as do also his parents.
Carl Binion Copeland is a son of William Samuel and Luella CAhernathy)
Copeland, who now reside in Pulton County, of which Atlanta is the judicial
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2296 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
center. William S. Copeland was born in Milton County, this state, and
celebrated his sixty-second birthday anniversary in 1915. Hia wife was born
and reared in Fulton County and is a daughter of LaFayette and Caroline
(Sentell) Abernathy, both of whom are deceased. Concerning the children
of William S. and Luella (Abernathy) Copeland brief record is here entered,
in the respective order of birth : Warren Candler died at the age of twenty-
eight years; John Jackson resides with his parents on their homestead farm
in Fulton County and is associated in its work and management; Clifford
Manning is a prominent figure in connection with educational affairs in his
native state and is now a member of the faculty of the Georgia State Agricul-
tural College at ^ladison ; Carl Binion, of this sketch, was the next in order
of birth ; and Emily is the wife of Henry R. Harraond, of Fulton County,
Andrew Jackson Copeland, the honored grandfather of him whose name
introduces this article, is one of the patriarchal citizens of Georgia and is
specially well known throughout the northern part of the state. He was born
on the 14th of May, 1819, and thus is in his ninety-seventh year at the time
this article is in preparation, in 1915. Notwithstanding his great age he
retains wonderful physical and mental vigor and is still able to give his personal
attention to his business affairs, which are of somewhat extensive and important
order, as he is the owner of a valuable landed estate of several hundred acres
and is the owner also of a hank at Roswell, Cobb County. He has maintained
his home in Milton County from a period antedating the Civil war and is
probably the most venerable of the pioneer citizens now living in Georgia.
His wife, whose maiden name was Emily Binion, died a number of years ago,
and her family name was given to the subject of this sketch as the second
of his personal names.
M. C. Butler Hollet. Much of the present prosperity of the Southern
states is due to the large increase in the number of manufacturing industries
which have sprung up within the last generation, furnishing greater variety
of occupation to the people and greater opportunities for home investments
to those of means. In Augusta the wagon-manufacturing industry is repre-
sented by the lai^e and well equipped plant of M. C. Butler Holley, one of
this city's leading business men, Mr. Holley is a native of South Carolina,
having been born in Qraniteville, that state, June 22, 1879. Both his parents
were natives of South Carolina and came to Augusta in 1882, the father,
Albert Lafayette Holley, for many years holding a responsible position in the
employ of the city. He died in 1909 at the age of seventy-seven years. His
wife, whose maiden name was Lydia Catherine F^-shee, was educated in her
native- state, where she married Mr, Holley. She died in Augusta in 1892 at
the age of forty-four years. Of their large family o£ thirteen children there
are seven now living, namely: James Albert, Charles Brantley, Joseph N.,
(Miss) Eleseheld M., Mrs. G. C. Scbaufle, M. C. Butler, and J. LeRoy. All
reside in Augusta except James A., whose home is in Macon.
M. C. Butler Holley as a boy attended the fifth ward grammar school and
Osborn Business College in Augusta, being graduated from the latter insti-
tution in 1895. He then secured a position in a clerical capacity with a
wholesale grocery house and was subsequently employed in a similar capacity
with other concerns for several years until be became secretary and treasurer
of the Horton Wagon Manufacturing Company. After holding this latter
position for two years and a half and becoming acquainted with the possi-
bilities of the business, in 1911 he bought out the Horton interests and has
since been head of the concern, which is now known as the Holley Wagon
Manufacturing Company. This industry was established in a small way in
1905 and had had a gradually increasing growth up to the time that Mr,
Holley purchased it. Since then he has developed it into a large and impor-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2297
taut business, improving the plaut by the addition of modem macbitiery and
doubling its former output. He is also a director of the Union Made Clothing
Company, a flourishing retail clothing bouse of Augusta. For the last three
years he has been ofBcially connected with the city government, serving as a
member of the council from the fourth ward ; he has also been a member of
the board of county commissioners. In politics he is a democrat. Mr. Holley
is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to the Chapter; a past grand
in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of the Junior
Order United American Mechanics. He is a deacon of the Second Baptist
Church of Augusta.
On January 1, 1902, Mr. HoUey was united in marriage with Miss Leonora
Gleason, daughter of William and Eugenia Gleason, well known and respected
residents of Augusta. He and his wife have one child, Arvis Adaliue Holley,
who was bom in 1909, and is now a pupil in the first grade school. Starting
out in life in modest circumstances, Mr. Holley has worked his way upward
to a high position among the business men of Augusta aiid maj^ be regarded
in the best sense of the word as a representative citizen.
Joseph H. Dorset. As tax receiver of Clarke County, Joseph H. Dorsey
is known as an able and resolute man, one who puts duty before pleasure or
friendship and one who through his honest public service has added much to
the prosperity of his county. He was bom in the City of Athens, Georgia,
September 5, 1855, and is a son of Capt. William H. and C. S. (Erwin)
Dorsey.
Capt. William H. Dorsey was horn in Georgia in 1800 and died at the
age of sixty-six years. He was a useful and public spirited citizen of Athens
and during many years held positions of trust and responsibility. During
the war between the states he had charge of the conscript office and had
under his direct supervision the system by which the women and children of
the city were eared for while the men were in the army, and also took charge
of the sick and wounded soldiers returning from the war during its continu-
ance. He had complete charge of the city gasworks, owned by Capt. Henry
A. Grady, up to the time of his death, in 1866. He married C. S. Erwin,
born also in Georgia, who survived until 3877, her death occurring in her
seventy-fifth year. They were the parents of eleven children, Joseph H.
being the eighth in order of birth.
Joseph H. Dorsey was mainly educated in private schools and was a pupil
in the well known school of Rev. H. R. Barnard. Afterward, desiring to be
entirely self supporting, he went to work for his brother, A. S. Dorsey, with
whom he remained for ten years, when he embarked in a mercantile business
on his own account and conducted the same for six years, selling out advan-
tageously and afterward leased a grist mill from R. L. Bloomfield.
Jlr. Dorsey operated the miil and supplied merchants with meal and flour
for four years, when his lease expired. He did not renew it, deciding to go
out of the milling business.
About this time Mr. Dorsey became interested in a .Street railway enter-
prise and in fact was the original organizer of the Athens Street Railway,
of which he. is the president, and for three years devoted his time and atten-
tion to the development of this enterprise. He was then appointed traveling
freight agent of the Macon & Northern Railway and continued as such for
one year, when he went with the Georgia & Southern Railway as soliciting
freight agent, with headquarters at Macon. Mr. Dorsey continued in that
position for five years and was then appointed Florida freight agent, with
headquarters at Jackson, Florida. He continued at Jackson for two years
and then moved to Palatka, Florida, in the same capacity, removing then to
Chicago as' both freight and passenger soliciting agent. For nine months
I, Google
2298 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Mr. Dorsey maintained his headquarters at Chica^iro aad then went to Indian-
apolis, and six months later he resigned and in 1897 came baeb to Athens.
In the following year, 1898, Mr. Dorsey was elected tax receiver of Clarke
County, and this office he has admirably filled ever since, under many chang-
ing administrations. He was elected alderman of the First Ward and
through his close attention to public needs proved a very useful member of
the city council. In 1882, while away from Athens, ten days prior to the
election, his name was proposed by his friends for the office of mayor, without
his consent, and when he returned he was met by a delegation of such urgent
supporters that he consented to run and was elected mayor by the people by
a large majority, carrying every ward in the city but one, in which one of
his opponents lived, who carried it by three votes. The other candidates
were prominent residents of Athens, Judge Bailey W. Thomas and Dr. E. S.
Lindon. At the next election Mr. Dorsey was re-elected mayor. In every
public position he has shown courage and efficiency and as tax collector and
receiver has been so especially effective. that he has become widely known and
through his personal qualities has become not only respected hut beloved.
Mr. Dorsey was married in 1875 to Miss SalHe Chappel, who died in 1881.
She was a daughter of Robert Chappel, of Athens. She left two daughters:
Mrs. W. P. Hosey, who resides at No. 109 West Harris Street, Atlanta, has
one daughter, Sarah Prances; and Mrs. Vincent Matthews, who has three
children: Vincent, Frances and Chappel. In 1883 Mr. Dorsey was married
to Miss M. A. Hargrove, of Crawford, Georgia, a daughter of C, S. Har-
grove, and they have three surviving children: Mrs. W. F. Belts,
who is a resident of Athens, has two children, Joseph W. and Alice; Ida M.,
who is the wife of C. S. Compton, traveling passenger agent on the Seaboard
Air Line Railroad, resides at Athens and they have one daughter, Mary
Alice; and Elizabeth, who resides with her parents at Athens. Mr. Dorsey
and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is identified
with the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Mount Vernon Lodge No. 22,
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Athens.
Hon. George C. Tiiom.^s. Among those who have lent honor to the legal
profession in the State of Georgia a place of special distinction must be
accorded to George C. Thomas, of Athens, a former circuit .iudge and for
more than forty years identified with his profession in this state,
A native Georgian, he was bom in Burke County October 20, 1850, a son
of Jethro and Jane T. (Blount) Thomas, who were also natives of Georgia
and were married in this state. His father was a farmer and afterwards a
merchant, and died in 1885 at the age of sixty-two. During the war he
enlisted in Company I of the Fifth Georgia Regiment of Cavalry as a private,
and served from 1862 until the close of the struggle. He was once wounded
in a battle in which his command was engaged, and in 1864 he was taken
prisoner and was held in the Point Lookout prison in Maryland until the
close of the war. The mother died in 1855 at the age of fifty-five, having had
three children. '
The younge-st of these children. Judge Thomas, spent most of his boyhood
in the troubled era of the Civil war, attended school rather irregularly, gained
part of his early education in Burke County, later attended Mercer Uni-
versity from which he was graduated in 1870, and after some further train-
ing in the University of Geoi^a was admitted to the bar in 1879. Since then
he has been continuously identified with his profession in Athens. From
1886 to 1889 he served as circuit judge of the Oconee Circuit, and during
that time presided over many notable trials and gained a reputation for
impartial administration of justice and served to give dignity to his office.
He was also a member of the State Legislature two terms from Claike County,
serving from 1896 to 1898, during which time he succeeded in having passed
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2299
by that body a law donating $100,ODO, for building purposes, to tbe Uni-
versity of Georgia. Judge Thomas is well known as a member of the Clarke
County Bar Association, is an active democrat and a member of the Baptist
Church.
In 1871 at Athens, in his twenty-first year, he married Miss Mary Anna
McWhorter, daughter of Moses E. MeWhorter, who for many years was a
merchant at Athens. Six children were born to their union : Jethro Thomas,
who was born at Rome, Georgia, and is now deceased ; George C, Jr., who was
born at Oconee and died there: Mary, who married H. C. Edwards of Athena;
Anna and Kate, twins, who died in infancy; and William Milton, who was
born at Athens and since graduating from the University of Georgia with
the A. B. degree in 1902 and from the law department in 1912, has been
associated with his father in practice, and is one of the rising young attorneys
of the state. Judge Thomas in his early youth^ had many difficulties to struggle
with, and gained his education and promoted himself to distinction in the
bar through his own efforts. He is extensively interested in farming and
has several small farms in the vicinity of Athens.
Brig.-Gen. George P. H.\bri80N had the peculiar distinction of having a
son in the Confederate array holding the same rank that he did and having
attained to that high rank before he was twenty-four years of age.
General Harrison was born in Savannah, in 1814; died in that city in
1887, and rests in Laurel Grove Cemetery. He was a prominent citizen of
the state prior to the war between the states, and engaged in rice planting
on the Savannah River, owning what is known as "the Monteith Plantation."
He represented Chatham County several times in the General Assembly, took
an active interest in military affairs, and had risen to be a major-general in
the Georgia militia prior to the war. During that struggle, under commis-
sion from the governor, he commanded a brigade of Georgia state troops,
which served in and around Savannah. While on a visit to his plantation at
Monteith he was captured by tbe Federals and held a prisoner until near
the close of the war. After the war he served as a member of the first
constitutional convention of Georgia, and was for a long time clerk of the
Superior Court of Chatham County, serving also for a number of years as a
member of the Inferior Court of Chatham County.
Oen. Georoe p. Harbison, Jr., was born near Savannah on March 19,
1841. He was educated in the old Georgia Military Institute, at Marietta.
Before completing his course, he participated with the Georgia troops in the
siege of Fort Pulaski, January 3, 1861, and in the same month became regu-
latly enrolled as second lieutenant of the First Georgia Regulars. He then
returned to the institute, finished his course, and was graduated with first
honors with the rank of captain of Company A. He was serving as com-
mandant at the military institute when he received his diploma. In May,
1861, he joined his regiment, accompanied it to Virginia, and was made
adjutant of the regiment. He served in Virp^inia during the balance of that
year, and during the winter of 1861-62, when he was elected and commissioned
colonel of the Fifth Geoi^a Regiment. This was a regiment enlisted for six
months by the state. He served as its commander during its six months'
enlistment on the Georgia coast, and then raised a regiment of which he was
commissioned colonel, which was mustered in as the Thirty-second Georgia
Infantry. Prom this time on he was in active, service. His regiment was
a part of the garrison of Charleston, participating in tbe fighting on James
Island, which he zealously defended, and part of the time being in command
of Port Johnson, alternating in command on Morris Island with Gen. Johnson
Hagood, of South Carolina, and Gen. Alfred Colquitt, of Georgia, as long as
the Confederates held the island. In the great assault on Port Wagner, July
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2300 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
22, 1863, he arrived with his regiment to the reinloreement of the garrison
at the very crisis of the fighting and thus precipitated the disastrous and
hloody defeat of the enemy. He was in command on John's Island during
the several days of stubborn fighting there, during which he showed marked
ability. After the fall of Fort Wagner, he was stationed at Mount Pleasant
for some time, part of his command remaining in the garrison in the ruins
of Fort Sumter, where the Confederate flags floated until February, 1865.
During part of 1864 he was in command at Florence, South Carolina, where
he built a stockade for Federal prisoners and had charge of about 25,000
of these, and who were so humanely treated under hia direction that when
Savannah fell, the family of General Harrison, then residing in that city,
were specially mentioned for protection in the general orders of the Fedenil
commander. He was wounded several times in battle and had just passed
his twenty-fourth year when the war ended.
After the war General Harrison located at Opelika, Alabama, and his
record as a member of the Legislature, congressman and governor was after-
ward made in identification with the history of that state.
Donald A. Lotless. One of the attraptive and infiuential trade periodicals
issued in the City of Atlanta and covering in its circulation the various com-
monwealths of the North and the South is the Southern Carbonator and
Bottler, of which Mr. Loyless is the editor and publisher and which he has
made a vigorous and effective exponent of the interests which it represents,
and aside from this he is publisher also of four other industrial papers of
national circulation.
At Cartersville, the judicial center of Barstow County, Georgia, Donald
A. Loyless was born on the 4th of December, 1871, a son of William A. and
Hattie (Jackson) Loyless, the former of whom was bom in Columbia County,
this state, and the latter in Marlborough District, South Carolina. The geneal-
ogy of the Loyless family traces to fine old Scotch-Irish origin, and representa-
tives of the name early settled in America. He whose name initiates this
Article was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of Atlanta
and later attended the Georgia Military Institute, after which he completed
the prescribed curriculum in the law department of the university. In this
institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1897 and he received
therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Laws, with virtually coincident admis-
sion to the bar of his native state. Tie had previously gained practical news-
paper experience, through association with the celebrated Southern journal,
the Atlanta Constitution, and though he devoted about six years to the prac-
tice of law in Atlanta and gained definite success in his profession, he retained
a distinctive predilection for journalism and, after a careful study of the
scope and influence of trade publications of periodical order he decided to
identify himself with this important line of enterprise. Atlanta was at the
time coming to the front aa a center for the manufacturing of what are
commonly designated as soft drinks, and he had the prescience to realize
that in this field of industrial enterprise was offered an opportunity for suc-
cessful exploitation through the medium of a paper devoted to such interests.
With the confidence of his convictions, though with but modest capital, he
established the Southern Carbonator and Bottler, and by his pr<^ressive
policies and able editorial and executive methods he soon placed the enter-
prise on a splendid paying basis. The business of this excellent periodical
has shown a constantly cumulative tendency under hia administration and it
stands today as one of the most prosperous trade papers in the United States,
fair and liberal in the furthering of the interests to which it is devoted and
having now a circulation that extends into every state and territory of the
Union.
Mr. Loyless is a man of most genial personality, loyal and steadfast in all
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2301
of the relations of lite, liberal and tolerant in judgment, and ever ready to
aid those in need or distress, though his charities and philanthropies are
invariably extended without ostentation and with a deep sense of personal
stewardship. It is thus but in natural sequence that his circle of friends
is virtually coextensive with that of his acquaintances, in both busineKs and
social circles. Though never ambitious for public ofBee he is a man of great
eivic loyalty and progressiveness and gives his allegiance to the democratic
party. His business offices are in the Hurt Building, and he and his famiW
reside at 10 East 14th Street.
On the 15th of February, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Loy-
less to Miss Flora Shaw, of Atlanta, and they have one son, Augustus, who
was born in 1907.
Dr. C. Lewis Fowler. The cause of education is one that appeals to every
intelligent citizen of this or other states, for there are few nowadays who do
not appreciate the truth of the old saying that "Knowledge is Power." The
State of Georgia can boast of many excelleot educational institutions, among
which is Cox Southern Female College and Conservatory, usually referred to
simply as "Cox College," and which is situated at College Park, near Atlanta,
Georgia. Established as far back as 1843, its earlier pupils belong to the old
regime, to whom it imparted a sound education combined with useful and
graceful accomplishments that were distinguishing characteristics of higher
class. southern women in antebellum days; while at the present day it extend?
the same or greater advantages to their daughters and granddaughters. The
present head of this institution, who came to it as president in June, 1914, is
Dr. C. Lewis Fowler, a sketch of whose previous career will be of interest to the
friends of education throughout the state.
C. Lewis Fowler was born in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, Novem-
ber 17, 1877, a son of Thomas Lafayette and Margaret Alice (Riggins) Fowler.
His paternal ancestors were among those sturdy settlers of Scotch-Irish descent
who did so much to develop that region, and from which stock sprang many
noted men. In general they had strong religious convictions, and so we find
that the Fowler family produced many ministers, most of them of the Metho-
dist denomination. On the maternal side Doctor Fowler is a descendant of
the McXeeleys of South Carolina and lower North Carolina, who were French
Huguenots and' came to this country with the Huguenot colony in the earlier
days of our history. Doctor Fowler was graduated A. B. at Furman University,
Ureenville, South Carolina, in 1904, Th. G. and post-graduate B. D. at New- _
ton Theological Institute, Newton Center, Massachusetts, in 1907, after which"
he traveled in Europe, attending lectures at Oxford. In 1911 he received the
honorary degree of M. A., during which year he traveled in England, Africa,
Palestine and Greece. At the early age of seventeen he entered the Methodist
ministry, attending the Methodist Conference College at Fallston, North Caro-
lina. He was then made head of the Morgan Academy, at Morgan's Mill,
North Carolina, where he servpd two years. For three years he was co-presi-
dent of Wingate Academy, Wingate, North Carolina, an affiliated school of
Wake Forest College. Before the end of the term Doctor Fowler entered the
Baptist ministry and went to Furman University for study. Since that time
he has been pastor of the First Baptist Church, at Geoi^etown, Massachusetts,
and of the First Baptist Church at Clinton. South Carolina. In June, 1911,
he became president of Lexington College, at Lexington, Missouri, where he
served for three years, during which time the patronage of the college was
more than doubled. He came to Cox College as one of the presidents in June,
1914, as above narrated. Doctor Fowler is a member of the National Geo-
frraphic Society and is registered with the Independent Lyceum Bureau for
Chautauqua and lecture work. He is a noted lecturer and educator. Under
his leadership Cox College has come to be one of the great colleges of the South.
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2302 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
On September 6, 1904. he was married to Nancy Clarinda Hunter, of
Simpsonviile, South Carolina, the Hunter family being known for four genera-
tions as one of the most prominent families of that state.
J. E. DuNSON. For many years the name has stood for prominent suc-
cess in business and industrial affairs and high ideals with respect to the
public welfare in that section of Qeoi^ia of which LaGrange is the natural
center. It was therefore with great regret that that community was deprived
of the services of the late J, E. Duuson who died May 12, 1916.
In the months prior to his death the people of Georgia at large had been
getting better acquainted with the achievement and personality of Mr, Dunson
of LaGrange as a result of a sincere and hearty campaign on the part of
hia numerous friends in proposing him as a candidate for the next nomination
for governor. With an assured business position, and ail the qualifications
that a successful self-made career implies, with a record of sturdy adherence
to the principles which he believes right, with ability to express himself
clearly and forcefully in public speech, undoubtedly his name was one of
the strongest that could have been presented to the people of Georgia, for
such a high honor. '
Mr. DnnsoQ was a man who came up from the rauks, therefore he had
a great deal of active sympathy with all classes and couditions of people.
He was horn on a farm in Troup County, Georgia, June 9, 1865, a son of
Sanford Harris and Susannah Elizabeth (Qoss) Dunson. Both parents
were also bom in Georgia, and his father served with a good record in
the Confederate Army, was a planter, but never sought nor held any political
office. .
Early in his career the late J. E. Dunson chose a course which involved
self-reliance, and his later position might be credited almost entirely to his
individual efforts for advancement. As a boy he attended the common
schools of Troup County, afterwards took a course in a business college at
Atlanta, and his early ambition to gain a college education in the University
of Georgia was thwarted on account of scarcity of funds. Instead of going
to college he found work as a salesman and bookkeeper with a supply concern
at LaGrange. After that for thirty years at least he had been closely
identified with the business interests of the city. The name is primarily
associated with the manufacturing interests about LaGrange. He was organ-
izer of the J. E. Dunson & Bros. Company, a farmers supply house, was one
of the organizers of the Unity Cotton Mills, and promoted and built the
•Dunson Mills, a successful cotton manufacturing company. At the time
of his death he was president and director of the LaGrange Banking and
Trust Com'pauy, of the Dunson Mills, of the J. E. Dunson & Bros. Company,
and Ireasurer of the Troup Fertilizer Company. He owned a large amount
of farm lands and might have been classified as a practical farmer himself
had other business interests not been dominant, since he was engaged in
extensive farm operations in his section of Georgia.
After getting established in a business way Mr. Dunson kept himself
in close touch with the public affairs of Troup County. In proposing his
name for governor his friends had every reason to expect a progressive and
enlightened administration with respect to educational affairs should he
have been elected. He was a member of the LaGrange Board of Education
and its president for ten years, was a member of the board of trustees of
the I-aGrangc Female College, and also one of the trustees of the Fourth
District Agricultural and Mechanical College at Carrollton. For several
years he was a member of the city council at LaGrange.'
Jlr. Dunson had not only opinions and views, but also ideals and princi-
ples, and was never at a loss to express himself clearly and cogently upon
any issues that were presented. Many people knew him best as a public
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2303
speaker. Notwithstanding his many talents he had never held any state
crfBce, and that was largely due to his chief eharacterifftic of modesty. He
came of a Methodist family, was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, and a number of social clubs. At one time he belonged to
the LaGrange Life Guards, was one of the organizers and a lieutenant in
the Troup Huzzars, and served as a member of the staff of Governor \V, Y.
Atkinson.
At LaGrange March 5, 1886, Mr. Dunson married Miss Mary Lee Abraham,
daughter of Maj. A. A. Abraham and wife, the former a native of Virginia
and the latter of Georgia. Her father served with the rank of captain in
the Confederate Army, Mr, Dunson was survived by Mrs. Dunson and four
children: J. E. Dunson. Jr., wlio married Ruth Broome; Florence; Claude
and Albert Goss Dunson,
John Meredith Graii.\m, Since his advent in Rome, twenty odd years
ago, John M, Graham has not been content with the routine accomplishments
of the fairly successful business man, but in a number of ways has been an
energizer and creator of broader opportunities and more extended lines of com-
mercial undertaking. He was the founder and is president of the National
City Bank of Rflme, but his name can also be mentioned in connection with
various other departments of the city's affairs,
John Meredith Graham was born at Pinewood. Hickman County, Teiuiessee,
November 9, 1873, son of John Meredith and Anna (Wright) Graham, His
father was born in 'Williamson County, Tennessee, and his mother in Floyd
County, Georgia, and both parents are now deceased. His father was a cotton
factor and a planter for many years in Hickman County, and died at Pine-
wood. For four years he gave his capable services as state senator, and was a
man of light and leading in civic affairs of his home .state. He affiliated with
the democratic party. The mother died at Pinewood at the age of twenty-four.
Tlie oldest of their three children was Samuel L. Graham, now clerk of the
Superior Court of Floyd County, Georgia, and the only daughter is Miss Anna
W. Graham, also of Rome.
John M. Graham, the youngest, was well schooled, at first in the public
schools of Pinewood, and later in the Washington and Lee l!niversity in Vir-
ginia. At the age of eighteen he came to Rome, and with a limited capital
invested in the firm of S. S. King & Company, grocers, and in 1899, eight years
later, organized the Griffin Hardware Company, both wholesale and retail.
This business is still one of the large concerns in Rome, and has done much to
concentrate trade in this North Georgia city. With the hardware company
Mr. Graham took the position of secretary. In 1912 he went a step further in
his business career by organizing the National City Bank, with a capital of
$100,000. This is one of the solid banking institutions of a large section of
country. While Mr, Graham is president, the vice president is Evan P. Harney,
a prominent real estate man of Rome, and the cashier is George C. Beysiegel.
Among the directors are the names of some of the representative citizens of
Rome. What has been stated in brief outline only suggests some of the more
important directions in which Mr. Graham has exerted his enterprise and
influence for the commercial advantages of his home community.
He is a democrat, and at different times has worked for the improvement of
city government. He was married at Rome in 1902 to Miss Maybeth Sullivan,
who was born in Rome, a daughter of Arthur R. and Laura (Weller) Sullivan.
The late Mr, Sullivan during the many years of his life spent in Rome was a
foremost business man. a member of the firm of Towers Sullivan Manufactur-
ing Company, makers of plows, cultivators, planters, and other farm imple-
ments, Mr. and Mrs. Graham have three children : Laura Weller Graham, born
at Rome, eleven years ago; Maybeth Graham, aged nine; and John Meredith,
Jr., aged three. Mr, Graham is a member of the Christian Church, while his
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2304 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
wife is a Baptist and takes much part in church affairs. His ouly important
fraternal affliation is with the Benvolent and Protective Order of Ell^. The
one vacation enjoyed by Mr. Graham and family is during the summer months,
when they rest and recreate on the shores of Lake Ahmic, Canada, where they
have a pleasant cottage home. The success of Mr. Graham is a fact that con-
cerns not himself alone but the community. He came to Rome with a modest
amount of capital, but along with confidence in his own ability had a firm faith
in the future of the city, and has done a great deal to realize the possibilities
of the situation. His best equipment has been sound business sense and
indvistry, and there is no one who can reasonably begrudge him what he has
won.
WiLUAM Spencer Connebat. One of Savannah's younger attorneys, a
young man of thorough ability, high character, and one whose outlook is one
of greatest promise and achievement, is William Spencer Connerat, who since
his admission to the bar has been identified with Savannah's well known law
firm of Oliver & Oliver,
Bom in Savannah May 7, 1889, Mr. Connerat represents a fine old family
originally French Huguenot but established in this section of the South a num-
ber of generations ago. His grandfather, Joseph V, Connerat, was born in
Savannah and died at the age of sixty-nine. He married a Miss Palmes. Clar-
ence Selthridge Connerat, father of the Savannah attorney, was born in Savan-
nah in 1849, and married Laura Spencer of Columbus, Georgia. Clarence
Connerat began his business career with the firm of Richardson & Barnard,
ship brokers at Savannah, and in time rose to a membership in the firm. He
was active in the affairs of the Episcopal Church and for more than twenty
years was superintendent of St. John 's Sunday School. He was also aifiliated
with the Masonic Order. His death occurred in 1900 at the age of fifty-one.
His wife, who was born in 1851, is still living at Savannah. She is a daughter
of Richard Perry Spencer of Columbus, Georgia. There were three children.
Clarence, Jr., died in Savannah in 1910 at the age of thirty-three. Alice is the
wife of 0. C. Drew of Savannah.
William Spencer Connerat was liberally educated and thoroughly prepared
for his profession. He attended the public schools and after graduating from
the Savannah High School entered the University of Georgia in the academic
department. He was a student of law in the University of Virginia and finally
re-entered the University of Georgia, where he graduated LL. B. in the class
of 1912, Soon afterwards he became associated with one of Savannah's oldest
and most prominent law firms, Oliver & Oliver, and has been advancing rapidly
in the favor and esteem of his seniors and has done much that is highly
creditable to his ability as a lawyer.
Mr, Connerat is a member of the Chi Phi fraternity, of St. John's Episco-
pal Church, of the Cotillion Club and the Savannah Golf Club, and was first
lieutenant in the Chatham Artillery, on the staff of the late Maj. Richard J.
Davant. He is a fine example of robust manhood, very fond of outdoor sports,
particularly tentfis, and outside of the law has continued his collegiate and
university interests through almost constant reading of history and economics,
Henry H. Blake, M. D, Prominent among the physicians and surgeons
of the younger generation in the City of Savannah stands Doctor Blake,
whose character, high professional attainments and worthy achievement in
his humane vocation have given him high standing, the while he is recog-
nized also as a progressive and loyal citizen who takes deep interest in all
that touches the welfare of the community.
Doctor Blake was born in Dorchester County. South Carolina, on the 27th
of July, 1886, and is a son of John I. and Amelia M. (Illerton) Blake, the
former of whom was born at Madison, the capital city of Wisctmsin, and the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2305
latter of whom was bom in Dorchester County, South Carolina, where their
marriage was solemnized.
John I. Blake was a soion of a sterling pioneer family of the Badger
State, where he was reared and educated and whence, as a young man, he
came to the South prior to the Civil war. He was twenty years of age at
the time he established his residence in Dorchester County, South Carolina,
and there he gained excellent 'reputation as an expert bookkeeper and
accountant, in the employ of the Grey Phosphate Works. Later he served
as a conductor on one of the railroads traversing South Carolina, and he was
one of the venerable and popular citizens of Dorchester County at the time
of his death, in 1911, at the age of sixty-four years, his widow being now a
resident of Savannah, Georgia, and having celebrated her fifty-fifth birthday
anniversary in 1915. Of their six children, Doctor Blake of this review was
the fourth in order of birth.
Doctor Blake continued his studies in the public schools of South Carolina
until he had completed the work of the junior year in the high school in
the city of Charleston, and he then became clerk in the postoffice at Somer-
ville, South Carolina, the judicial center of his native county. After retaining
this position three years he followed the course of his ambitious purpose and
entered the Medical College of South Carolina, at Charleston, in which excel-
lent institution he was graduated as a. member of the class of 1913 and from
which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. During his
senior year and a part of the year 1914 he served as interne in a leading hos-
pital in Charleston, and he thus gained valuable clinical experience prior to
entering upon the independent work of his profession.
In 1914, Doctor Blake established his residence in Savannah, and his
ability and gracious personality have here enabled him to build up a sub-
stantial and representative practice and to gain the high regard of his
professional confreres, both of the older and younger generations. He is
identified with the Georgia State Medical Association, the Georgia Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. In politics be supports the
men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, rather than being
hedged in by strict partisan lines, and he looks upon his exacting and respon-
sible profession as worthy of and demanding his undivided fealty, so that he
has had no aspirations for the activities of practical politics or for public
office of any kind. The doctor holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and it is but consistent to state that his popularity in social circles
is not lessened by reason of his being still a bachelor. He resides with his
widowed mother, as do all of the other children except the second, William G.,
who still remains in South Carolina. The home circle in Savannah includes
besides the doctor, his brother, Robert I., and bis sisters Elodia, Cecilia, and
Xellie, and the home is known for its gracious hospitality and good cheer.
Judge Johk Erseine was bom in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, on
September 13, 1813, and died in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 27, 1895,
His people came to America in 1820, before he was seven years old. They
first located in St. Johns, New Brunswick, where his father shortly died.
Surviving members of the family then came to the United States, settling
in New York City. Much of his youth was spent on the ocean, but in 1838
he became a resident of Florida, taught school for several years and in 1846
was admitted to the bar of that state. After successful practice for nine years
in Florida, he removed to Georgia in 1855, and settled in Newnan, but later
moved to Atlanta, where the remainder of his life was spent.
After Atlanta was captured by the Federal army Mr. Erskine went to
New York and remained there until he was appointed United States judge
of the District of Georgia by President Johnson. While on the bench he was
the first judge to decide that the legal tender greenback law was constitu-
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2306 ' GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
tioDal. Tlie Supreme Court reversed him, but Judge Erskine had the satis-
faction of seeing the Supreme Court, a short time later, reverse itself and
agree with his original decision. The Reconstruction laws and the revenue
laws of that period bore very hardly upon the people, and yet, though
he upheld the laws, he managed to do his duty in such a way as to avoid
inflicting unnecessary harshness upon the Southern people. From the time
of his appointment as Federal judge, until 'his retirement in 1883, he faith-
fully upbeUI the lawsUnd at the same time protected the legitimate interests
of the South.
Bbig.-Qen. WiijLiAM M. Gardner, a gallant Georgian and a capable sol-
dier was so disabled in the first great battle of the war as to incapacitate him
for subsequent active service. A native Georgian, he was appointed to the
United States Military Academy at West Point, and graduated in 1846, just
at the moment the war with Mexico was beginning, and served in that war
as brevet second lieutenant of the First Infantry. lie took part in the siege
of Vera Cruz, and in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, receiving in
the last named affair a severe wound. For his gallantry in these actions, he
was breveted first lieutenant. In the interval between tlie Mexican war and
the war between the states, he was on garrison duty at various army posts
and on various scouting expeditions on the frontier, rising t« the rank of
captain, which position he held when Georgia seceded Januarj' 19, 186L
Immediately upon the secession of Georgia, he resigned his position and
tendered his services to the new government. He was commissioned lieutenant-
colonel of the Eighth Georgia Regiment, one of the first which went to the
front At the first battle of Manassas he was so severely wounded that it
was thought he would not recover, and was not able thereafter to actively
command in the field. Gardner's commission as colonel was dated from, the
" day of the battle, July 21. On November 14, 1861, he was commissioned
brigadier-general and placed in command of the Middle Florida District,
holding that position two years. On July 26, 1864, General Gardner was
assigned command of the military prisons in states east of the Mississippi,
excluding Georgia and Alabama. On November 28, 1864, he was in com-
mand at Salisbury, North Carolina, and from January, 186.5, to April 2d,
he commanded the post at Richmond, Virginia.
Returning to Georgia after the conclusion of the war. he lived for a time
near Augusta, and afterwards near Rome. From Rome be moved to Memphis,
Tennessee, where he had a son residing, and the remainder of his life was
spent in that city.
William H. Mtehs, M. D., is a popular physician and surgeon of
Savannah, Georgia, at 402 Drayton Street. He was born at Murray, Ken-
tucky, October 22, 1878, a son of Robert Morgan and Margaret (McCorkle)
Myers. Both parents were bom in Kentucky. His father was also a
practicing physician, but his career was cut short by death in 1880 at the age
of thirty-two. The mother is still living at the age of fifty-eight and has
her home at Lynn Grove, Kentucky. The other two children are Mrs. E. C.
Sherman and Mrs. J. F. Jordan, both living in Kentucky.
The second in order of birth. Doctor Myers was reared in Kentucky,
attended school in the country and also one of the high schools of that state,
and finally entered the medical department of the University of Tennessee
at Nashville, where he graduated M. D. in 1901. During the following year
he served as an interne in the Nashville Hospital, and then took up private
practice. He was appointed instructor in the medical department of the
University of Tennessee for four years.
He spent three years in the Philippine Islands while the American armies
were still engaged in the campaigns there.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2307
Doctor Myers is a member of the- Georgia Medical Society, the Georgia
State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Columbus E. Alexander. The colloquial expression that a man "has
made good" has a definite significance that fully justifies its common utiliza-
tion, and the expression is specially applicable in the case of Jlr. Alexander,
whose advancement has been gained through his own ability and well directed
efforts and who, after prior and successful educational service in connection
with business colleges, prepared himself for the legal profession and engaged
in active general practice in th? City of Savannah, where he has won secure
place as one of the ambitious and' representative younger members of the bar
of Southern Georgia and where he controls a substantial law business that
shows a constantly cumulative tendency. In addition to his law practice he is
doing an excellent business in the handling of real estate, especially in the
development of ' ' Oaks Park, ' ' a beautiful subdivision of several modern homes
built among large oaks with hanging moss. He is known as one of the vigorous
and loyal young men and progressive and public- spirited citizens of the fine
old city in which he lives.
Mr. Alexander was born in Bartow County, Georgia, on the 9th of January,
1883, and is a son of Columbus E. and Emily J. (Dean) Alexander. His
father was born in South Carolina, on the 4th of August, 1844, and was-five
years of age at the time of the family removal to Georgia, his parents settling
in Bartow County, where he was reared to manhood and availed himself of
the advantages of the cmnmon schools of the period. He became a skilled iron
worker in his youth and when the Civil war was precipitated he was able to
give to the Confederate States effective service by working at his trade and
aiding in manufacturing certain needed supplies for the soldiers in the field.
He was detailed to work in the Etowah Iron Works, in Bartow County, and
after the close of the war he continued to follow his trade a few years. He
then turned his attention to educational and agricultural pursuits. He taught
in the schools of Bartow County for a number of years. He and his wife now
reside on the old homestead farm of the latter's father, in Bartow County.
Mrs. Alexander was born on this old homestead, in 1848, and is a daughter of
Joel Dean, who was a well known and influential pioneer of Bartow County,
where he established his home just after the Cherokee Indians were removed
from North Georgia by the United States Government. He whose name initi-
ates this article was the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children
all of whom are living except one, Amanda, the third child. The other sur-
viving children are: George W., Joseph J., Mrs. Sarah J. Heath, Miss Nora and
Mrs. Susan Ann (Alexander) Bradley.
As a boy Cohimbus E. Alexander made good use of the advantages afforded
in the rural schools of Bartow County, and at the same time worked on a farm,
clerked in his father's country store, and postoflfice of which his father was
postmaster. He completed a course in English branches of study in the Rein-
hardt Normal College, at Waleska, Georgia. Thereafter be served his novitiate
in the pedagogic profession by teaching in the district schools of his native
county, and finally he entered the Georgia- Alabama Business College, at Macon,
Georgia, in which he took a commercial course and became an efficient book-
keeper and stenographer. After his graduation in this college he worked as a
bookkeeper in Alabama for a while, and then taught one term in the depart-
ment of mathematics in Euharlee Institute, at Euharlee, Georgia. It was then
that he turned his attention to commercial teaching and established at Car-
tersvilie the North Georgia Business College, which he conducted about two
years at that place. He then removed the school to Rome, and after there
continuing to conduct the same one term Tie sold his interests in the institution
and accepted a position as principal of the commercial department in the
Richards Business College, at Savannah. With this excellent school he con-
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2308 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
tiiiued his efficient service five years, and in the meanwhile he gave close atten-
tioa to the study of law, his reading being directed under able preceptorship.
On the Ist of July, 1913, Mr. Alexander was admitted to the bar of his native
state, by Hon. Walter G. Charlton, judge of the Superior Court of Chatham
County, and in the same year he opened a law office in Savannah, where he has
since continued in active general practice and has so used his powers as to
build up a profitable law business.
Mr. Alexander is a loyal advocate of democratic principles, and he and his
wife hold membership in the Baptist Church. He is identified with the Savan-
nah Volunteer (iuards. Coast Artillery Corps, National Guards of Georgia in
which he has rendered loyal and efficient services.
At "Oaks Park," just without the City of Savannah, Mr. Alexander main-
tains an attractive and beautifully located country home. He operates his own
water works and has built a number of modern homes at this place.
On the 29th of September, 1907, he was married to Miss Blanche E.
Groover, in whom he has found an efficient helper in his many undertakings.
To them have been bom two sons, Ewell Marion and Harold Joseph Alexander.
Harry II.4nd McGeb. A well bestowed honor was that accorded by the
Georgia State Medical Society in 1915 when its members chose Harry Hand
McGee of Savannah as president. Doctor McGee is a physician and sui^eon
who^ attainments have a wide recognition and appreciation outside of his
home city. His present station is the more commendable through the fact
that as a young man he had to work and save in order to realize his ambition
to become a physician.
He was born on his father's farm in Screven County, Georgia, December
24, 1869, a son of Eli K. and Sarah Jane (Newton) McGee, both now
deceased. His father was bom in Screven County July 22, 1840, and his
birthplace was within five miles of the place where he died January 1, 1910.
The mother passed away June 29, 1909. Both were devout Christians, active
members of the Baptist Church, and while people of modest circumstances
they exercised a good influence in their community, and did their very best
for their children. Eli K. McGee joined the Confederate Array, and was in
service until severely wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro, after which
he was confined in the hospital at Jackson, Mississippi, later transferred to
the Macon Hospital, and throughout the rest of his life his active career
was largely handicapped by the injuries be had sustained as a soldier for
the South. After the war he married in Screven County in 1868, and then
engaged in farming on a modest scale in that county until his death. After
the death of his wife his own health failed very rapidly, and his end was
hastened by the grief at the loss of his life companion. For many years he
was a deacon in the Baptist Church, and a democrat in politics. There were
just two children, and the daughter Vetta Jane is the widow of James L.
Sheppard, and lives in Screven County about four miles from her birthplace.
Doctor McGee as a hoy attended the public schools in Screven County.
He could expect little help from home in the pursuance of his ambitious aims
to secure an education, and fit himself for the medical profession, and conse-
quently during those years he relied largely on his own energies. He sub-
sequently entered the" College of Physieipns and Surgeons at Atlanta, where
he was graduated with the class of 1890. Doctor McGee began practice at
Plains, Georgia, and remained in that town eleven years. In 1900 he took
a course in the New York Polyclinic and in 1903 followed it with another
course in the same institution. His ability and attainments had in the
meantime outgrown the town which he first chose as the place of his practice.
Every physician recognizes the limitations about practice in a Qountry
town. There is a lack of facilities such as hospitals and the more important
cases are usually sent to the cities and turned over to other physicians. In
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2309
order to secure this broader field Doctor McGee in 1903, after his second
course in the New York Polyclinic, moved to Savannah, and has since given
his entire time to his profession in that city. He is reoogaized as a man of
the higher character, a diligent and thorough student, and has those quali-
ties which are in the highest degree necessary to successful work as a phy-
sician and surgeon.
It was on January 1, 1915, that Doctor McGee was elected president of
the Georgia Medical Society. This is one of the oldest medical societies in
the country having been authorized in 1804, He is also a member of the
American Medical Association and is well known to physicians all over the
country. Fraternally he is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, a "Woodman of
the World, and belongs to the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Savannah.
On September 29, 1889, in Screven County, he was married by Rev. H. J.
Arnett to Miss Anna Evans, who was also bom in Screven County. Her
parents are James H. and Theresa (Zi^ler) Evans. Mr. Evans is a well
known planter and banker of Screven County, and the present representa-
tive in the Georgia State Legislature. To their union have been bom four
children : Annie Rosa, bom in Screven County December 21, 1892, is a
college graduate, is the wife of J. P. Boyd of Elba, Alabama, and they have
a daughter Elinor Boyd, bom August 30, 1914. Eli K. McGee, the second
child, was bora at Plains, Georgia, June 30, 1895, is a graduate of the
Savannah High School and is now a student in the Georgia Tech. Harry
H. McGee, bom in Plains, Georgia, January 5, 1901, is a student in the
public schools. Theresa Jane McGee was born at Savannah September 30,
1909. Mrs. McGee is an active worker in the various societies of the Baptist
Church, and is also a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy. Doctor
McGee is a member of the Sons of the , Confederacy, and is well known
socially in Savannah, though his enthuEtiasm and all his time go into his
professional work. He is a member of the St. Joseph and Savannah hospitals.
J. Hartridge SurTH. To Judge Smith it has been given to so apply his
natural and acquired talents as to achieve distinction and hold prestige as one
of the able and representative lawyers and jurists of his native state, and he
stands today as a leading member of the bar of the City of Savannah, where he
maintains his office headquarters, his practice being widely disseminated and of
most important order. Since his retirement from the bench he has given close
attention to the demands of his extensive law business and has found time also
to give personal supervision in a general way to his fine landed estate in Bryan
County, where he is a progressive exponent of scientific agriculture.
In the year that marked the initiation of a crucial epoch in the history of
his native state, that of the Civil war. Judge Smith was bom in Bryan County,
Georgia, on the 13th of December, 1861, and he is a son of Henry E. and
Martha E. (Henry) Smith, the former of whom was bom in Bryan County
and the latter in Liberty County, this state. The judge is a direct descendant
of John Schmidt, who immigrated from Salzburg, Austria, to America in the
colonial days and whose name was finally changed to the present Anglacized
form. Smith. On the maternal side Judge Smith is a descendant of Robert
Henry, who came from Scotland to America and who served as a valiant
Soldier in the Continental line during the War of the Revolution, in which he
was a member of the command of Gen. Harry Lee, familiarly designated at the
time and in history as "Light Horse' Harry Lee." After the close of the war
Mr, Henrj' wedded Miss Nancy Lee, a niece of his former commander and, as
may be inferred, a representative of one of the most distinguished of old
southern families.
Henry E. Smith was reared and educated in Bryan County and there became
a successful planter and influential citizen. After serving as sherifif for several
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2310 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
years he served twenty-five years as county clerk of Bryan County, holding the
latter office both during and after the Civil war. During the war he served
in the commissary department of the Confederate army, first as postmaster.
He continued his residence in Bryan County until his death, which occurred in
1888, at which time he was seventy-two years of age. His cherished and de-
voted wife was summoned to eternal rest in the preceding year, at the age of
sixty-eight years. They became the parents of two sons and three daughters,
and of the number three are living, Robert F. C, who is a prominent lawyer
at Eden, Effingham County, Georgia; Mrs. Robert H. Guyton, of Guyton,
Effingham County ; and Judge Smith, of this review, who is the youngest of
the numlier.
The boyhood (iayn of Judge Smith were passed under the depressed con-
ditions which obtained in the fair Southland after the close of the war between
the states, and his early education was acquired in private and public schools'
in Bryan County and at Guyton, Effingham County. After this preliminary
discipline he found employment for some time in a saw mill. Thereafter he
continued his active association with agricultural pursuits in Bryan County
until he found it possible to follow the course of his ambition and to initiate
the work of preparing himself for the legal profession. In Effingham County
he devoted himself assiduously to the reading of law under effective private
preceptorship, and at Springfield, the county seat, he was finally admitted to
the bar, in 1902. He forthwith established himself in the practice of his pro-
fession at Springfield, where he still maintains an office and makes regular visi-
tations, for the accommodation of his numerous clientele in that county. In
1907 he was appointed, by Governor Smith, to the office of solicitor of the
County Court of Effingham County, and in the following year he was ap-
pointed judge of the City Court of Springfield. At the expiration of his
appointive term he was regularly elected to this office, and he continued his
service on the municipal bench at Springfield for a terra of four years. After
this election, being then commissioned to the same office, by Governor Brown,
and served an additional four years. He then resumed the private practice
of his profession, and soon afterward removed his ofBce headquarters to the
City of Savannah, where he now controls a specially large and representative
practice, the same extending into the courts of ten different counties. Judge
Smith in October, 1915, moved to Savannah, but he still has his valuable farm
property at Eden, to which he gives his personal supervision, as previously
intimated in this sketch.
Judge Smith is well fortified in his opinions concerning economic and
governmental policies and is a stalwart and efl'ective advocate of the cause of
the democratic party. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, South, in which he has scr\'ed nearly a score of years
as trustee and steward, besides having held for nine years the position of
superintendent of the Sunday school.
On the 2d of June, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Smith to
Miss Delia Fender, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Banburg) Fender, of
Brooks County. Of the children of Judge and Mrs. Smith the eldest is Mazie,
who was born in Bryan County, in 1886, and who is now the wife of Mr. F. H.
Scott, of Eden. Mary, who was born in Bryan County in 1888, is the wife of
Samuel C. Burroughs and they reside at Stateshoro, Bulloch County, their two
children being Samuel C. and Delia Lois. Julian F., who was born in Bryan
County in 1890, is engaged in the hardware business at Statesboro. He married
in December, 15)15, Miss Bertha Gould. Thomas JI., who was bom in Effing-
ham County, on the 4th of March, 1893, remains at the parental home and holds
a position in the offices of the Central of Georgia Railroad at Savannah.
Chakles Seton Hardep. A career of quiet but faithful performance of
duty has been that of Charles Seton Hardee. As a young man he spent several
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS , 2311
years in the Confederate service but in spite of the hardships of those years he
has lived to celebrate his eighty-fifth birthday and is still efficient for duty. He
is a Georgian whose name and career have a fine fitness in the records of the
state.
To have been the treasurer of the C'ily of Savannah since 1883, and to have
been elected to that office practically unopposed with each recurring term, is
a record which in itself would constitute an honor of which any man might be
proud. Major Hardee is one of the most highly honored and deeply respected
eitizons of Savannah and his friends wish for him many more years of useful-
ness and activity in the office that he has filled with such signal ability for more
than thirty years.
This is one of the oldest names in southern history and chivalry. Major
Hardee was born at Rural Felicity, Camden County, Georgia, on August 9,
1830. His father, Dr. John H. Hardee, who was a well known physician of that
section, was born March 4, 1803. Ma.ior Hardee's mother was Isabella Seton
(Henry) Hardee, bom December 6, 1806. Major Hardee's great-grandfather
was a Continental soldier in the War of the Revolution and later was made
captain of a Continental galley on the coast of Georgia. He was granted a
hounty of more than 1,300 acres of land in Camden County in 1786 in recog-
nition of his splendid services to thn State of Georgia. John Hardee, the
grandfather, was born in Pitt County, North Carolina, in 1769, and died on his
plantation known as Rural Felicity in Camden County in 1838. He served
as a major commanding a battalion of cavalry in the War of 1812, and was for
many years an extensive cotton planter. He was also a member of the Georgia
Legislature and other offices of trust were given him. His youngest son was
Lieut-Gen. William Joseph Hardee, who was commander of the noted Hardee's
Corps in the Confederate army, and who had previously gained distinction as a
military authority through the authorship of Hardee's Tactics, which was the
basis of instruction for thousands of soldiers both North and South.
Charles Seton Hardee graduated in 1848 from Franklin College at Athens.
Franklin College was the nucleus around which grew up the present University
of Georgia. Mr. Hardee is in 1915 probably the oldest living alumnus of this
instilutiou. Leaving college with his diploma, he came to Savannah and
entered the office of his unele. Noble A. Hardee, a well known cotton factor
and commission merchant. In 1859 he entered the same business on his own
account and was soon prosperous. Although at the head of a successful
business concern, in the early part of 1861 he answered the call to arms and
entered the Tattnall Guards as a private. This command was attached to the
First Geoi^ia Regiment and he was soon made a second lieutenant. While in
Savannah on a furlough Lieutenant Hardee resigned his commission with the
idea that he could best serve the Confederaey in another capacity. The war
department employed him to receive and export cotton through the blockade
at Savannah. He was a little later appointed assistant collector of the port
at Savannah and assistant United States depositary. Upon the urgent request
of Lieut. John Dunwoody Jlr. Hardee was transferred by General Mercer
and then assisted in the organizing of instruction camps in Geoi^a. It was the
purpose of these camps to properly train volunteers for field service and
Lieutenant Hardee was especially adapted for this task. He was later pro-
moteil to the rank of assistant lieutenant and organized a camp of instruction
at Oalhoun, known as (^^amp Xo. 1. Later Captain Hardee was commissioned
assistant adjutant general with the rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the
command of instruction camp Xo. 2 at Decatur. He served in this capacity
until relieved by Colonel Harris, a disabled officer, who was sent to take over
the work Major Ilardee had done so successfully and satisfactorily.
In the years following the war Major Ilardee has applied himself with
characteristic diligence and success to various business affairs. In January,
1879, he was elected clerk of the Superior Court of Chatham County, and
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2312 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
remained in that position, an efficient worker for the court officials and the
general public until February 19, 1883. He was then elected treasurer of the
City of Savannah, this being the case of the office seeking the man. He has
served in that same capacity, unopposed, during all these years, his present
term expiring in January, 1917,
Major Hardee is a democrat. He is a communicant of the Episcopal
Church, and a member of Camp No. 756 of the United Confederate Veterans,
He is held in high esteem not only by his former associates who wore the grey,
but each recurring generation in Savamiah is glad to do him honor and pay
him every respect.
November 26, 1851, Major Hardee married Miss Martha J. Gallaudet,
daughter of Mr. and Airs. James Gallaudet of Savannah. The union was
blessed by the birth of nine children : Alice Neufville, Isabella Seton, Margaret
Brailsford, Charles Henry, James Gallaudet, Martha Gallaudet, Harriet Brails- ■
ford, Robert Erwin and Francis Lewis. Of these Margaret B., Martha G. and
Francis L. are now deceased. While living in Savannah Major Hardee Has a
most attractive summer residence at Isle of Hope, a suburb of Savannah. His
principal diversion is tishing, and there is no more adept and enthusiastic dis-
ciple of Isaak Walton than he.
GirsTAv Hugo Johnson, M, D. A Savannah physician whrae work has
been highly commendable and whose attainments are recognized as the
very highest is Dr. Gustav Hugo Johnson, who was reared and educated in
Savannah, and has been identified with his profession for the last seventeen
years in that city.
Though most of his life has been spent in Georgia, he was born in Chester,
Pennsylvania, November 24, 1871, a son of John and Marie C. (Carlson)
Johnson. His parents were both natives of Sweden, came to the United
States and were married at Chester, Pennsylvania. John Johnson was in the
lighthou^ service in the employ of the United States Government and came
to Savannah in 1876 and was one of the faithful attendants of the lighthouse
in the Savannah Harbor for many years. 'While a plain unassuming man,
not mingling extensively with people in the city, he did his work well and
conscientiously, and had a large circle of friends. He died at Savannah in
1894 at the age of flfty-six. He lived in Savannah and was engaged in his
government work here for five years before he brought his family to the city,
having in the meantime provided for them a good home. His wife and
children came in 1881 and she died in Savannah in 1887.
During the ten years he lived in Chester, Pennsylvania, Gustav H. John-
son attended the public schools, and after coming to Savannah finished his
education in the Savannah Academy, one of the best private schools in the
state. When twenty-two years of age he decided definitely upon medicine
as his life's career, and for two years studied under the direction of Dr.
St. Joseph B. Graham of Savannah. In 1895 he went north and entered the
Long Island Medical College of Brooklyn, where he remained until grad-
uating M. D. in the class of 1898. Returning to Savannah he has since made
himself known as a capable physician, has acquired a lai^ and profitable
practice and from 1899 to 1904 served with admirable efficiency in the office
of city physician. He is a member of the Chatham County Medical Society,
the Georgia State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Since'1907 he has been a member of the Park View Sanitarium.
Doctor Johnson is a democrat in politics, is a member of the ilasonic
Order and the Mystic Shrine, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Royal Arcanum and is an enthusiastic devotee of aquatic sports, belonging
to both the Yacht and Motor Boat clubs at Savannah. He and his wife
are very active members of the Presbyterian Church and Mrs. Johnson takes
a leading part in the church work and social affairs.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2313
At Savannah on Angust 10, 1900, Doctor Johnson married Miss Inga G.
Iverson of Brunswick, Georgia. Her parents are Reverend Halvor and
Elevene Iverson, now at Savannah. Her father is in charge of the Seamens
Bethel under the auspices of the Savannah Port Society. Doctor Johnson
and wife have one child, Gustav H. Johnson, Jr., bom June 20, 1905,
M.ucK H. Bi^^NDFORD, lawyer, judge, soldier in the Mexican war, twice a
member of the Confederate Congress, and a soldier in the Civil war, was born
of well-to-do parents in Warren County, Georgia, on the 13th day of July,
1826. His father gave him the benefit of the best schooling obtainable in
Warren County, and soon sent him to Penfield, Georgia, to complete his edu-
cation at Mercer University. After having studied law under Hon. Robert
Hardeman, in Clinton, Georgia, he was admitted to practice his profession,
just before attaining the age of eighteen years. Being too young, according
to the laws of Georgia, a special act was passed during the session of the
Georgia Legislature of 1844 admitting him to practice. Upon obtaining his
license to practice he opened an office in Hamilton, Georgia, soon removing
to Tazewell, Georgia, where he practiced until the Mexican war, when he
volunteered during the year 1846, joining the First Georgia Regiment and
serving as sergeant of his company. When the Mexican war ended he resumed
the practice of his profession in Buena Vista, Marion County, where he soon
established himself in a successful business, which he closely pushed until the
coming on of the Civil war. He soon volunteered in behalf of the South and
Georgia and commanded a company in "the bloody Twelfth," Georgia Regi-
ment. In this capacity he served until wounded in the battle of McDowell,
Virginia, where he lost his right arm, it being amputated at the shoulder.
Before his wounds healed President Davis appointed him a judge in the
Military Court, ranking as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. Not long afterward
he was elected a member of the Southern Congress and served in that body
as long as the Confederacy existed.
Returning from the war Colonel Blandford resumed his practice at Bucna
Vista, removing to Columbus in 1869. Upon the death of Judge Martin J.
Crawford, of the Supreme Court bench, in 1872, he was elected by the
Georgia Legislature to fill the unexpired term. .He was then re-eleeted for a
full terra, serving thus for eight years, with acknowledged ability. On his
retirement from the Supreme Court bench he returned to his home in Colum-
bus, Georgia, and practiced law until his death, on the Slst day of Jan-
uary, 1902.
Prof. John L. D.vqg, a prominent educator and preacher east and west,
was bom in Loudoun County, Virginia, in l794. He was largely self-edu-
cated. He was a country teacher and preacher in Virginia till January,
1825; from January, 1825, to 1834, pastor of Sansom Street Baptist Church
in Philadelphia; in 1836, president of Haddington College, near Philadelphia
from 1836 to 1844, president of "The Atheneum," a female college in Tusca-
loosa, Alabama; from 1844 to 1856, president of Mercer University, at Pen
field, Georgia. After 1856 he devoted himself to the preparation of se'
books, "A Manual of Theology," "Church Order," "Moral Science," "Evi-
dences of Christianity," and other contributions to the religious press.
Twenty-six years of bis most distinguished labors were spent in Georgia.
In 1870 he removed from Georgia to Havnesvillc, Alabama, where he died
in 1884.
Geoboe Mosse Norton, M. D. One of the best known men in the medical
profession of Savannah is Dr. George Mosse Norton, a member of one of the
oldest southern families, who is capably maintaining the family reputation
for professional skill, public-spirited citizenship and prominence in social
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2314 . GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
life. While one of the younger members of his hoDored catling, has already
attained a degree of prominenee that might well be envied by men many
years hia senior. Doctor Norton was bom at Savannah, November 29, 1873,
and is a son of Dr. Robert Godfrey and Martha Jane (i3dwards) Norton.
The old and distinguished family of Norton was founded in the United
States by Jonathan Norton, a native of England, who emigrated to this
country at an early day and settled on the Island of Saint Helena, on the
south coast of South Carolina, where he died in 1774, aged sixty-nine years.
He married Mary Ann Chaplin, and one of their daughters, Dorothy Phoebe,
became the wife of Dr. George Mosse, who became a notable character in the
coast country of South Carolina and later at SaVannaJi. He was born and
reared at Dublin, Ireland, and there educated for the medical profession,
and after his graduation from one of the leading medical institutions of that
city, emigrated to America and settled on the Island of Saint Helena. There
he subsequently became the owner of a large amount of landed property,
was a prominent planter, and a leading manufacturer of leather. He c^ried
on an extensive medical practice at the same time and was one of the most '
influential men of his locality. Both the Nortons and the Mosses had been
originally members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, but after coming to
America joined the Baptist faith. Dr. George Mosse, at his own expense,
built a house of worship at Saint Helena. Finding the opportunities for an
educational training very limited there, in 1739 or 1800, in order to give his
children better facilities, he removed with his family to Savannah. Here
one of his daughters, Martha, became the wife of Co!. Alexander Lawton,
and they were the parents of Gen. A. R. Lawton, who was one of the moat
distinguished lawyers of Savannah, a brigadier-general in the Confederate
army, and for a long time general attorney for the Central of Georgia
Railway.
Members of the Norton family have resided on the Island of Saint Helena
for more than a century and have been closely identified with its history as
well as with that of the nearby South Carolina towns of Beaufort, Bluffton,
Robertsvilte and Black Swamp. The great-grandfather of Dr. George M. Nor-
ton was the son of the pioneer Nathan Norton. William Norton married Mary
Godfrey and later moved to- Savannah. One of their sons was Robert God-
frey Norton, a soldier of the Continental line during the Revolutionary war.
Robert Godfrey Norton married his cousin, Sarah Mosse, and passed the
greater part of his life at Robertsville, South Carolina. One of his sons
was Dr. Robert Alexander Norton, a grandfather of Dr. George M. Norton,
who for a number of years practiced medicine at Savannah and was the
city's first port physician. He married Miss Julia Green, and after living
for a number of years at Robertsville, South Carolina, moved, at the close
of the Civil war, to Savannah, and here died in 1869.
Dr. Robert Godfrey Norton, father of Dr. George M. Norton, was bom at
Robertsville, South Carolina, March 17, 1841, and died at Savannah in 1900.
He was a graduate of the Charleston Medical College and was one of the
leading practitioners of medicine at Savannah for many years. In 1861 he
was married to Martha Jane Edwards, of Effingham County, Georgia, and they
became the parents of the following children: Fannie Cone, who is now the
wife of Gordon L. Groover, of Savannah; Roljert G. ; William Edwards;
Dr. George Jlosse ; and Dr. Walter Abel!, who is engaged in the practice of
medicine at Savannah. Dr. William Edwards Norton, another of the family
to follow the healing art, died in March, 1911, at Savannah.
Dr. George Mosse Norton received his early education in the public schools
of Savannah, following which he entered the University of Georgia, at Athens.
He also studied medicine at the Southern Medical College, Atlanta, from
which he was graduated in 1898, and to further prepare himself went to
New York and took a course of study in the New York Post Graduate Medi-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2315
cal School. Returning to Savannah, he entered practice and shortly became
reec^nized as one of thecity's most thorough and talented practitioners. For
some time lie carried on a general practice, but of recent years has turned
his attention more and more to major sui^ry, a field in which he has few
rivals at this time. He is a member of the Georgia State Medical Society
and the American Medical Association, and a member of the stafE of the Park
View Sanatorium. Pratemally the doctor is affiliated with the Masons and
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while he has maintained the
family's military record as a member of the Georgia Hussars, in which he
is surgeon, with the rank of lieutenant, and from which organization he
received a medal for superior horsemanship, in 1899.
Savannah is a city noted for its historic old mansions, and the home of
Doctor Norton is an example of that substantial style of architecture which
prevailed in the days when timber was plentiful and veneer, a thing unknown.
This residence was built by Joseph Waldburg, and after his death was occu-
pied by his son-in-law, Colonel Clinch. The walls are two feet thick ; the bricks
all rosined, as are the hard-wood floors ; the ceiling walls and partitions, and
the inside woodwork, are all of the costliest material. A delightful garden on
the Barnard Street side of the house is in keeping with the rest of the prop-
erty and on the west side is another garden which offers an enticing play-
ground for the children.
Doctor Norton was married October 6, 1902, at Savannah, to Miss Leila
Exley, daughter of Marquis L. and Emma N. (Qroveaton) Exley, an old,
prominent and distinguished family of this city. Four chUdren have been
horn to this union : Elizabeth Emma, Leila Lucille and Angela Willie, who
are all attending school ; and Geoi^ Mosse, Jr.
R.VYMOND Victor II.veris, M. D. For more than thirty years Savannah
has recognized among its most successful physicians and surgeons men of
the name Harris, The elder physician of that name was the late Dr. Ray-
mond Benjamin Harris, who after a long and distinguished career not only
as a phvsician but as a soldier and citizen, died at Savannah, March 15,
1910. His career has been closely followed in a professional way by his son
Raymond Victor Harris, who is now in the enjoyment of a large and profitable
practice at Savannah and is secretary of the staflf of St. Joseph's Hospital
The late Raymond Benjamin Harris was bom at Palmero, Bryan County,
Georgia, May 15, 1838, and died March 15, 1910. His first American ancestor
was Henry Harris who came from Wales in 1691 and obtained a grant of
land in Virginia. The grandfather of the late Doctor Harris was Nathan
Harris, a native of Brunswick County, Virginia. It was Dr. Raymond Harris
who brought the family to Georgia, and thus for three successive generations
the medical profession has had the services of members of this family. Dr.
Raymond B. Harris studied medicine in the Savannah Medical College, where
he was graduated M. D. in 1859. He had hardly become established in his
profession before the war broke out, and he went into the. Confederate service
as a sui^on in the Fifty-seventh Georgia Infantry, and remained throughout
the four years of the strife. After the war he practiced medicine in Liberty
County until 1876, then located at Darien in Mcintosh County, and sought
a still larger field for his competent abilities when he removed to Savannah
in 1884. He continued active practice for twenty years until 1904. He was an
active member of the Georgia and American Rledical Associations, and was
distinguished for his professional and public services to the community and
the state. He fought gallantly against the yellow fever epidemic of 1876
and he had two brothers. Dr. Stephen Harris and Dr. Columbus Harris,
the former of whom died from yellow fever contracted in the epidemic in
Savannah in 1859, while the latter died from a similar cause during the
epidemic of 1876. Doctor Harris also took some part in politics, and in
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2316 GEORGIA AND GEOBOIANS
October, 1880, was elected after an exciting three cornered campaign as a
member of the Georgia State Senate, having a vely small majority over
both his opponents. After his removal to Savannah he served two terms
from 1889 to 1895 as an alderman and was also a member of the board of
sanitary commissioners, "While alderman he was instmmental in huilding
the crematory and also the quarantine station, and seven years after its con-
struction the latter was sold to the Government for $50,000. While alderman
he was also chairman of the public health committee.
This worthy physician and citizen has been well described as a man of
great ability and striking individuality. He was of that type of man, who,
without effort, makes friends everywhere. In his size, physical makeup,
mental qualities and in everything that goes to make a big, strong, broad-
minded man of the widest sympathies, he was gifted by nature, and to nature's
endowment he added the fhier qualities that come from self-control, training
■ and experience. His character was such as to inspire confidence, admiration
and aifection. He was honored by many positions of trust, served one year
as chief surgeon to the United Confederate Veterans, having been elected
at the annual reunion in. New Orleans, and serving during the year when
Gen. Clement A. Evans was commander-in-chief of the order. Doctor Harris
owned and resided in a beautiful home known as Melrose on LaBoehe Avenue,
He married Ophelia Dasher, who is still living in Savannah at the age of
sixty-five. Her ancestors were some of the Salzburger colonists in Tattnall
and Effingham counties. She became the mother of two children, Dr, Ray-
mond V, and Mrs, Mary Wynn Burroughs. The latter is also a resident of
Savannah.
Raymond Victor Harris was bom October 6, 1880, while his parents lived
at Darien in Mcintosh County. He attended the public schools of Savannah,
prepared for college at Lawrenceville,' New Jersey, and then entered the
University of Maryland at Baltimore, where he graduated M. D. in 1903.
He completed his training by one year in the University of Maryland Hos-
pital and also with an active practice at Baltimore for a year. It was at his
father's request that he returned to Savannah in 1907 and here he has since
enjoyed a large general practice, and for a time was city physician. He is an
active member of the Chatham and Georgia State Medical societies and the
American Medical Association,
Doctor Harris was one of the organizers of the Savannah Rotary Club,
He is a democrat, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner,
a member of the First Presbyterian Church and takes a keen interest in
public affairs, especially those affecting his home municipality.
On January 6, 1910, Doctor Harris married Miss Flora Middlebrooks,
daughter of Thomas and Nettie (Hilsman) Middlebrooks of Oconee County, ■
where her parents are still living. Her father owns a plantation of 2,500 acres
and has long been one of the leading citizens. Doctor and Mrs. Harris have
two daughters. Flora Middlebrooks Harris, bom September 18, 1913, at
Savannah, and Mary Louise Harris, bom December 23, 1915, at Savannah.
Hon. Jefpebson Randolph Anoerson. Of the Geoi^ians of the present
generation whose work and IrLfluenee are really of state-wide significance,
it is sufficient to mention the name of this lawyer and citizen of Savannah
to have his claim to recognition in that class immediately appreciated.
He has been a member of the Georgia bar for thirty years. By hjs success
as a lawyer he was led into the larger spheres of business affairs, and has
assisted in the organization and direction of some of Georgia's leading busi-
ness concerns. As a public leader he has been a strong conservative influence
for civic wbolesomeness and righteousness. His work as a member of the
Georgia Legislature has been especially appreciated.
Of old and distinguished ancestry, he was bom in Savannah September
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Oiay^uif^jlri-. •^vi,^<<^,=«L,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2317
4, 1861, the oldest in a family of five cfaildren. In the paternal line he ia
descended from Capt. George Anderson of England, who came to this eoun-
try from Berwick on the Tweed and was married in Trinity Church, New
York, Pebruary 16, 1761, to Deborah Grant of that city. About the year
1763 he settled in Savannah. The grandfather of the Savannah lawyer was
Mr. George Wayne Anderson, a nephew of Justice James M. Wayne of the
Supreme Court of the United States. George W. Anderson was for forty
years prior to the Civil war president of the old Planters Bank in Savannah,
one of the strongest financial institutions in the South prior to the war.
Mr. Anderson's father was Col. Edward Clifford Anderson, Jr., who at the
bloody cavalrj' battle at Trevillians Station in Virginia in 1864, succeeded
to the colonelcy of the Seventh Georgia Cavalry in the Array of the Con-
federacy. He fell a victim at the post of duty in the yellow fever epidemic
in Savannah in 1876.
In the maternal line Mr. Anderson is equally distinguished. He is a
lineal descendant of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States
and author of the Declaration of Independence. His mother, Jane Margaret
Randolph of Albemarle County, Virginia, was the granddaughter of Col.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph of "Edgehill" in that county, and who in turn
was the eldest grandson of President Jefferson.
Jefferson Randolph Anderson during his youth attended several schools
in Savannah, was graduated from the Chatham County High School in 1877,
and for two consecutive years was a student in Hanover Academy in Han-
over County, Virginia, while Col. Hilary P. Jones was its principal. In
1879 he matriculated in the University of Virginia and pursued his studies
in the various branches in the academic department during 1879-81. He
then went abroad and became a student in the famed University of Goet-
tingen, Germany, for nearly two years pursuing studies in history, literature,
and the Roman or Civil law under the celebrated jurist, Professor van Ihring,
Returning to America in the summer of 1883, he resumed his work in the
University of Virginia and, during 1883-84 he divided his time between the
academic department and the law course. He attended the summer law
school of Prof. John B. Minor during the summed of 1884, and in the regular
school year 1884-85 took the remainder of the regular law course. He was
graduated in 1885 B. L. While at the university Mr. Anderson was a mem-
ber of the Alpha Tan Omega fraternity, which he joined in 1879, and in
1883 became a member of the student social organization known as the Eli
Banana, compiled of the leading students of the various Greek Letter fra-
ternities. He was prominent in all branches of student life. In the spring
of 1884 he was the "bow oar" on the 'Varsity crew. In June, 1884, he was
selected by his fellow students to the position of "Final President" of the
Jefferson Literary Society. This was at that time regarded, and probably
still is, as the highest honor which could be conferred by the students of
the university upon a fellow associate.
After being admitted to the bar of Virginia, Mr, Anderson returned to
his native state, and began practice at Savannah in November, 1885, in the
ofl3ce of his relative, the late Judge Walter S. Chisholm, one of the most
distinguished lawyers in Georgia, and who at that time was the general
counsel for the Plant System of Railways, the Southern Express Company
and many other large interests. His brief experience as a lawyer caused
Mr. Anderson to determine upon a general tield of corporation and business
law, and preparatory to his independent work in that department of the
profession he entered in the summer of 1887 the Eastman Business College
at Poughkeepsie. where he took the practical business course. In the fol-
lowing October he opened his law office in Savannah, and in May, 1890,
became jimior partner with the law firm of Charlton & Mackall. The firm
style in the following year was changed to Charlton, Mackall & Anderson,
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2318 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
and as such it remained until June, 1900, when the senior partner retired.
In 1895 this firm became general counsel for the Georgia & Alabama Rail-
way, and represented many large corporate as well as private interests.
Prom July, 1900, to October, 1902, the firm was Mactall & Anderson, and
after that Mr. Anderson continued for some years alone in practice. In
February, 1908, he formed a copartnership with Hon. George T. Cann, who
resigned from the bench of the Eastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia for that
purpose. As Anderson & Cann they continued practice until January 1,
1911, when upon the entry into the firm of Hon. J, Ferris Cann, the title
became Anderson, Cann & Cann. This firm, which represents a large and
influential clientele conducts a general practice, though largely in the depart-
ment of corporation law and admiralty. Among other interests it is Division
Counsel for those portions in Georgia of the Fourth and Fifth Divimons of
the Seaboard Air Line Railway.
As a business man Mr. Anderson is president of the Savannah and States-
boro Railway Company, whose management and affairs he personally directs.
He is also president of the Georgia & Alabama Terminal Company, which
owns the great export terminals used by the Seaboard Air Line Railway Com-
pany at Savannah. He is a director in a number of other business concerns.
Among them being the Chatham Bank and Trust Company, the Savannah '
Electric Company, the Savannah Union Station Company, and the Chatham
Real Estate and Improvement Company.
Over the state at large he is perhaps most favorably known as a high
minded and disinterested worker in the sphere of polities. He represented
his home county in the Legislature of 1905-06, and in that one session earned
a reputation for ability, earnestness and fairness. He again represented
his county in the house of representatives for 1909-10, and in that session
was vice chairman of the committee on rules, the chairman of which is the
speaker of the House by virtue of his office. Mr. Anderson was re-elected
to the Legislature of 1911-12 and in 1912 was elected state senator from
the First Senatorial District for the years 1913-14. At the state convention
in May, 1912, be was selected as one of the delegates from the state at large
to the National Democratic Convention held in Baltimore June 25th to
July 2d of that year, where he seconded the nomination of Hon. Oscar W.
Underwood for president of the United States. In June, 1913, he was unani-
mously elected president of the State Senate in Georgia, and thereby became
ex-ofBeio successor to the governor. This position he held until June, 1915.
A* a legislator his work .and influence have been especially valuable in behalf
of conservatism in legislation and in matters relating to the education and
improvement of the youth of his state. In the session of 1905 he was vice
chairman of the House committee which created eight new counties in Georgia.
He energetically supported the measure creating a juvenile reformatory,
and was floor leader in the House for the movement which enacted the first
child labor law in the state. In 1906 he actively assisted in the passage of
the law which created the system of congressional agricultural schools in
Georgia, and since its establishment he has been the chairman of the board
of trustees of the agricultural school for the First Congressional District of
Qeoi^ia. He was also chairman of the commission appointed by the state
to erect in Savannah a monument to General Oglethorpe, the founder of the
original colony of Georgia. In the Legislatures of 1909-10 and l£ril-12 he
took a prominent part in the creation of a bureau of labor; in the redis-
trieting of the congressional districts under the new census; in the extension
of the laws affecting child labor and in all measures for the improvement
of the state's taxing system and financial methods. In the spring of 1916
he was appointed chairman of the Savannah Public Library Board, for the
term of six years.
A number of years ago he was an active member of the Georgia Hussars
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2319
and later held a commission from the state as second lieutenant in the Savan-
nah Volunteer Guards. These are two of the oldest and most historic military
organizations in the South. He has congenial social relations with the
Oglethorpe Club of Savannah, of which he is vice president, with the Capital
City Cluh and the University Club of Atlanta, the Savannah Golf Club, the
Savannah Yacht Club and the Georgia Historical Society. He is a Royal
Arch Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and the Sons of the American Revolution. In hia
religioua belief Mr. Anderson is a member of the Episcopal Church and ia
one of the vestrymen of Christ Church at Savannah, the oldest church in
Georgia.
On November 27. 1895, Mr. Anderson married Anne Page "Wilder of
Savannah, only child of Joseph J. and Georgia Page (King) Wilder. The
three children of their marriage are : Page RaJidolph Anderson, bom August
27, 1899; Jefferson Randolph Anderson, bom September 3, 1902, and died
November 29, 1903; and Joseph "Wilder Anderson, born April 22, 1905.
Besides the family home at Savannah, they have a summer home, "Oakton"
at the foot of Kenesaw Mountain near Marietta.
James Oscar Baker, M. D. Now recognized as one of Savannah's ablest
physicians and surgeons not many years ago Dr. J. 0. Baker was a boy clerk in
a drug store in his native district of South Carolina. His ambition was greater
than his means, but he would recognize no discouragement or obstacles. He
worked hard, saved his earnings, paid for a course in pharmacy, and then a
few years later entered medical college and finally attained the goal for which
he had been striving since early boyhood. He is still a close reader and student
and his friends say that his best work in his profession is still ahead of him.
Born in Marion, South Carolina, July 27, 1867, Dr, James Oscar Baker is
a son of "William W. and Mattie (Tennant) Baker. His father was born in
Marion. South Carolina, and his mother in Abhej'ville. William W. Baker
had finished his education in the grammar and high school and was engaged
in the study of medicine when the Civil war broke out. He dropped his
studies to enlist in the Confederate army and rose from the ranks to a cap-
taincy. He was identified with the fortunes of the Confederacy until the end,
and soon after the war he married. Having a family to look after, he was
unable to continue his medical studies, but engaged in farming instead in his
native county, and remained there until his death. He and his first wife had
seven children: Dr. James 0.; John Tennant Baker, who is a rancher in
Brown County, Texas ; Mary Baker of Florence. South Carolina ; Elizabeth,
who died in infancy ; William, who died in infancy ; Warren Caldwell Baker, a
merchant in Marion County, South Carolina; and Lillian, wife of R. B. Hare
of Florence, South Carolina. By a second marriage to Mrs. Sarah China the
father had another child, Gordon Baker, who is now an attorney at law prac-
ticing in Florence, South Carolina.
James Oscar Baker after finishing the course of the grade schools at Marion
started to earn his way as a boy of all work in a drug store at Marion. He
subsequently clerked in another store in Darlington, South Carolina, for about
four years. Then with the savings which he had accumulated by thrift and
hard work he entered the Philadelphia College of. Pharmacy for one term,
then went before the Georgia State Board, passed the examinations and
obtained an interstate license. He soon afterward continued clerking here in
Savannah where he was employed as a regular pharmacist in several of the
leading drug stores of that city.
Almost from the first he had determined upon medicine as his real career,
but not until 1899 was he able to leave the work which meant a living to him
and enter the Augusta Medical College. He was graduated M. D. with the
' class of 1902, and soon afterwards started a general practice as a physician
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2320 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
and surgeon. Doctor Baker bas a recognized prominence in the successful
treatment of tuberculous diseases. He is also surgeon for the Southern Box &
Lumber Company of Savannah, a firm that employs 200 or more people, Hia
private clientele is large and well established.
Doctor Baker is a member of the County and State Medical societies, the
Southern Medical Society and the American Medical Association, Fraternally
he is identified with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World,
the Improved Order of Red Men and the Junior Order of American Mechanics.
In Masonry he is a Scottish Rite member and belongs to the Mystic Shrine.
He is a Methodist while his wife belongs to the Lutheran Church. In 1907
at Savannah Doctor Baker married Miss Annie L. Wem. Her father, the late
Frank Wem, came as a boy with his father from Germany, was reared and
educated in Savannah, served in the Confederate army and for many years was
known to Savannah people as a jeweler. His death occurred in that city in
1912. Mrs. Wem is still living in Savannah,
Waltiji J. MiLLicAN, Though a member of the Carroll County bar since
1907, Judge Millican's work as a practicing lawyer has been somewhat abbrevi-
ated since continuously for seven years he has given most of his time to the
office of ordinary in that county,
Walter Jackson Millican was born on a farm in Carroll County, Georgia,
July 25, 1876, a son of S. W. and Mary Frances (Pentecost) Millican. The
Millican family is of Scotch- Irish descent. The paternal grandfather, Thomas
Millican, was a native of South Carolina, in early manhood moved to Georgia
and settled in DeKalb County, and in 1849 located in Carroll County. Thomas
Millican married Louisa Wiles Ward. The maternal grandfather of Judge
Millican was Joseph Pentecost, a native of Georgia, who enlisted in the Con-
federate army in 1861 and was killed in battle at Baker's Creek. Joseph
Pentecost married Frances C. Burnett, who was also horn in Geoi^a and ia
now living in Carroll County at the age of eighty-two.
S. W. Millican served as a private in Company P of the Nineteenth Geor-
gia Regiment, Colquitt's Brigade, for 31^ years during the war between the
states. He was educated in Bowdon College in Carroll County, was a farmer,
and spent moat of hia life in that occupation with the exception of some work
aa civil engineer at intervals. His life was one characterized by honesty and
integrity, simplicity and frankness. His wife, a daughter of Joseph and
Frances C. Pentecost, weis bom and reared in Carroll County, was educated
in the common schools, and was a consecrated member of the Missionary Baptist
Church. Her life and interests centered in her husband, children and home.
She and her husband now sleep together in the little cemetery at New Lebanon
Church.
Judge Millican grew up on a farm, and his early activities were largely
shaped by that environment until twenty-one years of age. He attended the
common and high schools of the county, and in June, 1898, received the degree
of Bachelor of Pedagogy at Qaylesville Normal in Cherokee County, Ala-
bama, Prom 1899 until 1905 inclusive he did some successful work as a
teacher, and then spent the yeara 1906 and 1907 in the study of law at Mercer
University, from which he was graduated LL. B. in June, 1907. He was
admitted to the bar of the state by Judge W. H. Felton at Macon in June,
1907, and to the Federal courts by. Judge Emory Speer on the same date.
Prom the time of his admission until January 1, 1909, he practiced law, and at
the latter date assumed the duties of ordinary of Carroll County. He was
elected to that position in October, 1908, and in October, 1912, was re-elected
without opposition. His present term expires December 31, 1916.
It has been a matter of special gratification to Judge Millican that he has
received his official honors and has been able to serve with satisfactory results
the people among whom he was born and reared. His life has been one of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2321
generons and kindly fellowship and neither he nor any members of his family
have heen notahle for the accumulation of wealth. His attainments have in
some degree measured Tip to his high ideals, and in all the varied relationships
of his life he has endeavored strenuously to keep his feet in the "straight and
narrow way." Judge MilUcan in politics is neither a progressive nor an ultra-
conservative, but is content with the classification of a plain old fashioned
democrat. At the present time he is a member of the Democratic Executive
Committee of the Fourth Congressional District of Carroll County. In
Masonry he is afBliated with the Lodge, the Boyal Arch Chapter and the
Royal and Select Masters, and is also a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His church
is the Missionary Baptist
On December 26, 1900, in Carroll County, Judge Milliean married Miw
Maude May Davis. •
, Thomas H. Crawford. One of the representative men Of Blue Ridge,
Georgia, intelligent, keenly alive to every movement of the times, interested in
matters professional, business and philanthropic, is Thomas H. Crawford, a
man who may justly be called self-made because of his unaided and successful
struggle from oppressed boyhood to his present position of comparative aEBuence
and public regard. There is no doubt but that proper influence smooths the
way to success for many a youth, and when success comes without the help of
any such adjunct, it must he attributed to individual merit and personal effort.
Thomas H. Crawford was horn in Fannin County, Georgia, April 5, 1878.
His parents were William D. and Emma (Addington) Crawford, the latter
of whom was born in 1849 in Union County, Georgia, and is an esteemed resi-
dent of Blue Ridge. The father of Mr. Crawford passed away at the age of
fifty-two years. He was born in Macon County, North Carolina, and in early
manhood came to Georgia, locating first in Union County and moving later
to Fannin County where he engaged in keeping a hotel for some years.
During the entire war period he served as a soldier in the Confederate army.
The fourth in a family of eight children, Thomas H. Crawford early became
self-supporting and had fewer advantages as to education than many others,
attending school, however, for a time at Morganton, Georgia. For some years
he was variously employed, for a while being in the ofBce of Blaekhorn &
Hughes, at Atlanta, and it was then that he decided to apply himself to the
study of law although at that time there was little promise that a favorable
opportunity would arrive, Mr. Crawford, however, is a man who makes oppor-
tunity and later, through the closest of application for some years to his law
books, while engaged in business at Blue Ridge, be accomplished his ambition
and on November 1, 1912, was admitted to practice law by the Superior Court.
He immediately opened an office at Blue Ridge and has had the satisfaction of
enjoying from the first a good practice as the result of his legal ability and
also because of the confidence felt in him by people who have known him from
childhood.
Mr. Crawford has teen quite active in political affairs in Fannin County
and in 1904 was elected county treasurer and for some years has been secre-
tary and treasurer of the board of education of Blue Ridge. He has always
given loyal support to the democratic party.
In June, 1900, Mr. Crawford was unit«d in marriage with Miss Isabella
Butt, who died in March, 1908, She was a daughter of prominent people of
Pannin County, Three daughters survive her: Lorene, who was born in 1901 ;
Madeline, who was born in 1903 ; and Ruth, who was born in 1906, all resi-
dents of Blue Ridge. In June, 1909, Mr. Crawford was married to Mrs.
Ijillian (Parham) Jenkius, who was the widow of Thomas Jenkins, of Epworth,
Ocorgia. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have one daughter, Mildred, who was bom
in 1911.
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2322 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Social by nature, Mr. Crawford has identified himself with many of the
leading fraternal organizations of 'the country. He is a Mason and past master
of his lodge ; a Enight of Pythias and past ehaneellor ; a member of the Red
Men and past grand deputy, and belongs also to the Odd Fellows. "With his
family he belongs to the Baptist Church, in which he is a deacon and very
active worker in all Christian endeavor. A very interesting side of his char-
acter is shown in the effort he has made for years to provide education and
uplift for boys, those who have no natural guardians in particular. He was one
of the founders of the North Georgia Baptist College, an institution which not
only offers chances for educatioaal advancement and social training but sup-
plies what most boys sadly need, a sympathetic home environment. He has
had the satisfaction of seeing much good result from this philanthropic effort,
but this institution is not the only proof of his sincere benevolence.
Judge John T. Clarke was bom in Putnam County on the 20th day of
January, 1834, and lost his life as the result of a railroad accident on the
22d day of July, 1889, while on his way from his home at Lumpkin to hold
court for Judge Gustin in Macon. When he was about three years old his
father moved to Lumpkin, and practically the whole of Judge Clarke's life
was spent in that section. In 1849-50 he attended the Columbian College
in Washington City, and in 1850 entered Mercer University and was gradu-
ated from that school in 1853, He began the study of law at ColmnbTis,
Georgia, under the instruction of an unele, and in 1854 was admitted to the
bar and became at once a partner of Judge Wellborn in his extensive practice,
and thus escaped the hard years of drudgery which so many young lawyers
have to undergo before gaining a foothold.
Shortly after his marriage in 1855 Judge Clarke settled in Lumpkin and
formed a law partnership with his father. The practice prospered ; but while
thus engaged he became satisfied that it was his duty to preach the gospel.
He was ordained to the ministry in 1868. called to the pastoral care of the
Second Baptist Church in Atlanta, and took charge of it in 1859. After two
years of service in the pulpit, attacked by a throat disease, he was warned
by his physician that he must cease preaching, and he therefore resided his
charge and retired to his farm in Stewart County, where he spent two years
of quiet study and leisurely farming. In January, 1863, he wlis appointed
by Governor Brown judge of the Pataula Circuit to fill the unexpired term
of Judge William C. Perkins, deceased. Later he was appointed and con-
firmed by the Senate for the succeeding term, and in the fall of 1866 elected
for the term commencing January, 1867, While discharging the duties of
his office he found that it would be necessary to run counter to certain orders
issued by General Meade, at that time Federal military commander in the
Btate, and was therefore removed from office. Judge Clarke quietly acquiesced
and resumed the practice of law as soon as the courts were re-established
under the Constitution of 1868. In 1878 he was elected to the State Senate,
and in 1883 was elected by- the Legislature as judge of the Pataula Circuit.
He thus served during the winter of 1886 and was re-elected without opposi-
tion for the term commencing January 1, 1887. While serving his term he
was killed, as previously mentioned.
For many years Judge Clarke was a trustee of Mercer University, which,
in 1856, honored him with the degree A. M., and in 1884 with that of LL. D.
At one time it also elected him to a professorship, which he was unable to
accept.
In con.iunction with Judge Hood, he secured a branch of the university,
known as the Southwest Georgia Agricultural College, for his section of the
state, and was for a nnrober of years president of its local board of trustees.
Every educational enterprise had his support.
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GEOHGIA AND GEORGIANS 2323
Clement A. Evans, soldier, clergyman and author, was one of the electors
on the Breckenridge and Lane presidential tieket in 1860, and in the Con-
federate service rose from tlie rank of major to that of brigadier-general com-
manding a division returning from the army. lie entered the ministry of
the Methodist Church and gave twenty-seven years to the work of preaching
the gospel. , Emory College conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. He
organized the Educational Loan Fund Association, and also served at one
time as commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans' Association.
His most prominent literary work was his "Confederate Military History,"
in twelve volumes. He died in July, 1911.
Otis Ashmore. He whose name initiates this brief review has achieved
distinctive snccess and influence in connection with the educational affairs of
his native state, and for twenty years he was the able and valued superin-
tendent of the school of the City of Savannah and County of Chatham. He is
a man of high attainments, and be has brought to bear great enthusiasm and
earnestness in his work as an educator, in which he baa honored the state of
his nativity, and upheld the prestige of a name that has been identified with
Georgia history for nearly li^ centuries.
Otis Ashmore was bom in Lincoln County, Georgia, on the 6th of March,
1853, and is a son of Jeremiah and Malinda (Wright) Ashmore, of whose chil-
dren two others likewise attained to years of maturity — Lucinda, who became
the wife of George W. Partridge, and Emma, who became the wife of William
A, Tankersley,
The lineage of the Ashmore family may be traced back to staunch English
origin, but unfortunately representatives of the earlier generations in America
failed to leave more than nominal family data, so that the genealogical record
can not be traced in detail by scions of the present-day generations. It is
known that the progenitors of the family in America came from England and
settled in Virginia long before the War of the Revolution. Frederick Ash-
more, the founder of the Georgia branch, was born and reared in the historic
Old Dominion, whence, about the year 1768, with a family of five children, he
came to Georgia and established his residence in what is now McDuffie County.
He became one of the pioneers of that section of the state, and through his
well ordered endeavors as an agriculturist and loyal and sturdy citizen he
contributed his quota to development and progress along both civic and indus-
trial lines, adequate record concerning his career being now unobtainable.
Peter Ashmore was the sixth child of the Georgia pioneer, Frederick
Ashmore, and he maintained his home in Lincoln County for many years prior
to bis demise, his active career having been given principally to farming and
to work along mechanical lines. He wedded Miss Elizabeth Howard, and
their son Jeremiah, father of Otis Ashmore of this sketch, was born in Lincoln
County, Georgia, on the 20th of September, 1808.
Jeicmiah Ashmore was reared to the sturdy discipline of a semi-pioneer
farm, and largely through his self-application he acquired a good general
education, becoming a man who, in recognition of the conditions of the locality
and period in which he was reared, was specially ' ' well read, ' ' as the colloqui^
expression goes, and who was known for his broad and accurate mental ken
and mature judgment. For a number of years he taught school, and he was,
several times called upon to serve in the offices of tax collector and tax receiver.
The greater part of his active life was one marked by close and measureably
traccessful identification with the great basic industry of agriculture, and he
developed and owned three excellent farms of Lincoln County. He held the
office of tax receiver at the time of the Civil war, and as the office during that
time was one of unusual importance to the Confederate states, he was not justi-
fied in abandoning the post to enlist for service as a soldier in the Confederate
ranks. His political allegiance was given without reservation to the democratic
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2324 GEORGIA AND GEOKGIANS
party. He was a member of the Presbyterian Charch aad his wife was a
Baptist. Concerning Jeremiah Ashmore the following pertinent and con-
sistent statement has been written: "He was a man of remarkably good
common sense, with a well balanced mind, and he had a great love for reading.
His entire life was guided and governed by -the highest principles of integrity
and honor, " On his old homestead farm, two miles east of Lineolnton, Lincoln
County, his death occurred on the 24th of May, 1883, and in the family barying
plot, "God's Acre," as such sacred places may well be designated, on the old
homestead, his mortal remains rest beside those of his cherished and devoted
wife, who long survived him and who was summoned to the life eternal on the
20th of October, 1901, she having passed her entire life in Lincoln County,
where her birth occurred on the 12th of June, 1819. She was the widow of
John Gresham at the time of her marriage to Jeremiah Ashmore, on the 18th
of December, 1851, and was a daughter of Samuel and Agnes AVright. Her
paternal grandfather, William Wright, came from North Carolina to Georgia
soon after the close of the War of the Revolution and became one of the
pioneer settlers of Lincoln County as now constituted. Concerning Mrs. Ash-
more the following appreciative estimate has been offered : ' ' She was a woman
of high ideals, of unbounded generosity and kindliness, was possessed of a
wonderful memory, and was remarkable for her industry, orderliness and
immaculate housekeeping."
Otis Ashmore is indebted to the Lineolnton Academy and other schools
of his native county for his early educational discipline. The Civil war had
disorganized the schools of the South and ruined its people in a financial way,
80 that conditions were much depressed during the period of his boyhood and
youth. Mr. Ashmore read and studied much in an independent way while
assisting in the work and management of the home farm. In 1874-75 he
attended the Gainesville College, where he completed an effective course of
higher academic order. Prior to this he had learned surveying, under the
direction of his uncle, Thomas P. Ashmore, a noted mathematician and
astronomer. Mr. Ashmore did much surveying work prior to attaining to
his legal majority, and from his youth to the present time he has been an
intuitive and indefatigable student and reader, ever striving to widen his
intellectual horizon and fully appreciating the truth of the statement that
progress is "man's eternal mark alone." While he is not a college graduate,
the University of Georgia conferred upon him, in 1893, the degree of Master
of Arts, in recognition of his attainments and his admirable achievement in the
educational field. As a young man Mr. Ashmore taught school in turn at
Lineolnton, in Wilkes County, and at Harlem, Columbia County. In 1885 and
1886 he held the position of president of Middle Georgia College, at Jones-
boro, and in 1887 he established his home in the City of Savannah, where he
was teacher of science in the high school until 1896, when he was elected
to the important office of superintendent of the city and county schools. His
administration, covering a period of twenty years, has been marked by m.uch
discrimination and progressiveness, and by distinctive executive ability, so that
the schools of Savannah have been maintained at a high standard, and have
been kept in full touch with modern methods.
Mr. Ashmore is corresponding secretary of the Georgia Historical Society,
a curator of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, and chairman of the
board of trustees of the Savannah Public Library. He is a member of the
Savannah Board of Trade, the Union Society, and the National Educational
Association, as is he also of the Georgia Educational Association, of which he
was at one time president. He is also a member of the board of commissioners
of the Georgia State Industrial College.
Since 1882 Mr. Ashmore has made the astronomical calculations for ' ' Grier 's
Almanac," a well known publication in the South. In 1900 he was a member
of tiie observing staff of the United States Observatory, in connection with
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2325
making observations of the great solar eclipse in May of that year, and his
report is published in the proceedings of that institution. His chief work has
been in the field of education, which he has dignified and honored alike by
bia character and his large and worthy achieTement.
Mr, Ashmore has had neither time nor inclination to enter the arena of
practical polities, but he aceorda allegiance to the democratic party. He is
not a member of any church. It has been stated in a preceding paragraph that
he ia a member of the Union Society, and it may further be noted Uiat this
is a benevolent and charitable institution for the caring of orphan boys, at the
old and historic institution of Bethesda, founded by Whitefield and located
near Savannah. He is a contribnting member also of the Savannah Associa-
tion of Charities, and of the Young Men 'b Christian Association.
On the 16tb of January, 1884, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ash-
more to Miss Editba Godwin Collins, a daughter of William H. and Helen
Douglas (Crawford) Collins, of Harlem, Columbia County, Georgia, her
parents having come to Georgia from the State of Michigan soon after the
cloae of the Civil war. Mrs. Ashmore's father was horn in Vermont, in 1817,
and was of close kinship with the well known Sherman family of New England.
Her mother .was bom in Scotland in 1838. Mr. and Mrs. Ashmore became
the parents of only one child, Frederick Collins Ashmore, who was bom October
2, 1885, and who died June 22, 1892.
Thomas P. Ashmore, ancle of the subject of this review, was a remarkable
man. For nearly half a century he made the astronomical calculations for
"Grier's Almanac," and he was known as a mathematician of exceptional
ability. He was almost entirely self-educated, and yet he was master of the
English, Latin, Greek and French languages, and had a profound knowledge
of natural science. He passed the greater part of his life in Lincoln County,
where his death occurred on February 4, 1884. His remains rest in the, old
Ashmore burying ground near Lincolnton.
RiCHABD Martin Lester. While he was bom, reared and educated in
Savannah, did his first work as a lawyer in that city, Richard Martin Lester
spent fully a dozen years of his comparatively brief career in what is now the
State of Oklahoma, enjoyed many well earned successes and distinctions while
there, but in 1913 returned to Savannah to take up a practice which has
already brought him a high position among the attorneys of the e'astern and
adjacent circuits.
Mr. Lester is one of the fortunate men of G«orgia, was fortunate in the
choice of his ancestors, in the selection of a career and in all those tastes and
inclinations which give substance to life. Richard Martin Lester was bom in
Savannah, September 20, 1875, a son of Daniel B. and Margaret Isabella
(Russell) Lester. The first of the Lester family came to America in 1740,
settling in Burke County, Georgia. From that immigrant ancestor has
descended the present family of that name, so numerous in many of the
counties of Southeastern Georgia, and who in the different generations have
distingiiished themselves in both the social and political life of the state.
Daniel B. Lester was bom in Bulloch County, Georgia, a son of Malcolm E.
and Mary Ann (Ralston) Lester. IMalcolm B. Lester died whUe a soldier of
the Confederacy. The Russell family is one of the old colonial families of
Geoi^a. The first of that name came to Georgia in 1733 with General Ogle-
thorpe, settling in Savannah. In the successive generations the men of that
name have been a power in the politics of Chatham County. Margaret Isabella
Russell, the mother of the Savannah lawyer first named above, was bom in
Savannah, Chatham County, a daughter of the late Judge Levi S. and Anna
Serena (Martin) Russell. The Martins came to America in 1727, locating in
Dutchess County, New York. This is also a very lai^e family, and many of
its members still live in Dutchess County, New York,
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2326 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
As might be expected from the dignity and high standing of his family
connections, Richard M. Lester enjoyed all those liberalizing influences and
advantages which make for the best attainment in life. In 1894 he graduated
from Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and in 1897 took his
degree Bachelor of Philosophy from Tale University. The following year,
in 1898, he graduated LL. B. from the law department of the University of
Georgia, and in the same year was admitted to the bar and took up practice
at Savannah. ^
He interrupted a promising practice in 1901 in order to identify himself
with the southern part of old Indian Territory. He first located at Tishomingo,
the old capital of the Chickasaw Nation, and practiced there until the Govern-
ment Land Oflice was moved to Ardmore, Oldahoma. While in Oklahoma he
took a very prominent part in state polities on behalf of the democratic party.
While in Ardmore he was associated with James E. Humphrey under the firm
name of Humphrey & Lester, and this firm came to enjoy a reputation second
to none among the law firms of Southern Oklahoma, representing many import-
ant interests, including various corporations and banks. Mr, Lester remained
in Oklahoma from 1901 to 1913. While there he served as a delegate to the
first statehood convention. Since returning to Savannah he has quickly built
up a large practice in the local courts and throughout the eastern and adjacent
circuits, being a member of the law firm of Edwards & Lester. He is also an
effective campaign manager and showed his ability particularly while handling
the campaign of his personal friend and partner, Congressman Charles G.
Edwards. He has also served as secretary of the Democratic Executive Com-
mittee for the First Congressional District of Georgia. While his many
friends know of and give credit to 5Ir. Lester for these various accomplish-
ments, he is himself a man of exemplary modesty, and the extent of the claims
whij;h he would put forward regarding himself is that he has been "always
a plain ordinary lawyer."
He is a democrat, a member of the Masonic Order, of the Sons of the
Revolution, and belongs to the Episcopal Church. At Oklahoma City, Okla-
homa, August 26, 1903, he married Miss Victorine Myrta Cooke, daughter of
William H. and Ellen Sylvina (Norton) Cooke of Brenham, Texas. The
Cookes are one of the oldest Texas families, and from early days have been
identified with Brenham, Washington County, of that state. >Ir. and Mrs.
Lester have one daughter, Margaret Ellen Lester.
John Lee Farmer, M. D. One of the interesting old families of Georgia
is that bearing the name of Parmer, a well known representative of which
is found in Dr. John Lee Farmer, a successful practicing physician at Savan-
nah. Doctor Farmer was born at Steilaville, Jefferson County, Georgia,
June 21, 1864, and is a son of John Jackson Farmer, a grandson of Jacob
Farmer, and a descendant of John Parmer, who came to Georgia in 1748.
This early Geoi^a settler came perhaps direct from England. He was
a man of some prominence, because a grant of 500 acres which it is fecorded
he received, was a large amount and to secure such grant the grantee had
to show ability to cultivate the same. His lands were adjacent to those
owned by Charles Watson and William Erwin. He also appears in the records,
as a petitioner for a lot in Savannah, in the year 1758, which he agreed to
cultivate. He is registered as a member of the General Assembly between
the years 1750 and 1755, and from the records it appears that he, with John
Ham, Edward Gray and Charles Watson, engaged in the disseminating of
a letter which the governor and the General Assembly regarded as of a
seditious nature. In January, 1755, these men were haled before the bar of
the House, duly tried and expelled, which does not appear to have been to
them any grievous burden. Evidently they w«re among the early insurg-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2327
euts ID our country. This John Farmer is said to have spent the closing
years of his life in Alabama. The name of his wife is unknown.
Jacob Farmer, the grandfather of Doctor Parmer, 'was bom in 1752, in
that section of Burke County that is now Jefferson County. About the
close of the Revolutionary war, he married a Miss Cox, and after her death,
married Amelia Underwood, who was the grandmother of Doctor Parmer
and was a daughter of William and Agnes (Wright) Underwood, the latter
a native of Ireland. After the death of his second wife. Jacob Parmer mar-
ried once more and probably spent his last days in Jefferson County.
John Lee Parmer's parents were John Jackson and Ruth Streetman, a
daughter of William and Sarah (Young) Streetman, the latter of whom
was of English extraction and the former of Welsh,
John Jackson Farmer was a fanner by occupation as well as name. He
was a man of enterprise and far in advance of his day in progressive meth-
ods. He kept well informed through the reading of the best agricultural
literature obtainable. He introduced the growing of sugar cane in his sec-
tion and was one of the first men in Georgia to discard old-style boilers and
install evaporators for the making of syrups. He gave great attention also
to improving his land. He had three sons : William Enoch, George S., and
John Lee.
William Enoch Parmer was born in Jefferson County, Georgia, January
7, 1850, and was eighteen years of age when he wient to Texas, there becoming
a leading and influential citizen, prominent in the political life of the Lone
Star State. On January 7, 1875, he was married to Leonora Simpson, and
his death occurred January 6, 1907. He was a man of strong individuality
and great attainments. About 1880 he became interested in what was known
as the "Greenback movement," and edited several newspapers in different
parts of Texas, He was affiliated with the Farmers' Alliance and the Popu-
list party and became one of the best known campaign speakers in Texas and
the Middle West. He served in the Texas Legislature and was a candidate
for Congress from the Third District in 1886, his successful opponent being
C. B. Kilgore. In this contest undoubtedly Mr, Parmer suffered from
political methods thoroughly well understood in those days. In 1896 he
was again a candidate but in this contest he was fairly defeated by R, L.
Graffenreid. .
Between 1890 and 1907 Mr. Farmer paid two visits to his relatives in
Georgia, impressing them each time more than ever with his wealth of
ability and his elevated plane of thought. He was a conscientious leader in
what was known as the populist party and was a delegate to that rem'arkable
convention at Omaha, Nebraska, in 1892 which formulated the strongest
declaration ever perhaps, presented to the American people by any political
party. It* platform has been justified in the march of events, nearly every
one of its paragraphs being incorporated in one or other of the political
parties' doctrines. Although unsuccessful as an organization, the propa-
ganda of the populists left a mark on the public conscience and its underly-
ing principles may yet be acceptable to the majority. That William Enoch
Farmer should have been a leader in that movement is the best possible evi-
dence that he was a man of political insight with a thorough grasp of the
fundamental principles of just government,
John Lee Farmer had liberal educational advantages in his youth, after
attending the local schools becoming a student in the Middle Georgia Military
and Agricultural College at Milledgeville. After deciding upon the study
of medicine, in 1886 he entered the medical department of the University
of Georgia, at Augusta, subsequently becoming a student in the Louisville
Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, and was there graduated February
17, 1888. In the same year he entered upon the practice of his profession
at Millen, in Screven County, where he remained for twelve years, building
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2328 GEORaiA AND GEORGIANS
up a Bueceasful practice and taking saeh part in public affairs aa to be
regarded in the light of a valued citizen. He served as a member of the
city council for five years and from 1892 to 1896 inclusive was, in this con-
nection firm, practical and public spirited, and in 1897 was elected mayor
and served two years. Doctor Farmer recalls with pleasure that he signed
the first issue of bonds made by the city of Millen for educational purposes
and the building of schoolhouses.
With expanding horizon, the time came when Doctor Farmer began to
desire a wider field of professional effort, and on February 6, 1900, moved to
Savannah, at this time abandoning the field of general practice and becom-
ing a specialist and since then has devoted himself rigidly to this scientific
branch of his profession, in which he is an expert.
On November 13, 1893, Doctor Farmer was linited in marriage with Miss
Cora Irene Parker, who died July 11, 1914, She was a daughter of Cxaw-
ford and Janet (Burke) Parker. To Doctor and Mrs. Farmer three children
were bom, a daughtei*, Inez, surviving. Doctor Farmer and daughter belong
to the Baptist Church.
Doctor Farmer's political afiiliation has been with the democratic party,
but, like many other busy professional men be has given no special atten-
tion to political affairs beyond voting. It is not amiss, however to state,
that although not active in political life he has strong convictions and prefers
to associate himself with the advanced type of progressive democrats, even
preferring a progressive republican, minus his protective tariff ideas, to an
old line or mossback democrat. His political creed may be summed up in a
sentence — he wants to see a republic of equal rights to all instead of one
apparently run for the protection of trusts.
Doctor Farmer is a member of the county, state and congressional medical
societies and the American Medical Association. He belongs to the Savannah
Chamber of Commerce, to the fraternal orders of Elks and Knights of
Pythias and to numerous local organizations, more or less social in character,
these including the Georgia Hussars, the Savannah Rifle Association, and the
Savannah Yacht, the Savannah Automobile and the University clubs.
Although Doctor Farmer's personal high standing is such as to need no
line of notable ancestry as a background, nevertheless there is a dignity
in being able to trace one's line nine hundred years back and a feeling of
some pride that it was of such importance as to have gained the right to a
coat of arms.
James Furse, One of the popular and valued executives of the municipal
government of the City of Savannah is James Furse, who holds the responsible
office of city comptroller and whose administration has proved signally
efficient and commendable.
Jlr. Furse was bom in Bamwell County, South Carolina, on the 24th of
June, 1873, and is a son of Stephen S. and Annie Margaret (Thompson) Furse,
both of whom were bom and reared in that state, where the father became a
prosperous planter and influential and honored citizen of Bamwell County;
there he continued his residence until 1897, when he established his residence in
Savannah, Georgia, where his death occurred in 1912. He was bom in 1842,
and when the Civil war east its pall over the national horizon he was one of
the ardent and loyal young Sothrons who tendered their services in defense of
the cause of the Confederate States. He served during the entire period of
the war as a member of a South Carolina regiment, and with his command
surrendered at Greensboro, South Carolina. In later years he perpetuated his
association with his old comrades by retaining afifiliation with the United Con-
federate Veterans. His wife was bom in 1847 and is stiU a resident of
Savannah. They became the parents of four sons and five daughters, and of
the number the subject of this review was the fourth in order of birth.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2329
James Furse gained his early education under the instruction of a private
governess and by attending the rural schools in the vicinity of the old home-
stead fann in South Carolina. Thereafter he continued his studies in the
graded schools at Barnwell, the judicial center of his native county, and
finally he entered the University of South Carolina, in which he completed
courses that gave to him, upon his graduation, in 1892, the degrees of Bachelor
of Science and Civil Engineer,
In the year of his graduation in the university Mr, Furse came to Georgia
and established bis residence at Savannah, where he assumed a position in the
accounting department of the offices of the Central of Georgia Railway Com-
pany. Here he won advancement to a post of distinctive executive responsi-
bility and he continued his service with this railway company until December
31, 1911, when he retired from the position of chief clerk to the comptroller
and accepted a place in the office of Charles Neville & Co., certified public
accountants. Savannah, Georgia, having obtained the degree of C. P. A. by
examination under the laws of Georgia and being one of the firm. This posi-
tion he retained until November 10, 1913, when he was appointed city comp-
troller by Mayor Davant. He became the first incumbent of this newly created
and important municipal office, the work of which he has thoroughly sys-
tematized, and he has continued the able and valued incumbent of the office
to the present time.
ilr. Furse is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he was
master of his lodge — Solomons No. 1 — in Savannah in 1904, and Sigma Nu '
fraternity of his alma mater, the University of South Caroliqa. His politick
proclivities are manifest in his stalwart allegiance to the democratic party,
and both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church. He is a
man of fine civic ideals, of pronounced literary tast«s, as shown by the fine
library assembled in his attractive home, and he has gained many infiuential
friends in both business and social circles during the period of bis residence in
Savannah.
July 9, 1902, recorded the marriage of Mr. Purse to Miss Christianna
Thomson, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Crockatt) Thomson of Wash-
ington, District of Columbia, and the two children of this union are Margaret,
born June 27, 1903, and Christianna, born July 30, 1910.
Habkt Curns Anderson. It was regarded as a remarkable piece of con-
structive financiering when the American Bank & Tnist Company of Savannah
was organized and started prosperously in the midst of the most widespread
financial depression the South has known since the war. This is the youngest
financial institution in Savannah, and opened its doors for business on January
1, 1915, with a capital of $200,000, all subscribed in and about the City of
Savannah, and divided for the most part in very small individual holdings.
The vice president and one of the leaders in oi^anizing this institution is Harry
Curns Anderson, who is regarded by his friends and associates as an expert in
business affairs generally and particularly in banking.
Though of southern parentage and ancestry, Harry C. Anderson was bom
in Altoona, Pennsylvania, June 5, 1875, son of George W. and Catherine (Hen-
derson) Anderson. Both parents were bom in Virginia. His father was born
at Fredericksburg in 1834 and died at Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1889. At
Altoona he had been engaged in the manufacture of shoes and as a wholesale
shoe merchant from 1874. He was fifty-six years of age at the time of his
death. His widow died May 30, 3916, at Cape Charles, Virginia, the state
where she was bom.
Harry C. Anderson gained his early education in the public schools of
Altoona, graduating from high school in 1891 at the age of sixteen. He then
left Altoona and went back to the native state of his parents, Virginia, and at
Cape Charles found a position as storekeeper for the N. Y. & P. N. Railroad.
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2330 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
For four years he held tbat position, and from tliat time forward his advance-
ment was rapid in railway circles. In 1895 he earae to Savannah, and took
a place in the accounting department with the Plant System of railroads.
From a minor position he rose step by step to auditor of supplies. From this
he resigned in 1901 to join the staff of the Savannah Trust Company, beginning
as stenographer and all around man in the clei*ical department. Here his
previous experience and his thorough ability counted in his favor, and during
the next thirteen years he went ahead from one responsibility to another until
he was secretary and treasurer of the institution, when, in 1914, it was con-
solidated with another Savannah bank, and for several months he remained
with the larger institution. He then resigned and with W. V. Davis, who had
formerly been vice president of the Savannah Trust Company, he effected the
organization of the American Bank & Trust Company of Savannah. This
organization was perfected during the first six months after the outbreak of the
great world's war, and when business conditions on the whole were entirely
unfavorable throughout the South and many of the older and more conserva-
tive financiers would never have attempted any extensive or anything entirely
new like the American Bank & Trust Company. However, Mr. Anderson and
his associate Mr. Davis believed that in Savannah there was room and need for
a small man's bank. Their plans and by-laws provided for the selling of stock
with a limit of twenty-five shares to any individual subscriber. Within thirty
days the entire amount was subscribed, almost entirely by residents of Savan-
ijah, and this indicated not only a sounder economic condition in Georgia than
was generally known and also the complete confidence felt by the business men
and citizens of Savannah in this particular enterprise and in the character and
integrity of the men at its head. Mr. Anderson and Jlr. Davis bought the old
home of the Savannah Bank at a cost of $40,000, tore down the old building and
made room for the handsome new five-story modem banking and office build-
ing which was completed about the beginning of 1916, at a cost of $125,000.
In the meantime within less than a year the American Bank & Trust Company
has steadily grown and prospered, and its deposits already aggregate more
than $300,000. W, V. Davis is president; H. C. Anderson, vice president; and
V. \V. Levey, secretary.
For a man of forty years Harry C. Anderson has a busines."? record such as
many older men might envy. He has naturally had little time for other affairs
than banking, but is interested ;n a public spirited way in Savannah institu-
tions, is a member of its chamber of commerce, board of trade and cotton ex-
change, the military organization known as the Guards Club, is a member of
the Oglethorpe and Golf clubs, is a Mason, a member of the Baptist Church and
in politics a democrat. His wife is also an active worker in the Baptist Church
of Savannah.
At Savannah October 12, 1898, Mr. Anderson married Eva Haltiwanger.
She was bom in Savannah, daughter of Dr. J. R. and Emily (Morgan) Halti-
wanger. Her father was for a great nmny years one of the best known physi-
cians of Savannah. To their marriage have been bom two children : Langford,
born September 1, 1902; and Harrj- Cums, Jr., born November 19, 1906, but
the last named died May 12, 1916.
John J. Raiters. While the name Rauers has long been prominently asso-
ciated with various commercial and industrial enterprises in the City of Savan-
nah, the association which will recall this family fo the largest number of people
in the South is_the ownership of the famous game preserve, St. Catherine's
Island, off the coast of Georgia. For forty years St. Catherine's Island has
been owned chiefly by members of the Rauers family, having been bought by
the late Jacob Rauers. He was an ardent sportsman, and had a broad and rare
knowledge of game animals, birds and flora and fauna, and was in fact a great
practical naturalist. In his time he headed many hunting parties, made up of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2331
prominent men in the Sonth, and an invitation to St. Cathmne's Island was
always greatly coveted. The island is more than fifteen miles long and several
miles wide, and is not only a haunt for all kinds of game, bnt has been put to
other productive use as a plantation and stock ranch.
The eldest son of this family at Savannah is John J. Rauers, who is vice
president of the Williamson & Rauera Company, steamship and forwarding
agents, and is also connected with several other large business concerns. He
was bom in Savannah August 31, 1877, son of Jacob and Joanna (McDonald)
Bauers, His father was the son of Jacob Rauers, Sr., a prominent and wealthy
merchant at Bremen, Germany. When a young man Jacob Rauers, Jr., at the
age of twenty-one in 1858, left his native home and voluntarily and independ-
ent of any hnaneial assistance from his father determined to win his own
fortune in the New World. Going to New York City, he was employed in
various responsible positions there until 1865, when he came to Savannah, and
turned his attention to the cotton business. He became verj- successful, and
was long reet^nized as one of the foremost business men of the city. He organ-
ized and was the active head and president of the DeSoto Hotel Company,
which put up the $350,000 hotel that has long been a recognized institution iu
the eity. He also was one of the builders and owners of the Savannah brewery
and was its president.
It was in 1876 that Jacob Rauers bought St. Catherine Island, only a few
hours ride by water from Savannah. He purchased it from a Mr. Rodriguez,
a Cuban, who had owned it a short period and had bought it from Jacob
Waidbei^. This island contains between 35,000 and 40,000 acres of land. It
has long been known as a preserve for deer and all kinds of gaine birds, and the
late Jacob Rauers kept there a tine stock farm, grazing horses and cattle, and
his plantation was noted for its crops of high grade sea island cotton. His
death occurred at the age of sixty-seven years in 1904. His wife, who' was
bom in Scotland, came to Savannah when a young woman to live with her
aunt and uncle, and she was married in that city to Mr. Rauers. She was
long an active member of the Independent Presbyterian Church. Her death
occiu'red February 27, 1913. There were six children: Elise, wife of Camille
Thesmar of Savannah ; John J. ; Katherine, wife of Wayne Cunningham of
Savannah, and Frieda, wife of Augustus Oemler of Savannah — these daughters
being twins ; James Henry, a resident of Savannah ; and A. McDonald, who
was the fifth in age, died April 30, 1914, at the age of thirty. These children
were given the very best of home and school training. They attended private
schools in Savannah, and each one spent two years in Germany attending school
at Hambui^.
The son of one of Savannah's wealthy and highly esteemed citizens, John J.
Rauers had a very fortunate start in life, but has also distinguished himself
for his individual ability as a business man. His first experience was as clerk
for the firm of the Baldwin Fertilizer Company of Savannah, with which con-
cern he remained three years. Going to New York City he had considerable
experience in the marine insurance business until 1901, when he returned to
Savannah and became a partner in the firm of Williamson & Rauers, which
was incorporated in 1915. The president of this company is William W,
Williamson. They operate one of the principal steamship and forwarding
agencies in Savannah. Mr. Rauers is also vice president and a director in the
DeSoto Hotel Company of Savannah, is vice president and was one of the
organizers of the Southern Ferlilizer and Chemical Company of that city.
Since the death of his father he has taken much interest in St. Catherine's
Island both as a game resort and as an agricultural and stock raising center.
He has carried on many successful experiments in cattle raising on the island.
Mr. Rauers finds his chief diversion in fishing, hunting and the various water
sports, is a member of the Oglethorpe Club. the. Savannah Yacht Club, the
Savannah Automobile Club, the Savannah Golf Club, and belongs to the chara-
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2332 GBOHGIA AND GEORGIANS
ber of commerce and the Savannah Cotton Exchange. He and his family
worship in St. John's Episcopal Church.
On January 1, 1902, at Savannah he married Miss Marion Hammond, of
Savannah, daughter of John L. and Marion (Morrell) Hammond. This is
one of the old and prominent families of Georgia. Mr. Hammond is now de-
ceased, while his widow still lives in Savannah. To their marriage were bom
five children : Alarion, Jacob, Joan, Katherine and Hammond.
Richard Peters, civil engineer, capitalist, developer, and for at least fifty
years a potent factor in building up the City of Atlanta, was born in Ger-
mantown, now a suburb of Philadelphia, on November 10, 1810. In February,
1835, he located at Atlanta as an employee of the Georgia Bailroad and was
its superintendent from 1837 to 1845. It was completed to what is now
Atlanta in the following year. For fifty years Mr, Peters supported every
public movement which developed Atlanta, the success of the cotton exposi-
tion of 1881 being largely placed to his credit. His death occurred on Feb-
ruary 6, 1889.
Brig.-Gen. Dudley M. DuBose, one of the famous soldiers of Georgia
during the war between the states, belonged to the Tennessee branch of the
family, and was born in Memphis on October 28, 1834. His people were in
good position, and he had the best educational advantages, being properly
trained for college, and a graduate of the University of Mississippi. After
leaving the University of Mississippi, he studied law in the famous Lebanon
(Tennessee) Law School, and was admitted to the bar. He decided upon
Georgia as the scene of his labors, and located at Washington, Wilkes County,
where he married a daughter of Robert Toombs. Toombs was a leader of
the secessionists, and DuBose, then too young a man to have taken much part
in public affairs, was strongly impregnated with the doctrine of secession.
When Georgia seceded, therefore, he instantly offered his services as a soldier
in the war whieh^was inevitable. He was commissioned lieutenant in one
of the Augusta companies, which was attached to Toombs' brigade, and
8er\'ed in the campaign of Northern Virginia up to January, 1863, when he
was promoted colonel of the Fifteenth Georgia. At Gettysburg his regiment
was attached to Benning's brigade of Hood's division. This was the first
occasion on which he commanded it in battle, and was the beginning of his
career as colonel. He led his regiment through all the hard campaigns of
the army, taking part in the fierce Wilderness campaign, until 1864, when he
was commissionea brigadier-general. He was then thirty years old. When
General Lee abandoned Petersburg, DuBose's brigade was attached to Ewell's
corps and shared in the disastrous battle of Sailor's Creek, in which, notwith-
standing the disaster, the desperate bravery of the Confederates aroused the
admiration of their foes. What remained of Ewell 's corps, including DuBose's
brigade, was here captured, and General DuBose was held prisoner in Fort
Warren, Boston Harbor, for seiferal months.
Returning home, he took up the practice of his profession in Washing-
ton, Georgia, and devoted himself steadily to that for the remainder of his
life, with the exception of two vears in Washington as a member of the Forty-
second Congress. General DuBose died in his home in Washington, March 4,
1883, in his forty-ninth year.
Ma.t. Wn,i,iAM Bebbt Stepheks. A record of well-won success has been
established by Maj. William Berry Stephens, a stalwart member of the Chatham
county bar. who has proved his thorough mastery of his profession in the heat
of constant and important legal battles. Among his many claims to distinction
is his prominence in Georgia's military affairs, having been the commander
of the Savannah Volunteer Guards for about ten years and a veteran of the
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Spanish-American war, in which he served as sergeant of Company B, Second
Geot^a Infantry, United States Volunteers.
Major Stephens is the scion of one of the oldest and most distinguished
American families, with the members of which throiigh many generations
patriotism has stood for far more than a mere rhetorical expression. He
shares his natal day with the Father of the Country, his birth having occurreii
February 22, 1870, near Morven, Brooks County, fleoi^a. He ia a son of
John Hugh and Sarah C, (Hendry) Stephens, the former bom at Society Hill, ■
Darlington County, South Carolina, September 19, 1842, and the latter at
Morven, Brooks County, August Ifl, 1846. It is a matter of well-confirmed
tradition that Major Stephens' maternal great-great-grandfather, Robert
Hendry, who came from Virginia to Georgia and lies burned at Taylors Creek,
Liberty County, served under "Lighthorse Harry" Lee in the Revolutionary
war. The paternal grandfather of Major Stephens served with the Sou^
Carolina troops in Florida during the Seminole Indian war of 1835-42, and two
maternal granduncles, William Hendry and Norman Campbell, are known
to have served' against the Indians in Gedi^ia, participating in the Battle of
Brushy Creek, Major Stephens' maternal grandfather, Neal Hendry, was
one whose conscientious conviction of the supreme right of the states to sever
their union with the National Government led him to give his influence and
service to the Confederacy during the Civil war. He was major in command
of a detachment in Middle Florida guarding salt works along the coast and
supplying cattle to the Southern armies. The father of Major Stephens, as a
youth of nineteen, entered the service of the South, enlisting August 1, 1861,
at Madison, -Florida, as a private of Company C, Fourth Florida Volunteer
Infantry, and served in turn in the brigades of j'reston, Palmer, Anderson,
Finlay, Stovall and Smith. He was in the sanguine engagements in which
his regiment took part, was wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee,
and later participated in the bloody battles of Jackson, Chickauiauga and
Missionary Ridge, as well as at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, April 9, 1865,
thus serving until the close of the war. This highly respected gentleman
died at Jacksonville, Florida, at sixty-seven years of age. The Stephens
family comprises a race of soldiers, and three of the sons of John Hugh
Stephens upheld its military prestige at the time of our war with Spain.
Jolin Hugh, Jr., and Robert D. were members of the First Florida Infantry,
United States Volunteers, and the former lost his life by disease while in
the service.
"William Berry Stephens received his early education in the public schools
of Thomas and Mitahell counties, and his higher academic studies were prose-
cuted under the direction of private tutors. In early youth he became imbued
with the desire to enter the profession of law and in 1889 he became a clerical
assistant in the law office of Chisholra & Erwin, of Savannah, under whose
able preceptorship he carried on his legal studies. In 1896 he was admitted
to the bar and, his excellent preliminary training having given him a grasp
upon essentials which he utilized to the fullest degree, he at once entered
upon a career which has secured for him both material success and high
reputation. From 1898 until January 1, 1900, he was division counsel for
the Plant system of railways and then, upon the dissolution of the firm of
Erwin, DuBignon, Chisholm & Clay, resigned his position and entered into a
professional partnership with Hon. Fleming Q. DuBignon, under the firm
nam^ of DuBignon & Stephens, this association continuing until the latter
part of the year 1902 when it was dissolved upon the removal of Mr. DuBignon
to the City of Atlanta. Since that time Major Stephens has conducted an
individual professional business at Savannah.
Major Stephens' connection with military affairs dates from May, 1890,
when he became a private in Company B, Savannah Volunteer Guards, and
was later promoted to corporal, and to sergeant. On May 2, 1898, he was
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2334 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
enrolled as a private of Company B, Second Georgia Infantry, United States
Volunteers, for service in the .war between the United States and Spain.
As soon as mustered in he was appointed sergeant and proceeded with his
command to the reserve camp at Tampa, Florida, where he remained in
service until the close of the war. He was honorably discharged at Hunts-
ville, Alabama, August 29, 1898, in compliance with his own request. Upon
his return to Savannah he immediately re-enlisted as a private in Company
■B, Savannah Volunteer Guards, serving as such until he was commissioned
captain of his company, February 1, 1900, and in March, 1904, resigned the
captaincy and re-enlisted as a private, continuing as such until the following
November, when he was commissioned major of the battalion of the Savannah
Volunteer Guards, the battalion having been converted into heavy artillery
by act of the General Assembly, Deeember'18, 1900, and served in this capacity
until the early part of 1914. He is also a member of Francis S. Bartow
Camp No. 35, United Sons of Confederate Veterans, at Savannah.
Major Stephens has always been loyal to the principles of the democratic
party. In 1906 he was urged by a strong- representation of Savannah's best
citizenship to become a candidate for the Georgia State Senate, in opposition
to an already nominated candidate, who, although personally a man of the
highest character, represented a political element of the city that a great many
people deemed dangerous and inimical to Savannah's best interests. Major
Stephens, responding to this call in a spirit of patriotism, entered the race,
just seven days prior to the election, and, after a spirited and exciting eon-
test, was elected by a good majority as a member of the Georgia State Senate,
representing the First Senatorial District comprising the counties of Chatham,
Bryan and Effingham. Major Stephen?' most notable achievement in the
Senate was his success in bringing the upper and lower houses together in
the passage of the law which terminated the convict lease system in Georgia,
thus taking the hire of convicts out of the hands of corporations and putting
tli^m to work on the public roads. Public opinion upholds this as one of the
most beneficent enactments of legislation that has taken place in Georgia in
many years. Major Stephens accomplished this by skillful parliamentary
tactics and a final speech in the Senate in the face of the strongest and
most bitter opposition.
The following tribute to Major Stephens is contributed by Judge Walter
G. Charlton, of Savannah, judge of the Superior Court, and one of the most
able judges in the state: "In the pursuit of his profession Major Stephens
has not only attained to success, but his career has always been marked by
a thorough devotion to the highest ideals of his calling. This has been his
dominant purpose of life, to which his active participation in public affairs
has been the natural incident. Of a singularly open and candid nature,
rapid in conclusions, and entirely bold in expression, he has been an effective
soldier because he has been a consistent and fearless lawyer."
On September 6, 1899, Major Stephens was married to Miss Clifford B. ■
Dasher, daughter of Frank W. and Grace B. (Lovell) Dasher, of Savannah,
Georgia. In their household, one of the favorite social gathering-places of the
city, has been born one son, William 'Hugh, the date of who.se birth was
December 18, 1900. JIajor Stephens is identified with Ancient Landmark
Lodge No. 231, Free and Accepted Masons; Georgia Chapter Nd. 3, Royal
Arch Masons; Georgia Council No. 2, Royal and Select Masters; Palestine
Comroandery No. 7, Knights Templars; Alee Temple, Ancient Arabic Order
of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and Alpha Lodge No. 1, Ancient Accepted
Scottish Rile; the Savannah Bar Association, the Guards Club, the Ogle-
thorpe Club and the Savannah Yacht Club. Major and Mrs. Stephens are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and are active in church
and philanthropic work.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2335
F. L. Underwood, M. D. In professional circles of Savannah, a name
that is becoming well and favorably known is that of Dr. F, L. Underwood,'
who since engaging in practice here in 1910 has established himself firmly
as a practitioner of medicine and surgery. Doctor Underwood belongs to the
younger generation of medical men, having been born April 16, 1886, at
Milledgeville, Georgia, and is a son of Geoi^e W. and Ada Eugeijia (Clay)
Underwood,
The paternal grandfather of Doctor Underwood was John D. Underwood, ■
who followed planting throughout his life in Georgia, and fought as a soldier
of the Confederacy throughout the period of the Civil war. He died in
1915, at the age of seventy-five years, while the grandmother, who bore the
maiden name of Martha Coleman, passed away in 1895. The maternal grand-
father of Doctor Underwood was Adam Clay, who met a soldier's death on
a southern battlefield, while fighting under the flag of the Confederacy. He
married Georgia Robinson, who died in 1904, at the age of seventy years.
George W. Underwood was bom in Georgia, in 1863, and has been engaged
in planting and mercantile pursuits throughout his life, being at this time a
resident of llilledgeville. The mother also survives, at the age of fifty-two
years, as do the five children: Howard, of Milledgeville ; Guy, of Milledge-
ville ! Dr. P. L. ; Louis, of Milledgeville ; and Wilbur, of Macon.
As a boy F. L. Underwood attended the Georgia Military College, from
which he was graduated in 1905, having taken an academic course, and his
medical studies were started in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at
Atlanta. At the time of his graduation, in 1910, he took up his residence
and opened an office at Savannah, and here has since built up a large and
representative general practice. He is well known and popular in profes-
sional circles, and holds raem^bership in the Georgia State Medical Society,
the Southern Medical Association and the Chatham County Medical Society.
He is a democrat, but his political interest has been only that taken by every
good and puhlic-spirited citizen. He attends the Baptist Church,
I
John H.vrdt Purvis. With a record of nearly twenty years in the real
estate business at Savannah, Mr. Purvis has brought to his work a keen
judgment, an unfiagging industry, and a vigilance in behalf of his interests'
and those of his clients which have been the chief factor in his success. Mr.
Purvis has recently put on the market one of the large subdivisions in the
vicinity of Savannah and has developed it as one of the most attractive
homesites around that city.
Bom in. Webster County, Georgia, in 1874, he is a son of Edward B.
and Welthea Evelyn (Watson) Purvis. His grandfather, John Purvis, was
an Englishman by birth, hut when a small boy came with his parents And
several brothers to America, locating in Virginia. After reaching maturity
John Purvis came to Georgia, taking up his residence in Webster County,
where he married Mrs. Mary Ann Askew. The Askews and the Purvises
formed a large family, and many of them are still living in Webster County
and in that section of Southern Georgia. Edward B. Purvis was bom in
Webster County, and when quite young enlisted for service in the Confed-
erate army. He was in many of the campaigns up to and including the
battle of Gettysburg, where he was severely wounded. The sufferings caused
by that wound undoubtedly abbreviated his life many years, and he ^cri*
ficed health and a large part of his fortune to the lost cause. His wife,
Welthea Evelyn Watson, was bom in North Carolina, a daughter of Hardy
Watson of Raleigh.
While growing up in his native county John Hardy Purvis attended
school, but in 1885 at the age of eleven came to Savannah and finished his
education in that city. In his earlier employment he showed a vigorous
determination to succeed and make the best of his opportunities, and his
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2336 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
enterprise and prompt efficiency with the main factors and capital with
which he set up in the real estate and collection business about 1897. He
has continued to work along constantly broadening lines, and in various
ways he has made Jiis business a source of benefit to his home city.
In politics, though the aon of a Confederate soldier Mr. Purvis is a
republican and is iiiterested in both local and state politics. On November
13, 1906, he married Mrs. Honora O'Keefe of Savannah.
Henry Davis Weed, It is with well justified pride that a business firm
refers to a century of continuous and successful existence. There are. very
few cases in America where this is possible. A century old business organiza-
tion in Savannah is that of Weed & Company, wholesale hardware merchants.
This business was established more than a century ago and as a family
partnership it has been in existence just 100 years. The present senior
member of the company is Henry Davis Weed, one of the grandsons of the
original proprietor.
The Weed family were of sturdy English stock, and in earlier genera-
tions some of its members were connected with the royal blood of England.
The founder of the Weed family in America was Jonas Weed, who came from
that country in 1630. He was of the sturdy yeomanry and a colonist who did
his full share in the early development of Salem, Massachusetts. He lived
there until as a result of a church quarrel he left Salem and joined the New
Haven Colonists in Connecticut, and still later he became one of the founders
of the Stamford Colony.
Henry Davis Weed, paternal grandfather of the Henry Davis Weed first
mentioned, was born in Connecticut, but came to Savannah, Georgia, in 1808.
His brother, Nathaniel B. Weed, had located in Savannah in 1806 and
started on a modest scale a retail hardware business. In 1816 these brothers,
Nathaniel and Henry, organized a partnership and started a wholesale and
retail hardware business which has recently celebrated its centennial. It
is the oldest hardware house in the entire South, and one of the oldest in
the country as well as one of the largest. The business of the firm can
partly be judged by the force of six traveling salesmen who cover the states
of Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Geot^a and various other parts of the
South. Grandfather Henry D. Weed married Sarah Dunning, a daughter
of William H. Dunning. The latter was of the old type of southern aris-
tocracy, but of thoroughly democratic character and at one time he refused to
accept an English title.
Joseph Dunning Weed, a son of Henry Davis and Sarah (Dunning)
Weed, was born in Savannah, Geoi^a, March 15, 1838, and was one of the
South's most successful business men. He lived in that city continuously
until his death on February 11, 1906. Besides his commanding position as
senior member of the firm of J. D. Weed & Company, 'wholesale hardware
merchants, he was at the time of his death president of the Savannah Bank &
Trust Company and president of the Augusta & Savannah Railroad. He
drew up the present and the last lease which turned over the management
of the Augusta & Savannah Railroad to the present operating company,
the Central of Georgia. He also constructed the Jliddle Georgia & Atlantic
Railroad, and was one of the largest subscribers to that important project.
It should also be mentioned that the elder Henry Davis Weed was the builder
of the S. F. & W. Railroad, now a part of the Atlantic Coast Line. The Weed
family have long been prominent in the Episcopal Church, and a brother of
the late Joseph Dunning Weed is Bishop Edwin Weed, Episcopal Bishop of
Florida. Joseph D. Weed married Sarah F. Maury, who died in Connecticut
in 1915 at the age of seventy-eight. She was born at the American Consulate
at Liverpool, England. Her grandfather, Hon. James Maury, was the first
American consul to represent the United States at Liverpool, At the age
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of fourteen she returned with her parents to New York City, continued her
education there, and finished it in Fredericksburg, Vii^inia. To the mar-
riage of Joseph D. and Sarah Weed were born four children : Gertrude,
wife of Robert Billington, and they live in Savannah, Georgia ; 'William M.,
who is in the bond and brokerage business in New York City; Henry D. ;
and Josephine, wife of John Morris of Savannah.
Henry Davis Weed, who ia now the chief representative in a business way
of the family name in Savannah, was born in that city January 26, 1872.
■After attending the Savannah public schools he went north to King's Academy
at Stamford, Connecticut, and completed his education by graduating A. B,
from Harvard University with the class of 1894. After leaving college he
spent six years in the West, largely in railroad service with different lines
and in different positions. Returning to Savannah in 1899, he became asso-
ciated with his father in the old hardware house above mentioned, and he is
now the senior member of this firm, which is a close corporation. Mr. Weed
is also a director in the Savannah Bank & Trust Company, is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce, is a democrat in politics, and belongs to the Epis-
copal Church. Though a member of one of Georgia's oldest and most highly
successful families he is thoroughly democratic in his tastes and he allows
none of the conventional distinctions to disturb his estimate of a man aa a
man. He is popular in social circles, and for recreation he finds bis chief
pastime in out of doors sports and hunting.
At Savannah Mr. Weed married Miae Jeanie G. Haines, who was bom
in Savannah, a daughter of George S. and Virginia (Owens) Haines of
Savannah. They are the parents of three children : Henry D., Jr., Joseph
D. and Virginia. Mrs. Weed is active in the affairs of the Episcopal Church,
Gen. Peter W. Meldrim. For upwards of half a century one of the
distinguished lawyers and citizens of Georgia has been General Meldrim
of Savannah. Few men have accumulated more of the better distinctions of
an active and useful life than General Meldrim. His success as a lawyer, his
eminence in the profession not only in his home state but as a former presi-
dent of the American Bar Association, his ability as an orator, bis leader-
ship in public affairs, and his record as a boy soldier in the war of the
Confederacy and later as an officer in the Georgia National Guard, all have
combined to give him a place of regard such as few citizens possess.
Born in Savannah December 4, 1848, Peter Wiltberger Meldrim is a son
of Ralph and Jane (Fawcett) Meldrim. He was reared in a home of com-
fort and good ideals; was privately tutored and also attended Chatham
Academy, and in 1868 was graduated from the University of Georgia with
the degree A. B, arid in 1869 graduated LL. B. from the law department of
the same university. In 1871 he received his degree as Mast«r of Arts and
in 1913 the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him. He is also
a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, organized in 1776.
Since 1869 Mr. Meldrim has practiced steadily at Savannah and in the
courts of lower Georgia, and in a few years came to rank with the ablest
lawyers of the city and the state. For years he was associated with Col.
William Garrard in the practice of law. Many compliments have been paid
General Meldrim by the supreme bench and his fellow attorneys for the
successful handling of intricate and difficult eases. He served for a time
as president of the Georgia Bar Association, and until January 1, 1915, was
officially identified with the American Bar Association, having served as
chairman of the Committee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform, and also
as a member of the executive committee. For several years he has been onq
of the commissioners on the uniformity of laws for the State of Georgia.
In 1868, the year he graduated from the University of Georgia, he was
chosen anniversary orator of the Phi Kappa Society. The reputation which
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2338 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
began in his coUe^ career for oratorical ability has followed him in all anb-
sequent yeara. His many speeches, not only in the profession but on a wide
variety of subjects, have been raucb admired for thought, form and diction
as well as for the oratorical graces. He has delivered some of the important
addresses before the American Bar Association as well as the bar associa-
tions of other states, ^d has frequently been a speaker on literary and
historical subjects. Again and again he has presented the address of welcome
as the official spokesman for the City of Savannah.
His public career and his leadership in democratic politics deserve some
special mention. Two days before the state election of 1881 he was nominated
for state senator and elected, filling the office for two terms. Of his work in
the Legislature the following comments have been made: "It was active,
brilliant and of a high order. He was ever ready to give his vote and his
voice to those measures or to those statutes which seemed to him to be essential
to individual and public welfare. In all his acts he reflected the liberality
and intelligence of his constituents, and for this was beloved and admired by
all who witnessed his course. As chairman of the committee on military
affairs, he was indefatigable in his labors in behalf of perfect organization,
equipment and discipline of the volunteer troops of the state. His speeches
on this subject before the committee and in the Senate, were models of
eloquence and logic. Then, when the bill to make tuition forever free at the
State University was put upon its passage and the measure was violently
opposed, he came to its rescue fearlessly and grandly, aiding materially in
bringing about the happy result of its trinraphant passage. His constituents
and the people of Georgia have reason to be proud of his talents and character. ' '
In his home city General Meldrira was elected an alderman in 1891 and in
January, 1897, mayor of Savannah. His administration as mayor was char-
acterized by much improvement in the way of street paving, the construction
of the jail as an addition to the police barracks, and several new fire depart-
ment buildings. In 1908 he was chairman of the Georgia delegation at the
Democratic National Convention in Denver.
His interest in military affairs and his career as a soldier began when
a boy of fifteen, when in December, 1864, he reported for duty to Capt,
Walter S, Chisholm at the time of Sherman's advance on Savannah. He
was made corporal in the Home Guard and served in the trenches on the
right of the line near the river and did guard duty in the city. Later he
became a private in the historic Georgia Hussars, was promoted second
lieutenant in January, 1889, after which he was made adjutant of the first
squadron of Georgia Cavalry, and promoted to major, from that to lieutenant-
colonel and in February, 1900, became colonel commanding the First Regiment
of Georgia Cavalry. In July, 1906, he became brevet brigadier-general of
the Georgia State troops, and on September 24, 1907, brigadier-general, with
which rank he retired from the service.
General Meldrim for many years has been a member, of the board of
trustees of the State University. It was he who first suggested the erection
of the monument to Sergeant Jasper in Madison Square of Savannah, and
he aided* the movement which brought about the building of this memorial.
General Meldrim 's home is one of the most beautiful and stately in the South
and is of historic interest from the fact that it was the headquarters of
General Sherman upon the occupation of the city by the Federal army in
December, 1864. General Meldrim is a Mason, a member of the Oglethorpe
Club, Capital City Club of Atlanta, Hussars Club, Yacht Club, the University
Club of Atlanta, and is president of the Savannah University Club and the
Law Alumni Society of the University of Georgia.
On June 30, 1881, he married Miss Prances P, Casey, a daughter of Dr.
Henry R. and Caroline (Harris) Casey of Columbia County, Georgia, and
a grfind-niece of Maj. John McPheraon Berrien, one of Savannah's distin-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2339
guished citizens of earlier days. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Meldrim
are: Caroline Louise; Frances Casey, who married Col. G. Noble Jones ^
Sophia d'A., who married E. H, (Ted) Coy; and Jane.
CoL. William Leon Grayson. One of the most distinctive honors ever
ecnferred upon a Savannah citizen was given to Col. "William L. Grayson at the
national convention of the Fraternal Order of Eagles at Spokane, Washin^on,
in 1913, when he was elected grand worthy president. In addition to that
honor the order also chose Savannah as the convention city for 1915. This
becomes the more signiiicant when it is recalled that only ten per cent of the
members of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Ameriica live south of the
Potomac and east of the Mississippi. It was due to the dominating personality
of Colonel Grayson and to his energy and enthusiasm that this duplicate honor
was so fittingly bestowed.
When the people of Savannah turned out in throngs to greet the returning
national head of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, it was a recognition not only
of his new distinction but also of his long standing prominence in fraternal,
business, social and military affairs in Georgia. Colonel Grayson represents
a long line of military men, and while his own active field service was con-
fined to a brief campaign during the Spanish -American war, he has for years
been active in organizing and maintaining Georgia's militia, and his work
was the basis for a tribute from one of Georgia's governors, who once said
that no braver, more efficient or more reliable officer ever held a commission
from the state than Colonel Grayson.
Bom in Savannah, August 21, 1870, he comes of a noted old Virginia
stock. His great-great-grandfather, Rev. Speuce Grayson, was chaplain in
Grayson 's Regiment during the Revolution, and the commander of this regi-
ment was William Grayson, great-great -uncle of Colonel Grayson. That
revolutionary officer subsequently became one of the first senators from Vir-
^nia. The great-grandfather was John - Robinson Grayson, who was a lieu-
tenant in the United States navy during the War of 1812. The grandfather,
Langston Grayson, served as a private in the Florida or Seminole war of
1836, though only a boy at the time. In 1848 he was commissioned lieutenant
by Governor Towns to serve in the Mexican war, but never was called upon
to serve since the quota from Savannah was already practically filled. The
parents of Colonel Grayson were Edward Fahn Recker and Laura Amanda
(Patterson) Grayson, the former bom at Savannah, March 3, 1847, and the
latter in Hampton County, South Carolina, on June 11, 1847. Colonel Gray-
son's father, though but fourteen years of age at the outbreak of the war
between the states, afterwards did his part as a boy soldier and assisted in the
defense of Savannah under Major Shellman.
Col. William L. Grayson received his early education in the public school
of Savannah. At the age of seventeen, in 1887, he began his business career
as office boy for Jacob S. Collins, a wholesale grain and produce dealer. In
June, 1891, on reaching his majority, he was made a partner of the firm, the
title of which then became Collins, Grayson & Company. For the past fifteen
years Colonel Grayson has exerted a large influence in local business affairs.
He became secretary and treasurer of the Savannah Candy Company when it
was organized in 1903, He has long been identified with the fighting forces
of the local democracy and has been of great service to his own municipality.
In January, 1896, he was appointed a member of the city board of fire com-
missioners, became chairman of the commission, and served until May, 1898,
when he resigned in order to take his place with the volunteer forces of the
United States army. Some years later, in January, 1903, he was elected an
alderman and re-elected in 1905, and during that term served as chairman
of the police committee. In September, 1911, he was appointed clerk of the
Superior Court of Savannah to fill out the unexpired term of James K. P. Carr,
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2340 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
was subsequently regularly elected to the office and that is his present official
position in the eity.
However, it is through his connections and numerous distinctions in Georgia
military affairs that William Leon Grayson is best known. He first became
identified with the Georgia militia in 1886, as a member of the noted Republican
Blues. He held the rank of second lieutenant in that organization at the time
the Spanish-American war began. In May, 1898, he volunteered, was com-
missioned first lieutenant on the second day of that month by Governor Atkin-
son. He was assigned to Company M and subsequently was appointed adjutant
of the First Battalion hy Col. Jordan P. Brooks. Colonel Lawton put him in
chaise of the regimental post exchange and he made that a very popular and
profitable institution in the regiment. On November 18, 1898, he was mustered
out with his regiment at Macon and continuously since then Colonel Grayson
has manifested the deepest interest and has taken an increased part in the
Georgia National Guard. His associations have been particularly beneficia) to
his old company, and after the Spanish war he reunited the organization and
on December 6, 1898, was elected captain of the Republican Blues. This com-
pany soon reached a standard of efficiency second to none among the units of
the state's military troops. He has been an officer with his command at
different times when the troops were called out for state duty. In August,
1899, during the Darien riot he commanded a composite company from the
regiment under direct authority from Governor Allen D. Candler. Later, on
December 9, 1899, he was unanimously elected major of the First Battalion,
First Infantry. Governor Candler in 1901 appointed him a member of the
state advisory board on military matters, and he has been able to render a
great service to the state military organization in that capacity. He was also a
member of the committee of three who revised and codified the military laws
of the state in 1902, Very shortly after his election as major he was offered the
office of lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment in December, 1900, but de-
clined in order that his fitness might be proved to the battalion which had
chosen him major. In March, 1901, Governor Candler ordered him to Sylvania
to protect from violence seven negroes who were in jail and in danger of being
lynched. He assumed chai^ of the local company and succeeded in con-
ducting the prisoners safely to Savannah. He was also in charge of the local
military company at Savannah during the lynching at Statesboro, but was not
ordered to that point for the purpose of protecting the prisoners until too
late, since the crime had been done before he could arrive. On December 2,
1902, Major Grayson was elected, examined and commissioned lieutenant-
colonel, and on February 10, 1903, he was appointed a member of the field
officers' examining board of the state. He also qualified for three years as a
sharpshooter in the Georgia state troops, and took part in the combined army
and militia m&neuvers at Manassas, In September, 1904, he was second in
command of the Second Georgia Provisional Regiment. He has also served
as secretary and treasurer of the Officers' Association of Georgia.
Colonel Grayson and wife are members of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal
Church at Savannah. He is one of the board of managers of the Georgia
Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution ; is affiliated with Zerubebel
Lodge No. 15, Ancient Free and Accepted Alasons, being past master; Savan-
nah Lodge No. 52, Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor;, Savan-
nah Company No. 15 of the Uniform Rank of Knights of Pythias, of which he
was captain; DeKalb Lodge No. 9, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Savan-
nah Lodge No. 183, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; and has long
been prominent in the local and national affairs of the Fraternal Order of
Eagles, terminating in the honor bestowed upon him at Spokane in 1915, bm
already mentioned. He is also a member of the Military Society of Foreign
Wars and the J. S. Polant Camp No. 2 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans,
of which he has served as commander.
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OEOBGIA AND GEORGIANS 2311
On February 7, 1893, Colonel Grayson married . Misa Lillian Turner,
daughter of the late George T. and Margaret Alice (Johnson) Turner, both of
whom were natives of Virginia. Colonel Grayson has a beautiful home and a
very happy family. The home circle comprises seven children ; Lynne, bom
December 20, 1893 ; William Turner, born May 17, 1897 ; Spence Monroe, born
December 7, 1900 ; Dorothy Thomasson, bom August 4, 1903 ; Leon Harmon,
born December 15, 1906; Edith Bering, bom August 16, 1912; and William
Morris, bom September 25, 1915.
Qkn. Lucius J. Qabteeu- was bom in Wilkes County January 7, 1821, and
died in Atlanta April 7, 1891. He was educated at Kandolph-Jiacon College,
Virginia, from 18a8 to 1841, and was one year in the University of Georgia.
He read law in the office of Hobert Toombs, at Washington, Georgia, and was
admitted to the bar in the Lincoln County Superior Court in 1842. In 1843
he was elected solicitor-general of the Northern Judicial Circuit.
In 1847 General Gartrell was elected to the General Assembly, and
'■e-elect«d in 1849, and in 1854 moved to Atlanta, which continued bis home
^?r the remainder of his life. In 1856 he was an elector on the Buchanan
ticket, and in 1857 was chosen to the Federal Congress as a democrat. He
I^ re-elected in 1859, and was a member of Congress when the troubles
J^^ween the sections culminated in 1861. When Georgia seceded he withdrew
^"*in Congress and organized the Seventh Georgia Regiment, of which he
^^ elected colonel. At the first battle of Manassas he led this now famous
.^»':xitient with distinction. In October, 1861, he was almost unanimously
/^^^d to represent the Fourth Congressional District of Georgia in the
Q^^ rf^derate Congress. Retaining his membership in the army, he retired
fro-xart active military service long enough to serve this term, and upon the
coa<iX-«Jsion of the term returned to his military duties. He was commissioned
bri^.^<lier-general August 2, 1864. He then organized four regiments of
Geoa:-^^a reserves into a brigade known as "Gartrell's Brigade," command
of -w- Iraich he held until the close of the war. •
-^f^^i, the close of the war, General Gartrell took up the practice of his pro-
les^ti «::»ii in Atlanta, and continued in the active practice for the remainder of
his Xiie. In 1877 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention.
^S^aiiG.-GEN. Victor J. B. Oirabdet had the remarkable distinction
ȣ V>^ing jumped from staflE captain to brigadier-general at one promotion.
Hft ~^>^;>'as a native Georgian, of French extraction, and a resident of Augusta,
E« ^^fvas engaged in commercial pursuits on the outbreak of the war, had
il'v-^^g tept entirely aloof from politics, a man of retiring manners, and had
ilti-^^jgj to himself no special attention. He was heart, and sou], however,
"■ ^■:>;'mpathy with the South in the quarrel with the North. Immediately
IJ^o*-^ the outbreak of the war he volunteered as a member of the Third
'^«i:«7-gia Regiment, which was sent to Virginia, and for the greater part of the
!*^*~ 1861 was on duty in North Carolina. When General Wright was pro-
""^t-^d from colonel to be commander of a brigade, having noted Girardey's
I'^Xifications, he appointed him his adjutant-general with the rank of cap-
''*>>._ In that capacity his active service with the Army of Northern Virginia
'^^ -very noteworthy, but up to July 1864, Girardey had never held any rank
^^^Vk«r than captain and assistant adjutant-general. His extraordinary gal-
l»^ti-t:ry coolness and ability to direct the men intelligently while in action had,
"•^Vv-^ver attracted the attention of the authorities, and on July 30, 1864, an
^7^^^»-geney having arisen. Girardey was appointed brigadier-general and
pla.«2^«d in command of Wright's brigade— the old brigadier having been pro-
'^^"t^d to major-general, and the brigade was sent across the river from
^^t^rsburg to resist a movement in force made by General Grant. The fight-
''■^K was very desperate, and Girardey— whose only fault was an excess of
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2342 aEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
{gallantry — exposed himself recklessly in leading the brigade and was
instantly killed.
Francis JIcDonald Oliver. It is probably true that Francis M. Oliver
during twenty years of practice at the Savannah bar has organized more
corporations which have been of public interest than any other lawyer in the
city. He possesses a rare combination of business judgment and professional
ability, and is equally at home in the trial of an important case or in the board
rooms of a large business organization.
He represents an old Southern family, and one that has been more or less
closely identified with Georgia for many years. Francis McDonald Oliver
himself was bom in Barbour County, Alabama, April 11, 1872, the second
child and oldest son of Joseph Samuel and Nannie (Roberts) Oliver. Both
parents were bom in Quitman County, Georgia. The paternal grandparents
were James M. and Mary Ann (Reddish) Oliver, the former bom in Twiggs
dounty, Georgia, while his wife was a native of Warrenton, Georgia. James
M. Oliver was a Confederate soldier, served as a private in Company F of the
Thirty-second Georgia Regiment, enlisting in Charleston, South Carolina,
May 9, 1864, and continuing until the surrender of his brigade at Greensboro,
North Carolina, April 26, 1865. Following the war he served as sheriff of
Quitman County for several terms, was tax receiver four years, and was clerk
of the Superior Court sixteen years. Shortly before his death he was again
elected clerk for his ninth successive term. His death occurred January
13, 1903.
Joseph Samuel Oliver, father of the Savannah attorney and business man,
was born May 20, 1849, and was married January 9, 1868, to Miss Nannie'
Roberts. From April, 1885, until his death on November 20, 1901, Joseph S.
Oliver had his home at Kissimee, Osceola County, Florida. However, his
profession and business affairs took him all over the South. He was a civil
engineer and a railroad contractor and builder. He constructed the Toccoa
& Elbert^n; a portion of the Spartanburg & Asheville line; a part of the
Georgia Southern & Florida ; the Pemberton Ferry Branch, now a part of the
Atlantic Coast Line; the line from Savannah, Georgia, t« Columbia, South
Carolina, now a part of the Seaboard Air Line; the Carolina Midland from
Barnwell to Allendale, South Carolina, now part of the Southern Railway ; the
Florida East Coast from Daytona to Roekledge; the Carrabelle, Tallahassee
& Georgia Railway ; and he also built a part of the Georgia & Alabama Railroad
from Savannah to Montgomery, Alabama. While a resident of Florida he
represented Osceola County for two terms of the State Legislature.
As a boy Francis McDonald Oliver gained his early education in the public
schools at Buford and Douglasville, Georgia, and after the removal of his
parents to Florida attended school at Kissimee from 1885 to 1888. He then
entered the University of Florida and graduated with the first honors of his
class and the degree A, B. in 1892, In 1894, entering Vanderhilt University,
he was graduated LL. B. from the law denprtment in 1896. At the same time
he carried on post-graduate studies in historj' and economics in Vanderhilt.
■While there he won the Founders medal in oratory and another medal given
by the university for excellence in debating. He represented the Bema Society
in the university debate. '
When Jlr, Oliver came to Savannah in 1896 he began practice with the firm
of Barrow & Osborne, one of the principal law firms of the city. January 1,
1898, he became junior member with Judge H. D. D. Twiggs in the firm of
Twiggs & Olivef, and continued to be associated in practice with Judge Twiggs
for ten years. This firm was dissolved in 1908, and Mr. Oliver is now senior
member of the firm of Oliver & Oliver, his partner being a younger brother,
Edgar J. Oliver, who is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
Most of his practice has been in the field of insurance, real estate and cor-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2343
poration law. He organized, and is a director in, and attorney for the Peoples
pank of Savannah. He is vice president of the Greater Savannah Company
and also its attorney. This company was organized in 1911 for the purpose of
constructing the Hotel Savannah, now the leading hotel of that city, which cost
about $700,000. He is vice president and general counsel of the Geoi^ia Laud
& Securities Company, a corporation with a capital of $200,000, and which is
e>igaged in the development of farm lands in South Georgia. In 1908 he be-
came one of the organizers of the South Atlantic Packing & Provision Company,
with a capital of $150,000. This corporation has been a potent factor in
furthering the stock raising industrj' in South Georgia. As the attorney for
and director of the Chatham Land & Hotel Company he has been of great
assistance to his associates in the development of Chatham Crescent, Savan-
nah's beautiful and exclusive residential addition.
He was the attorney who secured from the Superior Court of Chatham
County, Georgia, the charter for the Savannah Automobile Club in March,
1908, and has continued to serve that organization as attorney and member
of the executive board up to the present time. The Savannah Automobile
Club has done more than any similar oi^anization in the South to promote the
building and maintaining of good roads. Among its notable achievements was
*he holding of the international automobile races and the Vanderbilt eup races
**" the superb roads of Chatham County in 1908, and Mmilar races in 1911.
p Well known in civic and social affairs, Mr. Oliver was a member of the city
eiit-'^'^'' under the Myers administration from 1904 to 1908, and took an influ-
- **1 part in building the present city hall of Savannah, an institution that is
^ ^f^d'ii to the city. As a member of the board of trade he has done much for
/^^ ^?i-ogres5 and upbuilding of Savannah. He is a deacon in the First Baptist
. ' ^-».*~<L-h and teacher of the Business Men's Bible Class. He is a member of the
^^i^i-^^-ia Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He also belongs
x^ "tti^ college fraternity Delta Tau Delta. He is a member of the Ogle-
tt*oi~i::»« Club and the Savannah Golf Club. His principal recreations are
f ou T-» <i in golf and fishing.
^I a", Oliver married Miss Julia Peck Ashurst. She was born at Mont-
BJ?>Ta«?Ty, Alabama, a daughter of Charles F. and Caroline (Peek) Ashurst.
Tn^^^ have two children, both bom in Savannah. Joseph McDonald Oliver
^^'^ fcom November 4, 1907, and Frances Whittington was bom February
^'*' ^ S14. Mrs. Oliver is active in church and woman's organizations, is a
^^***t»er of the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of the
Atn^-t-jean Revolution.
, . -^V RCH K. McGii-L. A native Georgian, Arch K. McGill demonstrated his
.***"*" J as a successful newspaper manager while a resident of Oklahoma,
^"^tiich country he was one of the pioneer settlers as well as pioneer news-
^j, '^V^*' ni«n, but finally retired from business there and returned to the state
ji l^is first love, Georgia, and is now editor and proprietor of the Lyons
. **^Tess, at Lyons, Toombs County. He has succeeded in making the Progress
I^&jjer worthy of its name, and has given it a circulation and prestige all
^*" Toombs and adjoining counties,
,,, I^orn in Webster County, Georgia, September 12, 1875, he is a son of
f;^^»-les and Julia (Brightwell) McGill, who were also bom in Webster
„?^*ity. The McGill family came originally to this country from Ireland.
^^»-les McGill was a farmer, an occupation which he followed for many
■!^?'^5< in Webster County, and died there in 1908 at the age of flfty-six.
■^ile he was only moderately prosperous, he was a man of high character,
^"^^i always enjoyed the respect and esteem of a large community. He affiliated
^*^tVi the Primitive Baptist Church, while his widow, who still occupies the
•^J-^ Ixome-stead, is a meml)er of the Methodist Church, Their six children were ;
JoHti B. McGill, a farmer in Webster County; Arch K,; Rosa, wife of J. W.
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2344 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Chambliss of Parrott, Terrell County; Rev. W, C, a Methodist minister of
the South Georgia Conference; Pearl, wife of Ray Fletcher of Parrott,
Georgia; and Ross of "Webater County,
After getting the fundamentals of a eommon school education Ih Webster
County, Arch K. McGill followed farm employment until he was twenty-two
years of age, and then took up a trade which has been the basis of his
subsequent successful career. In the meantime he had gone to Luraberton,
Mississippi, and while there acquired the printing trade in the office of The
Lumberton Headblock, the proprietor of which was P. E. Williams. After
learning the trade and remaining at Lumberton two years, his desire to see
as much of the world as possible led him to follow the actual experience
of a .iourneyraan printer, and from one place to another he took his skill and
knowledge of printing until finally in 1901 he drifted into the Indian Terri-
tory, He was present at the opening of a new townsite at Wapanucka in
what is now Southern Oklahoma, and pleased with the_prospeet3 of the com-
munity he invested a modest capital in press and other materials and estab-
lished a paper, the first copy of which was printed in a cornfield, Wapanucka
was soon prtwperous and rapidly expanding, and his enterprise shared in the
success of the community and at the same time was a great aid in boosting
the resources and development of the town. For nearly thirteen years Mr.
McGill was editor and proprietor of the Wapanucka Press, and made it a
success from every standpoint. He used its columns to advocate the prin-
ciples and support the candidates of the democratic party in many hotly
contested campaigns.
However, his native State of Geor^a was always dearest to his heart, and
in 1913 he made a profitable disposition of his interests in Oklahoma, and
came to Lyons and bought the Lyons Progress. This is an old and well
established weekly journal, and was founded by L. W, Moore, from whom
Mr. McGill bought the property. Few newspaper plants in cities of the size
of Lyons have, so modern equipment as the Progress. There is a linotype
machine, big power presses, . and the equipment and fixtures represent an
investment of $5,000. The paper has a circulation of 1,400 subscribers, and
is the official organ of Toombs County, the City of Lyons and the United
States Court in the Southern District of Georgia,
Mr. McGill is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and is active as a
democrat. On June 9, 1915, at Lyons he married Miss Maggie Walker. She
was born in North Carolina, a daughter of Mr .and Mrs. M. 0. Walker. Her
father is now deceased and her mother is living at Lyons.
William Wayne Williamson. For more than a century the Williamson
family has been an important part of the commercial, civic and social life
of Savannah, The prestige of an old family name has been notably increased
by Major William W. Williamson, whose position in the city for the last
forty years has been such that it cannot be described in a single word of
praise. He has helped build up Savannah as a great commercial center
and ocean port, not only through his own business as a cotton exporter, but
also through his active relations with many public and semi-public organ-
' izations. His name has been closely associated with nearly every movement
for good and benefit in the community during the last quarter of a century.
He was born in the City of Savannah September 1. 1854, son of John and
Julia C. (Wayne) Williamson. His grandfather, John Posfell Williamson,
a native, of South Carolina, came to Savannah in early life and became one
of the wealthiest real estate owners and planters in the vicinity of that city
during the first of the last century. His home in Savannah was the ren-
dezvous for army oflUcers following the Mexican war and the Indian wars
in Florida, and among noted men who received hospitality there were Sher-
man, Pope, Bragg, Ridgeley, Wade, Beckwith and -Rankin, The old home-
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
< O-IACI^AW
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2345
stead was at the northwest corner of Montgomery and State streets, which
st that time was the fashionable residential section of the city. John P.
Williamson also owned Brampton and much other real property in and about
the city. Among other industries be operated a brick yard and is said to
have built the old County courthouse. The Williamson family is of Eng-
lish origin, and was established in South Carolina as early as 1690.
Judge John Williamson, father of Major Williamson, was bora in Savannah
Febmiary 3, 1810, and became prominent as a merchant, cotton factor and rice
planter. He was essentially a business man, though many hononi came to him
in a public way and he repaid every such honor with a service that cannot be
reckoned in words alone. He was long known as Judge Williamson because of
his service as justice of the Superior Court of Chatham County before and
during the war. He was chairman of the Savannah City Council when Sher-
man's array came into the city. During the war period he devoted himself
to measures of much beneficence for his city and the cause of the Confed-
eracy. He resigned from the city council to accept the post of city treasurer
in 1866, and in 1872 was elected county treasurer, an office he filled con-
secutively nntili his death in 1885. He was a member of the first board of
public education in Savannah organized soon after the war, and at his
death was the only surviving member of the original board and was serving
as treasurer. He was also the oldest living member of the Georgia Hussars.
The last twenty years of his life were almost entirely devoted to public
affairs. He was a warden and vestryman of Christ Church, and was a
member of the Union Society and the Georgia Historical Society.
Judge Williamson married Julia C. Wayne, who was bom in Savannah
in 1822 and died in 1892. Her parents were Gen. William C. Wayne and
Ann (Gordon) Wayne. Her grandfather, Richard Wayne, came from Eng-
land to America in 1760 and on September 14, 1769, in South Carolina,
married Elizabeth Clifford, whose family were among the first settlers of
that province and were connected with the families of DeSaussure and
Bacots. In an act of the South Carolina Legislature Richard Wayne was
designated as a "leading merchant" of Charleston, and at the beginning
of the Revolution he headed a petition to be armed on the side of the Crown,
In consequence of this act his property was confiscated and he was banished
from the colony. These facts and the record of the subsequent restoration
of his property are found in the reports of the Acts of the South Carolina
Assembly. On being banished Richard Wayne moved with his wife and
children to Savannah about 1782 and became a successful planter. Gen.
Anthony Wayne was one of the executors of his will. Other representatives
of this eminent famil.y were his son, Hon. James Moore Wayn^ judge of
the Superior Court of the city, congressman and finally associate justice
of the United States Supreme Court; and Gen. William Clifford Wayne;
while a grandson of Richard Wayne was Dr. Richard W. Wayne, at one
time mayor of Savannah.
To live worthily of such ancestors is in itself a distinction, but Major
Williamson has done more than that. He was reared in Savannah, attended
the public schools of the city, also Professor McLellan's private school, and
prepared for business in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New
York. Still a youth he entered business with the firm of J. H. Gardner
& Company, shop agents, afterwards was with the cotton firm of Andrew
Low & Company, and two years later was sent by this firm to New Orleans
and afterwards to Galveston. Returning to Savannah in 1879, a young
man of twenty-five, he was made confidential clerk with the firm of Wilder
^ Company. In the second year of his service he was given power of attor-
ney and put in charge of the freight business, a position he filled until 1901.
His entire service with that firm covered a period of twenty-two years. On
the death of Mr. Wilder in 1901 Mr. Williamson associated himself with
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2346 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Mr. J. J. Bauers under the name Williamson & Rauers and succeeded to
the business of Wilder & Company, The firm of Williamson & Rauers has
since been one of the most prominent and successful in the export business
,of the South, It has represented a number of the prominent steamship
companies.
For many years Major Williamson has devoted himself unreservedly to
a great variety of business and civic interests and organizations. Naturally
he has never sought politics on account of its financial remuneration, and has
been content to serve in those offices where the opportunity for real service*
is out of all proportion to the compensation attached. In 1895-96 he was
president of the Savannah Cotton Exchange and again filjed that ofQce
in 1902-03. He is vice president of the National Bank of Savannah, president
of the Commercial Life Insurance Company, and from 1906 to 1910 was
president of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1907 while president of the
chamber in company with Governor Hoke Smith and G. (iunhy Jordan,
president of the Georgia Immigration Association, he visited Europe and the
efforts of this trio were successful in securing the establishment of direct
steamship communication with the Port of Savannah, so that the state
received in 1907 the first cargo of selected immigrants arriving in Georgia
since colonial days. ,
His title has come to him by a service of more than a third of a century
in the state militia. In 1872 he joined the Savannah Volunteer Guard, which
was organized in 1802. He has since held every otBee from private to cap-
tain, and in 1901 was advanced to major, from which he finally retired in
1904. Major Williamson was largely responsible for the establishment of
Georgia's reputation in the rifle contest. Beginning 1895 he was appointed
by the governor captain of the state rifle team to represent the state ^t the
annual rifle matches at Sea Girt, New Jersey. He captained the team for
five years, and in that time the Georgia team came into competition with
the best teams from many other states, and in 1897 the Geoi^a men won,
out of five team matches and twelve individual matches, all except one
individual match.
Among other varied services and associations Major Williamson has been
a director in the Cotton Press Association, the Cotton Exchange, the Tow
Boat Company, Henderson -Hull Buggy Compajiy, Young Men's Christian
Association, has been a curator in the Georgia Historical Society, a vestry-
man in St. John's Episcopal Church, a commissioner of pilotage, and has
been Georgia's vice president of the National Rivera and Harbors Congress,
As chairman of The delegates representing the Chamber of Commerce, Board
of Trade, Cotton Exchange and Board of Aldermen, Major Williamson
several times appeared before the Rivers and Harbors Committee of Congress,
and secured large appropriations for the improvement of the Savannah
Harbor. As a result of this campaign, largely directed and influenced by
Major Williamson, Savannah has iu the. last quarter of a century deepened
its ports from a depth of twelve feet until now some of the largest vessels
afloat can come up to the dock.
Major Williamson also helped to promote the automobile races of Savan-
nah, an event which has brought much fame to the city. Socially he is a
member of the Oglethorpe Club, the Savannah Yacht Club, the Golf Club,
the Savannah Volunteer Guards' Club, and for many years was chairman
of the board of the Cotillion Club. He is a democrat, and in 1913 was elected
an alderman of the city. He is a man of wide and varied interests both in
a business way and intellectually. He has a fine home and has always taken
much enjoyment in the resources of a well stocked private library, much
of his reading having been directed along the lines of history and wDrld
polities and economics. He is unusually well informed in those departments
of knowledge.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2347
In 1904 Major WilliamsoD married Miss Corinne Heyward, daughter of
Bobert and Mary Elizabeth (Stoney) Heyward. Mrs, Williamson is now
(deceased and of her two children the only one surviving is William Wayne
Williamson, Jr.
CiEOROE W. Young. Many students and observers of municipal govem-
SiGzx't, are of the opinion that efficiency and worthy management of city affairs
tfe'_f>eaad upon the personnel rather than upon the form of civic machinery.
^ax- a number of years the commission form of government has been very
ft»f>X3.1ar all over America, and its adoption has undoubtedly brought about
a ^-xr-^at advance and improvement in the administration of urban affairs.
^v^:mrm under the commission forni of government the success of the plan
^f^^^ aids upon the quality of the commissioners elected. When Cartersville
^cf^z^ted this form of government August 18, 1911, the citizens selected George
/, - ^^oung for the post of mayor or president of the commission, one of
jjp _ -city's capable business men and with a reputation for integrity and
M i :«- '•y, whose subsequent services as mayor have contributed a great deal
" ~fc- ^ le era of good government inaugurated under the commission charter.
y ^ — z^eorge W. Young was bom in Cartersville, and is a son of Col. Janiea
v**"*-^^*- ^^g, one of Bartow County's prominent and influential citizens. ''^^-
^?^^^ . -
ng is a member of the firm of Young & Young, pharmacists at Carters-
^— ^ON. W. H. Cone. Throughout Bulloch County there are few citizens
^^^ have not been person al I j' acquainted with Judge W. H. Cone, of States-
'^^-^»-, who has aided in the development of the resources of the county, and
^^- is now serving in the capacity of ordinary, a position to which he was
■■^ -^Bted by his fellow-citizens in 1912. Judge Cone's entire life, covering a
■^d of sixty five years, has been passed in Bulloch County, and by his
^grity and public spirit and his comprehensive knowledge of men and
«s, of both of which he baa been a close student, has contributed signally
--^is community's prestige and prowess.
Judge Cone was born in the lower part of Bulloch Codnty, on his father's
"-^^ntation, which was situated on the banks of the Ogeechee River, Decem-
ber 22, 1850, and is a son of Aaron and Sophronia (Wise) Cone, The family
for many years has been noted for its military connections, William Cone,
the' great-grandfather of Judge Cone, having been a soldier of the Con-
tineota/ line during the Revolutionary war, while a granduncle was with
the company of patriots that drove the English from Bulloch County soil.
Aaron Cone was fifty-five years when he answered the call of the Confederacy
and fought through the last year of the Civil war, being with Governor Joe
Brown. After the close of the war he returned to his Bulloch County planta-
tion, where he continued to carry on agricultural operations during the
remainder of his life and died in 1885, when seventy years of age. He and
Mrs. Cone, who also died in this county, were the parents of ten children, of
whom W. H. was the sixth in order of birth.
W. H. Cone attended the country schools in his boyhood and worked on
his father's farm, thus growing to a sturdy and intelligent manhood. After
several years spent in agricultural pursuits, he turned his attention to teach-
ing, and for twenty years was one of the best known and most popular edu-
cators of Bulloch County. Many of his pupils have since risen to positions
of distinction, and not a few of them credit a large part of their success to
the thorough and efficient training given them in their youth by Judge Cone.
While he was employed as a teacher. Judge Cone, in order to occupy his busy
mind, studied law and fitted himself for the profession, but never engaged
in practice, for when he gave up his labors as an instructor he turned again
to the farm and cultivated a handsome and valuable property in the south-
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2348 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
east part of Bulloch County, which he stiU owns. In 1912 the people of thia
locality voiced their confidence in his integrity and ability by electing him
to the office of ordinary, and in this judicial capacity he has served with dig-
nity, impartiality and conscientiousness, adding to the reputation he gained
as a teacher and agriculturist. For a short time also he served as superin-
tendent of schools of Bulloch County. Judge Cone is a democrat, and his
religious connection is with the Baptist Church. A close student of humanity
and events. Judge Cone has been a constant scholar, and has developed
marked literary talent. At this time he is engaged in tiie preparation of a
comprehensive history of Bulloch County, which when completed will be the
first real history of this part of the state.
Judge Cone was married in 1872, in Bulloch County, to Miss Margaret A.
Groover, daughter of the late S. E. Groover, a Bulloch County planter. Five
children have been born to this union : Miss Mattie ; Howell, a well known
attorney of Statesboro, is married and has three children — Howell Cobb,
Sarah Calhoun and Constance; Edgar, of Manchester, England, is married
and has three children — Marguerite, Zona and Edgar, Jr.; and Misses Anna
and Josie, who are single and reside with their parents.
Francis B. Hunter. Among the legal fraternity of Statesboro, one who
is rapidly gaining position and reputation is Francis B. Hunter, who has
passed his entire professional career at this place and has already been con-
nected with much important litigation. A member of an old and honored
Georgia family, h^ was reared in a home of culture and refinement, was given
excellent educational advantages, and entered upon his career thoroughly
equipped in every way for competition with legists who, as a class, admit no
superiors in the country.
Mr. Hunter was born April 10, 1886, in Twiggs County, Georgia, and is a,
son of Iverson L. and Gertrude (Moore) Hunter. Iverson L. Hunter was
bom in Baldwin County, Georgia, was there educated in the public schools,
and after some preparation entered business life. He was the head of a
prosperous insurance agency for many years, and also carried on mercantile
operations both in Twi^s and Baldwin counties, and died in the latter in
1913, at the age of fifty-four years. While he was not an aspirant for public
honors, pieferring to devote himself to his various business enterprises, he
was a man of influence in his community, and had the support and friendship
of its best citizens. Mrs. Hunter was born in Screven County, Georgia, iind
died in 1907, in Baldwin County, aged fifty-three years. She had been the
mother of four children, of whom Francis B. was the first in order of birth. '
Francis B. Hunter attended as a boy the public schools of Statesboro,
following which he pursued a course at a military academy, the Alexander
Street School, at Macon, Georgia. He was given the choice of a professional
career, and had no hesitation in adopting the law, for which he had an
inherent predilection. Subsequent events have proven that he made no mis-
take in his choice. Jlr. Hunter read law in the office and under the wise and
thorough preeeptorship of his uncle, Col. R. Lee Moore, of Statesboro, and
was admitted to the bar here in December, 1910. He immediately opened an
office and began practice, and has already firmly established himself in the
confidence of the people as an able, thorough legist. Mr. Hunter is a demo-
crat, but not a politician. His professional connection is with the Statesboro
Bar Association, while fraternally he holds membership in the local lodge
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On November 16, 1911, at Statesboro, Georgia, Mr. Hunter was united
in marriage with Mrs. Terrah Trapnell Brannen, and they have two chil-
dren : Lee Moore, bom in 1912 ; and Lewis F., born in 1915.
William Arnold Hemphill. The Atlanta Constitution is a standing
monument to the financial and managing ability of Col. William A. Hemphill.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2349
Colonel Hemphill was a Georgian, born in Athens, May 5, 1842 ; was educated
in his native town and graduated from the Btate Univeraily in 1861. A boy
of nineteen, immediately upon leaving college he enlisted in the Confederate
-Army and went to the front with the regiment in which he served during
±^e entire four years' struggle, emerging from it with the rank of colonel.
He was desperately wounded in the head at Gettysburg, but recovered and
■^as able to re-enter the service.
Immediately after the war. Colonel Hemphill returned to his native town,
^uid in 1867, removed to Atlanta. In conjunction wi^h J. H. Anderson, he
^istablished The Atlanta Constitution in 1868, and Colonel Hemphill was
scuade business manager. From that time to the day of his death, Colonel
-Hemphill's history and his fortunes were linked with the paper to which he
*gave not only devotion, but a rare business ability. The Constitution con-
'^inued to be his principal interest up to December, 1901, when he sold out
and retired from active busine^, though not an old man. Strangely enough,
within a short time after hia retirement, his health began to fail, and on
August 17, 1902, he died suddenly from an attack of angina pectoris.
He was a leading spirit in the organization of the great expositions which
did so much toward the building up of Atlanta. In the very first years of his
residence in the city, in 1869, he served as a member of the board of educa-
tion, and held this position some years. In 1891-92, after having served
as an alderman, he was elected mayor, and served one term. He was at one
tixzie president of the Capital City Bank; was connected with the Atlanta
X^oan and Trust Company, and had been interested in many other financial
institutions. He served as president of the Young Men's Library Association
axrid of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was a liberal contributor
to all of the leading charitable institutions of the city, and his devotion to
-A^tlanta was unstinted. Atlanta and its interests could always command hia
tiTiie, his labor and his money.
Hon. Albert H, Cox, one of the successful lawyers of Georgia, was born
on. December 25, 1848, in Troup County, that state. His boyhood was spent
Sft La Grange, Georgia, and in April, 1865, he was mustered into the Confed-
erate service, in Col. James H. Fannin's command, and was in the desperate
battle fought at West Point, where not more than 150 men resisted several
charges of over 1,500 veterans, and the fort, held by these few (composed of
young lads, old men, and a few veterans), was only surrendered after two
commanding officers had been killed, and there was not a cartridge nor hand
grenade left in the fort. From January, 1867, to August, 1868, he attended
the State University at Athens, from which he graduated at the date named.
In 1871, he was appointed solicitor general of the Coweta Circuit, and has
since given his best energies to the law, to agriculture, and to purification of
politics. From 1876 to 1881 he represented Troup County in the Georgia
Legislature, in which Legislature he was a leading figure. He was author
of the bill passed at that session to protect the treasury of the state, and was
elected leading manager by the House of Representatives in a celebrated
impeachment trial before the Senate of Georgia of the then treasurer of
Georgia, The first public school commissioner of Georgia secured his aid in
the establishment of the common schools in' Georgia, when it was a difficult
taak, and to that end Mr. Cox made a most approved campaigning tour
through West Georgia. He was a delegate from the state-at-lai^e to the
Democratic National Convention of 1888, and also of 1908.
Make Madison Lively, M. D., now in practice at Statesboro, is a physician
and surgeon of forty years' experience. He was born in Burke County,
Georgia, September 17, 1854, a son of Alexander and Verlinda (Godby)
Lively. Both parents were natives of Geoi^a, and spent most of their years
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2350 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
on a farm Id Burke Coimty. The father was bom in _April, 1832, and during
the latter part of the war served in the Georgia Militia as a private. He died
October 1, 1912. The mother was born in 1837 and died in June, 1862.
Doctor Lively spent his early youth and boyhood in the troubled period
of the Civil war, and had limited opportunities, though he attended the
country schools as long as possible, and paid his way by farm work and
finally entered the medical department of the University of Georgia, where
he was graduated ^I. D. in 1876, and at once began practice in his native
county. That was his home for more than a quarter of a century, but in
1902 he removed to Statesboro, He also spent five years in practice at
Macon. At Statesboro he established the Lively Drug Store, and this thriv-
ing business is now conducted by his Bon.
Doctor Lively is a member of the county medical society and is a member
of the Georgia Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In
politics be is a democrat, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Methodist
Church.
In July, 1876, he married Miss Martha V. Ellison. She died in 1883 in
Burke County. Her parents were Robert J. and Cynthia Ellison. To this
union were born two daughters. Mrs. Nina V. Hendricks, the older, was
bom in Burke County, Georgia, and is the mother of three sons and one
daughter: J. Walter, Charles, Martha and Edwin Hendricks. The second
daughter is Miss Emory Mattie Lively, who is a teacher in the public schools
of Statesboro. In 1885 in Burke County Doctor Lively married Miss Susan
Oliver, daughter of Richard and Caroline Oliver. There are two sons of thii
marriage. George P, Lively, the owner of his father's old dmg business at
Statesboro, while Mark 0. Lively assists his brother in the drug business.
Both sons wore natives of Burke County.
Frank F. Floyd, M. D. The medical profession of Bulloch County has
been honored in recent years by the labors and achievements of Dr. Frank P,
Floyd, of Statesboro, who is not only a careful, thorough and learned practi-
tioner, but an excellent example of self-made manhood, and a citizen whose
support has been given to every good movement launched in his community.
Doctor Floyd is a native of Liberty County, Georgia, bom January 26, 1875,
and a son of Washington A, and Lucretia (Tomlinson) Floyd.
Washington A. Floyd was born in Bulloch County, Georgia, and here
reared and educated, and his early life was devoted to the blacksmith trade.
When the Civil war came on he enlisted in Company I, Georgia Volunteer
Infantry, with which he served through many engagements, but was never
wounded or captured, and at the time of the close of the struggle was with
the forces of General Hood. When he returned to his home he again took
up blaeksmithing, but began to give more and more attention to farming,
until his interests in that direction grew and developed until they demanded
his entire time. He finally became one of the substantial men of his com-
munity, and died in Liberty County, in 1905, aged seventy years. The
mother, a native of Echols County, Geoi^ia, is still living at the age of
Seventy years and makes her home at Statesboro. Six children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Floyd: Allen J., residing near Grovcland, Bulloch County,
W. R., of Liberty County; Frank F. ; Jessie G., of Savannah, Georgia;
Mrs. Mamie Martin, of Liberty County; and Mrs. Ola Kitclie, of Liberty
County.
The early education of Frank F. Floyd was secured in the public schools
of Belleville, Higston and Claxton, where the family resided at different
times, and with this training he was forced to be content for a time. He did
not, however, give up his cherished ambition of entering the medical profes-
sion, and after searching around for a vocation in which he could earn the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2351
means necessary for a professional training, finally adopted teaching, a
vocation which he followed in the public schools of Bulloch County for six
years. In 1896 'he began his medical studies in the medical department of the
University of Georgia, from which institution he was graduated in 1899,
with the degree of doctor of medicine. Doctor Floyd began his professional
labors at Stilson, Bulloch County, which continued to be his field of practice
during a period of ten years, and in 1908 came to Statesboro, where he at
once took his place among the leaders of the medical fraternity. Since that
time his practice and his reputation have steadily developed and he is now in
the enjoyment of an excellent business. He belongs to the American Medical
Association, the Georgia State Medical Society, the Southern Medical Society
and the Bulloch County Medical Society, of the last named of which he is
secretary at the present time. He is interested in the cause of education, and
as a member of the Statesboro Board of Education has done much to elevate
the .standard of the city's school system. His political support is given to
the demoeratip party and its candidates. Doctor Floyd is a member of the
Baptist Church, to which his family also belongs.
On June 6, 1899, at Stilson, Georgia, Doctor Floyd was united in mar-
. riage with Miss Agnes McElveen, daughter of William and America MoEl-
veen, now both deceased. To this union there have been bom two children :
Waldo F., born in 1900, at Stilson, and now in ninth grade of the public
schools at Statesboro; and Irma Theresa, born in 1903, at Stilson, and also
attending school.
Geoboe W. Heriot, M. D. A physician and surgeon whose work has
brought him into prominence since he began practice at Savannah, Doctor
Heriot is of old southern stock, and has accomplished a great deal of good
for himself and others in the world. He began life in comparatively hum-
ble circumstances, and worked his way beginning at wages of a $1.50 a week,
until he had earned the money necessary to complete his professional educa-
tion. In 1905 he graduated from medical college with first honorable men-
tiob, and has since been carrying on a very successful practice.
He was bom December 7, 1868, in Liberty County, Georgia. His father,
Theodore Septimus Heriot, was bom in Georgetown, South Carolina, and
was descended from a George Heriot, who was a very prominent citizen of
Edinburgh, Scotland. He became a civil engineer, practiced that profession
in Coffee County, Georgia, and during the war was engaged in the erection
of fortifications around Savannah and in diiferent places in Florida. He
served at one time as county surveyor of Coffee County, Georgia. He died
at Pearson in Coffee County in 1907 at the age of seventy-seven. Theodore
S. Heriot married Georgia Ann Allen, who was bom in Liberty County and
was educated in the common schools. She died in Coffee County in 1885 at
the age of fifty-two. Her parents were among the early settlers of Liberty
County and these worthy old people, David and Martha Allen, died about
war time. Theodore S. Heriot and wife were the parents of seven children,
the two now living being George W., and C. L.
Dr. George W. Heriot attended the common schools of Coffee County,
and after finishing a public school education chose to be dependent upon his
own resources. As already stated he began work at very humble wages,
and for five years was a clerk in the offices of A. C. L. Railway, rising to
the position of expert calculator. lie gave up that position to enter the
At^nta Medical College, where he was graduated M. D. in 1905, and since
then has been in practice at Savannah.
Successful in his profession, Doctor Heriot is almost equally well known
in Savannah as president of the Heriot Development Company, a $50,000
corporation, which has carried forward some of the important improvements
in the city. The only important public office Doctor Heriot has held was as
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2352 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
oil inspector for the State of Geor^. He is a democrat in politics, is a
member of the M^onie Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fdlows,
belongs to the Georgia State Medical Society, and comes of a Baptist family.
At Jewell in Hancock County, Georgia, on Jane 11, 1906, he married
Mifls Eva Fannie Hardwiek, She is a daughter of Rev. Judson and Sarah
(Litimer) Hardwiek, her father having been a minister of the Baptist
Church. Both her parents are now deceased. Seven children have been
bom to Doctor Heriot and wife: Georgia Eva, bom in Hancock County,
is attending high school; E. Maria, bom at Pearson in Coffee County, is
in high school; Theodore Ben was bom in Savannah; Geot^ W., Jr., Jndson
James, Julian Clarence and Robert Utimer, were all born in Savannah, and
all are attending school except the youngest.
Thomas D, Van Osten. "With the coming of Thomas D. Van Osten to
Statesboro, in March, 1915, there was added to the citizenship of this thriving
community of Bulloch County one who had the talents and abilities to become
a strong force for civic usefulness. Mr, Van Osten has traveled extensively,
in various parts of the world, and his experience, gained in the promotion of
enterprises of importance and large extent, is proving a factor in the com-
mercial development of Statesboro, as it had at Savannah, from whitih city
he came.
Mr, Van Osten was born in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1863,
and is a son of Abraham and Julia (Pickering) Van Osten. On the paternal
side he belongs to one of the families which settled Amsterdam, New York,
while on the maternal side he is descended from Gen. Timothy Pickering,
noted American statesman, lawyer, general in the Continental army during
the Revolutiohary war, and member of the cabinets of Presidents Washington
and Adams. Abraham Van Osten was bom in Ohio, and as a young man
moved to Ti<^a County, Pennsylvania, where he became engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits and spent his subsequent career, his .death occurring August 28,
1915, when he was eighty-two years of age. There he married Julia Picker-
ing, a native of the Keystone State, and in 1911 they celebrated their golden
wedding anniversary in the house in which they had lived for forty-nine
years. Mrs, Van Osten died May 8, 1915, at the age of eighty years. They
were the parents of two children: Grant S., who resides at Newark, New
Jersey; and Thomas D.
As a boy Thomas D. Van Osten received a public school education and
during his leisure hours was employed as a printer's "devil," work in which
be received his introduction to a business that was to later figure largely in
his career. After attending the Tioga High School, he entered the State
Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1876, and almost immedi-
ately began to travel in the interests of theatrical concerns. He began his
connection with this business as a musician, but later developed a positive
genius for advertising work and eventually gave his entire time to that
department. To his abilities as an advertising man may be accredited much
of the success which attended the gigantic spectacle and circus of Bariium &
Bailey, with which entei-prise he was connected until 1907. In that year
Mr. Van Osten gave up his travels and settled at Memphis, Tennessee, where
he conducted an advertising and music business for four years, and in 1911
removed to Savannah, Georgia, where he became publicity manager for the
firm of Stone & Webster and for the Savannah Electric and Street Railway
Company, and for the latter concern also edit«d a monthly newspaper, work
for which he was singularly and even admirably fitted. In March, 1915,
Mr. Van Osten was induced to come to Statesboro, where he has since taken
an active and helpful part in civic and commercial affairs. Here he acquired
by purchase the Statesboro News, a publication which is modem in every
respect, with a large circulation, and an excellent advertising medium. He
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2353
also conducts a music publisliuig department, which has likewise attained
public favor. In 1915 Mr. Van Oaten organized the Statesboro Board of
Trade, of which he ia secretary, his associates being R. F. Donaldson, presi-
dent; D. B, Turner, treasurer; S. T. Grimshaw, vice president; Hinton Booth, .
oliairman of organization; Dr. A. J. Mooney, chairman of public affairs;
H-. Lee Moore, chairman of publicity ; J. Gordon Blitch, chairman of business
<ievelopment; and J. A. McDougald, chairman of agriculture. Mr. Van
<I>sten gives his support unreservedly to the principles and candidates of the
«3.eniocratic party. With his family, he belongs to the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Van Osteu was married January 5, 1905, in New York City, to
^S^iss Lillian 0. Champlin, daughter of the late William C. and Lottie C.
■C. Hodge) Champlin, of Canada, the former of whom is now deceased.
H»dr. and Mrs. Van Osten have no childi'en.
F. W. Padgett. An interesting and seemingly indispensable feature of
s=Knodem life is the newspaper, and the story of its development is the story
•<=» i progress in every line of development. Eliminate steam and electricity,
~^-^e telegraph and the telephone, railroads, ocean greyhounds and automobiles
■«nd for the latter substitute the camel or the human carrier and then con-
aider the making of a newspaper. Naturally one may wonder what the first
recorded daily newspaper, the Peking Gazette, printed in A. D., 1350, may
have contained, but doubtless there was a demand for such an issue or it
would never have been developed. While the making of a newspaper in all
ita many details is interesting to consider, it is to the successful makers that
tile most interest should attach, for it is no light task to produce a modem
daily or weekly journal and to maintain its standing so that it may prove
acceptable to a large body of readers and also that as ad investment it may
be profitable. In large measure the problem has been solved by an expe-
rienced and practical newspaper man of Fannin County, P. W. Padgett,
owner and founder of the Blue Ridge Summit, which he has made the leadit^
journal of the county.
F. W. Padgett was bom in Pickens County, Georgia, June 8, 1871, and
is a son of John and Hannah (California) Padgett, both natives of Pickett
County. The paternal grandfather, Isaac Padgett, came to Georgia, from
South Carolina, and settled among the Indians yet residing in Pickens
County, and when they were removed by the Government to a reservation,
he was one appointed to assist in the transfer. Locating in Pickens County
in the '30s, he remained there the rest of his life. He was born in 1812 and
died in 1864. He married Artilla Cowart, who was born in Rutherford County, ■
North Carolina, on Green River,- and was a young woman when she came to
Georgia. After marriage Isaac Padgett and wife lived in a primitive cabin,
on some of the land he had secured, and they became well known in that
section although, for a time, they had no neighbors nearer than seven miles.
In spite of the hardships of a pioneer life she survived to the age of eighty-
nine years and reared a large family, two sons and four daughters.
A maternal grandfather of F. W. Padgett was Robert Roe, who lived near
Jasper, Georgia, a watchmaker and a millwright. During the Civil war he
was unfortunate enough to be the victim of a guerilla band and was taken
from his home to a place near Canton, called Hickory Plats, and was there
hanged to a tree and his body was later discovered by some children, after
his family had searched for him for weeks. His widow, formerly Mrs. Ara
(Tally) Roe, then took upon herself the rearing of the children. She died
in 1900, when nearly seventy-one years of age. Her parents were natives of
South Carolina and settled in Dawson County, Georgia.
P. W. Padgett was the eldest bom of a family of nine children and his
mother, bom in 1849, still survives. His father, who died at the age of
sixty-five years, in July, 1911, was a farmer during his active years. During
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2354 GEORGIA AND QEORQIANS
the Civil war he served four years-in the Federal army and wag honorably
discharged, in 1865, at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The eldest of a large family, the harden of self support fell early on
young Padgett and as soon as he completed a rather limited period of school
attendance he went to Jasper and became an apprentice in a printing office,
this being as fair a general school as any ambitious youth may desire. Por
ten years he remained in the same printing office, climbing up from the low
estate of "devil" to foreman, and from there came to Blue Ridge and for
three years was employed on the Southern World. Mr. Padgett then leased
one of the weekly newspapers and successfully conducted it until 1910, when
he established the Blue Ridge Summit, a journal of which be may be justly
proud. He has shown much business ability in making it a necessity in meet
of the households of Fannin County, and through his able editorials has made
its name known over the state. Mr. Padgett possesses twhat is known as the
"newspaper sense" and his journal shows it. In politics it is republican
and exerts a wide influence. He has taken a very active part in local affairs
and has served as city clerk and treasurer of Blue Ridge for four years.
In January, 1895, Mr. Padgett was united in marriage with Miss Addie
Hazelwood, a daughter of J. J. Hazelwood, a well known resident of Jasper,
for a number of years, hut now of Carterville. Mr. and Mrs. Padgett are
. the parents of five children: Pauline, who was bom in 1899, is a student at
Blue Ridge ; Harry, who was bom in 1902, attends school at Blue Ridge ; and
Carlotta, horn in 1905, Susie, bom in 1909, and Kathleen, who was bom in
1912. Mr. Padgett and family belong to the Baptist Church. For many
years he has been identified with the Odd Fellows and for a term of five
years served as secretary of Blue Ridge Lodge No. 463.
B. M. Frizzelle. Por more than thirty years Colonel Frizzelle, as he is
familiarly known, has been engaged in the practice of his profession in South-
ern Georgia,, where he has gained secure vantage place as one of the repre-
sentative lawyers of this part of the state, as well as a citizen of broad public
spirit and distinctive civic loyalty. He is one of the leading members of the
bar of McRae, the judicial center of Telfair County, has served as mayor of
this city and has otherwise been influential in community affairs. His loyalty
to Southern Georgia is specially fortified by the fact that in the health-giving
turpentine forests of this section of the state he regained, when a young man,
his physical vigor after he bad been informed that consumption must soon
terminate his life.
Colonel Frizzelle was bom in Montgomery County, Virginia, on the 30tli
of October, 1860, only a few months before his native state became the .stage
of military activities incidental to the inception of the Civil war. He is a
son of David W. and Harriet (Stuhl) Frizzelle. who were born and reared in
Maryland, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they removed to
Virginia in 1856, the father becoming a prosperous farmer and merchant in
Montgomery County and having passed the residue of his life in the historic
Old Dominion State. When the Civil war was precipitated he subordinated
the home ties and responsibilities to, the call of loyalty to the South, and en-
listed in defense of the Confederate cause. His regiment mobilized in the
City of Richmond, and with his command he took part in the battle of
Spottsylvania Court House, his ser\'ice as a valiant soldier of the Confederacy
continuing for a term of two years. He was a resident of Montgomery
County, Vii^inia, at the time of his death, in 1904, and passed away at the
age of seventy-one years, his widow having been summoned to the life eternal
in 1907, at the age of seventy-four years. Of their seven children Colonel
Frizzelle of this review was the first bom.
, As a hoy Colonel Frizzelle was afforded the advantages of the academy at
Macon, Virginia, and in preparing for his chosen profession he entered the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2355
(?Wef7rated old University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, in the law depart-
JTie-nt of which he was ^aduated as a member of the class of 1880 and with the
degree of Bachelor of Laws. Th« high aspirations of the ambitious young
lawyer were soon shadowed by the statement of medical authorities that he
"w»s' destined soon to become a victim of pulmonary tuberculosis, and with the
t*irlorii hope of prolonging his life he came to Southern Georgia and settled in
the midst of the turpentine forests, where, within the short period of six
months, he fully recuperated hia physical powers and set at naught the
pre"vio'iis diagnosis and prophecy of the physicians. In August, 1882, Colonel
Fri^z:e1Ie engaged in the practice of his profession, and to the same he has
broug-lit the vigor of strong physical and mental powers, with the result that
succ:c%£us has been in logical sequence and has given him his present high stand-
ing- a. fr. the bar of Tetfair County, where he controls a large and representative
pr/n;ti«e. The, colonel has served as county attorney and as solicitor of the
City Court at JIcRae, besides which he gave a most progressive and effective
admixrkist ration of municipal affairs during his incumbency of the office of
Oiayoir of McRae, in which position he served two years, 1903-5. He is an
«Wi"v^ member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is affiliated
Vth "the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Im-
<"«"<> ^^^d Order of Red Men and the "Woodmen of the World, His political
^11 «3K^ snce is given unreservedly to the democratic party and he is an elTective
?X:3:>ox:»ent of its principles and policies. Through his professional activities
Coloir^el Frizzelle has aehieved worthy financial success, and he is the owner
o^ i:>t-operty in his home city as well as of valuable farm lands in Telfair
C o-»i xr^ -ty.
0:bi the 30th of April, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Priz-
z^l \^ "to Miss Evelyn Henley, daughter of William H. Henley, of Rome County,
I'^x^-iTi^ssee, and "she passed to the life eternal on the 18th of December, 1898,
»^^ <3. "^ffhose only child is William Henley Frizzelle, a member of the class of
lOl^ in the McRae High School.
-t-CiCHARD W. Habbrsh.vm was a member of a famous Revolutionary family
CiT CS Borgia. He was bom in Savannah, December 10, 1786. He graduated
Tronra Princeton College in 1805, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and
ape?^«3ily gained prominence both as a lawyer and as an active participant in
the ■^>o]itieal life of the time. He was elected to the Twenty-sixth Congress
M Ek. states-rights democrat, and re-elected to the Twenty -seventh, serving
trorrx December 21, 1839, to December 2, 1842, when he died at his home in
CI a r-ltsville, Habersham County, Georgia, to which place he had moved from
Sa-v^nriah prior to his first election to Congress.
I"- iRuT.-CoL, Fb.\ncis H. Harris, a gallant soldier of the Revolutionary
™'"» \vas a native Georgian. When the troubles between England and the
?'*J*3»">i*»8 became acute, he was at college in that country, but immediately
."* Slid arrived in Georgia just in time to he one of the first to take up arms
'" ***^l»alf of his native state. He was commissioned captain in the Conti-
""^i^taX Army, and in a little while raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in
"^J'^^nd of a battalion, participating in the expedition to relieve Charleston
^^*^ !*:« the engagements at Camden and Eutawi After the active campaigns
f ^^ over and while General Greene's army was encamped on the high hills
^^^■"ntee, in 1782, Colonel Harris died, and was buried near the camp.
'^'^.MES Thom.\s Pi.iiNKETT. To be elected to an important public office
^^^Hy means that the man so honored possesses sterling qualities of char-
. ^*~ that have been generally recognized by his fellow citizens. This mark
'^^ *^<^nfidenee has been bestowed upon James Xhomas Plunkett, now serving
^^ .^^«?riff of Richmond County, who has long been one of the most popular
e\tia;^j^g of Augusta, and who bids fair to retain his popularity for many years
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2356 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
to come. Sheriff Plunkett was bom in Aiken, South Carolina, Septemher 25,
1881, the aoD of James C. and Mary (Arthur) Plunkett. Hig parents also
were nativea of South Carolina and come of North Irish and Scotch stock.
The father is a, retired farmer and both he and his wife are active members
of the Baptist Church.
John Thomas Plunkett, who was the fifth bom of his parents' seven chil-
dren, was educated in the public schools of Augusta and at a business college,
from which he ^aduated. When a young man he worked on the farm, but
subsequently came to Au^sta, where he first entered the public service as
a police official. After serving two years as patrolman he was promoted to
the rank of sergeant, which he held for one year, at the end of that time being
appointed — in 1908— aa deputy sheriff and jailor for Richmond County. This
appointment he secured by virtue of his fine record both as patrolman and
sergeant. As undersheriff he served six years, and so acceptably that -his
election to the office of sheriff, July 1, 1914, was no surprise to those who had
closely followed his career. In this office he is the successor of John W. Clark,
another very popular citizen of Augusta, who resigned it in order to accept
the office of postmaster. Mr. Plunkett is the youngest man elected sheriff
of Richmond County during the last half century and the only one to be
elected without opposition. He is an active member of the democratic party
and as a citizen is progressive and public spirited, willing at any time to
correspond with outside parties desiring information in regard to local possi-
bilities, whether commercial, industrial or agricultural. His fraternal affilia-
tions are with the Masons, Eagles, Knights of Pythias, Red Men and Junior
Order of United American Mechanics. In religion he is a Baptist.
On October 8, 1908, Sheriff Plunkett was united in marriage with Miss
Margaret Mabel Kent, of Augusta, a daughter of Lewis W. and Isabelle
(Touchstone) Kent. Mrs.'Plunkett's father, who was a Confederaie soldier,
died August 28, 1911. Her mother is still living and resides in Augusta.
Sheriff Plunkett and wife are the parents of three children : Edna Lewis,
bom September 5, 1911 ; Bhoda Isabelle, bom November 11, 1913 ; and James
Thomas, Jr., bom November 16, 1915. The second was named Rhoda after
her great-grandmother, grandmother and aunt. Although concerned with
the enforcement of law Sheriff Plunkett is a generous and kind-hearted naan,
and has a host of friends in all walks of life, whose confidence he has never
betrayed and who may be counted upon to support him in any legitimate
aspiration of his future career.
Alonzo Leb Franklin. One of the ablest advocates of the Georgia
bar is Alonzo L. Franklin, solicitor general for the Augusta Circuit.
As Mr. Franklin has reached, hut not passed, his mature prime, much strong
professional work attaches to both his past and future career. A native of
Georgia, Mr. Franklin is a son of that ardent southern patriot, John E.
Franklin, who joined the army at the age of sixteen years, who served a four-
years' term and who lost an eye at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war,
his strong personality made itself felt in various public affairs. Settling in
Burke County, his native community, he engaged in school -teaching as his
first vocational activity. He was moreover deeply interested in local civic
affairs and among his political honors and services was his incumbency of the
office of tax collector for Burke County, In 1881 he removed to Richmond
County, where be became identified with Augusta's mercantile enterprises.
Here he remained until his death, which occurred in 1895, at the age of fifty-
six years. The companion of his manhood home was Emma Younghlood
Franklin, who yet survives her husband, and who resides in Mathews, Geoi^a.
Their children were two and both were sons. Benjamin Franklin died in
Augusta in 1896. His brother is the special subject of this sketch.
Alonzo Lee Franklin was bom to the above-mentioned parents on Decem-
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GEOBQIA AND GEOBGIANS 2357
ber 16, 1873, at their home In Burke Comity, Qeorgia. He was given the
advantages of the Richmond County public schools and particularly those of
Augusta. His academic education was further extended through courses in
the Eimberlin Heights School of Tennessee, where he spent two years, and
in the Milligan College of the same state, where he studied for four addi-
tional years. Having selected the law as his profession, he then proceeded
to take up its practical study in the ofBce of the Hon. Henry C. Hammond,
who has since become the judge of the Superior Court of Augusta Circuit.
When Mr. Franklin had completed his research under that capable tutelage,
he was admitted to the bar by the Hon. E. L. Brinton, judge of fhe Superior
Court of the Augusta Circuit The date of that auspicious circumstance was
January 25, 1901, and immediately thereafter the young lawyer entered upon
practice in Augusta. The first ofBee tendered him by his townsmen as a
political tribute was that of commissioner of police. In that office he served
for five years. In 1912 Mr, Franklin was elected solicitor general of the
Augusta Circuit. He entered upon the duties of the oflSce on the first day of
the succeeding year and still continues in the able and efficient performance
of its duties. Pis term for the elected office ends on January 1, 1921, he having
ance been elected to succeed himself.
Mr. Franklin is a true Southerner in his gracious social qualities and his
firm loyalty to state and city. He has many fraternal connections. He is a
Mason, a Shriner of both Savannah and Augusta, a member of the Knights
of Pythias, of the Fraternal Order of Fa^es, of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and Ked Men and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elka. The variety and extent ot tiis interests in the social fraternities in no
*[«« diminishes his consistent faithfulness to church responsibilities. The
■Oisciples' or Christian Church is that of Mr, Franklin's membership. He is
a deacon in the organization of the First Church of Augusta and since the
departure of the Very Honorable Justice Lamar from the city, Mr. Franklin
baa been the teacher and lecturer of the Bible class of the same church.
Tiese labors and enthusiasms are shared by Mrs. Franklin, who is active in
flumerous movements of the church society and is a teacher in its Sunday-
school.
JUrs. Franklin is a South Carolina lady and formerly resided in Edge-
field of that state, where her parents, John A. and Lucinda McDaniel, have
long- been well known. It was on December 22, 1902, -that Katherine McDan-
^^J became Mrs. Alonzo L. Franklin. The Franklin home is one of attractive
^'*it>S3)here and its owners among Augusta's most popular people.
Vv iLLi.\ii V. Ogletree. a scion in the fourth generation of one of the
P'l ^Lxsd honored families of Qeorgia, with whose history the name of Ogletree
?** l>«en worthily identified since the early pioneer epoch, William Vernon
i^l^tTee has gained precedence as one of the progressive and infiuential
rjj^**=>.eas men of his native City of Atlanta, where he is secretary, treasurer
?''^ ^^neral manager of the Phoenix Planing Miir Company, of which his
>*"-^T is president, the two being associated in the ownership and control
p, ^-*^ extensive business which had its inception prior to the Civil war, the
*"**^^^ix Planing Mill being the largest and most important in Atlanta and
i. ^ «Df the oldest in the state, so that it stands as a veritable landmark in
»^ _ ^sapital city. The present company was incorporated in 1888, and' the
-m-?^*]e8s is now owned exclusively by the father and son, Samuel H. and
. *J-3am V. Ogletree. The business of the company is of broad scope and
' - t^^rsrtance, and in connection with the various operations employment is
S^^», under normal conditions, to a corps of about 175 men, so that it
*^*'*'esents one of the staunch industrial enterprises contributing to the
^ ^**'niercial supremacy of the Georgia metropolis. The secretary, treasurer
'■"^ general manager of this company has been identified with the same from
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2358 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
liis youth, has familiarized himself thoroughly with all details of the lum-
ber business in its varied phases, and won his way through the varions minor
grades of advancement until he assumed his present executive position, in
whii;h he has the supervision of one of the most extensive manufactories aod
enterprises of its kind in the entire South.
William Vernon Ogletree was born in Atlanta on the 4th of October, 1872,
and is a son of Samuel Harrison Ogletree and Josephine (Cash) Ogletree,
the former of whom was born in Atlanta and the latter at Fredericksburg,
Virginia. The father has now virtually retired from active business, though
still retaining the presidency of the Phoenix Planing Mill Company, and he
and his wife reside at Clermont, Florida. Of their children four sons and
one daughter are living, and all are residents of Atlanta. Samuel H. Ogle-
tree is a ««on of George Troup Ogletree, who was bom in Troup County,
Georgia, a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of that
section of the state, but who passed the major part of his life in Atlanta,
where he was a successful biisiness man and influential citizen, his sou,
Samuel H., having been born March 4, 1847, and having been for many
years one pf the most prominent and honored citizens of his native city, in
the upbuilding of which he gave substantial co-operation and to which he
accords the utmost loyalty, though now living retired in Florida. He was
a gallant soldier in the Confederate service during the war between the
states, as a member of a company commanded by Captain Lewis, and in this
connection he signally honored hi» native state and the cause in whose defense
he was arrayed. He is a stalwart and lifelong democrat and both he and bis
wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
After having duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools
of Atlanta William V. Ogletree here completed a course in a business college,
and thus fortified himself the more adequately for commercial life. He
identitied himself with the Phoenix Planing Mill Company, and he has
become one of the southern authorities in knowledge of and administrative
facility in this important line of industrial and commercial enterprise. He
is one of the progressive and vigorous business men who are effectually
upholding the commercial precedence of Atlanta and his eivie loyalty and
public spirit are of the most insistent type. He is a valued member of the
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and is at the present time, 1915, treasurer
of the Yellow Pine Sash, Door and Blind Manufacturers Association. Though
never a seeker of official preferment, Mr. Ogletree is unwavering in his
allegiance to the democratic party, and both be and his wife are members
of Trinity Church, Methodist Episcopal, South. In the Masonic fraternity
he has received, up to the time of this writing, fourteen degrees. The family
Jiome, at 80 Wabash Avenue, is a center of much representative social
activity, and the offices of the Phoenix Company are at 321 Highland
Avenue.
On the 24th of June, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ogletree
to Miss Pearl Nolley. aifd they have two children, Lucille Vernon, who waa
born in June, 1909, and Virginia, who was born in April, 1911.
Hon. Sheijxjn Perkins Smith. When someone speaks of the grand old
man of Lyons and Toombs County it is only the stranger in that community
who has to be informed that reference is made to the venerable judge of the
Probate Court, Sheldon Perkins Smith. Now nearly eighty-five years of age,
practically his entire life has been one of unselfish service and devotion to
his fellow men and his home community. It is common report in Toombs
County that Judge Smith, as a result of his impulsive and broad-minded
generosity, has given away a fortune. In fact he has apparently found his
chief pleasure in helping those fhat needed help, regardless of politics, reli-
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QEOBaiA. AND GEORGIANS 2359
&oa or creed. It would be difficult to conceive a higher degree of esteem than
that paid by his fellow citizens to this fine old citizen of Lyons,
Born in the State of Rhode Island June 27, 1831, Judge Smith is a son
of Nicholas Peck and Urania (Turtelott) Smith. America has been the home
of this branch of the Smith family for about two centuries. The immigrant
fiocestor was Christopher Smith, who came from England and settled in
Jihode Island, and his oldest son wa$ Benjamin. The line of descent thence-
forward is traced through Stephen, Simeon, Nicholas and finally Judge
Smith. On the maternal side the Turtelott family were French Huguenots,
Judge Smith's grandmother Dorcas Turtelfttt married Capt. Jonathan
Abom, who was master of a sailing vessel, and he died while on a voyage at
CaJcutta, India, in June, 1820, The family was established in Georgia by
jVieholas Peek Smith, who in 1824 came to Tattnall County and established
a tuereantile enterprise. In 1832 he sent North for bis family, and they made
their liome on the Altamaha River in Tattnall County, where he continued
his career as a successful merchant and planter until his death in 1867 at the
age of eighty years. His wife passed away in 1841. There was a large family
of children, including the following; Dorcas, who died in Toombs County in
February, 1911 ; Daniel, who died in Plainfield, New York ; Urania, who
married Parquhar MeRae, and she died at Mount Vernon; Sheldon Perkins,
Beit in age: Nicholas P,, who died of yellow fever at Savannah in 1876;
Mary _A., who first married Dr. Lucicn Tucker, and is now the widow of
pr. Ja.mes Harrison and resides in Washington, D. C. ; Elizabeth -died in
I'ihGtrty County, Georgia, in 1858;' Robert A. died at Charleston, South Caro-
lina, in 1863 from typhoid fever while in the Confederate army. The daugh-
ters -were all educated in the Ladies' Seminary at Warren, Rhode Island,
Judge Smith finished his education under a private tutor. Col. J. S. Brad-
y^U, at Hinesville, Georgia. For a number of years he was with his father
iJi the store, until the latter'a death, and then employed his resources in
merchandising and planting in Tattnall County. The most prominent fea-
ture of his career, however, has not been his business success, but his official
service. During the Civil war Governor Joseph E. Brown, the war governor
*i Georgia, appointed him justice of the peace for Tattnall, later Toombs
County, and that office he filled with admirable ability and with an adminis-
tration of justice which was firm but kindly, sympathetic and interested, for
fwlly half a century, 'from 1863 until 1913. In 1913 Judge Smith was elected
Judge of Probate or Ordinary for Toombs County, and in that dignified and
useful office it is likely that he will spend his last days. Judge Smith has
™way8 been an admirer of the principles of Masonry, though he has never
joined the order himself.
On December 5, 1853, in Tattnall County he married Miss Frances Bell,
who -was bom in Tattnall County, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth E.
(Johriaon) Bell. Her mother was the daughter of Allen E. Johnson. After
piope than half a century of married companionship Mrs. Smith passed away
^Q June, 1908. Thirteen children were born to her, and a number of them
^^ still living and filling dignified and useful positions in the world. Eliza-
^^^ died in 1871; Frances E. is the wife of Harrison Clifton, of Toombs
r'*'J*^ty; Dorcas married Henry Mann and died in Toombs County; Joseph
^: *s a resident of Kingsland, Georgia ; Sheldon P. lives in Geneva, Florida
fjicholaa was accidentally killed by the Southern Railway at Baxley, Georgia
^^'*'y, who married Dan McMillan died in Montgomery County, Georgia,
_^'^ta.-via died in Tattnall County; Robert is now state representative from
rcK*Tr»bs County and a farmer in that locality; Allen is an engineer for the
^^*^i'p;ia Southern Railway at Valdosta; Daisy is the wife of J. A. Pearson,
1!v*i alternates in residence between Savannah and Tattnall County ; Simeon
a'^d in infancy; Louise lives at home with her father in Lyons.
t*rior to the war both Judge Smith and his father owned from forty to
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2360 GEORGIA AND GBOBQIANS
fifty slav^ and conducted one of the lai^est plantations in Tattnall County,
However, slavery was not an institution which Judge Smith favored, and he
literally fought the secession movement in Georgia, and for that reason
aroused much ill feeling and prejudice against him. The unpopularity of
that time has long since passed away, and the views which he advocated almost
alone have long since been accepted by the great majority of right thinking
people.
Simeon Isaac Hubsey, There has been every evidence of success in the
business career of Mr. Hussey, who for many years has been identified with
Lyons, and his position as a citizen is indicated by his office as mayor and his
service in many capacities in Toombs County and his home town. It is a
matter of interest to recall Ihat when Mr. Huasey was fifteen years of age
he was doing a grown man's manual toil, and had neither education nor
opportunity. Through his own efiEorts he enlarged the horizon of hirf endeavors,
' and few men deserve so thoroughly the honorable appellation of self-made
man.
All his family were natives of Colleton County, South Carolina,' where
Simeon Isaac was bom October 22, 1862, a son of Simeon Arthur and
Lavinia (Wimberly) Hussey, His father served for four years in the Con-
federate army, was a farmer, and after the war moved to Florida where he
still resides at seventy-seven years. His wife died at twenty-eight years o(
age. At the time of his mother's death Simeon was five years of age and he was
sent to the home of his grandparents, who' were people of modest means, and
while pving him food and shelter during his growing years they were unable
to extend to him the advantages of schools. His grandmother, Annie (Moorer)
Hussey, was the widow of Edward Hussey, and about the time the boy entered
her home had married James Heaton. There were few cheerful features of
Mr. Hussey 's boyhood. However, ambition was with him and he early deter-
mined to get some kind of schooling, and in order to pay his way he did a
man's work in sawmills, turning the logs with a cant hook, and from time to
. time attended school and secured bool^ which he studied, and thus gained
the equivalent of a common school education. He was skillful with the use
of tools, and in time learned the trades of wheelwright, blacksmith and horse
shoer.
Coming to Jefferson County, Georgia, he was for seven years on the track
department of the Central of Geoi^a Railway. Later he moved to Toombs
County, and set up a blacksmith and wagon shop, and that was the substantial
basis for his successful business career. After three yeara he sold his shop and
business to advantage, and then entered merchandising. A year later he
became a member of the firm known as The Lyons Trading Company, but two
years afterwards sold his interests to J, P. Brown. Then began a partnership
with John Thompson, under the name Hussey & Thompson, Following the
panic of 1907 Mr, Hussey bought his partner's stock t^id continued business
alone until 1912. In that year he sold his general store and has since directed
his attention to the upbuilding of a general hardware and implement business,
and his is now the largest and most prosperous individual enterprise in
Lyons.
With business prosperity has come many honors of a civic nature. He is
a member of the board of roads and revenues and since January 1, 1915, has
served as a county commissioner of Toombs County. For eight years he was a
member of the city council and is now in his second term as mayor of Lyons.
Mr. Hussey owns valuable residence property in Lyons and in spite of
inauspicious beginning has accumulated a competence when hardly past his
prime. He is a democrat, is a member of the Masonic order, and while not
a member of any church supports and attends the different denominations.
At "Wadley, Geoi^, December 14, 1887, he married Miss Fannie Thigken.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2361
She waa bom in Washington County, Georgia, but was reared in Jefferson
County and is a danghter of Alfred and Malissa (Coleman) Thigken, who
were also native Georgians, Mr. Hussey and wife have two children, both bom
in Jefferson County. Venice is the wife of Dr. P. S. Pike, who waa born in
Vir^nia and is in active practice at Lyons. Cecil Quise Hussey is now
assistant cashier in tie Bank of Toombs County at Lyons, and is one of the
most promising of the younger business men of that city. Mr. Hussey has
naturally realized the handicaps imposed upon his own career through lack
of early educational training, and for that reason has been exceedingly
ambitious to give his own children the best of opportunities. This he has
accomplished though at the expense of much self denial, and he and his wife
in earlier years frequently denied themselves in order that their children
might never know restriction to their advancement. It should also be noted
that Mr. Hussey has a brother, Dr. S. A. Hussey, who educates himself and is
now a successful dentist at Newberry, Florida.
"William Pitt Calaway Smith. No more striking illustration of the
possibilities lying in American grit, energy and enterprise could be presented
than the career of William Pitt Calaway Smith, of Lyons. Seventeen years
ago, when he first came to the county seat of Toomba County, he had naught
save a cherished ambition to become a merchant, an enei^tic spirit and
great determination, with which he started to work at a salary of $30 per
month. Today he is at the head of a concern that does an annual business
amounting to $100,000, the leading factor in the commercial life of the
city. Truly, here is one worthily entitled to be named as a self-made man.
Mr. Smith was bom at Cotton Hill, Clay County, Georgia, February 22,
1875, and is a son of Albert H. and Sally J. (Hobba) Smith, natives respect-
ively of Macon and Clay counties, Georgia, born in 1840 and 1842. The
father, who devoted the active years of his life to teaching, and became a
well-known educator in Clay, Early and other counties of Southwest Georgia,
is now living a retired life at Bainbridge, Georgia, where the mother also
resides. They have been active members of the Baptist Church, have been
earnest workers in the religious and educational life of their community, and
through years of Christian and upright living have earned and retained the
confidence and respect of the people of their community. They have been the
parents of six children, as follows : Mies Beulah, who lives with hur parents at
Bainbridge; Charles H., who is engaged in the hardware business at Grace-
ville, Florida; Lela, who died January 1, 1899, at Lyons, Georgia, a« the' wife
of W. G. Norton ; William Pitt Calaway ; Maggie, who is the wife of T. J.
Forrester, of Dothan, Alabama; and Hattie, who is the wife of W. T. Ivey,
of Pinehurst, Georgia,
The early education of William P. C. Smth waa secured under the precep-
torship of his father, following which he attended the public schools of Blakely,
Jiarly County, and later took a course at Bethel College, Cuthbert, Randolph
County, where he was graduated at the age of twenty years. In the meantime,
however, he had entered upon his career. He was only fourteen years of age
when his industry secured him a position in the postoEQce, and while he was
attending school at Blakely and Cuthbert he spent his spare hours in working
in stores, it having been his earliest ambition to become a hardware merchant.
Mr, Smith came to Lyons in 1898, a young man of twenty-three years, without
capital, but with much ambition, energy and experience. His first position
waa with J. C. Strange, who paid him $30 per month for clerking in bis general
store and when Mr. Strange sold out to W. C. Oliver, Mr. Smith remained
with the new management. By the year 1905 he was receiving a salary of
$125 and had saved $1,500, and with this modest sum he decided to venture
upon an enterprise of his own. Accordingly he invested his capital in a hard-
ware concern, the first exclusive business of its kind at Lyons, and thus realized
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2862 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the ambition of his youth when he threw its doors open to the public. To
many the new venture seemed doubtful, but Mr. Smith had faith in his ability
and judgment, which were vindicated when the business made a net profit of
$3,000 during the first twelve months of its existence. In 1907, desiring to
expand, he organized ' the Minter-Smith Hardware Company, selling a 'one-
fourth interest to W. R. Minter, a local banker, and a one-fourth interest to
P. M. Smith, for which interest he received a bonus of $1,000 and 100
cents on the dollar for his stock in trade. One year later, under his manage-
ment, the business paid 125 per cent in dividends, and since that time he has
paid no less than 25 per cent annually to his partners, while frequently the
dividends have reached 45 per cent. In 1910 Mr. Smith purchased the inter-
est of W. R. Minter and sold it to R. L. O'Neill, one of his former clerks, a
chosen friend and sturdy co-worker, who has steadily increased his holdings
in the company and is now Mr. Smith's associate. The new company built a
modern brick store building that would be a credit to a city many times the
size of Lyons, having a tloor space of 6,375 square feet, in addition to a large
and modem warehouse and other buldings. The business handles general
hardware, furniture, automobiles, etc,, does a general jobbing business in plows
and farming implements, and buys largely in carload lots for spot cash, on one
occasion having purchased as much as twenty-six carloads of fence wire. In
the first two months of the year 1914, the firm sold, forty-five Ford automo-
biles as agents for that concern, and at this time handles also the agency for
the Buick automobile. The firm conducts also the only undertaking establish-
ment at Lyons, a department of the business which is operated in the most
up-to-date manner, having modern equipment and every appliance for the
reverent and sanitary handling of the dead. In 1910 a branch store was
started at Uvalda and this also has been a successful venture and is sharing
the main establishment's rapid growth.
Mr. Smith is vice president of the First National Bank of Lyons, of which
he was one of the incorporators, this institotion having been founded in 1900,
with a capital of $25,000, and now having a surplus of $5,000. Like all the
ventures with which Mr. Smith's name is connected, it is sound and substan-
tial, and bears an excellent reputation in banking circles in this part of Gieorgia.
Mr. Smith's contribution to the upbuilding of Lyons includes two modem
business blocks, erected by him in 1914 and his own residence, one of the finest
in Lyons, in addition to which he is the owner of much city realty and valu-
able farming lands, the latter being rented to tenants. He has served Lyons
one term, 1910, in the ofBce of mayor, but declined other offices until the spring
of 1916, when he was again elected mayor of the city. He has always been
a stanch supporter of the cause of education, and has served as a member of
the school board. With his family, he belongs to the Baptist Church. While
he is a genial and companionable man, with numerous friends, he probably
finds his greatest pleasure in the bosom of his'family, and his yearly vacations
consist of a trip of one month in his automobile, accompanied by his wife and
children. He is a man of generous disposition, large in his benevolences and
always desirous of helping young men, four of whom unreservedly attribute
their success in life to the start given them by Mr. Smith. He is justly proud
of his success, which he attributes solely to hard work and honorable dealing,
but his prosperity has not turned his head, and he is as easily approached as
he was seventeen years ago, when, a humble and modest youth, he was glad
to enter the life of a rising young community and share its fortunes,
Mr. Smith was married September 19, 1900, to Miss Minnie Lee Coleman,
who was born September 4, 1883, in Emanuel County, Georgia, and reared and
educated at Lyons, daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Sallie (Johnson) Cole-
man, natives of South Carolina. Mr, Coleman settled in Emanuel County as
a young man, engaged in agricultural pursuits for some years, and then turned
his attention to general merchandising, being at this time one of the leading
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GEOBGIA AND GEOEGIANS 2363
merchants of Paisley, Florida. Mrs. Coleman died in Georgia, in 1910. Mr.
and Mrs. Smith are the parents of two children : Tiny Maud, bom August 24,
1903 ; and Embry Maxwell, bora September 7, 1906. Mrs. Smith, a lady of
many accomplishments, is a general favorite in social circles of Lyons and has
taken an active and helpful part in charch, club and charitable work.
David Blackshear. On the banks of the Chinquapin Creek not far from
Trenton, North Carolina, January 31, 1764, David Blackshear was bom,
. being the third of eight children. While still a boy of twelve years of age
he followed bis older brothers into the Revolutionary stru^le for liberty of
the colonies. He was present at the battle of Moore's. Creek and at the
skirmish at Buford's Bridge. After the close of the war he made several
trips to Georgia in a surveying party, running lines and measuring lands in
Wilkes^ County, under the old head-rights system of (franting lands to those
who chose to take them up from the Government. Thoste trips taught him the
hardships of border life, and attracted him to the new soil of a frontier state.
Accordingly, in 1790, David Blackshear moved to Georgia and settled in the
limits of the present County of Laurens, which «as then a part of Washing-
ton County. The remainder of the Blackshear family soon followed him,
took up lands in his neighborhood, and from them have sprung a large num-
ber of descendants who now reside in the state. His skill as a planter and
his general integrity as a citizen soon made him a man of note among his
neighbors, and in 1796 and 1797 he served as justice of the peace. In the
latter )year he was also a major and received orders for organizing his brigade
in view of a prospective war with Prance at that time. His interest in military
affairs continued all his life and led him to his greatest fame in the War of
1812. The approach of that conflict found Georgia taking active measures to
provide herself with defenses, and Povernor David B, Mitchell, in 1812, pro-
moted Major Blackshear to the rank of a brigadier-general. He was at once
called into active service to assist in defending the state against threatened
attacks of the British from the south, as well as from the uprising of the Creeks
in Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida.
Gen. Andrew- Jackson had successfully carried on the war against the
Creeks in Alabama, but hastened to Mobile, where he learned that the British
had landed troops at Pensacola and at Appalachicola and were inciting
the Indians to overrun Georgia. Governor Peter Early appointed General
Blackshear to the command of the frontier.
News soon came that the Seminoles had risen along Flint River, and
General Blackshear was sent with a body of troops to subdue them. When
he reached the Flint River he found that the Indians had dispersed and that
General Jackson had moved to New Orleans. In January, 1815, a large fleet
of British vessels appeared off the coast of Georgia. General Blackshear was
promptly ordered to join General Floyd at Savannah. He started out at
once and the road he built for his march on that occasion was called "The
Blackshear Road," and as such is known at the present day. News of the
victory at New Orleans came hy Indian runners fcom Mobile to Fort Haw-
kins, the present site of the City of Macon. Soon after, news reached Georgia
that the Treaty of Ghent had put a stop to the war. This ended the active
militarj' career of General Blackshear, who retired to his home in Laurens
County on the Oconee River, and resumed his peaceful occupations of farm-
ing and wine trrowing. The Legislature of 1815 passed a resolution of thanks
to General Blackshear and the other officers who had served the state in
the war.
The Legislature of 1815 appointed him a member of the board of com-
missioners for the improvement of the navigation of the Oconee River. This
employment took much time and labor, with no reward except the commis-
sioner's duty well done.
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2364 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
General Blackehear was senator from Laurens County in the Legislature
from 1816 to 1S25, up to the time he voluntarily withdrew from public life.
He died on the 4th of July, 1837.
William B. Bulloch, son of Archibald Bulloch, patriot and first gov-
ernor of ^outh Carolina under the Revolutionary government, was born in
1776. He received the best education obtainable at that time, studied law,
and commenced the practice of the profession at Savannah, in 1797. He
promptly gained recognition at the bar, and in 1804 was appointed by Presi-
dent Jefferson United States attorney for the District of Georgia. In 1809
he became mayor of Savannah, and served until the War of 1812, when he
became a major in the Savannah Heavy Artillery. In 1813, when WUliam
H. Crawford resigned from the United States Senate, Mr. Bulloch was
appointed by the governor pro tempore senator, and served from May 24,
1813, to December 6, 1813, when W. Wyatt Bibb, who had been elected as
Mr, Crawford's successor, took his seat. He also served the state as a solicitor
general of his circuit. In 1816 ^be became one of the founders of the State
Bank of Georgia and served as its president from that time until 1843,
twenty-seven years. In 1844 he was appointed collector of customs at the
Port of Savannah, receiving the strongest endorsements of such men as
Howell Cobb, William H. Stiles, and John M. Berrien. Mr. Bulloch served
in both branches of the State Legislature and several times as a presidential
elector, and was one of the incorporators and a vice president of the Qeoi^a
Historical Society. He died at Savannah on May 6, 1852, •
Charles Worth Spares. The oldest resident lawyer of Vidaiia and the
second oldest in years of practice, Charles Worth Sparks, since his admission
to the bar in 1903, has become known as one of the leading legists of the
. Middle Circuit. During the period of his practice he has been connected,
on one side or another, with the majority of complications calling for adjust-
ment in Toombs County, many of them requiring profound and expert legal
experience. As a legislator he has also won commendation from the people and
haa rendered his community valuable service.
Mr. Sparks belongs to a family of Scotch lineage which traces its ancestry
directly to royal blood, the good Queen Bess on one side and the Rob Roy elan
on the other. Three brothers settled in this country poor to the Revolution,
in which all took part, Jared P. locating in Massachusetts, William.H. settling
in Louisiana, and Thomas R., from whom Charles Worth Sparks is descended,
coming to Georgia. Wilsbire H. Sparks, the father of Charles W. Sparks,
was born August 20, 1820, in Putnam County, Georgia, ind was there reared
and educated and entered his vocation as a planter. When-the war between
the states came on he enlisted in Company B, recruited in Putnam County,
which became a part of the famous Forty-fourth Georgia Regiment, and with
this organization served until 1863, In that year he returned to his home
and planted a crop and then re-enlisted in the Confederate service, becoming
a member of the state militia, with which he served until the cessation of hos-
tilities. His service was at all times characterized by the utmost bravery and
faithful performance of duty, and no man in his regiment was more greatly
admired by his comrades or held in higher esteem by his officers. He partici-
pated in numerous fiercely-fought engagements, including the Battle of Resaca
and the Atlanta campaign, and at all times was found at his post, cheerfully
fulfilling the commands of his superiors. Mr. Sparks belonged to that class of
■ rich planters who left their all to fight for the cause which they believed just
and who suffered great and irreparable loss. His rich plantation lay directly
in the path of Sloeum's Corps, of the great Union army of General Sherman,
whose men took everything that could be removed and destroyed everything
that could not. With the fall of the Lost Cause Mr. Sparks found himself a
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2365
ruined man in middle life, with the resultB of his labors swept away. This
would have been enough, and was, to discourage the majority of men, hut Mr.
Sparks possessed the kind of courage and perseverance, the indomitable spirit
and determination, that placed hira above the majority. With resolute industry
he applied himself to the accumulation of another fortune, and at the time
of his death, November 19, 1901, had entirely recuperated his lost wealth. Mr.
Sparks was a man of deep religious belief and of the Primitive Baptist faith,
a close and thorough Bible student and a man of charitable and benevolent
nature, strict int«grity and constant probity. While he did not join any con-
gregation he was made moderator of the old Salem Baptist Church afxd con-
tinued to serve in that capacity for thirty-five years. He married Nancy
Smith, who was horn in Jasper County, Georgia, and died February 29, 1904,
and both were interred in the cemetery in Putnam County. Like her husband,
Mrs. Sparks led a Christian life, and was beloved by her neighbors and friends
and held in the highest regard by all who knew her. They were the parents
of nine children, of whom five are living: Emma, who is the widow of Capt.
J. B. Reeee, of Miami, Florida; James Robert, a merchant and farmer of
Eatonton, Georgia ; Charles Worth, of this review ; Texiana, who is the wife of
John S, Hardy, of Willard, Putnam County, Georgia; and Jeff Davis, who
read law under Hon. Frank Jenkins, of Eatonton, served four years as judge
of the city coiirts of Brunswick, Georgia, ^d is now one of the leading attor-
neys of Jacksonville, Florida.
Charles Worth Sparks was bom in Putnam County, Georgia, June 29,
1856, and received his early education, there in the old Field School. He then
entered Mercer University, from which he was graduated with the class of
1876, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was then a newspaper
editor seven years and taught school about seven years. At that time he began
the study of law by himself, being admitted to the bar after taking the state
examination successfully, in 1903. Mr. Sparks at once entered upoii the prac-
tice of his profession at Vidalia, and here he has since become one of the lead-
ing members of the bar of the Middle Circuit.
Mr. Sparks has never left any donbt as to his political preferences. He is
emphatically and uncompromisingly democratic, and as law and polities ever
were akin, he has gravitated irresistibly toward this unparalled combination of
opportunities. In the fall of 1912 he was elected to the Georgia General As-
sembly, serving during the term of 1913-14. More than average zeal and
effectiveness characterized the dischai^e of the duties of this office, and
throughout his term the affairs of his constituency were given preference over
all personal duties. His brilliant endowments and unusual resources never
have been more telling than when enlisted on the side of law and order. He
was the father of the law giving nine months of free tuition in the schools of
Vidalia, the law amending roadways separating bridge and road funds, the
law incorporating the Town of Normantown and the law improving the public
school system of Lyons, the county seat of Toombs County. He was active
on the general judiciary committee as well aa the comnuttee on engrossing,
and his entire service was one in which he gave generously of his talents in
an endeavor to advance the welfare of his community. Mr. Sparks has a
wide acquaintance among prominent men in the state, among whom he is
recognized as a southern gentleman of the old school. As a believer in the
policy of raising foodstuffs and cotton as a surplus, he operates a fine farm
in Toombs County, in addition to which he is the owner of one of the com-
fortable homes at Vidalia.
Mr. Sparks' first marriage was to Miss Elizabeth Adams, of Putnam County,
daughter of Capt. Benjamin F. and Pattie (Floumoy) Adams. She died in
the faith of the Methodist Church, in which she had been an active worker
all her life, November 19, 1902. On December 12, 1903, Colonel Sparks was
married to Miss Nancy Anderson, of.Johnson County, Georgia, daughter of
Joel and Anna (Powell) Anderson.
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2366 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
J. F. Cabter. A high-class young business man of Gainesville, J. F, Car-
ter, became identified with merchandising while still a schoolboy, and has gone
along in a progressive manner until he is now one of the coospicuous mem-
bers of the large wholesale grocery house conducted under the name of Carter
Grocery Company, at Gainesville, a business which supplies food commodi-
ties to the people of a large section about that city.
J. P. Carter was bom in Hall County, Georgia, November 23, 1877, a son
of Manning B. and Abbie B, (Pitman) Carter, Both parents were natives
of Georgia and were reared and married in that state. The father was a
merchant at Gillsville, in Hall County, for some fifteen or twenty years and
is still living in the county and is identified with the wholesale grocery house
at Gainesville. He is now fifty-seven years of age. The maternal grand-
father was Dahlonega Pitman, a well-known citizen of Georgia, who died at
the extreme age of ninety-seven years. His life was remarkable for the fact
that he participated in three different wars. His first service was in the. cam-
paign against the Indians in Florida, about ten years later he went into the
army in the brief struggle against Mexico, and finally participated as a soldier
on the Confederate side during the war between the states. His daughter,
Mrs. Carter, is still living at the age of forty-eight.
J, F. Carter is the oldest of eleven children, and as a hoy received his
education in the high school of Gillsville, Georgia, and in the Gillsville and
John Gibson Institute of Bowman, Georgia, and on leaving high school gained
his intimate knowledge of merchandising in his father's store. Some years
ago he organized and established the present successful wholesale business,
which has been developed from small capital and stock to one of large propor-
tions. The company now keeps four traveling representatives covering the
entire northern section of the state. It is incorporated at $50,000, the con-
stituent members being J. F, Carter, Manning B. Carter and 0. A. Carter.
Mr. Carter is independent in politic^ and a member of the Baptist Church,
On Oetpber 6, 1900, at Gillsville, Geoi^a, he married Miss Nettie 0. Day,
daughter of Theo. S. and Missouri B. Day, a well-known family of Hall
County, Mr. and Mrs. Carter have one child, Clyde Carter, bom at Gaines-
ville in 1901, and now attending the Riverside Military Academy of Gaines-
ville, Georgia.
Hon, Chabi.es Gordon Edwards, Now in his fifth consecutive term as
a Georgia representative in Congress, Charles G. Edwards is one of the bril-
liant and resourceful public men of Georgia, and has shown real ability as
a leader and successful worker in the domain of national politics. A lawyer
by profession, he comes of one of the finest families of Tattnall County,
where the name is one of the most respected in that section of Georgia.
Congressman Edwards himself is a resident of Savannah, where he began
his law practice fifteen years ago.
Bom in Tatnall County July 2, 1878, he was one of a family of nine
children, seven boys and two girls. One eon, Robert H. Edwards, died two
years ago leaving six sons. The brothers and sisters of Congressman
Edwards are: J. C, Dr. T. M., Robert H., W. L., Dr. S, 0,, and Grover
Cleveland Edwards; and Mrs. Jennie Hendricks and Mrs, Dr. B. E. Miller.
All his brothers are highly respected citizens and are all living in the county
of their birth, engaged in farming and other business and professional
pursuits.
The first American ancestor of Congressman Edwards was Willis F.
Edwards, who came from England to Virginia, moved from that state to
North Carolina, and was one of the substantial farmers and planters in
those states during colonial and early statehood times. The distinguishing
part of his record was his service as a soldier in the Continental line during
the Revolutionary war. He enlisted from North Carolina. The old powder
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS ' 2367
gourd which be carried id the war is now in the National Museum at Wash-
ington, D. C, This patriot and first settler ot the Edwards family married
Sarah O'Neal. Her family first settled in Virginia, later moving to North
Carolina, and her father, John O'Neal, was likewise a soldier in the Revo-
lution, and as the name indicates came originally from Scotland. One of
the sons of the RevolutioAary soldier was also named Willis P. Edwards,
and lived in North Carolina. In the next generation was Dr. William H.
Edwards, grandfather of the Georgia congressman. He came to Georgia as
a mere boy, settling in Tattnall County, where he earned the distinction of
casting the first democratic vote in that county. He was a prominent phy-
sician and also a citizen and served as member of two constitutional con-
ventions in this state. He was a member of the Methodist Church. He
owned large tracts of land in Tattnall, Bryan and adjoining counties. Doctor
Edwards married Miss Sands of Tattnall County. She was of Irish extrac-
tion, with some Scotch admixture. They reared a large family, only two
of whom are now living : Hon, Willis F, Edwards, third, and Hon. Thomas
J. Edwards of Tattnall County.
Hon. Thomas Jefferson Edwards, father of Charles G,, was born in Tatt-
nall County and in business lines has followed farming and merchandising.
His early education was limited because of the fact that the war broke out
in his early manhood and he was one of the boy soldiers of the Confederacy.
He served throughout the war from 1861 until the close as a private in the
ranks, and for a time was a courier with Gen. Bob Anderson. He and five
brothers entered the war, one of therft was killed on the battlefield and two
wounded. Thomas J. Edwards represented Tattnall County two terms in
the House of Representatives, and is an active democrat and Methodist. He
married Miss Ann Conley, who died two years ago, and is buried in the
Brenton Cemetery in Tattnall County (now Evans County). Her father
was the late Bev. William Fletcher Conley, while her mother was a Miss
Boring, who came from the vicinitj' of Ringgold, Georgia. Rev, William F.
Conley was one of the ablest ministers of the Methodist Church in Tattnall
County, and he likewise served as a member of the constitutional conven-
tion many years ago. The Conlcys were also among the earliest American
settlers and some of them saw service in the Revolutionary war.
With the example of so many courageous and worthy ancestors before
him and around him, Charles Gordon Edwards may be said to have been
fortunate from his very birth. As a boy he attended the common schools
of Tattnall and Bryan counties, the Gordon Institute at Bftmesville, the
Florida Agricultural College at Lake City, Florida, and in 1898 took his
degree LL. B. from the law department of the University of Georgia. He
was a member of a graduating class in law school of forty men, and a num-
ber of others in the same class have since risen to distinction. Among them
might be mentioned Richard M. Le-ster, prominent at the bar and in state
politics, now a partner in the law practice with Mr. Edwards under the
firm name of Edwards & Lester ; Congressman J. R. Walker ; Railroad Com-
missioner J. A. Perry ; Representatives Powler of Bibb County, J. P. Mitchell
of Thomas County, J. O, Adams of Gainesville, Georgia, and Assistant United
States Attorney Charles Akerman.
When only twenty years of age Mr. Edwards began practice at Reids-
ville in Tattnall County, but from there moved to Savannah and has been
a member of the bar of that city since January, 1900. In these fifteen years
he has had three partnerships. While at Reidsville he was with Judge J. V_
Kelley under the firm name of Kelley & Edwards; at Savannah was with
Col. Robert J. Travis, under the firm name of Travis & Edwards; and
then was associated with Mr. A. L. Alexander, of Savannah, under the firnt
name of Alexander & Edwards until their relationship was dissolved when
Mr. Edwards went to Congress. Mr. Edwards has recently formed a co-part-
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2368 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
nership with Hon. Richard M. Lester. All the firma and the individuals
named have been very auccessful as lawyers in Georgia. Mr. Edwards has,
after ten years of congressional service, declined a re-election to Congress
in order to reiBume his law practice at Savannah, with hia old schoolmate
and friend, Richard M. Lester. Mr, Edwards was the youngest man in the
Sixtieth and Sixty-tirat congresses ever elected from Georgia.
From early youth Mr. Edwards has taken a studious and practical interest
in politics, and after bis admission to the bar and before his removal to
Savannah he was nominated by the democrats for representative of Tattnall
County. He declined the nomination, though there was no opposition and
the nomination practically assured an election, for the reason that he was
preparing to move to Savannah. His natural leadership among men, and
an inheritance of political talent derived from his ancestors on both sides,
kept Mr. Edwards in the center of things political at Savannah, even while
he was busy in establishing his reputation as a lawyer. On October 11, 1906,
at Savannah he was nominated for Congress by the democrats, and waa
elected in the general election of November, 1906. He took his seat in the
Sixtieth Congress, and has since been re-elected to the Sixty-first, Sixty-second,
Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth congresses, serving continuously from March,
1907, with his present term expiring in March, 1917. Those who are best
informed on the subject of individual values in the current congresses at
Washington place a high estimate upon the influence and leadership of
Charles Q. Edwards in the House of Representatives, He is a member of
some of the most important committees, including the committee on rivers
and harbors, and has studied to make of himself a valuable representative
not only of his home state but of the country at large in the solution of all
national problems. It will be recalled that it was Congressman Edwards
who secured the appropriation with which the handsome monument to
Generals Screven and Stewart were erected at Midway Cemetery in Liberty
County, Georgia, He is also a member of the National Good Roads Congress.
There are many organizations and movements which have claimed his
attention and which are the stronger by his member^p. He belongs to
the Georgia Bar A^ociation, the Savannah Bar Association, the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, the various fraternal and benevolent orders, and
shows a keen interest in all charitable work, was a member of the Sigma Na
college fraternity of the University of Georgia Chapter, is afiSUated with
the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles,
the Mystic Shrine, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, etc. He served in
the Savannah Volunteer Guards of the Geoi^a Militia as a private, as cor-
poral and as sei^ant, and was later a lieutenant in the Oglethorpe Light
Infantry, First Georgia Regiment.
On December 17, 1902, Congressman Edwards married at Waycross,
Georgia, Miss Ora Beach. Mrs. Edwards gained her education in the high
school of Waycross, in Cox College at College Park, Georgia, and is a graduate
from the latter institution. She ie a daughter of the late Hon. W. W. and
Mrs. Margie (Hinson) Beach of Waycross. The Hinsons are one of the -
oldest and best known families of Coffee and Jeff Davis counties, Georgia.
Her father, Hon. W. W, Beach, represented his native County of Appling in
the Georgia Lepslature, and subsequently removed to Ware County, Georgia.
He was a popular and progressive citizen, and at the time of his death was
a man of considerable wealth and a large land owner. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards
have one son. Master Charles Beach Edwards, born October 30, 1904.
Wylie Clayton Henson. As a member of the law firm of Finlay & Henson,
W. C. Henson in the eight years of his practice as a lawyer has reached a
position of success and has established many influential connections, and is one
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2369
of the risJDg lawyers of Cartersville. He reptescDts some old and prominent
families of Georgia and the Soath, and for many years his name has carried
weight and influence in this state. '
Wylie Clayton Henson was bom in Gordon County at Rocky Creek Septem-
ber 22, 1880. His parents were James B. and Sarah Prances (Keys) Henson.
His mother, who died in 1912 at the age of fifty-three was a native of Gordon
County and the dAughter of John M. and Serena (Glasgow) Keys. The Keys
family is of Scotch lineage, and Mr, Henson 's great-grandfather, Joshua Keys,
helped to move the Cherokee Indians out of the State of Georgia in 1830. Hia
grandfather John M. Keys was a native of Gordon County, a farmer and slave
owner, and while not able to serve in the war on account of being a cripple hia
two brothers Benjamin and Caleb volunteered at the beginning and both were
slain in- the first battle of Manassas, while another brother, William, served
throughout the war. Mr. Henson 's great-grandfather, William Henson, was
bom in South Carolina, a son of a Virginian, the family having been established
in Vii^nia in the very early, days. William Hensoo on coming to Geoi^a first
settled in Raybum County. The grandfather was Presley T. Henson, who was
born in Raybum County, and was a soldier in the Seminole Indian war under
Andrew Jackson. The gun he used in that war, with his name cut into the
stock, was subsequently issued to a nephew, John Henson, who used it in the
Civil war. Presley T. Henson was a farmer, and in 1853 moved from Cass
Coanty (now Bartow) to Gordon County, where James B. Henson wasbom
in 1856. The latter is one of the respected citizens of Gordon County, a black-
smith by trade, and has long followed hia work at Curryville, a place formerly
known as Rocky Creek. He is an active democrat and a deacon of the Baptist
Church. He owns the old homestead which his father bought in 1853 on coming
to Gordon County. James B. and Sarah Frances (Keys) Henson were the
parents of eight children, of whom Wylie C. was the first; James L. is a mer-
chant at Calhoun, Georgia ; J. Melvin, who lives in Cartersville, is well known
as the author of several song books and is business manager of the Cartersville
News, a local weekly ; Ada S. ; Allen L., a graduate of the Berry School at Rome
and Atlanta Law School, and who was admitted to the practice of law in
December, 1913, and is now an assistant in the attorney general's office at
Atlapta ; Solomon, a graduate of the Berry School and a teacher in Catoosa
County; Paul Thompson Henson, who is pursuing his studies in the Berry
School at Rome ; and Ruth, who lives with her father.
"Wylie C. Henson received his eariy education in the common schools of
Gordon County, later attended the Everett Springs Seminary and was gradu-
ated from the Berry School at Rome in 1904. He then attended the University
of Georgia at Athens and received his A. B. d^ree in 1908, and was also a
member of the Sphinx and Senior Round Table, two honorary organizations.
Mr. Henson took a prominent part in university affairs as a student, was editor
in chief of the Georgian and Pandora, and was also editor of a volume of
poems entitled "Campers Verse" issued in 1907. Mr. Henson began the prac-
tice of law at Cartersville January 5, 1909, and for one year was associated with
"W. A. Millner. Since January 1, 1911, he has been with Colquitt Pinley. This
firm enjoys a large general and corporation practice.
Mr. Henson is active on the side of the democratic party, is affiliated with
the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, etad is
one of the active young members of the Baptist Church, being superintendent
of the Sunday school. His wife is associated with him in church affairs and ia
one of the women prominent in social life at Cartersville.
On August 18, 1908, at Rome Mr. Henson married Miss Naomi S. Bala,
daughter of the late Captain J. A. Bale, a gallant soldier of the Confederate
army, and of Naomi (Shropshire) Bale, his wife. The Bales are a prominent
family at Rome, and more concerning them will be found on other pages of
this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Henson are the parents of three children,
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2370 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Naomi Shroprfiire, bom at CarteraviUe June 18, 1909 ; Francis Keys, bom at
Cartersville July 18, 1911; and Mildred Barksdale, born February 12, 1914.
Mr. HenstHi is a member of the University Club of Atlanta. His chief recrea-
tion is found in study and research, and outside of the law he is fond of other
serious pursuits, especially in the field of philosophy and religion.
Hon. Richard J. Davant. When forty-nine years of age, in the prime of
his years, after a successful record in business, and when at the height of his
influence as a public spirited citizen, wielding a great power in the ofiGce of
mayor of Savannah, Richard James Davant died suddenly on October 9, 1915.
Mayor Davant had spent the day at his farm near Mumerly, Georgia. He
had been in ill health for some time, and had only recently returned from a
month of rest and recuperation in the mountains. He began at once to woi*
in line with his determination to give a vigorous and progressive administration
to municipal affairs. When the suggestion was made to him that it would be
well to begin with more m^eration his reply ii^icates that the premonition
that had hung over him for some months was still there : " I might as well die
working as loafing," said he. Even before the close of the week it was apparent
to those who watched him that it was an effort that could not be sustained. His
spirit was willing but the physical power was gone. With an unconquerable
determination he tept up his work almost to the end, and died as he wished
in the harness of public service.
Richard James Davant was bom in Screven County, Georgia, March 20,
1866, a son of Richard James and Anna Caroline (Maner) Davant. In 1854
his parents came to Savannah from South Carolina. Prior to the war of 1861-5,
the elder Davant was a member of the firm Davant-Hawton, cotton factory and
commission merchants. At the outbreak of the war, he with Maj. William H.
Willberger, was mustered into service in Company D of the Georgia Hussars.
He entered the service of the Confederacy as first lieutenant of that company
and at the surrender he was lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Geoi^a Cavalry.
He was devoted to the cause and to his death he carried a scar that he received
in battle. While a resident of Savannah he served a term as alderman, but
was never a seeker for public honors. His death occurred in Guyton, Georgia
in June, 1H99, when sixty-six years of age. His wife, a woman of refinement
and culture, is now living at the age of eighty-three at Guyton, Georgia. Of
their five children one, Mrs. Belle Davant West, died in 1897, leaving five
children, William M. Davant, one of the three surviving children, is cashier
of the Merchants National Bank of Savannah, The two surviving daughters
are Mrs. R. M. Berrien of Atlanta, and Mrs. J. D. Pickard of Orange, New
Jersey.
From the scene of his birthplace near Sylvania the Davant family in 1868
moved to Guyton, where the late Mayor Davant attended school and he later
attended the Georgia Military Academy at llilledgeville. He left that school
in 1882 at the age of sixteen, and soon identified himself actively with busi-
ness. His first position in Savannah was as a clerk for Thomas P. Bond, in
the wholesale grain and produce business. A few years later he went into the
insurance' business with his father, and still later the firm of Davant & Hunt
was'established to engage in the flour trade, his partner being Charles Hunt.
About that time his father was compelled to retire from business on account
of ill health, and the son established the firm of Davant & Archer, and still
later this became Davant & Company, with Mr. Charles F. Powers as a partner.
The insurance firm of Davant & Company was one of the best known in
Georgia, was thoroughly organized, and had developed many connections in all
classes of general insurance, especially those concerning the navigation and
shipping interests. Mr. Davant was also a director in the Citizens Trust Com-
pany of Savannah and in the Savannah Real Estate & Improvement Company.
His political career began in 1903 when he was elected an alderman with
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2371
Mayor Herman Myera. He received the second largest vote in the election,
and became vice chairman of the council. He was also one of the Klassie School
commissioners. He continued in the council throughout the administration of
Mayor Myers, and was re-elected an alderman in 1906 on Geoi^e W. Tiedeman 'a
ticket. Later he opposed Mr. Tiedeman as candidate for the mayoralty but
was defeated by a small majority. In the winter of 1912 Major Davant was
elected mayor of Savannah over Capt. George P. Walker and took the oflfice of
mayor in January, 1913. In December, 1914, he was re-elected mayor without
opposition for a term of four years, the Legislature during the previous summer
having passed a four-year term bill.
Outside of his career in business and in public affairs bis chief interest was
probably in military affairs. In fact he was one of the best known military
men in Savannah. From the time he was a cadet in the Georgia Military
Academy at JlilledgeviUe he kept up bis interest in army organizations. From
1883 to 1889 he served as private and sergeant in the Savannah Volunteer
Guard, and from 1889 to 1892 was a private and quartermaster sergeant in the
Georgia Hussars. Early in 1907 he was called to the captaincy of the Chatham
Artillerj', an office he accepted on March 14, 1907. It was largely under bis
leadership that the battalion of field artillery was developed, in which he held
the position of major. The basis of this organization was the old Chatham
Artillery and also the Atlanta Battery. On October 20, 1913, he was com-
missioned major of this battalion, and held it until his death. His services as
a military leader and organizer were recognized in the fact that his battalion,
officially known as the First Battalion, Field Artillery, National Guard of
Georgia, was in a recent encampment classed as the best in the southeastern
division. During tbe Spanish- American war Major Davant was first lieutenant
of artillery, bul got no further than the Chiekamauga training ground.
He was an enthusiastic sportsman, and at one time had a splendid collection
of field trial dogs. He was active in kennel clubs and field trial organizations,
and was at one time president of the Georgia Field Trial Association. In
Masonry he was a member of Solomon Lodge No. 1, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, had attained fourteen degrees in the Scottish Rite; was a member of
the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and for a
number of years was captain of Georgia Company, Uniform Rank, Knights of
Pythias. This latter organization became recognized as one of tbe best drilled
companies in the entire organization under Ma.ior Davant as its commanding
officer. He and his family wen); members of the Trinity Methodist Church.
He was also a member of the Oglethorpe Club, the Savannah Yacht Club, and
the German Club of Savannah.
In September, 1890, at Savannah Major Davant married Miss Virginia
Footman. Mrs. Davant is a daughter of Robert H. Footman.
"What Major Davant- accomplished in public affairs, particularly as mayor
of Savannah, can best be told in words of appreciation that appeared in local
newspapers at the time of his death. First to be quoted is Thomas Gamble, Jr.,
who was secretary to Mayor Davant, and had been a witness of municipal
government in Savannah for many years. He said :
' ' I have known eight mayors of Savannah, followed their administration of
city affairs with perhaps more than ordinary interest and closeness, but none I
feel sure was governed by any keener desire to promote' the welfare of the
city than Mayor Davant. Of him it may truly be said : ' Savannah 's interests
were his interests.' His ambition was a single one, to give to Savannah an
administration of its affairs that would deserve and win the commendation of
its citizens. He felt that the operations of the municipal government must take
on a broader and comprehensive scope, that the time had come for an extension
of duties and responsibilities in keeping with the modern conception of
municipal activities.
"It was with this in mind that he projected the playground system, one of
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2372 GEORGIA AND QEOBGIANS
the monumenta that he hoped to permanently establish as a memorial to his
progressiveness and sympathy with the aspirations of the people. The widen-
ing of the usefulness of the public library was close to his heart, and his hope,
I have reason to know, was to make It more than it has ever been the coadjutor
of the public schools, a leading instrumentality in the culture of the people.
It was his hope before his term of office bad closed to have two branch libraries,
bringing the facilities more closely to the different sections of the city.
"He had become convinced that Vamaeraw and the Old Fort, as well as
other parts of Savannah that have known more or less neglect, were worthy of
more attention in this direction. To that end he had intended to call for a plan
from the Park and Tree Commission enumerating the number of trees required
to complete each street north of Park avenue, with a recommendation that
special appropriation be made for certain streets each year until every street
was a veritable bower,
"But for the unfortunate illness that began with the closing months of last
year and marred*, in a measure, his administration of public affairs for 1915,
the record of this ye&r would have equalled that of the first term in its close
supervision of the details of municipal business, in the firm grasp of the
activities of each and every department, and in the closer welding of municipal
work into a harmonious whole,
"Mayor Davant appreciated that the chief weakness of American city
government is the lack of proper co-ordination and while his health permitted
he bad sought zealously and consistently to remedy this in Savannah's govern-
ment. He and his aldermanic board effected reforms that are not perhaps
apparent to the general public, but which have tended materially in this direc-
tion. The organization of a proper accounting department, the installation of a
central purchasing board, were steps in this direction. That Ke contemplated
other measures tending to greater efficiency there is no doubt."
With reference to Mayor Davant'a personal character as well as to his public
work, two vigorous and forceful editorial letters by Savannah papers ^onld
be quoted.
The first is from the Savannah ^loming News: "Announcement of the
death of Richard J. Davant, mayor of the city of Savannah, comes as a moat
regrettable surprise. Less than a week ago he had returned to his desk in the
City Hall refreshed and energetic after a vacation, apparently in better health
than he had been for a year. And yesterday he walked about his farm in Burke
Ckninty, seemingly a vigorous and healthy man, eager to perform the duties
required of him as the head of the city government. Regret for his death is
all the keener because of the game fight he had made to win back his old-time
ru^ed strength and because he was but little past the beginning of bis new
mayoralty term of four years.
"To speak of the traits of bis character that won him so many friends and
that lifted him into the highest office in the gift of the people of Savannah
would be to say what nearly evci-ybody in the city knows from personal eon-
tact with him. He won friends readily and held them strongly because he
impressed them with a sense of his honesty. There were no frills about him;
he met men eye to eye, and won support in his political campaign because men
who shook hands with him or heard his public speeches believed that he was a
man of his word, a tnan who could be trusted to do what he promised to do.
"That be endeavored to give the city a wise, economical and honest adminis-
tration of its affairs every one will agree. But he did not believe in false
economy ; almost his last official act of importance was his appeal to the voters
to support the proposed bond issue of four hundred thousand dollars to com-
plete the drainage system in the election to be held Tuesday. He could desire
no better monument than the knowledge of the people he served that he did
what he could to manage the public's business as it should be managed.
"He will be remembered both for the character of the service he performed
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2373
and for his personality as mayor and as private citizen. And while sorrow
for his death will he very great because it removes from the city's helm the
hand that had been chosen to guide it, it will be far greater because it removes
the man so many persons respected and admired as 'Dick' Davant."
The second editorial is from the Savannah Press, and reads as follows:
"We knew of no better citizen than E. J. Davant and we doubt if Savannah
ever had a mayor who gave more conscientious service in that capacity or who
served his constituents with more zeal and more fidelity. He was the firtt
executive to recognize the fact that Savannah as a city and a raunieipality had
readied a point in its growth and development that required all the time and
talents of a man to properly conduct its aflfairs. Until Mayor Davant was
sworn into office the place of mayor was looked upon by those who filled it as
a responsibility demanding attention for only an hoUr or so each day. But
Mayor Davant, recognizing that the affairs of the municipality should have
the same constant attention the head of a great buainess would give to a private
enterprise gave to the city for three years almost his entire time, practically
BiUTendering his private business that he might do so. It was in this devotion
to the public interests he won the admiration not alonft of those who stood
with him politically but with the citizens generally.
"No man could doubt Mayor Davant's sincerity; none eould question his
honesty and none could assail his private character. His public life was as
an open book. He had nothing to conceal and he was fearless in standing for
what he considered to be the best interests of the municipality. His was an
mdividuality that impressed. Like all strong men he had his ideas and bis
theories and he did not hesitate to express either. He may have differed from
his fellowman on principles of government or as to the policies to be pursued
in the management of city affairs, but no man can say that be did not have the
coarage of his convictions at all times. He bore his share of any mistakes his
administration may have committed, but because his dominant personality per-
meated every portion of the municipal structure any success it has achieved
daring the past three years must be credited to a large extent to him. This is
^ not because of the lack of ability of those associated with him but because the
^j^ng personality of Mayor Davant was the dominating influence — day by
VS^J' — of afifairs in the city hall. He kept in closer touch probably with depart-
*^a-t heads than any mayor for at lea.st a quarter of a century and he insisted
^:>-n the officials who were serving under him being accountable to him as well
i^^^to the taxpayers. He made himself the keystone of the administration arch.
"^ex^S. as such he controlled every detail of the ofScial management of the City
oC i^^avannah. It was because of this strong individuality, this quick grasp of
dotci-ils, this excellent management that came from knowing just what was
goizig on in every department, from that of finance to that of the least impor-
ta.n't of the city 's departmental subdivisions, that Mayor Davant made a success
oE liis administration.
' 'This desire to keep in close touch with all matters pertaining to anything
toa.*; he might be closely associated with or be held accountable for was one of
tHe characteristics of Mayor Davant. He won success in this way in many
av^»-iuea of public and semi-public life. His career as a military man, his record
in lfc»TiDging up to a great degree of efficiency a uniformed body of men that
bee^me the best known and the most expert of their kind on the American
continent and his achievements in less important enterprises in which he was a
prominent figure showed this very conclusively.
* 'The life of a man of strength, of indomitable will, of superb courage, of
l^y»Jty to his people and to his community has closed with the death of
^*_'J. Davant. And it has ended all too soon. The work he has done in three
^"Aef years as a mayor will stand as a monument to him, but it was but the
"Vieparation of that which he would have done had God in his wisdom spared
totn to longer serve as the executive of a great city that is destined to be greater.
yGoosIe
2374 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Savaima)i is better for having been guided even for so brief a period by such a
leader. There are evidences everywhere of the touch of his hand and the
direction of his master mind. The eity playground system, the municipal
docks, which became a reality under his direction ; the plan of modem account-
ing, which found its development 'as a part of his idea for a more perfect
system of municipal management ; the successful closing of a contract for a new
municipal library and the carrying to a successful conclusion of the plan for a
nninicipal auditorium are some of the things that have made his short career
as a public official important and successful. The auditorium was the last great
work with which he was connected and we should not be greatly surprised
when the time comes to dedicate this if it should become officially known as the
Richard J. Davant Auditorium."
Benjamin Rush Blakelt, of Griffin, has not only worked his way tfl a
substantial position among the business men and financiers of Spalding County,
but has added to the distinction and prosperity of Griffin through the develop-
ment of various commercial and industrial enterprises. At the beginning of
his career he was coiflparativety poor and without iniluenee. He started in a
humble capacity and endeavored to make the most of such opportunities as
presented themselves to him. Untiring persistence and the possession of
native shrewdness and ability have carried him steadily upward, and today
his name is identified with many enterprises which contribute to his com-
munity's welfare.
lie was bom at La Grange, Troup County, Georgia, June 21, 1854, a son
of Albert A. and (Jeorgia (Dove) Blakely, natives of Geoi^ia. On the paternal
side he is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry who early settled in Virginia,
while his mother's people were from England. Albert A. Blakely waa an
early newspaper man at La Grange, and in 1855 carpe to Griffin, where he
followed journalism until the outbreak of the war. Enlisting in the Con-
federate service in a Georgia regiment he continued to fight under the flag of
the South throughout the entire period of the stru^le, at the close of which
he returned to Griffin. Resuming journalism he continued to be engaged
therein until his death. His wife also died at Griffin.
An infant when brought by his parents to Griffin, Benjamin R. Blakely
received his education in the public schools of that town. As a young man he
accepted a position as clerk in a mercantile establishment, following which he
entered the retail grocery business in the same capacity, thoroughly familiariz-
ing himself with all the details of that enterprise. "When he had accumulated
enough capital from his savings, he founded the Griffin Grocery Company,
which from a modest beginning grew steadily to large proportions until today
it is one of the leading ventures of its kind at Griffin. Mr. Blakely remains as
its president and active directing head.
He was also one of the organizers of the Eushton Cotton Mills, of which
he is president, and was one of the founders of the Griffin Hotel Realty
Company, of which he is also president. He is vice president of the Griffin
Banking Company, but is best known in financial circles as the organizer of the
Savings Bank of Griffin, of which he is president. This institution was char-
tered by the state in 1889 and began business in 1891, its principle feature
being to encourage savings, although commercial business is also transacted.
Interest is paid annually on all savings accounts, of which there are at present
over 1,200 amounting to $150,000. The Savings Bank of Griffin has a capital
stock fully paid in of $50,000, with surplus and undivided profits of $52,000,
and owns its own bank building. The present officers are: B. R. Blakely,
president ; J. H. Smith, vice president and cashier ; and E. H. Griffin, assistant
cashier.
Mr. Blakely has taken an active interest in the affairs of his city and for
a number of years has served as alderman and is a member of the board of edu-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2375
Cation. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has aerved for some
fea-i*^ *s member of the board of stewards, and has contributed liberally to its
ino'V^ ™ ents.
J^:Cr. Blakely was married in 1884 to Miss Rosalind Trammell of Georgia.
Ttiei*" children are: Rosalind, who is now Mrs. Charles G. Mills Jr., wife of
aa ^"ttorney at Griffin ; Tillman T., treasurer of the Griffin Grocery Company;
aad s3Iai^erite, a graduate in music from St. Mary's College at Raleigh,
NojT-tl Candina.
^3 AMUEL Butts, belonging to a family noted for its patriotism and fear-
less independence, was bom November 24, 1777, on hjs father's farm in
Sou t tharapton, Virginia. When quite a young man he came with his father's
f&Txiily to Georgia, settling first in Hancock County. As soon as he arrived
at i=K3.aturity he went to Monticello, Jasper County, Georgia. In 1807 Jasper
Co^a-iKnty was organized as Randolph, and soon after Mr. Butts moved to it;
in H- ^12, through the efforts of many good citizens, led by Mr. Butts, the
Geo-iMr-gia Legislature was induced to change its name to Jasper County. For
»!:»». ^ time he engaged at this place in mercantile pursuits. In 1813 he served
>& ^ captain in the frontier wars against the Indians, who had been instigated
i>y- -the British to attack Georgia and Alabama settlements. While thus
bi-^-^^«ly serving he was killed at the battle of Chillabee, Georgia, January
27". 11.814.
^maptain Butts left several children whose descendants today are scattered
'•"oiara Georgia and Illinois to Texas. During the late Civil war between the
Jj^t^^is his grandsons and great-grandsons fought against each other under
™^ "Stars and Stripes" and "Stars and Bars." It is claimed there is
i^^*~«ely a county in the State of Georgia in which there are not some of Cap-
**=»^ Butts' descendants to do him honor.
^ ^NA'iijLIAM C. Dawson, lawyer, soldier and statesman, was a native Geor-
f^^*-*:*, bom June 4, 1798, in Greene County, which at that time was on the
':^^*^*tier. After obtaining an academic training at Greensboro he entered
^Ss^_^|^*-^klin College, which is now the University of Georgia, and was gradu-
^Z^^ in 1816. Upon leaving college he entered upon the study of law in the
^^^^^Nce of Thomas W. Cobb of L'exingt<m, and finished his course at the famous
\kw school located at Litchfield, Connecticut. He then returned to Geoi^ia
and was admitted to the bar at Greensboro, in 1818, Besides building up a
lat^ practice he was clerk of the House of Representatives twelve years;
compiler of the laws of Georgia from 1820 to 1830 ; representative and sena-
tor in the State Legislature; captain of a volunteer company in the Creek
war of 1836; representative in Congress from 1836 to 1841; judge of the
Superior Court of the Oemulgee Circuit; and senator of the United States
from 1849 to 1855.
On the fifth of May, 1856, he died suddenly at his home in Greensboro,
in the fifty-ninth year of his age. In early manhood Judge Dawson had
become a member of the Masonic fraternity and had reached the highest
point in that great order, having been for thirteen years prior to his death
the head of the order in Georgia, and Masons by the hundred, as many as
were in reach, flocked to his funeral, which was one of the most notable ever
held in the state, a peculiar feature of it being 100 young ladies from the
Southern Masonic Female College, who went next to his family in the funeral
procession, all dressed in white. This school had been to him an object of
deep solicitude. He regarded the young ladies, and often spoke of them, as
daughters, and it was but fit and proper that they should show their appre-
ciation of his laljors in their behalf in the beautiful manner in which they
did. Dawson County, organized after his death and named in his honor, per-
petuates hia memory in the geography of the state.
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2376 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Hon. Isaac S. Peebles, Jr., of Augusta. One of the best known and
popular lawyers at the Augusta bar is Hon. Isaac S. Peebles, Jr., the present
eity attorney of that city. He was admitted to the bar in 1904 upon his
graduation from the law department of the University of Georgia; he having
dropped out of the class of 1903 in the literary department of that institution
at the end of his junior year and finished the two-year law course in a year and
a half with the highest class average.
He began the practice of his profession at Gibson, Georgia, where he was
reared ; he being the son of Hon. I, S. Peebles, Sr. and Mrs. Eliza Peebles. His
father is a prominent merchant and planter of the place, having been for a
nujnber of years eonnty treasurer and president of the board of education of
that county^.
The subject of this sketch was twice elected mayor of Gibson, but soon after
his second election he resigned and removed to Augusta for the practice of law.
In 1908 he was elected presidential elector from the tenth district. In
1914 in his race for the judgeship of the Augusta circuit out of five counties
he carried Richmond and McDuffie counties, losing Columbia County by only
36 votes, but as he was practically a stranger in the County of Jenkins that
had been but recently added to the circuit coupled with his opponent 's majority
ill Burke, he was defeated in a close and interesting race. In January, 1916,
he was elected city attorney of Augusta for three years, without opposition.
Mr. Peebles is prominent in fraternal circles, being a Knight Templar, a
member of the Mystic Shrine,, of the Elks, the Eagles, the Moose, the Red Men,
the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and Dramatic Order Knights of
Khorasson, and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
He was married on December 4, 1907, to Miss Lois Cabaniss, the daughter
of ex-Congressman Thomas B. Cabaniss, of Forsyth, Georgia,
Charles Jenkins Thornton. Among the representative men of Greene
County, Georgia, one who has been an active and useful citizen of Union Point
for a uumber of years, is Charles Jenkins Thornton, cashier of the Bank of
Union Point. He belongs to an old Georgia family, well known over Greene
and adjacent counties. He was bom in Greene County, July 14, 1855, and is
a son of Thomas Redmond and Martha {Overton) Thornton. Both parents
were bom and reared in this state and spent their entire lives here, the father
dying in 1867, at the age of thirty-nine years, and the mother in 1886, at the
age of fifty-six years. They were the parents of two children.
Charles Jenkins Thornton completed the public school course at Union
Point and then entered the Mercer University of Georgia. After his student
days were over, in 1875 he engaged in farming, which had been his father's
occupation, and continued in an agricultural line for ten years. In 1885 he
came to Augusta and embarked in the insurance business which engaged his
attention for seven years and then went back to farming for several years
more. Mr. Thornton has never entirely given up his farm activities although
for a number of years net personally active in this direction. Once more he
left the farm and again settled at Union Point "where he worked seven years
with the Greene County Oil Company, at the end of which time he became
cashier of the Bank of Union Point and since then his attention has been
largely given to financial matters. The Bank of Union Point is a sound, well
financed, conservative institution that is ably officered and has deserved
prestige over this and other sections. Mr, Thornton, through his public spirit,
sound business judgment and high personal character, has been long recognized
as an earnest and useful citizen of Union Point, where he has frequently been
entrusted with offieial responsibilities. For the past fifteen years he has been
a school trustee. ,
In July, 1885, at Augusta, Georgia, Mr. Thornton was united in marriage
with Miss Ma^e S. Tilkey, adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Tilkey,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2377
■ Jiec parents having died when she was two weeks old. Of the eight children
box-a to Mr. and Mrs. Thornton, the two eldest are deceased, the others being :
iu cy Hillyer, John Redmond, Emma Goodloe, Elizabeth, Charles Jenkins, Jr.,
ajxt3. XIargaret. All are school attendants and the eldest daughter is taking a
8p,^«;ial course in music, being talented in that direction, Mr. Thornton and
gg23^ ^'■^ members of the Baptist Church and active in its many benevolent and
gQ^. j.^! activities. Mr. Thornton is a home-loving man, therefore secret orders
^i^c^ «ther outside organizations have never had moch appeal to him but he
1^^ always retained his membership in his Greek letter fraternity of college
'd»y ^' the Phi Delta Theta.
^t3[0N. William F. Dobsey. The business career of Hon. William Francis
Box' J^^y commenced at Athens in 1884 and has continued uninterraptedly
\ic:t-^ to the present time. When he inaugurated his present enterprise, it
^a,^ as a modest but ambitious venture, occupying but smell quarters and
ga j> :t*'ly"'8 ft strictly local trade; through Mr. Dorsey's untiring energy and
^xxrs. ^rkable initiative it has been developed into a business which is the
lai-^g-^Bt furniture store in the State of Georgia and which places its owner
ji,3.c>3ag the foremost merchants of this part of the South. That in his search
f»3~ individual success Mr. Dorsey has not been indifferent to the responsi-
1)ili-t^ies of citizenship is evidenced by the fact that he is serving his third
tex-xm. as mayor of the Gity of Athens, and that of recent years he has been
a lesLder in movements beneficial to the material and moral uplifting of the
«>itt3munity.
W illiam Francis Dorsey was born in Hall County, Georgia, January 8,
1362, and is a son of A. B. C and Salonia (Gilmer) Dorsey. On both sides
of 'tlie family his ancestors came from Maryland, the Dorsey family having
been founded in Georgia State by two brothers who migrated to White County
The name has long been well and favorably known at Athens, where the
grantlfather of Mayor Dorsey located when it was still a email village.
A. B. C. Dorsey was born in White County, and prior to the outbreak of
the Civil war was engaged in the general merchandise business at Athens
and other places. He enlisted in the Confederate service when the trouble
between the South and the North came to a head, joining the Third Georgia
Artillery, Cobb's Legion, as quartermaster sergeant of a troop from Athens,
3® "^^ss wounded in action in one of the battles in which this organization
loofe j>art in Virginia, being struck in the leg, but his wound did not prove
serious and he was able to rejoin his regiment, with which be served until the
"^Itt^ of hostilities. He was a courageous and at all times faithful and
^ffieieut soldier and established an excellent war record. At the close of
o»a military service, Mr. Dorsey went to Gainesville, Georgia, where he
resui^Hg^ bis mercantile operations, and continued to be engaged therein ,
'"-'*il the close of his life, his death occurring in 1905, when he was sixty-five
yeai-Q q£ ^^ ^irs. Dorsey, a native of Georgia, died in 1863, at the age of
j'**3' ys^rSi having been the mother of two children: William Francis,
r~**^ one who died in infancy. Four of her brothers served under the flag
* tl\^ Southland during the Civil war, two being officers of high rank.
. T^tie early educational experience of William F. Dorsey was secured in
**f? schoolhouse in Hall County, and later he attended other public schools
^*-*l he was sixteen years of age. He was an ambitious and industrious
^*'^'tli and early decided upon a career in mercantile lines, and accordingly,
^^Ktast 25, 1878, came to Athens where he secured a position in a general
^^"•^Chandise store. lie proved efficient, energetic and faithful in the per-
K^THanpg of his duties and remained with this firm for six years, at the end
**" "which time he felt himself qualified to embark in business on his own
itt'iiiunt. He opened a small furniture store, with a carefully selected stock,
Vftftping in mind the needs of his class of trade, and soon attracted to himself
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2378 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
a business th»t demanded the opening of a larger store. This in turn proved
too small and from time to time he was forced to make addition to his quar-
ters and stock, eventually branching out into the wholesale and jobbing busi-
ness, although he has continued to retain the retail department. This is now the
largest furniture concern in Georgia, and Mr, Dorsey has continued as its
sole owner. The scope, of his activities and variety of his mental traits are
indicated by his directbrships in a number of leading enterprises, in which
his executive ability, sound counsel and keen judgment are greatly relied
upon.
Both as to substantial support and brains, Mr. Dorsey is one of the
mainstays of the democratic party at Athens. In 1890 he was elected alder*
man, a capacity in which be served for two years and then acted during a
like period aa mayor pro tern. In 1905 he was the choice of his party for
the mayoralty and received the election at the hands of the people, and
served two terms of two years each. During the next four years he devoted
himself to his personal interests, but in 1912 he was again elected mayor,
and in his third term is endeavoring to serve the best interests of the com-
munity. He has always warmly accorded to Athens the same stanch
support which its people have given him as an honorable and successful
merchant and an eminently useful citizen. Mayor Dorsey is a Pythian
Enight and stands high in Masonry, having been worshipful master for
eleven years, deputy grand master for six years and a member of the finance
committee of the Grand Lodge for several terms. With his family, he
belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
On July 14, 1886, Mayor Dorsey was married to Miss Clarissa C. Beusse,
of Athens, daughter of Capt, Henry Beusse, who for several terms served
as mayor of Athens, and who died in 1907. Mrs. Beusse, also a member of
a prominent family, still survives. Mrs. Dorsey is a graduate of Lucy
Cobb Institute at Athens. There have been two children bom to Mayor
and Mrs. Dorsey, both graduates of the same institution where their mother
was educated : Mrs. J. R. Gray, of Atlanta, who has one sou : J, R. Gray
III; and Mrs. J. R. Northcott, of Athens, who has two children — Frances
Dorsey and John R., Jr.
Otis Young. A banker must make his business a guaranty of truthful-
ness and fair dealing. While all men should be honest and upright, there is
no chance for a banker to be otherwise and thus it is that public confidence
rests so easily in the security of a financial institution, making it a bulwark
in the business of any community. Its capital and assets need not be, of
necessity, of enormous amount, but they must be properly safeguarded and
conservatively handled. There is reason for the universal respect which is
accorded the banker, not only betause he has large resources at command
but because he must possess unuaual mentality, sagacity, foresight, diplomacy
and a personal character that admits of no question. Upon the integrity of
the financial interests of a country rests its permanence, and, in lesser degree
this is true of a community. One of the representative, sound and solid
financial institutions of Greene County, Georgia, may be cited as fulfilling
the above demands, the Farmers Bank of Union Point, one of the organizers
of which was Otis Young, who has been its cashier ever since it was founded.
Otis Young was bom in Greene County, Georgia, September 26, 1886, and
is a son of James L. and Alice (Qorham) Young. Both parents were bom in
Greene County and both died here, the father in 1910, at the age of fifty-
eight years, and the mother in 1906, when aged fifty-six years. He married
a daughter of Jackson Gorham of the same county, and they became the
parents of the following children: Mrs. W. R. Wilson, of Atlanta; Mrs. W.
C. Edwardaon, of Atlanta ; Mrs. C. E. Richards, of Greene County ; Inda, of
Greene County ; and Otis and L. P., the latter being a resident of Atlanta.
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GEOBGIA AND GEOROIANS 2379
Xs matter of education, Otis Tonng was well looked after, his early school-
^ay^ being succeeded by a collegiate course at Woodville, after which he
'4?«2CLme bookkeeper for the general mercantile firm of Boswell & Thompson,
*t <B8- reensboro, Georgia. He remained with this firm for four years and then
ff-*^ two years of bank training and experience as cashier of the Bank of
^X3.:5ns, at Collins, Georgia, and from there came to Union Point. Here be
P**":M:T-3ed on a mercantile business for one year and in the fall of 1911 assisted
«z»irganizing the Farmers Bank at this place, of which he is a stockholder
5*-^:^ director and of which he has been the only cashier. Although still a
f~Xa.:Mng man, Mr. Young has had solid business training and possesses a large
^^^^^■unt of that gift which is called "business sense," one that has enabled
g *^*=».. to succeed in all his undertakings including banking. This bank fills
[j^^^^*- ^eded place, its name indicating, in a way, the class of depositors most
"^ -^^^-'-y ^^ ^^ included as clients and provision being made for their accommo-
-^^^ «D, reasonable extension of their credit and other privileges that farmers
;^^ *eciate when their prosperous times must depend so largely on "wind
,V^- weather," The Farmers Bank, however, is amply financed, its capital
^^^5^ being $25,000, and its charter permits it to carry on a general banking
^SXzsmesa, including deposits, investments, bonds and savings. Additionally,
lAr. Young is financially interested in the Davant-Mercantile Company, at
Union Point.
On June 5, 1913, Mr. Young was united in marriage with Miss Frances
Newsom, who is a daughter of B. T. and Sarah (Byron) Newsom, an old
family of Greene County, and they have one child, bom February 1, 1915,
whom they have named Frances Edith.
Mr. Young is quite prominent in democratic politics and twice has been
iis party 's candidate for county treasurer. He is identified with a number of
the leading fraternities of the country, is master of the Masonic lodge to
wbieh he ^longs and is a Shriner, and is a member also of the Enights of
Pythias, the Modem Woodmen of the World, the Maccabees and other bodies.
Mr. Young has made property investments at Union Point where he has a
very beautiful home,
HiNTON J. Eve, M. D. Hardly any physician and surgeon of Georgia
has enjoyed better training and more intimate associations with the eminent
men of the profession than Doctor Eve. He is a member of one of Augusta's
leading families and his father was also a physician. As an expert gynecolo-
gist Doctor Eve stands in the front rank of his profession in the state.
Bom in Augusta August 10, 1877, he is a son of the late Sterling C. and
Laura Troy (Baker) Eve. His father was bom in Georgi(i and his mother
in North Carolina, but removed in her girlhood to Florida. Her father was
Rev. Archibald Baker of North Carolina. Doctor Eve's paternal grand-
father was Joseph A. Eve of Augusta. Dr. Sterling C. Eve died in 1883
at the age of forty-four. He was a graduate of Emory College and in medi-
cine at the medical department of the University of Georgia and had prac-
ticed his profession in Augusta for a number of years until his death. The
mother is still living at Augusta at the age of sixty-four. Doctor Eve was
the fourth in a family of six children. His oldest brother, Archibald B.,
died at the age of twenty-four in 1895, and his sister Katie B. died in 1909.
His two living sisters are : Miss Sarah G., who was bom in Augusta in 1875 ;
and Josie E., who was bom in 1879 and is the wife of Frank M. Doer, super-
intendent of the C. & W. C. R. R. Company at Augusta.
As a boy Doctor Eve attended the public schools of Augusta, the Rich-
mond Academy, and entering the medical department of the University of
Georgia was graduated in 1899 M. D. The following ten years were spent
in general practice in association with Dr. Joseph E. Allen, This experience
not only gave him a broad general knowledge of the profession but also served
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2380 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
to sharpen and define his special aiblities, and in order to practice along the
lines in which his ambition led he gave up his business at Augusta and
removed to New York City, where he spent the years 1910-11 in the various
schools and hospitals of that city. He was on the gynecological staff of the
Bellevue Hospital, genecological and surgical division, and from that was
transferred to the surgical division of Bellevue Hospital, and also took the
examination at the Woman's Hospital for gynecological surgeons. He served
as junior, senior and house surgeon at the Woman's Hospital until his return
to Augusta, where since 1911 he has been engaged almost entirely as a surgeon
and gynecologist. Doctor Eve is also assistant in obstetrics of the medical
department of the University of Georgia, is a member of the Richmond
County and the State Medical societies, the American Medical Association,
the Georgia Surgeons' Association, and of the Alumni Association of the
Woman's Hospital.
In polities be is a democrat, and is affiliated with Vigilant Lodge No. 2
of the Knights of Pythias, Miller Lodge No. 10 of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Alpha Kappa Kappa
fraternity of the University of Georgia. He also belongs to the Augusta
Country Club. He is a popular citizen, stands high in his profession and is
always ready to work for the interests of the community. Doctor Eve is
unmarried and resides with his mother.
LiNwooD C. Hatne. Among Georgians who are distinguished in busi-
ness, civic and social affairs of the present time, one of the first to be recog-
nized is the mayor of Augusta, Liuwood C. Hayne. It was his splendid
qualifications as a business man that led to Mr. Hayne's election as chief
executive of the city, 1913-16. For many years he has been preMdent of the
Planters Loan & Savings Bank of Augusta, an institution which under his
management has reached a point of stability and resources only equalled
by few of his kind in the South. Mr. Hayne is also vice president of the
Georgia Chemical Works, a four hundred thousand dollar corporation that
manufactures a large line of fertilizers, and has one of the largest forces of
employees in Augusta.
Linwood C. Hayne grew up in Burke County, and besides the atmosphere
of high ideals in which he was reared at home he attended the local schools,
the Hephzibah High School, and at the age of seventeen took a business course
in Moore's Business College in Atlanta. His Brst position in the world of
business was in a minor capacity with the retail dry goods establishment of
J. B, White & Company at Augusta. With that firm he remained fourteen
years. He made his work distinctive by reason of close attention to every
duty, by an unchallenged fidelity, and his employers in time came to repose
much confidence in his judgment and ability.
With this record and training in commercial life Mr^ Hayne in 1894 was
elected president of the Planters Loan & Savings Bank and president of the
National Bank of Augusta. He was the executive head of both these insti-
tutions for seventeen years, but in 1911 withdrew from the National Bank
in order to devote his entire time to the Planters Loan & Trust Company.
This is an institution which has been in existence since 1870, in which year
it was organized with a capital of $100,000. It is noteworthy that the first
important move to be made by Mr. Hayne when he became president in 1894
was to reduce the capital to $50,000. Since then, in a little more than twenty
years, the institution has paid regular semi-annual dividends, and has now
accumulated a surplus of $210,000 in undivided profits. Of its prosperity and
stability it is needless to speak further than to mention the fact that the
stock is worth four times its par value, and very seldom is a sale transaction
recorded in the local market.
Through all these years his civic attitude and influence have been a vital
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GEORGIA AND QEOBGIANS 2381
part in the upbuildiDg of Au^sta. When he was elected mayor, the duties
0/ -^vinieh office he took up on January 1, 1913, Mr. Hayne received practically
99 j>^r cent of the support of the local business men, and bis administration
h&js ~*^^^i justilied this splendid confidence. He has been quite active in behalf
of tl3-« democratic party in his county and state. Mr, Hayne is past master
of Ai^'^'ehb Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, past commander of
ge-oar-eia Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar, is a member of Yaarab Temple
of ■fci'ie Mystic Shrine at Atlanta. For the past fifteen years he has been
pre;^i<lcat of the board of trustees, of the St. John's Methodist Church. He
fori:K:».«rly filled the ofBce of president in the Augusta Chamber of Commerce,
alao xiresident of the Georgia Bankers Association ; is a member of the Com-
me»"<2;dal Club and of the Augusta Country Club. Mr, Hayne finds his
recir^stions in hunting and fishing, is a charter member of the Augusta Game
Pr^^^rving Club, which owns 2,100 acres of hunting and fishing grounds
less <:han one hour's drive from Augusta, and Mr. Hayne 's own beautiful
coiJ.i=i. 't:ry estate, on which he spends sis months of each year is also distant
frorxi Augusta only an hour by automobile, and is known as Marylin. This
Qa.nn^ ia derived by a combination of the first names of Mr, Hayne and his
MS-t^i-, Miss Mary Anderson.
'X' MOMAS Willis Cobb, who was born in Columbia County, Georgia, in 1784,
recei-ved a liberal education, studied law under the instruction of the distin-
guis-lned lawyer and statesman, William Harris Crawford, and entered upon
th^ ^>ractice of his profession at Greensboro, Georgia. He promptly gained
recognition as a lawyer and became so prominent in the affairs of Georgia that
he w»s elected a member of the Fifteenth Congress. He was re-elected to the
Siatt^enth, and after an interval of one term was again elected to the Eighteenth
Con^-ress, and before the expiration of that' term was chosen a member of the
I'n^ited States Senate in place of Nicholas Ware, deceased, serving from
Deci^mber 16, 1824, to 1828, when he resigned. Immediately after his resig-
na-tion he was chosen judge of the Superior Court, and died at Greensboro,
Geox-gia, on February 1, 1830. Two years afterward Cobb County was laid
oEC a.nd named in his honor.
John M. Doolt, of Lincoln County, in which he was born about 1772, was
one of the most famous .Georgians of his day. As a jurist, a wit, and an
ofator, he had few equals. On September 2, 1802, he was appointed solicitor
general of the W^estem Circuit to fill a vacancy and on November 22, 1804,
he -was elected to the same office by the Legislature. In 1816 he was elected
judpe of the Western Circuit. In 1822 he was elected as judge of the
Northern Circuit, and in 1825 was re-elected by the Legislature. He served
several terms in the Legislature, and was often su^ested as a candidate
for Congress, but being a federalist in national politics and a strong Clarke
party man, he did not succeed in his ambition. 'He was more thfl.n onee
defeated for the United States Senate. He passed his life in Lincoln County,
where he died in 1827.
Ernst H. Vooelsanb. As everyone knows, the production of cotton has
^n_ the staple industry of the South since a very early period in its history,
™ its manufacturer on any extended scale is something which comes within
the nieniory of the present generation, and the importance of the industry and
the profits to be made in it have attracted not only home, but foreign capital.
"^^s, one of the prominent business men of Augusta, Ernst H. Vogelsang, is
^^6 representative of the firm of Heinecken and Vogelsang, of Bremen, Ger-
"'^^y, which has had branches and considerable business interests in this
toQntry since 1884, and wliich in addition to exporting cotton from America
to Europe, is engaged in cotton comprew operating in all the mill centers of
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2382 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the United States. Mr. Vogelsang was bom in the Province of Rhenish
Prussia, Germany, April 16, 1882, his native town bein^ Diilken, His parents
were Herman and Minna Vogelsang, the father also a native of Diilken and the
mother of Homburg (Hesse) Germany. The members of his paternal family
have been millowners since 1865 in Diilken, Germany, in the manufacture of
cotton yarns and goods for domestic use and for exportation — of the latter &
considerable percentage. Mr. Vogelsang was graduated from a German col-
lege, in 1902, and in the same year selected as his future occupation the raw
cotton import and export business, beginning his activity in the firm of Heine-
ken and Vogelsang, at Bremen, then owned in part by his uncle, J. Vogelsang.
After spending one year there he went to Liverpool, England, where he took
a place in the ofGces operated by the same firm and owners under the same
name. Here he remained until 1905, learning every detail of the business
until he had thoroughly mastered it. In 1905 Mr. Vi^elaang left Liverpool
for Augusta, Georgia, where the firm of Heineken and Vogelsang had estab-
lished one of the three American branches of their business, and with this
office he has since been connected. In 1912 he was made a partner in its
Augusta business and has a personal financial interest therein. In their active
cotton compress business in this country the firm specializes the type and
staple shipments and operates compresses. The Augusta office was opened
in 1899 and handles between 60,000 to 70,000 bales per year. Mr. Vogelsang
is a member of the Commercial Club of Augusta, also of the Country Club.
He is affiliated religiously with the Episcopal Church. While in his native land
he had one year's service as "volunteer" in the German army.
On May 19, 1909, Ernst H, Vogelsang was married, in Montgomery,
Alabama, to Miss A. H. H. Siebs, whose father, John G. Siebs, a native of
Bremen, Germany, is head of the firm of J. G. Siebs and Company, of Mont-
gomery, engaged in the raw cotton domestic and exporting business since
1880. Mrs. Siebs was bom in Oldenburg, Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Vogel-
sang have one daughter, Paula Siebs Vogelsang, now five and a half years of
age. The family have a handsome and comfortable residence on The Hill,
Augusta. Since coming to Augusta Mr. Vogelsang has not only shown him-
self a man of energy and business acumen, but has made a large number of
friends among the best people of the city, his refined personality and high
education impressing all who meet him in his favor.
Hon. Cupfoed Anderson. A jurist of unimpeachable integrity, a lawyer
of profound learning, a public official of courage and efficiency, admirable in
every relation of life and worthy of the esteem in which he was held, the late
Judge Clifford Anderson will long he remembered by the people of Georgia,
of which state he was a resident from his orphaned boyhood. He was born
March 23, 1833, in Nottoway County, Virginia, and died in Georgia, in 1899.
The Anderson family was founded in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
by three brothers, natives of Scotland, all men of thrift and education, virile
men who left their impress visibly on their descendants. In every generation
appeared a poetic strain together with practical characteristics and this strain
was notably inherited by the late Judge Anderson and frequently, as long as
he lived, was manifested in his writings, his oratory and his ordinary conver-
sation. His father was Henry Anderson and his grandfather was "William
Henry Anderson, both well known in their day in Virginia.
Clifford Anderson was sixteen years old when he came to Maeon, Georgia,
, where he entered the law office of his eldest brother, William Henry Anderson,
and his brother-in-law, Robert Lanier, who had married his eldest sister, Mary
Anderson. They became the parents of the celebrated poet, Sidney Lanier,
who inherited from both sides of the family the gifts of which Georgia will
ever be tenderly proud. Eager for knowledge, in the libraries of his kindred,
Clifford Anderson found opportunity to satisfy his craving and dipped deep
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2383
into philosophy, history, logic, political economy and later the law, and in 1852,
largely self-educated, he was admitted to the bar and after the death of his
brother entered into partnership with Robert Lanier, which association con-
tinued for more than forty years.
Such was his nature and temperament, that every pnblic movement inter-
ested Mr. Anderson from early manhood, not in a personal way hut as a broad-
ening experience and the result was seen in the knowledge he gained of men
and motives, of the value of public demonstrations and of the fundamentals
upon which the whole of life is based. Although for many years he nobly
filled public offices, he accepted these responsibilities so conscientiously and
unselfishly, that he could never be termed a mere politician. In 1856 he was
elected judge of the City Court of Macon, but resigned two years later, and in
1857 was elected a member of the city council and re-elected for a second term.
In the fall of 1859 he was elected a member of the lower house of the General
Assembly for one year and was very active in his support of a number of
public-spirited measures.
Judge Anderson belonged to that conservative class who early opposed
secession when trouble arose between the states of the Union, but later, realiz-
ing that a conflict was imminent, cast in his lot with the Confederates, and in
1860, in a speech at Macon advocated the secession of Georgia. He was, how-
ever, not only a speaker, but also an actor, as was evidenced by his enlisting
as a private soldier, serving in the ranks for several months and later as lieu-
tenant of his company, served for one year, subsequently being elected brigade
inspector on the stafiE of GcBcral Wright. His valor was so conspicuous that
both Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. R. H, Anderson united in recommending
his promotion and a commission as captain of the adjutant-general's depart-
ment was tendered him, but, in the meanwhile, in 1863, he was elected a member
of the Confederate Congress. In this body he was notably eminent, his elo-
quence in debate, his calm judgment in discussing the mighty problems eon-
fronting the country for solution, marking him as one of the most patriotic
of men and sincere of advisors.
After the war and the restoration of civil government. Judge Anderson and
Mr. Lanier resumed the practice of law as before, and the firm became one of
great prominence. When continued ill health made it necessary for Mr. Lanier
to retire. Judge Anderson entered into a law partnership with his second
son. James Le Conte Anderson, which partnership continued until the death of
Judge Anderson.
For many years Judge Anderson declined political office, even when ten-
dered the unanimous nomination of his party for Congress, but in 1880, when,
without solicitation on his part, the state democratic convention nominated him
for attorney-general, he accepted the honor and served in that high office for
ten years, perhaps more usefully than any other of the brilliant men who
at different times have been chosen for that responsible position. In Decem-
ber, 1893, Judge Anderson was appointed, by Governor Northen, as one of the
commissioners to annotate the laws of the state. It would be difficult to make
the general public realize what a task it was to complete such a work in three
years, or the qualifications necessary to make the work entirely accurate and
completely comprehensive. It was, in some degree, the crowning effort of his
hfe and is now a part of the state code.
Judge Anderson was married in January, 1857, to Miss Anna Le Conte, of
Macon, Georgia, a member of a distinguished family and a niece of one of the
Supreme Court judges of the state. Of the thirteen children horn to this con-
genial marriage the following survive ; Clifford Le Conte, who is a prominent
lawyer and a stable citizen of Atlanta; James Le Conte, formerly his father's
associate, who is a leading member of the Atlanta bar; Robert Lanier, who
is a prominent lawyer of Macon ; Custis Nottingham, who, like his father and
brothers, has devoted himself to the law ; Annie, who is the wife of J, J,
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2384 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
McKay, of Macon; and Laura Boykin, who is the wife of Bnford Duke, of
Nashville, Tennessee.
For full forty years Judge Anderson was an elder in the First Presbyterian
Church of Maeon, and on many occasions represented church interests in the
synods and general assemblies.
CusTis Nottingham Anderson. Among the prominent, stable and repre-
sentative men of Atlanta, with large professional and business interests and
influential in many avenues of public usefulness, is Custis Nottingham Ander-
son, a foremost member of the Atlanta bar and president of the Atlanta Mer-
cantile Agency.
Cuslis Nottingham Anderson was bom at Macon, Georgia, March 5, 1875,
and is the youngest son of Hon. Clifford and Anna (Le Conte) Anderson.
Judge Clifford Anderson served for ten years as attorney-general of the
State of Georgia. During the war between the states he served first as adju-
tant-general on the staff of General Wright and later was elected a member
of the Confederate Congress and continued in office until hostilities ceased.
He then Returned to Macon and resumed the practice of law and later served
as judge of the City Court. His death occurred in 1898, His widow survives
and still resides at Macon.
In the public schools of Macon, Custis N. Anderson was graduated from
the high school when but sixteen years of age. Following that he spent one
year at Mercer University and two years at the Georgia School of Technology.
Although from boyhood the law had most appealed to him as a career, at this
time circumstances so moulded his environing conditions that after three
years of study in the mechanical engineering department, he went into rail-
road work, being then twenty years old. Three years passed in official work
as ticket agent at Macon and then he entered the meclmnical department of
the Georgia Central Railroad, where he spent the next six years, from time to
time being promoted and when he resigned, in order to complete his law edu-
cation, in 1904, he was chief clerk in the office of the superintendent of motive
power. In the meanwhile he had studied assiduously and then became a
student in th&law office of his older brother, Clifford L. Anderson, at Atlanta,
and also attended lectures in tlie Atlanta Law School. In 1907 he was admitted
to the Georgia bar and has continued in practice at Atlanta, where he haa
gained ample recognition. He makes a specialty of corporation and commer-
cial law and at present is the senior member of the law firm of Anderson,
Slate and D'Orr, a leading law firm of Atlanta.
During his earlier years in Atlanta. Mr. Anderson displayed also consid-
erable business acumen and one of the results of his enterprise and enei^y
is the Anderson Mercantile Agency, one of the city's important and prosper-
ous commercial concerns, of which he is president and was the founder. This
agency ha.s developed with Mr. Anderson as its guiding head, into an enter-
prise of mammoth proportions, clients being in everj- part of the South, which
has been its selected trade territory.
In still another directiMi has Mr. Anderson shown unusual administrative
ability, a comprehensive mind and organizing talent. He was one of the three
men who originated the North Avenue Presbyterian Church Day School, in
1910, and is secretary and treasurer of its board of trustees. This oi^anization
has realized astonishing success. Beginning with a seeming demand for some
opportunity of this kind, through the efforts of Mr. Anderson and his con-
freres, it has exceeded all reasonable expectation, its present enrollment being
24,5 students and seventeen teachers, each one being a specialist.
■ Mr. Anderson was married on December 13, 1897, to Miss Mary Hollifield,
of Macon. Georgia, and they have had four sons : James Lawrenee, who was
accidentally killed by an automobile, at the age of ten years ; and Custis N.,
Perry Le Conte and Clifford, all three residing with their parents and attend-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2385
ii^ school. Mr. Anderson is a member of the board of trustees of Oglethorpe
University. He is an elder in the North Aveune Presbyterian Church and is
a teacher in its Sunday school. Ever since the establishing of the Toui^
Men's Christian Association in Atlanta he has been interested in its work
and an influence in its support. Political preferment has never engaged hia
attention and his main activity in politics consists in casting his vote with the
democratic party. A man of social charm he is welcomed in every circle, but
the only fraternity with which he has identified himself is the Masonic. He
belongs to the American Bar Association and to the Commerical Law League
of America.
Andrew Jackson Cobb. The illustrious son of an illustrious father,
Andrew Jaehsou Cobb, while not so prominent in national affairs as was
General Howell Cobb in his generation, has discharged with credit and
distinguished ability, in his native state, the many difficult and arduous
responsibilities evolved from the more complex and broader life of modern
times. In the bench and bar, as a teacher and public leader, the influence
'of Judge Cobb has thoroughly permeated the life of Georgia during the
last thirty-five years and has been a vigorous and enlightening power.
His parents were Howell and Mary Ann (Lamar) Cobb. At this point
it will be sufficient to refer to his father as one time governor of Georgia,
speaker of the National House of Representatives, secretary of the treasury
in the cabinet of President Buchanan, pn«ident of the provisional Congress
of the Confederate States of America, and a major general in the Confed-
erate army. 'The mother was a daughter of Col. Zachariah Lamar, a
successful merchant and planter of Milledgeville. Of the same family were
Mirabeau B. Lamar, president of the Republic of Texas, and Lucius Q. C.
Lamar, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, both of
them cousins of Judge A. J. Cobb.
Born at Athens, Geoi^a, April 12, 1857, Andrew Jackson Cobb, reared
in the atmosphere of high ideals and with the best of home training, entered
the University of Georgia and was graduated A. B. in 1876. In 1877 he
received the degree LL.' B. from the same institution and was admitted to
the bar at Athena August 12, 1877. Prom that date except for the time
he was on the Supreme Bench in Georgia and for other brief exceptions, he
has been continuously in practice at Athens. His first partnership was
with Capt. Alexander S. Erwin, the husband of his eldest sister. Captain
Erwin became judge of the Western Circuit in 1879, following which Mr.
Cobb practiced alone until 1891, and then resumed his associations with
Judge Erwin. In 1893 he removed to Atlanta to attend to his duties as
counsel for the Seaboard Air Line Railway Company. As a result of the
constitutional amendment of 1896 increasing the number of Supreme Court
judges from three to six, Mr. Cobb accepted the unanimous endorsement of
old friends and associates in the Athens bar, became a candidate for a
supreme justice, and was elected. At that time he was the youngest man
ever elected to the Supreme Court of Georgia with the exception of Linton
Stephens and Beverly D. Evans. Judge Cobb was on the supreme bench
from 1897 to 1907. On the death of Chief Justice Simmons he and Justice
William H. Fish were the ranking members of the court in length of
service, but Judge Fish being the senior in years was appointed chief
justice. Chief Justice Fish then named Judge Cobb as presiding judge of
the second division of the court, which position he held from 1905 until
he resigned on October 12. 1907. He then resumed the active practice of
law with his nephew, Howell C. Erwin, under the firm name of Cobb
& Erwin. Since that date Lamar C. Rucker, another nephew, and William
L. Erwin, a brother of Howell C. have become members of the firm, the
title of the present firm being, Cobb, Erwin & Rucker.
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2386 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
His record of public service covers folly thirty years. His work as
a teacher of law has been considered one of the most valuable services
rendered during his useful life. From 1884 to 1893 he was a member ol
the law faculty of the University of Georgia, from 1893 to 1897 was dean
of the Atlanta Law School, was lecturer for the Y. M. C. A. Law School
at AUanta during 1905-06, and since 1908 has been lecturer on constitu-
tional law and procedure at the University of Geot^a. From 1886 to 1889
he was a member of the board of education at the City of Athens, serving
one term as president, and giving a most efficient service in building up
the city system of public Bchoola. From 1891 to 1893 he was a trustee of
the University of Georgia, and since 1907 has been a member of the board
of trustees of the Lucy Cobb Institute at Athens, a college for girls founded
by his uncle, Gen. Thomas R. H. Cobb. He is now and has been foa several
years president of that board. In 1915 he was again appointed a trustee
of the University of Geoi^a, and still holds that position.
From 1887 to 1891 he served as city attorney of Athens and by his
thorough legal ability and skillful handling of many important questions
which came up in his administration conferred special honor upon that
office. In 1890 he was candidate for representative in the General
Assembly, but owing to his refusal to advocate local legislation which would
have bad the effect of authorizing the licensing of barrooms in Clarke
County, was defeated by nineteen votes in the primaries, A similar issue
came up in the following year, apd in order to prevent the re-establishment
of barrooms Mr. Cohb advocated the sale of liquor under, the dispensary
plan. The dispensary advocated carried the election and Judge Cohb
became the author of the Athens dispensary law, which went into effect
in 1891 and was the 6rst legally established dispensary system for the sale
of liquors in the United States. This law served its purpose well until
supplanted by the prohibition law, of which Judge Cobb is a hardy sup-
porter. Since 19H he has been chairman of the permanent commission of
the Georgia Bar Association on revision of judicial system and procedure
in court, and in 1913 was a member of the lepslative commission on revision
of procedure in the courts. He is a. member of the Georgia State Bar Asso-
ciation, which he served as president in 1912-13, an honorary member of the
Augusta Bar Association, a member of the Athens Bar Association, and of
the American Bar Association.
An estimate of his work while on the supreme bench should take note of
several important decisions. One was the Dawson waterworks ease, involv-
ing the right of municipalities and counties to incur debt. His decision
cleared away manydoubta and blazed an open path along which the cities
and counties of Georgia can proceed without fear of legal entanglement.
The opinion in the case of Kelly vs. Strouse settled numerous questions of
practice in the courts of Georgia that had for years remained in a perplei-
ing and unsettled state. In the case of Park vs. Candler involving the
right of the state to use the public property funds for payment of salaries
of teachers in the common schools of the state, Judge Cobb, delivering the
opinion of the court held that that fund could not be used for any purpose
other than that for which it was specifically provided. To the decision
of the majority of the court in the second ease of Park vs. Candler, involv-
ing the right to use the public property fund to pay interest on the public
debt, Judge Cobb gave a dissenting opinion, and that has been considered
as the ablest of all his opinions while a member of the Supreme Bench.
His decision in the case of Pavesich vs. The New England Mutual Insurance
Company attracted national attention. The company, without the consent
of Pavesich, had used his picture on its advertising matter and he sued
for damages. Judge Alton B. Parker, in a similar case as chief judge of
the New York Court of Appeals, had denied the plaintiff the right of action.
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GEOBGIA AND GEORGIANS 2387
Judge Cobb'a opinion was exactly opposite, holding that the plaintiff had
a right of action against the company.
In politics Judge Cobb is a democrat of the Jeffersonian type and has
been splendidly loyal to bis party through all its Buceesses and vicissitudes.
In 1912 he was presidential elector for the state at large and president of
the electoral college of Georgia. For many years Judge Cobb has been
a member of the First Baptist Church of Athens, and is a member of the
Kappa Alpha Fraternity South. On March 3, 1880, Judge Cobb married
Miss Starkie Campbell, of Griffin, Georgia, a daughter of Jesse M. Camp-
bell, a prominent lawyer of that place, and a granddaughter of Judge
James H. Stark, former judge of the Flint Circuit. Mrs. Cobb died
February 25, 1901. She was the mother of seven children, two of whom
died in infancy, and five still living.
A brief pen sketch of Judge Cobb written a few years ago stands as an
excellent estimate of his work and character: "As a citizen Judge Cobb
measures up to the highest standard. Pure in life, of absolute integrity,
devoted to his family and his people, be is a Georgian iu whom the citizens
have implicit confidence. A? a teacher of law he has few equals and no
superiors in this section of the country. The results of his labors as
professor of law are being made manifest year by year in the success of the
young men whom he taught. As a lawyer his ability is recognized by all.
Especially in the department of coustitntional law is his ability of pro-
nounced type. He is regarded as one of the most careful, thorough and
able coDstitutioual lawyers of the state. As a judge on the Supreme
Bench he established a most enviable reputatiou. His decisions are
regarded by eminent lawyers as models of logical reasoning, clear and
concise expression and a comprehensive grasp of the legal points
involved."
W. C. Wahlick. Among the enterprising and substantial young business
men of Pickens County, is "W. C. Warlick, who is cashier of the Pickens County
Bank, at Jasper. Practically his entire period of business life has been iden-
tified with the banking business and he has enjoyed a lai^ amount of experi-
ence along the lines calculated to be instructive in the field of finance.
W. C. Warlick was born at Canton, in Cherokee County, Georgia, January
28, 1882, and is a son of William II. and Addie (McMillan) Warlick, the former
of whom was' bom in Georgia and the latter in North Carolina. William H.
Warlick came to Georgia just prior to the war between the states and settled in
Gilmer County where he was engaged first in a mercantile business and later
was a carriage manufacturer, subse^iuently retiring with his wife to EUijay,
where they now reside. They have eight children: Ella, Mrs. Powler, who
resides at Ellijay ; Harley, who is also a resident of EUijay ; W. C, ; Mrs. W. 0.
McMuUen, who lives at Carrolton, Georgia; William, who lives at Canton,
Georgia ; Hershel, who lives at Valdosta, Georgia ; and Nellie and Irene, who
live with their parents.
W. C. Warlick attended school at Canton and EUijay and then took a busi-
ness course in the Rheinhart normal school, where he was graduated and
immediately secured a clerical position with the North Georgia National Bank
at Blue Ridge. He remained with that institution for four years, diligent in
service and faithful to every duty, thereby securing the trust and confidence
of his employers and gaining invaluable knowledge for himself. He was then
transferred to the Gilmer County Bank and another period of four years
ensued, when he moved to Florida and later, for a short time was at Atlanta,
In April, 1911, he came to the Pickens County Bank at Jasper, which is one of
the sound financial institutions of the state. It operates with a capital of
$25,000; has a paid in capital of $15,000, and has ample resources. As a
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2388 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
ficaDcier Mr. Warliek looka at aud carries on all business from a financier's
standpoint and he enjoys the full eonfidene* of his many patrons.
Mr. Warliek was united in marriage on April 12, 1910, with Miss Paulina
Patrick Cobb, who is a daughter of J. P. Cobb, of an old Gilmer County family
and a resident of Ellijay. The mother of Mrs. Warliek is deceased. Mr, and
Mrs. Warliek have two sons : William Cobb, who was bom at Ellijay, Georgia,
in 1911 ; and Donald, who was bom at Ja.sper, Georgia, in 1914. Mr. and Mm.
Warliek are members of the Baptist Church, in which he is a deacon. In
politics he is a democrat and is somewhat active in public affairs, at present
serving as a member of the city council. In a large degree Mr, Warliek may be
named a self-made man, providing to a considerable extent the means for hia
own education and through sturdy industry and complete integrity gradually
advanced himself to a prominent place in the banking world of this section.
James S. Tankersley, M. D. The great Galen boasted "-I have done as
much to medicine as Tra,ian did to the Roman Empire in making bridges and
roads throughout Italy," thus emphasizing with the greatest then known
marvels of accomplishment, his own benefactions to humanity. And yet, in
the light of modem medical science, how comparatively little Galen did and ■
how radically incorrect, remarkable as they were, proved many of his con-
clusions.
To the medical profession the early teachers, however, as pathfinders, will
ever continue great, but the professional knowledge of the physician and
surgeon of the present day, is vastly broader, higher and deeper. He is able to
solve many of the disease problems that baffled (he old physicians, for where
they struggled blindly, he has the microscope and the test tube. Georgia, so
progressive in many fields, ia not left behind in the sphere of medicine, her roll
call of eminent physicians and surgeons reflecting the greatest credit. They
may be found in all parts of the state, some advantageously located as to oppor-
tunities for further study and experiment, and others, equally ambitious, who
have, through individual efTort advanced themselves and through professional
enthusiasm and natural ability, have reached a high plane of excellence. One
of the leaders in the' medical profession at Ellijay is Dr. James S. Tankersley,
a native of Georgia and for thirty-one busy years a resident of this city.
James S. Tankersley was born in Gilmer County, February 15, 1860, and is a
son of L. and Sarah Ann (Clark) Tankersley. The father was liom in Haber-
sham County, Georgia, and died in his native state in 1896, at the age of
seventy-two j'ears. During his active years he followed agricultural pursuits,
mainly in Gilmer County, to which section he came when nineteen years old.
He became a well-known citizen, when, during the war between the states, he
was exempted from military duty, except service in the home guards, bccanae
he operated flour mills for the public need. He was married in Georgia to
Sarah Ann Clark, who was born in 1831 in North Carolina and was brought to
Georgia in childhood, where she died in 18S6. Of their family of seven chil-
dren, James S. was the second in order of birth.
After boyhood attendance in the country schools, James S. Tankersley be-
came a student in the Ellijay Seminary, where he spent three yeai-s. Very early
he began to cherish an ambition to become a physician hut, when his seminary
course was completed he found that he could only pursue his coveted medical
studies by borrowing capital. On account of his well-known stability of char-
acter this was not difficult and he then entered the Atlanta 5Iedical College,
from which institution he was graduated in 1884 aud immediately established
himself in practice at Ellijay. Every indebtedness was soon wiped out and
■ today he stands as one of the recognized leaders in medical thought and prac-
tice in Northern Georgia. He will probably always continue a student and
in 1901 took a special course in the New York Post Graduate College. Pn>-
fessisnally he is identified with the American Medical Association as well as
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2389
with the state body, and he is examiDing surgeon for the United States Pension
Board.
On May 29, 1901, Doctor Tankersley was united in marriage with Mias
Hessie Evans, who died June 5, 1913, leaving one son, James S., who was bom
at Ellijay, March 27, 1910. The parents of Mrs. Tankersley were Charles and
Sophia Evans, well-known residents of Atlanta, Geor^a.
Politically a democrat and fraternally a Royal Arch Mason, Doctor Tanker-
sley is well known outside his profesaion and is largely representfitive of the
good citizenship that is so notable in tiiis section of Gilmer Cotrnty.
N. L. Tankersley. A prominent representative of one of Gilmer
County's old families is found in N. L. Tankersley, who, for years, has been
identiHed with large business interests here as well as with political affairs
and educational progress. He is widely known through these numerous
agencies, which, however, do not cover all his activities, for he is a leader
in many philanthropic enterprises.
N. L. Tankersley was bom in Gilraer dounty, Geoi^a, October 12, 1870,
and is the youngest child bom to his parents, L. and Sarah Ann (Clark)
Tankersley, the former of whom was a native of Geor^a and the latter of
North Carolina, Both parents are now deceased.
In boyhood N. L. Tankersley attended school at Ellijay and afterward
took a course in the argrieultural college at Dahlonega, Georgia, remaining
through the junior year. He then returned to Ellijay and entered the edu-
cational field, teaching school for two years and during this time making
so many friends that in 1900 he was elected county superintendent of
instruction. For eight years Mr. Tankersley continued superintendent and
iinder his management the schools made rem'brkable progress, his efficiency
in this direction being the result of his industry, natural adaptiveness and
personal influence. Mr. Tankersley 8ubse(|uently resigned the office of super-
intendent in order to embark in the mercantile business, in association with a
brother, and this enterprise has been so successfully built up until it is the
leading one in its line in this section. Although his activities are no longer
engaged as a teacher, Mr. Tankersley has by no means lost interest in edu-
cational advancement in this section and in 1911, when elected president of
the eounty board of education, accepted the responsibility and is still serving.
On May 7, 1902, Mr. Tankersley was united in marriage with Miss Sallie
Hyatt, who is a member of a well known family of Ellijay and a daughter
of D. M. Hyatt. Mr. and Mrs. Tankersley have three children : Maurice,
who was bom in 1904 ; Cherme, who was bom in 1906 ; and Oleta, who was
bom in 190§, all of whom are attending school.
In polities Sir. Tankersley is a democrat and for the past six years has
been chairman of the county committee of the party organization and an
influential factor in all party deliberations. In 1914 he was appointed
postmaster of Ellijay and has served as such ever since. He is identified
with the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Tankersley is an extremely pleasant man
to meet, combining as he does, a courtesy with natural kindliness, that stamps
him as a real southern gentleman, genuine and sincere in word and deed.
Col. John E. Don.\i-«on, of Bainhridge. a leading lawyer of Southwest
Georgia and a distinguished veteran, was born in Bainhridge April 29, 1846.
His father, Jonathan, was a successful planter of Decatur County and prom-
inent in the public affairs of the section.
Colonel Donalson was reared on the family plantation, and at the out-
break of the Civil war was a student at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. la
1862, a boy of sixteen, he enlisted as a private in Company A of Duke's Ken-
tucky Regiment of Gen. John Morgan's command. He was laid up in a hos-
pital at the time of Morgan's memorable raid into Ohio when that com-
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2390 GEORGIA AND GEORCHANS
mander's brigade was destroyed. He was then tranaferred to Company A,
Fifth Florida Battalion of Cavalry, and served until the elQBe of the war.
It is stated that though his rank was only that of fourth corporal, he was so
expert in military matters that he served as drill master for the battalion.
Beturniug home at the close of the war, a youth of nineteen, he resumpd
his studies and attended the famous old academy at Mount Zion, Georgia,
then conducted by W. J. Northen, since the governor of the state. From there
he went tt* the University of Georgia, where he was graduated in 1868 with
• the degree of bachelor of arts, and a year later graduated from the law
school. He has diligently practiced his profession for the forty years since
that time, and has won reputation as one of the strongest lawyers in the state.
Outside of bis practice he is a man of affairs; has been engaged actively in
naval stores, lumbering and farming, and was the founder of the flourishing
town of Donalsonville, which was named in his honor. He has given several
terms of service as mayor of Bainbridge and in 1877 served as a member of
the Georgia Constitutional Convention. His standing in the profession may
be measured by the fact that he is now one of the vice presidents of the Bar
Association of Georgia. His son, E. M. Donalson, is now associated with
him under the firm name of Donalson & Dpnalson, a firm which has a large
and lucrative practice.
Otis A. Dunson, of Iia Grange, cotton manufacturer and president of
the Dixie Cotton Mills, was born in Troup County, July 3, 1853. He received
a thorough business education and training, both in the Atlanta College, as
a bookkeeper and a member of the firms Williams & Dunson, Dunson & Evana
and Dunson & Dunson. During that period he was identified with a growing
supply business, mostly with cotton planters, which continued until 1896.
In that year the Dixie Cotton Mills was incorporated with a capital of
$350,000, and the enterprise has since continually expanded. The capital
stock was increased to $500,000 and improved machinery continually in-
stalled, all of which went far to make La Grange a leading cotton center of
the state.
EvEiURD Haho/ton Richabdson, M. D. One of the distinguished
physicians and surgeons who have lent dignity and honor to the medical' pro-
fession in the State of Geoi^a, and whose reputation has transcended mere
local limitations is Dr. Everard Hamilton Richardson, of Cedartown, the
judicial center of Polk County.
In the general work of his profession he has attained to much of success
and distinction, as has he also in its educational and, more specifically, scien-
tific departments; and he has brought to his humane vocation tHe purposeful
strength and devotion of a fine soul and a fine mind. Pleasured by its
beneficence, its rectitude, its productiveness, its altruism and its material
success, his life has counted for much; and further than this he is a native
son of Geoi^a and a scion of a family whose name has been lon^ and promi-
nently identified with the annals of Georgia history. Of thoroughly patrician
lineage on both the agnatic and distaff sides, he represents the best type
of the fine old Southern stock, and both along social and professional lines
he has well upheld the prestige of a name that has been significantly honored
in connection with Georgia history.
About the middle of the eighteenth century— Daniel Richardson, the
founder of the Georgia branch of the Richardson family from which E. H.
Richardson, Jr., sprang, was living on the banks of the Rapidan River, in
Culpeper County, Vii^inia.
IJnfortunately it has been impossible to procure definite information
concerning the ancestry of this sterling pioneer, whose career proved him to
be a man of intelligence, sterling probity, and true piety.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2391
In early life Baoiel Richardson maTTie<^ Fannie Long, a daughter of
Ijieat. Reuben Long, who was a patriotic soldier and ofScer in the War of
the Revolution, as was also his father, Col. Bloomfield Long, of St. Mark's
I^arish, Culpeper County, Vi^nia.
The official military records at Washington, D. C, &ni3 the civic records
Of Culpeper County, Virginia, reveal that in 1776 Daniel Richardson enlisted
in Capt. Levine Joynes' company, Ninth Virginia Regiment Afoot, com-
manded by Col. George Mathews. Daniel Richardson became lieutenant of
this company, served three years as a gallant soldier in the war for inde-
pendence and received at its close a grant of 4,000 acres of land.
Daniel and Pannie (Long) Richardson became the parents of ten chil-
dren, and very soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, after remaining
a year in South Carolina, the family came to Geot^a and established a home
in Hancock County. Here Daniel Richardson purchased a tract of land, six
miles distant from the present Town of Sparta, the county seat, and he was
one of the many Revolutionary soldiers who became pioneer settlers in that
eoanty. There he began the work of rehabilitation and lived the quiet and
unostentatious life of a tiller of the soil until his death, which occurred in
1796. There is no evidence that he accumulated great riches or cared for
more than a competency adequate for supplying the plain comforts of life
and providing proper education for his children. He survived his wife by
only a few months and the remains of both have peacefully rested in the
village cemetery at Sparta for almost a century and a quarter, A plain
monument indicating this fact marks the spot, but the blurring hand of time
has so marred the face of the stone that only the names can now he deciph-
ered.
The will of Daniel Richardson was probated at Sparta, Hancock County,
March 29, 1796, and by its provisions his son Obediah and James Bishop, Sr.,
were nominated as his executors. The names of his children are here indi-
eated: Thomas (whose history it has been found impossible to trace), Obe-
diah, Mrs. Polly Thomas, Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, Mrs, Katie Lamar, Mrs.
Naney Dent, Mrs. Mai^aret Williams, Gabriel, Sally and Armstead,
Obediah Richardson married Jane Bush and his death occurred in 1811.
One of his children, Mary Miller, became the wife of Oliver Jones Skinner,
who later served as attorney-general of Georgia, and their youngest daughter
married a Mr. Eaughman, who later represented Texas in the United States
Julia, the youngest daughter of Obediah and Jane (Bush) Richardson,
became, in 1819, the wife of Judge Eli H. Baxter. Of this union six children
were bom. The eldest. Miss Elizabeth Baxter, was a woman of rare culture
and remained unwed until her death, which occurred while she was traveling
in Egypt, and after she had attained to advanced age; her remains were
brought back to the United States and interred at Shreveport, Louisiana.
Jane Baxter married Doctor Conwell, and her death occurred in 1890, in the
City of Houston, Texas. Blondina Baxter married Andrew Springs, of
Charlotte, North Carolina. Mary F. Baxter married Dr. J. S. Catliff, of
Shreveport, Louisiana, who died in 1870. Louise married Col. Pulaski Holt,
«f Eatonton, Geor(pa.
Armstead Richardson, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was
the youngest son of Daniel and Fannie (Long) Richardson, was bom in Cul-
peper County, Virginia, on the Rapidan River, in 1788. In 1840, he wedded
Hiss Elizabeth Griggs, in Putnam County, Georgia^ and to them were bom
two sons and three daughters — Dr. Peterson T., Dr. Everard H., Sr., Fannie,
Elizabeth and Anna. In 1827, while a student in Columbia Medical College,
Washington, D. C, Dr. Peterson T. Richardson married Miss Elizabeth Rose,
of that city. He became favorably known as a physician and achieved
prominence as a clei^fyman of the Baptist Church. In 1852 he removed from
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2392 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Georgia to Rusk County, Texas, where he reared a family of eleven children,
his wife having passed away ia 1870 and his death having occurred in 1,873.
Most of their children grew to maturity, became prominent in civic and
material affairs throughout various states of the Southwest, where a number
of them are still to be found.
Elizabeth Richardson, at her home in Augusta, Georgia, in 1834, became
the wife of Hon, Augustus R. "Wright, orator, statesman and jurist, who died
at Rome, this state, in 1904. Their children were four in number, — William,
Miller, Alexander and Mary, and all became prominent and influential in
their respective communities. All are now deceased except Mrs. Mary
Shropshire, who still maintains her home at Rome, Georgia.
Fannie Richardson became the wife of Alexander Thornton Harper, and
her husband was a representative planter and merchant at Cave Spring,
Georgia, at the time of his death. They became the parents of four children,
as follows : Armstead Richardson Harper, a gallant soldier of the Confed-
eracy in the Civil war, was killed while in command of his re^ment, the
First Georgia Cavalry, at Philadelphia, Tennessee, October 20, 1863. He
has one son, Hon. Park Harper, a prominent citizen of Moultrie, Georgia.
Charles M. Harper was an eminent citizen aud capitalist, and resided at
Rome, Geot^a, until his death. Of his three children his only daughter,
Joyce, resides in that city; Donald is a distinguished lawyer and kni^^ted
citizen of Paris, France ; and Houston is an influential citizen and substantial
capitalist of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Martha Harper, who married Col. D. B. Hamilton, of Rome, Georgia,
was a woman of gracious personality and true Christian character. Eliza-
beth Harper became the wife of Moses "Wright, a wealthy planter of Cherokee
County, Alabama, where she died in 1906.
Ann Richardson became the wife of William Simmons and reraded at
Cave Spring, Georgia, until her death. She was survived by one child,
Rebecca.
White's statistics of Georgia show that in 1813 Armstead Richardson was
a prominent citizen of Eatonton, Putnam County. He was an influential
member of the Baptist Church, public-spirited and zealous in all civic and
social duties. While he lived at^ Eatontoii he owned a farm, the practical
operations of which were carried on by his retinue of slaves under his super-
vision.
The archives of the military records at Washington, District of Columbia,
disclose that Armstead Richardson served as lieutenant in Capt. William
Vamer's Troop of Dragoons, Maj. Frederick Freeman's Squadron of Cav-
alry, in the War of 1812.
The war records further disclose that he was a lieutenant in Captain
Jones' company, Lindsay's regiment of Georgia cavalry, in the Cherokee
war of 1838, and was mustered out of service at New Echota, Georgia.
In May, 1861, when seventy-three years of age, he was first lieutenant in
Capt, Tower's company, from Rome, Georgia, and was prevented by the
officers and men of his company from marching with them to the front at
Richmond, Virginia. In the same company two of his grandsons, Lieut.
Armstead Richardson Harper and Charles M. Harper, served as gallant
soldiers of the Confederacy; the former having become adjutant of Colonel
Bartow's famous Eigljth Georgia Regiment, and the latter having served as
lieutenant; both went unhurt through the first battle of Manassas.
In 1861 Col. Armstead Richardson was commissioned colonel in the
Georgia Militia and was stationed at St. Simon's Island, on the Georgia coast.
He held this commission until January, 1865, when, at his personal instance,
it was transferred to his nephew. Col. Miller A. Wright.
In 1832, Col. Armstead Richardson was a wealthy citizen of Augusta,
Georgia, where he owned a residence on Green Street. At this period he was
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2393
iiter-ested in banking and owned a large number of slaves, whom he employed
in tl»« operation of his farms in Putnam, Jones and Baldwin counties.
^f«*Tom his home in Augusta, Colonel Richardson often rode on his Spanish
uai-^? "Patty Bean," to Cherokee, Georgia, then occupied by the Indians.
In ejcplofipg that section he stopped in Pickens County, where he purchased
ilT^k,*^^ of land known as "Talking Rock." There he opened a marble quarry,
3px~<3perty which he later gave to his son-in-law, William Simmons. That
jj(,.(;i<r>n, although he realized its immense wealth in marble, did not appeal to
]^ax:t.- Going to Rome, Georgia, and riding southwest from the confluence of
tlie ^Eltowah and Oostenaula rivers through the beautiful and fertile Vann's
Yj,_jX^y, he tarried at the home of the noted Indian chief Joseph Vann, who
pfe-^^^nted him with his best flint and steel rifle which he carefully preserved
thr<:»"»J«h his life. Thrilled by the transcendent beauty of the hills and valleys
iu«3. ^atreama of the prospect before him. Colonel Richardson purchased a large
tra.cs't. of land in the heart of Vann's Valley, and on thfs tract is situated the
pr^^^^nt interesting Town of Cave Spring, now in Floyd County.
1x1 all the Southern states there is not to be found a more beautiful and
picfc'>3jresqne spot than this sylvan village. The tall mountain, crowned with
mBLJ ^stic oak and hemlock trees pointing to the skies, fringed with the ever-
green laurel that reaches to the low grounds beneath the immense cave on
tte mountain side, and its great volume of water swiftly flowing from its ■
tia.&^ soon mingling with the crystal waters of Littfe Cedar Creek, forms a
scen^ of beauty and grandeur most inspiring to contemplate.
_^^nd here the prophetic vision of Col. Armstead Richardson saw, with the
eye of a seer, the foundation of a school for Georgia boys and Georgia girls
niid^r the protecting aegis of the prohibition of the sale of all intoxicants or
bet:t:xxg and gaming within its boundaries.
Ixi harmony with this high purpose, in June, 1839, he deeded five lots,
Com ;E>ri8ing 200 acres of land, to the trustees of the Manual Labor Institution
in "Vsnn's Valley, "to be subject to the following reservations, restrictions and
c»x3.<2 JtioDs: He also requires said trustees in idl sales they make to individ-
uals- or companies of any part or parcel of said land or any tenant they may
penmit to live on any part of said premises, be sold or rented so that no
spoxr^iug, gaming or vending of intoxicating spirits of any kind shall be
allo'^ved; and should said Trustees fail to make or enforce these restrictions
th^y forfeit the above amount ($1,000 for each violation) to Armstead Rich-
ardjson for himself, his heirs or assigns." And lo! Heam School, a high
Bcjiool for males and females, the state institution for the deaf and dumb,
with the expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars upon its buildings,
was bom in the first temperance town on the globe.
^leam School, in an environment of such exalted ideals of morality and
?**t»riety, has continued in existence for three-fourths of a century, and the
''®i^<iiction8 of it« alumni from all portions of the South have blessed the
8®*^ixis of Armstead Richardson. The late Gen. John B, Gordon, one of the-
^^'-^^t eminent and loved sons of Georgia, was one of the alumni of this insti-
Vitioia of learning, and while a student in the same he boarded at the home
or ■A.fmstead Richardson. A few months before the death of this gallant
ea'al i^r of tiie South he declared : "I feared and revered old Major Richard-
^^ _a.ud under his roof and within the walls of old Heam School I received
the inspiration that has carried me safely through both war and peace."
-A-nnstead Richardson, six feet and two inches in height, erect in bearing,
stetn and imperious was a notable figure in any presence. He was an ardent
Baptist and was never intentionally derelict in his loyalty to and observance
ot its ordinances. A pioneer of Georgia, he was a product of the times which
Toa-^e heroes. Buttressed and sustained by the faith and hope of the Christian
\eaeta represented by the Baptist Church, soon after the close of the Civil
«a.T, in the autumn of 1866 this strong and good man went to his eternal rest
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2394 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
with the simple confidence and faith of a little child holding the hand of a
fond parent while crossing a deep stream.
Everard Hamilton Richardson, Sr., the youngest child of Armstead and
Fannie (Long) Richardson, was horn at Eatonttoi, Georgia, July 4, 1814.
He was educated by the noted Nothan Beeman, at Mount Zion^ Hancock
County, Geoi^,
In 1833 he received k diploma from the Medical College of Geoi^, at
Augusta. In the following year he received the degree of doctor of medicine
from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1835 he
began the practice of medicine with the celebrated Doctor Foster, at Craw-
fordaville, Geoi^a, a friend and contemporary of Alexander H, Stephens.
On the 6th of April, 1837, at Pennfield, Greene County, Georgia, was aolenm-
ized the marriage of Doctor Richardson to Miss Mary P. Janes, daughter of
William and Selah (Gresham) Janes, of that county.
In 1838 Doctor Richardson removed with his wife to what was then
known as Cherokee, Georgia, purchasing a lai^e tract of land and settling
in Paulding, now Polk County, two and one-half miles from Cedartown. For
a number of years he practiced medicine over a lai^e area of territory, but
possessing large means, he finally retired from the work of his profession to
live a life of leisure, the while he diverted himself by travel and in tho
entertainment of his friends at his hospitable home. The fortunes of war
swept from him most of Tiis large estate, and he endured to the full the ten-
sion involved in the great internecine conflict that brought devastation and
desolation to the fair Southland. He died at his homestead near Cedartown
on the 23rd of May, 1880.
Of his nine children six were reared to years of maturity, the other three
having died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Lovicia, who was born in 1840;
was educated at the Georgia Female College, at Madison. She was a beautiful
and highly accomplished woman. In 1862 she became the wife of Col. J. S.
Bryan, lawyer and Confederate soldier, and she died at Hopkinsville, Ken-
tucky, in September, 1905. She became the parents of two children, both
of whom are deceased. Rosaline. R., the second daughter, was born March 3,
1844, and was educated at Rome, Georgia, this state, under the preceptorship
of the famous Major Fouche, In 1868 she wedded G. W. Featheraton, a
merchant at Cedartown, and here her death occurred in 1893. Her only
child, Mrs, F. Bunn, resides at the old Richardson homestead.
Dr. Everard Hamilton Richardson, Jr., the immediate subject of this
review, is the eldest of the sons, and the second son, "William J., is a promi-
nent and influential planter residing near Cedartown, Armstead, the young-
est son, was bom at the family homestead, on the 9th of September, 1853,
and died at the home of his brother Dr. Everard H, Richardson, in the City
of Atlanta, on the 7th of April, 1898, he having remained a bachelor. He
was educated at the Hearn School, Cave Spring, and thereafter taught school
six years, in Nebraska and Texas. In 1880 he was admitted to the bar and
began the practice of law at Cedartown, Georgia. He achieved great success
as a lawyer and was elected solicitor general of the Tallapoosa Circuit, in
which position he gained reputation for being the most vigorous prosecuting
attorney in Georgia. Mary Selah, the youngest of the six children, was bom
at the old family homestead near Cedartown, on the 17tb of September, 1856,
and her education was received at Cedartown. In 1880 she became the wife
of Mr, H. M. MountcaaUc, and she passed to eternal rest in 1900, a lovely and
noble Christian woman. She is survived by two children, — Hilliard and
William M. The former is a resident of Cedartown and the latter of Atlanta.
Dr. Everard Hamilton Richardson, Jr., was bom on the family homestead
near Cedartown, Georgia, January 16, 1850. His preliminary education was
acquired in the common schools at Cedartown, and in his seventeenth year he
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2395
completed his course of study in the academy, for iwys at Cave Spring, onder
U. J. S. Stabbs.
Prom 1861 to the close of 1865 were crucial years for the fiery youths
of the South. The drill and march under the inspiring music of drum and
fife, — the rapid preparation of the Southern soldiers for the great conflict of
the war between the states, and later the alternate possession of young Rich-
ardson's home by the Confederate and Federal soldiers, accustomed his mind
to scenes of blood and the sound of mosketry and cannon. Early in his
'teens the lad, with pistol and rifle, was riding with the Confederate scouts
and flying from invading Federal soldiers. This continued through the
autumn of 1864, when General Hood passed the Richardson homestead
en route to the bloody fields of Franklin and Nashville. At that time young
Richardson, though only fourteen years of age, was a splendid horseman and
an excellent shot, and in the midst of war and rumors of war he rarely slept
in a house.
These were strenuous years in the development of character, and the expe-
rience coupled with one year of plowing on his father's farm after the close
of the Civil war, gave to the fibre of young Richardson an element of brawn
and iron which for more than half a century of labor and struggle have
enabled him to triumph over all obstacles in every crisis of his life.
Quring his eighteenth year young Richardson was a clerk in the dry-
goods store of A. Huntington, at Cedartown, Georgia. The first money which
he thus earned he invested in a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, the works
of Shakespeare and those of Lord Byron and Alexander Pope ; and when not
at work he was poring over these books. The germ of ambition was incu-
bating in his brain, and he was dreaming and reveling in high aspirations, but
he was not to be discouraged, although the devastating storm of war had
deprived him of property and influential friends.
During the year (1868) he was stricken with typhoid fever, and while
convalescing from this severe illness he resolved to begin the study of
medicine.
During the years 1870 and 1871 he attended a course of lectures in the
medical department of the University of Louisiana, now Tujane University,
in the City of New Orleans. He made the best possible use of his splendid
opportunities at this great school of medicine, and on his return to Georgia
he began alone the practice of his profession in the service of the ^tna and
Tecumseh iron furnaces, in Polk County. By November, 1871, he had been
sufficiently successful in acquiring money to justify him in entering the
medical department of the University of Georgia, at Augusta, and from this
institution he received hiq diploma and degree of doctor of medicine in
March, 1872. In the same month he began the practice of medicine at Cedar-
town, the home of his youth.
By October, 1876, the ambitious young physician had liquidated all of
his indebtedness for his medical education and had saved $2,000, which sum
he expended for a six months' post-gradnate course in New York City. He
matriculated in the University of the City of New York, in Bellevue Hospital
Medical College, and the College of Physicians & Surgeons,
.While in the national metropolis he took private courses under such
eminent physicians and scientists as Austin Flint, Sr., Alfred L. Loomis,
Bryant, Darby and William H. Porter. He was now admirably equipped
for doing excellent work in his profession.
Returning to his old field at Cedartown, Doctor Richardson was soon in
control of an immense practice, and in the meanwhile he was investing his
money in farms, business buildings, and securities, etc. He was now at the
head of his profession in North Georgia, and that he was recognized as an
able business man is indicated by the fact that he was made a director of the
old Chattanooga, Rome & Columbus Railroad Company.
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2396 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
In October, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Richardson to
Miss Jennie N. Jones, daughter of Dr. E. C. and Delia (Peek) Jones, ctf
Madison, Georgia, and granddaughter of Dr. E. E. Jones, likewise of Madi-
son. She was educated at Wesleyan Female College, JIaeon, Georgia, and
is a woman of exceptional mental endowments, her rare qualities of mind
and heart having been transmitted to her children. From this union have
been born three children; Everard Dugas Richardson was bom at Cedar-
town, July 22, 1879, and he is now a representative physician and surgeon
in the City of Atlanta. He was afforded the advantages of the public sehoola
of Atlanta and later was graduated in the University of Georgia, at Athen^
where he was a member of the University debating society and the Chi Phi
fraternity. In Atlanta he is a communicant of St. Luke's Church, Protestant
Episcoptd, and holds membership in the Atlanta Athletic Club and the local
oi^anizationa of tiie Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Im-
proved Order of Bed Men.
On the 24th of April, 1907, he wedded Miss Sallie Leonard a beautiful
and accomplished young woman of Vienna, Geot^a, and they have two sons,
Everard and Leonard.
Marion Sims Richardson, youngest son of Dr. Everard H. Richardson,
was graduated in the University of Georgia, as a member of the class of 1902
with the degree of bachelor of arts. At the university he was affiliated with
the Chi Phi and Phi Kappa fraternities. He is a young man of fine intellect,
is an indefatigable student, and is modest and unassuming in all of the
relations of life. As a member of the medical profession he is conferring
distinctive honor upon the name which he bears, and enjoys a lucrative prac-
tice at Cedartown, besides which he is, in 1915-16, secretary of the Polk
County Medical Society and member of the American Medical Association.
He is a consistent member of the Baptist Church with a brilliant career
ahead of him. Florien Richardson was educated at the Prather Home School
in Atlanta, Georgia. She there studied music under the celebrated Barilli.
She graduated at the Gardner School of New York City. Her exalted quali-
ties of mind and heart — coupled with her attainments in scholarship and art
and genuine goodness of heart— have always made her an attractive 6gure in
every walk of life. On September 16, 1908, she was married to Dr. Giles
B. V anCleave, the oldest son of the late 6. W. VanCleave of St. Louis.
Personally he is a man of exceptional merit, both for his rare qualities of
mind and heart and as a business man of superior qualification, besides his
large personal affair he is the president of the Rliodes-Burford chain of
stores, which under his judicious direction has attained colossal proportions
with the highest standing in the commercial world.
In 1889, having accumulated an ample competency. Dr. Everard H. Rich-
ardson, for the purpose of making further medical observation and research,
spent eighteen months in effective post-graduate work in the leading hospitals
of Vienna, Paris and London, besides which he served six months as an interne
in Guys Hospital, one of the great institutions of the City of London, Before
returning to the United States Doctor Richardson traveled extensively on the
continent of Europe, going as far south as the City of Naples, Italy.
After his return to Georgia Doctor Richardson, for the purpose of obtain-
ing a broader field of professional endeavor and affording to his children bet-
ter educational advantages, removed with his family to Atlanta, where he
purchased a home and opened an office on Peachtree Street. In the prime •f
life, ambitious and admirably equipped for his work. Doctor Richardson was
eminently mieeessful from the initiation of bis professional career in the
Georgia metropolis, and he achieved prestige as a leader in his profession in
his native state. He became an active and valued member of the American
Medical Association, the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, and the Medi-
cal Association of Georgia. With the last mentioned organization he identified
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2397
^imsd£ in 1878, and he has sen'ed hs orator, censor and vice president of the
Association, A partial list of Doctor Richardson's valuable contrilnitiona to
/^e emrent medical literature of the day may be here noted as follows:
'Jta.tfli<^ti[ Surgery in the Treatment of Gunshot and Punctured Wounds of
^ T*^ jc -tremitiea : ' ' "Complete Atresia of the Cervix Uteri, with Retention of
^^e ^VXt^-nses; Recovery after Aspiration and Bilateral Division of the Cervix
fteiri 5 *" "Atypical Forma of Continued Pevers;" "The Jledicai Side of
_Ap j>«?>»:» ^licitis;" "Removal of Large Necrosed Fragment of Skull Recovery;"
"Tti^ ZEadieal Cure" of Hydrocele;" "Compound Comminuted Fracture of
Til^i*"- «uid Fibula;" "Treatment of Fistula in Ano;" "Emmett's Operation
for I-<a-<:erated Cervix Uteri;" "Perfect Recovery after Operation for Gan-
grexk^ of Scrotum and Penis;" "The Relation of Neurosis of Tranmatiam,"
i^o:rme of the conclusions set forth in Doctor Richardson's contributions to
meclio; ^k.1 and surgical science have been adopted and incorporated in the stand-
arii T«n.«dieal textbooks of the day. While in Atlanta he was chief surgeon
Jor t 'vsr o divisions of the Seaboard Air Line Railway, and medical examiner for
all of the prominent life insurance companies there represented. He was a
ineTnt>«^r of the Capital City Club and was prominent socially throughout the
Soon after establishing his residence in Atlanta he was made a member
of "t-tL^j board of health of the city, and he served as secretary of the board for
thre^ ^-ears. During the period of his membership he was an active worker
of tlic^ board, but on account of the exactions of his iai^e private practice he
•iid no»t permit his name to appear in connection with re-election.
Ti^ 1908 the engrossing cares of his profession and the arduous duties of
thi j-t^- —six years of constant work had made such serious inroads upon the health
of I>octor Richardson that he felt constrained to retire from his large and
«pre^s*«ntative metropolitan practice, and he accordingly returned with his
family.,*- to the home of his birth and young manhood. Since thus resuming his
i^SKieMice at Cedartown the Doctor has devoted his time to philosophic studies,
the Z2.ck.tural sciences, sociology and economics; and he has insistently kept in
close ^ ~ft:ouch with the advances made in medical and sui^ical science. He is
now -m.-Ki the enjoyment of excellent health, with the assured promise of many
jBa.T^ «f usefulness before him. He has lived a life that has been direct, normal
*P^ ^«»ne in all its relations and one that has counted for good in all things.
P:^ 1t-«»,s honored not only the name which he bears but also the state that gave
li>tti V:»irth, his status lieing such that he may consistently be termed one of the
^'?^*'^^Mntative citizens of Georgia, even as he has impregnable place as one of
^^*, leading members of his profession in this favored commonwealth of the
^,"-'***~i., -As an author and public speaker Doctor Richardson has not confined
his ^<:=tivities esehisively to the domain of his profession. He has made some
"'^^'"^^isting contributions to general literature which have evoked favorable
Tioti,<»^ from some of the most discriminating critics.
i*i an address delivered to the Confederate Veterans, at Cedartown, Georgia,
Jtt»xe 20, 1913, he said: "Their heroic dust reposes peacefully in the hills and
■vaVAeys of the fair Southland. The queenly hand of woman — the Niobe of the
''**"*l-th — will guard well their tombs, and will never forget those who sleep
t^ere. These noble women of the South, with more than Vestal fidelity and
s?>otleaa purity, are keeping alive the cherished memories of the heroism and
^^"Votion of the soldiers of the Southern Confederacy.
"Annually this sacred organization of saintly women direct their pilgrim-
age to the Mecca of their hearts — the hallowed dust of the Confederate Soldier.
Rearing the freshest flowers of spring, with deft fingers she weaves garlands
of roses ; and bathed with her tears and the morning dews, she will ever keep
fresh and green the graves of the heroes of the '60s, While the silent stars
of night keep their perennial vigil o'er their tomba, and the whispering night
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2398 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
winds murmur their soft requiem, their immortal and valiant spirits have met
and commune together, 'Oji Fame's Eternal Camping Grounfl.' "
The life record of Doctor Richardson emphatically demonstrates that he
has held to and exemplified high personal and civic ideals. He has shown him-
self an exponent of righteous living and of the Golden Rule. He believes that
the laws of nature are wise and good and that he who impinges upon them
must needs pay the penalty here upon earth. He looks upon intelligence as
the true divinity and upon ignorance as the very opposite. Thus he holds that
the distinctly wise man will prove a good man. He is a believer in the monistic
doctrine and a follower of the great philosophers, Darwin, Huxley, Tyndall,
Haeckle and Sir Herbert Spencer. In short, he holds to scientific basis for
all material pheuomena, including human life, but has a reverence for spiritual
verities, including those of the Christian religion, so that he has no desire
to dislodge a faith that guides, governs and aids a vast number of persons
in their efforts to live better lives, while personally he may not subscribe to
any special faith or dogma of religious order. Free from all intolerance or
intellectual bigotry, his aim has ever been to aid and uplift those who come
within the sphere of his influence.
The maternal ancestry of Doctor Richardson traces a direct lineage emanat-
ing from an ancient and noble family in France. From the history of the
Janes family compiled by Rev. Frederick Janes are taken the following perti-
nent and interesting quotations: "The family of Janes is of Norman or
French origin, Guido de Janes, as General of the French Confederation,
accompanied Henry, lawful heir to the English throne, when he went over to
assume sovereignty (1154) instead of his mother, Matilda, Empress of Ger-
many, daughter of Henry the First and appointed by him to be his successor.
"The Norman Baron, heir to the throne, having established himself - firmly
as the English sovereign, the first of the Plantaganets, conferred upon Guido>
de Janes the manv of Kirkland, or Kirtliug, in the county of Cambridgeshire,
for his valor as a general in his service as an aclmowledgment of his military
prowess. From this family sprang William Janes, or Jeans, and in 1637 he
with the John Davenport Colony emigrated to Massachusetts, near Boston,
then to New Haven, Connecticut, their chosen abode for settlement. He was
a minister as well as an educator and taught the youth of the New Haven
Colony for seventeen years, and was highly esteemed,"
In the colony records William Janes is named as signing the Plantation
Covenant.
About 1656 he removed to Northampton, and was land recorder for years
there. In the vear 1662, having lost his first wife, he married Hanna Brough-
ton. He died September 20, 1690.
William Janes II, son of the emigrant, was bom in 1654, married Sarah
Clark, 1685, and settled in Stratford, Connecticut. Thomas, son of William,
lived and died in Richmond. Virginia. He was an architect of note, and
became wealthy. He married Miss Reams, and they had one son and two
daughters, William, the son, having been bom in 1771, Samuel J, Tilden's
mother was Bath Sbeba Janes,
William Janes, son of Thomas, was bom near Petersburg, Virginia, and
moved to Wilkes County, Georgia, in the year 1791. He there married Selah
Gresham, daughter of Alexander Gresham, January 31, 1793, and died July
9, 1827. He became very wealthy, was a planter and merchant. A record of
his children follow: Absalom, born January 8, 1796, married Cordelia Callo-
way, was the wealtliiest planter in middle Georgia and a man of great intelli-
gence. In the early '40s he, as a democrat, ran against Alexander H. Stephens,
who represented the whig party, for Congress. Hersbel V. Johnson canvassed
the district for Mr. Janes. He carried the full vote of the democratic party,
but the whigs being in the majority, Mr. Stephens was elected. In the canvass
Mr. Stephens made the point that in his yonUi he was ' ' the best plow-boy in his
lyGoosle
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2399
Settlement," and that therefore he could better represent the farmers than
could Mr. Janes. In after years Mr. Stephens stated that this was the turning
{toiut in insuring his election. Absalom Janes was the father of Thomas P.
Canes, who organized the first crtate department of agriculture of Georgia, and
became the tirst commissioner of agriculture in Georgia. Absalom Janes died
in 1852, his estate being appraised at almost a miUicm dollars. Susan, bom
December 21, 1798, married Jesse Calloway, and her death occurred in 1859.
Thomas G., bora July 11, 1794, married three times, died in 1843 and was
survived by a large family of children. He was an eminent physician and
also represented Greene County in the Georgia Senate several terms. He left
only one son, William F., who was a man of fine education and who left two
sons who achieved distinction, — the late Judge Charles C. Janes, and William
Janes who now is a prominent educator in Georgia. Elizabeth, bom July
18, 1800, married Robert Gibson, had two children, and died in 1856. Edward
Janes, bom July 12, 1802, was a prominent planter in Albany, Georgia, and
died in 1858. He was three times married, the family names of his successive
wives having been Calloway, Beale and Ragen. Archibald Janes, who was
bom October 7, 1804, married a sister of Richard Malcolm Johnstone, and
his death occurred in 1859. William Janes, born February 27, 1807, married
Rebecca Mercer, and his death occurred in 1854. Simeon Janes, bom March
10, 1809, married Elizabeth Gresham, and he died in 1834. Lovicia, bom
March 12, 1811, married Dr. Leonides B. Mercer, and she died in Lee County,
in 1840. Selah, born November 21, 1812, married Rev. W. D. Cowdry, promi-
nent clergyman. She passed the closing year of her life in Early County,
Georgia. David H. Janes, boro March 14, 1814, married Frances Lamar, and
his death occurred at Cuthbert, Georgia. Mary F. Janes, who was bom July
18, 1818, became the wife of Dr. Everard H. Richardson, Sr., was educated
at Greensboro and Augusta, Georgia, and died December 24, 1880, near Cedar-
town, Polk County.
Knight's "Landmarks of Georgia" contains the following statements:
"In the fall of 1831 there assembled at Eatontou the first gathering of the
progressive and wide-awake men of affairs ever convened in Georgia for the
purpose of discussing internal improvements. Delegates were present from
every part of the State." At this historic assembly Absalom Janes and Dr.
Thomas Q'. Janes, brothers of the mother of Doctor Richardson of this review,
represented Greene and Talliaferro counties respectively, and it is a matter of
historic record that they were numbered among the wealthiest and most promi-
nent men of the state.
The ancient coat-of-arms of the Janes family is preserved by the present-
day generation of representatives of the family, including Doctor Richardson
and its motto is "Ex Virtnte Bonos."
F^BD ItloRRis. One of the successful and popular younger attorneys of
Marietta is Fred Morris, whose work as a lawyer and citizen has brought him .
into favorable notice, and whose work has done much to justify his claim to
. membership in one of Georgia's most notable families.
Fred Morris is a son of J. Gid and Mary Jane (Wing) Morris. J. Gid
Morris is one of Georgia's distinguished men, the owner of the splendid planta-
tion known as Belmont Farm, Smyrna, Georgia, and a surviving member of
Gen. Joe Wheeler's Confederate Cavalry. A sketch of this distinguished
Georgian is found on other pages of this work. Fred Morris is the second in a
family of six children, the others being : Mrs. Clara A. Wood, of Smyrna, Cobb
County ; Rosa, wife of J. E. Davis of Smyrna ; Miss Reath, of New York City ;
J. Gideon, Jr., of Smyrna ; Mrs. Fannie McF'arland, of New York City.
Fred Morris completed his early training in the high school at Marietta, and
for two years was a student in the literary department of Emory College, and
in 1896 graduated in law from the State University of Georgia. For several
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2400 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
years he gaiDed his preliminary experieoce as a lawyer in association with
Senator A. S. Clay at Marietta, and then formed a partnership with Herbert
Clay, a son of Senator Clay. This firm of Clay & Morris was, until dissolved in
1912, one of the strong combinations of legal talent in Cobb County. Mr. Clay
is now solicitor general of that circuit, and for the past three years Mr. Morris
has been engaged in looking after a large clientele of his own.
His first political office was as city treasurer of Marietta, a position he held
for several years. In the fall of 1914 he was elected a member of the Legis-
lature, for the session of 1915-16. Mr. Morris is affiliated with the MasoAic
fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in the Presbyterian
Church is assistant superintendent of the Sunday school. For a number of
years he was captain of Company F, Fifth Regiment, National Guard of
Geoi^a, and held a commission as lieutenant-colonel on the staff of Governor
Hoke Smith and also Governor N. E. Harris.
At Athens, Oeoi^ia, November 4, 1896, Mr. Morris married Miss Kathryn
Dorsey, who was bom at Athens. Her father, James Dorsey, married a Miss
Talmage, and both are now deceased. James Dorsey was a soldier in the
Confederate army. To their union has been born one child, Fred Morris, Jr.,
whose birthplace was in Marietta,
Harvey T. Huqgins, whose death occurred on the 21st of May, 1916, was
recognized as one of the most prc^essive business men and substantial
capitalifrts of Clarke County,
The general mercantile establishment of H. T. Huggins & Son is one
of the best equipped and most extensive in the City of Athens, and the
enterprise has been developed to its present large proportions through
effective service and fair and honorable methods. In addition to being senior
member of the firm named above Mr. Hnggins was also vice president of the
Peoples Bank, of Athens, one of the stanch financial institutions of this
section of the state and one that bases its operation on a capital stock of
$50,000, fully paid in. Mr. Huggius was a liberal and public-spirited citizen
of sterling character and his influence and co-operation were given freely
in the support of measures and enterprises that tend to advance the civic
and material welfare of the community, the while his was a secure place
in the confidence and good will of all.
Harvey T. Hoggins was bom in Union County, this state, on the 2d of
April, I857,^and is a son of Col. John H. and Mary (Jones) Huggins, the
former a native of Mason County, North Carolina, and the latter of Georgia.
Colonel Hu^ins was long numbered among the successful retail merchants
of Northern Georgia and was virtually the founder of the extensive business
of which the subject of this sketch is now the executive head. During the
later years of his life Colonel Huggins lived virtually retired in the City of
Athens, and here both he and his wife died in the year 1900, he having been
seventy-two and she seventy-six years of age when they thus passed forward
to eternal rest. Colonel Huggins was a gallant soldier and officer in the
Confederate service during the entire period of the war and was captain
of a company which he himself had organized in Union County, this state.
He served during the entire period of the great internecine conflict, took
part in numerous battles and minor engagements and on one occasion received
a severe gunshot wound, the bullet which inflicted the same having remained
in his body during the remainder of his life. He was a prominent and
honored member of the United Confederate Veterans for many years prior
to his demise, was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the democratic
party and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. Of their children all are living except two
and the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth. Hugh H.
is a resident of Athens ; Mrs. Charles C. Hodges and Mrs. James R. Palmer
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riARVEY T. Hl'GGINS
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2401
reside in the City of Atlanta, as does also Mrs. Charles W. Asbbury; and
James H. is a resident of Athens.
As a youth Harvey T. Huggins was afforded the advantages of the
schools of Athens, and in 1873 be was graduated in a business college in the
City of Atlanta, after which he was associated with his father's mercantile
business until he had attained to his legal majority, when he was given an
interest in the enterprise. Prom January, 1884, he was practically in entire
executive control of the business, as he assumed this responsibility wheu his
father's health became impaired, and it was largely due to his wise aud
progressive policies that the enterprise was developed into one of broad
scope and importance, the establishment of the firm of H. T. Huggins & Son
being essentially metropolitan in appointments and general equipment. His
son, Percy L., is now manager of the business, which is being carried on
the usual way, Mrs. Huggins retaining the enterprise as it was before her
husband's death.
Mr. Huggins was a stalwart in the eamp of the democratic party, though
his civic loyalty was shown through hia liberality and public spirit rather
than through ambition for ofQcial preferment of a personal kind. He was
an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with which he
was thus affiliated from the time he was a lad of ten years, and of which his
wife is also a member. He held membership in the Knights of Pythias and
the family is one of prominence in the representative social activities of the
fine little city of Athens.
On the 21st of November, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Hu^ns to Miss Mary E. Asbury, daughter of Capt, Rufus B. Asbury, of
White County, who was a loyal soldier of the Confederacy during the war
between the states.
In conclusion is entered a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and
Mrs. Huggins : Hugh A., who was bom in Athens, in 1880, and who is now
identified with business affairs in the City of Atlanta, married Miss Mary
Curtis, of that city. Percy L., who was born in the year 1882, is the junior
member of the firm pf H. T. Huggins & Company of Athens. He wedded
Miss Addie Kexemar, of White County, this state, and they have three
children— Mary Sue, Trion and Caroline. Mrs. Carrie L. (Huggins)
Chandler, wiflow of James C. Chandler, was born in the year 1885, resides
in the City of Athens, has two children, James Chandler, Jr., and Carolyn
Elizabeth. Mrs. Bertha L. Harper, who was born in July, 1890, resides in
Athens, where her husband is identified with business activities. They have
no children. Maybeth, the youngest of the children was bom in 1900 and
is attending the public schools of her native city.
George N. Baowell. A rising man of public affairs and at present clert
of Barrow County, George N. Bagwell is one of those of Georgia birth and
training who have so completely absorbed the progressive spirit of the day and
the locality. Mr. liagivell's fitness for the position which he now occupies,
and to which he was elected in January. 1915, was proven in numerous other
offices of a public character, while his reliability in business circles has been
frequently demonstrated. There is no doubt that he will make one of the most
popular and efficient officials in the county.
Mr. Bagwell was bom in Gwinnett County, Georgia, January 22, 1874,
and is a son of Rev. Geoi^e L. and Adeline (Smith) Bagwell. His father, a
native of South Carolina, was nine years of age when he was brought to
Geoi^a by his maternal grandfather, and was reared, educated and married
in Gwinnett County. Here he grew up to agricultural pursuits, in which he
has been engaged all of his life, and has also labored faithfully in the ministry
of the Baptist Church. He still survives, at the age of sixty-nine years, and
although now somewhat retired from life's activities, is one of the influential
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2402 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
men of his community. Mrs. Bagwell, a native of Georgia, died in 1891, at the
age of thirty-eight years, the mother of twelve children, of whom George N.
was the fourth in order of birth.
The public schools of Gwinnett County furnished George N. Bagwell with
the foundation for his education, and he next took a literary course in the
Perry-Rainey Institute, at Auburn, Georgia, where he was graduated in 1896.
During the three aehool terras that followed, Mr. Bagwell taught in Gwinnett
County, but hia predilections led hira into busineaa life, and at Nashville, Ten-
nessee, he commenced hia career in this direction as the traveling repre-
sentative for a prominent fertilizer concern. During four and one-balf years
he continued to be connected with this enterprise, and then spent one year in
Texas gaining experience in the cotton business. He first came to Winder in
1907, and since that time has ateadily built up an excellent business and an
enviable reputation in business circles, as a buyer and seller of cotton,
While Mr. Bagwell's business interests have been large and important,
demanding close and careful attention, he has found time and the inclination
to serve his community in various positions of responsibility. Aa a member of
the city council of Winder, he was mayor pro tem and chairman of the finance
committee for two years, and served also as chairman of the water and light
commissions. He has been for several years a member of the Winder Board of
Education, of which be is at the present time secretary, and much needed
reform may be traced to his unceasing and helpful efforts. On January 5,
1915, with the oi^anization of Barrow County, Mr. Bagwell was elected county
clerk, an office for which he is eminently fitted by ability, experience and
knowledge. He is a democrat in his political views, and one of the influential
men of hia party in Barrow County, and his religious connection is with the
Baptist Church. Mr. Bagwell's faith in the future development and pros-
perity of Barrow County is shown in his investments in farming land, in
addition to-whieh he owns bis own home and other realty in the City of Winder.
Mr. Bagwell was married in 1903, at Auburn, Georgia, to Miss Bertha
Blakey, daughter of John S. Elakey, of Winder, and to this union there have
been horn three children : Hearat Blakey, horn in 1904, at Auburn ; Nettie, bom
in 1907, at Auburn; and Anita, bom in 1909, at Winder, all attending the
Winder public schools.
Henkt M. Hall, M. D, An influential and honored citizen and represen-
tative physician and surgeon of Polk County is Doctor Hall, who is engaged
in the general practice of his profession at Cedartown, the judicial center and
metropolis of the county, and whose success and prestige in his chosen vocation
mark him as one of the leading exponents of the same in the northwestern part
of his native state.
■Dr. Henry Morton Hall was bom in the City of Columbus, Muscogee County;
Georgia, on the 26th of January, 1870, and is a son of William Fitzgerald Hall
and Eola B. (Hatton) Hall. The paternal grandfather of Doctor Hall was
William ITervey Hall, who was a native of the State of Vermont and a repre-
sentative of a staunch old colonial family in New England. In an early day
he came to Geoi^a and became one of tlie moat prominent and influential
representatives of the iron industry in this state, as a manufacturer and general
founder of iron in the City of Columbus. For many years prior to his death
this sterling citizen was one of the prominent and influential business men of
the state, and here he and his wife continued to reside until the close of the
Civil war, at which period he removed to Rio Janeiro, Brazil, near which place
he died.
William F. Hall, father of the doctor, was bom in the State of Alabama,
the place of his nativity having been the summer home of hia parents, situated
just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia. His early
education was acquired in excellent private schools at Columbus, and this was
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2403
jQ^>f>l€meDted by a collegiate course. At the inception of the Civil war he
Qjg^j^Siested his loyalty to hie native Southland by tendering his services in
(jg^^a=ise of the cause of the Confederate States. He enlisted as a volunteer in a
Q^^->a^^a regiment and served four years, his valiant military career terminating
(,j{l;y when the war came to a close and his record showing that he participated
J2 :«::». -mjmerons important engagements marking the progress of the long and
,.ff«».:K-3' conflict between the states of the North and the South. After the war
]ij ^>^%.mestly and effectively played his part in revitalizing the prostrate indus-
trl^^* of the South, and like his father he became a prominent representative
ij[ -t. t~M.e iron-manufacturing business, in which he continued his operations at
(■^X"*^^*- "nbus until he disposed of his interests in that city and removed to Rome,
jIjJ^ state, where he developed a substantial business in the operating of an
j[.i-^i:». foundry and furnace. After a period of twelve years he sold his business
at It.<3me and removed to the City of Atlanta, where he continued as a prominent
^j^rx=>-Tient of the same line of enterprise until 1882. He then removed with his
fjj^^^^ily to Cedartown, where, venerable in years, he is now living retired from
jc-t i-v-e business, secure in the high esteen of all who know him and recognized
J5, <:>ue who has contributed ranch to the industrial development of the great
gtB».-t^ in which virtually his entire life has been passed. His devoted wife, a
[iBj.-ti"ve of Georgia, was summoned to eternal rest in 1914, and her memory is
te^vcsT^ by all who came within the compass of her gracious influence. Her
ta-tl^er was for many years a leading physician and surgeon at Columbus,
GciOT-gia, and the Hatton family has been one of exceptional prominence in the
Etima-ls of Georgia history. Of the seven children bom to William F. and Bola
B. ( I-latton) Hall five are living: William H., who is a civil engineer by pro-
fession, is nov a resident of Yalaha, Lake County, Florida; Fulton H. is en-
gag'ed in the iron and wholesale hardware business in the City of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; Dr. Henry M., of this review, was the next in order of birth;
Arthur W. is engaged in the real estate business in New York City; and Anna
is the wife of Alexander W. Birkbeck, a prominent cotton manufacturer of
Georgia, their home being at Cedartown.
XJ>octor Hall was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Atlanta
aid thereafter continued his studies in Amherst Academy, a collegiate prepara-
tory- institution at Amherst, Vii^inia. In preparation for his exacting profes-
sion h« entered the medical department of the University of Georgia, in which
he "Was graduated as a membei' of the class of 1899 and from which he received
the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the ensuing year he gained modi
"alualjle clinical experience through his service as interne in the City Hospital
of -A-ngnsta, and thereafter, after having passed most successfully the re-
quired and rigid examination, he was appointed assistant surgeon in the United
States army, his service in this capacity having covered a period of five years,
*^**l-itig ^iig greater part of which he was stationed in the Philippine Islands,
two years having been devoted to service on the military transport steamers
°f the Government. A specially varied and important training in the prac-
tical -vvork of his profession was thus gained by Doctor Hall in the initial
period of his independent career, and he acquired special skill in surgery. He
^^sigxied his position in the army service in December, 1905, and in the fol-
™^iiig month he instituted a course of post-graduate work in the New York
Y^'-y Hospital, in whieh he was graduated in the same year. Thus admirably
'"■^ified for the general private work of his profession. Doctor Hall then re-
J^'^ii^ed to Georgia and established his residence at Cedartown, where he has
™*lt. up a specially large and important practice and where he has become
y^'^ognized as a leading surgeon of Polk County, his practice extending also
™to contignons eonntieB.
^Doctor Hall is identified with the American Medical Association of Mili-
t&Ty Surgeons, the Georgia State Medical Association, the Southern Medical
Association, the Seventh Congressional District Medical Society and the Polk
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2404 GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS
County Medical Societj'. He retains the office of surgeon for the Southern Cot-
ton Oil Company, and he is thoroughly en rapport with his chosen profession,
a careful observer of its unwritten ethical code, a close and ambitious student,
and a man who signally honors and dignities the calling in which he has
achieved signal success and precedence.
Doctor Hall is a member of the directorate o£ the Farmers & Mechanics
Bank of Cedartown, and was one of the organisers and incorporators of this
substantial and popular financial institution. His civic loyalty is shown by
his earnest interest in public affairs and in all that tends to conserve the moral,
educational, social and material welfare of the commimity. By not one jot or
tittle does he deviate from inherent allegiance to the cause of the democratic
party ; he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity ; and his religious faith is
that of the Protestant Episcopal Church, his wife being a member of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, South, and also being actively identified with the work
of the Civic League of Cedartown. A vital, vigorous, loyal and optimistic
personality, Doctor Hall exercises benignant influence in the varied relati<His
of life, and he finds his chief diversion in hunting, fishing and outdoor athletic
sports.
At Cedartown, on the 9th of December, 1908, was solemnized the marriage
of Doctor Hall to Mrs. Estelle (Jones) Hardwick, widow of Julius Hardwick,
and a daughter of Dr. Elijah C. and Delia (Peek) Jones. Doctor Jones, who
was long one of the revered and influential physicians and surgeons of Polk
County, was bom at Madison, Morgan County, Georgia, in 1829, and his death
occurred at Cedartown, Polk County, in 1886, his widow surviving him by a
number of years. Doctor and Mrs. Hall have one child, Virginia Ives, who wm
bom on the 3lBt of March, 1911.
Robert Owen Pitts. As founder and organizer of the Conunercial Bank
of Cedartown, which for more than a quarter of a century has been doing
business here, and of which he has been president since 1905, Robert Owen
Pitts has attained high recognition in the community, and in the circles of
finance and business no man possesses greater consideration. He was bom at
Hamilton, the county seat of Harris County, Georgia, October 3, 1859, and
is a son of Hilliard and Sarah (Kimbrough) Pitts, also natives of Harris
County.
The founder of the family in Georgia was the grandfather of Robert 0.
Pitts, Samuel Pitts, who was born in Virginia, and settled during the early
'40s in Harris County, where he became the owner of a fine plantation and
a number of slaves. His wife was also a native of the Old Dominion, and
both families were prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church as well as
in business, public life and social circles, Samuel Pitts died in 1869, at the
age of eighty-one years, while the grandmother passed away in 1874, both
being interred in Harris County.
The maternal grandfather of Robert 0, Pitts was Henry C. Kimbrough,
who married Miss Mary Rosser, a native of Putnam County, Virginia. They
were prominent people of their day and owned a large tract of land as weU
as many slaves to work their plantations, and took an active part in the work
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Both the Pitts and Kimbrough families
trace their ancestry back to the early days of the American colonies, and
their members have furnished men of prominence to the various vocations
and professions of life.
Hilliard Pitts, the father of Robert 0. Pitts, was born in Harris County,,
Oeoi-gia, in 1837, and was granted liberal educational privileges while grow-
ing up on his father's homestead. When the Civil war broke out he assisted
in the organization of a company of infantry, of which he was elected captain,
and which was assigned to the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Georgia Infantry,
lie served throughout the period of the war in the Confederate army, render-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2405
kg- brave and valuable services and participating in numerous important
Wg-sg'ements, including the siege and battle of 'Atlanta. When his military
ea^-eex* was ended he returned to the plantation and engaged in agricultural
piii-suits, which continued to engage his attention and activities during the
rein,o.ijider of his life. He died in 1892, when fifty-seven years of age. After
lie death of the father, Mrs. Pitts removed to Cedartown, Polk County. She
ij still living at the age of seventy -eight. There were eight children in the
^nail^, as follows: Fannie, Mary and Alice, who met their deaths in the
cyclone which struck Harris County in 1876; Henry, who was engaged in
Ujei-cstiaudising in Tesas up to the time of his death in 1910; Robert 0., of
this i-eview; James M., city marshal of Cedartown, Georgia; William Roteer,
wlio is a clothing merchant of Cedartown,; and Nannie Lou, who is the wife
of Join Henry Stewart, of Cedartown.
Itobert Owen Pitts was educated in the public and high schools of Hamil-
ton, a.nd then entered Moore's Business University, at Atlanta, where he was
gratluated in the fall of 1879. Thus prepared, in 1880 he came to Cedartown
and secured the position of bookkeeper for the firm of. J. S. Stubbs Company,
a xnereantile concerji with which he was connected two years. He then
resi^zied and went to Atlanta to accept a position with the Harl & Parrott
Company, wholesale dealers in cotton, an enterprise with which he was identi-
fied until 1886, when he decided to go into business on his own account.
A(-cordingly, he returned to Cedartown, where he established himself in
. mercantile pursuits, and continued therein successfully until 1889, when he
sold out at an advantage. At that time he became the organizer of the Com-
rtiereial Bank of Cedartown, the first monetary institution of this place, with
t>ie following officers: R, A. Adams, president; C. "W. Smith, vice president;
Bobert 0. Pitt, cashier. Mr. Adams continued to act as president until 1905,
vttexx he died, being succeeded by Mr. Pitts, who still directs the bank's
policies from the chief executive's office. At its organization the capital of
"le bank was fixed at $38,500, but this has been advanced by two stages to
Woo ,000, in addition to which there is an earned surplus of $150,000.
-Vi'. i*itts' career evinces not only the possession of high business and finan-
<^'al talents as well as executive ability of a very high order, but also of indus-
^'y .^nd perseverance, for in each of his different engagements he has been
cot«iX> letely successful, and has been most valued and esteemed by each inter-
^t "^vhich he has served. In the upbuilding of Cedartown he has done his
fu\l jshare, both as an improver of real estate and as a supporter of good and
pi*o^»7essive movements, and at the present time he is the owner of much
re^T^tjj' and a number of buildings in his adopted city. Politically a democrat,
he tserved as a member of the city council for three years, and was then
^^oted mayor of Cedartown and durii^ his term of office gave the city a
elea.xi and business-like administration^ He is a member of the Chamber of
CorriTuerce and an enthusiastic "booster" of the city's advantages and oppor-
ta.»Ti ities. Fraternally, he holds membership in the Masonic order, while re-
liKiously he is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he
is servJDg as steward.
-At Cuthbert, Geoi^ia, October 6, 1881, Mr. Pitts was married to Miss
Pon-est Fielder, daughter of Col. Herbert and Mary Blanche Fielder,
Colonel Fielder was one of the foremost attorneys and prominent citizens of
Cuthbert, served as a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil- war,
subsequently became aide-de-camp to Governor Joseph Emerson Brown,
Georgia's war governor, and died at Deming, New Mexico, while on a visit
^^ a son. Four children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. fitts: Robert 0,,
Jr., bom in 1895, and still a student; Lewis G., born in 1902; and two ehil-
dten who died in infancy. Mrs. Pitts is very active in social circles, and is
a member of the Ladies Missionary Society and the Woman's Civic Club, and
is president of the local branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
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2406 QEOBQIA AND OEOBaiANS
Junius Hillyeb, lawyer, judge and public man, was born in 'Wilkes
County, April 3, 1807, and died in Decatur, DeKalb County, June 21, 1886.
He was graduated at Franklin College, now the Uiiiversity of Georgia, in
1828. During his senior year he studied law and was admitted to the bar in
a month after leaving college. He immediately began the practice of his
profession at Lawrenceville, Georgia. He only remained there one year,
when he returned to Athens, which became his permanent home. His elec-
tion as solicitor general came in 1834, when he was only twenty-seven years
of age. After serving in that capacity and as judge, he was elected to the
Thirty-second Congress, which met in December, 1851, and re-elected to the
Thirty-third. His career in Congress brought him into national prominence,
and after the accession of President Buchanan, he was appointed, December
1, 1857, to be solicitor of the United States treasury, which position he held
until February 13, 1861, when in consequence of Georgia's secession he
resigned and returned to Georgia. This closed his public career, and the
remainder of his life was spent as a private citizen in the practice of his
profession.
HiNES Hour, who was bom in Putnam County, Geoi^a, was a leading
lawyer and a prominent citizen of Columbus for many years before the Civil
war. He served one term in Congress, being elected in February, 1841. In
1859 he commenced his term in the State Senate, and after Georgia seceded
served in the Congress of the Confederacy. Prior to the war he was a Union
man, but when he saw that the Rebellion was unavoidable, followed his state
into the Confederacy. He was a member of the convention which met at
Milledgeville in November and framed the new state constitution made nec-
essary by the Reconstruction measures growing out of the war. That was the
last public service which he was called upon to perform.
Alexander W. Birrbece. He whose name initiates this paragraph is a
man of fine initiative and administrative ability and In his business career
has shown himself fully capable of coping with and mastering adverse con-
ditions, the family fortunes having "been- lai^ely investe<l in the manufactur-
ing of sugar and serious financial reverses having attended the placing of sugar
ou the free list, under the provisions of the McKinley tariff bill. From this
field of industry ftlr. Birkbeck, with characteristic versatility and energy,
turned his activities into other courses of productive enterprise, through the
medium of which he has achieved. large and worthy financial success and
high place as one of the sterling and honored captains of industry in the
South. He maintains his residence at Cedartown, the judicial center of
Polk County, where he is secretary and treasurer of the Standard Cotton
Mills. He is one of the most loyal and prc^ressive citizens of Polk County
and his capitalistic interests are now of broad scope and importance.
Mr. Birkbeck claims as the place of his nativity the historic old City of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the the 24th of May, 1868,
a son of John and Jane M. Birkbeck, both likewise natives of the old Key-
stone State. John Birkbeck, who died in the year 1888, at the age of sixty-
one years, was for more than twenty years heavily interested in the manufac-
turing of sugar, as an interested principal in three sugar factories, established
respectively in New York City, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. His widow sur-
vived him by somewhat more than a decade and was summoned to the life
eternal in 1899, aged sixty-eight j'cars. At the time of her demise she was
in the home of her son Alexander W,, of this review, at Cedartown, Georgia,
where she had come for a visit, and her remains were taken hack to the City
of Brooklyn, New York, where they were interred beside those of her husband,
in beautiful Greenwood Cemetery. Of the four children the subject of this
review is the eldest and he is the only son ; Alice is the wife of William Hervey
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2407
Hall, of Yalaha, Florida ; Miss Mabel Birkbeck resides at Southaniptoii, Long
Island, New York ; and Mary is the widow of Charles Losee, of Southampton.
The lineage of the Birkbeck family is traced back to English origin and
the American progenitors were two brothers, George and Alexander Birkbeck,
who immigrated from England in 1747, the former, ancestor of him to whom
this sketch is dedicated, having remained in New York and Alexander having
joined a pioneer colony in the wilds of the present State of Illinois.
Alexander W, Birkbeck continued his studies in the public schools of
New York City until he had completed a course in the high school, and
thereafter he received higher academic discipline under the direction of
private tutors. At the age of twenty years he became actively associated
with his father's extensive business interests, of which he soon assumed to a
large extent the management, but the removing of the tariff from sugar by
the provisions of the MeKinley Bill virtually compassed the ruin of the
extensive sugar manufacturing business with which he was identified, the
plants and business having been sold in 1893, at a large financial loss.
In 1896 Mr. Birkbeck became associated with William Parker, and the two
aequiired an interest in the Cedartown Cotton & Export Company, of Cedar-
town, Georgia. In 1899 Mr. Birkbeck severed this alliance and became one
of the oi^anizers of the Standard Cotton Mills, of which he is secretary and
treasurer and to the development and upbuilding of whose substantial busi-
ness he has contributed in lai^e measure, the company being incorporated
with a capital stock of $100,000. The capacity and operations of the plant
have been increased by fully 80 per cent since the establishing of the com-
pany, the factory is modem in all equipments and appointments, employ-
ment is given under normal conditions to a corps of more than 300 operatives
with a weekly payroll of fully $1,600, and the plant is operated both night
and day, in the manufacturing of high-grade hosiery, underwear, yams, etc.
The business has become one of the important industrial enterprises of
Northern Georgia, the plant utilizing twelve acres of ground, contiguous to
Cedartown, and the major portion of this tract being covered with the sub-
stantial and modem brick structures which go to make up the fine plant, the
operations of which have been of maximum importance in furthering the
commercial prestige of the thriving little City of Cedartown. The products
of this admirable manufactory are sold almost exclusively in the Eastern
markets, the company maintaining agencies in both New York City and
Philadelphia. Within the period of his residence in Georgia Mr. Birkbeck has
become identified also with the successful culture of citrus fruits in Florida,
and near Yalaha, Lake County, that state, where he maintains his winter
home, he is the owner of a fine grove devoted to the raising of oranges, lemons
and grape-fruit. He is the owner of one of the finest residence properties
at Cedartown, Georgia, the same being at 214 Philpot Street and being the
center of much of the representative social activity of the community, with
Mrs. Birkbeck as its gracious and popular chatelaine,
Mr. Birkbeck is an ardent devotee of the automobile and makes the same
a medium of business and pleasure. Each successive year he and his family
devote two months in the autumn to compassing an automobile trip to
Southampton, Long Island, New York, and incidental vacation visitations and
recreation, and by means of the same modern vehicle of transportation he
makes the trips annually to and from his orange grove and winter home in
Florida. ' In national politics Mr. Birkbeck gives his allegiance and support
to the republican party, but in local affairs he is not dominated in the least
by partisanship. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Birkbeck is an iufiueutial and popular member
of the Woman's Club of Cedartown.
At Hudson, Illinois, in 1895, Mr. Birkbeck wedded Miss Henrietta Gilder-
sleeve, and in March of the following year they established their home at
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2408 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Cedartown, Georgia, where Mrs. Birkbeck died in the following July, from an
attack of typhoid fever.
On the 14th of February, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Birk-
beck to Miss Anna M, Hall, who was bom in the City of Columbus, Georgia,
and who is a daughter of William F. and Eola E. (Hatton) Hall, her father
having been for many years proraineiitly identified with the hardware business
in Georgia and further data relative to the family being given on other pages
of this publication, in the sketch of the career of Dr. Henry W. Hall, of
Cedartown, a brother of Mrs, Birkbeck. Jlr. and Mrs. Birkbeck became the
parents of six children, four of whom died in infancy, and John Hall at
the age of three years. The one surviving child is a daughter, Alexandra, who
was born at Cedartown.
James C. Busby. Courage and perseverance in the face of seemingly
almost insuperable obstacles; determined effort and steadfast purpose; self-
reliance and unwavering and worthy ambition have characterized in a moBt
significant sense the career of this representative business man and honored
and influential citizen of Cedartown, Polk County, where he is senior mem-
ber of the firm of Busby Brothers, engaged in the wholesale grocery trade,
in the operation of a flour mill and in dealing in hay, grain, etc. Through
his own ability and well ordered endeavors Mr, Busby has made his way
forward to his present position of prominence and prosperity, and his inflex-
ible integrity in all of the relations of life has given him secure place in
popular confidence and esteem.
James Colbert Busby was bom in Floyd County, Georgia, on the 21st
of March, 1871, and is a son of James H. and Sclina (Naughan) Busby. James
H. Busby was bom in South Carolina, in the year 1846, and he was a child
when his parents remove<l to Alabama and settled on a farm, whence they
came to Floyd County, Georgia, in 1850, the parents passing the residue of
their lives fn this state. James H. Busby was thus reared to manhood in
Georgia, and as a young man he represented Geoi^a as a valiant soldier of
the Confederacy during the last two years of the Civil war. His marriage
was solemnized in 1865, and the young veteran of a recently terminated mili-
tary conflict, then settled on a farm in close proximity to Rome, Floyd
County, where he and his wife still maintain their home and where he gives
his attention principally to market gardening, in which he has been successful,
though in former years he encountered many losses through flood and other
adverse conditions. Though he has never achieved more than nominal finan-
cial success he has accounted well to the world as an honest, upright citizen
and as an industrious and persistent worker, he and his wife having reared
their children to lives of integrity and usefulness and having given to their
progeny the best advantages within the scope of their power. Of the nine
children only four are now living and the eldest of the number is he whose
name initiates this article; Wade is a carpenter by trade and is a successful
contractor and builder at Rome, this state ; Helen is the wife of Frederick C.
Clark, of Rome ; and Hugh Robert is junior member of the firm of Busby
Brothers, of Cedartown.
James C. Busby was reared to maturity in his native county and early
began to give assistance to his father in the work of the home farm, which
is one of comparatively small area. He attended the public school at Rome
until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, and thereafter he continued
to be identified with agricultural pursuits until 1900, when his long con-
tinued distaste for the life of tlie farm caused him to dispose of his property
and to remove to Texas, where he was engaged in the insurance business for
the ensuing two years, at Waco and Austin,
In 1902 Mr. Busby returned to Georgia and in the City of Rome he fol-
lowed for the following year such occupations as be could make a medium
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2409
of earning a living. In 1903 he removed to Cedartown, and here he was
engaged in the insurance business for four years, at the expiration of which,
and in consonance with his fixed ambition to enter upon an independent bnsi-
ness career, he invested his limited capital, saved from his own earnings, iu
the establishing of a modest retail mercantile business, in which he had from
the beginning an able coadjutor in the person of his younger brother, Hugh
Robert. This obscure little enterprise proved the nucleus around which the
brothers have developed their present large and substantial business. In
1912 they purchased a most desirable corner lot on Main Street and accessible
to the tracks of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, this transaction involving
the payment of $1,400 for the property. On this eligible site the brothers
erected a modem briek building of two stories and basement, as well as a
commodious warehouse and a well-equipped grist mill, the incidental expendi-
ture having been $9,000. The aggregate floor space thus commanded in the
accommodation of the various departments of wholesale trade and manufac-
turing business is 12,000 feet, and the brothers have shown great progressive-
ness and excellent judgment in the upbuilding of their lai^e and prosperous
business, in connection with which they give employment to a competent corps
of assistants, including one traveling representative. The success which has
finally attended the persistent efforts of Joseph C. Busby is the more gratifying
to note by reason of his unflagging courage when conditions proved adverse
and when his spirit of honest determination alone sustained him. He is loyal
and public-spirited as a citizen, a well fortified advocate of the cause of the
democratic party, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, both he and
his wife being members of the Baptist Church.
' In 1896 Mr. Busby wedded Miss Viola May Mobley, of Floyd County,
and she died in 1699, leaving two children, both of whom are now deceased.
In 1906 Mr. Busby married Miss Minnie L. Jackson, a native of Cobb County,
this state, but in 1912 Mr. Busby was again called upon to lose a cherished
and devoted wife, the two children of the second marriage being Maline and
Irene, both of whom were bom at Cedartown, the former on the 16th of
September, 1910, and the latter on the 13th of December, 1912. On the 8th of
Au^st, 1913, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Busby to Miss Margaret
Jackson, who is a sister of his second wife and who has proved a devoted
mother to the latter's children.
Hugh Robert Busby, junior member of firm of Busby Brothers, was
bom in Ployd County, Geoi^a, on the 23d of March, 1877, and after receiving
the advantages of the local schools he continued to be identified with agricul-
tural and horticultural pursuits in his native county until he became asso-
ciated with his brother in business at Cedartown, as duly noted in preceding
paragraphs. He is a staunch democrat in his political proclivities, is affiliated
with the Knights of Pythias and is a Baptist. His wife is of the faith of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
On the 29th of August, 1899, was recorded the marriage of Hugh R. Busby
to Miss Edna Everett, daughter of William and Mary Everett, her father
being a substantial farmer in Bartow County. Mr. and Mrs. Busby have six
children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here designated:
Letha May, July 24, 1902; Clara, September 11, 1904; Donald, March 1, 1906;
Prances, October 10, 1909; Robert, June 10, 1912; and Lafayette, December
23, 1915.
CoL. James H. Skelton. Among the men whose activities in various
lines of endeavor have placed them in positions of prominence in their
communities few have led more active or useful lives than Col. James- H.
Skelton. of Hartwell, Georgia. Primarily a lawyer, he is undoubtedly one
of the leading legal lights of Hart County, but his activities have carried
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2410 GEOEQIA AND GEORGIANS
him far beyond the limits of mere professional practice, for he has invaded
the field of finance with great success, being at this time preadent of the
Farmers and Merchants Bank of Hartwell, and in public life has been
constantly before the people in varionB capacities for a number of years.
His career has been one of great activity and uncommon success, due to the
exercise of good judgment and the exhibition, under all circumstances, of
the strictest integrity.
James H. Skelton was bom at Hartwell, Hart County, Georgia, March
15, 1868, and is a son of Maj. John H. and Mary (Richardson) Skelton,
native Georgians. His father, at the outbreak of hostilities between the South
and the North, offered his services to the Confederate government, and
was the 0T^:anizer of the first company raised in Hart County. During a
period of four years he fought valiantly under the stars and bars, and many
are the deeds of valor and courage which are written into his military record.
Commencing his service in the rank of captain, he received recognition by
promotion to the rank of major, and when the great conflict closed he was
still leading his regiment. When peace was permanently established. Major
Skelton took up the duties of his profession as a member of the Georgia bar
at Hartwell, where he was honored by the people by election to the Legisla-
ture of the state and to other positions of honor and trust. After a full,
honorable and successful life, Major Skelton passed away at Hartwell, in
September, 1894, at the age of sixty-four years, when his community lost
one of its most capable, public- spirited and high-minded citizens and gentle-
men. The mother of James H. Skelton was a cultured gentlewoman, well-
educated, refined and belonging to an old and honored family. Her death
occurred December 25, 1913, when she was sixty-seven years of age, she
being survived by her eight children : James H., Mrs. J. T. McGill, J. Rod,
Mrs. R. H. Bums, A. S., L. S., A. C. and Mrs. Lola Thornton.
After laying his educational foundation in the public schools of Hartwell,
James H, Skelton entered the law department of the University of Georgia,
from which he was graduated in 1889. He was admitted to the bar at
Atlanta, but preferred to enter upon his professional career at his home
place, and accordingly returned to Hartwell, where he entered the office of
his father, whose partner he subsequently became. This soon tecame known
as one of the' strongest legal combinations in this part of the state and par-
ticipated in all the important cases tried in the courts during its existence,
its success making it greatly respected and feared as an opponent and valued
comparatively as an associate. When Major Skelton died, his son continued
to carry on the business of the firm alone until his eldest son, Parke Skelton,
was admitted to the bar, when the firm of J. H. & Parke Skelton was founded,
this association having since equalled the success formerly attained by the
parents organization. While the practice of the concern has been rather of
a general nature, it has also indiilged largely in corporation law. and at the
present time is serving as counsel for a number of important enterprises,
mcluding the Hartwell Bank, the Farmers and Merchants Bank and the
Hartwell Railroad. Some of the cases in which Colonel Skelton has been
engaged have been acknowledged to be among the most important suits
prosecuted here, and to be professionally identified with which was to Indi-
cate a forcible verification of leadership in the legal fraternity.
Like his father, James H. Skelton has filled many positions of trust and
responsibility, and has been largely interested in democratic politics. He
served as a member of the Georgia State Senate from the Eighth District in
the session of 1903*4, and was the author of several measures, one being the
changing of the assembly from the fall term to the summer months, while
another hill from hb pen was that providing for the lowering of the tax to
five mills, which was also passed. Colonel Skelton was county commissioner
for Hart County for a period of eight years. Pew democrats are better
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2411
kaoWiL in Georgia than Colonel Skelton, who from 1902 until 1906 was a
taczxityeT of the State Democratic Executive Committee; was a delegate to the
i)ezciocratie National Convention at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904; was from
18ff6 until 1900 delegate to the CongresBionai Convention from the Eighth
Dista"i<3t, and was chairman of the Hart County Democratic Committee from
189G %antil 1902.
(3oXouel Skelton's contributions to the civic, educational and moral welfare
j^f txi^ native community have been numerous and helpful. Since 1909 he
jia^ ^^irved in both the capacities of member of the Hartwell Board of Eduea-
tjoix ^M-aid solicitor of the City Court. His religious connection .is with the
Bai>'ti^t Church, in which he is assistant superintendent of the Sunday
school and chairman of the board of Home and Foreign Missions. He was
oae o£ the organizers and original stockholders of the Farmers and Merchants
©axik: of Hartwell, and January 1, 1915, was elected president of this well
^noAwxa. and substantial Hart County institution, a position in which he has
contia::»-'ued to direct its policies to the present time. Coloned Skelton is a
memiloer of the various organizations of his profession, being a member of the
e^ecva.'fcive committee of the Georgia State Bar Association, and is fraternally
conn^<ited with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows as a charter member,
and tine Woodmen of the World.
Oxi December 23. 1891, Colonel Skelton was married to Miss Jessie
Thornton, of Hartwell, Georgia, daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Caloway
Thornton, both now deceased, her father having been a well known divine
of the Baptist Church. To this union there have been nine children: Pai^e,
bona at Hartwell in 1893; Emmet Arnold, bom at Hartwell in 1895, now the
meum'bent of a position in the Department of Commerce, and a resident of
New York City ; James H., Jr., bom in 1897, and now attending high school ;
'^ilxo.a Clair, bom in 1899, and Anna Grace, bom in 1901, both of whom
are attending high school ; Charles Hugh, bom in 1903, Ralph, born in 1906,
ain«i "WiUam Carey, born in 1909, all attending the graded schools; and
Josej>li Slaton, bom in 1913. The beautiful family home at Hartwell is one
^^ tile fine residences of the city, in addition to which Colonel Skelton also
**'*^is considerable other valuable real estate here.
I^a.rke Skelton, son of Col. James H. Skelton, and a member of the firm
?" "J^a.nies H. & Parke Skelton, attended the public schools of Hartwell, and
S- ^" graduate of the University of Georgia law department, class of 1913.
^^ ixiarried Miss Montine Alford, daughter of A, N, Alford, who has been
®*-*S'a.^^«d in the general merchandise business at Hartwell for a number of
y^^-r-^ and is one of this city's best known business men.
•J XJDGE John ITadlet Reece. For the past ten years John Hadley Beece
tl^^ V»^?en judge of the city court of Rome. His record on the bench has been
( ^ <^»-owning honor of a long career, which began as an officer in the Con-
>^aei^^jg army, followed by many years of active work as a lawyer. Judge
^^*^^, while a strict and honest judge, believing in the enforcement of the
*^% tias at the same time been known to temper the stern course of justice
T'^i* Tiis natural spirit of kindness and a deep knowledge of human nature.
"I'^^^r^ Reece has the experienced judgment of one"who has known all sorts
^ V*^n, is a discriminating observer of character and motive, and the humaai-
iar*i^^-^_j gpirjt h^g been characteristic of his work on the bench,
-fc^is is an old southern family. He was bom in Rome, Geoi^a, August
2»» 3_ S39, a son of Dr. Alfred Burton and Sarah W. (Vamer) Beece. His
"^Jf^tVi^r was a native of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, and a daughter of
axatVj g^ Vamer, who was 9 soldier in the Revolutionary war and was wounded
^"^ ^V»e battle of Cowpens. At the time of her marriage to Doctor Reece she
'J'&a the widow of Rufus Johnson, and the mother of four children by that
tft^t^iage. Dr. Alfred B. Reece, who was of "Welsh family, was bom in Surrey
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2412 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
County, North Carolina, and removed to Rome in 1835. Soon afterward he
was appointed surgeon of Nelson's Regiment during the Cheroltee Indian war,
and after that service resumed practice in Rome. In 1846 lie bought a tract
of land ill Floyd County, and began farming it. However, the constant
demand for his professional services greatly interfered with his work as a
planter, and he ia remembered as one of the kindly and genial physicians
who practiced in the pioneer times, when the people were afflicted with the
chills and fevers then so prevalent, and he was almost in constant ministra-
tion to his patients over a wide scope of country. In performing this duty
he used uptwo good mules and a big gray horse, and for years was one of
the most familiar figures along the roads leading from Rome. His was an
honest and upright life, his slaves found in him an indulgent and kindly
master, and all classes of people welcomed his presence whether as a physi-
cian or as a friend. He took an active part in the Baptist Church, and on
many occasions when no minister was present preached the sermon. Doctor
Keece died January 18, 1877, at the age of seventy-one, and his wife passed
away in May of the same year. They were the parents of four children,
Judge Recce being the oldest: James Reece is a farmer and was a soldier
in the Sixty-fifth Georgia Regiment until the close of hostilities; Mary Jane,
now deceased, was the wife of Joshua Davis; Mathew Reece is a farmer on
the old homestead in Floyd County.
As was the custom with the old southern planters the children of the Reece
family had the benefit of instruction by a private tutor, and Judge Reece
recalls the name of his first teacher as Samuel J, Stevens. Later he entered
the Cherokee Baptist College, where he completed a general course, and read
law in the office of Judge A. R. Wright and Daniel Printup. He was admitted
to practice, but subsequently took a special course in law at the Lumpkin
Law School, where he ivas a classmate of the late Senator A. 0. Bacon. Ilia
career as a lawyer had hardly begun when the war broke out. He assisted
in organizing a company which was part of the Eighth Regiment in what
was known as Bartow's Regiment and was lieutenant of the company, the
captain of which was John F. Cooper. Captain Cooper was killed at the
battle of Manassas, and Judge Reece succeeded him. As a young man he was
always in more or less delicate health and the exposure incident to sleeping
on frozen ground brought on a serious illness, as a result of which he was
obliged to resign his commission. He returned home, with the intention as
soon as his health permitted of joining a cavalry regiment. Instead he under-
took the organization of what was known as the Floyd County Infantry Com-
pany, passed an examination before the Military Board, and was given the
rank of captain. This company became Company H in the First Confederate
Georgia Regiment. As its commander he participated in that great campaign
from Chickamauga up to the evacuation of Atlanta. He was twice wounded
in battle, and taken prisoner was confined for four months on Johnson's
Island.
At the close of the war Captain Reece returned home, and for one year
assisted his father in rehabilitating the ruins of the old homestead. He then
took up the active practice of law at Rome, being associated with W. S. Hills,
and later with Col. C. D.' Forsyth. After the death of Mr. Forsyth, in 1876,
Mr. Reece was elected a member of the State Legislature, where he served
with credit for four successive terms, and was made chairman of several
important committees. Following his legislative career he formed a partner
ship with Richard A. Denny, and the firm of Reece & Denny was for thirteen
years of recognized prominence in the Floyd County bar, and has few peers
in North Georgia. The firm was dissolved when Judge Reece was elevated
to the bench as judge of the City Court of Rome. This position he has filled
for the past ten years. In volume 14 of the State Court of Appeals Report
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2413
thera is record of seven eases, tried and judged before Judge Reece, and all
ot -vvhicth were aifirmed by the Court of Appeals.
Xn politics he is a democrat, aud in a quiet way has been an effective
aid to his party. For many years he has been actively identified with the
Ba ji^tist Church in Rome. At Notasulga, Alabama, February 22, 1876, Judge
Reece; married Miss Corrie A. Armstrong, who was bom at Notasulga, a
daxi^l^^t*^ of Henry H. and Elizabeth (Sloan) Armstrong. Her father was
proiT«i«e'it as ^ cotton dealer ami merchant and at one time occupied a seat
in -tlie Alabama Legislature. To their marriage have been born four ehil-
dr«?M - Harvey R«t?ce died at the age of twenty-one years in Rome. Burton
Ar-i:»i^t rong Reece, who was a young man of brilliant promise, died at the age
of "t"weiity-two. Bessie is now the wife of John MeClure of Dallas, Texas, and
thoii~ five children are: John, Burton, Elizabeth. Geoi^e Douglas and Annie
Six^kitl^ McClure. Mamie is the wife of Thomas Little, of New Orleans, and
theiir two children are Thomas Little, Jr., and Curry Virginia Little.
Thomas Benton Owens. In the office of county treasurer of Floyd
County, Thomas B. Owens has employed the same methods and qualities
wlticl;! have made him a successful merchant, and either as business man
or x>i^t>lic official he is one of the leading citizens of Rome. His family has
been iclentified with Georgia more than sixty years, and three generations have
(lone their part and contributed their lives and inBuence to the improvement
of material and social conditions in this state.
THomas Benton Owens was bom in liartow County, Georgia, August 1,
1869, son ot John S. and Sallie (Jones) Owens. Both parents were likewise
natives of Bartow County. Grandfather Anderson Owens brought his family
to Georgia during the early '50s, from South Carolina, of which state he was
* Dati-ve. The years before the war he was prominent as a planter aud slave
"^^■iiei:-, and he occupied an influential position in Bartow County until his
deatH at the age of eighty-four. His wife passed away at the age of seventy-
four, John S. Owens, the father, was reared and educated in Bartow County,
®5**^ Avas also a successful planter in that locality. The last several years of
"'^ life were spent in »?tirement. He was active as a democrat, and for four
y^^'T'^ served as tax collector of Bartow County. His wife died in 1888. The
^^^^ris family are still prominently represented in Bartow County. John S.
^^^"^ns and wife had twelve children, seven of whom are still living: Joseph
^*-*-3^<i Owens, B member of the firm of Cantrell & Owens, shoe merchants at
ijv?'**^ ; Alvin Dean Owens, a planter on the" old homestead in Bartow County ;
*~"*?s Xula, living at the old home; Thomas B. ; Robert J. and Charles A.,
\^'*>^, both of whom are engaged in planting and farming near the old home
^ -"^^Ttow County; Sallie, wife of Preston C. Griffin, now a member of the'
^oa,t-^ of County Commissioners of Floyd County, and a planter, merchant,
'^'^•^la factor, with residence seven miles distant from the courthouse.
T'lnoraas Benton Owens grew up in Bprtow County on the old homestead,
*tt^*i^ed the public schools there and acquired a business training in the Rome
^^«i»:i.ess College. His first employment was as clerk and salesman for the
™^«- Bros, & Company at Rome, and he remained one of their faithful and
*™'^i^!;nt assistants until 1899. In 1899 Mr. Owens formed a partnership
^^** his father-in-law, the late James B. Hill, and with a modest capital
™-^-t>"lished a store for men's fumishing goods and general clothing. His
8**^*'^! was first located on Broad Street. Although Mr. Hill died February
^' -l^Hl, the business has continued to be known as the Hill Owens Company,
ati^ Avith the careful and energetic management of Mr. Owens, who has always
^'^^^i the chief factor in its development, the store is now the headquarters for
ft ^a.irge patronage and is recognized as the leading general clothing house in
^r. Owens is also a director of the National City Bank of Rome and has
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2414 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
been identified with that institution since its organization. His father-in-law,
James B. Hill, had served as county treasurer of Floyd County for twenty-
two years, by re-election remaining in that oflBee continuously, and at his
death Jlr. Owens was elected county treasurer in 1911, and has since care-
fully administered the duties of this oflSce. He is regarded as one of Floyd
County's most competent officials, and handles the finances of Floyd County
with a system and accuracy that do the office and himself credit. During
1914 the county treasurer had to handle and account for a siun aggregating
over $150,000. Mr. Owens is one of the active democrats in Floyd County,
is a member of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, and as a churchman is identi-
fied with the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. For recreation he occasionally
goes away for short times on hunting and fishing trips. In business he is
regarded as careful and conservative, is the soul of honor, and increasing
responsibilities have brought him only continued confidence and esteem.
On November 17, 1896, at Rome Mr. Owens married Miss Jennie Hill,
daughter of James B. and Martha Susan (Whitley) Hill. The Hill family
came originally from Alabama, and have been identified with Rome more
than forty-five years. The late James B. Hill was a man of many noble
qualities, and his death was greatly deplored in the community which he had
so long and efficiently served in the office of county treasurer. Mrs. Owens
is one of the active workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, is secretary
of the Missionary Society and also a member of the Ladies Club. Mr. and
Mrs. Owens are the parents of two children. James D., bom in Rome,
November 1, 1897, is a member of the class of 1915 in Darlington College,
where he has shown special proficiency in the department of expression
and has won some honors as an orator. The daughter, Miss Mabel Owens,
was born at Rome May 17, 1901.
C.MT. Evan P. Howei.l was born in Warsaw, Milton County, Georgia,
December 10, 1839. He removed with his father to Atlanta when nine yeai-s
of age — the j'car the name of the village of 51arthasvil!e was changed to
Atlanta. From that day until the day of his death, in August, 1905, he was
a resident of that place. Prior to the war he was admitted to practice law
and served as a captain of artillery. Afterward, until his death in 1905, he
was prominent as the leading force in the Atlanta Constitution (newspaper),
in the. location of the capital at Atlanta, in the ^establishment of the first
cotton exposition, and other numerous enterprises.
Captain Howell was elected state senator from the Atlanta District for
three terms hetwceu 1878 and 1882, and for the period between 1878 and
1892 was a delegate to most of the national conventions of the democratic
party. He had a remarkably extensive personal acquaintance not only in
Georgia but throughout the country.
DtiDi^T M.\YS Hughes, member of Congress from the Third District of
(Jeorgia since 1909, was born at Jefferson vi lie, Twi^s County, Georgia, Octo-
ber 10, 1848. His father was a planter whose farming operations were on a
large scale, and who passed a long and active life as one of the foremost agri-
eulturists of his native state.
The early education of Dudley 51. Hughes was received in private schools
at Jefferson vi lie, and he later attended the University of Georgia, graduating
in 1870. After leaving the university he returned to the plantation where
he has remained ever since, I>ending his energies to the rehabilitation of the
agricultural industry of his native state and helping to solve the vexatious
problems that confronted his own people. Although his present term in Con-
gress does not end until 1917, Mr. Hughes has been primarily a planter and
mainly devoted to southern agriculture.
In his chosen field many honors have come to Mr. Hughes and they
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2415
brought him into prominence in the state as mere office holding could not
have done. He has served as president of the Georgia State Agricultural
Society ; was a member of the board of the Georgia Btate Horticultural Soci-
ety and the Georgia Peach Growers' Association. During his administratiiw
of the affairs of the State Agricultural Society four of the most successful
state fairs in the history of the organization were held, and the society took
on new life and strength. He served as commissioner general for Georgia at
the World's Fair in St. Louis, where the resources of Georgia were given
most effective advertising which lias brought lasting results. He has served
as trustee of the University of Georgia and was one of the founders of its
Agricultural College, and for ten years has been president of the Georgia
Prnit Growers' Association. It should also be stated that he was president
of the Macon, Dublin & Savannah Railroad during its construction.
Joseph Brown Camp, M. D. In the practical work of his profession as a
physieiaR and surgeon and in his devotion to the interests of the medical
fraternity and the welfare of the community, Doctor Camp is one of the
conspicuous mefiibers of his profession in Carroll County, where he has
lived for upwards of thirty years. He is a fine representative of the older
type of medical practitioners, and at the same time has all the ability and
skill of the modern doctor, and is highly esteemed for the conscientious devo-
tion he has given to the duties of professional life.
Doctor Camp was bom September 30, 1861. While a native of Georgia,
his birthplace has at different times been in several different counties. When
he was born the old house in which he first saw the light of day was in
Campbell County. Later the Chattahoochee River was made, the boundary
line between Carroll and Campbell counties, bringing the Camp home into
the latter county. Still later a readjustment of boundary lines occurred
which placed the home in Douglas County. Doctor Camp is a son of Francis
Marion and Mary (Watkins) Camp, both now deceased. His father was
bom in Campbell County, a son of Wesley and Maria (Lassiter) Camp.
Wesley Camp was one of the original settlers in Campbell County, having
located on the Chattahoochee River on a tract of wild land, where he under-
went numerous hardships in developing a plantation. He^was a native of
South Carolina, and was one of the strong and influential men in his section
of Geoi^a. His work as a political leader brought him the honors of repre-
senting his district both in the House and the Senate. He died at the age
of sixty-five, but his wife lived to be ninety-six. Francis M. Camp grew
up on the old farm in CamplwU County and was a soldier in the Con-
federate array, serving with the Georgia State troops. He likewise repre-
sented his fellow citizens in the Legislature and helped to make history as
author of the first prohibition law. He was successful as a farmer, and a
man of the highest character. He was a Mason and a member of the Uni-
versalist Church, while his wife was a Primitive Baptist. The same divi-
sion in church sentiments prevailed in the preceding generation when Doctor
Camp's grandfathers were Universalist« and their wives Baptists. Francis
M. Camp and wife had nine children : Wesley Reese, a farmer in Texas ;
Wilson Lumpkin, a contractor and builder at Texarkana, Texas; Frank,
who is a farmer on the old homestead; Dr. J. B. ; Cicero, who operates an
electric light and power plant at Comanche, Texas; Ellen, who lives at'
Sidney, Texas: Ada Bell, who is married and lives in Texas; and Francis
Marion, Jr., a druggist of Cowan, Georgia.
Dr. Joseph B. Camp was fortunate in coming into the world as a member
of a substantial family and had an excellent home training, supplemented by
the facilities of the country .schools and a collegiate education at Dahlonega.
He was graduated in medicine at the University of Georgia with the class of
1887, and in the fall of that year opened his office at Whitesburg in Car-
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2416 GEORGIA AND QEORQrANS
roll County. With that small village as his home, the demands upon his timi;
and attention soon came from a large surrounding territory and he con-
ducted an arduous but profitable practice there for twelve years. In that
time he served as a meraher of the village council and took a leading part
in public affairs. While it was in many ways a pleasing life and one of
great service that he led at Whitesburg, Doctor Camp in time realized
the need of locating in a larger city and in 1900 chose CarroUton, the county
seat of Carroll County. For the past fifteen years he has enjoyed pro-
portionately greater sucee.'w in his practice there. He is a member of the
various medical societies including the American Medical Association, and
has always been content to do his best work for the world within the limits
of his profession. Doctor Camp U known for his generous and kindly dis-
position, his indiscriminate service in behalf of both the poor and the rich,
and is never too tired to answer the call of his many patients. Doctor
Camp is a Royal Arch Mason and also afHliates with the Knights of Pythian
pnd t!ie Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
At Whiteshurg in 1888 Mr. Camp married Miss Emma Brown, daughter
of the late Dr. John C. Brown, the maiden name of whose wife was Miss
Byron. The late Doctor Brown was in many ways an ideal country physi-
cian, and has been well characterized as a golden hearted gentleman who
carried sunshine and joy into the lives and homes of hundreds of people.
For years he went back anti forth on his rounds of duty, and while an
excellent physician and surgeon he had little ambition to accumulate great
wealth, and probably gave the greater part of the fortune which was only
a just reward for his service to the poor and needy. He was patriotic and
high minded as a citizen, and had many social qualities which endeared him
to the community. The memory of him as a strong and good man will long
continue in the hearts of the people of Carroll County.
Dr. and Mrs. Camp have three children. Mary is the wife of Dr. Harry
E. Bickford of Arlington, Tennessee. Mildred is a graduate of the Car-
roUton High School and Louis Lamar is a student in the Georgia Agricul-
tural and Mechanical College. The family are members of the Methodist
Church, and Doctor Camp is giving an important public service as chair-
man of the hoard of health.
R.^Li'H WiNPRED Ad.amson. Not a few of the important successes and dis-
tinctions of the able lawyer have come to Ralph W. Adamson during his prac-
tice at CarroUton. Mr. Adam.son has had a wide experience in the world and
was a teacher before he was a lawyer, and showed considerable ability as an
administrator and organizer in establishing and conducting the public school
system of the Philippine Islands. Those who are familiar with his ancestry
woulft naturally expect important necompliahments from so fortunate a young
man. The Adamson family has long been identified with Georgia and lias won
some of the most honorable positions in the profession, business and public
affairs. Mr, Adamson is also descended through his mother from the Yar-
borough family of Georgia.
Ralph Winfred Adamson was born at Bowdon in Carroll County, Georgia,
Oi-toher 7, 1875, a son of George R. and Fannie May (Yarborough) Adamson.
His mother is a daughter of Nathan and Margaret (Randall) Yarborough.
Xatlmn Yarbbrougli was the first settler at and the founder of the City of
Rome, Georgia. He wrote the original charter for the city's government, was
the first postmaster, the first sheriff and the first legislator in the community.
Prior to the war he owned large plantations and more than 300 slaves and this
fortune wa.s practically swept away by the cataclysm of the war. He then went
out to Comanche, Texas, and to some extent recouped his lost fortune. He
lived to be ninety-four years of age, and died in 1900. The Yarboroughs were
originally settled in Wilkes County, Georgia. Mr. Adamson 's mother was
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2417 ■
buried at Fairbum, Georgia, on what is now the right of way of the A. & W. P.
Railroad, and the railroad eompany renioved her remains and they were in-
terred in the city cemetery at Fairburn.
The Adatnson family was originally settled in Maryland, and from that state
removed to "Washington County, Gc(n-gia, and finally to Clayton County, This
particnlar branch suhsequentij' moved on to Randolph County, Alabama. Mr.
Adarason's grandfather was John AV. Adamson, who settled at Bowdon in
Carroll County in 1846, and became prominent as a merchant and planter.
He died suddenly at the age of sfxty-six years while actively engaged in busi-
ness. He and his son George R. served side by side during the war between
the states in McDaniel's company, and the son was wounded in the Battle of
South Mountain. John W. Adamson and wife are survived by four children:
George R., who is now living in Bremen, Geoi^ia ; Nancy, wife of R. D. Jack-
son, a well known attorney and present Tnayor of the City of CarroUton ; Miss
Lela T., who lives at St. Petersburg, Florida; and Hon. W. C. Adamson, who
is now serving his tenth term as congressman from this district and lives at
CarroUton.
George R. Adamson was bom in Clayton County, Georgia, but was reared
and educated in Carroll County, (Jeorgia. After his service in the war he
took up merchandising and also farming in Carroll County, but is now living
retired with his wife at Bremen in Haralson County. He was bom in Decem-
ber, 1843, and bis wife in 1851. He is a democrat, a member of the Masonic
order, and with hts wife is active in the Methodist Protestant Church. Of
their ten children one died at the age of four years, and brief mention of the
others is as follows: Edith May, wife of Rev. George R. Brown, who is secre-
tary of the Board of Ministerial Education of the General Conference of the
Methodist Protestant Church and resides at Westminster, Jlaryland ; John R.,
a bookkeeper and accountant at Atlanta. Geor^a^ George H., a merchant at
Bowdon; G. R. Adamson,. Jr.; Mrs. E. T. Jackson, of CarroUton, Geoi^ia;
Mattie, a merchant living at Bremen -, Ethel, wife of J. F. Marchman, a drug-
gist at Bremen ; Robert, bookkeeper for the Atlanta Steel Company of Atlanta ;
Nathan, a merchant at Bremen.
Ralph W. Adamson received his early education from his mother, a cultured
woman, until he was fifteen years of age, then spent a year in the public
schools of TaUapoosa, Georgia, later entering Bowdon College, and in 1896
graduated A. B. from that college. Having accomplished his ambition to se-
cure a college foundation in literary education, he then took up the study of
law in the ofBce of his uncles, \V. C. Adamson and R. D. Jackson at CarroUton.
At the same time he engaged in teaching school in Carroll County. Mr. Adam-
son was admitted to the bar January 1, 1900, following which he spent a year
in post-graduate studies at the (Columbian University Law School in Washing,
ton City. Instead of taking up the practice of law at once in 1901 he accepted
an appointment to the Philippine Islands as supervisor of schools, and remained
there during 1901-02-03. During those years he organized the largest agri-
cultural school outside the City of IManila at Tnyurgarao, a city of 22,000 in-
habitants. His work was highly appreciated and received the special com-
mendation of Mr. Taft, who was at that time governor-general of the
Philippines.
In 1904 Mr. Adamson returned to the United States and at once took up
the practice of law in Carrolltrm, where he was associated with Judge James
Beall in a partnership until the latter's election as judge of the City Court of
CarroUton. Since then Mr. Adamson has practiced alone, and very success-
fully, enjoying the confidence of a large clientele. He has also been a factor
in democratic party circles. Jlr. Adamson is a man of jovial disposition recog-
nized as a thorough student and a reader of liberal tastes, and has a great many
friends in his part of the state. He is a Mason and also affiliates with the
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. 2418 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows.
On January 24, 1906, at Turin, Cowcla County, Oeorgia, Mr. Adamson
married Miss Annie L, Reese of Turin, a daughter of Rev. H. S. and Margaret
P. (Leavell) Reese. Her father is nowthe oldest Baptist minister in the
State of Georgia, being eighty-seven years of age but still serving three
ehurehes as pastor. His many years of self-sacrificing and devoted service has
brought bim the love and respect of thousands of people to whom he has min-
istered, and both mentally and physically he has been well. fitted for the
rugged duties of his calling. In spite of his advanced years he has never worn
spectacles. His wife is now eighty-two years old, and both have lived their
years in accord with the Christian faith. Mr. and Mrs. Adamson have two
children, Winifred Coates Adamson, who was born at Carrollton November
24, 1911, and Robert Henry, bom January 12, 1916.
Clal'pe Bond. A representative member of the bar of his native state,
Mr. Bond is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the thriv-
ing little City' of Toccoa, Stephens County, and his admirable intellectual
attainments had enabled him previously to render effective service iu the
pedagogic profession. He is serving as mayor of Toccoa in 1915 and is one
of the progressive and public-spirited citizens who are loyally aiding in the
furtherance of the civic and material advancement of the Empire State of
the South, where he is a scion of sterling pioneer stock.
Mr, Bond was bom in Franklin County, Georgia, on the 14th of January,
1881, and is a son of Stephen Pennington Bond and Polly M. (Bowers)
Bond, both of whom passed their entire lives in this state, the father having
been for many years a merchant at Canon, Franklin County, where he died
in 1903, at the age of sixty-two years. He was a native of Madison County,
as was also his father, Joseph M. Bond, who was a representative of a
sterling pioneer family of that suction of the state and who was a substantial
planter during virtually his entire active career. He was about eighty years
of age at the time of his death, in 1890, and the maternal grandfather of the
subject of this review likewise attained to the age of nearly four score years,
his death having occurred in 1888. This grandsire. Job Bowers, was born
in Hart County and the village of Canon was orignally known as West
Bowersville, the place having been named in his honor. The father of Job
Bowers, who bore the name of William Bowers, was an infant four days
old when his father, who happened to" be at home on a furlough from the
Revolutionary army, was decoyed from his home by some Tories and carried
back of bis garden and shot to death, leaving the mother and babe alone in
the home. From this little infant sprang a large and influential family of
Hart County, Mr. Bond's maternal ancestors. The mother of Claude Bond
was summoned to eternal rest in 1890, at the age of fifty years, and of the
thirteen children seven are now living, the subject of this review having
been the eleventh in order of birth.
To the public schools of Franklin County Claude Bond is indebted for
his early educational discipline, and when he was a lad of sixteen years he
met with an accident, in a cotton gin, that necessitated the amputation of
his right arm. This physical affliction has proved inadequate to handicap
him in the active affairs of life and through his own efforts he defrayed to
a large extent the expenses of his higher education, principally by teaching
school during his vacation periods and at other intervals. After attending
the high school at Eoyston he entered the University of Georgia, in which
he was graduated as a member of the class of 190.3, and from which he
received the degree of bachelor of arts. For the ensuing three years he was
professor of Latin and Greek in the Georgia Military Academy, at College
Park, Pulton County, and he then received, in the spring of 1906, the dis-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2419
tinction of being tendered a Peabody scholarship in historic old Harvard
University,' this preferment having come through Chancellor Hill, of the
University of Georgia. In the law department of Harvard Mr. Bond prose-
cuted his studies with characteristic ambition and zeal, and upon his return
to Georgia, in 1907, he was admitted to the bar and engaged in the practice
of law at Toccoa, where he has since continued his labors in his exacting pro-
fession and where his substantial and representative clientage attests alike
his ability and personal popularity. He has a large and lucrative practice
in his home County of Stephens, and adjoining counties, representing varied
interest throughout his section. In the spring of 1906 Governor Terrell
appointed Mr. Bond a member of the board of visitors to the Georgia. State
University at Athens, and for two years, 1912-13, he served as chairman of
the board of education of Toccoa, a position which he resigned at the time
of his election to the office of mayor of the city. As chief executive of the
municipal government of Toccoa he has given a specially progressive and
effective administration and stood exponent of the best civic ideals. Mr.
Bond is a director and vice president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of
Toecoa and director of the Bank of Toccoa, is identified with the Georgia
State Bar Association and the Stephens County Bar Association, and is
affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias
and the Sigma Nn college fraternity. While a student in the University of
Georgia he received iu 1901 the Phi Kappa sophomore medal in debating
contest, as well as the sophomore medal for declamation, while in 1902 he
■was awarded the championship for declamation in ttie university. In 1903
he was business manager of the college publication known as Pandora, and
in 1902 he was editor in chief of the Red and Black, the weekly paper issued
by the students of the university, besides being in the same year a member
of the advisory council of the student body. Both he and his wife bold
membership in the Baptist Church. A stalwart iu the camp of the democratic
party, Mr. Bond served as a member of its Georgia executive committee in
1910-12, and he is incumbent of the same position in 1915 and 1916.
In June, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bond to Miss Bertha
Josephine Kimsey, daughter of Judge John J. Kimsey, of Cornelia, Haber-
sham County, who has served with distinction on the bench of the Superior
Court. Mr. and Mrs. Bond have three children, whose names and respective
dates of birth are here entered: Claude, Jr., September, 1909; Bertha
Josephine, September, 1911, and John Pennington, October, 1914.
Gkover Cleptanr Cook. Aside from his substantial business position in
the community of Carrollton as organizer, active head and cashier of the Peo-
ple's Bank of that city, Ofover C. Cook is a member of that large and import-
ant unofficial organization of Georgia boosters, a man whose loyalty to his home
community and native state is of the most convincing type, and who is always
willing to sacrifice time and effort to make the outside world better acquainted
with and more appreciative of what Georgia and what Carroll County in par-
ticular has to offer in the way of opportunities.
Grover C. Cook was born in Henry County, Georgia, September 22, 1884, a
son of "William Allen and Sarah Phronia (Walls) Cook. His father was born
in Henry County and his mother in Carroll County, Georgia. The grand-
father was William Allen Cook first, a native of Fnlton County. Georgia, and
by occupation an extensive planter and the owner of a number of slaves before
the war. William A. Cook second, father of the Carrollton banker, was a
farmer in Henry County and died there in 1889, while his wife passed away
in 1898. Their five children were: William Allen Cook third, a brick manu-
facturer at Augusta, Georgia; John Man-in, in the hardware business at
Atlanta, Georgia; Lunar V., a resident of Carrollton; Mary, wife of A. T.
Jackson of Carrollton and Grover C.
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2420 GEORGIA AND GEORGIAN'S
Grover C. Cook early in life met the responsibilitiea of the world face lo
face, and has carved for himself an important niche in the world's activities.
He acquired his education in the public schools o£ Carrollton, and completed
a course in the Southern Business College at Atlanta, His career has been
practically devoted -since early manhood to banking.' His first position was
as bookkeeper in the Carrollton Bank and he was identified with that insti-
tution for five years. In 1909 he took the lead in organizing the People's Bank
of Carrollton, which started with a capital of !|i60,000. This bank has been one
of the most successful in its records among the financial institutions of Carroll
County. It has earned a substantial surplus in addition to paying regular
semi-annual dividends. Mr. Cook has been cashier since the oi^anization, bat
the title of that office docs not indicate precisely his relations with the bank,
since in fact he has had full and complete charge of both the executive and
administrative responsibilities from the beginning. The first president, whoae
position however was somewhat nominal so far as active responsibilities were
concerned, was Mr. John R. Adamson, who in 1913 was succeeded by George
"W. Fleming, who is now president.
Since 1913 Mr. Cook has also had charge of the city finances of Carrollton,
and these official duties are directly in line with his profession as a banker.
He is a democrat, affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Methodist Church. On
August 14, 1912, at Carrollton he married Miss Jlildred Rutherford Shaw,
daughter of William II. Shaw of Carrollton. Mrs. Cook js an active member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of the various societies associated with
the church. Mr. Cook finds his principal diversion outside of business in
tennis and fishing.
James Bozem.xn Baird, M, D. For nearly forty-iive years Doctor Baircl has
been one of the prominent and successful physicians of Atlanta. The be-
ginning of his career in medical pi"aetice coincided with the death of his father,
who had for many years represented the same profession in this state, and
father and son have been continuously identified with this profession in the
. South for a period covering more than three-quarters of a century. Doctor
Baird is an excellent type of the modem and successful American physician.
Through his practice he has contributed a large amount of individual service,
and at the same time has taken a prominent part in the organized activities of
the profession, is a contributor to medical literature, has served in a profes-
sional capacity on several hoards and organizations in hjs home city and state,,
and is a Georgian of well earned distinction.
James Bozeman Baird was born Januarj' 5, 18-J9, in Columbus, Georgia,
He comes from old southern stock, and his grandfather, Capt. James R. Baird,
fought as an oflficer in the War of 1812, and is buried at Charleston. South Car-
olina. Doctor Baird 's father was the late Dr. John B. Baird, who was bom
in 1811, spent his early manhood in Charleston, South Carolina, was gradu-
ated from the medical college of the State of South Carolina at Charleston,
and located in Columbus, Georgia, where he was engaged in active practice for
nearly forty years. In 1868 he removed to Atlanta, continued in practice there
a year or two and died in 1871. Doctor Baird, Sr., married JIary L. Bozeman,
of Seottsboro, Georgia, November 25, 1846.
Dr. James Bozeman Baird was reared and received his early education in
Columbus, much of his youth being spent on the banks of the Chattahoochee
River. From the Ijcginning of his schooling he showed a precocity which ad-
vanced him rapidly from one grade to the other in the common schools. He
was one of the patriotic youths of the South during the war, but too young for
any service until the concluding months of the great struggle. In 1864, at the
age of fifteen, he began a somewhat irregular service, which continued until the
end of the war. While never a member of any military organization, he per-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2421
fortrx<^<-^ various duties of one kind and another, holding himself ready for any
responsibility that could be imposed on his young shoulders, and several times
ie iiotred as a courier. Such w^rvices as was entrusted to him he performed
Tj/li ^ coolness and daring which gave promise of brilliant usefulness had the
"Sr *?'<TitinuetI mueh longer.
l>-iiring the first years of the reconstruction period Doctor Baird was en-
gjj^<=«_;l in various mereantile employments, devoting his leisure hours at night
Iff -tV»^ study of medicine. In lt>6S he was enrolled in the Bellevue Hospital
Jtecli*-=al (College of New York City, and graduated at the end of a two years'
coiix-s»f - He then returned to Atlanta in the spring of 1871, and began the
at't i v «^ practice of his profession. He has conducted a general practice, and his
attn-i-«»i'ients, his long experience and thorough knowledge give him a rank
amoz-aer the ablest men in medical circles in Georgia. While not a specialist in
that- 1 iiie, he is held in high regard as an alienist, and has frequently been
ret| 11 tested by the-state to pass judgment on the sanity of criminals. In such
cas^» as also in the general routine of his profession his testimony is clear,
conci^^ and convincing, ao that there has never been a doubt as to his sincerity,
the los''<^^l character of his conclusions, and the scientific value of his deduction.
IJ>o<5tor Baird is a member of the Bledical Association of Georgia, the Pul-
ton <I7oTjnty Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Atlanta
Obst<*tr-ical Society, and Ivas served as president, secretary and orator of the
State IMedical Association and as member and secretary of the health board of
Ktlaiit:^, having occupied the last named position for seventeen years. He has
\weii a. Tnemher of the regular medical examining board of the State of Georgia,
and of several other medical organizations. For several years Doctor Baird
was l€?«_-turer on minor surgery, physiology and nervous and mental diseases in
the .A "t lanta Medical College. Subsequently he filled the chair of principals
and r>:»:~»ctice of medicine and was dean of the faculty in the Southern Medical
Coll^ji^.^T. of Atlanta, and still later was professor of principles and practice of
WL'dic; » :Bje in the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons. His talents have
not t>«B-.^n confined to practice alone, but has produced a number of articles com-
man <.! i :^;jg widespread interest, published in different medical journals and other
inedi,:^^^! publications.
r ii. 1879 Doctor Baird married EliKabeth Garircll, whose'father. Gen. L. J.
^'^ *^^^'ll, was a member of Iwth the Confederate and National Congress as a
'^!P'"*^^^^ntative from Georgia. Mrs. Baird died in 1898, having been the mother
". 'c**-». :» children, three sons and one daughter, three of whom are living. Dr.
ani«E>ssi£ Bozeman Baird, Jr., who is now a practicing physician in Atlanta, and
pr-os^^jj^j^g the third successive generation in that profession ; Lucius Gartrell
"~<.^ ___ ^yho died at the age of twenty-one, being at that time a senior in the
^^^^ 3a School of Technology; Mary liouise. now Mrs, Harold Gordon Russell
of.vrir-.
r York City; and Henry Stewart Baird, a civil engineer by profession.
*-"^ Tigaged in the construction department of the City of Atlanta. In No-
,, ^^ * ^^^1", 1S)01, Doctor Baird married .Mrs. Annie (Rainel Mvnatt, daughter of
tne 4^^-,pjps,.ph g_ Raine, of Atlanta. She died February 10, 1916.
- ^-!^'*- JBERT SI. EciiOT-s. On one of the old red hills of Walton, in an obscure
y _* * ^- burjing-ground- a spot not even visible from the public highway, may
5^"*.ind the last resting place of one of Walton's sons, who in the first half
^ ^*- -wi nineteenth century made for himself a place among Georgia's men of
VI- %^~ ^ becoming a leader of great prominence. Very near his grave stands
* "*"^>«i which on the bright spring day when the writer visited the spot was
?■ "tiling of beauty" with its innumerable white blossoms, and as the April
*^^^^\s moved among its houghs, the thought was suggested, that while Walton's
■ i^'^^liters were placing wreaths and garlands on the graves of their Confed-
cTat<; dead, kind Nature, forgetting not this dead hero of ours, would cover
V^Yft with beautiful snowy blossoms.
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2422 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Robert JI. Echols was born in Wilkes County about four miles from Wash-
ington about the beginning of the last century. lie was the grandson of James
Eehols, a Revohitionaiy soldier, who died in 1792. His parents, Miiner and
Susan Sansoin Echols, were Virginians, who, on first coming to Georgia, set-
tled in Wilkes County, but while their son was quite young, came to make their
home in Walton, being among the first settlers of the county,
Robert ^1. Echols remained a citizen of Walton throughout his life, his
home being seven miles from Monroe, on the Walnut Grove road. In his early
manhood, General Eehols became active in political matters. He was for
twenty-four years a member of the General Assembly of Georgia. He served
in both Houses and for several terms was president of the Senate. In a race
for Congress, his opponent being Gen. Howell Cobb, he was defeated by the
narrow margin of two votes.
General Echols lived in a time which has been called The Golden Age of
Georgia History — "A time when absolute peace reigned among the people,
when a homogeneous population developed a democracy of a very pure type.
None had overgrown fortunes, none were distressed by extreme poverty. Land
was plentiful and cheap. The masters were kindly optimistic, and the slaves,
even greater optimists, showed in their appearance the evidence of the best
care."
When wars came the Georgians were as ready -to shed their blood in de-
fense of their state and country as had been their ancestors of 1775. When in
1847 the L'nited States went to war with Mexico, Robert M. Echols was made
colonel of the Thirteenth United States Regiment, with the title of brigadier
general, and gallantly led his regiment during that struggle. While on dresa
parade at the National Bridge in Mexico, he was thrown from his horse, re-
ceiving injuries from which he died, December 3, 1847. He was burie,d in
Jlexico, but several years afterward, an appropriation having been made hy
the Georgia Legislature, he was brought back to Georgia, and buried with
public military honors at his old home in this county. He was accorded, it is
said, the most imposing funeral in (he history of Walton County.
General Echols served his state faithfully in times of peace for more than
twenty years, and at the first call to arras, he gallantly took up his sword in
defense of his country.
In 1858 the Legislature of Georgia organized a county on the Florida line
which was named in honor of General Echols.
General Echols married Mary Melton of Clarke County whose mother,
Tabitha Stroud Melton, was a daughter of John Stroud, a Revolutionary sol-
dier of North Carolina and a niece of Col. Jacob Stroud of Stroudsbui^, Penn-
sylvania. General and Mrs. Echols were the parents of nine children, five
sons and four daughters, no descendants of whom are living, so far as we know.
A sister of General Echols, Martha, was the wife of Joshua Ammons, and
mother of the late John M. Ammons.
A brother of Mrs. Echols, Eliel Melton, was killed in that struggle known
in history as "The Fall of the Alamo."
Hope Hill was horn in Somerset County, Maryland, March 13, 1763, son
of Hopewell Hull, an Englishman by birth and a shipbuilder by occupatioi}.
After the close of the Revolutionary war, in which Hope Hull had been a
good soldier, he studied for the ministrj-. He was received into the Baltimore
Conference of the Jlethodist Church, in 1785, and was sent to Salisbury Cir-
cuit, in Xorth Carolina. In 1788 he was sent to Washington, Georgia, and
was the founder of the Methodist Church in this state. During the next
decade he traveled from New England to Savannah, preaching the gospel
after the fashion of the circuit rider of that period. While in Washington
he taught the academy which he had helped to organize on bis first visit to
tlie village. In 1803 lie moved to Athens, wlicre be was the most active of its
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GEORGIA AND GEOHGIANS 2423
ffustees iu the early development of the university. He died at that place
Jh J-S18.
X^ORTER Ingram, lawyer and Confederate congressman, was bom near the
t}MG "Village of Marlborough, Vermont. April 2, 1810. He graduated from
Ta.l^' i" 1**31 and taught school in the State of New Yorh until 1836. He then
eaixa^ South, settling in Hamilton, Harris County, Georgia. Soon afterward
j]^ moved to Columbus, where he first as-sociated himself in practice wiUi
jl^i-tin J. Crawford, who became one of the justices of the State Supreme '
jNt X". Ingram was for fifteen or tv^enty years judge of the City Court of
Coli^nnbus and was retired from oflfice at his own request. He was a member
o£ -tl:*** Deiuoeratie Convention of 1858 and served in the Confederate Con-
gr-eis^ of 1863. On account of his ago he did not enlist for military service.
H<3N. James Be.\ll. Now judge of the City and County courts of Car-
rolltoai and Carroll County, James Beall has long enjoyed an enviable repu-
ta.1:io3i:k. as a lawyer, but his life and services have been only less noteworthy in
th e K. d'neral field of citizenship, and in all movements connected with the best
stancfl ards of community life, morality and religion,
«X v:idge Beall was .bom at Palmetto, Campbell County, Georgia, February
7-. IS ^50, a son of James J. and Sarah Matilda (Watts) Beall. James J. Beall
was l:>orn in Rockdale County, Q«oi^ia, while his wife was a native of Ala-
f*a-rn««._ The father died in 1900 at the age of seventy-five. During the war
i^t"*'v«^en the states he reached the rank of captain in the Nineteenth Georgia
^*^S^»TQent of Infantry and was for four years identified with the army of
-■^ •?*~fft7iem Virginia and passed through with only a slight wound in one skir-
^^'sl>- — Professionally he was a teacher, and both before and after the war
^»v«^^l-it school in Campbell County, Georgia, and also in Haralson County,
aiici "^vas principal of the Palmetto schools. Judge Beall 's grandfather was
Josi^t»,-|i Beall, who added to the military distinctions of the family by serving
fla»~i :»rag the Mexican war, in one of the battles of which he was killed. Josiah
^^^1 1- was born in Maryland and founded the family name in Georgia, where
"^ **c^».arried Sally Butts. One of Judge Beall 's uncles was Josiah Beall, who
ivis ^^^^illed in one of the battles of the Civil war. Another uncle, Egbert Beall,
*"! is^s. -tied in the Confederate army from Texas, to which state he had removed
P"!**^*^*:- to the. war. James J. Beall was the fifth iu a family of ten children.
•lis "^ividow is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Dean, at Buchanan, Georgia,
I , "t ^ -»e age of eighty years. Judge Beall was second in the family of ten
"^lul^j^ fen. The oldest, "William Beall, who has been totally blind for many
•"'^*^*~^, is a highly esteemed citizen of Campbell County and is serving as
"^oii *:rm^ "ty treasurer. Jesse Beall, a twin brother of Judge James, is in the real
?'-^-~*:ue business at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thomas Beall is a prosperous
^?'*~^7».er in Culman County, Alabama. Robert Augustus is engaged in stock
J^'^^^-^g and ranching in the State of Nebraska. John Beall is a farmer in
^^'^ ""^^fcian County, Alabama. Henry Beall for a number of years has been
'^^^ ^w^ductor on the Central of Georgia Railway, his run being between Atlanta
?,^*i Macon, Egbert P. Beall is a farmer in Harrison County, Georgia.
V^^*- ^»rles is associated with his brother Jesse at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sarah
Jea :»— »riette is the wife of James A. Dean, a farmer and merchant at Buchanan.
-^IB'udge Beall, though of a substantial and noteworthy family of Georgia,
^^ -partly as a matter of necessity and partly from choice been dependent
^^*^^^^*i his own abilities and resources since an early age. He graduated from
Y*^-^ Tallapoosa High School after having begun his education under his
la.\.»r»(ir. He read law with Judge Price Edwards of Tallapoosa and was
*^*~»^itted to practice by Judge C. J, James in June, 1896. In the meantime
U\a. ^ariy life had been identified with general merchandising at Waco, Talla-
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2424 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
poosa and Bremen, Georgia. Iii that vocation he spent about twelve years.
After admission to the bar he did his first practice at Bremen iu Haralson
County, and was a partner for a time with William Johnson as senior mem-
ber of the firm and subsequently became senior partner with W, W. Edwards.
He continued practice in Bremen until 1903 and has since lived at Carrotlton,
Here he was a member of the firm of Beall & Adamson, the latter being R. W,
Adamson, and they enjoyed a large practice and success until Mr. Bcall was
elected judge of the City and County courts of Carrollton and Carroll County
in 1908. He has since been re-elected to this office and is now ser\'ing in his
second term. By temperament and by experience Judge Beall is well fitted
for the judicial office and has given an, exceptional administration. During
bis residence at Bremen he served in the office of mayor nearly all the years
he spent there.
He baa been quite a factor iti democratic polities in his section of the
state, and was lai^ely instrumental in securing the election of Mr. Adamson
to represent this district in the United States Congress. The duties of his
office as judge of Carroll County preclude his private practice in the city or
county, though outside of that jurisdiction he has a large clientele in the
Coweta and Tallapoosa circuit. Judge Beall is a Royal Arch Mason and a
member of the Knights of Pythias and the Royal Arcanum. His chief pleasure,
however, is found in Sunday school work. He is a steward in the Methodist
Episcopal Church and is assistant superintendent of the Carrollton Sun-
day School and baa served for a number of years as president of the
Carrol! County Sunday School Association. Before assemblages of young
people he is both a pleasing and instructive speaker, and his addresses have
been frequently quoted in Sunday school and church magazines. Judge Beall
also has farming interests in his part of Georgia.
On January 6, 1889, at Waco, in Haralson County, he married Miss Lydia
T. O'Kelley, who was bom at Grantvdle, in Coweta County, a daughter of
Richard 1, O'Kelley, a prominent lawyer, who during the latter years of
his life had a high standing at the Atlanta bar. Judge Beall and wife have
five children. Ruby D., bom at Waco, Georgia, November 2, 1889, has gained
a considerable reputation as a teacher of music. James Harvey, born at
Waeo December 15, 1891, read law under his father, was admitted to the
bar December, 1914, and is now in practice at Carrollton. Jesse Ivy, who
was bom July 14, 1893, was one of twenty-six. applicants out of a class of
180 that passed the literary examination at the Annapolis Military- Academy,
but is now living in Spanish Honduras, associated in business with his father-
in-lsw, William Coleman, an extensive coffee planter and business man of
Honduras and a native of Carroll County, Georgia. Jesse T. Beall was mar-
ried in June, 1914, at Carrollton, to Miss Vera ColcTnan, who is a graduate
of Shorter College. Thomas Julian was horn April 28, 1897, in Carroll
County, and Sarah Frances was bom May 26, 1904. Mrs. Beall has found
an enthusiasm ^milar to that of her husband in Sunday school work, is a
teacher in the local schools, takes a leading part in church and missionary
societies, and has frequently proved a popular entertainer through her talents
as an elocutionist and a musician.
Brenau College, of Gainesville, is an institution for the higher
education of young women. Historically it goes back to a girl's semi-
nary, established more than thirty-five years ago, and furnishing instruc-
tion chiefly in the secondary branches. During the past twenty years the
development of the school has been noteworthy, and in faculty, equipment,
scope of instruction and standard of scholarship, it now deserves rank among
the leading women's colleges of the South. Its musical conservatory in par-
ticular, is said' to be the largest conservatory in the South in the number of
professors engaged, students in attendance, and extensiveness of equipment.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2425
aoj in these respects it stands near the head of American musical institutions.
Irx 1878 the Georgia Baptist Seminary was started by tlie following per-
■ftVjs : 0. B. Thompson, J. W. Bailey, D. B. Candler, D. E. Banks, W. C.
ft'ilkes, David E. Butler and W. P. Priee, Dr. W. .C. Wilkes being the first
pj.es.iti«nt. During the following iifteen years the institution had the vicissi-
tucl«?s Tvhich have marked the careers of many similar institutions, and event-
ually^ it was removed from denominational control and came under the
tQ^zisL^^ement of private individuals. The present period of growth and devel-
opm^arat began in 1893, and on January 28, 1911, a charter was granted to
BT-en^»-« College in response to the petition of the following persons: H. J.
Pear<s^, T. J. Simmons, T. J. Pearce, H. H. Dean, John A. Smith, J. E. Red-
win<s» Jr., J. H. Hosch, Hayne Palmour, JI. C. Brown, J. C. Boone, E. E.
KiTxi»:>»ough, John Carter, Z. T. Castleberry, W. A. Charters, S. C. Dunlap,
H- H- Perry, J. B. George, J. B. Gaston, G. F. Turner, G. II. Prior, B. M.
St3,ll"worth, and IJ. R. Waterman. The petition was granted for the purpo.se
of es-tablishing a college for the education of women.
T■l^e original plant of Brenau College comprised a dormitory known as
Willt^M Hall, and another building containing class rooms, known as the
Bail^^' Building, located on a campus of nine acres. The main dormitory,
yon^a. i\ Hall, was completed in 1893, the contractor having been Allan D.
Cantl Icr, later governor of Georgia. The people of Gainesville raised by
pu.h>li<2 subscription the money with which the conservatory building was
erect «5d in 1896. This contains a large auditorium with a number of studios
aid lecture rooms. In 1902 East Hall, a combined dormitory, library and
Iectia.:f e room, was built, local Citizens at Gainesville having subscribed about
^4»00<1 to the building fund. Overton Hall was built in 1909, the home
?*!^ "t lr»e Brenau School of Oratory, being named in memorial to Misa
^ 'C>«~^^nce M. Overton, In 1910 North Hall was erected, as a dormitory. In
*-^l-^S Geiger Memorial was erected as a memorial to Dr. August Geiger, for
man.^,^ years head of the department of theoretical music. This building eon-
'wn^^ numerous studios and practice rooms. The campus has been enlarged
I" ^*-'M)out 100 acres. Several club houses and other small buildings
na-v^i been erected, one of them being Wauka Hail, in which is located the
^!*^**- ■fistic science laboratory. The most recent building is the Lessie Soiithgate.
^"a:». ^Tfcnons Memorial, providing a permanent home for the Young Women's
'''^^^■^i ^tian Association and also quarters for the library.
^C*~"rom a recent bulletin of the college the following information is found
coc».<2;.^3rning the changes in collegiate standards. It is noted that in 1893 there
!^^^*~^5s comparatively few high schools in the South, and nearly every institu-
"**^»- _ called a college was engaged to an important extent in supplying* the
^^~^^ i ees of high schools to its pupils. In 1903 the unit system was
^"L^Ifc^^^ted, 120 unit hours being established as the standard length of the
■eoiX^^,^g course. But not more than two years of high school work was
p *^'*-^»-ired at that time for admission to the Freshman class. In 1908 the
I *~^*^aegieunit was adopted as a basis for entrance, and in 1909 it was attempted
r^ ^^JC^ply the fourteen unit standard for admission. The number of four year
^^■^^*- schools in GJeorgia at that time being small, the application of this rule
™^ correspondingly difficult. The development of high schools and the
^.'"^~^Bponding increase of requirements for college entrance has resulted in the
^^^*- ^*Jiution of the number of students applying for preparatory courses. In
^^^*'^3 the preparatory school as a separate organization was discontinued,
tno-»_j^gl, jijg jjjQg of several instructors has been employed in offering college
V^^l^aratory work. As a result of this evolution of standards, Brenau College
'^^'^«3w distinctively a college in the real sense of the word.
Id the regular collegiate department Brenau offers well systematized
(^marses of study in the English language and literature, both the ancient and
TJi^i^em languages, mathematics, history and political science, philosophy and
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2426 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
education, and the different physical and biological sciences. There is also
a department of Biblical literature and domestic science. A very excellent
school of education is maintained for the purpose of preparing young women
for teaching in public and private high schools. Other important depart-
ments are those of art, public speaking and vocal interpretation, and music.
It is noted that the Brenau Conservatory is not a mere department o£ Brenau
College, but really an important musical institution co-ordinated with it. The
five departmeats of the conservatory are piano, voice, pipe organ, violin and
orchestral instruments, musical pedagogy and theory. During the year 1914-
15, 400 pupils were in attendance in the different classilications of students,
including about 150 whose work was exclusively in the conservatory. These
students are dravni from twenty-five states and several foreign countries, and
many of the northern states are represented in the enrollment.
Among the oilBcers of instruction should be mentioned Haywood Jefferson
Pearee, who became president of Brenau College in 1893, and now holds that
ofSce and the chair of philosophy ; Thomas Jackson Simmons, a former presi-
dent of Shorter College, and president of Brenau since 1910, and professor
of Biblical literature and pedagogy; Otto W, G. Pfefferkom, director of
music at Brenau from 1902 to 1914; Florence M. Overton, principal of the
school of oratorj- ; and John H. Weygandt, principal and professor of art.
The board of trustees of Brenau College are -. H. H. Dean, president ; John
II. Hoseh, secretary; M. C. Brown, John Carter, Z. T. Castleberry, W. A.
Charters, S. C. Dunlap, J. B. Gaston, J. B. George, E. E. Kimbrough, Hayne
Palmour, H. J. Pearee, H. H. Perrv, J. B. Redwine, Jr., T. J. Simmons, John
A. Smith, B. M. Stallworth, G. W. Towasend and U. R. Waterman.
William A. Bailey. Not only as one of the representative members of
the bar of Stephens County but also by ^reason of his incumbency of the
offices of county clerk and clerk of the Superior Court, does Mr. Bailey hold
a position of prominence and influence, and his ability and energy prove
equal to the manifold responsibilities devolving upon him in his professional
and official activities.
Mr. Bailey was bom in Franklin County, Geoi^a, on the 28th of April,
^ 1873, and is a son of James D. and Amanda J. (Vickery) Bailey, the former
of whom was born in Chester County, South Carolina, in December, 1845,
and the latter of whom was born in Ilart County, Georgia, her death having
occurred when but thirty-four years of age and when her son William A., of
this review, was a child of two years. James D. Bailey was one of the
loyal sons of the South who tendered aid in defense of the cause of the
Coflfederate States when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation. He
enlisted as a private, in what was known as Orr's Regiment, and ^yith his
command he took part in many important engagements, including the second
battle of Manassas and the siege and battle of Vicksburg. He continued in-
active service until the surrender of Generals Lee and Johnston and his
record is one that reflects lasting honor upon his name and memory. He was
second lieutenant of his company during the major part of his service, and
retired with the rank of first lieutenant. His was the distinction of having
served on the staff of the gallant and intrepid Gen. Stonewall Jackson, and
with this great commander he remained until the death of the general.
After the war Mr. Bailey returned to what is now Stephens County, Georgia,
where he remained an influential and honored citizen until his death, in
1899, at a venerable age. His remains were interred at Anderson, South
Carolina, where a large and beautiful statue and monument of marble has
been erected to his memory by the Daughters of the Confederacy.
After receiving his preliminarv education in the schools of his native
county and the high school at Westminster, South Carolina, which latter
he attended one year, William A. Bailey entered the Martin Institute, at
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2427
Jefferson, Georgia, where he completed the prescribed curriculum and was
^aduated with honors. Shortly thereafter he assumed a position as salesman
with the firm of Vickery, Cannon & Company, at Toecoa, and with his firm
he remained five years. He passed the following year in traveling in the
Western States and then returned to Toecoa, where he became bookkeeper in
the general merchandise establishment of W. C. Edwards. After retaining
this position one year be attended, in 1900, the Southern Shorthand and
Business University, in the city of Atlanta, where he completed a course
in stenography. In the preceding year he had initiated the study of law,
under the preeeptorship of Charles L. Baas and Hon. J. B. Jones, of Toecoa,
the latter of whom is now presiding on tbe bench of the Circuit Court, and
in June, 1901, he was admitted to the bar of his native state, upon passing
an examination before the State Board of Examiners. Since that time he
has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession,
for which he has shown special aptitude and admirable equipment. On the
Ist of January, 1904, he entered into a professional alliance with his former
preceptor, Judge Jones, under the firm name of Jones & Bailey, and this
effective association continued until the election of Judge Jones to the
Circuit Bench.
The thriving little City of Toecoa has been the stage of the professional
activities of Mr. Bailey, and in addition to bis official services he still controls
a substantial and representative law business. In December, 1905, he was
elected clerk of the Superior Court, of which office he has since continued the
able and valued incumbent, and since 1906 he has held also the important
office of county elerk of Stephens County, In 1898 be served as enrollment
clerk of the Lower House of the Georgia Legislature, and he has been an
active worker in behalf of the principles and policies for which the democratic
party stands sponsor. In bis profession he has achieved specially high
reputation as a. counselor, and while he was associated in practice with Judge
Jones the firm served as counsel for a number of important corporations,
including the Toecoa Banking Company, the First National Batik of Toecoa,
the Toeeoa Cotton Mills, the Simons Furniture & Lumber Company, the
Capps Cotton Mills, the Toecoa Electric Light & Power Company, and the
Toecoa Telephone Company.
Mr. Bailey and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church in their'
home city, and his fraternal affiliations are here briefly noted : Toecoa Lodge,
No. 309, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Toecoa Chapter, No. 124, Royal
Arch Masons; Pilgrim Coramandery, No. 15, Knights Templar, in the city
of Gainesville ; Yaarab Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine, in tbe city of Atlanta ; and Toecoa Lodge, No. 272, Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He has passed all of the official chairs in
his lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity and is deeply interested in
the history and teachings of this time-honored organization. He is identified
vrith the Stephens County Bar Association and the Georgia State Bar
Association.
On the 4th day of June, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bailey
to Miss Minnie Kinsey, daughter of Judge John J, Kinsey, who still resides
at Cornelia, Habersham County, and who formerly served with marked dis-
tinction on the bench of the Superior courts of the Northeastern Circuit.
Mr. and Mrs, Bailey are popular factors in the representative social activities
of their community and their home is brightened by the presence of their
two children — William and Mary, the former of whom was bom in October,
1911. and the latter in December, 1913.
RoBESCT B. RmiiEY, M. D. The medical profession in Georgia has been
specially honored and dignified by the interposition and effective seiTnces of
representatives of the Ridley family, even as the family name has stood
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2428 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
exponent of the highest civic ideals and steadfast integrity of purpose. He
■whose name initiates this paragraph held prestige as one of the active and able
physicians and surgeons of his native state for a period of more than forty
years, and since his retirement he has been engaged in the wholesale dry-goods
trade, as president of the Ridley-Williamson-Wyatt Company, of Atlanta,
one of the foremost concerns in this branch of mercantile enterprise in the
South. His father was a distinguished and honored representative of the
medical profession for many years, and three of the sons entered the same
exacting vocation, to which they have contributed years of earnest and suc-
cessful service, two of the number, Dr. Charles B. and Dr. Prank M. Ridley,
being still engaged in active practice, in the City of La Grange, Troup County,
and the latter having served as president of the Georgia State Medical Asso-
ciation, an oiBee to which he was elected in 1895. Dr. Robert B. Ridley, the
third of the brothers and the immediate subject of this review, further honored
his native state through his gallant service aa a soldier of the Confederacy in
the Civil war, and though he attained to marked success in the profession to
which he devoted so many years of his life, he has the intrinsic elements of
character that have made him also a figure of prominence in the business -
world and distinctively a business man of prominence and influence in the
fine metropolis and capital city of Georgia.
Dr. Robert B. Ridley was bom at La Grange, Troup County, Georgia, in
October, 1842. and is a son of Dr. Robert A. T. and Mary B. (Morris) Ridley,
the former of whom was born in the Village of Oxford, Granville County,
North Carolina, in the first decade of the nineteenth century, and the latter
of whom likewise was a native of that historic old commonwealth, where she
was bom in 1812, a daughter of John Morris. Dr. Robert A, T. Eidley was
graduated in the Charleston Medical College, at Charleston, South Carolina,
and he eventually engaged in the practice of his profession aa one of the
pioneer physicians and surgeons of Troup County, Geoi^Bi where he con-
tinued his labors for many years and where he gained impregnable place in
popular confidence and esteem. He was not only one of the eminent members
of his profession in Western Georgia but also became specially influential in
public affairs, as a man admirably qualified for leadership in public senti-
ment. He represented Troup County in the lower house of the State Legis-
lature and later represented his district In the State Senate. He was a man
of fine mental ken and exalted character, and he made his life count for good
in its every relation, so that his memory is revered in the county that repre-
sented his home and was the stage of his activities for the course of many
years, his death having occurred in 1872, at his old home in La Grange, and
his devoted wife having survived him by several years. '
Reared to adult age in his native village, which is now one of the thriv-
ing and attractive little cities of Georgia, Dr. Robert B. Hall made good use
of the advantages afforded him in the local schools, in which he completed a
high-school course. His scholastic attainments were such that he was amply
fortified for matriculation in the University of Georgia, the junior cla^ of '
which he was preparing to enter at the time when there came to him the call
of higher duty, when the Civil war was precipitated on a divided nation. The
doctor promptly subordinated all else to tender his services as one of the
youthful defenders of the cause of the Confederacy, as, in May, 1861, he
enlisted as a private in the La Grange Light Guards, which later was assigned
to the Fourth Geoi^a Regiment, commanded by Col. George Doles. As per-
tinent to the faithful and gallant military career of Doctor Ridley, the fol-
lowing ijuotations are well worthy of perpetuation in this connection ;
"This regiment performed its first service at Norfolk, Virginia, proceeded
to Richmond after the evacuation of that city and participated in nearly
all of the important engagements of the Virginia campaign, among them the
following: Seven days' fight around Richmond, Fredericksburg, Cbancellora-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2429
ville, Gettysburg, "WildemeBs, May 5-6, 1864; Spott^lvania Court House, '
Winchester, Cedar Creek, Sailor's Creek, and Appomattox. In the engage-
ment at Spottsylvania Court House Dr. Ridley received two wounds, — one in
the leg and the other in the shoulder. During this campaign the Fourth
Georgia Regiment formed a part of General Rhodes' division in the celebrated
corps commanded by General 'Stonewall' Jackson, upon the death of which
gallant and loved leader General Ewell succeeded to the command. For gal-
lant and meritorious conduct the young soldier, Robert B. Ridley, was pro-
moted to the rank of lieutenant. After a furlough of sizty days he rejoined
his regiment, with which he continued in active service until the surrender
of General Lee."
Apropos of his valiant service in the ranks of the brave "boys in gray,"
it may be noted that Doctor Ridley perpetuates the more gracious memories
and associations of his military career through active and appreciative affilia-
tion with the United Confederate Veterans.
After the close of the war Doctor Ridley returned to La Grange, where he
was soon afterward elected, by a unanimous vote of his comrades, to the
office of captain of the La Orange Light Guards, many of whose members have
endured the full tension of the great conflict between the Nortti and the
South. Eventually the doctor became identified with mercantile pursuits
in the City of Augusta, but a seemingly inherent predilection soon led him
to prepare for the profession that had been signally dignified by the char-
acter and self-abnegating labors of his honored father, under whose able
direction he began the study of medicine. Under such preceptorship he was
soon prepared for matriculation in historic old Jefferson Medical College, in
the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in this institution he waa grad-
uated as a member of the class of 1869 and with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine. He then returned to his native city. La Grange, where he con-
tinued in successful general practice until 1874, the winter of which year he
devoted to effective liospital practice in the City of New York, where he
gained valuable clinical experience, I'pon his return to Georgia Doctor
Ridley established his permanent residence in the City of Atlanta, where he
built up and long controlled a large and representative practice, in connec-
tion with which he gained authoritative prestige as an obstetrician, a depart-
ment of practice to which he devoted special attention. After long years of
faithful and effective service in his profession Doctor Riley retired from its
active work, though' there are many representative families whose importuni-
ties for his professional interposition he cannot deny, after having been their
revered family physician for many preceding years. Doctor Ridley has
always commanded the high esteem of his professional confreres and was
formerly active in the affairs of the Georgia State Medical Association and
the Atlanta Medical Society, besides holding inemhersbip in the American
Medical Association. He served for a number of years as a visiting physician
to the Grady Hospital, one of the noble institutions of the Georgia metropolis,
^nce his retirement from active professional practice the doctor has given
the major part of his time and attention to the executive affairs of the sub-
stantial wholesale dry-goods company of which he is the president, and he is
today known as one of the representative business men and most honored
and progressive citizens of Atlanta, his course having been directed upon the
highest plane of integrity and honor, so that he has never lacked the fullest
measure of popular confidence and good will.
On the 23d of November, 1875, Doctor Ridley wedded Miss Emma Leila
Hill, a daughter of the late Senator Benjamin H. Hill, and she was summoned
to the life eternal on the 19th of May, 1883. Of the five children of this
union two are living. Tn February, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of
Doctor Ridley to Mrs. Cobble (Hood) Kiser, widow of Capt. John F. Kiser.
of Atlanta, who had been a valiant soldier and officer of the Confederacy.
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Mrs. Ridley was a daughter of the late Judge Arthur Hood, of Cuthbert,
Georgia, wlio v,as a prominent lawyer and jurist of Georgia and who, as a
young man, served as private secretary to Hon, Howell Cobb, who was one
of the most distinguished statesmen and most influential citizens of Georgia,
where Cobb County is named in his honor. Doctor Ridley endured the deepest
of bereavements vihen his second wife, who had been his gracious companion
and helpmeet for more than a quarter of a century, passed to eternal rest,
on the 15tli of September, 1912. They became the parents of five children,
all of whom are living except one of the two sons. The two surviving children
of Doctor Ridley's first marriage are John F., who is a prominent representa-
tive of the real-estate business in Atlanta, and Dr. Robert B., Jr., who is
engaged in the practice of his profession in Atlanta, as one of the leading
specialists of the city in the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of the
eye and ear. Carl Hood Ridley, eldest of the four surviving children of the
second marriage, in associated with the wholesale dry-goods company of which
his father is president ; Sara Claire is the wife of Luther Hannicutt, of
Atlanta, and Misses Marie Hood Ridley and Nellie Hood Ridley remain at
the paternal home, as does also their brother Carl H.
John Osc.\r Mili-s, Among the old cities of the South which, within
comparatively recent years, have taken on a new lease of life and have
contjuered a place in the van of progress, that of Atlanta is conspicuous.
Like the fabled phoenix of old, it rose from the ashes of its wartime mis-
fortunes, and although its new growth at first was slow it was steady and
healthy and has gone on increasing until now it finds itself in full flight
toward a new and more glorious destiny. The present prosperity of the
eity is due in large measure to the energy and progressive character of its
citizens, both native born and foreign, many of the latter class having been
attracted to it by its great natural advantages and the spirit of enterprise
which seems to pervade its whole population. Prominent in the ranlcs of
its adopted citizens is a native Georgian, John Oscar Mills, who is helping
materially in its development. Mr, Mills was born in Gwinnett. County,
December 18, 1870, being a son of John Thomas Mills. His paternal grand-
father was Hugh Washington Mills, who in ante-bellum dayS was a promi-
nent planter and slaveholder of Gwinnett County, removing to that locality
from South Carolina. John T. Mills, father oi the subject of this sketch,
was born in Gwinnett County and during the war served in Company B,
Forty-second Georgia Infantry, being wounded at the battle of Nashvilla
Coming to Atlanta in 1880, he spent twenty-two years in the service of the
construction department of the City of Atlanta, and during that time was
identified with the building of many of Atlanta's principal streets and
public works. For the past twelve years he has been in the service of thd
E. W. Grove Realty Company of St. Louis, ^lissouri, being engaged in
developing its extensive realty holdings northwest of the city, where a lar^
sub-division comprising 128 acres and known as Fortified Hills is now being
, developed. He is one of the stirring, useful citizens of Atlanta.
John Oscar Mills was educated in Atlanta, graduating frogi the high
school in 1890, and subsequently taking a course in Moore's Business College
of this city. He began industrial life as assistant paymaster of the Pulton
Bag and Cotton Mills of Atlanta. In 1903 he entered the employ of the
E. W. Grove Realty Company, of St. Louis, in the capacity of civil engineer
and landscape gardener. He has not only had immediate charge of the
Fortified Hills properly near Atlanta, but also, for two years, has had full
charge of the building of the famous Grove Park Inn, a million dollar hotel
property located at Asheville, North Carolina, which was built by Mr. E. W.
Grove of St. Louis. His activity and ability in his chosen sphere of opera-
tions have brought him to the notice of the citizens of Atlanta and the sur-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2*31
rounding territorj-, and in December, 1914, he was elected county commis-
sioner and is now, serving on the board. He is a member of the Masonic
ca-der, being a past master of Bolton Lodge, No. 416, Free and Accepted
Masons, and past high priest of Bolton Chapter, No. 112, Eoyal Arch
On June 6, 1900, Jlr. Mills was united in marriage with Miss Maude L.
Bagwell of Atlanta, by whom he has four children: Emily Grace, John
Lamar, Tom Carl and John Oscar, junior. He and his family are well
kii"own_and highly esteemed throughout the city and county.
Chari.es HiLLERY Grippin. The Griffin family was establislied in
Georgia during the administration of James Monroe as President of the
United States nearly a century ago. Three generations of the name have
been effective leaders as planters, valuable citizens, and members of various
professions. Of the present generation Charles H. Griifin is one of the
most popular advocates of the Marietta bar, has performed with credit the
responsibilities of public office, and is a fine type of the modern Georgian,
with a substantial position in business, with the learning of an able lawyer,
and the possessor of many qualities fitting him for leadership.
Charles Hillery Griffin was born July 9, 1870, in Henry County, Georgia,
a son of R«v. Smith H. and Miranda (Gardner) Griffin. The founder of
the Griffins was his grandfather, Robert B. Griffin, a native of Ireland, who
came to this country and settled in Virginia in 1819, and subsequently camo
to Pike County, Georgia, where he was a planter and possessed a few slaves.
He subsequently removed to Spaulding County four years prior to his death,
which occurred in 1847. He married Martha Kendriek, a native of Telfair
County, Georgia,
Rev. Smith H. Griffin was born in 1823 and died June 11, 1911, at the
age of eighty-eight. He was the youngest in a family of ten children.
He was a graduate of Bowdoin ColUige in the State of Maine, taking his
degree A. B. in the classical course. Subsequently he read law and was
admitted to practice. However, at the ur^nt request of his mother, who
is a devout Christian woman, he never practiced law but instead took up
the gospel ministry of the Methodist Church. The possessor of ample means,
he engaged in the ministry without salary, holding different charges in
Henry County, and was also noted as a revivalist who led services in dif-
ferent parts of the state and whose ability was always in great demand. At
the sftme time he conducted a large plantation of 1,000 acres, and during
the^war freed seventy-two of his negro slaves. His plantation was located
where the thriving little City of Hampton, with a population of 1,500, is
now located. Thj^ little city was originally known as Bear Creek in Henry
County. During the war he was exempt from military duty on account of
age and also because of his profession as a minister of the gospel. His long
life was filled with kindly deeds, and he was one of the most respected and
beloved citizens of Henry County. He was three times married. His first
wife was Martha Shell of Fayette County, Georgia, whose six children were
Louise, Mary, Henry, Walter, Hoke and Claude. His second wife, and the
mother of the Marietta lawyer, was Miranda Gardner, who died June 29,
1885, at the age of forty-two, her death being due to injuries received when
a horse she was driving ran away. She was the daughter of P. Hillery
Gardner, a native of South Carolina, while her mother, Martha Bailey, was
born in Gordon County, Georgia. Their four children were: Lillie, widow
of J. B. Wilder of Hampton, Georgia; Charles H. ; Smith Henry of Atlanta;
and Carl, a planter in Cobb County. Rev. Mr. Griffin married for his third
wife Mrs. Mary E. (Sherman) Wood, widow of J. S. Wood, who was the
founder of the Laurel Woolen JHlls and Manufacturing Company at Laurel
in Dawson County, Georgia. She died March 31, 1914, without children.
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2432 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Charles HiUerj- Griffin was educated in the country schools of Henry-
County. An affliction of the eyes prevented his attending college, and at
the age of twenty he found work as a clerk in a general store at Roswell
in Cobb County. Two years later he became a watebman for the Laurel
Woolen Jlills. In the meantime his eyesight had greatly improved, and
he took up the reading of law, which he continued during every interval in
his regular employment. In 1895 he entered the law ofBca of J. E. Mozeley,
of Marietta, and four months later was admitted to practice. For the fol-
lowing three years he was junior partner in the firm of Mozeley & Griffin
and was then made assistant solicitor under Thomas Huteherson, solicitor
general of Uiat district. He remained in that office four successive years,
and in 1899 was defeated as a candidate for the office of solicitor general.
He resumed private practice and his experience and ability have brought
him one of tlie best clienteles in Cobb County. During 1905-06 he repre-
sented his home locality in the Legislature on the democratic side of the
house. He was associated with Mr. Greene in effecting the passage of the
Confederate Cemetery Bill in 1905. Prom 1909 to 1911 he was junior
member of the firm of Gober & Griffin, his senior being George F. Gobea-.
From 1913 to November, 1914, he was in practice with D. W. Blair, one of
the prominent lawyers of Marietta. In 1914 Mr. Griffin bought the interests
of the other heirs in his father's plantation of 1,000 acres, and this fine
farm is devoted to the raising of com and cotton under the supervision of
bis brother Carl Griffin.
Mr. Griffin is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and is active in the Methodist Church. On March
3, 1892, at Roswell in Cobb County Mr. GrifBn and May E. Bush were
united in marriage, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Mr. Gnffiu,
father of the groom. Mrs. GrifBn is a daughter of Asa and Emily V.
(Sampler) Bush, and she was horn in Cobb County. Her father was the
founder of the Roswell Cotton Mills, Mid at the time of his death superin-
tendent of the woolen mills, of which he was likewise one of the founders.
Mr. and Mrs. Griffin have four daughters: Emily and Mabel, both bom in
Roswell, and Pauline and Frances, who were bom in Marietta. All the
daughters are active in church and charity work, and Jliss Emily is a teacher
in the Sunday school.
Briq.-Gen. John K. Jackson, a native Georgian, was bom at Augusta on
February 8, 1828. He was well educated in the South Carolina College, at
Columbia, from which institution he was graduated in 1846. He read law,
was admitted to the bar in 1848, and that was his occupation for the remain-
der of his life, broken only by his term of military service. This commenced
before the Civil war with the famous Oglethorpe Infantry, and in May, 1861,
after the outbreak of hostilities, he was elected colonel of the Fifth Georgia
Regiment at Macon. He was commander of the military post at Fensacola,
Florida; was promoted to brigadier-general in 1862, and was in active service
with the Army of Tennessee at Shiloh. Chickaraauga, the siege of Savannah,
and elsewhere. He died at Milledgeville, Februarj' 26, 1866.'
Alexander R. Lawton, brigadier-general in the Confederate Army for
the first two years of the war, and quartermaster-geueral of the Confederate
States for the last two years — and who after the war was a leading public
man for many years; who rose to eminent position in the diplomatic service
— was a native of South Carolina, born in St. Peter's Parish, November 4, 1818.
In his youth General Lawton was appointed a cadet in the United States
Militarv Academy at "West Point, from which he was graduated in 1839, and
commissioned second lieutenant of the First Artillery. Resigning from the
armv in 1841, he studied law and was graduated from Harvard University.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS • 2433
He established himself in Savannah and practiced his profession until 1849,
when he became president of the Augusta & Savannah Railroad, which office
he held until 1854.
A man of a high order of ability, his services were requisitioned by the
people of Georgia, and in 1855 he iirst appeared in public life as a member of
the General Assembly of the state. From 1870 to 1875 he represented his
county in the General Assembly; in 1877 he was vice president of the Georgia
Constitutional Convention which framed the organic law of tiie state. In 1876
he was chairman of the State Electoral College. In 1880, and again in 1884,
he was the leader of the Georgia delegation in the Democratic National con-
ventions, and President Cleveland nominated him as minister to Russia; but
as his political disabilities had not been removed h« asked that the nomination
be withdrawn. In December of that year his disabilities were removed by
unanimous vote of Congress, and in April, 1887, he was appointed minister
to Austria, and at the conclusion of his term of oflBce, resumed his usual occu-
pations in his old home in Savannah.
He served as quartermaster general of the Confederacy, although request-
ing to be assigned to active duty in the iield, and at the conclusion of the war
resumed his law practice in Savannah,
General Lawton died at Clifton Springs, New Tork, July 2, 1896, in the
seventy-eighth year of his age; and during fifty years of his long life was
one of the most useful, the most honored, and the most beloved citizens of
Georgia. His only son, Alexander R. Lawton, is one of the prominent cor-
poration lawyers and railroad men of the state, and has also been a leader in
military matters of the present generation.
Charlton Barrett. In no line has the quickening current of the times
been more manifestly felt in the South, within the last decade, than in the
opening up and developing of real estate, resulting in the investment of
enormous capital and in the founding of comfortable homes for a happy and
contented people. This branch of industry has been by no means neglected
at Atlanta and in this connection the name of Charlton Barrett comes
quickly to mind as one of the foremost, ablest and most reliable operators.
Charlton Barrett was bom in Sumter County, South Carolina, a repre-
sentative of one of the steady old families of that section, a family that has
been prominent in both peaceful and warlike times, his ancestors having
acquitted themselves well in the Revolutionary war, the War of 1812 and
later in the war between the states. He is a son of Charles Shannon Bar-
rett, and a grandson of Benjamin Barrett, the last nam^d being now one
of the venerable residents of Atlanta,
After the termination of his schooldays, Mr. Barrett became interested
in business affairs in Sumter County which included official connection with
the Southern States Trust Company, of which he was president, a large
real estate corporation of South Carolina, In 1909 Mr. Barrett came to
Atlanta, his foresight and business acumen leading him to accept this as a
rich field for business enterprise and a truly desirable location for residence.
He was the organizer of the Georgia Land and Investment Company, of
which he is president and through bis efforts a large amount of outside
capital has been brought here, and in its wake development and prosperity
that once would have been deemed purely visionary. The company of which
Mr. Barrett is the head, specializes in high grade city and suburban sub-
divisions, two of these, Decatur Heights and Piedmont Highlands being
particularly notable because of their many natural advantages and the
modem improvements supplied by this company. Mr. Barrett has had many
years of experience in tlie land business, has investigated every phase of
it thoroughly and probably tliere is no one in this city better qualified to
decide on land values in this section of Georgia. Mr, Barrett is genial,
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2434 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
pleafittnt aud convincing in his conversation and manner and gladly gives
the investigator every opportunity to visit the properties which he feels are
well worth seeing. He maintains his offices in Rooms 1301-1302-1303 Empire
Building, Atlanta.
Mr. Barrett was united in marriage in 1903, with Mias ilaybelle Clary,
whose people are well known in the State of California. Mr. and Sirs.
Barrett reside at the Imperial Hotel, Atlanta. He is a member of the
exclusive Capital City Club, and is very prominent in the Masonic fraternity,
being a Knight Templar, Columbia Commandery No. 2, and a Shriner, hold-
ing membership in Omar Temple, Charleston. Essentially a business man,
be takes more interest in that direction than in public affairs, neverthe-
less is ever ready to co-operate when important questions involving the
welfare of city or section, are brought to his hotiee.
James W. JIaddox. Business success has attended the well-directed
efforts of James W. Maddos, a prominent contractor of Atlanta, and now
serving the Fifth Ward as a member of the Board of Aldermen. He began
. his independent career as a farmer, and it was not until 1903 that he aban-
doned that enterprise and moved to Atlanta. Here he has made a position
for himself in the business life of the city, and is one of the foremost street
contractors in (he county,
Mr. Maddox was bom on a farm eight miles north of Atlanta, in the
Buekland District, October 16, 1873, and is the son of William C. Maddox,
& retired farmer now living quietly in Atlanta after a busy and well spent
agricultural life. The mother of the subject was Ella Elizabeth Vaughan,
prior to her marriage, and she died in 1911. The father was bom in DeKalb
County, Georgia, and was a soldier in the Confederate army during the
latter part of the war. Eight children were born to William C. and EUa
(Vaughan) Maddox, — four sous and four daughters, all of them living with
the exception of one son.
James W. Maddox was reared on the home farm, where he learned many
lessons that have helped him on his way to individual success in independent
life. He attended the country schools three months in the year up to the
age of eighteen, and when he was twenty-two years old he took a wife.
His choice was Alice Caroline Colley, who was born and reared in his own
neighborhood, on an adjoining farm, and they were childhood playmates,
attending the same school, the same church, and the same village parties
and frolics. Their mothers, too, had been intimate from girlhood. Mrs.
Maddox was born on September 26, 1872, so that she is about a year older
than her husband. Sh^ is the daughter of James and Annie (Plaster)
Colley, both still living on their farm just north of Atlanta. Mrs. Maddox
was the eldest of six in her family, and her husband was the eldest of eight
in his home.
Following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Maddox located on a farm which
he had purchased in the home community, and which he still owns and
operates. He gave his full attention to the cultivation of his farm up to
1903, when he rented the place and moved to Atlanta. Soon after locating
here he took a position on the police force of Fulton County, and he was
thus occupied for 51/; years, when he resigned and embarked in a business
enterprise on his own responsibility. He has been engaged in general
contracting since then, his activities being chietly confined to grading work
on streets and railroads. He employs a large force of laborers in this work,
and his equipment is most complete, including a steam -ehovel and about
thirty teams of horses.
Mr. Maddox lives in the' Fifth Ward, and has his residence at No. 63
Howell Milt Road, where he is the owner of an entire block of real estate.
He has here erected a handsome brick residence which the family occupies.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2435
■It is a ten room structure, with broad verandas stretching out in front and
sleeping porches to the rear. On other lota in the Maddox tract he has built
9 uumber of rental properties which yield a nice income,
:\Ir. Maddox is a democrat and is now serving his second term as a
tuetnher of the Iward of aldermen. He and his wife are members of the
-Jl/efl»odist Episcopal Church, and have a host of good friends in the city
Qjiti tliroughout the county. Mr. Maddox, in the years of his service as
4 county patrolman, made many staunch friends, which he still retains, and
be is no less popular as alderman from his own ward. His second three-
year -term expireli on January 1, 1916. Mr, and Mrs. Maddox have no
eJiil<3i"en.
Hon, Lewis A. Perdue is not only one of Newuan's most distin-
giaiish^d citizens, but is also prominent throughout Coweta County, where
se'v^i-^l generations of the Perdue race have been counted among the very
best: families o£ this part of the state. The judge is justly proud of his
fath^i- 's unpretentious but worthy record; it is therefore appropriate that
w^ should here pause to note the leading facts of the elder Mr, Perdue 's
life, ^s introductory to the history of his son.
<33-^orge W. Perdue was a native of North Carolina and a aoa- of Isaac
Md^ixiley and Mary Perdue, who were planters and slave-owners of that
st^t^_ Isaac Perdue was one of five brothers, his being the only branch of
th^ family to settle in Georgia, the others locating in North and South
t^-*~oXina, Eighteen hundred and twenty-five was the year of George W.
f^*^citae'B birth and it was in his boyhood that he came to Coweta County,
'i^^ox-^^ia, with his parents. In 1855 he married Miss Rebecca Addy and
'ff!(tl^«:3 at Har^son, where in the handling of merchandise he became a
piod^s^r business man of the community. As merchant and planter he lived
*" _^»::».ei^etic life. During his latter years he retired from bis merchandise
busiarfc^sa and removed to Senoia, adjacent to his plantation, continuing a
ji''^'-3^ interest in the management of his agricultural interests as long as he
live<a_ _ Politically, socially and religiously, he was ever an alert, keen-minded
■"^5^ - His fraternal affiliation was Masonic, >^'hile the Baptist Church
dM.TK:» ^d the active and sincere leadership of both himself and his devoted
^''^^ ~ In politics, also, was George W. Perdue vitally active. Although he
pa»»s<2;^ from material existence in 1898, he is still spoken of by many upon
™*> *-■::». his personality made a strong impression; for George Perdue was a
ma**. of positive character and strong convictions. His widow, Rebecca
^^'^^ ^S-^ Perdue, is still living, her present residence being in Atlanta, Geoi^a.
^"* ^ worthy pair reared a family of ten children, including the son whose
"^'-M*^*^ forms the caption of this article. The eldest member of the family,
•^fj^^^tened Emma, is Mrs. W. S. Bloodworth. of Sarasota, Florida. Mary,
*^|^ .,^^^cond, became Mrs. J. B. Tyus, and died near Carrollton, Georgia, in
^° ** -_ Third in line and first of the sons of this family was Albert B. Perdue,
^f^^ *s now a Californian; educated at Mercer University for the profession
^' "'-^*.'v, he has been actively engaged therein since 1910 in the City of Los
■* ^S"^^les. Pull details concerning Lewis, the second son and fourth child
*'*- *"*^i« parents, are given in following paragraphs of this sketch. The fifth
"j^ ■-■i bom in this family was Elizabeth, now wife of C. P. Sanders of Roscoe.
^^'^^ita County, Georgia, where Mr. Sanders is well known as a merchant
* ^■- farmer. The third son, Edward S. Perdue, has for twenty-five years
•^ ^?^ an official of the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, maintaining his
f® "^-^^ence at Chattano(^a, Tennessee. The seventh child and fourth daughter
"^^:^ Murtiee, who became Mrs. W. F. Jones and whose life closed in
^^ *-4; at WooUey, Georgia. Sarah, well known as Mrs, B. P. Daniel, resides at
^^^oia, Georgia. Her sister Luella is Mrs. Benjamin Messer of Atlanta.
•v tie youngest member of the family is J, Howard Perdue, who was graduated
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2436 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Howard College and who later
pursued law studies at Mercer University ; he is now engaged in the practice
of his profession at Binuingbam, Alabama. Each of these brothers and
sisters was generously educated, the parents firmly believing that thorough
education was the noblest gift which they conld bequeath to their children.
It was at the George W. Perdue homestead in Coweta County on January
23, 1862, that Lewis Perdue was bom to that well-known jnerchant-plauter
and his wife, Rebecca Addy Perdne. As those were pioneer days in Coweta
County, Lewis Perdue did not demand the college education which some of
his brothers later acquired, but made faithful use of the excellent common
school advantages which his father made possible for him. A young man
of much executive ability, he managed his own agricultural property in
Payette County, Georgia, from the time he was nineteen years of age until
he reached his twenty-fifth year, Mr. Perdue had inherited his father's gift
for salesmanship and being furthermore of a literary turn of mind, he
became for a time a traveling representative of the West Publishing Com-
pany, of St. Paul, Minnesota. For 2V^ years he continued in this work
with very gratifying results to himself and the company. His vocational
travels led him through all the Southern States and Missouri, Nebraska and
Colorado. Pmally, at the earnest solicitations of his young wife, he resigned
from his road work and engaged in his father's business— that of mer-
chandise. It was in Senoia that Mr. Perdue established his mercantile
house, continuing there for four years. At the end of that time he bought
the Enterprise Gazette and entered upon a career of editorship, pursuing
it in conjunction with his business operations as a merchant and farmer.
For five years he conducted the Senoia news sheet with a high degree of
success. In October, 1899, Mr. Perdue was honored with election to the
ofiice of probate judge for Coweta County. This county office required
his change of residence to Newnan. He therefore sold both his paper and
bis store, leaving with both satisfaction and regret the community of Senoia,
where he had been highly honored by election to important city offices. For
several years he served the municipality as clerk of the city council and
for one year dispensed the responsible duties of mayor.
Judge Perdue has been continually elected to the important county
office he holds, since the year 1899, having been re-elected in March, 1916,
for another term of four years. This is a position which, as his constituency
recognizes, he is eminently well qualified to fill, fulfilling the duties thereof
with the utmost satisfaction to all concerned. One of the judge's most
valuable assets is his genial and friendly manner, which wins the confidence
of all who come in contact with him. Scores of clients whose cases have
seemed hopcleswly tangled with insuperable antagonisms have been amicably
settled, through Judge Perdue's kindly and sane advice, without having to
pass through tedious and expensive litigation.
While politics may in all truth be called Mr, Perdue's vocation, his
avocation lies in his agricultural interests. He owns and operates the old
home farmstead in Fayette County and also has numerous rural holdings
in Coweta County — all those in addition to his attractive home in Newnan.
The affairs of that home are admirably administered by his gracious wife,
Adina Edwards Perdue. Mrs. Perdue is a daughter of Thomas and Martha
(Crawford) Edwards of Henry County, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are natives
of that county and are prominent among its leading citizens. The Edwards-
Perdue marriage took place on October 14, 1880 — on the exact date on
which Mr, Perdue was first elected ordinary. One child has been born of
this marriage. On July 22, 1882, a daughter was born to Mr, and Mrs.
Perdue and was named Nina. Hers was the privilege of a childhood in the
free, sweet country, for the farm in Fayette County was her birthplace and
early home. She is now the wife of Mr. Wiley H. Davis of Atlanta, Georgia.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2437
jUTr. Perdue's daaghter and son-in-law, as well as his wife, are earnest
^OfreMTS of music, in addition to their other lines of culture. Mr. Davis is one
Of £2ie musical celebrities of Atlanta, being one of the trained choir singers
■of Ji^irst Presbyterian Church. His voice, which is exceptionally fine, has
been ^a^^folly and thoroughly trained, his masters including noted musicians
of ;^t^«:-lin, Germany. There Mr, and Mrs. Davis, with Mrs. Perdae, her
Oiotti.^^^*'! spent the years of 1906 and 1907 for this purpose, Mr. Davis also
is f^-vored with the literary gift and is vocationally engaged as an editor in
Atl^i^*^*- One of Judge Perdue's chief delights is in the winsome charms
of 1x1^ grandchildren, the juvenile members of the Davis home. Elsie BischoS
Dat-viia^ "was bom August 19, 1906, and little Wiley Howard Davis, Junior, was
bori^. <Z)etober 10, 1913, in Atlanta.
J't::^ c3ge Perdue's social qualities and his love of meeting and mingling with
his f ^X3ow-men find one oatlet in his affiliation with various fraternal organ-
iz&'fci.osiK.s. In the Masonic order he has held all chairs up to that of Shriner;
he i^ « member of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Knights of
Pyt.l:^i.-^m~8; and in 1900 he also joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows;
in a.<^<3. ition to these organizations, he holds membership in the Junior Order of
Unit^«3 American Mechanics. A fine exemplification is Mr. Perdue of the
sayixig^r that "the surest way to have a friend is to be one." His friends in
the <2«:>>Tmty and state are legion and he is deservedly one of the most popular
men. i.:m:zi the courthouse of Newnan,
-A^ 3nan of open heart and open mind is often found to be a lover of those
its that are followed in the open air. Neither Izaak Walton nor Doctor
>yke was ever a more ardent devotee of the fisherman's pastime than
L «age Perdue when his busy life grants him leisure for that recreation.
=». ^ words of our famous minister to Holland, his holiday wishes might
thus- itae voiced:
Only an idle little stream.
Whose amber waters softly gleam,
Where I may wade, through wocidland shade.
And cast. the fiy, and loaf, and dream:
• * •
Tis all I'm wishing— old-fashioned fishing,
And just a day on Nature's heart.
- i ?^^^'*N. Harry Maurrelle Reid. High on the roll of Georgia's distinguished
fh * *~^ iary is found the name of Hon. Harry Maurrelle Reid, who for more ■
*" ** twenty years has presided over the City Court of Atlanta. The high
^^^"»:^-n.in which he is held as a jurist among the entire profession is the
'^^r*-^ ^ of a remarkable combination of incorruptible integrity, fine legal ability
*'"^-* culture, with the dignified presence, graceful urbanity and absolute
, ^^-^^ge which have characterized all his ofScial acts. He is a member of a
^^^*-~Sy which has resided in Union County, Georgia, for more than a eeiitury,
*L*^ Ibelongs to that stock to which the Southern states are heavily indebted,
tn^ '^^cotch and S*Soteh-Irish, his great-grandfather on the paternal side having
^jjN*-*^rfed the family near Richmond, Virginia, shortly after the American
T* ^~*^ of the Revolution. Jesse Reid, a son of the progenitor, married Eliza-
"^^»* Aikin, of Henderson County, North Carolina, and settled in Union
^5*"*i»ity, Georgia, on a larg:e plantation, and from that time to the present
"^^ family has been distinguiahed in that locality. Judge Reid comes by his
^^eal attainments honestly, his father, the Hon. Simpson Reid, having been
•■fi able and widely-known lawyer and a member of the State Senate at the
^itne of his death, in 1864. Judge Reid 's mother, Catherine MacGuire White-
wde, was a daughter of John B. Whiteside, of Asheville, North Carolina.
It is not altogether surprising that one who springs from such ancestry
should have attained to a position of eminence and distinction.
yGoosle
2438 aEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Harry Maurrelle Reid was horn at Blairsville, Union County, Georgia,
February 15, 1853, and there the first seventeen years of his life were passed,
his rudimentary education being secured in the public schools of Blairsville.
Following this he became a student in the Meson Academy, at Lexington,
Georgia, and later took a short course at the old Oglethorpe University, which
he left in his junior year to begin reading law under the preceptorship of
a relative, Marshall L. Smith, of Dawsonville, Georgia. Admitted to the bar
in 1873, he began the practice of his profession at Palmetto, in Campbell
County, in 1874, and there applied himself to his vocation so diligently and
suecesslully that he brought his name rapidly into public favor and in 1877
was elected mayor of Palmetto, although then a young man of but twenty-
four years. In 1879 he wa.s chairman of the Campbell County Democratic
Committee, and during that time was also a delegate to various county, state
and congressional conventions, in which he secured excellent trainiog as a
political speaker. In 1881, when a member of his profession only seven
years, he was elevated to the position of solicitor-general of the Coweta Cir-
cuit, a position which he held for eight years, and during his second term
moved to Carrollton, which place was within the hounds of his circuit.
There he served as a member of the board of school commissioners. At the
conclusion of his second terra as solicitor-general. Judge Reid came to Atlanta,
in January, 1889, and became Eissociated with J. B. Stewart, under the firm
name of Reid & Stewart, and this association continued for five years, or until
April 1, 1894, when Judge Reid began practice alone. After only six years
of residence at Atlanta, he was appointed by Governor W. Y. Atkinson to
the office of judge of the City Court, and by successive appointments and
elections, as his terras have expired, he has continued to hold this position to
the present time, now being in his twenty-first continuous year.
As a lawyer. Judge Reid made a record that placed him high among the
legists of North Georgia, while his long career on the bench is probably the
best evidence of hi.s possession of the judicial qualifications. The judge, like
the poet, is born, not made. It is not enough that one possess legal learning,
or he a master of the principles of jurisprudence, familiar with precedents
and thoroughly impartial and honest, to wear the ermine worthily. Tbe
majority of individuals are unable wholly to divest themselves of prejudice,
even when acting honorably, unconsciously warping their judgments by their
own mental characteristics. This unconscious influence is a disturbing factor
which more or less enters into the final judgments of the majority of men.
In Judge Reid this force has not been discernible, and there are many who
believe it does not exist. His service on the bench in Atlanta has been of such
marked ability as to call forth commendatory articles and favorable criti-
cisms from the press, particularly in the celebrated Moody and Brewster
case, in which he sat as chancellor, and in which he won universal praise
for his unfailing courtesy, his tireless patience and his unbiased fairness,
as well as for the wis<lom and impartiality of his decision. Firm in his judg-
ments, he is pos.sessed of a kindly nature withal, and has been a protector
of the weak as well as an administrator of justice to those in the right.
From early manhood until the date of his appointment to the bench,
by his influence and hy active work Judge Reid tried to advance the prin-
ciples of the democratic party. His early experiences and subsequent train-
ing made him one of the most forceful and eloquent of speakers in the public
rostrum, and so highly was he esteemed in this direction that in 1894, when
the populists were daily gaining adherents in Georgia and the democrats
were steadily losing ground, the leaders of the latter party prevailed upon
Judge Reid to make a personal campaign throughout the state. His services
in this connection, as a strong speaker and able debater, did much to save
the state for tbe democracy. Since assuming his duties on the bench, he has
refrained from taking an active part in politics, holding that a judge should
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2439
^o^ i»e a partisan in anything. In other ways, however, he haa always been
^iJliii^ to serve the people, and no movement of any consequence is launched
A>i- t-l'a ^ benefit of Atlanta or Georgia that does not have his support. Judge
*f^id ^nd his family are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a
'''a.*9*"<?*^ Mason, and a member of several clubs, to wit: Capital City, University,
f'ie^d :Mir». <z*nt Driving clubs and Athletic and Brookhaven Country clubs, all of
TX»:»«^^ge Eeid married Miss Gertrude Carlton, a daughter of John and
Cie^l.>^ il- Carlton, of Palmetto, Georgia, and she died April 29, 1905, having
been "t lie mother of four children: Jessie Cicely, who is the wife of Rev.
Rali>*x Birdsall, of Cooperstown, New York, and has two children, — Gertrude
and It aalph, Jr. ; Willia Catherine, who married J. E. J. Fanshawe, of Phila-
deliilT.m^3, Pennsylvania, and has two children,— John R. II and Catherine
Ann i ^^^rthur M., who was married in 1908 to Miss Alline Tolbert of Atlanta;
antl I ■- , Carlton. Mrs. Birdsall and Mrs. Fanshawe are twins.
H.^ss'^'. Db, L. E. Barton. The Barton family has long been staunchly Bap-
tist i i-fc. 3ts religious faith, and Rev. Dr. L. B. Barton of this review is one of four
Bap>'tiffi!s,-t ministers from this family, two of whom are living and serving that
de»ior»-m. ination today. He is pastor of the Jackson Hill Baptist Church of
Atla.xi -ftr. a, entering upon his duties here on July 1, 191-3. His record has been
a ^*i^"l-:* "ly creditable one, and covers a period of sixteen years of active service.
t>«^t»-«tor Barton was born near Jonesboro, Arkansas, on April 25, 1870, and
'" tW^ son of William H. Barton, a farmer of that locality, who was bom in
H^l»<2:KT-sham County, Georgia, in 1830, but who was reared in the Greenville
d'^* «~ i <:* t in South Carolina. He located in Arkansas in 1 858 and there he spent
iho- x>^p% -mainder of his life. During the Civil war period William IT. Barton
8er^r^^"j^ the Confederacy, and thereafter devoted bis active life to the business
2) ^^■■:~jning, in which he enjoyed much success and prosperity. He died on
j*™y S37, 1904, at his home in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in and near which he had
, livod .^ince 1858. In fact, when he came to the state in that year, Jonesboro
^^^ »:» «t in existence, and Mr. Barton helped to clear away the brush on the
SI *^ ~%»\,r- Tiere the city was later built. He was truly a pioneer in that region,
and 1-^ ^ enjoyed the confidence and esteem that the trne pioneer always wins
. "**^> "trhe populace that follows him to a new place after the first sturdy work
. ^^ "^^si^n done. No man in Craighead County was better loved thau he. For
^^^■'"^* prior to his death he had been a deacon in the Baptist Church of Jones-
*^T -snd he lived a life of rectitude that was an example to every man in the
'^"*^^'- When ho died he was mourned deeply and many business interests
*"^ suspended in Jonesboro on the day of his funeral. Many messages of
^, ^'-^^^^lence and sympathy came to the family from notable men of Arkansas,
^.^^"- "file one from Hon. James P. Eagle, former governor of the state, is here
-mfV^*^*'" "^^- -*■ ^- Barton, Jonesboro, Arkansas. You have the deepest sym-
^ , ^ ^V^ in the death of your noble father. How sad to have one taken from us
, . '-*^*r»^ we love so much. Our temporary loss is his eternal gain ; he has gone to
'.'! .^*^tter home. You and I will soon be with him. I would much like to be
. *^ 3'ou but circumstances prevent. My love and svmpathv to all the family.
.Jatx^^^p_ Eagle."
, 'f^ ■>". A. J. Barton, to whom this telegram was addressed, is an older brother
^ v,^*-' subject. Dr. L. E. Barton, and he is a distinguished Baptist minister,
\ve^V\ known all over the South. He now is located in Waco, Texas. He was
aWiCvinted in 1!W3, by President Wilson, a delegate to the international con-
'^*"^*ice on temperance, which convened at Milan, Italy, in that year. Doctor
^^^ton also was one of the secretaries of the Foreign Mission Board of the
''^'^ithern Baptist Convention, located at Richmond, Virginia, and later he was
ft^istant secretary of the Home ^lissioii Board located at Atlanta. At present
'o^ is state superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of Texas. A sketch of
yGoosle
2440 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
this up-and-doing Baptist preacher appears in "Who's "Who in America.""
Two other sons of William H. Barton became Baptist ministers, both of them
now deceased. They were Alexander T, Barton and Cleveland L, Barton.
The mother of these sons was Eliza Morgan, and she was bom and reared
in the Greenville Diatrict, South Carolina. She married Mr. Barton in 1856,
two years prior to the removal of the family to Arkansas, and she died in
1892. They became the parents of thirteen children, eight sons and five
daughters. Only six of that number are living, and four of the eight sons were
ordained ministers in the Baptist Church.
Dr. L. E. Barton was reared on his father's farm four miles from the Town
of Jonesboro. He first attended a country school and later was a student in
the Jonesboro public schools! In 1898 he was graduated from the Union Uni-
versity of Jackson, Tennessee, with the degree of M. A., and it should be noted
here that he paid his way through the university, earning a part of his ex-
penses by leaching school between terms. During the last two years of his
college work he served a nimiber of country churches in West Tennessee, and
in that way earned sufficient funds to pay his expenses in his last year. He '
was a brilliant student, and during his college life at Jackson he won prac-
tically all the honors in the gift of Union University and its student body. He
represented the college and its societies on many public occasions, and stood
high in the regard of all. He was one of the founders of the Intercollegiate
Oratorical Association of Tennessee, and represented Union University in the
association's first contest. He was president of his class in the year it was
graduated and he won the gold medal in the oratorical contest of his class,
making the fourth honor he was awarded in the orator's forum.
In the fall of 1898 he entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
of Louisville, Kentucky, and there took a post-graduate course of one year.
It is now sixteen years since Doctor Barton entered actively into the service
of the church, and in that time he has filled pastorates at Hope, Arkansas;
Suffolk,. Virginia; Quitman. Oeorgia; West Point, Mississippi; and Atlanta,
Geoi^ia. He is now pastor of the Jackson Hill Baptist Church in this city,
having come to service here in July, 1913. At Quitman, while serving as
pastor of the church there, he brought about the erection of one of the Meat
Baptist church houses in Southern Georgia, the work covering the years of
1905 and 1906. The church he served in West Point, Mississippi, is one of the
foremost Baptist churches in the state, ranking first among 1,400 churches of
that denomination in Mississippi, in point of missionary contributions. While
stationed there Doctor Barton served as a member of the Baptist State Mission
Board of Mississippi, and as a trustee of Clark Memorial College, of Newtoii,
Mississippi. He was a leading spirit in the organization of the Baptist Edu-
cation Commission of Mississippi and served as a member of that body until
his duties called him from the state. He is now president of the Board of Mis-
sions of the Georgia Baptist Convention and is a member and recording secre-
tary of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, located in
Atlanta. His life is a very full one, his duties embracing every phase of work
in which the Baptist denomination is interested, and he is known as one of the
most enthusiastic workers in the good cause. The honorary degree of Doctor
of Divinity was conferred on him by his alma mater in 1912.
Doctor Barton was married on November 9, 1899, in Powhatan County,
Virginia, to Miss Rosa Belle Hnrt, who was there bom and reared. She is
the daughter of an old and much esteemed Virginia family and is a highly
edueateti and accomplished woman. She was graduated fronrHollins College
in Virginia, one of the best known schools for young ladies in the South. After
her graduation she was a member of the college faculty for seven years — a
service that was terminated by her marriage to Doctor Barton. While they
were living in West Point, Mississippi, Mrs. Barton won first prize for the
best essay on The Ante Bellum Woman, offered by the Mississippi Department
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2441
of Archives and Hiatory to the Woman's Federated Clubs, She is a talented
woman, deeply interested in her husband's work, and has been a splendid
help to him in every way. She, too, comes of a family noted for its Baptist
ministers, and four of her brothers were in the service. Rev. George W. Hurt
is the pastor of a Baptist Church at Stevensburg, Virginia. Kev. William E.
Hurt is pastor of a Baptist Church at Kings Tree, South Carolina. Rev. Dr.
John J. Hurt is pastor of the First Baptist Church at Durham, North Caro-
lina, and Rev. Werter W. Hurt was killed by a runaway horse during his
vacation after being in Richmond College only one term. Another brother is
Dr. Alvin J. Hurt, a practicing physician of Chester, Virginia, and yet an-
other is Samuel B, Hurt, a tobacconist of Ballsville, Vii^nia, Hunter H.
Hurt is a farmer in Ballsville, and Walter S. is a traveling salesman, with
headquarters in Austin, Texas. Miss Phoebe C. Hurt of Ballsville, Virginia,
is the only sister.
To Doctor and Mrs, Barton four children were born — ^Alethia Judson,
Jennie Dean, L. E.. Jr., and Bessie Lumpkin Barton.
Their modem comfortable home situated at No. 210 on beautiful St. Charles
Avenue, in the City of Atlanta, is made cozy and delightful by the artistic
genius of the cultured Virginia mother and by the vivacious convereation of
the talented children.
Eugene H. Wilson. Withopt progressive ideas and the courage and
energy to "convert tliem into facts, the business enterprises and methods that
now prevail would never have come into being and to the men with whom
these ideas originated the world owes a great debt. It has been claimed that
the United States entered a new era when the primitive methods of travel were
superseded, and certainly progress in transportation has brought remarkable
changes. In other lines also men with ideas have long been at work and a
specific one may be cited in reference to the evolving of methods and machinery
for laundry work, and a case in hand is Eugene H. Wilson, of Decatur,
Geor^a, a skilled mechanician, who has made practical application of his
ideas and discoveries. To some degree they have revolutionized the laundry
business in the country.
Eugene H. Wilson was bom at Covington, Georgia, January 31, 1867, and
moved to Thomson, McDuffie County, Georgia, in 1868. He is a son of Hon.
John R. Wilson, who, traced his honorable ancestry to England. He was horn
in Columbia County, Georgia, and was a civil engineer and mining contractor.
During the war between the states he was connected with the commissary
department in the Confederate army, and later served several terms in the
Georgia Legislature at Milledgevilte and Atlanta, finally declining re-election.
He married Mary F. Roberts, who was bom in Warren County, Georgia, and
both are now deceased.
In the public schools of McDuffie County, Eugene H. Wilson secured his
education and entered upon his business career in the line he has been identi-
fied with ever since. He is president of the Trio Laundry Company, at Atlanta,
a plant that has an established reputation for superior work second to none
in the surrounding cities. Mr. Wilson has succeeded in making of an act of
household drudgery an art that contributes very materially to the convenience,
appearance, pleasure and comfort of the majority of his fellow citizens. His
work in the direction of laundry perfection has been recognized by his asso-
ciates in the business and he is serving as president of the Laundrymen's Club
of Atlanta, and is past president of the Georgia Launderers Association.
On June 20, 1894, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Marian Footman, of
Savannah, Georgia, and they have four children: Marian F., who was bom
January 19, 1897; Joseph F., who was born October 30, 1898; Fraser Law,
who was bom May 11, 1900; and Isabel P., who was bom March 28, 1908,
The eldest son, Eugene, died at the age of fourteen months.
yGoosIe
2442 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
In politics Mr. Wilson is a democrat. His acquaintance is wide among
stable-business men and lie is a director and an ex-president of the Decatur
Athletic Club and a member of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and is
vice president of the Decatur Board of Trade. He is prominent in Masonry,
a member of the Mystic Shrine and belongs also to such fraternities as the Odd
Fellows, the Eagles, the Elks, and the Red Men. Mr. Wilson belongs also
to the Atlanta Mechanical and Manufacturing, the Theatrical, the Transpor-
tation, and Ad Men's clubs, and the Atlanta Athletic Club,
David Irwin, jurist and legislator, was bom in 1808, and during his entire
boyhood was known to spend only six months at school. In his early man-
hood he followed his trade as a shoemaker, and while thus employed at Madi-
son, Morgan County, was elected clerk of the Superior Court. In 1830 be
left Madison, settling in Cassville, then the county town of what was Cass
County, and in 1832 was elected to the Georgia Senate. In 1835 he located
at Marietta, Cobb County, just as the Cherokee Indians were removed to the
Indian Territory. In 1844 was candidate for elector in the celebrated Clay
and Polk campaign, and was a Union leader in the southern rights contest
in 1850. He was elected judge of the Blue Ridge Circuit in 1851 , which office
he retained until 1857.
Judge Irwin was an open opponent to secession, but when the state
seceded he became an elector at large for the state for Jeff Davis and Alex
Stephens. After the war was over he continued the practice of his profession
in Marietta, combining it with agricultural pursuits. He had a large planta-
tion on Mud Creek, the site of a noted Indian contest with the whites. In
1865 he was again placed upon the bench of the Superior Court, but Gov-
ernor Bullock displaced him in his wholesale removal of judges in 1868. In
company with several other leading Georgians he helped revise the laws of
Georgia, giving the work such excellence that the legal fraternity still refer
to it as "Irwin's Code." Judge Irwin's death occurred November 27, 1884.
Brig. -Gen, Alpreb Iverson, a native Georgian, was born at Clinton on
February 4, 1829, son of United States Senator Alfred Iverson, The elder
Iverson was long prominent in Georgia, After several terms of service in the
General Assembly, he served in the Thirtieth Congress as a democrat; was
elected to the United States Senate in 1855, and retired from the Senate when
his state went out of the Union, Though a man well up in the sixties, he
entered the Confederate army and served as a brigadier-general — the father
and son holding the same rank in the army at the same time,
Alfred Iverson, the younger, was reared in Columbus, Georgia, chiefly,
though some of his boyhood was spent in Washington City, when his father
Has there in congressional service. He was a military student at Tuskegee,
Alabama, upon the outbreak of the War with Mexico. Though the lad was
then only seventeen jears old, his eagerness to enter the army was such that
his father finally consented to his becoming a member of the Georgia Regi-
ment, which the father had been largely instrumental in equipping. He
served through the Mexican war; read law in his father's office at Columbus,
hut did not take kindly to the profession, and became a railroad contractor
in Georgia, In 1855 he was appointed from civil life to the United States
Army with commission of first lieutenant in the First United States Cavalry,
which had just been authorized by Congress, He recruited a company chiefly
in Georgia and Kentneky, and reported for duty to Col, E, V, Sumner at
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The troubles in Kansas were then acute, and
his first active duty was in that state. Prom there he was "transferred to
Carlisle. Pennsylvania.
In the expedition sent out by the United States during the Mormon
troubles (1858-59), he was attached to that command, and from there served
yGoosle
GEOBOIA AND GEOBGIANS 2443
on frontier duty at Fort Washita, Indian Territoty, and engaged in expedi-
tions against the Comanches and Kiowas. Upon the secession of Geor^
Lieutemmt Iverson resigned his commission, went to Montgomery, and ten-
dered his services to the Confederacy. He was commiasioned captain and
ordered to report to General Holmes at Wilmington, North Carolina. He was
pat at work organizing certain detached companies congregated at that point,
and upon their organization into a regiment known as the Twentieth North
Carolina, he was elected colonel and commissioned August 20, 1861. While
leading his regiment he was wounded in the seven days' battle around Rich-
mond, but soon returned to the field. He was promoted to brigadier-general
in 1862, remained in active service until the close of the war and then settled
in Macon, where he engaged in business until 1877. He then moved to
Orange County, Florida. He died at the home of his married daughter, in
Atlanta, on March 31, 1911.
Prank K. Boi-and, A. B., M. D., F. A. C. S. Among the younger members
of the medical profession at Atlanta no one is spoken of with higher apprecia-
tion of his abilities than Dr. Frank K. Boland. With an active experience of
sixteen years in the profession, Doctor Boland 's skill has been more and more
demonstrated in the field of surgery, and his associates frequently speak of him
as one of the most skillful operators in the South,
Frank Kells Boland was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 3, 1875, a sou
of Kell^ H. and Louise (Bright) Boland. His father, though a native of
Canada, was of Irish parentage, while the mother, a native of Ohio, was of
Pennsylvania Dutch parentage. Doctor Boland was brought to Atlanta at
the age of five months, and bas lived in that city ever since. Like many
Atlantans of his generation his education was begun tinder the instruction
of Miss Elise Bcatty and Miss Bunnie Love, who some thirty years ago con-
ducted two of the best private schools in the city. Doctor Boland was first
imder Miss Beatty and later with Miss Love. He went through the Crew
Street Public School and the Boys' High School, graduating in 1893, in the
same year entered the University of Georgia and graduated A. B. in 1897. In
college he was noted as a man who maintained a fair standard in hia studies,
and was very active in the different departments of college life, athletic,
musical, and literary, and on graduation was elected permanent president of
the class of '97. He joined the Chi Phi fraternity on entering college, and
bas always been active in its interests, holding many local offices and one
national office, Grand Zeta, in 1908, 1909 and 1910. He was one of the editors
of the Chi Phi registers of 1900, 1908 and 1915.
Probably the chief infiuence which directed him into the profession ol .
medicine was the fact that his father as well as one of his father's brothers
were physicians. Immediately after leaving college he took up the study of
medicine, and was graduated M. ^. with second honor at the Atlanta CoU^e
of Physicians and Surgeons in 1900. Several months were then spent in post-
graduate work in the Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore, and for nearly
three years he was resident surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital in Baltimore.
Doctor Boland began the active practice of medicine at Atlanta in 1903.
His private practice has been diversified by almost continuous service as a
member of the Ertaffs of surgeons and instructors in the leading hospitals and
medical schools of Atlanta. He was an instructor in the Atlanta College of
Physicians and Surgeons two years, in 1905 became professor of operative
surgery in the newly organized 'Atlanta School of Medicine, held that position
until 1913, and after the consolidation of the Atlanta School of Medicine with
the College of Physicians and Surgeons under the new title Atlanta Medical
College, was made one of the professors of surgery in this institution. In
1915 the Atlanta Medical College became the medical department of Emory
TTuiversity, and Doctor Boland was elected professor of clinical surgery, a
Vol V— II
I, Google
2444 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
position he still holds. Since 1908 fae has been professor of anatomy in the
Atlanta Dental College, surgeon to the Wesley Memorial Hospital since 1905 ;
surg«on to the Grady Municipal Hospital since 1909, and to the Georgia Bap-
tist Hospital since 1910.
Doctor Boland has contributed many articles on medical subjects to medical
journals. It was his distinctive worii and attainments as a surgeon which in
1914 reeulted in his election as a Fellow of the American College of Sui^ons,
which entitles him to a special distinction as a surgeon in the same manner as
his degree M. D. indicates his qualifications in the general medical field. lie
is a member of the Fulton County Medical Society, the iledical Association
of Geoi^a, the Southern Medical Association, the Chattahoochee Medical and
Surgical Association, and the American Medical Association. Doctor Boland
has been a member of the Methodist Church since childhood and since 1903
has served as steward of the Trinity M. E. Church at Atlanta. He is a mem-
ber of the Rotary Club of Atlanta. Doctor Boland was married in 1905 to
Miss Mollie Leila Horsley, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J. S.Horsley of West
Point, Georgia. They have two sons; F. K., Jr., and Joseph Horsley Boland.
CvBUS Warren Stbicki-er, M. D. The entire professional life of Dr.
Cyrus Warren Strickler has been passed at Atlanta, where for more than
eighteen years he has ministered to the sick, given instruction to young men
in_ preparation for the practice of medicine and surgery, and enjoyed great
popularity as a' practitioner. Bringing to his practice thorough scholastic
training, innate soundness and accuracy of judgment and a cheerful disposi-
tion, he has long maintained a leading place among the progressive members
of his profession.
Doctor Strickler was born November 1, 1873, in Augusta County, Vir-
ginia, and belongs to a family which for years has been prominent in the
Old Dominion State, its members for generations having occupied honorable
and eminent positions in the various walks of life. His father, the late Givens
Brown Strickler, D. D., LL. D., a Virginian by birth, was a man of broad
and profound education, and became widely known both as minister of the
Gospel and as an educator. When stilt a young man he enlisted in the ranks
of the Confederate army, in which he fought throughout the struggle between
the South and the North, and won promotion through brave and faithful serv-
ice, being the la.st captain of the Liberty Hall Volunteers and of the Stonewall
Brigade. On coming to Atlanta, in 1881, he became pastor of the Central
Presbyterian Church, a capacity in which he acted for thirteen years, then
becoming professor of theology at the Union Theological Seminary, a position
which he retained until the time of his death. Mrs. Strickler, who bore the
maidm name of Mary Frances Moore, was also a Virginian by birth, and is
now deceased. ,
Cyrus Warren Strickler was eight years of age when he accompanied Ms
parents to Atlanta, and this city has continued to be his home with the excep-
tion of a short period during his college career. He received excellent pre-
paratory training, both under the tutorship of his father and at private
schools, among the latter being the Means High School and the Gordon School.
At the age of eighteen years he went to Washington and Lee University, where
he remained three years, and in 1894 returned to Atlanta and entered the
Atlanta Medical College, from which institution he was graduated in 1897
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Doctor Strickler 's preparation was
furthered by two years spent as interne at Grady Hospjtal and two years as
resident physician at Elkin-Cooper's Sanitarium, and in 1898 he entered upon
the active practice of his profession at Atlanta, where he now maintains
offices in suite No. 813 Hurt Building. Doctor Strickler is a member of the
Pulton County Medical Society, the Georgia State Medical Society, the
Southern Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is pro-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2445
fessor of medicine at the Atlanta Medical College and vimtiog physician to the
Grady and Wesley Memorial hospitals and to Saint Joseph's Infirmary and
Baptist Hospital. He is known not only for his skill and assiduity as a phy-
sician, but also for the urbanity of his manners, his literary tastfi and talent,
and as a brilliant member of Atlanta's social circles. Among the members of
the Capital City Club, the Piedmont Driving Club, the Druid Hills Golf
Club and the Atlanta Athletic Club, of each of which he is a member, he is
highly popular.
Doctor Strickler was married February 24, 1903, to Sliss Anne Virginia
Williams, one of Atlanta's talented and beautiful young women, and to this
union there have come two children, boys: Givens Brown, who was bom
November 3, 1905; and Cyrus Warren, bom September 11, 1908,
John W. Maddox. A scion of a family whose first representatives in
America were five brothers who came from England as members of the
colonial contingent led by Lord Baltimore and who settled in Maryland and
Virginia, Judge Maddox is a native son of Georgia who has lent marked
distinction to a family name that has been one of prominence and influence
in the annals of American history since the early colonial era. As a lawyer
and jurist he has exemplified great ability and the highest of professional
ethics; as a member of the United States Congress he acquitted himself with
characteristic loyalty and efficiency; as a youthful soldier of the Confed-
eracy in the Civil war he made a record that inures to the lasting honor of
his name; and as a citizen he stands representative of the best and truest,
in all of the relations of life. A man of thoughts and deeds, well qualified
for leadership in popular sentiment and action, Judge Maddox, by virtue of
his very individuality, stands as one of the representative men of Georgia,
even as he is one of the most influential citizens of Rome, Floyd County, with
impregnable vantage-ground in the confidence and unqualified esteem of all
who know him.
Judge Maddox was born on a plantation owned by his father in Chattooga
County, Georgia, and the date of his nativity was June 3, 1848. He is a son
of Dr. George B, Maddox, who was a distinguished representative of one of
the sterling pjpneer families of Georgia and who was born in Gi'eene County,
this srtate, in October, 1818. His father was Josiah Maddox and the maiden
name of his mother was Wellborn, and both were natives of Virginia. Josiah
Maddox achieved measurable success of a financial order during his opera-
tions as one of the pioneer planters and slaveholders of Georgia, and he died
in 1822, as the result of an attack of malarial fever. His wife survived him
by a number of years and they became the parents of five sons and two
daughters — William, Ellis, Augustus, George B., and Robert being the sons;
one daughter became the wife of William Jackson and the name of the hus-
band of the other daughter was Greer.
Dr. George B. Maddox, the youngest of the seven children, was a child of
about four years at the time of his father 's death, and to the fostering care
of his devoted mother and his older brothers and sisters he was indebted for
the measurably fortuitous conditions and influences that compassed him in
his youth. Of alert and vigorous mental powers, he made good use of the
educational opportunities afforded to hira and by means of specific training
and personal study and reading he accumulated a liberal academic educa-
tion. His ambition to enter the medical profession was not to be denied,
though to acquire the same he must needs depend almost entirely upon his
own resources. He finally completed a thorough course in the Medical College
of Georgia, at Augusta, an institution that was founded in 1832, and after
receiving therefrom his degree of Doctor of Medicine he engaged in active
general practice at Marietta, Cobb County. He had built up a substantial
practice long before the inception of the Civil war, and when the Southern
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2446 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
States voted for seceasion he promptly and loyally tendered hia services in
defeDse of the Confederacy. His initial service was with the Eighth Geot^
Regiment of state troops, with which he held the office of quartermaster, ^e
command being at the time stationed at Savannah. The last two years of
his military service found him aligned as a member of the Home Guard.
The close of the war found him with shattered health, owing to the exposure
and other hardships he had endured in his military career, for he was then
nearing the age of fifty years. During the climacteric period leading up
to the great conflict between the North and the South the doctor had been
sincerely opposed to the secession of the Southern States, but when the war
was precipitated he became one of the stauachest and most loyal supporters
of the cause of the Confederacy, as indicated by the active and effective service
which he rendered. After his marriage he had removed from Marietta
to Chattooga County, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession
at the time when he initiated his military career. Id politics Doctor Maddox
was originally an old-line whig, but after the war be became an ardent and
influential advocate of the principles and policies of the democratic party.
He was a man of strong mind and broad conceptions of economic and govern-
mental affairs, and prior to the war he had served as a judge of the inferior
court of Chattooga County: He never recuperated his health after his service
during the war, and he died in 1869, at the age of flfty-one years, his loved
and devoted wife having been summoned to eternal rest in 1864, while he
was absent from home and in service with his regiment, she having been a
refugee at Decatur, this state, at the time of her death. Of the ten children
four died in infancy, and of those who attained to adult age the eldest son
is Judge Maddox, of this review; Elizabeth became the wife of Maj. Daniel
J. Owen, who served as major of the Fourth Georgia Cavalry in the Civil
war, and his wife died while he was absent at the front ; Jennie, who became
the wife of Thomas Knox, of Chattooga County, died in 1870; Augustus is
a prominent merchant in the City of Gainesville, Texas; Benjamin, who holds
the important executive position of business manager of the John Hays
Hammond Electoral System, maintains his home at Visalia, California; and
William is a substantial ranchman residing at Valley View, Cooke County,
Texas.
In the schools of his native county Judge John W. Maddox gauied hia
early educational discipline, and in the meanwhile he had begun to give
effective aid in the work and management of the homestead plantation. He
was but thirteen years old when the Civil war conflict was instituted and
at the age of fifteen years he tendered bis aid in defense of the Confederate
cause, by enlisting in the Sixth Georgia Cavalry, commanded by the gallant
Gen. Jos^h "^Tieeler. His enlistment occurred shortly before the great
battle of Chickamauga, and in this engagement he took part, He thereafter
took part in numerous other engagements and continued in faithful service
with his gallant command until victory had been granted to the Union
arms and the war came to a close. He was thrice wounded during his career
as a youthful soldier of the Confederacy, and his military career was marked
by arduous and hazardous service. On one occasion Judge Maddox and
three comrades held successfully, against an opposing force of far greater
number, a bridge in either Chattooga or Walker County, Georgia, and an
entire brigade finally came into action before the intrepid young Southrons
were dislodged from their vantage place, which they had most gallantly
defended against overwhelming odds. In later years the judge has per-
petuated the more grateful associations and memories of his yontl5ul military
career by maintaining affiliation with the United Confederate Veterans. He
was the commander of the cavalry brigade and later commander of thfl
Veterans of Georgia,
After the war Judge Maddox devoted several years tp the supervision
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2447
o^ £ize old homestead fann aad to the care of his two Bleters and his younger
bj-oti^^^i *'*^ revenues from the farm having largely been used in the support
of til «5 family and in the education of the younger children, to whose welfare
the j't»<lge looked with the utmost solicitude. He had attained tq the age
of -fc-vv- ^ *ity-seven years before he could find time and opportunity to press for-
wax-^, -toward the goal of his ambition and begin the study of law. When the
desi3T^<3 privilege came to him he was fortunate in obtaining as his preceptor
Jm^ er*^ John Taylor, of Summerville, an able and honored legist and jurist
of C; I::* «ittooga County, and with all of zeal and devotion he devoted his
att^x:*'ti-<pn to the study of the involved science of jurisprudence until, in
IST'F , l^e proved himself eligible for and was admitted to practice, at Summer-
ville r ■*he judicial center of his native county. There he engaged in the
pra.<5ti<3e of his profession and within a remarkably brief period he had
gain^c^ a place of prominence and influence as one of the leading members
of tli^^ bar of Chattooga County. He continued his professional labors at
Swm lacB. «rville until his election to the Superior Court bench of the Rome
eireui.*;, in 1886, when he transferred his residence to Rome, where he has
giiie^ ^naintained his home and been surrounded, indeed, by "troops of
friencis" who are deeply appreciative of his worthy character and distin-
^•^isli-^sJ achievements.
•A^ 3uan whose allegiance to the democratic party has never faltered and
■«\(> t». ^is given yeoman service in the furtherance of its cause. Judge Maddox
gaiiie«3. his first political preferment when he was elected mayor of Summer-
^ills. Later he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners
Pf dta^attooga County, and further political honors were conferred upon
J^ttx Tt^v- hen he was elected to the lower house of the State Legislature. After
^/^ e'flQ.eient service of two terms in this ofiiee he represented his district in
toe C3-^Borgia Senate for two terms, and all of these preferments were his prior
"^ lii« election to the bench of the Superior Court of the Rome circuit. While
^®**'^''i»~» g as senator, Judge Maddox was elected mayor of Summerville, but
''**^ l^*.tter position he forthwith resigned, ap the state laws prescribe that
"^ ^"^"a ^».n shall simultaneously be the incumbent of two such offices. In 1892
^?-**^^ the crowning distinction in the public career of Judge Maddox, in
?**-^ ^X action as representative of the seventh congressional district of Georgia
J'* "tlx^ United States Congress. In the lower house of the National Legis-
'5' ^^*^^ he ably and faithfully represented the interests of hia constituent
^^'*'^, becoming an influential figure in the deliberations of the House of
*^^^C**~^isentatives and in the work of the various committees to which he was
^^^■^^■^^■ed during a period of twelve years consecutive service as a member of
^'?~* ^5"^«^ss, Judge Maddox finally retired from this distinguished office by
f^'^^^ing to be a candidate in 1905, owing to his impaired health. On the
^^*^X-»^ of the Superior Court he made a most admirable record in the able and
f^F*^«3.itions transaction of business and in the rendering of decisions marked
y t^-tK^oad and exact knowledge of law and precedent and by deep judicial
*'^'^**~* «n, so that equity and justice were conserved and few of his opinions
?.**' ^'^with reversal by tribunals of higher jurisdiction. He finally resigned
* ]^* Yffiition on the bench to accept candidacy for Congress.
-^-- liter his retirement from Congress Judge Maddox resumed the private
PT^^ t-ice of his profession in the City of Rome, with his son, George Edward
Ma.<i ■«:3oj_ as his coadjutor. He may consistently be termed the Nestor of the
. *-*3^*~^a County bar, and he is revered by the younger members of his profes-
^'^'^ :for his noble character, profound legal learning and mature judgment,
r" ■*- "5^06 Judge Maddox was elected mayor of Rome, and he forthwith insti-
*^^^^ a vigorous and prf^ressive administration and put forth every possible
en:o-»7"-^. jp vitalize the municipal government, to bring to the city needed
■"^^ *"«vements and to give to it the prosperity, attractiveness and prestige
'■'^^■'t are its just due. He refused to accept the mayoralty again after a
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2448 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
most noteworthy and commeDdable regime of two years, and his refusal
was prompted by the desire to retarn to his practice, but his friends insisted
that he should again assume a position on the bench of the Superior Court,
to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Mosen Wrighty who became candidate
for the Uuited States Congress in 1909. After serving the unexpired term
Judge Maddoi was prevailed upon to become the regular nominee of his
party for the office which he has signally honored and dignified, and after
his election, by an almost unanimous vote, he continued his services on this
bench until the 1st of February, 1913. He then resigned the office to accept
the position of president of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company, an
office of which he continued the valued incumbent, his great ability and high
reputation making him an ideal force in the furtherance of the business of
this strong and well ordered corporation. The judge is affiliated with the
Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the chivalric degrees and holds
membership in the Rome Commandery of Knights Templars, besides being
affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Both be and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church in their
home city.
In the year 1872 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Maddox to Miss
Prances Elizabeth Edmondaon, who likewise was born and reared in Chattooga
County, and who is a daughter of the late Henry D, C. and Sarah (Malone)
Edmondson. Of this ideal union there have been horn eight children, all
of whom are living except one: Berta is tlie wife of Thomas 0. Hand, of
Macon, Georgia; George Edward, who is associated with his father in the
practice of law, under [he firm name of Maddox & Maddox, was graduated
in the University of Georgia with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and from
the Columbus Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws; John D.
was graduated in law, was admitted to the bar of the State of Texas, but
is now engaged in the hotel business in the City of Spokane, Washington;
Linton was graduated as an electrical engineer and is following the work
of his profession in his home city of Rome; Frank was graduated in tech-
noloey and chemistry in the University of Geor^a and is now in the employ
of Georgia State Department of AgrieuUure; James was graduated in the
" law department of the University of Georgia, and is now associated with
his father and brother as a member of the leading law fiian of Floyd County ;
and Robert is a student in" the Atlanta Medical College.
In conclusion it may be noted as a matter of historical record that Dr.
George B. Maddox, father of the judge, built the first system of municipal
waterworks in Northern Georgia, and in this connection was given by the
Inferior Court of Chattooga County the first issued concession for the cross-
ing of roads or streets in the construction of such improvements.
William B. Conway, M. D. Since 1892 Georgia has claimed Dr. William
Buchanan Conway as one of its distinguished physicians and surgeons, and
he has consecutively been engaged in the practice of his profession in the City
of Athens, the metropolis and .iudicial center of Clarke County. The doctor
is a man of specially high academic and professional attainments, has fine
literary taste and talent and is the author of interesting and valuable published
volumes, as well as of numerous monographs and other articles pertinent to
medical and .surgical science and published in leading professional periodicals.
He has been prominent in the educational as well as the practical work of
his exacting profession and by his character and services has dignified and
honored the same. Doctor Conway claims the historic Old Dominion as the
place of his nativity and is a scion of distinguished old colonial families of
that noble old commonwealth. He has shown a deep and loyal interest in the
family genealogy and has, by careful research and investigation, obtained a
large amount of authentic data for a comprehensive hietory of the Conway
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2449
family and its collateral branches in America. Prom his published brochure
coDtaiuing the names and other data concerning the Conway family of Vir-
ginia, 1640-1900, are gleaned the facts that are entered as a consistent intro-
duction to the specific review of his personal career.
The ancient coat-of-arms of the Conway family in Great Britain is described
as follows: "Sa, on a bend arg. cotieed erm, a rose gee, between two amulets
of the last. Motto, 'Fide et Amore. ' " From "Virginia Genealogies," by
Hay den, 'Doctor Conway derived the major part of the following datar
Sir Edw, Conway, kt. Baron Conway, of Ragtey, in com. war; Viscount
Kilulla in Ireland and Viscount Conway, of Conway Castle, North Wales,
Mr. Edwin Conway, of County Worcester, England, came to Virginia in
1640; married, in England, Martha Eltonhead. Edwin Conway, of Virginia,
married first, 1680, Sarah Fleet; second, Elizabeth Thompson. Col. Edwin
Conway married, in 1704, Anna Ball, "half-sister to mother of George Wash-
ington." Francis Conway married, 1718, Rebecca Catlett, and after his death
she married John Moore. Maj. Peter Conway married, 1735, Elizabeth
Spann, and after her death he wedded Elizabeth Lee. George Conway mar-
ried, 1739, Ann Heath, and her second husband was Travers Dowman. Fran-
cis Conway married, 1744, Sarah Talliaferro, who later became the wife of
James Taylor. George Conway married Ann Dowman; she married, 1792,
Spencer Carter. Walker Conway married, 1775, Anirie Moncure. Capt.
Francis Conway married, 1770, . Elizabeth Fitzhugh. Gen, Henry Conway
married Sarah Hundley, Capt, Catlett Conway married, 1775, Susannah
Fitzhugh, John Moncure Conway married, 1802, Catharine Storke Peyton.
Edwin Conway married, 1806, Mary Jackson Dade. John Conway married,
1812, Harriet Elizabeth Thornton. Thomas Conway married Mary Hawes
Buckner. Catlett Conway, born 1786, died in 1839. He first married Valinda
Taliaferro and after her death espoused Harriet S. Taylor. Valentine Yel-
berton Conway married, 1824, Mary Catherine Washington Henry, Peter
Vivian Daniel Conway married Mary Porter. Walker Peyton Conway mar-
ried, 1829, Margaret Eleanor Daniel. Moncure Daniel Conway married, 1858,
Ellen Davis Dana. Moncure Conway married, 1832, Ann E. Smith. Hon.
Eustace Conway married Maria Tomlin. John Conway married Mary Stuart.
Edward Heary Conway married, 1855, Sarah J. Strother. Gibbons Stuart
Conway married, 1858, Julia Barnes. Reuben Conway married Lucy H.
Macon and George Conway married, 1811, Sarah N, Howard. Philip Con-
way, M. D., married Columbia Yerby. Mildred Stone Conway married. 1860,
Prof. Andrew March, LL. D., D. H. D. William Henry Conway married,
1834, Marion Glassell, and after her death he wedded Jane Foushee. His
children were Louisa Brown, Elizabeth Battaile Fitzhugh, Margaret, Fannie,
and Dr. Charles Catlett. Dr. Charles Catlett Conway married, 1871, Eliza-
beth Sutton Jones.
Battaile Fitzhugh Taliaferro Conway, father of him whose name initiates
this article, was bom in 1814, and died July 1, 1897, at the age of eighty-three
years. In 1835 he wedded Mary Ann Wallace, and their children were Ellen
Somerville, Roberta, and Catlett. For his second wife Battaile Fitzhugh
Taliaferro Conway married Cornelia S. Buchanan, who was born in 1822, and
whose death occurred February 6, 1895, when she was seventy-three years of
age. The names of the children of the second marriage are as follows : Dr,
William Buchanan Conway, John Gibbons, Mary Wallace, Eva F,, Henry
Clay, and Cora. Concerning the children of Battaile F. T. Conway, aside from
the subject of this sketch, are gleaned the following data :
Ellen Somerville Conway married, 1858, Catlett Conway Fitzhugh, their
children being seven in number, Roberta Conway married, 1864, Francis C-
Pitzhngh, and they became the parents of two children, Catlett Conway mar-
ried, 1868. Lucy Thornton, and for his second wife Mary J, Thornton, his
children being two daughters. Doctor Conway of this review was the first
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2450 . GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
child of the second marriage, and the second child, John Gibbons Conway,
married first a Miss Sparks and later a Mrs, Hemphries, widow of Gen. Robt.
A, Banks, his only child being a son, Kent. Mary Wallace Conway married,
1867, James L. Davis, and they became the parents of six children. Eva P.
Conway married, 1873, H. Bushrod Sparks, and they became the parents of
four children. Cora Buchanan Conway married, 1892, John Nichol. Henry
Clay Conway married, 1878, Mattie Mann.
Prom an appreciable amount of information concerning earlier generations
of the Conway family it is impossible in this article to offer further reproduc-
tions, save to call attention to a salient point of interest : Eleanor Rose Con-
way married, 1749, Col. James Madison and they were the parents of James
Madison, the fourth President of the United States.
Dr. William Buchanan Conway was bom in Madison County, Virginia, on
the 3d of January, 1845, and is the eldest of the children of Battaile Pitzhugh
Taliaferro Conway and Cornelia Sophia (Buchanan) Conway, both of *hom
passed their entire lives in Vinfinia, the dates of their death having been noted
in a preceding paragraph. The father of the doctor was numbered among the
prosperous planters of the Old Dominion State and in all of the relations of
life he well upheld the prestige of a name signally honored in the history of
that fine old commonwealth in which was cradled much of our national history.
In his native state Doctor Conway was afforded excellent educational advan-
tages and pursued his studies through higher academic courses prior to initiat-
ing preparation for his chosen profession. He finally entered the College of
Physicians afld Surgeons in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, and in this
institution he was graduated on the 22d of February, 1869, duly receiving his
degree of Doctor of Medicine. It should be noted at this juncture that during
the long intervening years he has kept in close touch with the advances made
in medical and sui^ical science and has been an effective exponent of such
progressive ideals in his noble profession. Prior to entering medical college it
had been the privilege of the doctor to accord gallant and loyal service as a
youthful soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, and concerning this mat-
ter further mention will be made in later paragraphs.
After his graduation Doctor Conway served for eighteen years as phya-
eian and surgeon of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, at Blacksburg, Vir-
ginia, and thereafter he was engaged in the practice of his profession In hia
native state until 1892, when he'came to Georgia and established his home at
Athens, in which city he ha^ since continued in active general practice, as one
of the prominent, honored and distinguished representatives of his profession
in Northern Georgia. In 1900 he became president of the city board of health
of Athens, and of this office he Continued the valued incumbent for an entire
decade, his retirement therefrom having occurred in 1910. In 1912 he served,
ad interim, as dean of the school of pharmacy of the University of Georgia,
and he has been otherwise prominent in educational work pertaining to his
profession. He is identified with the American Medical Association, has
served as president of the Clarke County Medical Society, and honorary mem-
ber of the Georgia State Medical Association, besides having formerly been
an active member of the Virginia State Medical Society. He is affiliated with
the time-honored Masonic fraternity and is past master of the lodge with which
he was formerly affiliated in Vit^nia. Both he and his wife are zealous
members of the Presbyterian Church and he is serving as an elder of the
church of this denomination in Athens,
Doctor Conway has made many contributions to professional and other
kinds of literature and his talent as a writer marks his distinctive culture and
broad and exact learning. In 1915 was issued from the press his volume of
interesting personal reminiscences of the Civil war, and the publisher, the
Neil Publishing Company of New York, gives assurance that the work will
meet with wide circulation. He has also a small school history, "Prom Wash-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2451
ington to Woodrow Wilson," in the bsiidB of Giim & Company, Boston, Massa-
chusetts. Much of the literary work of the Doctor is done at his attractive
summer home in the mountains of Vii^pnia, and the family residence which he
owns in the City of Athens is a beautiful home that is known for its gracious
and refined hospitality.
At the inception of the war between the states of the North and the South
Doctor Conway was but sixteen years of age, but naught could curb his loyalty
to the cause of the Confederacy, and be promptly enlisted as a member of
Company C, Fourth Virginia Cavalry, in which gallant command he rose
to the rank of corporal. The youthful soldier served under those distinguished
officers. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Gen. J. E, B. Stuart. He took part in many
desperate conflicts and at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, in May,
1864, he was wounded, in an engagement with the forces of General Grant,
After recuperating from his injury he resuAed his place with his regiment,
with which he continued in active service until the close of the war, his hon-
orable discharge having been granted to him by the commander of his regi-
ment. The Doctor perpetuates the more gracious memories of his military
career through his affiliation with the United Confederate Veterans, as sui^on
of the Cobb-Deloney Camp. His enlistment occurred in December, 1862, and
he took part in nearly all of the campaigns of the cavalry corps of the Army
of Northern Vi^nia. His regiment was commanded in turn by Cols. Beverly
Robertson, Williams C. Wiekham, William H. Payne, and Colonel Woolridge.
On the 14th of December, 1870, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor
Conway to Miss Julia Ellen Thomas, daughter of Col. William Thomas, a
prominent and honored citizen of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia,
where Mrs. Conway was born and reared, her father having served as a mem-
ber of the Virginia Senate and also as a gallant officer of the. Confederacy in
the Civil war. In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the children
of Doctor and Mrs. Conway ; William Battaile died at the age of three years.
Daisy is the wife of Prof. Harvey L. Price, dean of the agricultural depart-
ment, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and they have four children, William
Buchanan, Harvey Lee, Jr., Margaret, and Mary Luster. Alfred Taliaferro
Conway, who is engaged in the insurance business at Athens, Gteorgia, wedded
Miss Bessie Leroy Hart, of Baltimore, Maryland, and they have three children,
Byrd Taliaferro, John Hart, and Battaile Fitzhugh Taliaferro. Archie Mon-
cure Conway, who is engaged in the insurance business in the City of Atlanta,
wedded Miss Frances Smith of that city. Mary Greer Conway is the wife
of William Capers Mizelle, of Atlanta, and they have three children, William
Capers Mizell, III, Julia Roxanna Mizell, and Archie Conway Mizell.
Col. George M. Napier. In a group of the most distinguished living law-
yers of Georgia it is probable that no name would be more generally recognized
as deserving of such position than that of Col. George M. Napier, head of one
of the strongest law firms of Atlanta, solicitor general of the Stone Mountain
circuit, and a resident of Decatur, Bom on a farm in Walker County, Georgia,
shortly after the close of the Civil war, there are few men, still on the sunny
aide of fifty, upon whom honors due to personal attainments have been
bestowed more frequently than upon Colonel Napier, While nearly everyone
iu Georgia knows his attainments and position. Colonel Napier is also known
in the profession throughout the United States, particularly through the honor
bestowed upon him some years ago in election to the office of president of the
Commercial Law League of America. Colonel Napier combines a splendid
character with his ability as a lawyer. Colonel Napier has exemplified those
ideals and principles which have long been familiarly associated with the type
of the old southern gentleman, and it can be justly said of him that his word
is as good as a government bond, his verbal promises and obligations being
as strictly fulfilled as those which are sealed with formal writing.
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2452 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
With such antecedents as are found in bis ancestry it is perliaps not strange
that Colonel Napier has fulfilled so many of life's finest ideals. The Napier
family is supposed to be of Norman French descent, though its founder in
America came to Virginia from England, locating in GOocbland County. The
great-grandfather of Geoi^ M. Napier was Ren^ Napier, who was horn in
Virginia, Rene Napier was a son of RenS Napier and a grandson of Booth
Napier and Sarah LaForte, the daughter of Col. RenS LaPorte, a Huguenot.
Kene and bis brother Thomas eame to Georgia and located land warrants,
given them for their services in the Revolutionary war, in Washington County.
Thomas Napier served as speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives
in 1804.
One of the most conspieuoos characters in Georgia during the middle
period of the last century was Leroy Napier, grandfather of Colonel Napier.
He was a wealthy planter at lI%con, and upon the outbreak of the Civil war
invested practic^ly his entire fortune in Confederate bonds, which subse-
quently became worthless. His patriotism and faith in the Sooth were not
measured alone by his financial sacrifices, since eight of his sons were soldiers
in the Confederate army, a number of tbem rising to distinction. One was
Col. Leroy Napier, Jr., who was a cadet at the West Point Military Academy
at the beginning of the war, resigned and returned home, entered the southern
army, and rose to the rank of colonel of artillery. For some time he com-
manded what was known as Napier's Battery, which had been entirely
equipped by his father. Another son was Capt. Briggs Napier, who lost a
leg at Chancelloraville, while in command of his company. Still another son
was Edward, who also attained the rank of captain. Grandfather Leroy
Napier married Matilda Louise Jloultrie, of the same family made famous in
American history by the exploits of Gen. William Moultrie in the Revolu-
tionary war, in whose honor Fort Moultrie, in Charleston Harbor, was named.
Col. Napier is therefore a grandson of Matilda Louise Moultrie.
The father of Colonel Napier was Capt. Nathan C. Napier, who was bom
in Troupe County, Georgia, December 22, 1834. He was educated in the
University of Georgia and at Yale College, and while a man of action was
also distinguished by his literary attainments. After the close of the Civil
war he was for many years a planter in Walker County, still later retired
from his farm and moved to Lafayette, the county seat of Walker, where he
became owner and editor of the Walker County Messenger, to which his
attention was given until his death in 1902. Capt. Napier served all through
the Civil war in the Confederate army, entering as a private and emerging
from the conflict as captain of a cavalry company. At the battle of Perry-
ville, Kentucky, while a lieutenant in command of a detachment of twenty
volunteers doing special scout duty, he was severely wounded, left on the
battlefield for dead, and fell into the hands of the enemy. His wounds were
treated by a Federal surgeon, and he was left at the home of a miller, close
to the battlefield, whose family nursed him until he was able to walk back to
Georgia. The wound he received at Perryville entirely destroyed the sight
of one eye, but in spite of this fact after recovering sufficiently he re-entered
the array and was made captain of a new company of cavalry which he
equipped with his own private means and which he commanded until the
end of the war. Though he had several horses shot from under him in the
cavalry service he escaped further wounds. In the years immediately follow-
ing the close of the war Captain Napier taught several terms of school in
Walker County, and having lost his fortune as a result of the conflict was thus
able in a measure to recoup and get a fresh start in the world. His excellent
collegiate education proved an invaluable resource at this crisis. He made
an excellent reputation as a teacher in his home county and following the
war he was frequently honored by positions of trust and responsibility, and
at one time was president of the county board of education. At the time of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2453
his death he was commander of Camp Chickamauga of the United CoDfederate
Veterans at La Payette.
Captain N-apier married Julia Sharpe. She was born in Marengo County,
Alabama, February 2,' 1840, and survived her husband about five years. Her
father, Thomas A. Sharpe, was a planter in Walker County, Georgia, and
was distinguished by his great piety, having long been one of the pillars of
the Methodist Church. Four of his sons served in the Confederate army and
three were killed in battle. Colonel Napier is descended from Revolutionary
soldiers not only in the paternal line, but through his mother. His mother
was related to the noted Simpson family of South Carolina, of which Chief
Justice Simpson of that state was a member. She was also descended from
Col. Alexander Osborne of North Carolina, known to history as one of the
signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, which was the first
formal declaration enacted in the American colonies, and preceded the declara-
tion of 1776. Col. Alexander Osborne held the rank of colonel in the Colonial
Militia of North Carolina prior to the revolution, and one of his sons was Adlai
Osborne, an ancestor of his namesake, the late Hon. Adlai Stevenson, who was
vice president of the United States with Grover Cleveland.
Colonel Napier's brothers are: Dr. Leroy Napier, a successful practicing
physician of Lumber City, Georgia; Rev. A. Y. Napier of Yangehow, China,
a missionary serving the Southern Baptist Mission Board ; and Mr. Nathan C. ,
Napier of "Washington} District of Columbia, secretary of Congressman Gordon
Lee and recently admitted to the bar. Mr. Nathan C. Napier succeeded his
father as editor of the "Walker County Messenger, in which capacity he served
ably for several years. The sisters of Colonel Napier are: Miss Caroline
Napier of La Payette, Georgia; Mrs. Early "W. Adams of Philadelphia; Mrs.
Samuel B. Ledbetter of Cartersville, Georgia; and Miss Alice Napier, who
fills the chair of nmthematiea in the Georgia Normal and Industrial College
at Milledgeville, Georgia.
Though it came partly from his own earnings and efforts, Col. George M.
Napier started life with a liberal education. He attended the schools of
"Walker County, and one of his early teachers was his own father. Later
he graduated from the Military College at Dahlonega, and subsequently taught
school a year, gained admission to the bar, and after being in practice for
several years graduated from the University of Georgia with the degree
Master of Arts. His first practice as a lawyer was done at La Fayette, and
from there he removed to Monroe, Georgia, which was his home until about
ten years ago, when he transferred his legal business to Atlanta, While at
Monroe he was a partner of Robert L. Cox. On establishing his law office at
Atlanta he moved his residence to Decatur. For several years during his
residence at Monroe he owned and edited The Walton News and later he
founded The Walton Tribune.
Colonel Napier is now head of the well known firm of Napier, Wright
& Wood, of Atlanta. While at Monroe he served as president of the Walton
County Board of Education several years, and was once petitioned by 500
voters of that county to make the race for the State Legislature, but declined
since he was not then in a position to enter politics, and in fact he has never
been eager for the strife of polities, and his varied services have been chiefly
in those positions which carry great responsibilities but are conferred through
fitness rather than by popular choice. In November, 1913, Governor John
M. Slaton appointed him solicitor general of the Stone Mountain Circuit.
In 1914 he was elected to the same position, receiving more than 5,000 out
of the total 7,000 votes cast. Recently, upon the death of Charles S. Reid,
judge of the Stone Mountain Circuit, Governor Slaton tendered Colonel
Napier the vacant office, but this offer was declined.
Colonel Napier was first married to Miss Martha Moss Harris of Atlanta,
the highly talented daughter of Rev. William Franklin Harris, a "Virginia
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2454 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
educator. The gifted young wife lived bnt four years after her marriage.
No children survive this union.
In 1908 Colonel Napier was unanimously elected president of the Com-
mereial Law League of America, and served in that office one y6ar. This
league has a membership of about 4,000 attorneys all over the United States,
and Colonel Napier is the second southern man ever to be honored as presi-
dent of the league.
Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight
Templar and Shriner, and is a past grand master of the Masonic Grand
Lodge of Georgia, having filled that post two years. He was one of the
youngest men ever elected grand maBter in Georgia. He is a member of the
Atlanta Bar Association and the Georgia State Bar Association. For many
years he has given much time and energy to his work as a church member
in the Methodist Episcopal Chnreh, He is now a member of the Decatur
Church and teacher of its Bible class, and for many years was superin-
tendent of the Sunday school at Monroe. For several years he was on the
general Sunday School Board, and is now president of the Sunday School
Board of the North Georgia Conference,
For fully a quarter of a century Colonel Napier has taken an active
interest in Georgia military oi^anizations, and through this service has found
an outlet for that military ardor which has distinguished his family in its
different generations. For nine years he was judge advocate general of the
Georgia National Guard with the rank of colonel. During 1914 he was com-
mander of what is known as the Old Guard Battalion, one of the South 's
oldest and most noted military organizations.
On December 14, 1905, Colonel Napier married Miss Prances Nunnally of
Monroe, Georgia. Mrs. Napier is a beautiful and accomplished woman and
talented musician, and a graduate of Wesleyan College of Macon. They
are the parents of three children,
George A. Curtis. In everyday life the normal, ordinary citizen quietly
carries on his business and seeks his pleasures and unless disaster in both
or either overtakes him, he remains undisturbed by those with whom hiff dif-
ferent affairs have more or less connected him. This is not so with a public
official. "When he accepts the responsibilities attaching to office, the eyes of
the world — his world — are fixed upon him. Men, as a rule, are willing to
attribute virtuous motives to others, in a lawful, well regulated community
and saying nothing about it, but elevation to public office not seldom brings
criticism and the man who can point to one election after another to the same
office, will be found to be one who has been able to disarm criticism through
thorough efficiency and conscientious performance of duty. Reference in
this connection may be made to George A. Curtis, who is serving in his
third term as county clerk of Fannin County, Georgia, He is one of the
interesting, enterprising and popular young men of this part of the state.
George A, Curtis was born in Fannin County, Georgia, March 1, 1878,
and is a son of R. I. B. and Julity (Wilson) Curtis, the latter of whom ia
a native of Georgia, in which she has spent her entire life of almost eighty
years. The father of Mr. Curtis was born in North Carolina and was eighteen
years of age when he came to Georgia and died in Fannin County June 11,
1891, at the age of fifty-two years. He was a well known farmer and highly
regarded citizen. Of his eight children the following survive : Charles M.,
who is a physician and resides at College Park, Georgia; Mrs. Emma Mull,
who resides in Fannin County; Henry Clay, who is a resident of Chattanooga,
Tennessee ; Mrs. Laura Poteet, who is a resident of "Whitfield County, Georgia ;
Eva, who lives in the old home at Blue Ridge, and George A., who was the
fifth bom in the family.
After attending the public schools of Pannin County and the Blue Ridge
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, GEOBGIA AND GEOKGLANS 2455
High School, G60]^e A. Curtis engaged in teaching school in the eonnty,
continuing for eight terms and during all this time also looked attei important
farming interests. He thus became well acquainted through the county and
was able to inspire the confidence and personal regard that brought about
his election, in 1910, on the republican ticket, to the office of county elerk,
or clerk of the court of Fannin County. In 1912 he was re-elected and in
1914 he was still further shown pubtie approval by a third election. In his
officiaT capacity he has performed every duty with complete efficiency and
irrespective of party enjoys respect and regard.
On December 3, 1905, at Blue Bidge, Georgia, Mr. Curtis was united in
marriage with Miss Laura Odom, who is a daughter of Andrew J. Odom, a
prominent resident and old merchant of Blue Bidge. For a number of years
Mr. Odom was a member of the county board of education. Mr. and Mrs-
Curtis have two children: Ruby Lee, who was bom at Blue Bid^ in
November, 1910; and Andrew Byrd, who was bom at Blue Bidge in October,
1914. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
BoLLiNO Hall was born in Georgia. He had rather more than ordinary
educational advantages, receiving training in the classics, attained some local
prominence, was elected to several offices in his county, sent to the General
Assembly of the state for several years, and elected as a representative from
Georgia to the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth congresses, as a war
democrat, his services extending from 1811 to 1817 and covering the War of
1812. He gave acrive and ardent support to the administration in the strug-
gle with Great Britain. He then retired from polities, moved to Alabama,
and engaged in planting near Montgomery, where he died on March 25, 1836,
Charles E. Haynes was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, and moved
to Sparta, Georgia, in his youth, received a liberal education, became promi-
nent in public life, affiliating with the democratic party, and was elected by
that party as a representative in the Nineteenth Congress. He wps re-elected
to the Twentieth aiid Twenty-first congresses, and went down to defeat with
his party in the Twenty-second and Twenty-third congresses. In those days
all the congressmen from Georgia were elected on a general ticket and not by
districts as at present, so that the party ticket when defeated carried down with
it each and every candidat«. Mr. Haynes was elected again to the Twenty-
fourth Congress as a Union man and re-elected to the Twenty-fifth, making
altogether a ten-years service in the National House of Eepresentatives, eom-
meneing with 1825, and finally retiring in 1839.
Eugene Augustus McCanless. One of the most noteworthy industries
in Northern Georgia is that of the Georgia Marble Finishing Works at Canton,
of which Mr. E. A. McCanless is secretary and general manager. Mr. McCan-
less is a young man of aggressive vigor and genial personality who has had
much to do with the success of the business, and is also one of the most
popular citizens of Canton, at the present time serving as mayor.
Eugene Au^stus MeCanless was bom in Cherokee County, Georgia,
November 15, 1877, a son of Jesse Andrew and Sarah (Barton) McCanless.
His grandfather, William McCanless, was a native of South Carolina and a
millwright by trade, He owned and operated flour or grist mills at dif-
ferent times in Bartow, DeKalb and Cherokee counties, Georgia. These were
all operated by water power, and it was a time when almost no other power
was thought of for the operation of such industries. William McCanless was
a man of remarkable vigor, a shrewd business man, and popular as a citizen.
He lived to the extreme age of ninety-seven years. He married a Miss Thomp-
son. Jesse Andrew MeCanless, wlio was bom in DeKalb County, Georgia,
learned and followed the same trade as his father. When a young man he
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2456 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS •
entered the Confederate army as a member of the Thirty-eighth Georgia
Infantry, and saw four years of almost continuous service, largely in the
army of ^ Northern Virginia under Lee and Jackson, He was three times
wounded in different battles. After the war he located near Pine Log in
Bartow County, was engaged in milling there several years, then moved to
Greeley in Cherokee County, owned and operated grist mills there, and
finally located at Waleska in Cherokee County, where he continued his busi-
ness as a miilei' until forced to retire on account of old age. His death
occurred in 1911 at the age of seventy-two. Outside of business his interest
was chiefly manifest in matters of education and church. For many years
he was a trustee of the Normal College at "Waleska, and he and bis wife were
both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were five children:
Ethelda, wife of W. S. Heard of Goree, Texas ; Flora, who died at the age of
eleven years; Eugene A.; Gertrude, wife of J. IL Gait of Marietta, Geoi^a;
and Lee McCaiiless, who is connected with the Tate Mercantile Company at
Tate, Georgia.
Eugene A. McCanLess finished his education in the Reinhardt Normal
College at Waleska, and at the age of eighteen took up his first regular
employment as a clerk in the store of W, H. Rusk at Canton. In 1900 Mr.
MeCanless was employed as a bookkeeper with the Georgia Marble Finishing
Works. This was his introduction to the business in which he has had suc-
cessive promotion and the success of which in its later years is attributed as
much to his ability as to any other stockholder. He remained as bookkeeper
from 1900 to 1905, and then became general manager and secretary, the
company having been reorganized at that time. This is an industry which
was started on a modest scale with only a few employes in 1889 by Capt.
T. M. Brady of Boston, Massachusetts. Captain Brady succeeded in develop-
ing the business along progressive and prosperous lines, and in 1905 was
incorporated with S. T. Jones of Caut«Hi as president, T. M. Brady, vice ,
president, and Mr. MeCanless as secretary and general manager. This is
now one of the largest marble industries of Georgia. They manufacture
monumental marble that is sold in all the states of the Union except New
England. About eight acres are used for their yards, warehouses and other
facilities, and the plant is connected by switch lines with all the railroads
of Canton. About 150 men are employed, and the payroll amounting to
several thousand dollars a month is one of the largest single contributions to
the prosperity of the little City of Canton.
Mr. ilcCanless is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Mystic Shrine,
.is a charter member of the knights of Pythias Lodge at Canton, and a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red
Men. Both he and his wife are very active in the work of the Canton Baptist
Church and Sunday school. At one time Mr. MeCanless was president of
one<of the largest Sunday school classes for men in Northern Georgia. There
were 150 men in the class, ranging in age from twenty-one to forty-five years.
At the same time there was another class in the same school containing 140
members. The existence of these two organizations in a city of 3,500 people
shows the essentially religious character of the population.
Mr. MeCanless has been more or less active in democratic politics since
attaining his majority. He has served Canton as councilman -several times,
as city treasurer one term, and in his administration as mayor has been
able to translate some of his progressive civic ideals into actual deeds of
improvement. He is chairman of the Water and Light Company, and during
his administration the city has voted $35,000 in bonds for the erection of a
new high school at a cost of $26,000 and the establishment of a new water
and light plant.
On January 5, 1898, at Canton Mr. MeCanless married Miss Henrietta
Kitchen, who was bom in Cherokee County, a daughter of William A. and
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2457
Amanda (Williams) Kitchen. Her parents now reside at Blakely, Georgia,
Mr. and Mrs. MeCanless have an attractive home, brightened by the presence
of three children, all of them natives of Canton, and named Edgar Maxwell,
Catherine B. and William Jesse.
Col. Park Woqdwabd. Only to men of unusual character and ability are
given the distinctions and the high personal esteem enjoyed by the late Col.
Park Woodward of Atlanta. He represented one of the oldest lines of ancestry
in America, his family have been prominent ill the South for several genera-
tions, and with many military forebears he himself became a soldier of the
Confederacy when little more than a boy. He made an excellent military
record, and after the war enjoyed numerous btisineas and public distinctions,
and for many years was one of the most useful and capable of Atlanta's citi-
zens. With a talent for able service in whatever post of duty to which he
was assigned, Colojiel Woodward united a capacity for winning friendships,
and few persons in Atlanta did not know and admire this sterling citizen and
kindly gentleman.
Alsop Park Woodward was born at Bluffton, Beaufort County, South
Carolina, May 4, 1847, and died at his Atlanta home, 74 West Fourteenth
Street, March 18, 1915. His father was Rev. Alsop Park Woodward, who
was bom in Orange County, New York, in 1804, was a clergj-man of the
Episcopal Church, and died at the age of fifty-four on Daufuskie Island iu
South Carolina in November, 1858. The mother, Elizabeth Catherine (Pope)
Woodward, was born in St. Helena Island, South Carolina, March 2, 1S18,
and died May 29, 1904, being laid to rest iu Oakland Cemetery at Atlanta.
The paternal line is traced back to Richard Woodward, of Ipswich, England,
who came to America in 1634, settling at Watertown, Massachusetts. Some
of his descendants renmved to Orange County, New York. Through this
ancestor, by intermarriages. Colonel Woodward was descended from such well
known families as the Danas, Alsops, Vails, Stillwelts and Parks. His great-
grandfather, Benjamin Vail, was a Revolutionary soldier, captain iu a New
York regiment commanded by Colonel Hathron, and was killed while gallantly
leading his company July 22, 1779, in the engagement at Minnisink, on the
Delaware River. In the maternal line, Colonel Woodward was connected with
some of the flower of southern chivalry. He was descended from Col.
Nathaniel Pope, gentleman, of England, who came to America in 1635, settling
iu Maryland, where records still extant indicate that he was one of the twenty-
four framers of the "Grand In(]uest," and from which colony he subsequently
removed with nine servants to Westmoreland County, Virginia. In Virginia
he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the colony April 4, 1655. Another
in the same line was Capt. William Pope, who served under Gen. Francis
Alarion in the War of the Revolution, and others of hardly less distinction
were Hon. William Pope, of South Carolina, for many years state senator, and
Col. John Ashe, gentleman, of Callison, South Carolina, who came from
Devonshire, England, and settled in the Carolinas in 1683. Colonel Ashe was
a member of the As.sembly of the Provinces in 1701-03, and, selected by the
people as agent to lay their grievances before the lords proprietor, sailed for
England in 1703 and dieij in London in August of that year. Colonel Ashe
was succeeded by his son John in the assembly of 1704.
Col. Park Woodward acquired his early education in Oglethorpe University
and the South Carolina Military Institute. He was a boy of tender years
when the war broke out, but in June, 1863. at the age of sixteen, became a
private in the Terrell Artillery, of Columbus, Georgia, which subsequently
became known as Brook's Battery. He joined his command at White's Bluff,
near Savannah, and the battery was stationed at Fort McAllister until Sher-
man's attack on Savannah. Colonel Woodward was present at the siege of
Savannah, later participated in the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, and
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2458 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
in a number of other smaller engagementa in that state. After the fall of
Savannah his battery was attached to Hardee's corps, in North Carolina.
At the cloee of the war Colonel Woodward was paroled at Greensboro, North
Carolina, May 5, 1865. Later he continued as a prominent factor in state
military circles, served as first lieutenant and adjatant of the Fourth Battalion,
Geoi^a State Troops, as lientenant of the Fifth Georgia Infantry, and sab-
sequently colonel of the same regiment, and finally retired from the service
with that rank.
In 1870 Colonel Woodward moved to Atlanta, and for a number of years
had an active experience in newspaper work. Prom 1874 to Pebmary, 1876,
he was business manager of the Atlanta Daily Herald, which suspended publi-
cation at the latter date and was absorbed by the Constitution. Subsequently
he was for a brief time one of the proprietors of the Atlanta Daily Courier,
but sold his interest to beccnne bookkeeper in the office of the Atlanta Consti-
tution, also serving on the staff of that paper, and remained in its service
until 1879. Leaving the newspaper business he entered politics, and until
1883 was chief deputy United States marshal of Georgia. He then resigned
to become deputy clerk of the Superior Court of Fulton County, until 1884,
and then was assistant postmaster of Atlanta until 1889. In 1889 he began
his duties in the elective office of city clerk, and held that position until 1896.
Prom that year until 1910, for a period of fourteen years, Colonel Woodward
did his great service to the municipality as general superintendent of the
Atlanta water works. The duties and responsibilities of that position he dis-
charged with the rare fidelity and skill characteristic of the man, and it was
a position honored by the presence of such an incumbent.
From early manhood Colonel Woodward was identified .with and a useful
factor in the democratic party. He was a member of the United Confederate
Veterans, and was especially well known in Masonic circles in Georgia. In
the chivalrie body of that fraternity he had the distinction of serving as
right eminent grand commander of the Georgia Grand Commandery of
Knights Templar, and was a member of Yaarab Temple of the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine. Colonel Woodward was affiliated with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and was frequently found in such representative social organi-
zations as the Capital City Club, the Atlanta Athletic Club, and the Piedmont
Driving Club. He was formerly a member of the Episcopal Church, in which
he was reared, but at his death was a member of the Christian Church.
February 1, 1876, Colonel Woodward married Miss Kate Schley HoweU,
a daughter of Hon, Clark Howell and Mary Davis (Hook) Howell of Atlanta.
Her father was the grandfather of the present distinguished Georgian, Clark
Howell, editor of the Atlanta Constitution. Mrs. Woodward is a cousin to the
late Admiral Schley of the United States Navy, Colonel Woodward was
survived by the following children: Clark Howell, Mary Davis, wife of
Capt. R. H. Heam, U. S. A., now stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas;
El^beth Pope, wife of Julian S. Chambers; Martha Kate, wife of T. T. •
Flagler; Daniel Hook and Harry Park. The eldest son, Clark Howell Wood-
ward, is now a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy, having
graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1899, and
having immediately entered the Philippine service. He has made a fine
record in the navy, has already been presented with several badges of honor
for gallantry, and was stationed at San Francisco as aide to the president
of the Panama Exposition.
What Colonel Woodward's life has meant to Atlanta was well expressed
by the editor of the Constitution in the following editorial :
"In the death of Park Woodward Atlanta loses a citizen whose memory
will live not only through the numberless personal ties he created, but also
through his formative associations with one of the most important departments
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2459
of the mimicipality in the vital period of its growth — the city 's great water
plant.
"Park Woodward rendered invaluable service in the building of the
modem system of waterworks supplying Atlanta today. He supervised each
forward step, each evolution, with a prophetic vision that foresaw the needa
of the expanding city and materialized them on schedule time. His name will
ever be indissolubly associated with the growth and expansion of the system.
"Colonel Woodward came to Atlanta from South Carolina shortly after
the Civil war and soon identified himself with the constructive civic influences
of the city. With all with whom he came in contact he made a lasting impres-
sion. Although ill health bad barred him from activity for several years, his
passing will be mourned by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who
recognized the delightful charm and the force and integrity of his per-
sonality. ' '
Hon. Habper Hauilton. To be well bom is one of the greatest blessings
that can come to a child. Ancestry counts for benefits and becomes a matter
of pride only as it confers attributes of character and family traits that enable
later generations to live more fully and with greater usefidneas to themselves
and their community than the generations that have preceded them. No mat-
ter how much may be charged to circumstances and environment in the making
or marring of character, it is as true as the hills that "blood with tell."
These remarks have special application to the Hamilton family and their
connections in Georgia. They come of many generations of strong, sturdy
stock both in America and in the British Isles, characterized by mental and
ntoral qualities of a high order, and the present generation has well lived up
^ the standards set by its predecessors. As a name to introduce the family
"iention is made of Judge Harper Hamilton, one of Home's ablest lawyers
^Qd a prominent figure in the civic and social life of that city.
The first Hamilton in Geoi^a was George Hamilton, great-grandfather of
'J&dg'e Hamilton. George Hamilton married Agnes Cooper in Virginia, and
'Ajyjugh that marriage the children became first cousins to Hon. Mark A.
M)oj33j.^ the Hon. Pleasant Stovall of Savannah, and Judge E. A. Nisbit of
j*e Qeoi^a Supreme Court. The Hamilton family has its origin in Scotland,
"'Aei-e it was intermarried with the Campbells, the Murrays and the Doug-
j?*&s_ Alfred Douglas, head of the Douglas family, was also head of the
£'*tniXton family and was thirteenth duke of Hamilton and premier peer of
^•^"tZ^md. On coming from Scotland the family located in Washington
^ouBia-fcy, Maryland, and from that province spread southward to other
Colonies.
, T*ti.« grandfather of Judge Hamilton was Joseph J Hamilton, who was
^•■■^ in Wilkes County, Georgia, and married Sarah Twiggs Blount, daughter
**' l^lxomaa Blount, distinguished as a soldier of the Revolution. Her mother
*aa I^^ary Emanuel, a daughter of David Emanuel, also a veteran of the
"^^^^^Itjtionary war and one of the early governors of Gteorgia.
-*-^lie late David Blount Hamilton, father of Judge Harper Hamilton, was
™''*^ ^t Hamilton in Harris County, Georgia, July 30, 1834, and was one of
the ^^^j3gg^ ppo^ygts of iijg antecedents and one of the most charming and
U8e:cx:«_X citizens of this state. During his infancy his parents moved to Cass,
no^ ^^^arton County, Georgia, where his father owned a large amount of land
cov«iX"iBg the present site of Cartersville, and owned and operated a plantation
on "tli.^ Etowah River. Col. David B. Hamilton had the best educational
ad" S-intages supplied to southern youths of his generation, was a student of
the state university, gained admission to the bar and began practice in Rome.
^a a. young man he was affiliated with the whig party in politics, and along
^t,ti Stephens, Ben Hill and other strong men strenuously opposed the
fle^^ssion of Qeor^a. Always loyal to his state, when Georgia passed the
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2460 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
ordinance of secession he cast his fortune for weal or for woe with his native
state. Although exempt from military duty, he entered the army as lirat
lieutenant of a cavalry ■company in Yeiser's Legion, but exposure in
one of his early campaigns brought on tonsilitis, and disabled he was dis-
charged from Bcrvice. Resuming the practice of law in Rome, he foiind
opportunities for useful civic service during the Reconstruction era, and was
a valuable factor in the rebuilding of the devastated country. During 1875-76
Col. D. B. Hamilton represented Ployd County in the General Assembly, and
in 1877 was a member of the constitutional convention which formulated the
present organic laws of the state. His learning as a lawyer and his judgment
as a statesman left an impress on that document. Outside of his own pro-
fession bis services were chiefly conspicuous through what he did in behalf
of the cause of education. For twenty-five years he was an active and useful
member of the board of trustees of the University of Georgia, and for a like
period served as president of Shorter College at Rome. That Shorter College
now stands with few peers among southern institutions of higher learning is
the best commentary upon the work done by Colonel Hamilton while president.
Col. Davi(f Hamilton was also a successful man of affairs, had e.^tensive
interests with leading business enterprises, for. many years was a director of
the Rome Railway, was president and attorney of the Aetna Furnace Com-
pany, and his counsel and executive ability proved a boon to many l)usiness
undertakings and civic movements. He was a prominent figure in Masonic
circles, and for many years was an active Baptist and not only infiuential
in his home church but in the church organization covering his state and the
entire South. Personally he had the manners, the culture and the high social
position of a most distinguished southerner, and was frequently referred to
as an eminent type of the gentleman of the old school.
Col. D. B. Hamilton died at Rome January 30, 1911 at the age of seventy-
seven years. He was married in 1856 to Miss Martha Harper, whose family
came to Georgia from Harper's Perry, Virginia. She was the niece and
adopted daughter of Col. Alfred Shorter, the founder of Shorter Female
College at Rome. Col. David Hamilton and wife were the parents of six
children, including: Alfred Shorter Hamilton; David B. Hamilton, who
married Miss Annie Sparks; Judge Harper; Alexander T., who was edu-
cated in Ersldne College in South Carolina; and Joseph J., who attended the
Bingham Military School and graduated from Mercer University at Macon,
Georgia, and later from the Columbia School of Mines in New York.
Judge Harper Hamilton, who was bom in Rome, Geoi^a, June 29, 1862,
■ received his early education in the public and high schools of Rome, spent two
years in Mercer University until completing his junior year, and then entered
the law department of the University of Georgia, but graduated in law
from Georgetown University with the class of 1883. He began practice in
association with bis father, and continued as junior member of that notable
law firm until his father's death. Since then be has handled with splendid
ability the large interests connected with the family estate and also has rep-
resented a large private clientage. For two terms Judge Hamilton served as
judge of the City Court of Floyd County, and is now trustee of Shorter Col-
lege, which had been founded by his uncle, Alfred Shorter, in 1877. As a
lawyer he has measured up to the high ethical standards of the profession,
possesses a thorough scholarship, and has many distinctive attributes and quali-
ties both as a lawyer and as a gentleman. Judge Hamilton is a Knight Templar
Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and all the family are active in the Baptist Church.
Judge Hamilton was married October 22, 1890. at Rome, to Miss Lena
Hiles, who was bom in Rome, a daughter of Capt. Thompson Hiles, who dur-
ing the war made a gallant record as a soldier in the regiment commanded by
Governor Mark of Tennessee, and fought at Chickamauga and many other
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2461
battles in this section of the South. Captain Hiles died at Rome September
18, 1913, at the age of seventy-three. Judge Hamilton and wife have two
children : Hiles Hamilton, a graduate of the University of Georgia and is
now associated with his father in the practice of law; Miss Margaret Harper
Hamilton as a young woman of thorough education still living at home with
her parents.
RaU'h W, NoBTncUTT. The spirit of twentieth century enterprise which
has stimulated and produced in such'an important degree the development of
many Georgia industrial centers has no better representative than can he
found in the Marietta Knitting Company. This company has done more per-
haps than any other to increase the prominence of Marietta industrially and
make the city known for its products far beyond the boundaries of the home
stale. The constituent members of the Marietta Knitting Company are : Robert
H. Xorthcutt, president; Ralph W. Northcutt, vice president and general man-
ager; J. J. Daniel, secretary and treasurer; and Ouy H. Northentt, superin-
tendent. The company makes hose, and the businfees is by no means one of
local limitations. Recently a contract was filled to supply many thousands of
pair to the United States army. The popular brands of this company are
probably distributed in everj' state of the Union, and the business is not only
successful from a strict commercial point of view but is also commendable for
its ideal industrial conditions and the wholesome morale that pervades the little
army of workmen and employes,
Robert Hull Northcutt, the president of this company, has been for years
one of the most prominent citizens of Marietta. He was bom in Cobb County,
Georgia, December 9, 1854, a son of Jessie J. Northcutt, who was one of the
founders of the Northcutt family in Cobb County. Prior to the Civil war
Jessie J. Northcutt was engaged as a merchant in Marietta for forty years,
and subsequently became one of the first merchants of any consequence in
JIarietta. Throughout the period of the war between the states he was in the
Confederate service as quartermaster. After the war he took an active part
in the upbuilding and general commercial development of Marietta. Jessie
Northcutt married Asenath Baber, who was born in Geor^a and died at the
age of eighty years. Both were prominent members of the Baptist Church,
and Jessie Northcutt was active in democratic polities. He died at the age
of sixty-eight, and both he and his wife were interred in the Alarietta Cemetery.
Robert Hull Northcutt was edncat^'d in Cobb County, and in erirly man-
hood became associated with his father in general mercantile business at
Marietta. Some years later he engaged in the retail drug business, and retired
from that to become a member of the firm of MeKinzie, Dobbs & Warren,
manufacturers of gimno and fertilizer. The firm was subsequently moved to
Atlanta and Mr. Northcutt remained one of the active principals in the firm
for ten or twelve years, being general superintendent of the factory.
About fifteen or twenty years ago a Mr. Tale of New York came to JIarietta
chiefly for the benefit of his health. He was a manufacturer of considerable
experience and invested a small capital in a plant equipped with machinery for
the manufacture of men 's hosiery. The business was started in a very modest
way, but soon showed great promise, and Mr. Northcutt having bought an
interest organized a stock company, of which he became president. The com-
pany was originally organized in September, 1897, and was incorporated Feb-
ruary 1, 1898, with a capital of $25,000, Few industries in Northern Georgia
have had a more prosperous growth and development. In a few years the
surplus equalled the original capital, and after declaring a 100 per cent divi-
dend the capital was increa.sed ^'lO.OOO. Rtill later another 100 per cent divi-
dend was declared and the capital increased to $100,000 with a present
surplus of $50,000. New and modem buildings have been erected, brick Htnie-
tures several stories in height, and all the latest machinery has been installed.
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2462 QEOBGIA AND GEORGIANS
The company deserve high praise for its watchful care for all safety and
aanitary conditions, and there are few factories in Georgia that measure op to
the high ideals maintained and practiced in this plant. The factories have
about 75,000 square feet of floor space, and are ideally located on the outskirts
of Marietta. About 275 people find employment in the Marietta Knitting
Company, and the conditions surrounding their work and high wages have pre-
vented any labor difficulties of any kind. In every working day of nine
hours 14,000 pair of men's half hose are manufactured. The most popular
and leading brand is the Radium hose, sold directly to retail merchants in
all parts of the United States. In 1914 this company was given a contract by-
the United States Government to furnish 436,000 pair of hose for army use.
Prior to the award of the contract the Federal inspectors made a rigid exami-
nation of the mills, and their report stated that the Marietta mills were the
most perfect of their class.
Aside from his successful business career as a merchant and manufacturer,
Robert H, Northcutt allows himself one hobby, which is dairy farming. He
has a splendid model farm: located near Marietta, and keeps nothing but reg-
istered Jersey cattle. For seven years he served as president of the Marietta
Bank & Trust Company, resigning on account of the pressure of other duties.
Mr. Northcutt is a flne example of the modern practical idefdist, who exempli-
fies the principles of Christian manhood in all his activities. He and his wife
have been very prominent in the First Baptist Church at Marietta, and he
practically built the edifice in which that congregation worships. His gen-
erous contributions to all benevolent causes are well known, and he takes every
bit as much interest in arrangements and plans which will promote the wel-
fare of his employes as in any new scheme for a greater expansion of his busi-
ness. He is chairman of the board of deacons of the First Baptist Church, and
is active in Masonry and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He was named
executor of both John R. Winters and Jessie J. Northeutt's estate and was not
required to give bond in either inRtance.
Robert H. Northcutt married Miss Nellie Winters, who represents one of
the prominent families of Northern Geor^a. Her father, John R. Winters,
was a native of Cobb County and for many years was a successful cotton
dealer. He saw service in the Mexican war, and while sympathizing with the
South was actively opposed to the secession of the states, and at the outbreak
of the war, being unable to compromise his rigid opinions, he removed to
Columbus, Ohio, and remained strictly neutwil. His conscience forbade him
taking up arms against his home state and at the same time he could not fight
against the Union. Mr. Winters married Miss Charlotte Whitmore, a native of
New York. After the war he was one of the first southern men to accept a Fed-
eral contract, and built the walla around the Federal Cemetery at Marietta.
He was in every sense of the terra a self-made man. The first land he acquired
was paid for by the hardest kind of physical toil at the rate of 50 cents per
day. While working in this manner he built his first home, a log cabin, work-
ing an hour or so every night, while his mother held a torch to give light for
his work. In spite of these early hardships at his death he left a quarter of a
million dollars, and every cent of this fortune was acquired by strictly honest ■
methods. It is said that he had more friends in and about Cobb County than
any other citizen. Robert H. Northcutt and wife were the parents of two
children, and the younger son is Guy Haynes, who was bom May 12, 1893, in
Marietta, is a graduate of the Geoi^a College of Technology, and is now
superintendent for the Marietta Knitting Company.
Ralph W. Northcutt, vice president and general manager of the company, ■
was bom in Marietta December 9, 1882. After graduating from the Marietta
public schools he entered the Georgia College of Technology, and at the age
of nineteen took up his active career in his father's mill. He went in on the
same plane with other employes, was given a small salary' and was allowed
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2463
to acqaaint himself with every detail of the manufaeturing and the sale of
hosiery. He has consequently filled every position preceding his present one
as vice president and general manager. After the death of John R. Winters, he
became viee president, and in 1913 was made general manager owing to his
father's poor health.
Mr. Northeutt was married in Macon, Georgia, December 2, 1902, to Miss
LueUe Hatcher of Macon, daughter of Sidney W. and Mattie Lou (Weath-
ersby) Hatcher. Her father is a retired planter of Crawford County, Geoi^a,
To this union has been bom one child, Jane Weathersby Northeutt, at Mari-
etta August 23, 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Northeutt are members of the Presbyterian
Church. About his only recreation from business is hunting, and he allows
himself very little time for indulging in that sport,
Gbokqb Wali-ace Anderson. The solidity of its manufacturing indus-
tries ^o far in any section to insure its prosperity. When they continue and
expand through the capital and judicious management of their officials, there
is little complaint in their neighborhood of non-employment and consequent
appeals to charity, and, in this way, if no other, the establishing of a new
industry in a community may be looked upon as a public benefaction. One
of the important manufacturing industries that has been a contributing factor
in recent years, ta the upbuilding and development of Atlanta, is the Atlanta
Auto Top and Trimmings Company, a pioneer in this line here and at present
easily ^ead of any business competitors in the South. It is amply financed
and was organized in this city in 1909 by George Wallace Anderson, its vice
president and general manager.
George Wallace Anderson can claim both Irish and Scotch ancestry but
he is of several generations of American forebears. He was bom in the native
city of both- father and mother, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 21, 1876, and is a
son of James R. and Mary M. Anderson. His educational advantages after
attending school at Hartwell, Ohio, included a special business course at Bart-
lett College, Cincinnati, following which he embarked in business in his native
state, and prior to coming to Atlanta, in 1908, had been a resident of Toledo.
"With an already established business reputation and possessed of principles of
known integrity, Mr, Anderson found the way easily open for the organiza-
tion of the Atlanta Auto Top and Trimmings Company, which, largely
through his personality and notable executive ability, has been made a great
success. From its inception its prospects have been bright and within five
years enlargement of space became a necessity. In February, 1914, the com-
pany completed a new two-story solid concrete, fire-proof building, with
dimensions of 75x100 feet, at Nos. 755-757 Whitehall Street, which has been
the home of the business since that time. As manufacturers and jobbers in
trimming anpplies, this company is known favorably all over the Southern
states.
Mr. Anderson was married August 23, 1898, to Miss Mary E. Gmeninger,
■who is a member of, a well known Ohio family. They have one daughter,
Lucile Mary, a schoolgirl of thirteen years. The family resides at No. 17
Gillette Street, Atlanta. Mr. Anderson belongs to the Knights of Pythias,
the Transportation Club and the Auto Dealers and Accessories Association.
In public affairs he is a man of breadth of view and in all local matters is
ever found ready to co-operate with others in movements for advancing the
best'interests of his city.
Hon. Robert Towns Daniel. The title of the late Judge Robert Towns
Daniel to a leading place among the biographies of citizens of the State of
Georgia rests upon the fact that he was one of the most capable, dignified and
impartial jurists who ever graced the bench, that he was variously eonqected
with financial and industrial enterprises which added prestige to his com-
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2464 GEOKGIA .AND GEOBGIANS
ULimity, that he was the only person on record having held the two highest
offices of two of the largest orders in the United States — great incohonee in
1907-190&, and grand aire in 1914-1915, and that throughout his life he was
prominently and influentially identified with various educational, religious
and charitable movements. Aside from the prominence which be gained as
jurist and in his fraternal work, he was a man whom no good work failed to
secure as a supporter, whom no misfortune could daunt or depress, whom no
unfriendliness could drive to vindictiveness or impatience, whom no trial could
aifect to the lessening of his faith' in heaven, in humanity or in himself.
Judge Daniel was born at Griffin, Spalding County, Georgia, October 21,
1859, and practically the entire period of his career was passed at this place.
His father, Dr. Milton J. Daniel, was a native of Pllie County, Georgia, and
the son of a North Carolinian, a member of a family of the purest blood of
the South, and a physician whose talents and sympathies made him respected
and beloved by all who came into contact with him. The mother of Judge
Daniel, a rehned, cultured and lovable woman of sweet disposition, bore the
maiden name of Sherod Virginia Towns, and was a native of Alabama and a
descendant of Revolutionary stock which afterward furnished Georgia with
one of its greatest governors and most eminent congressmen.
The early years of Judge Daniel were not spent in drudgery, neither
were they dissipated in ease and luxurj-. He was brought up to healthful and
moderate labor, and when he had mastered the rudiments of learning taught
at the common school, he entered Emory Collie, Oxford, Georgia, where he
was duly graduated with honors, having won the gold medal for oratory.
Having studied law he was admitted to the bar February 5, 1879, and deep
and accurate knowledge of his chosen profession, combined with native shrewd-
ness and ability, and unswerving integrity, soon made hiiu an excellent and
successful lawyer. Two years and one-half after his admission to the bar, he
was elected judgeof the City Court at Grifl&n, a position which he retained
for three years, refusing to become a candidate for a fourth term. Subse-
quently he was twici; elected judge of the Superior Court of the Flint Cir-
cuit, and was held in high esteem by the bar and citizens of the seven counties
of the circuit, as well as the other counties of the state in which he presided
over sessions of the Superior Court.
Always prominent in state polities. Judge Daniel was one of the vice chair-
men of the National Democratic Convention at St. Lonis, in 1904, yet the
nobleness of his nature precluded his activity in that field of polities that
frequently becomes unscrupulous or corrupt. He was several times promi-
nently mentioned as a probable candidate for the uatioual Congress from the
Sixth District and had been urged by numerous friends to make the race for
governor of the State of Georgia. In fact, the pressure was so strong that h^
was looked upon as a probable candidate for chief executive to succeed Gover-
nor-elect Nat E. Harris.
As a business man and financier, Judge Daniel was well and widely known,
and at the time of his death was vice president of the Savings Bank of QrifBn,
vice president of the Rushton Cotton Mill and a director in the Griffin Bank-
ing Company, and was connected in an official way with various other
important enterprises. In his character was found the unusual combination
of qualities which make for success in the material things of life and for a love
of literature and art. He was a lover of the new school of brilliant writers
that have in recent years emerged from the South. A dedicatory note in a
novel by George B. Gri^s reads: "To ray friend, Robert T. Daniel, of Griffin,
Georgia, the silver-tongued orator of the South, who is as gentle as a woman,
as nolile as a lord, as loving as a brother; charitable toward human frailties;
loval to a friend, patriotic, true — do I dedicate this my poor effort. ' ' A strong
and loyal friend of education, he was tireless in his efforts in its behalf, and
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2465
at the time of his death waa a member of the board of trufrtees of the Univer-
sity of Georgia.
A faithful and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Judge
Daniel was a member of the board of stewards and its chairman, and the
members of the Baraca class of the First Methodist Episcopal Sunday school
will never forget his clear and lucid lectures. An official member of the
church for ye&ta, he was ever active in the promotion of its several interests,
and was a prominent figure at the annual sessions of the North Geoi^a
Conference,
For years Judge Daniel was one of the most eminent secret order men in
the world, having held the office of great incohonee of the Improved Order of
Red Men, the highest in the order, as well as the office of grand sire of the
world, the highest office in the gift of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
which his death rendered vacant. He was greatly in demand as an orator,
had delivered addresses in all the larger cities of the United States, and in
many cities in Canada, and had many plans for the Sovereign Grand Lodge
which was to be held in September, 1915. Judge Daniel was known as the
"Silver Tongued Orator of Georgia," and was a popular figure at banquets
and gatherings of secret orders and similar organizations. In speaking of
his powers of oratory, a writer said, in an article published shortly before
Judge Daniel's death: "During one of the sessions of the Great Council
(Red Men) a question as to the constitutionality of certain acta of the Board
of Great Chiefs was under consideration. If one listened to the applause
following the many speeches made, it would seem that the' Great Council
was nearly evenly divided on the subject. Finally Judge Daniel obtained
the floor and delivered a thirty minute speech on the dry subject of con-
stitutional law, making a clear, concise elucidation of the basic laws of the
order which carried the Great Council by storm, and the ovation he received
on this occasion must have warmed his heart and pleased his gentle nature.
After this explanation of the constitutional and basic laws of the order, the
vote upon the question sustained the position taken by Judge Daniel almost
unanimously." The same writer said: "The greatest gem of Red Man
literature that I have ever read is the 'Long Talk' of Judge Daniel, delivered
upon his retiring from the stump of great incohonee, in which the pearls of
rich thought and beautiful language continuously fall from this casket of
gems."
At the time Judge Daniel ran for deputy grand sire of the Odd Fellows,
he was elected by'the grand lodge by thirteen more votes than were received
by the other four candidates combined, notwithstanding the fact that the
election was held in Canada.* He was inaugurated grand sire of the world at
the last session of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows, at Atlantic
City, and from that time until his death had traveled over Canada and the
United States, visiting various grand jurisdictions, and had been received
everywhere as possibly the most popular and brilliant grand sire who was ever
at the head of this, the largest fraternity in America, and its 2,500,000 mem-
bers received the news of bis tragic end with a profound sense of grief and
loss. He was also well known in Masonry, in which he had attained to the
Shrine.
On the morning of Thursday, May 27, 1915, at the annual meeting of the
Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of the State of Georgia, Judge Daniel delivered
a stirring address to his 1,500 brethren, at the close of which he sta^ered
to his chair, stricken by paralysis. The best medical attention was at once
secured, but his constant and self-sacrificing labors as judge and grand sire
had undermined his health and vitality and overtaxed his strength, and the
prolonged attack resulted in death at 5.40 o'clock in the evening. The sor-
rowing family was deluged with telegrams and messages of condolence and
sympathy from every part of this and other states, and his native city was
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2466 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
plunged JQ grief. An editorial in the Griffin Nens said in part as follows:
"The sudden passing of Judge Robert'T. Daniel in the zenith of his uaefnl-
ness cast a veil of sorrow over the counties of the Flint Circuit, and GriflBn
recognized the loss of its most prominent and distinguished citizen — a mani-
fold loss, for in this good man were combined many virtues and few faults.
A lifelong resident of the eity of Griffin, he was always prominently and
effectively identified as a builder. He was substantially interested in the
promotion of various religious and educational enterprises and his business
interests were numerous and profitable. But through wealth, distinction and
the other honors of life, shone the rare attribute of abiding regard for his
fellow man in all walks of life. That he was a Christian gentleman was obvi-
ously apparent in his daily conduct and his fidelity to his church and friends
was beautiful to contemplate. He was a lawyer of splendid ability, a judge
stern but just, a man exacting but reasonable. No harsh words of criticism
or unkind condemnation escaped his lips • for none knew better than he the
temptations to which men are subjected. It was often said of him that although
be was one of the busiest men in the state he always had time to be a gentle-
man. There never lived a person who could not approach Judge Dauiel with
the assurance that he would be accorded the treatment due the exigencies
of the occasion, for in the nobleness of his disposition there was an abundance
of consideration for mankind. A just and capable judge, he had endeared
himself to the members of the bar of Flint Circuit, and today is one of sorrow
among all who have felt the influence of his benevolent snule and cordial
hand-clasp. His impartial rulings were seldom questioned, the actuating
motive never. ... It is extremely difficult to pay tribute to a man so
highly appreciated by so many thousands of people, but it may be truthfully
said of him that he lived well, did well, and has gone hence to his reward,
leaving many sad hearts throughout the land. In Griffin his loss is irrepa-
rable, for those who knew him loved him best."
One of those who knew Judge Daniel well was W. D. Newton, who has
been formerly quoted in this article, and who wrote of the Judge as follows: ,
"To his friends he is a companion in every sense of the terra, as ready and
willing to receive advice as to give, a brilliant and opportune conversational-
ist, a good storyteller, in fact, a man that sincerely loves his fellow-man and
is ardently loved by him. It has always been one of the principles of his life
to look for the good that is within mankind rather than the bad. Judge
Daniel believes that the greatest thing in life is true friendship and that noth-
ing in the world ean compare with it; that it is the elixir^of life (and I am
quoting almost his own words) ; that it is the sunlight that warms the blood
and the fresh breeze that makes the cheek glcjw and the eye sparkle. He
is dependent on his friends for the joys and the pleasures that he gets out of
life, and when he adds a new friend to his collection of gems, he feels richer
and better for the addition. His pleasing temperament, his powerful intel-
lect, his beauty of thought, his sunshiniug features, his loving disposition, his
wonderful memory, his purity of mind, his gentleness — all go to make the
man, the brother, and the true friend."
Judge Daniel was married first to Kosa Beck, of Griffin, who died in 1896.
In 1909 he married ilrs. Milton Franklin Parsons, of Mount Holly, New
Jersey, formerly Miss Anna Duer Woolley, of Greensburg, Indiana, who sur-
vives him and resides at GrifBn in the beautiful old colonial home where the
Judge resided for so many years.
James Jack died in Elbert County, Georgia, on January 18, 1823, at the
age of eighty-four years.
He was born in Pennsylvania, removed to North Carolina, settled in the
Town of Charlotte, and was an active and vigorous participant in the Revolu-
tionary stru^le. In the spring of 1775 he was the bearer of the Mecklenbui^
vGooqIc
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f-^yS^-'^;--^
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GEOEGIA AND GEORGIANS 2467
Declaration of Independence to Congress. At the close of the Revolutionary
war he removed to Georgia and settled in Elbert County, where the remainder
of his life was spent.
Jabez Jackson was a native Georgian, whose home was at Clarksville.
Practically no information is obtainable about him beyond the fact that he
was elected a representative to Congress as a Union democrat for the Twenty-
fourth Congress and re-elected for the Twenty-fifth Congress, serving from
1835 to 1839.
pLOTD M. TouNQ, M, J). In these days of strenuous competition in every
department of human activity, when the mad chase for dollars often forces
the individnal into such concentration of effort in one particular direction
exclusively as to render him to a certain degree narrow and one-sided, it is
refreshing t^ come across a man who, while in nowise neglecting his business
or professional interests, can find time for innocent recreations and diversified
enjoyments which add to the pleasure of life, while at the same time prolong-
ing its duration. The secret of happiness and contentment was thus solved
by Dr. Floyd M. Young, a prominent physician and surgeon of Atlanta whose
recent death not only the profession but a host of friends and fellow citizens
bad special cause to lament.
A native of Southwestern Virginia, Doctor Young was bom November 6,
1856. He was descended from one of seven brothers who prior to the Revolu-
tionary war had come to America from England, settling in Virginia. His
paternal grandfather, William Young, was a Virginia farmer. Thp father,
Jonathan Young, was born in Grayson County, Virginia, was a man of high
character and was respected by all who knew him and. beloved by his family
and friends. In 1861 Jonathan enlisted in the Eighth Virginia Cavalry, and
after serving three years as a soldier was killed on the Doe River in East Ten-
nessee. On August 28, 1854, Jonathan Young married I\Uss Caroline M.
Brown, of Wilkes County, North Carolina. Her father, Daniel Brown, of
that county was of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction and a son of John Brown of
Maryland, whose wife's maiden name was Mary Roofer. Mary Roofer was
a native of Pennsylvania, Seven years after her husband's death Mrs. Caro-
line M. Young became the wife of R-ichard S. Johnson, who during the war
was a member of Wheeler's Cavalry and subsequently a merchant in Atlanta.
Mr. Johnson died in 1913. She is still living, now hale and hearty at the age
of eighty years, and remarkably well preserved in all her physical and mental
faculties. She is a fine pistol shot, and was sometimes able to defeat her son,
the late Doctor Young, in that sport, Qotwithstanding the fact that Doctor
Young was one of the best known hunters in the State of Georgia. Jonathan
B. Young and wife had five children, two sons and three daughters, and those
still living are: Mrs. Alice A. McCarroll, of Grayson County, Virginia;
Marshall B. Young, of Atlanta; and Mrs. Lura E. Buckhold, of Atlanta.
Floyd M. Young was hut five years of age when his father left home for
the war. Even to the last he could recollect his father's parting words to
him which were: "Be a good boy and mind your motlier." The injunction to
mind his mother he always faithfully kept, and was never known to disobey
her. Doctor Young acquired his literary education in Virginia. At the age
of twenty years he went to Olney, Illinois, where he spent a year. While in
Grayson County, Virginia, he had read medicine for some two or three years
under Dr. Rush F. Young, a cousin, and while in Olney he began practice
although not yet a graduate of any medical college. From Olney he went
to Pierce City, Missouri, and from there to Springdale, Arkansas, in both of
which places he practiced medicine, remaining in Arkansas two years. .
In 1881 Doctor Young removed to Atlanta, where he was actively engaged
in the practice of his profession for more than a third of a century. While
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2468 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
enjoying the fruits of a splendid career of service and profes^onal attain-
ments Doctor Young passed away on October 6, 1915. In 1887 he had gradu-
ated from the Georgia College of Eclectic Medicine and Surgery, and he later
took post-graduate work in Johns Hopkins Medical College and the New
York Post-Graduate School. He combined the teachings of both the Eeleetie
and Allopathic schools of medicine. In Atlanta he acquired a large practice,
and was widely recognized as one of the skillful and reliable men of bis pro-
fession.
For many years he resided in the Village of Edgewood, formerly a suburb
but now the ninth ward of Atlanta. He was one of the builders of the village
and for many years served as a member of its council. When Edgewood was
annexed to Atlanta he removed to a point nine miles north of the city and
there established a home known as "Young's Ketreat." Located midway
between Atlanta, and Marietta it is a unique and interesting place, filled and
decorated with hunting trophies, and it was a Mecca for visitors to Atlanta,
especially those who knew the doctor by reputation as an outdoor sportsman.
Doctor Young was a man of virile powers and many interesting accom-
plishments. He was fond of golf, hunting and fishing, and throughout his
life he made it a rule to go on a hunting or fishing expedition every year to
some near or remote part of the country. For many years he had spent the
month of June in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee,
hunting bear and fishing for trout. In earlier years his excursions had ex-
tended to Florida, South Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas
and the old Indian Territory. As a hunter he was credited with the killing of
eleven bears and had a number of hair-breadth escapes in his conflicts with
big game. He also killed many deer, alligators, and hundreds of wild turkeys.
His skill with both pistol and rifle was widely known, and he was one of the
most prominent Nimrods in Georgia. At the time of his death Doctor Young
had prepared in manuscript a book entitled "The Doctor and Hunter,"
giving an account of his various hunting experiences. It was divided into
seventeen chapters and the material would be sufficient to make a book of
about 300 pages. Should it be published it would be welcomed by the hundreds
of friends who knew Doctor Young as a sportsman and it would undoubtedly
be widely read by all whose interests lie in that field.
Doctor Young also won for himself the reputation of an "old time fiddler"
and as such he was in great demand at social festivities where dancing was
a feature. Where the work of his profession as a physician did not intervene,
his gun, fishrod and fiddle, together with his cob pipe, afforded him the keen-
est delight. He was a true lover of nature in all its varied forms and mani-
festations. He owned Sharp Top Mountain sixty-eight miles north of
Atlanta, the highest point within 100 miles of that city, .3,000 feet above
sea level. That property he had developed and kept as a game preserve. He
also owned a summer resort home at Blue Ridge, Georgia, known as Blue Ridge
Health Home.
Doctor Young had made it a rule all his life to get up at 4 o'clock every
morning, following the old adage of "early to bed and early to rise," and
never deviated from that rule, even when his slumbers were broken by profes-
sional duties. All his writing, either of a business or literary character, was
done between 4 and 6 o'clock in the morning. Doctor Young was a splendid
Christian gentleman and a kindly and inspiriting physician. He had a won-
derful smile, that was the antidote for many forms of illness. Not only his
friends, but his patients, loved him as much for his genial qualities of gentle-
manliness as for his ability as a physician.
Doctor Young is survived by his widow, Mrs, Annie R. Young, who still
keeps h's old home "Young's Retreat." Mrs. Young had been married only
a few months before Doctor Young's death. By previous marriages he left
three sons, Charles F., Ilesbah M,, and Ivan B.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2469
Edward C. Davis, M. D. "Widely known as one of the eminent surgeons
^° Georgia, Dr. Edward Campbell Davis is president of the Davis-Piseher
j^itatium of Atlanta; president of the Georgia Surgeons' Club, and former
?5^ideQt of the Medical Association of Georgia. In his special field he con-
1 v^ls a large and representative practice and he has attained to specially
. ^h reputation as one of the most Successful surgeons in the South, his repu-
tion resting upon the basis of results achieved and upon his high standing
- ^ man and as a loyal and progressive citizen.
Q Doctor Davis was born at Albany, the judicial center of Dougherty County,
^^orgia., on the 11th of October, 1868. His father, Dr. William L. Davis, a
^ Vsician and surgeon of distinctive ability, served during the Civil war as a
(A S^oii in the famous Walker's Brigade and did all in his power to further
^^^ eau.se of the Confederate States. He was born in Wilkes County, Georgia,
^ '^ di&d at Albany, this state, when his son, Edward C, of this review, was
^j/* J'e^ xra of age. He was a son of William Davis, who was a successful planter
,^t?''inHuential citizen in Wilkes County. Dr. Williarti L. Davis wedded Miss
^ -a CT^^tharine Winkler, who was born in the City of Savannah, this state,
p^tf ■»vi:».08e father, Shadrach Winkler was in his day one of the substantial
^jj'i>ita.l ists and prominent citizens of that historic old city. Mrs. Davis long
'3j-vi-v^^<3 her honored husband and passed to the life eternal in 1901, at a
^n^r-^"lz:>Ie age. The lineage of the Davis family traces back to Welsh origin
^*id "t li ^^t of the Winkler family to German stock, both families having been
loUKitl «^«rl in America prior to the War of the Revolution.
-A. ftr ^r duly availing himself of the advantages of the schools of his native
plac?^ IlIZ*r. Edward C. Davis entered the University of Georgia, in which he was
^tft^ta-^»-"ted as a member of the class of 1888, and from which he received the
ft.eSre^<i of Bachelor of Arts. In preparation for the profession that had been
^gua.H^^. dignified end honored by the character and services of his father,
lie wzxf^ matriculated in the medical department of the University of Louis-
ville, n^entucky, in \^ich institution he was graduated as a member of the
class <r»:C 1892, with the well-earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. Between
two <:^«r>Hege terms of his professional alma mater he attended for six months
also_ "tli^ medical department of Central University, likewise in the City of
I^*ii^"ville, and thus fortified himself still better in a preliminary way for his
chosexi calling.
1^*1 "the year of his graduation in medicine Doctor JJavis established his
hom^ ixi the City of Atlanta, and for seven years thereafter he rendered effect-
ive s<ix— vice as interne in the Halcyon Sanitarium, in which he gained wide and
™u^Tole clinical experience.
A-t "the inception of the Sgani?h- American war, in 1898, Doctor Davis, who
"^ "tVien a young man of twenty-nine years, was appointed surgeon, with the
™1^ oi major, of the Second Georgia Volunteer Infantry, and he continued
"' ?^**^'e service until the close of the war, though his ability and zeal won
^ ni*T*. the higher office of chief surgeon of the Third Division, Fifth Army
|j**^^, on the staflE of Gen. Guy V. Henry. His services were entirely withip
tje Xi»-j-,j(g qJ tijg United States, as his command was not called to the stage
w se-fci-^g polemic confiict, and he passed several months at the military reserve
campk ^^ Tampa, Florida, where he found ample demands upon his time and
*"*"^ti«n in caring for soldiers who were ill as well as for many who were
**^* t>^ck from the front after being wounded.
, ~^**- 1899 Doctor Davis engaged in active practice as a sui^eon in the City
J* ■^"■tlajita, with oflBces in the Equitable Building, and his rise in his specif
Btati.<*^ of his profession after he had thus initiated his independent prac-
r>'^\ ^^''ss rapid and Assured, In 1909 he became associated with Dr. Luther
^' . *^s<iher in the organizing and establishing of the Davis-Fischer Sanitarium,
■*nwi\Y is now one of the fine institutions of its kind in the City of Atlanta.
■p^Pi-tig the first two years this sanitarium occupied temporary quarters on
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2470 GEOBOIA AND G£OBGIANB
Crew Street, and in 1912 the institution was removed to its present commodi-
ous and admirably appointed building, at 25 East Linden Avenue, Doctors
Davis and Fischer having had the building erected specially for this purpose
and its equipment being unexcelled by that of any similar establishment in
the South. The sanitarium has about 100 rooms available for patients and its
patronage virtually tests its capacity at all times. A corps of thirty-seven
trained nurses is retained and in the connection is conducted a regularly char-
tered training school for nurses. The sanitarium draws its patronage from
all sections of the South and its reputation constitutes its best professional
and commercial asset. Doctor Davis specialized in abdominal surgery and the
facilities of the Davis-Fiseher Sanitarium for the caring of surgical cases
are of the most approved modem type.
Doctor Davis was formerly surgeon of the Fifth Regiment of Infantry of
the Georgia National Guard and at the present time, 1915, he has the distinc-
tion of being chief surgeon of the Georgia National Guard, with the rank of
major. He is actively identified with the Pulton County Medical Society
and the Georgia State Medical Association, of which latter he has served as
president. The year 1915 finds him the incumbent of the office of the presi-
dent of the Georgia Surgeons' Club, and he is a Fellow of the American
College of Surgeons, a member of the Clinical Congress of Sui^eons, and iden-
tified with the Southern Medical Association and the American Medical Asso-
ciation. He is affiliated with the Spanish-American War Veterans and is a
popular member of the Atlanta Athletic Club.
On the 14th of June, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Davis
to Miss Maria Carter, of Albany, this state, and they have three sons and four
daughters, namely : Michelle Carter, Ella Catharine, Evelyn Page, Edward
Campbell, Jr., Maria Nelson, Robert Carter, and Sarah.
Jabus Zack Salmon. Now serving as receiver of taxes for Floyd
County, Jabus Zack Salmon has had a career which well exemplifies the
unconquerable spirit of man in the face of adversities. He has been a hard
worker all his life, was coflneeted with the railway service for several years,
and until sustaining an injury which incapacitated him for further active
work. He was disabled but undefeated in his determination, and has since
bravely gone ahead, making his service worth while to different companies
and to the public, and providing for home and family. He was elected to
his.present office on the democratic ticket in November, 1914, and has shown
a splendid efficiency in conducting the office.
Jabus Zack Salmon was bom within the Rome district of Floyd County.
His parents were John W, P. and Elizabeth (Floyd) Salmon, also natives of
Floyd County. Grandfather Zack Floyd Salmon was a native of South
Carolina and one of the early settlers in Northern Georgia, having come to
Floyd fiounty during the early '40s when about twenty years of age. He was
a farmer and a slave owner before the war, and due to his long service as
justice of the peace was familiarly known as Squire Salmon. The maternal
grandfather was Jabus Floyd, also a native of Floyd County, and never a
resident in any other community. He was likewise a fanner and planter.
John "W. P. Salmon was born and reared and spent his life on a Floyd County
farm. He was a soldier throughout the entire war between the states, and
a member of Company A of the Eighth Geoi^a Battalion, and the record
of that command is his individual record of service as a soldier. He saw
many of the hardships of war and participated in many battles. After the
close of hostilities he returned to civil pursuits as a farmer and so continued
until his death. He and his wife were the parents of four children : Eli
Edward Salmon was a conductor and was killed while on duty with the South-
era Railway at Dalton in August, 1913, at the age of forty-three; Thomas
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2471
King Salmon died at Rome in June, 1906, at the age of twenty-nine; and
Homer L. Salmon is a farmer in Floyd County.
J. Zack Salmon acquired a substantial education in the common bcIiooIs,
but at the age of eighteen tootup life on his own account. He was a farmer
until 1904, and on February 6th of that year entered the employ of the
Southern Railway as a brakeman. In 1906 bis efSciency caused his promo-
tion to freight conductor, and he was on' duty in that capacity in March,
1907, when he was severely injured. As a result of the injury his left leg
was amputated above the knee, and that of course ended his active career as
a railroad man. As soon as he recovered he found work with the Etowah Coal
Company at Rome as bookkeeper and later was employed as ofBce man and
bookkeeper for the 0, D, Minge & Son Coal Company and the M. L. Fisher
Coal Company. In this way he made himself useful until his election as
receiver of taxes.
Mr. Salmon is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
he and his wife are active members of the BeSoto Park Baptist Church, in
which for two years he served as Sunday School superintendent. On July 17,
1897, at Rome, Mr. Salmon married Mary Gattes, daughter of Charles M.
and Jennie (Hunt) Gattes. Her father was bom in Rome, of a pioneer
family in this part of North Georgia, and her mother is still living in that
city. Of the four children bora to Mr. and Mrs. Salmon two died unnamed,
while Elizabeth died at the age of two years. The only one now living is
Robert Glenn, who was born in Atlanta June 18, 1904, and was named in
honor of an uncle who was killed while serving as lieutenant in the Con-
federate army during the Battle of Atlanta. Mr. Salmon is an active demo-
crat, and as the brief record of his life indicates is a man of unusually
optimistic disposition, always good natured and jolly, and in spite of his
trials and afflictions has shown courage and cheerfulness in all his relations
with life.
Dathan Jones. The Jones Marble and Granite Company of Gainesville,
of which Dathan Jones is now the active head, is one of the considerable
enterprises in the commercial activities of Hall County. This business is the
handling of marble and granite supplies, and a large staff of expert cutters
are employed in the shop at Gainesville. Dathan Jones is one of the young
and vigorous business men of Gainesville and since assuming the respofiai-
bilities of the business since the death of his father has made an excellent
record as an independent business man.
Dathan Jones was born in Forsyth County, Georgia, December 10, 1880,
a son of John H. and Hannah N. (Foster) Jones. Both parents were natives
of South Carolina and came into Forsyth County, Georgia, with their parents.
The paternal grandparents were John L and Susan (Stokes) Jones, both of
wiora died in 1900 when about eighty-six years of age. John L. Jones Sr.
was an old settler in Forsyth County, and well known as a farmer and
planter. The grandparents on the maternal side were Fosters, and the grand-
father entered the Confederate service early in the war and was killed in
battle. John H. Jones after a number of years spent as a farmer took up the
marble and granite business at Gainesville in 1905, and continued it until
the time of his death. He developed the industry from small beginnings to
one of large proportions. At first he was alone with only the assistance of
his son Dathan, but at the present time the plant employs twelve expert stone
cutters, and during the height of the business season from twenty to twenty-
five men are constantly employed. The company has a yard with 400 feet
frontage, and with a large shop for the finer class of work. John H. Jones
died February 11, 1915, at the age of sixty-three. His wife is still living at
the age of fifty-seven.
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2472 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Dathan Jones, who was the second in a family of nine children, attended
the public schools of Forsyth County, and was actively associated with his
father until the latter's death. He learned the marble and granite business
in all its details, and has proved capable in directing the labors of the force
now employed.
Mr. Jones is a democrat and a member of the Baptist Church, and has
fraternal affiliations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Woodmen of the "World and the Modem Brotherhood of America. On Febu-
rary 14, 1904, in Forsyth County he married Emma Bagwell, daughter of
William E. and Ellen Bagwell. Her pareuts are now living in Hall County
and formerly were of Forsyth County, To this union have been born four
children: Montez E., born in 1905, and now attending school; Winfred
Dathan, bom in 1908 and attending school in Gainesville; John William,
born in 1910, and Mary Emily, born in 1914. All except the first child
were born in Gainesville, and he is a native of Forsyth County.
Wn.Li.\M M. Johnson. Formerly a successful teacher, William M. John-
son for the past ten years has been actively identified with the bar of Gaines-
ville and is a lawyer of recognized ability and character and has been entrusted
with a splendid practice. He represents an old family in the South and one
with colonial and revolutionary antecedents.
The first representative of the name concerning whom there is definite
information was Daniel Johnson, who was probably bom in Virginia, while
Lis father, whose name was possibly Edward, came over from England in
the latter part of the seventeenth centurj', between 1660 and 1680. ■ Daniel
Johnson married Ann Anderson. During the Revolutionary war, in the
years 1779-1780, when the British were making such aggressive campaigns
through the Carolinas, Daniel Johnson refugeed from the hostile British and
Tories, and with one of his sons went to the home of a brother living in North
Carolina, leaving his wife and daughters on the estate with the negro slaves
as their only protection. The British Tories raided the estate, confiscated all
the movable property and drove away the cattle. After the battle of Cowpens
the British were driven across Broad River and Daniel Johnson returned home.
The following spring, the enemy having been re-enforced, again took the
aggressive, and Daniel Johnson was once more forced to leave his home and
was a refugee until the surrender of Yorktown on October 19, 1781, Soon»
after the war Daniel Johnson moved to South Carolina, bought a large amount
of land, and died in 1783, His wife died during the first decade of the nine-
teenth century. Their children were Thomas, Bartholomew, Jane, George,
Nancy, Levi, and Sarah. Levi Johnson, son of Daniel, was bom June 21,
1,767, and married March 12, 1790, Sarah Stell. Their family were: George,
bom in 1791; Nancy, born in 1794; Abraham, born in 1798; Susannah, bom
in 1802 : Ephraim Malnne, born December 20, 1803 ; and Fannie, born Sep-
temlier 12, 1806.
Col, Ephraim Malone Johnson, grandfather of the Gainesville attomey,
was a prominent early lawyer of Georgia, and was also a writer of no little
distinction. On February 19, 1826, he married his first wife Rebecca King
who was bora November 21, 1806, and died April 19, 1837, On August 7,
1838, Colonel Johnson married Faith Wells, who was bom May 17. 1809.
Colonel Johnson died September 26, 1894, and by his two wives had twelve
children. Their names were: Robert Asbury, who was born in 1826; Sarah
Frances ; A. Malone ; Nancy Amanda ; Lueinda Jane ; Mary Elizabeth ;
Rebecca Evelyn; George Washington; Walter C. ; Ephraim H. ; William L.,-
and Eliza Caroline.
George W. Johnson, father of William M,. was bom in Geoi^ia in 1840
and died in 1912 at the age of seventy-two. During the war he entered the
Confederate army in Colonel Anderson's Brigade, was wounded during a
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2473
8i;'z-ixi ish at Loudon, Tennessee, and never entirely recovered from that injury.
For- »:»any years he was a successful fanner in Hall County, He married
Pra xa <:?e8 Smith, who was bom in Mississippi and is still living jn Hall County
at tl^ ^ age of sixty.,
~VV dlliani M. Johnson, the third in a family of ten children, all of whom
are ^'t- jH living, was born in Hall Coiuity, Georgia, July 29, 1875. He attended
pi)t*li*^ schools of the county, also Hiawaasa High School and the Mercer
f^otl^^^^e- For three years he taught school at Chattahoochee High School and
i? 3. ^* 07 was principal of the high school at Gainesville. In the meantime
> li.*a, ^ taken up the study of law in connection with his school work and in
t^OG creditably passed his examinations and was admitted to the bar. He
\i.'as ^i uce enjoyed a large growing practice aa a lawyer at Gainesville. He
wrfc'*?:*^ an unexpired term as county school commissioner in Hall County,
JVMT iBT. Johnson is a member of the lodge and chapter of the Masonic fra-
terra i"fc^', has passed all the chairs in the independent Order of Odd Fellows,
anl lira as likewise filled the offices in the Improved Order of Red Men, and is a
merral:^* «r of the Woodmen of the World. In politics he is a democrat, and
is a. -wiieraber of the Baptist Church. At Gainesville on June 17, 1903,
Mr. -^J'ohnaon married Miss Willie Bolding, daughter of Judge W. E. and
Luf?i»-r» <Ia (Robertson) Bolding, a prominent family still living in Gainesville.
Wc- ^^ 3id Mrs. Johnson are the happy parents of a family of six children, all
of v^?- Vi *m were born at Gainesville and the older ones are now students in the
Gaiin.^^sville public st-hools. Their names are: Malcolm M., bom in 1904:
Agine^j^j, bora in 1906; Lucile, born in 1909; Mary Alene, born in 1910; Faith,
bom in 1912; and William Bolding, bom in 1914.
-A^xix)NZO C. Wheeler. A young Gainesville attorney who has done much
to E>».-ove his ability and open a way for a large and successful career in the
Iav, ^Alonzo Wheeler was admitted to the bar eight years ago, and has had
aev^»:-^»l official distinctions since beginning practice. He was a former solicitor
and is^ now serving with a most creditable record as judge of the city court
of *j^a.ineaville. A young man, he has by undaunted energy reached a high
plac?^ in his profession, and has rendered many able decisions since taking
bis s^at on the bench.
-^^Xonzo C. Wheeler was bom on a farm in Gwinnett County, Georgia, near
the n:»«wn of Buford on April 17. 1880. His parents were William Anthony
anci "Delila (Tuggle) Wheeler. . Both were native Georgians, and spent all
*!j**^»^ lives as farmers in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. The father died in
Hall County in June, 1904, at the age of fifty-six, and the mother passed
^"■^3^ August 21, 1901, at the age of fifty-one. Judge Wheeler's great-grand-
p v^ *^"K'. William Wheeler, came to Georgia from the Carolinas. Grandfather
™'"^ir^ Wheeler, who was bom in Georgia, during the excitement following the
<"s^o-very of gold in California, went west by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
^"~*"^*^ing in Placer County, California, after four months of hardship and
^^'^^^^r. The voyage from Panama to San Francisco alone took sixty-five
. .■*^*^» and many of those who had been his companions at the beginning of the
■ ^~\ on the overcrowded vessel succumbed to disease and exposure and were
""^-■-^ci at sea. He developed a paying claim, and spent five years in the gold
■ "Ol^ ~ He then set out to return to his family, and had reached a little village
, -*^'T^i ssissippi, when he was stricken down by some parties who murdered him
_^~* is money, since he carried all the savings of those five years of hardship
^". *^^« person. The family subserjuently recovered about forty-five hundred
*^^*^ of the sum which he carried.
*•■ Xadge Wheeler, who was the fifth in 9 family of seven children, attended
^ TE:>ublie schools of Gwinnett County and later entered the High Tower
*"***-* tute and then for several terms paid his own way by teaching. In order
\o ca.xry out his plans for the study of law he entered the office of Col. H. H.
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2474 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Dean at Gainesville, and remained with that veteran lawyer until 1907. On
January 25, 1907, he was admitted to the bar, and soon afterwards engaged
rooms in the Simmons Building and as a lawyer has occupied the same offices
until February, 1916, when he removed to the new office building. He pos-
sesses many of the best qualifications of the successful lawyer and he is one
of the young men of eDerg>- and character whose names will undoubtedly
stand among the foremost in the Georgia bar at no distant date. In 1910 he
was elected solicitor of the City Court of Gainesville, and filled that office
until January 1, 1915. In 1914 he had been elected judge of the City Court
and took up the duties of that office immediately on resigning the place of
city solicitor.
Judge Wheeler is a stock holder and director in the First National Bank
of Gainesville and has interests in other local enterprises. He is a democrat,
a member of the Baptist Church, served as master of Gainesville Lodge of the
Masonic fraternity for three years and is a representative to the Grand Lodge,
and belongs to the Koyal Arch Chapter,
In March, 1904, in Forsyth County, Georgia, Judge Wheeler married
Miss Addie Bell Pilgrim, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Pilgrim, now
deceased. The father is dead. The four children of their marriage are:
Carol, bom in 1907 and now attending the fifth grade of the public schools ;
Lillian, bom in 1910 ; Elizabeth, born in 1912 ; and Helen, bom June 14, 1914.
The first child was born in Buford, and the others at Gainesville.
Col. Nicholas Long, a gallant soldier of both the RevolutJonary war and
the War of 1812, was probably a native of Virginia, because when a mere
youth he was serving in the Revolutionary war as a dragoon officer, first in
the Virginia and then in the North Carolina line. Colonel Long evidently
came into Wilkes County during that movement, and in the War of 1812 he
tendered 'his services and was made colonel of the Forty-third Regiment,
United States Infantry, especially designed for protection of the coast of the
Carolinas and Georgia. Ilis exposure in that service impaired his constitu-
tion and brought on consumption, from which he died on August 22, 1819.
He had then been a resident of Wilkes County for some thirty years.
Dr. Petek E. Love, physician, lawyer, state legislator, and congressman,
was a native of Georgia, born near Dublin, July 7, 1818. He graduated from
the state university, and then studied medicine at Philadelphia. Later, he
studied law and began the practice at Thomasville, Georgia, in 1839. In 1843,
after being at the bar only four years, he was solicitor general of the Southern
District. In 1849 he was in the State Senate. In 1853 he was judge of his
circuit. In 1859 he was elected representative to the Thirty-sixth Congress,
and was serving that term when the state seceded from the Union, and upon
the passage of the ordinance of secession he, with the other Georgia members,
withdrew. Doctor Love does not appear to have taken further part in pub-
lie life.
Jaues Henkt Downey, M. D. For many years engaged in the practice
of his profession both in South Carolina and Georgia, Doctor Downey is an
excellent type of the modem and successful American physician and surgeon.
Through his practice he has contributed a lai^e amount of individual serv-
ice, at the same time has taken a prominent part in the organized activities
of the profession, is a contributor to American literature, and is a recognized
authority in that branch of surgery pertaining to the reduction and treat-
ment of fractures. He is the founder and the active head of the Downey Hos-
pital at Gainesville, an institution the bare mention of which is a sufficient
tribute to the reputation and standing of its proprietor.
James Henry Downey was born in Laurens County, South Carolina, Decem-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2475
ber 20, 1864, a son of James and Saily (Hudgens) DowDcy. Both hia parents
were bom in Laurens County, South Carolina, and spent their entire live«
there. Hia father was first a farmer, later a merchant, and died in 1898 at the
age of sixty-five. During the war between the states he had given aetive
service to the Confederate army for four years, rose to the rank of lieutenant-
colonel, and was twice wounded, suffered a severe injury when a ball passed
through his body at Gettysburg, The paternal grandparents, Samuel and
Mary Downey, were Irish people who came to South Carolina in 1828 and
located in Laurens County^ in 1829. The maternal grandparents, William
and Nancy Hudgens, spent all their lives in Laurens County, Doctor Dow-
ney's father was twice married, and had four children by his first wife and
three by his second, Doctor Downey being the third of the first set of children.
His early education came from the public schools of Laurens County, and
after a brief attendance at high school he had to return to his father's farm
and by his own efforts acquired most of the means for his higher education.
He took a medical course at Augusta, Georgia, and on March 4, 1887, was
graduated from the Atlanta Medical College. During 1901 he gave up prac-
tice entirely in order to take a year's post-graduate course in the Bellevue
Hospital College at New York City. In fact, every year for the past fifteen,
he has spent from one to three months in some hospital, as a student of
methods employed in surgical cases, particularly those relating to fracttire.
He has thus gained an acquaintance with the equipment and management of
almost every important hospital in America, and knows person^ly many
of the most famous surgeons in this country. After graduating in medicine
Doctor Downey located at his old home in Laurens County, South Carolina,
for five years, then removed to Clinton, South Caroliua, in 1891, remained there
until July 10, 1894, and was then at Pacolet, South Carolina, until 1901. On
August 1, 1901, Doctor Downey located at New Holland, Georgia, and in
19(H took up his private practice at Gainesville, In 1908 Doctor Downey
converted a part of his residence into hospital uses, and a year later rented a
small place of sis rooms. At the end of sis months, his institution having met
with a large response in popular favor, he built a small hospital of eight
rooms, which he conducted for two years, and then built the present Downey
Hospital, one of the best equipped in the state, containing thirty rooms with
accommodations for twenty patients. It contains operating room, sterilizing,
x-ray and chemical laboratory, and altogether represents the broad and
varied experience of Doctor Downey, his close observation of hospitals in
various sections of the country, and a large amount of capital invested. Doc-
tor Downey is sole owner of this institution, and in its management employs
six nurses.
Doctor Downey has been president of the County Medical Society, is now
president of the Ninth District Medical Society, and has membership in the
Southern Medical Society, the Georgia State Medical Society and the Ameri-
can Medical Association. For his attainments he ranks among the leading
surgeons of the South. He has invented and patented a device which facili-
tates the adjustment of fractures of the lower limbs, giving greater comfort
to the patient and promoting a speedy recovery. This device has been endorsed
by the leading surgeons throughout the country. Doctor Downey has really
made a life study of fractures, and in that specialty is recognized as the peer
of almost any surgeon in the country. He has contributed many articles
to medical journals and books, particularly along his special lines, and his
name has quite frequently appeared on the list of contributors to the American
Journal of Sui^ry. He is a man of great breadth of mind and has a large
vision as to the future extension of medical facilities. A plan which he is
constantly engaged in advocating provides for the establishment of county
hospitals in every county of Georgia, each such institution to be supported .by
the tax-payers, and providing facilities so that the people unable to secure
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2476 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the skill of able physicians might be treated free of charge. The establish-
ment of hospitals ou sueh a plan would be a great advance for the cause of
social welfare, and the reasonableness of the plan is such that it will undoubt-
edly be adopted in the course of a few years.
Doctor Downey is a democrat, and in Masonry has affiliated with the vari-
ous degrees and belongs to the Jlystic Shrine, and is also a member of the
Woodmen of the "World. On November 17, 1903, at Atlanta, he married Miss
Lillie 0. Prara, daughter of parents who were bom in Richmond, Vii^nia,
and when Mrs. Downey was eight years of age moved out to San Francisco,
where she lived until her twentieth year. *
John C. Pbuitt. The president of the Citizens State Bank of Gainesville
and of the Pruitt-Barrett Hardware Company of the same city, John C. Pruitt
occupies an enviable station in Georgia business and citizenship, and his course
through life has been marked by exemplary enei^, strict fidelity to his ideals
and an honesty of purpose that has gained him the esteem of more than a
limited acquaintance.
John C. Pruitt was bom in Forsyth County, Georgia, August 30, 1857, a
son of James D. and Nancy C. (Redmond) Pmitt. Both parents were natives
of Georgia. The maternal grandfather was Alexander Redmond, bom in 1800,
who came from Spartansburg, South Carolina, to Georgia, and was one of the
early planters in Forsyth County, having located there and developed his busi-
ness between the years 1825 and 1835. The paternal grandfather was Drake
Pruitt, who was also born in South Carolina in 1800. On the maternal side
the grandmother was iliriam Waddell. James D. Pruitt grew up in Forsyth
County, and became identified with business as a planter. During the Civil
war he entered the service of the Confederate army in the cavalry, but in a
short time was taken ill with typhoid fever and died when still very young.
His wife spent all her life in Georgia and died at Tate in 1912 at the age of
seventy-seven. The only other child is William B. Pruitt, a planter and
farmer of Forsyth County.
John C. Pruitt, the older of these brothers, had all his education in the
public schools at Cumming, Georgia, and on leaving school qualified as a
teacher, and for three years had charge of the Tatem Schoolhouse in Forsyth
County. The work of teacher he abandoned in favor of mercantile lines, and
acquired the foundation of his successful experience by working two years as a
clerk at Cumming, Georgia. For seven years be was in business as a general
merchant at Barrettsville, Georgia, and then removed to Silver City and was
in active business from 188!) to 1905. In the meantime he had acquired an
interest in a hardware store at Gainesville, and during the past ten years has
been one of the Pruitt-Barrett Hardware Company, which has developed into
one of the largest stores of its kind in Northern Georgia.
In 1913 Mr. Pruitt organized the Citizens Bank of Gainesville, which
opened its doors for business on June 7, 1913, with a capital stock of $50,000,
all paid up. Mr. Pmitt has since been president, and has wisely directed
the affairs of this bank and has made it an institution of large resources and
well established in the confidence of the business community. Mr. Pruitt is
a democrat in politics, and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On March 20, 1889, Mr. Pruitt was married at Silver City, Georgia, to
Miss Olive B. Barrett, daughter of A. M. and Jane (Netherland) Barrett, a
wfAl known family of that section of Georgia.
John Montbaville Vandiver. The fifteen years spent by John M.
Vandiver in the office of state and county tax collector of Floyd County
constitute a public service somewhat notable for length, but chiefly conspicu-
ous for the efficiency with which he has discharged his duties. One of the
problems which must be met in every taxing corporation is the economical
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7^
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2477
and thorough collectioQ of those duties levied by municipal and state govern-
ments for the maintenance of the oi^auized activities of government. How-
ever competent the executive departments of an administration, there can bet
no real efficiency without public funds. Mr. Vandiver has been many times
complimented for the thoroughuess with which he has gathered In the public
revenues and the records of the state will show that Floyd County has high
standing in this respect. Mr. Vandiver is a public official possessed of excep-
tional tact, is extremely popular with all classes of citizens, and has for many
years been identified with business and public affairs in Rome.
John Alontraville Vandiver was bom at Hendersonville, North Carolina,
March 29, 1860. His parents were Rev. Gehu Wellington and Martha
(Weaver) Vandiver, the former a native of South Carolina and the latter of
North Carolina. Grandfather John Vandiver was born at Spartansburg,
South Carolina, was a planter and slave owner there, while the maternal-
grandfather, Montraviile Weaver, was a large planter and slave owner in the
ante-bellum days in Bucombe County, North Carolina. Rev. Gehu W. Vandiver
was a graduate in medicine, but after practicing his profession for a short
time became convinced that his true vocation lay in the ministry. He had
been a devout member of the Methodist Church from boyhood, and after
preparing in theology became a successful member of the South Carolina
Conference, and continued to work until failing health obliged him to retire.
He was a man of exceptional gifts, popular among all classes, and one whose
earnestness as a disciple of Christ was above all question. His death occurred
in 1888 at the age of seventy-three. He died at Weaverville, North Carolina.
In his work as a minister he was loyally aided by his noble Christian wife,
who in addition to administering her own home and looking after ber own
children took much part in church and charitable affairs. She died at the
age of eighty-one. There were six children, as follows: Walter Wightman
Vandiver, who is an attorney at law now practicing at Coweta, Oklahoma;
John M. ; Edgar P., in the real estate business at Spartansbui^, South Caro-
lina ; Harry B., a farmer living at Campobello, South Carolina ; Elizabeth, wife
of Samuel J. Ramage, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; and Grace, wife of Rev.
Dr. Cann, a Methodist minister at Gladstone in Western Canada.
John Montraviile Vandiver received his early instruction in the public
schools of Spartansburg, South Carolina, and attended the high school at
Weaverville, North Carolina, and at the age of sixteen left home and came
to Rome, Georgia, in 1876. This city has been the scene of his progressive
activities nearly forty years. His first work was as clerk in the Berry Norton
Mercantile Company, and afterwards for King & Brothers. In this way
eight- years were devoted to a thorough business training, and after that he
became a traveling salesman, and for three years traveled over territory in
Alabama and Georgia. The following three years were spent in independent
merchandising at Rome, and at the beginning of Cleveland's second admin-
istration he was appointed postmaster at Rome,, and filled that office four
years. Mr. Vandiver was elected tax collector from Floyd County in 1901,
and since that year has been regularly returned to the office, in which his
admirable record has fully justified the repeated honors of election. He has
set a standard for performance in this office which later successors ivill have
difficulty in surpassing. Along with other duties Mr. Vandiver is a successful
farmer, and owns one of the well improved farms of Floyd County.
For a number of years Mr. Vandiver has been deeply interested in the
party welfare of the democracy, is a member of the State Executive Committee
from the Seventh Congressional District, and sat as a Georgia delegate in the
Baltimore convention which nominated Woodrow Wilson for the presidency.
In 1916 he was a delegate from the state at large at St. Louis, Missouri. Fra-
ternally he is treasurer of Cherokee Lodge No. 66, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, is also a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine,
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2478 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
and affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias. He was reared iii the
Methodist Church and is a trustee in the church at Rome. In many ways
Mr. Varfdiver has been a factor of value in the growth and development of
Rome as a city during the past forty years. One of his most notable charac-
teristics and one which no doubt has been valuable t« him in his official career
has been a genius for friendships, and his loyalty to his friends, however
tested, has proved inviolable. Outside of his duties as a public official and
business man, Mr. Vandiver find his chief diversion on his farm.
On January 6, 1895, at Rome, Mr. Vandiver married Jliss Ella Ebling.
She was bom in Findlay, Ohio, a daughter of Addison and Laura (Wilson)
Ebling. . The Ebling family came to Rome in 1890 on account of Mr. Ebling's
poor health. He bought a farm in Floyd County, and the family still lives iu
the country district, he being now retired. Mrs. Vandiver died at Rome
June 16, 1912, and was laid to rest in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery.
Samuel Clevedand Dunlaf, As lawyer, railway official and banker,
Samuel C. Dunlap has been closely identified with Gainesville and that section
of Georgia for more than forty years. A man of wealth and influence, thou^
at the outset of his career he possessed only the usual advantages of youth,
his life proves that there is no inconsistency between the accumulation of a
fortune and a broad and generous public spirit and service on behalf of his
community. At many points he has touched and stimulated the growth and
welfare of his home city, and has a great deal to his credit in the way of
substantial aehievements.
Samuel Cleveland Dunlap was bom in Gwinnett County, Georgia, January
9, 1848, a son of James C. and Rebecca A. (Samraons) Dunlap, His father,
a native of the Lancaster District, South Carolina, was seven years of age
when he came to Georgia with his parents, who located in Gwinnett County.
He spent practically all his life in that locality, and was a fairly prosperous
planter. A^ the beginning of the war he stoutly espoused the cause of the
Union, though his loyalty to his home state finally overcame his prejudices
against secession, and for a short time he served in the Confederate army. He
was a resident of Atlanta from 1869 until his death, which occurred in 1893
at the age of eighty-seven years six months. His wife was a native of Georgia,
where she was reared and educated, and she died in Atlanta in 1885 at the
age of sixty.
Samuel C. Dunlap was the fourth in a lai^e family of fourteeft children,
and his presence in such a large household and the fact that he was called
upon to enter life when the nation was rent by civil strife readily suggest
some of the handicaps of his early career. He attended country school, and
at the age of sixteen, in November, 1864, enlisted in Company I of the Six-
teenth Georgia Cavalry, and was a Confederate soldier, though a boy in years,
until the end of the war. The captain of his company was W. Scott Thomas,
and the regiment was commanded by Col. Samuel J. Winn, of Lawrenceville,
and now a resident of Atlanta. For three months the Sixteenth Georgia Cav-
alry was stationed at Atlanta, and was then ordered to Columbus to meet
General Wilson's Division preparatory to a raid. Owing to the fact that
Columbus was occupied by Federal troops, the Sixteenth Regiment in its efforts
to join General Wilson advanced too far, and through a misunderstanding
in orders arrived at the rendezvous too late, and then proceeded to Macon,
where the command were captured by the Union forces.
After his service as a soldier Jlr. Dunlap attended the high school at Law-
renceville, and in 1868 taught for one year at Corinth in Hall County. In
the meantime he took up the study of law in the office of Judge L. M. Hutchins,
and was admitted to the bar at Lawrenceville in September, 1869. In Novem-
ber of the same year he established his office at Monroe in Walton County,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2479
remained there until March, 1872, and since that date has been a resident
of Gainesville.
As a lawyer Mr, Dunlap soon came into his own and rose rapidly in prestige
and protitable practice. He continued his private practice until 1893, in
which year he was appointed United States Marshal for the Northern District
of Georgia by President Cleveland, His terra expired July 1, 1897, and he
then accepted the receivership of the Gainesville, Jefferson & Southern Rail-
way Company, and gave a careful and effective administration of the affairs
of this bankrupt road until the business vpas wound up and the property sold
in 1904. Mr. Dunlap was then appointed general manager of the reorganized
road and continued its operation until June 1, 1905. His masterful ability
in handling the affairs of this railway was next recognized by his appointment
as industrial commissioner in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Immi-
gration created by the Louisville and Nashville and its associated lines, includ-
ing the West Point Railway, with headquarters at Atlanta. That position
he held from 1905 until 1913. In that position he did much to promote the
industrial development and the general settlement of the country served by
these various lines in Georgia.
On Januarj- 1, 1913, Mr. Duulap retired from his railroad duties and has
since given his attention chiefly to the management of the Gainesville National
Banfc-of which he is president, and to the direction of his extensive farming
interests. As a business man he stands in the front rank of suceessfid
Geoi^ians, and at Gainesville there has hardly been an enterprise or move-
ment of any importance undertaken in the last forty years with which his
name and wotk has not been associated. Mr. Dunlap is a member of the
Baptist Church and in politics a democrat.
On February 1, 1871, in Hall County Mr. Dunlap married Miss Minnie
Thompson, daughter of Orid B. and Margaret Thompson, for many years
residents of Hall County. Her father was born in Hall County and her mother
in Jackson County, Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. DuMap have reared a fine family
of children, ^Margaret A. is now the wife of Dr. P, E. B, Robertson, a well
known Gainesville physician; James T., who is a resident of Birmingham,
Alabama, and state agent for the National Insurance Company of Vermont,
married Miss Georgia Dixon, and their three children are : Samuel C. Ill,
Erskine and Annie. Samuel C. Dunlap Jr., who is cashier of the Gainesville
National Bank, married Miss Eva Riley, and has one child, James Q. Minnie
is the wife of Mr. Petit, manager of the New Holland Store of Gainesville;
Minnie died January 3, 1916 ; Mary, the wife of Byron Mitchell, a merchant
of Gainesville, has two children, ISIary Mitchell and Byron Mitchell, Jr.
Fannie is the wife of W. C. Thomas of Gainesville. Edgar B. is a practicing
lawyer of Gainesville, and was married to Cathem Anderson,
I. Homer Sutton, An expression of practical and diversified activity, the
career of I. Homer Sutton, of Clarkesville, has included in its range the realms
of education, law, agriculture, politics, and society, all of which have profited
by the breadth and conscientiousness which are distinctive features of his work
and character. Whatever of success he has gained in life, and it is not incon-
siderable for a man whose best years still lie before him, has been attained
through his own unaided efforts, for he entered upon his struggle with life
with few advantages save those of good birth and careful home training.
Mir. Sutton was bom at Hiawassee, Towns County, Georgia, October 22,
1882, and is a son of Robert G. and Sarah (Kimsey) Sutton. The family
has been known in Habersham Coimty for many years, Mr, Sutton's grand-
father and great-grandfather having been born here, while the family was
founded at an early day in Georgia by Joshua Sutton, a pioneer. Many of
the name have contributed materially to the progress and advancement of
the state and have been prominent in business, agricultural and professional
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2480 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
life and in public affairs. Robert Q. Sutton was born in Towns County, in
1855, was reared and educated there and passed his entire life within its
borders. He has served as surveyor of the county for a long period, but his
vocation has been that of farmer and stock raiser, and he still survives and
resides on his farm, at the age of sixty years. Mrs. Sutton, who is also a native
of Georgia, bom ip the same year as her husband, also survives. They have
bgen the parents of three children, namely : H. K., who is a resident of
Hiawassee, Georgia; I. Homer, of this review; and Grady, who is a resident
of Hiawassee.
I. Homer Sutton's youth was a busy one, for when he was not engaged
in his studies he was employed in assisting his father in the work of the home
farm. Nevertheless, he found the time to so master his studies, that when
he graduated he received the scholarship for proficiency offered to his class.
At the age of twenty years he began teaching: in the public schools. He studied
law and in 1906 took the examination and was admitted to practice, thus achiev-
ing his fondest ambition. In the same year Mr. Sutton carae to Clarkesville
and established himself in practice, and since that time has built up an excel-
lent professional business, his talents, learning and devotion to his clients'
interests having attracted to him an important practice. He has taken part
in much litigation where important issues were at stake, and his success in a
number of complicated eases has won him many prominent clients, one of
these being the Habersham County Bank of Cl^^'l^^^'ll^. f*"" which he is
attorney. Mr. Sutton belongs to the Habersham County Bar Association and
bears a high reputation among his fellow-practitioners, who recognize him as a
valuable associate and an opponent to respect.
Since coming to Clarkesville, Mr. Sutton has taken an active interest in
civic affairs, and in 1911 was elected mayor of Clarkesville, a position in which
he served capably for one term. His fraternal connection is with the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has numerous friends. Mr. Sutton
iinds his recreation and rest'from professional work in agricultural pursuits
and is much interested in the development of his fine farm in Habersham
County, where he spends much of his time when not occupied with profes-
sional duties. He is unmarried.
John Maktin. Many of the greatest discoveries in science and mechanics
have been the result of accident, and partially through accident in change in
environment, the entire current of more than one man's life has been changed.
Through accidental -occurrences the United States has gained some of her
best and most usefnl citizens, men of vitality and enterprise, who have come
from other lands, first, perhaps, as visitors, as did John Martin, capitalist and
president of the Clarkesville Board of Trade. With clear vision such men
have recognized the wide opportunities offered and have had the courage to
embrace them, often, thereby, as in the case of Mr. Martin, ultimately opening
up unexpected fields of industry for others and bringing wealth and pros-
perity to the section in which they have chosen a home.
John Martin, one of the representative, substantial and public-^irited
residents of Clarkesville, Georgia, was bom in Dundee, Scotland, and is a
son of Alexander T. and Jean (Cooper) Martin. The father, an agricul-
turist all his life, died in Scotland at the age of seventy years. The mother,
bearing well her weight of seventy-nine years lives yet in the old home at
Carnoustie, Scotland, a place of much renown among golf experts. Of the
four children of the family, John Alartin was the first bom, and one sister is
still living in Scotland.
Beyond the certain fact that he went to school in boyhood, for all Scotch
youths do that, we have few details of Mr. Martin 's earlier years, before he
went into the office of the Dundee Courier, at Dundee, Scotland, which was
'the first half-penny newspaper in the country. He remained there luitil
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2481
1882, when he became interested in the electric light business. He found
himself halnpered by circumstances and in seeking a wider field carae to
America and in 1885 and 1887 visited Georgia, returning then to London,
England, and continued in the electric light line until 1889. His visits to
Georgia resulted in a determination to locate permanently here and in 1889
he became a resident of White County. Not only did Mr. Martin possess
unusual energy and show remarkable foresight in this resolve, but he pos-
seted the technical knowledge which, backed by strenuous effort, led to his
developing some of the first and most valuable gold mines in this section. He
' also acquired immense tracts of land, probably aggregating 50,000 acres,
covered with valuable timber, which, in the course of time, he disposed of,
continuing his gold mining operations until 1904.
In the above year Mr. Martin came to Clarkesville, which city is largely
indebted to him for its material development. He introduced modern build-
ing construction and developed and improved every section, extending his
enterprises to Cornelia, in which place he yet owns valuable realty, and also
at Atlanta is a property owner. Either as founder or as financial backer,
Mr. Martin has been and still continues connected with a number of very
important business enterprises. He is the owner of the cotton gin and the
fertilizer plant at Clarkesville, and owns a large interest in the asbestuB
deposits in Habersham County. He has valuable farm property in other
sections and is a vital force in business circles in other places as well as at
Clarkesville. As an indication that he has not forgotten his early newspaper
days, it may be added that this versatile man is the owner of the Clarkesville
Advertiser.
Mr, Martin was married in 1904, to Miss Lulu Conley, who is a daughter
of the late John W. Conley, formerly of Gainesville, Georgia, and they have
two children : John Martin and Alexander Conley, both bom at Clarkes-
ville in the month of December, the former in 1904 and the latter in 1908,
and both attend school at Atlanta. Mr. Martin and family attend the Pres-
byterian Church. Genial, pleasant and companionable, nevertheless Mr.
Martin devotes comparatively little time to social life and belongs only to
the fraternal order of Odd Fellows, but when public matters of moment are
to be considered, he is ready to give both time and money if needed. In
politics he is a democrat and he is a member of the city council, in which
body he is very useful on account of the soundness of his business judgment.
For some time he has been president of the Clarkesville Board of Trade.
His many successful undertakings have made him widely known in the state
and he enjoys friendship, esteem and respect.
CowLES Mead was a native of Georgia, bom in the Revolutionary period,
obtained a fair education for the time, studied law, was admitted to the bar,
and practiced his profession actively. He was elected a representative from
Georgia to the Ninth Congress as a democrat in a hard-fought struggle with
Thomas Spalding. Mr. Spalding contested the election, and on December 25,
1805, the Congress unseated Mr. Mead and seated Mr. Spalding. The admin-
istration evidently sympathized with Mead in the controversy, for in 1806 he
was appointed by the Federal Government the secretary to the Mississippi
Territory, after which he disappears from the history of Georgia.
James Meriwether, member of the Nineteenth Congress, from 1825 to
1827, was a son of Gen. David Meriwether, one of the Revolutionary soldiers
and prominent in Georgia for forty years after the Revolution. James saw
military service as a young man and attained to the rank of major. After one
term in Congress, he voluntarily retired from public life, refusii^ to again
take any part in politics, preferring the quiet life of his plantation, on which
he spent the remainder of his days. He served as a commissioner in the
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2482 GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS
makm^ of one of the Indian treaties, was a trustee of the university, and a
useful citizen, though averse to public life.
Hon. W. S. Erwin. Formerly a well known figure in the railroad world
of North Georgia, and at present one of the leading members of the Haber-
sham County bar, Mayor W. S. Erwin of Ciarkesville has led a singularly
active and successful career, characterized by participation as a prominent
factor in private euterprises and public life. He is a native son of Haber-
sham Comijy, born March 12, 1873, his parents being William S. and Ruth
(Clark) Erwin.
William S. Erwin was bom in Georgia in 1838, and enjoyed excellent
educational opportunities in his youth. He had entered upon his career in
the law when the war between liie states came on, and early in that conflict
enlisted in the Confederate service, serving for several years as captain of a
company recruited in Habersham County. His military career finished, he
returned to his legal practice and subsequently became a leading jurist of
bis county and for a number of years served in the capacity of solicitor-general
of Georgia. His death occurred in 1893, when he was fifty-five years of age.
Mrs. Erwin, also a native of Oeoi^a, survives her husband and resides at
Ciarkesville, at the age of seventy-two years. There were six children in the
family, W. S, being the thjrd in order of birth.
After attending the public schools of Haber^am County, W. S. Erwin
entered Young Harris College. He entered upon his career in railroading
as an office boy for the Tallulah Falls Railroad, a position from which he rose,
through consecutive promotions, to general manager of the road, which he
operated for seven years. In 1909 Mr. Erwin turned his attention to the
study of law, and in 1910 was admitted to the bar, since which time he has
been engaged in active practice as a member of the firm of McMillan &
Erwin, his associate being Robert McMillan, solicitor general of the North-
eastern Circuit. The firm is conceded to be one of the strongest legal com-
binations in Habersham County and has been engaged in 'much important
litigation during the period of its existence. Among the important clients
whom it represents may be mentioned the Georgia Power Company and
Piedmont College. Mr. Erwin is a member of the Habersham County Bar
Association and the Georgia State Bar Association, He is a director and
trustee of Nacoochee Institute and of the Ninth School District. Always a
leading figure in democratic politics, in December, 1914, Mr, Erwin repre-
sented his party at the polls as candidate for the oflBce of mayor of Ciarkes-
ville, an office to which he was elected by an eminently satisfying majority.
His fine abilities have been exercised in giving Ciarkesville a clean, straight-
forward and businesslike administration, in which the citizens of the Haber-
sham County seat have had no reason to regret their choice. Mayor
Erwin and the members of his family are con^stent members and liberal
supporters of the Presbyterian Church,
On January 16, 1900, at MaysviUe, Georgia, Mayor Erwin was united
in marriage with Miss Cleo Boms, daughter of J. C. Bums of MaysviUe,
and to this union there have been bom four children, namely : Onie Ruth,
bom April 7, 1902, who is a student in the Ciarkesville graded schools;
Beatrice, bom 1908, at Cornelia, Georgia; Harry C, bom in 1911, at Ciarkes-
ville ; and Katharine, born in 1915. Mayor Erwin is the owner of a hand-
some and pleasantly-situated home at Ciarkesville, as well as other valuable
city realty.
George T, Daniel. The successful lawyer is made such by one of two
elementals — great talent or great indostry, but it frequently occurs that those
possessing the ability are forced through circumstances to display the latter
quality, the two combining to make for success in a vocation than which prob-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2483
ably no other strikes so deeply into the roots of the commonwealth. In his
youth, George T. Daniel was possessed of the native talent, but bis opportuni-
ties to advance himself were few, and therefore he was obliged to work his
own way, overcoming obstacles and surmounting difficulties in his cHmh to
his cherished goal. That industry and talent combined have resulted hap-
pily in his case is evidenced by the position he enjoys among the members of
the Habersham County bar, as well as by the able manner in which he is dis-
chai^Dg the duties of the office of city attorney of Clarkesville,
Mr. Daniel was bora in Habersham County, Georgia, March 11, 1879, and
is a son of William C, and Nancy Caroline (Smith) Daniel. His father, also
a native of this county, was bom in 1840, and at the outbreak of the war be-
tween the South and the North enlisted in Company K, Georgia Infantry,
as a private. Not long thereafter he was stricken with sickness and allowed'
a furlough to his home, but on his recovery- joined Young's Brigade, with
which he served until the close of the war. Returning to Habersham County,
Mr. Daniel engaged in agricultural pursuits, and through a long period of
hard and well-directed toil won a place for himself among the substantial
farmers of his locality. He died in 1913, at the age of seventy-three years,
and with the respect and confidence of those among whom he had passed his
life. Mrs. Daniel was born in 1846, in Hall County, Georgia, a daughter of
John N. Smith, and as a girl went with her parents to Dahlonega, Lumpkin
County, where she attended college. Later she moved to Habersham County,
where she met and married Mr, Daniel, whom she still survives, being a resi-
dent of Clarkesville and sixty-nine years of age. There were eleven children
in the family, George T. being the eighth in order of birth.
George T, Daniel received the foundation for his educational training in
tie public schools of Clarkesville, following which he attended the State Nor-
mal School, located at Athens, for three years. Having determined upon a
career in the law, and lacking the means with which to put himself through
a college or univeraty, Mr. Daniel overcame this obstacle as many other am-
bitious young men had done before him, accepting a position teaching school,
while he devoted the evening hours to the study of the vocation which he had
decided to make his life work. After several years passed in the schoolrooms
of Habersham and the adjoining counties, in 1905 he took the examination
and was admitted to the bar, but did not begin practice until three years later,
in the meantime continuing his work as an educator in order to accumulate a
small working capital. Since 1908 he has been engaged in practice at Clarkes-
ville, where he has been successful in building up an excellent professional
business. In that year Mr. Daniel was elected deputy clerk of the court, a por-
tion which he filled for four years, and was then elected to his present office
as city attorney of Clarkesville. He is a valued member of the Habersham
County Bar Association, and is generally accounted a thorough, learned and
astute legist, and an official whose services are of signal value to his com-
munity. Mr. Daniel is a democrat and wields some influence in his party in
Habersham County. His fraternal connection is with the local lodge of the
Woodmen of the World, while religiously be is a Baptist. For several years
Mr. Daniel has been interested in agricultural ventures and at this time is
the owner of a weU-cultivated and valuable farm in Habersham County, al-
though he does not operate this activity himself, having it leased to tenants.
Richard Henby Jones. Successful men are men of action. Nature has
no use for drones, or, at best, what use she makes of them is circumscribed
and temporary and brings no ultimate reward to the drone ; rather, indeed, a
punishment. So we find that those communities that can boast of the greatest
number of intelligent, enterprising and energetic citizens are in the long run
the most prosperous and most happy. Among the men of action who are
helping to build up the prosperity of their respective communities in the iiorth-
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24S4 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
western part of Georgia is the aabjeet o£ this memoir, Richard Henr; Jones
of Cedartown, Folk Couu^. Mr. Jones was bom in the adjoining County of
Bartow, October 2, 1861, a son of Dr. EUjah C. and Mary Eadelis (Peek)
Jones, his parents being natives of this state. His paternal grandfather.
Dr. Elijah Evans Jones, was bom in Virginia, January 13, 1795, and gradu-
ated in medicine at the medical department of the University of Penn^lvania
in Philadelphia. Hia father, Elijah Evans Jones, married Lucy Ligon, who
died in Madison, Georgia, in her ninety-third year, April 22, 1860. Dr. Elijah
Evans Jones was elected to the Senate of Georgia, was a large land and slave
owner, and member of the Baptist Church. He established himself in the
practice of medicine in Madison, Morgan County, Georgia and followed Ms
profession there during the greater part of a long life, which terminated
when he had attained the advanced age of eighty-two years, 1876.
At that time he was the oldest and most prominent medical man in that
locality, and perhaps it may be added the most popular. For over forty
years he had been one of the directors of the Georgia Railroad and one of
the heaviest stockholders, never missing a directors' meeting during all that
time. His fidelity to duty was so warmly appreciated that a memorial tablet
was prepared as a tribute of respect to his memory, and presented to his
family by the officers and directors of the company. Dr. Elijah Evans Jones
married Elizabeth Johnston, and had five Chilian to arrive at maturity
and marry.
Mary Jane Jones married George Asper Reed of Savannah, Geoi^a,
October 12, 1842. Elijah Cornelius Jones married Mary Cordelia Peek
October 21, 1851. Virginia Jones married Charles Eugenius Nisbet Septem-
ber 20, 1849, Georgia Minerva Jones married James N. Mann June 20, 1849.
Florine Jones married Eugene Harris September 17, 1851.
Dr. Elijah Evans Jones married Elizabeth Johnston, June 20, 1816,
daughter of Dr. Lancelot Johnston, a surgeon in the Revolutionary war. He
was bom in 1748 in Ireland and was educated for the medical profession in
his native country, Ireland, later performing the duties of surgeon in the
army of his adopted country with fidelity, which documents in the archives
of the coimtry testify. He died at the advanced age of eighty-four years
at bis residence in Caswell County, North Carolina, 1832, Dr. Lancelot
Johnston married Miss Zernah Riee, of Bedford County, Virginia, daughter
of Thomas and Abigail Rice, Dr, Lancelot Johnston left ten sons and
daughters who settled in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas, all wealthy
and influential. Their coat of arras is a flying spur, motto "Nunquam
Non Paratus."
Dr. Elijah Cornelius Jones was bom June 22, 1827, who was the father
of Richard Henry Jones, the subject of this sketch, was a graduate of the
Georgia State University at Athens, Georgia, and also a graduate of the
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta, Georgia, a highly accomplished and
literary gentleman, and began the practice of medicine at Madison, Georgia,
continuing there for eight years. He was married in 1851 to Mary Cordelia
Peek, whose acquaintance he had made while she was a student at the Georgia
Female College at Madison, from which she graduated with distinction. She
was a daughter of "William and Elizabeth (Reid) Peek and was bom
November 25, 1833. After their marriage the young couple purchased a
plantation in Bartow County where for the following twenty years of his
life he was principally engaged in farming. He was assistant surgeon dur-
ing the Civil war. In 1885 he and his family moved to Cedartown at which
place he died at the age of fifty-nine years, July 22, 1886. At the time of
his death he owned several fine farms and was a wealthy and highly respected
citizen. His wife, Mary Cordelia Peek Jones, died January IT, 1916, after
residing many years in the beautiful old colonial home at Cedartown, Georgia,
built by her father, William W. Peek.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2485
Dr. and Mrs. Jones were the parents of nine children, three of whom died
in infancy. The others are as follows: Elijah Evans; Julius Peek, a Baptist
minister and farmer of Calhoun, Geor^a, who married Minnie L. Bray, of
Calhoun, Georgia j Virginia, wife of Dr. £. H. Rich^dson of Cedar-
town, Geoi^a; Richard Henry, banker, farmer and capitalist, whose name
forms the caption of this article ; Estelle, wife of Dr. H, M. Hall, of Cedartown,
and who by a former marriage to a Mr, Julius Hardwick had two children,
Florine Estelle Hardwick, and Richard Holmes Hardwick; also Dr. Percy
Lancelot Jones, surgeon and major in the United States Army, residing at
Washington, District of Columbia. He married Fannie May Bangs, of
Washington, District of Columbia, and has one child, Elizabeth Cordelia.
Dr. and Mrs. Elijah Cornelias Jones have four other grandchildren.
Dr. Everard Dugas Richardson, who married Sallie Leonard, of Vienna,
Geot^a, now living at 53 East Fifteenth Street, Atlanta, Georgia ; Dr. Marion
Sims Richardson, of Cedartown, Georgia ; Mrs. G. B. Van Cleave, nee Floriue
Richardson, 1079 Cherokee Road, Louisville, Kentucky; Miss Virginia
Hall, Cedartown, Georgia ; and two great grandchildren, Everart and Leonard
Richardson, of Atlanta, Georgia.
William Winfrey and Elizabeth (Reid) Peek, the maternal grandparents
of Richard Henry Jones, were natives of Taliaferro County, Georgia, in which
county William Peek was a prominent planter for many years. He was born
in Taliaferro County, Georgia, in 1799, and was the son of Henry and Mary
(Lockett) Peek of Virginia. He was a man of great wealth, a large land and
slave owner, and sold his cotton crop in 1860 for $30,000 in gold. He married
Elizabeth Reid, daughter of James and Rebecca (Duke) Reid, residents of
Taliaferro County, Georgia, who were the parents of seventeen children, from
whom also descended the late United States Senator Clay of Marietta, Georgia.
William Winfrey Peek Taised eight children to be grown and married, to
all of whom he left a comfortable fortune. Emily Peek married William F.
Janes; Georgia Ann Peek married (1) Joe Evans, (2) William Ward ; Martha
Peek married Thompson Colbert; Mary Cordelia Peek married Elijah Evans
Jones ; David Peek married Martha Wooley ; Luther Peek married Lou Wright ;
Capt. Julius A. Peek married (1) Martha W. Peek, {2) Tululah Gertrude
Harris; Ella Peek married John 0. Waddell, ail of whom resided in North
Georgia. William Winfrey Peek moved to Cedar Valley in 1851 building
the handsome ante bellum residence near Cedartown, where he lived retired for
the rest of his long life. He died in May, 1884, having reached the age of
eighty-five years.
Richard Henry Jones, the direct subject of this memoir, is the namesake
of Col. Richard Jones (bom June 29, 1793), of Wheeler, Alabama, who was a
double first cousin of his grandfather, Dr. Elijah Evans Jones, their fathers
were brothers and their mothers were sisters. Richard Jones married Annie
liigon; Elijah Evans Jones married Lucy Ligon. They were as devoted as
brothers throughout their long lives. Col. Richard Jones graduated with
first honor at Athens College, Georgia, in 1812, and married Lucy W.,
daughter of Governor Early. Col. Richard Jones' only daughter, Daniella,
married Gen, Joseph Wheeler, whose daughters. Misses Lucy L., Annie Early
Wheeler; Mrs. W, J. Harris, of Washington, District of Columbia, and Mrs.
Gordon Buck, of New York, and Maj. Joseph Wheeler of United States
Army survive them.
Richard Henry Jones, the direct subject of this memoir, acquired the
elements of knowledge in the schools of Bartow County, after which he
became a student at Kirkwood Academy, under Professor Northern (later
governor of Georgia) and Professor Neal. His literary education was fin-
bhed at Madison, Morgan County, Georgia, under Prof. Edward C.
Butler, after which he spent several years in and about Taylorsville, Georgia.
His adventurous nature then prompted him to try life in the wild West, and
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2486 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
he aecordiDgly went to that part of Texas known as the Panhandle, where,
and in the adjoining Indian Territory, he led the exciting and then dan-
gerous life of a cowboy, thus serving for ten years in the employ of the
Wichita Land &' Cattle Company. By the end of that time he had proven
himself so reliable, fearless and efficient that he was made the general man-
ager of one of the largest ranch companies in the Northwest. During his
e^erience as a cowboy he often had dangerous encounters with the Indians,
but proved so well able to take care of himself, and to protect the herds under
his charge that he won the admiration, and even friendship, of some of the
noted savage chiefs, including Quanah Parker and Big Tree. He also became
a warm personal friend of Burk Burnett, Tom Wagner, Joe Kemp and
others and of Capt. Thomas, McDonald, the famous chief of Texas rangers,
some of whose desperate adventures have recently been published in maga-
zine form. To have won the admiration of such men is sufficient proof of
Mr. Jones' courage and nerve in dangerous situations. Among his many
exciting experiences in the West, in 1887 he took charge of a herd of 2,400
cattle, and with fourteen cowboys, a cook, camp supplies and wagon, left
the North Canadian River for a market in Caldwell, Kansas, having to
fatten his herd on the way. The trail led through the northern part of
Indian Territory, and before starting Mr. Jones received instructions from
the United States officers stationed at Fort Cantonment, that to leave the
regular trail was to bring upon himself the illwill of the Indians, who
guarded their pastures against encroachment by white men. After leaving
the cantonment behind, however, he discovered a fine valley of splendid grass,
waist high, and determined to allow bis herds plenty of time to graze and
fatten. He was discovered by a telegraph operator, who advised him
he bad taken possession of Indian pastures, and that if he didn't at onee
strike the regular trail he would surely be murdered with his med, and his
cattle confiscated. This man informed him that he was four miles off the
trail. He answered that he was in no hurry to move, and returned to the
cantonment with one of his men, Bob Sessions, a Miesourian, to lay in a
supply of sugar and bacon, first putting every one of his men, including the
cook, on guard, armed with Winchesters and six-shooters, with infftructiwis
to guard the cattle. Before he left, however, he received a visit from the
Indian agent and ten Indian policemen, the agent advising him to move
to the trail. The Indian police offered their services to assist him by giving
him their protection, as they said the Indians had heard of his invasion and
were preparing to raid his herd. But he refused their protection and
advised them to return to headquarters at once, as he had ordered his men
to shoot "anything that looked red." They followed his advice but again
warned him of his danger. He and his man Sessions then left for the can-
tonment, where they purchased their supplies. On the return journey a
heavy storm blew up with violent wind and rain, and almost instantly some-
thing terrible happened. The first thing he afterward remembered was that
he found himself lying on the ground, with the forelegs of his pony pressing
on him, the horse being dead. Crawling from under it, he saw his partner.
Bob Sessions, lying dead, and also both ponies. But the strangest part of
it was that his mind was a complete blank. He could not remember his own
name, nor did he know who the dead man was or what he was there for. This
catastrophe had been caused by a bolt of lightning. Noticing th% footprints
of the two horses in the mud, he wandered in an opposite direction until he
finally reached camp. Gradually his reason returned, and he sent several
of his men with a wagon to take the body of Sessions to the cantonment and
bury it. When the Indian agent heard the story he at once carried it to
the Indians who were bent on confiscating the herd, telling them that the
Great Spirit had punished the encroacher on their pastures sufficiently by
lightning. Mr, Jones remained in that locality for ten days, during which
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GEOBGIA AND GEORGIANS 2487
time be was visited by a band of tbese same Indians, who described him as
"Heap bad man from Texas; Heap lightning proof," and, being awed by
what they regarded as supernatural powers, never molested him or the
herd, which be safely delivered at its destination.
Mr. Jones' snccess as a cowboy was most remarkable. One winter he
spent in Greer Connty, Texas, fourteen miles from a human habitation,
with 3,000 cows and calves and 500 head of horses to take care of, with only .
two companions, both crippled, his other man having left him to take advan-
tage of the large salaries — $100 per month and expenses of board — then
being paid cowboys to drive herds to Montana. In 1887 he drove his last herd
— one of 2,400 head — from Hardeman Coimty, Texas, to the South Arkansas
River, without losing a single head, this being the crowning event of his
cowboy life, and really a remarkable feat seldom accomplished.
In 1892 Mr. Jones returned to his native state and settled in Cedartown,
Polk Connty, where his parents had made their home during his stay in the
"West. Here he engaged in the iron ore business, organizing several com-
panies. In 1907 he, with W, J. Harris, director of the United States census,
organized the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Cedartown, of which he has
had the sole char^ ever since, now holding the office of president. Under
his management it has grown into a strong and stable financial institution,
an important factor in the business life of this community and the sur-
rounding territory. Mr. Jones' adventurous career and his present standing
as one of the leading business men of Polk County, are widely known, and
his popularity extends throughout the whole northern part of Georgia, in
which section the Joneses are one of the most distinguished families. His
favorite diversion is hunting, which serves to remind him in a mild degree
of hifl former life on the plains, while fraternally he is connected by member-
ship wit& the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Imbued with the spirit of
the New South, he takes advantage of every opportunity to improve sur-
rounding conditions, looking forward to the future with a cheerful optimism.
Hon. James A. Bobertson. Few family names in Habersham County,
Georgia, are better known than that of Robertson. Largely agricultural it is
also recognized in the professions and in public life, a notable example being
found in one of Clarkesville's foremost citizens, Hon. James A. Robertson,
who is serving in his second term as judge of the County Court of Habersham
County.
Judge Robertson was born in Habersham County, January 10, 1872, and
is a son of John W. and Sally (Sisson) Robertson, the latter of whom died in
1908, at the age of sixty-three years. Both parents of Judge Robertson were
bom and reared in Georgia and the father, now in his seventy-fifth year, still
occupies the old family homestead in Habersham County. He baa an honor-
able record for service during the war between the states, enlisting early in
the Confederate army and serving three years and four months as a member of
Company E, Sixteenth Georgia. He was so serioudy wounded, in his left leg,
during the Battle of the Wilderness, that removal to a hospital was necessary
but after recovery he rejoined his regiment. After the close of hostilities he
returned to his farming industries in Habersham County, Although he has
never changed his place of residence, for the past forty years he has served as
a justice of the peace in three districts, retaining his office during this long
period notwithstanding the change in apportionment. Of his family of seven
children, James A. is the second in order of birth.
James A. Robertson attended the country schools near his father's farm
until the age of fourteen years, when he started to learn the carpenter trade
and for a time worked in a sawmill. He then became a school teacher and
also a farmer and yet owns and conducts a well cultivated farm although, for
a number of years his main interests have been in other directions. For fifteen
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2488 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
years Judge Robertson continued in the educational field, finding the profes-
sion of teaching congenial and becoming well known all over the county thereby.
He continued to teach up to 1908 when he was elected judge of the County
Court, to which responsible position he was re-elected in 1912 and 1916. On
the bench he has still further won the confidence and approbation of his fellow
citizens, all of his decisions having been very satisfactory to the people of the
county. Judge Robertson is one of the directors of the Habersham Bank of
Clarke sville.
On December 23, 1900, Judge Robertson was united in marriage with Miss
Hortense King, who is a daughter of James A. and Caroline (Faulkner) King,
residents of Habersham County. Judge and Mrs. Robertson have four chil-
dren : James Clyde, who was bom at Cornelia, Georgia, in June, 1905, is at-
tending school at Clarkesville ; Homer Tyson, who was bom at Cornelia in
1906, also attends school; Joseph Fletcher, who was born at Corneiia, in 1909;
and Christiana, who was born in 1911 at Clarkesville, Georgia.
Judge Robertson has always given his political support to the principles
and candidates of the democratic party. He is identified fratemally with a
number of the leading organizations of the country aud is a Royal Arch
Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Woodmen of the World. With
his family he atteuds the Baptist Church.
One feature of value in biography, is the encouragement its consideration
gives to a younger generation, whereby it may observe, that in spite of many
Iiampering early conditions, that persevering industry and pursuit of high
ideals bring almost certain rewards, and in this light, in addition to others, the
life record of Judge Robertson is both interesting and emulative.
James K. Hines. A native son of Georgia and a scion of one of its
old and honored families. Judge James Kollock Hines has gained secure
status as one of the representative lawyers and jurists of the Empire State
of the South aud is engaged in the practice of his profession in the City of
Atlanta, where he is senior member of the law firm of Hines & Jordan, in
which his valued coadjutor is James K. Jordan, the offices of the firm being
at 1705 Third National Bank Building and the law business controlled being
of broad scope and importance. Judge Hines served four years on the circuit
bench, and since 1907 he has been special attorney to the Georgia Railway
Commission, as a representative of which he has handled a large amount of
important legal business.
Judge nines was horn on a farm in Burke County, Geoi^a, on the 18th
of November, 1852, and is a son of Joseph H. Hines, who likewise was bom
and reared in this state, where he became a prosperous agriculturist and
lumberman and an influential citizen of Burke County, which he at one time
represented as a member of the State Legislature. He served as a valiant
soldier of the Confederacy during the latter half, of the Civil war and he
was a resident of Washington County at the time of his death, in October,
1871. He was a son of Howell IlineS) who was a native of North Carolina and
who became an extensive planter in Georgia in the pioneer days, besides
which he served for a number of years as justice of the peace in EfBngham
County, this state. Howell Hines was a son of David Hines, who was a promi-
nent planter in Virginia and who figured as a gallant soldier in the Conti-
nental Line in the War of the Revolution. The lineage of the Hines family
is traced back to staunch Scotch Presbyterian origin and the original repre-'
sentatives in America immigrated to the New World from the north of
Ireland, the family having left Scotland and removed to Ireland with many
other Scotch families who thus avoided the religious dissensions in their
native land.
In his native county Judge Hines was reared to the age of nine years
and he then accompanied his parents on their removal to Washington County,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2489
where he waxed strong in mind and body through the vigorous discipline
of the home farm and through attending the schools of the locality and
period. He finally entered Emory College, at Oxford, in August, 1S69, and
in this excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of
1872, with first honors and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the same
year he was matriculated in the law school of historic old Harvard University,
where he continued his technical studies until, he had completed the prescribed
course. He then returned to Georgia and estahlislied his residence in the
City of Savannah, where he was admitted to the bar on the 17th of December,
1873, and where he continued in the practice of his profession until August,
1875, when he removed to Saiidersville, the judicial center of "Washington
County, where he built up a substantial practice and where he continued to
reside sixteen years, at the expiration of which he established his home in
the City of Atlanta, having since continued one of the representative mem-
bers of the bar of the capital city of his native state.
In November, 1876, Governor Alfred H. Colquitt appointed Judge Hines
solicitor general of tlie Middle Judicial Circuit of Georgia, and in October,
1884, he was elected representative of Washington County in the lower house
of the State Legislature, in which he served one term' In November, 1886,
the General Assembly of the Georgia Legislature conferred upon Judge Hines
the office of judge of the Middle Judicial Circuit, which he had previously
served in the capacity of solicitor general. He remained on this bench for
a period of four years and his broad and accurate knowledge of law and
precedent was so effectively combined with judicial acumen that his adminis-
tration proved the conser\'ator of equity and justice and few of his judicial
decisions met with reversal- on the part of courts of higher jurisdiction.
In the spring of 1894 Judge Hines was made the populist nominee for
governor of Georgia, and though he anticipated and met defeat at the polls
he made a signally vigorous, clean and effective campaign, in which he made
no appeal to partisan prejudices but gave consideration only to public ques-
tions and national issues, his campaign speeches proving potent in gaining
to him a large number of new friends and admirers, all of whom appreciated
his ability and his integrity of purpose. The judge is an orator of excep-
tional power and in the practice of his profession ho has gained high reputa-
tion and marked success as a forceful and versatile advocate, many important
forensic victories attesting his ability along this line. Since 1885 Judge
Hines has been an influential and valued member of the board of trustees
of his alma mater, Emory College, and lie has done miich to foster the
advancement and success of this institution. Both he and his wife are active
and zealous members of the First Jlethodist Episcopal Church South in their
home city.
In January, 1879, Judge Hines wedded Miss Belle Evans, daughter of
the late Col. Thomas Evans, of South Carolina, who was a gallant officer
of the Confederate service in the Civil war. Mrs. Hines was summoned to
eternal rest in the year 1884 and is survived by two daughters. Misses Lucy
B, and Susan Hines, both of whom are now successful and popular teachers
in the State of Washington, the former being a resident of the City of
Spokane and the latter of Walla Walla. On the 28th of December, 1885, was
solemnized the marriage of Judge Ilines to Miss Cora L. McBridc, daughter
of the late Dr. William G. McBride, who was a prominent physician and
surgeon of Washington County, this state. Judge and Mrs. Ilines have three
daughters, Elizabeth H., Mary and Cora L., all of whom remain at the
parental home and are popular factors in the representative social activities
of Atlanta.
J. Chebton King, M. D. A specialist and recognized authority in the
treatment of nervous and mental diseases, this distinguished Atlanta physi-
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2490 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
cian aod surgeon has not been content to limit his ministrations to mere
private practice or that of an institution maintained under state auspices,
but it has been his privilege and pleasure to establish near the City of
Atlanta the Cheston King Sanitarium and to provide through this medium a
most noble institution for the care and treatment of those afflicted with
nervous or mental disorders. The sanitarium, which was opened in 1914,
is reci^nized as the finest of the kind in the United States, with facilities
and appointments of the best modem order. It la needless to say that Doctor
King is a man of exceptionally high professional attainments or that his
reputation in Ms chosen field of special practise has far transcended local
limitations. Enduring credit and honor are due to him for the admirable
enterprise and humane spirit which found their concrete expression in his
founding the Cheston King Sanitarium, the title of which perpetuates the
name by which he is familiarly known rather than by his first personal name.
Dr. John Cheston^ King was bom at Jackson, East Feliciana Parish,
Louisiana, on the 1st of November, 1865, and is a son of Owen and Ellen
(Fitzpatrick) King, both representatives of distinguished old families of
the fair Emerald Isle. His father was born in Athlone, Ireland, and was a
direct descendant of tlie third duke of Arlington, The mother of the doctor
was bom at Belturbet, County Cavan, Ireland, where her father, John Fitz-
patrick, was an extensive landholder.
After due preliminary discipline. Doctor King entered Centenary College,
one of the excellent educational institutions of his native state, and after his
graduation in the same, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he eventually
entered upon the preparation for the profession in which he has attained
marked distinction. In 1895 he was graduated in the Atlanta Medical
College, as valedictorian of his class, and after receiving his degree of
Doctor of Medicine he was for five years engaged in the general practice
of his profession, in Atlanta. He then came to a definite realization of the
consistency and value of concentration in his humane profession, with the
result that he decided to specialize in the treatment of nervous and mental
diseases. For this purpose, that he might be fully fortified, he took special
post-graduate courses of study in leading institutions in the cities of New
York, London and Berlin.
Within a siiort time after his return from Europe Doctor King estab-
lished in Atlanta the Howell Park Sanitarium, which he thereafter conducted
as an institution for the treatment of mental and nervous diseases until its
facilities proved inadequate to meet the demands of the constantly increas-
ing patronage and led to his founding of the Cheston King Sanitarium, which
is most eligibly situated on Peachtree Road and near the corporate limits of
the City of Atlanta. At this juncture may consistently be entered quota-
tions, with but slight paraphrase, from an article that appeared in the Journal-
Record of Medicine, published in Atlanta:
"The new institutions springing up over the countrj- for the care of the
insane keep pace with those established for surgical purposes, though their
clientele remains more confidential and the public attention is not drawn to
them. A conspicuous example of this is the Cheston King Sanitarium near
Atlanta. In the first place, its location is far enough away from the busy
city to give its patients that quiet and restfulness essential to recovery, while
at the same time it is in the midst of country homes of prosperous people.
The fine building is constructed along the lines of a large residence, or per-
haps a small and delightful hotel. It is fire-proof, but that fact does not
stare one in the face. Entering its pleasant hallways, the impression is
instantaneous that here are comfort and cleanliness combined with quiet
efficiency. There is nothing oppressive or forbidding. The rooms in the two
wings are so planned that every one has a fine outlook. They are furnished
neatly and comfortably in the most modern manner, and everything is new.
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QEOBGIA AND 6E0RQIAMS 2491
Mauy rooms have baths attached aod all are equipped with rumiiDg water
and the best of sanitary plumbing. ^ In one part of the house various occupa-
tions are provided as a means of treatment. These, together with indoor
games, are light and pleasant and serve to give practice to the mind that is
learning once more to concentrate and control its activities. The dining rooms
and large kitchen are in a wing by themselves. The buildings are heated by
vapor and the boiler-room capacity is double the need. The water supply
comes from an artesian well 250 feet deep, that gives a spontaneous Sow of
over ten times the maximum demands of the sanitarium, the water being
of rare purity. The water is pumped everywhere throughout the institution
and provides amply for the modern hydroptherapeutic installation in one of
the basements. The grounds surrounding the sanitarium are commodious
and veil arranged. At the front are winding drives and a sunken garden,
so that the outlook is pleasing. At one side there are tennis and handball
courts, where these games can be enjoyed all the year round. Beyond the
institution there are extensive gardens where fresh vegetables are raised
and an excellent dairy also is maintained.
"The comparison has been hinted between this modem hospital and those
for surgery and general medicine. It is extended in the provision that is
made for such surgery as the treatment of mental diseases requires. Proper
provision is made for such surgical end mechanical treatment as may be
needed. The capacity of the sanitarium is fifty beds and it is so built that it
cannot be crowded. There are no dormitories. It is under the constant care
of experienced alienists who are residents in their homes upon the grounds.
Besides these there is a small and efficient staff of consultants resident in
Atlanta. Nothing is for show. Everything must have its effectiveness in
the comfort or welfare of the patients or it is set aside. It is needless to say
that the sanitarium is not a show place and that under all circumstances
the personal privacy of its patrons is regarded as inviolable ; but neither is a
forbidden land. Thus we have in Atlanta not only fine general hospitals
in the city proper but also there is, just without our walls, a most excellent
example of a hospital for the treatment of mental diseases."
Doctor King has recently bought the famous sulphur springs at Tampa,
Florida, and on this property is an artesian well. The water of this well
has practically the same analysis as the Kissengen and Vichy water of
Bavaria. He will develop this property into a health resort.
Doctor King is identified with leading professional organizations, includ-
ing the' American Medical Association,- the Georgia 8tate Medical Society,
the Fulton County Medical Society, the Southern Medical Association and
is an honorary member of the Chicago Medical Society. His political allegiance
is given unreservedly to the democratic party and he served on the military
staff of Governor Terrell, with the rank of colonel. He is a member and
secretary of the executive committee of the board of trustees of the new
Oglethorpe University, recently established in Atlanta, he is past exalted ruler
of Atlanta Lodge, No. 78, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is affiliated
with the Masonic fraternity and he contributes articles to leading medical
and literary magazines. Both he and his wife hold membership in the North
Avenue Presbyterian Church. The doctor is a director of the West End
Bank and has other business and capitalistic interests in Atlanta. His
Atlanta offices are at 1010 Candler Building, and his attractive residence ia
on the grounds of his sanitarium, on Peachtree Road.
On the 5th of June, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor King
to Miss Mary Barr Marriot, daughter of Capt. M. Marriot, a distinguished
citizen of Alabama and a staff officer under Gen. Leonard Wood in the
*^ivil war.
Allen F, Owen, a native of North Carolina, moved to Talbotton, Georgia,
received an ordinary education, held several local offices, l>ecame somewhat -
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2492 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
promiaent in politics, and was elected a representative to the Thirty-first
Congress as a whig, serving from 1849 to 1851. Later- he was appointed
consnl general to Havana. No information is available as to the remainder
of his life.
Joseph Bkyan, of Savannah, who represented Georgia in the Eighth and
Ninth congresses, serving from October 7, 1803 until he resigned in 1806,
was a son of Jonathan Bryan, one of the most famous of the Revolutionary
characters in Georgia. He retired voluntarily from the public service and
does not appear to have again re-entered it, certainly not in prominent
capacity. One of hja daughters, Georgia, married Dr. James Proctor Screven,
builder and first president of the Savannah, Florida & Western Railway.
William Thomas Tugglb. In a biographical record of representative
citizens of the State of Georgia, Troup County, must be given a careful
review, for in proportion to its size and population, it need not fear compari-
son with any other part of the state. Here reside a number of able men,
both in business and professional circles, who are at the same time loyal up
to date and public spirited citizens, of whom any community might be proud.
Among those who uphold the honor and maintain the best traditions of the
legal profession in this county is William Thomas Tuggle, now serving as
attorney for the Board of County Commissioners as well as doing a general
practice. Mr. Tuggle is a native of the county, having been born one mile
south of La Grange, March 1, 1S7S ; the son of William 0. and Margaret
Cox Tuggle. William 0. Tuggle was a man of great force of character. He
was the son of William Lamb and Orrie Ilinton Tuggle. William Lamb
Tuggle lived in Henry County near McDonough. He died when his son
William 0. was only eighteen months old. He left his children a good
patrimony. William 0. Tuggle was bom in Henry County, September 25,
1845, and died while on a visit to Thomasville on Pebruary 3, 1885. Hia
home was near La Grange in Troup County from his boyhood days until his
death. He was a lawyer and author of ability. He was elected to the State
Senate in 1868, he was elector from the State of Georgia to the presidential
electoral college in 1876, he was delegate from the state at large to the
national democratic convention in 1876 and 1880, he served in the constitu-
tional convention in 1877, he was superintendent of the Sunday school of the
First Baptist Church at La Grange for sixteen years, and was secretary of
the Southern Baptist Convention for three years.
He represented the State of Georgia in collecting from the United States
Government a large sum of money levied illegally during the Civil war in
the form of a direct tax ; having been appointed to this service by Governor
Colquit.
He also represented the Creek Indians in collecting a large amount due
them by the National Government.
When the war broke out he left the junior class at Mercer and joined
the Confederate army, becoming a member of the La Grange Light Guards,
and as such he performed six months' service in Virginia. He then .ioined
Morgan's Cavalry, was taken prisoner twice, one time being confined in the
Ohio Penitentiary, but escaped and rejoined his company, serving with dis-
tinction to the end of the war.
His widow who still survives him is now seventy-four years of age and
resides at La Grange. Her parents were Albert E. and Juliet "Warren
(Alford) Cox, the father being a merchant of La Grange and, after the war,
a prominent planter. Daring the war he was superintendent of the salt works
for the Confederate Government, being stationed at Salt Works, Vii^nia.
His wife died in 1879. She was a daughter of Julius C. Alford, known as the
famous ""'War Horse of Troup County." Mr. and Mrs. William 0. Tu^le
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GEORGIA AND GEOKQIANS 2493
had eight children, as follows : Albert J.,- a student of Emory College and
the University of Georgia, who practiced medicine in La Grange until bia
death in 1908; Orrie, who married James A. Williamson of Atlanta; Mar-
garet A., who died at La Grange in 1908 ; William Thomas, the subject of this
sketch ; Juliet, a graduate of La Grange College and now a teacher iu the
public schools; Sara, now Mrs. Osbom Douglas of Atlanta; Antoinette, also a
graduate of La Grange College; Ruth, a teacher.
William Thomas Tuggle was educated in La Grange High School and the
University of Georgia. After studying law under his uncle, Albert H. Cox of
Atlanta, he was admitted to the bar by Hon. Samuel W. Harris, judge of the
Superior courts of the Coweta Circuit, and began the practice of his profes&ion
In La Grange, becoming the law partner of the Hon. E. T. Moon. In 1898
he was appointed by Governor Allen Candler as solicitor for the city courts
of La Grange, serving one term with credit, and he previously served as
solicitor of the County Court of Troup County. He was then elected a member
of the Jjegislature, serving in 1907-08 and also in 1909-10, by re-eleetion.
While a legislator he showed his ability and did useful work on special and
general judiciary and other committees. His public and professional record
led to his appointment in 1905 as county attorney for the board of county
commissioners, in which position he is now serving. Aside from the practice
of law Mr. Tuggle devotes a part of his time to farming, being the owner of
a fine farm in the county. As a public spirited citizen he takes a keen interest
in the progress and development of the city, county and state and is always
ready to answer letters of inquiry from prospective settlers. He belongs to
the Knights of Pythias and to the Odd Fellows. In religion he is a Baptist.
His favorite amusements are base ball and fishing.
Mr. Tuggle was married October 15, 1913, in La Grange, to Mrs. Jennie
D. (Babers) Newman, a native of Mississippi and widow of H. W. Newman.
Mr. Tuggle comes of good Georgia stock on both sides ; the Alfords, his maternal
grandmother's family, were among the earliest settlers of Troup County, and
in his own personal career he has always upheld the family honor. He is
now in the prime of life, and as he is not a man to stand stilt and rest on bis
laurels, it may be expected that he will show himself capable of still greater
things in thb future.
Julius C. Aijx)bd, "^e War Horse of Troup, Georgia, M. C, 1838-40.
The Alfords of Wake County, North Carolina, served the cause of free-
dom during the American Revolution.
Lodwick Alford emigrated to Georgia, settling first in Greene County.
He was fresh from the War of 1812, where he ranked as captain. His wife,
Judith Jackson, was the daughter of of Reuben Jackson of North Carolina,
who won distinction at the battle of New Orleans. Their tJdest son, Julius C.
Alford, was bom at Greensboro, May 10, 1799.
When his father moved to Troup County he remained for a while at
Greensboro, studying law under Colonel Foster. He married Eliza Cook.
Judge Cone married one of her sisters and Rev. Chas, Sanders the other. As
the whole current of the life of Julius Afford was influenced by this marriage,
I will digress to relate something of the history of these beautiful sisters.
There lived in Florida under the Spanish rule, an English gentleman,
George Cook, with his wife and three little daughters. It was an ideal home
as pictured to these children in after years by a faithful servant. Troubles
with the Indians arose : Colonel Cook left home to meet the threatening
enemy. He was killed in battle, and his body servant, a faithful slave, fled
home to warn the plantation that the red skins were coming. The news that
"Master" was killed caused a panic in the negro quarters and all of the slaves
fled except this devoted body servant. He went to the house and told the
terrible news to his mistress, and helped her to escape to the woods with the
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2494 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
children. The flaming dwelling lighted their lurid way. The mother died
from terror and exposure, leaving three little girls to the care of her brother,
Nathaniel Ashley of Louisville, Geot^a. He had them educated in the cele-
brated Moravian school at Salem, North Carolina.
After his marriage to Eliza Cook, Julius Alford moved to Troup County,
then in possession of the Creek Indians. His father having built a home five
miles from the point on the Chattahoochee now known as West Point. Juliiu
decided to be near him and settled at the place now known as La Grange.
He su^ested the name of the town, at a public meeting, being an ardent
admirer of LaFayette, whose home bore that name. He named his youngest
daughter Antoinette LaFayette.
About this time troubles with the Indians increased and Julius Alford
commanded the forues that met them at West Point. He drove them below
Columbus and defeated them at the battle of Chiehesahatchie, driving them
into the Seminole country.
Colonel Alford, as he was now called, was elected to Congress in 1838.
It was during this congressional career that he received the sobriquet of
"The War Horse of Troup." 1 quote from a letter written by his soB-in-iaw,
Mr. B, J, Baldwin, of Alabama : "It appears that there was a bill introduced
in the House of Representatives to have all of the Creek Indians moved to
the West A Northern member made a speech in opposition to an appropria-
tion for that purpose, in which he made light of the terrible crimes the Indians
had perpetrated upon the helpless women and children of Geoi^a and
Alabama. Col. Alford rose in reply. He had magnificent height and
bearing and a voice like a bugle call. He said that he did not think the
Northern friend was cognizant of the condition of affairs in the borders of the
Indian Nation. Could he but see what I have seen and hear what I have heard,
it would make the blood run cold in hia veins.
"Oh, that terrible warwhoop; and actually gave that warwhoop in the
halls of congress. Its piercing horror startled the listless members, their
hearts sprang to the rescue of the women and children who were exposed to the
frequent midnight challenge, and the bill passed."
Perhaps the orator's heart was fired by not only what he had seen and
heard but as well by the horrors of his wife's early orphanage. She was
at that time at home in La Grange keeping it happy for his return. But at
tins period misfortune awaited him, and the sudden dfath of his beloved wife
broke up all the plans of his life. He moved to Tuskegee, Alabama, and
afterwards to the prairies below Montgomery. He left his home in La
Grange, the hill whereon now stands the La Grange Female College, and
threw himself into politics in Alabama, but hia fortunate star had set, although
kept too busy by the practice of his profession and large farming interest
to grow morose. He spent much of the latter part of his life in the pleasures
of the chase, making long camp hunts with his son-in-law, Mr. Baldwin. My
father, Mr. A. E. Cox, who was his son-in-law also, has told me that Colonel
Alford was not a secessionist but being a delegate to the secession conven-
tion at Montgomery, went with the majority heartily, to make it unanimous,
and although then in feeble health raised a company in his county which he
supplied from his private means for several years. I well remember when
I made visits during the Civil war seeing the plantations looms weaving cloth,
the women knitting socks, and the tannery making leather for shoes for the
"Alford Guards."
Late in life he married a woman devoted to the Southern cause, and it
was a beautiful sight to see as I once did, his lovely little daughter seated high
on the gate post handing socks to each member of the "Alford Guards" as
they filed by the gate going off to Montgomery. He was now very feeble.
My last'visit to him was to take him some medicine my mother sent. Medi-
cines then were almost unobtainable. My uncle, William Alford, of West
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2495
Point, went also, they were devoted brothers, Montgomery was then held by
our forces. We obtained a permit to pass the lines, aad went in a hack whidi
carried mail out ten miles. At that point we secured two horses and made
the last twenty miles horaebacfc. We found my grandfather very ill but
cheerful. He told his brother he hoped to live to see the end of the war,
but he did not, he died in January, 1863.
Colonel Alford was of an ardeut temperament, which often found vent in
bursts of eloquence, hLs oratorical powers were intensified in bis son Geoi^
Cook Alford, a briUiant lawyer of Alabama, who gave his life to the Con-
federacy, His grandson, Hon. A. H. Cox, of Atlanta, has a good likeness of
the "Old War Horse of Troup."
Prepared by Margaret Cox Tuggle, a granddaughter, of La Grange, Georgia.
Bupus Wbiqht Smh'h. The life of one of Georgia's greatest educators
came to a close' in the death of Rufus Wright Smith at LaGrange on January
2, 1915. For nearly a third of a century he had been president of LaGrange
, Female College, While he was a great teacher, a capable executive, and a
prominent worker in the varied departments of Christian life, it was not
for one or all of these that he was chlefiy distinguished or will be longest
remembered, but rather for that supreme composition of many qualities and
attainments — character, the vital force that underlies all worthy accom-
plishment, that commands honor and affection, that is the basis of all endur-
ing greatness, that lives on when the earthly tabernacle is dissolved.
The superficial facts of his career are briefly told. He was of good •
American gtoek, and his grandfather had been a soldier in the Revolutionary
war and was with General Greene in the southern campaigns. Both Profes-
sor Smith and his parents were natives of Georgia. Rufus Wright Smith
was born in Greene County March 4, 1835, and he was permitted to enjoy
nearly eighty years of a beneficent lifetime. In 1856 he graduated with
first honors at Emory College, and his student career had been distinguished
for excellence in various departments of college life. In 1873 he was awarded
the degree of Master of Arts by Emory. After leaving college he taught
in Atlanta for a time, later at Barnesv^le, then at Sparta, and during the
unsettled years after the war both taught and farmed near his old home
in Greene County. Not long after the war broke out he became first lieu-
tenant of the Hancock Rifles, but was soon detailed by Governor Brown to
the GriflSn Relief Association, which work he kept up even after the war was
over in providing for the returning soldiers. Early in the '70s he became
head of the preparatory school of Emory College, for six years was president
of Dalton Female College, and in the summer of 1585 accepted the honors
and labors that went with the presidency of LaGrange Female College, He
gave to that institution not only a devoted personal service almost up to the
last hour of his life, but contributed from his individual means more than
$40,000.
Among the hundreds of individual tributes and memories of this great
Geoi^a educator, it is difficult to choose a few terse sentences which will
accurately describe his work and character. In the days following the Civil
war he taught in his home county of Greene a school known as Pea Ridge
Academy, and of his work there one of his former pupils wrote : "Professor
Smith impressed us then as seeking to find our mental mettle rather than
to measure our store of crammed text-books. He listened for the ring that
eame from the stroke, paying little attention to the brightness of the polish
or the lack of it. This was his habit with all of his students. He knew the
strongest faculty of each student under him, and did not hesitate to reveal
it. The most striking feature of the head of Pea Ridge Academy was the
inspiration and enthusiasm he stirred in his pupils. A hoy would have
been ashamed not to have done his best, and with consummate art — it was
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2496 GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS
not an acquirement — Professor Smith managed to save the leas gifted from
disGOoragement and the brightest from undue exaltation."
In his character as an educator Professor Smith was well compared with
the great schoolmaster, Arnold of Bugby. A few sentences taken from the
resolutions adopted by the Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Church
read as follows: "As an educator he possessed rare accomplishments, mak-
ing him peculiarly fitted for that w.ork. He had virtues rarely found in
men. He was a master builder in the educational field, giving to it his
time, his energy, and the best thoughts of his life. He had a unique way of
weaving the spirit of the Master into the lives of all those who were fortunate
enough to be taught by him, and he never lost an opportunity to make a
practical application of the teachings of the Bible to everyday life
. True education was his life work, and the radiance of his life and his work
was felt in the community where he lived; the church to which he belonged
loses one of its truest and beat members, and we deeply deplore this loss;
the College one of the best presidents it has ever had ; the state one of its
best citizens, and his family a loving, compassionate father."
An editorial in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate of January, 1915, brings
out some other features of his mind and personality: "Professor Rufus,
as he was known in the earlier days of Ma teaching, 'Unele Rufus' as he
was known in the latter years of his life, was in many respects the most
unique character and striking personality of his state. There has not been^
nor will tliere be, another just like him. He was not eccentric, but in his
. individuality he stood out and apart from his fellows. If isolated, he was
not on this account unattractive, for it was not possible to be with him and
not be drawn to him. He was beautifully simple and natural. There was
not about him the semblance of the affected or artificial. The cast of his
mind was philosophical ; he sought to know the cause of that which he saw
and of that which he knew. Without exaggeration he has been likened to
Socrates, If the great Grecian and this great Georgian had lived in the same
community, they would have been congenial and intimate friends, each one
contributing in his way to the pleasure of the other and both rejoicing in
the search for and discovery of truth,"
Perhaps the best expression of what he meant to the community of
LaGrange is found in the columns of a local paper: "Bufus Wright Smith
is the name by which he was christened, the descendant of a noble lineage
reaching back to the Revolution. He was distinguished, in his own right,
by collegiate degrees conferred as the reward of scholarly achievement, by
gallant service in the Civil war, and by over fifty years of noble service
in educational and religious work. But it was the great, noble heart of the
man, his unfailing kindness and cheerfulness, his spotless character and his
unselfish devotion to his work which won for him the highest possible meed
of appreciation. It is as 'Uncle Rufus' the friend of everybbdy, that he is
missed and mourned."
On December 2, 1856, Professor Smith married Miss Oreon Mary Mann,
who was not only his loyal companion and a splendid mother to their chil-
dren, but was for years regarded as a real mother by the girls in LaGrange
College, She died August 29, 1907. She was bom in Fayetteville, Georgia,
a daughter of Jeremiah and Mary (Burch) Mann. Her father was a Meth-
odist minirter, a hard-working pastor, and in theology chiefly distinguished
by a strong opposition to Calvinism, Mrs. Smith prior, to the war com-
pleted her education in a school at Cincinnati, and also received private
instruction from Dr. Guatavus Orr and Dr. Alex Means, the latter subse-
quently president of Emory College. Before the war she taught in the
Masonic Female College at Madison, Georgia, and subsequently was assistant
to Doctor Means in the Oxford Academy, where she met and married Professor
Smith. To Professor and Mrs. Smith were bom eight children, as follows:
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2497
Claire, who died at Atlanta April 19, 1907, was the wife of Frank H. Hill,
and left three children, Frank, Sam, and Claire ; Euler B. Smith, the oldest
soa, who for abont ten years was dean of the State Normal School, is now
secretary and treasurer of LaGrange College; Cecil H. Smith graduated
from the law department of Emory College and is now in practice at Sher-
man, Texas; Rev, Hubert M. Smith is pastor of a Methodist Church at
El Paso, Texas ; Alwyn M. Smith is now acting president of LaGrange Col-
lege ; Clifford Lewis Smith is superintendent of the city schools at LaGrange ;
Leon Perdue Smith is professor of chemistry at Wesleyan Female College;
Miss Maidee Smith was for six years engaged in missionary work for the
Methodist Church in Brazil, South America, and is now lady principal of
LaGrange College.
Alwyn M. Smith, who upon the death o£ bis father became acting presi-
dent of LaGrange College, was graduated from Emory College A. B. in 1876,
took the teachers course in Valparaiso University, Indiana, and continued his
studies in vocal and instrumental music in the Metropolitan Conservatory of
New York City, where he was under the instruction of Prof. Dudley
Buck. He spent three years in the Royal Conservatory in Leipsic, Germany,
and received a diploma from that institution and also taught the overflow
classes. In 1883 he returned to America, taught in Grayson County, Texas,
eight months, returned to Emory College, and during the winter of 1885-86
was engaged in work in Florida. In 1886 he was given charge of the music
department as director at LaGrange College, a position he has held ever
since. On October 7, 1888, he married at LaGrange Laura Crain, a native
»f Broc^eld, Missouri, and daughter of J. J. and Lydia (Moore) Crain. Mrs.
Smith graduated from the Union Conservatory and also from the Royal
Conservatory at Leipsic, Germany, and is a woman of thorough talent and
many attainments both in instrumental and vocal music.
Andre:w R. King. Active for many years both in business and politics,
Andrew R. King is one of the best known citizens of Atlanta. In the financial
field a prominent factor, he has proved equally capable as a public official,
and as a man of stable character and creditable achievement, he may be justly
termed a representative of Atlanta's best citizenship.
Andrew R. King, founder and proprietor of the brokerage firm of A. R.
King & Co., Atlanta, was bom at Moiitvale Springs, Tennessee, near Knox-
ville, December 5, 1876. He is a son of William Goodrich and Ocie (King)
King, the former of whom was a native of Knoxville, Tennessee. He married
Miss Ocie King in that state and with his family moved to Atlanta in 1876,
where he died in 1895. The mother of Andrew R. King is well known over
the country because of her connection for many years with philanthropic
enterprises, she being traveling representative in Georgia and other states,
of the Presbyterian Orphans' Home, of Charleston, South Carolina. Her home
is with her son at Atlanta.
With the exception of one year, Mr. King's entire life has been spent at
Atlanta. He attended the public schools and afterward took a commercial
college course, following which, for nine years he was in the railway service.
For seven years of this period he was connected with the freight office of the
Central Georgia Railroad, at Atlanta, and during the other years was in the
office service of the Georgia Railroad.
In 1904 Mr. King retired from the railroad service and embarked in busi-
ness for himself, establishing the brokerage firm of A. K. King & Co., which
name has never been changed although for the past seven years Mr. King haa
been sole owner and proprietor. In his twelve years of business life here he
has made but two changes of location, in 1905 removing from the Grant to
the Empire building, and in 1907 to his present suite of offices in the Fourth
National Bank Building. Mr. King's brokerage business is not of speculative
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2498 GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS
character, consistiiig in the main o£ purchasing good accounts and well pro-
tected notes at a discount and keeping them untU they mature. In his bufflneaa
transactions be has shown the foresight and good judgment which belong to
discriminating business men, but these qualities of foresight and prudence
have never overshadowed his integrity nor lessened his honoraUe atttnding
with bis associates.
In 1898 Mr. King was united in marriage with Miss Bessie Louise Holmes,
who was borB and reared at Augusta, Qeot^a, and they have had a family
of five children born to them, four sons and one daughter. Bereavement has
fallen upon them, but two of the five children surviving, Joseph Lewis, a
manly youth of fifteen years, and William Goodrich, now eight years old and
attending school.
Mr. King has taken an interest in politics since young manhood and has
always been stanch in bis adherence to the principles of the democratic party.
In 1913 he was elected by the city council a member of the board of police
commissioners from the Ninth Ward and filled out an unexpired term of one
and one-half years and so satisfactorily that in 1915 he was elected to the
office for the full term of three years. Careful and conscientious in the per-
formance of his duties, he has made a fine record as a public official. He is
an important factor in party councils and in November, 1914, successfully
managed the campaign of George E. Johnson and had the satisfaction of
seeing his candidate elected county recorder by a large majority. Mr. King
is a member of the fraternal order of the Woodmen of the World. With his
family he belongs to the Presbyterian Church. Mr. King is a man of large
benevolence and is in full sympathy with his mother whose life has been
devoted for so long a time to seeking help for those whom the accidents of
life have made practically helpless.
Very Rev, Peter McOscar, S. M. Notable among the religious institutions
of Georgia are the Church of the Sacred Heart of Atlanta and the Marist
College, both of which are conducted under the auspices of the Society of
Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. The Saered Heart Church of Atlanta
is one of the largest churejies in the country conducted by the Marist Order.
The pastor of the church and president of the college is now Very Rev,
Peter McOscar, a man well known to the people of Atlanta as well as to the
members of his own parish and the pupils of the college. He was born in
Londonderry County, Ireland, February 20, 1873, a son of Thomas and Eliza-
beth (Duffy) McOscar, who spent all their lives in Ireland, and are now
deceased. His early youth was spent in bis native eoimty, and in 1889 he
entered St. Mary's College at Dundalk in County Louth. After spending
five years he was graduated from St. Mary's in 1894, following which he con-
tinued his studies for two years in St. Mary's' College at Paignton in Devon-
shire, England, His next sojourn as a student was at Lyons, Prance, where
he passed one year in the Marist Novitiate. In 1897 Father MeOscar came
to the United States, and took up his theological studies in the Catholic Uni-
versity of Washington, D. C, He was ordained to Ihe pristhood in the Marist
Order in June, 1900.
For the past fifteen years he lias been closely associated with the work
of religious instruction and the duties of the pristhood. For one year he was
instructor in English, Mathematics and Latin at All Hallows College in Salt
Lake City, Utah. From 1901 to 1904 be was a teacher in Jefferson College of
St. James Parish, Louisiana, and in the latter year came to Atlanta to become
the assistant to Rev. John E, Gunn, who was at that time pastor of the Church
of the Sacred Heart. After two years at Atlanta, Father McOscar became
pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Westerly, Rhode Island,
and remained there from 1906 to 1914, In August of the latter year he
yGoosIe
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2499
1 his dual responsibilities as pastor of the Chareb of the Sacred Heart
at Atlanta and president of the Marist College.
The Church of the Sacred Heart is one of the two churches conducted hy
the Marist Order in Georgia, the other heing at Brunswick. As already stated,
the Atlanta church is one of the largest of the Marist churches in the United
States, and now has between twenty-five hundred and three thousand membere,
divided between the home church and twenty-one missions scattered over a
large section of Georgia. These missions are looked after by the priests con-
nected with the home church in Atlanta. These priests, who severally look
after the work of the missions and the duties of instruction in Marist College,
are ten in number.
Marist College, which is located at Peachtree and Ivy Streets in Atlanta,
is an accredited institution by the Catholic University of Washington and by
the University of the South, now has an enrollment of 125 boy students, two-
thirds of whom are non-Catholic, The parochial schools maintained by the
Church of the Saered Heart have 305 pupils whose instruction is conducted
by ten sisters. Marist College was established on lines governing military
schools, and all the students are clad in the regulation cadet gray uniform.
Military drill and discipline are an essential feature of the school life, and
this department is nnder the direction of a trained commandant and expert
in military affairs. Pounded on the principle that religion is the primary
element of life, and that without religion as a fundamental education in the
ordinary sense has little moral efficiency, the Marist College at Atlanta was
established in 1902, being legally incorporated under the laws of the State of
Georgia. "While religious instruction in the dogmas, moral principles and
history of the Catholic Church is an essential part of the curriculum, this .
instruction is restricted to the Catholic boys who are students in the college,
and no influence whatever is brought to bear upon non-Catholic students to
determine and form their religious belief. The college conducts a thorough
course for instruction in the classics, language and history, mathematics and
natural sciences, and most of the instructors are university gradi;iates. Above
all emphasis is placed upon that training which will develop character, the
formation of which is regarded as paramount to all other results which may
attend the life of a boy in the college. The college equipment includes a large
and fine structure of three stories and basement, surrounded by a lai^e campus
with a fully equipped gymnasium, and a general atmosphere which promotes
wholesomeness of recreation, kindly fellowship between young and old, and a
stimulating environment in which to pass the formative years of youth.
William Mabkhall MpKenzie, There are many problems facing the
American people today and a very serious one is that of preserving old-time
standards of business integrity in competition with the speculative spirit that
has, to some extent, entered business circles, on an entirely different plane of
ethics. Legitimate success in business is the just reward of industry and
honest effort, of foresight and good judgment, and such reward has come to
many of the older business men of Atlanta. Thus, in their passing off the
scene of life, it would be sad to record that their methods, their policies and
their standards, so worthy during their lives, has passed with them. To lose
men of worth is a blow to any community and such a blow came to Atlanta
in the death of William Marshall McKenzie. on April 7, 1914.
From Scottish ancestors, William Marshall McKenzie might have inherited
some of the qualities which enabled him to make a notable business success
although handicapped to some extent by lack of capital in his early adven-
tures. For generations his people have been residents of the South, for
several, at least, of Geoi^a, both parents having been bom in Houston County.
His birth took place in Macon Connty, Georgia. February 20, 1858. He was
a son of Andrew J. and Martha (Wiggins) McKenzie.
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2500 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
On hia father's farm in Macoii County, Geoi^a, William M. McKeuzic
learned the agricultural methods of the time and place aod secured a country
school education. He had happy home surroundings during the lives of his
mother and father, but he lost the former when he was eighteen years old and
the latter three years later. It was then that the young man started out for
himself, removing to Cobb County and accepting a position in a mercantile
house at Marietta, but this recognition of favorable business conditions led to
his early removal to Atlanta, which beautiful city remained his chosen home
during the remainder of his life. As he prospered in various business under-
takings he invested largely in central city property and in the course of
time, through its marvelous increase in value, became wealthy iu that line
alone. He had many interests, his factories and warehouses being located in
other sections as well as at Atlanta, and in all phases of their management,
where he waa the directing head, his standard of strict business integrity pre-
vailed. He was one of the organizers of the Marietta Guano Company and
also of the Atlanta Oil & Fertilizer Company, and, in association with his
brother, George M. M<:Kenzie, organized the McKenzie Trust Company, of
which he was president at the time of his death.
Mr. McKenzie was married October 3, 1882, to Miss Eulah Frances
Cantrell, of Columbus, Georgia, and they had three children, the two sur-
vivors being Marshall C. and Harold C. He was a member of the First
Methodist Church, as is Mrs. McKenzie, and was ever mindful of its claim
on his Christian benevolence. In politics he was a democrat. He was a home-
loving man yet valued and appreciated his membership in the Capital City
Club.
Marshall C. McKenzie. Among the important financial institutions
which contribute to the prestige of Atlanta as the commercial center of the
Southeast is the McKenzie Trust Company, with which members of the
McKenzie family have been most influentially identified, and the vice president
of which is Marshall C. McKenzie.
He was bom in Marietta, Georgia, April 19, 1888, and is a son of the late
William Marshall McKenzie, who was vice-president of the trust company
and a sketch of whose career is found on other pages. The son grew up and
acquired his education both at Marietta and Atlanta, and finished his early
training in Emory College at Oxford, Geoi^ia. He became treasurer of the
McKenzie Trust Company upon its organization in 1912, and on the death
of his father, April 7, 1914, waa chosen his successor as vice president.
Mr. McKenzie is also president of the Silvey Building Company of Atlanta.
D^ember 13, 1909, he married Miss Silvey Adaline Speer, daughter of
William A. Speer of Atlanta and granddaughter of the late John Silvey,
who was one of the pioneers and real builders of tlie modern City of Atlanta.
To their marriage was born one child, Frances A udria McKenzie, on March
25, 1911.
Mr. McKenzie is a member of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the
Atlanta Athletic Club, the Capital City Club and the Piedmont Driving Club.
He and his family are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church
of Atlanta.
Henry G. Lamar, who for thirty years was a prominent figure in the
public life of Georgia, belonged to that famous Lamar family which in the
last century furnished so many distinguished men tc^ the country. He waa
bom on July 10. 1798, and died September 10. 1861, and was a cousin of the
famous Justice L. Q. C. Lamar, He married Mary Ann Davis.
He received an academic education, studied law, began practice in Macon,
served several years in the Legislature, was appointed a commissioner by the
Government for certain negotiations with the Indians, and elected a repre-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2501
seutative in the Federal Congress as a states-rights democrat, serving in the
Twenty-first and Twenty-second congresses from 1829 to 1833. Governor
Joseph E. Brown appointed Mr. Lamar an associate justice of the Supreme
Conrt, which position he was holding at the time of his death.
Howell Cobb, theelder, who was an uncle of Howell Cobb, the younger,
was born at Granville, North Carolina, and moved to Georgia, where he en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits. He entered the regular army of the United
States as an ensign in 1793, serving thirteen years until 1806, and retired from
the army with the rank of captain. He was elected to the Tenth, Eleventh
and Twelfth congresses, servingfrom October 26, 1807, until 1812, when he
resigned to accept a captain's commission in the United States Army. He
served creditably through the war with Great Britain, and after the war
resigned, returned to his plantation and there died in 1820. He is sometimes
confused with his great nephew, who was only five years old at the time of
his death, and who in his day was one of the leaders among Georgia's great
men.
■W,\LTER Pemberton ANDREWS. The profession of law is one that makes
heavy demands upon those who practice it, requiring strong mentality, baclced
by an abundant supply of enei^ apd perseverance, together with a certain
special adaptation to its pursuit, which is not possessed by everyone who
takes it up; hence so many failures. Among the successful ones, liowever, is
Walter Pemberton Andrews, who is now a prominent member of the bar of
the City of Atlanta. Mr. Andrews was born near Mt. Gilead, Montgomery
County, North Carolina, June 7, 1865, a son of Major L. D and Martha
(Pemberton) Andrews. His great-grandmother in the maternal line was a Miss
Marshall, who was closely related to the illustrious Chief Justice, John
Marshall, while a great-great-grandmother in the maternal line was a Miss
Harrison, who was of close kin to President William Henry Harrison of
Tippecanoe fame.
Walter Pemberton Andrews, after the usual preparatory work, became a
student in Trinity College, Durham, North Carolina, and was subsequently
graduated from that institution in the class of 1887,' with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. He then speijt three years in educational work as one
of the principals of Monroe High Sehpol, at Monroe, North Carolina, In
the fall of 1890 he entered the law department of Washington and Lee
University, at Lexington, Virgiriia, of which famous old institution Gen.
Robert E. Lee was president after the war and until his death. Here he
showed his industry and mental ability by completing the two years' course
in one year, receiving in 1891 the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the same
year he began the practice of law in Atlanta, where he has since achieved
a conspicuous success. Mr. Andrews is a stanch democrat in the fullest
sense of the word and enjoys a wide popularity among all classes of people.
He is identified with a numlier of large and important industrial and busi-
ness enterprises and has proved himself a capable man of affairs. He is a
strong believer in fratemalism and has devoted much time and labor in
behalf of fraternal organizations. He is a Knight Templar, and a thirty-
second degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Mason. He is a past
exalted ruler and past Georgia State president of the Elks, and a past
chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, As exalted ruler for two terms of
the Atlanta Lodge No. 78 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks he raised
the membership from 400 to over 1,000. and led the campaign that resulted
in the erection of one of the finest Elk homes in the United States, His
work for this order created a widespread sentiment in favor of making him
grand exalted ruler, the highest office in Elkdom, He is Potentate of
Yaarab Temple Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of Mystic Shrine and has
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2502 QEORG-IA AUD GEORGIANS
achieved woDderful success in that capacity. Mt. Andrews is very enthu-
uastic and energetic in all his undertakings. He belongs to and is prominent
in all the leading social clubs. President Wilson appointed Mm in 1913 as
Commissioner General to the Mediterranean and Balkan states in behalf of
the Panama Exposition. He is a representative in the Georgia Legislature from
Pulton County and has done splendid service for his county and state.
On July 1, 1899, Mr. Andrews was married to Miss Leontine Chisholm,
a daughter of Willis P. and Martha (Spullock) Chisholm, and one of the
most popular members of Atlanta society. Their tasteful and commodious
residence on the Peachtree road is often the scene of social festivities, Mrs.
Andrews dispensing a generous hospitality with all the grace and charm
which distinguished a Southern hostess under the old regime.
James Ferdinand Askew. The keynote of the new South is enterprise.
The men who now guide and control the destiny of this section are men of
business activity, who see and grasp the opportunities presented to them
and open up new avenues of prosperity, not only for themselves but for
whole communities. A prominent example of this type is Joseph Ferdinand
Askew, of Hogansville, Troup County, Georgia, a sketch of whose career
presents useful lessons, Mr. Askew was born on a farm near Newnan,
Georgia, May 5, 1853, the son of Jaiiifs P. and Mary Theresa (Counell)
Askew. His parents, both now deceased, were natives of North Carolina,
James Askew being a successful farmer and slaveholder, a fine type of the
ante-bellum southern gentleman. Bom in 1809, he lived to the advanced
age of eighty-four years, passing away in 1893, after having been the founder
of the Askew family in Georgia. He and his wife were active members of
the Baptist Church. Their family numbered ten children, as follows:
William S., a prominent miller, and head of the W. S. Askew Lumber Com-
pany, of Newnan, Georgia ; Lenora Frances, the widow of John Dunbar who
died in Newnan in 1914; Susie, wife of William E. Dixon, a farmer of
Carroll County, Georgia, James Ferdinand, subject of this sketch; Kufus
W., who died in 1894 at Carrollton, Georgia; Mary Ellen, who married
E. J. Bradley and died in 1909 at Newnan, Georgia; Britton S., who died at
M il ledge v ill e, Georgia; John, who died In 1910 at Newnan, this state; Joseph
Edward, who died in Newnan in 1910; and Shoate, who died at the age
of eight years.
' J. F. Askew, who was the next to the youngest of his parents' children,
was educated in the Newnan and Coweta County public schools. At the
age of twenty-one years he began industrial life as a farmer, but after a
year's experience in that line he determined instead to adopt a mercantile
career. Accordingly, in 1876, he started business in a modest way at West
Point, Troup County. Two years later he removed to Franklin, Heard
County, where he conducted a store for two years. Then, in 1882, he came
to Hogansville and formed a partnership with J, T. Bradley, under the
firm name of Askew & Bradley. A branch store was also started at Carroll-
ton, of which Mr. Bradley took personal charge, the Hogansville establish-
ment being under the direct supervision of Mr. Askew. In 1899 tlie firm
was dissolved, Mr. Askew retaining the Hogansville store, which had now
grown to one of the largest of its kind in Hogansville. In 1904 Mr, Askew
oi^anized the Hogansville Banking Company, with a capital of $25,000,
since increased by earnings to $53,000, and has been its principal stockholder
and active head ever since. In 1908 he made another forward step when
he became the president of the Mutual Cotton Oil Company of H(^ansville.
The business operated by this company is one of great importance to the
town, employing, as it does, some twenty people, crashing on an average
about 2,500 tons of cotton seed yearly and having an annual output of
120,000 gallons of oil. Since coming to Hogansville Mr. Askew has been a
.Google
I, Google
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GKORUIA AND C
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yGoosIe
Digitized by C^tOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2503
leadiDg spirit in the development and pr<^e8s of the town, which for the
last ten years he has served as mayor, being the present incumbent of that
ofiSce. For twelve years he has been president of the hoard of education,
his service in that office having been of decided benefit to the schools. He is
always ready to furnish information to prospective settlers in regard to
local conditions and opportunities and does whatever he can to advance
local interests. In politics he is a democrat. Fraternally a member of the
Enights of Pythias, his religious affiliations are with the Baptist Church.
Mr. Askew was first married in 1882 to Miss Pauline Olliver, who died
in 1883, leaving no children. For his second wife he married her sister,
Miss Annie B, Olliver, the two sistei-s being daughters of Hon. Benjamin and
Josephine (Birch) Olliver, Their father was a leading attorney and judge —
one of the most prominent members of the Heard County bar. Of Mr, Askew 's
second marriage three children have been bom, namely : Mary Pauline,
who died at the age of six years; James Eramett, born February 16, 1891,
who was educated in the HogansviUe high school and at Emory College,
Oxford, Georgia, where he was graduated Ph. D. in the class of 1912, and
who is now assistant cashier of the HogansviUe bank; and Benjamin Olliver,
bom April 23, 1894. Mr. Askew stands in the front i-ank of Hogansville's
successful business men and has added to his popularity as a public official,
as he has always kept at heart the best interests of the people. A large part
of the prospferity of the town is due to him. his children were all bom here,
and he has associated himself so closely with the life of the place as to have
become an integral part of it. That his prosperity will keep on increasing
can be little doubted by those who know his characteristic qualities of energy,
perseverance and integrity.
Thomas Bbailsford Pbldbr. While some men achieve success along
certain lines and in certain professions, there are undoubtedly those who are
bom to them, their natural leanings and marked talents pointing unmis-
takably to the career in which they subsequently reach distinction. With
some the call of the church cannot be disobeyed ; the science of healing
appeals to others; the business mart or the political arena engage many,
while there are still others who early see in their visions of the future, their
achieving in the law as the summit of their ambition. To respond to this
call, to bend every energy in this direction, to broaden and deepen every
possible highway of knowledge and to finally enter upon this chosen career
and find its rewards worth while — this has been the happy experience of
Thomas Brailsford Felder, than whom there is no more distinguished and
capable lawyer -at the Atlanta bar. Not alone is Mr. Felder eminent by
reason of his position among the lawyers of Georgia, but because of an
ancestry which for years has contributed distinguished men to the various
avenues of life's endeavor.
The first of the Felders to eome to America was Hans Henry Felder,
who in 1737 left Europe for Charleston, South Carolina, in company with a
ship-load of colonists attracted to America by one John Peter Perry, a Swiss
gentleman, who, having himself visited the southern part of the American
Colonies, published pamphlets describing the country in such glowing terms
that numbers were attracted here. These pamphlets were circulated in
Switzerland, North Germany, Holland and the provinces of the Rhine, and
settlers came from each of these localities. Hans Henry Felder was an
emigrant from Germany, and was captain of the colonists with whom he
journeyed from Charleston, to a township on the Edisto which was there-
after named Orangeburg, and which, it may he said, was the founding of
Orange County.
From the time of its founding there was no incident in the history of
Orangeburg that did not in some way mention the name of one or another
yGoosIe
2504 - GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
of the Felder family. The records of the colony were kept by the Rev. J. U.
Gieasendanner, and subsequently by hie nephew and aucceaaor, bo that it
is not difficult to trace the records of an individaal family. This colony
history shows the marriage of Hans Henry Felder to Mary Elizabeth Sbauin-
loffel and the births of their children, while the baptism of one of these
children, named Peter, was marked by a piece of rather remarkable baptismal
Latin, as follows: "1746: September 25, Baptizetus est bon, September
8, Henry Hans and Marie Elizabethe uxaris urgis. Suscepti : Jacob Gies-
sendanner and Jacob Loaise Huger." The names of Mr. and Mrs. Felder
appear many times in the colonial records as sponsors for children born in
the colony, and likewise as -witnesses of marriages and in numerous other
capacities. After Orangebui^ district had been formed, in 1768, Hans
Henry Felder was made a justice of the peace, and in 1775 was named a
member of the committee for effectually carrying into execution the Con-
tinental Association, subsequently being named a deputy to the Continental
Congress. In addition to other offices he was a member of the State Legis-
lature at the outbreak of the war for independence, and immediately became
a member of the patriot army, in which he fought as a brave, faithful and
efficient officer. In the company which was organized by him were his seven
sons, namely: Henry, Jacob, John, Frederick, Samuel, Abraham and Peter,
and of these, one was killed at the battle of Cowpens, while another, John,
met with a tragic death, being captured by Captain Snell, a brother-in-law of
his mother, and in attempting to escape jumped into the Congaree Biver,
swam across and on gaining the opposite shore was shot with his own rifle,
held in the bands of a guard. At the outbreak of the war. Captain Felder was
the owner of two homes, both of which were burned, and in trying to save
the second one bis life was lost. A leader in every important movement of
the commonwealth, he was known as one of South Carolina's best known and
most influential citizens, and his death left vacant a position that could
hardly be fllled.
On his father's maternal side, Thomas Brailsford Felder is connected
with the famous General Moultrie, one of the distinguished officers of the
War of the Revolution, and other distinguished family connections include
Governor Manning of South Carolina, and the Brailsfords and Richardsons
of the same state.
Thomas Brailsford Pelder was bom in Burke County, Georgia, October
6, 1864, and is a son of Thomas B, and Clara Minerva (Corker) Felder.
He began his education at Richmond Academy, Augusta, and was graduated
with first honors from Waynesboro High School, in 1879, following which
he attended the North Georgia Military and Agricultural College, at Bahlo-
nega. He next entered the University of Georgia, at Athens, and was
graduated from that institution in 1883, and that same year was admitted
to the bar and began practice at Dublin, Georgia. There Mr. Felder early
began to show the possession of attributes and qualities which were to later
place him high in public esteem and in the ranks of his profession. As early
as 1884 he was honored by the people of Dublin with election to the office
of solicitor of the City Court of Laurens County, an^ in that capacity
he continued to act until 1887. In 1888 he was selected as president!^
elector from the Third Congressional District, and, having outgrown the
community of Dublin, and realizing the need of a broader and more prolific
field for the display of his talents, in 1890 came to Atlanta, where his prac-
tice has since been carried on, and where he occupies offices at No. 238
Equitable Building.
From the time of his arrival in Atlanta, Mr. Felder has continued to
hold offices of an important and responsible character, in each of which he
has fully vindicated the confidence placed in his ability and integrity. After
serving, in 1896 and 1897, as chairman of the General Judiciary Committee
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2505
of the House of Representatives, Mr. Felder was, in 1898, induced by his
constitaents to make the race for Confess, but owing to the independence
of his viewB on the money question, which were totally at variance with those
of his party, he met with defeat, although in the light of later events, he
is able to view this defeat as a victory, Mr, Pelder left public life to some
extent at this time, although he has served his state three times as delegate to
the National Democratic Convention, the last time being at Baltimore, in
1912, when he seconded the nomination of and cast his vote for Oscar W.
Underwood, of Alabama, for president; several times as delegate to state
conventions, and in 1904 as elector from the state at large, and as president
of the Electoral College. As a man of fairness and strict impartiality, he
was made chairman of the investigating committee to which was given the
charges against two judges of the Superior Court, in 1897. In addition to
Miese offices of a bemi-legal character, Mr. Felder served on the staff of
Governor W, Y. Atkinson. As a man of practical and far-reaching judgment, it
is Mr. Felder's belief that the best interests of the state and of the nation
can be served by conservative policies in polities and by the annihilation of
the political demagogue. While, he is a fluent and forceful writer, his talents
in this line have been exercised merely in articles written for the daily
press, but these have been so timely, effective and cogent, that they have
never failed to be thought compelling and agents through which reforms
have been secured.
Mr. Felder is at the head of one of the strongest legal combinations of
the South. He was employed as special counsel for the State of South Caro-
lina in civil and criminal suits against the dispensary grafters, instituted in
1907, by authority of the Legislature. Termed by a leading Georgia daily
as "a battle for state and individual honesty and uprightness," this case
won widespread attention, involving enormous fraudulent charges against
the state by certain liquor dealers — one charge alone amounting to some
$63,000, while the whole question involved much larger amounts — and was
won with brilliant success by Mr. Felder and his associates, being decided
in the state's favor by the Supreme Court of the United States.
The romantic conditions of Mr. Felder's life, both from an ancestral and
personal viewpoint, suggested him as a pattern for one of the heroes in Miss
Hallie Ermine Rives' "Satan Sanderson." Socially, tWe Felders have always
been prominent in Georgia, and Mr. Felder is afSliated with the prominent
social and fraternal organizations of Atlanta, including the Capital City
Club, the Piedmont Driving Club, the Automobile and Trausportation Club,
the Masons, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of
Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men, as well as in the Phi Delta
Theta secret fraternity and the Sigma Nu and Phi Kappa debating societies
. of Dahlonega and Athens. His religious connection ^d that of his family
are with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Felder was married the first time to Miss Charlotte Johnson, of
Indiana, whose father, Grafton Johnson, was a prominent capitalist and
banker, while her maternal grandfather was Noah K. Noble, the first repub-
lican governor of Indiaim. Mrs. Felder died in 1904, without children.
Mr. Felder was married the second time to Mrs. Norfleet Johnson, widow
of a prominent banker of Little Rock, Arkansas. She was a Miss Wilson
Norfleet, and is a daughter of F. M. and Octavia (Stinson) Norfleet, the
former the president of the Sledge-Norfleet Cotton Company, of Memphis,
Tennessee. One child has been bom to this union, Thomas Brailsford Felder,
ni.
J.\MES EvAKs Brown. An editor, state senator and pastmaster, James
Evans Brown has well served his city, his district and his state. Through
the pages pf the Newnan Herald, his personality is brought close to thousands
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2506 GEOBaiA AND QEOBGIANS
of homes in Coweta County. A Oeor^an by birth and a aoutherner by
ancestry, Mr. Brown recalls with some pride that his grandparents made this
state their home as early as 1835. They had been residents of Dublin Coanty,
North Carolina, where both their families— the Blantons and the Browns — ■
were known as pioneers in the early history of that state. It was Marion
County, of thiff state, that Jones Brown and his wife, Mai^ret Blantoa
Brown, ehose aa their first Georgia location. They reared three children:
Owen P. Brown, of Brunswick, Georgia, who served in Company A of the
Fifth Georgia regiment, during the entire Civil war; Nancy Caroline Brown,
who became Mrs. William P. Vinson and died at Columbia, Alabama, in
1910; and Benjamin H. Brown, who lived to become the father of our sub-
ject, died at Dawson, Georgia, in 1914.
The young life of Benjamin H. Brown was defined by the agricultural
and other practical pursuits to which he had been reared. He married
Elizabeth Williams. He enlisted with the Second Georgia Cavalry, Com-
pany K, and when released from a soldier's responsibilities returned to his
home at this state. There he engaged in contracting and building.
James Evans Brown's natal day was February 6, 1854, He received the
major part of his education in the common schools of Dawson. When
eighteen years of age he went to Macon, where he obtained a position with
J. W. Burke Company, printers and publidiers of that city. Young Brown
remained in the employ of this firm until 1877. Having thus gained not only
much mechanical knowledge and many practical ideas regarding the manage-
ment of a printing establishment, but also a clear understanding of his own
talents and the original bent of his mind, in 1877 he purchased the Henry
County Weekly, then published at Hampton. When the East Tennessee,
Virginia & Georgia Railroad was located through McDonough, the capital
of the county, Mr. Brown moved his publishing plant to that point. After
conducting his paper here for some years he removed, in 1886. to Newnan.
In this city he was at first connected with the Coweta Advertiser, in the
capacity of editor. Six months later he assisted in the organization of the
Newnan Publishing Company, which consolidated the Advertiser with the
Herald. This company has since regularly published the paper, which has
a wide circulation, and is the official county organ of the county.
In 18S4, while a resident of Henry County. Mr. Brown was elected to
represent the Thirty-fourth district in the State Senate. During the second
administration of President Cleveland he was appointed postmaster at
Newnan, and held this office four years. Another honor that came to him
was his appointment by Governor Atkinson in 1897 to the office of state
librarian, in which capacity he officiated for four years.
On August 16, 1883, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Kath-
erine E. Milner, a daughter of Jonathan and Drusilla Addy Milner, of
Newnan. A son was born to the editor and his wife on May 31, 1884, who
was christened Blalock. He died June 2.^, 1891. Another son, Evans, waa
born July 2, 1886. and is the only child now living.
William C. Wright, The lawyer of pre-eminent distinction in Newnan
and the Coweta Circuit is William Carter Wright, a native of Georgia and a
representative of one of the leading families of Northern Vii^nia and of this
section of Georgia. In a family whose members have given it especial dis-
tinction, genealogical details are of genuine interest. Let us therefore note
some of the leading facts in the lives of Attorney Wright's grandfather,
James Wright, and his father. Benjamin Wright.
Both the grandfather and grandmother of our subject were natives of
the Old Dominion State. James Wright and his wife moved from Northern
Virginia, early in the nineteenth centurj-, to Eastern Qeoi^, where they
reared their family. He was a planter and slave-holder, a man of promi- '
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2507
nence in his BectioD. A stanch democrat, he took an active interest in
political affairs. His vigorous life closed in Putnam County, after seventy-
five years of independent and forceful activity. His son Benjamin (who
lived to become the father of William Carter Wright) was of Putnam County
birth. There he was reared. He married Mias Emily Eubanks Tompkins,
also a native of Putnam County. Soon aft-ir their lives and fortunes were
united, they remdved to Carroll County, which was the scene of their long
and eventful life together. Benjamin Wright became a man of purposive
political activities, His strong individuality made him a noteworthy figure
in the Georgia State Legislature, of which he was a member, both in Senate
and House, representing the Carroll County district. He was, moreover, a
member of the historical secession convention of MitledgevJUe, which severed
the southern states from the Union. Vocationally, Benjamin Wright was a
planter. He and his wife, Emily Wright, lived to an unusually ripe old
age. Despite the service he had given to the Confederate army. Colonel
Wright lived to number his years as eighty-three, one year less than those
attained by Mrs. Wright, who died in 1914, at the age of eighty-four. Both
were active members of the Baptist Church. They reared four sons and
three daughters. Tompkins Wright, the eldest, was but sixteen years of
age when he joined Captain Beatl's companies of the Confederate army;
while in service he contracted pneumonia, which soon cut short his promising
young life. Mary C. Wright became Mrs. J, C, Gibson, of Xewnan, Georgia.
Giles B. Wright is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia. Nicholas T. Wright died
in 1909, at Newnan, Georgia. Emma Wright and Ada K. Wright married
brothers — the former lady becoming Mrs. E. S. Roberts and the latter Mrs.
T, S. Roberts, both families establishing homes in Crisp, Ben Hill County,
Georgia. The youngest member of the family is William Carter Wright,
whose name forms the title of this biographical review.
A self-made, educated man is William C. Wright, whose fortunate com-
bination of native gifts and consistent ambition have led him from point to
point of his successful career. Carroll County was the scene of his nativity,
the date of that event being January 6, 1866. Showing at an early age an
interest iu books and pubUe affairs, as well as a talent for persuasive oratory,
lie continued his studies through the high school and soon after became a
popular young schoolmaster in the educational institutions of Carroll County.
Saeh work, pursued by a young person of character, soon develops individu-
ality and initiative to a practical degree; t^ose were the qualities which
guided William Wright to the choice of the law as a life-work and those have
been as well notable characteristics of its performance.
Mr. Wright's first tutor in legal lore was Gen. L. H. Featherstone, whose
office our subject entered at Newnan, Georgia. When those studies were
cut short by General Featherstone 's death, 'they were resume'd under ex-
Governor William Y, Adkinson, of Newnan, Georgia. After this period of
training was concluded, Mr. Wright was formally admitted to the practice
of law in 1S86.
Attorney Wright's first professional partnership was formed with the
Hon. P. S. Willcoxon, After five years spent as junior partner of the firm,
Mr. Wright entered another professional relation, becoming the head of the
partnership of Wright and Farmer, his junior partner being L. W. Farmer
of Newnan. Two years of legal practice in this connection were followed
by another change. At that time our subject became associated with the
Hon. E, W, Freeman and the firm thus formed was known for the eight years
of its existence as the leading legal oEBce of the City of Newnan. This asso-
ciation was not to be permanent, however, for Mr. Freeman was eventuallj*
called to the bench, as superior judge for Coweta Circuit. Attorney Wright
has since continued to administer independently the legal business of the
large class of clients acquired and his is conceded to be the most important
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2508 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
practice of the community, Mr. Wright has in the interim been honored
with the office of solicitor of City Court of Newnan, Coweta County, holding
that ofiice for eight years and demonstrating his ability as one of the ablest
prosecutors who have been known in the history of the county. With all his
heavy professional business, he tiuda time for practical participation in
affairs educational and matters agricultural. He has served tor several years
on the Newnan Board of Education, having a sincere and deep interest iu
this phase of civic life. Mr. Wright, like every true Southerner, has a gen-
uine affection for "our mother, the earth," and takes delight in managing
the business of his farm. Ue has a genius for getting results froih the soil
and holds the record of having raised forty bales of cotton with the use of
but two plows.
The attractive and efficient mistress of Attorney Wright's home is Pauline
■ Arnold Wright, to whom he was married September 15, 1892. Mrs. Wright
is a daughter of William P. and Mary (Harris) Buford, well-known citizens
of the community. Several children have come to the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Wright. Evelyn, the eldest, was bom in 1893; Emily, the second, died
at the age of four years and her little sister Pauline was called by "the reaper
of the flowers" at the age of two years. Arnold, the first son, and William
C. Wright, junior, are the other merabera of the family, and all were bom
in Newnan, Georgia.
Fraternal and religious life have their due share in the life of the Wright
family. Mrs. Wright is a loyal and helpful member of the Methodist
Church, to whose interests she devotes both time and talent; while her
husband continues bis allegiance to the Baptist division of the church, so
faithfully adhered to by his ancestors. He is a popular -Mason, having been
honored by all chairs to that of Shrine. The Elks also claim his mem-
bership as a genial and distinguished member. A well-rounded life is Wil-
liam C. W^ right's, one of fuUy deserved success, of broad interests, of admir-
able character, of substantial qualities well worthy of emulation.
Claude GHiPFiN, M. D. One of the younger members of the medical
fraternity of Carroll County, and already well established in his profession
at CarroUton, Doctor Griffin is a son of the late James P. CMffin, whose per-
sonal record is one of historic importance owing to the fact that he was the
founder and for many years the leading citizen of Temple in Carroll County.
James P. Griffin died at Temple in 1907 at the age of seventy-two. He
was born in Carroll County, came of a good family, and made a gallant record
as a soldier during the Civil war, having gone out with a Georgia Company
and regiment in 1861 and continuing through the period of hostilities until
the close. He was in the cavalry and much of his service was under the
intrepid an8 dashing leader Joe Wheeler. Immediately after the war be
established the first mercantile concern at what is now the Village of Temple,
and remained engaged in business there until his retirement. More than any
other one man he built the little city, organized the Temple Bank, was a
successful farmer, and did a large business both in the raising and buying
of cotton. He was a member of the Masonic order, and both he and his wife
were active in the Methodist church. Another important achievement which
he performed for the benefit of his home community was in securing the con-
struction of the Southern Railroad to the Village of Temple. He donated
the grounds for the depot and side tracks at the village. Successful himself,
he was always unselfish and patriotic in his relations to the community, and
his death was the loss of a real leader. James P. Griffin married Sarah
■•Adams, who was born in Carroll County in 1845, and is still living at
Temple. There were seven children: Joseph, a cotton buyer at Temple;
Charles R., a Carroll County farmer; Matt E., who lives at CarroUton and
is tax collector of Carroll County; Betty, wife of H. H. Sewell of Temple;
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2509
J. Lewis, of Atlanta; Ella, wife of R. M. Thomasson of Temple; and Doctor
Claude, the youngest. .
Dr. Claude Griffin was born in Carroll County at Temple July 14, 1887. His
early education came from the public schools at Temple and he also spent two
years in Emory College. Doctor Griffin's preparation for his chosen profes-
sion was unusually thorough and complete. In 1911 he graduated M. D. from
the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons, and at once entered upon
post-graduate and hospital experience in the New Rochelle Hospital at New
York City. He performed the duties of interne there during 1912 and in
1913 became interne in the French Hospital of New York City.
With this liberal trainiug combined with, a natural aptitude for the pro-
fession and many unusual personal qualifications, Doctor Griffin began active
practice at CarroUton in 1913. ' lie. has steadily advanced in the estimation
of all who know him, and is recognized as a sincere, painstaking and efficient
physician and surgeon. He is a member of the county and state medical
societies and the American Medical Association, is affiliated with tlie Masonic
Order and belongs to the Methodist Church. Aside from his practice Doctor
Griffin owns farm lands and operates tliem through tenants. An important
characteristic is his love of outdoor life, and he is a man of varied interests
and tastes and has the promise of a brilliant future.
Zadock Cook was a native Georgian, born in 1769. He was for a num-
ber of years a member of the General Assembly of the state, a man of good
. standing and a sound legislator. When in 1817 Alfred Cuthbert, a repre-
sentative in the Fourteenth Congress, resigned, Mr. Cook was elected to fill
the vacancy. He served out that term and was re-elected for the Fifteenth
Congress, his full period of service lasting from January 23, 1817, to March
Z, 1819. He was then an elderly man, and does not appear to have desired
farther public office. He had served a number of terms in the Legislature,
and retired to his plantation near Athens, where he lived for thirty years
after his retirement from Congress, his death occurring between 1855 and
1860, when he was between eighty-five and ninety years of age.
George W. Owens was a native of Georgia, bom about the first part of
the last century, received a good education, studied law, and began practice
at Savannah. He won the reputation of a good lawyer, became somewhat
prominent in political life, and was elected a representative to the Twenty-
fourth and Twenty-fifth congresses as a Unionist, serving from 1835 to 1839.
He died at Savannah, Georgia, in 1856.
Frank Word. The successful citizen whose name forms the caption of
this biographical review is prominent as a winner in the warehouse business
and unique in the distinction that he is the oldest citizen of Hogansville,
Georgia. For his ability to cope with life's tasks Mr. Word loyally and
reverently gives credit to his father, whose life we will briefly sketch before
giving in detail the main facts of Mr. Word's own career. In viewing the
earthly years in retrospect of the life of Robert Word we must needs go back
in ima^nation just 100 years, for it was on December 6th, of the year 1816,
that the progenitor of our subject was bom. Laurens County, South Caro-
lina, was then the home of James Word and Elizabeth Vance Word, his wife.
Robert Milton Word was the full name given the son of that young pair.
Those were not easy times for the settlers of a virgin country, but Robert
Word made much of slender resources, not as a capitalist, but as one who
achieved, in the best sense, a successful life. With two of his brothers, he
settled in Georgia when quite young and at a time that was still early in
the nineteenth centnry. Robert Word's first work here was in assisting with
the building and grading of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. It was
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2510 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
doubtless that introduction to Coweta County that led him to later settle in
the community. He was interested in agriculture and was able to combine
that time-honored vocation with the service of the Atlanta and West Point
Railroad, with which he continued for many years. Robert Word was a
democrat and a soldier who served with the state troops of South Carolina.
He was a member of the fraternity of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
and was a communicant of the Baptist Church. His wife was a member of
the South Carolina family of Underwoods, her parents being John and Mary
Underwood. Elizabeth White Underwood and Robert Word dated their
romance from quite early youth, having known each other before the depart-
ure of the former to seek his foEtune. Their marriage occurred on February
22, 1839, in Coweta County, Georgia. Eight children came to them in the
progress of their long and useful life: Edward Milton Word, the eldest,
married Fannie Beasley ; he lived to the age of seventy-four, dying in Thorn-
ason, Georgia, April 30, 1915. Isaac Thomas Word, whose wife was Lizzie
Bohaunan, became a planter and closed his earthly days in Chillicothe, Texas.
Elvira Caroline Word, Mrs. Louis P. Redwine, lives at Madras, Georgia, her
husband being a planter of that locality. Wary Elizabeth Word, Mrs. W. B.
Cochran, resides at 420 Ilolderness Street, in Atlanta. Emily Jane Word
became the wife of W. W. Dunlap, who for many years was passenger con-
ductor of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad; she is now a widow, residing
at 625 Capitol Avenue, Atlanta. Sixth in line of these brothers and sisters
was Prank Word, who is our subject and received detailed account in suc-
ceeding paragraphs. Sarah Ella Word, the youngest sister, now deceased,*
was the wife of Robert Smith and died in Caasville, Georgia. The youngest
of the family of Robert Milton Word is John H, Wor'd, a resident of Atlanta.
The father of this family lived to the ripe old age of eighty-one years and
passed to the spirit-life in the year 1905, long after the decease of hia faithful
wife. The remains of both were placed to rest in Newnan Cemetery.
Frank Word 's birth occurred at Newnan, Geoi^a, on July 28, 1851. His
education was pursued in the Grantville, Georgia, public schools. From boy-
hood his unspoken watchwords were honesty and industry, "Various Muds
of work were pursued for experience and modest profit before he chose a
definite and continued vocation. In 1868, however, while still a very young
man, he became railroad agent for the Atlanta and West Point Railroad,
thereafter holding that position continuously for twenty-one years. In 1889
Mr. Word resigned his road position to enga^ in the cotton and fertilizer
warehouse business. He has constructed commodious and substantial brick
warehouses that compass a floor space of 23,000 square feet, and has since
that time continued actively and prominently in this useful and lucrative
business. He has also interested himself in other reputable enterprises and
has built for his family one of tlie finest residences in Hogansville.
Mrs. Word is a granddaughter of the founder of Hogansville. That dis-
tinguished gentleman was the Hon, William Hogan, originally of Lincoln
County, Georgia, and a planter of means, beside being a manufacturer of
buggies and wagons, the proprietor of a tannery and gristmill and the head
of various other enterprises. lie was the owner of the land upon which
Hogansville now stands. HLs son-in-law, John T. Pullin, married Miss Mary
Hogan and it was their daughter Eugenia who became the wife of our subject.
John Pullin died in 1873 and his wife followed him two years later, just
twenty days after the PuUin-Word marriage. The children bom of this
union were five in number. The eldest is Frank Word, junior, who is well
known as the cashier of the Southern States Life Insurance Company and a
resident of Atlanta. Meredith K. Word, the second son, is associated with
the Robert Moore Cotton Company of Atlanta. William Barnard Word is
connected with the Armour Packing Company at Atlanta. Herbert P. Word,
the fourth and youngest son, is associated with his father in the cotton ware-
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■==^^C^ C^j^^^-^^ ??^^
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2511
boose business at Hogaosville. The youngest child and only daughter of
this family is Marybeth Word Scott, Mrs, Tramwell Scott, who with her
husband resides at 95 North Avenue, Atlanta. Mrs. Word is a member of
the Baptist Church, to which Mr. Word lends a less active but substantial
allegiance.
A man of hearty public spirit is Mr. Word, who has always been vitally
interested in the upbuilding of H(^ansville, contributing to ita welfare in
various inconspicuous but important ways. For six years he served his
county in the useful capacity of commissioner and is counted one of the
most estimable and influential citizens of his community. He still maintaina
a close oversight of his extensive business, but in the summers accompanies
Mrs. Word in travel or recreation at congenial vacation resorts. Both are
notably social favorites, whose character does credit to their prominent posi-
tion in a locality with which they have so long been associated.
Duke Davis. It is a pleasure to record the careers of men who have
attained success in life through their own efforts, in whatever department
of human activity they may be engaged, as to them the biographer can award
a full measure of. praise, knowing it to be well deserved. The credit to the
individual is the greater when his success has been won in an honorable but
arduous and diflBcult profession like that of the law. The career of Duke
Davis, attorney at law, of La Grange, Troup County, Georgia, illustrates what
can be accomplished by a man of strong mentality who is determined to
succeed and works hard and perseveringly to that end. Mr. Davis was bom
in Harris County, Georgia, May 23, 1890, the son of Leonard Decatur Davis
and his wife, Louisiana Virginia, whose maiden name was Duke. His
paternal grandfather, Marion Davis, was one of the early sherifEs of Harris
County, serving in that office during the Civil war. The Davises and Dukes
are representative families of Harris County, where for several generations
they have been engaged in farming. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Davis
was Green Stephen Duke, a Confederate soldier who served in the state
troops, and who died in 1900. His wife in maidenhood was Sarah Webb.
She also is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard D. Davis were the parents
of eight children, as follows: Emerson M., a resident of Atlanta; Tabor
Harding, who is engaged in farming in Harris County ; Miss Opie and Miss ,
Erin Davis, residing at home ; Duke, the subject of this biography ; Wootsie,
a farmer in Harris County ; Lum B., also engaged in farming in Harris
County, and Earl, who is similarly located and occupied.
Duke Davis worked on the farm until he was eighteen years of age,
earning the money to pay for his education. He taught school for two years
in Harris County, and then entered the high school at Opelika, Alabama,
where he was subsequently graduated. For the two years following he
taught in the rural schools of Lee County, Alabama. Having now decided
to embrace the profession of law, he entered upon the necessary studies under
the mentorship of Solon M. Davis, a cousin residing in Columbus, and on
July 4, 1913, was admitted to practice by the Hon. S. R. Gilbert, judge of
the Chattahoochee Circuit. On August Ist of the same year he opened an
office in La Grange, where he has since established a reputation as an able
attorney and a strong advocate at the bar. A man of studious habits and
devoted to his profession, with an enviable record for honesty and reliability,
a bright future doub1:lc8s awaits him. In politics Mr. Davis is a democrat.
He is a Baptist in religion, interested in church and Sunday school work,
and is affiliated fraternally with the Woodmen of the World and the Masonic
order. Since taking up his residence in La Grange he has made a host
of friends.
Henbt Richmond Slack, Ph. M,, M. D, In no depeartment of science
have greater advances been made during the last generation than in medi-
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2512 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
cine. Diseases which twenty-five or thirty years ago were regarded as incur-
able can now be cured or, what is still better, prevented, thanks to the
indefatigable labors of some of the most eminent raembers of this noble pro-
fession, who in many cases have risked or even sacrificed their lives in the
endeavor to relieve human suflfering. The State of Georgia has furnished
her quota of physicians who have taken part in this commendable work.
One of the most active among them is Dr. Henry Richmond Slack of
LaGrange, Troup County, an account of whose career is well worthy of
attention by the readers of this volume.
Doctor Slack was born in Rosedale, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Mav 7,
1862, the son of Henry Richmond and Louisiana (Woolfolk) Slack. The
father, a native of PlaqueminCj Louisiana, died in Sewanee, Tennessee,
October 1, 1890, at the age of fifty-five, was graduated with the class of
1855 from Tale University, Among his classmates there were some young
men who afterwards acquired a national reputation, including the Hon.
Chaunccy M. Depew and Gen. Wager Swayne of New York.- Doctor Slack's
father owned a large sugar plantation at Rosedale, Louisiana, covering about
4,000 acres. Having studied civil engineering he took a leading part in
the building of the Mississippi River levees. During the Civil war he joined
Company A, First Louisiana Regiment, and afterwards served with Gen.
John B. Morgan's Cavalry until after General Lee's surrender. He was
a man of great influence in his community and well deserved the esteem of
his fellow citizens. His widow is still living and resides with her son in
LaGrange, being now seventy-sis years old.- The family have their religious
affiliations with the Episcopal Church. To Henry R, and Louisiana Slack
were born four children : Henry Richmond, Jr. ; William Samuel, now rector
of St. Paul's Church at Columbus, Mississippi ; Louise, who died in LaGrange,
Georgia, at the age of twenty-two years; and Charles John, who is now
operating the old plantation in Louisiana.
In 1880 the family moved to LaGrange, Georgia, on account of the
mother's health. Dr. Henry Richmond Slack was then eighteen years of
age. Besides the advantages of the common schools, he received his higher
education in Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland,
where he graduated in 1885, having Woodrow Wilson, now president of the
United States, as a college mate. In 1891, he was given the Ph. M. degree
by the University of Maryland. In 1895-96 he was a student under Dr. Sir
William Osier at Johns Hopkins Hospital and at Harvard in 1906 was under
the noted Dr. R. C. Cabot. His medical degree was acquired from the
Atlanta Medical College, now Emory University, in 1891, and subsequently
he began practice at LaGrange. He has also taken post-graduate courses
in New York, Chicago and Boston.
In 1900 Doctor Slack founded the Pasteur Institute of Georgia at Atlanta
and became its president, a position he filled until the state took over the
institution in 1906. On April 18, 1900, Doctor Slack read a paper before the
•Me<lical Association of Georgia entitled "Hydrophobia and the Necessity
for a Pasteur Institute in Georgia." This attracted considerable attention
and yet in his laudable ambition to found an institution for the prevention
of the terrible disease hydrophobia he was opposed by a number of promi-
nent physicians, at iirst and for some years he financed the undertaking out
of his own private resources. The institute is now a department of the
Georgia State Board of Health, and in addition to the preventive treatment
of hydrophobia is devoted to pathological, bacteriological and clinical inves-
tigations and researches for the medical profession.
Doctor Slack began the practice of medicine and surgery at LaGrange
in 1891, making a specialty of eye, ear, nose and throat diseases. In 1902
he built a splendid modern private sanitarium that he has since conducted.
,y Google
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2513
This institution has received patronage from all over the state and United
States, and has rendered a splendid service to the coramanity.
Doctor Slack is a member of the County and State Medical societies, the
American Medical Association, of the Southern Medical Association, the
Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Geographic
Society, He is a life member and was, president of the Georgia Pharmaceu-
tical Association in 1891 and secretary and chemist for the Georgia State
Board of Pharmacy from 1888 to 1900. At the time of his appointment he
was the youngest man in the United States to hold such a position. He was
vice chairman of the section of pharmacology and therapeutics and presided
at the Boston meeting of the American Medical Association in 1906. In his
profession he is recognized as a high authority and at times has contributed
valuable articles to the medical press. One of these, already mentioned, is
that relating to hydrophobia, which was published. Another was on "Blue
Pyoktanin in the Treatment of Inoperable Malignant Growths," the result
of his original work in cancer, which was published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association and subsequently reprinted in pamphlet form.
His article "Some Unusual Cases of Intestinal Diseases" was reprinted from
the Atlanta Journal Record of Medicine for May, 1905.
Doctor Slack was formerly professor of chemistry and lecturer on physi-
ology in the Southern and LaGrange colleges. He is an earnest student and
aside from his profession is interested in several business- enterprises, having
been one of the organizers and first directors of the Dixie Cotton Mills.
He is now a director of the LaGrange National Bank, He has served the
city as a member of the council and chairman of the board of health and
took a prominent part in establishing the public schools in LaGrange and in
the cause of education generally. He is premdent of the board of education
and is- also a trustee of the LaGrange Settlement Work. In the Masonic
order he belongs to the Lodge, Chapter, Council, Coeur de Leon Commandery
and Yaarab Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Atlanta.
On September 14, 1887, Doctor Slack was married in LaGrange to Miss
Ruth Bradfield, daughter of Dr. T. S. and Mary (Loyd) Bradfield of
LaGrange. Mrs. Slack's father was one of the leading citizens of LaGrange
and at the time of his death was the oldest living druggist. He formerly
served the city as mayor and for fifty years was a pillar and ruling elder
of the Presbyterian Church and Sunday school. To Doctor and Mrs, Slack
have been born four children, Harry R., Jr., Searcy Bradfield, Ruth and
Mary Louise.
Harry R. Slack, Jr., horn November 29, 1888, was graduated from the
LaGrange High School, took his degree of A. B. from the University of
Georgia in 1908 and that of M. D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1912.
He has been assistant resident surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital rince his
graduation there. September 1, 1914, having received leave of absence, he
sailed for Prance on the steamer Red Cross under the auspices of the Ked
Cross Society, and did surgical work for the French army for a year at Pau.
Searcy Bradfield Slack, born June 9, 1891, graduated from the high
school, from Bingham School of North Carolina, and from the University
of Georgia with the degree B. S. and C. E. in 1911, winning the Peabody
scholarship to Harvard. lu 1912 he graduated from Harvard as Master of
Arts. He is now assistant professor of civil engineering in the University
of Georgia and a well known expert on road work. The Fulton County Road
is a specimen of his engineering ability and he has been invited to demon-
strate before the University of Michigan.
Ruth Slack, born February 18, 1893, graduated from the high school
and in 1912 from Agnes Scott College with the degree A. B., being president
of her class both in her freshman and junior years. Mr. Hazen Eager
Smith of Prattville, Alabama, being so fortunate as to win her heart and
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2514 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
hand, they were married March 2, 1916, Mary Louise Slack, bom October
28, 1898, graduated from high school in 1915 and is uow a student at Agnes
Scott College. She has shown talent for music and is a skilled performer on
the violin,
Mrs. Slack, the mother of these talented children, is descended from the
Scotch Camerons, famous as Covenanters, wKcwe devotion to their religion
in the face of persecution forms one of the most striking pages of history.
She is an earnest worker of the Presbyterian Churcli, having served as
organist in the ehurch of that denomination in LaGrange for the past twenty
years. She is vice president of the Presbyterial Society and is also active
in missionary work. In 1883 she was graduated A, B. from the Southern
Female College of LaGrange. Much of Doctor Slack's success is due to her
help and good judgment.
In reviewing the career of Doctor Slack still more might be added to show
his progressive spirit, which has had a marked and beneficial influence upon
the pharmaceutical and medical professions in Georgia. He was for instance
among the first to study the hook worm disease in the state and the sana-
torium treatment of tuberculosis and to contribute articles upon th^sc subjects,
and he was also the first to use anti-toxin in diphtheria cases in Geor^a.
He was a trustee and on the executive committee with Capt. W, G. Haoul,
who built the State Tuberculosis Sanitorinm at Alto, Georgia. As he has
still scarcely passed the prime of life and is in full possession of his powers
and faculties, it may well be expected that his usefulness in his own particu-
lar field will be continued for many years to come and will lead to still
greater results in the not distant future, one of which will be to establi^ a
City Hospital in La Grange.
Hon Francis Marion Longlet. A veteran of distinguished service, a
lawyer of marked ability, a politician and statesman of unusual popularity
and a capitalist of clear judgment is the Hon. Francis Longley, whose
name is a household word in the State of Georgia. Now well along in success-
crowned years, he is still keenly alive to all the interests of life. Striking
among his characte rifles are the historic hospitality of his ancestral Britain
and his native South, and a rare patriotism that is in part a hereditarj- gift
from his paternal grandfather. The latter. William P. Longley, was a
Virginian who participated in the heroic events of the war of the Revolu-
tion and who carried from the Siege of Yorbtown a bayonet wound attesting
his American loyalty and his youthful intrepidity. In 1800 he removed to
Tennessee, where he was well known as a prosperous planter throughout the
remainder of his life. Of William F. Longlcy's twelve children, the eighth
was John C. Longley, who married Miss Hannah Ray, daughter of W^illiam
Ray, a native of North Carolina and a slaveholder. John C. and Hannah
Ray became the parents of fourteen children, including him whose name
forms the caption of this article. The first child, named Janie, died in her
early maidenhood; her brother, James Longley, who became a successful
farmer and active politician, lived until 1907; the second brother, Lewis,
was also a farmer, whose life closed in 1895, in Whitfield County, Georgia;
Mary Longley became Mrs. James Matlock and lived to the year 1905, her
later home being in Parker County, Missouri ; Jasper Longley, an agricul-
turist of Whitfield County. Georgia, passed from earth in 1909; next in
line was our subject, Francis Marion Longley; his sister Elizabeth became
Mrs. Center of Dalton, Georgia, where she died in 1910; Caroline Longley
McHaan, now a widow, resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Sarah Longley,
Mrs. Joseph Smith, died in Dalton, Georgia, in 1892; Houston Longley is
still one of Dalton 's citizens; Henry G. Longley, another brother who is
occupied with landed interests, also lives in Dalton ; Lou, who married Joseph
Bogle, died in 1890, having been a resident of Whitfield County ; California
Longley died in 1870 at Dalton ; Elvira, the youngest child of the family, was
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2515
the only one to die in childhood. A large and vigorous family of wholesome
ideals, they made no slight impression upon the community in which they
lived. John C. Longley, the father, was well educated for his time and well
read. He took great interest in civic affairs and was withal a particularly
suceessfol planter. It was during the residence of the family in Polk County,
Tennessee, that the son was bom to Jc^hn C. and Hannah Ray Longley wh<Ha
they named Francis Marion. The day of his birth was April 4, 1839.
The education of Francis Marion Louglsy was begun in Benton, Tennessee,
where he received thorough training in academic subjects. He was twenty-
two years of age when he joined Company C of the Third Tennessee Infantry.
That was in 1861, and during the service Mr. Longley rose from the private
ranks to the office of lieutenant of the Sixty-second Tennessee Regiment.
He served until the end of the sectional conflict, participatiug in the. Battle
and Siege of Victsburg, the Battle of Big Black River and numerous others.
The first year of his service was spent in Virginia. On the occasion of the
Siege of Vicksburg, Lieutenant Longley was captured. He was paroled and
again made'a prisoner at the time of Lee's surrender. His activity in the
battle of Strawberry Plains above Knoxville, Tennessee, was made memor-
able by his receiving a slight wound as a mark of his fearless valor.
Returning to private life, Mr. Longley, still in the strong tide of ambitious
youth, proceeded to study law. His first tutor iu legal jurisprudence was
Jesse A. Glenn, of Dalton, Georgia, and it was not long before the Hon. Jamea
Milner, of Cartersville, found him sufficiently erudite for admission to the
bar of the state. His maiden practice was at Dalton, Georgia, in partnership
with Col. J. A. Hanks. For two years he continued as junior member of
"that firm and when they were ended he began his independent practice. He
chose as a new location the Town of West Point, in Troup County, Georgia,
where he remained until 1871. In that year he settled in La Grange, where
he has ever since resided.
The career of Mr. Longley has been notable for. political preferment and
civic service. In the early '70s he held La Grange's highest public office.
His mayoralty was followed by his election to the Georgia Legislature, of
which he was a member in 1873 and 1874. In 1880 he was appointed by
Governor Colquitt to fill out the unexpired term of Hon. Hugh Buchanan,
Judge of the Superior Courts of Coweta Circuit. It was during that period
that Judge Longley became one of the organizers of the Cotton Growers'
Convention, which was held at Macon and the purpose of which was regu-
lating the price of cotton. So efficient was Mr. Longley in the promoting
of this organization that he was made its first president. •
In 1906 Judge Longley was honored with another judicial office. This
was the judgeship of the City Courts of La Grange, an office which he held
for three years. At the close of that period of service, he was called upon
to once more leave his municipality and serve his district in the State Legis-
lature. He therefore went again to the capital in the capacity of repre-
sentative, in the year 1909. A still higher office awaited him. In 1910 he
was returned to the seat of state government as a senator.
Various important bills have been credited to Senator Longley's initiative
ability and his purposive activity. It was he who introduced the bill, now
a law, to license the carrying of concealed weapons. Many instances are noted
as to his effectiveness in killing unwise or harmful legislation; as chairman
of the penitentiary committee and- also of the county lines committee he has
further good work to his credit. Absolutely steadfast in the courage of hie
convictions, the ex-senator never hesitates to take an independent stand.
He took a leading part in the defense of S. Guyt McClendon, whom he
believed a victim of most undesen'ed persecution.
In the commercial phases of his long and successful career, Hon. P. M.
Longley is most widely known as a cotton man and banker. As far hack as
the '7{te, he was prominent in this oi^anization of cotton interests which has
yGoosIe
2516 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
meaot so much to the new South, aud in which counection he is known far
beyond the confines of his state. Locally, his connections as a cotton dealer
have been marked by his organization of the first cotton mill company of
La Grange — known as the La Grange Mills — and his share in forming the
Unity Cotton Mills combination in La Grange. In tiuance, Mr. Longley is
prominent as vice president of the La Grange National Bank, having been
one of the organizers of the same.
Since 1869 Mr. Longley has been blessed by a singularly happy home life.
On June 1 of that year, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Poer.
She was a daughter of Rev. D. M. Poer and Elizabeth Pattillo Poer, of
Harris County, Georgia. Mr. Poer was one of the saintly leaders oE the
Methodist Episcopal Church and also a lover of the soil and a participant
in the agriculture of his community. Mary Poer became a Baptist, like
her chosen companion, and ai Mrs. Longley, she joined in the church
activity which has been one of the ex-senator's many enthusiasms. He is
perhaps more proud of his oflHce as deacon in the La Grange Baptist Church
and of having served as moderator of the Western Association of his religious
denomination than of hi.s high standing as a Royal Arch Mason and of all
the political honors that have come to him. Mrs. Longley was a gifted
organizer, like her husband, and tlie Ladies Missionary Society of the La
Grange Baptist Chureh owes its existence to her initiative effort. Her home
and her church were her two great sanctuaries and her devotion to both
seemed tireless. Mary Poer Longley passed from human sight in the year
1913, at her home in La Grange, after sixty-one years of beautiful earthly
life. It had been her good fortune to see her and her husband's three sons
grown to an efficient and worthy manhood and successfully settled in life.
The eldest son, Frank P. Longley, who was born during the West Point
residence, lias honored both his father and the profession the latter repre-
sents by choosing the same learned vocation. A graduate of Emory College,
V. P. Longley is now a -prominent attorney in offices shared by bis father
and himself. He too has served as .iudge of City Courts in La Cirange. The
commercial talent and proclivities of Hon F. M. Longley seem to have been
inherited by the second son, Fuller M. Longley, who is head of the Longley
Manufacturing Company, a house manufacturing clothing, and located at
Waco, Texas. Law again claims Eldon S. Longley, who spent his first two years
of professional activity in the Longley offices at La Grange, then established
himself at Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he made good to a conspicuous degree,
and who four yeat^ later opened offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he
is now a leading member of the local legal fraternity. Many hostages to
fortune has ex-Senator Longley given, in his competent and distinguished
sons ; in the legislation he has aided in bequeathing to the state ; in the fortune
he has acquired; and in the great circle of countless warm friends, proud to
know this famous Georgian, charmed by the genial light of his chivalrous
personality, thrilled at the remembrance of his beneficent deeds — military,
civic, religious, philanthropic — a life that has been worth the living.
Jesse E. D. Ikbei-l, M. D, It is gratifying to note in connection with the
compilation of this History of Georgia that many native sons of the state have
here found ample scope and opportunity for achievement and the gaining of
success in the various fields of en<leavor, and at this point recognition is
accorded to one of the representative phvsicians and surgeons of Stephens
County. Doctor Isbell is engaged in the practice of his profesaon at Toccoa.
He has a fine home, situated on Summer Hill, tjwo miles distant from the pros-
perous little city mentioned, hut he resides in Toccoa. He has made other
judicious investments in real estate in his home county and is president of
the Farmers & Merchants Rank of Toccoa, where he has prestige as one of the
loyal and public-spirited citizens of this favored section of his native state.
yGoosle
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2517
Doctor Isbell was bom at Tobor, Franklin County, Georgia, on the 27th
of January, 1877, and was the fifth in order of birth of a family of eight
children. He is a Bon of Dean and -Lucy A. (Walter) Isbell, both of whom
passed their entire lives in Georgia, where the father became a prosperous
planter. Dean Isbell served as a valiant and loyal soldier of the Confederacy
during the Civil war, and received wounds in various engagements in which
he participated, including the battles of Gettysburg and Chickamauga, his
ifljuries on one occasion having been so severe that he was confined for some
time in a Confederate hospital in the City of Atlanta. He died in 1896, at
the age of fifty-seven years, and his widow passed to the life eternal on the
3d of January, 1903, aged fifty-six years; she was a daughter of Jesse and
Rhoda (Knight) Walter, who were representatives of pioneer families of
Georgia and who passed their entire lives in this state, Mr. Walter having
attained to the age of eighty-four years and his widow having been ninety-
four years at the time of her demise.
After profiting fully from the advantages afforded in the public schools
Doctor Isbell pressed vigorously forward to the goal of his ambition, which
was to prepare himself for the profession in which he has gained such dis-
tinctive success and prestige. Depending largely upon his own resources
in completing his technical education, he entered the Atlanta College of Phy-
sicians and Surgeons, in which excellent institution he was graduated on
the 3d of April, 1901. and from which he received his coveted degree of
Doctor of Medicine. Holding as adequate naught but the fullest possible
fortification for the work of his responsible profession, he thereafter completed
an eflfective course in the New York Post-Graduate Medical College, and from
that tim« forward to the present he has been engaged in general practice
at Toeeoa, with a large and representative clientage and with well established
reputation as a skillful physician and surgeon who keeps in touch with the
advances made in both departments of his profession. The doctor is identi-
fied with the American Medical Association, the Georgia State Medical Asso-
ciation, the Stephens County Medical Society, of which he has served as
president, and the Ninth District Medical Society.
On the 4th of August, 1904, was solemnized the marriagf of Doctor Isbell
to Miss Eloise Matheson, daughter of William A. MathesJon, a prominent mer-
«hant of Toccoa. Doctor and Mrs. Isbell have no children
John W. Owen. He whose name initiates this review had the distinc-
tion of being one of the leading veteran members of the bar of Stephens
County and was engaged in the practice of his profession in the thriving City
of Toccoa for forty years, within which extended period he appeared in
connection with much of the important litigation in the various courts of
northeastern Georgia. Colonel Owen, as he was familiarly known, was a
gallant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war and in the "piping times
of peace" showed the same spirit of loyalty that prompted him forth in
defense of his loved Southland. lie held various public offices, including
that of mayor of Toccoa, and his ability, steadfast integrity and genial per-
sonality gave him inviolable place in popular esteem.
Colonel Owen was bom in Anderson County, South Carolina, on the 3d
of February, 1843, and is a son of Joshua and Drueilla C. (Watson) Owen,
both likewise natives of South Carolina, where the father was a prominent
planter and after his removal to Georgia he served with distinction on the
bench of the Superior Court of Banks County, besides having been one of the
substantial agriculturists of that county, where his death occurred in 1885.
He was about sixty years of age when he passed to his reward and his widow,
whose death occurred in 1911, attained to the venerable age of eighty years,
the closing period of her life having been passed at Commerce, Jackson
County.
yGoosIe
2518 GEOKGIA AND GEOKGIANS
The eldest in a family of eight children, John "W". Owen, was a child at
the time of the family removal from South Carolina to Geoi^a, and by
availing himself of the advantages of the common schools at Jouesboro he
made himself eligible for pedagogic honors. He was engaged in teaching in
the country schools at the inception of the war between the states, and ta
April, 1861, in Banks Couuty he enlisted as a soldier of the Confederacy,
becoming a member of the Banks County Guard, commanded by Captain
Kent. His service continued during the entire period of the great conflict,
save for the time when he was incapacitated by wounds, and he participated
in many important engagements as well as those of minor order. At the
Battle of Gettysburg he was slightly wounded, and at Chickamauga, where
he was a member of the command of General Longstreet, he received a severe
wound and was thereby rendered temporarily disqualified for further service
in the field. He was transferred to Atlanta and thence went to his home.
After recuperation he rejoined his command and took part in the campaign
work in Tennessee. A record of gallant and efficient service stands to his
enduring honor, and he vitalized the more gracious memories and associa-
tions of his military career through affiliation with the United Confederate
Veterans.
After the war Colonel Owen zealously turned his attention to aiding in
reviving the prostrate industries of the devasted South, and after having
been for a time engaged in the mercantile business he devoted two y^ars to
agricultural pursuits. He was then elected clerk of Banks County, a posi-
tion in which he continued the incumbent two years, and he then began
reading law under effective private preceptorship. The colonel made rapid
and substantial progress in the assimilation of the science of jurisprudence
and in 1875 he was admitted to the bar. During the long intervening years
he was engaged in the general practice of law at Toccoa, and became rec(^-
nized as one of the leading members of the bar of this section of the state.
He served two years as county attorney of Habersham County and his high
vantage-ground in popular confidence and esteem in his home community
needs no further voucher than the statement that he served for a quarter of
a century as mayor of Toccoa. For one year he held the office of solicitor
of the City Court at Clarksville, the judicial center of Habersham County.
The democratic party always commanded the undeviating allegiance of
Colonel Owen and he was influential in its councils in his county and district.
He affiliated with the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity and ,
passed the official chairs in each of these bodies. He was a zealous member
of the Presbyterian Church, in which he was an elder and clerk of the
session, and of which his widow is also a member.
In December, 1870, Colonel Owen wedded Miss Lucy Smith, representa-
tive of a well known family of Lumpkin County, and she was summoned to
eternal rest in 1876. Of the three children of this union only one is living,
Alice 0., who is the widow of Clemint W. Hood and who has two children.
In the year 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Owen to Miss
Mary Eliza Ward, daughter of F, J. Ward, who is one of the venerable citi-
zens of Habersham County. Colonel and Mrs. Owen had seven children :
Mrs. Mary Rothraan resides at Toccoa; Willard is assistant cashier of the
■ First National Bank of Toccoa, is married and has one child ; DeWitt T.,
who is engaged in the practice of law at Toccoa, is married and has three
children ; Winston, Annie, Loren and Miss Willis remain at the parental
home, and Loren is a successful and popular teacher. Colonel Owen died
June 16, 1915.
Dennis Smelt was said to have been a native-bom Georgian, active in
the post -revolutionary period of the state, a man of strong sense, who had
received a very limited education, and when Joseph Bryan, representative in
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGLiNS 2519
the Ninth Congress, resigned, in 1806, Dennis Smelt was elected to fill the
vacancy, and served out the remainder of that term. He was then re-elected
to the Tenth and Eleventh congresses, making altogether a period of five
years of service in the Lower House of the Congress.
Thouas Telfair was bora in Savannah, Georgia, probably between 1780
and 1785, graduated from Princeton College in 1805, he studied law, and
began the practice of his profession at Savannah. Mr. Telfair was elected
representative from Georgia to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth congresses,
serving from 1813 to 1817. He died at Savannah, Georgia, April 2, 1818,
John I. Allman. The efficient and honored superintendent of the public
schools of the thriving little City of Toeeoa, Stephens County, is a prominent
figure in educational circles in Northeastern Georgia and his prestige in bis
chosen profession is the more gratifying to note by reason of his having
depended entirely upon his own exertions and resourcfs in the acquiring
of his liberal education and in making advancement to success and precedence
in his chosen vocation. This popular executive head of the Toccoa schools
is Professor Allman, who is eminently entitled to recognition in this Standard
History of Georgia.
Prof. John I. Allman was bora in Stewart County, Tennessee, on the 13th
of November, 1876, and is a son of John I. and Mary A. (Parchman) Allman,
he being their only 'child. The parents were born and reared in Tennessee,
where the father died in 1879, at the early age of thirty-two years. He had
been called upon to serve in various local offices of public trust, including that
of Circuit Court clerk of Houston County, Tennessee. His parents removed
in an early day from North Carolina to Tennessee and his father was killed
in battle while serving as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. The
maternal grandparents of Professor Allman removed from Virginia to Ten-
nessee and two or more of their sons were gallant soldiers in the Confederate
service in the war between the states, and the grandfather himself having
been for some time held as a prisoner of war, by reason of the aid which he
had given in furthering the cause of the Confederate States, The mother of
Professor Allman was summoned to the life eternal in 1907, at the age of
fifty-four years, and while scarcely' more than a boy the professor, with deep
filial solicitude, be^n to contribute to the support of hie widowed mother.
The early educational discipline of Professor Allman was acquired in the
public schools of his native state, where he later completed a normal course
in the Peabody College, in which he was graduated as a member of the class
of 1898. For eight years thereafter he was successfully engaged in teaching
in the schools of Cumberland City, in his native county in Tennessee, and
within this period he set-ved for some time as county superiDtendent of
schools. He has ever been a close and appreciative student and his intel-
lectual attainments are of high order, the while his services as a teacher and
educational executive have given opportunity for the development of excep-
tional administrative ability. Upon severiug his association with educa-
tional work in Tennessee Professor Allman came to Georgia, where he passed
one winter as a teacher in Coweta County, in the central part of the state.
In 1908 he established his residence at Toeeoa, Stephens County, where he
has since continued his admirable services in the educational field, his work
having been confined to superintendent of the city schools until 1911, when
he was elected superintendent of the public schools of Stephens County,
and has since held both positions. Professor Allman is an enthusiast in his
profession and deems it worthy of his unrestricted time and attention, the
while he is invariably successful in gaining the earnest eo-operation of other
instructors working under his direction and to insure general advancement
on the part of pupils, who accord to him the utmost confidence and esteem.
yGoosIe
2520 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
In politics Professor AUman gives unswerving allegiance to the demo-
cratic party; he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Modem Woodmen, Columbian 'Woodmen and the '
Woodmen of the World, in which last mentioned order he is councilor com-
mander of the camp at Toccoa in 1915 ; and both he and bis wife are zealous
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which he is serving
as superintendent of the Sunday school. On the 26tb of June, 1900, was
solemnized the marriage of Professor AUman to Miss Pearl Moss, daughter
of Robert E. and Leanda (Campbell) Moss, of Nashville, Tennessee, Of the
six, children of this union all but the youngest two, who were born in Toccoa,
are natives of Cumberland City, Tennessee, their names and respective yearn
-3^ birth being here noted ; Fred L., 1901 ; Robert Moas, 190a ; John I., Jr.,
1905; Mary Lee, 1907; Claude C, 1909; and Edward B., 1911.
Ephr.vim E. Mitchell. The intrinsic characteristics that mfike for
worthy achievement and the attaining of large success, together with
influence in civic and business lines, have been amply shown in the career
of this representative and highly esteemed citizen of Toccoa, Stephens
County, where he is secretary and treasurer of the Toccoa Cotton Mills and
president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank. He began the battle of life
without capitalistic reinforcement or other fortuitous influences, and by
energy, initiative power and marked circumspection has pushed forward to
the goal of success, and while he has realized the stewardship which such
success involves and has been liberal and public-spirited as a citizen, his
course has been guided on a high plane of personal integrity.
Epbraim Eddins Mitchell was bom in Franklin County, Georgia, on the
20tb of November, 1862, and is a son of Ervin A. and Mary A. (Terrell)
Mitchell, the former of whom was born in Geoi^a and the latter in Oconee
County, South Carolina, she having been a member of a sterling old southern
family that gave gallant soldiers to the Continental line in the war of the
Revolution. The marriage of the parents of Mr. Mitchell was solemnized in
South Carolina and the father eventually became a well known and highly
respected planter in Franklin County, Georgia. During the Civil war he
was held exempt from military service, as he was in charge of a mail route of
the Confederate Government, but be did all in his power to support the arms
and the cause of the Confederacy. He continued his residence in Georgia
until his death, in 1903, at the venerable age of eighty years, and his. widow
passed to the life eternal in 1905, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was
a son of Wiley Mitchell, who passed his entire life in Georgia and who
was a member of an honored pioneer family of this state. He whose name
initiates this review was the sixth in order of birth in a family of nine chil-
dren, and those now living are: William A., who is a resident of the City of
Gainesville; Clark P., who maintains his home at Martin, Franklin County;
George W., who is a resident of "Waco, Texas; Christopher C, who resides
near the City of Fort Worth, that state, and Martha E. Looney, who resides
at Rome, Georgia.
The early educational discipline of Ephraim E. Mitchell was gained prin-
cipally in the schools at Carnesville, Franklin County, and this was supple-
mented by a course in a business college in the City of Atlanta. After having
been engaged in teaching school at Martin, Franklin County, for two terms,
he removed to Toccoa, in 1883, and accepted the position of bookkeeper tor
J. H. and T. C. Vickery, prominent merehanta and cotton factors, with whom
he continued to be associated seven years. For two years thereafter he was
in the employ of McAllister & Simmons and his next service was with the
firm of E. P. Simpson & Company. Finally Mr. Mitchell was enabled to
achieve his ambitious purpose of engaging in business for himself. He asao-
eiated himself with B. P. Brown in the establishing of a general merchandise
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2521
store at Toccoa, and this alliance continued four years, within which he laid
a substantial foundation for the greater success which he has won by close
application and careful and honorable business policies. In 1897 Mr.
Mitchell became one of the interested principab in the Toeeoa Cotton Mills,
operations having been initiated with 5,000 spindles and 100 employes. At
the present time the prosperous mills show 8,000 spindles in operation, and
256 looms, the while employment is given to an average force of 160 persons.
The well equipped plant utilized a tract of twenty-five acres, and the mechan-
ical equipment is of the most approved modern type, the progressive owners
of the business keeping the plant up to the highest standard at all times.
Mr. Mitchell is a director and also president of the Farmers & Merchants
Bank of Toccoa and has other capitalistic investments of important order,
including the ownership of valuable real estate. He has been in a significant
sense one of the world's productive workers,, and such is the character of the
man that all who know rejoice in the success he has so worthily achieved.
Mr. Mitchell is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the democratic party,
takes a loyal interest in community affairs and has served for fourteen years
as a member of the city council of Toccoa, a position which he holds at this
writing (1916). He is affiliated with the National Union and the Woodmen
of the World and both he and hJs wife are zealous members of the First
Baptist Church in their home city, he being a deacon of the same.
In May, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mitchell to Mis^ Lelia
A. Spearman, daughter of William and Tobitha Spearman, representatives
of well knoira families early founded in South Carolina and later prominent
in Georgia as agriculturists, the parents of Mrs, Mitchell having been resi-
dents of the latter state for many yeare prior to their death. Mr. and Mrs.
Mitchell became the parents of four children, of whom three are living:
Ruth Ann, Is now the wife of George G. Allen, a representative attorney and
counselor at law at Toccoa ; Eben, who was bom in April, 1899, is a member
of the class of 1916 in the Toccoa High School ; and Riley, who was bom in
1903, is attending the public schools of his native city. Ethel, the firstborn of
the four children, died in 1903, at the age of eleven years.
Rev. Olivhi N. Jackson. That St. Anthony's Catholic Church on the
west side of Atlanta is now one the strongest and most efficient parishes in
the state is due primarily to the devoted services of its founder and pastor.
Father Jackson. The record of this parish during the first twelve years of
its history is sufficient evidence of Father Jackson's excellent ability as
pastor and church executive, hut with these qualities he also unites an
equally important one of spiritual adviser to his people. To express what
the people of Atlanta, both Catholic and non-Catholie, feel toward Father
Jacl^n, it should be said that he is one of the most public spirited and
popular of local citizens.
Of English and French ancestry, Oliver Napoleon Jackson was born in
Louisville, Province of Quebec, Canada, January 27, 1869, a son of Dexter
W. and Clotilde (Courtois) Jackson. His father was bom in Monson, Maine,
December 28, 1830, and his mother was born at Three Rivers, Canada,
December 29, 1830. The father died at Nashua, New Hampshire, January
4, 1913, and the mother had passed away in the same place April 22, 1900,
their remains being interred in the cemetery there. Father Jackson's paternal
grandfather was one of the early settlers in the State of Maine, and saw
active service as a soldier on the American side in the War of the Revolution.
The maternal grandfather was a native of France, took part in the wars
of the Napoleonic era, and later was sent on a government mis^on from
Lyons, France, to Canada. Dexter W. Jackson was a mecbanieal engineer
by profession, and was frequently engaged on important work in that capacity.
During the American Civil war he was a resident of Canada, and eonse-
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2522 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
quently had no part as a soldier, though four of his brothers were in the
Union army, two of them with the rank of captain and one as first and the
other as second lieutenant, and two of these brothers gave up their lives on
the battlefield of Gettysburg. Father Jackson's mother was of Canadian
French Catholic stock, and his father became a convert to Catholicism after
his marriage.
In 1888 Father Jackson entered St. Mary's College at Baltimore, Mary-
land, from which he was graduated in 1897, and was ordained to the priest-
hood at Wilmington, Delaware, September 11, 1898, by Bishop Monaghan. His
first work was done in Virginia, first at Norfolk and nest at Richmond,
where he remained two years, being chiefly engaged in missionary labors.
In 1900 he became pastor of St. Francis Xavier's Church in Baltimore, and
remained there until 1902. May 20, 1902, he came to Georgia, and became ,
identified with the Savannah Diocese'. The first of September of the same
year Bishop Keiley assigned him to duties in Atlanta. Early in the following
year Father Jackson established at 251 Ashby Street in Atlanta what is
known as St. Anthony's Catholic Church. He has been the first and only
pastor, and while he has had the loyal and faithful cooperation of his people,
he is readily accorded by them the distinction of being the founder and real
upbuilder of this now important parish. In 1903 the church had only
thirty-five members, fifteen adults and twenty children. He has worked
diligently in extending the membership of his parish and in promoting its
general interests, and is now pastor of a congregation numbering 600 souls.
He has undertaken and is still engaged in a magnificent campaign for the erec-
tion of an appropriate church edifice for his parish, and made an important
beginning in 1911 when the stone basement and foundation were finished for
the new St. Anthony's Church, While the superstructure has not yet been
completed, the basement portion has been used since 1911 as a church audi-
torium. In 1913 be established a school which is conducted by the Sisters of
Mercy, of Savannah, and he has already secured enough financial backing
to be able to build a new school in 1917, which will accommodate 400 pupils.
Father Jackson la not only a devoted and zealous priest but a man of many
social attributes, and is popular among all classes of people. The distinction
by which he will be well remembered by many people in the South was his
baptizing into St. Anthony's Congregation Georgia's famous writer and
humorist, Joel Chandler Harris ("Uncle Remus") just three weeks before
the death of that noted author. Mrs. Harris, his widow, is now a member
of St. Anthony's Church in Atlanta.
James M. Freeman, M. D. Franklin County claims as one of its able and
popular physicians and surgeons Doetor Freeman, who is engaged in the
successful practice of his profession in the Village of Lavonia, and who is a
scion of sterling old Georgia families, though he himself was bom in Union
County, Mississippi, on the 16th of March, 1870.
Doctor Freeman is a son of Walter J. and Parthenia (David) Freeman,
both of whom were bom and reared in Georgia, where their marriage was
solemnized and whence they eventually removed to Mississippi. In the latter
state the father of the Doctor became a prosperous agriculturist and represen-
tative citizen of Union County, but he eventually returned to Georgia and
established the family home on a plantation in Madison County, where he
continued his active association with the basic industry of agriculture until
about 1900, since which time he has lived practically retired in the Village
of Commerce, that county, he having now (1915) attained the age of seventy
years and his wife being sixty -eight years of age. At the time of the climacteric
period of the Civil war he served the final two years of the great conflict as a
gallant soldier of the Confederacy. Though he participated in numerous
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GEOKGIA AND GEORGIANS 2523
batl^es and many minor engagements be was fortunate in that he never
received more than a nominal wound. >
The second in order of birth in a family of three sons and six daugfatera,
Doctor FreemaA ia indebted to the rural schools of Mlssisaippi and Georgia
for his early educational advantages, and in preparation for his chosen pro-
fession he entered the Georgia Eclectic Medical C(jlege, in the City of Atlanta,
in which institution he was graduated on the 1st of March, 1893, and from
whioh he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. An ambitious student
who had applied himself with all diligence, Doctor Freeman came well
equipped to the practical work of his exacting vocation, and his first two years
of service were rendered in Franklin County, his residence having been main-
tained in the vicinity of Carnesville. He then removed to Lavwiia, where he
has continued in active general practice during the long intervening period
of twenty years and where his success has been on a parity with his recognized
ability .and his unqualified personal popularity. At Lavonia he also owns and
succeesfully conducts a well appointed drug store, bo that he is one of the
representative business men of the village as well as one of the leading physi-
cians of Franklin County. Through close study of the best of standard and
periodical literature pertaining to medioine and surgery Doctor Freeman has
kept himself well informed in advances made, and the same object has been
conserved through his active afQIiation with the American Medical Associa-
tion, the Geor^a State Medical Association, the Ninth District Medical Society
and the Franklin County Medical Society. In polities he accords stalwart
alle^anee to the democratic party, and he is liberal and progressive in his
civic attitude. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and
his wife hold member^ip in the Presbyterian Church.
In November, 1894, Doctor Freeman wedded Miss Lida McDaniel, who was
bom and reared in Franklin County, where her 'parents still maintain their
home, her father, Thomas McDaniel, being a substantial agricalturist and
highly honored citizen. Doctor and Mrs. Freeman became the parents of four
children, of whom two are living: Travis W., who was graduated in the Pain
School of Pharmacy, in the City of Atlanta, and who is now associated with
his father in the drug business at Lavonia, his birth having occurred in the
year 1895; and Esstelle, who was bom in November, 1906, is attending the
public schools of Lavonia, The deceased children were : Roy, who was bom
in 1897 and who died in 1907 ; and William Howard, who was bom in 1902
and died iu 1904.
William W. Cobnog, M. D. That courage and purposeful ambition will
yield to no adverse influences has been significantly demonstrated in the career
of this honored and representative physician and surgeon of Franklin County,
for he depended upon his own powers and resources in fitting himself for the
work of his exacting and responsible profession and in the same has achieved
prestige and worthy success. He is engaged in active general practice in the
Village of Lavonia and his effective ministrations extend throughout the
excellent section of country lying tributary to tlus thriving town.
Doctor Comog was born in Hart County, Georgia, on the 18th of March,
1865. and is the son of William L. and Nancy Elizabeth (Holland) Cornog,
the former a native of Georgia and the latter of South Carolina. The original
progenitors of the Comog family in Georgia came to this state from Penn^l-
vania, and the grandfather of Doctor Cornog was the owner and builder of one
among the first cotton mills in Georgia, located at Shoal Creek, Hart County,
the same having been successfully conducted by him up to the inception of
the Civil war, when he subordinated all personal interests to tender bis
services in defense of the cause of the Confederacy, serving as a lieutenant in
a cavalry regiment. W. L. Comog, the father of William W., enlisted as a
private in a Georgia regiment, and while at the front he was attacked by illness
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2524 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
that incapacitated him for further service. He returned to his home but never
teeovered his physical health, and he died in 1876, at the early age of thirty
years. He was a son of Alvin Comog, who came irom Pennsylvania to Georgia
and became a pioneer cotton mill man of the state, where he passed the residue
of his life, the lineage of the fajnily being traced back to sturdy English and
Welsh origin. Alvin Cornog married Miss Sarah Sheppard, who was bom in
South Carolina and who was a member of an old and influential family of
that state. The mother of Doctor Cornog died about the year 1876, within a
short time after the demise of her young husband, and she was but twenty-
eight years of age when she was summoned to eternal rest. She was a
daughter of William W. and Nancy (Wright) Holland, the former of whom
was bom in South Carolina where he lived his entire life. His wife was also
bom and reared in the same state. Doctor Cornog is the elder of a family of
two children, and liis sister, Julia, died at the age of about twenty-eight years.
She was the wife of J. W. Mason, and she left two sons, Cary and John, whom
the Doctor reared and educated. He was a mere lad at the time of his parents'
death and early became dependent largely upon his own exertions and
resources. He found it possible to avail himself of the advantages of the
schools of his native county and thereafter to pursue a higher literary course
in the college at Dahlonega, this college being a branch of the University of
Geoi^a. Jn preparation for his chosen profession he applied himself with
characteristic earnestness to the curriculum of the Atlanta Medical College, in
which institution he was graduated as a member of the daas of 1888 and from
which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For two years thereafter
he was engaged in practice at Westminster, South Carolina, and he then
returned to his native state and established his home at Lavonia, which has
since continued his place of residence and the headquarters from which be
gives his close and loyal attention to his extensive and representative practice.
The Doctor keeps in touch with the advances made in medical and surgical
science, by availing himself of the best standard and periodical literature of the
same and by retaining affiliation with the American Medical Association, the
Geoi^a State ^ledical Association, and the Franklin County Medical Society,
of which he is serving as president in 1915. The Doctor is also interested in
farming and stock-raising, and owns two farms near Lavonia, giving a portion
of his time to their cultivation.
Doctor Cornog is a citizen of liberality and much public spirit, is honored'
by all who know him and is influential in public and general civic affairs in
his home community. He has served as mayorof Lavonia, besides having been
a member of the village council for several terms, and for nearly twenty years
he has been an earnest and valued member of the local school board. He is
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, gives unequivocal allegiance to the democratic party. His wife holds '
membership in the Baptist Church.
In October, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Comog to Miss
Flora Brooks, daughter of the late Lemuel Brooks, who was a representative
citizen of Gainesville, Georgia, where both he and his wife passed the closing
years of their lives, both having been natives of the State of South Carolina.
In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Doctor and
Mrs. Cornog: Mary is the wife of George V. Crawford, of Lavonia; Miss Julia
remains at the parental home; Flora, who is the wife of Ray Cleveland, like-
wise resides in lavonia; and Augusta, Francis and William Wallace are still
members of the parental home circle, the latter two being students in the
public schools of Lavonia.
Hon. Edw.\bd Thomas Moon. There is no way a man of ability can
demonstrate his usefulness than as a servant of the people. In this connec-
tion it would not he out of place to paraphrase an old adage into the form,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2525
"An honest politician 13 the noblest work of God." All civilization rests
upon law, and, if we except the common law, laws are made by legislators,
in this country elected by the people. It makes a vast difference, therefore,
whether the men who are elected for this purpose are honest or other-
wise; whether they are regardful of the public weal, or, seeking their own
personal interest, only, allow themselves to become the tools of unscrupulous
corporations or other organizations o£ men bent upon public plunder. Legis-
lators who conscientiously perform their duties are worthy of honor; all
others should be speedily consigned to political oblivion. It is in the former
class that we would place the subject of this memoir, Hon. Edward Thomas
Moon, of La (Jrange, Troup County, senator for the Thirty-seventh Sena-
torial District of Georgia, whose record in public life is one that his fellow
citizens both know and cordially approve.
Senator Moon was born in LogansvjUe. Walton County, Georgia, January
14, 1867, the son of Stephen Lafayette and Anna (Cooper) Moon. He comes
of vigorous stock, his paternal family showing some remarkable instances of
longevity. His great-grandfather Moon, who was a native of North Caro-
lina, lived to the age of ninety-six years. Joseph Moon, the senator's grand-
father, was bom in Columbia County, Geoi^ia, October 16, 1794 and died
in Walton County, this state. May 19, 1892, at the age of ninety-five years.
Several of his brothers and sisters lived to be quite old, their ages averaging
seventy years or more. Joseph was a prosperous planter, owning many slaves.
He moved to Walton County in 1824 and was a man greatly beloved for his
amiable disposition. For thii-ty years he served as juror and was a justice
of the peace for many years. He voted for every democratic presidential
candidate from Andrew Jackson to and including Grover Cleveland. His
rule for happiness and long life was to "love your wife dearly, as nothing
is as healthy as true love." At the time of his death he was the oldest citizen
in Walton County. Among his possessions was a Bible that had been in the
family for over 150 years. In religion he was an active Baptist. Joseph *
Moon was three times married, first to Edith Hiidson, by whom he had five
children. After her death he married Martha Jones, who died in 1876. By
her he had iifteen children. In 1876, when seventy-nine years of age. he
married his third wife. Miss Lorraine Thompson. The twenty children above
mentioned were his entire family. Several years before his death he had
fourteen living children, ninety-nine grandchildren, seventy-seven great-
grandchildren, and seventy-nine great -great-grandchildren. Eight of his sons
enlisted in the Confederate army, all in the Thirty-fifth Georgia Ro^ment,
their average weight being 201i.i. ponnds. All served with distinction. One,
Bud Moon, was kilted at the battle of Sonth Petersburg.
Stephen Lafayette Moon was born in Walton County, Georgia about 1834
and died in 1910 at the age of seventy-six years. He was the eldest son of
his parents, Joseph and Martha (Jones) Moon. Like his father he was a
planter and he also served in the Confederate army up to the end of the
w-ar. He was a Free Mason, in politics a democrat and in religion a Baptist.
His wife Anna is still living and resides in the old home, being now seventy-
seven years of age. They were the parents of eight children, namely:
Sereptha, who married 0. A. Cowen and died in Rockdale County, Georgia,
in 1903; Edward Thomas, the subject of this sketch; Joseph N., who is a
farmer in Walton County; William H., now engaged in farming in Rockdale
County, who in early manhood was a teacher; Ida, wife of J. P. Carter, a
farmer of Walton County; Alice, wife of Robert Smith, a farmer of Walton
County; Marshall, a farmer of Walton Connty, and Gordon, also engaged in
farming in Walton County.
Edward Thomas Moon acquired the elements of knowledge in the puTilie
schools of Walton County, teaching school during the vacations. Prom the
fall of 1891 to the spring of 1892 he taught in Logansviile. In the fall of
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2526 QEOBOU AND GEORGIANS
'1892 be entered the Uoiversity of Geoi^a and was graduated in law from
that institution in 1893, begiDoiog the practice of his profession in Ho^aus-
vilte in the same year. After remaining there three years be came, in October,
1895, to La Grange, where he became associated with W. T. Tuggle, aa junior
member of the law firm of Moon & Tuggle. This connection lasted from
1897 until Mr. Tu^le withdrew to accept an appointment as solicitor for
the city courts of La Grange, the firm having a fine reputation and handling
a lai^ amount of legal business each year. In 1910 Mr. Moon was appointed
by President Taft as census supervisor for the Fourth Congressional District,
comprising ten counties, the duties of which office he performed in a highly
satisfactory manner. In the fall of 1912 he was elected to tl^e State Legis-
lature, serving in 1913-14. His election as senator followed in the fall of
1914 and proved conclusively that he had fully established himself in the
public confidence, which, it may be said, he has never betrayed. Senator
Moon is progressive in all things where reform ia needed, but is strongly
opposed to ill advised legislation. He is counsel for the La Grange Bank
and is both an acute and able attorney and an eloquent advocate at tho bar.
Indeed it may be said that he is one of the most powerful and convincing
orators in this part of the state and has often taken the stump in political
campaigns on behalf of his friends, but never for himself. He is a lover
of good literature and is especially well \'ersed in history. In religion he
is a Baptist, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic order.
Senator Moon was married March 4, 1902, at West Point, Troup County,
Georgia, to Miss Nathan Lyon Winston, a daughter of 0. D. and Louisa
(Lyon) Winston of West Point. Her father who was a well to do farmer
and cotton broker, and during the war a Confederate svddier, died in 1892.
Her mother is still living and resides in the old home at West Point. Four
children have been bom to Senator and Mrs. Moon, all at La Grange, namely :
Ann Louisa, March 4, 1904; Fauntleroy, June 6, 1908; Mary Tinsley, in
' November, 1910, and Edward Thomas, June 4, 1913.
LoTT Wabben, lawyer, legislator, judge, and congressman, was for many
years one of the prominent figures in the public life of Georgia, He was a
native of the state, bom in Burke County, October 30, 1797, obtained such
education as the schools of the day afforded, studied law, and was admitted
to practice in 1821. He moved to Marion and served in the Lower House of
the General Assembly in 1824, and in the State Senate in 1830. In 1831 he
was again in tlie Lower House, and in that year was elected a judge of the
Inferior Court, serving until 1834. He- was elected as a whig representative
to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh congresses, serving from 1839 to
1843, Judge Warren was for many years a leader qf his party in the state,
was accounted one of the foremost lawyers of the day, and a strong man on
the bench. He died at Albany, June 17, 1861.
Wtlie Thompson was a native of Amelia Coilnty, Virginia, moved to
Ellierton, Geot^ia, held several local offices, achieved a certain amount of
prominence in politics, was elected a representative from Georgia to the
Seventeenth Congress, re-elected to the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth,
Twenty-first and Twenty-second congresses as a democrat, serving twelve
years, from 1821 to 1833.
LiNDLET Watland Camp. The name of this young lawyer of Cobb
County su^ests a large and interesting family relationship in Georgia and
the South. Mr. Camp was born during a temporary residence of his parents
af Florence. Alabama, December 20, 1892. a son of Price W. and Louella
(Lindley) Camp, both of whom were natives of Cobb County, Georgia, and
descendants of old families in different Southern states.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2527
Some years a^ the late Henry Orady attended a reunion of the Camp
family at Powder Springs, Georgia, and his account of the family as it
appeared in the Atlanta Constitution was as follows: "Thomas Camp of
Virginia had eleven sons and one daughter by his first wife, who not unnat-
urally died. He married a new wife and repeated his record, having by her
ten sons and two daughters. Having gathered about him his twenty-one
sons and three daughters he felt that he had obeyed God's first injunction
and died the death of the just. The twenty-four children of Thomas Camp
were, as might haye been expected, a prolific and stalwart race. Only one of
them, a daughter, approached the father's record. -She had twenty-two chil-
dren. One of the sous found himself at a reunion with 316 sons and daugh-
ters, his own last bom, a postulate of sixteen days, being the youngest child
present. The prepotency of the old Virginian was remarkable. The men
who sprang from his stalwart loins and their descendants are to be found in
every Southern state, having his characteristics and courage, industry and
shrewdness. They are steady lovers, good husbands, religious as a rule and
clannish. A general reunion of this family would be a sight worth seeing."
A more particular account of the founder of the family may now be
given. Thomas Camp, of Virginia, born in 1691, married a Miss Marshall
of that state. Of their three sons, John and Marshall were officers from
Vii^inia in the Revolutionary war, while the first son, Thomas Camp, to
whom Mr. Grady had specific reference in the above article, was too old for
service in the war but bad several sons and grandsons who participated in
that stru^le. Thomas Camp, the father of "the twenty-four," was bom
Februarj- 8, 1717, and died in 17fl8. He first lived in the upper part of
Virginia, then removed to Halifax County in the same state, from there to
the present ate of Durham, North Carolina, and just before the Revolution-
ary war moved to Eutherford County, North Carolina and settled Ireland
Ford on the French Broad River. He was a millwrignt by profession and
built and owned the first mill erected in that section. He and his wife were
stanch patriots and aided the Revolutionary army, as a result of which
allegiance they were robbed and pillaged by the British army. Five of their
sons participated in the battle of King's Mountain. Thomas and his second
wife are at rest in the burying ground at the old homestead, which is still
owned by a descendant of their youngest son, Joshua. One of the descend-
ants who a few years a^ was paying particular attention to collecting mat-
ter pertaining to the family stated that the descendants of this forefather
numbered 5,000 or more, and were to be found in every Southern state. The
name of the first wife of Thomas Camp is unknown. Their eleven sons and
one daughter were as follows: Edmund, horn in 1739; Joseph, born in 1741;
John, bom in 1743; Nathaniel, bom in 1745; Thomas, horn in 1747; Starling,
bom in 1749; Hosea, bom in 1751; William, bom in 1753; Alfred, born in
1755; Benjamin, born in 1757; Elizabeth, bom in 1759; Joel, bom in 1761.
The second wife of Thomas Camp was Margaret Corney. who was bom in
Ireland June 20, 1744, and died in 1824. Her issue was as follows: Cren-
shaw, bom in 1763 ; James, born in 1765 ; Daniel, bom in 1766 ; Lewis, born
in 1768 ; Adam, bom in 1769 ; Stephen, born in 1771 ; Larkin, bom in 1773 ;
Unicy, bom in 1775; Aaron, born in 1778; Ruth, born in 1780; George, bom
in 1782 ; and Joshua, bom in 1785.
A grandson of one of these twenty-four was Joseph Lindley Camp, who
was bOTU in Campbell County, Georipa, February 24, 1824, and died October
14, 1892. He married September 20, 1846, Martha Anderson, who was bom
near Powder Springs, Cobb County, Georgia, December 29, 1825, and died
August 29, 1882. Their children were: Milton, born September 12, 1847;
Coleman, bom April 3, 1858; Hattie; Price Wayland, bom March 10, 1866; ,
Susan; and Lydia.
Price Wayland Camp, whose birth has been noted, was educated at
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2528 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Powder Springs and in Atlanta, Georgia, and in early life accepted a pcm-
tion as civil engineer with the East Tennessee & Virginia Railway, now a
part of the Southern Railway. He was one of sixteen engineers engaged in
the survey and construction work, fifteen of whom were college graduates.
He was engaged in surveying the right of way from Bristol, Vii^inia, to
Brunswick, Georgia, and was the only one of the staff of sixteen still in
service by the time they reached Brunswitk. He was engaged in his duties
as civil engineer at Florence, Alahama, at the time his son, Lindley W., was
born. His connection with the civil engineering department of the South-
€m Railway continued for fifteen years, Jn 1898 he took charge of the
Stubbs Lumber Company's mill at Cox, Dodge County, Georgia, and on
November 1, 1901, took charge of the Massee & Felton Lumber Company
mills at Massee, Georgia. When that firm retired from bosinese he became
general manager for the Tallahassee Lumber Company in Florida for five
years, and in 1908 moved to Marietta, Georgia. In 1913 he organized the
Conner, Camp & McClesky Company of Marietta, one of the largest whole-
sale merchandise companies of that city, dealers in cotton, groceries, fer-
tilizers and farm supplies. He has been the active head and president of
this company to the present time. His reputation as a mill man was of the
very highest and he always commanded a high salary and had many positions
offered him all over the state and in several other states. Price W. Camp is
a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar and Shriner and a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he and his family are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Price W. Camp was married December 21. 1891. at Atlanta to Alias
Louella Lindley, who was born at Powder Springs, Georgia, June 28, 1868,
and died on the 11th of October, 1915. About 1881 she joined the Methodist
Church in Atlanta and received her education from the public schools and
from tbe Catholic Convent of Atlanta. She was the only child of Augustus
Highsmith and Anna Muse (Bowen) Ijindley. Her father was born July 2,
1843, at Powder Springs, Georgia, and died June 18, 1912. He married
Miss Bowen August 9, 1866. She was born November 6,- 1845, at Carrollton,
Georgia. Augustus H. Lindley was a son of Jonathan and Mildred (Hendry)
Lindley. Jonathan Lindley and Mildred Hendry were married Novtmber
15. 1827, and settled in Newton County, Georgia. Jonathan Lindley gave
the land for the Methodist, Presbyterian and Hardshell Baptist ehurches in
Powder Springs. He and his brothers, Klisha, Thomas and James, and
three sisters si-ttled at Powder Springs in 1840. Jonathan Lindley died
September 5, 1868. His wife, Mildred Hendry, was born May 25, 1810, at
Elberton, Georgia, and died August 25, 1892. Her father, Dr. Charles
Hendry was born April 10, 1776, in Virginia, and died May 4, 1841, at
Powder Springs. Doctor Hendn- married Nancy McGhee, who was bom
April 6, 1775. in Virginia, and died June 20, 1838. The children of Jona-
than and Mildred Lindley were: Nancy J. A. C, born November 22, 1828,
and married Dr. Aristides Reynolds: Priscilla S. L., born May 8, 1833, in
Cherokee County, Georgia, married Milton J. Magee; James M,, bom May
25, 1835. in Newton County; Augustus 11., born July 2. 1843; Josephine
Elizabeth Conyers, born April 2.1. 1S46, and married Dr. R. "W. Murray;
Charies Hendry, born May 29. 1849.
Augustus Highsmith Lindley was a soldier in the war between the states,
enlisting at the age of sixteen in Company D of the Seventh Georgia Regi-
ment, and was afterwards with Company F of the First Georgia Regiment,
being orderly sergeant of his company. He was stationed with his command
at Fort Gaines, six miles from Mobile, and was ordered from there to Resaca,
■ Georgia, but about that that time was taken ill and sent home on a furlough.
While atten^ting to rejoin his company he was captured by the Yankees,
near Atlanta, and spent the rest of the war period in prison at Camp Doug-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2529
las, Chicago, Later he taught school at Powder Springs, and among Ms
pupils was John B, Goodivin, later mayor of Atlanta. In 1872 Mr. Liiidley
moved to Atlanta, and engaged in the drug liusincsa with Doctor Pendleton.
Subsequently he was on the road traveling for Doctor Pendleton, and for
fifteen years represented the Chattanooga Medicine Company. His death
occurred at the home of his daughter, Mrs. P. W. Camp, at Marietta, Georgia,
June 18, 1912.
Lindley Wayland Camp, who was the only child of his parents, and repre-
sents in his person the mingled strain of some of the best families in the
South, received his education in the public schools, of Marietta, and in 1911
graduated from the Gordon Institute. He then entered the University of
Georgia, but left in his junior year to take up the study of law in the Atlanta
Law College, graduating in 1913 LL, B. He then began a successful practice
at Marietta. In 1914 he was elected city attorney under the administration
of Mayor P. Dobbs, and is giving an excellent account of himself in that
responsible position. He takes much part in democratic politics. Mr. Camp
is a Boyal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic
Shrine, and his mother is a Daughter of the American Revolution and a
Daaghter of the Confederacy. Oatside of his 'profession, Mr. Camp indnlges
the taste of his vigorous young manhood in following the sports nf baseball,
football, hunting and fishing, and ia also a devotee of literature and the arts.
Rev. Thobnwell Jacobs, A. M., LL. D. A most worthy and effective
work was achieved in the raising of the very appreciable fund necessary for
the refounding and virtual endowment of Oglethorpe University in the City
of Atlanta, and to tlie earnest and well«ordered endeavors of Doctor Jacobs
was due in lar^ measure the success of the preliminary work of promotion
and the accumulation of the fund that made pos^bte the formal establishing
of the new and strongly reinforced institution in Georgia 'a capital city. The
cornerstone of the first bailding of the new institution was formally laid on
the 21st of January, 1915, and on the same day Doctor Jacobs was elected
the first president of the university of which he had thus been one of the
founders and the future development of which into one of the great educa-
tional institutions of the South is most consistently placed under his executive
and academic direction. The doctor is a loyal Southerner and a scion of distin-
guished and scholarly Southern ancestry. He is a man of ripe scholarship,
a clei^yman of the Presbyterian Church, a sueeessful educator, an author,
and above all is a thinker and worker who crjstallized high ideals into
material achievement for the benefit of humanity.
Dr. Thomwell Jacobs was bom at Clinton, Laurens County, South Caro-
lina, and under his able and devoted supervision this school has developed
Jacobs and Mary (Dillard) Jacobs. Rev. William P. Jacobs, a son of Ferdi-
nand and Mary (Redbrook) Jacobs, was graduated in Charleston College,
South Carolina, in 1859, and received first honors in his class. He was the
founder and president of Thomwell Orphanage, at Clinton, South Caro-
lina, and under his able and devoted supervision this school has developed
into one of the splendid institutions of the Palmetto State. For the long
period of fory-seven years he served also as pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church of Clinton. His father. Ferdinand Jacobs, was a son of Pressley and
Elizabeth (Chew) Jacobs, the former of whom was a member of the Masonic
lodge in which Gen. Geoi^e Washington was initiated as an entered appren-
tice and rose to the sublime degree of master mason, and his wife was a member
of the distinguished Chew family of Philadelphia, where the old family
homestead is still standing and in excellent preservation, after the lapse of
many years and the occupancy by many generations. Ferdinand Jacobs
was the first-honor man of his class upon his graduation in Hampden-Sidney
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2530 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
College, Virginia, and his grandson, he to whom this review is dedicated,
likewise was a first-honor man in college.
As valedictorian of the class of 1894, Dr. Thomwell Jacobs was graduated
in the Presbyterian College of South Carolina, an institution that had been
founded by his honored father about twenty years previously, and during
the ensuing two years he pursued in his alma mater a post-graduate course
of study leading to the supplemental degree of master of art^ the while he
also rendered effective service as an instructor in the Thomwell College for
Orphans.
In the autumn of 1896, Doctor Jacobs entered Princeton Theoli^cal Sem-
inary, the youngest man in his class, and three years later he was graduated
in this Institution, after which he was duly ordained a clergyman of the
Presbyterian Church. Simultaneously he had pursued a course of study
in the academic or literary department of Princeton University, from which
he received the degree of master of arts in the spring of 1899. Within the
ensuing decade Doctor Jacobs retained the pastorate of the Presbyterian
Church at Morgauton, North Carolina; served as vice president of the Thom-
well College for Orphans, at Clinton, South Carolina; and gave much inci-
dental attention to editorial and other literary work. Within this period
also he raised, in Georgia, the funds necessary for and utilized in the erec-
tion of the Georgia Home at the Thomwell Orphanage,
In the autumn of 1909, with comparatively well formulated and matured
plans for the founding of a Southern Presbyterian university in Atlanta,
Doctor Jacobs removed to this city and, with characteristic zeal and ability,
set himself to the accomplishing of his laudable ambition. He gained his
initial acquaintanceship with the "Paj'chic City," as Atlanta has been termed,
by assuming the position of executive secretarj- of the organization that raised
about 1300,000 for the Agnes Scott College. In the following year he initiated
the movement to refound Oglethorpe University in Georgia's fair metropolis
and capital city, and in the autumn of 1911 he here founded the W^estminster
Magazine, of which he became editor-in-chief. With the first issue of this
vital periodical he began the active campaign for the accumulation of funds
for the founding and endowment of the new. or recrudescent university, and
through the medium of the magazine, through his personal solicitations and
through the earnest co-operation (>f other interested persons, it came about
that by the autumn of 1913 there had been subscribed for the splendid enter-
prise about $300,000. Within the three ensuing months the City of Atlanta
added approximately $250,000 to the fund, and from that time forward
the work has progressed steadily toward the accomplishment of the desired
end. As previously stated in this context, the corneratone of the first build-
ing for Oglethorpe University was laid on the 21st of January, 1915, and
on the same day there came consistent rec<^nition of the invaluable services
and distinctive eligibility of Doctor Jacobs, in his election to the presidency
of the new institution.
In the spring of 1914, in recognition of his effective and distinguished
educational and literary work, the Ohio Northern University conferred upon
Doctor Jacobs the honorary degree of doctor of laws, and others who received
like recognition at the same time were Hon. Charles Townsend, United States
senator from the State of Michigan; Hon, Theodore Shontz, of New York;
and Governor Prank B. Willis, of Ohio.
Doctor Jacobs is the author of a number of volumes of verse and fiction,
and among the number may be noted those bearing the following titles: "The
Midnight Mummer," a volume of poems; "The Law of the White Circle," a
novel having to do with the race riots in Atlanta within recent years; and
"Sinful Sandy," a juvenile story of life at the Thomwell Orphanage. The
Doctor is now giving virtually his entire time and attention to the promotion
and progressive constructive work of the university of which he is prendent,
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Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 3531
and QDder his leadership Atlanta is destined to have an educational institu-
tion of the highest rank, one that will honor the city, the state and the nation.
On the 30th of June, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Jacobs
to Miss Maude Kistler Lesh, daughter of John Henry Lesh and Mary (Kistler)
Lesh, of Boston, Massachusetts. He attributes much of his success to the
mature judgment, earnest devotion and religious and social interests and
activities of his wife, who is a woman of distinctive cuJture and gracious
personality. Doctor and Mrs. Jacobs have four children, John LesSi, Fred
Lesh, Thomwell, Jr., and Harriet Mai^ret.
Col. H. H. Dean. As a lawyer Mr. Dean has a standing among the
leaders of the Georgia bar, while outside his practice he has been a valuable
force in inaugurating and carrying on movements for the general welfare
of this section of the state. His name is associated with a number of enter-
prises in business, educational and civic affairs, and largely through his own
efforts he has established his family name at a point that is in keeping with
his splendid ancestry.
Herbert Henry Dean was born in White County, Georgia, February 21,
1861, a son of Josiah Robinson anS Rebecca (Cook) Dean. Both parents
were of New England ancestry. The Deans came from England soon after
the Mayflower landed its first pilgrims. Later descendants fought in the
War of the Revolution, and there were soldiers in that war who also repre-
sented Mr. Dean's ancestry on bis mother's side. The paternal grandparents
were Josiah Robinson and Bessie Wheaton (Chase) Dean, the latter a cousin
to the late chief justice Chase of the United States Supreme Court, The
maternal grandparents were Phineas and Sophia (Grout) Cook, the former
a minister in New Hampshire, and both active workers in religious affairs,
Mr. Dean has six ancestors in the direct and collateral lines of his family
who were American soldiers in the Revolution.
His father was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of New Hamp-
EAiire, and in 1855 they came to Georgia and located in White County. They
had been married in "The Little Church Around the Corner" in New York
City, and following iheir wedding came to the South. Mr. Dean's father
studied for the ministry, but failing health compelled him to abandon that
profession. For several years he was a teacher in the high school at Knox-
ville, Tennessee, and then bought some gold mining property in White
County, Georgia, and was steadily engaged in its operation until his death
in 1884 at the age of sixty-five. His wife died in 1897 at the age of seventy-
six. Of their six children five were daughters, and the two still living are
Mrs. T. 0. Parker of Mount Airy and Mrs. Guy Clopton of Gainesville.
Mr. Dean, who was the fourth among the children, attended school in
White County, taught by tiis mother and from an early age had to depend
upon his own energies to advance him in the world. For some time he
worked as a elerk in a store in Rubun County and with means secured from
this and other sources paid for his higher education. His father and mother
helped him with his studies, and like many men of ambition and energy he
finally succeeded in accomplishing what he started out to do. In 1887 Mr.
Dean was graduated from the law department of the University of Georgia,
and in the same year located at Gainesville, where for fully a quarter of a
century he has enjoyed a practice that is hardly second to any in the state.
It is said that he has secured some of the largest fees ever paid any attorney
in this state. Justice Beck of the Supreme Court of Georgia stated a few
years ago that while he had been on the Supreme Bench he had gone over
cases tried by Georgia lawyers for the past twenty years and that H. H.
Dean had tried and won more cases in the Supreme Court than any other
lawyer at this bar.
Mr. Dean has long been an active democrat, in 1908 was delegate from
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2532 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the Ninth Georgia District to the National Convention at Denver, Colorado,
and in 1912 was delegate at large to the Baltimore Convention, and was
chosen chairman of the committee on permanent organization of the Balti-
more Convention. He has large business interests, is a director and vice
president of the First National Bank of Gainesville, and a director of the
Gainesville Street Railway & Power Company and of the Gainesville &
Northwestern Railroad. He is a trustee of the State Sanitarium, is presi-
dent of the board of trustees of Brenau College at Gainesville, an institution
described on other pages of this publication ; also president of the board of
trustees of Nacoochee Inatitute, a Presbyterian charitable institution located
in Nacoochee Valley, White County, near his old home; is chairman of the
board of directors of the Riverside Military Association, and in various ways
has been instrumental in affording capable business direction to several
movements and institutions. He is an elder of the Presbyterian Church.
On April 20, 1892, at Union Springs, Alabama, Mr. Dean married Miss
Callie Law, daughter of Fleming and Callie (Ford) Law, of a family of
old settlers in Liberty County, Georgia. Mr. Dean and wife are the parents
of five children : Miss Carol Chase, bom i^ Gainesville in 1893, and a graduate
of the Brenau College ; Mrs. Frank M. Sprattin of Atlanta ; Miss Helen Law,
born at Gainesville in 1896, and a student of Brenau College; Dorothy Cook,
born in 1898, and a student at Brenau; Herbert H., Jr., born in 1901, and
a student of Riverside ; and Austin Ford, born in December, 1902, and now
in the public schools.
RoBEKT Cl-WTOn Turner. The modern tendency to do everything possible
"electrically" has brought the trained electrical engineer to raiik in the most
important professions, and in modem municipalities the city electrician per-
forms a service hardly second to any department official. For several years the
City of Atlanta has had the services of Robert Clayton Turner as city elec-
trician, and by experience and training he is a qualified expert and one of the
most efficient men in charge of any of the municipal departments.
Born at Sparta, Georgia, January 11, 1883, he represents an old Georgia
family. His grandparents *v ere Thomas M. and Sarah (Clayton) Turner. The
Turners were originally French people, where the name was spelled Tournier,
and from that countrj' went to England, and from there to Virginia. The
father of Robert C, Turner was Thomas Clayton Turner, who was bom at
Sparta in 1842, and served four full years in the war between the states. He
was a member of the first company organized at Sparta, and waa with the
Sixth Georgia Regiment, first as a private and later as a commissary sergeant.
After the war he was engaged in merchandising at Sparta until 1889, and
then removed to Atlanta and traveled out of that city as a commercial sales-
man. His death occurred at Atlanta August 20, 1912, and he is buried in
the Sparta cemetery. His wife, whose maiden name was Almira Bemice
Mason, was born at Culverton, Georgia, near Sparta in 1846, and is still
living at Atlanta. Robert Clayton Turner has four sisters: Berniee, now
Mrs. W. A. Dowis of Birmingham, Alabama ; Ada. Mrs. L. L. Allen of Dawson,
Georgia; Miss Rawls Turner of Atlanta; and Lucile, now Mrs. L. W. Brown
of Atlanta.
Since he was six years of age Robert C. Turner has been a resident of
Atlanta. He attended the public schools until fifteen, and then gave up the
formal routine of the schoolroom to become an apprentice with an electrical
contractor, Oscar Turner, who though of the same farafly name was not
related. Oscar Turner was then in business at Atlanta, but is now living in
Birmingham, Alabama. After three years of apprenticeship under Oscar
Turner, he had acquired a thorough knowledge of electrical affairs, and his
hext expeiience, beginning in 1901, was in the employ of the Carter & Gillespie
Electrical Company. With that firm his services continued five years, and
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2533
after eight years of active work he was really a master both of the technical
and practical details of electrical eDgineering. In November, 1905, Mr. Turner
became electrical engineer of the Candler Building in the employ of the Asa
Candler Investment Company. That was his work five years longer. Since
January, 1911, he has been city electrician of Atlanta, and has been three
times elected to the office by votes of the people. His present term expires in
January, 1917.
Mr. Turner stands high in the technical organizations of his profession,
is a member of the International Association of Municipal Electricians; is a
member of the Jovians, a national organization compnsing men engaged in the
various departments of the electrical trade and industries; and is a member of
the Master Engineers Association having a license as a steam engineer.
April 27, 1907, he married Miss Lillian Meta Hart, who was born and
reared in Atlanta.
Hal C. Miu,ee, M. D. A native son of Georgia who giving admirable
account of himself as one of the able and representative physicians and
surgeons of the younger generation in the City of Atlanta is Dr. Hal Curtis
Miller, who gives special attention to surgery, with the intention untimately of
devoting his entire time to this important branch of his profession. He is a
young man of high academic and professional attainments, an ambitious
student, progressive in his methods and thoroughly en rapport with the exact-
ing calling which he has adopted as his vocation in life.
Doctor Miller was bom at West Point, Troup County, Georgia, on the 15th
of September, 1887, and is a scion of one of the honored and influential old
families of that county, his father, Henry Washington Miller, likewise having
been bom at West Point, in the year 1849, and being at the present time one
of the leading citizens of that plaee, where he is a prominent merchant and
banker, besides being the owner of several thousand acres of land in that
section of the state and being identified on an extensive scale with agricultural
enterprise. He is vice president of the Bank of West Point and commands
unqualified popular confidence and good will in the county that has ever
represented his home. He is a son of Jacob Miller, who early settled in
Troup County and who was a prominent farmer and citizen of that county
at the time of his death, his father having immigrated to America from
Europe and having become the founder of the family branch in the United
States. Henry W. Jliller married Miss Lura Williams, who was born and
reared in the vicinity of West Point, and they have two surviving children —
Dr. Hal C, of this review, and Ola, who is the wife of John T. Johnson, her
husband being mayor of West Point at the time of this writing, in 1915.
In the scljools of his native place Doctor Miller continued his studies until
he had completed the curriculum of the West Point High School, in which
be was graduated, as valedictorian of his class, when he was but fifteen years
of age. In 1907, at the age of twenty years, he was graduated in Emory
College, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Prior to this, however,
he had been for one year a student in the Atlanta School of Medicine, and
for another year had attended the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the
City of Chicago. These statements vouch for the alert mentality, high ambi-
tion and close application of the embryonic young disciple of Aesculapius,
for when he was but twenty years of age he had received an academic collegiate
degree and had completed two years' work in medical college. In the autumn
■of 1907 Doctor Miller entered historic old Jefferson Kedical College, in the
City of Philadelphia, where he continued his studies two years with char-
acteristic zeal and appreciation, and where he received gold-medal honors
when he was graduated, in 1909, as a member of a class comprising 144 mem-
bers. After making this admirable record and receiving his degree of Doctor
of Medicine from one of the oldest and staunchest medical schools in the United
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2534 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
States, Doctor Miller further reinforced himself by assuming and holding,
from July 1, 1909, to July 1, 1911, the position of interne in St. Vincent's
Hospital in New York City, his service in this representative iniititution of
the national metropolis covering a wide and varied field of clinical work and
observation and proving of much fortuitous value to him when he initiated
his independent practice by establishing himself in Atlanta in August, 1911,
this city having since been the stage of hb earnest and distinctively successful
professional endeavors and his practice showing a constantly cumulative
tendency. In 1911-12 Doctor Miller served as medical inspector of the public
schools of Fulton County and during practically the entire period of his
professional work in Atlanta he has been a valued member of the surgical
staff of the Atlanta Medical College, besides wliich he was attending surgeon
at the Wesley JMemorial Hospital and assistant attending surgeon at the Grady
Hospital. Doctor Miller has gained secure place in the confidence and good
will of his professional confreres and is an active and popular member of
the Fulton County Medical Society and the Geoi^a State Medical Society,
besides which he holds membership in the American Medical Association.
Doctor Miller is a staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party,
takes a vital interest in public affairs, especially those pertaining to his home
city and native state. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist
Episcopal Church South in which he is serving as a steward, and in the
Masonic fraternity he has advanced, in 1915, in the Ancient Accepted Scottish
Rite up to and through the thirty-second and shrine.
On the 4th of October, 1911, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Miller
to Miss Lillian Davies, the only child of Marvin Davies, who is one of the
principals in the representative Atlanta corporation known as the Foote &
Davies Company. Doctor and Mrs. Miller have two sons, Marvin Davies
Miller, who was born July 24, 1912, and Hal Curtis, Jr., bom July 16, 1915.
Chbistophee Columbus McGbhee. Among the old and interesting fami-
lies of Georgia is that of MeOehee, which, for more than 100 years has lived,
increased and prospered in this favored state and at present hag prominent
representatives in the City of Atlanta. Few there are who do not take a
clannish interest, at least, in their family ancestry, especially when its record,
as in the case of this family, shows sturdy traits and many notable achieve-
ments in many fields of effort.
The genealogist can explain in many ways the reason fpr a changed
orthography in many of the old names and the change from McGregor to
MeGehee, in the present case, can easily be substantiated. To Thomas Mc-
Gregor, of the ancient Scottish clan, this family traces its emigrant ancestor,
who was a son of Patrick and Marian (McDon^d) McGregor, and came from
Scotland to King William County, Virginia, where his will was probated on
July 17, 1727. It was in 1801 that descendants of Thomas McGregor, or as
known in America, MeGehee, moved from Virginia to Georgia, a large family
connection, a portion of which settled on Broad River and the other portion
nearer Milledgeville, in Baldwin County. ' One of these colonists was Jacob
MeGehee, a planter who removed to Baldwin County, Georgia. Isaac Me-
Gehee, his son, later removed to Columbus, Georgia, and Russell County,
Alabama. Isaac McG^ee was the father of -Christopher C. MeGehee.
Christopher Columbus MeGehee was bom in Russell County, October 25,
1839, and is a son of Isaac and Martha Harrison (Kennon) MeGehee. Before
he was sixteen years old he had been well tutored, attending a private school
at Columbus, Georgia, and a school of mathematics in Alabama. In 1855 he
entered the service of a newspaper, the old Columbus Enquirer, which is yet
published as the Enquirer-Sun. Like many other young men of the time the
precipitation of war between the states, probably lai^ly influenced his 'sub-
sequent career. As a member of the Columbus City Light Guards he enlisted
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2535
for service in the Confederate army and on April 19, 1861, accompanied his
comrades to Norfolk, Virginia, where the command, with other organizations,
became a part of the Second Georgia Battalion, and he continued to be con-
nected with this command tmtil the close of the war. After a year of active
^rvice in Virginia and North Carolina he was prostrated with a severe
attack of typhoid fever and when convalescent was detailed as local pay-
master at the naval iron works at Columbus, Georgia. The employes of this .
institntion organized and formed three companies and Mr, McQehee became
captain of Company C. In a publication issued in 1874, by John H. Martin,
entitled "Martin's History of Columbus," an event is detailed that illustrates
what was termed "conspicuous gallantry" on the part of Capt. C, C,
McGehee, this being in reference to a dangeroos task that required the burning
of a bridge in the face of tlie enemy's fire.
"When the war closed Captain McGehee returned to Columbus to re-enter
business and was connected with several lines prior to 1873, when he oi^anized
the firm of Floumoy, McQehee & Company. Three years later he became the
head of the cotton firm of McGehee & Hatcher, at Columbus, and continued
active in business there until 1882, in. which year he removed to Atlanta,
largely on account of the hope of benefiting his wife's health. Since then
he has not been actively concerned in business affairs, although continuing
as a director in the Atlanta Banking & Savings Company, the Exposition Cot-
ton Mills and the Atlanta Home Insurance Company, and until recent years
personally looked after his own private investments, his mentality being
unimpaired' and his judgment but ripened.
Mr. McGehee was 'united in marriage with Miss Josephine Garrett on
January 16, 1866. She waa a daughter of Daniel Anthony and Maiy Ann
(Hawes) Garrett. Their two children survive: Mrs. Rlary (McGehee)
Stoney and Charles Christopher, who is prominent in insurance circles at
Atlanta, being manager of the southern department of the Home Life Insur-
ance Company of New York City.
Aside from serving from 1871 to 1873 on the board of aldermen of the
City of Columbus, during a part of the time being chairman of .the finance
committee, Mr. McGehee accepted no public office, devoting his time to his
business aSairs very closely and finding recreation in his library for he has
always been a man of wide reading. His interest in the progress made in
many lines in Georgia still continues and he has frequently voiced his desire
to see it continue believing very vital the subjects of good roads and education.
Charles Cbbistopher McGehee. The growth of the life insurance busi-
ness in Georgia has been remarkable and it is but natural to seek a reason
for development along this line. One explanation is found in the fact that
the substantial companies' interests have been placed under the management
of exceedingly capable men, as a rule, and perhaps there is no better example
of this wise business policy than is found in the manager of the southern
department df the Home Life Insurance Company of New Tork, Charles
Christopher McGehee. During his whole business life he has been identified
with insurance, thoroughly believing in its principles in the way of business
and eonviueed of its benefits to the world at large. As a helpful factor in
solving some of the present day industrial problems involving unemployment
and consequent poverty anil distress, he has urged that thoughtful attention
be early given to some form of insurance, it being an encouragement to
frugality, a proof of foresight and a sheet anchor in adversity.
Charles C. McGehee was bora at Columbus, Georgia, October 22, 1870,
and is a son of Christopher Columbus and Josephine (Garrett) McGehee.
For many years the father of Mr. McGehee was prominent in business life
both in Columbus and Atlanta, now residing retired in the latter city. Since
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2536 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
1801 the family has been more or less notable in Geoi^a and is honorably-
known in this and in other sections of the South,
Charles C, McGehee had exceptional educational advantages, these includ-
ing attendance in the public schools of Columbus, the Means School, Atlanta,
as preparatory to a course in the University of Georgia, where he was gradu-
ated at the early age of sixteen years with the degree of Ph. B., and this was
. followed by a course at Harvard University, from which he was graduated
in 1889 with the degree of A. B. Upon his return to Atlanta he became a
clerk in the office of the Atlanta Home Insurance Company, and this initial
move determined his future business career, it would seem, for he has con-
tinued in the same line, advancing steadily and for the past fifteen years has
occupied his present responsible position as manager of the entire southern
department of the Home Life Insurance Company of New York. Well quali-
fied for any position craved by a man of culture and finished education, Mr.
McGehee has frequently found recognition in other lines but his devotion to
insurance has always led to his declining to make any change. Here he has
found a field for able business effort and in the management of affairs involv-
ing the handling of immense sums of money and the safeguarding of the
interests of thousands of people, he has displayed remarkable wisdom, effi-
ciency and good judgment.
Mr. McGehee was married to Miss Pattie Green McClung, who, at death,
left one daughter, Pattie McClung McGehee. Mr. McGehee was married second
to Miss Vera Estes Hatcher, who is a daughter of Benjamin T. and Martha
Jane (Estes) Hatcher, oM residents of Columbus, Georgia. They have one
son, Charles Christopher McGehee, Jr.
While he has always given his political support to the democratic party,
Mr. McGehee has never entered public life, but, nevertheless, he takes intense
interest in his country's progress and is ever ready to lend his influence to
bring about practical movements that ensure the welfare of section, state
and community. General education has always found in him a friend and
he is sure to be willing to co-operate with other intelligent and educated
men in the consideration of measures that will improve the public schools. He
has decided opinions on morality and temperance, as might be expected of a
man whose life has been normal and wholesome. He is a member and one
of the board of trustees of St. Mark's Methodist Church, South, of Atlanta.
Gen. David Adams was born at Waxhaws, South Carolina, January 28,
1766. This is the accepted date. After the Revolution his father moved to
Georgia and in the War of 1812 he commanded an expedition against the
Creek Indians. In 1820 he served as a commissioner in the making of a
treaty with them, whereby Georgia acquired new territory. When the lands
between the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers were obtained from the Indians he
served the state as a commissioner. Always popular with the people of
Jasper County, where he lived, he served them in the General Assembly for
twentj'-five years, and was several times speaker of the Housef
JosiAn Miaas, the second president of the University of Georgia, was born
in Middletown, Connecticut, on August 21, 1757. He was a son of Return
Jonathan Meigs, a prominent man of the Revolutionary period. He gradu-
ated from Tale College in 1778, was a tutor there for some time and was
admitted to the bar in 1783. He served as city clerk of New Haven from
1784 to 1789. and in the last named year moved to Bermuda, where he engaged
in the practice of law. In 1794 he returned to Connecticut and was elected
professor of mathematics and astronomy in Yale College, which position he
held until 1801. when he came to Georgia to take the presidency of the new
University of Georgia, then known as Franklin College. He served until
1811, was surveyor general of the United States in 1812-14, commissioner of
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GEOROIA AND GEORGIANS 2537
the land office from the latter year until his death in 1822. In 1819-21 he
was also president of the Columbian Institute, Washington, District of
Colnmbia.
Hamii/ton McWhorteb. A representative of one of the finest old fam-
ilies of Georgia and a leading member of the Lexington bar, Hamilton Mc-
Whorter is favorably known all over this section of the state. Interested in
all that concerns this city, his influence professionally, politically and per-
sonally is potent in all public movements and in all those things which go to
make a community intelligent, uplifting, law-abiding and contented.
Hamilton McWhorter was bom in Greene County, Georgia, June 25, 1879,
and is a son of R. L. and Lizzie (Boyd) McWhorter. Both parents were
born in Geoi^a, the father in Greene and the mother in Columbia County.
She survives, being now in her fifty-ninth year, a lady admired and esteemed.
The father, R. L. McWhorter, died in his native county, in 1899, at the age
of fifty-four years. During the Civil war period he served as a private soldier
in the Confederate army, having enlisted, as a schoolboy from the Geor^a
Military Academy. Afterward he became an extensive planter but subse-
quently moved to Atlanta, where he resided for ten years. He was a man of
worth in every relation of life. Of his family of nine children, Hamilton was
the second in order of birth.
Hamilton McWhorter enjoyed excellent educational advantages, in boy-
hood attending the Mereer High School, later the Penfield Meson Academy,
at Lexington, and completed his course in law at the University of Georgia,
where he was graduated in 1001. He located at Lexington, investing here in
real estate, and has, through his ability and soundness of legal knowledge,
built up a practice that places him in the foremost rank of successful attorneys
of the county. At the present time he is serving in the office of solicitor .
of the Cit.v Court, and is attorney tor the Georgia Railroad.
In 1907, at Lexington, Georgia, Mr, McWhorter was united in marriage
with Miss Helen Gottheimer, who was educated at Braneau University, Gaines-
ville, Hall County, Georgia. Her parents are still living, her father, William
Qflttheimer, being a prominent merchant at Lexington, Mr, and Mrs. Mc-
Whorter have two children Adelaide, who was born in 1911, and Hamilton,
who was born in 1913, both in the family home at Lexington, This is one of
the handsomest and best appointed residences of the city and very often is
the center of social function.^. Mr. McWhorter owns additionally some very
valuable land.
In political affiliation, Mr. McWhorter is a democrat and his usefulness
in determining local party movements has often been shown. His fraternal
associations include the leading organizations of the country. He is a Mason
and Shriner, and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows and
the Elks. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Meson Academy.
With bis family he attends the Baptist Church, Perhaps no lawyer of the
Oglethorpe bar equals Colonel McWhorter in eloquence and his addresses to
the court and jurors are always models oj diction combined with sound law.
L. Howard Bacon. It certainly seems an exhibition of wisdom on the
part of electors in any section, when they choose for high official position in
which wise precaution and deliberate .iudgraent must be exercised, those who
have had long business experience and have, thereby, gained self confidence,
discretion and a proper outlook on matters concerning men and things. No
man can pursue any calling long without gaining experience that will be help-
ful in other lines, and the successful farmer, with his necessary habits of
industry, his foresight, patience and practical knowledge and philosophy, is
very often and most wisely chosen for public office, for just such qualities
are needed for efficiency. Perhaps there is no public official in O^ethorpe
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2538 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
County, Georgia, who is better qualified or more satisfying in the performance
of duty than is Hon. L. Howard Bacon, who, for the past seven years has
officiated as ordinary, after spending the greater part of his earlier life aa
an agriculturist and merchant.
L. Howard Bacon was bom at Lexington, Geoi%ia, November 2, 1859, and
is a son of Joel J. and Emily (Howard) Bacon, both natives of Georgia and
both now deceased. During the Civil war period, Joel J, Bacon served as
a soldier under Colonel Matthews, in the Confederate army, surviving to
return home and take up his former pursuits as a farmer. Shwrtly afterward,
however, he embarked in the wholesale grocery business, under the firm name
of MiUer, Bussey & Bacon, at Augifsta, Georgia, which became one of the
sueeesaful business enterprises of that city. In the course of time, Mr. Bacon
sold his grocery interests and returned to Oglethorpe County and subsequently
was elected ordinary of the county, in which ofSce h^ served honorably up
to the time of his death, in 1902, a period of sixteen years. In early manhood
he was married to Emily Howard, of a prominent old family of this state, who
died in Oglethorpe County in 1^14, aged seventy years. They were parents
of six children: Mattie E., who married Harris C. Jackson and is now
deceased; R. M.; CharlesD., of St. Louis, Missouri; L. Howard; John S,; and
William T., editor of the Madiaonian, at Madison, Georgia.
L. Howard Bacon attended Meson Academy, under the tutorship of Prof.
T. B. Moss, in Oglethorpe County, and after his school period was over,
interested himself entirely in agricultural pursuits and continued a farmer
until his forty-fifth year. After retiring from the farm he engaged as a
salesman in merchandising for two years and then took up his residence at
Lexington. In 1908 he was elected ordinary and has continued in office
ever since without opposition, and thus the family name has been associated
with this office in Oglethorpe County for almost a quarter of a century.
On November 15, 1883, Judge Bacon was united in marriage with Miss
Annie Hunter, who died in April, 1901. She was a member of a well known
county family and a daughter of Nathaniel H. and Sally (Riehter) Hunter.
There were four children bom to this marriage: Annie Clyde, who died in
1904, when aged but nineteen years; Nathaniel H,, who was born in 1887,
is cashier of the Odessa (Wayne County) Bank; Kattie May, who was bom
in 1889; and Joel J., who was born in 1891, is a farmer. He married and
has one child, John Lewis Bacon. In December, 1905, Judge Bacon was mar-
rier to Miss Dessie Wright, who died May 28, 1914. This estimable lady was
a daughter of John H. and Sallie (Matthews) Wright, old Oglethorpe County
people. She is survived by one son, Lewis Howard Bacon, who was bom at
Lexington, January 15, 1914.
Judge Bacon has always been a democrat in his political views and affilia-
tion. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason and past master of the Bine
Lodge, and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows,
Since youth he has been a member of the Baptist Church and is clerk and
superintendent of the Sunday school at Lexington. His whole honorable
career is well known to his fellow icitizens and they. willingly accord him a
place among their representative men.
John B. Gamble. The present solicitor-general for the Western Georgia
Circuit has many achievements to distinguish him not only in his profession
but in his personal career and his family connections. His grandfather was
one of the eminent lawyers of early Geoi^ia, and members of the family in
different generations have been worthy factors in their spheres. Solicitor
Gamble is one of the younger men engaged in law practice at Athens and an
instructive feature of his biography is the fact that he left home at the age
of nineteen without money to struggle his own way through the preparation
which preceded bis career as a lawyer. While gaining success he has also
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GEORaiA AND GEORGIANS 2539
acquired the esteem of a large community, and his strict fidelity to duty
and conscientious performance have brought him more friends than he has
lost by this course. Georgia newspapers recently had a good deal to say of
Solicitor Gamble's ability for strenuooB and long continued work. A special
illustration of this was found in his having tried at Lawrenceville in two
days sixteen defendants, six of whom plead guilty and ten were convicted.
After this exacting day he returned to his home in Athens and worked until
daylight on a prominent case involving the trial of a baiik president for
wrecking a bank. In the trial of one of the cases in the Citizens Bank failure
Mr. Gamble was praised by the presiding judge for having conducted
the trial "with great skill and ability and faithfulness to the performance
of duty."
Born August 25, 1878, at Hamilton, Qeoi^a, John B. Gamble is a son of
John W. and Jimmic (Mobley) Gamble. His father was born in Talbot
County, Geoi^a, at the age of eighteen years went to Columbus, Georgia,
as a clerk, and afterwards to Hamilton, Georgia, where he married. He
became well known as a. merchant at Hamiltoi^, and spent his last years as a
farmer. He died March 12, 1885, at the age of forty-three. The grand-
parents of Solicitor Gamble came from Scotland, settling in Talbot County,
where his grandfather, John "W. Gamble, died in 1885 at the age of eighty-
five. He had gained a lai^e estate as a planter. Mr. Gamble's mother
was bom at Hamilton, Georgia, and her mother was a great-niece of Patrick
Henry. Mrs. Gamble is still living at Hamilton at the age of sixty-four.
Her father. Col. James M. Mobley, was very prominent as a lawyer, a native
of Jones County, Georgia, whence he removed to "Whitesville in Harris
County, and the first society of the Methodist Church in that county was
organized in his father's home. During the war Colonel Mobley fought
under General Lee. and was with that great southern leader in all of hi»
campaigns and battles.
The oldest in a family of three sons, John B. Gamble obtained his early
education in the schools of Hamilton, Georgia, and subsequently attended the
Neil Institute at Griffin. Though he early determined upon the law as his
profession, he had to work for several years to gain the means needed for
his preparation, and spent two years in employment at Warm Springs under
Charles L. Davis, after which he was clerk in a dry goods store at Columbus,
Georgia, the same spot on which his father had at one time been employed
as a clerk. In 1902, he entered the University of Geoi^a and was graduated
from the Law Department and admitted to the bar in June, 1904, In order
to make his way through college he followed the carpenter's trade during the
snmmer vacation in the city of Athens, and during the school months sold
coal to the student body on a commission basis for one of the dealers of
Athens, and assisted Colonel Snelling in managing the Denmark Hall, in the
latter position making his board. He was elected president of Demosthenian
Society, and business manager of the Pandora (University of Georgia Annual) ,
and the Georgian (Literary Magazine). By his efforts the Georgian and
Pandora were worked out of debt and an office was equipped with a type-
writer, desk and office furniture. After completing his course in the University
of Georgia, he opened an office in the city of Athens on October 1, 1904, and
took up the active practice and has since looked after the interests of his
growing private clientage so far as official duties would permit.
March 1, 1905, Mr. Gamble married Miss Mabel Turner Hodgson, of
Athens, daughter of Joseph M. and Belle Turner Hodgson, a well known
family of Georgia, They have one child, Isabella Frances Gamble, bom
at Athens, Georgia, on Pebrury 24, 1906. Mrs. Gamble is a highly educated
and cultured woman, and thoroughly equal to her responsibilities in the home
and in local society. She graduated from LueyCobb Institute and continued
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2540 GEORGIA AND GEOKGIANS
her musical education under one of the most noted teaehera of Germany,
having spent considerable time abroad.
Mr. Gamble is a member of the County and State Bar Association, is
affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd t'ellowa
and the different branches of the Knights of Pythias. He was reared in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and while living at Columbus was president
of the St. Luke's Epworth League. After removing to Athens he became
a member of the Presbyterian Church, which be has served for six years
as treasurer and for a. similar time as superintendent of Barberville Sunday
School.
From 1904 to 1908 he served as county administrator and on August 23,
1912, was elected solicitor-general for the "Western Circuit, the office which
he has now filled with such signal ability for three years. Mr. Gamble was
chairman of the democratic comraitte of Clarke County during 1908-09-10-
11-12. In the course of his career he has acquired some valuable business
interests, resides in a small home of his own in Athens, and also has farming
lands which are operated under tenants. lie has accumulated a valuable
collection of law books in his office in the court house.
Hon. McAlpin Thornton, who was elected mayor of the City of Hart-
well, Georgia, has proved that in an official capacity as in other fields he is
a man who is able to get results. Mr. Thornton's career is one which is
typical of many men who. have attained to successful positions in this country,
and his life's story contains every chapter which goes to make up interesting
bi<^raphy. Self-made in every sense, from the time of bis father's death when
he was a small lad, he has been dependent upon his own resources, and has
worked out his own career.
Mayor Thornton was born October 3, 1873, in Elbert County, Georgia,
and is a son of Benjamin Callaway and Priaciila (Teaaley) Thornton. His
paternal grandfather was Rev. Benjamin Thornton, one of the pioneer min-
isters of the Baptist Church in Georgia, and through a long career of zealous
labor in the service of his Master covered this portion of the state and filled
various pastorates. He was born August 15, 1801, and his death occurred
April 12, 1878. The paternal grandmother was Nancy P. Payne, who was
born December 19, 1802, and was married September 16, 1819. The maternal
grandmother was Mrs. Beatty Teasley, who lived to well past her eightieth
year. The father, Benjamin Callaway Thornton, was born in Georgia, where
he was reared and educated, and here married Priscilla Teasley, also of this
state. They settled down on a property in Elbert County, and Mr. Thomt«n
subsequently followed in his father's footsteps and became a minister of the
Baptist faith, continuing to be engaged in his pastoral labors until his death,
October 30, 1881, when he was fifty-three years of age. He had become widely
known and highly esteemed and his death was a distinct loss to the com-
munity. Jlrs. Thornton survived him until May 23, 1896, and died at the
age of sixty-two years. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom
BIcAIpin was the tenth In order of birth.
■The public schools of Hart County furnished McAlpin Thornton with
his early education, but his advantages in this way were not extensive, as his
father had died when he was but eight years of age and it was necessary that
he contribute to the support of the family.^ He first worked at whatever
honorable employment presented itself, but in 1888 began to work along a
definite line of endeavor when he became a clerk in the cotton and fertilizer
business. He was an industrious, energetic and prc^essive worker and care-
fully saved his earnings, so that finally he was able to establish himself in
business in a small way. As the years passed he added from time to time to
his interests, until today be is probably the best known man in bis line in
this section of the state. He was from 1895 until 1910 associated in business
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2541
■with D. C. Alford, but from the latter year his brother, Dunston V. Thornton,
has been his associate. This business attracts its patronage from all over this
part of the state, and has added greatly to Hartwell's prestige as a center
of commercial and industrial activity. "While the greater part of Mr. Thom-
tou's attention is given to this business, he also has large outside interests, and
is a director of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Hartwell and of the
Hartwell Cottoii Mills, of which he was one of the reorganizers in 1911. His
attainments in a business way are of a substantial rather than a showy char-
acter, and his business associates have every coniidedce in his ability and
integrity. He has contributed to the development and growth of Hartwell by
his support of movements beneficial to its welfare and that of its people. A
stanch and active democrat, Mr. Thornton has taken an active part in political
affairs, and since 1913 has been chairman of the Democratic Executive Com-
mittee of that county. In December, 1913, he was elected mayor of Hartwell,
and has given Sis city au excellent administration, in which he has inaugu-
rated numerous reforms. He installed the system of water and sewerage of
the city during his administration and from first to last has carried out to the
best of his ability the promises of his speech of acceptance. With Ms family,
he attends the Baptist Church.
Mr. Thornton was married January 20, 1897. at Pierce City, Missouri,
to Jliss Rachel Claire Dodd, daughter of Capt. Frank and Mary E. Dodd.
Her father, a veteran of the Civil war, was well known in public life at
Fierce City, and was sent on several occasions to the Missouri State Legis-
lature. Jlrs. Thornton is a lady of many attainments, a graduate of Albemarle
Female Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia, where she won every medal offered
for excellence in literature. She is widely known I'n Hartwell's social life
and is a charter member and organizer of the Hartwell Chapter of the
United Daughters of the Confederacy and a member of the Women's Club and
the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Three children
have been bom to Mr. and ilrs. Thornton, of whom one died in infancy, the
others being: Josephine Tindall, born May 25, 1904, who is attending the
graded schools ; and Sarah Claire, bom April 7, 1910.
Prof. Thomas Jeffekwjn Clevel-vnd. Not only at Elberton, where he
resides, but also in Elberton County, and throughout this section of Georgia,
Prof, Thomas Jefferson Cleveland is known as a prominent educator, whose
life has been spent in the advancement of humanity and progress along edu-
cational lines. His ability and knowledge have found a medium through
which to reach the people of recent years in the position of county superin-
tendent of schools of Blbert County, where his untiring labors have accom-
plished wonders in advancing, elevating and developing the school system.
Professor Cleveland was bora in Hart County, Georgia, May 18, I860,
and is a son of Obediah and Ann (Skclton) Cleveland, natives of Franklin
County, Georgia. His father, who was engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Franklin County, enlisted for service in the Confederate army during the
war betweeh the North and the South, and met a soldier's death on the battle-
field, at Griswold Mills, in 18fi4, being then forty years of age. The mother
survived until 1885, and was sixty-two years old at the time of her death.
The youngest of his parents' nine children, and growing up at a time
when the country was just recovering from the ravages of an invading army,
Thomas J. Cleveland's education was of a somewhat ordinary character,
although his instruction was of a practical nature and as such was of much
general value to him when be came in contact with a life's work that has
required all his energies. Having received the rudiments of his education
in the public schools of Hart County, he further advanced himself by attend-
ing the high school, and taught his first school at the age of seventeen, in
the county of his birth. After several years thus spent, he accumulated the
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2542 GEOKGIA AND GEORGIANS
means with which to enter the University of Georgia, which he left in his
sophomore year. Before going to the university his worth as a teacher had
been established, and upon his return he was employed to teach in Marshall
County, where he remained two years. It was his constant aim to elevate
the character of the schools of the county, and he accomplished much in that
direction, many of his former students today figuring prominently in places
of trust and responsibility. After two years in Marshall County, Professor
Cleveland spent eight years in Hart County, and then came to Elbert County,
where for nearly a quarter of a century he has continued one of the most
popular educators this section has known. Notable is the fact that eighteen
years of this period were spent at Montevideo, both as teacher and principal,
his work always recommending him for a call to the same position.
When the board of education of Elbert County commenced to look around
for a superintendent of ability, well versed in the system of public schools,
and splendidly equipped as an educator and disciplinarian. Professor Cleve-
land was elected by the people to fill the laborious and important place.
This was in 1912. Since that time he has labored continuously at his post,
giving that satisfaction which can be given only by a man whose soul is in
his work. His proficiency is best attested by the satisfaction he has given.
Having supervision over thirty-eight colored and forty-four white schools in
Elbert County, his duties are many and laborious, yet he is a tireless worker,
and has won his way through his unremitting exertions to a front rank
among the foremost educators of Qeoi^a. His ideas are progressive and
unusual and their working out lias been attended with excellent results. At
the close of the year 1914 he sent to the teachers of the county a pamphlet
of instructions and suggestions, an aid, stimulus and incentive to further
efforts in the coming year, which included letters and addresses to the rural
teachers of Elbert County, to the trustees of the rural schools, to the pupils
of the Elbert County rural schools and to the patrons of Elbert County
rural schools; a definition of the Elbert County standard school, with refer-
ence to teacher, grounds, building and equipment ; the rules and regulations
of the common schools, and other features. An idea may be secured of
Professor Cleveland's aims and methods by a quotation from his address to
the rural school teachers: "Have your house and grounds cleaned up and
kept so every day in the year; look after the physical and moral welfare of
your pupils. Free yourself from the slavery of text-books. Encourage social
and community interests. Let 'Better Schools for Elbert County' be the
watchword all along the line." Another catalogue was published in 1915-16.
Professor Cleveland has been successful in a material as well as a pro-
fessional way, and is the owner of one of the finest farms in Elbert County,
on which he lived for a number of years, but which he has leased since taking
up the duties of his official position, his present home being situated at Elber-
ton. He is a democrat, but not a politician, although well informed on the
real issues of the day. His fraternal connection is with the local lodge of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is very popular.
On January 21, 1883, Professor Cleveland was married at Hartwell,
Georgia, to Miss Lou A. Boleman, daughter of the late W. H. Boleman, who
was well known in Hart County. Six children have been bom to this union :
Mrs. Anna Crawford, bom in Marshall County, Alabama, who is the mother
of five children and resides at Elberton; Mrs. Maggie Higginbotham, bom
at Hartwell, Georgia, who resides in Elbert County and is the mother of
two children; Mrs. Pearl Meyers, born in Elbert County, who resides at
Elberton, and has two children ; D. M,, bom in Elbert County, who is engaged
in teaching and agricultural pursuits in this county, is married and has two
childr<?n ; Miss Dixie, born in Elbert County, who is now the wife of Dr. J. L,
Coolcy, of Bellairio, Kansas ; and Miss Opal, bom in Elbert County, who is
a student at the Elberton High School.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2543
L. Martin Heard. In point of enterprise, energy and determination, and
by reason of the eoneems which have been brought to successful operation
under his management, L. Martin Heard is considered one of the leading men
of the fiourishiug City of Elberton. His entire career has been devoted to
financial affairs, and at the present time he is president of the Citizens Savings
Bank, one of the most substantial banking institutions of Elbert County.
He is an active, wide-awake citizen, keenly observant of what is going on
about him, and has contributed his full quota to the development and growth
of his native community.
Mr. Heard was born June 10, 1869, at Elberton, and belongs to a fine
old family of Georgia which originated in Vii^nia, where his great-grand-
father, Stephen Heard, was president of the senate and acting governor at
the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Heard,
the grandfather of L. Martin, came to Georgia from Vii^nia, and was ono
of the first settlers of Elbert County, where he accumulated large landed
interests and was known as one of his community's first citizens. Capt.
Robert Middleton Heard, the father of Mr. Heard of this review, was bom
at Elberton, where he was given the best of educations and early engaged in
planting. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil war he had accumulated some
30,000 acres of plantation land and was the owner of many slaves. At the
time war was declared, he became captain of the Fifteenth Georgia Infantry,
and fought with courage and gallantry until the battle of Garnett's Farm,
when he was wounded by a bullet in the left leg which shattered the shin
bone from the ankle upward. He was taken to his home, where he was care-
fully nursed, and upon his partial recovery rejoined his regiment at the front
in time to participate in the awful battle of Manassas. When the war was
over, he returned to Georgia to find all his possessions swept away, his capital
in money amounting to about five dollars. Nothing daunted, he set about
to recuperate his fallen fortunes, and in a short time had accumulated the
means wherewith to enter the mercantile business, which he subsequently
developed into the largest establishment of its kind at Elberton, and with
which he was connected up to the time of his death, January 17, 1910, when
he was seventy-two years of age. He was always known as a progressive and
stirring citizen, who had the best interests of his community at heart, and
in rfhose absolute integrity his fellow-citizens could confidently rely. Captain
Heard married Louise H. Jones, who was also bom, reared and educated at
Elberton, and they became the parents of seven children, namely: L, Martin,
of this review; John T., who is engaged in successful mereantite operations
at Elberton; Mrs. M. A. Pharr, a resident of Washington, Georgia; C. M., a
cotton buyer of Elberton; Mrs. J. E. Johnson and Mrs. J. T. Dennis, Jr.,
who reside at Elberton ; and P. E., who is cashier of the Citizens Bank. The
mother of these children survived her husband for only a few months, passing
away September 21, 1910, at the age of sixty-two years.
The educational training of L. Martin Heard was obtained in the public
schools of Elberton, but as the family finances were in moderate circumstances
he decided to enter upon a career of his own when still a youth, and accord-
ingly, at the agf of seventeen years, began to become acquainted with financial
methods and operations. At various times and for diflferent periods he
worked for all three banks then established at Elberton, rising from a humble
capacity to one of trust and responsibility, and after a thorough experience
in which he mastered every detail of banking decided that he was ready to
assume more important obligations, and accordingly, in 1901, organized the
Citizens Savings Bank, which entered upon its career with a paid up capital
of $25,000. At that time he became vice president and cashier, capacities in
which he continued to act until 1912, when he was elected to the presidency,
and has remained the same to the present time. Mr. Heard has continued as
the directing head of this institution and under his management it has steadily
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2544 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
grown and advanced, attracting its depositors from all over Elbert County.
While he gives almost his entire time and attention to the discharging of hia
duties as president of this concern, and holds no stock or director^ips in
other enterprises, he has been a large investor in farming lands and city
property, and is one of the heaviest tax-payers here. His home at Elberton
is one of the finest in Elbert County, Mr. Heard is widely known in financial
circles, and is a valued member of the American and State Bankers' asso-
ciations. He is also prominent in fraternal work, being a Scottish Rite
Mason, a member of the Knights Templar and worshipful master of Pbilo-
mathia Lodge of Elberton and a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Royal Arcanum and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. With his family, he attends the
Methodist Episcopal Church
In 1904, at Belfon, South Carolina, Mr. Heard was married to Miss
Mamie B. Latimer, daughter of A. C. and Alice (Brown) Latimer, the latter
being a daughter of Dr. Carroll Brown and a niece of J. E. Brown. Mr.
Latimer, who was well kuown and prominent at Belton, was United States
senator from South Carolina at the time of his death, which occurred in 1909,
Three children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Heard, all at Elberton : L.
Martin, Jr., born April 17, 1905, and now attending the graded schools;
A. Latimer, born January 7, 19U; and R. M., born November 8, 1914.
Davio Meriwether. A young Virginian lieutenant in Washington's army,
David Meriwether participated in the last siege of Savannah, and in 1785 set-
tled in Wilkes County, Georgia. He became a trustee of the old academy at
Mercer Hill, and ten years after the founding of Athens gave land for the
establishment of Succoth Academy, the first Methodist school in Georgia, In
1797 he was appointed brigadier -general of the Third Division of the State
Militia; represented Wilkes County in the Legislature for several years
{speaker of the House in 1797-1800) ; served in Congress from 1802-07, and at
the expiration of his last term returned to his plantation home six miles from
Athens and from that time until 1820 represented the Government in various
negotiations with the Creek Indians. He died on his plantation in 1823 and
Meriwether County was named after him in 1828.
Judge James A. Meriwether, of Eatonton, ranked high among the whig
leaders of the state for the most of his active years. He was a native Geor-
gian, descended from one of the Virginians wlio came into the state after the
Revolution. Receiving a good education, be studied law, was admitted to
the bar, and in due course became a leader among the whigs and was sent to
the Legislature, in which he served several terms and became speaker of the
House, lie was promoted to be judge of the Superior Court of his district
and elected as n whig representative from Georgia to the Twenty-seventh
Congress. He served his term from May 31, 1841, to March 3, 1843. After his
return to Georgia he was again sent to the Legislature as a representative of
Putnam County, elected speaker of the House, and died while holding that
position.
Wn-LiAM PiTzPATRiCK JoNES. The career of William F.' Jones has touched
various communities of North Georgia in many beneficial ways. He is now
city clerk and treasurer of Elberton, an office he has held, for eleven years,
and his administration in that position is one of the many commendable
achievements of his life. He was formerly one of the best known educators
in Northern Georgia, and is a man of thorough culture and broad infiuence.
William Fitzpatrick Jones was born in La Grange, Georgia, October 19,
1860, a son of Wiley F, and Frances (Fitzpatrick) Jones. His grandfather
was Jesse Jones, a native of O^ethorpo County, and he subsequently moved
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OEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2545
to Clarke County and waa a farmer. The great-grandfather Jonea came to
Geot^a from North Carolina. Jesse Jones married a Miss Miller and both
died in Georgia. The maternal grandfather was WiUiam Fitzpatrick who
lived and died in Greene County, Georgia. He waa the son of Benjamin
Fitzpatrick, a Revolutionary soldier who is buried near Buckhead, in Morgan
County. Benjamin was the son of Joseph who was the son of William Fitz-
patrick who came to Virginia from Ireland in 1710 and founded the
Fitzpatrick family in America. William Fitzpatrick, the grandfather of
William F. Jones, was a first cousin of Governor and United States Senator
Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Alabama. He married Nancy Greene, daughter of
William Greene and Kuth Hunter who moved from North Carolina to Greene
County, Georgia, soon after their marriage in 1784. William Greene was a
coiisin of Geu. Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame, and the general
made a number of visits to his cousin's home.
Mr. Jones' father waa bom in Clarke County and his mother in Greene
County, Georgia. Wiley F. Jones was a prosperous farmer before the out-
break of the Civil war, and afterward took up the work of contractor. He
was born December 26, 1817, and died in Washington, Georgia, May 24, 1891,
while his wife was bom June 11, 1824, and died in Oglesby, Georgia, January
30, 1892. He had au important military record. At the beginning of the
war with Mexico, he enlisted as one of the volunteers for the United States
army, went with his comrades from Georgia to Charleston where he was
mustered in as a member of Company C, Thirteenth U. S. Infantry. The
regiment was taken on board a sailing vessel at Charleston and proceeded
thence to the mouth of the Rio Grande River, up which stream they pro-
ceeded until joining the command of General Taylor. He served in the
historic expedition into Mexico and his command fought in the battles which
made the campaign of General Taylor one of the most glorious in our military
annals.
During the Civil war Wiley Jonea unlisted again, and by a strange coin-
cidence was assigned to Company C, Thirteenth Regiment of Confederate
Infantry frofti Georgia. He saw strenuous service in the Confederate army,
but fortunately he was never wounded. He suffered many hardships, but
after the struggle waa ended, he resumed his work as contractor in La Grange,
Georgia.
William F. Jones, the only child of his parents, spent his early life in
La Grange, attended the common schools and the high schools of that city,
and in 1883 was graduated from the North Georgia Agricultural College at
Dahlonega, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
For more than thirty years Mr. Jones has been in the independent activi-
ties of his individual career. Soon after leaving college be qualified for hia
work as teacher, and that waa his vocation for twenty years. Among the
positions held by him were the following; Principal of a select school in
Bufaula, Alabama; principal of Clinton High School, Clinton, Georgia;
professor of mathematics and commandant of cadets in Gainesville College,
Gainesville, Georgia; president of Piedmont College; superintendent Wash-
ington Male Academy, Washington Geoi^a; and superintendent of the
Elberton schools.
He left the school room in 1900 for the insurance field. He was district
agent of the Equitable Life Assurance Society with offices at Elberton. That
was his regular business till 1905, in which year he was elected city clerk and
treasurer of Elberton, and since assuming the duties of his office in 1905,
has been constantly in this one position, and has made the office popular with
all who have any relations with that place in the city government.
He is well known in military circles in Georgia, and is not only Colonel
Jones by courtesy, but also by reason of active service. He organized the
Elbert Light Infantry and was the first captain of that company, and after
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2546 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
devoting seventeen years of his life to military affairs, retired with the rank
of colonel of the Third Georgia Regiment. He was also a member of the
military staff of (Jovemor W. J. Northen.
Mr, Jones is an active democrat, and is affiliated with the Masonic order,
the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college
fraternity. He was for several years superintendent of the First Baptist
Sunday School of Elberton.
On December 18, 1889, Mr. Jones married Miss Gussie P. Oglesby, daugh-
ter of D. P. and Mary (Deadwyler) Ogleaby, of Elberton. To their nniou
have been bom seven children as follows: William P. Jones, Jr., born in
Elberton, October 30, 1890. Educated in public schools of Elberton, Gordon
Institute, at Eamesville, Georgia, and is now a student at Mercer University,
in the law department ; Dru Kell Jones, bom in Oglesby, Georgia, March 27,
1893. Educated in public schools of Elberton, Gibson-Mercer Academy,
North Georgia Agricultural College, and Atlanta Business College. He is
at present a stenographer in Dayton, Ohio ; Margaret Jones, born in Oglesby,
Georgia, August 3, 1894, and died in Elberton, January 23, 1896; Gussie
Oglesby Jones, bom in Elberton, January 6, 1896. Graduated from Elberton
public schools and is still pursuing her studies in Maryville College, Mary-
ville, Tennessee; AdLene Ogltshy Jones, bom in Elberton, Georgia, October
15, 1897. Graduate of Elberton public schools; Moselle Oglesby Jones, bom
in Elberton, May 9, 1901; John Gideon Jones, bom in Elberton, August 10,
1904. All of the younger children are now in school.
Mr. Jones is a man of broad intellectual interest and has written a num-
ber of essays on incidents and personalities in Georgia, and now has in prepa-
ration a work on noted incidents and pioneer characters within a radius of
fifty miles about Elberton where many notable men were bom and reared.
As a public speaker he has frequently addressed the people on Sunday School,
educational, and patriotic sub.iects. He has raised himself to a position of
prominence by his own efforts and through all his varied relations has enjoyed
the thorough confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. He is a repre-
sentative from Elbert County in the Georgia Legislature. He owns one oE
the best homes located in an attractive part of the city, on Heard Street.
Prop. William B. JIoebis. No individual in a community wields a greater
influence in the molding and shaping of character than the school teacher, and
the vocation of the educator is therefore not only one of the most difficult
of the professions, but one of those upon which the most responsibilities rest.
For this reason, as well as others, the teacher usually occupies a place of
importance in his community, particularly if his fellow citizens have shown
their confidence in him by elevating him to official position. Prof. William
B. Morris, county superintendent of schools of Hart County, although still a
young man, has the distinction of being the first county superintendent of
schools to be elected by the people in the State of Georgia. He is a native
son of Hart County, born October 16, 1882, and is a son of William C. and
Emeline (Viekery) Morris.
Thomas Viekery, the grandfather of Professor Morris, was bom in Vir-
ginia and was one of the pioneer settlers of Hart County, where he became
a well known farmer and planter, and after a long and successful career died
in 1895 at an advanced age. During the war between the South and the
North he served as a soldier in the Confederate army, participating in a
number of important engagements and establishing an excellent military
record. His wife, Mary Viekery, also a pioneer settler of Hart County, is
still living at the age of ninety-five years and is the oldest woman in the
county, ,
William C. Morris, the father of Professor Morris, was bom in Hart
County, and was still attending school when the Civil .war broke out. He
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2547
was but fourteen years of age at that time and too young to enlist for service,
but in the last six months of the war served as a soldier and was in the ranks
when peace was declared. Returning to Hart County he completed his educa-
tion, following which he engaged in farming and planting, and still lives on
his homestead at the age of sixty-eight years. Mrs. Morris was bom, reared
and educated in Hart County, and is still living at the age of fifty-eight years,^
She has been the mother of six children, of whom William B. is the fourth
in order of birth.
William B. Morris laid the foundations for his education in the public
schools of Hart County, and further prepared himself for his career as an
educator at Jlercer University and Hartwell Institute, attending Mereer for
two years. He began his work as a teacher in the schools of Bowersville, where
he was located at the time of his election, in November, 1909, to the office of
county superintendent of schools of Hart County, but since 1911 has had his
office at- Hartwell. He has introduced numerous reforms and innovations
into the school system, which he has made one of the most thorough and effi-
cient in this part of the state, is popular with teachers and pupils alike, and
stands high in educational circles. His success has been the direct result of
hard, unrelenting — ork, and he has left nothing to chance, but has made the
most of opportunities as they have presented themselves. He continues to
make his home with his parents in the country and is unmarried.
Professor Morris is a stanch democrat, but has found little time aside from
his official duties to take more than a good citizen's part in public affairs.
He is interested, however, in the welfare and advancement of his community
and its institutions, and is at present vice president and a member of the
Doard of directors of the Hart County Fair Association. His fraternal con-
nections include membership in the Masons, in which he has attained the
Chapter degree, ahd the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. From boyhood
Professor Morris has been a member of the Baptist Church, and at the present
time he is serving as clerk of the congregation at Hartwell.
Jbbe M. Pound. President of the State Normal School at Athens, Pro-
fessor Pound has had a wonderfully successful career as an educator in
Georgia, covering a period of fully thirty years. He is a native of Georgia,
and his work in the schools of this state has made him increasingly familiar
with local conditions of education, and at the same time it is doubtful if
any man has been more influential in any department of social service than
Professor Pound.
His birth occurred at Liberty Hill, Pike County, Georgia, March 23, 1864,
a son of E. T. and Elizabeth T, (Bloodworth) Pound. His parents were also
natives of Georgia and were reared and educated and married in this state.
His father was a general merchant and music publisher and is now living
retired at the age of eighty-seven at Shelman, Georgia. During the war he
was in the commissary department with the state troops. The mother died
in April, 1913, at the age nf seventy-eight.
The third in a family of sis children, Professor Pound as a boy attended
the Gordon High School, and in 1884 was graduated A. B. from the Uni-
versity of Georgia. He immediately took up educational work, which has
been his life vocation. His first work was in the Means Boys High School,
at Atlanta, following which for several years he was with the Fort Valley
High School, spent the next year in Edwardsville, Alabama, and then for
nine years had charge of the Gordon Institute, an institution in which much
of his educational career has been passed. Following that for one year he
was in the Milledgeville Girls Industrial School, then returned to Barnesville
to take charge of the Gordon Institute for four years, was next in charge of
the city and county schools of Macon and Bibh counties for three years, then
for one year was in the East Florida Seminary at Gainesville, Florida, for
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2548 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
a year and a half bad charge of the department of Pedagogy in the Girls
Industrial Institute at Milledgeville, and altogther remained at Milledge-
ville for five years, having been state Buperintendent of schools 2^4 years,
was state school superintendent from 1908 to 1911, filling by the appoint-
ment of Governor Smith the unexpired term of W. B, Merritt, was later
elected for a full term, but resigned to return to bis old school, Gordon
Institute, at Bamesville, for two years, and from there to bis present
responsibilities as head of the State Normal School at Athens, where he
has been located now for four years. He is an educator of broad experience
and great vitality, and has done much to elevate the standards of the Normal
School at Athens, improving its curriculum and broadening and adapting its
courses of study to the needs of modem education. Professor Pound has
also served as an instructor in the summer school at the University of
Georgia during several seasons.
He is a member of all the educational societies, including the National
Educational Association, is an honorary member of the Phi Delta Kappa,
and is a member of the Kappa Alpha, of the Knights Templar, Masons and
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Methodist
Church and in politics a democrat.
July 12, 1889, at Bamesville, Georgia, he married Miss Ada Murphy,
daughter of Capt, E. J. Murphy, who is still living at Bamesville, well known
as a veteran of the Confederate army in which he served as an officer. To
their marriage have been bom seven children : Mrs. Maude Brown Edwards,
a graduate of the Milledgeville Industrial School for Girls, now married
and the mother of one child ; Murphy, who was born at Bamesville, Georgia,
and completed bis education at the Georgia School of Technology; Merritt,
who was born at Bamesville and graduated from the Athens High School in
1915; Ida, born in Macon, and Aldine, born in Mille%eville, attending
Normal School ^ Lucy, born in Milledgeville, and Stokeley, born at Athens.
Professor Pound and family reside in an attractive home at Athens.
J. Rod Skelton. Of the practitioners at the bar of Hart County, none is
more generally admired and esteemed for professional ability and personal
character than J. Rod Skelton, of Hartwell, a member of the well known
firm of Skelton & Skelton. His broad reputation as an attorney rests not
only on the masterly conduct of cases which have been entrusted to him, but
for his devotion to the interests of his clients, his high ideals of professional
conduct, and the excellent services he has rendered in the capacity of city
solicitor.
J. Rod Skelton was bom in Hart County, Georgia, January 10, 1873, and
is a son of Maj. John H. and Mary (Biehardson) Skelton, also natives of the
Cracker State. Maj. John H. Skelton, at the outbreak of the Civil war, was
engaged in the practice of law in Georgia, but immediately set aside his private
interests that he might assist the cause of the Confederacy, offering his services
to the South and organizing the first company to be formed in Hart County.
During the entire period of the war he fought as a soldier of the gray, win-
ning the respect and admiration of his men for his numerous deeds of valor,
and being given promotion from the rank of captain to that of major. When
the war closed, in lS65, he was in command of his regiment, and had estab-
lished a war record unexcelled for bravery and faithful performance of duty.
AVben peace was once more established Major Skelton returned to Georgia and
once again engaged in the practice of law, locating at Hartwell, where he soon
attained a distinguished position in the ranks of his profession. He waa
popular with the people, who had the greatest faith in his ability and honor,
as was evidenced by his election to many positions of trust and responsibility.
He served faithfully in the Legislature of his state, and after a long and
honorable career died at his home at Hartwell, in September, 1894, aged
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2549
sixty-four years. He is still remembered as one of HartweU's most eminent
and public-spirited men, in whose death the community suffered a severe loss.
Mrs. Skelton, a lady of refinement and culture, and a member of an old and
distin^ished family of Geoi^a, died December 25, 1913, when sixty-seven
years of age. She is survived by eight children: James H., Mrs. J, T.
McGill, J. Rod, Mrs. R. H. Burns, A. S., L. S., A. C. and Mrs. Lola Thornton.
After receiving a preparatory education in the schools of Hartwell, where
he was graduated from the high school, J. Rod Skelton entered the office of
his elder brother, James H, Skelton, under whose preceptorship he applied
himself industriously to the mastery of his chosen calling. He was admitted
to the bar in 1897, but did not immediately enter upon his professional duties,
turning his attention instead to the newspaper business, in which he was
engaged for three years. In 1900, however, he, took up the practice of law,
and for a time was alone, but in 19H became a member of the law firm of
Skelton & Skelton, which has become one of the strong legal combinations
of this county. Jlr. Skelton has the education, the energy, the self-reliance,
the all-around ability and the adaptability to succeed in a community where
these qualities are at a premium, and he has therefore made rapid and perma-
nent progress. He continues to be a close and careful- student and holds
membership in the various organizations of his profession, his standing among
his professional brethren being high. A democrat in politics, he has not been
particularly active in public matters, save in support of others, but has at all
times ably and faithfully discharged the duties of citizenship, and at the
present time is serving as solicitor of the City Court. With his family Mr,
Skelton attends the Baptist Church.
In April, 1912, at Hartwell, Mr. Skelton was united in marriage with
Miss Flora Jones, daughter of J. L. Jones of Maryville, Tennessee. They
have no children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Skelton are well and widely known in
social circles of Hartwell, where they have a wide circle of friends.
Isaac J. Phillips. In bis evolution from a struggle-filled boyhood to
an independent middle age, Isaac J. Phillips, of Hartwell, has passed through
many experiences and has overcome many obstacles. His success in life has
been gained only after unceasing and laborious etVorts, but through it all he
has retained a kindly feeling toward his fellow-men that now finds expres-
sion in various philanthropic activities. He has fairly gained a position
which entitles him to be numbered among HartweU's most substantial busi-
ness men, but he has also attained a no less proud place in the possession of
the esteem and respect of his fellow-men.
Mr. Phillips was bom on a farm in Forsyth County, Geor^a, durine: the
trying period of the Civil war, October 12, 1864, one of the two children of
Isaac and Elizabeth (Thackston) Phillips. His parents, natives of South
Carolina, came as a young married couple to Georgia and settled on a farm
in Forsyth County, which was their sole possession. When the great confiict
between the South and the North came on, Isaac Phillips left his wife and
child and enlisted in the Confederate army, joining Captain Julian's com-
pany in a Georgia regiment, which was subsequently attached to Hood's
Brigade. He was with Wingo's Band and campaigned until the rigors and
hardships of army life undermined his health and he was honorably dis-
charged from the service on account of disability. He was carefully nursed,
but was not able fo overcome the effects of his disease, and died in 1864
when only forty-three years of age, Isaac J. being then but six months old.
Mrs. Phillips sold the farm, receiving in payment therefor Confederate cur-
rency, and when this proved worthless when the Lost Cause went down to
defeat she was left destitute. However, she still had a home with her parents,
in Laurens County, South Carolina, and there reared her three children
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2550 GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS
as best she could with the means which she possessed, these being very
meagre, as her parents were poor people.
From the time he was able to walk up to his seventh year, Isaac J. Phil-
lips did not even possess a pair of shoes, and as he started to work on a
neighboring farm when he was ten years old his education was sadly neg-
lected. He dutifully helped to support his mother from the time he began
to receive wages, and continued to work as a farm hand until he was seven-
teen years of age, when he went to Piedmont City and became an apprentice
to the machinist's trade, which he mastered. He had no liking for this voca-
tion, however, and having saved some money went to Anderson County and
purchased a small tract of land which he transformed into a farm. This
he continued to conduct for a period of five years and then rented to another
party and returned to the eity, securing a position as clerk in a general store.
There, during the nest year and six months, he secured a knowledge of busi-
ness methods which formed the nucleus for his success in commercial lines in
after life. Finally, with the proceeds of his labors and his savings, he opened
a small store of his own in Anderson County, and this he conducted for eight
years, a period in which his business grew and developed to such an extent
that he was encouraged to seek a broader and more prolific field for bis
labors and accordingly removed to the City of Greenville, South Carolina,
where he remained in business for five years longer.
In the meantime, having acquired a knowledge of the grocery basiness
and of the selling end in particular, he decided to try iis fortune in the
wholesale trade, exclusively, and in 1904 brought his family to Hartwell
where he incorporated the Hartwell Grocery Company, wholesale grocers,
with a capital stock of $25,000, of which he is the majority stockholder.
This business, like all his other ventures, has proved a decided success, and
is now having average sales of $200,000 annually. In addition to this busi-
ness, Mr. Phillips is connected in some capacity with nearly every important
enterprise of Hartwell, including the Hartwell Cotton Mills and the Hart-
well Oil Company, in both of which he is a stockholder and director, the
Hartwell Bank and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Hartwell, and many
other business concerns. He was also one of the organizers of the Hart
County Fair Association, and at the present time is one of its directors.
While Mr. Phillips is known as one of the leading business men of Hart-
well, he has never lost his interest in farming, a vocation to which he feels
he owes in large part his success in life. In fact, he woidd rather be known
as an agriculturist than as a bumness man. and his farm, located 1% miles
south of Hartwell, gives evidence of attentions which it could have received
only from one who loved his labors. Here Mr. Phillips has erected a modem
residence, large bams and substantial outbuildings, and has installed im-
provements and equipment that make this not only a model country place
but one of the finest and most valuable farms in Hart County.
Few men have taken a more active part in the work of the Baptist Church
than has Mr, Phillips. As moderator of the Hebron Baptist Association, he
is also a member of the Executive and Laymen's committees, and no move-
ment in this association is complete that does not have his whole-souled and
zealous support. Fraternally he is a Master Mason and a member of the
Fraternal Union of America. Mr. Phillips is a democrat, but has confined
his political activities to the casting of his vote, and his public participation
in affairs to the performance o£ the duties of good citizenship. A man of
generous impulse and large heart, he is a liberal supporter of charitable
movements, and, having succeeded himself, is ready to assist others to achieve
success.
On Februarj- 23, 1883. Mr. Phillips was married to Miss Marguerite
Elizabeth Rike.'who died March 27. 1914. a daughter of Alfred and Minnie
Rike, of Banks County, North Carolina, both also deceased. Nine children
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2551
were bom to this union: . DeWitt and Lou, who are deceased; Miss Grace,
bom in Anderson County, South Carolina, a young woman of much busi-
ness ability, who is associated with her father as secretary of the Hartwell
Grocery Company; Miss Alice, bom in Anderson County, and now living
with her father; Mrs. Zelpha Hall, bom in Anderson County, the wife of a
banker of Hartwell; Miss Guy Nell, bom in Anderson County, who is a
teacher in the public schools of South Carolina; Hoyt S., bom in Anderson
County, who is now a university student in South Carolina; Miss Margie,
bom in Anderson County, who is now attending Shorter CoUege, at Rome,
Georgia; Isaac J., Jr., bom in Anderson County, and now a studet at Hart-
well High School; Miss Bonte, born at Greenville, South Carolina, and also
a high school student at Hartwell; and Georgia, bom at Hartwell, who is
attending the graded schools here.
ROBfXT Morris Clayton. If, thirty-eeven years ago, a picture of the
City of Atlanta as it is, its stately buildings, its handsome residences, . its
noble structures and its complete and thorough system of modem public
improvements, had been exhibited to many residents, it would have provoked
either smiles or unbelieving ridicule, according to the nature of the indi-
vidual. But even then, there was one resident who was beginning to dream
of a regenerated city, a city worthy of its nature's setting, one of comfort,
sanitation, modernity and invitation. This dreamer, although he was in-
tensely practical, was able to look forward and see. that under improved-
conditions, Atlanta had, in herself, every element to develop into the picture
of his dream. This dreamer was Robert. Morris Clayton and no one of those
who have worked and hoped, have done more to make a dream come true
than he and no one in Atlanta has more reason to take pride in work so well
and thoroughly done. For a third of a century he has been a very important
factor in the development of Atlanta.
Robert Morris Clayton is of English and Scotch descent and is of Revo-
lutionary stock on both sides. His father, Ephraini Clayton, who was a rail-
road contractor, built a considerable section of the old Atlanta & Charlotte
Railroad, now the Southern. He was a son of Lambert Clayton, born in 1755
and a soldier in the Revolutionary war, with the North Carolina troops. The
ashes of this old hero rest in the burial ground at Davidson River Church, in
Transylvania County, North Carolina. liamhert Clayton married Sarah
Davidson, who was a daughter of John and Nancy (Brevard) Davidson,
both of whom were murdered by the Indians on the Catawba River, near
what is now known as Old Port, in McDowell County, North Carolina. Nancy
Brevard was a sister of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, who was one of the secretaries
of the Mecklenburg Convention of 1775, the Mecklenburg Declanvtion ante-
dating the Declaration of Independence.
The names Davidson and Brevard are borne by many prominent people
throughout the South and these names are perpetuated in several states, rep-
resenting one county and a number of towns. The father of Robert M.
Clayton was named in honor of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, his great-uncle. His
grandmother, Sarah Davidson, was the only child of John and Nancy David-
son and no doubt her fate would have been that of her parents had she been
at home at the time of the massacre; Fortunately, however, she was on a
visit to her uncle. Doctor Brevard, at Charlotte, North Carolina, and thus
escaped the tragedy that all too often marked the progress of civilization in
those days.
Robert Morris Clayton was bom in McDowell County, North Carolina,
March 31, 1845, a son of Ephraim and Nancy (MeElroy) Clayton, both of
whom were natives of Buncombe County, North Carolina. He grew up in
Asheville, North Carolina, attending school and enjoying the pursuits df boy-
hood until the war between the states became a fact, when, although only
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2552 GE0RGL4. AND GEORGIANS
Bucteeo years old, -he enlisted for service, enteriug the First North Carolina
Infantry and continued in the army until the close ot hostilities, his duty
including service in the campaign in and afound Atlanta. After six months
in the First North Carolina he was transferred to the Sixtieth North Caro-
lina and was placed in command of Cora,pany B, although he was never com-
missioned captain.
As the opening of the war had interrupted hia studies, the young man
had not been able, under conditions, to perfect bis knowledge in any trade
or profession, as might be done in tiiese days. Opportunities for making
headway were, at that time, not plentiful, but he had a natural taste for
mechanics and this he satisfied by entering into railroad work and becoming
a civil engineer, for some years being with the old Atlanta and Charlotte
Air Line, now the Southern Railway. In 1878 he came to Atlanta and in
1879 became city engineer and served in that capacity until 1883, and again,
in 1885 he was elected city engineer and served until 1911, when his title of
office was changed to chief of construction. He voluntarily retired from
this position at the close of 1914 and at present is engaged in a private
capacity as a consulting engineer, with ofRces at No, 210 Temple Court Build-
ing, Atlanta. During his long term of public service. Captain Clayton built
practically all of the important public utilities here, which would include the
paving of the streets, the introduction of a sewerage system and a disposal
plant, the construction of the city's waterworks system and its viaducts,
■ all proving such great public benefits that the sum of his usefulness can
scarcely be adequately computed. He has seen and helped the straggling
town to grow to beautiful proportions and has unselfishly delighted in its
development, a development that his efforts have lately broughf about.
Captain Clayton was united in marriage on June 2, 1875, with Miss
Felixina Hansell, who died November 11, 1914. He is a member of the
Central Presbyterian Church at Atlanta. In politics a consistent democrat,
he uses his influence for the success of that organization. Captain Clayton
belongs to the United Confederate Veterans, He is widely known in his
profession and l)elongs to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the
Engineering Association of the South, and the American Waterworks Asso-
ciation, of which he once was president.
Charles J, McDonald, the nineteenth governor of Georgia, who held that
office from 1839 to 1843, was a native of South Carolina, bom at Charleston
on July 9, 1793. His parents moved to Hancock County, Georgia, when he
was a boy. He graduated from the South Carolina College, at Columbia, in
1816, and was admitted to the bar in 1817. Governor McDonald's abilities
■ were of such a pronounced order that in 1822, after five years at the Georgia
bar, he was made solicitor general of the Flint Circuit, and in 1825 became
the judge of that circuit. Like many men of his day he had taken an active
part in the State Militia, and in 1823 had been elected to the post of brigadier-
general. As .iudgc of the Flint Circuit, his prudence and firmness were often
called into play, as he presided over the frontier district in which there was
naturally a lawless element. He was a member of the Lower House of the
General Assembly in 18W. In 1834 he was elected to the State Senate and
again in 1837. In 1839 he was elected to succeed Governor Gilmer as gov-
ernor of Georgia. He died at his home in Jlarietta, December 16, 1860.
Col. James S. McIntosh. fourth son of Col. John Mcintosh, one of the Rev-
olutionary officers of the family, was born in Liberty County, the seat of the
Mcintosh family, June 19, 1787. He inherited the militarj' tastes of the
family, and when the "War of 1812 broke out. entered the army as a lieutenant
and was attached to a rifle regiment in which he saw hard service on the
northern frontier and in Canada. Afterward he served with General Jaclson
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GEORGIA AND GEOHGIANS 2553
throughout the Indian war and eommanded the post at Tampa, Florida.
Subsequently his military career, previous to the Mexican war, covefed such
widely separated points as Mobile, Alabama, Fort (Jibson, Arkansas, Prairie
du Chien and Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin, and Fort Gratiot and Detroit,
Michigan. He was then ordered to Texas in anticipation of war with Mexico,
and when he reported to General Taylor at Corpus ChriSti had risen to the
ranii of colonel in the regular army. In May, 1846, at the head of his regi-
ment, he was wounded so severely at Resaca de la Palma that his life was
despaired of, but he re-entered active service and was mortally wounded at
the battle of Molino del Rey. The Legislature of Georgia ordered his remains
removed from Mexico, and they were buried at Savannah March 18, 1848.
Hon. Hib.am Warner Hili.. Among the lawyers of Georgia who have
risen to high places in their profession and have been no loss distinguished in
the public service, is Hon. Hiram Warner Ilill, associate justice of the Supreme
Court. With a predilection for the law, a good education, and long and
comprehensive training, he entered upon the practice of his profession in the
capacity of a general practitioner, but when his talents became recognized
and appreciated lie was called to public office, and from that time to the
present his service in elective and appointive positions has been almost
continuous. ,
Judge Hill belongs to a family which originated in County Down, Ireland,
and the North of Scotland, and which settled in Virginia as early as 1657,
later moving to North Carolina and Georgia. His paternal grandparents came
from Virginia and North Carolina about the time of the Revolutionary
war, and Wiley Hill settled in Wilkes County, Georgia, where his son. Bur-
well, was bom in 1800. Burwell Hill married Miss Martha Pope Johnatm,
and their son, Alexander Franklin Hill, the father of Judge Hill, was bom
in Wilkes County, in 1831, and died at Greenville, Meriwether County, in
1888, after a successful career as a planter. He married Miss Mary Jane-
Warner, a daughter of Hiram and Sarah (Abercrombie) Warner, and a
descendant of the Coffins and Warners, who came from England and settled
at Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, about the year 1660. Judge Hiram
Warner, the maternal grandfather of Judge Hill, was eminent not only among
the citizens of his state but of his country as well, becoming one of the most
distinguished jurists of his time and holding the high and responsible oflBce
of chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. He came to this state from
Massachusetts in 1819, when a lad of seventeen years, and began teaching in
the schools of Sparta. Through strong native ability, and steady and untiring
efforts, he perfected himself in the law, and for many years was numbered
among the leading legal luminaries of his time.
Hiram Warner Hill was born in Meriwether County, Georgia, July 18,
1858, and grew up amid rural surroundings 9n his father's plantations, where
he had his regular duties, this not only tending to give him a strong consti-
tution, but to teach him the value of honest labor and to instill into him good
morals and industrious habits. He had a normal boy's love for out-of-door
sportB, but was jjrobably happiest when among his books, for he was ever
studious, and even when a lad had decided upon the law as the career in
which to make a name, doubtless having inherited this predilection from his
distinguished grandfather. He was encouraged in this direction by being
given good educational advantages, and made the most of his opportunities,
studying assiduously at the Greenville Masonic Institute, most of the time
under the management of the late Hon. W. T. Revill, a noted teacher of his
day, and later attending Emory College and Harvard Law School. Admitted
to the bar at La Grange, in 1881, he immediately entered upon the practice
of his profession in Greenville, Georgia, where he was subsequently employed
in many of the important cases in his circuit, and frequently practiced in
other circuits and before the Supreme Court.
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2554 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Judge Hill was a member of the Lower House of the General Assemblj'
from 1S86 to 1894, and during his service as a legislator was at the head of
one of the leading committees in the House, having been for several years
chairman of the General Judiciary Committee. He also served as mayor of
Greenville from 1899 until 1902. In 1900 he waS president of the Georgia
Bar Association. In 1903 he was appointed railroad commissioner by Gov-
ernor Terrell for a term of six years, was elected for a second term in 1909,
the method of selecting the commissioners having been changed, and from
October, 1905, was chairman of the commission, with a short iutermLBsion,
imti] 1911, when he resigned that office to accept appointment to the position
of associate justice of the Supreme Court by Governor Hoke Smith, and took
his seat on the bench October 30, 1911.
Judge Hill's entire public service has been characterized by a zealous
effort to advance the betterment of the state in strong and worthy citizenship.
As a lawyer he came favorably before the people because of his active and
vigorous intellect, his pleasing address and his well defined opinions. He was
ever sincere in his convictions and attempted at no time to deceive the public.
The high esteem in which Judge Hill is held as a jurist among the entire pro-
fession is the result of a rare combination of fine legal ability and culture,
and incorruptible integrity, with the absolute courage, dignified presence
and graceful urbanity which have characterized all his official acts. He is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Fraternally, the judge
is a JIason, having held the office of grand high priest of Royal Arch Masons
of the State of Georgia, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and a Pythian Knight. His political affiliation is with the democratic party.
Judge Hill was married September 24, 1884, to Miss Lena Harris, and to
this union there have been bom three sons and three daughters. Mrs. Hill
was the daughter of Hon. Henry R. Harris, who was a member of Congress
for six years, entering in 1872, and later became third assistant postmaster
general, under appointment by President Cleveland.
Samuel Babnett, (I), (II), (III) and (IV). Samuel Barnett (I) was a
son of William Barnett, who came from Charlotte, North Carolina, and estab-
lished his residence in Wilkes County, Georgia, about the time of the war of
the Revolution. He (William) was a man of wealth and influence in his day
and generation and became a prominent business man of Wilkes County.
He wedded Miss Jean Jack, a sister of James Jack, who had the distinction of
bearing to the City of Philadelphia, then the seat of the colonial government,
the historic Mecklenburg Declaration after the same had been passed and
signed at Charlotte, North Carolina— a document that antedated the national
Declaration of Independence, as history records. James and Jean Jack were
children of Patrick Jack, who emigrated from Ireland in 1730 and established
his home at Charlotte, North Carolina, he having been a scion of a family
directly allied with the nobility of Scotland. One of the members of this
family was a Presbyterian clergyman at the time of the reign of Charles II,
in 1661, and was deprived of his ancestral heritage and his prerogatives
because of his religious faith. William Barnett, father of Samuel Barnett (I),
wag a son of John and Ann (Spratt) Barnett, and the Barnetts, the Jacks and
the Spratta, all of stanch Scotch-Irish lineage, sent their first representatives
to America from the same section of the Emerald Isle. Ann (Spratt) Barnett
was a daughter of Thomas Spratt, who was said to have been the first person
"to cross the Yadkin river on wheels," this river being one of the pic-
turesque streams flowing through North Carolina. Mrs. Ann (Spratt) Bar-
nett was the first white person born in the beautiful valley between the Tadkin
and Catawba rivers. These and other interesting data are authentically
recorded in a little book entitled "Sketches of Western North Carolina," a
work compiled and published by C. L. Hunter. At the house of Thomas
Spratt was held the first court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, this
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2555
historic dwelling having stood about V/2 milea south of the present City of
Charlotte, the judicial center of the county,
Samuel Bamett I married Mrs, Elizabeth (Worsham) Willis, the widow
of Thomas Willis and mother of Francis T, Willis, who moved fqom Wash-
ington, Georgia, to Savannah, Georgia, before the Civil war and who soon
after the war went to Richmond, Virginia. Francis T. Willis was president
of the Central Railroad before the war and also president of the Qaa Company
and was a man of marked means. His son, Edward S. Willis is said to have
been the youngest general in the Civil war and was killed in battle at the
age of twenty-four, being a few months younger than the famous young Gen.
Pierce Young. Francis T. Willis was the donor and founder of the Mary
Willis Library at Washington, Georgia, endowed by him and named after his
daughter Mary Willis (Mrs. Pembroke Jones), The life long love of Francis
T, Willis and, his half brother Samuel Bamett II for each other and their
intimate family, social and business relations are matters of historical interest
in that section.
Samuel Bamett (II) was born in Washington, Wilkes County, Georpa,
in the year 1824, and there he passed his entire life, his death having occurred
in 1895, at which time he was seventy-one years of age. As a young man
he was graduated in the University of South Carolina, with first honors in
his class, and thereafter he studied law and was admitted to the bar of his
native state. He continued to be engaged in the active practice of his profes-
sion at Washington, Wilkes County, until a few years prior to his death and
was one of the eminent lawyers and influential citizens of Geoi^a. He
served as a member of the first railroad commission of the state and held other
positions of distinctive public trust. His father, Samuel Barnett (I), alluded
to above, was one of the most honored and influential citizens of Wilkes County
and was president of a hank at Washington, this institution having at the time
been the only hank in that now vigorous little city. It is a matter of special
historical interest to record that in this bank was held, in 1865, the last meeting
of the cabinet of the Confederate government. President Jefferson Davis and
his cabinet having there assembled for their final meeting while mating their
flight through Georgia at the close of the Civil war. It may with all of his-
toric consistency be said that in this bank of which Samuel Barnett (1) was
president occurred the formal ■disbandment of the Confederate government,
and it may further be stated that on the site of the bank building is now situ-
ated the modem courthouse of Wilkes County. At the end of the Civil war
in the flight from Richmond, Virginia, through the Carolinas and Georgia,
when the "gold" and money and valuables of the Southern Confederate
Treasury were being transported in wagons, in blind search for some place
of safety, about twenty miles northeast of Washington these wagons were
attacked by unknown parties and the Treasury relieved of everything of value.
Elizabeth Ann (Stone) Bamett, wife of Samuel Bamett (II), was
bom near Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia, on the 22d of October, 1824,
and was about six months younger than her husband, whom she survived by
more than a decade. She was summoned to the life eternal in 1906, a few
months prior to her eighty-second birthday anniversary. Mrs. Bamett was a
daughter of Osborne and Ann Wingfield (Butler) Stone, and her marriage to
Samuel Bamett (II) was solemnized May 7, 1847. Of this onion were bom
four SODS and three daughters, Samuel (III) having been the third in order of
birth. The three daughters, Annie, Harriett Alexander and Susan, are de-
ceased but all of the sons are still living, the other three being Frank W.,
Osborne S., and Edward A., all of whom continued their residence at Wash-
ington, the old family home in Wilkes County.
Samuel Bamett (III), bom at Washington, Georgia, September 30, 1850,
received his early educational discipline in the schools of his native
town and in 1869 he graduated in the University of Georgia, with the
degree! of Bachelor of Arts. Later he spent one more year aa a student
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2556 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
in his alma mater, aud bis post-graduate course led to his reception of the
degree of Master of Arts from the university in 1872, besides which tlie insti-
tution conferred upon him also the degree of Civil Engineer. Thereafter he
passed one year as a student in the great University of Edinburgh, Scotland,
and after his retum'to the United States he served three years as professor of
mathematics in Davidson College, North Carolina. Further academic and
pedagogic distinction was gained by him during a further service of three
years as the incumbent of the chair of physics and in the University of
Louisiana, at Eaton Rouge. In 1881 he returned to his native state and estab-
lished his residence in the City of Atlanta, where he was admitted to the bar
in that year and where he has since continued in the successful practice of his
profession, and where he gives special attention to corporation and insurance
law. He has made valued contributions along general literary lines as well as
those pertaining to his special field of professional work. Mr. Barnett is soon
to publish his more comprehensive work entitled "The Philosophy of Proba-
bility, ' ' which will comprise about 900 pages, its publication having been some^
what delayed owing to the present European war.
In the year 1887 Mr. Bamett wedded Sliss Mary J. Dunwody, who
died in 1889 and who is survived by no children. On the 27th of April, 1898,
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Barnett to Miss Sarah Jeter Carter, of
Murray County, this state, and they have two daughters and one son— Mary
MacDonald, Elizabeth Wingfield, and Samuel Carter, the only son being a
scion of tiie fourth generation to bear the personal name of Samuel,
Samuel (IV).
Mrs. Barnett is a daughter of Samuel MacDonald Carter and Sarah Randle
(Jeter) Carter, the latter of the families of Laniers and Holts, the first
wife of Mr. Carter having been a sister of the late Hon. Alfred H. Colquitt,
former governor of Georgia, Samuel MacDonald Carter, whose death occurred
in 1897, was a wealthy and influential citizen of Murray County, in which
county he was the owner of a landed estate of 15,000 acres at the time of
his death, besides having been the owner of lands in other parts of Georgia
and also in the other states of the Union. His father, Parish Carter, formerly
resided near Milledgeville and prior to the Civil war was said to have been
one of the wealthiest men in Georgia, where be owned a large and valuable
landed estate and also 996 slaves. His wife n'as a sister of H<hi. Charles Mac-
Donald, who served as governor of Georgia.
William J. Tilson. A lawyer of high attainments and successful prac-
tice, William J. Tilson is a graduate both in the classical and law courses
from Yale University, has lived in Atlanta eighteen years, and in many
ways has shown the true qualities of the leader of men. He is a member of
the law firm of Green, Tilson & McKinney, a firm of the highest rating, with
many infinential connections and a large and varied practice.
William Josiah Tilson was bom at Clear Branch, Unicoi County. Ten-
nessee, August 13, 1871, a son of William E. and Katherine (Saras) Tilson.
His father was from Prince Edward County, Virginia, and of English
ancestry and bis mother was a native of Washington County, Tennessee, and
of German stock. After his early schooling Mr. Tilson entered Yale Uni-
versity, graduated B. A, in 1894, and continued in the law school until taking
the degree LL. B. in 1856 and gaining the degree of master of laws in 1897.
His entire professional career has been spent in Atlanta, where he was
first in practice in the oflBce of Tompkins & Alston, and for over twelve years
has been associated with Green, Tilson & McKinney. His ofBees are in the
Hurt Building. Mr. Tilson is also treasurer of the Atlanta Realty Invest-
ment Company and vice president of the Pulton Investment Company. Ilia
home is at the popular suburb East Lake, where the beautiful country club
is situated. He is serving his second term as mayor. He was reared in the
republican faith and usually acted with that party, hut in 1912 joined the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2557
progressive movement. He has held the position of chairmaD of the State
Central Committee of the progreseive party of Georgia and as ticket elector
of the Fifth Congressional "District is instructed for Hughes and Fairbanks.
His brother, John Q, Tilson, Yale '91, and who was a captain in the Spanish-
American war, was a member of Congress from Connecticut for eight years,
but resigned his seat in Congress and went to the Mexican border as lieu-
tenant colonel of Second Connecticut Infantry. William J. Tilson is also
secretary of the Taie Alumni Assocation of Georgia, and is a member of
the Capital City, the Piedmont Driving and the Atlanta Athletic clubs.
Mr. Tilson married June 9, 1904, Miss Julia Charles Romare of Atlanta.
Their one child is Paul Romare Tilson, born November 18, 1906,
Col. Patrick H, Brewster. A member of the Atlanta bar for more than
a quarter of a century, Col. Patrick H. Brewster is entitled to a place among
the leaders of the profession in North Georgia. His eloquence, his strong
personality, his constructive ability, his knowledge of human alfairs, bis
liberal education, his sway over men's minds, his tact as an advocate, all
have given him a high place among lawyers. Retained at one time or another
as general or special counsel for some of the great corporations of the country,
he has become more or less a familiar figure in the courts of the principal
cities.
A native Georgian, Col. Patrick II. Brewster was horn on his father's
plantation in Campbell County, September 9, 1846, and was still a child
when he removed with his parents to Coweta County, where" he made his
home until his removal to Atlanta in 1889. James Brewster, the father of
Colonel Brew.ster, was born in South Carolina, and during his early manhood
came to Georgia, where he continued to rpside until his death at the age of
ninety-four years. The family is noted for its longevity, for the grandfather
of Colonel Brewster, William Brewster, was 100 years old at the time of his
demise.
Col. P. H. Brewster passed his boyhood in Coweta County much after the
fashion of other prosperous planters' sons, and in addition to attending the
public schools of Newnan furthered his education by close and studious
application to his books at home. He was only fifteen years old when the war
between the South and the North began, and so was not allowed to follow his
inclinations in the matter of enlisting as a soldier, but in the fall of 1863,
when only seventeen years of age, was accepted as a private in Company A,
Fifty-sixth Regiment, Georgia Infantry, and continued to serve in the army
of the Confederacy until the close of hostilities, surrendering with Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. Colonel Brewster's services included
much active fighting, including participation in the battles of Dalton, Georgia,
Resaca. Kenesaw Mountain, where he received a severe wound in the arra,
the battles around Atlanta, Lovejoy Station and Jonesboro, and all the fights
that occurred on the way back to Nashville, Tennessee, General Hood having
chosen that route after the evacuation of Atlanta. Following this were
Columbia and Franklin, a two days' engagement at Nashville and a stubborn
fight along the road to Pulaski, and the final surrender at Jonesboro, North
Carolina. The Brewster family contributed to the Confederate army also,
five brothers of Colonel Brewster, these being: William, who served in several
regiments throughout the entire war; Daniel F., who served until peace was
declared; Maj. James P., of the Fifty-sixth Georgia Regiment, who lost a
leg at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain; Blake D,, who was in several regi-
ments and served throughout the period of the war ; and Angus P., who was
in the army during the latter part of the strui^le. All were brave and valiant
soldiers and made excellent records for faithfulness, courage and efificieney.
When he returned to the pursuits of peace. Colonel Brewster resumed
his studies for a time and then began teaching school, but after two years
of this employment gave up his work as an educator and entered the University
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2558 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
of Virginia, where he was graduated in 1871 with the degree of bachelor
of laws. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at
Newnan, where he continued actively occupied, and suceeaafully, until coming
to Atlanta in 1889, then becoming a nieniber of the firm of Dorsey, Brewster
& Howell. His great professional learning and ability have continued to
connect him with many of the most important cases which have appeared
before the courts, and he is still in the full vigor of his geniusi His ready
command of language, accuracy of expression and grace in diction, have
combined to make him a notably forceful and eloquent advocate — ^terse, logical
and vigorous. His energy, industry, patience, intellectual compass and vitj-
ity have made him an opponent to be both dreaded and respected in any
ease in which he has been actively concerned.
Although he has had no particular fondness for polities. Colonel Brewster's
loyalty to the democratic party has led him into numerous campaigns, and
from the outset of his career he has been one of the strong, wise spirits of
his party; always conservative, yet patriotic, working with voice, pen and
influence, through victory and defeat, with singular consistency, for the public
good along the lines of public policy he has been constrained to indorse and
advocate. In 1877 he was elected to the state senate as a member of the
thirty-sixth senatorial district, and his labors in that body were character-
ized by the, utmost ability and patriotism Jealous of the welfare of his
constituents, he did not allow personal or local interests to interfere with the
discharge of public duty as a public servant of the state. Although elected
for a term of four years, he was prevented from serving for the full period,
owing to the action of the constitutional convention in reducing its length.
On his return to Newnan he was elected mayor of that city, an office in which
he served efficiently for one term. Beared in the faith of the Methodist
Chnreh, Colonel Brewster has ever been a consistent member of that denomi-
nation and has been liberal in his support of its movements. He belongs to
no fraternal or secret oi^anizations, preferring the pleasures and surround-
ings of his beautiful home at College Park, Atlanta, which he erected some
twenty years ago and in which he has since lived.
In 1874. at Newnan, Georgia, Colonel Brewster was married to Mias Lanra
Leigh, of that place, and to this union there were bom nine children : Pendle-
ton H., a successful practicing attorney of Jacksonville, Florida; Wallace
E., who ia engaged in farming in Fulton County, Georgia; Annie Laura, who
is now Mrs. Clarence Wickershara, of Atlanta; Eldon F., a well-known busi-
ness man of this city; Manelle, who is the wife of Edward Richardson, of
College Park, a suburb of Atlanta; Albert Howell, now a medical student
at Johns Hopkins University; Hal and Berry Erskine, who both died when
about twenty-six years of age, the latter being a lawyer and a member of the
Atlanta bar at the time of his death ; and Mrs. Mai^aret Branham, of Oxford,
Georgia, who is deceased. The mother of these children is deceased.
Elmer Jackson Ciwwford. One of the best known and most popular
public officials of Clark County, is Elmer Jackson Crawford, who is now
serving in his seventh consecutive term as clerk of the Superior Court. He
is one of the stable and substantial citizens of Athens, the owner of valnable
property, an earnest supporter of schools and churches, and identified promi-
nently with all the leading fraternities.
Elmer Jackson Crawford was bom in Clarke County, Geoigia, December
18, 1874, and is a son of John R. and Mary Elizabeth (Williams) Crawford.
The parents were reared, educated and married in Madison County, For
thirty-five years John R. Crawford conducted a mercantile and farming busi-
ness in Clarke County, near Athena. He was bom in 1849 and died in
December, 1908, at the age of fifty-nine years. His widow survives, being
now seventy-one years old, and her home is with her son at Athens, The first
wife of John R. Crawford was a sister of Mrs, Crawford, and the children by
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2559
that marriage were Thurston C. of Greensboro, Thomas R. of Athens and
Mrs. Viola Crawford Coggin, also of Athens. Of the children of the second
marriage Elmer Jackson was the first born and is the onl^ survivor, Mary
Jane, the only daughter, died in June, 1899, when aged nineteen years and
eleven months. John Aquilla died in September, 1902, at the age of twenty-
four years and hJa burial was in Madis(»i County.
After a public school course, Elmer J. Crawford attended a private school,
the Grove, at Athens, and later entered the University of Georgia, where he
pursued a bachelor of science course through his junior year. Afterward he
gave, his father's business attention and assisted for several yeara or until
be was made assistant clerk in the office of the clerk of the Superior Court,
where he continued for fifteen months, and several months afterward, in the
fall of 1902 was elected clerk of the Superior Court, assuming the duties of
office on January 1, 1903. Although his first election was by but a small
majority, the succeeding elections have been very fiattering and a service
of seven consecutive terms without opposition indicates that he is appreciated.
Per a short time he served also as a notary public and ex-officio justice of
the peace in the 219th district, Clarke County.
On April 25, 1905, Mr. Crawford was united in marriage with Miss Annie
L. King, at Gum Spring, near Athens. She is a daughter of Alfred L, and
Lula King, well known people in the county where her father carries on
farming. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have four children; Elmer J., born at
Athens, February 22, 1907, who is a student in the second grade in the public
schools; King, who was born June 25, 1909; Janet, who was born July 9,
1913; and Thoma.s Peter, who was bom June 26, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Craw-
ford attend the Baptist Church.
Mr. Crawford is social by nature as indicated by his membership in a
number of fraternal organizations and his genial qualities are recognized
and valued by his associates in membership among the Masons, the Elks, the
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Red Men. In addition to owning
his handsome residence he has other financial interests including being a
director of the Commercial Bank of Athens, formerly the Citizens Bank and
Trust Company. In polities he is a democrat.
Francis E. Gbippeth. Not only does self won sueeess in the commercial
world arouse admiration and respect from competitors, but it brings with it
to the individual a sense of satisfaction not to be produced by the building np
of a fortune and business name on a foundation erected by some one else.
Francis E. Griffeth, of the firm of the Qriifeth Implement Co., a partnership
composed of William G. and Francis E. Griflfeth, at Athens, may be termed
a self made man, for he has risen to high estate in business circles entirely
through his own efforts. Others who have, in the same way, approached the
same point can agree with him that energy, industry and perseverance were
among the necessary factors.
Francis E. Griffeth was bom June 27, 1874, in Clark, now Oconee County,
Georgia, and is a son of George E. and Nancy A. (Elder) Griffeth, both of
whom were bom in Georgia. The father, who followed agricultural pursuits,
was,active in the affairs of his county and for several years served as treasurer
of Oconee County. In the beginning of the war he enlisted from Clark
County as a private in the Confederate infantry service. After receiving a
severe flesh wound in battle he returned home on furlough but returned to
bis regiment upon recovery. His death occurred in January, 1903, at the
age of seventy-five years. He was widely known in the Baptist Church in
the state and for many years was treasurer of the Appalachee Baptist
Association.
George E. Gpffeth married Nancy A. Elder and she survives, being now
aged seventy-six years. Of their eight children six survive. Francis E. was
the seventh in order of birth and the others living are : Mrs. Robert Thomp-
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2560 GEOEQIA AND QEOEGIANS
son, who lives at Bogart, Geoi^a; John T,, who is a resident of Athens; James
L., who is a farmer in Oconee County ; "William Q., who is a member of the
Griffeth Implement Company ; and Walter R., who is a resident of Atlanta.
Praneis E, Griffeth attended school during boyhood and youth, had aca-
demic advantages at Beehabara, afterwards completing his education at the
University of Georgia. After his school days were over he taught school prior
to going into the mercantile business at Bogart, Georgia, where he remained
until the fall of 1902, when he established the Griffeth Implement Company
at Athens, and the scope of the concern has been continuously enlarged and
its business field developed until it is now one of the largest of its kind in
this section. Associated with him in partnership is his brother, William G,
Griffeth. The Griffeth Implement Company deals in various makes of auto-
mobiles, including the Ford cars, automobile parts of all kinds, buggies,
wagons, harness and farm implements. Employment is given to ten people
in the home quarters while traveling men cover the outside territory.
In addition to his business interests above mentioned Mr. Griffeth owns
2,000 acres of farm land in Greene County, Georgia, where extensive farm
operations are carried on, a large number of men being employed there. The
tract was the old home of Governor Peter Early, who was governor of Georgia
in 1812-13. He was buried on the farm and his ashes were removed December
25, 1914.
Praneis E. GriflEeth was married June 30, 1909, to Miss Katie Jester, of
Athens, Georgia. Her father, William A. Jest«r, was one of the well known
men of this city, of an old settled family. He died in 1913. The mother of
Mrs. Griffeth died in May, 1916. Two children have been bom to Mr. and
Mrs. Griffeth: William P., horn at Athens, September 3, 1910, and George
L., bom October 6, 1911.
In political affiliation Mr. Griffeth is a democrat. His tastes have never led
him to aspire to public office, nevertheless lie lends his influence to all the
measures brought forward that promise to be of practical and lasting benefit
to his city and state. He is identified fraternally with the Masons and the
Elks, both at Athens.
Rev. Lovick .Pierce was a native of North Carolina, horn in Halifax,
March 17, 1785. Hei lived until November 9, 1879, when he died at Sparta,
Georgia, in his ninety-fifth year. Nearly seventy-five years of that period
was spent in the IMethodist ministry. In 1805 he was admitted to the South
Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church and was sent to the Appalachee
Circuit, and in 1809 he settled in Greene County, Georgia. In 1812 he served
as chaplain in the army, and also as a delegate to the general conference
of his church. At the formation of the Georgia Conference in 1830 and in
various general conferences until the church was divided in 1844 both he
and his son George Pierce, afterward bishop, were leading figures. Until
his death in 1877 Lovick Pierce was considered the most infiuential leader in
Southern Methodism.
George F. Pierce, bishop of the Methodist Church South from 1854 to
his death in 1866, was born near Greensboro, February 3, 1811. There he
received a classical education and joined the Methodist Church. He graduated
from Pranklin College in his nineteenth year and in 1831 was licensed to
preach l>y the General Conference. Engaged in station work until he was
ordained a presiding elder, while still a young man he was recognized as the
leading preacher in the conference. In 1839 he opened the Georgia Female
College, at Macon, ^as its president, and it was one of the first institutions in
the world to give a woman a college degree. Finally the college was sold
and bought by tJie Methodists alone. He then returned to the pastorate. He
was only twenty-nine years old when he was chosen delegate to the General
Conference ; and when he was thirty-three, after he had won his place as
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2561
one of the most eloquent men in the land, he was elected to the General Con-
ference which met in New York in 1844, the last session of the undivided
conference. He was chosen to succeed Judge Longstreet as president of
Emory College, and while he was in Oxford the General Conference of 1854
met in Columbus, and he was chosen on the first ballot as a bishop. He began
his work as a bishop by a tour to the Far West, of which he gave a charming
account in his "Incidents of Western Travel."
When Mr. Lincoln was elected ho realized that the South had nothing to
hope for savct in a separate Confederacy, and he entered heart and soul into
the Southern movement. He, however, made no interference with public
affairs.
The General Conference in 1866 met in New Orleans. The young and old
radicals were in charge. Bishop Pierce was a conservative. He did not think
great changes were demanded although the war had swept the laud, but he
was overruled. At last the crisis came, and he proposed to lay down his office
if a certain change was made. The conference reconsidered its decision and
he remained a bishop. It was largely through his work and influence that
Emory College was revived. His incessant and arduous labors as bishop
nndoubtediv hastened his death, which occurred at his home in Sparta, Sep-
tember 3, 1866.
H. Abit Nix. A youug man of many brilliant qualifications, H. Abit Nix
has already acquired a substantial station in the bar of Athens, and is also one
of the professors in the law school of the University of Georgia,
A native of Georgia, he was born at Commerce in Jackson County, July
3, 1888, a son of J. Morgan and Dora (Bennett) Nix. His parents were also
natives of Georgia, but his mother's people came from Virginia. J. Morgan
Nix and wife were married in 1885, and he has for a number of years been a
merchant and planter at Commerce, and they still live there, the father at the
age of fifty-two and the mother at forty-six. The paternal grandfather,
Thomas Nix, enlisted for service in the Confederate army during the war
and gave up his life as a sacrifice to the Southern cause. The maternal grand-
father was Capt. A. T. Bennett, who gained the rank of captain in an infantry
company in the Confederate army, and his death occurred in this state only
recently. J. Morgan Nix and wife became the parents of §even children, one
of them now deceased, and Professor Nix the oldest. The other children are
Lydia, Lurline, Mary, Ernest and Lucile.
As a boy H. Abit Nix attended the public schools of commerce, graduating,
from the high school there in 1906, and in the same year entering the Univer-
aity of Georgia, where he was graduated with the honors of his class and the
degree A. B. in 1910. Following his eoUege career he taught in the academic
department and continued his law studies in the university, and was graduated
LL. B. in 1912. Though liberally educated, he was still unsatisfied with his
scholastic attainments, and during 1912-13 took special courses in the law
department of Harvard University, following which he returned to Athens
and entered upon the practice of law, which has already brought him sub-
stantial success. In the summer session of 1913 he was appointed professor
of law in the State University Law School, and has since divided his time
between his private practice and the duties of his position in the law school.
He is a member of the County and State Bar associations and fraternally is
affiliated with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, in which he has
held the minor offices, with the Woodmen of the World, and with the Modem
Woodmen of Ainerica, being venerable consul of the latter order. He was
also a member of the Sphinx Club in the University of Georgia, the Sigma
Chi fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, and in Harvard was a
member of the Harvard Law Club. In politics he is a democrat, and is a
member of the Baptist Church.
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2562 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
On December 23, 1913, he married Miss Eunice Little of Commerce,
daughter of Pemberton B. and Elizabeth (Neal) Little, Her mother is still
liviug: at Commerce. Mrs. Nix takes much interest in the work of the
United paughters of the Confederacy and Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion, and is affiliated with the local Chapters of that organization. In Novem-
ber, 1915, a baby girl was born to Jlr. and Mrs. Nix and she was named Mary
Elizabeth. Jlr. Nix owns one of the most attractive homes on Dearing
Street in Athens, and he and his wife move in the best social circles of that
educational center.
C.VBL F. Crossley is making for himself a secure place as one of the
representative younger members of the bar of his native state .and is engaged
in the successful practice of his profession at Athens, the capital city of
Clarke County. His finely appointed law offices are in the Holman Building
and he has a law library of specially comprehensive and select order. He is
a close student of his' profession and his indomitable energy and ambition
insure to him a success of cumulative order.
Judge Croesley was born at Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia, on the
16th of January, 1892, and is a son of James L. and Henrietta M, (Veazey)
Crosaley, both likewise natives of that county, where they were reared to
maturity and where their marriage was solemnized. The father was afforded
the advantages of Emory College and at the time of his death, which occurred
September 21, 1903, he was the incumbent of the office of clerk of the
Inferior Court of Greene County. He was influential in public affairs in his
native county and commended the unqualified esteem of all who knew
him. He was forty-four years of age at the time of his death and his wife
passed to the life eternal in 1899, at the age of thirty-nine years. Of their
three children Carl F. of this review is the youngest; Hugh H. is now a
resident of the State of Arkansas; and George H. maintains his home at
La Grange, Troup County, Georgia.
Judge Crossley attended in his youth the Thomas Stock Institute, in his
native town, and, with an interim of a few years, he continued his studies in
this excellent institution until 1903. Thereafter he attended school at Beards-
town until the spring of the following year, and in September, 1905, he
entered the Georgia Military College at Milledgeville, in which institutions
he continued his studies three years. In July, 1908, he entered the Athens
Business College, in which he was graduated on the 31st of the following
December, after completing thorough courses in stenography and bookkeeping.
Thereafter he was emplf^ed until September, 1910, in the law office of the
firm of Shackelford & Shackelford, of Athens, and in tlie meanwhile gave
close attention to the study of law under the preceptorship of the members
of this finm. In severing his association with the firm Mr. Crossley entered
the law department of the University of Georgia, in which he was graduated
as a member of the class of 1912, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws and
with virtually concomitant admission to the bar of his native state. He has
since been engaged in active general practice at Athens, his law business
being now one of distinctively individual order, though for a period of a
few months he was associated in practice with the firm of Holden & Shackel-
ford. In December, 1913, Mr. Crossley was commissioned notary public and
ex-officio justice of the peace for his malitary district, and his term of office
will expire in 1917. His personal popularity, admirable professional er|uip-
ment and energetic application have conspired to develop for him a substan-
tial and lucrative law business, and his success as a trial lawyer and coun-
selor has been of unequivocal order. With increasing financial prosperity.
the judge has made judicious investments in farm lands in this section of
the state, and the property is constantly increasins; in value. He is affiliated
with the Athens Bar Association, is a staunch and effective advocate of the
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I, Google
C^t/f.'ULa^
Az)-nu£C._^^
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2563
principles of the democratic party, and he is a stockholder of and attorney
for the Peoples Bank, at Athens. His name is still enrolled on the roster of
eligible young bachelors in the City of Athens, where his circle of friends is
coincident with that of his acquaintances.
Alexander Ha&iuson Mac Donell. Aside from the higher judges of the
State and Federal courts in Georgia, it is doubtful if any one has per-
formed a longer and more useful service than A, A, Mac Donell, for more
than eighteen years referee in bankruptcy in the United States Court at
Savannah. Through this office he has administered the various complicationB
of business with an admirable understanding and fairness which has left
nothing to be desired. Judge Mac Donell has long been a member of the
Savannah bar, and in earlier years enjoyed a splendid practice and reputa-
tion hardly second to any among the leading attorneys of the Eastern and
Southern circuits of Georgia.
He comes of a family noted for its professional men. He was born
March 28, 1859, in Lumpkin, Stewart County, Georgia, son of Rev. Geoi^e
G. N, and Margaret (Walker) Mae Donell. His great-grandfather, George
G. Nowlan, was colonel of the Thirty-fifth Georgia Regiment, at Savannah,
during the War of 1812, when a British invasion was anticipated, and who
died when still a young man while serving in the Georgia Senate. His
maternal grandfather was Robert D. Walker, quartermaster of the Confed-
erate Fort Pulaski when it was bombarded, reduced, and surrendered. He
was also an alderman of Savannah, and for seventeen years chairman of the
county commissioners of Chatham County.
Rev. G. G. N. Mac Donell, his father, was born in Savannah, September
4, 1831, and died May 21, 1910, and devoted fifty-eight years of his long
career, to work as a pastor and as a member of the Georgia Methodist
conferences. He was^ one of the best beloved men of South Georgia, and
had charge of churches in Savannah, Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Eatonton,
Thomasville, Statesboro, Waycross, and other places. His death occurred
at the age of seventy-nine. His widow is still living at the age of eighty,
having been born at Charleston, South Carolina, December 23, 1835, and
married at Savannah, in 1856. She has always been a strong influence in the
church and worked side by side with her husband in addition to looking
after her children and home. There were five children: Rev. Robert "W.
Mac Donell, who was trained for the Methodist ministry, died while a mis-
sionary in Mexico in 1888. The second in age is Judge Mae Donell of
Savannah. Louise P. died in Atlanta at the age of three years, Annie Nowlan
is the wife of Rev. Geoi^e W. Mathews, pastor of the Methodist Church at
Tifton, and president of the Georgia Holiness Association which conducts
an annual camp ground of great influence for good, near Indian Springs,
Georgia. Mrs. Mathews has 'been for a number of years president of the
Women's Missionary Society of the South Georgia Conference. Dr. George
Nowlan Mac Donell, who in his earlier career, was engaged in medical mission-
ary work in behalf of the Methodist Church in Cuba and Mexico, He was in
Monterey, Mexico, during two battles between the Federals and Carran-
zistas, in the second of which the city was captured by the Constitutionalists.
He is now an active physician at Waycross. Georgia.
Alexander Harrison Mac Donell was liberally educated, at first in the
grammar and high schools of Savannah — then at Mercer University, and in
1878 he graduated A. B, from Emory College. Soon afterward he took np
the study of law with the Macon firm of Hill & Harris. The senior member
was Walter B, Hill, afterwards president of the University of Georgia, and
the junior member was the present governor of Georgia, Nat L, Harris.
Mr. Mac Donell later studied under J. R. Saussy, of Savannah, and was
admitted to the bar at Savannah before the judge of the Superior Court
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2564 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
in 1879, and after establishing his office in Savannah, sooq became a partner
of Mr. Joel E. Wooten. This firm was knowD as Wooten & Mac Donell and
enjoyed a large practice during the four years of its existence. After that
he practiced ^one until appointed judge of the City Court of Savannah, an -
ofBce which he filled most estimably for nearly five years, when he was suc-
ceeded as judge by the late ex-United States Senator Thomas M. Norwood. His
active work as a lawyer was then continued as senior member of the firm
of Mac Donell & Gordon, of which "W. W. Gordon, Jr., was the other partner.
In July, 1898, he was appointed referee in bankruptcy by Judge Bmoiy
Speer, of the United States District Court. For the past eighteen years he
has been continuously in chaise of the referee's courts at Savannah, and his
present jurisdiction and district covers the counties of Chatham, Liberty,
Emanuel, Toombs, Jenkins, Bryan, Tattnall, Bulloch, Candler, Evans, Effing-
ham, Montgomery, Sereven and "Wheeler.
Judge Mac Donell was author and compiler of the Savannah City Codes
of 1888, and of 1907, the latter of which is still in use as the body of laws
and ordiuaQces for the city. These codes are considered models of analysis,
arrangement and indexing.
A believer in fraternalism, Judge Mac Donell is associated with Masonry,
having gained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rites, is a member of the
Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the St. Andrews Society of Savannah,
and is also a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution and of the
Colonial Wars. In church affairs fae is a Methodist.
On November 4, 1886, he married Miss Lillian B. Russell, of Augusta,
daughter of William and Annie B. (Puilen) Russell. The Pullens came
from LaGrange, Georgia. The father of William Russell was Hon. Henry
F. Russell, who was the first mayor of Augusta, Qeoi^ia, after reconstruc-
tion, and rescued the city from the rule of the carpet-baggers.
Judge and Mrs. Mac Donell's three children, born in Savannah, are,
Alexander Radcliffe, who graduated A. B. University of Georgia, also
attended its Law School ; is now a practicing attorney and assistant solicitor
general for the Ea.stem Circuit, with residence at Savannah. Henry Russell
died at the age of two years, and Alan M. Mac Donell, the youngest, who
also attended the University of Georgia and studied law. In 1916, at the call
of President Wilson, mobilizing the National Guard, both Alex. R. and Alan
M., who were first lieutenants in the Chatham Artillery, were mustered into
the Federal army at Camp Harris, Macon, Georgia.
Judge Mac Donell in the course of bis practice and official career has
attained the fine dignity of service, has gathered about him a host of loyal
and admiring friends, and is a man of varied interests, particularly in the
field of literature and scholarship. He is thoroughly learned in the law,
has a deep and philosophic knowledge of history, and his experience has
brought him a broad and sympathetic understanding of men and affairs.
J. Carl Houjday, M. D. By the crilerion of professional ability and
assured success Dr. James Carl Holliday is consistently to be designated as
one of the representative physicians and surfreons of the younger generation
in the City of Athens, the classical metropolis and judicial center of Clarke
County, where he has been engaged in active general practice since 1909 and
where he has built np a prosperous and representative profes-sional business,
the same showing the constantly cumulative tendency that marks popular
appreciation of hi.s skill and sterling attributes of character.
Doctor Holliday was horn at Jefferson, the county scat of Jackson County,
Georgia, on the 6th of April, 1887, and is a son of Charles F. and Claudia R.
(Wells) Holliday, both likewise natives of this .state, where the former was
bom in 1857 and the latter in 1861. The parents still reside in Jackson
County, where the father is a progressive and prosperous farmer and influen-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2565
tial citizen. Frank R, Holliday, grandfather of the doctor, passed his entire
life in this state and represeuted the same as a gallant soldier of the Con-
federacy in the Civil war.
The fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children, Doctor Holli-
day is indebted to the schools of his native county for his early educational
discipline, and after completing a course in the high school at Jefferson he
entered the University of Georgia, in the academic department of which he
continued his studies until the close of his junior year. In preparation for
his chosen profession he then entered the medical department of the uni-
versity and in the same he was graduated as a member of the class of 1909,
with the well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. The City of Athens has
since continued as the stage of his professional activities and he has built up
an excellent practice of general order. The doctor is actively identilied with
the Georgia State Medical Society, the Eighth District Medical Society and
the Clarke County Medical Society, of which last mentioned organization he
is serving as vice president in 1915. He is affiliated with and is official
physician of the local camp of the Woodnwn of the World. It is scarcely
necessary to state that Doctor Holliday is arrayed as a staunch supporter
of the cause of the democratic party or that he is loyal and public-spirited
in his civic attitude. He is held in high esteem in professional, business and
social circles and his popularity in the last connection is not the less by
reason of his being still one of the eligible young bachelors of his native state.
The doctor is the owner of a well improved and valuable farm in Jackson
County and the same yields to him good returns from its rental to a desirable
tenant.
Hknbt C. Anderson. Distinctive energy, initiative and progressiveness
have been exemplified in the career of this representative young business
man of Athens, for it is due to his ability and resourcefulness that there
has been developed the splendid industrial enterprise of the Bludwine Com-
pany, of which he is president and which has done much to further the
commercial prestige and reputation of Athena. The president of this cor-
poration is one of the most loyal and liberal citizens of the fine little city
that is the judicial center and metropolis of Clarke County, and through his
character and achievement he has signally honored his native state, so that
he is specially eligible for representation in this history.
Henry Claude Anderson was born at Parmington, Oconee County,
Georgia, on the 5th of April, 1873. and is a .son of Henry Sanford Anderson
and Sallie (White) Anderson, both likewise natives of this state. The father
became a successful merchant at Farmington and Watkinsville and was
seventy-three years of age at the time of his death, in 1908. He was a valiant
and loyal supporter of the cause of the Confederacy during the climacteric
period of the Civil war. though impaired health ma!de it impossible for him
to serve in the army, notwithstanding that he went to the front on three
different occasions, only to receive honorable discharge by reason of physical
disability. His widow now resides at Athens and is nearing the age of
three score years and ten.
He whose name initiates this article is indebted to the schools at Parm-
ington, Bishop and Watkinsville, Oconee County, for his early educational
discipline, and in the latter place he initiated his association with the news-
paper business, which he later followed also in Athens. His association with
the "art preservative of all arts" continued from his fifteenth year until
he had attained to the age of twenty-eight, and the experience proved vir-
tually the equivalent of a liberal education. He finally purchased the
Oconee Enterprise, a weekly paper published in the Village of Watkinsville,
Oconee County, and he continued as its editor and publisher for a period
of two years, after which he was associated with his father's mercantile busi-
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2566 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
ness at Watkiuaville for three years. He then remoTed to Athens, where
he initiated the manufacture of the now famous Bludwine, which he had
previously manufactured in a modest way at "Watkinsville. For four yeai*
after coming to Athens he conducted the enterprise in virtually an indi-
vidual way, and he then obtained the representative co-operation that has
made possible the development of the enterprise into one of the most im-
portant in this city. The business was incorporated in 1910, bases its opera-
tions upon a capital stock of $100,000 and now has more than 100 plants
bottling Bludwine in twenty-six states, the main establishment being still
at Athens, where all the Bludwine Elixir is made. The elixir is shipped
from Athens to other Bludwine synip factories at Jacksonville, Florida,
Dallas, Texas, and New York City, The present building of the company at
Athens was purchased in 1912, and to the original structure a second story
was added, the establishment now having a capacity for the turning out of
the elixir for over 16,000 gallons of Bludwine syrup each day. The mechani-
cal equipment is of the best modern order, and the- synip storage tanks have
a capacity of 1,000 gallons. All water utilized in the manuCaeture of Blud-
wine is treated in a modern distillery, so that the purity of the output is
assured, the Bludwine syrup now being on sale throughout all parts of the
United States.
Mr, Anderson is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the
democratic party and his liberality and public spirit show his appreciation
of the responsibilities which success iinj)oses. He is affiliated with the United
Commercial Travelers and Ijoth he and his vdte hold membership in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
On the 23d of November, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ander-
son to Miss Belle Johnson, daughter of Henry L. Johnson, who was at the
time of his demise a prominent business man at Winterville, Clarke County,
where his widow still maintains her home. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have one
child, Waldo, who was bom at Phoenix, Arizona, on the 2Sth of December.
1912.
Prom an appreciative article that appeared in the Athens Tribuue of
October 8, 1911. are taken, with minor paraphrase, the following quotations,
which are well worthy of preservation in this more enduring form:
"All the world admires a man who does things. Such a man is H, C.
Anderson, the originator of Bludwine, and president of the Bludwine Com-
pany. Mr. Anderson launched the Bludwine business in the spring of 1906,
with a capital of sixty dollars. He states that within less than three weeks'
time the business was" netting hira ten dollars per day. From the profits on
the sales of Bludwine, springing aolnW from this original investment of sixty
dollars and an added few hundred dollars of borrowed money, his books show
that during the first four years he spent above $15,000 in advertising and
$5,000 in other investments. This is the record he exhibited to his friends
in April, 1910, when the Bludwine Company was organized and was incor-
porated with a capital stock of $100,000. A business that can show a profit
of $20,000 on an investment of sixty dollars within a period of four years
proves conclusively two things, — first that the man back of it is a successful
business man, and, second, that the product of his investment is of unequaled
merit,
"Mr. Anderson is a great believer in temperance and was for a number
of years closely identified with the prohibition movement in Georgia, In
1901-2 he was publisher of the Sentinel, a weekly periodical devoted to the
temperance movement, with a circulation throughout the State. While
engaged in this work he conceived the idea of originating a non-alcoholic
food drink with enough 'ginger' to make it invigorating, and with a pungency
and flavor that would tempt the tippler and the toper to leave their toddy
in preference for a drink that was more delicious and more wholesome,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2567
While in the mercantile business at Watkinaville, Georgia, in 1905-6, he was
impressed with another phase of the drink business. This la better told in
his own words: 'I was selling a few dry goods and shoes, a little hardware,
a few groceries, and a line of bottled soft drinks. I noticed that on my dry
goods and shoes I was making an average profit of thirty to fifty per cent.,
turning my money twice a year and always having a lot of hard stock on
band. On my hardware I was making a little less profit, turning over my
money about twice a year and sometimes having a little hard stock on hand.
On my groceries 1 was making a profit of eight to twenty per cent., turning
over my money every thirty to sixty days and now and then having little
losses in bad ^ipments. On my soft drinks I was making an average profit
of eighty- five . per cent, turning over my money every ten days, and never
having a bottle of hard stock left on hand. It did not take me long to reason
out that the man who was supplying me with soft drinks was also supplying
hundreds of other merchants, was turning over hia money every ten days
and was probably making as good profit as I was. I saw that people were
bound to drink something, and I realised that my soft-drink trade was grow-
ing. I said that if a man could ever discover a real invigorating, high-grade,
wholesome food drink and give it the pungency and flavor to make it tempt-
ing, he would have a great opportunity.'
"Mr. Anderson enlisted the interest of a chemist friend, explained his
idea, submitted his plans for a formula, and together they worked until
Bludwine was evolved. The record of the past live years is evidence that
the idea and plans were well formed.
"One of the most phenomenal siiccesses of recent years is the rapid growth
in popular favor of Bludwine and the Bludwine Company of this city. The
manufacturing plant of the Bludwine Company, where the Bludwine syrup
and elixirs are made, is one of the most interesting enterprises in the City of
Athens, or the entire cojintry. The drink is made principally from wheat,
oats, lemons, oranges, ginger, peppermint and grapes. The wholesomeness
of Bludwine as a food and digestive drink has won for it the endorsement of
the physicians of Athens and of many other cities of the State. Many of
them have written Mr. Anderson, the originator and president of the Blud-
wine Company, giving it very high praise and stating that they often have
occasion to prescribe it. Bludwine is really a new discovery. A non-aleoholie
beverage that needs no preservative and that will give real life has been the
unrealized dream of ages. The discoverer of Bludwine does not claim that
he has produced the long-sought elixir of life, but Bludwine has demon-
strated itself to be a real invigorating, life-giving drink, with a pungency and
flavor that are unsurpassed. The personnel of the Bludwine Company com-
prises some of the best and most prominent business men and professional
men in Athens."
Howell Cobb Ervtin. Bearing names that indicate his relationship with
distinguished Georgia families. Howell Cobb Erwin has for a number of
years been one of the active -and prominent lawyers of Athens and is not only
learned in his profession but a natural public leader and a thorough business
man. Mr. Erwin is a grandson on the maternal side of Gen. Howell Cobb,
whose wife was Mary Ann Lamar, a member of the distinguished Lamar
family of Georgia and other southern states. His paternal grandfather was
-Alexander Erwin, a man of distinction in the early days at Clarksville,
Georgia, who married Catherine Wales.
Bom at Athens December 19, 1876, Howell Cobb Erwin is a son of
Alexander S. and Mary Ann Lamar (Cobb) Erwin, His father was bom
in Clarksville and bis mother in Athens, and the former was for mony years
prominent as a member of the Athens bar and also took an active part in the
public life of Western Georgia, having served as judge of the Superior
I, Google
2568 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Court in the Western Circuit, Ho was also a member of tbe Georgia State
Railroad Commission. He was born July 19, 1843, and died at Athens June
7, 1907, at the age of sixty-four. During the war he, enlisted at Clarksville,
going out as first lieutenant and rising to the eommand of his company in
the Phillips Legion and in General Longstreet 's Corps, He was severely
wounded in the battle of Chickamauga. Mr. Erwin's mother is still living
at Athens, where she was bom February 14, 1850. She was the originator
of the Confederate Cross of Honor. He is the third in a family o£ nine
children, the others being named as follows^r Mary Lamar Erwin of Athens;
Stanhope Erwin of Athens; Andrew Cobb Erwin of Athens; William Leon-
ard Erwin of Athens; Julien Wales Erwin of Athens; while the three
deceased children are Alexander S., John B, Lamar and Catherine Walea
Erwin.
As a boy Howell Cobb Erwin attended the city schools of Athens, from
which he graduated in 1892, and then entering the University of Georgia
finished the classical course in 1897 and in 1898 was graduated LL. B, from
the University Law School, While in the university he was a member of
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. On being admitted to the bar in June,
1898, he at once took up practice in association with his father and older
brother, as a member of the firm of Erwin & Erwin until 1907. After his
father's death in that year he formed a partnership with Judge Andrew J.
Cobb under the firm name of Cobb & Erwin. In 1914 Lamar C. Rucker and
William L. Erwin were admitted as .iunior members of the firm, which then
became Cobb, Erwin & Rucker.
Mr, Erwin is a memher of the County and State Bar asso*^iations, in
politics is a democrat, is a director in the Georgia National Bank of Athens
and vice president and director of the American State Bank of Athens. On
October 24, 1911, at Atlanta, he married Miss Lucy Grattan Yancey, daughter
of Goodloe II. and Lucy (Deupree) Yancey, who lived for a number of years
at Athens and later in Atlanta. Mrs. Erwin is also a granddaughter of Hon.
William L. Yancey of Alabama. To their miarriage have been born two
ehildreh : Lucy Deupree. born at Athens September 15, 1912 ; and Mary
Lamar, born at Athens April 28, 1915.
Oliver H. Prince, lawyer, United States senator, literary man and indus-
trial promoter, was bom in Connecticut about 1787. David Hillhouse, a
brother of the senator, made Georgia his home, and it was through him that
O. II. Prince came to the state in his youth. A brilliant young man, he was
ready for admission to the bar before he was of age, and was admitted by
special act of the Legislature in 1806. He gained reputation almost from the
start and sustained himself with great ability for thirty years. On the
resignation of Thomas W. Cobb from the United States Senate in 1828 Mr,
Prince was elected to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
In 1822 Mr. Prince published a digest of the laws of Georgia, and in 1827
a second publication of the same. In 1837 his digest had then been in use
for fifteen years, and it was time for a new editi«n. It had been accepted by
the Legislature, and Mr. Prince went north with his wife to supervise the
publication, lie took the steamship Home from New York to Charleston,
and it was wrecked, October 9, 1837, in a storm near Ocraeoke Bar, North
Carolina, and among the lost were Mr. Prince and his wife.
•>
Ai.EX.\NDEB Means, A. M.. M. D., D. D., LL, D., F- R. S. 'ind member
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was born at
. Statesville, North Carolina, February 6, 1801. In his early manhood be was
a teacher and a Methodist minister. In 1834 be became superintendent of
the ^lanual Labor School, at Covington. Georgia; in 1838 commenced his
term as professor of natural science at Emory College, which continued for
■Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2569
eighteen yeara and in 1841 received the degree of M. D. from the medical
college at Augusta. From that year until 1858 he also lectured on chemistry
at the Augusta Medical College.
In 1853 he was elected president of the Southern Masonic Female College,
located in Covington, Georgia, but remained at the head of that institution
only a short time, being elected the following year to the presidency of Emory
College, which he resigned in 1855. At this time he accepted the chair of
chemistry in the Atlanta Medical College, lecturing at that institution dur-
ing the summer and at the Augusta Medical College during the winter. In
this position he served until near the breaking out of the war between the
states. In 1852 he showed the first electric light in the laboratory of Emory
College ever exhibited, perhaps in America or the world, using crude char-
coal in lieu of carbon. Shortly after the war between the states he was
appointed by' the Legislature examining chemist for the port of Savannah, '
which position he held until the development of the fertilizer interest required
such modification as made his specific labors unnecessary. He died at his
home in Oxford, June 5, 1883.
James P. Waldrep, M. D. In the exacting work of his chosen profession
Doctor Waldrep has made of success not an accident but a logical result of
the earnest application of his excellent technical knowledge, the bringing to
bear of mature .iudgroeot and an abiding ambition to aid in the alleviation
of human suffering and distress. He has been a resident of Georgia for a
quarter of a century and during virtually this entire period has here been
engaged in the practice of medicine, his present residence and stage of suc-
cessful professional endeavors being the City of Athens, where he has built
up a practice of comprehensive and representative order and where he holds
high rank as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Clarke County,
with inviolable place in popular confidence and good will.
At Greenville, the judicial center of the South Carolina county of the
same name. Dr. James Pinkney Waldrep was bom on the 19th of Septem-
ber, 1866, and he is a son of L. B. and Louise (Harris) Waldrep, the former
a native of Sbuth Carolina and the latter of Georgia, and both representatives
of families early founded in the fair Southland. The father of the Doctor
served during the entire period of the Civil war as a gallant soldier of the
Confederacy and was a member of Hampton's famous brigade. He long
ago gained distinctive prestige as one of the representative merchants in the
little City of Greenville, South Carolina, and he is stil! one of the honored
and influential citizens of that place, he havin^f celebrated his seventy-second
Jjirthday anniversary in 1915 and his wife having attained to the age of
seventy years. Of their ten children Dr. James P. of this review was the
first in order of birth.
Doctor Waldrep acquired his early education in the schools of his native
eity, where also he was afforded the advantages of Perman University, in
which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1888,
when twenty-one years of age, and from which he received the degree of
bachelor of arts. In consulting the most eligible medium through which to
prepare himself effectually for his chosen profession, the Doctor finally
decided to avail himself of the advantages of the University of Qeoi^a, which
is situated in the fine little city where he is now engaged in practice. Enter-
ing the medical department of this institution, a branch of the university
that is maintained in the City of Augusta, he completed, with characteristic,
zeal and singleness of purpose, the prescribed curriculum, and was graduated
as a member of the class of 1890, with the well earned degree of Doctor of
Medicine.
In the year of his graduation Doctor Waldrep initiated the active practice
of his profession at Beardstown, where he remained six years and where his
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2570 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
early achievementB in the period of his professional novitiate gave ample
augury for the diatinetive success and precedence to which he has since
attained. Upon leaving Beardstown the Doctor removed to Canon, Franklin
County, where he built up a substantial and lucrative practice extending over
a wide radius of country and where he continued his loyal and effective pro-
fessional endeavors for the long period of fifteen years, at the expiration of
which he removed to Athena, in which eity he has continued his career of
unequivocal success in the work of his exacting vocation, which has been
significantly honored and dignified by his character and services. The Doctor
is actively identified with the American Medical Association, the Georgia
State Medical Society, the Eighth District Medical Society and the Clarke
County Medical Society, of which last mentioned organization he served as
secretary in 1914. He is loyal in his support of those things that tend to
advance the social and material welfare of the community, is unwavering in
his allegiance to the cause of the democratic party and isaflfiliated with the
Improved Order of Red Men. He owns his attractive residence property,
near the city limits and in the vicinity of the Georgia State Normal School,
and here he and his family live in peace and prosperity, amidst most gracious
associations and environment, the home being known for its generous hos-
pitality.
The 26th of April, 1891, recorded the marriage of Doctor Wardrep to
Miss Kate Calloway, of Beardstown, this state, her father, John S. Calloway,
having died at his home in that village, in January, 1915, and her widowed
mother being now a resident of Penfield, Greene County. Doctor and Mrs
Waldrep became the parents of 'ten children, of whom seven are living:
Lorene, who was born at Beardstown, in 1893, was there graduated in the
high school, and she still remains at the parental homej Calvin, bom at.
Beardstown, in 1895, is serving in the United States Na\'y, on the battleship
Texas; William was born in 1899, at Conon, which was the place of birth
also of all of the succeeding children, and, remaining at the parental home,
he is a student in the Georgia State Normal School at Athens; and all of
the younger children likewise are students in the same institution, their names
and respective years of birth being here noted : Louise, 1901 ; Ktthlyn, 1903 ;
James, 1907; and Bentley, 1908.
W. G. Gbedig. One of the best known newspaper men of Georgia is W. G.
Gredig, editor of the Athens Herald. For a number of years Mr. Gredig was
identified with the press at Augusta, and gained his preparatory experience
as a newspaper man in Knoxville, Tennessee.
ilis birth occurred at Knoxville June 22, 1867, a son of Abraham and.
Frances Marion (Nimmo) Gredig. His mother was born in Charleston, South
Carolina, and was educated in Atlanta, Georgia, and is now living at the
age of sixty-five. Mr. Gredig 's father was born in Switzerland, and in 1845
eame to America with his parents, who located in Knoxville, Tennessee, where
he grew up, early became identified with the hardware trade and was subse-
quently in that business for himself and still later in the wholesale business
with C. M. McClure & Company. He is still living at Knoxville at the age
of seventy. During the war between the states he served in the Confederate
Army, bnt was finally taken prisoner and kept in confinement at Camp
Douglas, Chicago, until the close of hostilities. W. G. Gredig is the oldest of
four children; Albert E. Gredig, his brother, being a well known architect
at Knoxville ; Mrs. Mitchell K. McMillen also residing at Knoxville ; and
Mrs. William Doyle, of Augusta, Georgia.
As a boy Mr. Gredig attended the public schools of Knoxville, but was
still quite young when he gained his first experience in the office of the old
Knoxville Sentinel. Prom Tennessee he moved to Georgia, and for eighteen
years was connected with the Augusta Herald, afterwards being with the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2571
Atlanta Constitution for five years. Prom Atlanta he came to Athens and
has since been editor of the Athens Herald, It has been largely through his
work that the Herald has become an efficient organ of public intelligence as
well as a strong factor in molding public opinion and promoting every agency
for improvement in its home city.
In politics Mr. Gredig is a democrat and is affiliated with the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks. In June, 1904, at Savannah he married Mias
Aggie Cercopuly, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Cercopuly, of Savannah.
Mr. Gredig owns his home at Athens, and has been quite successful from a
business standpoint, though the newspaper profession is not one which makes
men wealthy.
QuiNCY 0. MuLKEY, M. D. Though young in years, not yet turned thirty,
Doctor Mulkey has had uniisual opportunities and has made a record of
special proficiency and skill as a physician in Jenkins County. Doctor
Mulkey now practices at Millen.
He was bom at Girard in Burke County, Georgia, February 8, 1886, a
son of James W. and Laviacia A. (Mallard) Mulkey. Both parents were
born in Burke County, where his father has for many years been a well
known farmer and is still living at the old homestead at the age of sixty-
seven. He was too young to take part in the war between the states. The
mother is now sixty -one years of age. Their children were : W. M. Mulkey
of Burke County ; E. L. Mulkey of Sardis, Georgia ; J. D. Mulkey of Girard,
Georgia ; D. T. Mulkey of Girard ; and oldest of all the children is
Dr. Quiney 0.
As a boy he attended the Rockville Academy, and then followed a period
of employment on his father's farm. Next he became a salesman for W. R,
Buxton of Girard, and remained with the firm from the time he was thirteen
years of age until he was eighteen. With this as preliminary to his profes-
sional work, he entered the medical department of the University of Georgia
at Augusta, and in 1909 was graduated M. D. Then followed a hospital expe-
rience in Augusta during 1909-10, and on taking up active practice he located
at Vidette where he remained until 1912. Since then Doctor Mulkey has
looked after a larger field at Millen. He is surgeon for the Atlantic Com-
press Company in Millen, is chairman of the Jenkins County Board of
Health, is secretary of the County Medical Society, and a member of the
State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, He is alsb
physician for the local camp of the Woodmen of the World.
At Vidette. Geot^a, December 21, 1909, Doctor Mulkey married Miss
Angie Gates, a daughter of the late Thomas J. Dates. They have one child,
Arnold P. Mulkey, bom at Vidette, December 3, 1911. Doctor Mulkey owtra
a good home in Millen, has a fine professional and private library, and is
prospering as he deserves on account of his energy and thorongh ability.
H. M. FuLiJLO\^, M. D. The medical profession in Geoi^a has gained
its full quota of recruits from the ranks of the native sons of the state, and
among those who are thus upholding the honors of this exacting vocation is
Doctor Fullilove, who is engaged in successful general practice in the City
of Athens, the judicial center of Clarke County, and who is distinctively one
of the representative physicians and surgeons of this part of his native state.
Doctor Fullilove was horn at Oconee County, Georgia, on the 23d of
August, 1877, and is a son of Seaborn J. and Clara Antoinette (Thrasher)
Fullilove, both of whom were born and reared in this state/ the names of the
respective families having been long and worthily linked with the annals of
Georgia. The father of the Doctor became a prosperous farmer and influential
and honored citizen of Oconee County, where he continued to reside on his
fine homestead farm until the close of his life, his death having occurred in
yGoosIe
2572 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
l^Oi, at which time he was tifty-nine years of age. He enlisted in the Con-
federate service in the final year of the Civil war, but had proceeded with
his command only as far a Maeon, this state, when the great conflict came to
its close, so that he was not a participant in any definite engagements. Two
of his older brothers were gallant soldiers of the Confederacy and sacrificed
their lives in Its cause, both having been killed in battle. The mother of
Doctor Fullilove still resides <m the old homestead, which is endeared to
her by many gracious associations, and she celebrated her fifty-eighth birthday
anniversary in 1915. Her father. Rev. John Thrasher, was a clergyman of
the Methodist Episcopal Church and was but thirty-three years of age at the
time of his death. H. M. Fullilove, grandfather of him whose name initiates
this review, passed his entire life in Georgia and was a successful planter
and representative citizen of Oconee County at the time of his death. The
originfd progenitors of the American branch of the Fullilove family came
from Scotland to this country and two brothers of the name established their
home in Georgia, with whose history the family name has been since that time
closely connected. Doctor Fullilove being a scion of the fourth generation
in this state. -
Doctor Fullilove, the third in order of birth in a family of five children,
acquired his prelinmiai7 educational discipline in a private school in his
native county and thereafter pursued higher academic studies in the Georgia
Military College, at Milledgeville, this state, an institution that is a branch
of the University of Georgia. In preparation for the work of his chosen
profession he then entered the medical college of the University College of
Medicine, at Richmond, Virginia, in which institution he was graduated as a
member of the class of 1899 and from which he received his degree of Doctor
of Medicine. In the spring of that year he established his home at Athens,
in which city he has since continued in the practice of his profession, his
success and prestige being on a parity with his recognized ability and his
close application to the work of his humane vocation. He is serving as county
physician of Clarke County in 1915, is a, member of the medical staff of
St. Mary's Hospital in his home city, and is serving also as local surgeon
for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The Doctor commands the confidence
and esteem of his professional confreres, keeps in close touch with the advances
made in medical and surgical science and is actively identified with the Amer-
ican Medical Association, the Georgia State Medical Society, the Clarke
County Medical Society, and the Eighth District Medical Society, of which
last mentioned he served as president for several years. The Doctor owns
his pleasant residence property in Athens and has other investments in his
native state. He is vigorous in support of measures and enterprises that
Are projected for the best interests of the community and though he subordi-
nates all else to the demands of his profession and thus has had no desire to
enter the arena of practical politics, he is aligned as a staunch supporter of
the cause of the democratic party.
January 21, 1901, recorded the marriage of Doeto;: Fullilove to Miss
Juliet Carlton, daughter of Dr. William A. Carlton, a distinguished physician
and surgeon of Athens, where he is still engaged in the active practice of his
profession. Doctor and Mrs. Fullilove have one son, H. M., Jr., who is a
student in the Athens High School, as a member of the class of 1919.
John P. Peoctob, M.,D. Among the native sons of the South who have
entered the medical profession with full appreciation of its dignity and
responsibility and who have achieved success through technical ability, close
application and merited hold upon popular confidence and esteem, is Dr. John
P. Proctor, who is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the
City of Athens and who is recognized as one of the representative physicians
and surgeons of Clarke County.
yGoosle
QEORQIA AND OEOROIANS 2573
Doctor Proctor was born in Charlotte County, Vii^^inia, on the 14tfa of
January, 1876, and is a son of Dr. Thomas A. and Mat^aret (Skidmore)
Proctor, both of whom were bom in Vii^nia, repreaentatives of old and
honored families of the historic old dominion, where they passed their entire
lives, save that the father served during the entire period of the Civil war
as sutfteon of the Third Georgia Regiment in the Confederate Army. He
was a man of high literary and professional attainments and was engaged
in active practice as a physician and surgeon for many years at Petersburg,
Virginia, leaving there for Drake's Branch after the war. There he died, in
the year 1910, at the venerable age of eighty-one years, bis wife having been
summoned to the life eternal in 1908, at the age of seventy years. Of their
eight children the subject of this review was the eighth in order of birth.
Dr. John P. Proctor acquired bis early education in the schools of Char-
lotte County, Virginia, and in pursuance of his higher aeademie education
he entered the University of Georgia, in which he was graduated as a mem-
ber of the class of 1897. In preparation for the profession that has been
signally honored by the character and services of his father, he was matricu-
lated in the medical department of the University College of Medicine, Rich-
mond, Virginia. In this institution he was graduated in 1903, with th«
degree of Doctor of Medicine, and thereafter he served as a member of the
medical staff of St. Luke's Hospital in the City of Richmond, Virginia, until
1905, in the meanwhile having gained wide and valuable clinical experience.
After leaving the capital city of his native state the Doctor was engaged in
practice at AVilliamston, North Carolina, for a period of ten months, at the
expiration of which, in October, 1905, he establi^ed bis permanent residence
at Athens, the judicial center and metropolis of Clarke County, Qeorgia,
where he has since been engaged in successful general practice and where
he has a clientage of representative order. Doctor Proctor is an influential
and popular member of the Clarke County Medical Society, of which he
served as secretary in 1908-9, and of the Eighth District Medical Society, of
which he was vice-^jresident in 1913. He is actively identified also with the
Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina state medical societies and the Ameri-
can Medical Association, and his ambition is shown in his close study of the
best standard and periodical literature of his profession and through his
insistent determination to keep in full touch with the advances made in
medical and surgical science and its application. He has served as president
of the Athens Board of Health since 1913 and is specially alert and progressive
in his work in this connection, with a constant desire to safeguard and pre-
serve the general health of the community and to maintain the best possible
sanitary conditions in his home city. Since 1901 the Doctor has been the
efficient and popular surgeon to the student military organization of the
University of Georgia. Without ambition for political ofiBce, he is a staunch
advocate of the principles of the democratic party, in the faith of which he
was reared. The Doctor is affiliated with the Sigma Chi Fraternity of his
alma mater, the University of Georpa, and also with the Kappa Psi Frater-
nity of the medical department of the University College of Medicine, of
which latter organization he is a charter member.
On the 22d of December, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor
Proctor to Miss Grace Hileman, of Hartford, Connecticut, where her parents,
Octavius and Agnes Hileman, still maintain their home and where her father
is a citizen of prominence and influence. Doctor and Mrs. Proctor have three
children, whose names and respective years of birth are here noted: Agnes,.
1909; Harriet, 1910; and John P., Jr., 1913.
To fortify himself further for the work of his exacting profession Doctor
Proctor completed an effective post-graduate course, in surgery and obstetrics,
in the school of medicine of the great University of Vienna, Austria, and
as a skilled surgeon he gives special attention to major operations, in which
yGoosIe
2574 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
'department of practice he controls a specially lai^e business. He is a mem-
ber of the staff of physicians and surgeons retained in the service of the
Seaboard Air Line and Gainesville Midland railroads and is sui^eon also to
the Southern Manufacturing Company, estensive cotton manufacturers, and
to the Athens Railway & Electric Company, and to St. Mary's Hospital, of
which he is" the founder and half owner.
LuciAN L. Ray. The work and attainments of Lucian L. Ray during more
than twenty-five years of active practice as a lawyer have- contributed to the
high prestige of the Georgia bar, and his place in the citizenship of Jackson
County is one of distinction and solid influence. He and his brother, C. C.
Ray, comprise one of the most prominent firms now in practice at Jefferson.
Lucian L. Ray was born in Butts County, Georgia, October 31, 1865, a
son of G. \V. and L. Susan (Atkinson) Ray. His father was born in Stewart
County and his mother in Butts County, Georgia. The father has been for
many years a farmer in Butts County, and is still living on the old homestead.
He was born April 3, 1842, and is now seventy-two years of age. During the
war between the states he enlisted from Stewart County in the Third Georgia
Cavalry, was made a sergeant, and subsequently was promoted to a commis-
sioned officer.' He was wounded at Morristown, Tennessee, and up to that
time had participated in every engagement of his command. He was at
Ohickamauga, at Atlanta, and at the beginning had assisted in garrisoning
the City of Savannah. His wife died in Butts County at the age of sixty-
three in 1907. Of their eight children one is deceased, and the others are:
Lucian L.; J. P.; C. C. ; E. L. ; Mrs. I. J. Walker; Mrs. Aldine Kimball; and
Mrs. Hubert Gossett,
Lucian L. Ray spent his early life on a farm, with training in the public
schools at Jackson. He also attended Georgetown College and in 1888 was
graduated in law from the University of Georgia. Admitted to the bar the
same year, he took up practice in Butts County, and lived there for twenty
years, at the end of which time he removed to Jeiferson, and is now handling
a large and remunerative practice with his brother. He served as chairman
of the Board of the Jackson Institute, has been mayor of Jackson, and has
also served as court solicitor, Mr. Ray is a democrat, a member of the County
Bar Association, and has fraternal affiliations with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men,
At Athens, Georgia, September 19, 1888, he married Miss Blanche
Chandler, daughter of Cicero and Julia J, Chandler. To their union has been
born one child, Eva Julia, now attending school in Jefferson.
Claude Caeser Ray, the younger member of the law firm of Ray & Ray,
was bom in Butts County, Georgia, August 25, 1869, the third in the family.
His early life was spent very much along the same lines and with similar ex-
periences to those of his brother, and his education came from the common
and high schools, and college. He read law in the office of Capt. "W. L,
Anderson, and was admitted to the bar at McDonald in 1892. He at once
became associated with his brother, who was then practicing in Jackson, and
they have been in active partnership for more than twenty years, Mr, Ray is
a democrat, a member of the County Bar Association, has served as county
commissioner and belongs to the Baptist Church. He is unmarried.
John Jones, a prominent and gallant soldier in our Revolutionary strug-
gle, was a native of Charleston, ■ South Carolina, where he was bom about
174!). He moved from that city to St. John's Parish, now known ss Liberty
County. Georgia, some years prior to the Revolution, and in 1774 carried
on a mercantile business as an importer at Sunbnry. and also conducted a
plantation which he called "Rice Hope." In the French- American attack
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GEORGIA AND GEOKGIANS 2575
on Savannah he was killed in the desperate assault of Octoher 7, 1779, hold-
ing, at the time, the rank of major.
John Millen was born in Savannah about 1804, and died October 15,
1843, some ten days after his election to a seat in the Twenty -eighth Congress,
then only thirty-nine years old. The Town of Millen, the county seat of
Jenkins County, was named in honor of John Millen.
Pkof. W. O. Connor. As the pages of Georgia's history are being slowly
turned by the passing years, one after another of her great men finds his place
on a page all his own. In the centuries of the future others will learn of these
great men and of how they lived and loved and labored ; just as we of today
are learning of the great men of the far past who gave their best efforts that
their state might be made the better thereby. On one of these pages of his-
tory will be found the honored name of Wesley Olin Connor, principal of the
Georgia School for the Deaf.
A veteran of the Confederacy, a man of scientific genius, a leader in educa-
tional work of today, Professor Connor is a man of whom his state may well
be proud, and is honored and revered by all who are capable of appreciating
the real greatness of a great man.
In the matter of lineage Professor Connor is especially distinguished and
enjoys the possession of many centuries of royal ancestors. He is directly
descended from Feredach the Just, who was monarch of Ireland in A, D, 75
and from King Turlough Mor O'Conor ajid Roderick 0 'Conor, the latter
known in Irish history as King Rory of the Yellow Hound, The present
reigning king of England is a branch of this illustrious family. The first
American settlement was made by James O'Conor in the old dominion. James
O'Conor was a soldier in the American Revolution and at the close of the war
the prefix "O" was dropped from the name. It has since been restored by
W. O. Connor III, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a grandson of Professor Connor,
On his maternal side Mr, Connor is directly descended from the Moore and
Yeamans families who have distinguished themselves in both this country, and
Ireland as leaders in the Irish rebellion, colonial governors and in other official
capacities. So it may be well understood how as a scion of a family of bom
leaders, Mr. Connor has so creditably served the state of his adoption during
the past half century in his capacity as principal of one of her most important
institutions.
Wesley Olin Connor was born in the Anderson District, South Carolina,
on June 18, 1841. He is the son of John Wesley Connor, who was born in
1800 in the Abbeville District and died in 1856, grandson of George O'Con-
nor and great-grandson of James O'Connor, He was a noted physician
and surgeon, a graduate of the Jeffereon Medical College at Philadelphia,
and practiced in the vicinity of Cokesbury, South Carolina His wife, Hen
rietta Mayson, was of Scotch lineage, a daughter of John C. Mayson, a planter
and a 'native of South Carolina. John C. Mayson married Henrietta Hart,
a daughter of Rev, Samuel Hart, who was the first pastor of historic St.
Michaels Episcopal Church, in Charleston, South Carolina. Rev. Mr. Han
was one of the most distinguished divines of his day, a fine scholar and a
real benefactor to those he ser\'ed.' After the death of Doctor Connor his
widow married John Pason Holt. She had no children by the second union.
Of the first marriage to Doctor Connor there were fourteen children, seven
of whom reached maturity, and Wesley 0,, who was the tenth in order of
birth, is the only one still alive.
Wesley 0. Connor was partly educated in the common schools of Abbe-
ville, South Carolina, At the age of eight he was sent to Cave Spring, Georgia,
to live with his married sister, Adriana, wife of Edwin A, Wright, a brother
of the late Augustus R. Wright, whose distinguished career is recorded on
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2576 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
other pages. At Cave Spring Mr, Connor pursued his education in what
was then known as the Hearn Manual Labor School. When still under six.
teen years of age., he became interested in methods of teaching the deaf, and
in 1857 entered the Georgia Institution for the Education of the Deaf and
pumb to leam the art of teaching under Mr. O. P. Fannin. In April, 1860,
when Mr. Dunlap retired from the principalship, the post was tendered to
Mr. Connor, who not yet nineteen years of age declined such heavy respon-
sibilities in view of his age aud limited experience.
In June, 1861, he answered the clarion call to the colors, and resigning
his position, he entered the Confederate service as a private soldier. The
board of trustees offered him a bomb-proof position in the school, sending a
special committee to his camp on one occasion to induce him to return. His
reply was worthy of a soldier: "Sirs, I have cast my lot with the boys in
gray and I shall remain with them to the end, and abide by the results." He
participated in the Viekaburg campaign, was in all the battles from Chat-
tanooga to the evacuation of Atlanta, later was under Hood in the battles of
Franklin and Nashville, and at Salisbury, North Carolina. Throughout the
four years' struggle he stood firm at his post, and refusing offers of promo-
tion, he commanded a gnn of the Cherokee Artillery until at last towards
the close of the war he was taken a prisoner and placed in Carap Chase
at Colurabus, Ohio. Here he persistently refused to sign the oath, and
in the face of what he was told would be death in case of refusal he
doggedly eried "exchange." One soldier standing on the parapet exclaimed,
"Yes. we will exchange you in hell." Never, until every doubt as to the fall
of the Stars and Bars at Appomattox was removed, however, did the young
soldier finally accept the conditions and sign the oath of allegiance to the
Union.
He did not escape the battlefield unharmed, A piece of a shell came near
ending his life in the siege of Atlanta, but he was miraculously spared to
carry on the noble work which awaited him in Cave Spring, work which he
could do so well. '
At the close of the war he went to the Cooea river farm of a sister whose
husband had been killed and took up the work of restoring the plantation. He
had no intention of again entering into the work he had discontinued in 1861.
The board of trustees of the Georgia School for the Deaf, however, had other
plans for him, and in 1867 he was taken literally from between the plow
handles and placed at the head of the school. Since his election in 1867 to
the spring of 1916, when he was honorably retired as Principal Emeritus Mr.
Connor has remained principal of the .school, to the entire satisfaction to
patron.s, trustees and the people of Georgia, and has steadily refused repeated
flattering offers from other schools, preferring that his life work be connected
with the Empire State of the South.
Mr. Connor was married June 11, 1868, at Cave Spring to Miss Editha
Simmons, daughter of R. S, Simmons. Mrs. Connor died at Cave Spring
November 1, 1910, at the age of sixty-two. She was active as a member of
the church and a woman of many noble attributes of mind and heart. Of
their six children three died in childhood, the others being: Mrs. Harriet C,
Stevens of Cave Spring, a graduate of Wesleyan College and several years
a student in the University of Chicago; Wesley 0., Jr., graduated with
high honors from the Georgia School of Technology and now superintendent '
of the School for the Deaf at Santa Fe. New Mexico, holding the degrees of
Mechanical Engirfeer and Bachelor of Arts; and Jessie C, who is the wife of
Charles D. MeC'oUister. The latter received extensive training in art both
in this country and in Europe.
Mr. Connor is one of the organizers of the Bank of Cave Spring, and has
been its president since 1912, Politically he is a democrat, is a Knight
Templar Mason and a member of the Atlanta temple of the Mystic Shrine.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2577
In the Confederate Veterans' Association be holds the exalted rank of
brigadier general. In ehurch matters he is a Methodist. He is an intense
believer in the doctrines of human liberty and of free speech. He does not
advocate prohibition as a state-wide or national measure, and believes in
upholding and obeying constituted law and authority.
In the profession of educating the deaf Prof. W. O. Connor is a patriarch.
No one in the profession is more beloved than he and among the younger
members he is lovingly called "Grandpop Connor."
On one occasion he was elected president of the American Convention of
Instmckors for the Deaf, at Flint, Michigan. As this convention is composed
of representatives of every state, and as the election was unanimous and not
by ballot, the highest possible honor was conferred on Georgia's representa-
tive.
A recent writer speaks of Mr. Connor as "a man of great genius and depth
of character, sociable, kind, hospitable, generous, honest and reliable. A bom
naturalist, a man-of extensive reading and research^ an original investigator
and skilful mechanic. Anything the hand iinds to do he can do it. He knows
the construction and working of almost every machine in the nation. He can
auperintend the construction of a king's palace or the manufacture of a
match, can berfbtity a landscape to the limit of its capacity to be beautified
and of which the ancients might well be proud. With all these accomplish-
ments, however, Mr. Connor is an extremely modest man. A favorite with
the young and the old, he occupies the enviable position of being one of the
most popular and best beloved men in the state of Georgia today."
It has been well said that the gods we worship write their names upon our
faces. The features of Mr. Connor betray the kindliness, the sincerity of
purpose, arid the deep sympathy of the strong for the weak which have been
the guiding and dominating influences in his long life. Among Georgia's
notable men be belongs by right of service and the equality of aasoeiation
which has brought him friends from the most distinguished leaders of his
generation,
Jameb Hester. Since his first election to the office of sheriff of Mont-
gomery County, James Hester has established a record as a conservator of
the peace that entitles him to the gratitude -and esteem of his fellow-eitizens.
This record stands on merit alone, for Mr. Hester has had no wealth or other
favoring influences to aid him, but has ntaintained, his position through results
accomplished and capable, faithful service.
James Hester was bom in Laurens County, Georgia, August 7, 1863, and
LB a son of Stephen and Lottie (Stewart) Hester, natives of this state. Hia
father, during his youth, learned the trades of blacksmithing and woodwork-
ing, and possessing much mechanical ingenuity became an expert in the manu-
facture of plows and plow stocks. Many of the plows made by this conscien-
tious blacksmith in hia little workshop were used in tilling the fields of Laurens
County by the agriculturists of early days, and his honest workmanship and
honorable dealing brought him trade from all over the countryside. He also
followed general blacksmithing and to some extent was interested in farming,
and his entire life was passed as a hard-working, industrious man, a good
and helpful neighbor and an intelligent and broadniinded citizen of his copi-
munity. During the entire period of the Civil war he fought in the ranks
of the Craifederacy, and the Gray had no braver wearer of its uniform. He
died, respected and esteemed, in 1885, at the age of seventy-seven years, while
the mother passed away in 1878, and both were laid to rest in Laurens County.
They were the parents of seven children, as follows : Prank, who followed
farming throughout his life and died in Laurens County ; Robert, who served
in the Confederate Array during the latter years of the Civil war and is now
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2578 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
a farmer in Laurens County; Sarah Ann, who is the wife of Daniel Graham,
a farmer of that county ; Eli, also engaged in agricultural operations there ;
Eliza Ann, who is the widow of Frank Pope and lives in Laurens County;
Archibald, who is a farmer of Laurens County and active in politics there ;
James, of this notice; and John, who owns and operates a farm in Laurens
County and takes an active part in politics. All of these children received
good home training and were early taught the value of the homely virtues
of integrity and industry, with the result that they have attained honorable
positions Jn their communities and are considered people of upricht and
strong character.
James Hester passed his boj-hood and youth in much the same manner as
other boys of his locality during the period following the close of the Civil
war, the Reconstruction days when the entire Southern country, was in a tur-
moil. His education was somewhat limited, being confined to attendance at
the district schools of the country, and when he was but a lad began to earn
his own living by working on the farms of neighboring agriculturists. Later
he also secured employment in the sawmills of his locality, and for a number
of years was engaged also in running the river, and these three occupations
claimed his attention until 1903, when he received his first public appointment,
that of deputj' sheriff, an office in which he served with signal Ability. He was
soon urged by his friends to make the race for the office of sheriff of Mont-
gomery and was finally prevailed upon to do so, with the result that he was
elected by a good majority in the fall of 1908. He proved to be the right
man for the place, as evidenced by his excellent record in office and his subse-
quent two re-eleetions. Now serving his third term. Sheriff Hester has the
unqualified confidence and approval of the people, who have found him
trustworthy in every respect, courageous when situations have called for
courage, and capable in every emergency. lie has worked faithfully and
conscientiously to keep his county free from criminals, and during his admin-
istration Montgomery County has enjoyed probably a greater security than
it had ever experienced before in its history. Sheriff Hester is personally
rather reserved in disposition and quiet in manner, but these are only attri-
butes which conceal force of character and earnestness of purpose which
show themselves when the occasion arises. He has always been interested iu
democratic politics, but rather as a supporter of the candidacy of his friends
than as a seeker for personal favors. His fraternal connection is with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. ■ While he is not a professed member of
any religious denomination, he believes thoroughly in the benefits of religion,
and is ever ready to support the movements and enterprises of the various
churches. Mrs. Hester is an active worker in and consistent member of the
Baptist Church.
In May, 1882, in Montgomery County, Georgia, Sheriff Hester was united
in marriage with Miss Flor^ McDaniel, daughter of Matthew McDaniel, who
m^t a soldier's death on one of the battlefields of the South, \»hile wearing
the gray of the Confederacy. To this union there have come two sons:
Thomas, a resident of Mount Vernon, who married Miss Mattie McSwain,
of Tombs County; and Archie, deputy sheriff under his father, who married
Miss Eva Horn of Montgomery County and has one child,— James Edgar.
Hon. Robert Xohtiiington H.\bdem.\n. In the legal history of Southern
Georgia there is to be found no more honored or distinguished name than
that of Hardeman. These who have borne it have been men of brilliant
talents, virile, forceful men who have ably played important roles in law
and Jurisprudence. A worthy representative of this family is found in
Hon. Robert Norfhington Hardeman, judge of the Superior Court of the
Middle Circuit of Geoi^a, who, by rea.son of his services as legist, legislator
and jurist, has been described as "the coming man of Southern Geoi^ia."
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ROBERT N. HARDEMAN
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2579
Robert Northingtoii Hardeman, was born on his father's plantation in
Jefferson County, Georgia, Jlay 28, 1872, and is a son of Thomas and Nellie
(Little) Hardeman. His grandfather, Judge Robert V. Hardeman, a native
of Virginia, eame to Georgia during the early *20s, was educated for the law,
and had a distinguished career as a lawyer, attracting to himself a clientele
of the most satisfying kind. He was subsequently elevated to the bench, and
for many years served as judge of the Superior Court of Macon Circuit. One
of th*! leading jurists of the state, he passed away at Clinton, Jones County,
at the age of sixty-niue years, when his community lost a man who had- added
much to its prestige. Judge Hardeman married Elizabeth Henderson, a
native of Putnam County, Georgia, and they became the parents of four
sons, namely: Judge Robert W., now living in retirement, who made a
splendid record as a lawyer and judge on the Maeon Circuit, married Miss
Ellen Smith, of Twiggs County; Colonel Isaac, who served as a colonel of a
Georgia regiment during the war between the states and returned to civil
fife to become one of the greatest lawyers of the Maeon Circuit and head of
the leading law firm of Hardeman, Davis & Turner, his name still being used
although he has been dead for many years, married Lucia Griswold, a native
of Jones County ; Doctor Jack, who for forty-two years praetfeed medicine
and surgery in Jones County, where he was revered and idolized by the
people because of his sympathy, kindness and charity, married Miss Dolly
"Whittaker,. of Baldwin County; and Thomas.
Like all of his brothers, Thomas Hardeman was bom in Jones County and
was reared in a home of refinement and culture, securing the best kind of an
education. He was offered a professional career, but preferred to be the
agriculturist of the family, and his long, active and helpful life was passed
in comfort and serenity on his plantation, one »f the finest in Jefferson
County, consisting of 4,000 acres. This property is now managed by his son,
Robert N., who as administrator has made changes along the lines of prioress
and science, but is to be held intact until the widow's death, Thomas Harde-
man was a man universally respected and esteemed in his community and at
his death left many to sincerely mourn him. He passed away October 7,
1913, aged seventy-three years. His first wife, who bore the maiden name of
Nellie Little, died in 1888, leaving four children: Robert Northington;
Julia, who is the wife of M. W. Rhodes, of Louisville; Elizabeth, who is the
wife of Dr. A, M. Wylie, a practicing physician of Chester, South Carolina ;
and Dolly, who is the wife of Rev. W. A. Kennedy, a pastor of the Presby-
terian faith, who has a pastorate at Porterdale, Newton County. After the
death of his first wife Mr. Hardeman was married to her sister. Miss Susie
Little, and one son was bom to this union: Frank, who is engaged in the
practice of law at Louisville. His second wife also died, and Mr. Hardeman
married for his third wife Miss Mattie Phillips, of Jones County, who still
survives him. They had one daughter: Eloise.
Robert Northington Hardeman enjoyed excellent educational advantages
in his youth and from the start began to prepare himself with the idea of
entering the law. After graduating from Louisville Academy, he completed
the curricuhim of Hepsibah High School, then entering Mercer University,
where he took a two-year course. He was subsequently graduated from
Erskine College, of Due West, South Carolina, in 1893, with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. He read law under the leading firm of Cain & Polhill, of
Louisville, comprised of J. G. Cain and J. H. Polhill, and was admitted to the
bar by Judge Roger L. Gamble, in 1894, at once beginning practice. The
young attorney soon attracted to himself a large and representative clientele
and his work in the courts brought him prominently forward as possible
ofFicial timber. His first public oflfiee was that of solicitor of the County
Court of Jefferson County, to which he was first appointed by Governor
W. J. Atkinson and later by Governor Candler Terrell. After serving in that
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2580 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
capacity for eleven years he resigned, in 1906, and in that same year became
the candidate of the democratic party for representative in the Georgia
Legislature. Elected in that year, his work in the first term commended
itself to his constituents, and he was returned to the House in 1908, 1910 astl
1912, and during the session of 1909-10, was speaker pro tem. He was floor
leader and chairman of the Committee on Roads and Revenues during 1911-
12, and is the author of many laws which now appear on the statute books.
A brilliant lawyer. Judge Hardeman was noted while in the House as a
flnished, eloquent, concise and forceful orator. His support of any measure
gained it instant hearing and when he had spoken in its behalf it was gener-
ally well on its way to passage. His active, stirring work in the Legislature
naturally brought him widespread reputation, and in the fall of 1914 he was
chosen for judicial honors, being elected to the bench of the Superior Conrt
of Middle Circuit. In this capacity he has added to his reputation, at all
times maintaining the ^ignity of the court and delivering his decisions in an
impartial, just and eminently wise manner." The judge holds membership
in the leading organizations of his profession in the county, state and couptry,
and his fraternal connection is with the Knights of Pythias, his friends being
numerous in professional, political, fraternal and business circles. He has
been a lifelong member of the Methodist Church and at present is serving aa
steward in the church at Louisville,
On April 2, 1895, at Louisville, occurred the marriage of Judge Harde-
man with Miss Delia Shaw, a native of Burke County, Georgia, and a
daughter of Joseph and Mattie (Stephenson) Shaw, natives of Virginia. The
only child of her parents, she lost her father when she was but two weeks old,
while hep mother died when she was but five years old. Three children have
been born to Judge and Mrs. Hardeman: Robert Northingtou, Jr,, bom
June 15, 1697, a graduate and post-graduate of Louisville High School, and
now a student in the law department of the State University, at Athens;
James C, bom December 19, 1899, and now a high school student; and
William G., who was bom July 1, 1901, and is now attending the public
schools, Mrs, Hardeman is a leader in the social life of Louisville and inter-
ested in charitable and benevolent work. She frequently accompanies the
judge on automobile trips to the fishing grounds of Florida, his honor being
a keen fisherman as well as huntsman. His vacations are nearly all spent in
the woods or on the lakes with either his fine pack of beadle bounds or hif
two blooded Llewellyn setters, and his beautiful Louisville home contains
numerous evidences that the judge is a skilled performer with gun and rod.
Col, Cl.\udius Franklin Berry, More than twenty years of faithful
service has been the contribution of Claudius Franklin Berry to the welfare
and development of Springfield ; twenty years during which he has capably
and expeditiously discharged every duty which has devolved upon him; a
period covering the era of the city's greatest growth. During this time he
has acted as clerk of the Superior and City courts, and while he has seen the
business of these tribunals grow with the growth of the locality's population,
he has kept steadily on, increasing the scope of his duties from time to time,
but always rendering a good account of himself and giving the people of
Springfield no reason to wish for a change,
Mr, Berry was bom in Effingham County, Georgia, August 24, 1862, and
is a son of James F. and Amelia E. (Wilson) Berry. His father was bom
in 1824, in this county, where the family has been well and favorably known
for many years, and throughout his life was engaged in farming and planting
with the exception of the period of the war between the states, when he
served as a private in the Fifth Georgia Cavalry Volunteer Regiment. He
took part in a number of engagements and numerous skirmi^es, but came
safely through the struggle and was honorably discharged at Greensboro,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2581
North Carolina, April 26, 1865. He then returned to the peaceful pursuita ■
of the husbandman and continued to devote his energies thereto during the
remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1905, when he had reached the
advanced age of eighty-one years. Mrs. Berry, who was bom in Effingham
County in 1833, died in 1886. There were three children in the family as
follows; G. H., who was murdered, born 1852, his murderers never bein^
discovered; Alberta Hanna, born in 1858, who is unmarried and resides at
Springfield ; and Claudius Franklin.
Claudius Franklin Berry began to attend school in his home locality of
Effingham County at the age of seven years, and there continue until he
was seventeen, proving himself studious and industrious and making the
most of the opportunities granted him. He next went to Milledgeville, where
he attended school for one year, at the end of that time putting aside his
books to go to work as a clerk in the shoe store of A. S. Nickels, at Savannah.
After a short time he left Mr. Nickels and accepted employment under John
F. La Far, with whom he remained until 1894, and then came to Effingham
County and ran for clerk of the County Court, to which he was duly elected.
This court includes both the City and Superior courts, and Mr. Berry has
continued by re-election in the office of clerk to the present time. It has been
his fortune to attract many warm and sincere friends, whose interests he has
supported and whose loyalty to him has been given in return. He is known
as a man whose word may be depended upon and who has never failed in
giving his faithful support to the men and measures to whom he is pledged.
Mr. Berry has had some military experience, having served as lieutenant-
colonel on the staff of the governor of Georgia, and at the present time is
captain of the State Hussars, a military organization of Effingham County.
While not a business man, as the term is generally accepted, he has interested
himself in a number of enterprises from time to time, and is now interested
as a stockholder in the Effingham Bank of Springfield and the Pinora Salz-
berger Company's Bank. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodge of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his religious connection is with
the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Berry is also a member.
In 1888 Mr. Berry was married to Miss Ida Quantock, and to this union
there has been bom one daughter: Miss Lucille, who was bom November 21,
1893.
Titou.vs Ellis Zippeber. The official services of Thomas Ellis Zipperer
in the capacity of tax collector of Effingham County have been marked by
efficiency and energy, qualities. which the people of this thriving part of
Georgia find eminently satisfactory in the make-up of the men chosen for
public labors. Until entering political life Mr. Zipperer was engaged in
school teaching, a vocation in which he made his abilities well known to the
public, and in both fields of activity he has established a creditable record.
He is a native son of this county, and was bom at the town of Marlow, Janu-
ary 22, 1879, his parents being Samuel Frederick and Susie (Helmey)
Zipperer, both parents being descendants of the "Solsbergers."
Samuel F. Zipperer was born at Blandford, Georgia, in January, 1852,
and throughout his life has been engaged in agricultural operations, being
at present the own4'r of a valuable property in Effingham County. He has
led an industrious life, is considered one of the .substantial men of his com-
munity, and has a good record for public-spirited citizenship. Mrs. Zip-
perer, who also survives, was horn in Effingham County in 1862. and has been
the mother of eleven children, as follows: Charles Edward, who was born in
1876; Lela A., born in 1878; Thomas Ellis; Olin, born in 1881 ; Florris May,
horn in 1883; Essie Perlin, born in 1885; Hattie Semlia, who died at the
age of twenty-six years; Ida, bom in 1891 ; Beulah, bom in 1892; Mary, bom
in 1895; Ezra, born in 1900, and an infant, who is deceased. All the chil-
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2582 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
. dren, granted the advantages of the training of a relined home and of good
schooling, have done well in the world, and are occupying honorable positions
in various lines of activity.
Thomas Ellis Zipperer' enjoyed a public graded and high school education
at Springfield, where he spent one year, and at Guyton, where he was a student
for two yeara, and then entered Newberry (South Carolina) College from
wbicK he was duly graduated. Thus equipped he secured a teache»'s certificate,
and for three years taught in the public schools of Effingham County, two years
in Saluda County, South Carolina, and one year in Lutheran Collegiate
Institute at Eethedew, Mississippi, becoming well and favorably known as a
popular and efficient educator. In the meantime, he had become interested
in civic and political affairs, and in 1912 became the candidate of the demo-
cratic party for the office of tax collector of Effingham County, a position to
which he was elected and which he still retains. He also continues his interest
in matters educational as chairman of (he board of trustees of Springfield
schools, and was formerly a member of the town council for two terms. His
political allegiance is given unreservedly to the democratic party. When he
was but fifteen years of age he lost his right arm, just above the elbow, the
accident having been occasioned by the accidental discharge of a gun.
On Aiiguat 25, 1909, at Savannah, Mr. Zipperer was united in marriage
with Miss Willie May Harn, of this county, a member of a well known
family, and they have three children : Thomas Ellis, Jr., Mary Clare and
Andrew Jackson. Mr. and Mrs. Zipperer are consistent members of the
English Lutheran Church and have been active in its work. His fraternal
connections are with the Woodmen of the World and the Junior Order of
United American Mechanics.
Rowland Bubrougiis Seckinger. The present sheriff of Effingham
County, R. B. Seckinger is a native of that county, and has been a well
known figure and factor in local affairs for a number of years. He repre-
sents one of the oldest and most prominent families in this section 'of Georgia.
Bom in Effingham County March 31, 1879, he is a son of Jasper David
and Rosaline Buquine (Tebeau) Seckinger. His father was bom in Effing-
ham County in 1848 and died in 1913, and his mother was bom in the same
county in ISfiS and died February 14, 1901. The parents were married in
that county in 1868. Their children were Mamie, Stephen and Rowland
Burroughs.
While the various members of these respective families have long held a
prominent place in Effingham County, there is available for the present
sketch one particular document concerning the Tebeau family which deserves
a pemianent record. This is a letter which was written by F. E. Tebeau,
dated at Springfield, Georgia, February 26, 1859, to his daughter. This letter
is given as it was written: "Your request that I should furnish you with
some account of our forefathers I shall comply with so far as I am able to
do from information furnished me by my mother, ray father having died on
October 13, 1807, when I was under thirteen years. The first mention of the
name Tebeau was in Stephen's Journal written in the early settlement of
Georgia by Oglethorpe. He says : ' A young man by the name of Tebeau
left the orphan house believing that he can be of more service to his mother
in her planting concern.' Tliis was James Tebeau, my grandfather, who
came to this country when a youth with Oglethorpe, under the protection of
his mother and a stepfather. He was of French descent and subsequently
married Susan Henks, the daughter of an Englishman whose family was
among the first who settled in this state. The issue of this marriage was John
{my father), Samuel, NorrJs, Charles, Daniel and Ann Mary, The first and
last mentioned only reaehed the age of maturity. My father settled on
Wilmington Island as a cotton planter and married Catharine Treutlin.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2583
From her he had sixteen children, all of whom died in infancy except five :
Uusan Turner, Ann, now A. M. Pender, Mary, now Mary Shaw, Frederick E.
and Charles Watson, the latter died at the age of twenty-seven years. My
aunt Ann Mary went to England to inherit a small cstat« left her by her
grandmother, and there married Dr. Edward Dillon, an Irish physician, and
returned to this country. The doctor having wasted her estate left her in the
protection of her only brother with whom she lived to the time of her death,
she surviving him only about five years and died of fever in the City of
Savannah.
"My grandfather, Frederick Treutlin, left England in the days of Ogle-
thorpe in company with his father and John Adam Treutlin, his younger
brother, who subsequently became governor of Georgia. But England being
at war with France they were captured and imprisoned; the father died in
prison, the sons when released made a second attempt to reach this country
and after a disastrous voyage landed in this country at Frederdea on
St. Simon 's Island. Frederick was twice married and had one daughter by
the former wife. His second wife was Mai^aret Shad, a native of Switzer-
land, who reached this country in her twelfth year and in the second year
after the landing of Oglethorpe. Of this last marriage Ann Margaret,
Catharine (my mother) and Elizabeth was the oflfspring.
"Grandfather Treutlin settled a plantation on the eastern side of Wilming-
ton Island and died there in 1798, aged seventy-six years. His wife survived
him nine years and died aged seventy-nine. Her daughter Ann married
Peter P. Provost of Barnwell District, South Carolina, and had one son
William Provost, late of Alabama, now deceased, leaving many sons and
daughters. His mother lived for many years in a state of mental derange-
ment caused, it is supposed, by her husband leaving her to follow the army
in the Revolution. She died on the 28th of October, 1827. Mrs. Catharine
Tebeau survived my father twenty-nine years and died on the 16th Decem-
ber, 1836, aged eighty years and six months.
"John Adam Treutlin was elected governor of Georgia in the Revolution-
ary war and served eight months, then removed to Orangeburg, South Caro-
lina, and was murdered by unknown parties.
"I have thus given you a brief sketch of the family so far as I have been
informed by your grandmother Tebeau."
Rowland Burroughs Seckinger attended private schools from the age of
six years, hut after two years returned to Springfield, and was in the Spring-
field Academy fourteen years and then put in two years in the Chatham
Academy in Chatham County. On leaving school he entered the employ of
the Plant Railroad System in the paint department, and afterwards spent
three years with the Seaboard Railroad. After this experience he returned
to Springfield, and was appointed deputy sheriff. For six years he proved
himself an efficient and courageous officer in the deputy position, and in 1914
was elected sheriff of Effingham County, an office in which he is still serving.
Mr. Seckinger has always manifested much interest in military affairs.
While at Savannah he joined the Oglethorpe Light Infantry and was with
that organization about six years. He was also a member of the Effingham
Hussars about four years. In politics he is a democrat, a member of the
Masonic Order and of the Methodist Church. Besides his own home in town
he has a farm in the county.
On June 20, 1901, he married Miss Lillie H. Sanders, daughter of Benja-
min Sanders, of South Carolina. There are five children, and their names
and ages at this writing are : Roland Burroughs, Jr., aged twelve ; Gertrude
Elizabeth, aged eight; Jasper Benjamin, aged six; Clare Loraine, aged three:
and Mqrgarct Covington, aged seven months. The three older children are
now in school.
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2584 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Db. Oeawford W. Long, claimed to be the discoverei; o£ anesthesia, waa
born in DanieUville, Georgia, November 1, 1815. He graduated from Frank-
lin College in 1835 and from the medical department of the University of
Pennsylvania in 1839. The succeeding twelve months he spent in a hospital
in New York and on account of his success as a surgeon was urged by his
friends to apply for the position of surgeon in the United States navy. This
was, however, contrary to the wishes of his father and he returned to his
native state, locating in Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia, in 1841, At
that time Jefferson was a. mere village, far removed from the large cities and
the railroads.
Doctor Long's discovery of sulphuric ether as an anesthetic was, as is
usually the ease, an accident. In January, 1842, quite a number of "ether
parties" were held at his office and in the frolics which ensued some of the
young men received severe bruises which seemed to give them little pain. One
of the revellers even dislocated his ankle. Wh^n he set the bones Doctor
Long noticed that his patient was practically unconscious of pain. This led
to an application of ether to his surgical patients and the result is known to
medical history. Others made claims to the discovery, but it is well authen-
ticated that Doctor Long's experiments antedated theirs by several years.
For ten years after his discovery of the anesthetic powers of sulphuric ether,
Doctor Long continued practice in Jefferson. He then moved to Athens
where he resided until his death twenty-six years later.
Richard H, "Wilde was a native of Ireland, bom in Dublin, September
24, 1789, and he was eight years of age when the family came to America.
His father died in 1802 and in the following year his widow moved to Georgia,
His earlier years were passed in Baltimore, where he received an academic
education. He was admitted to the bar in 1809, in a few years was made
attorney general of the state and in 1815 was elected a representative to the
Fourteenth Congress. He also iilled an unexpired congressional term in 1825
and was elected to the Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty-third con-
gresses. In June, 1835, after this long congressional service, he sailed
for Europe to recruit his health, spending two years in travel and three years
at Florence, engaged in literary pursuits. Returning from Europe he made
his last public appearance in the whig convention at Milledgeville in 1842
as a delegate from Richmond County. The next year he moved to New
Orleans to resume the practice of his profession. His reputation being well
known he commanded at once a lucrative business. He was also elected pro-
fessor of constitutional law in the University of Louisiana. When the yellow
fever became epidemic in New Orleans, in the summer of 1847, Mr, Wilde
refused to leave the state, believing that with proper care he might escape the
disease, or that the eminent professional skill in New Orleans would be quali-
fied to save him should he take it. In this he was mistaken. He was attacked,
and despite all efforts of the most skillful physicians he pa&sed away on Sep-
tember-JO, 1847, in the fifty-eighth year of his age.
Grover Cleveland Edwards. The druggist of modern times is a man of
many callings, for he must not only be thoroughly versed in his own pro-
fession but mnst be able to detect and rectify the occasional blunders of
others, to give kindly and accurate advice to those unwilling to seek the
services of the physician, and to place at all times his establishment and
his time at the disposal of his patrons. Among the pharmacists of Evans
County one who has proven himself worthy of the confidence reposed in
him, and who is capable of ably taking care of the demands made upon
him is Grover Cleveland Edwards, who, still a young man, occupies an
established place among the business men of Claxton, where he is llie pro-
prietor of a modern pharmacy.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2585
Mr. Edwards was botn at Daisy, Tattnall (now Ev8ds) County, Georgia,
November 27, 1885, and is a son of Thomas Jefferson and Sarah (Conley)
Edwards, youngeat brother of Hon. Chas. Q. Edwards. Thomas J. Edwards
was bom in Tattnall County, in 1847, and grew up as a farmer. He was
still a youth when the war between the states started, and enlisted in a
Georgia volunteer infantry regiin£nt, with which he fought during the entire
period of that straggle. While he took part in a number of engagements he
was never wounded or captured, and at the close of his service returned safely
to his family. He has passed his entire career in farming, and still resides
on the farm on which he was born, and although sixty-eight years of age
is in good health and in possession of all his faculties. Mr. Edwards is
one of the substantial men of his community and is held in high esteem by
his fellow-citizens, who at various times have elected him to public office,
he having served one term as the representative of Tattnall County in the
Geoi^a General Assemlbly. His religious connection is with the Methodist
Church. Mr. Edwards married Miss Sarah Conley, the daughter of Reverend
Conley of Northern Georgia, and she died in 1914, at the age of fifty-seven
years. They were the parents of the following children : J. C., K. H., T. M.,
W. L., C, G,, S. 0., Grover Cleveland, Mrs. Jennie Hendricks and Mrs,
Doctor Miller.
Grover C. Edwards was educated in tdie public schools of Daisy and
Claxton aud at South Georgia College. On leaving the latter institution
be attended Sullivan, Chickton & Smith's Business College of Atlanta and
then went to Florida, where for about five years he was identified with the
banking, and the drug and turpentine business, and in 1912 returned to
Claxton, where he established himself as the proprietor of a drug store, and
also in farming interests, etc. Mr, Edwards has built up a prosperous business,
his honorable dealing and thorough knowledge of his vocation united with his
courteous and genial manner having attracted to him a large trade. He carries
a full and up-to-date line of drugs, patent medicines, toilet articles and
accessories, candies, cigars, etc., and maintains a prescription department
where prescriptions are most carefully and accurately eomjpounded. His
standing in business circles is an excellent one. In political matters Mr.
Edwards is a democrat, but has had no occasion to enter political life, confin-
ing his activities in public matters to a stalwart support of good men and
helpful measures. With hia family, he attends the Methodist church. Fra-
ternally, Mr. Edwards is affiliated with the Benevolent and. Protective Order
of Elks and the Knights of Pythias in both of which orders he is very
popular.
On December 11, 1912, Mr. Edwards was married to Miss Ruth Grice,
daughter of C. S. Grice, of this countv, and they have one daughter, Katherine,
born July 15, 1916.
Zachary Broadus Rooers. A lawyer of high standing and with a
profitable practice in Elbert County is Zachary B. Rogers, whose career of
twenty years in the Elbert County bar has brought him numerous honors of
a public nature and the usual rewards of the successful citizen,
Zachary Broadus Rogers was bom in Barbour County, Alabama, Septem-
ber 4, 1872, a son of W. S. and Edna (Gary) Rogers. His grandfather,
Williamson R<^ers was a Georgia planter, but subsequently moved to Ala-
bama, and from there to Arkansas, wher& he died. He refused to own slaves
because he did not believe in slavery. The maternal grandfather, Abner
Gary, was also a Georgian who emigrated to Alabama, and died in that state,
having been a farmer and planter. Both parents were natives of Geoi^a,
bom in Muskogee and Hancock Counties respectively, and went to Alabama
with their parents, where they were reared, educated and married. W. S.
Rogers was well known as a Baptist minister, and died in Alabama in 1901
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2586 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
at the age of fifty-six. During the war he enlisted from Alabanie and 8i>ent
two years in service, until tiually furloughed home on account o£ rheumatism.
The mother is still living, with her home in Georgia, at the age of sixty-five.
Zaehary B. Rogers, who was the second in a family of ten children, came
to Georgia at the age of thirteen, and had his early education in the si^hools
of Alabama and this state. He afterwards entered Mercer University and
was'graduated in 1891. For several yeafs Mr. Rogers was a popular and
successful school teacher, and through that vocation earned the meaQs neces-
sary to support himgelf and make progress while pursuing his law studies.
He first taught in Leesburg, later at Blackshear, afterwards at Elberton, and
also at Sumter, South Carolina. In the meantime he had pursued his law
studies under private direction largely, and after passing the examinations
was admitted to the bar September 11, 1895. Twenty years have elapsed
since his admission to the bar, and as a lawyer he now stands as one of the
ablest in his part of the state. He was chairman of the executive committee
of the Georgia State Har Association in 1915, and is a member of the County
and Araeriean Bar Associations. His public service has included terras as
connty attorney of Elbert County, and city attorney of Elberton, and he
has long been identified with the democratic party. He is a director in and
attpmey for the Elberton Loan & Savings Bank, and local attorney for the
Seaboard Railway and the Elberton & Eastern Railway.
Mr. Rogers is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the Mystic
Shrine, and the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks.
In 1903 Mr. Rogers married Miss Lula Zaehry of Atlanta, She died after
a happy union of four years in 1907. Her father was W. I. Zaehry of Atlanta.
To this union was born one soq, Z. B. Rogers, Jr., in June, 1904, and now
a student in the Elberton public schools. On October 22, 1912, Mr. Refers
married Miss Sarah I^ee of Abbeville, South Carolina, daughter of W. A,
Lee. The family has relationship with the noted Ijee family of Virginia,
and Mrs. Rogers' father was a siiccessful attorney, now deceased, while her
mother is still living,
WiLij.\M M. Hobby. Not in all instances can there be consistently made
the somewhat metaphorical application of the seriptnral aphorism that "a
prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and a noteworthy
exception is that, found in the personality and career of Mr. Hobby, who has
achieved prominence and influential status in his native Town of Sylvania,
the judicial center of Screven County, and who merits the greater considera-
tion by reason of having gained such precedence largely through his effective
connection with the newspaper business, of whose esoteric and palpable
intricacies lie is an effective exponent. He is editor and publisher of the
Sylvania Telephone, the official paper of Screven County, and is serving as
tax collector of the county.
William Matthews Hobby was horn at Sylvania, Georgia, on the 21st of
June, 1866, and is a son of Judge Wcnsley Hobby and Gertrude (Livingston)
Hobby, the former of whom was bom at Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia,
and the later of whom was born in the City of Charleston, South Carolina.
Judge Hobby was reared and educated in his native city and as a young man
of twenty years he established his home at Sylvania, Screven County, where
he became a representative member of the bar of that part of the state and
where he served several terms on the bench of the County Court. He con-
tinued in the active practice of his profession at Sylvania until the time of
his death, and also had valuable farm property in Screven County. At the
inception of the Civil war his loyalty to the Confederacy was shown by his
promptly becoming a member of a company organized in his home county,
and later he went to the front and was promoted to a lieutenancy, his active
yGoosle.
?^^€
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
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GEOKGIA AND GEORGIANS 2587
service in the field continuing two years, witKin which he participated in a
number of important battles and many skirmishes and otlier minor engage-
ments. Prominent among the battles in which he took part with his regiment
was that of Honey Hill, South Carolina. He was a man of sterling char-
acter, an able lawyer and a jurist whose every effort was made for the con-
servation of justice and equity. Judge Hobby continued his residence at
Sylvania, one of the best known and most honored citizens of Screven County,
until his life came to its close, he having been sixty-two years of age at the
time of his death, in 1892, and Wis devoted wife having been called to the life
eternal in 1889, at the age of sixty years. Mrs. Hobby was a descendant of
Philip Livingston, who waa of sterling English lineage and who was one of
the signers of that immortal American document, the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. William J, Hobby, great-grandfather of him whose name intro-
duces this article, was one of the distinguished and influential representatives
of pioneer journalism in Georgia, where he was for some time editor of the ■
Augusta Chronicle, his reputation as a newspaper man having far transcended
mere local limitation and his having been a position of leadership in popular
sentiment and action. His wife was a descendant of General Elijah Clark,'
of Revolutionary fame.
"William M. Hobby is now the only surviving member of a family of four
children, of whom he was the third in order of birth; Sally died at the age
of nineteen years and Elizabeth at the age of eighteen years; Gertrude
became the wife of Hugh H. McLaws, a leading member of the bar of tlie
City of Savannah, where her death occurred in 1913.
In the public schools of his native place William M. Hobby continued his
studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, and he early
decided to learn the "art preservative of all arts" and to develop himself
into a thoroughgoing newspaper man. He served a veritable apprenticeship
at the printer's trade, in the office of a local paper at Sylvania, and his initial
knowledge of the business was acquired when he was a mere boy. His inde-
pendent venture into the field' of journalism was made when he became the
editor and owner of a boys' paper which he entitled the Watchman and which
he conducted two years, looking upon the incidental work as a pastime.
In 1891 Mr. Itobby purchased from William L. Matthews the plant and
business of the Sylvania Telephone, which he brought up to a high standard
as a tountry weekly and of which he continued in control ten years. He then
sold the property, for the purpose of accepting the position of superintendent
of the Sylvania & Central Railroad, the line of which extended from Sylvania
to Rocky Pord. Of this responsible executive office he continued the efficient
and valued incumbent for a period of eight years, at the expiration of which
he resigned and renewed his allegiance to the newspaper business, which
never loses its lure to one who has been one of its devotees. Thus, in 1899,
he again became owner and editor of the Sylvania Telephone, and he has since
continued in active charge of its business, having made it an eflfective expo-
nent of local interests and of the cause of the Democratic party, and having
gained for it a circulation of more than 1,600 copies.
Mr. Hobby has been active and influential in Democratic political
maneuvers and campaigns in Screven County, and though he has not been
ambitions for political preferment his distinct eligibility and personal popu-
larity led to his election, in 1913, to the office of tax collector, to fill an
unexpired terra. At the regular election in the autumn of 1914 he was
re-elected for the assigned term of two years, and his administration has
given unequivocal satisfaction. lie owns a well improved truck and straw-
berry farm near Sylvania, and in directing its operation he finds both diver-
sion and financial profit, ilr. Hobby is affiliated with the Sylvania Lodge
and Chapter of York Rite Masonry, as well as with the Focal organizations of
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2588 QEORaiA AKD aEORGIANS
the Knights of Pythias and Woodmen of the "World. He is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
In the year 1900 Mr. Hobby wedded Miss Kathleen Johnston, of Nor-
cross, this State, and she passed to et«mal rest in 1903. She is survived by
two children, — Kathleen and "William. In 1906 was solemnized, the marriage
of Mr. Hobby to Miss Mary Louise Kittles, daughter of Henry C. and Eva
(MeCall) Kittles, of Screven County, and the three children of this marriage
are "Wensley, Peter and Evelyn, Mrs. Hobby is active and popular in socuJ
circles and in church work, and is a gracious chatelaine of the attractive
family home. The first wife of Mr. Hobby was a daughter o£ Prof. Ronald
Johnston and Mary E. (Kennedy) Johnston, the former of whom was one of
the prominent figures in connection with educational affairs in Georgia.
William F. Bbyan. The career of "William F. Bryan briefly UAd in the
following paragraphs is the story of a man who answered the call of oppor-
tunity when it knocked at his door, and starting with none of the particular
advantages associated with capital or influential friends has made himself
one of the most effective powers in the business life of Athens, has built up
one or two of the largest business institutions of that city, and in commercial
circles is generally rated as a millionaire.
A native Gleorgian, William F, Bryan was bom at Union Point in Greene
County, August 23, 1867, a son of Thomas Marion and Sarah (Morris) Bryan.
His father was bom in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, in 1839 and
died in 1894, while the mother was born in Maryland County, Georgia, in
1849, and now lives partly at Union Point, Geot^ia, and partly in Darling-
ville. South Carolina. The father and mother were married at Union Point,
where he was a substantial merchant and business man up to the time of his
deatii. During the war he enlisted in a company of artillery at Charleston,
and afterwards was with the Signal Corps until the close of hostilities. He
is a cousin of the well known Savannah citizen, J. M. Bryan, and the Bryan
ancestors came originally from Virginia. William F, Bryan was the oldest
in a family of seven children, brief miention of the others being as follows:
R. F. Bryan of Union Point ; Morris M., of Athens; Mrs. C. H. Newton, now
deceased; Mrs. L. L. Hendren of Athens; Mrs. Benjamin Walker Waite of
Darlingville, South Carolina, and Mrs. Carl Pickett of Atlanta.
As a boy William F. Bryan attended the public schools of Union Point,
and early in life came to Athens, where he gained a thorou^ jiractical
experience in the cotton commission business. From that he became identi-
fied with the Athens Electric Railway Company as treasurer and sfvera!
years later founded and organized the Southern Manufacturing Company
of Athens, This industry, started in 1902, is now the largest concern of its
kind in the United States for the purpose of spinning the refuse of the cotton
mills, the output being a coarse cotton fabric which is used in the making
of gloves and other rough cotton goods. Mr. Bryan was also identified
with the Columbia Fire Insurance Company of Athens and was one of the
oi^^izers of the Athens Electric Railway Company. For twenty years or
more his business energy was a vitalizing factor in local commercial circles,
thou^ he gave mlost of his time and attention for a number of years to the
Southern Manufacturing Company, and since 1914 has been practically
retired from the active cares and responsibilities of business.
In politics he is a democrat, is a member of the Masonic Order and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, belongs to the Country and Golf
Clubs, and is a Baptist while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. In December, 1894. in Charlotte County, "Virginia, Mr. Bryan mar-
ried Miss Harriet Proctor, daughter of Dr. Thomlas A. and Margaret Proctor
of Charlotte County, Virginia, both now deceased. Mr, and Mrs. Bryan
have one son, William T. Bryan, bora in July, 1900, at Athens and attends
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2589
the city schools there. Mr. Bryan and family reside in one of Ihe most
beautiful homes in Athens, which is noted as a city of homes. It was con-
structed in the bungalow style of architecture in 1913, a beautiful two-
story mansard roof brick building, set in the midst of an entire square along
the most fashionable quarter of Prince Street. The grounds comprise a park
of effective landscape gardening and of all the luiodern homes in that vicinity
of Athens the Bryan place is reganled as the chief in point of surroundings,
architectural lines, and interior furnishings and arrangement. This home is
one of the centers of social life in Athens, where Mr. Bryan has spent
practically all hia active career, and has shown himself as public spirited in
citizenship as he has been successful in the management of large business
affairs.
Hehry Harvey North, a prominent banker at Newnan, has earned his
position lai^ely as a result of his own efforts and individuality, but is also
representative of a very fire old Georgia family.
His paternal grandparents, Anthony and Mary (Hubbard) North were
early residents of Coweta County, residing there and wielding intluenee
before that section of the state was organized in county systems. Anthony
North served on the first grand jury ever assembled there. The grand
jury convened at Bussboro, the original county seat of the new county and
its deliberations were held in Coweta's first official county building— a log
house three miles north of the present site of Newnan. The Norths were
extensive planters with their own blai^ Bervitors both in their early residence
in Oglethorpe County and their Coweta County home. Of similar origin
and like circumstances were the Bailey family, friends and neighbors of
Anthony North and his wife. Henry Jackson Bailey and his wife Rebecca
Jane (Atkinson) Bailey had a daughter, Martha Yates Bailey, a girl of
beautiful Christian character who was courted by Anthony North, Jr., son
of Anthony North, Sr.
Anthony North Jr. 's talents and ambitions pointed to the profession of
medicine. He pursued his study and was granted bis professional degi'ee at
New Tork University, and after his marriage established his home in Coweta
County. Doctor North had a combination of rare gifts that brought him not
only professional success but also unbounded respect and the sincere and deep
love of those whom he so intimately served. He was a gentleman of the old
school, always thoughtfully courteous, always chivalrous. Through all his
contact with men down into the practical twentieth century he never lost his
gentle courtliness. To his patients he was like a second father. His was
the sparkling, persuasive cheer that "doeth good like medicine" and his
visit to a horn* of suffering and gloom was like a shaft of sunshine. Many
were the needy to whom he gave courage and cure for no return save the
satisfaction of his own great soul. He did not spare himself by night or
day, or in darkness, storm and cold. He was a fighter, not only in war
hut in peace. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in the Seventh
Georgia Regiment as first sergeant, was soon promoted to the rank of assist-
ant surgeon and served with his regiment until the close. His death in
1910 at the age of seventy-one brought the end of a career of a patriotic
citizen, a gentle surgeon, a courageous, generous comrade. His beloved wife
had died four years previously. Doctor North was a Knight Templar Mason
and very active in the Baptist Church. Of the six children of Doctor North one
died in infancy and another, Minnie, died after her marriage to J. Q. Grady.
Nicholas L. North, the oldest son, resides in Newnan. Carrie is the wife of
L. Gibson of Newnan and her three children are Martha, Louise and Gibson
Gibson. Clara North married F. B. Cole, head of the firm of Cole, Sharp &
Company.
Henry Harvey North, the youngest child of Doctor North and wife, was
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2590 GEORGIA AXD GEORGIANS
bont at his grandfather's old homestead in Coweta County, June 8, 1866.
lie atteudedi high school at Senoia, and at the age of eighteen took his first
lessons in practical business as clerk in a general store at Newnan. Two
years later he became bookkeeper for the First National Bank of Ne\Tnan.
He was with that institution for twenty years and was promoted to cashier.
Jn 1906 Mr. North organized the Manufacturers National Bank of Newnan
with a capital of $60,000, The president of this bank since its beginning, Mr.
Noi-th has made it a splendid institution, and it now has surplus and undivided
profits of over $40,000. His individual reputation for reliability and char-
acter is regarded as one of the chief assets of the hank.
At the same time he has done his part as a public spirited citizen. He is
very much interested in the municipal ownership of public utilities, and
wherever possible has endeavored to carry out that principle in his home
community and state. He is a democrat, a member of the Masons and the
Knights Templar degree. Mr. North is not a man to boast of his own achieve-
ments. In fact he gives credit for much of his own success in life to the
loving kindness, the restraining influence and the sympathetic understanding
of his parents. He pays a splendid tribute to the memory of his father and
mother in this way, and nothing should reflect better on his own worth of
character than such tribute.
Mr. North married Miss Mary Draper, daughter of Capt. W. W. Draper,
a Confederate veteran, and Emma Moore Draper. Mr. and Mrs. North have
three children: Elizabeth, born July 3, 1900; Emma Moore North, bom July
30. 1906; and William Draper North, born September 13, 1910. While Mr.
North is a Baptist. Mrs, North is an active member of the Presbyterian
church.
J, A, B. Mahappey. Now serving as judge of the City Court of Jeffer-
son County, Judge MahafEey is the oldest practicing lawyer of the western
circuit of Georgia, and has been active as a lawyer and public official for
more than forty years. He bears the distinguishing marks of the old sol-
dier, and his life from the outbreak of the war to the present has been dne
of energetic industry, worthy influence as a man of affairs, and has brought
him both a respected name and an influential position.
Judge Mahaffey was horn at Dahlonega, Georgia, April 9, 1843, a son
of Varnol and Eliza (Grant) Mahaffey. His father was bom in South
Carolina, while the mother was a native of London, England, and was brought
to America by her parents. Her father was a sea captain, who during his
service was lost at sea. Varnol Mahaffey came to Georgia early in his
career, and for several years was a minister of the Jlethodist Episcopal
Church, and was in charge of the church at Dahlonega when his son was
born. Later he lived at Amicalola, moved from there to a farm in Forsyth
County, and in 1S49 went ont to California as a gold seeker, making the trip
by way of Panama. He returned in 1852, and lived in Jackson County untU
his death in 1879 at the age of seventy-five years. His first wife, and (he
mother of Judge Mahaffey, died at Dahlonega in 1845.
Judge JIahaffey was the sixth in a family of seven children bom to his
mother. As a boy he attended country schools in Lumpkin, Forsyth and
Jackson counties, and had reached the age of eighteen when the political
questions of the nation were submitted to the arbitrament of anus. In 1862
he entered the Confederate army, as a private in Compfany E of Cobb's
Legion of Cavalry. He was under Stewart and Hampton in the first brigade
in many of the operations in Virginia. He went from Richmond to Gettys-
burg, and did his duty on many a hard-fought battlefield during the war.
He carried from the war the marlre of two wounds and was still a very young
man when he reached home and resumed the duties of civil life. He attended
the Martin. Institute at Jefferson, and in 1871 was graduated A. B. from
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2591
the Emory College. The funds needed for this education he earned by his
own labor, afld from college took up tlie work of teaching, haviug charge of
schools at Bamsville and at Ackworth in Cobb County. In the meantime
he had been sedulously pursuing the study of law, and was admitted to the
Georgia bar, JMay 5, lt>i4. He at once located in Jefferson and for many
years has been accounted one of the strongest members of that bar. He is
now president of the Jackson County Bar Association.
During the administration of Covemor Gordon Judge Mahaffey served
as judge of the County Court, and on February 15, 1916, was appointed judge
of the City Court of Jefferson County by Governor Slayton, At the demo-
cratic primary in ilay, 1916, be was renominated to succeed himself. For
seventeen years he was president of the board of education at Jefferson. He
is a member of the college fraternity K^pa Alpha, has been a Mason since
twenty-one, has served as worshipful master of Jefferson Lodge, and is also
affiliated with the Koyal Arch Chapter,
On December 16, 1678, Judge Mahaft'ey married Miss Evie Calahan, daugh-
ter of John Calahan of Jackson Coiinty, and a sister of Maj. William G.
Calahan, who made a notable record as a soldier. To their union have been
born seven children : John H. Lamar ilahaffey, now deceased; Colonel Claude,
a successful attorney at Athens; Charles 0., who is a farmer; Mary Lee
McElhenney, of Jefferson; i'annie L. Lamar Wilson, of Woodville, Greene
County; Lurlie; and Ruth, now Mrs. Rnssell of Mississippi. Mrs. Mahaffey
was born, married, and has reared all her children in the same house, and
from it also buried her father and mother and oldest son.
MiCAJAH WiLUAMsoN was One of the stroligest patriots furnished by
Georgia during the Revolutionary struggle. He was born in Bedford County,
Virginia, it is believed about 1735. In 1768 Colonel Williamson moved to
Georgia and bought a valuable plantation in W'ilkes County, for which he
gave sixty negroes. lie was at that time rated as one of the wealthy men
of Upper Georgia. He was a lieutenant-colonel in the Revolutionary war and
in the spring of 1781 commanded an attacking force sent against Augusta.
During the war his plantation was ravaged by the British and one of his
young sons hung and he died in 1795, shattered in health and spirits.
Robert Raymond Reid. One of the most accomplished men in the history
of Georgia was Robert Raymond Reid, lawyer, judge, mayor, and congress-
man in Georgia; judge, president of the Constitntional Convention, and
governor in Florida. He was born in Beaufort District, South Carolina,
September 8, 1789, completed his academic education at Columbia and com-
menced practice at Augusta, Georgia. In 1816, at the early age of twenty-
seven, he was judge of the Superior Court. In the Fifteenth Congress, which
met on December 1, 1817, Judge Reid was elected to Congressman Forsyth's
glace in the lower house. He was re-elected to the Sixteenth and Seven-
teenth congresses, making a period of about five years of congressional service.
At the close of his congressional career, he was again elected to the bench
of the Middle Circuit, from which he retired in 1825 and resumed the practice
of his profession. In February, 1827, Judge Reid was appointed to preside
over the City Court of Augusta, and in November, 1829, was re-elected by
the Legislature to the same office. On May 24, 1832, President Jackson com-
missioned him as United States judge for the District of East Florida, and
in December, 1839, President Van Buren appointed him governor of the
territory. In July, 1841, he died at his residence in Blackwood, a few miles
from Tallahassee.
Jahes Edward Maix:om. In the office of tax receiver for Walton County,
James Edward Malcom has established a record for faithful and capable
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2592 QEOBOIA AND QEOBQIANS
service since 1909, and from the time of his first election h&s met witli no
opposition in his campaigns. Prior to becoming; the incumbent of this office
Mr. Malcom was for many years engaged in educational work, and some of
the leading professional and business men of Walton County received their
early instruction under his capable preceptorship. He belongs to a family
which has resided in Walton County since the early '40s, and was bom on a
farm in this county, December 9, 1862, being a son of George and Frances
(Towler) Malcom.
George Malcom was born in 1825, in Morgan County, Georgia, and was a
youDg maa when he came to Walton County and engaged in agricultural
pursuits. He continued to be engaged therein during the remaining years
of his life and died in 1875, when fifty years of age. Mr. Malcom was a
stalwart democrat, is remembered by the older generation as an honorable
Christian gentleman, and took an active part in the work of the Primitive
Baptist Church, Mrs. Malcom, also a native of Morgan County and a con-
sistent member of the same churchy survived her husband until 1907, and
passed away at the age of seventy years. They were the parents of eight
children, as follows : Georgia, who is the wife of W. A. Rogers, of Monroe,
who served for thirty- four years as tax collector of Walton County; Edgar,
who is a mechanic and resides at Stone Mountain, Georgia; Ophelia, who died
as the wife of R. B. Maughon; Cornelia, who is deceased; James Edward;
David P., who is engaged in farming in Walton County; William P., who
is a traveling salesman with headquarters at Atlanta; and Nancy A., who
is the wife of James H. Malcom, a Walton County agriculturist.
Educated in the Walton County country schools and the state normal
school, James Edward Malcom remained on the home farm until be was
twenty-four years of age, at which time he entered upon his long and success-
ful career as an educator. During the first year he had charge of a school in
Morgan County, and from that time forward for a period of twenty years
taught in various schools of Walton County. Many of this county's fore-
most physicians, attorneys and ministers, as well as men prominent in pub-
lic and business life, received their training under Mr. Malcom, and he is still
remembered as one of this locality's most popular and efficient educators.
Mr. Malcom retired from work as an instructor when he was first elected
tax receiver for Walton County, in 1909, and since that time he has- had no
opponent in the ensuing elections. A stanch democrat, he has been an active
worker in his party's interests, and is considered one of the strong and influ-
ential factors in the organization's success in Walton County. In his official
capacity he has evidenced a zealous desire Ut perform thoroughly and con-
scientiously the duties of his position, and the high esteem and confidence in
which he is universally held would seem to indicate that he has been successful
in achieving his ambition. Mr. Malcom is a member of the local lot^j^es of
the Masons and the Odd Fellows, in which he has many friends, and with
the members of his family belongs to the Baptist Church.
On December 30, 1888, Mr. Malcom was married in Walton County to'
Miss Sally C. Wright, who was bom in Gwinnett County, Geor^a, a daugh-
ter of James R. and Ella (Sorrells) Wright, Mr. Wright, who was formerly
county treasurer of Walton County, is engaged successfully in farming pur-
suits. Ten children have been horn to Mr, and Mrs, Malcom: Sally; Lottie,
who is the wife of M. E. Jones, a farmer of Walton County; George H., of
Atlanta, who married Florence Doster, of Moi^n County, and has one son,
James Edward 111; James Louis, who resides with his parents; Gipsy;
Phillip, who died in infancy ; and Robert, Helen, Mary and Marcus, who live
at home. Jlr. Malcom has always had valuable agricultural interests, and
is now the owner of a handsome farm, but his home has been located at Mon-
roe from the time of his election to his official position.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2593
Hon. James Walter Wise. One of Georgia's delegation to the present
Sixty-fourth Congress, James W. Wise has played a large part in his native
state during the last twenty years, has practiced law at Fayetteville since
1893, is one of the leading bankers and men of affairs in that section of
Georgia, and his election to Congress in 1914 was a fit recognition of his ability
and standards.
Bom in Henrj- County, Georgia, March 3, 1868, he is a son of George
Edward and Rachel (Poster) Wise. His father was a farmer and merchant,
and served in the Georgia Legislature during .1877-78. Congresmnan Wise
grew up with the best advantages at home and in school, attended public
schools and Emory College, read law in private offices, and was admitted to
the Georgia bar in 1892. In January of the following year he opened his
office at Fayetteville, and has since been in general practice there, though
business interests and public affairs have absorbed much of his time. In
February, 1906, Mr. Wise took the leading part in organizing the Fanners
& Merchants Bank of Fayetteville, with a capital of $25,000. He has been
its president since organization and the first vice president was W. T. Glower
and the first cashier C. D. Redwine. Mr. W. W. Redwine is now vice presi-
dent, while the office of cashier is still filled by C. D. Redwine. While the
capital remains the same, the statement of the bank's condition in 1915 shows
undivided profits of $25,500, and an ag^egate of deposits of $100,000. The
bank is located in its own home, a one-story building, 24x60 feet.
Mr. Wise's civic career has been one of steadfast loyalty to home institu-
tions and has been marked with a number of official honors. He served aa
mayor of Fayetteville two terms, and was elected to the Legislature in 1902
and 1908. In 1907 he was elected solicitor-geneial and gave four years of
service in that capacity. In 1912 he was a candidate for Congress, being
defeated by only a small majority, and in 1914 the honor of election came
to him with little difficulty. Mr. Wise is a director in the Fayetteville Oil
Company and a director of the John M. Jackson Mercantile Company. In
Masonry he is a Lodge and Knight Templar Commandery member and also
a Shriner and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Pellows. He
is a trustee in the Methodist Episcopal church at Fayetteville.
June 15, 1913. he married Miss Cora Belts of McDonough. Henry County,
Georgia. They have one child, Margaret.
Samdel W. Mims, M. D. The prestige of being the dean of his profession
in Screven County is consistently to be accorded to Doctor Mims, who haa
here been continuously engaged in practice since 1878 and whose name haa
become a revered household word in his native county, where he has so long
ministered to those in suffering and distress, bringing to bear high professionfj
skill and the cheering influence of a buoyant and optimistic nature. Self-
abnegating and faithful in the work of his humane calling, he has mani-
fested a high sense of his stewardship and has attended rich and poor alike,
has endured the arduous labors of long drives, often made at night and under
most distressing conditions of weather and roads, and his zeal in his ministra-
tions has been as great in the case of those in such financial circumstances
that he could look for no monetary recompense, as when he has been called
by families in really opulent circumstances. He places true values, haa
proved himself humanity's friend, so that it may well be understood that
affectionate regard, as well as confidence and esteem is accorded to him by
the people of his native county.
In what was formerly known as the Mobley Pond District of Screven
County, Georgia, a center of aristocratic homes in the fine old Southern
regime prior to the Civil war, Doctor Mims was bom on the 26th of March,
1854, and thus the period of his childhood was compassed by surroundings
and conditions indicative of special culture and refinement. He is a son of
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2594 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Dr. Thomas S. and Mary (Lines) Mima. His father, a scion of patrician old
Southern stock, was born in Barnwell District, South Carolina, and became
a man of high intellectual and professional attainments. After his gradua-
tion in a leading medical school in the City of Charleston, South Carolina,
he remained for a time in his native state and then came to Screven County,
Georgia, where he continued in the active and successful practice of his
profession for sisty-seven years and where he was one of the most extensive
plantere and slaveholders of the county prior to the war between the states.
This honored pioneer physician represented the beat of the fine old Southern
aristocracy and was himself a man of distinction, — courtly, dignitied and
affable, with the consideration and kindliness that ever mark gentle breed-
ing. He died at the venerable age of. eighty-seven years, and the devoted
wife of his young manhood, passed to the life eternal in 1861, a gracious
gentlewoman who was loved by all who came within the sphere of her
influence. Of the twelve children of this union only five are now living,
Dr. Samuel W., immediate subject of this review, having been the eighth in
order of birth. Dr. James E. Itlims, who first attended the medical depart-
ment of the University of Georgia, was later graduated in the South Caro-
lina Medical College, in the City of Charleston, and he is now "engaged in the
practice of his profession in the City of Jacksonville, Florida. Allene Mims
became the wife of William Barton and they now maintain their home at
Williston, Florida. Britton Mims is one of the prosperous agriculturists and
representative citizens of Screven County, and Allen Mims, who maintains
his home at Sylvania, is in the United States postal service. For his second
wife Dr. Thomas S. Mims wedded Miss Judith Brown, a native of Virginia,
and she survived him by a number of years. Of the seven children of this
union four are living : Mrs. Willie Chance, of Sylvania ; Mrs. Sally Maner,
whose husband is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Mars, Lowndes
County; and Lucy Willis Mims, who resides at Williston, Florida; and
Dr. Frank Mims, who was graduated in the Univeraity of Georgia and who
is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Mars, Lowndes County.
Dr. Samuel Walter Mims, both as a citizen and as a physician and sui^on,
has well upheld the high prestige of the family name. After acquiring his
early education in Screven County and in Hepzibah Academy, in Richmond
County, he entered the medical department of the University of Georgia, in
the City of Augusta, and in this institution he was graduated as a member
of the class of 1878 and with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereafter
he completed an effective post-graduate course in the celebrated New York
Polyclinic, in the national metropolis, and during the long intervening years,
by close study and research, he has kept in touch with the advances made in
both medical and surgical science, so that he has been able to give to his
work the maximum skill and judgment.
Doctor Mims engaged in the practice of his profession in his native county
immediately after his graduation, and from 1878 to 1883 he maintained hia
residence in one of the principal rural districts of the county. In the year
last mentioned he removed to Sylvania, the county seat, where he has con-
tinued his earnest and effective professional services during the long inter-
vening period of more than thirty years and where he is not only the oldest
practitioner of the county in duration of service but where he is recognized
as the leader of hia profession in Screven County and as one of the foremost
representatives in thia part of the state. The Doctor is actively identified
■with the American Medical Association, the Georgia State Medical Associa-
tion and the First Congressional District Medical Society.
For his own diversion and for the benefit his experiments and experience
might give to others. Doctor Mims has long taken a lively interest in intensive
farming, and he is the owner of a well improved landed estate of 160 acres,
a considerable portion of which lies within the corporate limits of Sylvania.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2595
On this homestead he and his gracious and popular wife maintain their resi-
dence, and their stately old Southern dwelling, one of the beautiful homes of
Georgia, is a center of generous and cordial hospitality, even as it is pervaded
with the atmosphere of distinct culture and high ideals.
Doctor Minis has never wavered in his allegiance to the democratic party,
hut has preferretl to give his close attention to his exacting profession rather
than to enter the turbulent current of practical politics. He is a Knights
Templar Mason, is af^liated also with the Knights of Pythias and the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife are zealous members
of the Presbyterian Church, in which he holds the office of elder.
On the 4th of November, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor
Miras to Miss Emma Eve Smith, the ceremony having been performed at
Decatur, DeKalb County. Mrs. Mims was born at Rome, Ployd County,
Geoi^ia, and is a daughter of Oswell E. and Susan (Hall) Smith. Oswell
Smith wa.s born at Augusta, Georgia, a son of .William Smith, who was a
native of England and who became a prominent citizen of Augusta, Georgia,
where he carried on an extensive business as a cotton factor or broker. Prior
to the war the father of Mrs. Mims waa an influential cotton planter and
slaveholder, and both he and his wife were residents of Augusta at the time
of their death. Mrs. Smith was a daughter of Benjamin and Harriet (Beebe)
Hall, ber father having eome to Georgia from New Jersey, his native state.
Of the three children of Doctor and ^Irs. Mims only one is living. Harry
Hall Mims was born in 1881 and was a student of medicine at the time of his
death, in 1909. Eugene died in early childhood. Clifford Ainsley Mims, the
only surviving child, is one of the leading merchants and most progressive
and popular business men of the younger generation in Sylvania. He mar-
ried Miss Theo Selby, who was born in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, a
daughter of William and Georgia (Anderson) Selby, the latter of whom is
deceased and the former of whom now maintains his residence in the City of
St, Louis, Missouri. Clifford A. and Theo (Selby) Mims have two children, —
Emily Eve, who was born on the 10th of March, 1909, and Edna Selby, who
was born December 12, 1911.
Ernest Marvin Smith. In every communitj' there are men who, by
force of native ability, industry and integrity, stimulated by a worthy ambi-
tion, forge ahead by their fellows and advance to the front rank in life's
battle, becoming acknowledged leaders in their respective spheres and deserv-
edly winning honor and success. The career of Hon. Ernest Marvin Smith,
of McDonough, Georgia, bears out this assertion in an unmistakable manner.
Mr. Smith is a native Georgian, having been born in Monroe County, this
state, January 7, IST-i. His parents were Augustus Clayton and Sarah Jane
(Phinazee) Smith, the father also n native of <ieorgia and a farmer by
occupation.
The subject of this memoir acquired the greater part of his literary educa-
tion at Emory College, Oxford. Georgia. Subsequently taking up the study
of law in Forsyth, he applied himself diligently to the mastery of his chosen
profession and was admitted to the bar in 1894. He began legal practice
in Porsyth, remaining there until 1897, at which time he came to McDonough,
where he has since been engaged in general practice, giving evidence of
marked capacity as a lawyer, and proving his power to aucceasfully cope
with the intricate problems of jurisprudence. His ability in his profession
and his character as a citi?,en have won for bim deserved honors, and he has
been repeatedly called upon to serve his fellow citizens in important offices,
including that of mayor, in which he is now serving his twelfth terra. He
was elected to the legislature for three years, and for six years — from 1902
to 1908— was county solicitor. In 1914 he was elected to the Senate from the
thirty-fourth district. He is attorney for Henry County, also for the First
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2596 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
National Bank and Farmers Bank of McDoiiough, and is a director of the
Bank of Henry County, his general business ability having become widely
recognized, as is also hia fidelity to every trust reposed in him. Mr, Smith
belongs to the Masonic order, in which he has advanced as far as the
Commandery, being also a noble of the Mystic Shrine. His other fraternal
affiliations are witii the Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, and the Knights of Pythias, in which last mentioned order be in past
chancellor, and representative to the Grand Lodge, having also been deputy
for the sixth district.
December 20, 1899, Ernest Marvin Smith was married to Miss Flora
Turner, of McDonough, Georgia. Two children have come to bl^s their home,
Sarah Louise and EmeSt Marvin, junior. The family attend the Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Smith is a trustee.
Seaton Grantland. In that section of Western Georgia of which Griffin
is one of the most important city centers there has been no more conspicuous
figure in all the substantial work of upbuilding during the last half century
than Seaton Grantland, who is descended from one of the old and permanent
planter families of this state, and whose individual record has included a
brief service as boy soldier in the ivar between the states, a long and active
career as a lawyer, a founder and upbuilder of important industries, and a
varied service in public life.
Born in Baldwin County, Georgia, November 16, 1847, he is a son of David
J. and Susan Mary Grantland. Both his father and grandfather Grantland
were prominent planters in Geoi^a, and the family probably had the lai^st
extent of land under cultivation in that section of the state at the beginnii^
of the war. Grandfather Grantland came from Virginia to Baldwin County
about the year 1800, and all the earlier ancestors were Virginia people,
David J. Grantland at one time represented a Georgia district in the haUs
of the National Congress,
When Seaton Grantland was fourteen years of age, 1861, the family
removed from Jackson to Macon. Though a schoolboy, he had all the ardor
of a southerp patriot, regularly drilled with an organization of Georgia
cadets, and in 1864 took his place in the ranks with the Georgia militia, and
served until 1865. After the war he located at Griffin, and subsequently
was a student in Georgetown University at Washington, D. C, and also in
the Virginia Military School. In, 1873 Mr, Grantland completed his course
in the law department of Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee,
and has been an active member of the Georgia bar more than forty years.
His professional record has included participation in many important
cases and the handling of a large volume of legal business, but Mr. Grantland
is probably best known for his work as a banker and industrial promoter and
as a public official. He established the Kincaid Mills and later built the
Griffin Mills, and was a director in both companies. For ten years he served
as president of the Merchants and Planters Bank at Griffin. He built the
plant of the Towalita Falls Power Company. In 1885 when the Georgia
Midland & Gulf Railroad was building through Macon he was one of the men
who contributed largely from their own means in order to secure the construc-
tion of the road through Griffin, a road that has been largely instrumental in
the subsequent development of that city.
In 1878 Mr. Grantland was elected for one term of two years in the State
Senate. Again in 1900, after a petition had been presented by fully two-
thirds of the voters in his district, he was again a candidate and elected for
a second term in the State Senate. For two terms he served as mayor of
Griffin. He is a member of the Capital City Club of Atlanta.
In 1880 he married Lelia Ada Gilliam of Savannah. Georgia. They have
two daughters: Ijelia is now Mrs. H. W. Barnes of Griffin, and Susanne Mary
is Mrs. Robert Wallace Tilney of Orange, New Jersey.
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GEOEGIA AND GEORGIANS 2597
George Bbown, M. D. Id the full measure of profeseioaal ability and
success in the spplicatlou of his knowledge in the alleviation of human
suffering and distress, lies the unmistakable prestige of Doctor Brown in the
exacting vocation of his choice. As one of the essentially representative
physicians and surgeons of Georgia he is engaged in the practice of his
profession in the city of Atlanta, where he concentrates his activities specially
in the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of the ear, nose, throat and
lungs, his finely appointed ofBces being Suite 312-14 Austell Building, where
also he maintains his executive headquarters as president of the Brown
Chemical Company, manufacturers and wholesale distributors of his valuable
and distinctively ethical "Red Cross" remedies, — notably his original cot-
ton-seed oil emulsion and tasteless wine of cod-liver oil.
The influence of Doctor Brown has been large and benignant not only in
connection with the work of his profession, in wHch his activities and priority
have far transcended local limitations, but he has been prominent and influen-
tial also as a legislator, as a valued factor in the militia of Georgia, and as a
liberal, progressive and public-spirited citizen.
Doctor Brown was born at Belton, South Carolina, on the 16th of July,
1863, and is a son of Dr. William Carroll Brown and Annah Louisa (Dean)
Brown, representatives of old and distinguished southern families. Dr. Wil-
liam C- Brown, a physician and surgeon of much ability, was engaged in the
practice of his profession at Belton for a full quarter of a century and
was a man of prominence and influence in South Carolina, where he served
as a member of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature in
1876, an assembly commonly designated as the Wallace Legislature. His
father, Charles Mackay Brown, was a native of Rabun County, Georgia, and
he was the father of Hon. Joseph E. Brown, who served as a member of the
United States Senate and as war governor of Georgia, as well as of Judge
James R. Brown, Dr. Aaron P. Brown, Mrs. John H. Boston, Mrs. Mary Wat-
kins, Mrs. Berryman Turner, John M. and George Brown, who were killed in
the war of 1861-65, all of Georgia. Charles M. Brown was a gallant soldier iu
the War of 1812, in which he served in General Carroll's brigade of Tennessee
troops in the battle of New Orleans, where of the seven American soldiers
killed two were memiiers of his company. His father, Joseph Brown, was a
patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution, in which he was in the com-
mand of Morgan and participated in the battles of King's Mountain, Caulden,
Cowpens and Cheraw.
Mrs. Annah Louisa Brown was a daughter of Rev. Charles Pickney Dean
and Anna Louisa (Horton) Dean of South Carolina, her father having been
for many years one of the revered and representative clergymen of the
Baptist Church in the Piedmont section of that state.
Reared under the depressed conditions that obtained in the South after
the close of the Civil war, Dr. George Brown acquired his early education
in the schools of his native place, and thereafter continued his studies in the
North Georpa Agricultural CollcKe, at Dahlonega. After the death of his
father he went to the West and finally became identified with railway con-
struction service in the Republic of Mexico, where he assisted in the building
of the Mexican National Railroad and othei- lines, and where he remained
five years. After his return to the United States he entered the Southern
Medical College in the City of Atlanta, and in this institution he was grad-
uated in 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and as valedictorian of
his class. He then accepted a position in the office of Dr. Thomas R. Powell,
president of this college, and he remained thus engaged for somewhat more
than a year. For eighteen months thereafter Doctor Brown attended the
Post-Qraduate Medical School and the Polyclinic in the City of New York,
and upon- his return to Atlanta he entered the office of Dr. Arthur G. Hobbs.
the well-known throat specialist, with whom he continued to be associated
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2598 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
several years. He 1ms since been engaged ia the independent practice of his
profession in the capital city of Georgia and has gained inviolable reputation
as one of the leading specialists in the youth in the treatment of diseases of
the ear, nose, throat and lungs. He served successively as secretary and vice
president of the American Congress on Tuberculosis, and as secretary and
president of the American A nti- Tuberculosis League, in his administration
as president of this league was held in Atlanta, April, 19, 20, 21, 1905, the
largest meeting of the kind ever held in North America, This convention
was attended by the most prominent physicians from different parts of the
world and its deliberations inured greatly to the benefit of humanity, in
considering and formulating ways and means for the prevention and treat-
ment of tuberculosis. Governor Terrell, .with marked consideration, tendered
on this occasion the use of the state capitol for the a^embling of this great
convention, and this was the first time such a compliment was paid to a
medical body in the southern states. In 1902 Doctor Brown was appointed
one of the American delegates to the British Congress on Tuberculosis, held
in the City of London, While in the world's metropolis he was made the
recipient of many distinguished courtesies and attention, having been pre-
sented to King Edward and having attended representative reception ten-
dered by the Lord Mayor of London, by the Earl of Derby, by the Duchess
of Northumberland, by Sir Jantes Whittaker and by Lady Ellis.
In 1905 Doctor Brown was appointed a member of the executive com-
mittee of the International Medical Society to aid in the suppressiop of war,
this society having beep organized in Paris, France, under the presidency
of Dr. J. A. Riviere, chevalier of the Legion of Honor and editor of the
Annales de Physicotherapie, Later he effected the organization of the Ameri-
can branch of this important society; and he represented the sanLe at the gen-
eral congress held in Paris in 1907, How impotent the interposition of all
such humane agencies has proved needs no furtlier voucher than the hor-
rific war that is devastating Europe at the present time, but the hope of
humanity rests in the assurance that the maturer judgment and the deeper
interests in the scheme of life will hereafter prevent such ignoble clashes
between nations.
In 1904 Doctor Brown was the author of a bill that was passed by the
Georgia Legislature for the appointing of a state commission on tuberculosis,
the duties of this commission being to consider and devise the most eifeetive
means for preventing the spread of pulmonary tuberculosis within the borders
of the state. For personal reasons the Doctor declined to accept this appoint-
ment, but Governor Terrell thereupon insisted that he should designate his
choice of fifteen members whom he considered most eligible for member-
ship on the commission, the work of which has since been zealous and fruitful.
Doctor Brown has been specially influential and popular in connection
with military affairs in Georgia. Soon after his return from New York City,
where he had taken post-graduate professional courses, he was elected surgeon
of the Gate City Guards, then the mast prominent military organization of
the South. In 1902 he was appointed lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp on
the military staff of Governor Allen D. Candler, and in this capacity he
served until the expiration of the governor's term, when he was transferred
to the line department of the state troops and appointed by Governor J. M,
Terrell, to the dual office of lieutenant colonel and assistant surgeon general.
oT which position he remained the incumbent until December, 1905, since
which time he has served continuously as colonel and surgeon general of
the Georgia National Guard, under Governor Hoke Smith. The Doctor has also
the distinction of being a member of the Washington Continental Guard of
New York, this being one of the oldest military organizations in the United
States. As it was originally formed as a bodyguard to General Washington
during the Revolution, only those are eligible for membership at the present
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GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANH 2599
time who can trace their lineage in a direct way to Revolutionary soldiers of
the Continental line. For many years Doctor Brown has held membership
also in the Army and Navy (Jlub of New York City. At the inception of
the Spanish-American war he was one of the Jirst to tender his services to the
nation, but the question of rank having arisc-n, he declined the appointment
offered him by Governor Atkinson and thus saw no active service in the
conflict, in the Masonic fraternity he has attained to the thirty-second
degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides being affiliated with the
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of I'ythias and other representa-
tive civic organizations. It should be specially noted that in 1910 the Doctor
effected the organization of the Atlanta Club, which is one of the largest and
most influential organizations of the kind in the Georgia metropolis. At
the time of organization he was elected president of the board of governors
of this club, of which he is the president at the time of this writing, in 1915.
In June, 1908, Doctor Brown was elected a member of the House of Repre-
sentatives of the Geoi^ia Legislature, from Pulton County, and hia personal
popularity was shown in the fact that he led the party ticket, by receiving
a total of 6,086 votes. In June, 1911, he was re-elected, with a vote of 6,145 —
a significant attestation to the estiraate placed upon his services by the voters
of Fulton County. Further emphasis is given in his having been elected
without having printed or issued any cards asking for support, without having
requested a single man to vote for him, and without having expended a single
cent to insure his success at the polls. During th? four years of his service
in the Legislature Doctor Brown was chairman of the house committee on
hygiene and sanitation, besides having been assigned to other important com-
mittees and having been the author of numerous bills, each of which he cham-
pioned with characteristic energy and ability.
On the 6th of August, 1910, soon after the birth of a daughter to Doctor
and Mrs. Brown, there was introduced in the House of Representatives of the
Georgia Legislature a resolution providing for the naming of this daughter
as "Georgia," the authors of thip unusual and gracious bill having been
introduced by Messrs. Nisbitt, of Sumter County; Joe Hill Hall, of Bilk
County; Randolph Anderson, of Ciiatham County; and Carl Vinson, of Bald-
win County. The name was designated as being consistently given in honor of
the State of Georgia and "in recc^nition of the services" of the father of
the little daughter and "great Sta(e of Georgia, which he so worthily repre-
sents on this floor." This bill or resolution was passed by the house and a
copy of the same, certified by Hon. John T. BainffiUett, clerk of the
house, was sent to Doctor and Mrs. Brown, together with a beautiful loving
cup and a gold card engraved with the seal of the state, this card having
been presented to Miss fieorgia Brown and a similar one to her mother, and
the cards giving to them the privileges of the floor of the Georgia House of
Representatives during their lives.
Doctor Brown has one hobby in which he has indulged with much satis-
faction and to which he has given much attention, this l>eing in the collection
of military buttons, of which he has more than 7,000 specimens — the largest
collection of the kind in the world and one that has attracted wide attention
both in this countrv and abroad, its value being conservatively placed at
*20,000.
Col. John Mii.tox-. whose name is perpetuated in Georgia in Milton County,
was a son of John Milton, who came from England and settled in Halifax
County, North Carolina, abont 1730. This first John Milton married Mary
Farr. and the second John became one of the notable figures in Georgia
Revolutionary history, When that struggle began he was a planter in the
new Colony of Georgia, and on the organization of the Georgia state govern-
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2600 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
ment was oi sufficient prominence to be elected the first secretary of state.
In that capacity he preserved the state records during the Revolutionary war,
in which he reached the rank of captain. Such was his personal popularity
that at the first election for President of tEe United States he received the
vote of part of the electors of Georgia for President, Retiring from polities,
after this the remainder of his life waa spent on his plantation near Louis-
ville, Jefferson County. He was a charter member of the "Society ol th«
Cincinnati," and served as secretary of the Georgia branch. He died in
1824. One of his sons, also John Milton, became governor of Florida.
David B. Mitchell was bom in Scotland, on October 22, 1766, In 1783
he came to Savannah, a youth of seventeen, to take possession of the estate
left him by his uncle, a well known soldier and surgeon who had died a
prisoner of war after the capture of that city by the British. After arrang-
ing the business of the inheritaiice, he was so well pleased that he decided
to settle in Georgia and make the state his home. He studied law under
former Governor William Stephens, gained a foothold at the bar, and in 1795
was elected the solicitor-general of his circuit. In 1796 he was in the lower
house of the General Assembly; in 1804 he was made major-general of the
First Division of Georgia Militia and held that office until elected govemOT
of Georgia (jn the 9th of November, 1809, His first terra expired on Novem-
ber 5, 1813, and on November, 1815, he was re-eleeted to the gubernatorial
chair. He resigned the governorship in 1817 upon his appointment as agent
of the Creek Nation and in January, 1818, after concluding the treaty retired
permanently from public life, dying at his home in Milledgeville, April 22,
1837.
Dr. Wave Wilbur Bl.\ckman, proprietor of the Robertson-Blackman
Sanitarium, at 172 Capitol Avenue, Atlanta, was bom at Wauscon, Ohio,
July 2, 1881, the son of Prank G, and Mary (Woodward) Blackman. The
father, who was a native of Michigan, and a photographer by occupation, is
now deceased. His widow survives hira and resides in Atlanta with her son,
the subject of this sketch.
W. Wilbur Blackman acquired his literary education at Ohio Wesleyan
University at Delawar?, Ohio. Soon after he entered upon the study .of
osteopathy and in 1903 was graduated from the Still College of Osteopathy
at Des Moines, Iowa, and began the practice of his profession at Bluffton,
Indiana, where he remained until 1907. In the meanwhile, however, he took
a post-graduate course and in 1905 was graduated from the American School
of Osteopathy at KirkaviUe, Missouri, which is the parent school of the
science, In 1907 Doctor Blackman came to Atlanta and on August 1st of
that year purchased the Robertson Sanitarium on Capitol Avenue, an insti-
tution which had been founded in 1879 by Dr. TJlof 0, Robertson, who con-
ducted it exclusively as a Water Cure establishment until failing health
compelled him to sell the property. Doctor Robertson, who was a Swede,
and a very capable and lovable man, was a graduate of a New York college
and a classmate of Dr. John H. Kellogg, founder of Battle Creek Sanita-
rium. He died in the year following the sale of his property — on August 4,
1908. On taking hold of the institution Doctor Blackman at once introduced
the practice of osteopathy, making use of it in connection with the "Water
Cure, which he has since continued to do with very gratifying results, as the
Robertson-Blackman Sanitarium is winning a reputation that extends all
over the country, patients coming from very many states of the Union.
In 1913 Doctor Blackman was graduated from the Georgia College of Medi-
cine and Surgery of Atlanta, thus becoming qualified in the third and oldest
branch of the healing profession. He is a member of the Medical Association
of Georgia and of the American Medical Association. Religiously he is affil-
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GEORGIA AND GEOEGIANS 2601
iated with the Episcopal Church. In Free Masonry he has advanced as far
as the Commandery, also belonging to the Mystic Shrine. His other social
affiliations include membership in the Druid Hills Golf Club, the Atlauta
Athletic Club and the Capital ,City Club.
On September 9, 1909, Doctor Blackman was married to Miss Marion
Lewis, of New York City, who was reared in the City of Brooklyn. Her
father, Dr. Edwin A. Lewis, who was a graduate of Tale University and
Bellevue Medical College, was a prominent surgeon of Brooklyn, dying in.
1911. Doctor and Mrs. Blackman are the parents of one son, Wilbur Lewis,
who was bom December 7, 1910.
Edward Zachrt Arnold. It is gratifying to note to how large an extent
the bar of the State of Georgia has in later, as well as former, generations
been recruited from the native sons of this great Empire commonwealth of
the South, and a prominent representative of the legal profession at the bar
of the Pataula judicial circuit is Edward Zachry Arnold (known as Zach
Arnold), who is engaged in the successful practice of law at Fort Gaines, the
judicial center of Clay County, and who is a scion of an old and honored
Georgia family.
Mr, Arnold was bom at Stoekbridge, Henry County, Georgia, on the 5th
of January, 1889, and is a son of Rev. Walter E. and Hattie Lavonla
(Murphy) Arnold, who now maintain their residence at Birmingham, Ala-
bama. Rev. Walter E. Arnold was bom and reared in Henry County,
Georgia, and his wife was bom at Jonesboro, Clayton County, this state.
Rev. Walter E. Arnold is a man of high intellectual attainments and has
devoted his mature life to effective service as a clergyman of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. He was long a prominent and influential figure
in the ministry of the North Georgia Conference, and here he continued his
ministrations until January, 1907, when he retired from the active work and
moved to Atlanta, there remaining until January, 1916, when he moved to
Birmingham, Alabama. He was born in the year 1863, when his native state
was the stage of great polemic activities incidental to the Civil war, and thus
his boyhood days were passed under the adverse conditions that marked the
Bo-callcd period of reconstruction in the South. Of the children the eldest is
Mabry Ward, who is now the wife of Edward 0. Batson, of Sylacauga, Ala-
bama : Emma Haynes Arnold is a saceessful and popular teacher of music in
the City of Atlanta; Walter E., Jr., is engaged in the insurance business at
Birmingham:, Alabama; Jamie Edmundson and Charles S, remain at the
parental home; and he whose name initiates this review was the third in
order of birth.
Edward Zachry Arnold was favored in being reared under the influences
of a home of distinctive culture and refinement, and after availing himself
of the advantages of the public schools he was for three years a student in
the Gordon Military Institute, at Bamesville, Pike County. Upon leaving
this institution he entered Young Harris College, at Young Harris, Georgia,
where he continued higher academic studies for a period of about two years.
In consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans, he was then
matriculated in the Atlanta Law School, and in this admirable institution he
completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class
of 1911, with first honor, and as valedictorian of his class. After thus receiv-
ing his degree of Bachelor of Laws he engaged in the practice of his profes-
sion in the City of Atlanta, where he was successful in his work and proved
the legitimacy of his choice of vocation. In the capital city he continued in
active general practice for two years, and within this period he was elected
captain of a local military company of the Georgia National Guard.
In April, 1913, Mr, Arnold removed to Fort Gaines, the former home of
his wife, and here he became a member of the law firm of King, Castellon &
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2602 _ GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Arnold, this alliance having been continued until the dissolution of the firm,
on the 1st of January, 1915. Since that time he has conducted an individual
practice in this city and he lias strong vantage-place at the bar of this
circuit, where he has appeared in connection with much important litigation
and has proved one of the versatile and resourceful advocates and able coun-
selors of the Pataula circuit. He has a representative clientage, and it should
he specially noted that he is attorney for the First National Bank, the Union
•Savings Bank, the local electric light company, the Port Gaines Cotton Oil
('ompany, and the Alaga Fertilizer Company, all important corporations of
Port Gaines.
Mr. Arnold is recognized as one of the vigorous and influential exponents
of the principles of the democratic party and in the autumn of 1914 he was
elected representative of Clay County in the lower house of the Georgia
Legislature. He proved a resourceful working member o£ the Legislature,
in which he devoted himself earnestly to furthering the interests of his
constituent district and to the fostering of legislation that would prove of
value to the state at large. He was assigned to membership on various impor-
tant committees, including the judiciary committee, and it was particularly
to his credit and distinction that he was one of the joint authors of the pro-
hibition bill that was enacted as a state law of Geoi^ia in the legislative
session of 1915, He has been an active and influential speaker in campaign
work and is one of the leading representatives of the democratic party in
Clay County. He will represent his county again in 1917-1918, having been
given the second term without opposition. He and his wife are zealous mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he is serving as a steward
of the church at Fort Gaines. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity,
the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, and holds active
membership in the Georgia State Bar Association. Mr, Arnold has not only
attained to distinctive success and prestige in his profession but is also a
successful representative of agricultural industry in Clay County, where he
owns a well improved landed estate. He is one of the progressive and public-
spirited men of Clay County and commands inviolable place in popular
confidence and good will.
James Arnold, grandfather of him whose name initiates this article,
served with distinction as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in
which he wa-s a lieutenant in the command of General Longstreet. He was a
son of Elijah B. Arnold, who was an extensive planter and slaveholder of
Henry County and who was one of the influential citizens of that county,
which he represented in the State Legislature, having served as clerk of the
House of Representatives when the capital of the state was at Milledgeville
and having held this position for twenty years.
On the 29th of June, 1911, was solemnized the marriage of Edward
Zachry Arnold to Miss Jimmie Elizabeth McLendon, daughter of Neeham H.
and Ada (Wright) McLendon, of Fort Gaines, her father being a leading
merchant and planter of Clay County and a representative of one of the old
and influential families of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold
have two children, — .Jimmie Elizabeth, who was born in Atlanta, on the 15th
of October, 1912; and Edwina Zachry, who was bom at Port Gaines, on the
16th of April, 1914.
WiLi,i.\M R. LovETT, M. D, Within the pages of this history will be found
specific mention of a goodly number of the representative citizens of Screven
County, and to such recognition Doctor Lovett is specially entitled, both by
reason of his high standing in his exacting profession and on account of his
being a native of the county and one of honored and influential citizens of
S,vlvania, where he has been engaged in the active and successful practice of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2603
his profession since 1900, thoi]^h his activities as one of the able physicians
and surgeons of his native county had their inception in 1887, -
Dr. William Robert Lovett was born on the homestead plantation of his
father, in Screven County, and the date of his nativity was August 17, 1862.
He was thus ushered into the world at a time when his native state was becom-
ing the stage of devastating activities and military operations incidental to
the Civil war, in which his father was at the time serving as a gallant soldier
in the Confederate ranks. Doctor Lovett is a son of Judge John F. and
Elizabeth {Bates) Lovett, both likewise natives of Georgia, within whose
gracious borders they passed their entire lives. Mrs. Lovett was a daughter
of Captain Bates, who was a native of South Carolina and who became one
of the pioneer ship earpeoters and vessel commanders on the Savannah River
in Geoi^ia. John F. Lovett was a son of Thomas F. Lovett, who was a native
of Virginia and a lineal descendant of one of the Puritan colonists who came
to America on the historic ship "Mayflower" and settled in New England,
whence representatives of the family later went into Virginia. Members of
this sterling colonial family were found as valiant soldiers in the early wars
in which the nation was involved, and in later generations have been members
who have been specially prominent and influential in the furtherance of
general civic advancement, including the cause of education, and in railroad
developments. Robert S. Lovett, a brother of Judge John P., was a promi-
nent railroad builder in the State -of Texas, and in this line of enterprise was
closely associated with the great financier, Hardeman.
Judge John F. Lovett was born in Screven County, where his- father
became a pioneer planter, and tlie year of his nativity was 1823. Judge
Lovett passed his. entire life in Screven County, save for the period of his
service as a soldier in the Civil war, and here he was summoned to the life
eternal after he had attained to the age of more than seventy years. He
served many years as justice of the peace and later as judge of the city
court of Sylvania, the county seat. He was a man of superior intellectuality
and of sterling character, a leader in local sentiment and action, and a citizen
who ever commanded the un()ualified esteem of his fellow men. During the
entire period of the war between the states of the South and the North he
served as a loyal and valiant soldier of the Confederacy. He was a member
of the Fifth Georgia Cavalry, which gallant regiment was commanded by
General Joseph "Wheeler, Judge Lovett continued his association with agri-
cultural industry in Screven County during virtually his entire active career,
and was a substantial citizen whose life record offers both lesson and incen-
tive. He was a stanch democrat, was aEBliated with the United Confederate
Veterans, and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. Mrs. Lovett passed away when about sixty-six
years of age, and of the four children the eldest is Miss Rosa, who maintains
her home at Sylvania ; J'lorenee is the wife of James Greener, of Sylvania ;
John R. likewise resides at Sylvania, and is a prosperous merchant and
planter ; and Doctor Lovett is the oldest of the number.
- The public schools of Screven County afforded to Doctor Lovett his early
educational advantages, and he proved himself a receptive and ambitious
student even when a boy. After this preliminary discipline he entered
Emory College, at Oxford, Georgia, where he continued his studies until the
opening of his senior year, when the serious illness of his father caused him
to leave college and return home, where he assumed the active management
of the homestead plantation.
In 1884 Doctor Lovett initiated the work of preparing himself for his
chosen profession, and in pursuance of the course of his ambition he entered
the Qeongia Medical College, at Augusta, this being the medical department
of the University of Georgia, He was graduated as a member of the class
of 1887 and duly received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine.
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2604 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Shortly after his graduation he established his residence in the village ol
Baseom, Screven County, and from that place as headquarters he built up a
large and important practice which extended over a wide radius of country.
He continued his residence at Bascom until 1900, since which time he has
been engaged in practice at Sylvania, the county seat. Hia success has been
fortified by his keeping in touch with the advances made in medical and
surgical science and he is consistently to be designated as one of the repre-
sentative members of his profession in the eastern part of his native state.
At Sylvania he owns his pleasant home property and other town realty, and
he is the owner also of one of the well improved and valuable farms of Screven
County, the same receiving at his hands a general supervision and a substan-
tial revenue being received from its operation.
Doctor Lovett controls a specially large and representative practice and
is thoroughly en rapport with the work and humane service of his profession.
He is actively identified with the American Medical Association, the Georgia
State Medical Association, and the First Congressional District Medical
Society. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his
wife hold membership in Hie Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which
he has served twenty years in the office of steward. During nearly thirty
years of zealous and effective work in his profession Doctor Dovett has not
circumscribed himself with the same but has stood exponent of loyal and
public-spirited citizenship and taken a lively interest in all things contributing
to civic and material prosperity in his home town and county. He served for
a number of years as a trustee of the >school district and proved a valuable
factor in advancing educational interests. To all of his children be has given
excellent educational advantages, and he and his wife are known as persons
of fine intellectual endowment, the while they have a circle of friends that is
limited only by the number of their acquaintances.
On the 26th of September, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor
Lovett to Miss Kathleen Crockett, who was bom and reared in Screven
County and who is a daughter of Robert A. and Elizabeth (Palmer) Crockett.
Mr. Crockett was a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war and
became one of the successful agriculturists and representative 'citizens of
Screven County, both the Crockett and Palmer families having been num-
bered among the pioneer colonists at Hepzibah, Richmond County, Georgia.
Concerning the children of Doctor and Mrs. Lovett brief record is given
in this concluding paragraph : Lamar, like all of the other children, was
born and reared in Screven County, where he still maintains his home and is
engaged in farming, his wife, whose maiden name was Plorry Ross, having
been a resideiit of ^lillen, this county, at the time of their marriage. Robert
A., who is engaged in farming in his native county, married Miss Claudia A.
Waters, whose ancestors were numbered among the members of -the first
colony of Georgia settlers, at Ebenezer, in what is now Effingham County.
Mr, and ]\Irs. Robert A. Lovett have two children, — Kathleen and Elizabeth.
Linwood Lovett was graduated in the Sylvania High School and the Eastman
Business College, in the City of Poughkeepsie, New York, and he is now
stationed in the City of Savannah, where he is teller in the offices of tie
Southern Bell Telephone Company. William Robert Lovett, Jr., is a student
at Gordon Institute, at Barnesville, Pike County, Georgia.
Jaubs Y. Carithers. A man of substantial wealth, Mr. Carithers has
shown his appreciation of the responsibilities which success imposes and has
given his influence and co-operation in the furtherance of enterprises that
have been of inestimable value to the State of Georgia, especially along the
line of public-utility service. As a capitalist and man of affairs he has become
widely known not only in the United States but also has an extensive
acquaintanceship in Europe, where he has made extended tours for health
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2605
and recreation and for the stndy of railway equipm^it and service, with the
aim of bringing into play the best and most modem proviaions and facilities
in connection with the operation of the electric and general railway lines
with which he is identified in his home state. His liberality and progressive-
ness have made him one of the prominent and influential citizens of Georgia
and in his home City of Athens has he shown specially lively interest and
the highest type of civic loyalty. He has extensive interests in electric and
steam railways, being the organizer and heaviest stockholder of the Athens
Railway & Electric Company and a director and heavy stockholder of Hart-
well Railroad Company, which has the right of way from the main line of
the Southern Railway at BowersviUe to Hartwell, a distance of about twenty-
five miles, and which eventually will have terminal facilities in the City of
Augusta. Mr. Garithers is president of the Athens Railway & Electric Com-
pany and has taken great pride in making its equipment and service, which
the highest authorities have declared to be unexcelled in any section of the
world except Germany, a^regate mileage being not taken into consideration
but rather the perfection of the system in a generic way. Mr. Garithers
himself considers that Germany has the best electric-railway facilities of all
countries, and his investigations have there been extensive and concise, as
have they also in other leading countries of Europe, where he has made
extended tourswithin the past half decade. He was in Europe at the time
when the present war was declared, having been at Frankfort, Germany,
when the great conflict was precipitated and having received none but the
greatest official and general courtesy and consideration, so that be expe-
rienced none of the inconveniences of which other Americans have com-
plained. He remained in the war zone for more than a month and has been
constrained to state that the troubles and difficulties experienced by others
of his fellow countrymen were either largely imaginary or the result of their
own presumption. He finally made his way readily to Rotterdam, Holland,
where he obtained passage to New York on the steamship Rotterdam.
That Georgia of to-day well merits its cognomen of the Empire State of
the South is due largely to the enterprise, initiative and liberality of such
citizens as Mr. Carithers, whose activities have touched not only material
enterprises of broad scope and importance but also the domain of practical
benevolence and charity. He and his brothers, as associate owners of their
father's extensive landed estate, in Walton and Oconee counties have shown
a very practical form of philanthropy and humanitarian spirit by dividing
the great plantations into small farms and renting them to tenants, who are
thus able t« win for themselves independence and prosperity, the greater por-
tion of the family landed estate being situated in Walton County.
On the fine old homestead plantation in Walton County, Georgia, James
T. Carithers was born on tlie 13th of April, 1854, and his boyhood recollec-
tions thus touch the stress and circumstance that marked the great conflict
between the states of the North and the South. He is a son of Hugh A,
and Mary (Griffeth) Carithers, both of whom were bom and reared in this
state and both of whom represented the fine strains of colonial ancestry in
America, the lineage tracing through English, Scotch and German ancestry
and the respective families having early been founded in Georgia, where they
became prominent in the furthering of agricultural industry under the fine
old regime prior to the Civil war. In the earlier stages of his independent
career Hugh A. Carithers was a prominent and successful planter and gen-
eral agriculturist in Walton County, where eventually he engaged in the
mercantile business, with which he continued to be identified until the time
of his death. He was honored by being elected to the Legislature several
times from Walton County, Georgia. He died in 1903, at the age of seventy-
six years. He was one of the valiant and loyal sons of GeOi^a who served
with distinction during the entire period of the Civil war, as a member of a
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2606 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Georgia regiment of the Confederate army. In later years he continued bis
interest in his old comrades in arms and signalized the same by his affiliation
with the United Confederate Veterans, His devoted wife, a gracious and
revered gentlewoman, was summoned to the life eternal in 1911, at the ven-
erable age of eighty years. Of the eight children six attained to years of
maturity and of the number three are now living, — Hon. Robert L,, who
resides at Winder, Barrow County, and who was in 1915 a representative of
that county in the lower house of the Georgia L^islature; Hugh A., who
likewise resides at Winder and is another of the influential citizens of that
section of the state ; and James Y., of this review, who was the third in order
of birth of the eight children.
As a boy and youth James Y. Carithers attended the schools of Walton,
Oconee and Jackson counties, and this discipline was supplemented by a
course of study in Martin Institute, at Jefferson. After leaving school be
was for several years associated in the work and management of the home-
stead plantation and he then found employment in a country store. Finally
he established himself in independent business by opening a general store
in a rural district of Walton County, and he brought to bear characteristic
energy and circumspection, with the result that he soon developed a substan-
tial and prosperous business. Expanding the scope of his activities, he
engaged in the cotton-warehouse business, selling cotton on a commission
basis, and his cumulative success gave him the increased self-reliance and
executive ability that have made him resourceful and influential in still wider
fields of enterprise.
In the year 1894 Mr. Carithers effected the organization of what is now
the Athens Railway & Electric Company, of which be is president and the
affairs of which he has controlled with the utmost ability and discernment
of present and future demands to he placed upon its publicity service. He
is one of the directors of the Southern Klutual Fire Insurance Company of
Athens, and this company erected and owns the Southern Mutual office
building, which was completed in 1908 and which is one of the finest in the
City of Athens. Mr. Carithers is a director and executive officer of the
Southern Manufacturing Company of Athens and a director of the Hartwell
Railway Company, with headquarters at Hartwell, the judicial center of
Hart County. His civic loyalty has further been shown by his effective
service as a member of the board of aldermen of Athena and by his repre-
sentation of the Twenty-seventh District in the State Senate, to which he
was elected and served in 1905 and 1906. His political allegiance is given
Unreservedly to the democratic party, he is affiliated with the Masonic
fraternity, including the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, is identified also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Capitol
City Club of Atlanta and the Athens Golf Club, and both he and his wife are
members of the Missionary Baptist Church.
On the 18th of May, 1885, Mr. Carithers wedded Miss Ida Carter, daugh-
ter of James W. Carter, of Walton County, and she was summoned to the
life eternal on the 1st of February. 1897. The one child bom of this imion
died in infancy. On the 18th of November, 1902, was solemnized the mar-
riage of Mr. Carithers to Miss Eula Wise Witcher, daughter of William T.
Witcher, of Athens. They have no children. Mrs. Carithers is a leader in
the representative social activities of Athens, and is the gracious and popular
chatelaine of their beautiful home, which is a center of refined and unalloyed
hospitality.
Concerning the sterling citizen whose career has been here briefly outlined
the following pertinent statements have been written and they are worthy of
perpetuation in this connection :
"Mr. Carithers started out in life on his own responsibility, although his
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2607
father was a man of wealth and iDfluence. The son preferred to assume the
work of defining and carving out his own future, and to say that he has
achieved large and worthy successes is but a mild expression of the verdict
of those who are familiar with his character and services. He and his broth-
ers still own the vast plantation that has long been in the possession of the
family, but this is devoted by them to charitable and benevolent enterprises
and none of the incidental revenues are directed to their own use. Mr. Car-
ithers is known for his courtesy and good fellowship, is fond of travel and
outdoor life and radiates happiness arid optimism, so that his friendship is
prized by all who come within the compass of his genial influence."
Hon. William II. Brewton. When, in January, 1915, William H.
Brewton was elected ordinary of Evans County, the- new and prosperous
eonnty recently created -from parts of the counties of Bulloch and Tattnall,
the people of this locality gave expression to the confidence in which they
held this sterling citizen and tp their commendation of his former efforts in
offices of public trust. A lifelong resident of this part of the state, the greater
part of his energies have been devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which he
has not only displayed his abilities as a planter but as well his earnest belief ■
in high business ideals.
Judge Brewton was born near the town of Bellville, in Tattnall County,
Georgia, December 21, 1865, and is a son of Berry B. and Candacy (Tippins)
Brewton, His father was bom in this county, a member of an old Georgia
family, and was residing here engaged in farming when the war between ttie
states came on. He offered his services as a soldier to the Confederacy and
was accepted as a private of an infantry company recruited in his county,
which subse(|uently saw much active service. Mr. Brewton participated in
many engagements during the three and one-half years of his service, and
on one occasion was slightly wounded, but at the end of the war returned in
safety to his family with an excellent record for bravery and faithful per-
formance of duty. He then resumed his farming operations, and continued
to be engaged therein during the remaining years of his life, his death occur-
ring in Tattnall County in 1912. lie was a stanch and unswerving democrat
in his political views, took a prominent part in the councils of his party in
this section, showed an interest in public affairs, and in 1885 and 1886 served
as tax collector of Tattnall County, He was a member of the ^lethodiat
Church, to which Mrs. Brewton, also a native of Tattnall County, likewise
belonged. In their family there were eleven children, and of these seven
still survive.
The early education of William H. Brewton was secured in Tattnall
County, where he attended the old Brewton schoolhouse, so named in honor
of the family. Later he was sent by his father to a boarding school, where
he remained several months and then returned to his home, where he com-
pleted his training for the agricultural life which he expected to lead. At the
age of twenty-one years he embarked upon his independent career as a
farmer, settling on a property on Bull Creek, which he brought to a high
state of cultivation. Eventually he disposed of this laud and bought his
present farm, then in Bulloch County, but which Ls now located in Evans
County, in the vicinity of Claxton. This is a tract of 675 acres, with about
200 under cultivation, part of which is devoted to the raising of cotton, and
a part is pasture land, where Judge Brewton breeds a high grade of cattle.
Both as a general farmer and stockraiser be has gained an enviable reputa-
tion, while his business methods have never been criticized.
From the time of the attainment of his majority. Judge Brewton has been
a stanch and unwavering democrat. His first official position was that of
constable, in which he served for six years, and at the expiration of his term
he was made justice of the peace, that office occupying his attention for four
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2608 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
years. By the end of his service in the latter capacity t^e people had ccme
to regard him as one of the strong and reliable men of the community, the
best kind of material for service in an official capacity. Accordingly they
elected him, in January, 1915, to the office of ordinary, or judge of probate,
of Evans County, and have since had no reason to regret of their choice.
Judge Brewton has the judicial mind and possesses a broad knowledge of
human nature, its failings and peculiarities. His brand of justice is always
tempered with humanity, and there are few jurists in this part of the state
who are more popular generally with the law abiding citizens. With his
family he attends the Methodist Church, while his fraternal connection ia
with the Knights of Pythias.
Mrs. Brewton was before her marriage, April 16, 1889, Miss Sheldona
Hodges, the daughter of I. J. and Mary (McDilda) Hodges, and bom June 1,
1866. Eleven children have been bom to Judge and Mrs. Brewton : one
who died young ; Mamie, bom in 1890 ; Nellie, bom in 1892 ; Mattie, bom in
1893 ; Gussie, bom in 1895 ; William McKiuley, born in 1897 ; Edna, bom in
1898; Sallie Kate, born in 1899; Blanche, born in 1901; one who died in
infancy; Ida, bom in 1905; and Alline, bom in 1907.
John W. Hurt, M. D. A representative of old and honored families of
Georgia, Dr. John Wesley Hurt has gained secure prestige as one of the lead*
ing physicians and surgeons that are upholding the honors of the profession
in the City of Atlanta, and his firm vantage-ground as a physician is indicated
by the fact that he has served for a full decade as county physician of Pulton
County, a position of which he is still the incumbent and his tenure of which
affords mark also of his personal popularity in the community.
Doctor Hurt was bom at Columbus, the fine metropolis and judicial center
of Muscogee County, Geoi^a, on the 27th of September, 1859, and is a son
of George M. Troup Hurt and Nannie Jones (Flewellen) Hurt, the former
of whom was bom in PutnaHi county, this state, on the 8th of October, 1825,
and the latter of whom was bom in Warren County, in 1830, both families
having been founded in Georgia about a century ago and the names of both
having been closely identified with the civic and industrial development and
progress of this favored commonwealth. Dr. Abner Flewellen, maternal
grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was a prominent physi-
cian of his day and generation in Georgia and in Warren County he was the
owner of a large plantation, to the general supervision of which he gave his
attention, as was common to all southern gentlemen of the tine old regime.
He attained to venerable age and passed the closing years of his long and
useful life in the City of Columbus, Muscogee County, George M. T. Hurt
was a son of Joel and Martha (Hemdon) Hurt and his father was the owner
of a large landed estate, which under his direction became one of the valuable
plantations of Georgia. George M. T. Hurt received good educational advan-
tages and in early manhood established his residence at Columbus, where, on
the 15th of October, 1851, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Nannie J.
Flewellen. He was one of the successful cotton planters in the vicinity of
CoIuQibus at the inception of the Civil war, and he then subordinated all else
to tender his aid in defense of the cause of the Confederacy. He not only
served as a valiant soldier in a Geoi^a regiment but also gave liberally and
unselfishly of his financial means in the promotion of the cause and the
support of the Confederate Government. At the close of the war he found
his plantation devastated by thg ravages of internecine conflict, his property
in slaves obliterated by emancipation, and the practically malevolent "Recon-
struction" period at hand. Like other loyal sons of the fair Southland he
did not flinch from the new ordeal and girded himself firmly to do his part
in reviving the prostrate industries of his native state. He removed to Edge-
wood, Fulton County, where he rebuilt his summer home, which had been
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2609
destroyed at the time of the battle of Atlanta, on the 22d of July, 1864, and
it is worthy of special note that the original dwelling is mentioned as the
"Hurt house" in many histories and other publications touching the climac-
teric period of the war between the states and especially the siege of Atlanta.
For several years after his removal to Pulton County Mr, Hurt was here
prominently concerned with the cotton business in Atlanta, and in 1876 he
removed to Cobb County, where he became once more a successful planter.
Concerning him the following appreciative statements have been written:
"He had gifts of high order and could have filled with distinction positions
of prominence in connection with affairs of church and state, but be chose
rather to exemplify in his life and labors the practical and useful in the home
and every-day associations rather than to seek public trusts or office." He
died in 1901, having long survived his wife, who was summoned to eternal
rest in 1865.
The preliminary educational discipline of Doctor Hurt was gained during
the turbulent conditions prevailing at the time of the Civil war, after the
close of which he continued his studies at Edgewood, under the preeeptorahip
of such able instructors as Charles Neal and Hon. "William J. Northen, the
latter of whom later served as governor of Georgia. In preparation for the
profession in which he has achieved marked success and precedence, the
.Doctor entered the old Atlanta Medical College, in which institution he was
graduated as a member of the class of 1884 and from which he received the
well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. In all the later years he has con-
tinued a close and appreciative student of the best standard and periodical
literature of his profession and by this and other means has kept in touch
with the advances made in medical and sut^cal science. After his gradua-
tion Doctor Hurt returned to Cobb County, where the family home had been
established several years previously, and there he built up a successful and
representative practice. After an interval of several years devoted to his
service in that section of the state he went to New York City, where he com-
pleted an effective post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic, besides
serving as interne in the New York Lying-in Hospital, from each of which
institutions he received a diploma.
Upon returning from the national metropolis to his native state Doctor
Hurt established his residence in the City of Atlanta, and in this broader and
important field of endeavor he has long controlled a specially large and note-
worthy practice as a general exponent of modem medicine and surgery. The
Doctor is a valued member of the Pulton County Medical Society and the
Georgia State Medical Society, besides which he is actively identified with
the American Medical Association and, as previously noted, is serving as
county physician of Pulton County, a position in which he has done much to
bring about sanitary improvements and otherwise to safeguard the health of
the community.
Doctor Hurt is unwavering m his allegiance to the democratic party and
a^ a citizen is essentially progressite, loyal and public-spirited. He is past
master of Nelms Lodge, No. 323, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, at Smyrna,
Cobb County, but his present ancient-craft affiliation is with Piedmont Lodge,
No. 447, in Atlanta, where he also holds membership in a chapter of Royal
Arch Masons. Doctor Hurt clings to the religions faith in which he was
reared and is an earnest and zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, as was also his first and is his present wife. He became a
member of the church when but ten years of age, has served as steward for
twenty years and is at the present time a member of the board of trustees of
St. Mark's Church in his home city.
In January, 189.'5, Doctor Hurt wedded Mrs. Mary (Keith) McWhorter,
daughter of Capt. Jasper L. and Rachel (Ramsey) Keith, of Atlanta, and
she was called to the life eternal on the 7th of November, 1905, her death
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26X0 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
having Been sudden and with slight premonitory symptoms or iUness. No
children were bom of this union. On the 22d of September, 1913, was
solemnized the marriage of Doctor Hurt to Miss Mary Wyatt Lovelace, who
was born and reared in Alabama, and who proves a most gracious and popular
chatelaine of their attractive home.
Thomas W. !Mubiuy was born in Lincoln County, Georgia, in the year
1790. For some years after his admission to the bar he quietly practiced
law, making some -reputation as a sound, though not briUiant lawyer. In
1818 he entered public life as a member of the Legislature, and to the sur-
prise of many at once forged to the front.
After spending the years 1818-24 as a representative on the floor of the
House of Representatives, he was elevated to the speakership in 1825 and was
also a member of the lower house of the Legislature in 1826 and 1830.
In 1830 the disposition of the ceded Cherokee lands was a burning ques-
tion, and Governor Gilmer called an estra session to meet on October 18,
1830. The business was ui^nt and complicated. Many vexed questions arose
and the discussion was at aU times' able, and sometimes acrimonious. At this
session, Murray was a prominent figure, and won such credit that when new
counties were being created, he was honored, in 1832, by having one of the
best named for him.
Rev. B. McCarteb Sandebs, first president of Mercejr University, was a
native Geoi^ian, born in Columbia County, December 2, 1789. His academic
training was obtained at the Kiokee Seminary, in Columbia County, and he
attended the state colleges of both Georgia and South Carolina, graduating
at the latter December 4, 1809. For the first two years after leaving college
he conducted the public academy in his native county, and then for the next
twenty years his attention was given to farming. He was baptized into the
Baptist Church in January, 1810, and was licensed to preach about 1823,
being regularly ordained to the ministry in January, 1825. Without giving
up his farming interests, which were established on a prosperous basis, he
spent fifteen years in active pastoral work. The Baptists of Georgia had
decided upon establishing an institution of higher education. They called
Sir. Sanders to the task and in January, 1823, he established himself for that
purpose in a log cabin at Penfield, at first, a manual labor school, in a few
years he developed it into Mercer College, the presidency of which he resigned
in 1839. He was moderator nine years of the Georgia Association, chairman
of the executive committee of the state convention, and president of the state
convention for six years. Several times he served as delegate to the old
triennial convention and to the Southern Baptist Convention. For a time
he was editor of the Christian Index, and for twenty-five years was a leader
in his church in Georgia. He died in Penfield. Georgia, March 12, 1852.
William Robert Jester. Among the energetic men largely responsible
for the upbuilding of Atlanta and the success of many public enterprises, ^o
one is more easily called to mind and given credit than William Robert
Jester. His life has been a busy and interesting one and his present position
of financial independence and public esteem has been attained through
personal effort, in the school of experience. Coming upon the scene of life
at a time when war and its devastating results soon changed the comfortable
circumstances which his people had enjoyed for generations, he lacked, in
early youth, many of the opportunities and advantages that otherwise would
have been his, and was only an untrained boy when he assumed self support,
separated from home help and influence.
William Robert Jester was born in Clay County, Georgia, in 1857, of
Scotch-Irish ancestry, and a son of John T, and Elizabeth Jester. At that
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GEORGIA AND GEOItGIANS 2611
time the father was a man of ample means and prominent in his community
as a citizen, being a large planter for many years filling the honorable ofSce
of a justice of the peace. Later he became an officer in the Confederate army
and served with gallantry.
When William Robert Jester left his home he made his way first to
Augusta, Georgia, but depression was resting on the capital city and he
found that if he lingered there it would add but one more to the great army
of unemployed. Without means, however, he found himself unable to leave
for any other more promising field, hence, when he was given an opportunity
to go into the timber regions and cut cord wood, at Round Mountain, Ala-
bama, for the R. P. Sibley Company, he accepted and went to work with a
will. Although at that time he was one of the humblest and least skilled of
the employees of that company, the time came, some years later, when it was
his capital and influence that enabled this same company to tide over a erisia
and sustain their business through a period of great financial depression.
Mr. Jester's advance was steady if not phenomenal, brought about l^
industry and perseverance, in conjunction with excellent judgment. After
working at cutting cord wood and at wagon-building for two years he learned
the carpenter trade and that was his open path into contracting and he is
now one of the best known contractors in the South. By chance, almost, he
became a resident of Atlanta, coming here in 1880 to visit the Cotton States
Exposition. He recognized that here was presented a fine industrial field
and he possessed the foresight and business acumen to secure a tooting in
his line of activity. For a period covering thirty years he has done extensive
contract work for the Standard Oil Company in some twenty states, and also
has done similar work for the Gulf Refining Company, for these two oil com-
panies alone being the contracting builder of probably 300 plants.
Mr. Jester has invested largely also in real estate and is prosperously
interested in a milling business. His mill, known as Jester's Old Mill, is
located at Jonesboro, Georgia, sixteen miles distant from Atlanta, and has
long been famous for the fine quality of its old-time water-ground products,
meal and hominy. It is a historic neighborhood, adjacent to the battlefield
of Jonesboro, and visitors to Atlanta seldom fail to make a sight-seeing trip
to this point. Mr. Jester has established a well conducted stand near the old
mill where visitors may be served with light refreshments. Many of these
visitors carry away with them pleasant memories of a beautiful and peaceful
gpot.
In 1877 Mr. Jester was united in marriage with Miss Julia Womak, and
they have one daughter. The family home, where old-time southern hospi-
tality is always in evidence, is at No, 340 Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Mr. Jester could be nothing but a democrat in his political views, believing
as he does in the fundamental principles of that party, hut his life has been
one of too much business activity for acceptance of any political or public
office. His standing in business circles is that of an able, keenly discrimi-
nating and honest business man, one who is ready and willing to aid in all
movements that, in his opinion, will resnlt favorably for his city. He main*
tains his business office at No. 23 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta.
George R. Tyler. The multitudinous duties connected with the ofBce of
clerk of the Superior Courts make this position one of major importance, hence
the ^election of a capable incumbent is at all times a matter of public concern.
In George R. Tyler, the Oconee circuit of Georgia has a man of strong,
normal, balanced character, who hag proved thoroughly efficient in this trying
and important post. Mr. "Tyler is a native of Horry County, South Carolina,
and was bom June 10, 1881, a son of William and Rcnda (Royles) Tyler.
The grandfather of George R. Tyler, Green Tyler, was a native of Yii^ioia,
who removed to South Carolina as a young man and settled in Horry Connty,
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2612 GEORGIA AND GEOEGIANS
there passing the remaining years of his life as a planter. He was successful
in his affairs, became one of the influential men of his commanity, and prior
to the war between the states was the owner of many slaves. Both he and
the ^andmotber passed away on their plantation in Horry County. William
Tyler was bom in Horry County and was reared on the home plantation,
adopting farming as his vocation when he came to manhood. When the
Civil war broke out he enlisted in a regiment of South Carolina volunteers
and served gallantly in the Confederate army until being wounded in action,
when he received his honorable discharge. He then returned to bis home
and followed fanning until his death dying at the age of sixty years. Mrs.
Tyler passed away six months after the birth of her son George R., of this
review.
Geoi^ R, Tyler received his literary education in the public schools of
Mount Vernon, and, having decided upon a business career, prepared himself
for such by taking a commjercial course in the Macon Business College. In
1904 he entered upon bis association with mercantile affairs when he accepted
a clerkship in the store of B. S. BarnhiU, of Soperton, Georgia, a position in
which he remained for four years, This experience enabled him to secure a
partnership in the Soperton Hardware Company, a business with which he
continued to be connected for a period of five years. Prom the attainment
of his majority Mr. Tyler had been interested in the affairs of the demo-
cratic party and had been an active and faithful worker in the ranks. In the
fall of 1914 he became the candidate of his party and was duly elected to
the office of clerk of the Superior Courts of the Oconee circuit, and January
1, 1 915, came to his present home at Mount Vernon to enter upon the discharge
of his official duties. He has shown himself competent, energetic and con-
scientious, and has given his fellow-citizens no reason to regret of their
choice. Mr. Tyler is a popular member of the local lodge of the Masonio
order.
On March 19, 1911, Mr. Tyler was united in marriage at Gills Springs,
Emanuel County, Georgia, with Miss Ezra Holmes, a native of Emanuel
County, and a daughter of Charles L. and Lucinda (Durden) Holmes, of that
county. Two sons have been born to this union, namely : Lewis, born
November 19, 1912 ; and Prank, born November 12, 1913, both in Montgomery
County. Mrs. Tyler is an active worker in the Baptist Church, of which she
has been a lifelong member, and takes a particular and helpful interest in the
movements of the Missionary Society.
Manning Jasper Stubbs. Among the substantial farmers of Evana
County who have made an especially creditable record in husbandry and in
citizenship is Manning Jasper Stubbs, whose attractive home and productive
farm are situated at Claxton. While Mr. Stubbs is perhaps best known as
an a^culturist, he has also a wide business acquaintance, having been for
thirty-five years the proprietor of a cotton gin at Claxton. He is a methodical,
progressive and successful farmer and business man and a citizen in whom
every worthy public enterprise has always found a ready and earnest sup-
porter.
Mr. Stubbs was bom February 10. 1855, in Tattnall County, Georgia, apd
is a son of James Stephen and Rachael (Moody) Stubbs. His father, a native
of North Carolina, was an early settler of Tattnall County, where he fol-
lowed carpentry and farming, and where he had jusl entered upon what
promised to be a successful career when his death occurred in 1860. He was
a man of substantial traits of character and highly esteemed among those
who knew him. Mrs. Rachael (Moody) Stubbs was bom in Liberty County,
Eastern Georgia, and died in 1905.
Manning J. Stubbs was only five years of age when his father died, but
he was carefully trained by his devoted mother and secured a fair education
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OEOBGIA AND GEORGIANS 2613
in the public schoola of' his native county, "When reftdy to enter upon his
career he adopted the vocation of farming and through perseverance and
industry managed to accumulate a small property, to which he had added
from time to time as his finances have permitted until he is now the owner of a
valuable and productive farm. This he has improved with modem buildings
and good equipment, and operates under the lateat approved methods. About
the year 1880, Mr. Stubl« became interested in cotton ginning, and this
business has furnished an outlet for his energies during thirty-five years. He
has built up a business in Evans County that is important in size and scope
and has established a reputation as a strictly reliable, far-sighted and capable
business man. As a citizen he has not been an ofQce seeker, but has endeavored
at alt times to discharge his share of the responsibilities of citizenship, and
for more than twenty-four years has been judge of one of the justice courts
of his locality. Politically he adheres to the principles of the democratic
party.
In 1880 Mr. Stubbs was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Melissa
Swindle, of Tattnall County, Georgia, and to this union there have been bom
fourteen children, of whom seven still survive : Mrs. Lulu Legraid ; William
Talley, who is single and associated wiUi his father in farming and the gin
business; Mrs* Birdie Lee Dorsey; Mrs. Gussie Moore; Mrs. Anna Wambles,
and the Misses Nancy Kate and Jessie Stubbs, who are unmarried and reside
with their parents.
Mr. Stubbs was reared in the faith of the Primitive Baptist Church and
has been a member of that denomination all of his life, being at present clerk
of the congregation at Clazton.
JoBK Herscbel Moobe. One of the live and enterprising business men
of Reidsville, Tattnall County, for a number of years has been John Herschel
Moore. He is now proprietor and mlanager of the only cotton ginning
establishment in that town and also conducts a tine farm in Tattnall County.
His own career has been worked out in this county, and his family havfl
been members of this community for a great many years.
Mr. Moore was born in Tattnall County, August 10, 1872. Hia father
was Asbury Porter Moore, who was bom in Tattnall County March 31, 1839.
Hia mother's maiden name is Queen Victoria Maddox, who was bom in Tatt-
nall County sixty-two years ago. Asbury P. Moore followed farming all
his active life. He was in the war between the states, and volunteered with
some of the first troops to leave Tattnall County for the front. He' was
umder Generals Lawton and Gordon up to the time he was captured, and
spent eighteen months in prison on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie near
Sandusky, Ohio, After the war he took up farming in Tattnall County and
was long regarded as one of the substantial and honorable residents of
that community. He died February 28, 1916. He and his wife had three
children : John H. ; M. Harvey, who is now thirty-five years of age ; and
Miss Aliph, aged thirty.
John H. Moore did not begin to attend school until he was eight years
of age. Then for two and a half years he had the advantages of local schools
for three months each year and after that his education was left lai^ly
to his own study and such as he could acquire from the school of practical
experience. He followed farm work and early manifested a special inclina-
tion for mechanical pursuits, and was employed as a machinist or machinist 'a
helper at different places. He then went into business with the firm of
Southwell & Moore as cotton ginners, and to their plant they added a
novelty wood working establishment. This firm subsequently became that of
Moore & Smith, and they finally took another partner by the name of Lewis,
Each one of the three partners had a different line of machine work, and in
the a^rregate they conducted a large and prosperous business. Finally Mr,
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2614 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Moore bought out the interests of his partners and abandoned the machine
shop and has since concentrated all his time upon ginning cotton and plan-
ing mill work. He now has the only complete ginning establishment in Reids-
ville and it is a very busy establishment especially during the fall and winter
months. When his time is not taken up with cotton ginning, Mr. Moore lo(^
after his fine farm near Reidsville, and he owns an attractive home in the
town.
Mr. Moore married Aliss Roxie Smith, daughter of Zach Smith, from
Union County, North Carolina. She died July 11, 1916, and left six children:
Vernon, aged seventeen; Aurelia, aged sixteen; EfBe Lee, aged fourteen;
Raymond Marconi, aged twelve; Edwin, aged ten; and Dordthy, aged seven.
Mr. Moore is affiliated with the Klasonic Lodge and with his family is a member
of the Methodist Church.
St. Elmo Massengale. The wonderful growth of the advertising busi-
ness during the paert several decades is so well known that it would be superog-
atory to comment thereupon, but the salient points in the lives of those throu^
whose efforts and labors this great industry has been built up cannot
fail to be of interest to each thinking person. The history of these men's
lives is one of countless discouragements and disappointmients, of opposi-
tion and antagonism, of the overcoming of obstacles, of triumph over ultra-
conservatism, and of the final success of an industry which has done more than
any other agent in advancing our nation 's great business interests.
One of the best known and most far-reactiing influences in the advertising
world today in this country — and that means in the world — is the Maasengale
Advertising Agency, an enterprise of Atlanta, Geoi^ia, wliich has been
developed solely through the brilliant talents, tireless persistence and indom-
itable force of St. Elmo Massengale, its present directing head. When be
started upon his career in the field of advertising he was possessed of ideas
which were deemed revolutionary by those who are always content to remain
in the rut of mediocrity, and his early struggles were, therefore, hard and
not always successful ones. Perseverance finally waff rewarded, however,
recognition and appreciation came, and when he had once secured a firm
foothold Mr. Massengale pushed forward steadily and fearlessly, with the
result already noted. While the development of this important venture has
attracted the major portion of his time, the name of St. Elmo Massengale
ia one with which to conjure in various other lines of business endeavor, in
finance, in social circles and in politics, and as a churchman. In each of
life's avenues he has displayed a willingness to assist others to strive toward
the attainment of better things, and a few of the men of the city have done
more in a wholesome, material way to advance Atlanta's civic, commercial
and spiritual growth.
St. Elmo Massengale was born at Norwood, Warren County, Georgia,
February 16, 1876, and belongs to a family that has had many distinguished
members in this and other states. The family name is spelled with various
modifications by different branches and by different officers and clerks, as
for instance in Claiborne County, Tennessee, the name has five derivations.
The best infonnation attainable is to the effect that the family originated
on the Isle of Wight, an English possession in the English Channel, the name
being an old Welsh one, meaning "Messenger." The first emigrants probably
settled in Eastern North Carolina, or in Virginia, near the line. In fact, there
was so much confusion in regard to the North Carolina and Virginia line in
early times, that it is evident that some of the Massengale ancestors were
confused as to which state they were born in. The first Massengale in Vir-
ginia is said to have been Daniel Massengale, great-great-grandfather of St
Elmo Massengale, who came from Wales to America as early as 1650. The
great-grandfather of St. Elmo Massengale was Capt. Thomas White, who was
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2615
a gallant captain of the Revolutionary war, and his grandfather was Dr. T,
B. Massengale, a noted phyfflcian of his day. His father was Andrew
Murray Maaaengale, a prominent merchant of Norwood, and Maj. H. T,
Massengale, an uncle, was paymaster-general of the western division of
the Confederate army during the war between the states, while another
distinguished member of the Massengale line was Dr. Henry Clay Massen-
gale, who fell at the battle of Chaneellorsville, in 1863. Various members
of the family have been prominent in Georgia since the name was carried
from Surry County, Virginia, in 1750, the family locating at the old Quaker
settleniient of Wrightsboro, then in Richmond County, afterwards in Colum-
bia, and now in McDuffie.
St. Elmo Massengale 's great -grand mother on the maternal side was Edna
Howard, of the North Carolina Howard family, whose brother, Isaiah, fought
with General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, She married Miles
Caison, and they had one daughter, Frances, who married Richard Brinn,
their daughter, Hattie, marrying A. M. Massengale. The mother of St.
Elmo Massengale bore the maiden name of Hattie E. Brinn, and was bom
at Macon, Georgia, a daughter of Richard Brinn, who came to Georgia from
North Carolina before the war between the states and was the builder of
many of the business blocks of Macon, some of which are still standing. He
was murdered by some of the soldiers of Sherman's army in front of his own
home during Sherman's march to the sea, and the old home was afterwards
purchased by Congressman James Blount and stood on Tatnall Square until
recently destroyed by fire.
As far as has at this time been discovered, nearly all of the MasengiUs
and Massengales living in the different parts of the United States trace
back to North Carolina and Virginia, and are very likely descendants of those
living there in 1790. In that year there were living in Halifax District, Nash
County, North (Carolina : Elizabeth Masengail, one son under sixteen, and
two daughters; Henry Masengail, three sons over sixteen years, and two
sons under sixteen years and two females in the family; James Masengail,
two females in the family ; James Masengail, three males under sixteen years
and six females in the family ; Joseph Masengail, four females in the family ;
Nancy Masengail, three sons under sixteen years, and two daughters in the
family; and Walker Masengail, one son over sixteen years, three females in
the family. None of the children's names were given in the census, and it is
evident that all those whose names were given were not brothers and sisters
from the fact that there are two persons bearing the name of James. In
that same year, in Edgecombe County; North Carolina, there were living:
George Masingill, one son over sixten years, one son under sixteen years, and
two females in the family; in North Hampton County North Carolina,
Abraham Massengale. one son over sixteen years, one under sixteen years
and seven females in the family ; and in Hertford County, that state, Daniel
Masengill, two sobs over sixteen years, three sons under sixteen years and
five females in the family. In 1785, in Sussex County, Virginia, there was
living Thomas Massengale.
The first Alasengill of whom there is authoritative record was Lucas
Masengill. brother of Daniel Massengale. from the latter of whom St. Elmo
Massengale descends, Lucas Masengill married Mary Cobb, a sister of Wil-
liam Cobb. William Cob!) married Penelope Masengill, a sister of Lucas
Masengill. The MasengiUs and Cobbs were among the first settlers of what
later became Tennessee, and there was much intermarrying between the two
families. When Governor Blount came from the territory of North Carolina
south of the River Ohio, he established his capitol at the residence of Wil-
liam Cobb. Hal (or Henry) Masengill, a son of Lucas Masengill, married for
his first wife Penelope, the daughter of William Cobb, and the Cobb place
thus came into the possession of the MasengiUs, This property was known
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2616 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
OS "Eoeky Mount," and was the eapitol of the first recognized government
west of the AUeghanies, and is stilt standing two miles southwest of Piney
Plats, Tetmeasee. Lucas Masengill had two daughters and two sons, the
latter being: Michael, bora March 1, 1756, and Henry, bom October 17,
1758, and both were. Revolutionary soldiers, their descendants being eligible
to membership in the patriotic orders of the Revolution, It is probable that
Lucas Masengill was an old man when he removed to Tennessee, and that
he died prior to 1778. ■ He was a member of the Watauga Association, the
first free and independent government in America, first leased his land from
the Cherokee Indians, and later bought from them as one of the Watauga
Association.
The great-grandmother of St. Elmo Massengale was Angelina Petit, daugh-
ter of Judge E. P, Petit, who came from Virginia to Georgia. His grand-
mother, also named Angelina Petit, was reared by her uncle. Judge John
L. Dooly, after whom Dooly County, Georgia, is named. The Petit family
ia of French descent and in America is traced back to Colonial times. The
progenitor in this country, Pearson Petit, is said to have met with many
strange vicissitudes during his life, and that in one emergency he was
ransomed by King Louis XIY of France, who was a cousin. Bishop Meade
of Virginia, on p. 240 of his work on the old churches and families of the
Old Dominion, mentions as among the most distinguished families of Vir-
ginia the Petit family of Warwick County, and records the sale of Governor
Spottwood's old home, "Temple Farm," to Mr, Petit. Browning's "Ameri-
cans of Royal Descent" records the marriage of one of the early Petits to
Ann Daingerfield, a great-granddaughter of CoJ. William Fauntlcroy, of
Richmond County, Virginia. Through this, connection the Petits are
descended from one of the oldest of Virginia families, the first member of
which was Maj. Moore Fauntleroy, who arrived some time prior to 1651.
As late as 1857 Capt, Charles Fauntleroy, of Virginia, on a visit to England,
obtained in London a photographic copy of the confirmation of arms to the
Fauntleroy family, which were granted in 1633, but had been in use prior to
that time, as there was a Viscount Moore Fauntleroy of Virginia during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth.
From the foregoing it will be seen that Mr, Massengale is descended from
a family far removed from the common or ignoble stock. Norwood Academy
furnished Mr. Massengale with his early educational training, which was
supplemented by attendance at the high school at Atlanta, and that he was
a precocious lad was shown by his graduation, in 1890, from the old Gold-
smith-Sullivan Business College, when he was not yet fifteen years of age.
He began his career in the office of the Atlanta Constitution, where he
secured the best possible training, being brought into almost daily contact
with such notable men as Henry W, Grady, Joel Chandler Harris, Evan P.
Howell, and other prominent journalists, who took much interest in the prom-
ising youth and did much to help him. Rapidly assimilating the fundamentals
of advertising, he attained such success in that line that when but little more
than a lad he was called to take charge of the advertising department of the
Wcaleyan Christian Advocate, and during the years in which he remained
with that publication it enjoyed prosperity that it had never before known.
His abilities were now bringing him some recognition, and he soon became
special advertising manager of fourteen southern Methodist weekly publica-
tions, a capacity in which he traveled over a large part of the country, while
maintaining his headquarters in New York Cit.v. This was a training which
has since proved of great value to him. At that time advertising agencies
were unknown institutions in the South, but Mr, Massengale recognized the
possibilities of this fertile field and determined to locate at some point here.
While advertising has now taken its deserved place among the skilled
occupations, it was then even in its infancy in the Nort;h, while in the South
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GEOBGU AND QEORQIANS 2617
the advertising agent was an individual unknown, and Mr. Maasengale in
his initial ventures received but little encouragement. Belief in self and
dogged perseverance, however, have always been two of Mr. Massengale's
chief characteristics, and after several years of results achieved, clients
became conviaced that his methods E^elled success, and from that time to the
present the Massengale Advertising Agency has grown and prospered until
it is now recognized as one of Atlanta's firmly-established institutions. In
the management of this great enterprise, Mr. Massengale employs only the
best writers, the most skilled artists and the ablest executives, and only the
highest class of publicatioiis are patronized, while no questionable matter has
ever found a place upon bis books. A strict adherence to the highest com-
mercial ethics has always been the policy of the house. In addition to the
Massengale Advertising Agency, in 1910 he established the Massengale Bul-
letin System, an out-door advertising company of Atlanta, buildersof bulletin
and electric sign boards, and the first company in the country to employ land-
scape architects to plant grass and keep grounds beautiful. He is a stock-
holder and director in several institutions and commercial enterprises in
various cities, a valued member of the Atlanta Chataber of Commerce and a
director of the Associated Cliarities. Fraternally, he is a Scottish Rite Mason
of the thirty-second degree, a Knight Templar, and a member of Yuarab Tem-
ple, Mystic Shrine, and also holds membership in the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He
belongs to the Capital City Club, the Druid Hilla Golf Club, the Piedmont
Driving Club, the Atlanta Athletic Club, the Mechanical and Manufacturers
Club and the Automobile Club, and is president of the Ad Men's Club, the
livest organization in the South and a distinct factor in the business life of
Atlanta. In New York he belongs to the Sphinx Club, the Aldine Club and
the Golfers' Association of Advertising Men. He is an active and official
member of the Park Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Atlanta.
Mr. Massengale has long been interested in demfwratic politics, and in this,
as in other fields, he has made himself widely and favorably known. In
1914 he was president of the Nat E. Harris Club of Fulton County, and was
instrumental in electing Judge Harris to the gubernatorial chair. He was
secretary, temporary and permanent, of the state democratic convention held
at Macon, and was the only man in the convention without opposition. At
the present time Mr. Massengale is secretary of the State Democratic Execu-
tive Commattee, for a term of two years.
On June 25, 1901, Mr. Massengale was united in marriage with Miss
Elizabeth Chaires Smith, a daughter of Milton A. and Alice Ida (Onnond)
Smith, the latter being a daughter of James E. Orraond, a pioneer citizen
of Atlanta. Three daughters and a son have been born to this union, Mrs.
Massengale's ready wit, bright intellectual powers and genial manners have
won for her a circle of friends which mere social prominence could not attract.
Her charities are liberal and continuous, but usually bestowed with that
personal supervision which renders them doubly welcome to the recipient.
William Wilson Osborne. A prominent Savannah lawyer for the past
thirty years, a holder of numerous public offices and now one of the leading
bankers, William Wilson Osborne is from one of the old well known Georgia
families.
Bom at Graniteville, South Carolina, October 19, 1867, he was gradu-
ated from the Savannah High School with the class of 1882. He continued
his education through Mercer University, where he took the sophomore year
of 1882-83, spent the following two years in the University of Georgia, and
in 1885 was graduated from that institution, and soon afterwards took up
the active practice of his profession as a lawyer.
For many years Mr. Osborne has been well known over the state through
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2618 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
liis official services. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representa-
tives from Chatham County in 1892-93, represeoted the First Senatorial
DiBtrict in the State Senate in 1894-95, and from January 1, 1897, to January
1, 1909, was solicitor general for the eastern judicial circuit of Georgia. He
was chosen three times for that office, once by the General Assembly and
twice by popular election.
WhUe still serving in that office he organized and established at Savannah
on March 12, 1906, the Exchange Bank. From its organization down to date
he has been president of this bank, and in commercial affairs he is best known
over the state at large as a hanker. During 191041 Mr. Osborne was presi-
dent of the Georgia Bankers Association.
Shelton p. Sanford, LL. D., for more than fifty years professor of
mathematics and astronomy in Slercer University, was a Georgian, bom at
Greensboro, January 25, 1816. He was a graduate of the state university
at Athens, class of 1838, and three months afterward was elected tutor of
mathematics at Mercer University, then being organized. In 1840 he became
professor of that chair add thus continued until his death in 1896. He was
the author of several standard arithmetics and algebras.
Dr. Jaues p. Screven, physician, planter, railroad president, and devel-
oper, was one of the strongest men of Georgia in the first half of the last
century. He was born in Bluffton, South Carolina, October 11, 1799, and
died in Savannah, Georgia, July 16, 1859. He was a graduate both of the
Columbia (South Carolina) College', class of 1817, and the Jefferson Medical
College, of Philadelphia, obtaining his medical degree in 1820. After two
years of European travel he returned to Savannah for practice. In 1835
he retired to devote himself to his agricultural interests. After a few years
he again located at Savannah. He was elected alderman in 1849 and was
acting mayor at the time of tlie yellow fever epidemic. In 1855 he became
a member of the State Senate, was elected mayor of Savannah in 1856 and
was for years the leading promoter of the railroad lines which were finally
merged as the Savannah, Florida & Western,
Edmond Franklin Saxon, M. D. Of the men devoted to the science of
healing in Barrow County, few bring to bear upon their calling larger gifts
of scholarship and resource than Dr. Edmond Franklin Saxon, who has been
engaged in practice at "Winder since 1905. During this time he has risen
steadily in reputation and the rewards that go with exalted position, and
today is known not only as a learned member of his profession, but as one
of the helpful and public-spirited men of the county seat.
Doctor Saxon was bom at Watkinsville, Oconee County, Georgia Febru-
ary 19, 1878, and is a son of Hugh M. and Manon (Osbora) Saxon. The
family origmated in Virginia, from whence Hugh Saxon, the grandfather of
Doctor Saxon, drove an ox-team to Georgia and settled in Clarke (now
Oconee) County, as the first white settler. He became a well known planter,
hauling his cotton to the market at Augusta, and was a man of influence in
his community. He married Mary Spencer, a member of tbe family of that
name of North Carolina, which gave to the country Piatt Rogers Spencer, the
American penman and founder of the Spencerian system of writing. The
maternal grandfather of Doctor Saxon was Francis Osbom, who was a native
of Virginia and became an early planter and extensive slaveholder of Georgia,
and during the period of the Civil war operated boats running from Augusta.
He died in 1889, at the age of ninety-five years. Mr. Osbom married Martha
Elizabeth Willoughby, who was of English extraction, hut a native of
Virginia.
Hugh M. Saxon was born in Georgia, in 1855, received good educational
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2619
advantages, and early engaged in farming, to which he has devoted his active
career, in connection with merchandising at Farmington, Georgia, where be
is still conducting operations. The mother, also a native of Geoi^, still
survives, and is sixty-two years of age. They have been the parents of four
children, namely: Dr. Edmond Franklin, -of this notice; Dr. Thomas Spen-
cer, a well known dental practitioner of Shellman, Randolph County, Georgia ;
John Ciovia, who resides at home and is assisting his father in his agricul-
tural pursuits; and-Alvin RatHff, who is a student in the University of
Georgia.
Edmond F. Saxon received his early education in the public schools of
Watkingville, Geoi^a, and spent his boyhood and youth upon the home place,
being largely engaged in farming and in helping his father in the store.
While thus engaged the Spanish-American war came on, and subsequently
the struggle in the Philippine Islands, and September 18, 1899, at Athens,
Georgia, Doctor Saxon enlisted in the Forty-first Regiment, Geoi^a Volun-
teer Infantry, under Col. E. T. C. Richmond. ' With this organization he
went through the Suez Canal and on to Manila, Philippine Islands, where he
arrived January 4, 1900, and following this saw some active service against
"our little brown brothers," continuing in the army until receiving his hon-
orable discharge May 22, 1901, He returned to the United States by way of
Japan and Honolulu, and from San Francisco came to Georgia by train.
Doctor Saxon entered the Atlanta Medical College in 1902, and was gradu-
ated therefrom in 1905, on May 8th of which year he opened an office at
Winder and commenced practice. Since that time he has built up an excel-
lent professional business and has attained a high place in his calling. He is
a valued member of the Georgia State Medical Society and the Tri-County
Medical Association, and is serving very capably and faithfully as a member
of the board of health of Winder and as county physician of Barrow County.
Politically, Doctor Saxon is a democrat, and his religious connection is with
the Christian Church. He has been the architect of his own fortunes and
has been successful in a material way, at this time owning some very desir-
able agricultural property in Barrow Township. He has continued to be a
close and careful student, ajid in 1909 did post graduate work in the Chicago
Post-Graduafe Hospital.
On December 10, 1907, Doctor Saxon was married to Miss Jurelle Smith,
of Winder, Georgia, daughter of G. W. and Emma (Novell) Smit)), a well
known pioneer family of this state. They have no children.
B. M. Stau-worth. Pacolet Manufacturing Company No. 4 of New
Holland, a suburb of Gainesville, is among the industrial institutions which
have/attracted the attention of many students of social welfare on account of
its allvanced ideals and practice in securing a close union between the man-
agement and the employees. It is an ideal industrial community, one in
which the welfare of the individual employee is given more thought than the
profits of his labor. Pacolet Manufacturing Company No. 4 was establi^ed
in 1900, with a capitalization of $2,000,000, half of which is invested in South
Carolina. There are more than 800 employees, and the factories are equipped
with 57,000 spindles of the latest design, with 1,765 looms. These factories
represent almost the last word in those erjuipments which produce the high-
est possible amount of output by time and labor, and also safeguard in every
important particular the convenience, the health and general welfare of the
little army that spend their working hours thercy During the cyclone o£
1903 a part of the mill was destroyed, at a loss of $75,000, but it was imme-
diately rebuilt.
The owners and the employees generally give credit for the splendid con-
dition of affairs at the Pacolet Mills to its genial manager, Mr. B. M. Stall-
worth, who is also assistant treasurer and general manager of the Gaines-
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2620 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
ville Cotton Mills in Gainesville. Mr. V. M. Montgomery, of Spartanburg,
South Carolina, is president and treasurer of Pacolet Mannfacturiug Com-
pany. The parent plant is located at Pacolet, South Carolina, about half of
the capital being invested in each place. All the employees of the Pacolet
Mills reside in Sie Town of New Holland. A few of them own their own
homes, while others rent houses from the company. The rental is exceedingly
low considering the quality of the homes. The average rental is 50 cents
per month per room, so that an eight-room house with -modern conveniences
can be secured by the employees at $4 a month. Every eflFort has been made
by the management to promote wholesome social life in the community.
Mr. Stallworth, the general manager, is a man who has spent all his life in
the South, knows the people, and has a sympathetic interest in the improve-
ment of the surroundings and general ideals of the industrial classes. One
of the best schools to be found in North Georgia is located at New Holland,
and is maintained largely by the Pacolet Mills. Eight of the most competent
teachers are employed. As the funds from the county school monies provide
only four months of school facilities, the company has generoasly provided the
rest of the amount required for keeping up a continuous school session for
nine months. The school buildings are modem, and the organization is com-
plete from kindergarten to high school. While this school provides for on«
of the greatest needs of any community, the company has ^so established a
large church building, and these two institutions furnish all the facilities for
educational, religious and social activities. At the present time a model play-
ground for the children is being laid out and equipped by the mill people.
The head of the Sunday school is Mr. Stallworth and about 400 pupils are in
regular attendance. For all social functions the company provides a free
hall, with light, heat and other conveniences. Mr. Stallworth is a student of
social welfare in its practical aspect, and is always ready to act in behalf of
the factory worker and his family. Few men of his generation are doing
more to advance industrial conditions in the South than the general manager
of the Pacolet Cotton Mills.
Basil Manly Stallworth was born in Edgefield County, South Carolina,
January 8, 1873, a eon of William H. and Margaret Bebeeca (Caldwell)
Stallworth. Both parents were bom in South Carolina- His father was a
prosperous farmer and planter and lived to the age of seventy-six, passing
away in 1905. The mother is still living at the age of eighty-one in what is
now called Greenwood County, but formerly Edgefield County, South Caro-
lina. She still occupies the old homestead in that vicinity.
B. M. Stallworth, the sixth in a family of seven children, obtained his
early education in the schools of Greenwood County, and also attended the
military academy in that locality. His life was spent in attending school and
working on his father's estate up to the age of sixteen, after which he entered
a country store, remained there one year, and then became identified with
the Pacolet Cotton Manufacturing Company of South Carolina. Beginning
in a clerical capacity, he was promoted to larger responsibilities, and remained
with the company for nine years. He later went with the Sanders Swann
Company of Atlanta, Georgia, with headquarters in Spartanburg, South
Carolina, remained with that firm four years, and in 1902 came to Gaines-
ville to assume the general management of the Pacolet Cotton Mills. Thus
he has been at the active head of this large industry for fifteen years, and
has made it commercially successful as well as a noteworthy laboratory for
the working out of practical plans to solve some of the most pressing indus-
trial problems of the age. As general manager and assistant treasurer of the
Gainesville Cotton Mills he has carried out similar ideas. Mr. Stallworth
is a democrat in politics, though often exercising an independent vote in
matters of local concern. He is one of the sterling men of his community,
and prominent in the work of the Baptist Church. His business career has
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2621
been such as to give him little time for social or fraternal affairs, thongli
he is a member of the Mastmic Order id excellent st^ndin^, and is president
of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce.
Mr, Stallworth was married to Miss Florence Griffith at Gafney, South
Carolina, in August, 1903. Her father, Gapt. H. P. GriiBth, was in early
life a cotton planter, served with the rank of captain throughout the war
between the states in the Confederate army, and for the past twenty-five
years has been one of the leading educators of South Carolina, president of
Limestone College. Mrs. Stallworth is a woman of rare refinement and
culture, acquired her education in the college of which her father is presi-
dent, and in many ways has interested herself in the movement and solution
of the problems which are p«rt of the daily routine of business experience
of her husband, and is prominent in both church and local society.
Hon. WiUJAM Wallace Lahbdin. On March 3, 1915, a bill passed
Congress providing for an additional United States judge for the Southern
District of Georgia, The bill was also signed by President Wilson on the
third day of March, and practically coincident with the signing the president
nominated and appointed for the new position in the Federal judiciary
Hon. W. W. Lambdin of Waycross, who was promptly confirmed by the
United States Senate on the same day. Judge Lambdin took his place on
the bench March 29, 1915, and has since resided in Savannah, and alternates
with Judge Emory Speer in holding terms of the United States Court in tho
various divisions of the Southern District of (Georgia, the act of Congress pro-
viding, however, that upon the retirement of the senior judge, Judge Lambdin
will be the sole judge in the district.
As has been well said, Judge Lambdin 's elevation to the Federal bench
came as a fitting climax to his long, active and useful professional career.
By heredity, by native endowment, by the possession of the judicial tem-
perament, by an upright life and long years of preparation, he Is eminently
fitted for the higher judicial honors which were thus given him.
Bom October 25, 1861, on his grandfather's plantation in Upson County,
Georgia, Judge Lambdin is a son of Charles E. and Martha (Middlebrook)
Lambdin. The Lambdin ancestry carac from England and settled in Mary-
land about the middle of the seventeenth century. The Middlebrooks were
also of English. origin and first settled in Connecticut and later in North
Carolina, whence they removed to Georgia,
One of the great-grandfathers of Judge Lambdin on the paternal side
served as a captain in the Maryland line in the war of the Revolution, and
was subsequently major in the War of 1812. William Lambdin, grand-
father of Judge Lambdin, was bom and reared on the eastern shore of Mary-
land, and was the owner of extensive shipyards in the City of Baltimore,
where the celebrated Baltimore Cutter was built when the American mer-
chant marine was in its prime. Prof. Charles E, Lambdin, father of Judge
Lambdin, was born in Alexandria, Vii^nia, March 12, 1838, was reared in
Baltimore, graduating with honors in 1857 from the Baltimore City College
and in 1859 moved to Georgia as a teacher. He was a loyal soldier in the
Confederate army, having enlisted in 1861 with the Holloway Grays from
Upson County, which became a part of the Thirty-seventh Georgia Infaintry
and was assigned to the western army. He was in the service until the sur-
render, was in many of the various campaigns of the war, and fought at Mur-
freesboro, through Chickamauga and Missionary -Ridge, and on to Atlanta.
After the war he resumed his profession as teacher and in 1872 established
at Bamesville the Gordon Institute, which in a few years came to rank as the
leading preparatory school in Georgia. He remained its president from
1872 until his death on March 8, 1888. Judge Lambdin's mother, who was
a near relative of the late Bishop Atticus G. Haygood, was bom in Upson
County, Georgia, in 1840, and died in 1866.
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2622 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Judge Lambdin received his early training in the Gordon Institute at
BarnesviNe while it was presided over by his honored father. He graduated
' at the University ol Georgia in 1879 with the first honors of his class and the
A. B. degree, being the youngest man in his class. For several years follow-
ing he taught school at Barnesville and Blacksbear, Georgia, and employed the
intervals of his teaching in farming. For four years he was principal of the
West End Academy at Atlanta, In the meantime he to** up the study of
law, was admitted to the bar in 1888, resigned as principal of the academy at
Atlanta, and until 1899 was engaged in practice at that city. While in Atlanta
he was a member of the firm of Hiltyer, Alexander & Lambdin, a leading law
firm of Atlanta, and also a lecturer in the Atlanta Law School. From 1899
to 1906 Judge Lambdin practiced in his old home at Barnesville and in that
time established relations with many of the most important clients in the Flint
Circuit. His services were retained by many of the important business inter-
ests in that section of the state, and he frequently appeared as an attorney
before the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also city attorney
and state 's attorney, and was vice president of the Board of Trustees of Gordon
Institute.
In 1906, Judge Lambdin moved to Wayeross, where he continued to
practice until his elevation to the Federal bench. He became a member of
the firm of Wilson, Bennett & Lambdin, and this firm was almost at once
recognized as one of the strongest in Southeast Georgia. Judge Lambdin is
a democrat, he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
South, and he is affiliated with the college fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Judge Lambdin is an orator of ability and a profound thinker on public
questions. On December 24, 1883, while teaching in Blacksbear, he married
Miss Annie M. Smith, daughter of Dr. Henry J, and Sophia (Hall) Smith.
Her father was a prominent physician at Blacksbear, Georgia, a veteran of
the Mexican war, and was captain of the Telfair rifles which went out from
Telfair County, Georgia, in 1861 and joined the Confederate army in Virginia.
Judge Lambdin and wife are the parents of seven children, five daughters
and two sons.
An estimate of Judge Lambdin 's qualifications for the position to which
he was appointed in 1915 caused one of the Georgia leading newspapers to
say that the appointment of no other gentleman could have been so richly
merited or given such widespread satisfaction. The article went on to say:
"Learned in the law, cultured and scholarly in thought and attainments, an
ardent militant democrat, who has ever delighted to fight his party's battles
without thought of official reward, an intensive South Georgian, devoted to
its growth and its glory, possessing rare powers of analysis and a calm judi-
cial temperament, Mr, Lambdin is destined to make an ideal judge in every
particular." •
John a. Thompson. Persistent application to the development of an idea
has brought about the success of John A. Thompson, president of the Winder
Oil Mill, at Winder, Georgia. His entrance into business life here, some
thirty years ago, was not a particularly auspicious one, for he was possessed
of but smalt means; bnt he had faith in his ability and in the enterprise of
his founding, and as the years have passed both hav/ been eminently vindi-
cated. At the present time Mr. Thompson is connected with some of the lead-
ing interests of Barrow County, and stands as an example of success won with
honor and without animosity.
John A. Thompson was born in Walton (now Barrow) County, Georgia,
September 12, 1859, and is a son of David J. and Elizabeth (Austin) Thomp-
son. His great-grandfather on the paternal side was a Revolutionary soldier
of Irish descent, and his grandfather, James Thompson, an early farmer of
Walton County, fought in the War of 1812. On the maternal side bis
grandfather, James Austin, was born in 1777 in North Carolina, and was a
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2623
pioneer to Georgia with his father, who was the first white settler on the
Apalachia River, at a time when the Indians thickly infested that section.
The Austin family is of English origin.
David J. Thompson was born in 1821, in Georgia, grew up amid agricul-
tural surroundings, and eventually became a prominent farmer of Walton
County, where he died in 1888. During the* war between the North and the
South he enlisted as a private of Company H, Forty-second Georgia Regiment,
possibly under Captain Thomas, and while he participated in a number of the
important battles of the war escaped with a slight wound. Mrs. Thompson
was born in 1833, also in Georgia, where she passed her entire life, dying in
1879.
The fifth in order of birth of his parents' nine children, John A. Thomp-
son secured his education in the public schools of his native community, and
on completing his studies was employed in a sawmill, working thus for seven
years. He nest went to the southern part of the state, where he engaged in
rafting timber on the Oconee River until 1885, in that year coming to Barrow
County, where he built the first portable oil mill, at Winder. This he devel-
oped from a small and unimportant enterprise to the largest in the county,
working all of his own products up himself and forcing recognition from
business men and consumers. As president and manager of the Winder Oil
Mill, he is now at the head of an industry which contributes materially to the
business importance of this place, and he also has numerous other interests,
being the original organizer of the Farmers Bank, which was founded March
28, 1914, and of which he has since been vice president. This is known as one
of the most substantial banking institutions of Barrow County, with a capital
stock of $25,000. He is also a stockholder in the North Georgia Trust Com-
pany, and is accounted a man of judgment, foresight and acumen among his
associates. Mr. Thompson is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in
politics is a democrat,
Mr. Thompson was married in 1888 to Miss Effie Stinehcomb, daughter of
Memory J, Stinehcomb, of Walton County, and a member of a well-known
family. She died in 1891, having been the mother of two children: David P.,
' bom in 1889, at Walton, who is single and cashier of the Farmers Bank ; and
Geoi^ie, born in 1892, who is superintendent of the Winder Oil Mill.
Alton Brooks Cowabt. Junior member of the prominent law firm of
Cowart & Cowart at Lyons, Alton B. Cowart has the distinction of being the
youngest man ever admitted to the bar in the State of Georgia. His dominant
characteristic since boyhood has been an intense intellectual activity and
curiosity and he has absorbed knowledge from every source and from almost
every part of the world. He is not only a sound and able lawyer, but a
brilliant speaker, and while his political career has so far been confined to
helping his friends his talents are certain to take him far in public life should
he choose that course.
He was born in Tattnall County, Georgia, July 23, 1883, andis now only
twenty-six years of age, though he has been a member of the Georgia bar for
seven years. His parents are Leonard Jackson and Estella (Truitt) Cowart.
His mother was born in Bulloch County, Georgia, her parents came to
Georgia during the decade of the '70s. She died in 1894 at the age of twenty-
two, having been the mother of three children, of whom Edward died at the
age of five and Paul Newton, the youngest, is now in business at Atlanta.
Leonard J. Cowart was born in Tattnall County, a son of Edward D. and
Viney (Collins) Cowart. Edward Cowart was a planter and a man of
prominence in county politics, holding various oflfiees, including that of tax
collector and receiver. He was also a soldief- in the Confederate army. His
death occurred at the age of sixty-seven, while his wife passed away in April,
1914, aged sixty-nine. The Collins branch of the ancestry presents some
remarkable examples of large families and length of years. Members of the Col-
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2624 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
lins family intermarried with the Kennedys. While Grandmother Cowart her-
self had fourteen children, her own mother had fifteen, and three of her
mothers' brothera, Kennedys, and three sisters, each had fifteen children, while
another member of the Cowart stock had twenty-seven children. In the Collins
line was Eliza Adams, who was horn in Tattnall County and lived to the won-
derful age of one hundred thre'e years, dying in Wheeler County, Georgia.
Leonard J. Cowart, who was the fourth in his mother's fourteen children, was
educated in Tattnall County and by industrious self-application. He was em-
ployed on the home farm until twenty-five 'years of age, and then begaii the
study of law under Frank H. Safford, of Swainsboro. He was admitted to the
bar April 24, 1897, before Judge R. L, Gamble, judge of the Superior Court,
and began practice at Swainsboro. After a brief interval he removed to Mount
Vernon, Georgia, practiced there one year, then went to Emanuel County, and
was in that county until the division of Tattnall County and the creation of the
new County of Toombs in 1905. In that year he located at Lyons, which
became the county seat of Toombs County, and has since gained a prominent
place in his profession and is senior member of the firm of Cowart & Cowart,
He is a quiet and unobtrusive democrat, and his chief efforts outside of his
law practice have been given to educational advancement in his home city and
county. In the fall' of 1914 he was elected president of the school board, and
has done a great deal to give Lyons an up to date public school system. For
three years he practiced with W. B. Brown in the firm of Cowart & Brown.
He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Baptist
Church. In 1898 Leonard J. Cowart married his present wife. Miss Minnie
Hughes of Montgomery County, They have two children, George and Minnie
Lee Cowart.
When Alton Brooks Cowart was only twelve years of age he graduated
from the high school at Stillmore. That was only the beginning of his record
of scholastic attainments. A few years later he decided to become a lawyer
and with characteristic energy took up the study under the direction of his
father, and pursued it with an unexampled diligence and frequently spent
sixteen hours a day in mastering the intricacies of legal language. In 1908,
when only nineteen, he passed a brilliant examination with an average per
cent of ninety-seven, and was admitted to the bar and began practice with his
father. In a short time his health failed on account of so much overstudy,
and for nearly five years he was obliged to abandon his practice and recuperate
his health by travel and by a variety of work. This really broadened hia
knowledge and gave him more than the equivalent of an average university
course. In that time he visited every part of the United States, from East
to West and from North to South, and also spent some time abroad, chiefly in
Germany. He paid hia way to a lai^e extent during those years as reporter
on various newspapers. With renewed health he returned to Georgia in 1914
and resumed his practice as junior partner with his father.
He is a popular stump speaker, has many friends among the leading demo-
crats of Georgia, and is one of the personal friends of former Governor Sla-
ton, and will assist Mr. Slaton in his next campaign for the United States
Senate. Mr. Cowart is still constant in his studies, and is regarded as one
of the best read men in history and literature in his part of the state, and is
the owner of a fin? private library.
Sandy BBaver, The Riverside Military Academy of Gainesville is a notable
institution in Georgia, designed and equipped for rhe liberal education of
boys, with preliminary training for both the military and naval service. The
boys in this school have the advantages of a thorough academic institution
and are also given a fundamental training which is invaluable in ease the
graduates enter either of the great government training schools at West
Point or Annapolis. A West Point officer is in charge of the military
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, GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2625
instruction and this is one of the three schools in the United States that
have complete facilities for naval training. Emphasis is placed upon the
physical well being and training of the students, and whatever course is
adopted by the young men on leaving this school they go out with a harmo-
nious development of mind and body.
The active administrative head of the Riverside Military Academy is
Professor Sandy Beaver, who was formerly owner of the Stone Mountain
Sch6ol in this state, and who closed that institution to accept the presidency
of the Riverside Military Academy, Riverside is situated on a high bluff
along the Chattahoochee River about three miles northwest of Gainesville, in
an ideal and picturesfiue mountainous situation, with a view out over many
miles of surrounding country, and accessible either by automobile road or
street cars to Uainesville. There are large and spacious grounds, with facili-
ties for drill and athletic sports. The buildings are modem, and there are
sixty-five rooms in the academy 's dormitories equipped with all conveniences,
including gymnasium and shower baths, and the equipment for teclinical
training and instructions represents an investment of a large sum of money.
Prof. Sandy Beaver, head of this institution, was born at Augusta,
Georgia, October 5, 1883, the son of Sandy and Savannah (Webb) Beaver.
His father was a native of Chesterfield County, South Carolina, while his
mother was bom in Hancock County, Georgia, and is still living at Augusta.
The senior Mr. Beaver was a merchant, and also had an honorable record in
public affairs. He died in 1911 at the age of sixty.
Professor Beaver attended the schools of Augusta, and later entered the
University of Georgia, where he was graduated A. B. in 1903. After that he
traveled extensively in European countries, and for the past ten years has
given his entire time and attention to educational work. On February 2,
1912, at Atlanta, Georgia, he married Miss Annice Lowry, Professor Beaver
was president and owner of the School for Boys at Stone Mountain, Georgia,
from 1903 to 1913, and then closed that school in order to take charge of the
Riverside Military Academy on June 1, 1913. He is a democrat m politics,
is a Mason and Shriner, a Knight of Pythias, and belongs to the Presbyterian
church. He is a man of thorough cidture, a great favorite socially, takes
much interest in all outdoor life and sports and is an exemplar of that
physical development for which his school stands.
Hon. Seaborn Jones, lawyer and legislator, was bom in Aagusta, Rich-
mond County, Georgia, February 1, 1788, and died in Columbus, that state,
March 18, 1864. He entered Princeton but was obliged to leave before
graduation on account of the failure of his father in business. He then
studied law and was admitted to the bar by special act of the Legislature
in 1808 (being only twenty years old). In 1827 he moved from Baldwin to
Muscogee County, where he practiced for many years. He became solicitor*
general of Georgia in 1817 and was afterward elected to Congress as a demo-
crat, serving from 1833 to 1835, and again from 1845 to 1847.
Rev. Dr. Adiel Sherwood neither spent the first nor the last years of his
life iji Georgia, but as Georgia was the theater of his usefulness for a great
many years, he properly belongs to the eminent men of Georgia during the
first half of the nineteenth century. He was bom at Fort Edward, New
York, October 3, 1791. He was educated in the East, commenced to pi^ach
as a Baptist minister at Savannah in 1818 and was one of the founders of
the Geortria State Bantist Convention in the early '20s. He had charge of
various churches in Georgia, was one of the founders of Mercer University
and in 1837 he was a professor in the Columbian College, at "Washington,
D. C. In 1841 he whs president of ShurtleflE College, Alton, Hlinois. In
1848-49 he was president of the Masonic College, Lexington, Missouri. In
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2626 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
1857 we fiod him back in Georgia as president of the Marshall College, at
GriSSn. Union College, from which he had graduated in 1817, conferred
upon him the degree of LL. D. He died in St. Louis, Missouri, August 18,
1879.
Rt. Rev. Frederick Focke Reese. Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of
Georgia, Frederick Focke Reese has been known through his pastoral and
other relations in this state for a quarter of a century. He is descended from
a long line of worthy ancestors, wlio in the difEerent generations were prom-
inent in church, school, business and civic affairs.
Bishop Reese was born at Baltimore, Maryland, October 23, 1854. His
paternal line was established in this country by John and Katherine (Evans)
Reese, who immigrated from Wales about 1718, and spent the rest of their
lives in or around the City of Baltimore, Maryland. Next in line was David
Reese, who lived in the City of Baltimore and conducted a private school.
He married for his first wife Eleanor Smith and for his second Mary
Yates. A son of David, and grandfather of Bishop Reese, was John Smith
Reese, whose mother was Eleanor Smith. He was born Aprii 7, 1790, in
Hartford County, Maryland, near Belair, and died February 14, 1855. In
early life he took over the school taught by his father, but later graduated
as Doctor of Medicine at Jefferson College in Philadelphia. Before becoming
settled in his practice he was made a "local preacher" in the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Subsequently he took part in a controversy with others
who demanded lay representation in the Methodist conferences and some
limitation of the autocratic authority of the Methodist bishops. As a result
of this controversy he with others seceded and organized the Methodist
Protestant Church, embodying m its constitution the feature for which they
had contended and substituting an annually elected president for life term
bishops. His active career was spent in the Methodist itinerancy in Mary-
land and Virginia. He was several times elected president of the Maryland
Annual Conference and it is thought he was oner, president of the General
Conference of that denomination. In 1815 John Smith Reese married Mai^-
ret Ann Spiudler. She was born August 26, 1 794, and spent her early child-
hood near Hereford in Baltimore County. Her parents were George Frederick
and Catherine (Klinefelter) Spindler of Baltimore County.
John Smith Reese, Jr.. father of Bishop Eeese, was in his time a very
successful merchant and business man and prominent in the Episeop^
Church as a layman. He was born at Baltimore February 18, 1827, and died
in that city July 20, 1877. He received his education mainly in the country
schools of Maryland and by his own individual efforts in private. He was
a member of the Episcopal Church and a vestryman for many years of Christ
Church, Emmanuel Church and the Jlemorial Church at Baltimore, and
served as a delegate to the Diocesan Convention. Before the Civil war he
was a whig and an ardent follower of Henry Clay, and afterwards became
a democrat. He held no political office, though occasionally he took a leading
part in local political raovoTnents. As a merchant he was one of the first to
manipulate and manufacture commercial fertilizers under the name of
"Reese's Manipulated Guano." After the war be was general agent of The
Pacific Guano Company, a Boston concern, and had control of the entire south-
em business of the company under the firm name of John S. Reese &
Company.
Amoldina Olivia Focke, who married John S. Reese November 9, 1852,
was bom at Baltimore October 6. 1 829, and died in that city February 26,
1904, Her parents were Frederick and Regina Rosina Karthaus Focke of
Baltimore, both of whom were children of German parents. The Focke line
came from Hanover, Germany, while the Earthaus line was from Bemseheid,
Germany. Peter Arnold Karthaus, the emigrant, became a prominent mer-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2627
chant and ship owner at Baltimlore and early in the nineteenth century he
manufactured pig iron in Clearfield County, Pemisylvania, at a place called
Karthaua on the western branch of the Susquehanna River, This pioneer"
manufacturer, during the War of 1812, owned and operated ships of the
Baltimore Clipper class, some of which were armed as privateers.
Undoubtedly ancestry counts for a great deal when coupled with indi-
vidual character and ability. Bishop Reese received his early education in
private schools in Baltimore, at the University of Virginia, and al Berkeley
Divinity School at Middletown, Connecticut. In 1878 he was ordained a
deacon in the Episcopal Church by the Rt. Rev. William Rollinson Whitting-
hame, D. D., LL. D., fourth bishop of Maryland. The following year, 1879,
he was ordained a priest by the Rt. Rev. William Pinkney, D. D., LL. D., fifth
bishop of Maryland. He served first as deacon in charge of St. Mark's Church,
Baltimore, and in October, 1878, became assistant minister of the Church of
the Ascension at Baltimore and was placed in charge of All Saints' Church
as a mission of the Ascension Church. After having built a new church he
remained there until December, 1885, when he was made rector of Trinity
Church, Portsmouth, Virginia, and remained at that point until April, 1890.
. At the latter dat« he accepted the rectorship of Chrifrt Church in Macon,
Georgia, and was the pastoral leader of that large congregation until Novem-
ber, 1903. During these years he served as secretary of the Diocese of
Georgia. In 1893 he was elected trustee of the University of the South at
Sewanee, Tennessee. In 1892 and for every subsequent convention he was
elected a deputy to the general convention of the church in the United States.
During a part of this period also he was a memher of the standing committee
of the diocese and at one time its president. He ser\ed as a director of the
city hospital at Maccm and also as chaplain of a local military company, and
for several years was commissioned chaplain of the Second Regiment, Georgia
Volunteer Troops.
In 1903 he became rector of Christ Church, Nashville, Tennessee. The
diocese of Tennessee elected him as one of its trustees for the University of
the South and one of its deputies to the general convention in 1904 and
1907. He has also been a member of the board of regents of the same uni-
versity, previously known as its executive committee. In 1907, at Richmond
Virginia, he was elected by the general convention of the church as missionary
bishop of Wyoming. This responsible post he was unable to accept.
In 1908 he was elected and was consecrated bishop of the diocese of
Georgia and has since had his home in the City of Savannah. As a voter only
Bidiop Reese is a democrat. He is affiliated n-ith the Delta Psi fraternity,
Upsiion Chapter, with the Colonnade Club of the University of Virginia, and
with the Savannah Golf Club.
At Baltimore November 11, 1879, he married Miss Ella Parr. Mrs. Reese
was educated in private schools at Baltimore. Her parents were Israel M.
and Mary Bowen (Pope) Parr. Her father was a prominent grain shipping
merchant at Baltimore for many years, and held many positions of trust and ■
honor in mercantile circles, and during the Civil war was president of the
Confederate Relief Association in Baltimore. Bishop and Mrs. Reese are the
parents of five children : Amoldina, who was born in Baltimore, is the widow
of Egbert Barrows Preyer of Marietta, Georgia, who died on the 19th of
April, 1914. Mary, born in Baltimore, married Francis Hopkinson Craighill,
a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, Ella, bom in Baltimore, married Henry
Disbrow Phillips, a clergyman of the Episcopal Church and now chaplain of
the University of the South. Louise, bom in Baltimore, married Henry Stuart
Gihbes of Atlanta, Georgia. Agnea. horn in Macon, Georgia, is the wife of
William Feay Shellman, of Savannah.
Burton Smith. The City of Atlanta has been fortunate in the possession
of men with high ideals of citizenship, together with exceptional ability in
yGoosIe
2628 GfiOKOIA AND OEORQIANS
their professions. In this class it is no invidious distinction to name Burton
Smith as among the foremost, not only in the ranks of attorneys, with whose
profession he has been prominently identified for thirty years, but also as a
man who conceives citizenship as a duty involving unremitting service in the
general interests of the community. Mr. Smith is a fine representative of one
of the old and notable southern families, is a son of a distinguished educator,
and a younger brother of a prominent Qeorgian, Senator Hoke Smith.
Burton Smith was bom at Ohapel Hill, North Carolina, September 18, 1864,
a son of Professor Hosea Hildreth and Mary Brent (Hoke) Suiith. His father,
one of the most cultured citizens in the South and a man of strong character,
was a professor in the University of North Carolina, and organized the public
school system of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and Houston, 'Fezas, and subsequently
became president of the Sam Houston Normal School at Huntsville, Texas.
Burton Smith received his early school training under his father, was
graduated from the Sam Houston Normal School of Texas in 1880, and was
given the degree Bachelor of Philosophy at the University of Geoi^a in 1882.
Of this period of his life and of the influence upon him of his father, Mr.
Smith says: "Upon graduating at the university at seventeen years I was at
home with my father and mother until I married at twenty-three, being the
only member of the household besidra my parents. I was in constant contact
with my father and had the benefit of his training. He was a bom teacher,
and having no active work on his hands taught mfi in my leisure moments."
After reading law Mr. Smith was admitted to the bar in June, 1883, and
took up active practice with his brother. Senator Hoke Smith. In 1892 Mr.
Smith organized his own office force, and in that gave particular attention to
both the system and the personnel, so that he has been able to bring the full
resources of his individual talents and training to the disposition of this large
and important practice. Some of the leading law cases in Georgia have been
placed in his hands, and he has shown a rare skill and judgment in handling
them. Mr. Sioitb was the leading attorney in the noted Crawford will case
and in the Ryan receivership. His services have brought him distinction as
a legal adviser, particularly on questions of corporate law and management,
and particularly in later years his appearance for argument before courts and
juries always attracts attention, since he is recognized as one of the ablest
advocates in the South. Much of his fame as a lawyer and his lai^ practice
are dne to the patient determination and the unwavering fidelity with which
he takes up and continues to the last the interests of his clients.
In professional organizations and in social and civic affairs Mr. Smith has
long been a leader in Atlanta. He served as president of the Geor^a Bar
Association in 1902-03, and in 1900 was the vice president of the American
Bar Association. He has long been identified with the Atlanta Bar Associa-
tion, and has been particularly useful as chairman of the Rules and Practice
Committee. Mr. Smith was formerly captain and adjutant of the Fifth Regi-
ment of the Geoi^ia National Guard and was on duty during the Pittsburg
' and Atlanta riots. He was one of the organizers and first president of the
Atlanta Athletic Club, one of the organizers and now chairman of the Execu-
tive Committee of the University Club, and is a member of the Capital City
Club, the leading social organization of Atlanta. Mr. Smith was at one time
president of the Young Men's Democratic League of F.ulton County, and
has taken much interest in state and national polities.
Mr. Smith is especially well known in Masonic circles, and is active in the
Taarab Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and was grand marshal in the Shriners
parade during the convention of that order in Atlanta in 1914.
The interest and as-sociations of an active career have brought Mr. Smith
many friends, and he has the ability to make friendships and to bind men to
him with enduring ties. The chief reason for this has been his own loyalty
to his friends, and with him friendship is inviolable. He enjoys the confi-
yGoosle
I, Google
-^<i^/7\Z3^^>uA.l^
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS " 2629
deuce and esteem of many of the younger men of Georgia, and has an intimate
commanion with many whom he knew as a young man thirty or thirty-live
years ago, including a number of his elaasmates in the^ University of Georgia,
such men as Judge Samuel G. Atkinson, Judge Marcua'W, Beck, Juc^e E. H.
Callaway, Hon. Clark Howell and Albert Howell, Jr. Mr. Snath is a member
of the Episcopal Church, in earlier life was superintendent of St. Luke's
Episcopal Sunday School, and is now president of the local assembly of the
Brotherhood of St. Andrew, one of the important branches of Episcopal
Church activities.
On June 19, 1888, Mr. Smith married Miss Fannie Gordon, daughter of
the late Gen. John B. Gordon. The only living child of this marriage is one
daughter. The only son, Gordon Burton Smith, who bore a strong resemblance
to his father in physique and mental attainments, lost his life in Panamn
while studying civil engineering. He was accidentally drowned while in the
discha^e of duty, and went to his death self possessed'and holding in his
teeth the note book of his survey. He was a Georgia Tech man, and althongh
barely twenty years of age had received three promotions.
Mr. Smith's tirm loyalty to his profession, his friends and his state, his
zeal as a church worker and his Arm belief in the precept of Richelieu tha£
"there is no soch word as fail," have won for him the high place he now
holds as citizen and lawyer, and he is easily one of Georgia's foremost men.
WiLUAM Henby Terrell. It is the live men in a community who count
— not those who drift with the current, but those who have strength to breast
the stream, whose course is upward, not downward, and who while fighting
their way onward, can sometimes lend a hand to help a weaker swimmer.
One of these active citizens of Atlanta, contributing to its progress and at the
same time plodding their way to an honorable independence is William
Henry Terrell, an able attorney and man of affairs, who has rendered varied
and useful civic service.
Bom near Orange Postoffice, Cherokee County, Georgia, June 7, 1867,
he is forty-nine years old and in the full maturity of mental and physical
powers. On both the paternal and maternal sides he is of English origin.
The earliest paternal ancestor was "William Terrell, who came from England
and settled in Virginia at a very early date. In that state the earlier members
of the family resided for many years, and some yet reside on the original
homestead in Hanover County. Going back five generations, the great-great-
great-grandfather of the Atlanta lawyer was Timothy Terrell, a son of
William and Susanna Terrell. Timothy's son Simon was bom in Orange
Ctmnty, North Carolina, in 1755, was a farmer and miller by occupation,
and in 1790 came by way of South Carolina to Georgia, where he lived only
a short time. In that time he owned eighteen square miles in what is now
Banks County, Simon had served as a soldier in the Hevolntionary war and
had doubtless taken part in the memorable southern campaign of General
Greene resulting in the expulsion of the British from North and South Caro-
lina. He helped to defeat Ferguson at King's Mountain. On coming to
Banks County (then known as Wilkes County) he was accompanied by his
brother William from whom was descended the Hon. Joseph M. Terrell,
ex-governor of Georgia.
A son of Simon was named Timothy. The latter became a civil engineer
and in 1818 made a plat of the Town of Janesville, Geor^a. Timothy's son
Thomas was bom in that part of Hall County, Georgia, now known as Banks
County. He was a farmer and blacksmith and a fine mechanic. In his
shop on his farm he did various kinds of mechanical work including gun-
smithing. For many years he served as justice of the peace. He was a very
large man, weighing 220 pounds and standing 6 feet 4 inches high. He mar-
ried Sarah Camp, also a native of Hall (now Banks) County.
yGoosle
2630 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
James A. Terrell, son of Thomas and Sarah Terrell, and father of William
Henry Terrell, was bom in Cherokee County, Georgia, Novemher 18, 1837.
By trade he was a stone and brick mason. In June, 1861, he enlisted in the
Confederate States army as a member of Company C, Phillips' Legion of
Georgia Cavalry, and fought until April 19, 1865, when he surrendered at
Bentonville, North Carolina, after the last battle of the war had been fought.
He is now a resident of Atlanta and despite his advanced age of seventy-nine
is still strong and vigorous. On May 24, 1866, he married Nancy Epperson,
who was born October 21, 1847, in that part of Cherokee County now Milton
County, Georgia. Her parents were William S, and Sarah (Yancey) Epper-
son. The Eppersons were of Virginia stock,. while her mother's family was
the famous Yancey family of South Carolina, her maternal grandfather being
Dabney Yancey. Mrs. Nancy Terrell died May 23, 1912, the mother of ten
children, tl^ree sons and seven daughters. Of these two sons and three
daughters are now'" living: William Henry, John, Sarah Gertrude, Mary
Emma and Winnie Davis, all residents of Atlanta.
William Henry Terrell spent his boyhood days on a farm in Cherokee
County, Georgia, and was educated in the schools of that county. For several
years during early manhood he was engaged in teaching. In 1888 he was
admitted to the bar, but continued to teach in Cherokee, Forsyth and Murray
counties until 1893, when he came to Atlanta. Since then he has been a
member of the Atlanta bar and has gained an enviable reputation as a suc-
cessful lawyer, handling each year a large amount of business. A democrat
in politics, he has taken an active part in city affairs, serving as a member of
the city council from the First ward in 1903-04 and in 1906-07. In 1912 he
was a delegate to the State Democratic Convention from Pulton County. At
present he is a member of the Atlanta Board of Education, and from 1909
until 1913 was vice chairman of the Atlanta Bond Commission. Mr. Terrell
has taken all the degrees in Masonry, including the thirty-third, being an
honorary member of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Arabic Scottish
Rite of Free Masonry for the southern jurisdiction of the United States. He
is a life member and past master of Atlanta Lodge No. 59, Free and Accepted
Masons, is a Knight Templar and Shriner and a director of the Ma.sonic
Temple Company of Atlanta. He is also a past chancellor and past repre-
sentative of the Knights of Pythias. He belongs to the Atlanta Bar Asso-
ciation and his religious affiliations are with the Walker Street Methodist
Church of Atlanta, which he is now serving as steward and trustee.
On June 13, 1889, William Henry Terrell married Miss Gertrude Poage
of Cobb County, Georgia. Their marriage was performed by Rev. P. M.
Rej'burn, a Methodist minister, at the residence of his father's old com-
mander Gen. William Phillips in Marietta. To their marriage have been
bom six children, three sons and three daughters. W. L., James A., Grace,
Nancy D. (now the wife of Max J. Baer of Atlanta), Sarah, and Joseph M,
(who was named for ex-Governor and Senator Joseph M. Terrell).
Mr. Terrell is a popular public speaker, being frefjuently called upon to
deliver addresses on topics of interest. He has also written much for the
public press. Perhaps the most notable thing in his career was the inaugura-
tion of the movement, now well under way, to establis>i a Confederate nlemo-
rial at Stone Mountain. This was purely his conception but the idea has
since spread all over the Southland and has been strongly endorsed by all of
the patriotic Confederate organizations. Mr. Terrell was one of the charter
members and is a director of the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental
Association, which was chartered and organized April, 1916, and is now
constructing this meraorial.
Daniei, Webster Simmons. For sixteen years Daniel W, Simmons has
given his time and attention to the duties of clerk of court in Rome. His
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2631
has been a successful career, with varied experience, comprising hard and
strenuous work in his early life as a bridge builder, and he has always kept
close to the soil and is owner of a couple of farms in Floyd County. His
record as an official has been characterized by the fairness of performance
and obliging courtesy to all who use his office, and he has combined with his
official performance the fine old courtesy distinctive of the best Southern
families.
Daniel Webster Simmons was bom at Cave Spring, in Floyd County,
Georgia, January 31, 1852. His parents were Richard Shelton and Sarah C.
(Leak) Simmons, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of
South Carolina. His grandfather, whose name was also Richard Shelton
Simmons, was the founder of his family in Georgia, having come to this
state in the early '403 and located on a plantation. He was a Southern planter,
with a limited number of slaves, about twenty, and a well known man in
early days. His death occurred at the age of ninety-four, while his wife
passed away at Cave Spring, Floyd County, to which the family had removed
prior to the Civil war, when in her eighty-first year. They were held in
esteem as representing the first quality of Floyd County citizens, were mem-
bers of the Methodist Church and in politics stanch democrats. Richard
Shelton Simmons, Jr., died in 1860 at the age of forty-eight. For several
years he was engaged in merchandising at Cedartown, in Polk County, and
at the time of his death was proprietor of a store at Cave Spring, in Floyd
County. His wife survived many years and passed away in 1893 at the age
of fifty-eight. Of their five children only two are now living, and the other
son is R«v. Oliver Cromwell Simmons, who spent twenty-five years in the
active work of the North Geoi^a Methodist Conference, was pastor of the
East Point Church, and is now living retired at East Point.
Daniel Webster Simmons was educated in private schools at Cave Spring,
had a good grammar school training, and at the age of eighteen left home
for the W^est. He learned the trade of bridge building, and for eight years
was employed in that service with the Texas & Pacific Railway in the Stat«
of Texas. His return to Georgia was due to the failing health of his mother,
and here he became identified with merchandising- at Cave Spring, and for
fourteen years was a popular and successful merchant in that locality.
In 1899 Mr. Simmons was elected to the office which he has held contin-
uously now for sixteen years, by regular re-election on the democratic ticket.
He is clerk of the City and Superior courts for Rome and Floyd County,
and every successive year has brought an increase of experience, efficiency
and thorough knowledge of the duties involved in keeping the records and
organizing the technical administration of those offices. While his duties
prevent his giving personal supervision, Mr. Simmons is also engaged exten-
sively in diversified farming in Floyd County, owning two of as fine farms
as the county can boast of, containing in the a^regate 380 acres.
Mr. Simmons is prominent in Masonic bodies, affiliating with Lodge No.
113 at Rome, with Chapter No. 26 Royal Arch Masons, and with the Knight
Templar Commandery No. 8, and also with the Temple of the Mystic Shrine
at Atlanta. He and his wife are both active members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
At Cave Spring, December 22, 1880, Mr. Simmons married Miss Janie
Moore, daughter of John Seymour and Jennie (Floumay) Moore, of Eufaula,
Alabama. Mr. and Mrs. Simmon.'* are the parents of three children, one of
whom died in infancy: Ora Coleman Simmons, who died at Rome, Georgia,
February 26, 1908, at the age of twenty-seven, was the wife of Erarid D.
Cole of Rome, and left one child, Ora Cole. Capers M. Simmons, the only
living child, was born at Cave Spring December 24, 1884, is a graduate of
the Georgia Tech College in the civil engineering course, is now employed by
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2632 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the Southern Railway Company with headquarters at St, Louis, and is mak-
ing a practical and scieutiiic study of railroading.
Sydney J, Nix. As a citizen and lawyer, Sydney J, Nix, though still a
young man, has had accompliBbments of a most satisfying nature. He is
one of the leading younger members of the Jackson County bar, with a splen-
did practice, and owns his home in Jefferson and a farm in the county. When
he left home his father gave him a little money, but aside from that he prac-
tically paid his way through college and law school and has earned every
advancement in his career.
Sydney J. Nix was born in Jackson County, Georgia, October 2, 1879, a
son of Dilmus Monroe and Parmelia Jane (Mitehell) Nix. Both parents
were also bom in Jacks<m County, where they were reared and married, and
spent their lives with the exception of one year in Banks County. His father
was a farmer and planter and died in 1904 at the age of fifty-eight. During
the last year of the Civil war he enlisted and was with a company between
Rome and Macon, Georgia. He stood high in democratic circles in Jackson
County, and for several years was chairman of the executive committee. The
mother is still living at the old homestead in Jackson County at the age of
sixty-four. The paternal grandfather was Thomas T. Nix, also a native of
Jackson County, where he spent his life as a planter, and entering the war
in the Confederate army died during his service from pneumonia. After bis
death bis widow Lydia married Mr. Davis, and is still living at the age of
eighty-six years. The maternal grandparents were James W. and Jane
Mitehell. The former also died from disease duringthe Civil war. Sydney J.
is the oldest of five children still living, three of the family having passed
away : D. H. Nix is a resident of Jaekpon County ; W. T. Nix lives on the
old homestead near Commerce ; Mrs. Dora Williamson lives in Jackson County ;
and Miss Elizabeth is a teacher in the city schools at St. Augustine, Florida.
Sydney J. Nix grew up on a farm, attended public schools at Jefferson,
the Martin Institute and the Harmony Grove High School. After finishing
high school in 1899 he entered the University of Georgia, graduating from
the literary course in 1902 and from the law school in 1903. In July, 1903,
he took up active practice at Commerce, remained there until February, 1904,
and has since had his home in Jefferson. From 1904 to December 31, 1906,
he was in active practice, and from 1907 to 1912 was clerk of the Superior
Court, finally resigning that position to resume his law practice, in which he
has enjoyed special merit and success. He is now filling the office of city
dttomey for Jefferson, is solicitor elect of the City Court of Jefferson and a
trustee of Martin Institute. He is secretary of the county bar association,
a member of the state bar association, in politics a democrat, and has affilia-
tions with the Knights of Pythias, the Masonic Order and the Improved
Order of Red Men.
On September 11, 1907, at Jefferson he married Miss Lottie Lovel Appleby,
daughter of A. C. and Mary J. Appleby, a well known family of Jefferson,
where her father was for many years clerk of the Superior Court, county
surveyor, and now cashier of the First National Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Nix
are the parents of two children : Elsie Mildred, bom in 1910, at Jefferson ;
and Charlotte Lucylla, bom in 1912.
Charles M. Snelling. Perhaps no field of endeavor in its object is farther
.removed from politics, interest or class than the educational, and certainly
there is no more important avenue of usefulness. Education opens the door
of opportunity and neither wealth nor influence alone can compete with it
in the great business of life. Educational progress has become a source of
pride in every self respecting community and hence has arisen the universal
demand for a thoroughly prepared corps of instructors. Great is the work
I, Google
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2633
of the true teacher and heavy are the responsibilities that rest upon him.
In modern days his qualitications must be many, bis training^ must have been
broad and deep, his experience wide and successful, his personality must be
pleasing and his life wholesome. Athens, in her search for the best of every:
thing, has not been unmindful of the healthy growth and further develop-
ment of her schools and colleges and, perhaps, in no way has this spirit been
more definitely manifest than-in the securing of Charles M. Snelling, one of
the South 'a ablest educators, as a member of the faculty of the Georgia State
University, of which he is now dean, and also is president of Franklin College.
Charles M. Snelling was bom at Richmond, Vii^inia, November 3, 1862,
and is a son of Z. and Cleo (Perdue) Snelling, both of whom were bom in
Virginia, both families tracing back to colonial settlement. The father of
Doctor Snelling followed agricultural pursuits in the neighborhood of Chester-
field, where he was born, in bis earlier years, afterward moving to Richmond,
which continued to be his home during the remainder of his life, his deatii
occurring in 1877, at the age of sixty-seven years. During the war between
the states he served in department work at Richmond and was in that city
at the time of surrender. The mother of Doctor Snelling died January 6,
1883, at the age of sixty-three years. They had five children, two of the sous
serving in the war, enlisting when aged sixteen and fourteen years,
Charles M. Snelling was the youngest of his parents' children. He
attended the public schools of Richmond and also benefitted from private
instruction, subsequently entering the Virginia Military Institute, at Lex-
ington, Virginia, from which institution, then presided over by Gen. Francis
H. Smith, he was graduated in the class of 1884, and was made adjunct pro-
fessor of mathematics, which position he continued to fill for fourteen months.
Professor Snelling then spent one year at the Geoi^a Military Academy,
Savannah, Georgia, and two years in the South Georgia College at Thomas-
ville, and then accepted the call to the University of Geoi^a as adjunct
professor of mathematics and commandant of cadets, entering upon his duties
in November, 1888. In 1893 Professor Snelling took a leave of absence and
spent 1893-94 in study at Gottingen, and the University of Berlin, Germany,
and in visiting the principal European centers. Upon his return to the
United States he resumed his former duties, becomifig professor of mathe-
matics. Upon the death of Chancellor Hill, Doctor Snelling was made dean
of the university and president of Franklin College.
On June 18, 1891, Charles M, Snelling was united in marriage with Miss
Mathilda J. Morton, who is a daughter of Col. W. J. and R. E. {Wliite)
Morton. Colonel Morton is a prominent and influential citizen of Athens,
Georgia. Mrs, Snelling is a graduate of Lucy Cobb Institute and Wealeyan
College, of Georgia, and of the Boston Conservatory of Music. Her paternal
grandfather was bom in Ireland, and settled in Georgia in 1840. He was a
banker and manufacturer.
Eight children have been born to Dean Snelling and wife, a daughter
who died in infancy, and the following seven sons: William Morton, who
graduated from the naval academy, in June, 1915; Pinkney Welch, who was
bom in 1897, is a member of the sophomore class in the University of
Georgia; Charles M., Jr., who *a8 bom in 1899, is a midshipman in the
United States Naval Academy ; Albert M., who was bom in 1901, is a student
in a preparatory school near Spartanburg, Virginia; David Barrow, who
was born in 1903, and John R., who was horn in 1907, both attend the public
schools at Athens; and Robert E., who was bora in 1910.
In the ranks of good citizenship men like Dean Snelling are sure to be
found, not always nor necessarily taking public place, but, nevertheless
exerting the quiet influence for better and higher things, that results in
forward movements of permanent value. Through heritage and from prin-
ciple. Doctor Snelling is a democrat. With bis family he belongs to the
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2634 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Baptist Church, in which congregation at Athens he is a deacon. Widely
known all over the state and beyond, he is connected with and interested
in the educational and literary movements of the times. In the cultivated
and refined circles of the social life of Athens, Mrs. Snelling is naturally a
leader, especially in all musical organization, and is an active memher of
the Ladies Garden Club,
Thomas Spalding, in whose honor Spalding County was named, was bom
at Frederica, St. Simon's Island, Glynn County, Georgia, on March 26, 1774.
He began the study of law in the ofBce of Thomas Gibbons, of Savannah, but
his estate, which was a large one, requiring his personal attention, be aban-
doned the law. About the time of his marriage, though he had barely reached
bis majority, he was elected to the General Assembly. Shortly after this he
visited Europe with his family and spent two years in London. On his return
from England, Mr. Spalding served in the Constitutional Convention of 1798
and was afterward chosen to the Ninth Congress, but resigned his seat in 1806.
After that he served many terms as a member of the State Senate in which
he was always a leading member. At the close of the War of 1812, under
commission from the General Government, he went to Bermuda and nego-
tiated relative to the slaves and other property taken from the South by the
British forces. In 1826 he was appointed commissioner on the part of the
state to settle the boundary line between Georgia and Florida.
He was profundly interested in the compromise measures of Congress
growing out of the slavery question, and though in delicate health, he declared
his intention of attending the convention of 1850, at Milledgeville, even if
he should die in the effort. He reached the city, and though very feeble was
elected president of the convention. He made an appropriate address, remark-
ing in conclusion that "as it would be the last, so it would also be a graceful
termination of his public labors." After the adjournment, he returned home-
ward by way of Savannah, reached his son's residence near Darien greatly
debilitated, and there died, in the midst of his children, January 4, 1851, in
the seventy-seventh year of his age.
Col, WiLLi-iM H, Stiles was a descendant of an English family which
had furnished many noted men in our country, and was bom at Savannah,
Georgia, in 1809. He was admitted to the bar and in 1833 was made solicitor--
general of the Eastern District of Georgia. He served in this capacity until
1836. He then returned to the practice of his profession, which he followed
continuously until 1840, when he was sent by the Federal Government to pay
the Cherokee Indians in North Georgia for the lands which they had deeded
to the Government. He was so much pleased with the soil and climate of
that section that he bought some of the newly-acquired lands and settled on
the banks of the Etowah River in what was then Cass and is now Bartow
County. He was elected to the Twenty-eighth Congress by -the people of
Georgia, serving from 1843 to 1845, and several times represented his county
in the General Assembly of Georgia. Pron i the completion of his congressional
term in 1845 until 1849 he was charge il'affaires of the United States in
Austria.
At the commencement of the Civil war he raised a regiment for the Con-
federacy, known as the Sixtieth Georgia, of which he became colonel, and
saw service in the army of Northern Virginia. His health failing, he returned
to Savannah in 1863, and died there on December 21, 1864,
Benjamin Hawkins. May the time never come in America when the
valorous deeds and great achievements of the men of early days shall be
forgotten. Full justice may not be done to them on the pages of modem
history, hut a few at least of their accomplishments should he perpetuated
yGoosle
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2635
thua, especially of such men as Benjamin Hawkins, who spent almost ose-half
of his life in meritorious public service. He was born in Warren County,
North Carolina, August 15, 1754, and died at the Creek Indian Agency, on .
Flint River, Georgia, June 6, 1816. He was the third son in a family of srf
children bom to hia parents. Col. Philemon and Delia Hawkins. He was
carefully reared and as carefully educated and when the Revolutionary war
was declared, he was a member of the senior class in Princeton College, New
Jersey.
It was through his knowledge of the French language that the young man
was invited by General Washington to become a member of his staff in order
to facilitate intercourse with the French officers, and he took part in the
battle of Monmouth. In 1780 he was appointed by the Legislature of North
Carolina a commercial agent to procure state supplies of every kind, and in
the West Indies he made the necessary purchases and shipped them to New-
bern. In 1782 he was elected by the state assembly a member of the Congress
of the old confederation for one year and was re-elected in the following
year and was present at Annapolis when General Washington, in the old
statehouse, laid down his commission as commander-in-chief.
It was in the spring of 1785, while still a member of Congress that Colonel
Hawkins was appointed a commissioner, together with Daniel Carroll and
William Terry, to make treaties with the Cherokee and other southern tribes
of Indians, this being the beginning of a long term of public service in an
unusual and trying position. In the same year he was appointed a commis-
sioner with Gen. Andrew Pickens, Joseph Martin and Lachlan Jlclntosh, to
negotiate with the Creek Indians. In 1786 he was re-elected to Congress,
and in 1789 was elected, together with Samuel Johnston, to the United States
Senate, under he newly adopted Federal Constitution, they being the first
two senators from the state.
In 1795 General Washington urged Colonel Hawkins to accept the position
of Indian agent for all the Indians south of the Ohio River, Possessing an
independent fortune, exceedingly popular with all the people of the state and
with a brilliant public career before him, it required a stem sense of duty to
enable Colonel Hawkins to consent to bury himself in the wilderness and per-
form this patriotic service. Not only was he considered invaluable by Presi-
dent Washington, as the archives at Washington show, but by every succeeding
President until the close of his life, none of whom would accept his resigna-
tion, on account of his great public usefulness. It is an interesting story,
that told of President Jefferson, that certain persons, knowing that Colonel
Hawkins desired to be relieved, presented testimonials in favor of another
person as his successor. President Jeflferson replied that he saw no difficulty
in getting a successor, but the difficulty was to induce Colonel Hawkins to
hold on, and so long as that could be done there would be no successor.
In 1801 Colonel Hawkins was reappointed, with General "Wilkerson and
General Andrew Pickens, to negotiate treaties with the Chickasaws, the
Natchez and the Cboctaws. When the War of 1812 came on, the Creek
Indians were drawn into the conflict to the great grief of Colonel Hawkins,
who had served them so well for nearly twenty years. However, that great
body of Indians representing the southern half of the tribe remained more
under his influence and thus Southern Georgia was practically free from
frontier warfare. As an illustration of the veneration and affection felt for
Colonel Hawkins by these Indians, many of them adopted his name and there
are numerous public documents that bear his name with the characteristic
Indian mark of signature. Colonel Hawkins prepared a treatise on the
Indian languages and sent the same to President Jefferson, who held the
author in the highest esteem. In this treatise, called "A Sketch of the Creek
Country," Colonel Hawkins referred to the topography of what now com-
prises a large part of Georgia and Alabama, with absolute accuracy.
yGoosIe
2636 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Comparatively late in life Colonel Hawkius married and one son and five
aaugbters survived him. One of hia direct descendantB is Frank Hawkins,
who is president of the Third National Bank, Atlanta, Geor^a.
Alfbed Buford Greene. For several generations the Greene family in
Georgia has been distinguished by its professional attainments and services
in the field of medicine and surgery. Dr. Alfred Buford Greene is particularly
prominent as a surgeon, and one of the ablest members of bis profession at
Cartersville. His mother is a Buford, a name long prominently associated
with affairs in Georgia, and the family relationship is connected with the
best stock in both Virginia and Georgia.
Alfred Buford Greene was bom at Wartrace, in Eastern Tennessee, March
4, 1870. His parents were Dr. Joel and Sarah (Buford) Greene. The grand-
father, Willis Greene, was also a physician, and a native of Virginia, Dr. Willis
Greene married Annie Andrews, a sister of Hon. Gamette Andrews, who was
a noted lawyer at Washington, Georgia. In the second generation of the
Greene family in America was Dr. John Greene, the great-grandfather of
the Cartersville -surgeon. Thus at least four successive generations have
supplied men of ability in the medical profession. The family is of English
extraction. Dr. Willis Greene came from Virginia with his parents to
Washington, Georgia. That was in the early days when the facilities for
securing profes-sional training in the South were quite limited, and Willis
Greene in order to secure a college education entered what was then the
leading medical school of America, the Jefferson Medical College at Phila-
delphia. On leaving his home at Washington, Georgia, he rode horseback
all the way to Philadelphia, and arriving in that city sold his horse. This
was repeated each year be spent in Philadelphia, and he had to employ much
economy and endure many hardships in order to complete his training. He
finally received his diploma from the Jefferson Medical College and began
practice in Georgia. He had an ofBce in Washington, in Wilkes County,
and also practiced at La Grange and Antioch in Troup County. In the mean-
time he acquired a large plantation, and before the war was the owner of
many slaves. His career as a physician covers fifty-five years, and he was
one of the fine types of the kindly and capable medical men in the early days
of North Georgia. His service involved almost constant traveling, since an
office practice was hardly evtr followed by the physicians of that generation.
He rode back and forth on horseback, and was often gone from home four
or five days visiting his patients, riding a horse and with his medicines and
implements in his saddle bags. In spite of the exertions of such a practice
he lived to the age of eighty-three years, seven months, passing away in 1882.
He died while on a business trip to Alabama. He had survived his wife
many years. In tlie same generation was another physician, Dr. Ezekiel
Greene, a brother of Doctor Willis. He was a graduate from the University
of Georgia, and practiced medicine in Texas until failing health caused him .
to return to Troup County, Georgia, where he died.
Dr. Joel Greene, father of Dr. Alfred B., served as a captain in the
Thirty-seventh Alabama Regiment of Confederate Infantry. His brother.
Col. Alexander Greene had command of that regiment, and was killed in
the battle of Peach Tree Creek, having been previously wounded seven times.
Colonel Greene had a remarkable physique, stood six feet four inches, and
these physical qualities were matched by a complete fearlessness and the
courage and resourcefulness of an able soldier. Colonel Greene was a gradu-
ate froqi the Virginia Military Institute, a lawyer by profession, and on the
day he was killed had received a commission promoting him to the rank of
brigadier-general. Dr. Joel Greene participated in all the battles of the war
from Virginia down, and in one engagement received a minie ball through
the right lung. He was the only one of five brothers who returned alive
yGoosle
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2637
from the war. After the war he took up the practice of medicine at Rock-
mart in Polk County and later for fifteen years was at TaylorsviUe in Bartow
County. For twenty years he was- in active practice and regarded as the
chief physician and surgeon at Cartersville, His death occurred October 2,
1906, at the age of sixty-four. He was a man of good business judgment
as well as a capable physician. He was also a factor in promoting the cause
of education and better schools in his home town. He served at one time
as vice president of the Bartow County Medical Society and was a member
of the Georgia State Medical Society. Dr. Joel Greene was a fine type of
the polished and cultured southern gentleman of the older generation, and
of a splendid Christian character. He and his family were active Baptists.
In 1866 Dr, Joel Greene married Miss Sarah Buford, who died February 2,
1889, at the age of forty-seven. On April 14, 1B90, he .married a sister of his
first wife, Marion Buford, at Cartersville. Mrs, Joel Greene is still living,
with home at Cartersville, and has long been prominent in the aftairs of the
Baptist Church, being district superintendent of the Associated Missions, Her
father, Alfred Welsh Buford, was the founder of his branch of the family ili
Georgia. He was a man of the highest character and attainments. He was a
graduate in law, and had been a classmate of John C, Breekenridge, who in
1860 was a candidate for President. Alfred W. Buford was bom in Lancaster,
Kentucky, and died on his plantation in Bartow Coynty, Georgia, in 1880, at
the age of seventy. After finishing his law course he was in practice for one
year with his brother-in-law, John C. Moore, who was at that time solicitor-
general of Kentucky and afterwards a Kentucky senator in the United States
Congress, The profession of law did not satisfy Mr, Buford, although he had
exceptional opportunities and much native ability which would undoubtedly
have taken him to high positions in the law and public affairs. He abandoned
the law in favor of the ministry. Being a man of means, he was able to
follow this calling and devote himself to the service of the church and society
without accepting any salary. He assisted in organizing many of the Baptist
churches in Xorthem Georgia, and had a specially prominent part in Bartow
County, where he was active in educational work and a valuable part of hjs
service was in raising and protecting the endowment funds for different col-
leges. He was the owner of a fine plantation which provided ample means
for the rearing and education of his own children. Rev. Alfred W, Buford
married Miss Kuieline Jackson, who was bom at Lexington in Oglethorpe
County, Georgia, Her grandfather was Woody Jackson, a half brother of
Thomas Jackson, the father of tien. Stonewall Jackson, Woody Jackson
bought a large tract of land from the Cherokee Indians in 1838, Rev. Mr.
Buford was a contemporary and close friend of Hon. Joseph E, Brown, one
of the noted characters in Georgia history. Mr. Buford had come to Georgia
with a letter of introduction from Governor Letcher of Kentucky to Governor
Lumpkin, Georgia, and at one time was at the head of a state educational insti-
tution in Georgia. The children of Rev, Alfred W. Buford were Cyrena„
Alfred J., Sarah, Mattie, Marshal, Marion and Olive H, Buford.
Dr. Joel Greene bj' his first marriage had seven children, three of whom
died in infancy, and the others mentioned as follows: Miss Annie Lillian
Greene, who is a graduate of Dalton Female College and Milledgevilie Semi-
nary, is now principal of the public schools at Barnsley's Garden in Bartow
County ; Dr. Alfred B, ; Mary, now deceased, was the wife of G, N, Waits of
Polk County; Joel Garaett Greene, who died January 19, 1912, at the age of
thirty-four, was a pharmacist, having been registered after passing examina-
tion in the four states of Georgia, Tennessee. Florida and Texas, and by hia
marriage to Miss Geneva Atteway, left one child, Marion Josephine Greene.
Alfred Buford Greene received his early education in the Cartersville
public schools. He then took up the study of pharmacy, and followed that as
a profession in Texas until 1896. In that year he returned to Georgia and
yGoosIe
2638 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
entered the medical department of the State University. After two years there
be became a student in the Atlanta College of Phyaieians and Surgeons, gradu-
ating M. D. in 1900, He was a^ociated in active practice with bis father in
Cartersville, and at the death of the senior Greene continued in practice, and
has served many of the families that for several generations have had no
other physician than one of the name Greene. In 1911 Doctor Greene took
a post-graduate course in New York City, and his professional success has led
him more and more into the field of surgery. He is a member of the staff of
the Cartersville Hospital and is also local surgeon for the N. C. & St. L, and
the L. & N, railways.
Doctor Greene is a member of the Bartow County, the Georgia State
Medical societies, of the American Medical Association, is a member of the
Georgia Surgeons Club, a former president of the Bartow County Society, and
at one time was president of the Seventh Congressional District Medical
Society.
Doctor Greene is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias order, and his
ehureh is the Baptist. On January 27, 1904, at Atlanta, he married Miss
Ida Elizabeth Vernon of BartowCounty, daughter of Jabez G. and Georgia
(Carter) Vernon. Her mother was from Knoxville, Tennessee, while J. G.
Vernon was a native of South Carolina. Her grandfather was Col. James E.
Carter, of a prominent family in the South, and who served as colonel of the
First East Tennessee Regiment and six months before the end of the war was
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. Mrs. Greene takes much part in
Cartersville church and social affairs, is active in the Baptist Church, a mem-
ber of the Cherokee "Woman's Club and of the Missionary Society.
Col. Benjahin< Franklin Sawyer, famed as editor, inventor, author,
and soldier, was bom in Autoga Countv, Alabama, on May 18, 1833, and died
at Atlanta, Georgia, July 19, 1901.
His father, Ansel Sawyer, was from Edgefield, South Carolina, and his
mother was descended from the Charleston family of DeSaussure. Colonel
Sawyer came of fighting stock; his unele, George Sawyer, was a captain in
the First South Carolina Regiment during the Revolution and was killed in
the battle of Cowpens. Three of Colonel Sawyer's brothers gave their lives
to the Confederate cause and, at the beginning of the Civil war, Colonel
Sawyer armed and equipped in Alabama at his own expense a company of
100 men, fighting with them throughout the war. This company fought so
vigorously and persistently that only twenty of the hundred returned alive.
Colonel Sawyer was severely wounded in the Battle of Shiloh and suffered
from the wound for the rest of his life. For his services in the Confederate
army he received the rank of colonel.
In 1857 he was married to Miss Charlotte Armbrester of Talladega, Ala-
bama. There were born to them nine children, five daughters and four sons.
At the close of the war, depleted in fortune, somewhat lame, and wearing
his battle-grimed uniform, Colonel Sawyer moved to Georgia and entered
upon a newspaper career in Rome. He had begun writing as a mere boy of
thirteen, while still living in Alabama, and had been editor of the Talladega
Mountain Home. In Rome, he became editor of The Rome Daily, the stormy
petrel of a stormy time. Later he edited The Rome Courier, holding this
position for many useful and busy years.
In 1877, leaving The Courier with Frank Cohan, he became owner and
founder of The Rome Tribune, a publication that still follows an honorable
career. While editor of The Rome Courier he was a contemporary with
Henry Grady, who at that time was editor of The Rome Daily, and the two
men had many editorial tilts, though there always existed between them a
warm friendship and a cordial admiration.
Leaving Rome, Colonel Sawyer came to Atlanta, where he founded the
first evening paper. The Commonwealth, a publication full of the vigor and
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS . 2639
fearlessness that made "Old Grizzly," as he was called, the terror of the
carpetbagger and the merciless foe of political corruption.
'"He had borne a reputation for years," says a writer in The Constitution
at the time of Colonel Sawyer's death, "of beingone of the most fearless
and aggressive democratic journalists in Geor^a during the reconstruction
period. In all the Georgia press, there was no man like Sawyer. He wielded
a savage and a facile pen, and his personal assaults upon many prominent
republicans were absolutely merciless. As a strong, vigorous writer, he sur-
passed Brownlow. To my surprise, however, on knowing him, he proved to
be one of the most genial and magnetic of men."
Especially valuable among Colonel Sawyer's editorial writings were "The
Chronicles of the State of Georgia." This series, first published at intervals
in The Rome Courier and afterwards reprinted in book form, makes a
valuable contribution to southerti history of that time and is a treasure prize
in many libraries. Colonel Sawyer's battles against state corruption were
fought side by side with Bob Toombs, Alexander Stephens, Ben Hill and
other great Georgians, who were also his personal friends.
Colonel Sawyer was not only a journalist, he was also a poet, whose con-
tributions had appeared in Blackwood's magazine in Edinbut^h, and whose
poems were reprinted lar^Iy by eastern magazines. He was also the writer
of delightful stories, as "Rio Vista," "The DeSaussures, " "At Last," and
"David and Abigail." This latter novel sold 10,000 copies soon after publica-
tion, but, owing to the failure of the northern firm that had published it, the
author received no profit from it.
Colonel Sawyer was also an inventor, who, had he received due meed,
would have had national fame. "A more ingenious man has not lived in
Georgia since the days of Eli "Whitney," writes one of his biographers. It
was he who first conceived and modeled the perfecting printing press, a
machine now used throughout the civilized world, though this invention,
which brou^t millions to others, yielded him nothing. He invented a
machine for making the generally used square^bottcnned paper bags. In
placing this latter machine he was more fortunate, receiving a fair return
for the patent.
In temperament. Colonel Sawyer was social, genial, delightful. He was
easy and charming in conversation and the intimate of distinguished men,
some of whose names were on his lips in his last delirium. In his private life
he was very lovable. "Though iron-willed and unwavering when principle
was at stake," writes a Georgia editor, "he was always gentle and courteous.
He inherited much from his French ancestors, and was both chivalrous and
gallant. In his family he was tender and loving. Always an optimist, he was
ever cheerful, with something bright and ready to say."
At his death the papers were full of appreciations of his useful life and
expressions of sorrow at his passing. The following is taken from the Texas
Sentiment, published Friday, July 5, 1901 ;
"The Last fob Both,
"Next week the last instalment of 'David and Abigail' will appear, and
we cannot close this charming story without returning thanks to the author,
Col. B. F. Sawyer, the graceful genius, the brave patriot and sincere friend,
who, we have just learned, is fighting manfully, bravely fighting his last fight
on earth. In far-away Georgia's capital city, surrounded by friends, and
hearts pregnant with loyal love, the dear old man is slowly but surely passing
away. To mortal foe he has never turned his back and the hosts of heaven will
sing a happy welcome when he reaches his eternal home above. His friendship
has, ffom early youth, been as an inspiration to the writer, and his memorj'
will linger with us until the summons comes that calls us from this earth.
"Col. B. F. Sawyer was bom in the proud old state of Alabama. When
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2640 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
in the prime of promising manhood, his country called and Ben Sawyer, the
patriot, went into the war. His dash, his fearlessness, his very greatness urged
the beardless boy to the front and ambition claimed a colonel's shoulder straps
when the dove of peace hovered over the contending North and South, Like
thousands of others, Col. Sawyer returned to a devastated country, a ruined
home, crushed in every particular, but with the same true, loyal lion heart
with which he entered into his country's service. With varying success he
entered journalism, and later the field of letters. From 1876 to 1880 the
writer was associated with him as joint editor and proprietor of the Rome
(Ga.) Daily Tribune, and it was during that period that Col. Sawyer invented
tiie web perfecting press — the machine on which the leadii^ daily papers
are printed. A few years later the fertile mind of Col. Sawyer gave to the
world the machine with which the paper sack, so extensively used, is made.
But it was as a story writer that our honored friend excelled. During the
Reconstruction era in Georgia, when the carpet-bag element was in the saddle
and honest manhood was trampled in the dust, Col. Sawyer wrote a book
entitled the 'Chronicles of Georgia,' which aided most materially in the
shaking of the shackles with which the proud old Commonwealth was bound.
'Rio Vista,' 'At Last,' and a number of pleasant, pathetic and graceful works
are credible to his versatile pen. 'David and Abigail' was written at a time
when the grand old man was being severely pinched by poverty's sharp
clutch ; yet lie who reads the sweet and enchanting story would never dream
it so. The 'Arena Publishing Co.' was awarded the contract for publishing
the book. Ten thousand copies were issued and sold within sixty days, but the
publishing house failed and Col. Sawyer received no recompense for his work.
"But the liist trench has been reached, and our friend is fighting against
the never conquered foe. Prom k fullness of a heart bowed down with sorrow,
goes up a prayer to the God of Israel, that the storm be tempered to the
hoary-headed patriot so soon to enter the portals of the great unknown."
David Persin Henlev. One of the most popidar men in Chattooga County
is David P. Henley, who is still serving as tax collector, an office to which
he has been successfully elected a number of times. He is a sturdy, practical
business man, and one who through his career has well deserved the high
esteem in which he is generally held throughout Chattooga County. Mr.
Henley was formerly sheriff of the county, and out^de his office gives his
attention to the management of a valuable farm and also owns a pleasant home
in Summerville.
David Persin Henley was born in Chattooga County at Summerville June
17, 1863, son of Hartford and Mary (Simp.son) Henley. His father was bom
in Georgia and his miotber in Alabama. Hartford Henley was bom in Gwin-
nett County, Georgia, in 1823, came to Chattooga County with his parents in
I'SSS, and spent his career as a farmer and land dealer. His death occurred
in 1888 at the age of sixty-five. His wife was born in Alabama in 1828 and
died at. Chattooga County in 190.5. She was a conscientious and active
Christian woman, and both she and her husband were members of the Presby-
terian Church. He was also a Mason, and his primary business in life was
as a farmer. There were thirteen children, twelve sons and one daughter, and
those still living are: Joseph A., whose home is in Cleveland, Arkan&as;
James, who in 1875 left home and went to the Far West, and was last heard
of in IjOS Angeles; Walter, a substantial farmer of Chattooga County and a
resident of Summerville; Samuel, also a farmer of Chattooga County; David
P. ; and Mary, wife of J. S. Maxey of Summerville.
David P. Henley gained a practical knowled(»e of farming while a boy and
supplemented this experience at home by attending the public schools of Sum-
merville. For two years he was in the merchandise business at Summerville.
His first public position was as deputy sheriff, and after serving three years in
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2641
that office his qualifications were so well demonstrated that he was elected to
the office of sheriff and served two terms or four years. In all his official
work he has given the best that was in him to hia public performance, and the
people of Chattooga County have every confidence in him. In 1902 ho was
elected tax collector, being the first man chosen to that office, and has been
regularly re-elected until he is now in his sixth term. ,Mr. Henley also owns
a fine farm, and takes great pride in its management and gives much of his
spare time to its cultivation.
Fraternally he is known among Masons, Odd Fellows and the Red Men, and
is an elder in the Presbyterian Church. In 1900 at Summerville Mr. Henley
married Miss Venice demons, who was born at Summerville, a daughter of
John R. and Catherine (Edmondson) Clemens, both of whom are natives of
this state. To their marriage have been bom four children, Eva Belle, the
oldest, having been bom in August, 1901. The younger children are named
John, Catherine and Mary. Mrs. Henley is president of the Ladies Missionary
Society and otherwise active in the Presyterian Church.
Joseph Mili.er Satterpield. The present judge of probate for Cherokee
County, Joseph M. Satterfield, is a man of long and thorough business expe-
rience, having traveled on the road representing a wholesale drug house until
resigning in order to accept the responeibilities of his present office. He has
long been a resident of Canton, and is one of the leading men of influence
and effective leadership in that community.
Joseph Miller Satterfield was bom in White County, Georgia, March 1,
1865, a son of William T. and Susan C. (Huff) Satterfield. His grandfather
was Thornton D. Satterfield, an early settler in White County, and a large
and prosperous planter, the owner of many slaves. Although the war bore
heavily upon him as all southerners, resulting in the loss of his slaves, he was
still left with more means than many of hia unfortunate neighbors, and still
retained an important placp in business as a planter and was one of the lead-
ing men of affairs in White County. His death occurred at the age of seventy.
He was a member of the Masonic Order and active in the Baptist Church.
Thornton D. Satterfield married Becky Trotter, who also died in White County.
William T. Satterfield was bom in White County in 1837 and in 1874 removed
to Cherokee County, where he died in 1896 at the age of fifty-nine. He was
a teacher by profession and taught thirty years, and for ten consecutive years
taught in one school. At the time of his death he was in charge of a school at
Ball Ground, Georgia. He was a member of the Baptist Church and affiliated
with the Masonic and Odd Fellows fratemities. His wife, who wag born in
Lumpkin County, died at the age of sixty-nine on Febraary 22, 1914. They
were the parents of only two children, and the daughter, Martha, is the wife
of Marquis Lafayette Thacker, of Smyrna, Georgia, and their three children
are named William May and Ernest.
Judge Satterfield is a man who has relied upon his own efforts to put him
into a position of prosperity and influence. His education came from the
old Field schools of Cherokee County, and in early manhood he taught one
year in White County and one year in Cherokee County. Then followed
six years of practical business experience as an employe and also as senior
member of the firm of J. M. Satterfield & Company in the merchandise busi-
ness at Macedonia, in Cherokee County, Georgia. While there he was also
successfully engaged in farming. After selling out .his store Judge Satter-
field went on the road as traveling representative for the wholesale drug house
of John B. Daniel & Company, and for nineteen years he sold the standard
products of that house throughout Northern Georgia and North Carolina.
It was in order to accept appointment to the office of probate judge of
Cherokee Countv that he resigned his position and left the road in Sep-
tember, 1913. He came into the office as successor of Hon. W. J. Webb, who
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2642 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
left an unexpired term of 31/2 years. Judge Satterfield has alwfiys taken an
active interest in behalf of the democratic party. He is affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men,
and like his forefathers a member of the Baptist Church. la addition to his
duties as judge of probate he is also county commissioner, and has official
jurisdiction over the handling and work of the convicts in the county and
over county affairs in general.
On July 13, 1884, in Milton County, Georgia, Judge Satterfield married
Miss Josie Rudasill, a native of Milton County and a daughter of William
M. and Margaret (Castlehery) Rudasill. Judge Satterfield and wife have two
children, both natives of Cherokee County. Azzie Edith, the older, is the
wife of Reuel P. Poole, of Holly Springs, Cherokee County. William Joseph
Satterfield, who was bom June 12, 1891, and is now engaged in merchandis-
ing at Canton, married Miss Molly Westbrook of Cherokee County, and they
have two children, Sylvia Aleen, who was bom in Canton, and Joseph Miller,
Jr., bom in February, 1916.
Hon. Robert W. Freeman, judge of the Superior Courts of the Coweta
Circuit, was born on a farm in Coweta County June 1, 1858. His grandparents
were George and Prances Freeman, and the former is said to have been a
Revolutionary soldier from Wilkes County, Geoi^a, One of their children
was Henry Freeman, who was reared on a farm in Wilkes County. Henry
Freeman was married three times. His third wife was Nancy Moody, daughter
of Jesse and Sibie (Westmoreland) Moody, of Fayette County. Of this
marriage there were three children: Henry Laban, a farmer of Coweta
County ; Mary Susan, wife of William T. Stallings of Coweta County ; and
Judge Robert W. Freeman. Henry Freeman died four days after Judge
Freeman's birth. The latter'a mother died at the age of seventy in 1888.
Judge Freeman is now the only surviving member of the family, except a
half sister, Mrs. Rebecca A. ilitchell of Spalding County. His brother Harry
L. died in 1904 and his sister, Mrs. Stallings, in IWZ.
Judge Freeman was early educated in the common schools at Senoia,
Georgia, and in 1879 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science from
Vanderbilt University. He studied law with Hon. John S. Bigby, a well
known attorney, judge and former congressman of Coweta County. Admitted
to practice after three months. Judge Freeman opened his first office in
Newnan in December, 1879, He served two terms in the Georgia Legislature,
1896-1899, inclusive.
In 1904 he was appointed to fill the unexpired terra of Sampson W, Harris,
judge of the Superior Courts of the Coweta Circuit, and was then regularly
elected for the full term of four years and has continued to fill that office with
dignity and ability to the present time, voluntarily retiring at the end of 1916.
Judge Freeman is also a practical farmer. He supervises his plantation,
is vice president of the Newnan Cotton Mills and has many other interests in
his section of the state. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and is a trustee and
steward of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1888 he married Miss Caroline Clarke Hill, who was bom in Coweta
County, daughter of Armstead B. and Mary (Clark) Hill. Judge and Mrs,
Freeman have three children. Nancy is now Mrs. William K, Stringer of
Belton, South Carolina; Robert Hill Freeman, the son, is a graduate from
the University of Georgia with the degree of A. E. and of Columbia Uni-
versity, of New York City, with the degrees of LL. B. and A. M., and is (1916)
practicing law at Newnan, Georgia. Mary Caroline Freeman, the youngest
of the family, is a student in Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Qeoi^ia.
Judge Thomas Stocks, of Greene County, was born in a frontier Indian
fort on February 1, 1786. His early education was limited but his natural
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2643
powers were great. In 1813 he was elected to the Lower House of the General
J^aaerably, where he served eight years, after which he was ehoseo to the State
Senate of which he was a member for twelve years.
Before he was thirty years old he was elected one of the judges of the
Inferior Court of Greene County, and filled the position continuously for
more thitn thirty years. He was a leader in the Baptist Church and gave
liberally of his time and money to Mereer University. He died in Greene
County, October 6, 1876.
Hon. Charles Tait, lawyer, judge, and United States senator, was born
in Louisa County, Virginia, about 1768, and died in Wilcox County, Alabama,
October 17, 1835. At an early age he came to Georgia and entered upon the
practice of law. He became judge of the "Western Circuit in November, 1803.
In 1809 Judge Tait was appointed United States senator to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of John Milledge. At the expiration of that
term he was elected for a full term and served altogether nearly ten years,
from December 28, 1809, to JIareh 3, 1819, when having been appointed
United States district judge for Alabama, he resigned and moved to "Wilcox
County in that state. He served as United States judge for Alabama until
1826, when he resigned and retired to private life for the remaining nine
years that he lived.
Hamilton Tancet of Rome, who for forty-five years has enjoyed a
conspicuous place in the professional, business and civic life of his home city
and state, represents one of the oldest and most distinguished names of the
South, and many of his ancestors were lawyers and orators and statesmen,
including his honored father, the late Benjamin C. Yancey. Before taking
up his individual career it will be well to examine the records of his antecedents.
It was in 1642 that four Yancey brothers, Charles, "William, Joel and
Robert, emigrated from "Wales to Virginia. Lewis Davis Yancey, a son of one
of these pioneers, settled a landed estate in Culpeper County, Virginia,
about 1710.
James Yancey, the sixth son of Lewis D., and the great-grandfather of
Hamilton Yancey, was an officer in a Virginia regiment in the army of General
Greene in the South Carolina campaigii. About the close of the Revolution
he located at Charleston, South Carolina, and in October, 1782, married Miss
Cudworth of Charleston, a descendant of the Massachusetts family of
Cudworths. General Gates of the Revolutionary army was a guest at this
wedding. There is an old record of the court of Laurens County, South
Carolina, which shows that James Yancey was regularly admitted to practice
as an attorney at the June term of 1786. A year later there was admitted to
practice in the same court Robert Goodloe Harper, and mention is made of
his name not only because he was associated with James Yancey in practice,
but also because later he befriended as a patron a son of James Yancey.
Harper subsequently moved to Baltimore and married the daughter of
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. James Yancey and his wife died leaving three
young sons : Benjamin C. ; CharleS, who died a bachelor ; and Nathaniel
Barnwell, who died in 1799, at Camden, South Carolina, at the age of fifteen.
Benjamin Cudworth Yancey, a son of the Revolutionary soldier, was left
an orphan at an early age, and on March 13, 1799, partly due to the influence
of his kind patron Robert G. Harper, was appointed a midshipman in the
United States navy, and served from June 7th of that year until discharged
under the peace establishment act on May 10, 1801. The Government records
show that he was one of the officers of the Constellation in the action between
that vessel and the French ship of war LaVcngeance February 1, 1800. It
should also be noted that his younger brother .Charles also served as a mid-
shipman at a later date.
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2644 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
After resigning from the navy Benjamin C. Yancey studied law with Mr.
Harper at Baltimore one year, then under Benjamin Saxon at Abbeville, South
Carolina, and after his admission to the bar was in partnership with Mr.
Saxon until he removed to Charleston to accept the offer of partnership with
Daniel R. Huger, afterwards senator from South Carolina and a Federal
judge. Benjamin C. Yancey was twice a member of the South Carolina
Legislature from Abbeville and at the time of his death, which occurred
October 3, 1817, in his thirty-fourth year, he was a member from Charleston
and was chairman of the judiciary committee. An interesting record of bis
service in the Legislature is found in the journal of the house under date
December 2, 1816, as follows: "Mr, Yancey from the Committee on the
Judiciary to whom was referred the presentments from Richland and Chester
recommending the prohibition of the introduction of slaves from other states,
reported a. bill to prohibit the introduction of slaves into this state from
any of the United States."
As to Benjamin C. Yajicey's high position as a lawyer, citizen and gentle-
man, the best testimonial is found in some resolutions prepared by members
of the Charleston bar at the time of his death. The following are some
quotations from those resolutions:
"Mr. Yancey was remarkable for the force, precision and perspicuity of
his style ; for his choice ajid felicitous use of technical language, for hia
copiousness in amplification and clear perception; for the readiness with
which he discovered and the distinctness with which he exhibited the leading
points of his cause. . . . None perhaps excelled him in the bold and
powerful reasoning which he employed against his opponent; and certainly
none in the dexterity he displayed in his defense. He called to his aid also
and successfully wielded the weapons of invective and sarcasm; while from
his deep sense of justice, from his habitual love of truth and his veneration for
virtue, flowed as frmn an inexhaustible fountain the living waters of elo-
quence. . . , Mr. Yancey was a sound and discriminating lawyer. He
preferred principles to cases, and never was he more interesting and ingenious
tJian when he maintained in his own energetic and luminous style the
supremacy of the former. He was thoroughly versed in all the important
branches of pleading and practice. . . . The magnanimity and decision
of Mr. Yancey on the subject of the free schools in the Legislature entitled
hira to the gratitude and admiration of his native state. ... In the rela-
tions of private life he was independent and honorable, generous and candid,
without ostentation in his manner and eminently liberal in his sentiments.
As a companion he was instructive and entertaining, but as a friend perfectly
invaluable. The very talents and virtues which shone so splendidly in his
public career shed an endless light over the scenes of friendship. . . .
Mr. Yancey was a sincere Christian and to those with whom he was intimate
unbosomed the firm convictions of his mind, and the fervent emotions of his
heart, ... In life he was one of our chiefs, in death let him become one
- of our models, for every profession should treasure up the character of its
eminent men for the imitation and improvement of its younger members."
Benjamin C. Yancey, Sr., married Caroline Bird of Virginia, daughter of
William and Catherine (Dalton) Bird. "William Bird was a son of William
Bird of EnglEind, who founded Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, while the younger
William moved from Alexandria, Virginia, to Ogeechee Shoals in Warren
County, Georgia, and duplicated his father's iron works there. He died in
Warren County, Georgia, December 12, 1812, having been born at Birdsboro,
Pennsylvania, May 18, 1757. His wife Catherine Dalton was born October
20, 1763, in Alexandria, Virginia, and died September 18, 1822, at Ogeechee,
Georgia. Of their eleven children, the fourth, Caroline, was bom at Alexan-
dria April 8, 1790. One of the sons of Benjamin C. and Caroline Yancey
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2645
was William Lowndes Yancey, who became one of the South 'b most dis-
tinguished statesmen. /
Benjamin Cudworth Yancey, Jr., was bom at Charleeton, South Carolina,
April 27, 1817, and died at Rome, Georgia, October 3, 1891. He attended
Mount Zion Academy in Hancock County, Georgia, and the Academy School
at Troy, New York. He graduated A. B. with second honor from the
University of Georgia in 1836, took Ms LL. B. degree at Yale Law School in
1837, and later was granted the degree A. M. Moving to Alabama he was
appointed master in chancery in 1837 for a district embracing seven counties.
In 1840 with his brother William Lowndes he was eo-editor of the Weturapka
Gazette, From 1841 to 1851 he practiced law at Hamburg, South Carolina,
and served several times as a member of the South Carolina Legislature. In
1851, declining a nomination to congress, he removed to his plantation in
Cherokee County, Alabama, but in 1855 in order to save the democracy from
know-nothingism he made a campaign for the state senate, and after his
election was chosen president of the body. In 1858 President Buchanan
appointed him minister resident to the Argentine Confederation. Because
of a proclamation issued by the president of the confederation that all captains
of foreign vessels who should take their ships into the ports of Buenos Ayrea
and then landing at any part of the General Government should be held as
pirates, Mr. Yancey as United States Minister notified the president that
the naval force of the United States would resist the execution of the decree-
Other powers concurring in his protest, the decree was withdrawn. Subse-
quently Mr. Yancey was selected by the contending states as arbiter of their
differences. When he left the country the president of the Confederation in a
message to Congress said: "All Argentine owes the young American minister
a debt of gratitude which they cannot repay."
On his return to the United States in December, 1859, he declined an
offer for appointment aa minister resident to the Court of St. James. In
1861 he entered the Confederate service as captain of the Fulton Dragoons,
joining Cobb's Legion, commanded by General Thomas B. B. Cobb. He
assisted in its organization, was elected major, , aad subsequently was in
command of the legion during the peninsular campaign around Norfolk,
Virginia. At a later date he was recalled to Georgia and was colonel of
Georgia troops until the end of the war.
For about two years he was president of the Georgia State Agricultural
Society, which held two successful fairs at Macon and Atlanta in 1869 and
1870. In 1877-78 he represented Clark County, of which Athens is the
county seat, in the Legislature, but then declined further office. He was
a trustee of the University of Georgia from 1860 until 1881, and then retired
to his country home in Floyd County, ten miles from the City of Rome,
where he lived until his death.
The late Colonel Yancey married Sarah Paris Hamilton. She was a
daughter of Thomas Napier and Sarah Sherwood (Bu^) Hamilton, and the
granddaughter of James and Ann Pox (Napier) Hamilton. James Hamilton
was captain of a company in the revolutionary forces from Virginia. Sarah
Sherwood Bngg, mother of Sarah P. Hamilton, was before her first marriage
a Miss Jones, and was a lineal descendant of Peter Jones, founder of Peters-
burg, Virginia. Captain James Hamilton served as a representative in the
Virginia Assembly from Loudoun County in 1768, and on January 3, 1777,
was commissioned ensign in the Tenth Virginia Regiment and on January 13,
1778, was commissioned a lieutenant. He was afterwards transferred to the
Sixtli Virginia Regiment. Subsequent to the revolution Captain Hamilton
settled on a landed estate in Columbia County, Georgia.
Hamilton Yancey, of Rome, is a son of the late Benjamin C. and Sarah P.
(Hamilton) Yancey. He was born September 27, 1848, in Edgefield District,
now county, of South Carolina on the present site of North Augusta, that
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2646 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
town having been built on land once owned by his father, Benjamin C.
Taneey. Growing up in a home of true Southern culture and in an environ-
ment which could only serve to instill high ideals, Hamilton Yancey had a
liberal education as preparation for life. He attended the high school, waa
graduated A. B. from the University of Georgia in 1868, was a student in
the University of Virginia in 1869, graduated LL. B. from the Georgia Law
School in 1870, and in 1871 received his A. M. degree from the same institii-
tion. While in the University of Georgia he was a member of the Phi Kappa
Society and of the Chi Phi Fraternity in both the University of Georgia and
the University of Virginia and was chairman of ,the Alpha Chapter in
Virginia. In the meantime he had a taste of war, having served without a
commission on his father's staflf during the war between the states. Later he
was lieutenant of cadets in the University High School at Athens,
From 1871 until 1888 Mr. Yancey was active in the legal profession, and
handled a large volume of important litigation in that time, his name fre-
quently appearing on the records of the Georgia Supreme Courts. He finally
retired from the legal profession on account of ill health, and then took up
the management of the Rome Fire Insurance Company, and from 1892 until
the present has been manager and special agent for the Commercial Union
Assurance Company Limited of England, his jurisdiction being the Southern
Department, including the states of South Carolina, Alabama,. Georgia and
Mississippi. On January 27, 1915, Hon. William A, Wright, insurance com-
missioner of the Insurance Department of Georgia, appointed him special
deputy insurance commissioner in charge of the affairs of the State Mutual
Life Insurance Company of Georgia. He is properly regarded as one of
the ablest men in the insurance field in Georgia. Mr. Yancey was a director
of the Rome Railroad prior to its sale to the St. L. & N. C. Railway Com-
pany.
As would be expected of him on account of the record of his forebears,
Mr. Yancey has borne an influential part in public affairs. He served two
years as city attorney of Rome, four years as solicitor of the County Court
of Floyd County, and for ten years, without salary, as alderman of East
Rome. In 1876 he was alternate elector from the Seventh Georgia Con-
gressional District during the Tilden campaign. Since 1871 he has been a '
life member of the Georgia State Agricultural Society and by special request
in 1892 delivered before the annual convention an address on the organiza-
tion, history and accomplishment in upbuilding of the state following the
desolation and ruin that resulted from the war. Mr. Yancey is a democrat,
is a member of the Masonic Lodge, and has various club and social connec-
tions. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South
since 1867. v
At Macon, Georgia, April 29, 1875, Hamilton Yancey married' Miss
Florence Julia Patterson, a daughter of Dr. Robert M, and Julia E. (Marsh)
Patterson. Doctor Patterson was a native of South Carolina, a son of Malachi
and Mary (House) Patterson, while Julia E. Marsh was bom in Georgia, a
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Palmer) Marsh. To the marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. Yancey have been born eight children. The daughter Julia
died at the age of four years. Benjamin Cudworth was married June 12,
1906, to JIaud Hillyer Harris, having issue a son, Hamilton. Robert Patter-
son married June, 1902, Edna LeMassena, and they have a daughter, Phebe
LeMassena. Hamilton was married in December, 1904, to Nell Junkin, but
they have no children. Sarah Hamilton became the wife of Samuel D,
Hewlett in December, 1906, and they have two daughters, Florence and
Sarah Hamilton. Mary Lou married September 12, 1911, Donald B. Gilles,
and they have a daughter, Mary Lou. The two younger unmarried children
are Florence Weston and Clare de Graffenried,
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2647
RoBEatT Lee Calloway. With many interests that make hira known in
various parts of the state, Robert L. Calloway is primarily identified with
the business life of Athens as president of the Calloway Wholesale Grocery
House. He is a Georgian with an unusual record of success, is a strong
worker, keenly interested in everything which will contribute to the better-
ment of his community and state, is profoundly impressed with the importance
of the work which he is doing, and is in every way one of the valuable citizens
of Georgia.
Bom in Oglethorpe County November 12, 1862, he is a son of Thomas
P. and Lucy (Oliver) Calloway. His father, though horn in Virginia, was
reared in Georgia, to which state his parents brought him when quite young.
He grew up in Oglethorpe County, and spent his active career there as a sub-
stantial planter and farmer. He died in 1900 at the age of seventy-two. The
mother is still living at Covington, Georgia, at the age of eighty-four.
The seventh in a family of twelve children, Robert Lee Calloway acquired
his early education at Meson Academy in Lexington, Georgia, after which
he spent two years in Emory College at Oxford. His practical career began
as clerk in diiferent stores, but he finally settled down to agricultural pursuits
on the farm where he was born in Oglethorpe County, For six years he gave
his methodical attention to farming, and then engaged in commercial life
as traveling salesman for the M. C. Kaiser Company of Atlanta. For twelve
years he was constantly on the road and one of the most efficient in the staff
of the company which he represented. He covered chiefly the territory in
Eastern and Southern Georgia. On retiring from the road he bought the
old homestead in Oglethorpe County and once more resumed farming. Though
he continued to live on the farm for twelve years and is still actfvely identified
with Georgia agriculture, his business interests at the same time extended to
different fields, and he was financially identified with the Calloway Grocery
Company when it was established April 24, 1911. However, he had no active
part in its management until he removed to Athens several years ago, and
has since been its president, manager and active director. The old wholesale
house at Athens of Epps Wilkin Company was merged with the Calloway
Grocery Company at the time of its organization. This is now one of the
largest grocery houses in Georgia, its trade territory including a radius of
sixty miles around Athens, and six traveling salesmen are constantly on
the road.
In addition to his active part in managing the Calloway Grocery Com-
pany he is a director of the Bank of Lexington, Georgia, and is a trustee of
the Meson school fund of Oglethorpe County. In politics he is a democrat,
and has afifiliationd with the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the United Commercial
Travelers.
On March 6, 1889, at Covington, Georgia, Mr. Calloway married Mias
Eva St. Clair Dearing, daughter of Dr. John J. and Inda E. Dearing, both
now deceased, her father having been a prominent physician at, Covington.
• To their marriage have Ireen born four children : John Dearing Calloway,
born at Covington in 18!)2 and now actively associated with his. father in
business; Robert Lee, Jr., bom at Atlanta in 1898 and now in the junior class
of the University of Georgia; Alfred Willis, bom at Atlanta in 1901 and
attending high school at Athens; and Hamilton St. Clair, bom in Oglethorpe
County in 1903 and in the seventh grade of the grammar schools at Athens.
Mr. Calloway is a man who started out in life on modest capital, and has
made his own way to success. He has always been interested in local improve-
ments and development, and has given every possible support to intensive
farming. He now owns one of the finest farms to be found in Southern
Georgia, comprising 4,000 acres of fertile soil, highly developed and thoroughly
cultivated. The Calloway home at Athens is said to be one of the finest in
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2648 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
North Georgia, and is situated in that fashionable district of the citjr known
as Milledge Avenue.
Henry Jones Carswell, M. D. Exemplifying the beat ability and attain-
ments of the modern physician and surgeon, Doctor Carswell has found Buecess
in his chosen calling at Waycross and has also been a factor in business and
civic affairs.
He was bom io Burke County, Georgia, March 9, 1885, a son of Rev. John
Hamilton and Fannie (Janes) Carswell. His parents were also bom in
Georgia, his father in Burke and his mother in Greene County. His father
became a well known Baptist minister, and spent twenty years in one church.
He is now retired from the ministry at the age of sixty-six, and lives at
Hephzihah. The mother is still living at the age of sixty-five. Eleven chil-
dren were born to their union, one of whom died in infancy. Miss B. J. Smith
lives at Hephzibah ; John P. lives at Avera ; Dr. Thomas Janes a young physi-
cian, is now deceased; Arthur Eugene lives at Blythe, Georgia; William
Davis is in Blythe, Geoi^a ; Washington Kirkpatrick lives at Dublin, Georgia ;
William is deceased ; Henry J. was the next born ; Hattie M. lives at Heph-
zibah ; James Hamilton lives at Hephzibah ; and Alexander is an attorney at
Augusta.
The eighth in order of age, Dr. Henry J. Carswell attended school at
Hephzibah, graduating from high school in 1903, and acquired some of the
means which enabled him to complete his medical education by one year of
teaching. He then entered the medical department of the University of
Georgia at Augusta and graduated M. D. in 1908. He gained valuable expe-
rience as an interne in the hospital at Augusta, after which he began practice
at Waycross. In 1910 he removed to Kiugaland, Georgia, anj followed his
profession there for two years. While at Kingsland he was one of the pro-
moters of the state bank, also served as a member of the city council and as
town treasurer.
Since returning to "Waycross Doctor Carswell has acquired a practice that
now almost tests his capacities and energies. In 1913 and again in 1915 he took
courses in general medicine and gynecology in the Post-Graduate and Poly-
clinic at New York. He is censor of the local medical society, a member of
the Eleventh District and the State Medical Societies, the Southern Medical
Association and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he is identi-
fied with the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Modem
Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Modem Maccabees. He belongs
to the Baptist Church and in politics is a democrat.
On May 26, 1910, at Waycross he married Miss Marion B. Carswell,
daughter of William J, Carswell of Waycross. They are the parents of two
children : Miss Virginia Lyon, bom in 1911 ; and Miss Helen, bom in 1913,
Col. Benjamin Fb.\nklin McLaughlin, To attain a high place in an
honorable profession and to reach advanced years with bodily health and a
light and cheerful spirit, unspoiled by fortune or misfortune, and to enjoy
the companionship of a host of warm friends, both of the older and the
younger generation, is a tot that the ordinary man might well envy. Such
blessings, however, are incident to the career and personality of Col. Benjamin
F. McLaughlin, of Greenville, Meriwether County, Georgia, the nestor of the
bar of Greenville and the Coweta Circuit. Jlr. McLaughlin was bora at
Mountville, Troup County, Georgia, January 18, 1846, the son of Josiah T.
and Mary Jane (Jordan) McLaughlin. His father was bom in Wilkes
County, this .state, in 1812 and was the son of William McLaughlin, a planter
and slave holder. Reared in his native county, Josiah T. McLaughlin removed
to Troup County when a young man. In Oglethorpe Comity he married
Mary Jane Jordan, who at the time was a young girl of but fourteen years
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2649
of age. The young conple fell in love with each other, and, perhaps antici-
pating opposition on the part of the young lady's parents, her father being
a very wealthy planter and slave holder, and she being so young, they chose
the easiest way out of the difficulty and, eloped together, being married in
1837, His wife had been his pupil when he was teaching school. For awhile
they resided in Troup County, where Mr. McLaughlin engaged in farming
and mercantile business. In 1853 they removed to Oakridge, in Meriwether
County, where they passed many years of happy married life, and where
Mr. McLaughlin finally died May 12, 1870. His wife survived him fifteen
years, passing away in 1885, after undergoing a severe operation in a hos-
pitAl at Rome, Georgia. Her son Benjamin, the subject of this memoir, who
had taken her there in the hope that her health might be improved, was the
only member of the family present at her bedside. To him her loss was a
severe blow, as he had always idolized his mother, and to the end of his life
her memory will be his most precious heritage. Mr. and Mrs. Josiah T.
McLaughlin were the parents of eleven children, six of whom are now
deceased. The living are as follows: Martha Susannah Frances, wife of
N. S. Hamby; Benjamin Franklin; George Thomas, a resident of Hopeville,
Georgia, now retired ; Tabitha Ambrosia, widow of Dr. J. L. Cox, of Jonesboro,
North Carolina ; and Belle, widow of Leander Franklin Fielder, of Hogans-
ville, Georgia.
Benjamin Franklin JIcLaughlin was educated at Union Springs Academy, ,
now Freeman's Chapel, Meriwether County. Only fifteen years of age when
the war broke out, he was unable, however, to restrain hia patriotism and
accordingly joined Company A, Georgia Volunteer Cavalry, in which he
served six months. Later he was detailed to the quartermaster's department,
vrith which be was connected until the end of the war. After Lee's and
Johnston's surrender he returned home and engaged in farming, being thus
occupied for several years. He had ambitions, however, which were directed
towards the law and as soon as he could make suitable arrangements he began
the study of his future profession under Col. A. H. Freeman, of Greenville.
In 1874 he was admitted to the bar by the Hon. Hugh Buchanan and began
practice in Greenville in the same year. His selection of this town was con-
trary to the advice of his friends, who warned him that a young attorney
would stand a small chance against the able and experienced lawyers, several
of them "leading lights," who then ttdorned the Greenville bar. Nothing
dismayed, however, he followed the bent of his own inclinations and his subse-
quent career has amply justified his action. Though he passed through some
hardships in his early professional life, by dint of pluck, energy and ability
he overcame them and the struggle did him good, for it strengthened his
moral fibre without souring his disposition, and he can now look back on
those times without self-pity but rather congratulating himself upon the
training he then received in true manliness and perseverance. For many
years he has been one of the leading attorneys of Meriwether County and
one of the foremost lawyers of the Coweta Circuit. In 1893 Colonel MeLaugh-
lin formed a partnership with W. B. Jones, which was continued until the
year 1900 and then dissolved on account of Mr. Joaes being elected city
judge. Mr. Jones' brother, J. A. Jones, .then joined Colonel McLaughlin,
the firm name, McLaughlin & Jones remaining the same. After Judge Jones
retired from the bench he again joined the firm, and it then became McLaugh-
lin, Jones & Jones. In July, 1914, Mr. J. A, Jones died and the firm, which
is the leading law firm in Greenville, is now known as McLaughlin & Jones,
as originally. As a citizen Colonel McLaughlin has always been prompt to
perform his duties and at times has taken a prominent and useful part in
public life. He served as mayor of Greenville for three terms and was also
elected to the Legislature, of which body he was a member from 1896 to
1900. While thus serving he took a leading part on judiciary and other eom-
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2650 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
mitteee and was active in passing what is known as the Slayton Law, which
established the present mode of presenting applicants for the bar. In the
fall of 1914 he was elected senator for the thirty-sixth senatorial district
and is now serving in the Senate. He was one of the organizers and is a
director of the Greenville Banking Company. Aside from his profession
and his public duties, Colonel McLaughlin is an agriculturist, having large
farming interests.
Colonel McLaughlin was married January 28, 1869, at the home of hie
brother-in-law, N. S. Hamby, of Sleriwether County, to Miss Eliza Evylin
Hamby, a daughter of Jonathan and Elitbia (Hudson) Hamby. The Hambys
and Hudsons are old and prominent families of Meriwether County, havii^
lai^e planting interests here. To Colonel and Jlrs. McLaughlin nine chil-
dren have been bora, two of whom are deceased, one dying in infancy. Their
record is in brief as follows: Frances L., who married Joseph T. McGahee,
is now deceased ; Ada, the wife of Judge W. R. Jones, her father's law partner,
resides in Greenville; Mary, wife of Hon. Henry Harris Reveli, judge of the
city courts of Greenville; Benjamin R., a graduate of Atlanta Dental Col-
lege, now practicing his profession in Chipley, Georgia; Walter Evylin,
widow of James Olin McGahee, a planter of Meriwether County; Charles
Franklin, a graduate of Mercer University and now an attorney practicing
at Columbus, Georgia; Jonathan Irby, a resident of Madison, Geoi^a, and
• Louis Hamby, a planter residing in Greenville. Colonel McLaughlin's happy
and cheerful disposition has already been alluded to. He is especially fond
of the society of young people and is loved and esteemed by all who know
him. His personal friends include leading men in all parts of the state.
William M. Powell, 51. D. More than thirty years ago Dr. William
Marion Powell was graduated in the Atlanta College of Medicine, and through
his character and his worthy achievement in bis profession he has signally
honored his alma mater. He has been engaged in successful general practice
in Atlanta since 1887, has followed his humane calling without ostentation
or desire for aeelaimi, but has faithfully labored in the alleviation of human
suffering and distress, has been true to the highest ethics of his profession
and has achieved success that has touched and aided others and inured to his
own satisfaction, the while the just temporal rewards of such service have
not been denied to him. He has long controlled a substantial practice of
a representative order and his offices are maintained in the Empire Building.
Doctor Powell was born in Elmore County, Alabama, on the 9th of Feb-
ruary, 1859, and is a son of Dr. Joseph Robinson Powell and Editha (Wright)
PoVell, both natives of Georgia, the father having been bom in Harris
County and the mother in Meriwether County. Prior to the inception of
the Civil war Dr. Joseph R. Powell had been graduated in a medical college
at Dadeville, Alabama, but he laid aside the work of his chosen profession to
serve as a non-commiissioned officer in an Alabama regiment of the Con-
federate army, and he was in active service during virtually the entire
period of the long and weary conflict that entailed suffering and disaster to
his loved Southland. -After the close of the war he was engaged in the active
practice of his profession at Elmore, Alabama, for practically half a century,
a loved and honored citizen and an ahle, kindly and self-abnegating physician.
He died in 1911, in his eightieth year, and had he^ survived but three months
longer he and his devoted wife would have celebrated the sixtieth anni-
versary of their marriage. Mrs. Powell survived her honored husband by
about three years and was summoned to the life eternal on the 28th of June,
1914, in her eightieth year. Of their eleven children Doctor Powell of this
review was the fifth in order of birth, and of the eight sons and three daugh-
ters four of the sons and the three daughters are now living: Absalom M. is
a resident of the City of Tallassee, Elmore County, Alabama ; Dr. Abel A.
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GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS 2651
likewise entered the professioo of his father and is now engaged in practice
at Bemice, Louisiana; John Ransom maintains his home at Kent, Alabama;
Mrs. Mary Mullin likewise resides at Kent; Mrs. Luella Weldon is a resident
of Wetumpka, Alabama; and Miss Othello B. resides at Shawmut, that
state.
To the public schools of his native state Dr. "William M. Powell is indebted
for his early educational training, and in preparation for his chosen pro-
fession he entered the Atlanta Medical College, in which institution he com-
pleted the prescribed curriculum and was graduated as a member of the class
of 1883. After thus receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine
he returned to his native county, and in that section of Alabama he continued
in practice until 1887, when he returned to Atlanta, where he has found a
broader field for professional work and where he has given close and faithful
attention to his practice during the long intervening period of nearly thirty
years. In 1885-86 he completed a post-graduate course in his alraa mater,
the Atlanta College of Medicine, and he has otherwise kept himself in touch
with advances made in both departments of his profession. The doctor has
been an assiduous and indefatigable worker but tliat the discipline has been
to his advantage can not be doubted by any person who notes his still buoyant
and youthful apjliearance, which belies the years that have passed over his
head. He is actively identified with the Fulton County Medical Society, the
Georgia State Medical Association and the American Jledical Association,
On the 6th of May, 1886, Doctor Powell wedded Miss Blifabeth J. Wash-
bum, of Atlanta, and they have three children, Mrs. Jennie Luella Grice,
Miss Mary Leila Powell, and Charles Ernest Powell. Mrs. Grice, who still
resides in Atlanta, was graduated in Miss Cherry's school, in this city; and
Miss Mary L. Powell, who remains at the parental home, is a graduate of
Miss Prather's school, another of the excellent private educational institu-
tions of Georgia's capital cityt Charles E. Powell was graduated in the
Boys' High School of Atlanta and was graduated in Mercer .University
shortly after his twentieth birthday anniversary. He is now emiployed as a
chemist by the Buckeye Cotton Oil Company, in the City of Memphis,
Tennessee.
Liberal and progressive in his civic attitude. Doctor Powell takes a lively
interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home city and state and in
politics he is an uncompromising democrat, tliough he has never sought or
held political office, his only public preferment having been in direct line with
his profession — his service of two years as city physician of Atlanta.
Hon. John J. Moorb. That fanning can be made one of the most agree-
able and satisfying occupations of life, that perseverance, industry and good
management can transform one's dreams into realities and that honesty and
honorable dealing are among the world's most valuable assets, are facts
demonstrated in the life of Hon. John J. Moore, of Swainsboro, whose career
has been identified with Emanuel County during the last sixty years, and
who, as fartnier and judge of the Probate Court, has exerted an influence
second to none of the upbuilders of this locality.
Judge Moore was born February 2, 1856, in Emanuel County, Georgia,
and is a son of Thomas L. and Cynthia (Trapnell) Moore, ^th of whom are
now deceased. His grandfather was James Moore, a native of North*Oaro-
lina, who came to Emanuel County among the early settlers and founded this
branch of the family here. Starting as a farmer in a modest way, through
business ability he became one of the most prosperous planters and largest
slaveholders in this part of the state, and at one time was said to be the
principal stock raiser of the community; A man of much influence and abil-
ity, he exercised his talents in behalf of the community welfare and did much
to promote the growth and development of educational and religious insti-
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2^52 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS ■
tutions. His death occurred at the age of'Beventy-eight'years. Mr. Moore
married a Miss Manning, also of North Carolina, and they reared a family
of twelve children.
Thomas L. Moore, the ninth in order of birth of his parents' children,
was bom in Emanuel County, was here educated in the public schools and
reared to manhood, and when he reached man's estate adopted the vocation
of fanner as his life work. When the Civil war came on he endeavored to
enlist in the Confederate service, but was troubled with nearsightedness and
this caused his rejection. He was a loyal son of the South, however, always
remained true to the Gray throughout the long and fatal struggle, and did
much to aid the cause which be considered just. Libe his father, he was
possessed of good business ability, through which he was able to accumulate
a good property, and became a substantial and influential citizen. In his
declining years he retired from active labor, and his death occurred in 1902
when he was eighty-four years of age, Mrs, Moore died in 1879 when she was
in her fifties. Eight children were bom to Mr, and Mrs. Moore, namely:
WiUie, who is the wife of A. T. Durden, of Stillmore, Georgia; James L,, who
is engaged in farming in Emanuel County ; Elijah, who was engaged in farm-
ing in this county until his death at the age of thirty-five years; Salina Vir-
ginia, who is the wife of Dr. S. E. Brinaon, a practicing physician and
surgeon of Stillmore; John J., of this review; Archibald A., who is engaged
in fanning in Tatnall County, Georgia; Elizabeth C, who is the widow of
James B. Stephens, of Athens, Georgia; and Mamie C, who is tiie wife of
Geoi^e M. Dekte, of Stillmore. Nearly all of the Moores have lived in
Emanuel County, where they have always been accounted reliable, indus-
trious and public-spirited people, and devoted workers in the Primitive
Baptist Church.
John J. Moore received only the benefits of a country school education
in his youth, but had a rcceplive and retentive mind, and in later years has
added to his fund of information by much reading and observation. From
the time htf was able to reach the plow-handles he has been engaged in farm-
ing, and from a modest beginning has developed a large country interest, now
having more than 2,000 acres of fine farming land, an estate that is entirely
under cultivation and that is better in many respects to many so-called
plantations in Southern Georgia. Judge Moore's first public office was in
the capacity of tax collector, a position which he filled satisfactorily during
1905 and 1906. In 1915 the death of Judge R. J. Flanders caused a vacancy
on the probate bench and Judge Moore was appointed to complete the unex-
pired terra as ordinary and has since been elected to that office. He has
maintained the dignity and true merit of law. dispensing decisions impar-
tially and wisely, and meeting with surprisingly little criticism. Judge
Moore belongs to the Blue Lodge of the Masonic fraternity, wliile his religious
connection is with the Baptist Church.
On June 1, 1884, Judge Moore was married in Emanuel County to Miss
Cassie Eddenfield, a native of this county, and daughter of Richard and
Lucretia (Collins) Eddenfield, both families being among the old and hon-
ored ones of Emanuel County. Several of the Eddenfields fought as soldiers
of the Confederacy, and more than one lost his life in battle. Judge and
Mrs. Moore have been the parents of six children, as follows: Dr. Thomas
Grover, a graduate of Augusta ^^edical College, who is now a well known and
Bucces.sful practitioner of Cobhtown, Georgia. , married Miss Eva Darsey and
has two children — Lois and John Darsey; Hilton, who is superintendent of
his father's plantations and one of the energetic and practical young agri-
culturists of this section; Elijah, engaged in farming in Emanuel County,
married Miss Ilena Cook; and Mattie, Lula and Merle, who are students
and reside with their parents.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2653
Augustus B. Lonobtrbet was born in Augusta on the 22d day of Sep-
tember in the year 1790. His father was of an inventive turn of mind, and
contrived an odd steamboat to run on the Savannah River, preceding the
more valuable invention of Robert Eulton by several years. He gradu-
ated from Yale University in 1812 and three years later commenced th«
practice of law in Augusta. In 1817, after his marriage, he moved to Greens-
boro. He became a Methodist minister in 1838, having, in the meantime,
returned to Augusta. In 1839 he was elected president of Emory College,
which was then a small manual labor school, with an experimental farm
attached. Judge Longstreet remained at its head for eight years and in 1849
was called to the presidency of the University of Mississippi, where he labored
until 1856. In the following year he became president of the University
of South Carolina and the Civil war, which brought the students as a body
into the field, put a period to his labors there. At the close of the war he
retired to Oxford, Mississippi, where he died in 1870.
Benjamin Taliapekro. Taliaferro County, Georgia, commemorates the
name and fame of Benjamin Taliaferro, a native of Virginia (son of Zachariah
Taliaferro), bom in 1750. His people had been settled in Virginia from the
earliest days of that colony. He served as a captain in the Continental army
during the Revolutionary war, and about 1785 moved with his family to
Georgia, and soon became a prominent citizen of the state. He was sent to
the State Senate by the people of, his district and elected president of that
body. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1798, and
became a judge of the Superior Court, at that time a moat important position
in Georgia, as there was no Supreme Court. He was appointed a trustee of
Franklin College, now known as the University of Geoi^a. He was elected
a representative from Georgia to the Sixth and Seventh congresses, serving
until 1802, when he resigned. He died in Wilkes County, Geoi^ia, Septem-
ber 3, 1821.
"Waller S. Murphy. In the length and breadth of Jefferson County there
is no better known citizen than "Waller S. Marphy, who for nearly twenty
years has been clerk of the Superior Court and more recently has assumed
the duties of the clerkship to the city courts of Louisville. As a boy and
young man Mr. Murphy had to contend against circumstances in order to
make good his claims to a position among the world's active workers, but
for many years now has enjoyed a reputation for efficiency, sound ability,
integrity and useful citizenship.
Bom in Jefferson County July 22, 1866, he is a son of Henry Davis and
Laura J. (Kelly) Murphy. His mother was a daughter of John Kelly, an
early settler and planter in Jefferson County. John's father immigrated
from Ireland, where he had been active in politics and had left on account of
political restrictions. Laura fKelly) Murphy died in Louisville, Georgia,
at the age of thirty-six. Henry Davis Murphy later married Miss Martha
S. Jordan, also a native of Jefferson County, and she died in 1913 at Louis-
ville. Henry Davis Murphy is a son of Simeon Z. Murphy, who came from
New Jersey South, first to South Carolina, where he was superintendent of
the Bethesda Orphans' Home at Savannah. This home was moved to Bethany,
Geor^a. before the war, and after the war to Savannah, Simeon Murphy
resigned his position when the home was removed to Savannah, and took up
the career of a planter in Jefferson County until his death in 1886,
Henry D. Murphy, who was one of five children, was reared and edu-
cated in Louisville, Georgia, and took up the Vocation of the ministry. He
pteaehed in Methodist churches in Middle and Southern Georjria for many
years, and was a member of the Methodist Conference until 1898, when he
resigned in order the better to attend to his farming interests. Rev. Mr.
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2654 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Murphy, who was born in 1837, is still in vigorous health of mind and body
in spite of bis many years, and is a fine type of the old ante-bellum southern
gentleman and scholar. He was the father of seven children: Frank Nas-
worthy, a step-son, who died in 1911 at Dawson, Georgia, where be was
mayor at the time of his death ; JIary Ellen and Henry Davis, who died about
the same time of typhoid fever, the former at the age of sixteen and the
latter at fourteen; John R. Murphy, now in mercantile pursuits at Louis-
ville ; and Waller. The other children all died in infancy.
Waller S. Murphy was reared in the years following the Civil war, when
industrial and economic conditions were at a low ebb in Georgia. He
attended the public schools of Louisville, and at an early age was obliged to
find some employment which would contribute to his self support. His first
work was done as a elerk in stores at Louisville, and by close attention to
business and strict economy he finally became one of the incorporators of the
Stone-Murphy Mercantile Company of Louisville. Successful in business,
he likewise gained the confidence of his fellow citizens, and in 1896 was
elected clerk of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, and from that year
to the present has succeeded himself regularly at .each recurring election.
Only on two occasions was he oppased for the oflSce, but each time was
elected by a large majority. In 1911 a city court was created for Louisville,
and Mr. Murphy has since been its clerk. During the nearly twenty years
devoted to his official duties his record has been above all just criticism.
He keeps up many active interests among his fellow men, is a trustee of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the
Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, and has served on the
local school board at Louisville. The first office to which he was elected by hia
fellow citizens was that of justice of the pence, and he held it for several
years, .
On July 23, 1885, Mr. Mnrphy married Miss Mollie Diehl, who was bom
in Louisville, a daughter of Robert and Sarah (Thomas) Diehl. Her father
was a veteran of the Confederate army and for many years was in newspaper
work at Louisville. Mrs. Mnrphy died in 1902 at the age of thirty-four at
Louisville, and in 1904 he married Miss Claudia B. Lee. who was bom in
Newton County, Georgia. Of the nine children horn to Mrs. Murphy, three
are now deceased, one having passed away in infancy. Frank died at the
age of twelve. Waller, the oldest, graduated from the Southern Short-
hand Business University at Atlanta. Georgia, was working toward success
at Bainbridge in Decatur County, Georgia, and died there at the age of
twenty-four; he bad married Miss Elma Spooner, and their only child died
in infancy. Willie S. graduated from the high school, took a course in the
Gordon Preparatory School at Barnesville, graduated from the Southern
Shorthand Business University, and is now manager for the McGregor
Spring Water Company of Mobile : he is also married. Frederick, who. took
bis schooling along the same lines a-s bis older brothers, was also a student at
College Park, Atlanta. Leslie, who was similarly educated, is now a book-
keeper for the R. C. Neely Company of Midville, Georgia. A. Polhill Murphy
is now serving with the Coast Artiller,v in the United States army. Laura M,
is a student in College Park, while John R. and Henry Davis are still young
and living at home. Mrs. Murphy is an active leader in the Baptist
Church and its varied auxiliary societies, including the Missionary Soci-
ety, the Social Club and Sunday School. She is a first cousin to Prof,
A. C. Briseomb, president of the Southern Shorthand Business University at
Mobile. Mr. Murphy in his office is very closely devoted to his duties and
allows few other interests to intrude upon his time. However, when occasion
presents, he finds pleasure in a fishing excursion.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2655
K. Y. Lane, M. D,, begap the practice of medicine in Georgia more than
thirty yeara ago, and for the past ten years has enjoyed a large professional
clientele and an established position in business atfairs at Milien.
He comes of a family of physicians, his father having been a fine old-
school doctor in Georgia for more than forty years, while one of Doctor
Lane's brothers is a physician and one is a dentist.
The family to which he belongs was established in America in 1772 by
Abraham Sbepard Lane, who came to Georgia "in that year, and participated
in the Revolutionary war. He was a private soldier and was wounded in the
Battle of Guilford Courthouse. After the war he came South and established
the name in Georgia. On his mother's side Doctor Lane is a Lanier, and
that is one of the oldest distinguished names in Georgia, the Laniers having
been French Huguenot refugees who came to Georgia' in the colonial period.
Dr. R. Y. Lane was born in Emanuel County, Georgia, October 4, 1861,
son of Dr. E. "W. and Caroline (Lanier) Lane. His father, who died in 1896
at the age of eighty-two, was a graduate of Oglethorpe College at Savannah
and took post-graduate work in medicine at the University of Kentucky.
During the Civil war he served as a surgeon in the army, having been
appointed colonel by Governor Brown, and did much worthy service in caring
for the wives and children of Confederate soldiers. He was in ,the active
practice of medicine in Emanuel County from 1857 until 1895. The mother
was born in 1824 and died in 1891, All their three sons are physicians:
Dr. John I. Lane, of Brooklet ; Dr. B. L. Lane, of Butts ; and Dr. R. Y. Lane.
Doctor Lane as a boy attended school at Excelsior and the Swainsboro
High School, and then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at
Ballimore, where he was graduated M. D. in 1884. In 1891 he took post-
graduate work in the Polyclinic Hospital, His first work as a physician was
done at Butts in Emanuel County, where he remained until 1899.
During the next six years he suspended the practice of medicine and was
engaged in the naval stores business at Scarboro. In 1906 he resumed prac-
tice at Milien, and is also an influential factor in business affairs there. He
is vice president of the Jenkins County Savings Bank. He is sui^eon for the
Georgia & Florida Railway at Milien and is a member of the Jenkins County,
the Southern and State Medical societies, the American Medical Association.
Fraternally he is identified with the Royal Arch Masons, with the Knights of
Pythias and the Woodmen of the World.
In 1895 in Emanuel County Doctor Lane married Miss Annie Goethe.
Her father was John G. Goethe, a well known manufacturer of Emanuel
County, now residing at Purman, South Carolina. To their union have
been born three children: Edward, bom at Butts, Georgia, in 1896, and
attended the Georgia Military School at Milledgeville ; John, bom in 1898,
and also attended the same military school ; and Caroline, born in 1900 and
now attending the Milien High School, .
Albert Fleming, M. D. Well known in Georgia ffs a physician and
surgeon, Doctor Fleming has been in practice more than twenty years, has been
located at Wayeross since 1905, and for several years has been a member of
the State Board of Medical Examiners.
He represents a very old American family of Scotch origin. The Flemings
in Scotland were connected with the royal family, and nearly all of them in the
different generations have been Presbyterians. The Doctor's great-great-
grandfather came to this country from Scotland and settled near the Natural
Bridge in Virginia. Doctor Fleming's grandfather came from Western Vir-
ginia to Augusta, Georgia, and later moved and settled on the bank of Little
River in Cherokee County, and still later to Smyrna, Cobb County. He was an
extensive planter and slave-holder.
, It was at Smyrna in Cobb County that Dr. Albert Fleming was bom,
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2656 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
October 15, 1868. His father, John Newton, was bom in Cherokee County,
Georgia, February 24, 1833. He lived in Cobb County, and during the war
served four years with Stewart's Artillery. After the war he returned to
Cobb County, and lived at the old homestead there until his death April 10,
1913, at the age of eighty years. John N. Fleming possessed unusual intellee-
tual and physical powers. It was said that he never needed the care of a
physician but once prior to his last illness.' He married Huldah Ann Daniell,
who was bom in Newton County, Georgia, March 11, 1839, and is now living
at Smyrna at the age of seventy-eight. She was a daughter of Atlas A. and
Sarah A. (Malcolm) Daniell, and before the war her people were large property
and slave owners, and the various members of the family are now scattered all
over Georgia. Nearly all of. the DanieUs were Primitive Baptists and many
of the men were prominent preachers.
Doctor Fleming graduated in 1886 from the Myers High School at
Marietta, Georgia, and his first business experience in life was as a clerk.
After earning his own living for several years he was able to realize his
ambition to become a physician, and in 1894 graduated from the Georgia
Eclectic Medical College at Atlanta. Prom 1894 to 1899 he practiced in
Putnam County, and from 1899 to 1905 was convict physician for the state
at Fargo and Astoria, Since 1905 Doctor Fleming has enjoyed a large and
profitable practice at Waycross.
He was chairman of the "V^are County Commissioners in 1915, and during
bis several years of membership on the State Board of Medical Examiners
served as vice president of the body in 1914. Doctor Fleming is a member and
medical examiner for the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the University
Club at Atlanta. Prominent in the Methodist Church, he hasbeen a meipber
of the first church of that denomination at Waycross for about ten years.
In January, 1897, in Putnam County, Georgia, he married Nona Pearl
Broadfield, daughter of James M. Broadfield. Their two children are Frances
Louise Fleming and James Newton Fleming.
Joseph Kooer Cameron. One of the aggressive younger business men of
Georgia is Joseph K. Cameron, superintendent of the Atlantic Compress
Company at Millen. Mr. Cameron has been a resident of Georgia but a few
years but is of old southern family and stock.
He was born at Troy, Alabama, September 27, 1882, a son of W. K. and
Florence (Nail) Cameron. His parents were born and spent all their lives
in Alabama, His father was for some years proprietor of the Tuskegee News
in Alabama, and later engaged in the undertaking and furniture business at
Troy. He was bom in 1852 and died in 1896, The mother is still living in
Alabama and was bom in 1854.
The third in a family of six children, Joseph K. Cameron has been largely
dependent upon his owrt efl'orts to advance himself toward success. As a
boy he attended the graded schools in Troy, Alabama, and has been working
his own way since, he was thirteen. He followed different occupations and
finally got into the cotton business, and for several years conducted a com-
press in Alabama, Coming to Georgia in April, 1912, he located at Millen,
built the plant, and has since been its superintendent. The Atlantic Compress
Company is perhaps the chief industrial enterprise at Alillen, and has a
capacity for handling 60,000 bales of cotton" during the season. About
seventy-five people are employed under Mr. Cameron's supervision.
In politics he is a democrat, and is a member of the Baptist Church. At
Troy, Alabama, on April 24, 1909, he married Miss Minnie Lee Green, daugh-
ter of Mr, and Mrs. J, T, Green, of Troy, Alabama. They have one son,
Joseph K. Cameron, Jr., born in March, 1911, at Troy, Alabama,
Hon. Thomas L. Hill. Among the jurists who have lent ability and
dignity to the Georgia Bench, one who has won the confidence and esteem of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 265T
the people through his scientific acquaintance with jurisprudence, his intel-
lectual qualifications, and his unswerving integrity and strict impartiality, u
Hon. Thomas L, Hill, judge of the City Court of Millen. Judge Hill entered
upon a legal career more than twenty years ago, and his long and honorahle
record as a practitioner was one in which he gained a broad and compre-
hensive knowledge of human nature which has been of inestimable value to
him on the bench. His activities at Millen have but added to the reputation
he gained as a learned lawyer and public-spirited citizen at Savannah,
Judge Hill is a Georgian by nativity, having been bom in Screven County,
July 21, 1874, and is a son of E. H. and Nancy (Mills) Hill. His father, a
native of Burke County, was there reared and educated, and when but little
more than a lad was conscripted for service in the army of the Confederacy
during the latter years of the war between the North and the South. When
the war was ended he returned to Screven County, where he applied himaelf
to activities in the field of agriculture, but not long thereafter moved to Burke
County, where he gained the ownership of a plantation. He has led an active
and industrious life, and through good management and well directed opera-
tiqns has become the owner of a handsome and valuable property. He still
survives, at the age of seventy years, while Mrs. Hill, likewise a native of
Burke County, has also reached that age. There have been ten children in
their family, of whom Judge Hill is the fifth in order of birth.
Thomas L. Hill received his early education in the public schools of Screven
County, following which he entered Sylvania Institute, where he was gradu-
ated in 1893. He next further prepared himself in the schools of Savannah,
and then began to read law in the office and under the preeeptorship of
Seabrook & Morgan, leading attorneys of Savannah, where he was admitted
to the bar August 4, 1894. With a thorough preparation, Judge Hill opened
an office of his own at Savannah, and soon attracted to himself a practice
of the most desirable kind that may corae to the young lawyer. For more
than fourteen years he continued as a member of the Savannah bar, fairly
earning the regard and esteem of his fellow-practitioners and winning success
honorably and without animosity. During his residence in that city he had
some judicial experience, serving in the capacity of justice of the peace for
four years. Judge Hill came to Millen in December, 1908, and at once took
his place among the leading legal lights of the community. He carried on a
large and important practice in all the courts, and his connection with some
notable cases, in which he acquitted himself admirably, brought him into
public prominence and favor. In 1912 he became the candidate on the
democratic ticket for the office of judge of the City Court, to which he was
duly elected, and so well did he discharge the duties of his judicial irfBee
that he had little opposition in the election of 1914, and is now serving his
second term. Judge Hill's success on the bench may be attributed to bis
mature grasp of the letter of the law, his thoroughness aud accuracy of
judgment, a solidity of lo^c and a brilliancy and quickness of deduction,
but more than these, he has the true judicial temperament which is capable
of tempering justice with mercy, and a hvad knowledge of any sympathy,
with the frailties and weaknesses of humanity.
Judge Hill holds membership in the Jenkins County Bar Association and
the Georgia State Bar Association, and is fraternally connected with the
Masons; the Improved Order of Red Men, in which he has passed through all
the chairs; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has also
passed through the chairs ; the Junior Order of United American Mechanics,
in jwhich he has held several offices ; and the Woodmen of the World, in which
he has also held official position. His political support has been given to
the democratic party since the time he attained his majority. Judge Hill
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which he has
been interested and to which he has contributed liberally.
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2658 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
On December 24, 1903, Judge Hill was united in marriage at Savannah,
Georgia, with Miss Martha B. MacGlashan, of an old and prominent family
of that city, daughter of Gen. P. A. S. MacGlashan, who was a general of
Confederate forces during the war between the states, holding the last com-
mission signed by Jefferson Davis. Both General and Mrs. MacGlashan are
now deceased. To Judge and Mrs. Hil! there have been bom two children:
Thomas Lovett, Jr., who died in May, 1905, aged six months; and Martha B.,
who died as an infant, in July, 1906, both being buried at Laurel Grove
Cenjetery, Savannah, Judge Hill is a great lover of out-of-door sports, and
when he can put aside the trying duties of judicial oGBce, likes nothing better
than to shoulder gun and rod and start out on a journey of several weeks
devoted to fishing and hunting.
Solomon W. Zieoi^er. A scion of one of the old and honored, as well as
inflticntial, families of Screven County, Mr, Ziegler has here maintained his
home from the time of his birth, has here ordered his course on a high plane
of usefulness and integrity and has received the fullest measure of popular
confidence and good will. He has not only effectively upheld the honors of
the family name but has added thereto by his personal character ^d achieve-
ment, his status being that of one of the prominent and influential men of
ail'airs and loyal and progressive citizens of Sylvania, the attractive judicial
center of his native county. Here, in 1913, he became the founder of the
Farmers' Exchange Bank, of which he has served as president from its
inception, the institution being incorporated under the laws of the state and
baaing its operations on a capital stock of $25,000. With characteristic fidelity
and circumspection Mr. Ziegfer has defined and carried forward the con-
servative business policies of the bank, with the result that the enterprise has
been developed into one of the most substantial order, and the Farmers
Exchange Bank has hecnnie one of the solid and important financial institu-
tions of this section of Georgia. Mr. Ziegler is also actively identified with
the progressive agricultural activities of Screven County, where he owns a
valuable landed estate to which he gives a personal supervision in a gen-
eral way.
The founder of the Ziegler family in America was Lucas Ziegler, who
immigrated from the rugged, mountainous Duchy of Salzburg, Austria, and,
in 1732 became one of the original Salzburg colonists at Ebenezer, in what
ig now EDingliam County, Georgia, this having been the first settlement in
the limits of the present- state, and the Oglethorpe colonists having been estab-
lished on the banks of the Savannah River in the following year. Lucas
Zieglpr was a man of strong character and virile powers, and his alert men-
tality and general ability, as coupled with invincible integrity of purpose,
well qualified him for the leadership which he assumed in his colony in the
earliest pioneer period of Georgia history. In succeeding generations the
Ziegler family has produced many men of high character and marked promi-
nence and influence and the women of the family likewise have upheld the
high prestige of the name. «
Solomon W. Ziegler, the immediate subject of this article, is thus a scion
of the oldest pioneer element in the settlement of Georgia, and in the little
Village of Ziegler, Screven County, a place named in honor of the family, he
was born on the 15th of October, 1871. He is a son of George M. and Famelia
(Cail) Ziegler, both of whom likewise were born in Screven County, the latter
being a daughter of Bud and Jane Cail, who were bom in the same county.
Solomon Ziegler, grandfather of the subject of this review, married Charity
Howard, a native of Screven County, and they reared a large family of sons
and daughters.
George M. Ziegler, a man of sterling character and one who had accounted
well for himself as a member of the world 's noble army of productive workers.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2659
met a tragic death in 1893, when fifty-four years of age. He was killed by
a cowardly assassin, and his murder was later avenged by C. L. Ziegler, his
brother, and by his son Solomon W., to whom this sketch is dedicated. George
M, Ziegler was one of the most prominent planters and influential citizens of
Screven County, his place in popular esteem was of the highest, and his
untimely and piti6,ble death caused the entire community to manifest a feeling
of personal loss and bereavement, as well as bitter animus ditected against
his assassin. His widow still resides at the old family plantation home at
Ziegler, revered by all who know her, and she celebrated her sixty-ninth birth-
day anniversary in 1915. Of their fifteen children eleven are living ; Charity
is the wife of Bennett T. Cason and they reside at Island Grove, Florida;
Bud H. owns and conducts a hotel at Andalusia, Alabama ; Mrs. Laura Med-
f ord remains with her mother at the old homestead ; Lola is the wife of David
S. Miller, a prosperous planter of Screven County; Solomon W., subject of
this review, was the next in order of birth ; Cory Lafayette is a merchant at
Ziegler, where he also has the management of the old homestead farm; Nettie'
is the wife of Herschel S. White, of Sylvania, who is one of the leading mem-
bers of the bar of Screven County and the Eastern Circuit ; Ira D. and George
0. are representative agriculturists of Screven County, as is also Ulton Arwin,
who is engaged also in the mercantile business; and Edna is the wife of Green
B. Parker, of Savannah. Of the deceased children two died in infancy, Ralph
at the age of seven years, and Roger in infancy.
Solomon W. Ziegler is distinctively progressive and public-spirited and
takes lively interest in all that concerns the well-being of his native county
and state. He has never manifested any predilection for politicai activity or
official preferment, and holds himself aloof from strict partisanship, his
support being given to the men and measures meeting the approval of his
judgment. He has been an active and liberal member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, South, since 1907, and his wife likewise is an earnest adherent
of the same.
. On the 10th of November, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Ziegler to Miss Floy Walker, who was bom and reared in Screven County
and who is a daughter of James and Sarah (Robbins) Walker, the latter of
whom is deceased. Mr. Walker is now serving as comity commissioner of
Screven County and is one of the well known and influential citizens of the
county. Mr. and Mrs. Ziegler became the parents of six children, all of whom
are living except the third, Sarah Ruth, who died at the age of two years.
The surviving children are George M., Lucille, Clare, Solomon W., Jr., and
Rachel.
' Rev. Dr. Samuel K. Talmaqe, D. D., a distinguished Presbyterian min-
ister and an educator in Georgia for more than thirty years,- came of a
disingulshed Revolutionary family, and was born at Summerville, New Jer-
sey, in 1798. He graduated at Princeton in 1820, and served as tutor there
from 1822 to 1825, entered the Presbyterian ministry, and in 1838 was elected
professor of ancient languages in Oglethorpe University, a Georgia institu-
tion under the patronage of the Presbyterian Church. He served as professor
until 1841, when he was elected president of the college and served in that
capacity until his death at Midway, Georgia, on October 7, 1865.
Rev. Dk. Alonzo Church, sixth president of the University of Georgia,
was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, April 9, 1793. Aft^r obtaining a collegiate
education in his native state he migrated to Georgia and opened a classical
school at Eatonton. He became known as a classical teacher, and in 1819
was elected professor of mathematics in the University of Georgia. He held
this position for ten years untiri829, when on the resignation of Dr. Moses
Waddell from the presidency he was elected to that position, which he held
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2660 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
for thirty years, and resigned in 1859, on account of impaired health and
advancing years. Doctor Church thus gave forty years of service to the
University, at a period when the educational interests of Georgia needed the
services of just such a man. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in
1824, and throughout his life was influential in his church. He never held a
regular pastoral charge, but gave his services free to poor eharches near
Athens. He was in effect the last president of the university, because after
his retirement the title was changed to chancellor in 1860. He was as devoted
and loyal to Georgia and the educational interests of the state as though he
had been born within its borders. On bis retirement from the presidency
he withdrew to his small homestead near Athens, where he died on May 18,
1862, sixty-nine years of age. His son, Alonzo W. Church, who was gradu-
ated under his administration in 1847, became librarian of the United States
Senate.
James T. Sisk. As a lawyer James T. Sisk has already commended his
ability and personality to the respected confidence of Elbert County. He
has shown himself able in business, efficient in the handling of interests
entrusted to him by his clients, and a valuable member of his home community
as a citizen.
Mr. Sisk is a son of Rev. Elijah Lumpkin and Lucinda Prances (Phillips)
Sisk. The grandfather Elijah Lumpkin Sisk, Sr., came to Georgia from
South Carolina, and was an active factor as an early day farmer. The mater-
nal grandparents were George Washington Phillips and wife, who formerly
lived in Virginia, moved from there- to South Carolina, and subsequently
established their home on a Georgia plantation. Hev. E. L. Sisk is now
probably the oldest active minister in the Baptist Church in Georgia. Con-
tinuously for Jifty-five years he has been in the service of his church, and for
him the love and respect of the people has grown in proportion to the years
of his service. Though at a venerable age, he still has charge of a church at
RoystOD in Franklin County, and looks after the religious welfare of a large
congregation. lu the early days, beginning before the war, ho belonged to
the class of circuit riders, and probably no other profession at that time
endured more hardships in prosecuting their duties than such pioneer min-
isters. The community which he served ^'os isolated and spread over a wide
territory, and he rode from one place to the other, enduring the hardships
of weather and had roads, and thousands of other inconveniences which now
have disappeared from the common life of the Rpople owing to the great
advancement made in transportation and other facilities in the life of the
twentieth century. Rev. Mr. Sisk is now eighty-six years of age. His wife,
who is aged fifty-eight, was born in Oconee County, South Carolina, and
came to Georgia with her parents,
Jantes T, Sisk was born at "Westminster, South Carolina, December 16,
1881, and was one of two children. His sister, Miss Harriet Pickens Sisk,
is still living at borne with her parents in Roylon. As a boy Mr. Sisk attended
the public schools at Flowery Brunch in Bowman, Georgia, and the John
Gibson Institute at Dahlonega, whore he was graduated A. B. in 1897. He
then entered the University of Geoigia and was a student in the law depart-
ment until graduating LL. B. in 1902. Mr. Sisk did not take up practice
immediately, but instead went on the road as a traveling salesman for the
International Harvester Company, and was one of the successful commercial
representatives of that great corporation for five years. He then determined
to leave business and take up the practice of his regular profession, and in
1907 was formally admitted to the bar and opened his office at Elberton.
Mr. Sisk now enjoys a splendid practice, and has also served as county
administrator for Elbert County since 1907, He is unmarried and resides
in Elberton, where he is the owner o!^ considerable real estate interests. In
polities Mr. Sisk is a democrat. '
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2661
Joseph "W. Worlby. One of the oldest practicing lawyers of Elbert
County is Joseph W. Worley, whose name was first enrolled on the list of
attorneys in that section more than forty years ago. His success as a lawyer
has beoi in proportion to the years of his career, and he also enjoys the
highest standing as a citizen.
Joseph W. Worley was bom at Newburn, Virginia, March 25, 1854, a son
of Rev. A. G, and Elizabeth B. (Worley) Worley, His father was a native
of Tennessee and his mother of Virginia. Rev. A. G. Worley was a minister
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for a number of years followed
circuit riding and brought the service of a man of God to many isolated com-
munities in Virginia and Tennessee. During the war he was chaplain in
General Bragg's army of the Confederacy, and after being released from
army service came to Georgia and lived in this state until his death in 1907
at the age of eighty years. His wife died at Elberton in 1911 aged eighty-
four.
Judge Worley was the oldest of seven children. His early life was not
one of easy circumstances, and he was compelled to m^ke his own opportuni-
ties in order to rise in the world. He attended eouiitrj- schools, grew up on
a farm, and had the discipline of farm work as an ifaiportant part of his
preparation. He took up the study of law under Robert Ester at Elberton,
and in the meantime taught school to earn his living. Admitted to the bar
in 1875, he at once began practice at Elberton, and his work as a lawyer has
been varied by important public wrvice. For two terms he was county
commissioner, spent one year in the Legislature and for two terms was a judge
of the Superior Court, the first time tilling an unexpired term of Judge
Holden.
Judge Worley is a democrat, a Mnsori, and a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He was mnrried in ISSO to Miss Sallie Arnold, who
died in 1894. She was a dautrhtcr of J. Y. Arnold of Elberton. By this
marriage there were three children: Arnold Worley, who is married and has
one child and is one of the well known citizens of Elberton; Carter, who is
married and has one child; and Mrs. Lizzie McGinty, who has two children.
In 1905 Judge Worley married Mrs. William (Jackson) Tibbs. Her father
was a successful attorney before the war and entered the Confederate service
and was killed in battle.
Worley NaiJj. His position as mayor of Elberton well reflects the stand-
ing of Worley Nail as a citizen and lawyer of that community. He is a young
man of great promise, has shown unusual ability in his career as a lawyer,
and what he has already accomplished is due almost entii-ely to his personal
capability and earnest purpose.
Worley Nail was born in Granville, Georgia, April 18, 1887, a son of
Charles E. and Elizabeth (Worley) Nail. Both parents were natives of
Georgia, and his father was a merchant at Granville until his death in 1895
at the age of forty-five. The mother is still living at Granville at the age of
fifty.
Mr. Nail was the oldest of their four children. He grew up in Granville,
attended the public schools there, and in 1906 was grailuated with his Bach-
elor's degree from Mereer University. After one year of employment in
Birmingham, Alabama, he took up the study.of law in the office of his uncle,
Judge Worley, at Elberton, and aft«r a thorough course of reading was
admitted to the bar on examination in 1910. He has since been in active
practice, and recently the citizens of Elberton honored him with the office of
mayor to which he is now giving a very efficient administration.
Mr. Nail is a democrat and in Masonry has attained the Chapter degree.
In 1912 he married Miss Jennie Rae Auld, a daughter of Fred W, Auld of
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2662 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Elberton. After a brief mp-rried companionship of about one year, Mrs. Nail
died in 1913, leaving one child, Jennie Rae Nail.
Judge J. L. Sweat, For a little more than forty-five years Judge Sweat
has had a secure and substantia) position as a member of the Georgia bar.
During the greater part of this time his home has been at Waycross in Ware
County. His career has not only been one of unusual length but of variety
of experience. He was a Confederate soldier and has served his country
and state in many ways aside from his work as a lawyer.
Born September 21, 1847, in the Northeastern portion of Ware, after-
wards included in the formation of the County of Pierce, he was still a youth
when his parents died, and he lived with his Grandmother Strickland on the
old plantation immediately north of where the Town of Blackshear was built
up and which became the county seat of the new County of Pierce, He
attended the Blackshear Academy until April, 1862, when at the age of about
1414 years he enlisted in the Confederate army. He served three years, until
the surrender in April, 1865, a portion of the time with Wheeler's Cavalry.
Since the war Judge Sweat has taken a deep interest in the United Confederate
Veterans Association', having organized a camp at Waycross of which he has
frequently beeii commander, and for several years was commander of the
South Georgia Brigade.
After the war he located at Homerville, in Clinch County, where he fol-
lowed different pursuits until the April term, 1869, of the Clinch Superior
Court, when he was admitted to the bar, and for about twenty years engaged
in the practice of law with an office in Homerville.
Just a short time before he was admitted to the bar, in January, 1869,
Judge Sweat married Miss Maggie M. Hitch. There were two children;
Lee L. and Lulu M., the latter dying in her early womanhood. The son, after
graduating from the State University, became his law partner under the firm
name of J, L. Sweat & Son, although never taking an active part in the prac-
tice. Judge Sweat removed with his family from Homerville to Waycross,
Georgia, in the early part of 1887, where he has since lived. Mrs. Sweat died
in January, 1914.
With the exception of the time he was on the bench, Judge Sweat has from
his admission to the bar been actively engaged in the practice of law through-
out South Georgia, and is regarded as one of the most competent and successful
members of the legal profession. He has also been very successful in business
affairs. At present he is a director and the attorney for the First National
Bank of Waycross and the Waycross Savings & Trust Company, and also an
attorney for the Waycross Street & Suburban Railway Company and attorney
at Waycross for the A. B. and A. Railway Company. In addition he is con-
nected in a business way or as an attorney with other important enterprises.
He was twice elected representative from Clinch County, serving as a
member of the Lepslature in 1880-1-2-3. In 1912 he was elected senator from
the Fifth District, serving in the Georgia Senate during 1913 and 1914,
During all his legislative career he took a leading part as a lawmaker.
Having previously been connected with the clerical department of the Le^s-
lature and for a part of the year 1871 a clerk in the executive department
under Governor James M. Smith, he was elected and served as chief clerk of
the House of Representatives in 1875 and 1876. In April, 1892, he was
appointed judge of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, then composed of nine
counties, including Ware, in which his home town of Waycross is located. He
succeeded in that office Judge Spencer R. Atkinson, who had resigned. After
having been twice elected by the General Assembly and serving altogether
about seven years on the bench, Judge Sweat retired, his administration of
public justice having met with strong approval by the bar and people.
Always a democrat, Judge Sweat has taken a prominent part in political
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2663
affairs, being a member of the Georgia delegation to the National Democratic
Convention that first nominated Grover Cleveland for President at Chicago,
and afterwards at St. Louis, and was frequently a member of congressional
and state conventions and a leader in their work and deliberations. Judge
Sweat is a member of the Methodist Church and of the Masonic Order,
Throughout his residence at Waycross no one perhaps has done more than
Judge Sweat towards the upbuilding of his city, county and section, along all
material and civic lines. While now advanced in years, he has a prospect of
long continued usefulness for himself and country.
Hamun Collier Cook, M. D. In the course of his long and active
career as a physician and sui^on, since 1888 when he started practicing
ten years of which have been spent at Bremen, in Haralson County, Doctor
Cook has attained a reputation more than state wide as a specialist in the
successful treatment of that distressing and often fatal malady known as
pellagra. Doctor Cook is easily one of the authorities on this disease in the
southeastern states, and is also a man of high qualifications in all brandies
of his profession. He owns one of the finest homes in Bremen and to facilitate
the handling of his own large practice operat«s a private sanitarium.
Hamlin Collier Cook was bom in DeKalb County, Georgia, May 1, 1859,
a son of Jamor David A. and Nancy W. (Collier) Cook. The mother was
a daughter of Merrill Collier, one of the pioneer settlers, a planter and slave
owner in that district, and was also bom in the same county as was her son.
Major Cook, who was bom at Macon, Georgia, in 1831, was in early life
engaged in merchandising there, and in 1860 removed to Atlanta. At the
beginning of the war he enlisted in the Twelfth Geo^a Regiment and saw
Tour years of active service on the Confederate side. Going out as a private,
he was finally promoted by reason of efficient and gallant service to the rank
of major. Following the war he became active in politics, served for several
terms as tax collector at Atlanta, and some years later filled the office of
justice of the peace in Cook's District at Atlanta, until his retirement. He
is now living with his son at Bremen, and at the age of eighty-five is sur-
rounded with all the means for comfort and ease. His wife died in 1901 at
the age of fifty-six. Two of their eleven children died in infancy. Talola is
the wife of T. V. McCain, of College Park, Atlanta ; Lee P., who died in 1904,
was prominent as a merchant and politician at Toecoa, Georgia ; Ella is the
wife of H. v. Bayne of Atlanta; Willard P. is a railroad man living at San
Antonio, Texas ; Doctor Cook is next in order of birth ; Alice Gray lives in
Clairraont, Florida ; Addie is the wife of Manson 'Busha of Atlanta ; and
Edgar W. lives in Oklahoma.
Dr. H. C. Cook received his early training in the grammar and high
schools of Atlanta, and in 1888 graduated from the Georgia Eclectic College
of Medicine. His professional career began in association with Dr. William
M. Durham, of Atlanta, Georgia, and in that district he was engaged in prac-
tice for seven years. In 1905 Doctor Cook removed to Bremen, and for the
past, ten years has had the responaibilities of a large and profitable practice
and one that makes him probably the leading physician in Haralson County.
Many years ago Doctor Cook made a special study of pellagra and his success
in the treatment and cure of this malady has given him a reputation in all
parts of the state, and many victims of the disease have traveled from far and
near to place themselves under his treatment.
Doctor Cook is a member of tlie county and state medical societies and
has been president of the Haralson County society since 1912. He is a demo-
crat who takes much interest in civic and educational affairs. In early life
he was affiliated with the Masons and the Improved Order of Red Men, and
is a member of the Methodist Church.
In July, 1895, in Carroll County, Doctor Cook married Miss Beulah
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2664 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Smith, daughter of Martin and Mary (Tolm) Smith of Carroll County, where
his father was a substantial farmer. There are two children. David CoUier
Cook, born at Temple, Georgia, July 17, 1897, is now manager of the MePher-
800 Rubber Company at Macon. Jlisa Florine, bom at Temple July 27, 1899,
lives at home and is still pursuing her studies. Mrs. Cook is a very active
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and belongs to the missionary
and ladies' aid societies. Besides his other duties Doctor Cook acts as local
surgeon for the Southern Railroad.
Georoe W. Whitesioe, M. D. With residence and professional head-
quarters in the Village of Lavonia, Franklin County, Doctor "Whiteside con-
trols a large and representative practice and is recognized as one of the
leading physicians and sur^ons of the younger generation in this part of
the state. He stands exponent of the most modem ideas in medieal science
and his success has been in consonance with his close application and excellent
equipment for his humane and noble vocation.
Dr. George Washington Whiteside is a native of the fair old Southland
and takes pride in the fact that his ancestral records indicate long and
worthy identification with the history of the southern section of our national
domain. The Doctor was bom in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on
the 22d of Marfh, 1884, the ninth in order of birth of the twelve children
born to George W. and Amanda (Williams) Whiteside, who still resides on
their fine old homestead plantation in that county, botii having been bom and
reared in North Carolina. The father of the Doctor celebrated his sixty-fifth
birthday anniversary in 1915, and is ope of the substantial and honored citi-
zens of the county that has long represented his home. He is a son of
George Washington Whiteside, Sr., and it will be noted that in three genera-
tions of the family has been perpetuated the name of the great patriot who
was the first President of the United States. George W. Whiteside, Sr., died
in 1895, at the age of seventy years, he likewise having been a successful
agriculturist during virtually his entire active career. R«pre8entativeB of
the Freeman family were found enrolled as patriot soldiers in the war of the
Revolution. Jlrs. Elise (Lynch) Whiteside, grandmother of him whose name
initiates this article, died in 1910, at the age of eighty-seven years. The
maternal grandparents of the Doctor were Jonas Overton Williams and
Elizabeth Williams, both of whom passed their entire lives in North Carolina,
where the former, a gallant soldier of the Confederate service in the Civil
war, died in 1890, at the age of sixty -five years, and where the latter died in
1912, at the age of seventy-tive years.
The public schools of his native state afforded to Doctor Whitewde his
preliminary educational discipline, which was most effectively supplemented
by both an academic and professional course in the University of Nashville, ia
the City of Nashville, Tennessee. In the medical department of this institu-
tion he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908, and after thus
receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Jledicine be was engaged in
practice during one year in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Since 1910
he has maintained "hSs home and professional headquarters at Lavonia,
Georgia, where he has built up a most substantial and satisfactory practice
and gained high place in popular confidence and esteem, his satisfaction with
his present stage of professional endeavor being signified by his ownership
of his attractive residence property in Lavonia. The Doctor is identified witii
the American IVTedical Association, the Georgia State Medical Association,
the Ninth District Medical Society and the Franklin County Medical Society.
He is a democrat by birthright and conviction and is serving as a member of
the village council of Lavonia, both he and his wife holding membership iB
the Baptist Church.
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GEOEGIA AND GEORGIANS 2665
On the 6th of April, 1910, was solemuized the marriage of Doctor White-
side to Miss Lucy L. Weldon, daughter of George W. Weldon, who is a promi-
nent citizen of Lavonia. Doctor and Mrs. Whiteside have no ehJldren,
Walter T, Colquitt, He had a desire for success in the broadest and
best acceptation of the term, and he made such success possible. His animus
was not merely one of self-advancement but was marked by full appreciation
of the responsibilities which success imposes, and he lived up to these respon-
sibilities. He was a representative of one of the honored pioneer families
of Georgia, and he gave to the state the full benefit of his finely matured
powers, with the result that he became one of its really eminent and influen-
tial citizens. These statements will be uniformly supported by all who know
aught of the character and services of the late Waiter T. Colquitt, lawyer,
jurist, state official and representative of Georgia in both branches of the
United States Congress. His son Alfred H. Colquitt added further honors
to the family name, especially through service as governor of Georgia and
a member of the United States Senate, and concerning him definite mention
is made on other pages of this work.
Hon. Walter T. Colquitt was born in Halifax County, Virginia, on the
27th of December, 1799, a scion of one of the representative colonial families
of that historic old commonwealth, and within a short time after his birth
his parents came to Georgia and became pioneer settlers in the vicinity of
Mount Zion, Carroll County, where he passed the period of his childhood and
early youth and where he acquired bis preliminary education. Later he was
sent to the College of New Jersey, now familiarly known as Princeton Uni-
versity, but before he had completed the prescribed course leading to gradua-
tion he was called to his home, owing to the illness of his father. Later he
prosecuted the study of law under the preceptorship of Col. Samuel Eockwell,
of fililledgeville, Baldwin County, and in 1820 he was admitted to the bar of
the State oE Georgia, and his novitiate in the work of his profession was
served at Sparta, Hancock County, whence he later removed to the now
extinct Village of Cowpens, in Walton County. In the meanwhile he not only
made advancement in professional prestige and success but was also elected
by the Legislature to the office of brigadier general of the state militia when
he was but twenty-one years of age.
Alert and ambitious, with a fine mind and with well fortified convictions
concerning matters of public import, he early became influential in political
affairs, and in 1826 he was a candidate for Congress, on the Troup ticket, as
it was familiarly known. In a district which had a majority that tallied for
the opposition a majority of fully 2,000 votes in a normal way, he was
defeated by only 32 votes, his opponent having been Hon. Wilson Lumpkin,
At the age of twenty-seven years he was elected judge of the Chattahoochee
Superior Court. In 1836-7 Judge Colquitt represented ^Iuse<^ec County in
the State Senate, and in 1838 he was accorded further official distinction, in
that he was elected to Congress, as candidate on the' whig ticket and as a
supporter of the policy of individual state rights. He resigned his seat in
the national Legislature at the time of the nomination of Gen. William Henry
Harrison for the Presidency and in the ensuing campaign he ardently sup-
ported Martin Van Buren, the democratic candidate. His course met with
the unequivocal commendation of his constituency, and he resumed his seat
in Congress, in the lower house of which he continued to serve until March,
1843, when he became a member of the United States Senate. He gave stanch
support to the Polk administration and to the government poMcies concerning
the Oregon question and the issue of the Mexican war, and he conscientiously
and insistently opposed the historic Wilmot Proviso.
Apropos of the professional ability of Judge Colquitt the following con-
sistent estimate has been given; "As an advocate he stood alone in Georgia
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2666 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
and perhaps in the whole South. No man could equal him in vigor and
brilliancy where the passions of the jury had to be led."
Senator Colquitt's entire life was guided and governed by a fine sense of
personal stewardship and by deep Christian faith, both he and bis wife
having been earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Though
of splendid physical constitution, this distinguished Georgian w^s notably
improvident in fortifying his health, and he died in the prime of his strong
and useful manhood, at the age of fifty-six years.
Senator Colquitt was thriee married. On the 23d of February, 1823, he
wedded Miss Naney H. Lane, daughter of Joseph Lane, of Newton County,
and they became the parents of six children. In 1^41, a number of years
after the death of the wife of his early manhood, he married Mrs, Alpha
B. Fauntleroy, whose family name was Tood, but she survived her marriage
only a few months. In 1842 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Harriet W.
Ross, daughter of Luke Rosa, of Macon, this state, and she survived him by
a number of years, no children having been born of this union.
Walter T. Colquitt. Few names have been more prominently and
worthily identified with the history of Georgia than that of the family of
which this representative lawyer and influential citizen of Atlanta is a scion.
He bears the full patronymic of his distinguished grandfather, the late Hoa
Walter T, Colquitt, who represented Geoi^a in the United States Senate and
whose career is briefly reviewed in an article of memorial tribute appearing
on other pages of this publication. He whose name initiates this paragraph
has not stood in the shadow of ancestral or paternal greatness but is ably
upholding the prestige of the family name, his father, the late Alfred H.
Colquitt, having been one of the really great and eminent citizens of Georgia,
of which commonwealth he served with distinction as governor and which,
like his father before him, he represented in the United States Senate. To
him likewise a special memoir is dedicated in this History of Georgia, and
thus in the present connection it is incumbent only to consider the salient
points in the career of Walter T. Colquitt II, a most appreciative and loyal
citizen and able lawyer of his native state and a member of the Atlanta bar
since 1895.
Walter T. Colquitt was born at Kirkwood, DeKalb County, Georgia, on
the 5th of March, 1874, and during a period of six years, in his boyhood
and youth, his father was governor of Georgia, so that the family home was
established in the meanwhile in the City of Atlanta, the capital of the state.
While with his parents in the gubernatorial mansion he attended the public
schools of Atlanta, and at the age of twelve years he entered the Georgia
Military Institute, an excellent institution maintained in Atlanta under the
direction of Prof. Charles M. Neal and Capt. Lyman Hall. In pursuance of
higher academic discipline Mr. Colquitt finally was matriculated in Emory
College, at Oxford, one of the leading educational institutions of Georgia,
and in the same he was ^aduated as a member of the class of 1893 and with
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1895 he was graduated in the law depart-
ment of Columbian University, in the City of Washington, District of Colum-
bia, this institution, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws,
being now designated as George Washington University, the change of.
title having been made to avoid confliction of its identification owing to its
original name being so similar to that of the equally celebrated Columbia
University, in New York City. For the purpose of fortifying himself even
mere fully in a'preliminary way Mr, Colquitt completed an effective post-
graduate course in the law department of the historic old University of Vir-
ginia, where he was signally favored in studying under that distinguished
law preceptor. Prof. John B. Minor.
Late in the year 1895 Mr. Colquitt was admitted to the bar of his native
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2667
state and engaged in the practice of his profession in Atlanta, in which city
he now controls a substantial and important law buainess and in a profes-
sional way, as well aa a loyal and progressive citizen, he is proving a worthy
snceessor of his distinguished fatiier and grandfather. Mr. Colqnitt was
appointed United States commissiouer by Judge William T. Newman, of the
United States District Court of the Northern District of Georgia, and he
retained this position several years, with marked ability and efficiency. * Mr.
Colquitt is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association and the Georgia State
Bar Association, and though he is a stalwart in the camp of the democratic
party he has manifested no ambition for political ofGce.
Mr. Colquitt is affiliated with the Chi Phi college fraternity and holds
membership in the Capital City Club, the Atlanta Athletic Club and the
Druid Hills Golf Club. He is a specially appreciative and influential member
' of the Society of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, of the national organiza-
tion of which he has had the distinction of serving as commander in chief,
having been elect«d to this office at the Confederate reunion held in the City
of Charleston, South Carolina, and his popularity in the organization having
been significantly indicated on this occasion, since his opponent for the office
was Robert E, Lee, Jr. He served one term and is still active and enthusiastic
in the affairs of this admirable organization, through the medium of which are
perpetuated the more gracious memories of the great Civil war.
On the 24th of June, 1914, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Colquitt
to Miss Julia Dunning, of Atlanta, and it may readily be understood that
they are prominent and popular factoid in the leading social activities of the
capital city.
AijFREd H, Colquitt. A life conspicuous for the magnitude and variety
of its achievement was that of the late Hon. Alfred H. Colquitt, who was a
native son of Georgia, who -became one of the "leading members of the bar of
this favored commonwealth, who served as governor of the state for six years
and who represented Georgia with marked distinction in the United States
Senate, as had .also his father, Hon. Walter T. Colquitt, a brief tribute to
whose memory appears elsewhere in this publication. So noteworthy achieve-
ment as was that of Governor Alfred H. Colquitt must needs imply exalted
character and large ability, and above all he merits perpetual honor by the
very strength and nobility of his manhood, which well may be said to have
been consecrated to the service of his native state. To the state and the
nation he rendered service to the fullest extent of his powers; his labors were
unsparing and his integrity of purpose was beyond cavil. The reflex of the
honors conferred upon Him was the honors he in turn conferred. It is not
easy adequately to describe a man who was as distinct in character and who
accomplished so much in the world as did Governor Colquitt, and the limita-
tions of this article are such as to make possible only a cursory glance at the
individuality and achievements of the man, — not permitting extended
genealogical data or critical analysis of character.
Alfred H. Colquitt was born in Walton County, Georgia, on the 20th of
April, 1864, and his death occurred in the City of Washington, D. C, in 1893,
where he was at the time serving as a representative of his native state in the
United States Senate. He was a son of Hon. Walter T. and Nancy B. (Lane)
Colquitt and in view of the fact that his father is individually accorded
tribute in this publication no further details concerning the family, history
are demanded at this juncture, though it may well be stated that he was
reared in a home of distinctive culture and refinement, — under conditions that
had important bearing in making him the strong and positive character that
was destined to impress itself benignantly upon the history of the statfc
that ever represented his home and to which his loyalty was ever of the most
insistent order. . .
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2668 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
The best of educational advantages were not denied to this distinguished
Bob of Georgia, as is evident when it is stated that he was graduated in the
College of New Jersey, now familiarly known as Prineeton University. In
the year following his graduation he was admitted to the bar of Georgia, but
the intrinsic animus of the personality was soon afterward shown, when he
sacrificed all other interests to go forth as a soldier in the Mexican war, in
which he served with distinction and attained to the rank of major.
After the close of this conflict Mr. Cohjuitt engaged in the practice of
his profession in Georgia, and that he soon came to the front in matter of
civic influence and priority is evidenced by the fact that in 1849 he was
elected a member of the State Senate, further distinction coming to him in
1855, when he was chosen to represent his district in the United States
Senator Colquitt was one of the influential men in public affairs in
Geoi^ia in the climacteric period that found its culmination in the Civil war,
and in the national election of 1860 he was a presidential elector on the demo-
cratic ticket, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of which were
respectively J. C. Breekenridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon.
In the same year he was a member of the convention which acted upon and
signed the ordinance by which Georgia seceded from the Union. During the
war between the states it has well been said that he "served with commanding
distinction in the Confederate army, in which he became a brigadier general
and won the sobriquet of "The Hero of Olnstee. "
With' characteristic courage and confidence General Colquitt faced the
grave problems that confronted his beloved Southland after the close of the
war, and he gave the best of himself and his services in the reviving of its
prostrate energies. In 1876 he was elected governor of Georgia, for a term
■ of four years, and such was his.hold upon popular confidence and esteem that
he was re-elected in 1880, though in the meanwhile impeachment charges had
been brought against the comptroller general and also the treasurer of the
state. His record, in every respect admirable and denoting inviolable loyalty,
during bis six years' regime as governor of Georgia has become an integral
part of the generic history of the state and needs no wbrds of commendation
in this connection.
A man of great circumspection, of fine intellectuality and of broad views.
Governor Colquitt was naturally destined for higher civic honors, and in
1884 he was elected to the United States Senate, to which he was re-elected in
1888 and in which he represented his native state with distinguished ability
until the time of his death, which occurred within a short time prior to the
expiration of his second term. Concerning his career in the national legis-
lature the following estimate has been written, and the same is worthy of
reprodirction in this connection:
"In the Senate of the United States he was an imposing figure, and it may
be of interest to note that his distinguished father had been an hohored
member of the same body, in which he represented Georgia for several years
prior to the Civil war; but the son was not less devoted to the public service
and was not a less important factor in national affairs than had been the
father, ' '
At the time of his election to the office of governor of Georgia General
Colquitt established his residence in Atlanta, which city he thereafter looked
upon as his home until the close of his life.— a man whose memory the city
and the state delight to honor. Though admitted to the bar when a young
man, Senator Colquitt never severed his allegiance to the great fundamental
art of agriculture and he always manifested the deepest interests in this
industry, which must ever be the basis of material progress and prosperity.
He, served for many years as president of the Georgia, State Agricultural
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QEOEGIA AND GEORQI-ANS 2669
Society and was one of the substantial landholders and agriculturists of bis
native state at the time of his demise.
yenator Colquitt was a man of deep religious convictions and showed
forth his faith in his daily life, besides having frequently had the supervision
of public worship in the church of which he was a devoted member, — the
Methodist Episcopal, South. It is needless to say, in view of his early train-
ing and natural predilections, that he was unwavering in his support and
advocacy of the principles and policies for which the democratic party has
always stood sponsor in a basic way.
Chief Justice Joseph Henry Lumpkin was born in Oglethorpe County,
on December 23, 1799, and died at Athens, Georgia, on June 4, 1867. He
graduated from Princeton College in 1819 and was admitted to the bar at
Lexington, Georgia, in 1820. In 1824 he was a member of the General
Assembly. In 18!{3, in connection with John H. Culhbert and William Schley
(later governor of Georgia) he framed the state penal code.
In 1845 the Legislature created the State Supreme Court. He was at that
time in Europe, and without his knowledge was elected one of its three judges.
He was re-eleeted three different times, and served continuouaiy until his"
death, a period of about twenty-two years.
Wilson Lumpkin, of a famous Georgia family, was born in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia, on January 14, 1783. In October, 1804, he was elected
to the Legislature and served therein for the succeeding ten years. In 1814
he was elected to the Federal Congress, and in 1818 returned to Morgan
County, which had become his home, to resume work on his plantation. After
serving as a commissioner to run certain geographical lines made ueces.sary
by a treaty lately made with the Creek Indians, in 1819 he was returned to
the Legislature and in 1821 was again appointed a boundary commissioner.
In 1825 he was elected a member of the Georgia Board of I'ublic Works to
ascertain the feasibility of building either canals or railroads in the state.
The decision was in favor of railroads, and the line of railway recommended
by Mr. Lumpkin and the engineer who accompanied him was substantially
the same as that surveyed as the Western & Atlantic twelve years later. In
1826 he was again elected to Congress and took his seat in the Twentieth
Congress. In 1828 he was re-elected to the Twenty-first CJongress, and in
1830 to the Twenty-second Congress. In these Congresses he supported
Governor Troup in his contention with President Adams over the relation
of Georgia to the Indians. In 1831, when he still had a full term to serve,
he was elected governor of Georgia. He retired from the governor's chair
in 1835; served as an Indian commissioner in the removal of the Cherokeea
beyond the Mississippi in 1836-37; was a member of the United States Senate
in 1837-41 ; and in 1841-43 was identified with the reorganization of the
Western & Atlantic Railroad. He died in 1870, spending the later years of
his life on his plantation, engaged in reading, writing and corresponding
with his numerous friends.
W.vLTER Jay Bell, M. D. The death of Doctor Bell on June 17, 1916,
brought to a close the career of one of Atlanta's leading physicians and
surgeons. Doctor Bell had practiced in that city for twenty years. He was
known as a specialist in diseases of women and children and while his reputa-
tion and success attracted to him a large practice he also enjoyed several
praiseworthy distinctions among the medical profession at large. He was the
first physician in Atlanta to put the O'Dwyer laryngeal tube into practical
and suecessful use. He was formerly an instructor in the Southern Medical
College of Atlanta on gynecology and obstetrics and lecturer on diseases of
children.
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2670 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
He was bora at Greenville, Butler County, Alabama, June 7, 1867, and
was not yet fifty years of age when death overtook him. His father,
Rev. Jonathan E. Bell, was a Baptist minister, a native of Alabama, and for
sixteen years pastor of the First Baptist Churcli of Greenville. He wa« a
man of most attractive personality, and was devoted to the cause of the
church in which he labored for more than forty years in his native state.
He was several times honored with the position of moderator of the State
Baptist Association in Alabama. His death occurred in 1894, and his wife,
Georgia Bennett Bell, a native of New Orleans, had passed away several
years previously. The only brother of Doctor Bell is Hon. Joseph B. Bell,
of Prattville, Alabama, a prominent stockholder in the Continental Gin Com-
pany and prominently connected with the Daniel Pratt branch of that
company. He has been a member of the Alabama Legislature.
The late Doctor Bell entered practice with an exceedingly liberal educa-
tion. He graduated frota Howard College at East Lake, Birmingham,
Alabama, A. B., and on leaving college began the study of medicine under
Dr. Luther L. Hill, of Montgomery, Alabama, one of the distinguished sur-
geons of that state. His preparation was continued in the medical depart-
'ment of Tul«ne University at New Orleans, after which he took pos^g^aduate
studies and passed a successful examination before the New York State
Board of Medical Examiners in 1895. While in New York his special work
related to surgery, gynecology and the diseases of children. In June, 1895,
Doctor Bell established his office in Atlanta, and his career there was marked
with growing success and prestige as a physician and surgeon.
He was a member of the Georgia State Jledieal Society and the American
Medical Association, of the Baptist Church, of Palestine Lodge No. 486,
A. F. and A. M., of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights
of Pythias. Doctor Bell was twice married, and his wives died before him,
leaving no children. His first wife was Mrs. Ada II. Harper Durant, of
Atlanta. After her death he married Miss Ailine Wingate, also of Atlanta,
who died May 20, 1912.
Mathew Henry Sandwich has been a prominent practitioner at the
Upson County bar for forty-five years, and during a large portion of that
period has been a leading figure in public life, having been elected to various
positions of importance and responsibility by his fellow-citizens at Thomaston,
.where his active career has been passed. Mr. Sandwich is a native son of
Thomaston, and was bom July 6, 1849, his parents being Mathew Hare and
Matilda (Wright) Sandwich. On the paternal side he is descended from an
ancestor who emigrated to America in 1778 and located in Georgia about 1790,
while on the maternal side his ancestors have been residents of Georgia since
1800, Mrs. Sandwich having been connected with the well known family of
Doane. ,
The public schools of Thomaston furnished Mathew Henry Sandwich with
the foundation for his educational training, and as a youth he determined
upon a career in the law. After some preparation he entered the office of
John R. Hare, a prominent attorney during early days, studying under
his preceptorship until his admission to the bar in November, 1870. At that
time he opened an office at Thomaston, and here has continued in the practice
of his calling to the present time, being now one of the oldest attorneys in
point of consecutive practice in Upson County. His practice is general, includ-
ing the various departments of his calling, and he now represents various
large and important interests at Thomaston, among which is the Central of
Georgia Railroad. Almost from the outset of his career he began to hold
public office, and at various times was city attorney of Thomaston, district
attorney of Upson County, and county attorney, and finally he was elected
judge of the County Court, a capacity in which he acted for a number of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2671
years. His official life was characterized by faithful and conscientious per-
formance of duty, and as a jurist he established an enviable record for
distinguished service.
Judge Sandwich was married in 1876, to Miss Lucy Cheney, of Covington,
Georgia, daughter of Frank Cheney, and to this union there were born four
children.
NoFMAN T. Pool. Aside from her staple crop of cotton, the State of
Georgia is rich in various natural resources which her citizens are today
engaged in developing to an extent unknown before. Among the most important
of these is the apple industry, for which the soil in certain parts of the state
is peculiarly fitted. One of the leading concerns now engaged in apple culture
is the Habersham Orchard and Improvement Company, of which Norman T.
Pool, of Atlanta, is president. As Mr. Pool has had a successful business
career of a number of years, a glance backward at his past history will intro-
duce him more fully to the reader. He was born in Dewitt, Illinois, July 9,
1872, being of English and Irish descent on the paternal aide and of English
descent on the'maternal side. Ilis father was Patrick Vickhouse Columbus
Pool, a native of Overton County, Tennessee, and a lawyer who practiced his
profession in Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma, being located &t "Wellington,
Kansas, where he served as solicitor general for a number of years. His strict
integrity proved no barrier to worldly success, for he had a prosperous career,
in time becoming the owner of 800 acres of good land in Sumner County,
Kansas. His death occurred at Chickasba, Oklahoma, June 6, 1914, when he
was in his eighty-first year. He was a son of Dr. Robert Pool, a physician,
born in North Carolina, who removed from that state to Tennessee, afterwards
going to Dewitt County, Illinois, where he died. Prior to the Revolutionary
war the paternal ancestors of the subject of this sketch lived in Virginia and
several members of the family served in that war. Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Pool,
the wife of Patrick, was born near Indianapolis, Indiana, the daughter of
Smith D. Jones, a prosperous farmer. She is still living, her home being at
Chickasha, Oklahoma.
Norman T. Pool passed most of his boyhood, days at Wellington, Kansas,
■where he attended the public schools. He subsequently attended the South-
west Kansas College, where he was graduated in 1899 ; but in the meanwhile,
at the age of eighteen, he began teaching school, which occupation he followed
alternately with attendance at college until after his graduation. He became
secretary of the University of Oklahoma, and was thus occupied for three
years. He then resigned in order to accept the position of superintendent of
schools at Purcell, Oklahoma, which he filled acceptably for three years, resign-
ing to form a business connection with the Educational Publishing Company,
of New York City. In 1902, he came to Atlanta as manager of the southern
branch of that house and was, indeed, its practical founder here. As such he
made a record that placed him in the front rank of the business world, develop-
ing the business from nothing into one of the largest and most successful
branches of this concern. He also established the Pool & Isely Company, a
firm of wholesale school stationers and books dealers and conducted its business
successfully, he, himself, being a stockholder in the enterprise, but he sold out
the book business when he entered other business relations. Always on the
lookout for new opportunities, Mr. Pool's attention was directed to the pos-
sibilities of the apple industry. After a thorough investigation, in 1910, he
organized the Habersham Orchard and Improvement Company, for the
purpose of developing a commercial apple orchard of 30,000 trees. The land
selected for the purpose was a tract of about 2,569 acres in Habersham County,
lying about eighty miles northeast of Atlanta, and in Georgia's famous apple
belt. As an initial step he and a few associates bought the property outright,
and the subsequent business of organization and development has lat^ely
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2672 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
devolved upon him. He has been president of the company from the first
and those associated with him are all young, energetic and honest business
men who have already achieved success in other lines. The enterprise has
been highly successful up to date, and gives promise of greater development
in the near future. The commodious and well appointed offices of the con-
cern are in the Healey Building, Atlanta. Independent of his extensive apple
orchard interests, Mr. Pool owns valuable city, mill and farm property in
various parts of Georgia and Oklahoma. He is also general manager of the
Palladium Paint Company, with general ofSces at Atlanta, Georgia, and
factory at New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Pool is a member of the State Horti-
cultural Society, also of the Atlanta Alumni Chapter of the Sigma Nu College
fraternity, of the University Club of Atlanta, and of the Knights of Pythias.
His religious affiliations are with the Baptist Church. A cultured gentleman,
honest, upright and straightforward in all his dealings, he has gained a wide
popularity and made hosts of friends since his advent in Atlanta. Mr. Pool
was married July 20, 1898, to Miss Nannie Van Valkenburg, of Harper,
Kansas, and they have two children, Katrina Van and Jackson Norman,
aged.nine-and seven years respectively.
J.AMES EoTland Davis. A lawyer of the younger generation practicing at
the Upson County bar, James R. Davis is thorough, practical, well versed in
the law, and what is perhaps of equal importance is a good judge of human
nature. Entering practice at the time of attaining his majority, he has built
up a clientele which is rapidly spelling a noticeable success even among the
strong law firms for which Upson County is noted.
Mr. Davis was bom on his father's farm in Upson County, Georgia, May
5, 1880, and is a son of "Wilson S. and Mattie (Cobb) Davis. His father,
a native of Georgia, enlisted in 1864 in Company F, Ninth Georgia Reserves,
for service in the Confederate army, and remained with that organization
until the close of the war between the states, participating in a number of
important engagements, including the battle of Atlanta. His military service
completed, he returned to the pursuits of peace and continued to be engaged
in agricultural operations during the remaining years of his active career,
James R. Davis was brought up on the hdme farm and .was granted good
educational advantages in his youth, first attending the public schools and
later the Robert E. Lee Institute. During this time he was engaged_in
assisting his father in the operation of the home farm, where he continued
to reside until reaching his twentieth year. From his youth he had cherished
an ambition for the law, and eventually took up the study in the offices of
several attorneys at Thoniaston, being finally admitted to the bar at Thomas-
ton in 1901. lie has since continued in the conduct of a general practice,
and while he is interested in matters that affect the welfare of his community,
he has given his sole and faithful attention to the furtherance of his career
as a lawyer, and has had neither time nor inclination to seek public prefer-
ment. Mr. Davis holds membership in the Georgia Bar Association and is
well known in fraternal circles, belonging to the local lodges of the
Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the Junior Order United
American Mechanics. Mr. Davis is a director of the Bank of Tliomaaton and
has numerous friends in husiuess circles. Domestic, sociable, energetic and
able, substantial progress and an honorable position, both as a lawyer and a
citizen, are clearly assured him.
On November 26, 1908, Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Miss
Carrie Allison, of Troup County, Georgia, and to this union there have been
born two children : James Royland, Jr., and Martha, both born at Thomaston.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and are well and favorably known in social circles.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2673
Andrew B. Calhoun, M. D. Distinguished among that group of physi-
cians who gave their services to the people of Geoi^a during the ante-bellum
epoch, the name of Dr. Andrew B, Calhoun has been many times mentioned
with honor and deserves permanent record in the annals of the state. He
was a physician of training and experience far above that of the average
doctor of his generation, and had what few men of his time possessed, the
advantages of residence and study abroad.
Dr. Andrew B. Calhoun was born in what was known as the Calhoun
Settlement, Abbeville District of South Carolina, March 17, 1809, a son of
Ezekiel and Prances (Hamilton) Calhoun. His mother was a relative of
Governor Hamilton of South Carolina. The Calhoun family is of Scotch-
Irish extraction, and was early founded In America, where representadves
of the name became prominent in different spheres, and several served with
the colonists in the war of the Revolution. The late Doctor Calhoun took
considerable pride in the fact that he was a second cousin tq the eminent
John C. Calhoun. ,
The death of his father when Andrew was eight or nine years old served
to limit the advantages of home and outside training for the boy, and threw
him partly upon his own resources. In later life he sometimes recalled the
hardships of youth, and particularly how he went to school all winter without
shoes. At the age of fifteen his mother sent him to Charleston, where he
spent two years in school and two years clerking in a drug store. His
mother then had him return to Abbevillj, where he entered school. A brother
was already engaged in the practice of medicine at Cambridge, in whose
office he began the formal study for his profession. In 1829 he entered
medical college at Charleston, from which he graduated in 1831, and at once
removed to Decatur, Georgia, and for eighteen months rode with implements
and medicines in his saddlebag over an immense territory of the sparsely
populated wilderness in that section of Georgia. At that time there was one
small store at "White Hall," at the present city limits of Atlanta, and very
few cabins scattered through the woods surrounding the site of the present
metropolis.
In the latter part of 1832 Doctor Calhoun located at Newaan, in Coweta
County, which was his home until his death. After his reputation was well
assured, he interrupted his practice in 1837 and spent the year attending
lectures and clinics in the noted hospitals of Paris and London. He was in
tlie latter city when the young Queen Victoria was crowned, and was in
Paris during the days of the second republic, when the body of the great
emperor, Napoleon I, was brought from St. Helena and given final rest in
the "Hotel des Invalides." His great success in the practice of medicine he
often attributed to the training and experience gained while abroad. On
returning to Newnan, although he never manifested any political aspirations,
his friends persisted in sending him to the Legislature in 1838, where he served
one term. In that body he was associated as a contemporary with such dis- ■
tinguished Georgians as Stephens, Toombs, the Cobbs, Benjamin Hill, and
other makers of Georgia history. In 1861 he was made a delegate to the
secession convention of Georgia, and always preserved the pen with which
he signed the ordinance of secession. During the war he was associated with
Doctor Pelzer and Doctor Howard on the surgeon conscript board, and acted
in that capacity until the fall of 1864, when he refugeed his stock and negroes
further south and was absent from home until the close of the war. He
acquired a large amount of property, gave up private practice many yeaip
before his death, and thereafter devoted his time to the cultivation of his
extensive lands about Newnan. In his earlier life he was a member of the
Hasonic fraternity, and was a Presbyterian in church affiliation.
Doctor Calhoun married Miss Susan S. Wellborn, who was bom in Wilkes
County, Georgia, a daughter of Abner and Martha (Ronder) Wellborn.
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2674 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Both her parents were natives of North Carolina, where the Wellborn family
was very prominent, Mrs. Calhoun died abont 1857. She was a member of
the Baptist Church. Six children were bom into the Calhoun household, of
whom one son and one daughter are living. The oldest was Mrs. Devine, wife
of the late Dr. K. C. Devine of Atlanta ; Dr. Ahner W. was a distihguished
oculist of Atlanta and well known to the medical profession of the country ;
Anna E., now deceased, was the wife of Dr. W. R. Caldwell, formerly of
Charleston; Ephraim Ramsey died on the old homestead at Newnan. The
two living are : Andrew E., judge of Criminal Court, Atlanta ; and Susan C,
widow of John M. Hill and residing at Newnan.
'Abner W. Calhoun, M. D. Not only the Statfe of Georgia but the entire
South lost one of the most eminent members of the medical profession in
the death of the late Dr. A. W. Calhoun, who passed away at his Atlanta
home August 21, 1910. He was the first specialist in diseases of the eye,
ear and throat to locate in Georgia, and one of the first in the South, and
his practice in those departments of medicine and sui^ery covered forty years.
As an oculist he. was pre-eminent, and his skill was recognized both in
America and abroad. While his technical ability was developed to an extra-
ordinary pitch. Doctor Calhoun also possessed and exercised many qualities
of mind and manhood which his community could ill afford to lose. He
stood for the finer things of life, and was not only a successful member of
his profession, but a gentleman of the highest type and a social leader in
the best sense of the term. In his death Atlanta lost one of its best citizens,
and the world a physician whose work in life was to relieve suffering
humanity. While he might have devoted his services exclusively to patrons
of wealth, it is said that he probably did more work free of cost to those
unable to pay than any other physician in the South. The Atlanta Constitu-
tion said of him; "As an oculist his fame was nation-wide, and from every
part of the country patients came to consult him and to be treated by the
master eye and hand that made him great in the scientific world. In private
life he was loved by all who knew him. His manners were unassuming, and
he quietly practiced his profession with fidelity, faithfulness and charity as
if he believed his call to such a work came from the God whom he so well
served in life."
The late Dr. Abner Wellborn Calhoun was bom at Newnan, Coweta
County, Georgia, April 16, 1845, and died in his sixty-sixth year. He was
a son of Dr. Andrew B. and Susan (Wellborn) Calhoun, his father having
been distinguished among the older generation of Georgia physicians, and a
sketch of his life wiU he found on other pages of this work. Doctor Calhoun
was reared in one of the fine old homes of typical southern culture. The war
threw its shadow across his path in youth, and when not yet sixteen years
of age he joined the array of the South. In March, 1861, he enlisted as a
private in the Newnan Guards, enrolled as Company A of the. First Georgia
Regiment. He went through the four years of warfare as a private, and
surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox. The night before the sur-
render, because of his clerical ability, he was directed by General Gordon to
prepare a roll of all able bodied men in his regiment, and when he handed
that roll to General Gordon the morning of the surrender, his regiment, then
known as the Twelfth Georgia Battalion, showed only seventy-six men fit
for service.
With the close of the war Doctor Calhoun returned to his father's home
at Newnan, a man in years, with the veteran experience of a soldier behind
him. but with his preparation for life still incomplete. He resumed literary
studies under private teachers, and two years later took up the study of
medicine under his father. He later entered the Jefferson Medical College
of Philadelphia, from which he graduated first in his class. Returning home
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2675
he took up active practice with his father, and two or three years later went-
to Europe to perfect himself as a specialist in the eye, ear and throat. He
spent three years in Vienna and Berlin in Jhe clinics and hospitals especially
devoted to his chosen line of practice, and on returning home located at
Atlanta. Prior to his leaving Georgia Dr. Willis Westmoreland, then one of
the foremost physicians of the South, had invited Doctor Calhoun to join him
in practice, and the two were associated for a year or two. In the forty years
of his active practice at Atlanta Doctor Calhoun occupied only three different
locations. His first ofRces were on Broad Street at Alabama on the second
floor, later 'he built offices of his own on Marietta Street, and many years
later moved to the Candler Building. In a few years Doctor Calhoun's skill
as a specialist brought him patients from every part of the South, and he
was recognized both in America and in Europe as one of any half dozen
leaders in his special field.
Doctor Calhoun contributed many technical articles to the professional
magazines, and some of these were published in foreign journals by transla-
tion. At times some of the distinguished people of the country came to
Atlanta to consult Doctor Calhoun and place themselves under his treat-
ment. Many honors and positions of distinction were opened to hira. He
was professor of ophthalmology and oto-laryngology of the Atlanta Medical
College, was president of the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons at
the consolidation of the Atlanta and Southern Medical Colleges in 1900;
was oculist and auriat to the Grady, Wesleyan Memorial and St. Joseph's
hospitals at Atlanta; served as first vice president in 1900-01 of the'American
Medical Association ; was president of the Southern Section of the American
Laryngolc^cal, Rhinological and Otological Societies; and held the office of
president in the American Association of Georgia.
Aside from the distinctions which the members of his profession so
. readily accorded him, the world will find special reason to regard his memory
for his disinterested service above the considerations of reward, and bestowed
alike on the poor and the rich. A close friend quoted him as saying once :
"Never in all my practice have I failed to give my attention to a patient
because he did not have the dollar. I have treated the rich and the poor alike."
It was through his connection with the Atlanta Medical College that he did
his greatest charity work. Many stubborn cases came to him from the
country, and these were chiefly of the poorer classes. He not only gave them
his services, but often expended his private means for their benefit. At his
own expense he had fitted up an unused basement in the college building,
and there cared for his moneyless patients. It was his money which bought
provisions to be prepared by the janitor for those unfortunate ones treated
by Doctor Calhoun.
Besides the good he did through his individual services, Doctor Calhoun
impressed his ideals and his ability upon hundreds who are now engaged in
the practice of medicine throughout the South, and many of these specialists
take pride in referring to their associations as pupils with this eminent
specialist.
Doctor Calhoun was a man of splendid physical constitution, and personal
address. He was the picture of health and strength until a few months
before his death. With the abundant resources of technical skjll, he com-
bined a steady cheerfulness and geniality which in themselves were tonic to
his patients. In the presence of close friends he was a vigorous and interest-
ing conversationalist, though naturally of a retiring disposition. Doctor Cal-
houn never sought office, and when his name was once suggested for mayor
of Atlanta he quickly put a stop to the movement. However, he was devoted
to the cause of public education and served for a number of years on the
Atlanta board of education. It was Doctor Calhoun who secured the adoption
of the measure requiring vaccination of children in order that they might
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2676 GEOKGIA AND GEORGIANS
. be enrolled as scholars. He was also devoted to the medical college of which
he was the head, aud gave a large sum of tooney for the etdargemeDt and
improvement of its facilities. He was honored with the LU D. degree by
the University of Geoi^a.
The life of his home was ideal. September 25, 1877, he married Louise
Phinicy, of Athens, a daughter of Ferdinand Phinioy. Their first home was
on Washington and Mitchell streets, now Capitol Place, and a short time
before bis death Doctor Calhoun had completed aud moved into a splendid
home on Peach Tree Street. Their marriage was blessed by two sons and
two daughters: One is Dr. Phinicy Calhoun, who was associated witii his
father in practice ; Mrs. June Oglesby, Jr. ; Andrew Calhoun, an Atlanta
business man; aud Mrs. Stuart Witham. Mrs. Calhoun has made hep home
in the tine residence built by her husband in Atlanta.
Alfred Ivebson, Sr., lawyer, judge, congressman and United States sen-
ator, was born in Liberty County, on December 3, 1798. Mr. Iverson had the
best educational advantages and graduated from Princeton University in
1820, He studied law and entered upon the practice of his 'profession at
Columbus. Three times he was elected a member of the Lower House of the
General Assembly and once to the State Senate. For seven years he served
as a judge of the Superior Court for the Columbus Circuit. As there was
at that time no Supreme Court in Georgia, the office of Superior Court judge
was much more important than it is in the present day. In 1844, when Jamea
Polk was elected, he was a democratic elector at large. In 1846 he was
elected a representative in the Thirtieth Congress. He returned to his prac-
tice after serving his term, but a few years later was elected to the United
States Senate as a democrat and served from 1855 to January 28, 1861, when
with his colleague, Robert Toombs, he resigned from the Senate on account
of the secession of his state. After his retirement from the Senate, he returned
to Georgia, served the Confederacy to the extent of his ability, and after the
war lived in retirement until Jlarch 4, 1873, when he died at Macon.
Joseph W. Jackson. For twenty-five years the name of Joseph AV. Jack-
son, of Savannah, was known and honored in Georgia. He was a native of
the state and educated in its schools. Entering upon the practice of the law
at Savannah he became a member of the city council and served for two
years as mayor. Chatham County sent him to both houses of the Genera^
Assembly at different times. He appeared as a member of the Thirty-first
Congress, having been elected as a state-rights democrat to' take the place
of Thomas Butler King, who had resigned. lie finished that term and was
re-elected to the Thirty-second Congress, serving all together from March 4,
1850. to JIarch 3, 1853. He declined a re-election and returned to Savannah,
where he died on September 20, 1854.
Bridge:^ Smith. A mere boy at the time when he enlisted for service as
a soldier in the Confederate ranks, at the inception of the Civil war, the
present efficient and honored mayor of the City of Macon has shown in all
of the relations of life the same intrinsic spirit of loyalty as he did during
his long and faithful service as a youthful soldier, and, rising entirely
through his own efforts and ability, he has shown himself capable of lai^
and worthy achievement and has become one of the influential citizens of the
city in which he has maintained his home for many years, to the upbuilding
of which he has contributed much along both civic and material lines, and of
which he had served several years as mayor prior to his election to this office
in 1914, after an interregnum of a few years. His administration as executive
head of the municipal government of Macon has always been characterized
by progressiveness and broad public spirit ; the city has prospered and been
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2677
vitalized uader his successive regimes; and it is needless to say that there is
no citizen who commands more secure vautage-ground in popular confidence
and esteem in the important Georgia city which has bften the stage of his
productive activities during virtually his entire career,
Mr. Smith was bom at Wilmington, the judicial center of New Hanover
County, North Carolina, on the 19th of September, 1847, and in the same fine
old commonwealth were born his parents, James II. and Mary L, (Reeves)
Smith, the closing years of their lives having been passed in Georgia, In
1857, when the present mayor of Macon was a lad of about ten years, his
parents established tlieir residence at Columbus, this state, and in the follow-
ing year removal was made to the City of Macon, the future mayor having
Worked as a newsboy in both cities. His early educational advantages were
^somewhat limited but in this domain of discipline, as in other fields of
endeavor, he proved himself a master of expedients and with the passing
years broadened his mental ken to such proportions as to make him a man
of strong intellectuality and mature judgment, for none eould have profited
more fully from the lessons to be gained under the preceptorship of that
wisest of all head -masters. Experience.
Though he was but fourteen years of age at the time when the Civil war
was precipitated, Mr. Smith manifested no wavering or uncertainty in his
loyal espousing of the cause of the fair Southland, for he promptly entered
the Confederate ranks, as a member of the Fifth Georgia Reserves, from
which he was detailed in the laboratory in which a great part of the ammuni-
tion for the army was manufactured. He continued in this service during
virtually the entire period of the war. He took part in a number of minor
engagements in the vicinity of Macon and in all respects manifested the best
soldierly qualities. His continued interest in his old comrades of the war
between the states is indicated by his active affiliations with the United
Confederate Veterans. He is now the permanent adjutant general and chief
of staff of the Georgia Division, United Confederate Veterans.
After the close of the war Mr. Smith became identified with the printing
business at Macon, where he learned the printer's trade effectively and
where he eventually became associated with newspaper work in editorial and
executive capacities. "With this line of enterprise he continued his active
association until 1888, when he was elected city clerk, a position of which he
continued the able and popular incumbent until 1899, when high municipal
honors were conferred upon him, in his election to the office of mayor. With
all of circumspection, liberality and progressiveness Mayor Smith continued
at the head of the municipal government until 1907, and after an interim of
about six years he was again elected to this important and exacting office,
in 1914, his present term of office expiring in November, 1917. Under the
law, he will be ineligible to succeed himself. Mayor Smith has brought about
many improvements in the various departments of the city government and
has been largely influential in annexing to the city the suburban districts
.that have for a long time been a part of Macon save only in governmental
jurisdiction and miunicipal serivice. His denonninating motive has been
specific determination to do all in his power for the best interests of the city
and its people and- his long retention of office constitutes the best evidence of
the favorable estimate placed upon his services by the citizens of JIacon,
The mayor is identified with the representative fraternal and social organiza-,
tions of his home city, is influential in the councils of the democratic party
in this p^rt of the state and is one of the strong, aggressive and honored
citizens of Bibb County, which has represented his home since his boyhood
days and in which he has accounted well for himself and to the world.
In 1868 Mayor Smith wedded Miss Anna Wade, and she was summoned
to the life eternal in 1884, being survived by two children, both of whom still
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2678 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
reside in thia state. In 1886 was solemnized tbe marriage of Mr. Smith to
Miss Katrina Ooetz, one son having been bom of this union.
Robert Milton. In every community, no matter how law abiding, there
is to be found an element that resents control and mistakenly a^umes that
freedom means lieeiise. This element is very often difQcult to manage in
order to insure the well being of a city or larger a^regation, and very oner-
ous are the duties imposed upon those men of courage and resource who,
with ell the law's backing, exercise the authority of protective public officials.
The office of sheriff of a county is one of great responsibility and calls for
unusua) qualifications. In Robert Milton, Gilmer County, Georgia, finds an
exceptional county official, one whose previous wide range of experience par-
ticularly prepared him for the office of sheriff. Sheriff Milton is widely
known as an efficient official and also as a useful and public-spirited citizen.
Robert Milton was born in Gilmer County, Georgia, April 27, 1871, and
is a son of Pinckney H. and Nancy C. ("Williams) Slilton. The father was
born at Asheville, North Carolina, and was brought to Georgia in childhood.
He has made his home in Gilmer County and still resides at Ellijay, being
now in his seventy-fifth year. Early in 1861 he enlisted when war was
declared between the states, entering as a private in Company H, First
Georgia Infantry, and was honorably discharged at Charleston, Georgia, in
1865. Although wounded on twelve different occasions he survived his
injuries and for many years afterward proved himself a worthy and efficient
citizen, honorably filling numerous public offices. He served as tax collector
and also as tax receiver, later was a United States deputy marshal and for
many years afterward was sheriff of Gilmer County. He married Nancy C.
Williams, who was bom in 1850, in Gilmer County, and seven children were
born to them, two of whom are deceased and two of the survivors still living
in Gilmer County.
Robert Milton was the third born in his parents' family and with his
brothers and sisters attended the country schools and later those of Ellijay.
Shortly afterward he entered the service of the United States Government
as a deputy marshal, in which position he officiated for eighteen months, and
subsequently, for about seven years was city marshal at Ellijay and for two
years at Caryville, Tennessee. Mr. Milton was then brought forward by his
democratic friends for the office of sheriff. In many eases a candidate for
office must be judged in part on presumption rather than on evidence, the
decision concerning a futurity, but it was not so in this case for Mr. Milton's
character, associations and ability were well known to his fellow citizens. His
first election took place in 1908, for a term of two years. In 1911 he was
elected to serve out an unexpired term and then was re-elected and ever since
has been continued in office, almost daily proving his particular efficiency.
On October 25, 1896, Mr. Milton was united in marriage with Miss Mary
Foster, of Gilmer County. Her people are old and prominent residents and
her father, W. H. Foster, once was sheriff of the county. Sheriff and.
Mrs. Milton have had six children, one of whom is deceased. The survivors
are Paul, who was born in 1898, and Glenn, who was bom in 1901, are
students at Ellijay; Marie, who was born in 1903, in Erath County, Texas;
Pinckney Poster, who was born in 1911; and Herbert, who was born in 1913.
The family attends the B.aptist Church. Sheriff Milton is a Royal Arch
Ilifason and belongs also to the Odd Fellows and the Red Men.
Hon. John S.vmuel Ai>.\ms. The career of a hard-working and able
lawyer has been that of John Samael Adams of Dublin. At a very early
age he showed his self-reliance by depending upon his own exertions and
has raised himself through many grades of successful service until he is one
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2679
of the BtroDgest and most mfluential citizens of Laurens County. Inured to
hard work as a hoy, that is still his chief pleasure.
Born on a farm five miles from Dublin January 22, 1870, he is a son of
William and Charity (Sheppard) Adams, his father a native of North Caro-
lina and his mother of Wilkinson County, Georgia. Grandfather Adams
came from England and settled in North Carolina, and William Adams grew
up and received his education in that state and as a young man settled in
Laurens County, Georgia, where he married and reared his family on a farm.
During the war between the states he served as a private, and after the war
became identified with local polities, and was a very popular and persuasive
stump speaker. He was also active in the Baptist Church. His death occurred
at the age of sixty-two, in 1878, and his wife passed away in 1872. Their
four children were : Rosie, who married 0. C. Adams, and they live on a farm
in Laurens County; John Samuel; James W., who is, a director of the. Man-
hattan Life Insurance Company and is a very successful business man at
Baltimore, Maryland; Charity Saline, who died in Laurens County in 1911,
was the wife of L. J. Weaver,
After the death of his mother John Samuel Adams was reared in the
home of his uncle, W. C. Adams, in Wilkinson County. He attended public
schools there and gained a business training in a commercial college. It was
after reaching his ma.jotity that he fully determined upon the law as his
choice of vocation, and studied under the direction of Hon. T. L. Griner at
Dublin, and in 1893 was admitted to the bar by W. F. Jenkins, superior
judge of the Dublin Circuit. Since then for more than twenty years
Mr. Adams has been enjoying a growing influence and prestige as a member
of the bar. For five years he was junior member of the firm of Griner &
Adams at Dublin, later was as-sociated with W. C. Davis, and still later was
senior member of the firm of Adams & Flynt, his partner being B. D. Plynt.
Since 1911 he has practiced alone.
A large part of the time he has been engaged in a professional career has
been devoted to some public service. In 1896 he was elected mayor of Dublin,
serving two years in that oflRee. In 1904 he was a delegate to the National
Democratic Convention at St. Louis, and helped nominate Judge Alton B.
Parker. In 1914 lie was made manager of the Dudley Hughes congressional
campaign, and has always been an active party man. In 1898 Governor
Candler appointed him judge of the City Courts at Dublin, and after one
term he was reappointed to the same office by Governor Candler. At the
end of one year in his second ternii he resigned, and has since devoted
himself unreservedly to his large private practice, and is said to have one
of the beat and largest clienteles in the Dublin Circuit. Judge Adams was
one of the organizers and is president of the Commercial Bank of Dublin,
He is a member of the State Bar Association, is a Mason and a member
of the Methodist Church. Outside of the profession he is also a figure
in mercantile affairs in Dublin, and a member of the Beacham Supply
Company and a director of the Georgia Veneer & Lumber Company,
On January 20, 1895, at Danville, Geoi^a, Judge Adams married Miss
Gussie Stanley. She is the youngest daughter of Captain Rollin A. and
Martha (Louther) Stanley, of the prominent Stanley family of Laurens
County referred to on other pages. To their marriage have been born three
children : Prentice, November 7, 1895 ; Jammie Vivian, who died at the age
of two years; and Prances Caldwell, bom December 28, 1902. Mrs. Adams
is well known in social circles in Dublin, active in the Methodist Episcopal ■
Church and the local missionary society.
Hon. Albert Henry Bubtz. Geor^a can point with pardonable pride
to an enlightened and conscientious citizenship alert to every civic duty, to
an honorable and brilliant bar and to a state governing body made up of
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2680 GEORGIA AND GEOEGIANS
solid, substantial, fearless legislators. Among her promineDt men also may
be found those who have won fame in every class and their achievements
have many times been of such a nature as to reflect the highest credit on them-
selves and attach honor to their state and community. In this coanection
reference may be made and respectful attention be called to Hon. Albert
Henry Burtz, whose public services have made him widely known and who,
at the time of this writing, is a member of the Georgia General Assembly as
a representative from Gilmer County.
Albert Henry Burtz was bom in Cobb County, Georgia, October 6, 1879,
and is a son of George B. and Cora C. (Garrison) Burtz. George B. Burtz
was born at Flowery Branch, Hall County, Georgia, some sixty-seven years
ago. From his native county he removed first to Floyd and later to Fulton
County and still later to Cobb County where he has followed agricultural
pursuits and still makes his home there. During the last year of the war
between the states he was a soldier. He was married in Oobb County to
Cora C. Garrison, who was born in Franklin County, Georgia, but has passed
her life since girlhood in Cobb County. Of their family of eight children
three survive : G. Clifton, who is a resident of Cobb County ; Charles AVesley,
who is a physician at Ackworth, Georgia; and Albert Henry, the fifth child
in orde,r of birth.
Going to the Country schools as a boy until prepared for a higher course
and then entering Eeinhart College, in Cherokee County, Albert H. Burtz
had far better educational advantages that had many youths, but very early
in his life he had shown such marked ability and had given evidences of
possessing a brilliant mind, and both he and his family recognized that the
quiet and uneventful life of a farmer could not be his. He chose the law
as a career and after leaving college entered the law department of the
University of Georgia, from which he was graduated in 1901. He entered
into practice at Luretta where he continued until August, 1902, ■when he
settled at Ellijay and here has not only become a leader of the bar but one
of the representative men in every direction.
From early manhood a sincere supporter of the policies of the democratic
party, Mr. Burtz soon became an important factor in polities at Ellijay and
in 1908 was elected a member of the city council and two years later became
mayor of Ellijay. In 1913 he was elected to the State Senate and in 1914 was
elected a representative from this di-strict. Senator Burtz stands very high
in public esteem as he has administered the duties of his numerous high
ofiices with honesty and wisdom and with due regard for the welfare of his
constituents. He has risen, not only in public life, but at the bar, through
unassuming and obvious merit. To some degree he is interested in agricul-
tural pursuits, often finding needed relaxation on his farm when he can find
the time to lay aside his severe habits of professional and political life.
In 1904, at Jefferson, Georgia, Senator Burts was united in nmrriage with
Miss Laulie Katherin Bell, who is a daughter of Andrew J. Bell, a well known
resident of Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. Burtz attend the Methodist Episcopal
, Church. He is posf^essed of social gifts and has a wide circle of warm and
attached friends and admirers in addition to his fraternal brothers of the
Red Men and the Odd Fellows.
Col. Howard Tate. It would require many pages to record the names
of Georgians who have devoted themselves, with more or less success, to the
study and practice of the law, and not a few of these might be illuminated \
with those that have become notable. One of these names is Tate and few are
better or more favorably known over the state. An honorable and worthy
bearer of this name in Pickens County, is Col. Howard Tate, a leading mem-
ber of the bar at Jasper, Georgia.
Howard Tate was bom at Gumming, Forsyth County, Georgia, October 6,
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1884, and is a son of Carter and Julia {Bell) Tate, residents of Jasper.
Hon. Carter Tate was bom in Georgia in 1856 and his wife in 1860. They
were reared, educated and married in this state and are well known in
different parts of it. They have three children: Howard; Virginia; and
Mrs. Andrew Geiinett, of Franklin, Georgia. For a number of years Carter
. Tate was exceedingly conspicuous in public as well as in the profession of
law. He was a member of the State Legislature for eight years, a meml^er of
the National Congress for twelve years, was district attorney and for eight
years was United Statea attorney. He retired from public and professional
life honored and respected.
, Howard Tate attended the University of Georgia and the University of
Virginia and was graduated from the law department of tlie latter institu-
tion in 1906, making law his choice of career, partly, perhaps, through inheri-
tance of tendency but certainly with much natural ability and realization of
the industry, application and unremitting study that such a choice would
make necessary. Entering thus, fully equipped, into the profession he has
steadily advanced until he occupies an important position as attorney and
^counselor at law and is able to number among his clients a large proportion
of the substantial men of Pickens County. For four years he was his father's
assistant in the district attorney 's office and the experience was one of value.
Mr. Tate takes a good citizen's interest in public affairs and is loyal to
the democratic party. From youth he has been a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Gifted with talent and being readily able to adjust him-
self to any environment and with an acknowledged place in social circles, he
hag every reason to look on the future hopefully. He has a wide circle of
old college friends and keeps up his relations with his fraternities, the Sigma
Upsilon and the Phi Delta. He is also a Mason of high degree, a Knight
Templar and Shriner. Jlr. Tate resides with his parents in the old family
home at Jasper.
Hon. Horace M. Holden, who began the practice of law at the age of
nineteen, and has won many of the distinctive honors of professional and
civic life, was formerly a member of the Supreme Court of Georgia and
since the fall of 1912 has had his home and the center of his professional
interests at Athens.
Regarded as one of the leading lawyers of Northern Georgia, he has since
his retirement from the bench given close attention to a large and important
law busines-s. Again and again he has appeared in connection with many
noted cases in both the federal and state courts of Georgia. He is now asso-
ciated in practice with his son Frank Alexander Holden. He served with
distinction as judge of the Northern Circuit from January 1, 1901, until
October, 1907, when he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court of
Georgia. He resigned as justice of the Supreme Court on October 30, 1911,
and then resumed the private practice.
Judge Holden was born in "Warren County, Georgia, March 5, 1866. He
is a son of William P. and Nancy (Moore) Holden, his father a native of
Warren County and his mother of Taliaferro County. Both the Holdens
and the Moores have been long and worthily identified with Georgia history.
"William F. Holden was a man oF prominence and influence in Taliaferro
County, was very successful in all his busines-s activities, and he and his wife
typified the best of Southern culture and refinement In their family were
four sons and one daughter.
The fourth of the children. Judge Holden received his early education in
the schools of his native county, and was also favored by a home of culture in
which he was reared and where high ideals were early made a part of his
character. At the age of twelve he entered a classical school at Newnan, in
Coweta County, and then attended school at Harlem in Columbia County.
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2682 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
The school at Harlem was at that time under the supervision of Prof. Otis
Ashraore, now widely known as astronomical editor of Grier's Almanac.
In 1883 Judge Holden entered the University of Geoi^a, where he was
graduated with the class of 1885 and the degree A. B. He was nineteen years
of age when he left the class, which in many ways was noted for the personal
brilliance of its members. In that class were such well known lawyers as ,
William H. Barrett, Irwin Alexander, Joseph Gross, Joseph Burdett and
William Osborn, all of whom have made distinctive names for themselves.
Admitted to the bar at the age of nineteen Judge Holden began practice
in 1886 at Crawfordsville, Georgia, and was in practice there until he was
elevated to the bench in 1901. He has long been influential as a figure in the
democratic party of Georgia, and representing some of the best qualities of
the old South he has gained warm friends from all classes. At the time of
the Watson and Black contest for the office of representative in Congress,
their first joint debate was held in historic Liberty Hall of the old Stephens
homestead at Crawfordsville, Taliaferro County. Judge Holden was called
upon to preside at this occasion and to introduce the two distinguished speak-
ers. At the unveiling of the monument to Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, the
loved and eminent Georgia patriot and statesman. Judge Holden was chosen
master of ceremonies and Mrs. Holden, whose mother was a niece of Governor
Stephens, unveiled the heroic marble figure erected in honor of her distin-
guished kinsman. Judge Holden is a member of various fraternal and civic
organizations, belongs to the Georgia State Bar Association, is a Methodist,
and his wife a Presbyterian, Their home in the University City of Athens is
a center of cultured hospitality.
On June 1, IS^S. Judge Holden married Mary Corry, who was born and
reared in Greene County, Georgia, a daughter of William and Mary
{Stephens} Corry. There are five children of this union.
Jajies Jones, one of the strong figures of the early days of Georgia, was
a native of llaryland, and was brought to Georgia when a very small boy under
the care of his nnele, Colonel Marbury. At the age of twenty-three the people
of Chatham County elected him to the General Assembly. He was a member
of the Legislature of 1795, which passed the celebrated Yazoo act, and thou^
a firm opponent of that measure was unable to defeat it. In 1796 in con-
junction with other patriotic members of the General Assembly they suc-
ceeded in passing the bill rescinding the Yazoo act. In May, 1798, he was
a member of the state convention which framed the constitution, under which
Georgia lived for nearly seventy years. In October, 1798, he was elected
a representative to the Sixth Congress of the United States, and died in Wash-
ington, D. C, January 12, 1801. In 1807 one of the Georgia counties was
named in his honor.
Thomas Butler King, statesman and philanthropist, was bom at Palmer,
Hamp^ire County, Massachusetts, August 27, 1800, and died at Waresboro,
Georgia, May 10. 1864. Soon after his admission to the l)ar, in 1823, he came
South to visit his brother, Stephen Clay King, living in Wayne County. He
was elected in 1832 to the Senate of the State of Georgia, to which place he
was re-elected, keeping his seat until 1837. A year later he was elected to
the National House of Representatives, serving continuously until 1849, when
he resigned to accept the mission from President Taylor to examine the new
Territory o£ California, which, according to the terras of a treaty of peace
between the United States and Mexico, had shortly before been ceded to the
TTnited States. Owing to his masterly report of this mission, great attention
throughout the whole country was drawn to the wonderful resources of
the western slope.
In 1850 Mr, King received from President Fillmore the appointment a«
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2683
collector of the port of San Francisco, California. This post he retained bat
two years, his private interests in Georgia inducing him to resign. In the
late '50s he was elected senator to the Georgia Legislature and was subse-
quently a delegate to the democratic state convention. As a delegate-at-large
to the national democratic convention in 1860, his services were conspicuous.
In 1861 the Government appointed him a commissioner to establish a line of
steamers for direct trade with Belgium, but the Civil war put an end to such
labors. For many years previously he had been identified with the trans-
portation development of the South. In 1862 he was intrusted by the Con-
federacy with a secret mission to Europe. As stated, his death occurred two
years later.
J. Roy McGinty. Every one honors the man who makes his way in the
world tlirough inherent force of character, backed by integrity. Moat of the
greatest Americans have been self-made men and every community can boast
of one or more citizens whose success in life has been gained by hard work
directed by superior intelligence. Such a type may be found in J. Roy
McGinty, now a prominent representative of the legal profession in Troup
County. Mr. McGinty was bom in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, June 19,
1887. His parents were both natives of Geoi^a, William P. McGinty, the
paternal grandfather, was bom in Upson Connty, this state, and when a
young man married Anna M. Moore, also a native of Georgia. With his wife
and parents he moved to Alabama and was engaged in farming in Chambers
and Randolph counties, both before and after the war. He had ten children,
of whom John Franklin was the fifth in order of birth.
John Franklin McGinty was bom in Chambers Connty, Alabama, August
13, 1855, and was educated in the schools of his native county. He taught
school and farmed there until the year 1900, at which time he moved to
Troup County, Georgia. Here he continued his farming operations until
1913, when he moved to La Grange. His wife, Laura (Spikes) McGinty, was
also a native of Chambers County, Alabama. They had three children;
Rupert, J. Roy and Roland M, Rupert now resides at Fort Collins, Colorado,
where he holds the position of assistant superintendent of the Colorado State
Horticultural and Agricultural College. Roland M. is a linotype operator in
Chicago, Illinois.
J, Roy McGinty acquired the elements of knowledge in the common
schools, which he attended until he was twelve years of age, at which time
he had to begin to earn his own living. He found employment in the cotton
mills, but anxious to acquire a better educatitm he devoted most of his spare
time to reading and study. When fourteen years old he secured work in a
print shop at West Point, Georgia, where he learned the printer's trade,
remaining there until 1904. He then went to Opelika, Alabama, and
accepted the position of city editor for the Opelika Post. Later he became
associated with Mr. Joseph S. Hames and in 1906 they established the Herald
newspaper at West Point, Georgia, where he had first worked at printing.
In 1909 Mr. McGinty established the Whigham Journal and afterwards
became the editor of the Fit^erald Daily News. While working on the night
shift of the paper Mr. McGinty now began the study of law, for this purpose
using some of his daylight hours. He applied himself so assiduously to his
studies that in 1912 he was able to graduate and was admitted to the bar.
Instead of immediately beginning the practice of his new profession, he came
to La Grange, and for two years continued in newspaper work here as editor
of the Graphic. Then, in 1914, he severed his connection with this paper
and began the practice of law. Although a comparatively new addition to
the bar of the county, he has already become one of the foremost attomeys on
the Coweta Circuit. In 1914 Mr, McGinty was defeated for the Legislature,
but received a handsome support, which proved that he has attained a con-
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2684 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
siderable popularity. Id politics Mr. McGinty is an independent democrat,
Mr, McGinty was married at Opelika, Alabama, January 2, 1907, to Miss
Emma Thomas, a native of Lee County, that state, and daughter of Alexander
Thomas. She died September 23, 1913, leaving two children: John Roy,
Jr., bom in Opelika, August 20, 1908, and Franklin Alexander, bom in
Atlanta, Georgia, November 22, 1911. Mr. McGinty married for his secoad
wife Miss Vera Edwards, daughter of George M. and Nanie (Woodall)
Edwards, of La Grange, Troup County, Georgia. Mr. McGinty is an earnest
student, a hard worker in his profession, and in general a man of more than
ordinary force of character. He has gained the respect of his fellow citizens
and has made numerous friends in Troup County. As he is still a young man
and has made so good a start there can be little doubt that he will accomplish
still greater things in the future.
Edward A. Jones. An active and capable young lawyer of La Grange,
Geoi^a, is Edward Akinson Jones, who has efSciently served his com-
munity in legal matters for a dozen progressive years. He is a member
of that well-known family of Jones which has contributed much to the devel-
opment of Troup . County for three generations. James Jones, the grand-
father of our subject, was an extensive planter of this locality. He lost his
life by an accident while yet a comparatively young man, his demise occur-
ring in Troup County in 1840. He left three sons, then small boys. The
eldest, William Jones, became a Confederate soldier and was .killed in action
at Gettysbui^. Reuben, the second son, followed his father's vocation as
a planter and also became a prominent merchant of Troup County. The
youngest son, who' lived to become the progenitor of our subject, was James
F. Jones, born in Meriwether County in 1836. His Civil war service was that
of a major in the Confederate army and he participated in the directing of
many heavy military engagements, including the battles of Shiloh and Gettys-
burg, receiving a wound in the last-named conflict. Upon the closing of the
war, Major Jones engaged in agricultural affairs, residing in Hogansville,
Troup County, Georgia, and overseeing the operations of his plantation
of 1,000 acres. In 1883 this honored veteran was sent to the capital as
a representative of his district in the State Le^slature of Georgia. His
life companion, Arimintha Seay Jones, died in 1905 at the age of sixty-five
years. She was a daughter of James C. Seay, a leading planter and merchant
of Meriwether, and was a sister of former Governor Seay. James F. Jones
and Arimintha Seay Jones were the parents of four children, our subjeiit
being the youngest. Gordon C. Jones is a practicing attorney at Cordell, in
Crisp County, Georgia; Miss Mary Lou Jones became Mrs. J. W. Darden,
wife of one of Troup County's successful planters; her sister, formerly
Miss Bertha Jones, is Mrs. C. L. Daniels, of the same locality, and also the
wife of a substantial agriculturalist.
Edward Akinson Jones, the special subject of this biographical account,
first saw the light of day on his father's estate in Troup County, Georgia,
the date of his birth being July 26, 1893. He gained his preliminary educa-
tion in the public schools of Hogansville, Having completed the secondary
stage of his education, he entered Mercer University. Having selected the pro-
fession of law as that most congenial to his habit of mind and that offering the
most satisfactory career, he directed his intellectual inquiries along the lines
laid down by the law department of his chosen alma mater. Being graduated
with the class of 1904 from the above-named institution, he entered upon his
law practice in La Grange, which ever since has been his place of residence
and the scene of his professional activity. He holds here a prominent place
as one of the efficient and reliable lawyers of the Coweta Circuit.
Attorney Jones established his lares and penates in La Grange in 1913.
On June 6 of that year he was united in life's closest bond with Miss Clyde
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2685
McClaney, of Union Springs, Alabama. Attorney and Mrs. Jones are mem-
bers of the socially popular younger set in La Grange. Fraternal affiliations
multiply Mr. Jones' recreational engagements to a notable degree, as he is
a member of the organizations of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Improved
Order of Bed Men.
Peof, A. A. KuHL. In an enumeration of the men of the past and the
present who have figured prominently at Douglas and its surroundiilg com-
munity in connection with its substantial progress and its moral, educational
and intellectual advancement, a prominent place should be given to Prof. A. A.
Kuhl, It is in connection *ith the cause of education that his name is best
known, for, coming to Douglas in 1908, he became one of the founders of the
Douglas Business and Normal College, an institution which has no superior of
its kind, perhaps, in the state, and one from which young men and women have
gone forth to taie eminent positions in the various walks of life. A man of
scholarly attainments, wide research and broad humanitarian principles, he has
always regarded his work as worthy his best efforts.
Professor Kuhl was born in Van Wert County, Ohio, August 9, 1873, and
is a son of Daniel and Nancy (Archer) Kuhl, natives of Ohio. His father, who
fought through the entire period of the Civil war as a Union soldier, has passed
an active life in Ohio as an agriculturist and still resides in Van Wert County,
at the age of seventy-three years. Mrs. Kuhl, who also survives, is seventy-one
years of age.
The only child of his parents, A. A. Kuhl grew up amid agricultural sur-
roundings and secured his early education in the country schools of Van Wert
County while spending the summer months in assisting his father in the work
of the homestead. Later, largely through his own efforts, he secured a course at
the Western Ohio Normal School, from which he was duly graduated in 1891,
and later went to Delaware (Ohio) University and took the junior year's course
of study. This was supplemented by study at the Zanerian Art College, where
he was graduated in 1893. He began his career as an educator at the Western
Ohio Normal School, where he was in charge of the business department for
two years, and following this went to Jasper, Florida, where he taught for a
like period. In 1898 he became the founder of the Geoi^a Normal and Busi-
ness College, at Abbeville, Georgia, where the institution was conducted with
great success for a period of ten years, but in 1908 It was brought to Douglas,
with its entire enrollment, and here was shown a steady and pleasing growth.
This is now justly accounted one of the leading institutions for the teaching
of high school, normal and business work in the State of Georgia. Its depart-
ments are complete in every branch. Professor Kuhl having charge of the busi-
ness branch, while Prof, W. A. Little is at the head of the normal department.
The buildings of the school are modem, commodious, and well equipped, and
constructed according to the latest ideas as to lighting and ventilation, assuring
the preservation of the pupils' health. When brought to Douglas the school
had 300 public school students and 150 hoarding pupils, while the present
enrollment is 250 regular boarding pupils and 500 public school scholars.
Mr. Kuhl has been earnest and zealous in his work, and in addition to being
possessed of the happy faculty of imparting to others his own great store of
knowledge, is an able business man and executive, practical, farseeing and of
good judgment. Having worked his own way from the bottom of the ladder
he is able to instruct young men just setting foot on life's highway and to
warn them of the dangers and difficulties with which they must reasonably
expect to cope. He has always been popular with his pupils and there are
many prominent business men who nqw look back with gratitude to his kindly
and wise instruction. In educational circles of the state the institution is
rated high, while its executives have a substantial place in the confidence of
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2686 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
public aud profession alike. Professor Kuhl is an independent democrat, but
aside from casting iiis vote in behalf of good men and beneficial measures, be
takes little part in public affairs, the duties of his work making heavy demands
upon his time and energies.
On August 19, 1895, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Professor Kuhl was united
in marriage with Miss Maggie E. Huss, who was bom in the Hoosier state, a
daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Huss, farming people of Indiana,
who are now deceased. Professor and Mrs. Kuhl have no children.
Hon. "William Washington Woody. It has often been remarked that
the greater number of men who have attained prominence in the United
States, have been born and reared on a farm. Many have continued there
through the formative period of boyhood and many others have, for years,
been tillers of the soil before entering into public life and nearly always it
will be found that they credit the hard discipline and necessary foresight
and good judgment with being desirable factors preparatory to the per-
formance of duties in a wider sphere. In this way respectful attention may
be called to one of Fannin County's representative men, Hon. William
Washington Woody, of Blue Ridge, who has acceptably filled a number of
public offices and at present is ordinary of Fannin County, a popular and
efficient judge.
William Washington Woody was bom June 22, 1873, in Fannin County,
Georgia. His parents were Robert P. and Eliza (Forrester) Woody, the
latter of whom, born in Fannin County in 1841, still resides here, where her
parents, Coleman Forrester and wife, came as early settlers. Her mother
survived into old age, dying in her ninety-sixth year, in 1913.
Robert P. Woody, father of Judge Woody, was bom in North Carolina
and in boyhood aeeomipanied his parents to Georgia. His father, John
Woody, was one of the pioneers of Gilmer County, for many a years a sub-
stantial farmer there and died in old age in the seventies. Robert P. was
reared on the home farm and during life was mainly interested in agricul-
tural pursuits, although, in early manhood, he was a school teacher. Early
in the Civil war he became a soldier and served as first lieutenant in Com-
pany H, Fifth Georgia Mounted Infantry, Federal army, under Captain
Triggs. He was a man of substantial character and for years served as a
justice of the peace and also was a notary public. Born in 1838 he died in
1901, the father of ten children, William Washington being the third in
order of birth.
In the matter of schooling, William W. Woody is indebted only to the
commpn schools of Fannin County. As indicated above, he was reared to
agricultural pursuits, first assisting his father and later conducting his own
farm enterprises and continuing until 1906 when he came to Blue Ridge to
assume the duties of a United States deputy marshEtl, having previously been
a justice of the peace in the county. He continued deputy marshal for six
and a half years. In 1913 be was elected ordinary of Fannin County and in
his oflBcial capacity has added to his reputation for sturdiness of character
and to his already wide circle of appreciative friends. Prior to his election
to this office he bad served out an unexpired term and with such efficiency
that his election followed.
On May 20, 1894, Judge Woody was united in marriage with Miss Lulu
Beaver, of Dial, Fannin County, a daughter of Joseph Brownlow Beaver, a
well known citizen now deceased. The mother of Mrs. Woody lives at Car-
tersville. Judge and Mrs. Woody have had four children, one of whom died
in infancy, the survivors being : Nina, who was bom in 1897, is a graduate of
the Blue Ridge High School ; and Lottie, born in 1899 and Worth, born in
1903, both of whom are in school. In his political affiliation. Judge Woody
is a republican. For many years he has been identified with the Masonic
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2687
fraternity and in this organization as well as in others pertaioing to civic
affairs and social measures he impresses others as a man of ability and of
sterling character.
Hon. William Butt. Numbered with the unusually able public men of
Fannin County, Georgia, is William Butt, an acknowledged leader of the
county bar and with several terms of wise and honorable statesmanship
behind him as a member of the State Legislature. He is a native of Fannin
County, born March 4, 1880, and is a sou of John M. and Ruth A. A. (Smith)
Butt. Both parents were bom in Union County, Georgia, and were reared
and married there, the father at one time owning and operating a farm in
that county. For four years he served as clerk of the court in Union County.
His death occurred in 1882, in Fannin County, at the early age of thirty-two
years. The mother of Colonel Butt survives and lives at Blue Bidge. Of
their family of four sons and two daughters, one daughter is deceased, the
surviving children being: E. W., C. M., R, L, and William, all residents of
Blue Ridge ; and Mrs. J. C. Stanberry, residing also at Blue Ridge.
Of the above family William Butt was the fifth bom and was so young at
the time of his father's death that recollection of that parent is dim. He
grew up under the solicitous care of a loving mother to wbom he attributes
much that is admirable in his character. In boyhood he attended a public
school at ^lorganton, Georgia, after which he entered the Blue Ridge Sem-
inary, from which he was creditably graduated in 1898 and having made
choice of the law as a career, then entered the law department of Emory
College, from which he was graduated in 1901 with his degree and imme-
diately entered practice at Blue Ridge. The way was not entirely clear,
as a rather heavy debt had to be cleared off, but courage and industry soon
made that a thing of the past and Mr. Butt has so rapidly advanced that
now he has a large and lucrative practice and recognized standing at the
bar and in the community. Prom 1908 to 1912 he served as assistant solicitor-
general of the Blue Ridge Circuit. He is one of the directors and the
attorney for the North Georgia National Bank of Blue Ridge, which is one
of the soundest financial institutions in the state.
Early becoming interested in politics. Colonel Butt has been recognized
by his fellow leaders in the democratic ranks as a very able exponent of
■ democratic doctrine and he has been frequently called on to give his time
and services in the furthering of party measures and has also been honored
several times by election to responsible offices. In 1906 he was first elected
to the State Legislature and was re-elected in 1908 and during the session
of 1907 was the youngest member of the House, hut by no means the least
attentive and efficient. During 1904-5 he was a member of the Democratic
State Executive Committee of the Ninth Congressional District of Georgia
and served four years as secretary and chairman of the county executive
committee. He has always taken a hearty interest in local affairs and is a
strong advocate for the improvement of the public school system and in 1902
was elected for a term of four years, secretary of the school board of Blue
Ridge. lie has not yet left youth so far behind him as to have lost any
measure of youthful enthusiasm and this he shows in his profession, in
politics and in his social relations and activities.
On October 29, 1913, at Murphy, North Carolina, Colonel Butt was mar-
ried to Miss Frances Louise Fain, who is a daughter of Allen A. and Ida
(Phillips) Fain, prominent residents of Murphy, Mr. Fain for the past
eight years having served as clerk of the court of Cherokee County, North
Carolina.
Aside from local organizations of more or less social trend, to which both
he and his wife belong. Colonel Butt is identified with the leading fraterni-
ties. He belongs to Lodge No. 407, Free and Accepted Masons, of
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2688 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Blue Ridge, of which he is master ; to the Knights of Pythias, of which he ia
past chancellor, past deputy chancellor and past grand representative; and
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the Wwld.
He is possessed of a winning personality, is loyal and sincere in his friend-
ships and honorable in professional, social and business life, hence it is not
remarkable that his circle of well wishers is wide.
Col. Pebry Kinkney Ddphee. A banker and lawyer, Colonel Dupree
has for more than thirty-five years been closely identified with the business
and professional life of Cherokee County, and not only enjoys the honors of
long established positions in the bar but likewise the esteem that goes with
success and character in any station of life.
Perry K. Dupree was born in l^nion County, South Carolina, January 13,
1847, a son of William G. and Miriam (Haney) Dupree, both of whom were
natives of South Carolina. In 1849, when Colonel Dupree was two years old,
his parents removed to Gordon County, Georgia, where his father, a miller
by trade, built and operated several mills and lived for five years, selling out
his interests in Gordon County, in 1854, he removed to Cherokee County, and
bought land one mile from Woodstock, where he was quietly engaged in the
activities of a farmer until his death. He was one of the highly respected
citizens, closely attended to his own duties and affairs, and while he served as
a notary and was one of the stanch supporters of the Presbyterian Church,
his life on the whole was one of unbroken routine and inconspicuous activity.
During the war he was a member of a cavalry company nnder Col. J. E. Rusk
and participated in the battle of Atlanta. He and his wife for the most part
were devoted to the upbringing of a large family of children, thirteen in
number, of whom one died in infancy. The others are briefly mentioned as
follows: Joshua B., who was born in South Carolina, was in the war with
the Twenty-eighth Georgia Infantry and died in a military hospital at Rich-
mond: Victoria, also a native of South Carolina, is the widow of Thomas J.
Freeman and lives in Colorado ; Selina is the widow of Park Dobbs, of Wood-
stock, Cherokee County ; Perry K. is the next in order of birth ; Sarah M.,
who was bom in Gordon County, Georgia, is the widow of Cicero Dobbs, of
Woodstock; Caroline, bom in Gordon County, and now deceased, was the
wife of R. R. Pptrie; Oliver R., bom in Cherokee County, is a successful
attorney at Blue Ridge, Georgia; Vesta, bom in Cherokee County, is the wife
of Rason Dobbs, of Powder Springs, Georgia; Samantha, bom in Cherokee
County, died at Woodstock; Alice, born in Cherokee County and now
deceased, was the wife of Frank Barrett, of Woodstock; William, bom in
Cherokee County, is a Woodstock banker ; Samuel, born in Cherokee County,
was an attorney and is now deceased.
Perry K. Dupree spent his early life on a farm in Cherokee County, and
was only in his fifteenth year when the war broke out. Toward the close of
the struggle, when the services of every able bodied male in the South was
required to stem the tide of invasion, he enlisted in the Second Georgia
Reserves under Col. R. E. Maddox and did some general duty as a soldier,
though never a participant in any battles. After the war he took np farming,
but at the age of twenty-six in 1873 began teaching school in Johnston
County, Arkansas, where he had previously settled and bought land. On the
opening day of his school he was astounded and perplexed by the large num-
ber of scholars who appeared before him for instruction. There were seventy-
five of them, and among them were three widows and one widower. He
proved equal to the occasion, however, and became a general favorite among
his pupils. He continued along that line four years, farming during the
summer months and teaching school during the winter. Though the necessi-
ties for earning a living had interfered with his desires, it had always been
his ambition to become a lawyer. He was from early boyhood studious, had a
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2689
readioess of address and a keen wit which has served to turn a point in his
favor in many of his legal contests. After returning to Canton, Georgia, in
1877, be took up the regular study of law under B. F. Payne, and sii months
later was admitted to practice. Mr. Payne took him as his junior associate,
and the firm of Payne & pupree was one of successful standing in Cherokee
County, five years. Mr. Payne then retired from the law to join the Methodist
'Conference and was thereafter active in the work of the ministry. Since
Mr, Payne left Colonel Dupree has enjoyed a large individual practice, and
is one of the really successful men of Canton. Along with his natural endow-
ments of wit and oratorical powers, and with a thorough learning in the law,
Colonel Dupree ascribes some of his success to his steady optimism, and also
to a faculty for making and retaining friends. Although a democrat, hq was
never persuaded to accept any ofGcial honors.
Colonel Dupree was one of the organizers and served as a director for
several years of the Bank of Cherokee at Canton, and on January 15, 1915,
was elected president of the Farmers and Traders Bank of that city. He is
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. In 1883 at Marietta, Georgia, Colonel
Dupree married Miss Maria A. Garwood, who was bom at Columbia, South
Carolina, January 13, 1863, just sixteen years to' a day after the birth of her
husband. Her parents were Johnson and Mary (Benedict) Garwood, of
South Carolina. To this union have been born three children, all of them
at Canton : Agnes, wife of Thomas Thompson, who is traveling representa-
tive for the Hamilton Brown Shoe Company, of St. Louis; Robert Garwood,
now deputy clerk of court at Canton ; and Sidney Wade, still at home.
WiLLi.ui Schley^ lawyer, legislator, judge, congressman, and the eight-
eenth governor of Georgia, was born in the City of Frederick, Maryland,
December 10, 1786. His people removed to Georgia, and his education was
obtained in the academies of Louisville and Augusta. In 1812 he was admitted
to the bar, and practiced in Augusta until 1825, when he was elected judge
of the Superior Court for the Middle District. This office he filled until
1828. In 1830 he represented Richmond County in the General Assembly,
and in 1832 was elected a member of the Twenty-third Congress, serving
during 1833-35. In 1835 he was elected governor of Georgia, and served his
full term of two years. In his first message to the Legislature in 1836 he
. strongly recommended the construction of the Western & Atlantic Railroad,
and to this work he devoted much time.
On December 22, 1857, a new county then being organized in the south-
western part of the state, was named in his honor. He died at Augusta,
Georgia, on November 20, 1858.
William Terrell. One of the most useful men in Georgia during his
life, was Dr. William Terrell. He was bom in Fairfax County, Vii^inia, in
1778; obtained a good classical education, and a medical education from the
Medical College of Philadelphia. In 1817 he was sent to Washington as a
member of the Fifteenth Congress, and re-elected to the Sixteenth Congress,
serving from 1817 to 1821. In 1853, in furtherance of his desires to promote
agriculture, he donated $20,000 to the University of Georgia to establish an
agricultural professorship, to which his name was given. He died at Sparta,
Georgia, on July 4, 1855, and Terrell County, organized in 1856, was named
in his honor.
Hon. John Wesley Bale. Though John W. Bale, of Rome, is yet hardly
in the prime of his powers and experience, he has gone far in those accom-
plishments which give a man a creditable place in life, has been successful
as an editor and lawyer, and in November, 1914, led his ticket in the election
for representative to the State Legislature. He has already shown some
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2690 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
marked qualities of leadership, is a forceful debater, and his record will be
watched with interest by his many friends. Mr. Bale favors the policy of
local option.
John Wesley Bale was bora July 25, 1872, at Rome, Georgia, son of
James A. and Naomi (Shropshire) Bale. His mother was a daughter of
Judge Wesley Shropshire, a pioneer of Chattooga County, and the first
sheriff of Floyd County, aud one of the prominent citizens of his day.'
Mr. Bale's grandfather, John Bale, was bom December 15, 1795, in the heart
of the City of London, at No. 5 Goiter Court, Berlican, Parish of St. Giles,
Cripple Gate, and came to the United States in 1817. After a brief residence
in Boston, Massachusetts, he traveled about the country, and finally settled
near Greenville, South Carolina. By trade he was a carriage builder, having
learned that calling in London, and in South Carolina became a farmer and
merchant. In 1833 he removed to Cherokee County, Alabama, where he
continued as a merchant and farmer and was also interested in gold mining,
being a part owner of the Arbachooehee Mine. The latter years of his life
were spent in retirement in Floyd County, Georgia, where he died in 1864.
He married Malinda Mason, who was born in the Greenville District of South
Carolina, and died in 1830. "He then marr^pd for his second wife Miss Phoebe
Poster.
James A. Bale, who was a child of the first marriage of his father, was
born in the Greenville District, South Carolina, was about two years of age
when his mother died, and though his father was a man of ample means it
was considered best to place the child in the home of an uncle, Ezekiel Mason,
where he had the care of a loving aunt. lie was reared in that family, had a
good education, and on leaving home in young manhood first located at
Augusta, Georgia. He was connected with the management of the Planters
Hotel of Augusta, and continued the same line of business in Cartersville.
While at Cartersville he became acquaintod with Mr. Mark A. Cooper, who
took a deep interest in the young man and made him general manager of
the Cooper Mills and mercantile interests near Cartersville. He was thus
emplo.i-ed for several years, then resigned and removed to Atlanta, where he
was in business for himself. The war broke out soon afterward and he closed
out his business and joined Cobb's Legion in the Yaney Cavalry Brigade.
With that command he served two years in the Army of Virginia, was then
given a captaincy and sent to the Army of Tennessee. He continued as
captain in the Sjxth Georgia Cavalry until the close of the struggle, and was
honorably discharged at Greensboro, North Carolina. With the close of the
war he located in Rome, and became a merchant and a manufacturer of
guano. His death occurred in Rome, December 16, 1900, at the age of
sevenly-two. He was a democrat ftf the Jeffersonian type, and in religious
matters was a Free Thinker, like his father before him, but in later life was
converted and joined the Methodist Church under the influence of the noted
revivalist, Sam Jones. His widow is still living, with her home at Rome, and
now seventy years of age. Of the children who grew up John Wesley is the
oldest; Frank died in Rome in 1906, having succeeded to his father's busi-
ness; Naomi is the wife of W. Clayton Henson, an attorney at Cartersville,
Georgia-
John Wesley Bale acquired his early training in private schools at Rome,
and was a student in the Bingham Military School at Bingham, North
Carolina, and two years later entered the Emery College in the literary
department, hut was obliged to leave college on account of ill health before
his graduation. His first choice of work was the newspaper business, and he
served as city editor of the Rome Herald, later city editor for the Rome
Hustler, and subsequently in the same capacity with the Evening Commer-
cial. His last work as a newspaper man was as editor of the Argus. In the
meantime he gave what Mttlfi leisure a newspaper man can find to the study of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2691
law, and for fonr years enjoyed the counsel and direction in his studies from
Judge Max Meyerhardt, of Rome. In 1899 he was admitted to practice, and
after two years at Rome removed to La Fayette in Butler County, and there
his reputation was soon established as an able advocate and a skillful attorney
before the court and jury. In the fall of 1908 he was elected solicitor general
for the Rome Circuit, serving four years. His home was in La Fayette for
eleven years, and during his residence in Walker County he was a member
of the city council and mayor of La Fayette and a member of the board. of
education. He was instrumental in establishing the local public school system
at La Fayetle. He resigned his membership on the hoard of education on his
removal to Rome in 1912. During his earlier residence in Rome Mr. Bale
was elected a member of the uity council, and on the board of education had
the distinction of being the youngest and the first pupil of the Rome public
schools to reach such a position. Governor Terrell appointed him a trustee
of the school board to represent the Seventh Congressional District.
llr. Bale is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and also affiliated with
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. He is a
member of the executive council of the United Sons of Vpterans of the Con-
federacy. Jlr. Bale married Miss Beulah Aldridge of Chattooga County,
Georgia, and she died in Rome in 1897, The two children of that union
are Beulah and Ruth Bale. In 1898 at Atlanta Mr. Bale married Miss Adell
Latimer, who was bom in Nashville, Tennessee, a daughter of Joseph H. and
Septima (Kettlehand) Latimer. Of this marriage there is one child, Helen
Bale.
Chakles D. RoiiNTREE. Entering journalism in 1905, after a successful
career in teaching, Charles D, Rountree, formerly editor and part owner of
the Forest Blade, of Swainsboro, and now owner of the Wrightsville Head-
light, of Wrightsville, has achieved a notable success among the newspaper
men of this part of Georgia. His career has been one in which he has been
forced to gain for himself those things which he has wished, for no fortune
or other favoring influences were his in his youth, and even his higher educa-
tion was gained only through hard and persistent labor. He is a native of
Emanuel County, having been born on his father's farm here, July 31, 1880,
a son of Joshua W. and Mahala (Durden) Rountree.
The Rountree family, well and prominently known in all parts of the
state, where many of its members hold prominent places in the various walks
of life, was founded in Georgia by James Rountree, the great-grandfather of
Charles D. A native of North Carolina, he became one of the earliest settlers
of Emanuel County, where he took up wild lands, devoted himself to their
cultivation and continued as a substantial planter and sturdy citizen until
his death. His son, William Rountree, was born in Emanuel County and
here passed his entire life as a planter, being known in his community as a
Christian gentleman and a devout member of the Primitive Baptist Church,
in the faith of which he died at the age of seventy years. Among his children
was Joshua W. Rountree, who was l)orn in 185G, in Emanuel County, received
a common school education, and, following in the footsteps of his father and
grandfather, adopted the pursuits of the soil as his life vocation. He died
after a long and honorable career in 1914. Mrs. Rountree, who died in 1890,
was a daughter of Ebenezer J. and Roxey (Bryant) Durden, natives of
Georgia, as were also her grandparents, the Durdens being well represented
in Georgia and other states of the Sonth and Southwest. Mr. and Mrs. Roun-
tree were the parents of five children: Rosa, who is the wife of C. M.
Schwalls, of Kite, Johnson County, Georgia; Dora, who is the wife of George
M. Williams, residing at the old Rountree home at Graymnnt ; Charles D., of
this notice ; Sallie, who is the wife of S. P. Taylor, of Douglassville, Georgia;
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2692 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
and J. "Willie, who is connected with the Ware & Harper Company, of
Atlanta.
Charles D. Rountree received his early education in the puhlic schools of
Emanuel County, following which he took a course at Warthen College,
Sanderaville. His career as an educator was commenced in order that be
might further his educational training, which he secured at the South Georgia
Normal and Business Institute at Douglass, and for ten years he was a popular
and efficient instructor in the public schools of Emanuel, Bulloch and Coffee
counties, Georgia. Prior to the finish of his last school term, in 1905,
Mr. Rountree was prevailed upon to leave the educational field and enter
journalism as manager of the Qraymont Hustler, of which he continued in
charge for four successful years. Thus encouraged, be purchased a one-half
interest in the Richland Georgian, of Stewart County, his partner in this
enterprise being L, Ponder, to whom he sold his interest one year later. In
the meantime he bad accumulated a farm of 300 acres in Emanuel County,
and to this he moved and continued farming until the fall of 1912. The cdl
of the craft was too strong to be resisted, and in the fall of 1912 he came to
Swainsboro and became part owner with W, E. Boatright, and editor, of the
Forest Blade. He still owns his Emanuel County farm, which is under a
high state of cultivation and in the development of which he spends his
leisure time.
The Forest Blade, is the outgrowth of the old Pine Forest, the first news-
paper published at Swainsboro, which was founded about sixty years ago by
Hon. Alfred Herrington. Later Hon. George Bell, United States congress-
man, organii^ed the Wire Grass and about 1900 these two papers were consoli-
dated, being known as the Swainsboro Forest Blade. Later S. J. Tyson and
W. E. Boatright became the owners of'the plant, Mr, Boatright subsequently
selling his interest to Mr. Tyson, who operated the plant until 1910. It wa«
then sold to J. D. Mathews, whose lack of managerial ability caused its failure,
it being sold at auction in 1912 to satisfy the claims of its creditors. At that
time it was bought by the Messrs. Bell and Boatright, and in the same year
Mr. Rountree bought an interest, succeeding Mr. Bell. In March, 1916, he
sold his interest in The Swainsboro Forest Blade and bought The Wrights-
ville Headlight of "Wrightsville, Georgia, from 'Mrs. Claude Burns, the only
heir-at-law of the late J. M. Huff, who owned The Headlight for thirty-five
years. Mr. Rountree moved his re^denee to Wrightsville, where he is con-
ducting a live wire in the newspaper world. He is giving the readers a well-
edited, thoroughly reliable newspaper which is a credit to the community
and excellent evidence of his journalistic talents. Mr. Rountree is an active
democrat. His fraternal affiliation is with the "Woodmen of the World, while
his religious connection is with the Primitive Baptist Church.
On April 10, 1902, in Emanuel County, Mr. Rountree was united in mar-
riage with Miss Cora Gay, daughter of the late Dr. Daniel E. Gay, who died
in 1910, and who during a long and active career was a distinguished physi-
cian, a leading and prosperous planter and one of Emanuel County's most
influential politicians. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rountree :
Juliette, born September 8, 1912, at Swainsboro; and Don Carlos, bom at
Garfield, Georgia, January 25, 1903. Mrs. Rountree is a member of the
Primitive Baptist Church, in the work of which she has been very active,
particularly in the missionary society. She is also well known in club life,
and is popular and prominent in social happenings.
Hon. W, C. Lankporh. Coffee County is known as one of the most pro-
gressive, prosperous, attractive and law-abiding divisions of the State of
Georgia, justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of enterprise
which conserve consistent development in the upbuilding of its various indus-
tries and institutions. This happy condition of affairs has been brought about.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2693
in large degree by the fact that Hie eoantiy has been singularly forttmate in
the possessioD of men of character and ability who have controlled its affairs
in ofBcial capacities, and in this connection Hon. W. C. Lankford conunanda
recc^nition as one who has served in civic, county and judicial oflSces with
conscientious faithfulness and marked ability. Judge Lankford has served as
mayor of Douglas, his residence eity, and as city judge for six years, and at
the present time is a favored canditlate for election to Congreea,
W. C. Lankford was born in Clinch County, Georgia, December 7, 1877,
and is a son of Jesse and Mary A. ( Jlonk) Lankford. His parents were bom,
reared, educated and married in Georgia, and his father, who had been a life-
long agriculturist, died December 20, 1915, in Clinch County, when sixty-nine
years of age. His mother died in that county in 1904, when fifty-nine years
of age. There were seven children in the family, all of whom survive : W. C,
C M., H. L., G. W., the Misses Elizabeth and Marianna and Jesse H.
W. C. Lankford was brought up on the home farm and as a boy attended
the public schools of Jasper, Pforida, this being supplemented by a course at
the Jasper Normal Institute. It was his wish to further prepare himself, with
the intention of entering the law, but his resources were not all that could be
desired, and he accordingly became'a teacher in the public schools and during
seven years carefully saved his earnings, thus being able to resume his cher-
ished studies. He entered the Georgia Business and Normal Institute, at
Abbeville, where he took a scientific course and was duly graduated in 1899,
and then became a student of the law department at the University of Georgia,
from which institution he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1901.
In that year Judge Lankford came to Douglas and entered the practice of
law. Almost immediately he secured recognition as a lawyer of resource,
broad learning and astuteness, and his practice rapidly grew to large propor-
tions, iris connection with many cases of importance brought him favorably
before the people, and he was elected mayor of the city by an overwhelming
majority, his subsequent administration of one term proving to the people of
the city that they had made no mistake in their estimate of the young man's
character and ability. In 1910 he became a candidate for judicial honors, met
with no opposition, and was duly placed in office as judge of the City Court.
Four years later he was elected to succeed himself, also without opposition,
and in 1914 he was once again given this office without opposition. As a jurist.
Judge Lankford 's decisions have evidenced a keen mentality, careful analysis,
thorough knowledge of the law and an unbiased judgment. In 1915 Judge
Lankford became the democratio candidate for Congress from the Eleventh
District of Georgia'. He_has always taken a deep and helpful interest in educa-
tional matters, and for twelve years has been a working member of the Douglas
Board of Education. He is an honorary member of the State Bar Association
and the Coffee County Bar Association, and has an excellent reputation among
the members of the profession which he has so signally honored. He also
stands high in fraternal life, being a member of the Knights of Pythias, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Masons, and in the latter order is
past master of his lodge, high priest of his chapter and a Knight Templar.
With his family, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Douglas.
On October 17, 1906, at Douglas, Judge Lankford was united in marriage
with Miss Mattie Lett, a member of a prominent and distinguished family
which has resided at Douglas for many years, and a daughter of J. S. Lott,
one of the leading business men of the city. Judge and Mrs, Lankford are the
parents of two children : Chester Lott, bom December 22, 1910 ; and William
Cecil, bom June 26, 1913.
Wiley Alexander Wood. That the people of Laurens County have the
highest respect and esteem for the present incumbent of the office of probate
judge has been shown unmistakably during the fifteen years of his consecutive
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2694 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
service in that important position. Judge Wood is not the type of man who
makes an office a sinecure, but finds in it only an opportunity for service, and
for many years the Probate ■.Court of Laurens County baa respected the
shrewd intelligence, the sterling character and sympathetic but impartial
administration of Wiley Alexanden "Wood.
Born November 1, 1855, Jud^ Wood is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth
(Womach) Wood, who were born in Washington County, Georgia. Grand-
father Wood, who came from Virginia, died a short time before the birth of
his son Thomas, and his widow afterwards married James Vincent, a farmer,
and she died in the State of Alabama at the age of ninety-six years. By her
first husband she had two children, Thomas and James R. James R. was long
prominent as a minister of the Missionary Baptist Church. He established
many churches of that denomination in Johnson, Montgomery, Emanuel and
Washington counties, Georgia, and continued to preach until he retired on
account of old age. lie was one of the best loved ministers in that section of
Georgia. Thomas Wood followed the career of farmer, and was also a deacon
of the Missionary Baptist Church. He was a charter member of the Hamilton
Lodge of Masons at Sandersville, and both he and his wife were deeply reli-
gious and in every way' worthy citizens. Thomas Wood died at Dublin at
the age of seventy-seven, and his wife passed away there at the age of seventy-
three. The first wife of Thomas Wood was Sarah Costen, of Washington
County, Georgia. The two children of that union were; James, who was
killed in a skirmish just after the surrender of Lee, was first lieutenant of
Company H, Twenty-eighth Georgia; and John Wood was a private in the
same co/npany and is now living retired at Quitman; Geoi^a. Thomas and
Elizabeth Wood were the parents of six children: Dr. Thomas A. is a promi-
nent physician and planter at Dexter, Georgia; William C. is a farmer in
Wilkinson K^ounty; Andrew T. is a Laurens County farmer; Judge Wood is
nest in age, and two other children died in infancy.
Owing to the fact that his boyhood was spent in the period of the Civil
war and in the hard times immediately following the war, Judge Wood had
few advantages which he did not gain as a result of his own independence and
vigorous and determined effort. In the country schools of Washington
County he gained the fundamentals, and spent the year 1869 in the Wrights-
ville public schools. At fourteen he was doing his share of the work on the
home farm, but after some years of farming life he came to Dublin, and on
January 18, 1888, became a clerk in the store of Hightower Brothers. Prom
that he was promoted on April I, 1890, to deputy clerk of the Superior Court
of Laurens County. Thus for fully a quarter of a century Judge Wood has
been identified with some office in the public service in Laurens County. He
remained a deputy clerk until October, 1900, and was then elected to the
office of ordinary or judge of Probate Court, and took his place in that office
January 1, 1901. Since then he has been regularly re-elected. His service
and careful conduct of his office have gained him the love and esteem of all
who. have come before him in an official capacity. His decisions are alwa}^
tempered with kindness and justice, and the friendly advice which comes from
the probate judge of Laurens County is as valuable in many instances as is
official decision. When Judge Wood was first elected to this office be had a
very strong opponent, , a member of the populist party, which was at that time
exceedingly strong in this section of the state. He gained the election, how-
ever, by a majority of 750. After that he was elected without opposition for
several terms, but in his last campaign was opposed by two men of very high
character, and the results of this election plainly showed the high estimation
placed upon Judge Wood by the people of Laurens County. He won the
election against the two rival candidates by an actual majority, having 650
votes more than the other two combined. Judge Wood keeps close to his
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GEORGIA AND-GEOHGIANS 2695
work. evideDce of which is found in the fact that he has had but five days of
vacation since becoming probate judge fifteen years ago.
Fraternally he is affiliated with Laurens Lodge, No. 75, Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, and Harmony Chapter No. 56, Royal Arch Masons. He is
a member o£ the First Baptist Church and for fourteen years taught a class
in the Sunday school at Dublin. Judge Wood's first m^riage was to Miss
Sarah Smith, who was born in Wiltinson County, Georgia, and died iu 1887
at the age of twenty-eight. The thi;'ee children of thia union were: Nelson,
who is local representative at Dublin for the Texas Oil Company ; Annie
Maud married Benjamin Acock, of Dublin, and both were drowned in the
Ogeecbee River, Mrs. Acock being only twenty-two years of age at the time
of that tragedy ; Bessie Belle is the wife of Henry J. Wood, of another family
of Woods. On January 22, 1893, at Dublin, Judge Wood married his present
wife, Miss- Emma Baker. They have one daughter, Florine.
Rehek H. Burboughs. A young lawyer at Reidsville in Tattnall County,
Kemer H. Burroughs has accepted the responsibilities of life as they have
come to him and has used his own energy and ambition to elevate himself to
a position where be enjoys the respect and esteem of his fellow men.
He was bom in Bulloch County, Georgia, July 2, 1883. His father, Wil-
liam Burroughs, was bom iu Bulloch County, October 18, 1835, and died
March 1, 1896. The mother, whose maiden name was Mai^aret Elizabeth
Nevilla, was bom November 18, 1844, and died in 1902, and was the daughter
of Thomas Nevills. Williain Burroughs was a fanner and a thorough
mechanic. He went through the war from beginning to end as a Confederate
soldier, and came out without wounds. In the family were seven sons and
three daughters, namely : C. L. ; Sarah Jane ; John Butler ; Arsula ; Thomas ;
J. L. ; Jamieson, who died in infancy ; William 0. ; Ada and Remer H.
_ Remer H. burroughs began attending school at the age of seven years,
and kept it up regularly for three years, though for only a three months' term
each year. Most of his higher education and professional training came as a
result of his own earnings and determined efforts to succeed. In 1903 he began
attending school in Glenville, went there two years, 'then began teaching in
the rural schools and in 1905 entered the University of Geoi^ia at Athens •
for one term. Altt^etbeW he taught school four years, and in the meantime
took up the study of law. Prom 1908 he did stenographic work in addition
to carrying on his law studies and in 1910 after a suecessfxil examination was
passed and admitted to the bar.
For three years Mr, Burroughs served as game warden, but resigned that
office. Soon after his admission to the bar be was appointed deputy clerk of
the Superior and City courts, and served in that capacity until 1914; and
then resigned that position and began the practice of law.
Mr. Burroughs is a Knight of Pythias and is a Unitarian, On October 2,
1910, he married Miss Myra Edna Terry, daughter of Daniel Terry. Mrs.
Burroughs was born in Hampton County, South Carolina, in 1889. To their
union have been bora two daughters: Nellie, bom December 19, 1911, and
Nina, bom January 26, 1913.
William L. Mathews, M. D. Though comparatively a late comer into
the medical field of Barrow County, William L, Mathews, M, D., who pos-
sesses the highest qualifications for his profession in inherent ability, devotion
to his calling and a broad and understanding sympathy, has already achieved
a fair measure of prominence and success. Imtaiediately after leaving college
halls, in 1913, he located at Winder, and here, through his sincerity and genu-
ine worth, soon attracted to himself a desirable practice. While the greater
part of his activities have been devoted to his profession, he is not unknown
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2696 GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS
in military and fraternal life, and as a citizen has been known to support all
good measures.
Doctor Mathews was bom August 14, 1887, at Hoschton, Jackson County,
Georgia, and is a son of W. E. and Almedia (Maynard) Mathews. The
family is an old and well known one of this locality. Doctor Mathews' grand-
father, Louis Mathews, being a native of the state and still a resident of
Jackson County. The grandmother, Martha (Deney) Mathews, died in 1914,
at the age of seventy-two years. W. E. Mathews was born in Dawson County,
Georgia, in 1855, and was a youth when taken by his parents to Jackson
County, where he was educated and reared to manhood. There he was mar-
ried to a native daughter of Jackson County, and they settled down on a farm
in the vicinity of Hosehton, where the father continued operations until his
death, which occurred in 1907, when he was fifty-two years of age. The
mother, who still survives at the age of fifty years, is a resident of Winder.
There were two children in the family: Dr. William L., of this review; and
Mrs. Elma Smith, who is a resident of Gainesville, Georgia.
Doctor Mathews' professional ambitions unfolded on the farm where he
was born, and his success- cannot be attributed to exceptional educational or
professional advantages. He first attended the primary school at Hoschton
and later completed his preparatory work in the graded schools of Winder,
following whidi he returned to his father's farm and worked until 1909; when
he entered the Atlanta College of Physicians and Sui^ons. From this insti-
tution Doctor Mathews wa.s duly graduated in 1913, with the degree of Doctor
of Medicine, and at that time located in practice at Winder, where he has
since continued with a constantly increasing business. While the greater
part of his attention is given to the demands of his practice. Doctor Mathews
is also interested in agricultural matters, being the owner of a part of his
father's farm, the interests of which he looks after. He also ha-s some valua-
ble realty holdings at Winder, where he makes his home with his mother, being
unmarried. In professional circles be bears an excellent reputation, both as
a practitioner and consulting physician, and his professional connections are
maintained in the Georgia State Medical Society, the Ninth District Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. He is also well known in
military circles, being captain of the medical corps attached to the Second
Squadron Cavalry, Georgia National Guard. Professionally, Doctor Mathews
may be said to be a member of that emancipated class whose minds are open
to light, and who believe in the methods of the past only so far as they are in
harmony with the discoveries and great progress of the present. As a citizen
he has favored progressive movements, and his vote is given in support of the
candidates and principles of the democratic party.
Social in his tendencies, out of a busy life Doctor Mathews finds time for
the diversions and) relaxations which rest the mind and invigorate the body,
and fraternally is connected with the Blue Tjodge and Royal Arch Chapter
of the Masonic order and with the local lodge of the Woodmen of the World,
in each of which he has numerous friends. With his mother, he is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Gen. Jett Thomas, in whose honor Thomas County, Georgia, was named,,
was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, on the thirteenth of May, 1776. He
learned the trade of a carpenter, from which he developed in|o a contractor,
and amassed a great fortune. From Oglethorpe he moved to Milled geville,
where he built the state house. After completing this, he moved to Athens
in 1803 and was one of the first purchasers of lots in that town. He was
engaged to construct the buildings of Franklin College, which has since
developed into the state university. In the War of 1812 he served as captain
of an artillery company serving against the Creek Indians, in which he
proved of great service both as a fighter and builder of fortifications. This
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2697
record brought him the promotion to brigadier general of the state militia.
He died January 6, 1817.
Alfke^ Shorter, the founder of Shorter College at Rome, was bom near
Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia, November 23, 1803. After residing
at Monticello for a number of years as a successful merchant and marrying a
wealthy lady he invested in southern lands, amassed a fortune and moved
to Rome. There he materially added to his wealth, and in 1877 founded
Shorter College upon the institution known as Cherokee Female College,
chartered three years before. He died July 18, 1882.
John Thomas West, The legal profession is well represented in McDuffie
County by a number of able attorneys and advocates, masters of jurispru-
dence, who easily maintain the best traditions of the bar of this state. Among
them there is, perhaps, none who stands higher than the subject of this biog-
raphy, John Thomas West, of Thomson. Mr. West is a true Georgian, having
been bom in this county (then known as Columbia County), February 28,
1859. His parents were Thomas Butler and Mildred 0. (West) West, they
not beii^ related by blood, though bearing the same family name. The Wests;
on the paternal side, are related by intermarriage with the Terrells, Wing-
fields and other noted Southern families. The great-great-grandfather of
John Thomas W^est, in direct line on the paternal side, was Edward Butler, a
Revolutionary soldier, who, for his military services was awarded a tract of
government land in Wilkes County, Georgia, and settled there in 1774, coming
from his native state, Vii^nia. One of the earliest settlers in that locality,
he became a large planter and slaveholder. He married Elizabeth Wingfield,
of the noted family of that name. Their son, John W. Butler, the next in
direct line, married a Wingfield. John W, Butler died in MeDufBe County
in 1867, at the age of ninety-one years. Rev. John Quinn West, grandfather
of the subject of this sketch, married in succession two sisters, the daughters
of John W. Butler. By John Quinn West's first marriage there was one son,
who died at the age of fifteen years. By his second marriage to Eliza 0, But- ■
ler, his first wife's sister, there were two children born, one of whom, Mary,
married John W. Wilcoxon, of Newnan, Geoi^a, the other being Thomas But-
ler West, father of the subject of this sketch.
Rev. Thomas Butler West, to give him his true title, was reared in Wilkes
County Geoi^a, where his birth took place, February 26, 1833. He was a
man of fine education, being a graduate of Mereer University, and became a
leading preacher in the Baptist Church, following his sacred calling in
McDiLffie, AVilkes, Warren and Columbia counties. Highly honored and
esteemed, his death, which took place in 1898, was deplored by a wide circle
of friends. As already stated, he married Mildred 0. West, who was boru in
1833, in Polk County, Georgia. Her parents were George W. and Matilda
(Prior) West. Her father, who died about 1878, was a well to do planter, one
of the leading citizens of his county, who numbered among his personal friends
such men as Alexander H. Stephens, and other noted men of the South. The
Rev. Thomaii B. and Mildred 0. West had a large family of twelve children,
seven of whom, however, died in infancy. Those who survived the perils of
childhood were George W., Mamie C, John Thomas, Annie W., Eflie and
Edward E., of whom the following is a brief record: George W. died at the
age of eighteen, in 1873, while a student at Mereer University. Mamie C,
who is a graduatfi of La Grange College, resides in Thomson. Annie is the
wife of J. M. Pitner, of Washington, Georgia. Effiie is the wife of Edward
Wingfield, of Washington, Georgia. Edward E., who graduated from Mercer
College, emigrated on account of his health to the State of Washington, where
he holds a position as principal of public schools. The mother of the family
survived her husband about six years, passing away, deeply lamented, in 1904.
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2698 ■ GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
John Thomas West laid the foundation of his education in the public and
high schools of Thomson, being subsequently graduated bachelor of arts from
Mercer College in the class of 1881. Having read law under Major Joseph A.
Blanc, of Cedartown, he was admitted to practice in 1884 by Hon, Joel Bran-
ham, of the Rome Circuit. By force of native ability he soon attained a front
rank in bis profession, and now has the reputation of being the leading attor-
ney of Thomson and among the most prominent on the Augusta Circuit, His
fidelity to his client's interests is proverbial, yet he never forgets that he
holds a higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. Hia diligence and energy
in the preparation of his cases, as well asrthe earnestness, tenacity and courage
with which he defends the right as he understands it, challenges the admira-
tion of his associates ; yet he has never sought forensic triumph when it had to
be gained by lowering his standard of manhood or degrading the dignity of
his profession. His pleasing address, kind nature and rectitude of character
have won for him a host of friends. He is attorney and director and was
one of the organizers of the Bank of Thomson, founded in 1891, and holds
the saiqe relations to the John E. Smith Cotton Manufacturing Company.
For eight years he served efficiently as school trustee, taking a strong interest
in the cause of education. The cause of prohibition, also, has in him an earnest
advocate. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masons, Knights of Pythias
and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. As a relaxation from the
arduous duties of his profession, Mr. West takes a strong interest in farming
and fruit culture, making a specialty of peach growing, in which he has been
very successful. He is actively interested in the progress and development
of the City of Thomson and is willing at any time to correspond with persons
desiring information in regard to its opportunities for settlers.
On May 13, 1884. John Thomas West was united in miarriage, at the home
of his bride, to Miss Laura Hawes, daughter of Dr. Ellington C. and Amanda
(Wilson) ilawes, of Wrightsboro, McDuffie County. Her father, now
deceased, was a prominent physician of that place, settling there at an early
date. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. West, John Quinn, Ava
■ and Roger. John Quinn West, bom March 25, 1885, who is a graduate of the
Thomson High School, Mercer College and'Vii^inia State University, is now
the popular postmaster of Thomson. He married Camille Cross, of McDuffie
County, and has two children, John Quinn West, 3d, and Martha Laura. Ava
West, bom in 1887, is the wife of Thomas F. Fleming, of Sparta, Georgia.
Roger West, bom .in 1897, is a student in Georgia State University. The
mother of these children, Mrs. Laura F. West, is a cultured and refined lady,
and a member of the Christian Science Church.
Hon, William C. Brinson. One of the able representatives of the legal
fraternity of Johnson County, Hon. William Chauncy Brinson, is also an
excellent example of the restless, yet substantial ability and never failing
resourcefulness of the rising lawyer of today. A native son of Wrightsville,
his entire career has been passed here and he has gained in full degree the
confidence and faith of the people of his district who, in the fall of 1914,
elected him as their representative in the Georgia State Legislature.
William C. Brinson was bom at Wrightsville, Johnson County, Georgia,
September 24, 1884, and is a son of Dr. Jeremiah Wesley and Ida Amanda
(Sykes) Brinson. Dr. Jeremiah W. Brinson, the oldest physician in point
of service at Wrightsville and one of the ablest in the county, is a native of
Jefferson County, Georgia, and a graduate of Savannah Medical College.
He was bom October 19, 1852, and began his professional practice at Mid-
ville, where he remained two years, then seeking broader fields for the dis-
play of his abilities. In 1875 he enrae to Wrightsville, where for more than
forty years he has carried on a large and important general practice, in
addition to which he is the proprietor of the leading drug store of the city.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2699
Doctor Brinson is a member of the American Medical Asaociatiou and'of the
Georgia Medical Society and is held in high esteem by his fellow-practitioners
all over this part of the state. He is a Mason, having joined that fraternity
in his youth and retained his membership therein ever since. Doctor Brinson
has taken an active part in building up the city of his adoption and has also
had a hand in its government, having been a member of the school board
and its treasurer for a long period and a member of the City Council for
eighteen years. Aside from his profession and his pharmacy, he is largely
interested in farming lands and city realty. He is an earnest member" of
the Methodist Church, to which also belongs Mrs. Brinson, who was born in
Chatham County, Geoi^, in 1857. They have been the parents of eight
children, of whom one is deceased, the others being: Lela, who is the wife of
C. H. Kittrell, of Dublin, Georgia; Jeremiah W., Jr., a graduate of the
.Baltimore College of Pharmacy, who is associated with his father in the
drug business at Wrightsville ; Mazie, who is the wife of R. B. Bryan of
Wrightsville ; William C. ; Curtie E., a graduate of the University of Georgia,
and now a manufacturing pharmacist of Wrightsville ; Dr. Robert E., a
graduate of the Atlanta Medical College and now associated with his father
in practice at Wrightsville; and DeWitt B,, who is still attending school.
William C. Brinson attended the public schools of Wrightsville, following
which he pursued his legal studies as well as a literary course at the Univer-
sity of Georgia, and graduated with the degrees of bachelor of arts and
bachelor of laws in 1907. He immediately commenced practice at Wrights-
ville, and his professional business has since embraced both . civil and
criminal procedure, and the formation, development and conservation of
large corporation and business interests. A stalwart and unwavering demo-
crat, in the fall of 1914 Mr. Brinson was elected to tiie Georgia Legislature,
a body in which he is carefully looking after the interests of his constituents.
Aside from his profession, he devotes himself to his farming ventures, having
been particularly successful in the raising of cattle and hogs. He belongs to
the organizations of his profession and keeps in close touch with the pro-
fessional brotherhood, while fraternally his connection is with the Wrightsville
Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. With his family, he belongs to the
Methodist Church.
Mr. Brinson was married October 18, 1909, at Wrightsville, to Miss
Eunice Morel, of Effingham County, Geoi^a, daughter of Winfield Scott and
Addie (Bryan) Morel. To this union there have been bom two children;
Florence, born in May, 1911; and William C, Jr., bom September 18, 1914.
Mrs. Brinspn is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has
been active and prominent in the missionary work of that body as well as in
social circles of Wrightsville.
Henrt Seaborn Jones. The family represented by this well known and
prominent lawyer of Augusta has been identiHed with Eastern Georgia since
prior to the Revolutionary war. For a century or more the name has been
associated with the plantation, professional and civic affairs of this state,
Henry S. Jones began the practice of law in Richmond County more than a
quarter century ago, and has attained a most commendable position in his
profession. However, the law has not entirely claimed his energies. He has
also identified himself with the practical business affairs of his home city and
with the religious life of Georgia.
That this history of Georgia may contain an appropriate estimate of his
career quotation is made from a felicitous article especially prepared by
Mr. J. Frank Carswell, He writes as follows :
"Although Henry S. Jones, of Hephzibah and Augusta, never in his life
has had any military connection, he is known to thousands and tens of thou-
sands of folks in Eastern Georgia and Western South Carolina, as well a5
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2700 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
other places throughout the South, as ' Colouel Jones. ' And in tliis unofficial
title, affectionately conferred by a regardful people, lies an index to the char-
acter and standing of this strong man and good Baptist. In the formaticm of
this great Republic of the Free, orders and titles of nobility were forbidden,
yet, democratic as they are, it is customary with the people of this country,
and especiaUy of Georgia, to always associate with the name of a citizen the
title of any office, military or civil, that he may have held, even when his con-
nection with it may have ceased. They even go further. When there stands
forth some knightly man, who has never filled any of those titled stations, but
who by reason of his character and attainments towers above his fellows, by
common consent they dub him, as a token of their esteem and regard, with
some patent of nobility that is fitted to his life's work. Thus has Henry S.
Jones acquired within the bounds of the Hephzibah Baptist Association, and
far beyond its borders, the unofficial designation of Colonel. And whatever
idea others may entertain of the ' Georgia Oolonel,' and his place in the com-
monwealth, in this case and to this people the cognomen retains all the elements
of its original military significance — Leadership.
"There has been nothing spectacular about Colonel Jones' rise to leader-
^p in his portion of the vineyard. He has attained to the rank of Prince in
Israel through long years of ceaseless effort, efficient service and unselfish
eo-operation, during which time his ability, his character and his faith have
been more and more deeply reeognized by his co-laborers. It was said in the
opening paragraph that never had he any niilitary connection. This was true
in a personal and physical sense. Yet he comes of a martial race and a long
line of ancestors have distinguished themselves through all the wars of this
nation, running back through the Civil war and all its predecessors, even to
the early Indian wars of colonial days. Aye; even beyond that time, their
blades have flashed in the sunshine and shadow of Merrie Olde England. It is
not strange, then, that when he attained the age of military service, there being
no war in which there was shedding of blood, he should have barkened to the
summons of the Prince of Peace and entered upon a lifetime of militant service
beneath the banner of the Cross.
"If one should seek, then, the true source of his leadership, outside of his
splendid inheritance of body, mind and soul, his unexcelled environment of
childhood, his early training, and his Christian zeal, it will doubtless be found
in the studiousness that has characterized him from early boyhood and which
eventually developed for him a broad and practical scholar^ip coupled with
a far-reaching sense of hia brotherhood with his fellowmen. This may be seen
through the fetching of a brief biographical outline.
"Henry Seaborn Jones was bom on the plantation home of his grand-
father, the Beverly Randolph place, in Burke County, Georgia, May 1, 1864.
His parents were Thomas Jones and Rossie E. Jones, nee Handle (formerly
spelled Randolph). His father was bom in Burke Comity, May 18, 1830,
grew up and was married there, and for a number of years owned and con-
ducted the plantation which had been in the Jones family since prior to the
Revolution. One of the direct ancestors served as lieutenant in the Revolu-
tionary war, and was prominent in the early affairs of Burke County. Thomas
Jones, who died August 15, 1875, was a soldier during the war between the
states, enlisting from Burke County. The mother of Henry S. Jones was
bom in 1841 in Burke County and died February 23, 1916. She belonged to
,the prominent Virginia family of Randolphs. Her father, Beverly Randolph,
at one time served as judge of the Inferior Court of Burke County, and a
similar office had also been held by Batt Jones, great-grandfather of the
Augusta lawyer. Henry S. Jones was the third in a family of seven children.
All are now deceased except himself and his brother Dr. "William Torrance
Jones, who is a prominent physician in Atlanta.
"His early childhood was spent on his father's plantation which was
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2701
traversed by the main road between Savannah and Louisville, the earliest two
capitals of the state. This historic highway had been laid out in 1797 by faia
great-grandfather, Batt Jones, judge of the Inferior Court of Burke County
and an oGScer of the Continental army, by direction of Governor Jared Irvin.
Here he attended the community school taught by Miss M. Addie Ga^dn
(afterward Mrs. Stallings) and a kinsman, Dr. Robert Thompson.
"Almost contemporaneous with his birth was the founding of the Hephzi-
bah High School, by the Hephzibah Baptist Association. What a factor this
was to become in his life will soon be apparent. The school was planted in
Richmond County, on a sandy ridge fifteen miles southwest of Augusta, near
a community known as Brotbersville. The school at once sprang into fame as
a popular seat of learning and students flocked to it from a Urge territory
hundreds of miles around. It has ever since remained a beacon light of the
Baptists of Eastern Georgia. In order to give their children the advantages
of this school and that their families might escape the rigors of the malarial
climate of Burke County, a number of wealthy and well-to-do planters erected
homes about the school, which shortly became the center of a thriving village
that with the later coming of the railroad was known as the Town of Hephzi-
bah, which to this day is a stronghold of Georgia Baptists, Thither came the
Jones family, and in 1881 Henry S. Jones graduated from the h^h school
with first honor. Thence he went to Mercer University, completing his school-
ing uiider Baptist tutelage and graduating with first honor in 1884. He won
distinction in the student activities, particularly excelling as a debater. The
year of his graduation he was a member of the victorious team that vanquished
Emory College in joint debate, the meet being held at Griffin.
"It was while he was a student at Mercer, during the summer of 1883,
that he joined the church and was baptized in the famous old Hephzibah Pool
by that historic figure in Georgia Baptist annals, Dr. W. L, Eilpatrick. His
religion was a real and positive thing and dating from that time, thirty-three
years, he has served his Master and mankind with fervency and zeal, as well
as efficiently and practically.
"Foe a few years after graduation he devoted himself to teaching. For a
short time he was principal of the Lithonia School and then for two years
principal of the Spalding Seminary at Montezuma. Here he first assumed
the responsibility of leadership in Christian work when he became ^perin-
tendent of the Spalding Sunday school. For the school year of 1886-87 he
was a teacher at the Richmond Academy, the boys' high school of Augusta.
It was then that he became a 'commuter,' a phase of his life that he has never
shaken off, with one or two brief exceptions, since; for from that day until this
he has journeyed daily to and from his residence at Hephzibah to bis place of
business in Augusta. These daily pilgrimages are made via the Augusta South-
em Railroad, which traverses, from one end to the other, the heart of the
territory of the Hephzibah Baptist Association. So that, irrelevant as this
matter might seem to the uninitiated, it io no small part accounts for the
manner in which he has been able to reach and influence the thousands of
people who compose the association for more than a score of years. Scarcely
a man, woman or child has gone up to Augusta on that train or returned in
the evening but has seen hira, met him, enine under the spell of his personality
or received some service, large or small, from him. Indeed, this has brought
hira into so unique and intimate a relationship with such a large number of
people as to make him an institution, which has frequently won the attention
of the journalists in the public prints and even led one well known bard to
indite a poem about his accommodations— countless and varied — to the resi-
dents along the line.
"During his last year as a teacher he served the Baptist Church at Heph-
zibah as clerk, and held a similar office in the First Baptist Church in Augusta,
to which he had moved his membership, in 1892. During the same period he
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2702 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
was superiDtendeDt of the Berean Sunday School at Augusta. In 1893 he
became president of the RiehmoDd County Sunday School Association. From
1900 to 1914 he served the Hephzibah Baptist Sunday School as superinten-
dent, and during the larger part of that time — from 1903 to 1911 — he was
president of the Sunday School Workers' Convention of the Hephzibah Baptist
ABsociation.
"While teaching school, Henry S. Jones had been reading law and in 1888
entered upon the successful practice of the legal profession, which he continues
till to-day, covering every field, from famous capital eases to intricate civil
causeSj having soon acquired and maintained a lucrative practice. While as
successfully upholding the highest ideals and traditions of his profession, he
has found time for many other activities, especially in the line with his
Christian leadership, outside of his law office. Having always been a staunch'
prohibitionist and teetotaler, Colonel Jones' talents and well known views in
this respect were recognized when in 1909 he was made vice president of the
Geoi^ia Anti-Saloon League. Enforcement of the liquor laws in his home
county led to the formation of the Richmond County Law Enforcement Com-
mittee, of which he was president from 1909 to 1912. Activities in this line
developed election reforms, so that as a result of the search for a leader of
known ability and unquestioned integrity in 1913 he was made chairman of
the democratic executive committee, the body which supervises all elections
held in Richmond County. His successful administration of the duties of that
office is evidenced by the fact that he still fills it.
' ' Having served the Hephzibah Baptist Association in so many other capaci-
ties it is fitting that in 1903 and 1904 he should have been its moderator, having
on two occasions been vice-moderator. His splendid qualities of leadership
received wider recognition when in 1916 Bessie Tift College drafted him as a
member of its board of trustees and immediately gave him a position on the
important executive committee. In 1915. he again achieved distinction at his
Alma Mater when he delivered the literary address at the commencement of
Mercer University.
"Colonel Jones' charitable and philanthropic nature is evidenced by the
fact that for several years he has served as a member of the board of charities
of Richmond County. Outside of his church work, something of his human
sympathies and spirit of brotherhood may be judged by his activities in the
fraternal world. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Mercer,
and was president of the Kappa Alpha convention which was held in Augusta
in 1889, He is a Master Mason and three times has been elected worshipful
■ master of Richmond Lodge, No. 412, at Hephzibah. He is also a prominent
Woodman of the World.
"On July 13, 1902, Henry 3. Jones was married to Annie Willie Hughes,
who died August 4, 1904, and is survived by one son, Willie Henry Hughes
Jones, born August 2, 1904, and now in the sixth grade of the public schools.
April 20, 1910, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Kathleen Lacy Moss. Two
daughters, Carlton and Margaret, have blessed this union. The former was
bom in 1911 and the latter in 1913. Mrs. Jones is a daughter of James B. T.
and Mary Moss, of Atlanta.
"At the outset it was said that there was nothing spectacular about his
leadership, but by steadfast loyalty and patient labor Colonel Jones reached
that position which to-day makes his office at 852, Broad Street, Augusta, the
unofficial headquarters of that very important Baptist organ is^ation, the Ileph-
zibah Baptist Association. Not a week day passes but some brother in Christ,
either preacher or layman, and very often both, comes there to counsel with *
him about their own work and the work of the association in general, and
constantly the mails bring him requests for advice and direction from through-
out its territory, while hardly a Sabbath sun sets without having witnessed the
proclaiming of the Gospel, in some place, by him where it is needful that the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2703
Cross be lifted up. Thug he goes in and out among his people, known of all
men as a man among men and a servant of God. Thus serving his Maater,
guiding and helping his brethren, dwelling in the midst of a happy family
and reaping the fruits of a well spent life, Colonel Jones has reached the
fulBUment of the prophecy 'Blessed are the righteous, for they shall inherit
the land and dwell in it forever.' "
In addition to this happily phrased appreciation of a splendid Georgia
citizen, it may also be stated that Mr. Jones haa served as director of the
Augusta & Florida Railroad Company. He is a member of the Richmond
County Bar Association. And in concluding this article a poem written by
Mr. Jones and entitled "Hephzibah" is reproduced.
Hepbzibah
by henry s. jones
'Fore the days of automobiles,
'Fore the telephone long distance,
'Pore the roads were ever graded,
'Pore the roads were worked and hardened
In the wilderness of Richmond,
Came to dwell the pious fathers.
From the wealthy Burke plantations,
For their health and for their families',
First, eame J. H. T. Kilpatrict,
Father of a noble offspring,
Laying out the ville TIephzibah,
On the eomer-stone of wisdom,
On the firm foundation, duty.
In the pines and in the wiregrass,
Fourteen miles from nearest city.
Over weary, sandy roadway,
Twelve miles, too, from nearest railway,
At MeBean or at Berzelia,
Mail was brought from Richmond factory
Which had long been well established.
Uncle "Absy" Rhodes and "Billy"
"Were the means of swiftest message,
As he later made his journey,
As the postman to the city.
Next there came the younger fathers,
Walsh Kilpatrick, William Davis,
Frank and Math and E. R. Carswell,
Who with Key and B. B. Miller,
Were the founders of the village.
And there builded Berry Farmer,
Also one of village fathers.
These and others built the schoolhouse
Which was ordered by the Baptists
In the year of one-and -sixty,
'Neath the heavy hanging war-cloud
Then the Baptist Church was chartered.
With a modest little number.
So began the quiet hamlet,
Which for more than next two decades,
Moved along with little changes,
'Till the year of four-and-eighty
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Brought the rumbling of the railroad
With itg many evcdationa.
The modem town began its progress :
Another church, a hall for Masons,
And a camp for working Woodmen,
And a plant for ginning cotton,
Many stores and many merchants,
Sawmill humming in its limits.
Hills upturned to find kaolin,
Forests wasted by the woodmen,
And those seeking turpentine.
And a thrifty farmers' club
With a membership of fifty.
So the fathers well bad builded.
And had left a heritage
Worthy of their Christian efforts,
For the cause of truth and wisdom.
Early in last century.
In our village, Robert AUen
Invented first the Allen Plow,
And it gave him fame abundant.
As it turned land upside down.
Here the soldier, Walter Clark,
Spent his happy days of boyhood,
Here in later days as writer
'Twas he penned his Lost Arcadia.
Here Kilpatrick, W. L.,
Taught and preached for many decades.
Here in Eighteen Ninety-Four,
He wrote well his church 's story,
Telling of the origin
Of the Eastern Geot^a Baptists.
On the brow of Hill IjeVert,
In the bounds of Hephzibah ;
On a summer afternoon,
Gazing o'er the Friendship Stream,
Of the ancient Rhodes Mill ;
Like a giant Amphitheatre,
Rise God 's own eternal hills ;
Covered with their fields and forests,
And with nature's azure color.
Yonder lies the home of Foreman,
Westward is where Evans dwells.
Northeast is the home of Nelson,
And the chalk plant of the Albion
Lies across the other side.
Far beyond Mount Lebanon.
Where the Baptists' monthly meet.
Can be seen the smoke from engines
On the trusted Georgia Railroad.
To the westward, in the valley
Is the famed Kilpatrick Pool,
Where Baptists, till the eighties.
By immersion took in members.
So these hills, like waves of ocean,
Rise up, hill on hill, still higher
I, Google
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2705
Till their far cerulean summito,
At horizon kias the sky.
By the graveyard of Tranquilla,
In the shade of many cedars.
Calmly sat the summer ramblers ;
Gazing farther to the westward
Over all the lower ranges,
Was a view of Old Mount Enon ;
Where the fathers of the Baptists
Founded first their seat of ktiowledge,
In the year of eighteen seven ;
In September of that year,
Taught by Doctor Charles 0. Screven.
But in eighteen and eleven,
When the leader, Henry Holcomb,
Moved away to Philadelphia,
Interest in the school subaided,
And its end was near at hand.
No more from the rice plantations
Did the seacoast planters come.
Seeking health and school for children ;
And Mount Enon 's day was done.
Thomas A. Parkee. Coming from the farming districts, his father hav-
ing been a well to do farmer, Thomas A. Parker has raised himself to a place
of prominence among the lawyers and citizens of Southern Geoi^a and has
special marks of distinction because of his long service on the Superior
Court bench.
He was bom on a farm in Liberty County, Qeoi^a, April 3, 1859, a son
of Hampton C. and Catherine (Baggs) Parker, the latter a native of Geoi^a
and the former a native of Barnwell district of South Carolina. Hampton
Parker was brought to Georgia when an infant by his father, WiUiam
Parker, who established his home in Liberty County as one of the early
settlers. Hampton Parker became well known as a farmer and took much
part in public affairs, serving one terra as state senator, Second District, and
also as a judge of the old Superior courts, and was a member of the board
of education. He made his home in Liberty County from early infancy in
the same district where his father had Jirat settled. During the war he en-
listed in Liberty County as a private, served in the commissary department,
and after his honorable discharge resumed his life on the home farm and
died there in 1903 at the age of seventy-six. His wife passed away in
January, 1913, at the age of eighty-six.
The fourth in a family of ten children. Judge Parker was reared in good
home surroundings so far as ideals were concerned. After attending the local
schools of Liberty County he taught school several terms, and subsequently at
Baxley he and a brother engaged in a merchandise business for several years.
While selling goods he also applied himself industriously to the study of law,
and after being admitted to the bar opened his office at Baxley. He continued
to make his home in that town until 1907, since which year he has lived in
Waycross.
While he has always enjoyed a large practice as a lawyer, he has been
much identified with public affairs, especially in the line of his own pro-
fession. In 1896 he was elected judge of the Appling County Court, has
served as justice of the peace, as judge of the city court of Baxley and was
finally elevated to the position of judge of the Superior Court of the Bruns-
wick and Waycross Circuit. . For eleven years he was on the Superior bench
until he resigned in January, 1914. While be administered justice impartially
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2706 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
he made a great many friends while on the bench both among the legal pro-
fession and the general public.
Judge Parker is a democrat, a member of the Missionary Baptist Church,
belongs to the State and County Bar associations, is a Royal Arch Mason
and also a Knight of Pythias.
Id 1882 he married Miss Mary V. Sellers of Appling County, She died
in 1899, the mother of ten children. One of these died in infancy, and
Thomas Augustus, Jr., died in January, 1912, at Waycross when only twenty-
three years of age, and had already entered upon a career of promise and was
cashier of the Bank of Patterson. Mrs. Allie Harley is the wife of W. F.
Harley of Baxley, and their two children are named Thomas Franklin and
Mary Harley. J. Hampton Parker is assistant cashier of the National Bank
of Brunswick, where he lived, and has one child named Bettie S. David
Monroe Parker is a successful young attorney, associated with his father in
practice at "Waycross. He has two ehildren, David Monroe, Jr., and Wilburta
Aileen. Ruth Parker lives at Waycross and is a teacher in the Bessie Tift
College of Geoi^ia. Mina is the wife of Hoke V. Smith of* Patterson, Geot^a.
William C. graduated from Mercer University and is now a teacher. Sellers
is a student in the Piedmont Institute at Waycross. Jane, the youngest, is
attending Bessie Tift College at Foraythe, Geoi^ia.
In April, 1901, Judge Parker married in Liberty County Mi^ Alice L.
Chapman, daughter of Francis J, Chapman, a well known resident of Liberty
County. To the second union have been bom six children : Francis Marion
Parker, who was born at Baxley and is now attending school at Waycross;
Joseph Parker, bom at Baxley and also in school; Walter Ennis Parker,
born at Baxley ; John Chapman Parker, born at Waycross ; Alice Lee Parker
and Elizabeth Parker, both bom at Waycross.
Arthur Merrill Knight. The retirement of Arthur Merrill Knight
from active life, in 1910, was justified by the accomplishment of success in
its broadest sense, by many years of devotion to cmnmercial and financial
enterprises, and by faithfulness to public and private duties. Hia life has
been a steadfast and busy one, crowded with the labors that make up a full
existence and with the rewards that come to the conscientious workman, and
the end of his activities finds him prosperous financially and rich in the
regard and confidence of those among whom he has lived so long.
Arthur Merrill Knight was born at White Sulphur Springs, Georgia,
November 16, 1859, and is a son of Dr. Albion Williamson and Carolina
(Demeree) Knight, natives, respectively, of Falmouth, Cumberland County,
Maine, and Saint Simon Island, Glynn County, Georgia. The Knight family
is of English origin and its members trace their ancestry back to King Henry
VIII, there being five crests in the family. Dr. Albion Williamson Knight
was given an education for the medical profession in the finest universities
of the Easlj, and after completing his training settled on Saint Simon Island,
on the coast of Georgia, where he met and married Carolina Demer4, daugh-
ter of Raymond and Sarah Demere, and a member of the family that was
founded by three brothers of French-Huguenot extraction, who located on
Saint Simon Island early in the eighteenth century and became men of promi-
nence and distinction, and whose descendants eventually became the possessors
of the greater part of the island. After their marriage, Doctor and Mrs,
Knight returned to Maine, but after a short stay came hack to Florida and
took up their residence at White Sulphur Springs, where the Doctor con-
tinued to be engaged in following medicine until 1869. Early in 1870 he
located at Live Oak, Suwanee County, Florida, where he practiced for one
year, and then went to Jacksonville, Florida, that place continuing to be
the scene of his professional labors until his death in 1889, when he was aged
sixty-seven years. Jlrs. Knight had passed away many years before, when
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2707
forty yeais of age. Of their seven children, Arthur Merrill Knight is the
only survivor. '
Arthur M. Knight received hia education in the Saint John's Episcopal
School at Jacksonville, Florida, and was but sixteen years of age when he
began to earn his own living by clerking in the wholesale eigar manufae'turing
business of his brother, Louis Buxton Knight. Six months later he accepted
a position as a clerk with a retail grocery at Jacksonville, remaining two
years, and then entering the railroad service of the old Florida Central Rail-
road. After three months he transferred his services to the Savannah, Florida
& "Western Railroad, which later became known as the Plant System, and now
operating under the name of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. In 1886 he
was transferred to Waycross, Georgia, where he was placed in charge as
agent, and continued with this concern until 1900, when he resigned to
accept the cashiership of the Citizens Bank of Waycross, of which he had
been one of the organizers, and which, in 1902, was merged with the First
National Bank of Waycross. In 1905 Mr. Knight was elected president of
the latter institution, and continued as its active head until 1908, when he
resigned. In the previous year he had been appointed receiver for the
Bank of Waycross, the affairs of which he brought to a satisfactory close.
When he left the hanking business, iu 3908, Mr. Knight founded the real
estate and insurance business of A. M. Knight & Son, which almost imme-
diately took its place as one of the leading concerns of its kind in this part
of the state, but after being identified with the enterprise for several years,
he turned over its management to his son, A. M. Knight, Jr., and since that
time has lived practically retired, although he still superintends his large
Mr. Knight has always taken a leading parj in civic movements, and has
been called upon to serve in official capacities for fifteen continuous terms,
thirteen of which he served as mayor, his first position being that of alder-
man and his last that of county commissioner, in 1915. He has been a pro-
moter of educational movements, was for some years a member of the school
board and one year its president, and has endeavored in every way to elevate
the efficiency of educational standards. In politics, Mr. Knight is a democrat.
His fraternal connection is with the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, while his religious affiliation is with the Episcopal Church, where he
now serves as warden. So methodical and well ordered have been his business
operations that he has been saved the strain and worry which beset those less
happily constituted. He has always admired and practiced honesty and fair
dealing, and upon these fundamentals of citizen^ip rest his enviable and
worth-while reputation.
Mr. Knight was married May 6, 1884, at Jacksonville, Florida, to Miss
Susan Fatio Daniel, daughter of Col. James Jacquelin and Emily (L'Engle)
Daniel. Colonel Daniel, a Confederate veteran of the Civil war, died at Jack-
sonville of yellow fever in 1888, while Mrs. Daniel passed away at that city
June 15, 1915. Mrs. Knight died at Waycross, in 1910, aged forty-four years,
having been the mother of seven children : Jacquelin Emile, who died at
Waycross, in 1912, aged twenty-six years; four children who died in infancy;
Arthur M., Jr., successor of his father in the real estate and insurance busi-
ness, who married Miss Agnes Scarborough, of Tifton, Georgia, and has one
son, Arthur JI. Ill; and Gerald B., who is attending the public schools.
John W. Bennett. Reared on a farm and under the urge of a per-
sistent ambition aiming for some of the higher things of life, John W. Bennett
paid most of his way through college and while preparing for his profession,
and since 1889 has been a practicing lawyer in Southern Georgia. For a
number of years he has lived at Waycross, and is one of the leading attorneys
in that district.
yGoosIe
2708 GEOBGIA AND GEOBGIANS
Bom in Wayne County, Georgia, September 15, 1865, he is a son of John
T. and Rebecca Jane (Aiken) Bennett, who were also bom in Wayne County,
His father is still living in Wayne County at the age of eighty years, and
the greater part of those four score years have been spent as an active farmer.
During the war between the states he gave four years to service in the Con-
federate army and though present in many engagements was never wonnded.
His wife died in 1881 at the age of thirty-^ight.
Third in a large family of eleven children, John W. Bennett early became
acquainted with serious responsibilities. He attended school in both Wayne
and Liberty counties and from his earnings as a farmer and in other voca-
tions he paid his course through the University of Georgia where he was
graduated from the law department in 1889. Returning home to Wayne
County he began practice there in June, 1889, and after testing his ability
he sought a larger field for his energies at Waycross, where he has had his
home since 1897.
Devoted to the law and to his la^e private practice Mr. Bennett has also
found time to serve his community and state, though largely in the line of
his profession and in offices where the opportunities for work is greater than
the remuneration, Ih August, 1889, he was appointed by the governor
solicitor of the County Court of Wayne County, and filled that post until
1892. He was also elected for two- terms to the Legislature from Wayne
County. He filled the office of solicitor general of the Brunswick Circuit for
four years, being elected in October, 1896, was re-elected in 1900 and again
in 1904, and altc^ether gave twelve years to that important position. Since
leaving his place as solicitor general he has concerned himself lately with
his private practice. In 1904 he was appointed a member of the board of
trustees of the University of Georgia, and for twelve years served as a mem-
ber of the city board of education at Waycross,
He is a member of the County and State Bar associations, has passed all
the chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a Royal Arch Mason
and Enight of Pythias and was state representative of his lodge at San
Francisco in 1915, Politically he is a democrat.
In Liberty County on December 31, 1889, Judge Bennett married Mise
Gertrude Price, daughter of Louis Price, now deceased, who was for many
years an active Baptist minister of Liberty County, To their marriage have
been born three children, Juanita Bennett bom in Wayne County in 1893,
completed her education in Shorter College. Ernest C, Bennett, bom in
Wayne County in 1895, will graduate A, B, from the University of Qeoi^
with the class of 1916. John W. Bennett, born in Waycross in 1901, is a
student in the local high school,
WiLLUH Rabun, governor of Georgia, was bom in Halifax, Halifax
County, North Carolina, April 8, 1771, and died in Georgia, October 24, 1819.
In his county, his popularity was great and, while he never urged up6n hia
people any political claims he might have, for many years he was their rep-
resentative alternately in the Lower House and the Senate of the General
Assembly, He was never defeated for any office. He was a member of the
State Senate from Hancock County; in 1810. 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815 and 1816,
and was president of that body from 1812 to 1816,
Upon the resignation of Governor Mitchell in March, 1817, William
Rabun, as president of the Senate, Iwoame governor of Georgia, ex-officio,
until November of the same year, when he was himself elected to fill that
■ position by the State Legislature. He died October 24. 1819. a few daya
before the expiration of his term.
Moses Waddell. President of the University of Georgia and a noted
educator, Moses Waddell was bom in Rowan County, Georgia, July 29, 1770.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2709
After obtaining a thorougti claasical education, he became a teacher in Iredell
County, North Carolina, but his health breaking, he went on a prospecting
tour to Greene County, Georgia, where he located. He joined the Presby-
terian Church at Bethany, that county, but ctoitinued to teaeh for a nomber
of years, graduating from Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, in September,
1791, and the Presbytery licensed him to preach in the following year. Hia
tirst charge was at Carmel Church in Georgia, beginning April, 1794, and in
June following, he was ordained to the ministry. In his first year, he became
profoundly impressed that it was his duty to teach as well as preach. He
taught and preached for two years at Appling, the county seat of Columbia
County, and then received a call to what was known as the Calhoun Settle-
ment, Abbeville District, South Carolina, where, in 1795, he married a sister
of John C. Calhoun. In 1801 he opened a school at Vienna, in the same dis-
trict. Several years afterward he transferred the school to another neigh-
boring location, his mlDlsterial labors continuing. The College of South
Carolina honored him with the degree of LL. D. and in 1819 he was elected
president of the University of Georgia, moving to Athens to perform its
duties. After ten years of successful work, during which he is credited with
saving the corporate life of the institution, he resigned his position, August
5, 1829. In the following year he returned to WilUngton, where he had
taught his own school for so many years, and died as the result of a paralytic
stroke, July 21, 1840.
C. S. Haedy. One of the largest wholesale and retail grocery houses in
Southern Georgia is the Hardy firm at Waycross. The position of this mercan-
tile house is the more interesting for the fact that its present prosperity is
the outgrowth of a small business established by C. S. Hardy many years
ago, when the chief energy and enterprise and clerical service connected with
the retailing of the small stock were supplied by Mr. Hardy and his young
wife. Step by step it grew and it is now pointed out with pride as a loc^
institution.
Born in La Grange, North Carolina, September 14, 1867, C. S. Hardy is
a son of John L. and Nannie (Rhodes) Hardy, who were both North Carolina
people. The father followed merchandising for a number of years, but later
lived on a farm. During the war between the states he enlisted with a North
Carolina regiment, and served as a private soldier. His death was tbe result
of an accident and oeeurred October 4, 1877, when he was forty-one years of
age. His widow is still living, making her home at Waycross, and ahe is now
seventy-three years of age.
In the seven children of his parents C. S. Hardy was fifth in line. As a
boy he attended country schools, but his entire education was limited to ten
months of regular school attendance. He had to work hard and contribute
his oneirics to the support of the family for some years. He followed farming
until Decemtier, 1892, and that was the date when he arrived in Waycross.
For the first two years here he drove an iee wagon. He rtien embarked his
modest capital in a stock of groceries, being associated for a time with his two
brothers and year by year the volume of trade has increased until it is now
the largest store in the city, both wholesale and retail. There are two depart-
ments of tlie business and fifteen persons find employment, while the stock
carried is valued at from $6,000 to $8,000.
Mr. Hardy is a democrat, and is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the
Mystic Shrine and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His churcli is
the Methodist.
On December 17. 1830, Mr. Hardy married Miss IJda Kennedy, daughter
of James Kennedy of La Orange, North Carolina. To their marriage have
been bom six children : Mrs. Letha Booth, who was bom at La Grange in
1891, and is now married and lives at Waycross, the mother of one child:
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2710 ■ GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Harold K. Hardy, bom at Wayeross in January, 1894, and now associated
in business with his father ; Ruth Hardy, born in 1896 and attending school
at Wilson, North Carolina; Miss Glenn, bom in 1900, attending the Waycroes
High School; C. S. Hardy, Jr., bom in 1902 and also in high school; and
Lucy, bom in 1905.
Hon. Harry Manassas Wilson. The career of Hon, Harry Manassas
Wilson, justice of the Wayeross Circuit, is strongly entrenched in the judicial
history of Ware County. The City of Wayeross, which witnessed the begin-
ning of his professional career in 1907, offered a promising field for the young
man of twenty-two, and the citizens who have watched his advancement have
had no cause to regret the faith they placed in his energy, enthusiasm and
ability. In his career he has reflected dignity, genuine worth and sincerity
upon a profession for which he is singularly equipped.
Judge Wilson was bom at Wayeross, Ware County, Georgia, October 31,
1885, and is a son of William Manassas and Sarah (Pinkney) Wilson, the
latter of whom is a daughter of Eustace Pinkney, a native of Cheraw, Ches-
terfield County, South Carolina. William M. Wilson was born at Waresboro,
Ware County, Georgia, a son of William Wilson, who emigrated from his
native Germany as a young unmarried man and located at Columbus, Geor-
gia. At the outbreak of -the Civil war William Wilson turned over his
mercantile interests to other handstand offered his services to the Confed-
eracy, fighting throughout the entire period of the struggle and taking part
in many important battles. When peace was snee more declared he located
at Waresboro, at that time the county seat of Ware County, but when it was
changed to Wayeross he went to the latter place and there continued to be
engaged in successful general merchandising operations until his death at the
age of eighty-six years. William Wilson married Miss Martha J. Smith, who
was born in 1835, in Ware County, and who has always lived here.
William Manassas Wilson, who was born in Ware County in 1861, is the
active head of one of the leading mercantile establishments of Wayeross, and
president of the William M. Wilson Grocery Company. He served as clerk
of the Superior courts of Ware County for ten years and has always taken
an active part in those movements which have served to advance the welfare
of his community, moral, educational and commercial. He is a steward of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is fraternally identified with the Knights
of Pythias. William and Sarah (Pinkney) Wilson have been the parents of
five children, as follows : Harry Manassas ; Marie, deceased, who was the wife
of Charles E. Harper; Julia, who is the wife of Charles J. Coleock, of Colum-
bia, South Carolina ; William B., a resident of Wayeross ; and Miss Sarah.
After attending the graded and high schools of Wayeross, Harry M, Wil-
son took up the study of law in the legal department of the University of
Georgia, from' which he was^graduated with his degree in 1907. At that time
he formed a partnership with his cousin, Herbert Wilson, forming the firm
of Wilson & Wilson, but after about two years the concern was dissolved and
Mr. Wilson practiced alone until his election to the office of justice of the
Wayeross Circuit, in 1909. This position he has retained to the present time,
and in the discharge of the important tmsts committed to him by the people
has manifested eminent legal ability, unswerving integrity and absolute
inHpartiality. He holds membership in the Georgia State Bar Association. A
stanch democrat, he has taken an active interest in county politics, and as a
stump speaker his dignified presence and earnest and convincing utterances
have always commanded respect. Fraternally he is identified w^th the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World and
the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Like his brother and sisters, he was reared in
the faith of his parents, that of the Roipan Catholic Church, and has lived
up to the teachings of Catholicism.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2711
On December 25, 1909, Judge "Wilson was married at Athens, Gfeorgia, to
Miss Lena Hinton Brightwetl, daughter of Joseph W. Brightwell, a leading
citizen of Athens. Judge and Mrs. Wilson have one child, J. Brightwell,
who was bom at Waycross, October 15, 1915. Mrs. Wilson is widely known
in church circles, and takes an active and helpful part in the work of mis-
siouary societies.
August R. Hensel. During the last quarter of a century Georgia baa
been especially honored in the character and careers of her active men of indus-
try. The resources of the state have attracted hither men of marked leader-
ship, whose dominating influence is the result of superior intelligence, natural
endowment and force of character. Of these few have filled so large a place as
August R. Hensel of the Parker & Hensel Marine Engineering Company of
Brunswick.
His individual career is the more interesting on account of the trials and
early struggles of his youthful years. When twelve years of age, at a time
when most boys are at home and in school, he entered upon an apprenticeship
in the machine works of Kollar-Heisen-Stein Company at Sheboygan, Wiscon-
sin, In the meantime he had attended the public schools of that city. While
serving his time as a machinist he also attended night classes in the Sheboygan
Business College. He was graduated in the business course at the age of
sixteen in 1884. His apprenticeship at the machinist's trade was finished at
the age of eighteen, and he then received papers as a marine engineer and was
granted a license. His first work was done as chief engineer on a government
survey boat, and he continued in that line until 1887. He was then given a
similar position with the firm of E. P. Allis & Company in their great marine
iron works at Milwaukee. He afterward moved to Menominee and became
master mechanic for the Ludington-W ells-Rand-Shack Lumber Company, one
of the largest concerns operating in the northern woods. For five years he
filled the heavy responsibilities of that position, and was then made chief
engineer on one of the large steamers running out of Chicago. For about a
year he remained on the lake, and then in 1897 came to Brunswick, Georgia.
Here he was first master mechanic for the Brunswick Foundry & Machine
Manufacturing Company. Out of this grew the Breesniek-Hensel Manufac-
turing Company, which was continued until Mr. Breesnick withdrew, and then
Mr. Parker became identified with the concern, which has subsequently been
known as the Parker-Hensel Engineering Company. Though starting on a
small scale, it has since become one of the largest plants of the kind in the
South. The payroll was at first $100 a week and it is now $1,000 a week and
sometimes much more. The firm has extensive iron foundry and plant for the
construction of marine engines and for the building and outfitting of com-
plete ships. Upwards of 125 men are employed in the business. Their work
in repairing and outfitting vessels and the products of their marine engine
plant have been applied to vessels from almost every port of the civilized
world. They have built ships and installed machinery on vessels from New
York, in the Bahama Islands, Cuba, Mexico and South America, and the firm
is well known to ship owners over the entire globe. In fact ships from every
quarter have been at their marine docks undergoing repairs and having new
machinery installed. Marine experts have pronounced their work among the
most perfect for its adequate service anywhere in America.
To have been an important factor in the building up of this large concern
is a notable, achievement for a man still in the prime of life, and who started
his career without influential friends or capital when hardly in his teens.
As a boy he helped to educate his younger brothers and sisters until they were
able to provide for themselves. Mr. Hensel is a man of unusual ability and
splendid poise of character, and one of the citizens who are vitalizing the new
South.
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2712 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
He was born May 2, 1868, at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a son of Au^nat
Ferdinand Hensel, who was born in Stettin, Germany, and who came alone to
this country when a mere boy, having run away from his home. He arrived
on American shores in 1852 and finally reached Sheboygan, Wisconain, He
was living there when the Civil war broke out. Like many Wiaeonsin Ger-
mans he enlisted in the Union army and was made quartermaster sergeant of
the Fifty-second Wisconsin Regiment. He served with the regiment in the
South, and made an excellent record of faithfulness and readiness for every
duty. He often told his children many interesting incidents of the war. Like
most true soldiers he had no personal animosity against the individuals whom
he fought, and he was one of the "Yanks" who as opportunity offered freely
fraternized with the "Rebs" across the lines. Several times he managed to
smuggle food and other supplies and comforts to suiTering Confederate soldiers,
though this kindliness did not in any way prevent him from performing his
duties as a loyal Union soldier to the uttermost. After his return from the
war he bought a farm in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, but some years later
became representative for a large lumber concern in Sheboygan and also con-
ducted a hotel there for about fifteen years until his death in 1887 at the age
of sixty-five. He spent a very useful and industrious life. He married
Augusta Bohn, who was also bom at Stettin, Germany, and came to America
with her parents in 1852. She died in Sheboygan in 1913, aged seventy-seven.
Their nine children were: Oscar HeuBel, now an engineer at his brother's
large plant at Brunswick ; Louie and Albert, both deceased ; Charles, who lives
at Sheboygan ; Mrs. Augusta Fairweather, of Sheboygan ; Mrs. Bertha Kroeger,
of Chicago; Mrs. Agnes Wilson, of Chicago; Mrs, Mary Height, of Joliet,
Illinois.
August E. Hensel, who was the fifth in order of birth, was married April
15, 1895, in Milwaukee to Miss Hattie Vaughn, daughter of John Vaughn,
formerly of Union City, Michigan. Mr, and Mrs. Hensel have no children.
They have one of the comfortable homes of Brunswick and are quite prominent
socially. In politics Mr. Hensel is independent and has never sought any
political honors. He is a member of the Pilots Commission of Brunswick and
is a very competent mariner, and enjoys all the pleasures of yachting, fishing
and outdoor sports. In Masonry he is junior warden of his lodge, a Knight
Templar and a member of the Shrine, and is also affiliated with the Knights
of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to
no denomination of religion, but gives liberally to all, and has never neglected
an opportunity to help struggling and needy people, always remembering his
own early career of trial and hardship. He has turned out some of the finest
machines in the world. He has been offered large and responsible positions
and probably would have accepted them only for "his boys," as he calls his
apprentices. He is a big, jolly, good-hearted fellow. He is one of the first
citizens of Brunswick, and his life should prove an inspiration and encourage-
ment to any young man.
Benjamin H.\r\'et Minchbw, M. D. An active member of the Geoi^a
state medical fraternity since 1912. and since 1913 an official of the Eleventh
District Medical Society. Dr. Benjamin Harvey Minchew, of Waycross, has,
by his ability, industry, learning and character, taken high rank among the
members of his profession, while he is no less valued in the community as a
liberal-minded and enterprising citizen. Doctor Minchew is a native son of
Georgia, born at Denton, Jeff Davis County, November 28. 1882, his parents
being Rev. Abraham Samuel and Mary Ellen (Denton) Minchew.
On both the paternal and maternal sides. Doctor Minchew is descended
from old, distinguished and honorable families of Jeff Davis County and
Southern Georgia. The Town, of Denton was named in honor of the family
to which Mrs. Minchew belongs, and two generations of the Dentons have
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■GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2713
resided ihere. The Hargrav^ Wiieoxea, Dentons and MiiiehewB have all con-
tributed men of standkig and worth to the professions, to public life, to
business and to public-spirited citizenship, and in each field of endeavor those
bearing these names have given excellent accounts of themselves. R«v. Abra-
ham Samuel Minchew was born in 1856, in Jeff Davis County, Georgia, on
the plantation that had been occupied and operated for many years by his
father. For a quarter of a century he has labored faithfully in the service
of the Baptist Church and has filled various pastorates in Southern Georgia,
where he is one of the best beloved men of the cloth. He has also engaged
actively and successfully in business enterprises of a varied and extensive
character, and has large farming interests. A. prominent member of the
Masonic fraternity, he is worshipful master of his lodge. In political matters
he is a democrat, but although he wields a distinct influence in his community
in matters of civic importance, he has taken but a good citizen's part in public
affairs. Mrs, Minehew was bom in Jeff Davis County, Georgia, at Denton, on
the same plantation upon which her son, Doctor Minehew 's birth occurred.
Like her husband, she has long been an active and helpful worker in the
Baptist Church, and is a woman greatly beloved in her neighborhood, where
her kindly heart has led her to many acts of charity. Eight children were
bom to Reverend and Mrs. Minehew, namely: John A„ who died in 1906, at
the age of thirty-two years, at Atlanta, Geoi^a ; Aleph, who is the wife of
M. N. Sumner, a prominent Denton planter; Benjamin Harvey, of this
notice; Belle, who is the wife of C. H. Spivey, a planter of Denton; Miss
Margaret, who is a resident of Denton ; Thomas E., who is carrying on opera-
tions on the plantation at Denton; Eula, who married Clifford L. Harrell,
a merchant in Douglas, Georgia ; and William, who also resides at that place.
Benjamin Harvey Minehew received his early education in the public
schools of Jeff Davis County, following which he went to Douglas, Coffee
County, and there attended the normal school. He began his independent
career as a stock clerk for the Frank Adams Wholesale and Retail Grocery
ConLpany, of Lake City, Florida, and remained in the employ of this concern
for four years, during which time, by reason of his industry, energy, fidelity
and reliability he was promoted step by step to the position of bookkeeper.
During these years however, he had decided that his was not a nature fitted
for business, but rather for a professional career, and accordingly, in 1905,
he became a student at the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons.
His college course was one marked by brilliant accomplishments. Id his
second year he was elected vice president of his class, of which he was one of
the most popular members, as he wa.s also during his junior year, when he
was elected president of the class. He was graduated from the institution
and in that year was appointed junior house sunieon of the Georgia Baptist
Hospital. He received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1909, and during
the summer of that year won in competition a place on the staff of Grady
Hospital, Atlanta. He was subsequently offered, and accepted, the position
of official house surgeon at Elkins Goldsmith Sanitarium, a position in which
he remained for two years, gaining much valuable experience. In the fall of
1911 he attended clinics at the New York Eye and Bar Infirmary, New
York City, and at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, and in the following
summer settled permanently at Waycross, where he has since continued in
the enjoyment of a large and growing practice of the most desirable kind.
Doctor Minehew is a specialist in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear,
nose and throat. By his attainments and learning he has contributed mate-
rially to the professional prestige of Waycross, and the recognition of his
fine talents and abilities by his fellow -practitioners has led him to he called
to positions of honor in this section. In 1913 he was elected secretary of the
Eleventh District Medical Society, in 1914 was elected vice president of the
same organization, and in 1915 was chosen to represent the society in the chair
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2714 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS-
of president. He belongs- also to the Ware County Medical Society, the
Georgia State Medical Society, the Southern Medical Association and the
American Medical Association, his membership in which, combined with
his constant and unremitting study and research, enables him to keep fully
abreast of the advancements being constantly made in the field of medicine
and surgerj-.
Aside from the duties of his profession, Doctor Minchew has taken only
a minor interest in other aifairs, but has acquired financial interests in the
business life of Waycross. He believes in and enjoys companionship with
his fellows, being a popular memiber of the Masons, the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the "World, and when he can spare
the time is an enthusiast in regard to fishing, baseball and general athletics.
As a citizen he has supported stanchly every movement launched for the
public welfare, and has always been a strong friend of education and religion.
Dr. Albert Bellingrath Mason, one of the leading specialists of
Ware County, is by birth, nurture and training a son of the South. He is a
product of Georgia's educational institutions, than which there may be found
no better in the country, and during the comparatively short period in which
he has been engaged in professional labors has risen steadily to a recognized
place among those whose activities are being prosecuted in the field of spe-
cializing in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. As a citizen, he has lent
his aid to every good movement launched in the interests of Ware County
and Waycross, the place of his residence.
Doctor Mason was born in the City of Atlanta, Georgia, May 29, 1887,
and is a son of Dr. Walter D. M. and Caroline M. (Bellingrath) Mason, and
a member of one of Atlanta's old and distinguished families. His father was
bom at Camilla, Mitchell County, Georgia, in 1861, and as a young man
adopted the profession of dentistrj-, in which he had a long and successful
career. After his graduation from the Cincinnati (Ohio) Dental College, he
took up his residence and practice at Fort Worth, Texas, where for thirteen
years he cared for a large and representative clientele. At the end of that
time he retired from active participation in professional affairs and returned
to Atlanta, where bis death occurred in 1904, when he was forty-three years
of age. Doctor Mason was a well known and highly respected citizen, with
an excellent reputation in the ranks of his calling. He was an active member
of the Presbyterian Church, as was Mrs. Mason, and both were prominent in
social circles. The doctor was a member of the Knights of Pythias, Mrs.
Mason was born at Atlanta, Georgia, and died in her native city in 1910.
The only child of his parents, Albert Bellingrath Mason attended the
graded schools of Fort Worth and the high schools at Atlanta, and after his
graduation from the latter spent one year in the Georgia School of Tech-
nology. He then entered upon his medical studies at the Atlanta College
of physicians and Surgeons, from which noted institution he was graduated
with the class of 1909, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He
began his professional career as the associate of Dr. H. M. Lokey, of Atlanta,
with whom he remained four years, and in 1913 carai? to Waycross, where
he has since gained well-merited recognition as a specialist in the treatment
of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Doctor Mason has always been
an earnest and conscientious student of his profession, spending much time
in private investigation and research. He is a valued member of the Ware
County Medical Society, the Georgia State Medical Society, the American
Medical Association and the Elevehth District Medical Association, and is a
fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology. Hig
fraternal connections are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
and the Masons, and in the latter order he is a Knight Templar and a Shriner.
His political tendencies make him a democrat.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2715
Doctor Mason was married Septemiber 1, 1909, at Memphis, Tennessee, to
Miss Imogene Kane, who was born at Marshall, Texas, daughter of John
Francis and Mary (Mullins) Kane residents of Atlanta, and they have one
child, Imogene, bom at Atlanta, September 12, 1913. Doctor Mason is a
member of the Presbyterian Church, while Mrs. Mason is an Episcopalian,
and both have been active in religious work.
Edoar AUiEN Stubbs. An energetic promoter of business and financial
interests, Edgar Allen Stubbs has been located at Waycross since 1910, and
during this period has been cashier of the Citizens Bank of Waycross, in
addition to being interested in other lines of endeavor. While still a young
man in regard to years, Mr. Stubbs has had a wealth of experience and is
justly accounted by his associates a clear thinking man of sound judgment
whose advice in monetary matters is eagerly sought.
Mr. Stubbs was bom at Cedartown, Georgia, March 23, 1884, and is a
son of John S, and Madge (Simmons) Stubbs. His father was bom in
Pulton County, Georgia, in 1843, and was given a good education, so that
when still a youth he embarked upon a career as a teacher. When the Civil
war broke out he enlisted at the age of nineteen years, serving with marked
dbtinction in the Confederate army, and rising, during his four years, to the
rank of adjutant general, holding this post with the Forty-second Georgia
Infantry. He was captured at Vicksburg, but was exchanged not long there- ,
after, and was again made a prisoner of war in Kentucky. At the close of
the conflict Mr. Stubbs engaged in school teaching at Cave Springs, Georgia,
for two years, then moving to Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia, where he
became a pioneer merchant. In the early days he was the owner of practically
all the property on which the principal business of that prosperous city is now
being carried on. He was the organizer of the first bank at Cedartown, took
a great interest in movements for the civic welfare and for many years was
chairman of the Cedartown Board of Education. Politically Mr. Stubbs was
a democrat. He was an active member of the Methodist Church, in the faith
of which he died in December, 1912, aged sixty-nine years. Mrs, Stubbs,
who still survives and is an educated and cultured lady, was bom in 1847, at
Cave Springs, Georgia, and for many years has been active in the movements
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs there were bom
eight children, as follows: John T., a cotton buyer, with headquarters at
Chattanooga; Eula, who is the wife of James Lawler, of Birmingham, Ala-
bama; Herbert W., who is engaged in the banking business at Quitman,
Geoi^a; Marie, who is the wife of J. Will Johnson, of Conyers, Georgia;
Albert W,, a merchant and cotton buyer of Cedartown ; Martha and Madge,
twins; and Edgar Allen.
Edgar Allen Stubbs was educated in the graded and high schools of
Cedartown, hut owing to poor health gave up his studies at the age of
eighteen years and became a bookkeeper for his father. Three years later he
accepted a similar position with John D. Walker, of Sparta, Georgia, a leading
banker and owner of a chain of financial institutions, and remained with him
for two years, winning through his ability, ener^ and fidelity promotion to
the position of auditor and confidential advisor. He took a prominent part in
the organization of many of Mr. Walker's banking houses, gained much
valuable experience in matters financial, and continued with him until 1910,
when he resigned to accept the position of cashier of the Citizens Bank of
Waycross, which he has since retained, in addition to being a director of the
eoneera. This strong institution of Ware County was founded in 1910 with
a capital of $50,000 and $10,000 surplus, the officers being J. R. Bunn,
president; Marvin L. Bunn, vice president, and E, A. Stubbs, cashier. It has
enjoyed steady' and continued success and now occupies a substantial position .
in the confidence of the people and ptestige in banking circles of this part of
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2716 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the state. Mr. Stubbs, in addition to discharging his duties as cashier of the
bank, is interested in the fire and life insurance business, a line which he has
built up to large proportions. He has always been a close student and lover
. of good literature, and owns one of the finest private libraries at Waycross.
He is an advocate of good roads and has been a supporter of movements
toward this end, and his hobby is agriculture, a subject ipon which he is
thoroughly informed. Mr. Stubbs is a democrat as a voter, and his religious
faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he is now serving as
steward.
IMr. Stubbs was married January 16, 1913, at Sparta, Geoi^a, to Miss
Bessie Powell, of that city, daughter of Dr. J. C. and Euneie (Green) Powell,
Doctor Powell is one of the best known physicians of Sparta, as well as a
leading citizen of that place. Like her husband, Mrs. Stubbs is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been very active in mis»onary and
general religious and charitable work.
Herschel Vespasian Johnson, twenty-third governor of Georgia, United
States senator. Confederate States senator and democratic candidate for vice
president, was born in Burke County, Georgia, on September 18, 1812, In
1834 he graduated from the classical course of the State University at Athens
and was admitted to the bar in the following year. In 1839 he moved to
Jefferson County, bought an extensive plantation, and for the remainder of
his life divided his time between his planting interest and the practice of
law. In 1844 he was an elector on the Polk ticket and canvassed the state
with a successful issue. In 1847 he was appointed United States senator t<?
fill the unexpired term of Walter T. Colquitt, and thus served until March,
1849. He was a delegate to the Baltimore National Democratic Convention
in 1848, and in 1849 was elected judge of the Superior Court of the Oomulgee
District. In 1852 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention
that Dominated Pierce and was an elector at lai^ on the Pierce ticket. In
1853 he was nominated and elected governor over Charles J, Jenkins. In
1855 he was re-elected. As the troubles between the two sections of the
country became more acute, Governor Johnson became profundly disturbed
in mind. He did not wish to see the rights of the state disregarded, but he
did wish to preserve the Union, if such a thing were possible. In 1860 he was
a vice presidential candidate (with Stephen A. Douglas as president) on the
Union democratic ticket. He tried to defeat secession, but when Geoi^a
went out of the Union he followed her and became a member of the Confed-
erate States Senate, At the close of the war he presided over what is known
as the First Constitutional Convention which met in October, 1865. This had
the approval of President Johnson and in the year following, he was elected
with Alexander H. Stephens to the United States Senate, President John-
son and the Congress had almost come to Wows over the Southern policy, and
Congress having repudiated President Johnson's policy, it followed that they
refused to seat Governor Johnson and Stephens.
In 1872 he was elected judge of the Middle Circuit, and continued to
serve in that capacity until his death at his home in Jefferson County, on
August 16, 1880.
George Washington Towns, lawyer, legislator, congressman, and gov-
ernor of Georgia, was born in Wilkes County, Georgia, May 4, 1801. He
entered upon the practice of the law about 1821 and in 1829 was elected to
the Lower House of the State Legislature. In 1830 he was re-elected, and in
1832 he was in the State Senate. In 1835, having home himself well in the
General Assembly, he was elected a member of the Twenty-fourth Congress
as a Union democrat, serving from December 7, 1835, to September 1, 1836,
when he resigned. He was elected again to the Twenty-fifth Congress, and
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2717
served the full term. For a number of years afterwards he devoted himself
strictly to practice, but in January, 1847, again took his seat in Congress
and served in the Twenty-ninth Congress for the remainder of an unexpired
term. He served two terms as governor, commencing in 1847, retiring in
November, 1851. His death occurred at his residence in Macon, July 15,
1854. In 1856 a new county was named after him.
John G. Sessoms. The subject of this sketch is a lawyer of WayeroBS,
Georgia, and holds the office of referee in bankruptcy for the counties of
Ware, Baker, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee and Pierce.
Mr. Sessoms was bom in Columbus County, North Carolina, May 3, 1874,
and is a son of Alexander and Hannah Jane (Bullard) Sessoms, natives also
of the Old North State. In 1876 the family moved to Eastman, Dodge County,
Georgia, where the father was engaged in merchandising and the naval stores
business for two years, and subsequently went to Appling County, Mr.
Sessoms continuing in business in that county until 1892. In that year he
took his family to Waycross, where he resided until 1906, in which year he
removed his family to New Mexico. In 1910 Mr. Sessoms made a visit to
Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, where his death occurred
when he was seventy-seven years of age, Mr. Sessoms during the Civil war,
fought as a soldier of the army of the Confederacy, taking part in many im-
portant engagements, including Savannah, was wounded at Port Fisher, and
after the close of the war remained at Fortress Monroe for some time. He
was a prominent Mason, and his religious faith was that of the Methodist
Church. His first wife, who bore the maiden name of Hannah Jane Bnllard,
died in 1879, at the age of thirty-three years, having been the mother of three
children : Blanche, who is the wife of Hon. L. J. Cooper, member of the
State Legislature and president of the First National Bank of Waycross;
Albert H., of Atlanta; and John G., of this notice. Mr, Sessoms was again
married to Miss Lou Cogdell, a native of North Carolina, who died in 1912,
the mother of seven children : Alexander K., president of the Waycross &
Western Railroad and a prominent planter of Cogdell, Georgia; Pauline, who
is the widow of W. J. Swain, formerly of Atlanta, Georgia; Ruby, the wife of
Edmondson B. Link, of I^as Cruees, New Mexico ; Ralph Bayard, a planter of
Cogdell, Georgia; Robert L., a student at the State Agricultural College,
Mesiila Park, New Mexico, and at the date of the writing of this sketch, in
service in the New Mexico National Guard; Lewis C, a student in the schools
of Waycross; and Dorothy, who is attending the schools of Las Crucea,
New Mexico.
After attending the public schools of Graham, Georgia, John G. Sessoms
was subsequently graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Emory
College, in 1894, and at that time commenced reading law with the firm of
Garrard & Meldrim, of Savannah, being admitted to the bar by the Hon.
Robert Falligant, judge of the Superior Court of Chatham County, in 1895.
Mr. Sessoms commenced the practice of his profession at Savannah, where he
remained until 1902, then going to Andalusia, Alabama, to engage in the
wholesale grocery business with his brother, Alexander. In 1905 he severed
his connections with that enterprise and became associated with the First
National Bank of Andalusia. In 1910, on account of the death of his father
- he was compelled to return to Waycross, Georgia, where he has spent prac-
tically five years in settling up his father's estate, and when this important
task was completed he returned to the practice of law at Waycross. In
October, 1915, Mr. Sessoms was appointed referee in bankruptcy for the
following counties, as before noted : Ware, Baker, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee
and Pierce. He is a Mason and Pythian Knight, and his religious faith is
that of the Methodist Church.
Mr. Sessoms was married in 1903 to Miss Mary Weston, daughter of Rev.
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2718 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
J. TF. Weaton. She died in 1906, at Andalusia, Alabama, living two chil-
dren : John G., bom at Andalusia, January 9, 1905 ; and Mary Lillian, bom
April 3, 1906, at Swainsboro, Georgia, while her mother was on a visit to the
home of het parents. Mr. Sessoms married for hiB second wife Miss Bertha
Folsom, of Andalusia, Alabama, daughter of David P. Folaom, of that city.
Three children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Sessoms : Margaret Hannah,
bom Jane 10, 1909, at Andalusia, Alabama ; Elizabeth, bom September 1, 1913,
at Wayeross, Qeorgia ; and Eleanor, bom December 28, 1914, at Wayeross. Mrs.
Sessoms is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Sessoms is a
democrat, but takes an interest in party politics only as a spectator,
Edward J. Berry. Clerk of the Superior Court at Wayeross, Edward J.
Berry is one of the worthy citizens of Southern Georgia whose career exem-
plifies a progressive accomplishment from a youth of meager opportunitiea
and absence of wealth and its influence.
Though his home has been in Qeorgia since childhood, Edward J. Berry
was bom at Edgefield, Lexington County, South Carolina, December 16, 1869,
a son of Francis and Sarah C. (Higgs) Berry, his father a native of Charles-
ton and bis mother of Beaufort, South Carolina. In 1881 the family came to
Georgia and located near Wayeross, where Francis Berry followed his pro-
fession as an educator until he retired on account of old age. During the
Civil war he was one of the private soldiers under the command of General
Beauregard around Charleston in the latter period of the war. He died in
Ware County, Georgia, in 1906 at the age of seventy-seven, while his wife
passed away there in 1905 aged seventy-one.
Edward J. Berry was the youngest of three children. He had to work
his own way after concluding his education in the public schools of Ware
County, and his first occupation was as a teacher, which he followed for
five years. For another five years he was employed as a bookkeeper in his
home county. In 1900 he was elected county school commissioner, but filled
that office only a year and a half before he resigned consequent upon his
election as clerk of the Superior Court in 1902. He has proved to be the
right man for the place, and has been kept in the office ever since 1902, for a
period of thirteen years.
For the past six years Mr. Berry has been a member of the Board of
Education at Wayeross. He is active in the democratic party, is a member
of the Masonic order including the Knights Templar Commandery and the
Mystic Shrine, and also of the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Junior Order of
United American Mechanics. His church is the Methodist Episcopal.
On December 11, 1894, in Ware County, Mr. Berry married Miss Nettie
M. Cason, daughter of the late J. A. Cason. Two children have been bom to
their union : Miss Ruby, bom in Wayne County in 1898, now a student in
the South Georgia State Normal School ; and Edwin, bom in 1901 and attend-
ing the high school at Wayeross.
BowDRE PHmizT. In the complex makeup of civilized society there is no
type of man that wields a greater influence than the journalist. The authors
of books usually appeal to a particular class, the statesman's policies are
approved only by the members of his own party, his eloquence in the halls of
legislation being wasted on the opposition, but the newspaper editor can place
his views before all the people and, even if he does not convince all, can
become a mighty power in moulding public opinion. One of the prominent
members of the journalistic fraternity in the State of Georgia is Bowdre
Phinizy, owner and publisher of the Augusta Daily Herald, of Augusta, and
the Athens Daily Herald, of Athens, Georgia. Mr. Phinizy was bom in
Augusta December 27, 1871, the son of P. Bowdre and Mary Lou (Yancey)
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIAKS 2719
Phinizy. His paternal gmodfathier Tvas Ferdinand Phinizy, of Athens,
Georgia, while on the maternal side he is a grandson of Col. Benjamin C.
Yancey, of Athens, and a grand nephew of William L, Yaneey, of Alabama.
Mr. Phinizy acquired his elementary education in the public schools of
Augusta, afterward attending the Webb School at Bell Buckle, Tennessee.
His education was then continued at Princeton University, at Princeton, New
Jersey, where he gained the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts,
and at Johns Hopkins University, at Baltimore, Maryland. He subsequently
studied law at the University of Virginia and at Harvard, and in 1894 was
admitted to the bar. After two years' practice of law, however, he abandoned
that profession for journalism, in which he has since been engaged very
successfully, his two newspapers being bright and readable sheets, well patron-
ized, and exerting a beneficial influence upon the communities in which they
are respectively published. In political matters they reflect their owner's
opinions, which are democratic with an independent tendency, and, above all,
pr(^es.sive. Mr. Phinizy was a member of the Georgia Legislature in 1895-6 ;
he was a member of the Augusta School Board from 1896 to 1900 and from
1907 up to the present year, 1915, he has been a trustee of the University of
Georgia. In politics he has always been allied with the progressive wing of
his party. Mr. Phinizy is unmarried. Religiously he is afliliated with the
Episcopal Church, while socially he belongs to the Commercial Club, the
Country Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
J.\MES Render '^ebrell. Long continued popularity is usually a good
certificate of character. No m&n is smart enough to "fool all of tlie people
all of the time," and although there are dishonest politicians who retain
office for many consecutive years, they nearly alwaj's owe their successive
re-eleetions to methods which, when known, cause them to forfeit the confi-
dence of their constituents. Among the able lawyers of Georgia who have
served the people in positions of responsibility and trust and have never
betrayed the confidence reposed in them is the present solicitor general of
the Coweta Circuit, James Render Terrell, of Greenville, Meriwether County.
Mr. Terrell was born in Greenville, Georgia, on Monday, August 10, 1868,
the son of Dr. Joel E. G. and Sarah (Anthony) Terrell. He is a grandson
of David M. Terrell, who in former days was a well-to-do planter ot Meri-
■ wether County, and whose wife in maidenhood was Eliza Chapman. Dr. Joel
E. G. Terrell was a graduate of the Atlanta Medical College and of the
Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, and became one of the best known
and most popular physicians in Meriwether County. When Jhe Civil war
broke out he was about to enlist in the Confederate army, but the citizens of
his county presented a petition to the Confederate government, requesting
that he might be permitted to remain at home in order to care for the sick
and wounded, and the request was granted. In this capacity he performed
excellent service, there being only two other physicians left in the county to
aid him. He died in 1886 at the age of fifty-three years. His wife Sarah
was a daughter of Dr. Joseph Walker and Martha (Render) Anthony, her
father being the eldest of the three physicians who ministered to the sick
in Meriwether County during the war. Dr. Joel E. G. Terrell and wife had
six children: Annie Lee, who married Hines Holt, of Columbus, Georgia,
and died in 1902; Joseph M., who died November 17, 1912, after having
served as governor of Georgia and United States senator ; Dr. E. B. Terrell,
of Greenville ; William A., engaged in the insurance and real estate business
at Decatur ; J. Render, the subject of this sketch, and Dr. Henry "W. Terrell,
of La Grange.
James Render Terrell was educated in Greenville under private tutors —
Prof. W. T. Revill, Col. E. W. Martin and Rev. J. H. Cline, mostly, however,
lander Professor R«vill, who was one of the noted teachers in Greenville, In
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2720 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
1885 he entered Mercer Univeraity, where he was graduated A. B. in the elasa
of 1888. Among his classmates in college are some of the most prominent
men of Geoi^ia; Mr. Terrell then read law^ under the direction of his
brother, the Hon. Joseph M. Terrell, and was admitted to the bar September
13, 1889, by the Hon. Sampson W. Harris, at Newnan, Georgia. Just after
reaching his majority he was called upon to serve in public office, being
elected mayor of Greenville without opposition, and was the youngest mayor
in the state. He was next elected to succeed his brother, Hon. Joseph M.
Terrell, as state senator, in 1899-1890, and while in the Senate was elected
president pro tem of that body, under Hon, W. A. Dodson, its president.
This was the first time in the history of Meriwether County that two brothers
were elected by the people to succeed each other in the same office.
After returning from the Senate Mr. Terrell took up the practice of law
in Greenville. In the fall of 1904 he was elected solicitor general for the
Coweta Circuit and entered upon the duties of this office January 1, 1905.
His commission was signed by his brother, Hon. Joseph M. Terrell as governor.
On September ]2, 1916, he was elected judge of the Superior Courts of the
Coweta Circuit without opposition. Although he has been in public life
for a number of years, Mr. Terrell has never held an office by appointment,
having always been elected by the people. In every position in which he
has been placed he has given ample evidence of possessing in full measure
those qualities of ability and integrity that are apparently a heritage in his
family. He is a director of the Peoples Bank of Greenville and is also largely
interested in farming. A branch of agriculture in which he takes a special
interest is the growing of pecan trees, of which he has a grove of 300, from
"one to seven years of age. He has society affiliations with the Masons, Knights
of Pythias and Odd Fellows.
BJr. Terrell was married December 19, 1895, at Columbus, Georgia, to
Miss Mamie L. Harrison, a native of Harris County, Georgia, and daughter
of E. W. and Pauline (Hood) Harrison. Mrs. Terrell's maternal grand-
father. Dr. E. C. Hood, was one of the leading physicians of Harris County
and a prominent citizen of his part of the state. He served in the state
senate and died at the home of the subject of this sketch in Greenville at
the age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Terrell is also related to another dis-
tinguished family, the Hudaons, one member of which, Hon. C. I. Hudson,
is a present state senator. Seven children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs.
Terrell, as follows: May, the first born, who died at the age of five years;
Render, born July 4, 1899; Joel Hood, bom September 23, 1902, named
after his great-grandfather Hood and his grandfather Terrell; Annie Holt,
born November 8, 1904, named after her aunt, Annie Lee Terrell Holt;
Mamie, born October 31, 1907 ; Jessie Lee, born May 30, 1910, named after
the wife of Governor Joseph M. Terrell ; and Pauline, bom April 12, 1914,
who was named after her grandmother, Pauline Harrison. Mrs. Terrell
was graduated from Cox College, then located at La Grange, Georgia, and
also took a post-graduate course in music. She is a lady of brilliant talents
and was the first and only woman to read a paper before the bar association
of Georgia, which was a largely humorous article entitled "The Georgia
Lawyer, from a Woman's Viewpoint." The paper was printed and circu-
lated among the members of the legal profession. A copy of it reached Chief
Justice Fuller of the United States Supreme Court, who sent her an auti^aph
letter complimenting her highly. Slie also received compliments from Hon.
Joseph H. Lumpkin, associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and
many other members of the profession. Mrs. Terrell takes a leading part in
church and missionary work but is opposed to woman suffrage. Jlr. and Mrs.
Terrell reside in the home in which he was born and where he has always
lived. All of his children were born in the same house. He is a man of
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2721
strong character, brilliaat as an advocate and a progressive and patriotic
citizen ; of a genial disposition, and above all enjoys bis happy home life.
Harold P. Brothebton. Changes in the ownership of land has been an
element of progress in nations as well as in communities. Often these changes
have not been peacefully brought about but they have always been indicative
of energy and enterprise. The handling of real estate as a business Indicates
the command of capital and the possession of trained business faculties. The
time has gone by in Georgia when land sales meant merely the transference
of money and deed, with no other object in view than the accumulation of
landed estates. Georgia property, especially near Atlanta bas grown so val-
uable for agricultural, business or residence pui^oses, that investments are
carefully considered from every point, by both purchaser and agent, the
latter bearing the heavier responsibility. Upon his expert knowledge of land
and true values and upon his honorable methods in these transactions, rest
his reputation in the business world and his future operations along the same
line. A very prominent real estate firm of Fulton Countyj located at East
Point, is that of Brotherton & Callahan, the senior member of which, Harold
P. Brotherton, belongs to one of Atlanta's best known families.
Harold P. Brotherton was born at Atlanta, September 5, 1885, and is the
youngest son of the late Captain William H, Brotherton. He attended the
Atlanta public schools and later the Georgia Military Academy, at College
Park, Georgia. At the age of eighteen years he put aside his school books
in order to enter into business, becoming a partner in the general mercantile
firm of \V. H. Brotherton & Sons, at East Point, Georgia. This firm was
established by his father at this pl^ce, just outside Atlanta, in 1904, and
Harold P. Brotherton together with his brother, William M. Brotherton,
devoted his time and attention to its interests. The father died in 1908 but
the sons continued together until 1912, since which time Harold P. Brotherton
has been in the real estate business at East Point, his partner being R. B.
Callahan. This firm makes a specialty of dealing in farm property and
operafes all over the state. In addition the firm carries on a local renting
and loan business and additionally handles fire insurance. On the business
card of the firm one may read the legend "We sell the earth," and very val-
uable earth it is. Mr. Brotherton was married July 24, 1904, to Miss Minnie
May Arp, who is a granddaughter of the well known humorist "Bill" Arp.
Mr. and Mrs. Brotherton are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He is somewhat active in fraternal circles and is a Royal Arch Mason and an
Elk. In politics he is a democrat. As further indication of his business
stability, it may be stated that he is on the directing board of the Bank of
East Point.
Hon. Fred T. L.\nieb. Now serving as a membef of the House of Repre-
sentatives in tbe Georgia Legislature, Mr. Lanier is a prominent and suc-
cessful lawyer of Statesboro and by his own exertions and tbe exercise of
his native ability has brought himself into influential position in his home
state, though still under forty years of age.
He was bom in Bulloch County, Georgia, August 6, 1877, the ninth in a
large family of fifteen children born to Allen R. and Macy Ann (Bowen)
Lanier. His father, who died in 1897. at the age of fifty-seven, served for
three years as a private soldier in the Confederate army, having enlisted
from Bulloch County. He afterwards was a substantial farmer and served
as clerk of the Superior Court and as judge of ordinary for twelve years.
The mother was bom in Bulloch County and is still living at the age of
seven ty-one.
Fred T. Lanier worked on the farm and had little opportunity to attend
school until he was fourteen years of age. He finished the course of the
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2722 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Statesboro High School, and later entering the law department of the Univer-
sity of Georgia was graduated LL. B. in 1901. Since then he has been in
active practice in Statesboro and is regarded as one of the strongest advo-
cates in that jadicial district. For eigh( years up to 1915 he served as
solicitor of the City Court of Statesboro, and is now representing the interests
of his home county in the State Legislature. He is a member of the County
Bar Association, is a democrat, and a member of the Methodist Episcop^
Church. Mr. Lanier also has some farming interests.
On January 19, 1909, at Statesboro he married Miss Ruby Simmons,
daughter of Dr. Uiil and Alice (Brannen) Simmons. Her father is a dentist
and is still living, while her mother died several years ago. In their home
at Statesboro were born two children: Alice Katherine, born in January,
1910, and Ruby Corine, born September 25, 1915.
Freeman Walker was bom on October 25, 1780, in Charles City, Vir-
ginia, and lived there until he was sixteen years old, when he located in
Augusta, studied law and in 1802 was admitted to the bar. In 1807 Rich-
mond County sent him to the Legislature. For three years he was the city
attorney of Augusta, which then elected him mayor. On December 8, 1819,
he resigned the mayoralty to fill the place of United States senator, succeed-
ing the celebrated John Forsyth, In 1821 he resigned his seat in the Senate,
and resumed the practice of law, which he continued until his death, Sep-
tember 23, 1827. Walker County, organized in 1833, was named in honor of
Mr. Walker.
Stephen Upson, eminent lawyer, and able jurist, was born in Waterbury,
Connecticut, in 1785. After graduating from Yale College in 1804 he studied
law under Judge Reeve, at Litchfield, whose school, at that day find for fifty
years thereafter, had the reputation of being the leading law school in Amer-
ica. Ill health rendered it necessary for him to remove to a southern climate ;
and in 1807 he left his native state and, after spending a short time in Vir-
ginia, located at Lexington, Georgia, studied law with William H. Crawford,
and in 1808 commenced practice. Mr. Upson represented Oglethorpe County
in the State Legislature from 1820 to the period of his death, which took place
August 24, 1824, aged thirty-nine years. In 1827 Upson County was named
in his honor.
Frank Lawson. Not yet thirty years of age, Frank Lawson has shown
such ability and talent as a newspaper editor as to clasfflfy him with the
le^ing journalists of the State of Georgia. He is business manager and
editor of the Courier Herald, at Dublin, and has been largely responsible for
making that one. of the live and vigorous daily newspapers of Middle Geoi^ia,
and besides the general dissemination of news it has proved a valiant imple-
ment in the warfare against the liquor traffic.
Born in Hawkinsville, Georgia, December 22, 1886, Frank Lawson is a
son of Shine B. and Emma (Adams) Lawson. His father was bom either
in Dodge or Pulaski County, Georgia, and saw active service during the
war between the stales in Captain Anderson's company of Pulaski County.
He served as second lieutenant and was in practically all the campaigns and
battles in which his company and regiment participated. After the war he
was in the cotton business as a cotton grader over a territory comprising four
or five counties. His death occurred at Hawkinsville in 1888 at the age of
forty-four. He was affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Knights of
Pythias and was active in the Baptist Church. His widow now resides at
Tennille, Georgia, is the wife of A. L. Spicer, who is general treasurer of the
Wrightsville & Tennille Railroad. Frank Lawson was the youngest of three
children. His brother, Harley F. Lawson, is a leading attorney at Hawkins-
ville, and his sister, Eva, is the wife of R. H. Neel of Thomasville, Georgia.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2723
For a man of his years Frank Lawson has had a varied career. He
attended the public schools in Hawkinsville, the high school at Macon, and
completed the junior year in the Georgia School of Technology at Atlanta,
where be pursued a course in the electrical engineering department. On
leaving college he found a clerkship in the cnSccs of the WrightsviUe & Ten-
nille Kailroad Company and had been advanced to the position of chief clerk
before he left the railway employ six years later. It was to identify himself
with what is undoubtedly his real vocation that he resigned his railroad
. position to become business manager and editor of the Laurens County Herald,
a position he held during 1912 and 1913. The Herald was consolidated with
the i>ispateh and subsequently was evolved the Courier-Herald. Originally
a weekly, the paper was first published twice a week and is now a daily issue,
and is one of the most pn^ressive papers published in a city the size of
Dublin in the State of Georgia if not in the United States, Since entering
newspaper work Mr. Lawson has devoted his entire time to the calling, and
enjoys every minute he spends in the editorial chair. As an editorial writer
who eserts a big influence over thought and action, he is known probably all
over Georgia, and has become distinguished for his fearlesi and pointed
editorials, pw^ieularly those on the varied aspects of prohibition, of which
cause he is an ardent supporter.
He is a mem^ber of the democratic party, and hia church home is the
Methodist. On December 6, 1912, at Dublin, Mr. Lawson married Miss May
Robison of Butts County, Georgia, and a daughter of E. C. and Mary (Clay)
Robison. They have one child, Augusta Lawson, born December 2, 1913, at
Dublin. Mrs. Lawson is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and of the Missionary Society. While in college Mr. Lawson was identified
with the Kappa Alpha fraternity. Outside of business and his profession he
finds his chief diversion in the reading and study of a wide range of literature.
Chablbs Daniel McKinney, The business and professional activities of
Charles D. McKinney have made him about equally well known in both
Atlanta and Decatur. He still regards Decatur as his place of residence, but
his business offices are in the Hurt Building at Atlanta. Mr. McKinney is
a lawyer, has done some valuable work as an educator, and hia chief interest
outside the practice of law is the industrial development of the South.
At the present time -he is a member of the law firm of Qreen, Tilson &
McKinney and is president of the Fulton Investment Company of Atlanta.
He comes of a fine old Virginia family. He was bom at Fannville, Vir-.
ginia, March 20, 1872, a son of Samuel B. and Betty (Watkins) MeKinney.
His father was bom in Buckinghami County, Virginia, and his mother in
Farmville of that state. The McKinneya were of Scotch-Irish ancestry but
for a number of generations have lived in Virginia. Samuel B. McKinney
rose to the rank of captain in the Confederate army. Mr, McKinney 's grand-
father, Judge F. N. Watkins, was noted as a Virginia lawyer and judge, while
an uncle, Phillip "W. McKinney, served as governor of Virginia from 1890 to
1894.
Charles Daniel McKinney graduated from Hampden-Sidney College in
1890 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and for post-graduate work was
awarded the degree Bachelor of Literature. For a number of years he fol-
lowed teaching, principally in Georgia, and at the same time pursued law
studies which earned him his law degree from the University of Geoi^ia in
1899. From 1891 to 1893 Mr. McKinney was principal of the Bainbridge
graded schools, was associate principal of the Donald Fraser High School
at Decatur from 1893 to 1898 and again from 1900 to 1902, In 1909-10-11
he was professor of realty in the Atlanta Law School. While in his early
work as a lawj'cr at Decatur he served on the city council from 1899 to 1901
and again from 1903 to 1905.
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2724 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Mr. McKinney was the founder and first president of the Decatur Board
of Trade, from 1910 to 1912, and was president of the General Alumni Asso-
ciation of Hampden-Siduey from 1910 to 1912, and has served as president
of the DeKalb County Cjo«jd Roads Association. In addition to his law prac-
tice and his duties as president of the Fulton Investment Company, he is also
secretary of the Atlanta Realty Investment Company. Mr. McKinney is a
democrat, a member of the Presbyterian church, and is affiliated with the
Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter of Masonry-. His first wife was Miss
Annie McGill, whom he married in 1893, and who died in 1897. In 1906 he .
married Miss Emma Kirkpatriek who died in 1907. On February 1, 1912,
Miss Margaret Earle Askew, of Atlanta, became his wife.
Thomas W. Loyless. The value of the service rendered to a state, county
or community by newspapers can scarcely be overestimated. Putting aside
their great educational value in instructing, entertaining and enlightening, as
they bring the uttermost parts of the earth to the humblest fireside, these great
gatherers and purveyors of news have other important missions and one of
these is the exploiting, through home pride, of the advantages enjoyed and
offered, thereby becoming factors in attracting capital and permanent resi-
dents, necessary concomitants of prosperity. Georgia is great in many things
and has reason to be proud of her press, many of her journals ranking with
the most progressive and best edited in the country. Undoubtedly the Augusta
Chronicle is among the recognized leaders of the southern dailies. Established
in 1785 it is, therefore, the oldest newspaper in the South, having continued
publication through storm and stress, through panics and through change of
ownership for more than 131 years and, under the able management of
Thomas W. Loyleas, its present editor, who is president of the Chronicle Com-
pany, it not only maintains its old prestige but has largely become the exponent
of all that is desirable in modern journalism.
Thomas W. Loyless was born in Dawson, Terrell County, Geoi^a, July 27,
1870, and is a son of Thomas W. and Susan (von AldehofE) Loyless. The
father of Mr. Loyless was bom in Columbia County, Georgia, and during the
war between the states served faithfully under the Confederate general,
Joseph Wheeler, Afterward he established himself in the mercantile business
at Dawson and continued there until his death in 1875, when aged thirty years.
The mother of Mr. Loyless was bom in Tennessee and- died in 1879, at the age
of thirty-four ye^rs. Of their four children, Thomas W. was the third bom.
He attended school at Dawson during early boyhood, but the death of his
father imposed early responsibilities on him and while still a boy he became
self supporting, becoming a clerk in a grocery store at Dawson. His next
business connection was with a cotton firm at Savannah, but after a time he
returned to Dawson and again became a clerk in his uncle's store and remained
there until 1887.
It was necessity and not choice that so far had kept Mr. Loyless from the
work for which nature had evidently intended him, all his instincts and ambi-
tions urging toward journalism. In 1887 he entered the newspaper field as a
staff reporter on the Dawson News, where he remained until 1889, when he •
became associated in the same capacity with the Macon News, continuing as
such until 1891 when hp became city editor of the Macou Telegraph. He
remained with the Telegraph until 1893 when he became managing editor of
the Knoxville Sentinel and ably conducted that journal until 1895 when he
went into business for himself, organizing a company and buying the Macon
News. He edited the News until 1899 when he sold his interests at Macon and
went to Atlanta and accepted the position of assistant editor on the Atlanta
Journal, afterward accepting the same position on the Atlanta Constitution
and remained there until May, 1903.
In the above year Mr. Loyless formed a syndicate which included himself
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2725
and H. H. Cabaniss, former mana^r of the Atlanta Journal, and a number
of other prominent men of Augusta. This newspaper syndicate puri^ased the
old Augusta Chronicle. In 1905 Jlr. Loyless bought Mr. Cabaniss' interest
and became editor and manager of the Chronicle. In 1913 be fornted a com-
pany which erected what is one of the most thoroughly equipped office buildings
in the state and the first in Augusta that may eome under the "sky-scraper"
class. This fine building stands as a monument to Mr. Loyless' euei^ and
business foresight. It is a lO-story structure, of modem architecture, repre-
senting an investment of $300,000. It was completed in 1914 and is known as
the Chronicle Building.
In July, 1S95, Mr. Loyless was united in marrii^e with Miss Mai^aret
St. Clair Neill, who was born at Charleston, South Carolina, but was reared at
Macon, Georgia. She is a daughter of the late Capt. Cecil C. NeiU, U. S. N.,
a distinguished officer and courteous gentleman. Mr. and Mrs. Loyless have
one daughter, Margaret, who was bom at Macon in 1898 and is a graduate of
St. Joseph's Academy.
Mr. Loyless is one of Georgia's best known newspaper men and is an impor-
tant factor in democratic politics, having no political ambitions of his own to
further, however, but is ever ready to give loyal support to representative
party candidates. He attended ihe democratic convention in 1908 as a dele-
gate at large from Georgia and was tendered a place as delegate at large to
the Baltimore convention in 1912, but this honor he declined. In his position
at the head of the Chronicle he wields a wide influence and to his credit be it
said it is always beneficial. He has never identified himself with secret organi-
zations but he is genial in manner and social by nature and finds agreeable
companionship as a member of several social clulw of Augusta.
AijPONSO John Mooney, M. D., was bom at Tayloifs Creek in Liberty
County, Georgia, May 9, 1875. His father. Dr. Horace R. Mooney, who died
in 1894 at the age of thirty-nine, was also a successful physician, was bom in
Wilkerson County, Geoi^a, and was a graduate of the Savannah Medical
College. He practiced in Liberty and Tattnall counties until his death. The
mother, whose maiden name was Alice Hotchkiss, related to the inventor of
the Hotchkiss rifle, is also a native of Georgia and is now living in Ruther-
fordtown in North Carolina. Her only other child is Ben S. Mooney of
Bulloch County.
Docto'r Mooney attended school at Taylor's Creek, and was a student in
Mercer University up to his junior year in 1894, He then entered the Bal-
timore Medical College, remained a student there two years, and in 1898
graduated M. D, from: the Atlanta Medical College.
In the past eighteen years Doctor Mooney has made a high reputation as
a very progressive and successful physician and surgeon, and is among the
leaders of the profession at Statesboro, He practiced in Bulloch County for
several years, but since 1900 has been at Statesboro. During 1901-02 he
pursued post-graduate work in Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, also
in the New York Graduate School in 1903 04, and in the Chicago Post Gradu-
ate School in 1911 and again in 1914. His hi^h standing in the profession is
indicated by the fact that he was president of the County Medical Society in
1915 and has also served as president of the First District of the State Medical
Association of Georgia. He is a member of the State Medical Society and
the American Medical Association and is at present (1916) councillor for
the First District,
Active in local affairs, he is chairman of the Committee of Public Affairs
in the Statesboro Board of Trade and has served as a member of the city
council. He is a democrat, is high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter of
Masons and is a Knight of Pythias. In August. 1904, at Statesboro he mar-
ried Miss Sally Wimberly, daughter of the late A, J, Wimberly, They have
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2726 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
three children: A. J. Mooney, Jr., born in 1910; MisB Mary Lynn, bom in
1913 ; and Sarah Elizabeth, bom in 1915.
John J. StbickIiAND, one of the foremost members of the Athens bar, and
who has practiced his profession here for more than a quarter of a century,
has gained an enviable reputation in the courts of the state for thorough
preparation, keen analysis of testimony and forcible promulgation of prin-
ciples, having evidenced in much important litigation the possession of an
extensive knowledge of legal principles of their wise and ready application.
Colonel Strickland was bom in Madison County, Georgia, January 30,
1856, and is a son of S. G. and Catherine B. (Stapler) Strickland, both of
whom are natives of this state. The commencement of the war between the
North and the South found S. G. Strickland engaged in agricultural pursuits
in Madison County, but he gave up his private interests to enlist in the
Confederate cause, joining a company which was recruited in Madison County
under Capt. Dabney Goldson in 1862. Mr. Strickland enlisted for" three
years but was in 1864 stricken with sickness and was honorably discharged on
account of disability. His military career completed, he returned to the
pursuits of the soil and continued to be engaged in agricultural operations in
Madison County until his death, which occurred September 22, 1887, when he
was fifty-seven years of age. Mrs: Strickland was bom, reared and educated
in Georgia, and passed her entire life in this state, her death occurring here,
July 1, 1908, when she had reached the age of seventy-one years. S. G. and
Catherine B. Strickland had only one child, John J.
Samuel G. Strickland was a well to do farmer, and in addition to teaching
his Bon the art of labor gave him also such educational advantage as the
country afforded. The son, John J., in the early years of his life attended
country schools a portion of each year, and likewise attended country sports
common at that period, and location. His father had planned to give him a
thorough education and with that in view sent him to Martin Institute at
Jefferson on the 1st of January, 1873. S. G. Strickland had become security
for an administrator on his bond prior to 1860, and in 1869 was sued on this
bond, and in 1875 was practically broken np by this debt. John J. Strickland
was then at Martin Institute and about ready to enter college when this
disaster overtook his father. He, the son, relieved his father and assumed
the responsibility of his own education. By teaching he earned the money
with which he completed hia course at Martin Institute, and after his gradua-
tion therefrom entered the University of Georgia, where he took both the
literary and law courses at the same time, and graduated in 1879 with the
degrees of Bachelor of Art and Bachelor of Laws. On August 11th of that
year Colonel Strickland began the practice of hia chosen profession at Daniels-
ville, Madison County, and remained there until November, 1888, when he
came to Athens, which city has continued to be his field of labor. As the
years have passed he has steadily advanced in position and the business which
now comes to him is important in character and as large in volume as he ia
able to handle. His high standing in his calling is evidenced by the fact that
he has been first vice president of the Georgia State Bar Association and
president of the Athens City Bar Association while he is also a valued member
of the national organization, the American Bar Association. In political
matters he is a democrat. Colonel Strickland has been content to apply
himself unreservedly to his profession, his devotion to which has never allowed
him to be persuaded to enter public life. Fraternally he is a Mason and
Shriner and has passed through all the chairs of his lodge, of which he was
master, and also belongs to the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has always
been known as a friend of education and progress and no important move-
ment can be named which has had for its object the betterment of the public
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2727
service in which he has not taken the part of a couscieutiotis, leading citizen.
He ia the owner of the old homestead on which he was bom, and delights in
spending his vacations in working as an agriculturist, wherein he finds rest
from professional toil.
In October, 1879, Colonel Strickland was married to Miss Lncy McNorton,
of Oconee County, Georgia, who died in May, 1900. She was the daughter of
Dr. J. G. and Matilda (Hays) McNorton, the former a well known physician
of Oconee. Four children were bom to this onion: Norma, who married
Dr. J. H. Holt, of Sherman, Texas, and has one child, Joseph H., Jr. ; Roy M.,
who married Mias Byrd Moore of Bitrningham, Alabama, who is a practicing
lawyer, associated with his father at Athens; S. Guy, a graduate of Ann-
apolis, 1911, and now lieutenant in the United States navy, serving on the
United States Battleship Kansas, married Vi "Wilson, of Texarkana, Texas,
and has one child, Tnirlu ; and John J., Jr., a member of the graduating class
of 1915 at the Georgia School of Technology. In July, 1902, Colonel Strick-
land was united in marriage at Anniston, Alabama, to Miss Elinor Otey
Anderson, daughter of Carey and Betty (Otey) Anderson, a well known
family of Vii^nia, Mrs. Strickland's mother, who survives the father, is a
daughter of Captain Otey and a niece of the late Bishop Otey of Clarfcsville,
Tennessee. Colonel and Mrs. Strickland have had no children.
WiLUAM Galt. Mention of the name of William Gait is sufficient to
suggest associations with the feading financial and manufacturing interests of
Cherokee County, where he is cashier and general manager of the First Bank
of Canton and otherwise connected with the industrial interests of that city.
Mr. Gait represents two of the oldest and most distinguished families of
Northern Georgia, and his own career has been a progressive rise from small
to great responsibilities. As a banker his judgment is considered unexcelled
in this section of the state.
William Gait was bom in Cherokee County at Canton, Septennber 8, 1861,
a son of Joel and Malinda (Grisham) Gait. His mother, who was bom in
DeEalb County, Georgia, in 1829, was the daughter of William Grisham, who
settled in Geoi^a from South Carolina during the early '20s. Subsequently
the family removed to Cherokee County, where her father cleared up the first
farm land now at the edge of the City of Canton. He was a slave owner and
planter, and on first locating in Cherokee County the site of Canton was
known as High Tower. He and Judge Joseph Donaldson were the first
settlers in this locality, and introduced and t^came prominently identified ■
with silk culture. Mr, Grisham was one of the men who caused the change in
name from High Tower to Canton and was closely identified with the
early growth and development of that city, having infiuenced its establishment
where it is instead of seven miles east at Hickory Flats. He served as the
first postmaster and was first clerk of court. His activity as a citizen was
matched by his interest in the affairs of the Baptist Church. He was also
clerk in the old United States mint for seven years. He is given the credit
for founding the First Baptist Church in Canton in 1833. His later years
were spent in quiet and successful activities as a farmer and he died in 1876
at the age of seventy-five. His wife passed away aged seventy-one.
Jabez Gait, grandfather of William Gait, came from the Pendleton District
of South Carolina to Georgia, became a farmer and was the owner of several
slaves. His death occurred at the age of fifty. His wife, whose maiden name
was Frances Machen, and was bom in the Pendleton District, died in 1880
when past eighty years of age. Joel Gait, father of the Canton banker, was
bom in Pendleton District, South Carolina, but was reared and educated in
Cherokee County. He was a man of frail constitution, and when he went to
Rome at the beginning of the war for the purpose of enlisting in the Con-
federate army was rejected for physical incapacity. He spent his active life
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2728 GEOKGIA AND GEORGIANS
as a merchant and farmier, and for a number of years was regarded as the
leading merchant in Canton. Like his father, he was a leader in Baptist
Church affairs. His death occurred in 1873 and his wife passed away in 1902
at the age of seventy-three. Of their eight children one died in infancy, and
the others are briefly mentioned as follows; Susan, who died at CartcHiville,
was the wife of M. B. Tuggle ; Margaret, who also died in Cartersville was the
wife of Dr. J. H. Spier; Jabez, who was a farmer and died in Canton ; Ada,
who died in Cartersville, was the wife of J. P. Leivis; Frances, who died at
Cassville, was the wife of George Haddon; Mildred is the wife of H. L.
Roberts of Canton,
William Gait, who was the youngest of these children, was educated in
the Canton public school, and subsequently graduated from the literary
department of the University of Georgia, at Athena, with the class of 1882,
and receiving the degree of A. B. (Thus equipped with a college training, he
took up the serious vocations of the world, and his achievements indicate
the possession of industry, keen judgment in business, public spirit, and an
unquestioned record of integrity. Por several years he was engaged in farmr
ing on the old homestead, and subsequently took up merchandising in Canton.
In 1895 he left the store to become bookkeeper in the Bank of Canton. Five
years later he was made cashier, a position which he has since held, involving
also the responsibilities of general management. His success as a banker is
well indicated by the position which the Ban^ of Canton enjoys in North
Georgia. It is the oldest banking house of C^ton, having been organized
in 1892 with a capital stock of $25,000. In 1908 this capital was increased
to $70,000 and in 1900 to $100,000. Por many years the bank has had the
benefit of the same general management and direction in its oEBcial personnel.
Mr. Gait is also a director in the Canton Cotton Mills, which was incorporated
in 1899. The original capital stock of $100,000 has since been increased to
$300,000, and this is one of the leading industries among the textile factories
of Georgia.
Mr. Gait is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is
clerk and treasurer of the Baptist Church, with which his family has been
identified since its founding. He has several times been elected alder-
man and is now mayor of Canton. On Februarj- 6, 1889, at Canton, he mar-
ried Miss Lecy Putnam, who was bom in Cherokee County, daughter of Odian
and Martha (Tate) PutnaniL Their three children were all born in Canton,
as follows: Odian Putnam Gait, Frances, and Martha. Mrs. Gait is likewise
an active worker in the Baptist Church and its affiliated missionary societies.
Maj.-(5ek. Daniel E. Twigos was bom in Richmond County, Georgia, in
1790, and was a leading military character in the Mexican war. In 1812 be
was commissioned captain of the Eighth Infantry, United States Army,
served against the Indians and Spaniards in Florida, and in 1836 became
colonel of the Second Cavalry. In 1846 his regiment was attached to Gen-
eral Taylor's army and, during the engagements of the Mexican war, he was
advanced to the grades of brigadier and major-general. In the battle of Cerro
Gordo he is said to have led the main attack, as well as the first assault on
Mexico City. At the conclusion of the war he was placed in command of the
Department of the West, with headquarters at St, Louis, where he remained
until 1857, when he was transferred to the Department of Texas, with head-
quarters at San Antonio. There he was stationed at the outbreak of the
Civil war, when the Confederacy commissioned him major-general. His head-
quarters were at New Orleans, but his age and infirmities prevented active
service and his death occurred in Augusta, Georgia, September 15; 1862,
Capt. Jacob C. Waldhaiter was a German Lutheran of Austria who came
to Gleorgia as a boy, in 1735, and subsequently became a prosperous planter
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2729
near Savannah. In July, 1775, he became a member of the Provincial Con-
gress. He did much to aid the patriots when the British troops were in pos-
session of Savannah, and his death ocearred in May, 1804.,
Pierce English Gross. One of the most popular and efficient officials
of Washington County is found in the person of Pierce English Gross, clerk
of the Superior Court of Middle Circuit. Mr. Gross is well deserving of the
title of self-made man, for his youth knew no advantages, and even his edu-
cation had to be self gained. Each upward step he has accomplished by dint
of his own energy, leaving behind him a record for public service w^l and
faithfully performed.
Mr. Gross was bom in "Washington County, Georgia, July 29, 1875, and
is a son of John Thomas and Elizabeth (English) Gross, natives of Warren
County, Georgia.-,, The father was born in 1836 and in 1861 enlisted in the
Confederate army for service during the Civil war, becoming a member of
the Fifty-aeventh Georgia Infantry, known as the Mount Vernon Rifles, in
Mercer's Brigade. He participated in many hard-fought battles, establishing
a record for bravery and faithful service, and when the war had closed he
returned to find his holdings swept away and the necessity of beginning life
anew. That he was successful in his attempts to place himself in independent
circumstances is shown by the fact that at the time of his death, November
7, 1911, at the age of seventy-five years, he had a position among the sub-
stantial men of his locality. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity,
was a consistent Methodist, and in politics was a stanch and unswerving
democrat. Mrs. Gross still .survives at the age of seventy-two years, and
resides at Davisborough, Washington County. There were sixteen children
in the family, of whom twelVe grew to maturity, while nine are now living,
as follows: Ida, who is the wife of E. L. Wade, of Montrose, Georgia; Memie,
who is the wife of T. T. Davjs, of Scotland, Georgia; Clara, the wife of
Charles Allen, of Davisborough; Delia, the wife of S. E. Smith, also of that
place ; Mathew W., who is an attorney at law of Hugo, Oklahoma ; Lee Thomas,
who is engaged in farming operations in Washington County; Pierce English,
of this review; Marvin L., an attorney of Sandersville ; and Ernest Fleming,
a farmer of Washington County.
One of the younger children in a large family, in which the resources at
that time were not of an abundant character. Pierce E. Gross decided that
the best way to gain his longed-for education was to work for it himself. He
first attended the district schools, in company with the other children of the
family, and worked in all his spare time, painstakingly saving his small earn-
ings, so that he was finally enabled to enter the State Normal School, at
Athens. While he was pursuing his course there he taught school during
the vacation months, and thus, teaching and studying alternately, secured
his training. He passed five years as a teacher in McDuffie County and one
year in Lawrence County, and thus became favorably known to the people
of this part of the state. His first public position was as a deputy clerk
in the clerk's oflBce at Sandersville, where he began service October 1, 1906.
In 1908 he was appointed to complete an unexpired term, left vacant by
H. B. Massy, after which he continued to serve as deputy under M. Sessions
for six years. His excellent and faithful labors had by this time won him
the full confidence of the people of the commtmity, and in the fall of 1914
he was elected to fill his present position. It may he sufficient to say that
the confidence reposed in him was not misplaced, as his record in office will
show, and at the present time there is probably no more popular official in
the county. He is a strong and active democrat in his political views, and
has always been accounted one of the party wheel-horses in hia locality.
Fraternally, he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
while his religious connection is with the Methodist Church.
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2730 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
On December 15, 1909, Mr. Gross was married at Sandersville, to Miss
Nannie Lou Burgamy, who was bom in Washington County, daughter of
John T. and Anna (Hattaway) Burgamy, Like her husband, Mrs. Gross is
an active Methodist and has many friends in social and religious circles of
Sandersville.
Georqe D. Wabthen. To none of its pioneer families is Washington
County more indebted for its financial strength and integrity or its agricul-
tural supremacy than to that established by the late Hon. Richard Warthen.
Like so many of the founders and builders of civilization in Georgia, this
prominent farmer, miller, merchant, and legislator sprang from the soil of
the old dominion stale, and carved his way to usefulness by industry and
strict integrity. Many years have passed since his death, but the name and
integrity of the family are still upheld by his son, George D. Warthen, of
Sandersville, senior member of the banking firm of Warthen & Irwin, a
prominent and influential citizen, and an agriculturist whose operations have
been a matter of pride among Washington Coimty people for many years.
Richard Warthen came of good old English stock. In Washington County,
Georgia, he interested himself variously as a planter, mill operator and store
proprietor and as the community grew up about his enterprises it took the
name of Warthen in his honor and has continued to be so called to the present
time, now being a thriving and prosperous village. He was the owner of
many slaves and belonged to the old ante-bellum southern aristocracy, being
widely famed for his generosity and open-handed hospitality. He took more
than ordinary interest in public affairs and politics, and was on several
occasions sent to represent his district in the Georgia Legislature. Mr.
Warthen died in 1861, at the age of sixty-seveu years, at Warthen, while
Mrs. Warthen passed away in 1880, at the age of seventy-two years. She
bore the maiden name of Nancy Wicker, and was bom in Washington County,
Georgia, being, like her husband, of English stock. There were twelve children
in the family, as follows: Nathaniel Green, who died at Lafayette,. Geoi^a,
March 13, 1895; Richard Lee, bom in 1823, an attorney at law who retired
some twenty years before his death, was at one time a leading member of the
Georgia Legislature and Senate, a large land owner in Washington County
and largely interested in Atlanta realty, a thorough scholar and man of
high character who did much to aid in the upbuilding of Sandersville and its
institutions, died April 22, 1914; Thomas W., bom in 1829, a farmer and
merchant, died at Warthen in 1892; Sarah, who died in Games County,
Texas, in 1858, as the wife of W. B. Cone; Jane, born in 1833, who died at
Warthen in 1875 ; Mary, bom in 1835, who died at Talladega, Alabama, in
1894; Sarah, born in 1837, who is the, widow of William Bunn and resides
at Fort Gaines, Georgia; Elijah, bom in 1839, who died at Warthen in 1913;
Hannah, bom in 1841, who is the widow of F. K. Freeman, and resides at
Dawson, Georgia ; Macon, bom in 1843, who died at Warthen in 1914 ; Annie,
deceased, horn in 1845, who was the wife of R. W. Irwin; and George D.
George D. Warthen was born at Warthen, Washington County, July 16,
1847, and was educated at Bethlehem and under the instruction of Professor
Berman of Mount Zion. His education was interrupted by the Civil war,
in which he enlisted at the age of sixteen years, as a private in Evan P.
Howell's Battery, Martin's Battalion. He saw two years of active service,
gave the Confederate cause brave and valiant support and was wounded at
Joncsboro. At the close of hostilities Mr, Warthen returned to his home
town, where he accepted a clerkship under his brother Thomas, who was
conducting a store at Warthen. At the end of four years be turned his
attention to farming, and although this venture was started in a modest way,
it rapidly grew to large proportions, and at the present time Mr, Warthen
is the proprietor of what are among the leading agricultural interests in
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.A-ddcls^ i(^i^UK^M^
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2731
Central Georgia, his labors being given principally to diversified and fancy
farming, although he is also one of the largest operators in grain and cotton
in Washington Coi^nty. He has taken a great pride in his comniiuiity as
well as in bis property and everything possible has been done to beautify
his land and advance its improvements, while he is notable for the stand he
. has taken in regard to the elevation of agricultural standards. Mr. Warthen
began his career as a banker in 1900, when be founded the firm of Warthen
& Irwin, a concern which has grown and prospered and which is accounted
one of the strong and substantial monetary institutions of Washington County,
Mr. Warthen is a Cleveland democrat.
While he has done much to aid the cause of education, and to relieve the
poor, Mr. Warthen will never allow his name to be mentioned in connection
with charitable or benevolent work, being a reserved man with a horror of
notoriety of any kind. He has passed his life in the vicinity of the scenes
of his birth, and has never cared for travel, finding his greatest pleasure in
the midst of his friends. But if his activities have been limited to a some-
what circumscribed community, his life has been a full, active and eminently
useful one, in which his name has ever been associated with high ideals of
business conduct, of morality and of citizenship.
Addison Key Bell, 51. D. In the profession that was significantly digni-
fied and honored by the character and services of his father, Doctor Bell has
likewise attained to marked prestige and success and in a personal way as well
as through his able professional service he has proved a true and loyal friend
and helper of bis fellow men, — ever ready to respond to the call of those in
suffering or distress, and that without making aught of distinction between
high or low, rich or poor. He has been engaged in practice at Madison, the
judicial center of Morgan County, for thirty years and in his labors has contin-
ued the earnest, efScient and self -abnegating service which so distinctively
marked the professional career of his honored father. In years of consecutive
practice he is now the dean of his profession in Morgan County, and no citizen
has more inviolable place in the confidence and affectionate regard of the
people of this section of hb native state.
Doctor Bell is a representative of a family whose name has been long and
worthily linked with the annals of Georgia history and that has been one of
distinction in America since the early colonial era, the lineage tracing back
to ancient and patrician sources in England and Scotland, the principal habi-
tation of the Bells in England having been for many generations on the Scottish
border. There is ample authority for stating that the surname is derived from
the ancient Norman French ci^rnomen of le Bel, signifying beautiful, or hand-
some. The name of Peter le Bel appears on the Hundred Bolls, one of the
authoritative ancient records of England, and in the Cftlendarium Botuloram
Originalium is to be found the name of Walter le Bel, while that of Robert
le Bel'is found in the Calendariura Inquisitionium Post Mortem. The records
of heraldry in England designate the family coat of arms in the foUowing
terms: Ar. on a Fess between three hawks' lures, az., as many hawks' bells of
the first ; crest, a hawk, or, holding in the beak a hawk's lure, az., and resisting
the dexter claw on the sun in splendor, ppr. Motto, " perseverantia, " which
means perseverance. A comprehensive and authoritative genealogy of the Bell
'family in America, with due amount of data concerning the English line, has
been prepared and published by Henry W. BtU, of Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Representatives of the family in America have been eminent in the various
generations in connection with ecclesiastical, professional, civil, industrial and
commercial affairs. As builders and merchants they have developed cities and
towns and been conspicuously successful in the marts of trade and commerce.
In science and the learned professions members of this family have achieved
prominence and high reputation. In the realm of statesmanship the family has
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2732 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
produced men of thought and action, fvhile there is all of consistency in the
following statements, which have previously been published : "At the bar and
in the administration of justice they have shown erudition and wisdom; as
clergymen, educators and lecturers they have occupied high places ;• also as
heroes of Colonial aud Revolutionary, as well as later, wars, they have rendered
patriotic service ; as authors and poets they are worthy of the crown and laurel
wreath of fame. Each in his chosen Sphere of endeavor has added luster to
the name of Bell."
Dr. Addison Key Bell was bom in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, on the
3rd of July, 1861, and is a son of Dr. Addison Atterbury Bell and Ida (Hills-
man) Bell, Dr. Addison A. Bell was born in Elbert County, Georgia, on the
26th of January, 1823, and he was afforded the best of educational advantages
in his youth. After excellent academic training he entered the historic old
Jefferson Jledical College, in the City of Philadelphia, in which he was gradu-
ated, and later he completed an effective line of post-graduate work in the
New York Medical University. He initiated the practice of his profession in
Oglethorpe County, whence he finally removed to Madison, Morgan County,
where he passed the remainder of his long and useful life, which was replete
with kindly thoughts and worthy deeds. He was engaged in the active practice
of his profession for half a century, and did not abate his labors until he was
eighty-five years of age. He died at Madison in 1909 at the age of eighty-six
years, and his name and memory are revered in the community in which he so
lOTjg lived and labored with the constancy and devotion of a strong, noble and
loyal nature. During the climacteric period of the Civil war he rendered most
effective service as surgeon in the Confederate hospital in the City of Augusta.
He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he attained to high
degrees, and, as a student and philosopher, he had deep appreciation of the
spiritual verities, though his honest convictions finally led him to declare him-
self an agnostic. He was engaged in the practice of his profession in Morgan
County from 1864 until the year prior to his death, and his life was one
marked by deep human sympathy and tolerance, by practical charity and
philanthropy, and by deep appreciation of the well-springs of human thought
and motive. He had seven brothers, all of whom likewise entered professional
life and achieved distinction, — some as lawyers and the others as physicians.
The wife of Dr. Addison A. Bell was bom in Morgan County, Georgia, in 1841,
and is a daughter of Dr. Henry St. John Hillsman, who was one of the early
practitioners of dentistry in the City of Madison, this county, and who achieved
large and worthy success as one of the representative citizens of Morgan
County. Mrs. Bell, who has passed the psalmist's span of three-score years
and ten, still maintains her home at Madison, a gentle and gracious woman
who is loved by all who have come within the compass of her influence, and
she has long been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
In a family of three children Doctor Bell of this review is the only survivor,
the other two having died in infancy and he having been a twin brother of
Eugene Bell.
The boyhood days of Dr. Addison K. Bell were passed under the conditions
and influences that obtained in his native state in the period immediately fol-
lowing the close of the Civil war, and for his early education he is indebted to
the public schools of the attractive little city in which he still maintains his
home. Under the able preceptorship of his father he began the study of medi-
cine, and prior to entering medical college be had made such advancement in
his studies and in the practical application of his knowledge that be was able
to prove an able assistant to his father in connection with the latter's lai^
and exacting practice. At the age of eighteen years he entered the New York
Medical University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of
1885 and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. At this
institution it was his privilege to attend lectures delivered under two profes-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS ' 2733
sors who had been connected with the school at the time whea his father was a
student in the same.
Upon his return to Madison Doctor Bell became associated with his father
in practice, and tliis relation continued many years, to the eminent satisfaction
of both. In his labors as one of the best known and most able physicians and
surgeons of Morgan County Doctor Bell has fully sustained the high honors
of the family name, and like his father he has held full appreciation of the
dignity of his chosen calling and of the responsibilities which it imposes. His
ideals and motives have been in consonance with the best ethics of bis profes-
sion, and in the achieving of large and determinate success self-a^randizement
has ever been subordinated to earnest desire to aid those ia distress, none
having been too humble or too poor to enlist hie careful service when his
professional aid was enlisted, and his unselfish devotion having time after time
caused him to forget personal weariness and the rigors of storra, the conditions
of temperature, in order that he might minister to those who were ill. The
Doctor has served many years as city physician and health officer of Madison,
and during virtually the entire period of his professional career he has been
local surgeon for the Georgia Railroad.
Doctor Bell was the prime factor in effecting the organisation of the Morgan
County Medical Society and was its first president. He is a member also of
the Georgia State Medical Association and the American Medical Association.
He has achieved specially high reputation as a skilled surgeon and has to his
credit many successful operations in both major and minor surgery. The
Doctor is liberal, progressive and public -spirited in his civic attitude, is a
staunch supporter of the cause of the deraotratie party, is affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college
fraternity, and in religion, like hia father, he inclines toward agnosticism.
Work and service have been and continue the inspiring motives of Doctor
Bell, and his intei^ests center in his home and family, in study and research
and in his association with friends who are tried and true and whom he has
grappled to his soul with "hoops of steel." The Doctor's home is one of the
most spacious and attractive of the many beautiful residences iu Madison, and
is a veritable center of gracious hospitality, with Mrs, Bell as its popular
chatelaine.
In the autumn of 1906 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Bell to
Miss Mona Lyse Donnelson, who was bom in McFalJ, Calhoun County, Ala-
bama, where her father, Dr. Henry Donnelson, is a representative physician
and surgeon. Doctor and Mrs. Bell have two children, — Addison Key, Jr.,
who was born on the 5th of January, 1907; and Caroline Kutledge, who was
bom on the 18th of August, 1908. The daughter received her second personal
name in honor of fidward Rutledge, who was one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence and from whom she is a lineal descendant.
Ambrose Ransom "Wright, a member of the law firm lif Hardwick &
Wright, has, since locating at Sandersville, in 1905, gained a reputation as
ohe of the moat forceful members of the Washington County bar. He is
afforded unusual facility in working out the details of a: ease by a keen
analytical mind, and his contemporaries have been prompt iu acknowledging
his special abilities and his high position among the legists of this part of
the state.
Mr. Wright was born in Emanuel County, Georgia, January 3, 1866, and
was brought to Washington County one year later by his parents, Henry G.
and Emily (Jenkins) Wright. His father, a native of Jefferson County, Geor-
gia, served in the Georgia State troops during the Civil war, and when the con-
flict closed found himself ruined, whereas, before that struggle he had been a
prosperous planter and slave owner. However, be did not allow himself to
become discouraged, but with persistence, industry and good management
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2734 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
succeeded in building up anotlier fortune, aud was one of the prosperous
planters of Wasbingrtoa County when he miet his death in a runaway accident,
in 1904, at the age of seventy-four years. He was also one of his community's
most prominent democrats, and represented Washington County in the Geor-
gia Legislature, in addition to being senator from Chatham, Bryau and
Effingham counties for several terms. He took an active and helpful part in
the work of the Methodist Church aud all in all was one of his conununity 's
leading men. Mrs. Wright was bom in Washington County, Geoi^a, in
1832, and now resides at Sumter, South Carolina. She received excellent
educational advantages in her girlhood and has led an active Christian life,
being a faithful worker in the Methodist Church. Of the children of the
family, two died in infancy, the others being as follows: Susan, deceased,
was the wife of Davis H, Howes, of New York City, and died in 1908; Sallie,
who was the wife of Rev. C. C. Brown of Sumter, South Carolina, and died
in 1912; Adam Clark, who was one of the leading attorneys of Savannah,
Georgia, at the time of his death in 1907; Dr. Jefferson Davis, who for
twenty-five years was engaged in practice at Louisville, Georgia, and died
there April 15, 1915; Robert Lee, who is engaged in business at Sumter,
South Carolina ; Ambrose Ransom, of this notice ; and Henry G., Jr., whose
death occurred in Florida in 1914,
Ambrose Ransom Wright first attended the Piney Woods School and
later the public schools of the City of Macon, and with this preparation
entered Mereer College as a sophomore, lie was graduated with the degree
of Bachelor of Arts in 1884, and at once began the study of law. One year
later he entered Harvard University, but after one term went to Georgetown
University, where his college career was ended. In 1889 he was admitted to
the bar of Georgia by Hon. A, P. Adams, judge of the Superior Court of
Savannah^ Georgia, His next location and field of practice was the City of
Louisville, where he remained for five years, during which time he took
part in much important litigation, including the contest between Congress-
man Black and the Hon, Thomas Watson, of Thomson, Georgia, Mr. Wright
being the leading attorney for the congressman 's interests in Jefferson County,
In 1905 Mr, Wright came to Sandersville, where he at once took his place
among the leaders of the Washington County bar, and two years later formed
a partnership with United States Senator Thomas W. Hardwick, thus form-
ing the present strong legal combination of Hardwick & Wright, Mr. Wri^t
is a strong and active democrat and takes an active part in the campaigns of
his party. With his family, he belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
On July 20, 1904, at Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Wright was united in mar-
riage with Miss Elizabeth McConnell, of that city, daughter of Dr. W. T.
and Mary (Kenson) McConnell. Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of one
son, Ambrose Ransom, Jr., born October 28, 1907, at Savannah, and now
attending the public schools of Sandersville.
J. Lee Crawuiy is one of the able lawyers of Wayeross, and also one ot
its versatile, broad and strong citizens. Commencing his legal career at
Wayeross nearly a quarter of a century ago, both as an attorney and a
legi-slator he has earned a substantial and honorable reputation. He was born
in Ware County, Georgia, November 26, 1869, and is a son of Edward H.
and Martha M. (McDonald) Crawley.
Edward H. Crawley was bom at Lexington. Kentucky, in 1839, and as a
young man came to Ware County. Georgia, taking up his residence in the
vicinity of Wayeross. When war was declared between the South and the
North, he enlisted as a private in a Georgia infantrj' regiment, in the Con-
federate arm^'. and for gallant service won promotion, holding the rank ot
captain when the stru^le was ended. For many years he was a prominent
and influential figure in democratic politics, and served as clerk of the Supe-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2735
rior courts and as county treasurer of Ware County for a long period. He
was actively enga^d in merchandising at Waycross at the time of his death,
which occurred in 1893 when he was fifty-three years of age. Mr. Crawley
was a Mason of prominence and widely known in that order in this part of
the state. Mr. Crawley married Martha M. McDonald, who was bom in
Ware County, a daughter of Col. William A. ^IcDmald, a Confederate ofBeer
during the Civil war and subsequently a prominent citizen of Ware County,
She was reared in the faith of the Methodist Church. Of the twelve children
of Captain and Mrs. Crawley, six are living, as follows : J. Lee ; Edward H.,
a leading real estate and insurance man of Wayeross ; Thomas B, ; Randall C. ;
Jerome ; and Mrs. Margaret Davis of Hurtsboro, Alabama.
The early education of J. Lee Crawley was secured in the old field schools
of Georgia, following which he enrolled as a student at the University of
Georgia, from which he was graduated, in 1889, with the degree of Bachelor
of Philosophy. He then took up his studies in the legal department, and
when he received hi.s degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1891, began practice
at Waycross. In 1903 he was joined by his younger brother, William F.
Crawley, who had also graduated from the University of Georgia and was
one of the prominent members of the Waycross Circuit, and this association
continued until the death of the brother, in 1910. Shortly thereafter, J. Lee
Crawley took as a partner Jeromie Crawley, and in the early part of the year
1914 Chas. L. Redding was admitted to the firm and for two years the firm
was Crawley, Redding & Crawley. But on account of Mr. J. Lee Crawley
having been nominated for the position of judge of the City Court of Way-
cross, the firm has been dissolved. Personally Mr. Crawley is a member of
the Georgia State Bar Association. His legal training and current knowl-
edge, along professional lines, making him a typical modem lawyer. A stal-
wart and unswerving democrat, he has been active in polities and first held
office as solicitor of the County Court, a positiob which he held for several
terms. He was next appointed solicitor of the City courts by W. Y. Atkin-
son, retaining this post for four years, and in 1913 was elected to the Georgia
L^islature, in which body he established an excellent record. He is much
interested and is active and influential as a promoter of beneficial constructive
legislation. When the important duties of his practice can be put aside, he
finds recreation, enjoyment and profit in looking after his various agricul-
tural interests, farming being MY. Crawley's pet hobby and a subject on
which he is thoroughly informed. His fraternal connections include mem-
bership in the Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, while his religious identification is with the Methodist
Episcopal Church, where he is acting as steward.
Mr. Crawley was married December 18, 1894, at Waycross, to Miss Hattie
Murphy, a native of New Jersey, reared at Waycross and daughter of Herbert
Murphy, of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Crawley are the parents of four children :
Edward H., born October 1. 1896; Donald M., born February 2. 1903; George
L., born July 4, 1905; an* Margaret May, born September 4. 1908. Mrs.
Crawley is a member of and an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal
Church and the Missionary Society.
Jerome Crawley. One of the younger and promising members of the
Waycross County bar, Jerome Crawley is junior member of the prominent
law firm of Crawley, Redding & Crawley. Admitted to the Georgia bar in
1909, he has since been engaged in a practice which has brought him both
standing and good pecuniary results. Mr. Crawley is a native of Waycross,
and was bom June 3, 1889, a son of Edward H. and Martha M. (McDonald)
Crawley.
Edward H. Crawley was bom in 1839, at Lexington, Kentucky, and was
a young man when he came to Georgia, settling in Ware County. When the
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2736 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Civil war came on he oifered his services to the Confederacy, was accepted
as a private in a Georgia volunteer infantry regiment, and during the four
years of liis service was repeatedly promoted for gallantry in action, having
won the straps of a captain- when the conflict closed with the fall of the
Lost Cause. Following the war Mr. Crawley engaged in business pursuits,
and for many years was one of the leading merchants of Wayeross. He also
took an active part in politics in Ware County, and was frequently called
upon to serve in offices of public trust and responsibility, serving as clerk
of the Superior Courts and as county treasurer of Ware County for a long
period. He was also prominent in Masonic circles. His death occurred in
1893, when he was fifty-three years of age. Mrs. Crawley was a native of
Ware County and a daughter of the late Col. Williftni MuDonald, an oflBcer
of the Confederacy and later a prominent citizen and influential politician
of Ware County. She was reared in the faith of the Methodist Church.
Twelve children were born to Capt. Edward H. and Martha M. (McDonald)
Oawley, of whom six are deceased, those living being as follows: J. Lee,
e.x-racmber of the Georgia Jjegislature, a leading attorney of Wayeross, and
senior member of the firm of Crawley, Redding & Crawley; Edward H., who
is extensively engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Wayeross;
Thomas B. ; Randall C, senior member of the firm of Crawley & Henderson,
dealers in naval stores at Wayeross ; Jerome, of this review, and JIrs, Margaret
Davis, of Hurtsboro, Alabama.
Jerome Crawley received his primary and high school education at Way-
cross, and, having displayed an inclination for the law, entered Mercer
University, where he was graduated in the literary department in 1907. He
then entered upon a two-year course of study in the law department of the
same institution, and at his graduation, in 1909, was admitted to the bar.
He immediately joined his elder brother, J, Lee, and Charles H. R«dding,
thus forming the firm of Crawley, Redding & Crawley, with which he has
since been a.s.sociated. Although devoting himself chiefly to civil practice
he has equally distinguished himself in both the criminal and civil courts,
and has displayed rare -skill in the handling of litigation, whatever has hap-
pened to be its nature.
Mr. Crawley is a democrat in his political views. He holds membership
in the Georgia State Bar Association, and is fraternally affiliated with the
Masons, the Knights of Pythias the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Woodmen
of the World and the Sigma Nu college fraternity, in all of which he has
made numerous friendships. As a citizen he has lent his aid to the promo-
tion of all niiovements calculated to be of benefit to Wayeross or its people.
On July 9, 1912, at Union Springs, Alabama, Mr. Crawley was united in
marriage with Miss Mary D. Norman, daughter of Joseph D, Norman, of
that city. Mr. and Mrs. Crawley are active members of the Methodist Church
and general favorites in church and .social circles of Wayeross.
Rev. Georog White, historian and Episcopalian clergyman, was born in
Charleston, South Carolina, March 12, 1802. He was ordained priest in 1836,
holding his first charge in his native city, but the last twenty-four years of
his life were spent in pastoral labors in Alabama. He died in 1887. His
"White's Statistics of Georgia," published in 1849, and "Historical Collec-
tions of Georgia," 1855, are considered invaluable for those interested in the
history of the state.
JdUN E. Warp, lawyer, public man and diplomat, was born in ^unbury,
Lihert.v County. Georgia, Oetoljcr 2, 1814. He was admitted to the bar and
commenced practice at Savannah in 1835. Within the next decade he was
solicitor general, United States district attorney, and a member of the Legis-
lature, He was speaker of its Lower House in 1853, chairman of the National
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2737
Democratic Convention in 1856, and in 1858 resigned' from the State Senate
to become United States minister to China, He was abroad until 1861, when
he resigned and returned to Savannah, He took no active part in the Civil
war, practiced thirty years in New York after 1866, but returned to his
native county, where he died in 1902.
Harry D. Reed. A lawyer who has won creditable distinction since locat-
ing at 'Waycross about seven years ago, Harry D. Reed came to South Georgia
to practice after a number of years {is one of the responsible officials for the
Government on the Panama Canal zone.
He was born in the Par West at Ogden, Utah, July 3, 1877, a son of
Edward H. and Helen C. (Day) Reed. His parents were married in Wia-
consin where the father was bom, while the mother was a native of Hamilton,
New York. Edward H. Reed has been identified with railroad service for a
great many years and that business took him to many parts of the country.
He was long eonneoted with the Southern Pacific and was an employe of tho
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and lives at Waycross with his son Harry.
He is now seventy-six years of age. The mother is also still living, at the
age of seventy-four. Of their five children, there are two daughters living,
and Harry, the only son was fourth in order of birth.
As a boy he attended school at Ogden, Utah, hut from the age of fifteen
became dependent upon his own exertions to advance himself in the world.
For a time he was a student at Mercer University in Georgia, and took his
law course in the Columbian University at Washington, D, C, where he
graduated in 1901. For several years he was in the Government service at
Washington, and was then sent to the Panama Canal zone, where he remained
six years, and from 1903 to 1909 was executive secretary of the canal zone.
Resigning his position there in 1909 he returned to Georgia and has since
enjoyed a growing private law practice at Waycross, He is junior member
of the firm of Parks & Reed, whose offices are in the Bunn Building at
Waycross.
He has also made his energy felt in public affairs, and during 1912-13
served as mayor of Waycross and has also filled the oflBce of county attorney
of Ware County, He is a member of the County and Georgia State Bar
associations, is a democrat in politics, a member of the Baptist Church.
In September, 1907, at Washington, D. C, he married Miss Allis Fraem
Mitchell. Her parents were McHenry and Alice (Duval) Mitchell, who are
still living in Harford County, Maryland, and are of New England stock.
Mr. and Mrs. Reed have one son, Harry D,, Jr., born at Waycross in 1911,
and a daughter bom in 1916.
Pb.\nk C. Folks, M. D. His service covering forty years as a physician
and surgeon in Ware County has brought Doctor Folks an enviable place in'
the medical fraternity, and this period has also been punctuated at different
times by important public distinctions. For several years he was a member
of the State Senate, and represented his home district with great ability and
fidelity.
A native Georgian, he was bom in Jefferson County, October 13, 1852,
a son of Dr. William B. and Mary Jefferson (Miller) Polks. His father was
a phydcian before him, and as Doctor Folks has a son who is now practicing
medicine, the family has thus furnished medical men for three successive
generations covering more than sixty years. Both his parents were bom in
Georgia, and Dr, William B. Folks practiced medicine in Ware County from
1856 to 1886, until his death at the age of fifty-sis. During the war he went
out as a surgeon with the Twenty-sixth Georgia Infantry, with the rank of
assistant chief surgeon, but on account of failing health was sent home.
After recovering he raised a company of his own and took command as cap-
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2738 GEORGIA AWD GEORGIANS
tain. The mother of Doctor Folks died in Ware County in 1906 at the age
of aeventy-six.
Second of five children, Doctor Folks grew np in the country district of
Ware County, attended the district schools and being largely dependent
upon his owu resources he undertook various lines of employmicnt before pre-
paring for his permanent vocation. He was a clerk for two years with the
Atlantic & Gulf Kailroad at Savannah. He then entered the Savannah Med-
ical College, where he was graduated M. D. in 1876. At once returning to
Ware County, he has now been in active practice there for a period of forty
years.
In 1888-89 Doctor Polks served as mayor of Waycross and filled the same
office during 1904-05. He was elected senator from the Fifth Senatorial Dis-
trict for the years 1888-89. One material contribution to Waycross was the
Folks Building, which he erected. Doctor Polks is an active member of the
County and State Medical societies, the Southern Medical Association and
the American Medical Association. He is also affiliated with the Masonic ,
Order, is a memiwr of the Methodist Episcopal Church and in politics a
democrat.
On August 15, 1877, in Clinch County, Georgia, he married Miss Emma
A. Morgan, daughter of Jonathan L. Morgan and wife, a well known family
of Clinch County. To their marriage have been bom nine children. Two
of them died in infancy and another after her marriage, Mrs. Frankie Rivers.
Mrs. P. K. Groff, the oldest of the living children, was born in Clinch County,
now lives in Waycross and is the mother of three children. Mrs. Charles E.
Newton was bom at Waycross and lives in Denver, Colorado, the m/jther of
two children. Dr. W. M. Folks is associated with his father in practice at
Waycross. Fleming is a druggist at Waycross. Robert Folks and Miss Louise
are both in sehopl at Waycross.
Thomas Cobb Moore. In the death of Thomas Cobb Moore, not only
Hancock County but all Geoi^a lost a man of exceeding worth. He was a
scion of a family which has been prominent in Georgia history for a hundred
years and preserved in his own life the sturdy virtues that had made his fore-
fathers eminent. He was born in Oglethorpe County, Geoi^a, September 30,
1860, and died at Sparta, Georgia, October 2, 1914. His parents were George
Burnett and I^artha (Lumpkin) Moore.
The great-great-grandfather of Mr. Moore, George Lumpkin, came with
his son, John Lumpkin, from Pittsylvania County, Vii^nia, to Georgia in
1784 and settled in what was then Wilkes but is now Oglethorpe County,
founding a family which has had many notable members. The grandfather
of Mr. Moore was Rev, George Lumpkin, a wealthy farmer and a prominent
Baptist minister. A great-uncle, Hon. Wilson Lumpkin, was four times elected
to Congress, twice elected governor of Georgia, and represented the state in
the United States Senate from December 13, 1837, to March 4, 1841. Another
great-uncle, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, was the first chief justice of the Supreme
Court of Georgia and held that office for twenty-two years. Another distin-
guished member of this family, Rev. Jack Lumpkin, a great-uncle of Mr. Moore,
was a noted preacher in Georgia a century ago. Coming closer, Hon. John H,
Lumpkin, of Rome, Georgia, who was judge of the Cherokee Circuit and a
member of Congress for eight years, was an uncle of Mr. Moore, while among
his first cousins may be mentioned the late Judge Samuel Lumpkin, Judge
Joseph H. Lumpkin, of the Supreme Court, and Hon. Philip Cook, secretary of
the State of Georgia.
Both parents of Mr. Moore were bom in Oglethorpe County which cwo-
tinued the family home until the opening of the jvar between the states, when
the father turned aside from his easy life as a planter and gave himself up to
serve as a soldier. He died bravely on one of the battle fields. The mother
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2739
later retired to Athena where she survived for many years, her death oceurring
in 1907.
Thomas Cobb Jloore was the third born in his parents' family of six
children. lie came upon the stage of life at a perilous titne and through the
misfortunes of war was deprived of a father's care and protection in infancy.
His early advantages were thereby lessened in every direction. When twenty
years old he made choice of career, entering the newspaper office of the
Advocate-Democrat, at Crawfordsville and continued with that journal for
five years, learning every technical and practical detail of the printing business.
When Mr. Moore came to Sparta he was associated with Sidney Lewis in the
establishmeiit of a newspaper which they named the Ishmaelite. At the begin-
ning their circulation was small but that they had expected, but into the devel-
opment of this enterprise Mr. Moore put all his strength and vitality and
to-day this paper circulates all over tbe state with 2,000 subscribers, and has an
advertising patronage that insures its stability. All through the early strug-
gles and later, when success crowned his efforts, Mr. Moore kept aiming high,
it being his object to make his paper in every way a necessity to the people of
Georgia because of its excellence. Its career has been remarkable and its
future is well assured. Many improvements in the plant have been made in
recent years, including the installing of linotype machines of most modern
construction. Although no longer does he control its policy and direct its
affairs, it is in able hands, his eldest son, Q. Burnett Moore succeeding as editor
and proprietor at the time of his death.
Mr. Moore was united in marriage with Miss Lucy Hall, a daughter of tbe
late Hon. John H. Hall, formerly a member of the State Legislature from
Warren County, and they became the parents of four children: George
Burnett, who was bom in 1893 and is his father's successor and a representa-
tive citizen of Sparta ; Gladys, who was bom in 1897 ; and John H. and Clement
G., the former bom in 1903 and the latter in 1905.
Never a politician outside his newspaper activities, Mr. Moore, nevertheless,
always gave hearty support to the democratic party. He was a faithful
member of the Baptist Church. His charities were many, his kind lieart lead-
ing him to give generously when appeals reached him, and for this and other
reasons he was widely esteemed and his death universally deplored.
Frede»ick Victor Paradise. Among the young lawyers of pronounced
character, whether considered from the viewpoint of progressive citizenship
or from the standpoint of professional attainment, is found Frederick Victor
Paradise, of Waycross. While comparatively a newcomer to the legal fra-
ternity, he has already ^own tbe possession of qualities which combine to
form the successful attorney. Mr. Paradise was bom in Lineolnton, Lincoln
County, Georgia, October 2, 1887, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Cart-
ledge) Paradise.
Thomas Paradise was bom in Lincoln County, Qeor^a, in 1855, was there
reared and educ^ed, and grew up amid an agricultural atmosphere, so that
when he entered upon his life 's work he chose the vocation of farming. He
has continued to be engaged in this calling all of his life, and is one of the
well-to-do, influential citizens of this community, where his sterling quali- "
ties of character have served to place him high in the esteem of his fellow-
citizens. He is a democrat, although not a politician, and a member of the
Baptist Church, in the work of which he has taken an active part. Mrs.
Paradise, also a native of Lincoln County, has been a member of the Methodist
Church since girlhood. Of the eleven children of Mr. and Mrs. Paradise,
Frederick Victor is the second in order of birth and the eldest son.
After attending the district schools in tbe neighborhood of his father's
farm, Frederick Victor Paradise pursued his high school studies at Lincoln-
ton, and then took an academic course of 2*4 years at the State Norma! School
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2742 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
war the Morelands Were the largest slave owners in Coweta County, having
a plantation of about 4,000 acres and owning 100 slaves. The Town o£ More-
land, Georgia, was named in their honor. It can be guessed, therefore, that
the mother of the subject of this memoir, was reared in all the luxurf and
refinement characteristic of wealthy Southerners in ante-bellum days. There
were six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Zellars, one of whom died
in infancy. The others were: Jessie L., wife of W. A. Ward of Atlanta;
Thomas Sloreland; Ellen Garrett, widow of H. Abner Camp, of Newnan,
Georgia ; Emma Belle, wife of I. N. Orr, of Newnan ; and Eatelle, wlio is
the wife of Bright Blayloek, the son of Hon. A. 0. Blayloek, and resides in
Fayetteville, Georgia.
Thomas Moreland Zellars acquired l^is education in the Grantville public
schools and at Emory College, where he spent the junior year. In 1892 he
entered .into the cotton seed business in Grantville, beginning in a modest
way. As the business prospered he enlarged his operations until in 1907, on
May 28th, he organized the Grantville Oil Company, with a capital stock of
$50,000, in which he owns a controlling interest, having also from the begin-
ning held the office of president. This company has invested $300,000 on
their plant, building lino mills and installing modern machinery. They crush
on an average sixty tons of cotton seed and- manufacture 250,000 gallons
of oil annually. They also own seven ginneries situated in Troup, Meri-
wether and Coweta counties. Mr. Zellars' personal interests are also diversi-
fied and important, including a planing mill, ice plant, fertilizer works and
other enterprises, furnishing employment altogether to upwards of seventy
persons. Practically all of this business is operated by home capital, indi-
cating a natural and healthy growth of the town with little or no outside aid,
Mr. Zellars has also built and owns a number of valuable business and resi-
dence properties. For a number of years he has been an active and efficient
member of the city council, working on the side of progress, and often takii^
the initiative with respect to local improvements. It was he who installed the
telephone system, which he later sold to the Bell Telephone Company. He
also took a leading part in the adoption of the public school system, and in
the building of one of the finest schoolhouses in Georgia, for a city of the size
of Grantville. During the depression of the trade in the South, which began
in the fall of 1914, so far from allowing himself to get discouraged, he showed
his faith in the future by continuing his building enterprises, also encourag-
ing his fellow citizens to persevere in their various operations, and his cheerful
optimism has done much to keep alive the spirit of enterprise in Grantville
and throughout the vicinity. Automobile trips are his favorite diversion, and
he owns one of the iinest garages in the South for a town oE this size. It is
but natural that, having done so much for the town, his fellow citizens should
hold Mr. Zellars in high esteem and seek his aid and advice in all matters of
importance affecting loear interests. He was elected to the office of county
commissioner without any effort on his part and performed useful service for
one term. Mr. Zellars is a Maaon, his affiliations with the order including
membership in Taarab Temple of the Mystic Shrine> at Atlanta ; he also belongs
to the order of Elks. Iii religion he is a Baptist, contributing liberally to the
support of the church of that denomination in Grantville^
At St. Charles. Powela County. Georgia. August 22, 1895, Mr. Zellars
was married to Miss Clara Emily Puller, daughter of J. C. and Margaret
(Evans) Fuller. Her father, who was for a number of years engaged in the
wholesale mercantile business in Atlanta, died in 1908. Four children, all
bom in Grantville, have come to bless the home of Mr. .and Mrs. Zellars,
namely: Thomas Edward, now a student at Culver (Indiana) Military
Acadejny ; Margaret, who is also a student ; Emily and Mary Ella. Mrs.
Zellars' religious affiliations are with the Methodist Church, of which she^is
a sincere and useful member.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2743
James A1. AVayne, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the. United
States, was born in' Savannah, Geoi^a, in 1790. He graduated from Prinee-
tOQ University in 1808, studied law both East and South and in 1810 was
admitted to the bar at Savannah. In 1821-22 he was elected to the Legis-
lature, served as judge of the Superior Court in 1824-29, was a member of
the Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty-third congresses and resigned
his seat to become associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He
died while occupying that bench at Washington, July 5, 1867. . *
Joseph Meriwetdeb Terrell. The late Joseph M. Terrell, governor and
United States senator, was born in ileriwetber County, Georgia, June 6, 1861.
In 1882 he began his practice as a lawyer in the small town of Greenville. In
1884 he was elected to the State Legislature from Meriwether County and waa
the youngest member of the House. He was re-elected in 1886, and in 1890 to
the State Senate. In 1892 he was elected attorney general of Georgia over
two of the most prominent lawyers of the state by a two-thirds vote in the
convention. Attorney General Terrell continued for ten years to be Georgia's
lawyer before the high courts of the Nation. His record in this capacity car-
ries the honor of having tried more cases before the United States Supreme
Court than any attorney general the state ever had, and still more remark-
able, the records yield the distinction that he never lost a single case before
this court in Georgia's interest. His two terms as governor ended in 1907
and in 1910 he was appointed United States senator on the death of Hon. A.
S. Clay. He was holding his seat in the Upper House of Congress at the time
of his own decease on November 17, 1912,
Hon. Samuel F. Gablington. The City of Augusta, Geoi^a, has many
reasons to entertain feelings of local pride and a cogent one is the possession
as citizens of so large a class of educated, enlightened and cultured men. One
who occupies a prominent place among this class, is Hon. Samuel P. Garling-
ton, whose versatile gifts have made him conspicuous as an educator, lawyer
and statesman. He was born in Laurens County, South Carolina, and ia the
only surviving son of Creswell and Elizabeth (Fleming) Garlington. Both
parents were born in South Carolina and still reside there, the father now in
his eighty-second and the mother in her seventy-fifth year. Creswell Gar-
lington during his active years was well known as a lawyer and for years has
been prominent in his section. During the war between the states be served
as a member of Gen. A. C. Glirlington 's staff and lived to return unharmed to
his home when hostilities ceased. Mr. Garlington has one sister, Mrs. J.
Wells Todd, who resides at Laurens, South Carolina. His one brother, J.
Conway Garlington, is deceased.
Following preliminary instruction in boyhood, Samuel F. Garlington
entered the South Carolina College at Columbia and subsequently became a
student in the South Carolina Military Academy at Charleston, from which
institution he was graduated in 1890, very soon afterward becoming president
of Butler Male and Female College, at Butler, Georgia. Although entirely
successful in the educational field the young man cherished other ambitions
and cliwely applied himself in spare moments to .the study of law, under the
direction of the well known attorney, W. E. Steed. He was admitted to the
bar in 1893 and for six months afterward was associated in practice with his
preceptor. Mr, Garlington .then continued alone in practice until 1909, when
he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, John M. Cozart, which
continued until April, 1916. As a lawyer he has been recognized from the
first as able and effective and his standing professionally has always been
honorable in character.
In the meanwhile Mr. Garlington became deeply interested in politics,
frequently being elected as a delegate to democratic state conventions aad ere
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2744 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
long he began to be considered by the party leaders as a strong force and one
well (lualified in every way for the office of state representative. He was
elected first in 1908, and served continuously until he resigned in April, 1916,
on account of the disastrous tire which visited Augusta, March 22, 1916. He
has made an honorable name for himself in the legislative halls, lending his
influence to every measure that, with his legal experience, he is able to judge
beneficial and aiding to defeat throtigh his vote every proposed law that has
had selfish greed or demoralizing features attached to it. While every por-
tion of the state claims his attention he endeavors to assist bis own con-
stituents as far as he can do so honorablj'. For three years he has been a
member of the democratic county executive committee.
Mr. Garlington was united in marriage with Miss Mary Cozart, on Jan-
uarj- 3, 1906. She is a daughter of the late John P. Cozart, a well known
resident of Wilkes County, who died in 1891. The mother of Mrs. Garling-
ton lives at Washington, Wilkes Connty, Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. Garlington
are members of the Preshjterian Church. He is a member of the Richmond
County Bar Association and belongs also to the library association and main-
tains his interest in bis old Greek letter fraternity, the Sigma Nu. He belongs
to the Knights of Pythias; has been noble grand in the local lodge of Odd
Fellows; is member of the Owls; was vice president of the Beavers and was
the first president of the Eagles, in which organization he has served at times
as a delegate to other points. At college be was president of Polytechnic
Literary Society, and commencement orator in his class, and represented his
debating society on several public occasions.
Hon. John William Quincey. For more than twenty years Hon. John
William Quincey, a sterling citizen of Dou^as, has occupied a distinctive
place among the members of the legal profession of the Waycross Circuit,
His superior attainments and ability placed him in the front ranks ere he had
been engaged in practice many years, and from his initial steps in his chosen
profession it was manifest that his success was assured. By nature and
acquired knowledge eminently fitted for his vocation, he has been freqnently
called to positions of importance in public life, particularly those dealing
with the administration of law, in which his clear judicial mind has enabled
him to discharge bis duties in a manner that tias made him one of the most
impartial, capable and popular incumbents that has ever graced and honored
the Waycross Circuit Bench.
Judge Quineey was bom at White Springs, Hamilton County, Florida,
September 27. 1864, and is a son of Samuel and Sarah Quineey, natives oi
England, the father bom in Cambridgeshire and the mother in Lynn R^gis,
Norfolk County. They were married in England, and during the latter '508
emigrated to the United States, first spending about one year in New York
and then moving to Florida. There Samuel Quincey engaged in fanning and
stockraising, in Hamilton and Levy counties, until shortly after his wife's
death, when he disposed of bis interests and moved to Douglas. Since that
time he has lived a quiet retired life. Of the seven children in the family,
three survive: Hendricks J., an attorney at law at Oeilla, Georgia; Lillie,
who is the wife of J. H. Collier, of Levy County, Florida; and John William.
John William Quincey received a public school education in the public
and high schools of Levy County, Florida, and when still a young man en-
tered upon bis career as an educator, first teaching in the public schools of
Florida, then coming to Georgia, where he taught for several years. During
this period he devoted all his spare time to the atudy of law, and daring the
latter years had the benefit of the preeeptorship of W. S. Humphreys, an able
lawyer of Quitman, Georgia. He was admitted to the Georgia bar by Hon.
Augustus S. HoHsel, of Thomasville, Georgia, in 1894, and at once engaged in
practice at Douglas, where bis labors have since been centered. Not long after
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2745
his arrival Judge Quincey begau to attract atteiition by his comprehensive
understaiitling of the principles of law, his careful preparation of cases and
his fidelity to his clients' interests. The long hours which he had devoted
to study after the hard day's work in the ela&s room were beginning to bring
their reward, and ease after ease was marked on the credit side of the young
attorney's ledger. He became recognized as one of the most forceful and
thorough lawyers of the circuit, aud business of large proportions and great
importance soon came to him, so that more and more he engaged in corporation
law. At this time he is attorney and division counsel for the Georgia & Florida
Railroad, the Union Bauking Company of Douglas and the Broxton Bank,
of Broxtoii, Georgia, as well as attorney for numerous other large corpora-
tions and institutions. He is a capable business man as well as a leader in
professional life, and has identified himself with many large enterprises,
including the Union Banking Company, the oldest and strongest banking
institution in Coffee County, of which he is vice president and a director;
the Georgia Casualty Company, of Macon, of which he is a director ; and the
Douglas Oil and Fertilizer Company, of which he is president and which he
helped to organize. As an agriculturist, he is operating sixteen plows on his
large plantations in Coffee County, where he has improvements of the most
modern kind and buildings substantial in character and' attractive in appear-
ance, and, in the handling of city realties, he has been one of the foremost
upbuilders of Douglas.
As Judge Quincey's abilities and talents became recognized, he began to
be looked upon with favor as a possible incumbent of public offices, and after
filling several minor positions, was elected mayor of Douglas, a capacity in
which he served with signal ability and fidelity. He was next appointed
judge of the city courts of Douglas, by Governor Candler, and served two
years in that position, and in 1914 was appointed by Governor Slayton to
fill out the unexpired term of Hon. T. A, Parker, as judge of the Superior
courts for Waycross Circuit. His decisions, during his judicial service, have
been a full embodiment of the law applicable to the litigated points, and
have been entirely free from judicial bias. He has the utmost respect and
confidence of his fellow citizens for his upright life and for what he has accom-
plished, and for the fact that he has used the talents with which nature
endowed him to the best possible advantage, in a way wliich has not only
benefited himself, but which has also proved of benefit to his fellow men.
Fraternally, the judge is a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He affiliated with the
Episcopal Church.
Judge Quincey was married October 17. 1894, at Lake City, Florida, to
Miss Blanche Frink, a native of Jasper, Hamilton County, Florida, and a
daughter of Dr. L. F. and Benita (Hatcly) Frink, of that city. Judge and
Mrs, Quincey are the parents of two children, both born at Douglas: Hately
J., bom August 13, 1900, who is a graduate of the Eleventh District Agri-
cultural College; and Blanche, bom March 27, 1902, who is a student. Mrs.
Quincey and the children are also members of the Episcopal Church.
Hon. John Samuel Reid. No family in Putnam County has merited a
higher place in general esteem on account of individual and collective worth
and usefulness than that of Reid, of which the member mentioned above is now
serving with admirable efficiency in the office of probate judge. Judge Reid
is a Confederate soldier, and after the issues of the war were decided spent
many years as a farmer and business man in Putnam County. He is now
living at a good old age in Eatonton and has devoted a number of years to the
public service, formerly as a member of the Legislature, and now in the wise
and careful handling of the chancery matters that come before his jurisdiction.
John Samuel Reid was bom at Eatonton in Putnam County, Geoi^a,
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2746 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
December 21, 1839, a son of Edmund and Elizabeth (Terrell) Reid. Hia
mother was a cousin to Governor Joseph Terrell of Georgia and a daughter of
Richmond and Kitty (Butler) Terrell. The Terrell family has a widespread
membership throughout the South, and has been almost equally prominent iu
Virginia, Georgia and Texas. The Reid family came from Pennsylvania to
North Carolina and to Georgia. It was established by the great-grandfather
of Judge Reid, Samuel Reid. This 'ancestor, Samuel Reid, came from the
Northern part of Ireland or Scotland about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, and first settled in the Piedmont region of Pennsylvania. Some time
during the Revolutionary war he raised a company and led it as captain in
numerous skirmishes and engagements. Previously he had been a member of
the Mecklenburg Convention which framed the original Declaration of Inde-
pendence, lie was prominent as a planter. The grandfather, Alexander Reid,
was bom in Nortli Carolina, was reared and educated there, and became a
farmer and slave owner. He was one of the early settlers of Hancock County,
Geoi^a, and in 1806 moved to Putnam County, where he continued his activi-
ties as a planter and owned a large retinue of slaves. He served one term in
the State Legislature, and was an active state's rights democrat. His death
occurred at the age of sixty-three, and his wife passed away in 1860 at the
same age.
Edmund Reid, father of Judge Reid, was the fifth among ten children.
He was bom in 1802 aad died in 1881. As a young man he read law in Putnam
County, but gave most of his attention to the business of planting. He sent
five sons to the Confederate army. Prior to the war he was a strong Union
man, but after secession he did all in his power to promote the interests of the
Confederacy. In 1855 he was a member of the Legislature, and his life was
an important contribution to the upbuilding of Putnam County. His wife
died in 1882 at the age of eighty. The family were all members of the Presby-
terian Church. The eight children of Edmund and Elizabeth Reid were:
Captain Richmond A. Reid, who served in the quartermaster's department of
the Twelfth Georgia Regiment until the end of the war and died in Putnam
County in 1881 ; James S., who was a lieutenant' colonel of the Third Georgia
Regiment, later a farmer in Morgan County, and died there in 1885; Ann C,
wife of Maj. W. A. Wilson, lives in Morgan County, Georgia ; Mary Frances is
the widow of Judge Thomas G. Lawson of Eatonton ; William T., who served
in the Twenty-second Georgia Battalion of the State Troops, was a farmer in
Putnam County until his death in 1912 ; the next in order in the family is
Judge Reid ; Edward T. Reid was killed at the Battle of McDonald, Virginia,
while in the Twelfth Georgia Division; Susan is the wife of P. W. Walton
of Madison, Georgia.
Judge Reid spent his youth on his father's plantation in Putnam County,
attended the public schools of Eatonton, and before the war was a student in
the Georgia Militarj- College at Marietta, At the age of twenty-one he en-
listed in Company B of the Third Georgia Regiment, Wright's Brigade, and
was present in a number of notable engagements in Virginia and elsewhere,
lie was severely wounded September 17, 1862, at Sharpsbui^, Maryland, and
was again wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg on Cemeter>' Heights, where
he was left lying on the field and was taken prisoner. He was sent to John-
son's Island in Lake Erie and was held a prisoner there until the close of
the war.
With the close of the war came the duties of peace in a devastated country,
and for twenty-five years he was successfully identified with farming in
Putnam County. In the meantime civic honors came to him, and in 1880 he
was elected to the State Senate and in 1886 sent to the Lower House of the
Legislature. While in the Legislature he proved a strong but generally con-
Kervative influence, and was more interested in the quality of legislation than
in the quantity. In 1906 he was electetl ordinary or probate judge, and his
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OEOBOIA AND QEORaiANS 2747
administration of that c^ce baa been characterized by a tendeney to settle
dispntes among heirs without resorting to costly litigatiwi, and in this (^ce
as in all other relations he baa won hosts of friends and adrairers.
Judge Reid is a Jeffersonian democrat, and is a member of the Methodist
Church. In 1866 he married for his first wife Louise Dennis of Putnam
County, daughter of William Dennis. Mrs, Reid died in 1879, the mother of
five children, three of whom died in infancy. One of the survivors was Dr.
E. Hunter Reid, who graduated from the Baltimore Dental College and was
connected with the Georgia State Sanitarium when he died. William Dennis
Reid, the only one living of the first marriage, is a scholar and educator,
graduated A. B. from the Georgia State University, took his master's degree
at the University of Wisconsin, and has also pursued post-graduate studies
in Columbia University at New York, In 1881 Judge Reid married Miss
AIai7 Johnston, who was bom in Texas, a daughter of WUliam and Mary
(Reeee) Johnston. Mrs. Reid died in 1910, without children.
A. G, & JuUAN B. McCuRBY. There can be no happier connection in
either business or professional life than that which exists between father and
son, the older man contributing his broad experience and thorough knowl-
edge of human nature to the assets of the firm, while the young man gives of
his enthusiasm and youthful energy. This desirable combination finds an
illustration in the firm of A. G. & Julian B, MeCurry, of Hartwell, Georgia,
which is made up of Asbury G. McCurry, father, and Julian B. McCutry, son,
and which is known as one of the strongest legal firms and among the largest
real estate owners in Hart County and that section. Both men hiave won high
reputations in law, the father being an attorney of forty years' experience, in
whose career many hard-fought legal battles have occurred, while the son is
a representative of the younger type of lawyer and business man, who has
inherited many of his father's sterling qualities of character.
Asbury G. McCurry was bom in 1852 on a farm six miles from Hartwell,
in Hart County, a homestead which has been in the family name for more
than a century. He was reared on the farm, but early displayed a predilec-
tion for the law, and entered and was duly graduated from the University of
Georgia, foUowiiig which he entered upon the practice of his profession. For
forty years he has been accounted one of the leading lawyers of Northeast
Georgia, and during this period has had charge of many important legal
interests. A democrat in politics, he has taken a leading part in public affairs,
and on several occasions has been sent as representative from Hart County '
to the Legislature of the state, in which body his'record was one of excellent
service. In 1895 he was appointed a member of the committee 6f the Legisla-
ture to revise the code of Geoi^a. He is now a director of the Hartwell Rail-
way Company and a trustee of the Eighth District Agricultural School.
Mr, McCurry has contributed largely to the upbuilding of Hartwell, erecting
many of its business houses. While he was too young to take an active part
in the Civil war, the family was well represented in that struggle by five of
his brotJiers who took part as soldiers under the fli(g of the Confederacy. Mr.
McCurry married at Hartwell, Miss Frances Benson, who was born at Pendle-
ton, South Carolina, in 1855, a daughter of John B, and Elizabeth (Norton)
Benson. Her father was one of the earliest settlors at Hartwell, where he
built the first house erected in this city. He served as a member of the State
Senate during the Civil war period, always took an important part in public
affairs, and died in 1892, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mrs. Benson, who
was a great friend of Mrs. Joseph E. Brown and served as maid of honor at
her wedding, died in 1881, at Hartwell. Three children were bom to Asbury
G. and Frances McCurry, of whom one died in infancy.
Julian B. McCurry was bom at Hartwell, Georgia, April 22, 1879, and
received the foundation for his education in the public schools. After some
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2748 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
preparation under his father's preceptorship, he entered the University of
Georgia, taking an academic course for three years and from which iustita-
tion he was graduated in law in 1901, and immediately became associated with
his father in the practice of law. Like his father, he has taken an active part
in democratic political affairs. In 1902 was elected as a member of the
House of Representatives, being the youngest member of the body, and in
1909-10 was sent as representative from the Thirty-first District to tie State
Senate, of which body he was honored with election as president pro tem.
He has been foremost in movements making for the betterment of Hartwell,
both in a business and civic way, and is known as one of the men to whom the
city must look for its further advancement. He is now vice president of the
Hart County Bank.
On June 7, 1911, Mr. McCurry was married in Morgan County, Georgia,
to Miss Richmond Virginia Walton, daughter of P. W. Walton, a well known
banker and planter of that county. They have no children.
I
BuFOKD Francis Botkin. Among Carroll County families the Boykina
have long enjoyed well earned distinctions in the professions, in public affairs,
and as citizens of the finest integrity and honor. Buford F. Boykin is one of
the younger attorneys practicing at CarroUton, and though his practice has
covered only a few years he now enjoys a prestige hardly second to any in
the Coweta Circuit.
Buford Francis Boykin was born in Troup County, Georgia, October 4,
1884, a son of Samuel J. and Ida May (Wilkinson) Boykin. His parents
now both reside at CarroUton and were both born in Troup County. Samuel
J. Boykin is a son of John Thomas Boykin, who was bom in Wilkes County,
Georgia, and served with the rank of captain in Cobb's Legion during the
war between the states. His record as a soldier can be found mentioned in
the published history- of Cobb's Legion. In the years before the war he was
one of the lai^st planters in Troup County, owned a great number of
slaves and used their labor for the operation of about 4,000 acres of land.
Always a man of influence, after the war he was quite prominent in demo-
cratic politics. His death occurred at the age of sixty-six. Samuel J. Boykin
who was the third son among nine children, is a graduate of Emory College,
prepared for the law and began practice at La Grange in Troup County, from
which point he removed to CarroUton in 1890 and continued his profession
there until failing health compelled him to retire. He was bom in 1863,
was married in 1883, and he and his wife now live at CarroUton. He has
always been active in the democratic party, and his name was twice on the
electoral ticket of Georgia. Buford F, Boykin is the oldest in a family of
seven children. His brother Shirley C. Boykin, who was bom in Alabama,
is a graduate of the law department of the University of Georgia with the
class of 1911, is engaged in practice at CarroUton, and married Miss Helen
Long, daughter of H. W. Long, of CarroUton; Luta is the wife of Thomas
Ambrose Herndon, of CarroUton; Miss Elma, Samuel J., Jr., and Elizabeth
all live at home in CarroUton. One of the children died in infancy.
Buford P. Boykin acquired his education partly in the public schools and
partly in the colleges at La Grange and Dahlonega. Early in life he responded
to influences which caused him to take up the study of dentistry. He gradu-
ated in dentistry at Atlanta, and was soon established in a profitable practice
at CarroUton and continued the work for five years. It was never entirely
satisfactory as a professiou and permanent calling, and from his early years
he had shown a marked preference for the law. His enthusiasm for that
prof&ssion grew with passing years and whUe practicing dentistry he devoted
all his spare time to his law books with his father as a preceptor, and had
finally reached that stage of proficiency and knowledge where in 1909 he
passed an examination and was admitted to practice before Hon. R, W.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2749
Freeman, judge of the Superior Court of the Coweta Circuit. "With his
admission to the bar he at once abandoned his dental work and began practice
at Carrollton. In 1914 he formed an association with Raymond Robinson
under the firm name of Boykin & Robinson. In five years' time Mr. Boykin
has made himself one of the leading attorneys of the Coweta Circuit. He is
attorney for the Carrollton Bank, the Bank of Temple, the Merchants &
Planters Bank of Bowden, and local attorney for the Southern Railroad.
He is also a director in the Bowden Bank and in the Lowom Grocery Com-
pany, Incorporated, and is president of the S. J. Boykin & Sons Insurance
Company, an incorporated company which is handling the largest general
insurance business in Carroll County. Mr. Boykin might also be classed as
an agriculturist, since he owns and operates 700 acres of fine farm land in
Carroll County.
For a number of years he has l»een active in democratic circles and is a
member of the Democratic Executive Committee of Carroll County. Frater-
nally his relations are with the Masonic order, the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, and he is a member of the Methodist Church.
On March 3, 1905, at Macon. Georgia, Mr. Boykin married Miss Aline
Bradley, of Carrollton, a daughter of J. T. Bradley. They have one daughter,
Caroline, bom at Carrollton, June 11, 1912. Mrs. Boykin is active in the
Methodist Episcopal Church and the church societies and woman's clubs. The
principal diversion from his business and professional interests Mr. Boykin
finds in out of door life and enjoys living as close as possible to nature. His
usual summer vacation is spent in his pleasant summer cottage on the shores
of a beautiful lake, where he camps for several weeks and recreates.
IsA.\c Grant. Among the prominent attorneys of Pickens County,
Georgia, is Isaac Grant, whose practice has long been of a decidedly impor-
tant character, connecting him with large litigated interests. In his practice
he has shown the ability necessary to cope with intricate and involved com-
plexities of the law, and his clients have never found him negligible of their
interests. A native of Georgia, Colonel Grant has always proved a loyal son
and devoted promoter of the state's welfare and both professionally and per-
sonally he occupies a high position in this section.
Isaac Grant was horn in Hall County, Georgia, October 24, 1854, and is
a son of Radford and Mary (Williams) Grant. The father was born at
Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he was reared, coming to Georgia in his'
twenty-first year and remaining in Hall County until his death on October
23, 1871, at the age of forty-eight years. I>uring the war between the states
he served in the western army as a private and with a faithfulness that
brought him commendation as a soldier. The mother of Isaac Grant was a
member of one of the old Hall County families. She survived her husband
for many years, dying in 1905. Of their eight children, Isaac was the second
in order of birth.
For some years Isaac Grant attended school in Hall County, but, like
other youths at that time, found his educational opportunities somewhat cur-
tailed on account of the disorganization caused by the war between the states,
his father becoming a soldier and responsibilities falling early on him. In
the course of time, after conditions had become happier and normal living
was restored, Mr. Grant made the law his choice of career and pursued his
studies under the direction of Attorney W. H. Simmons, and at Jasper,
Georgia, in 1882, was admitted to the bar. He entered into practice at
Jasper and has continued here, taking part ever since in much of the impor-
tant litigation of the county, and through legal ability building up and
sustaining an enviable reputation.
On May 12, 1885, Colonel Grant was united in marriage with Miss Lulu
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2750 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Mouldin, wbo is a daughter of Allen Mouldin, a well known resident of
Easley, Soutli Carolina. To this marriage the following children have been
bom : Leland Stanford, who is a resident of Etowah, Tennessee ; Gertrude,
Mrs. J. A. Sullivan, of Canton, Qeoi^a; Mrs. Ima Freeman, of Easley, South
Carolina; and Homer, Allan, Dena May, Pauline, Radford and Baby, all of
Jasper, still under the home roof.
In politics a loyal supporter of the democratic party, and ever an active
worker for its candidates. Colonel Grant has never desired public office for
himself. The demands of his profession are heavy and in the legal triumphs
he wins he tinds more satisfaction than any political position could afford
him. Like other men of prominence and position he is often called upon to
further through money and influence, civic movements of various kinds and
his fellow citizens ever find him ready to co-operate when the object is benevo-
lent in character and for the general welfare.
Brio.-Gen. Edward Lloyd Thomas was bom in Clark County, Georgia,
on March 23, 1825. He was a lineal descendant of the famous Thomas and
Lloyd families of Maryland — two of the most notable families of that state
which have contributed several governors and numerous congressmen, soldiers
and judges to the commonwealth. He was graduated from Emory College in
1848 ; was promoted for gallantry in the Mexican war and commended by the
Legialature. Until the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion he led the quiet
life of a planter. He raised the Thirty-fifth Georgia Infantry for the Con-
federate service, was commissioned its colonel and before the war closed was
a brigadier-general. After the war he again retired to his plantation in
Newton County. In 1885, under the Cleveland administration, he was ap-
pointed to an important position in the Land Department and afterward
moved to Oklahoma, where he died in 1898.
WiLLLVM M. Wadley, a pioneer railroad man of the South, was born in
New Hampshire about 1812; in his youth served an apprenticeship in his
father's blacksmitli shop, and moved to Savannah when about twenty years
of age. In 1833, he became an employee of tlie Central Railroad, then in its
infancy, and by a continuous series of promotions had reached the presidency
pf that corporation previous to the Civil war period. The Confederacy made
him railroad quartermaster, charged with the general superintendence of
transporting soldiers and supplies. After the war he moved to New Orleans,
'where he was made president of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Texas Railroad,
and began the railroad development of the Lone Star State. But General
Wadley was recalled to Georgia to assume control of the Central, which he
held up to the time of his death, August 10, 1882.
Joseph C. Brewer. The marked success which has attended the Douglas
Wholesale Grocery Company attests the sagacity, foresight and financial Still
of its officers, whose watchful care and fidelity have built up and perpetu-
ated its fortunes. The life of the merchant is less conspicuous before the
world than that of a member of one of the learned professions, or of one
identified with public affairs, but it is none the less one of arduous labor and
thorough engrossment, one which demands a high order of organizing talent,
watchfulness of the trend of affairs, and more than ordinary financial skill.
It has been the possession of these qualities tliat has brought Joseph C.
Brewer, manager of the Douglas Wholesale Grocery Company, to his present
prominent position among the business men of South Georgia. Mr. Brewer
is a merchant bred. He began his career in a modest clerical capacity, later
gained experience as a traveling man, and finally, in mature life, finds him-
self connected with several institutions which undoubtedly add to the prestige
of his locality as a center of commercial activity.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2751
Mr. Brewer was bom in Effingham County, Georgia, April 7, 1875, and
is a son of H. P. and Addie (Kelley) Brewer. His parents were both bom
in Georgia, the father at Effingham and the mother at Louisville, and here
they were educated, reared and married. H. P. Brewer has risen to a posi-
tion of ' prominenee and distinction. For a number of years he was claim
agent for the Plant system of railroads, and later entered the law, and, after
a successful career as a practitioner, was elected to judicial position.
Although now in his seventy-ninth year, he is still active in body and alert in
mind. Judge Brewer is also a veteran of the war between the states, having
served for four years as a soldier of the Confederacy. Mrs. Brewer died in
1892, at the age of sixty years, the mother of eight children, of whom Joseph
C. is the fifth in order of birth.
Joseph C. Brewer was educated in the public schools of Wayeroes, Geoi^ia,
and after his graduation from the high scnool, in 1693, chose mercantile luies
as his life vocation and accepted a position as bookkeeper with the Setillo
Manufacturing Company of Waycross. He remained with this company for
a period of five years, and then became a traveling representative for the
J. M, Cox Wholesale Grocery Company, at Waycross, but after three years
resigned to come to Douglas, where he became one of the organizers of the
Douglas Wholesale Grocery Company, a $120,000 concern, of which he became
manager and a director. The other officers of this company are: J. M.
Ashby, president; R. G. Kirkland, vice president; B. K. Souden, secretary.
The firm was incorporated in 1904, and since that time has enjoyed a proa-
perous and continually growing business. From ten to fifteen men are
employed in the handling of goods at Douglas, and two traveling men repre-
sent the house on tlie road. To the sagacity, prudence and good judgment
of Mr. Brewer is due in no small degree the phenomenal success which this
house has attained. Mr, Brewer was also one of the organizers of another
large industry of this part of Georgia, the Consolidated Grocery Company
of Fitzgerald, of which he is also manager, and in the success of which he
has played an important part. He has various other interests, is a director
in many large institutions, and is first vice president of the Fitzgerald First
National Bank and of the Cotton Oil Mills of Fitzgerald. Mr. Brewer has
had numerous opportunities to enter public life, but has declined because of
the pressing duties of his large business interests, which make heavy demands
upon .his time and energies. However, he is ready to lend his support to'
movements calculated to advance the general welfare, and to contribute to
projects wliich promise benefit to his city. He is a stanch democrat in his
political views, is fraternally affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of
Pythias, and in religious faith ia a Baptist
Mr. Brewer, having become settled in business, entered into another not
less important alliance, November 27, 1895, at Waycross, when he was
married to Miss Emma Albertson. They are the parents of four children :
Hester, bom in 1896, a college graduate; Effie Cleo, bom in 1904, and attend-
ing school ; Ashley, Wn in 1906, also a student; and J. C, Jr., bom in 1911.
Another child. Ward, is deceased. In October, 1915, Mr. Brewer moved to
Fitzgerald, wher^ the family home is now located.
Prop. W. A. Little. Throughout a long and active career. Prof, W. A.
Little has been engaged in educational work, and since 1908 has been at the
head of the Douglas Normal and Business College, at Douglas, which has
grown to be one of the leading institutions of its kind in the state. His
interest in his work has been sincere, zealous, deep and tmabating, and the
present school of which he is the executive head is a monument to his labors.
His work has been progressive and practical in character and has proved of
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2752 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the greatest benefit to the community, it« intellectual development having been
fostered materially since his advent.
Prof. W. A. Little was bom in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, June 1 9, 1867,
and is a son of William and Mary Jane (Harding) Little, natives of the
Buckeye state. William Little pursued agriculture as his vocation,- was a
sturdy, industrious and energetic farmer, and owned properties at several
times in various parts of the state. His last farm was in Guernsey Couiity,
Ohio, where he died in September, 1913, at the age of seventy-six years.
Mrs. Little died iu 1912, aged seventy-one years. They were the parents of
three children, namely: Miss Augusta and Ernest, who both reside in Ohio;
and AV. A., the eldest.
W. A. Little passed his boyhood on his father's farm and secured his
education as a lad in the country schools. Through accepting whatever hon-
orable employment presented itself, he contributed largely to the means
necessary- to give him his higher education, and was thus enabled to enter
Lebanon University, Ohio, where he studied for four terms. In 1891 he
entered upon his career as a teacher, his first school being located in the
West, at l)es Arc, Arkansas, where he remained one year. He next went to
Florida, where for two terms he was assistant at the Florida Normal College,
at W'hite Springs, and subsequently located at Jasper, Florida, where he
remained four terms. Professor Little then entered upon an experience
which fitted him eminently for the kind of work in which he is now engaged.
For ten years he was a teacher in the Georgia Normal and Business College,
at Abbeville, Georgia, and with that training found himself fitted to become
the head of a school of his own of the same kind. Accordingly, in 1908 he
came to Douglas and established the Douglas Normal and Business College,
of which he has since been the active directing head. This started with 300
public school pupils and 150 boarding pupils, and in the seven years of its
existence its enrollment has grown to 500 public school pupils and 250
enrolled boarding students. The various departments taught here include all
the branches necessary to be learned for a career in business or for educa-
tional work. Hundreds of young men and women have graduated from this
institution to become prominent men and women in business affairs and in
educational circles. Its buildings are large, modern, light and well ventilated
structures of two or three stories each, equipped with aU the paraphernalia
necessary to the modem educational institution. In Professor Little the
cause of education has had a true friend. With a comprehensive apprecia-
tion of its worth and value as a preparation for the assuming of life's respon-
sibilities, he baa made it his constant aim to so improve his school that the
instruction will be of the greatest possible benefit to his students. In this
work he has an able assistant in the person of Prof. A. A. Kuhl, general
instructor. Professor Little is an independent democrat in his political views,
but takes little more than a good citizen's interest in political matters, his
attention being devoted almost entirely to his work as an instructor of the
young. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On September 27, 1888, Professor Little was married in Guernsey County,
Ohio, to Miss Ida B. Vansiekel, daughter of Mr, and Mrs, William Vansiekel,
prominent farming people of, that county, the latter of whom is deceased.
Tn this union there were born three children; Clarence, bom December 10,
1889, at Lebanon, Ohio, single, and head bookkeeper for the Atlantic National
Bank of Jacksonville, Florida; William Cecil, born August 10, 1892, at
Wichita. Kansas, a graduate of Washington & Lee University, where he was
' a member of the Sigma Nu and winner of first prize for debating, and now
an attorney at Richmond, Virginia; and Wilbert, bom July 18, 1904, at Abbe-
ville, Georgia, now a student in the seventh grade of the Douglas public
schools.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2753
James B. Lewis, M. D. As one of the representative physicians and aur-
geons of the younger generation in Wilkes County, Doctor Lewis is engaged
in the suceeaaful practice of his profession at Washington, the judicial center
of the county, and through his character and effective services he is honoring
his profession and the state of his nativity. He was bom in Lincoln County,
Georgia, on the 7th of January, 1888, and is a son of James Timothy and
Lena Rivers (Taylor) Lewis, the former of whom was born in Edgefield
County, South Carolina, and the latter in the City of Lexington, Kentucky,
both being representatives of sterling old families early founded in the South.
For a comparatively short period after their marriage the parents of Doctor
Lewis maintained their residence in Georgia, and later they removed to South
Carolina, where the father continued as a prosperous merchant and honored
citizen of his native commonwealth until the time of his death, in 1892, at the
age of forty-two years ; his widow passed to the life eternal in 1911, at the age
of forty-six years. Goody Lewis, grandfather of the doctor, passed his entire
life in South Carolina and represented the state as a gallant soldier of the
Confederacy in the Civil war. The maternal grandfather. Cooper Taylor,
likewise was a loyal soldier of the Confederate army in the great conflict
between the states of the North and the South.
He whose name introduces this article is the eldest in a family of three
children, his only ^ster having died in infancy, and bis brother. Dr. Frank
Taylor Lewis, a graduate of the medical department of Tulane University,
in the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, being now engaged in the practice of
his profession at Leesville, Vernon County, that state.
Dr. James B. Lewis is indebted to the schools of South Carolina for bis
early education, as he was a mere child at the time of the removal of his par-
ents from Georgia to that state. After having profited fully by the advantages
of the public schools the doctor was for two years a student at Crowley Uni-
versity, in Crowley Louisiana, and after this adequate academic training he
entered upon the work of preparing himself for the profession of his choice.
He was matriculated in the Medical College of the State of South Carolina, in
which he completed the prescribed four years' course and in which he was
graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, on the 31st of May, 1911.
Early in the following year he returned to the state of his nativity and estab-
lished his residence at Washington, where he has since continued in the suc-
cessful practice of his profession and where his advancement affords the best
possible attestation to his ability, his close application - and his personal
popularity. He is serving in 1915 as assistant county physician of Wilkes
County and his substantial private practice is one of representative order.
The doctor is an active meml)er of the Wilkes County Medical Society, the
Eighth District Medical Soeiiity, the Georgia State Medical Society and the
American Medical Association. He is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the
cause of the democratic party, is affiliated with the local lodge of the Knights
of Pythias and with the Washington Country Club.
On the 16th of February, 1916, Doctor Lewis was married to Winnie Davis
Bell, of Waynesboro, Geoi^a, daughter of Simon Bell, Sr., deceased.
Hon. John Lutuek Kent. Able and prominent in the law for many
years in Johnson County and honorably distinguished in public life,
Hon. John Luther Kent, judge of the Superior Court of the Dublin Circuit,
is ranked with the leading and representative men of Georgia. On many
occasions his people and party have called him to high places, and to his
credit be it said, he has never refused to accept honorable responsibilities and
has discharged every known 'duty to the best of his ability. While faith and
confidence in his integrity have thus been shown by his fellow citizens, they
know that he has many times been a co-worker when neither fame nor emolu-
' ment were considering features, nevertheless his part of every contract has
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2754 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
been fulfilled to the letter. This in part may explain his great personal
popularity and the fact that he has never heen defeated for any office toe
which he has ever consented to be a candidate.
John Luther Kent was bom on his father's farm situated two and one-
half miles east of Wrightsville, Johnson County; Georgia, March 27, 1868.
His parents were Capt. Thomas W. and Martha B, McWorther (Brown)
Kent. Captain Kent was bom in Warren County, Geoi^a, and before and
after the war between the states was interested in farming, in which he was
fairly succesafal. He never owned but one slave. When civil war was pre-
cipitated he entered the Confederate army as a private in the Forty-eighth
Georgia Infantry, in which he served one year. He returned to Johnson
County on a furlough and while here recruited a company, of which he was
elected captain, and served with distinction with this body nntil the close of
the war, being twice wounded, once at Winchester and later at Gettysburg,
and twice was captured by the enemy. On account of his valor be waa
included in the notable 600 who were immortalized by the pen of J. Ogden
Murry.
Captain Kent was married first to Mary Todd, who died during his
absence in the army. Of the six children of that union, the two survivors
are: Sallie K., who married a Mr. Kight; and Samantha, who is the widow
of Dr. W. J. Hichs, of Moultrie, Georgia. Captain Kent's second marriage
was to Mrs. Martha (McWorther) Brown, who was the widow of Newton
Brown and is a daughter of E. B, McWorther, formerly of Hancock County,
Georgia. Captain and Mrs. Kent now live in comfortable retirement at
Wrightsville, bearing well their weight of eighty-seven and seventy-six years
respectively. He has always been active in democratic councils, has long been
identified with the Masonic fraternity, and is a faithful member of the
Christian Church. To his second marriage five children were bom : Ida B.,
who is the wife of Henry W. Snell, of Winter Haven, Florida; John Luther;
Robert L., who is cashier of the Bank of Wrightsville; Julian Gordon, who is
a farmer in Monroe County, Geoi^a; and Lillian, who is the wife of Bunyan
H. Lord, of Tennille, Georgia.
Until he was sixteen years of age, John Luther Kent attended more or
less regularly, the country schools in Round Township, and for the next nine
years gave his father assistance on the farm and thus it was not until he was
twenty-five years of age that he felt free to devote himself to the study of law,
a profession for which lie had always had a natural inclination. He then
entered the office of Hon. Alexander F. Daley, with whom he continued as a
student until he was admitted to the bar in September, 1894, by Hon. C. C.
Smith, who was then occupying his present position on the bench, a^ judge
of the Superior Court of the Dublin Circuit.
Mr. Kent entered upon the practice of law at Wrightsville, later becom-
ing associated with A. L. Hatcher, under the firm name of Kent & Hatcher,
which partnership was dissolved one year later. Mr. Kent continued alone
in practice for a number of years, not admitting a partner until 1911, when
he took in B. H. Moye, the firm style becoming Kent & Moye and later a
junior partner was admitted, G. H. Howard, who was placed in charge of the
firm's branch office at Sandersville, Georgia. This firm did a large amount
of business and gained an enviable reputation and continued until 1914, when
it was dissolved following the election of the senior partner to the bench.
Judge Kent has long been an important factor in. politics but until 1902
declined to accept party recognition of an important character. In that year
he was elected a member of the State Legislature and served with the hi^est
efficiency for three years. In 1905 he was appointed solicitor of the city
courts of Wrightsville, by Governor Terrell, and served two yeara Then he
was appointed judge of the city courts, by Governor Hoke Smith, and served _
four years, when the office became an elective one and he was elected to
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2755
succeed himself, continuing on the city bench until the summer of 1914,
when he was elected judge of the Superior Court of the Dublin Circuit. Not
only is he an honored and respected judge, but he is a popular and beloved
citizen.
Judge Kent was married October 15, 1890, at Linton, Hancock County,
Georgia, to Miss Clara V. Travick, who was bom in Hancock County and
is a daughter of Andrew J. and Elizabeth (Robson) Travick. Judge and
Mrs. Kent have four children : Luie, who was born in Hancock County,
December 4, 1891, is a fanner in Johnson County, married Lucille Culver
and they have one daughter, Martha Elizabeth ; Don C, who was born in
Hancock County, August 25, 1894, is a farmer, and married Anita Wood, of
Waycross, Georgia; Clarice, who was born in Hancock County August 28,
1897 ; and John Luther, who was bom at Wrightsville in December. 1898.
Judge Kent has always been a hard worker and it is said of him that he
has never taken a vacation. Perhaps an explanation may be found in tiie fact
that in addition to his arduous official duties, he manages and operates bis
extensive plantation and has earned the reputation of being an excellent
farmer.
Thomab Spencer Latton, M. D. The various prosperous and thriving
communities of Liberty County have their full quota of able physicians and
surgeons, and among this class of professional men is found, located at Hines-
ville. Dr. Thomas Spencer Layton. In contemplating the career of a physi-
cian, the first and moet important thoughts which present themselves are
derived from the great value of the knowledge which is in the possession of
the well trained practitioner of the healing art, and the intense desire /he
must have, especially if he be at all philanthropic, that all the people should
be well acquainted with the laws of health. In this connection Doctor Layt«n
is particularly deserving of mention.
Born in Laurens County, South Carolina, April 11, 1858, Doctor Layton
is a son of George Washington and Adeline (Todd) Layton. His father,
bom at Spartanburg, South Carolina, followed farming until the outbreak
of the war between the South and the North, when he enlisted in the Eighth
Georgia Battalion of Volunteer Infantry, and served therewith until his
death at Vicksburg, Mississippi, just before the fall of that city in 1863.
His wife, Adeline (Todd) Layton, was bom in Laurens County, South Caro-
lina, and they had three children, of whom Thomas Spencer was the first
horn. She was later married a second time and had seven children, and her
death occurred in Bartow County, in 1892.
At the age of six years Thomas Spencer Layton was sent to school, and
from then until he was sixteen years old he attended school somewhat irregu-
larly. It was necessary that he contribute lai^ly to his own support, and
for some years he was engaged in various enterprises, but he never gave up
his cherished desire of entering the medical profession, and with this aim in
view took every opportunity of studying the science. In 1889 he entered the
medical department of the University of Georgia, at Augusta, and after one
term went to the Southern Medical College, at Atlanta, where he finished his
course and graduated with his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1891. He
had a very creditable record asa student and finished fourth in a large class.
Doctor Laytoo entered upon his professional career at Stilesboro, Geoi^a, but
after six or eight months moved to the community of Pine Log, Georgia,
where he also spent a short time. Desiring a broader field, he came to Hines-
ville, in Liberty County, where he has since steadily advanced to a leading
place among medical men. He has a large practice of the most desirable kind,
being family phj-sician for a number of the representative families of the
county. He belongs to the various organizations of medfcal men in Georgia,
keeps fully abreast of the numerous advancements of his calling, and has a
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2756 GEOEGIA AND GEORGIANS
high reputation amoDg his professional brethren. Doctor Laytou haa pros-
pered ill a material way and has interested himself in a number of succ^sful
business ventures, among whicb are the Uineaville Bank, of which he is a
director, tlie Flemington, Hinesville & Western Railroad of Liberty County,
of which he also holds a position on the directing board, and the Liberty
County Herald, one of the leading newspapers of this section. He owns hw
own home at Hinesville, as well as other real estate, and is considered one of
the substantial men of the Liberty County seat. Politically a democrat, he
has taken some interest in public affairs, although not as an aspirant for
personal preferment. With bis family, he belongs to the Presbyterian Church
at Flemington. Fraternally, Doctor Layton is afBliated with the Masons.
On July 3, 1890, Doctor Layton was married to Miss Leila M. Boulineau,
daughter of B. L. and Maria Beal (Dove) Boulineau, of Richmond County,
Georgia, and a member of an old and prominent family of Savannah. They
have no children.
Hon. Joseph Bacon Fraser. In the public life of Liberty County, it is
doubtful if there is a better known citizen than Joseph Bacon Fraser, county
treasurer, mayor of Hinesville, and a man who has always given freely of his
time and talents to the public welfare. Primarily a business man, of recent
years his ofQcial duties have been of so important a character that they have
required the greater part of his attention, but he still has large and extensive
interests and his name is identified with several institutions which have an
important place in the business scheme of this part of Georgia.
llr. Fraser was born at Hinesville, Liberty County, Georgia, February 12,
1860, and is a son of Simon A. and Mary \V, (Bacon) Fraser. The mother ■
was bom in Flemington, Liberty County, Georgia, a daughter of Maj. John
and Mary (Hazzard) Bacon. Her father, John Bacon, got his title in the "War
of 1812, became a large planter in this county and died at about the age of
sixty. He was a native of Georgia, of English descent, and his wife, Mary
Hazzard. was also a native of Georgia. She died in this county in 1865, aged
sixtj-e^ht years. She was also of English descent. Mrs. Mary (Bacon)
Fraser was reared, educated and married in this county, where she spent her
life ; she was noted for her piety. She was a Presbyterian and was an active
chunh worker at the old historic Midway Church. She died at the age of
fifty-eight years and left six living children. There was also one deceased.
The children were: Flora Ellen, who married George M. Mills, and she died
and left one son", Wallace F. ; Jane B., dead, who left three children; William
A., who died and left seven children; Donald A., who died in 1884 at twenty-
eight years of age: Wallace W., deceased, who had three children; Joseph B. ;
and Mary J., who married C. J. Martin of this county and has seven children.
Tlie Frasers are an old and prominent family of Liberty County, where
its members have held leading and responsible positions in business, the
professions and public life, one bearing the name being the late Dr. William
Fraser, who after a trip to Scotland, returned to Hinesville, and then went
to Ilawkinsville, where he built up a reputation as one of the leading physi-
cians and surgeons of his day and community, and died about 1S60. Donald
Eraser, the grandfather of Joseph B. Fraser, was born in Inverness, Scotland,
and in the year 1804 emigrated to the United States and took up his residence
near the Town of Midway, in Liberty County, Georgia, on a plantation.
There be passed away about the year 1828, one of his community's substan-
tial and highly respected citizens.
Simon A. Fraser, father of Joseph Bacon Fraser, was bom in Liberty
County. Georgia, and was twelve years of age when sent by his parents to
Scotland to be educated. With a liberal training, he returned to his Georgia
home, where he started raising cotton, and prior to the Civil war became the
owner of a large number of slaves. In addition to serving as a member of the
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GEORGIA AND GEORGUNS 2757
Georgia Legislature, during the period of the war he not only acted aa clerk
of the Superior Court, but was appointed by the Confederate Government to
look after and care for the families of soldiers who were serving at the front.
At the close of the war he engaged in merchandising at Melnto^, but did not
long survive the close of that struggle, dying in 1870. He was one of the
strong, capable and forceful men of his community, being almost constantly
in public office, and at, one time was judge of the Inferior Court, fie was
universally esteemed and his record was one of which his descendants may
well be proud.
Joseph Bacon Fraser was eight years of age when he started to attend the
public schools of Hinesville, and in 1878 he had completed his educational
training and was ready to enter upon his career. Accordingly he engaged in
the naval store business at Mcintosh, and that enterprise continued to occupy
his attention for about ten years, when he started to occupy himself in the
business of raising stock. He was so engaged in 1907, when he was elected
clerk of the Superior Court, a position which his father had held many years
before, and occupied that place until January 1, 1915, His public duties
were discharged in such a faithful and energetic manner that in January,
1915, he was elected county treasurer of Liberty County, and this office he has
continued to hold, his service having been eminently satisfactory to the
people. In 1913 Mr. Fraser was elected mayor of Hinesville, and re-elected
in 1915 j and under his administration the city has made noticeable strides in
the way of advancement and progress. He is a firm believer in the value of
education, has always been a fri«nd and supporter of the schools, and at
present is secretary and treasurer of the school board. In every way he has
shown himself a stirring, energetic and public-spirited citizen. Mayor Fraser
is a stockholder in the Hinesville Bank, and a director in the Flemington,
Hinesville & Western Railroad, and is the owner of considerable real estate,
both city and rural. With his family, he attends the Presbyterian Church,
where he serves as deacon and treasurer.
Mayor Fraser was married December 10, 1885, at Savannah, Georgia, to
^liss Clara Maria Boulineau, a daughter of A, B. Boulineau, and to this union
there have been born seven children as follows: Charles W., born October
29, 1886, who married Miss Catherine Olive Smith, of Hinesville; Mary B.,
bom August 31, 1888; Donald A., bom January 10, 1890, who is secretary,
treasurer and superintendent of the Flemington, Hinesville & Western Rail-
road, and in 1916 is capt^n of Company B, Second Squadron (the old
Liberty Independent Troop) National Guard, and now stationed at Camp
Harris, Macon, Georgia; Addie W., bom October 30, 1891; Harry B., born
September 4, 1893 ; Joseph Bacon, Jr., born July 15, 1895 ; and Thomas
Layton, born March 16, 1899,
William J. Hardee was born in Camden County, Georgia, in 1815, and
graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in 1838. He also, at a
later day, attended the cavalry school of Saumur, in France.
Assigned to the Second Dragoons, he was promoted in 1839 and 1844,
respectively, to first lieutenant and captain. His service was in Florida, until
1840, when he was sent to Europe as a member of a military commission, to
study the organization of European cavalry, with a view to utilizing the
results in the United States service. On return, and assignment to duty at
Fort Jesup, Louisiana, where five companies of his regiment were stationed,
he was placed in charge of the tactical exercises, with the result that this
nucleus was brought up to the standard of the best mounted troops anywhere.
Afterwards he served with the army of occupation in Texas, and then, in
the Mexican war, with varied experiences and vicissitudes, including capture.
He participated in the siege of Vera Cruz, the battles of Contreras, aud
Molino del Rev, in the capture of the City "of Mexico, and in various minor
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2758 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
affairs. He was mentioned in dispatches, was complimented in ofBcial reports
for gallantry and skillful handling of troops at Moltno del Rey, and was
twice brevetted — to major and lieutenant-colonel, respectively, for gallant
and meritorious conduct.
The State of Georgia also bestowed on him a sword of honor, in recogni-
tion of his service in the Mexican war. Later on he was selected by the secre-
tary of war to compile a system of rifle and light infantry tactics, which
was adopted in 1855 for the use of the army, and was henceforth known as
"Hardee's Tactics."
In 1855 Hardee was assigned to the famous Second Cavalry. In 1856,
with the local rank of lieutenant-colonel, was appointed commandant of cadeU
at the Military Academy of West Point, which position he occupied until
September, 1860. Meantime he had been appointed lieutenant-colonel of the
First Cavalry, and was absent on leave in Georgia when that state passed the
ordinance of secession, immediately resigned his commission, to take effect
January 21, 1861.
In the Confederate army Hardee declined high administrative office in
favor of active field service, and was first assigned with the rank of colonel
to the command of Fort Morgan, at the mouth of Mobile Bay. In Jtme, 1861,
promoted to brigadier-general, he was given a territorial command in North-
eastern Arkansas. In the fall of 1861, Hardee now become major-general,
with the greater part of his force transferred across the river to Kentucky,
and ordered to Bowling Green, where he became the trusted lieutenant of
Albert Sidney Johnston. Thenceforth, and for some two years, Hardee was
so identified with the Western Army, known first as the Army of the Mis-
sissippi, and then as the Army of Tennessee, that to state his service would be
largely to describe the operations of that array in which he took so promi-
nent a part.
In September, 1864, Hardee was assigned t(r the command of the military
department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, one of the four chief
commands of the Confederate military organization, which he retained until
the end of the war.
Peancis H. Cone was born September 5, 1797, in East Haddam, Con-
necticut, and died in Greensboro, Georgia, May 18, 1859. He graduated at
Yale College in 1818, and in common with many brilliant and scholarly young
New Englanders devoted his'life to the development of the then New South.
He located at Greensboro, and at once began to practice law. He served for
a short time in the Legislature and was also a judge of the State Supreme
Court. He died in May, 1859.
J. Coi.EMAN Dempsey. The flourishing City of Augusta can boast of
many important business interests, furnishing a large variety of occupations
to its people. Among them is the Clark Milling Company, an important con-
cern, of which Mr. J. Coleman Dempsey is president. Mr. Dempsey was "
born in Augusta, Georgia, August 12, 1881, the son of Hugh and Elizabeth
Lacy (RofF) Dempsey. The father, a native of Albany, New York, came to
Georgia when a young man, and entered upon a highly successful business
career. He was one of the original incorporators of the Southern Express
Company, and was prominently connected with it for forty-five years, during
the latter part of that time being superintendent of the company. His death
occurred in 1905, when he was sixty-three years old. Mrs. Elizabeth L.
Dempsey was horn in Augusta, and was here educated and married. She
died in 1904, at the age of fifty-five. They had a large family of ten children,
three sons and seven daughters, of whom there are now living four daughters
and one son, the latter being the sub.ieet of this biography. The surviving
daughters are Miss E. K. Dempsey, Miss E. L. Dempsey, Miss C. S. Dempsey,
and Mrs. C. D. Kinchley — all residents of Augusta.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGUNS 2759
J. Coleman Dempsey, who was his parents' youngest child, in his boyhood
attended the pnblic schools of Augusta, and in 1897 was graduated frcHO
St, Patrick's Commercial School, He then entered the employ of the South-
ern Express Company, beginning as an ordinary clerk and working his way
upward to the position of chief clerk. After eleven years' faithful service he
severed his connection with the express business and entered the employ of
the Clark Milling Company, beginning in a clerical capacity. Since then, as
already narrated, he has risen to the office of president and is now numbered
among the leading business men of Augusta. The Clark Milling Company
was established many years ago by Mr. John M. Clark, From a small and
unimportant concern it has risen to be one of considerable size and impor-
tance, being one of the best equipped flour mills in the South, having &
capacity of 300 barrels of flour per day, Mr. Dempaey is a man who has
made his own way in the world by energy and force of character. He stands
high in business eireles and is widely popular as a man and citizen. For the
past fifteen years he has been connected with the local cavalry troop, the
Richmond Hussars, having served the troop seven years as captain, and for
two years he was a member of Governor Joseph Brown's staff. He is a
member of the Catholic Church and belongs to the order of Knights of
Columbus.
On April 27, 1905, Captain Dempsey was married to Miss Myra Reab,
daughter of L. A. and Maria (Jenkins) Reab, her family being a well known
and respected one in Augusta. Captain and Mrs. Dempsey are popular
members of Augusta society and have a pleasant home in which they often
dispense a generous hospitality to their friends.
Henrt Ten Eycs Wendesj.. As one of the leading architects of Geoi^^,
Mr, Wendell's substantial reputation in the state has been acquired as a
result of his talent, his distinctive ideas in the creative side of his work, and
his energy and devotion to the highest ideals of his calling. The part taken
by the architect in the upbuilding of towns and cities is often overloiAed or
unthought of by those who pause to admire his handiwork. In the City of
Augusta and throughout that section of GeoT^a are many fine and artistic
edifices, both pnblic and private, which owe their beauty and convenience to
the architectural skill of Mr. Wendell.
Born in Waterford, New York, in 1861, a son of John Jacob and Harriett
(Breese) Wendell, his ancestors were early settlers in the Empire state,
making their appearance there about the year 1640, John J, Wendell and
his wife were both bom in New York. The former was educated at Union
College, became a successful attorney in the City of New York, but died in
1863 at the age of twenty-seven. Mrs. Harriett B. Wendell was educated at
Mrs. Willard's School in Troy, New York.
Henry Ten Eyck Wendell acquired the elements of knowledge in a private
school. He then entered Cornell University, and taking the architectural
course graduated in 1881. His first practical experience in his profession
was in the employ of R. H. Robertson, a well known architect of New York
City, with whom he remained three years. At the end of that time he went
west and opened an office for himself in Denver, Colorado, remaining there
until 1907, in which year he came to Augusta. Here he has since become one
of the leading architects and designers, some of the finest edifices and many of
the handsomest residences in this part of the country, including nearly all
of the now homes of the wealthy people of Soroerville, being examples of his
skill.
His reputation has indeed ext<Mided far beyond the bounds of this state.
When designs for the state capitol of Minnesota were being sought by the
State of Minnesota he was one of forty-six who entered into competition for
the work, and was awarded the first prize of $3,000 for the best design. The
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2760 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
resideacea he has er€Cted in Augusta and vieinity are said by experts to be
amoDg the finest in this country, and are a monument to his art.
During the great conflagration in Augusta in March, 1916, the old historic
Church of St. Paul was destroyed, and Mr, Wendell has been tlie architect
for its restoration. This recalls an interesting bit of history. In clearing
the ground where the famous old church of St. Paul had stood, the original
cornerstone, laid in 1817, practically a century ago, was found. In opening
the stone was found an engraved copper plate, giving a short history of the
two previous wooden churches that had occupied the site previous to the one
burned. The cornerstone also revealed the name of the architect, John Lund,
and the names of two senior wardens and five vestrymen, who at that time, a
hundred years ago, had put in different coins on top of the copper plate.
All of these coins were found, among which were two old Spanish coins minted
in 1714, and the remainder American coins — pennies, quarters, half dollars
and one five dollar gold piece — all of the first American coinage. The copper
plate and coins will be preserved under glass when the new church is com-
pleted by Mr. Wendell.
Mr, Wendell is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the
Kappa Alpha fraternity, the oldest in the United States. He is unmarried
and a popular member of Augusta society. His religious afBliations are with
the Episcopal Church.
Hon. Samuel D. Fanning. It requires discrimination in a community
to choose wisely of its fellow citizens to exalt to offices of responsibility. The
associations of every day life, however, test men, proving their strength of
character, their resolute courage and their poise and good judgment in times
of business stress, personal loss or public danger or calamity. Hence, a wise
community selects a strong man when it has such an office to bestow as that of
ordinary, an oifice which demands a knowledge of the fundamentals of the
law, an innat-e sense of justice and the industry and integrity that mark the
honest man. Attention is hereby called to the good judgment exercised by
the people of Wilkes County when they first elected and subseyuently re-
■ elected Samuel D. Fanning to the office of ordinary of the county,
Samuel D. Fanning was born July 4, 1862, in Wilkes County, a son of
Welcome and Mary Elizabeth (Heard) Fanning, natives of Georgia, The
father of Judge Fanning taught school for some time after completing his
education, and afterward, for ten years served as judge of the lower court
of Wilkes County. His death occurred October 3, 1873, at the age of seventy-
four years. The mother of Judge Fanning was born in 1828 and died May 2,
1864. She was of distinguished paternity. Her father, Bernard Heard, was
a man of prominence in the early history as was his father, John Heard.
Bernard Heard died in 1774. The paternal grandfather, John Fanning,
was a Revolutionary patriot and served 1,074 days in Captain Williamson's
company, as recorded in the ordinary's record of 1779. In 1767 it is recorded
that he was granted a vast body of land by the provisional government, located
in Jackson County.
Judge Fanning was one of the younger born of a large family and was
afforded excellent educational advantages, attending the local schools and
afterward Martin Institute. After his own school days were over he became
a teacher and for nine years devoted his time and attention to educational
work, when other activities became of greater moment and in an entirely dif-
ferent line. For fifteen years the future judge operated a sawmill and also
became interested in farming, these latter yet being of considerable import-
ance to him. He has large farm properties near Washington, Georgia. In
1910, after serving fifteen years as postmaster, and also as a justice of peace,
he was elected ordinary, and in 1912 he was re-elected for two terms, expiring
in December, 1920.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2761
On December 21, 1886, Judge Fanning was united in marriage with Miss
Annie Paschal, who is a daughter of William T. and Annie (Reed) Paschal,
this being one of the prominent old families of Wilkes County. To Judge and
Mrs. Panning the following children were bom ; Alice, who was bom in 1887,
died at the age of nineteen years; Robert Irvin, who was bom in 1890, is
assistant posttnaster at Washington, Georgia; Mrs. Nellie Strother, who was
bom in 1892, was married in March, 1910, and died September 28, 1910;
Mrs. Emma Gilstrap, who was born December 3, 1894, has three children,
Roy Samuel, Mary and Bright Gilstrap ; Lucy, who was bom May 17, 1897,
died May 5, 1902; Sarah Elizabeth, who was born September 16, 1899; Samuel
D., Jr., who was born September 8, 1902; and Annie, who was bom August
24, 1906. Judge Fanning and family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The ladies of the family belong to the pleasant social circles of Washington,
and are known well where charity and benevolence are needed. Judge Pan-
ning has always been a sturdy democrat. He is a member of the Masonic Fra-
ternity and belongs also to the Odd Fellows.
Joseph R. Robertson, M. D. The ranks of the medical profession in
Augusta have been recruited within recent years by a number of new mem-
bers, several of whom, at least, have given evidence of more than ordinary
ability, and shown themselves in knowledge and skill to be the equal of many
of the older and more experienced practitioners. Among the most prominent
of these is Dr. J. R. Robertson, whose reputation, after a few years' residence
here, now stands among the highest. Doctor Robertson was born at Beech
Island, South Carolina, August 3, 1881, his parents being James L. and
Katharine Smith (Miller) Robertson. The paternal grandfather was
Dr. Francis Marion Robertson, originally from Abbeville, South Carolina,
who,'however, spent nearly all his life in Charleston, where he was dean of
the medical college for a number of years. He married Henrietta Toomes
Righton, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and died "at the age of
seventy years.
James L. Robertson, father of the present Doctor Robertson, was bom in
Augusta, but reared and educated in Charleston, South Carolina, and subse-
quently became interested in the cotton mill industry in Augusta, Georgia,
where he was a prosperous and well known citizen. During the Civil war
period he served in the First South Carolina Artillery Regulars, being second
lieutenant in Inglesby's company, from Charleston. He was wounded in
battle at Averysboro, North Carolina, near the close of the war. He is still
living, at the age of seventy-two years, having been bom August 16, 1843.
He married Katharine Smith Miller, who was bom in South Carolina in 1845,
a daughter of Jonathan M. and Margaret Smith Miller, Her father, bom at
■Beech Island, South Carolina, in 1810, died in July, 1912, at the remarkable
age of one hundred and one years. He was an extensive planter, owning
many acres of land both in South Carolina and Georgia, together with a large
Dumber of slaves. His wife, who was born in Savannah, Georgia, 1824, died
in Augusta in 1895, at the age of seventy-<^ne years. Mr. and Mrs. James L.
Robertson had six children, one of whom is now deceased, the other five being:
Henrietta M., of Augusta; Mrs. John Moore, of Augusta; J. Miller, of
Augusta; A, D., of Waco, Texas, and Dr. J. R. Robertson, of Augusta, who
was the fifth in order of birth.
Joseph R. Robertson acquired his ' literary education at Richmond
Academy, which he attended for four years. He then became connected with
the cotton business, and was connected with it, both in Augusta and Macon,
Georgia, for the next five years. At the end of that time, having decided to
become a physician, he entered the medical school of the University of Mary-
land, and, after a four years' course, was graduated in 1910. During tiie
next two years he was physician and surgeon in the Soldiers' Home at Wash-
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2762 GEORGIA AND OEOBGIANS
ingtOD, D. C, leaving there in March, 1912, at which time he came to Aupiata.
Here be has already built up a large practice and stands high in the profes-
sional circles of the state. He belongs to the national, state, and county
medical societies, is one of the city physicians of Augusta, and assistant in
surgery at the University of Georgia medical department in this city. His
society affiliations are with the Nu Sigma Nu Medical Fraternity of tie Uni-
versity of Maryland, and Webb Lodge, No, 166, P. & A, M. Unmarried, ' he
resides with his family in Augusta.
W. E. WiLET. An old and honored name of Georgia is that borne by the
present efficient county clerk of Hancock County, W. E. Wiley, bis great-
grandfather, William Wiley, having settled in Greene County, Geoc^ia, in
1794.
W. E. Wiley was born August 24, 1852, in Hancock County, Georgia, and
is a son of Samuel H, and Sarah E. (Carnes) Wiley. Samuel H. WUey was
bom in 1824, in Hancock County and died in 1899. He was a son of Edwin
Wiley who was an infant when his parents brought him to Georgia, where
he lived to the age of eighty-six years, during his active period operating a
large plantation. There have been other members of Mr, Wiley's family
noted for longevity, one grandmother living to the age of ninety years. The
mother of Samuel H. Wiley, Eliza (DeWitt) Wiley, came to Georgia from
the State of New York. During the Civil war period, Samuel H. Wiley
served as a soldier in the Confederate army for four years, a part of the time
being attached to the quartermaster's department. For many years after-
ward he followed agricultural pursuits and was widely known and mueb
esteemed. He married Sarah E. Carnes, who was born in 1831, in Hancock
County, and died in 1905. She was a daughter of Dr. Robert and Martha
(Jones) Carnes, the former a physician of high standing who lived' into
advanced age. Seven children were born to this marriage: R. C, a physi-
cian residing' at Sparta; W, E.; Moses W., adopted son of James M.; Eliza-
beth, of Harris County, residing at Sparta ; and Sarah Burd, Mrs. Ellis W.
Smith and Richard R. B,, all residents of Sparta.
W. E. Wiley was educated in the schools of Hancock County and after-
ward engaged in farming, following agricultural activities until 1901, in the
meanwhile devoting himself also to public matters as he was elected ^eriff
of Hancock County in 1896. In the above year Mr. Wiley was appointed
county clerk and through subsequent re-elections has been continued in office.
Under his administration county business has been very carefully attended U>
and he is popular with all classes.
In 1880, in Madison County, Florida, Mr. Wiley was united in marriage
with Miss Lucy D. Putnam, who died at Sparta in 1881. Mr. Wiley's second
marriage took place in 1898, in Hancock County, to Miss Mary Lamar, a-
daughter of John Lamar, formerly a planter of South Carolina. Mr. and
Mrs. Wiley have two children : Katherine, who was born in 1903 ; and Edwin
DeWitt, who was bom in 1905. Mr, and Mrs. Wiley attended the Presby-
terian Church. In political affiliation be has alwa.vs been a democrat.
Hon, William H. Fleming. An orator through nature's gift, a lawyer
through choice of profession and a legislator by the urgent call of his fellow
citizens, Hon, William H. Fleming, of Augusta, stands among the foremost
men of Georgia. He was bom at Ai^usta, October 18, 1856, and is a son of
Porter and Catherine B. (Moragtie) Fleming, and a grandson of Robert
Fleming, a native of Virginia but of Scotch-Irish parentage.
Porter Fleming was bom in Lincoln County, Georgia, August 29, 1808.
In 1830 he came to Augusta and became a merchant and cotton dealer and
continued more or less active until his death in 1891. He married Catherine
B. Moragne, who was of French Huguenot extraction and was bom in Abbe-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS - 2763
ville County, South Carolina. Eight children were horn to thia marriage:
John M., Frank E., William H., Catherine L., Minnie C, Lamar L., I.
Moragne and Porter, Jr.
William H, Fleming had unusual educational advantages. He wa8 one
of a certain number of naturally brilliant young men in whom Hon. Alexan-
der' H. Stephens so recognized talent that he made it his pleasure to assist
them in perfecting their education. Although long since every particle of
financial claim has been paid back Mr. Fleming remembers Mr, Stephens
with reverential gratitude and to thia day speaks his name with emotion.
Prom the Summerville Academy at Sand Hills, he entered Richmond
Academy at Augusta, passing then to the University of Georgia at Athens,
where he was graduated in 1875. It was during his junior year that he took
the medal for the best essay, competition being open to all students, and this
was but the beginning of his college achievements. He was choeen to deliver
the commencement address and also was selected anniversarian in 1875 of
his debating society, the Phi Kappa. After graduating he remained for one
year at the university as a tutor.
In January, 1877, Mr. Fleming was elected superintendent of the publio
schools of Augusta and continued in that office during the succeeding
314 years when he resigned in order to apply himself to the study of
law. His preceptor was John T. Shewmaker and in November, 1880, be
was admitted to the bar. Proficient in all the fundamentals of the law,
Mr. Fleming soon showed also that he possessed a strong element of success
in the profession through his great gift of oratory, one that has assisted to
make his name familiar both in the courts over the country and in public
life. In 1883 he delivered an eloquent address at the centennial celebration
of Richmond Academy, and his oration, in 1885, at Augusta, on the Confed-
erate Memorial Day is still recalled as the leading newspapers so generally
eulogized it because of its sound views and patriotic sentiments as well as its
perfectly rounded periods.
In 1888 Mr. Fleming first came prominently to the front in political life,
in that year being elected to the General Assembly in which bwiy he was a
notable factor. In 1892-93 he was chairmaij of the finance committee of the
Georgia House of Repcesentatives and is the author of some of the most
important laws ever passed in this state. In 1888-89 he framed and had
passed a law regulating the recording of transfers and liens on property;
in 1890-91 he introduced and secured the passage of a bill to provide for the
more speedy termination of criminal trials, a very important measure; and
in 1892-93 he was the author of the act passed ordering the codifying of the
' laws of Georgia, also an act to systematize the finances of the public schools
of Georgia and to provide for the prompt payment of teachers. In 1894,
after his re-election to the General Assembly he was chosen speaker of that
body, without opposition, and proved to be one of the ablest parliamentarians
and most equitable presiding officers who ever wielded the gavel.
Mr. Fleming was a member of Congress for six years, was a member of
the judiciary committee. He has probably delivered more speeches than
onost men and especially should be mentioned his address before the Alumni
Society of the State University, Athens, Georgia, June 19, 1906. This address,
entitled "Slavery and the Race Problem in the South," was commented upon
by prominent men both in the South and North, and Mr. Dana Estes, of the
well known publishing firm in Boston, published the same in a special de luxe
edition, limited to 1,000 copies. Other addresses to the number of forty were
published in 1908, and among those should be mentioned: "The Tariff, its
Relation to Agriculture and Other Exporting Industries — its Abnormal Devel-
opment and Future Tendencies. ' ' This was delivered before the House of Rep-
resentatives in Washington, July 19, 1897; also "Civil Service Reform,"
delivered at the same place, January 11, 1898; "The Income Tax," April
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2764 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
29, 1898. Later bis address before the Bar ABSociation on "Treaty-making
of U. S. A.," waa among the beat, is probably bis latest, and was pnbliriied
by Augusta Cbronicle August 20, 1916. Too mucb cannot be said of Ms
eloquence as a speaker and ability as a lawyer.
Mr. Fleming is one of the busy men of his times. His constantly increas-
ing law practice claims close attention and his public responEubilitiea are never
forgotten, but, in some way he manages to find time to lend interest and show
attention to enterprises both social and of a business nature. For two years
prior to resigning in 1886, he was president of the Hayne Literary Society;
for many yeara was a trustee of the Young Men's Library Association, and
was also president of the board of trustees of the Medical College of Augusta.
For some time he was president of the Thomson-Houston Electric Light Com-
pany of Angusta. In 1893 he was elected first vice president of the Georgia
Bar Association and at the annual meeting of that body read a remarkable
paper entitled "How should the judiciary be cho8en,'and why." In 1894 he
became president of the association and at all times has maintained cordial
relatioQ^ips with his fellow members. Mr. Fleming is an enthusiastic Mason,
a member of Webb Lodge No. 16€, Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masona, and
Georgia Commandery. He belongs alao to the Knights of Pythias and keeps
Qp his interest in bis old college society, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Judge Robert P. Tbippe was born in Jasper County, Georgia, December
21, 1819, and died in Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1900. He waa graduated
from Franklin College with first honors in 1839, and in the following year
was admitted to the bar of Rabun County, entering upon bis practice at
Forsyth. His first public service was as a member of ^e Georgia General
Assembly in 1849. He was re-elected in 1851, making a service of four years
in the General Assembly. He served in the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth
congresses, 1855-59, and in the latter year was elected to tbe State Senate.
During the four years of the Confederacy he was also a member of its Con-
gress. At the conclusion of the war he resumed the practice at For^^, and
in 1872 was appointed to membership on the State Supreme Bench for a term
of twenty years, but he resigned in 1875. Thereafter, during his active pro-
fessional life, he practiced in Atlanta.
William H. T. Waiter was a native Georgian, born ii;i 1816; received his
early schooling in the schools of Augusta, and entered the United States Mili-
tary Academy at West Point iri 1832, from which he was graduated in 1837
and commissioned second lieutenant of the Sixth Infantry. In 1837-38 he
was campaigning against the Indians in Florida, and in the fierce battle of
Okeechobee, where the Seminoles were completely defeated. Walker was three
times wounded, and by his gallant conduct won the brevet of first lieutenant.
In 1840-42 he was again serving against the Indians in Florida. In 1845 he
was promoted to captain. When the Mexican war opened in 1846 he was a
veteran and a distinguished soldier. He took part in all the leading engage-
ments of that war, and for heroic conduct at Contreras was promoted major,
and for similar conduct at Molino del Rey was promoted lieutenant-colonel.
The last promotion, however, was given to a man desperately wounded and
whom nobody expected to recover; but after a long confinement in hospital
his natural constitution pulled him through and he was spared to win greater
fame on a more extended field. In 1849 the State of Georgia presented
Colonel Walker with a sword as a tribute to his gallantry in Mexico. From
1854 to 1856 he was instructor of infantry tactics at West Point In 1860
Colonel Walker, foreseeing that war was inevitable, and believing his first
duty to be to his state, resigned his commission in the United States army;
and when Georgia seceded tendered his sword to the new government. His
first service was as major-general of the First Division of Georgia Volun-
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2765
teers under a state commission dated April 25, 1861, One month later he
accepted commission of brigadier-general in the army of the Confederate
States. He served at Pensacola during part of 1861 ; but hia physical strength
failed under the arduous duties which he undertook to discharge, and he had
to retire from active service in October, 1861. On February 5, 1863, he felt
strong enough to re-enter the army, which he did as brigadier-general, an^
was placed in command at Savannah. On May 23d he was promoted major-
general and sent to command a division in the army ot Gen. Joseph E. John-
ston, then operating in Mississippi. After the fall of Vicksburg he was
ordered to Georgia, and returned in time to share in the great battle of
Ghickamauga. In that battle he commanded the rtiserve corps. He was
killed on the battlefield of Atlanta, while leading a division, on the 22d of
July, 1864.
Richard W. Moose. Recognized as one of the representative lawyers
and jurists of Hancock County, Judge Moore is now presiding on the bench
of the City Court of Sparta, the county seat, and he is also president of the
Sparta Savings Bank. He is a native son of this county and a member of
one Bf its old and honored families, the while it is but consistent to note that
he is one of the loyal and public -spirited citizensof the county that has always
been his home, and in vrhieh he has commanding place in popular confidence
and esteem.
Judge Moore was bom iii Hancock County, Georgia, on September 3,
1873, and is a son of James W. and Mary Josephine (Culver) Moore, the
former of whom was born in Taliaferro County, this state, and the latter in
Hancock County, the family of which she was a member having been one of
special prominence and influence in this county and the Village of Cnlverton
having been named in its honor. James W. Moore was long numbered among
the representative agriculturists of Hancock County, where he owned a well
improved plantation, and be was one of the loyal sons of Geoi^a who repre-
sented the commonwealth as soldiers in the Civil war, he having been attached
to the commissary department of the Confederate service, as adjutant major
of commissary in the For^-second Georgia Regiment of Infantry. Prior to
the war he served as tax collector of Hancock County and after the war he
was sheriff of the county several years, besides which he served as a member
of the State Legislature several terms, his final incumbency of this position
having been during the General Assembly of 1882. He passed the closing
years of his life at Cxdverton, Hancock Comity, secure in the high regard of
all who knew him, and there he died in 1907, at the venerable age of eighty-
three years, bis loved and devoted wife, who had been his companion and
helpmeet for many years, having passed to the life eternal in 1906, at the age
of seventy-five years. Of their eight children six are now living and of the
number Judge Moore of this review is the youngest ; Mrs. Sally M. Chapman
resides at Washington, Wilkes County; Mrs. Annie M. Lewis is a resident
of Sparta, Hancock County ; Mrs. Thomas M. Waller maintains her home at
Culverton, this county; Mrs. Marie M, Brown is a resident of the City of
Macon ; and L. E. resides at Culverton.
In the schools of Culverton and Sparta Judge Moore acquired his pre-
liminary educational discipline, which was supplemented by a course in tlie
Georgia Institute of Technology, in the City of Atlanta. After leaving'
school he became bookkeeper for a firm engaged in the cotton business in
the City of Augusta, but finally he began the study of law undei^ the pre-
ceptorship of Robert H. Lewis, of Sparta, a well known member of the
Hancock Comity bar. In October, 1894, Judge Moore proved himself eligible
for and was admitted to the bar of hb native state, and since that time he
has been engaged in the work of his profession at Sparta, his success having
been on a parity with his recc^nized ability and his status being secure as
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2766 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
one of the leading lawyers of this part of the state. In 1896 he was appointed
solicitor of the County Court, and ol this office he continued in tenure until
August, 1908, when he was elected to the bench of the City Court of Sparta.
He has proved admirably qualified for judicial office and his administration
on the bench has been marked by discrimination and wisdom, so that the
ends of justice and equity have been furthered through his able and careful
services. The judge is a member of the Georgia State Bar Association, is a
stalwart advocate of the principles and policies for which the democratic
party stands sponsor, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife hold membership
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Ju<^ Moore takes a lively
interest in all that touches the civic and material welfare of bis home cit;
and native county, and is essentially Uberal and progressive as a citizen. He
has been president of the Sparta Savings Bank from the time of its organiza-
tion, in 1907, and was prominently concerned in the oi^anizing of this sub-
stantial and popular financial institution, which bases its operations on a
capital stock of $25,000, all paid in.
Judge Moore has been twice married. In 1896 he wedded Miss Mary
Treadwell, daughter of the late John Treadwell, a well known citizon of
Hancock County, and she passed away in 1906, leaving no children. In May,
1908, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Moore to Miss Effie Brown, of
Newnan, Covreta County, where she was born and reared and where her
parents continued to reside until their death. ' Judge and Mra Moore have
three children, Mary, Effie and Madeline, all of whom were bom at Sparta,
in the respective years 1909, 1911 and 1913.
Hon. R. L. MERRrrr. The attainments of R. L. Merritt as a lawyer
bespeak ability, broad and thorough learning and preparation, and a faithful
diligence in the performance of all his varied obligations which is the keynote
to success in any vocation.
Bom in Monroe County, Georgia, August 24, 1867, he is a son of J. R, and
Mary Qayle (Lewis) Merritt, the former a native of Monroe County and the
latter of Hancock County, Georgia. The father became a farmer and planter
in Hancock County. He died in Sparta, Georgia, in October, 1909, at the
age of seventy-one. During the war he served as a captain in Company A
of the Fourteenth Georgia Regiment, and spent four years in the service.
He was twice wounded, one time at Fredericksburg, but each time after
recovering returned to the colors. His wife died in 1905 at the age of sixty-
five. There were three children : Miss Mattie died in 1903, and Miss Nannie
now lives at Sparta.
The only son, R. L. Slerritt as a boy attended school in Monroe County,
and then began the study of law in the office of R. L, Burnett. Admitted to
the bar September 8, 1888, he took up practice at Forsyth, Georgia, for one
year, then removed to Bamesville, and in January, 1896, became an acceptable
member of the Sparta bar, where now for nearly twenty years he has enjoyed
a large and profitable practice.
His abilities have commended him to the popular choice of the people on
several occasions, and he represented Hancock County in the State Legisla-
ture and was sehator from this district from 1902 to 1904. Since 1908 he
has been solicitor of the city courts of Sparta. He represents as attorney
local banks at Sparta, and in many ways is one of the best situated lawyers
in this section of the state.
He is a member of the State Bar Association, belongs to the Masonic
fraternity, is a democrat, and a member of the Methodbt Episcopal Church.
On December 9. 1908, at Sparta he married Miss Minnie Bowen, daughter of
the late James Bowen and wife of Sparta. They have one child, Sarah Gayle
Merritt, bom at Sparta September 13, 1909.
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Digitized by CjOOQ IC
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2767
I. TrcKEB Ibvin, Jb. It is no slight distinction that pertains to Mr. Irvin in
having been called upon to serve as mayor of his native city, a position of
which he is the progressive and vigorous incumbent at the time of this writ-
ing, in 1915. Washington, the judicial center of Wilkes County, is the city
of which he is chief executive and it is known as one of the wealthiest, moat
prosperous and most attractive of the smaller cities of Georgia, besides which
it has been the stage, as a part of Wilkes County, of not a little of the promi-
nent historical activities of the state, the while its civic precedence has been
conserved by distinguished and patrician families, representatives of a num-
ber of which have played important part in the annals of Georgia history.
Such a family has been that of which the present mayor of Washington is a
popular scion, and his status as one of the representative members of the bar
of Wilkes County as well as the efficient mayor of a fine municipality signi-
fies that he is not like the prophet of old and without honor in his own coun-
try. Among eminent Georgians who have claimed Washington as their home
was the late Gen. Robert Toombs, one of the distinguished officers and leaders
in the Confederate service during the climacteric era of the war between the
states of the South and the North. Apropos of the above statement it is spe-
cially interesting to record in this connection that it was the privilege and
honor of the father of the present mayor of Washington to conduct General
Toombs to a place of safety when strenuous efforts were being put forth to
effect his capture at the close of the Civil war, the Federal authorities being
determined if possible to make the distinguished officer a prisoner of war.
Charles E. Irvin, however, was able to pilot General Toombs into the mountain
fastnesses of Northern Georgia and later to provide for his escape from that
section to New Orleans, and from there he went to Cuba,
Charles E. Irvin, father of the subject of this review, had himself been »
gallant soldier of the Confederacy and showed the youthful loyalty that thor-
oughly typified the sons of the Southland. When but sixteen years of age
he enlisted in the command known as Irvin 's Artillery, the same having been
named in honor of his father, and he was made a lieutenant in this fine body
of soldiers, with which he served until the close of the wflr. He made an
admirable record for gallant and meritorious service as a soldier and officer,
took part in many engagements and lived up to the full tension of the great
struggle, his more pleasing memories and associations with which are per-
petuaVd through his membership in the United Confederate Veterans.
After the close of the war Charles E. Irvin returned to Wilkes County and
for many years thereafter he was known and honored as one of the leading
merchants and influential citizens of Washington. For several years past
he has lived virtually retired at his beautiful homestead, and, at the age
of seventy-two years, in 1915, he is one of the substantial capitalists and repre-
sentative men of Wilkes County, where he has ever commanded secure place
in popular confidence and approbation. As a young man he wedded Miss
Mary Fortson, and this noble and gracious woman, revered by all who came
within the sphere of her influence, passed forward to the "land of the leal"
in 1913, at the age of fifty-nine years, she having been bom in Wilkes County,
of which her husband likewise is a native son. Of the five surviving children
the mayor of Washington is the eldest ; Alexander is cashier of the Citizens
National Bank of Washington ; Reba is the wife of Cecil Gabbett and they now
reside in the State of Florida; and Misses Maiy and Emma remain with their
father at the beautiful family home in Washington, it being theira to prove
chatelaines of a home that has long been a center of refined and gracious hos-
pitality, according to the tenets and customs of the fine old Southern regime.
I. Tucker Irvin, Jr., was born at Washington, Wilkes County, Geoi^a, on
the 4th of April, 1876, and in the schools of this attractive old Georgia city
he acquired his earlier educational training. His higher academic education
was acquired in Emory College at Oxford, this state, from which he received
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2768 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the Uw department of the same institu-
tion he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, duly receiving hia
degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the spring of the following' year he was
admitted to the bar of his native state and engaged in practice at Washington,
where he has continued his specially successful work as an attorney &nd
counselor at law up to the present time and where be controls a lai^ and
representative practice, the same vouching for his resourcefulness and power
as an advocate and his accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the law,
which makes him a judicious counselor.
Inflexible and vigorous in his allegiance to the cause of the democratic
party, in the faith of which he was reared, Mayor Irvin has been an active
worker in its local ranks and while he has not been a seeker of oflScial pre-
ferment, his civic loyalty and his affection for and interest in his native city
were such as to make him respond to popular demands and to put forth his
best efforts as an executive when he was elected mayor of Washington, in
1914, his term expiring in January, 1917. Mr. Irvin is a member of the
American Bar Association, the Georgia State Bar Association, and the Wilkes
County Bar Association, of which last mentioned he is serving as secretary
in 1915. He is a director of and attorney for the Citizens National Bank of
Washington, as well as of the Peoples Bank of Tignall, Wilkes County, and
is president of the Pope Manufacturing Company, one of the important and
extensive industrial corporations of Washington. He is affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fra-
ternity, is a member of the Washington Country Club, and both he and bis
wife, through personality and family associations, are prominent and popular
factors in the social activities of their home community.
On the 1st of October, 1913, at Greenville, South Carolina, was solemnized
the marriage of Mr. Irvin to Misa Ida Lee Hill, a daughter of the late Leander
M. Hill, who was a prominent and honored citizen of Washington, Georgia,
where both he and his wife died. Mr. and Mrs. Irvin have no children.
In conclusion it may be noted that in both the agnatic and distaff lines
Mr. Irvin is a scion of sterling old families that were founded in Virginia in
the colonial era of our national history, and that his great-erandfather,
Christopher Irvin, was a man of prominence and distinction in that common-
wealth and later in Georgia, It is a coincidence worthy of mention that in
1908 Mr. Irvin nominated Governor Joseph M. Brown for governor of Ge'oi^a
and fifty years previous Mr. Irvin 's grandfather, for whom he was named,
nominated Governor Joseph M. Brown's father for governor of the state.
Alexander F. Durham, M. D. Embracing as it does, such a vast field
of knowledge, the position of a physician in a community is one to inspire
respect, not only, usually, for his solid acquirements but because of the other
qualities he must possess as a man coming into the closest relation with his
fellow men, both individually and in family life. Hancock County has an
able body of medical men and Sparta may lay claim to at least one of the
eminent physicians and surgeons of the state. Dr. Alexander F. Durham.
Alexander F. Durham is a native of Georgia, bom December 27, 1865.
His parents were Dr. Alexander F. and Sarah L. (Caloway) Durham, the
latter of whom was born in 1840, at Rushville, Tennessee, and accompanied
her parents to Georgia just before the opening of the war between the states.
She was an admirable woman in every relation of life and survived until
March, 1915, her death taking place at Sparta,
The father of Doctor Durham was bom in Oconee County, Geor^a, a son
of Dr. Lindsay Durham, who was one of the pioneer physicians of that section
of the state. Reared in Oconee County he studied medicine in his father's
office and later attended Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he
was graduated in 1852. He located for practice at Penfield, Oglethorpe
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2769
, Connty, Geor^a, and from there, when the war between the states was pre-
cipitated, entered the Confederate army in the capacity of surgeon, bein(f
attached to the famous Dorsey Grays at Augusta. He was connected in the
early days of strife with hospitals at Atlanta, later at Richmond and still
later gave his services in the field ho^itals, battling bravely for precioua
lives at a time when modem knowledge of scientific methods had not yet been
discovered. He survived all the hazards of war, and they were great, and
returned home safely and in December, 1866, located at Sparta where he
continued in the practice of his profession up to the time of his death, which
occurred May 27, 1890, in his sixtieth year. Of the three children of the
family, Alexander P. is the youngest. He has one brother, Calloway, who
resides in Baldwin County, Georgia ; and Mrs. Mary Ann McComb, a sister,
who is also a resident of Baldwin County.
With a natural inheritance of medical ability, perhaps, Alexander P.
Durham represents the third generation in the profession in Oeoi^a and has
ably sustained the medical reputation belinging to both father and grand-
father. After completing the public school course at Sparta, he entered the
Augusta Medical College and from there became a student in his father's
alma mater, and was creditably graduated from old Jefferson Medical Col-
lege, Philadelphia, in 1887. Like other able medical men. Doctor Durham
continues to be a student, keeping fully abreast of the times in the wonder-
ful development of his science and exchanging views and experiences with his
co-laborers in the field, as a member of both county and state medical organ-
izations, belonging also to the American Medical Society.
In 1892 Doctor Durham was united in marriage with Miss Katie C. Baugh,
a daughter of William Baugh, a substantial citizen of this county. Doctor
and Mrs, Durham attend the Baptist Church. In polities he is a democrat
and fraternally he is identified with the Elks. He has made property in-
vestments and owns one of the handsome residences of Sparta.
Qeorge Stanton. A little more than ten years ago George Stanton came
into Douglas with less than $3 in his pocket. However, he was not without
recommendations as a member of a good family and as a youth whose train-
ing as well as antecedents enabled those whohad followed his career up to
that point to predict something useful and creditable of him. Since then
he has justified the confidence entertained by those few who knew him at
that time and recently honor was paid him when he was elected mayor of
Douglas. He was elected by the largest majority ever given a local candidate
for office, and furthermore has the distinction of being the youngest chief
executive this city has had.
Bom in LiumpMn County, Georgia, June 20, 1887, George Stanton is a
son of M. H. and Ida (Boyd) Stanton. His father was bom in Gordon
County and his mother in Lumpkin County, Georgia, and the father was for
a number of years employed in the Government service. He died in 1895 at
the early age of forty. The mother is now living in Douglas aged fifty-three,
Their four children were; Howard Stanton, of Douglas; Mrs. T. 0. Galloway,
of Bamesville ; Miss Mary, of Douglas ; and George, who was second in order
of birth.
As a boy he attended the Agricultural College at Dahlonega up to his
junior year, and then acquired a practical business experience by employ-
ment in a store at Dahlonega for a year. Coming to Douglas in 1905 he
was taken into the Citizens Bank in a clerical capacity, and ,was soon ap-
pointed assistant cashier, and since 1907 has been cashier. In the meantime
his interests and influential connections rapidly extended. He is now a
director in the Merchants & Farmers Bank at Nichols, and is president of
the G. M, Stanton & Company of Douglas, a business for the handling and
dealing in livestock.
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2770 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
It was on December 17, 1915, that Mr. StaDtwi was elected mayor of ^
Douglas, and with such a splendid exhibition of confidence felt in him by
his fellow citizens he has entered upon bis duties in such a way as to make
his term a promise of great improvement and benefit to the community. He
had previously had experience in municipal affairs as a member of the city
council.
Mayor Stanton is a democrat, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On June 8, 1909, at Knoxville, Tennessee, he married Miss Mary Ruther-
ford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pryor Rutherford of Carlton, Tennessee.
Robert L. Mnj^ER, M. D. Prominent among the able and honored physi-
cians and surgeons who are ably upholding the high standard of the profes-
sion in Burke County, stands Dr. Robert L. Miller, who is engaged in active
general practice at Waynesboro, the county seat, and who is recognized as
one of the representative physicians of the section of Georgia which has been
Ms home from the time of his birth and in which he is a scion of an honored
and patrician family that was founded in Georgia in the colonial era of our
national history. In Eastern Georgia Doctor Miller is a member of a profes-
sion that was here signally dignified and honored in earlier years by the
services of his father, whose name and memory are revered in Burke, Jeffer-
son and Richmond counties, throughout which his practice extended.
Dr. Robert L. Miller was born at Hepzibah, Richmond County, Georgia,
on the 26th of September, 1870, the youngest in a family of seven children,
his birth having occurred when his father, a man of strong mind and great
physical vigor, was seventy-two years of age. The doctor is a son of Dr. Bald-
win B. and Cornelia*. (Polhill) Miller, the former of whom was bom in
Richmond County, this state, in 1798, and the latter of whom was born in
King and Queen County, Virginia, a daughter of Rev. Joseph and Julia
(Guyon) Polhill, her mother having been born at New Rochelle, Westchester
County, New York, but her father having been a member of an old Southern
family ; he was a man of high intellectual attainments and was a clergyman
of the Baptist Church.
Dr. Baldwin B. Miller was accorded excellent educational advantages.
In preparation for his profession he entered the celebrated old Jefferson Med-
ical College, in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after his gradua-
tion in this institution he established his residence in Burke County, Georgia,
where he maintained his professional headquarters during the remainder of
his long and noble life and where be amassed a fortune, his extensive prac-
tice ,as a physician having been a medium through which he added greatly
to his material prosperity. Prior to the Civil war he had become the largest
land-owner in Burke County, and was also one of the largest slaveholders.
He was broad-minded and liberal in his civic attitude and, as the largest
single taxpayer in the county, he naturally manifested a lively and helpful
interest in all that tended to advance civic and industrial prosperity. He was
too advanced in years to be eligible for military service when the Civil
war was precipitated, but"his patriotic loyalty to the South was significantly
shown when, at his own expense, he equipped a company of volunteers who
entered the Confederate service and made an admirable record. Doctor
Miller represented in his personality the gentle culture and refinement that
characterized the fine old Southern regime, and was notably courtly and dig-
nified, though possessed of an affability and generosity that gained to him the
warm friendship of all with whom he came in contact. In his profession he
had high appreciation of his stewardship, and this, as combined with his
intrinsic sympathy and kindliness, caused him to respond to every call for
his ministrations to the suffering and distressed, no matter how poor and
obscure the family or how great the burden imposed upon him by his humane
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2771
missioD, from which he could expect no financial recompense. This revered
pioneer physician passed to the life eternal in 1872, at the age of seventy-four
years, and only two years after the birth of his youngest child, who is the
immediate subject of this review. Dr. Baldwin B. Miller first wedded Mrs.
Robert Morrison, who did not survive her marriage by many years, the two
ehildrea of this union being deceased. In 1851 the Doctor wedded Miss
Cornelia Polhill, who survived hira by many years and who is still living at
the age of eighty-three years. Of their seven children Dr. Robert L., of this
article, is the youngest, as already noted ; Joseph B, was a prominent mem-
ber of the bar of Waynesboro at the time of his death, in 1879 ; John P.rwho
was a prosperous planter of Burke County, died in 1877; Ruth is the wife of
Charles H. Thomas, of Waynesboro; Lulu is the wife of Ulysses B. Frost,
of Hephzibah, Richmond County; and Benjamin died in 1875, at the age of
seven years.
Dr. Robert L. Miller gained his earlier education in the Village of Heph-
zibah and thereafter completed a special course in Mercer University. He
then entered the medical department of the University of Geot^a, in which
he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891 and from which he received
his degree of Doctor of Medicine, immediately after which he went to the
national metropolis and took a post-graduate course in the New York Poly-
clinic. In the late autumn of 1891 he engaged in practice at Sanderaville,
Washington County, Georgia, where he met with excellent success and where
he remained two years. He then returned to his native Town of Hepzibah,
where, on the 22d of November, 1893, was solemnized his marriage to Miss
Dean Joyner, daughter of Virgil S. and Mary (Graybill) Joyner, her father
having served as a loyal soldier of the Confederacy during the Civil war and
having thereafter become a prosperous merchant aijd planter at Oconee,
Washington County.
In 1908 Doctor Miller established his permanent residence at Waynes-
boro, where he now controls a large and representative practice as a physi-
cian and surgeon and where he stands forth as a progressive and public-
spirited citizen. He is identified with the American Jledical Association, the
Georgia State Medical Association, the First Congressional District Medical
Society and the Burke County Medical Society, which he has represented as
a delegate to the conventions of the State Medical Association. The Doctor
is the owner of a small farm, which he maintains and operates solely for the
benefit of his father's old negro valet, who has the supervision of the place.
He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and
both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Church, in which Mrs.
Miller is prominent in the various departments of the women's church work,
besides which she is actively identified with the Woman's Christian Temper-
ance Union. The Doctor is ardently devoted to bnntiog and fishing.
Henet C. Wayne was bom in Savannah, Georgia, September 18, 1815,
and died there March 15, 1883. Graduating from West Point in 1838, he
was in the artillery service on the Canadian border, and was an instructor in
the Military Academy; was afterward quartermaster and first lieutenant, cap-
tain and major in the Mexican war and, under the Confederacy, attained
the rank of major-general. His most important services in that connection
were as adjutant-general.
Leandeb N. Teammell was a conspicuous figure in the state's history
immediately after the war. He was bom in that part of Habersham which
is now White county, June 5, 1830. In 1858 he was admitted to the bar and
entered at once upon the practice of law at Ringgold. In 1861 he was elected
to represent Catoosa County in the Legislature, and in March, 1862, he
entered the Confederate service as quartermaster with the rank of captain.
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2772 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
He served throughout the war. In 1866 he resumed the practice of hia pro-
fession in Calhoun, Gordon County. He was a member of the Constitutional
Convention of 1867-68; in 1870 was elected to the Senate from his diatriet,
and was afterwards made president of the Senate. He was re-elected to that
body in 1873 ; was chosen a Tilden elector in 1876 and a member of the Con-
stitutional Convention of 1877. He was president of the Democratic State
Convention of 1881 and the same year was appointed a member of the State
Railroad Commission, serving thus for three terms. He died in the first year
of his fourth term, June 29, 1900.
George Arthur Gordon. The Gordon family of Georgia, one of the
oldest in the state, has won distinction in many fields of effort, the name
being honorably identified for generations with military and business affairs
and with professional and public life. The branch of the Gordon family to
which George Arthur Gordon, one of Savannah's most prominent citizens
belongs, is traced to Jonathan Rhea Gordon, who was bom in 1717 in Mon-
mouth County, New Jersey. Ilis son, Ambrose Gordon, served as an officer
in "William Washington's Cavalry Regiment during the Revolutionary war,
his fidelity and valor entitling him to a grant of land in Georgia, on which
he settled. He married Elizabeth Meade of Virginia. In Georgia he served
as a United States marshal, and was a captain in the Georgia Hussars. His
burial was at Augusta.
William Washington Gordon, a son of Ambrose and Elizabeth (Meade)
Gordon, was the first Georgian to be graduated from the United States Mili-
tary Academy at West Point, and after his graduation he served as an
instructor in that institution. Subsequently resigning from the army he
engaged in the practice of law at Savannah, of which city he later became
mayor and also was elected to the Georgia Legislature. He was the builder
and the first president of the Central Railroad of Georgia, and he was a
captain of the Geoi^ia Hussars, He married Sarah Anderson Stites. As a
testimonial to his character and usefulness, a memorial monument was erected
in Court House Square, Savannah, which still stands.
In the nest generation was that gallant soldier and irreproachable gentle-
man, the late Gen, William Washington Gordon, He was bom October 14,
1834, at Savannah, and died September 11, 1912, at White Sulphur Springs,
West Virginia. After preparatory work at Russell's School in New Haven,
he entered and in 1854 was graduated from Yale University. He was long
estimated one of the leading cotton merchants of the South, was president of
the Savannah Cotton Exchange and during his service as a member of the
Geot^a Legislature was chairman of the Finance and the Ways and Means
committees. He was on the directing board of the Georgia Central Railroad.
General Gordon's memory is preserved as one of the state's finest soldiers.
During the war between the states he spent four years in the Confederate
army, being lieutenant of the Georgia Hussars, Jefferson Davis Legion during
the Virginia campaign, serving as captain and inspector in Mercer's Infantry
Brigade in the western array, and as captain and adjutant of Anderson's
Brigade, Wheeler's cavalry. For gallantry at Frederick City, Maryland, hia
name was placed on the roll of honor, and he was wounded at Lovejoy Station.
His interest and active part in military affairs did not cease with the war.
He served as captain of the Georgia Hussars, as colonel of the Fifth Georgia
■ Cavalry, afterward the First Cavalry National Guard of Georgia, and during
the Spanish -American war was brigadier-general of the United States vol-
unteers, commanding the Second Brigade, Second Division, Seventh Army
Corps. He was a member of the commission with Admiral Schley, U, S. N.,
and General Brooke, U. S. A., to superintend the evacuation of Porto Rico
by the Spanish troops, He was reared in the Presbyterian Church but after
his marriage attended the Protestant Episcopal Church with his wife.
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2773
General Gordon was married to Eleanor Lytle Kinzie, who was bom at
Chicago, Illinois, June 18, 1835. She was a daughter of John and Juliett*
(Magill) Kinzie, the latter a descendant of Roger Wolcott of New England.
Mrs. Gordon is a granddaughter of John Kinzie, the noted pioneer settler
on the site of the present City of Chicago, who exercised a commanding influ-
ence over the Indians of the Northwest during the Port Dearborn massacre
and the War of 1812. Such ancestors constitute a noble heritage.
George Arthur Gordon was born at Savannah, Georgia, August 30, 1872.
Like many favored sons of the South he went into business with a liberal
education. After attending Taliaferro's School at Savannah, Georgia, and
St. Paul's School at Concord, New Hampshire, he entered Yale University
and in 1892 was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School. He prac-
tically grew up in the business of whichhe is now president.
On returning home from college, Mr, Gordon entered the cotton factorage
firm of W. W. Gordon & Company as junior clerk. He learned the business
in all its details, was given positions which tested his merit and ability and
for a number of years has carried his full share of reqjonsibilities. In 1896
he was admitted to partnership and in 1914 became president of Gordon &
Company, Incorporated. He is considered an authority on the question of
grades and numerous other features connected with the great industry of
handling the cotton crop of the South. He was one of the organizers and was
elected president of the Savannah Warehouse and Compress Company, a
$1,000,000 corporation which includes aU the cotton factors, cotton export-
ers and ship brokers of Savannah. He is a director and member of
the executive committee of the Reliance Fertilizer Company. Colonel Gor-
don has also entered the literary field. While at Yale he was associate editor
of the Yale Daily News and was one of the founders of the Yale Alumni
Weekly, He is the author of "Sea Island Cotton," a paper read before the
National Association of Cotton Manufacturers at Boston, Massachusetts, in
1907; also of "Manual of Riot Duty, 1904," and "Public Order and the
Public Schools," a masterly address delivered before the Conference for
Education in the South, at Columbia, South Carolina, in 1905.
Colonel Gordon's participation in public affairs has been one of great
benefit to his home city and state. First and foreinost he is a business man
and has the energy of the modem commercial leader but he has also the
public spirit that makes his service invaluable in political matters. He is
a democrat in his convictions and has loyally supported the great leaders of
his party. During the progressive administration of Mayor Geor^ W. Tied-
man. Colonel Gordon was an alderman from 1907 to 1910 and during the
greater part of this period he was chairman of the aldermanic committee on
police and it was largely through his efforts that the Savannah Police Depart-
ment was put upon the strong military footing which made it famous for so
many years. He declined re-election to the city council. In his service to
the municipality Colonel Gordon utilized some valuable military experience.
While the most of the members of the Gordon family have been identified
with the cavalry branch of the army, he chose the infantry and was long
connected with some of the crack organizations of the state. In October,
1892, he enlisted in the Georgia Hussars, Troop A, First Cavalry, National
Guard of Qeoi^a, and was promoted corporal in 1897. In 1899 he became
captain of the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, Company D, First Regiment, Na-
tional Guard of Georgia; was made lieutenant-colonel of the regiment in
1900 ; and from 1902 to 1908 inclusive, served as colonel of the First Regiment.
After being elected colonel he brought his conimand to a very high standard
of efficiency but finally, due to the pressing demands of his private business
he was obliged to resign his commission from this noted infantry organization,
and by request has been on the roll of retired officers since 1908. While in
active command he led his regiment on several important occasions, taking his
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2774 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS '
men into the National Encampment and to other places distant from Savannah
and everywhere the regiment attracted much attention by its fine personnel,
perfect discipline and skill in military maneuvers.
At St Paul's Church, Richmond, Vii^nia, on May 31, 1906, Colonel Gor-
don was united in marriage with Margaret Cameron McGuire, who was born
at Richmond, August 15, 1885, daughter and youngest child of Dr. Hunter
Holmes McGuire. During the Civil war Doctor McGuire was surgeon of
Stonewall Jackson's division of the Army of Northern Virginia, and accom-
panied him through all bis campaigns. A monument to Doctor McGuire
stands in Capitol Square at Richmond. He was president of the American
Medical Association and president of the American Surgical Society, being
the only man who ever held both these offices. He was founder and presi-
dent of the University College of Medicine at Richmond, was the founder
of St. Luke's Hospital in that city, and was easily one of the great figures
of the medical profession of bis day. not only in the South but in America.
The wife of Doctor McGuire was Mary Stuart, of Staunton, Virginia, a
daughter of Judge Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart, who was the first to hold
the ofBce of Secretary of the Interior, United States, a cabinet position that
was created and came into existence under President Millard Fillmore.
Colonel Gordon and wife have three children: Mary Stuart Gordon, bom
April 1, 1907, at Savannah; George Arthur Gordon, Jr., born July 27, 1912,
at Savannah ; and Edward McGuire Gordon, bom May 5, 1916.
At various times Colonel Gordon has served as a director of the Cotton
Exchange, the Associated Charrties and the Germania Bank. He is a mem-
ber of Sigma Chapter of the Delta Psi Fraternity, Yale, is past master of
Ancient Landmark Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a mem-
ber of the Oglethorpe, the Georgia Hussars, the Savannah Volunteer Guard
and the Yale clubs all of Savannah and also the Yale Club of New York City.
He is one of the leaders in that virile group of men who are carrying the
major responsibilities in commercial affairs in Savannah. He is a member
of the Protestant Episcopal Church and a vestryman of Christ Church, the
oldest church in Georgia.
John Marshall Ashley. There are few industrial or commercial lines
at Douglas which have not felt the benefit of the guiding hand and wise
mental direction of John Marshall Ashley, one of the foremost and most sab-
stantial business men and financiers of this part of Georgia. Mr. Ashley's
career has been typical of that class of men whom we are pleased to call self-
made. He began his independent career at the age of twenty years, not with
inherited wealth or influence, but with the assets of ambition, energy and
determination, and a willingness to engage in competition with any task at
hand. His start was in the turpentine camps and sawmills; gradually he
advanced to partnerships in minor concerns; his hands laid hold of incipient
industries and brought them to full fruition, and now, still in the strength
of vigorous manhood, he finds himself at the head of some of the largest and
strongest enterprises of this part of the state.
Mr. Ashley is a product of Southern Georgia, by birth, nurture and
training a son of Coffee County, where he was bom July 31, 1861, his parents
being Matt and Letitia (Rc^rs) Ashley. The family is one that has lived
here for many years, the progenitor being William Ashley, a native of North
Carolina, and the great-grandfather of John M. Ashley, who came to Coffee
County early in the nineteenth century, accumulated a large plantation and
worked his land with many slaves. His son, Nathaniel Ashley, was bom
in this county and passed his entire life here, being, like his father, devoted to
planting and holding many slaves.
Matt Ashley, the father of John M. Ashley, was born in Coffee County,
and here grew up on his father's plantation, being a successful man of biisi-
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GEORCHA AND GBORQIANS 2775
ness and a sawmill operator when the war between the states came on. That
struggle found him, naturally, a warm sympathizer of the cause of the
South, and he enlisted in the army of the Confederacy and served faithfully
as a soldier until the close of hostilities with the surrender of Oeneral Lee.
With the close of the war Mr. Ashley went to Texas, and there his death
occurred during the early '70s. Captain Ashley married Letitia R<^er8, who
was bom in Telfair County, Geoi^a, and who is now deceased, and they
became the parents of two children : Virginia, who is the wife of W. C. Hin-
8011, of Hazelhurst, Georgia; and John Marshall.
John M. Ashley received his education in the common schools, and at
the age of twenty years began working in the tufpentiue camps. From this
vocation it was but a step to the sawmills, an Industry in which Mr. Ashley
soon became interested as an operator. As the years passed his holdings grew
and he extended his activities to cover all of this part of the state, bo that
his reputation as an able and astute financier and business man is not merely
a local one. At this time Mr. Ashley holds a directorship in the Ashley Trust
Company, of Valdosta, Georgia, of which he was one of the organizers.
On December 27, 1898, he became the principal organizer of the Union Bank-
ing Company, an institution which commenced business with a capital of
$18,000, and which, under Mr. Ashley's management as president, has since
increased its capital to $100,000, with a surplus of $50,000. This is correctly
adjudged to be one of the strongest financial institutions in Coffee County,
with an excellent reputation in banking circles throughout the state. Mr.
Ashley is also president of the Douglas Grocery Company, a leading com-
mercial industry of Douglas and one of the largest in Coffee County, the
activities of which extend all over the southern part of the state. In 1906
Mr. Ashley became one of the organizers of the Ashley-Price Lumber Com-
pany, a $400,000 concern, for the manufacture of shingles, lath, flooring,
ceiling and finished lumber. This company, when in full operation, employs
some 200 men in the mills and lumber camps, its payroll amounting to between
$7,000 and $8,000 monthly. It owns its own forests and is the lar^st concern
of its kind in Coffee County. Since its inception Mr. Ashley has been its
president, and its success is but another bit of contributory evidence of the
abilities of. this energetic and versatile man. While his attainments have been
many and important, however, he is a man of subjective modesty and rather
retiring, although a pleasing companion and possessed of a wide circle of
friends. He is fond of travel, and when he can get away from his numerous
business duties, likes nothing better than to go on extended trips. While a
stanch democrat, he has not been attracted by the lure of political preferment,
although he has had many opportunities to enter public life. All in all, he
may be named as a high-minded gentleman, using his wealth to the best pos-
sible advantage and contributing, in character and attainment, to the stability
and prosperity of the community. Fraternally, Mr, Ashley belongs to the
local bodies of the J^tasonic order. His family attends the services of the
Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Ashley is a member.
Mr. Ashley was married April 29, 1908, in Montgomery County, Georgia,
to Miss Ada Clements, a native of Montgomery County, and a daughter of
John W. and Isabella (McRae) Clements, and to this union there has been
born one son ; John Marshall, Jr., bom February 4, 1915.
Thomas J, Wiu.s, M. D., who was engaged in the active work of his exact-
ing profession for more than a quarter of a century, gained distinctive success
and prestige as one of the -representative physicians and surgeons of his native
state and was a leading general practitioner at Washington, judicial center
of Wilkes County, from 1892. He was one of the progressive and public-spir-
ited citizens of this thriving little city and in the community had a com-
manding place in popular confidence and esteem, both by reason of his sterling
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2776 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
attributes of character and his recogmzed £^11 in and devotioa to his humane
profession.
0r. Thomas Jackson Wills was bom in Jackson Ckmntj, Geor^a, on the
19th of March, 1862. He was the sixth in order of birth of the seven children
of Abner J. and Mary (Stapler) "Wills, both of whom maintained their rew-
dence in Jackson County during their entire lives, their reflective parents
having there established their homes in an early day, upon coming to Georgia
from the historic old State of Virginia, where the original American progeni-
tors settled in the colonial era, upon their immigration from England. Abner
J. Wills was reared and educated in Jackson County and was for many years
one of its prominent agriculturists and prominent and honored citizens.
He represented that county as a valiant soldier of the Cafederacy during ^e
war between the states of the South and the North, and though he took part
in many engagements marking the progress of the great conflict he was fortu-
nate in never having been captured or severely wounded. He held the office
of lieutenant in a regiment commanded by Colonel Lumpkio, and with this
historic command he endured the full tension of the prolonged strug^es that
brought sorrow and desolation to the fair Southland, In later years he
perpetuated the more gracious memories of his military career through his
active affiliation with the United Confederate Veterans, and be was inflex-
ible in his adherence to the cause of the democratic party. He died at his
home, in Jackson County, on the 17th of November, 1912, at the venerable
age of eighty-three years, his loved and devoted wife having been summoned
to eternal rest on the 14th of November, 1905, at the age of seventy-five years,
and both having been consistent members of the Baptist Church,
Bom at a time when his native state was the stage of conflict incidental
to the Civil war, Doctor Wills retained well defined boyhood memories of the
conditions and influences that were in evidence after the close of the great
struggle. He was afforded the advantages of the schools of Jackson County,
where he passed the period of his childhood and early youth on the homestead
farm of his father, and later he continued his studies in the Georgia Agri-
cultural College at Dahlonega. Thereafter he continued to be associated in
the work and management of the home farm until he was able to provide
through his own exertions the financial resources necessary to defraying the
expenses incidental to gaining his technical education and realizing his dis-
tinct ambition. He finally entered the Atlanta Medical College, in which he
completed the prescribed curriculum -and was graduated as a member of the
class of 1887.
After thus receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine, Doctor
Wills served his (jrofesaional novitiate by engaging in practice in his native
county, where he remained two years and met with such success as to justify
fully his choice of vocation. At the expiration of the period noted he removed
to Danielsvtlle, Madison County, where he continued in practice until 1892,
an interval of about four years. He then found a broader field of professional
endeavor by establishing himself in practice at Washington, county seat of
Wilkes County, and here he has long controlled a large and representative
professiontU business, the same extending throughout the wide radius of pros-
perous country that lies normally tributary to Washington. The doctor con-
tinued a close and appreciative student and thus kept in touch with the ad-
vances made in medical and surgical science, able at all times to avail himself
of the most approved modern methods and agencies in the work of his humane
calling. He was an influential and popular member of the Wilkes County
Medical Society, of which he was president in 19Q9-11; he was president of
the Eighth District Medical Society from 1912 to 1914, and in addition to
these organizations he was actively affiliated also with the Georgia State Medi-
cal Association and the American Medical Association.
Loyal to all civic duties and responsibilities. Doctor Wills was found
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GEOSaU AND QEOBGIANS 2777
arrayed as a staimch supporter of the principles of the democratic party and
took a lively interest in local affairs of a public order. He was a stockholder
in one of the leading bankiDg institutions of Washington and served at variona
times as a member of iia board of directors. He held member^ip in the Bap-
tist Church, as does also his widow, and the family is one of prominence and
distinctive popularity in the social life of the home community.
In the year 1891 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Wills to Miss
Susie Wingfield, whose parents are now deceased, her father, Judge Charles
E. Wingfield, having been a planter and later served as judge of County Court
for fifteen years. Doctor and Mrs. Wills had four children : Charles Elwood,
who was bom at Danielsville, in 1892, was graduated in Mercer University,
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is a graduate of the class of 1916 in
the College of Physicians & Surgeon^ the medical department of the historic
Columbia University, in New York City, and will now take a two-year course
in hospital work; Thomas Jackson, Jr., was a student in the Washington
High School and is now actively identified with agricultural pursuits in his
native county; James Wiagfield, born in 1902, and Penelope, bom in 1907,
are attending the public schools of Washington. The life work of Dr. ThcHuas
J. Wills came to a close on the 13th of April, 1916, and he was laid to rest in
his home City of Washington.
WuJJAU E. Miller. Through heritage and from choice William K.
Miller, a prominent member of the Augusta bar, has been identified with the
profession of law ever since completing an education which well prepared him
for his career. For generations the bench and bar of Georgia have preserved
the name of Miller and especially has it ,been honored in Richmond County.
William K. Miller was bom at Augusta, Georgia, April 15, 1860, and is a
son of Frank Harvey and Julia (Kitchen) Miller, and a grandson of Andrew
Jackson Miller, both father and grandfather becoming eminent at the bar.
Frank Harvey. Miller was bom at Augusta, Geoi^ia, October 13, 1836,
and died January 7, 1908. His parents were Andrew Jacks(Hi and Marta B.
(Oliver) Miller, the former of whom was a member of the Georgia Legisla-
ture continuously from 1836 until his death in 1856, representing Richmond
County. He was a native of St. Mary's, Qeoi^a, and was considered in his
day one of the ablest lawyers of Georgia. Frank Harvey Miller was married
in early manhood to Julia Kitchen, who was bom at Augusta, a daughter of
William K. and Sarah A. (Hill) Kitchen, the former a native of Pennsylvania.
At the time of the Civil war they removed to New York. Frank Harvey
Miller and Julia Kitchen were married in July, 1859, and of their family
of five children, William K. was the eldest bom and all survive. Frank
Harvey Miller, the second son, is proprietor of the Journal at Montgomery,
Alabama. Of the three daughters: Mrs. Thomas Barrett, of Augusta; Mrs.
L. M. La Hardy, of Savannah; and Mrs. Sallie M. Hagan, of Boston,
Massachusetts.
For fifty years Frank Harvey Miller engaged in the practice of law in
Georgia and attained distinction in his profession. Admitted to the bar
when but nineteen years of age, he steadily advanced until his practice in-
cluded those cases brought before the Supreme Court of Georgia and also the
United States Supreme Court. He was a member of that notable body of
counsel appointed receiver of the sequestered estates under the Confederate
states government and acted as assistant state's attorney. He was junior
member of the firm of Miller & Jackson that appeared in court for the de-
fendants in error in 1857 in the noted case of Burchard against Boyce and
had been engaged as one of the counsel for plaintiff in error in the case of
the Southern Express Company against Sinclair, his death occurring, how-
ever, before this case came to trial, and during all the intervening years he
had been connected with one side or the other of all the importetnt litigation
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2778 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
in this sectioD. He was a member of the Oglethorpe Infantry which took
charge of the United States arsenal at Augusta, in January, 1861, Education
and religion both claimed his interest and attention. Prom February, 1882,
to Janoary, 1888, he was president ,of the board of trustees of Richmond
Academy, one of the oldest schools in the state, voluntarily resigning at that
time but afterward accepting re-election and continued in oflfice until the time
of his death. For twenty-eight years he was chairman of the board of trustees
of the Masonic Hall in the City of Augusta and a prominent member of the
fraternity. Prom May,. 1888, until May, 1901, he was a member of the stand-
ing committee of ijhe Protestant Episcopal Church diocese of Georgia and at
the time of demise was chancellor of the diocese. For fifteen years he was
a delegate to the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of the United States, and was one of the lay judges of the Court of Review
of the Fourth Judicial Department established by the general convention,
comprising twelve dioceses with missionary jurisdiction of the Southern states.
At the time of death there were many beautiful testimonials presented con-
cerning the useful life and public services of Judge Miller, and the memorial
prepared and adopted by the Augusta Bar Association was particularly elo-
quent and appreciative.
William K. Miller was liberally educated, attending the public sebotds
of Augusta, Richmond Academy and the University of Georgia, later entering
the law department of the University of ^Virginia and completing his course
after his return to Georgia. He was admitted to the bar in 1881. His pro-
fessional triumphs have been many and his professional reputation extends
far beyond his native city and county. He is a very active member of the
leading law bodies, and belongs also to the State and the American Bar
associations.
Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Phinizy, on April
28, 1891, a daughter of Dr. Thomas and Frances {Hamilton) Phinizy, the
latter of whom is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have two sons : William K.
Miller, Jr., who was bom at Augusta, married Vida Miller, and is engaged
in the insurance business at Chicago, Illinois; and Francis Hamilton Miller,
who as a lawyer continues to maintain the family prestige at Augusta. Mr,
Miller and family belong to the Protestant Episcopal Church. He has always
been identified with the democratic party although never a seeker for political
power and when he exerts influence, as he does, for the betterment of city
and section, it is as a man and not as a politician.
Ransom James Thomas. A good deal of the business in Offerman, Pierce
County, revolves about the personality and enterprise of Ransom J. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas primarily is a farmer, but he owns the principal cotton gin,
sawmill and has a position of leadership in industrial affairs in that part of
Georgia, and is not only a very able business man but thoroughly reliable and
the people of his neighborhood have as much faith in his verbal promise as
they would in his written bond.
He comes of an old family of Pierce County where he was bom June 4,
1849. His father, James Ransom Thomas, was born in South Carolina in
1811 and died in 1883. He married Martha Lij^tt, daughter of Jorden
Lig^tt. She was the mother of nine sons, seven of whom are still living,
with Ransom J. the oldest. ■ The others are named B. A. Thomas, John Thomas,
Ephraim Thomas, Joseph Thomas, Daniel Thomas, Henry Thomas, Jacob and
Louis Thomas being both deceased. James R. Thomas, the father, spent nearly
all his life as a farmer and planter. He saw some active service in the early
Indian wars and was a follower of the noted Capt. Bill McDonald, one of the
most prominent frontier characters of the early days. The mother of Ransom
J. Thomas is now eighty-six years of age and is still in good health and
remarkably well preserved for all of her years.
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GEORGIA AND GEOBGIANS 2779
As a boy the conditions were not favorable to the education of Ransom
J. Thomas, and he did not have an opportunity to attend school regularly
until he was twelve years of age and about the beginning of the Civil war.
He continued for about three months each year during the next eight years,
and then gave up his books and schooling to enter upon farming as a perma-
nent career. He still cultivates and looks after the management of his large
tract of farm land in Pierce County, and also manages the cotton mill, the
cotton gin and sawmill of which he is owner. He constructed hia gin at
Offerraan in 1883. Mr. Thomas now has the distinction of being rated as
the wealthiest man in Offerman, and it has all come from hard work, close
attention to business and a thorough integrity in all his relations.
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, and is trustee and sec-
retary-treasurer of his home school district. He is the father of many chil-
dren. His first wife was Miss j^artha "Walker, daughter of John Walker,
Of her eight children the six now living are : Elver, Ira, Roma, James M.,
Mrs. Metie Noler Anderson and Mrs. Eva Davis. After the death of his
first wife Mr. Thomas married again, and there are the following children
by the second marriage: A. L. Thomas, Ella, Lulu, Pannie, Pearl, Martha,
Hoke, Clifford and R. J. With the exception of the last named, who died at
the age of two years, these children are all living and most of them are well
established in homes and occupations of their own.
Eugene Booth Rimes. The mercantile establishment represented by
Eugene Booth Rimes, at Ludowici, Liberty County, has been built up and
developed by men of standard and sterling citizenship. There can be no
happier combination than that formed by men of the same family, each sure
of his brothers' abilities, confident in their capacity, all co-operating in action
and effort. Ludowici is a striving and prosperous community; it has been
made such by just such men as those bearing the name of Rimes, which name
has become an honored one on commercial paper and in business and financial
circles.
Eugene Booth Rimes was bom near Taylor's Creek, this county, June 23,
1867, and here his entire career has been passed. His father, the late James
M. Rimes, was born September 28, 1828, in Bulloch County, Georgia, and in
young manhood adopted the profession of educator. The events which cul-
minated in the war between the states found him a stanch supporter of the
Southland and when the Confederacy called for men he doffed the cap and
gown to don the uniform of the gray, entering the cavalry company com-
manded by Captain Bess. His three years of service were characterized
by devotion to duty, and signal bravery on a number of occasions, and at all
times he had the respect of his ofBeers and the admiration of his comrades.
With him served three brothers, all of whom are now deceased. When he
returned from the war, James M. Rimes resumed his duties as an instructor
and subsequently engaged also in farming, in both of which vocations he
continued to be occupied until the time of his death. He married Miss
Candace A, Kennedy the daughter of Edward and Mary (Mattox) Kennedy,
and they became the parents of eleven children: Morgan T. ; Mary J., now
Mrs. Dorsey, of Ludowici; William A.; James R,, who is cashier of the Citi-
zens Bank of Ludowici ; Edward ; Eugene Booth ; John H., who is a traveling
salesman ; Henry P. ; Troy T. ; Ruby, who is now Mrs. Hicks, of Statesville,
North Carolina; and Ross D. Of the sons, four followed in their father's
footsteps and adopted schoolteacbing, and among these was Edward H., who
subsequently became bookkeeper for the Ocean Steamship Company, of
Savannah, Geoi^ia, and died at the age of twenty-four years. Another
brother, Morgan T., died when about fifty-five. The present firm at Ludowici
consists of William A., Eugene B., Henry P., Troy T, and Ross D.
Given the advantages of rearing in a home of refinement and culture and
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2780 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
education in the public schoolfi, which he attended iatermittentiy from the
age of eight until he was twenty-two years old, Eugene Booth Rimes was
brought to sturdy and intelligent manhood. He was reared on his father's
farm, but his inclinations turned toward mercantile lines, and when ready
to enter upon his independent career took up his residence at Ludowici, where
his activities have since been centered. He is at present vice president of
the concern, the success of which may be lai^ly and justly attributed to his
well directed and energetic efforts. Mr, Rimes brought with him but little
capital from the farm aside from his insatiable ambition, eneT^ and deter-
mination, but these qualities, if judged by his present position in business
circles, seem to be very desirable ones for the man who is seeking independence
and prestige. He was one of the founders of the Citizens Bai^ of Ludowici,
of which he is vice president, a director and a large stockholder, and' wliich
has profited exceedingly by his talents and judgment. His fraternal connec-
tion is with the Woodmen of the World, while religiously he belongs to the
Methodist Church of which he has been steward for ten years.
On November 14, 1902, occurred at Orlando, Orange County, Florida, the
marriage of Mr. Rimes and Miss Daisy Johnson, and to their union there have
been bom four children : Eugene Booth, Jr., bom in 1904, attending the pub-
lic schools and who is making rapid progress in his studies; Lester, bom in
1908, and also attending school ; Frances, bom in 1911 ; and James M., bom
in 1914,
Judge O. A. Lochranb was an Irishman, coming from County Armagh,
where he was bom August 27, 1829. His father was Dr. Edward Lochrane,
an able physician, who gave to the lad a good education in the higher schools
of bis native land. He was admitted to the bar in WatkinsviUe, Oeoi^a, at
the spring term of 1850, being then just twenty-one years old. During the
war between the states, Judge Lochrane served on the bench of the Superior
Court.
When the State Capitol was located in Atlanta he moved from Macon to
Atlanta; was shortly after made judge of the Atlanta Circuit, but resigned
that position to accept appointment on the Supreme Bench tendered him by
Governor Bullock. He was only one year a member of the Supreme Court,
his services commencing in 1871 and terminating in 1872.
Prom the day of hia retirement from the Supreme Bench up to his death,
June 17, 1887 — a period of fifteen years — he was in the active practice of his
profession in Atlanta.
Wniis F. Westmoebland, one of the most eminent surgeons of his gen-
eration, was bom in Fayette County, Georpa, in 1828, and obtained a very
limited education in the meager schools of a sparsely settled seetifm. He
began the study of medicine under local physicians and took his first course
in the Georgia Medical College in 1848. He then attended the JeflEerson Med-
ical College in Philadelphia and was graduated in 1850. After spending three
years in Paris, France, attending surgical clinics and pursuing advanced
studies and investigations there, he located in Atlanta and, with his brother,
John G. Westmoreland, founded the Atlanta Medical College. He died
in 1890.
Dr. Quitman Holton, who uses the latest advanced methods in the prac-
tice of his profession and whose knowledge and capability rank him among the
foremost representatives of the medical fraternity in Coffee County, has een-
tereJ^his field of practice at Douglas since 1910, and during this period has
gained a very gratifying patronage. Doctor Holton well merits the pres-
tige which he has gained in his chosen profession, for it has been attained
through the mediuni of hard, persistent work from the time when as a boy
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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2781
his ambitions first led him to take up medical study. No fortunate oppor-
tunities have made his path easy or secure ; rather, he has created opportuni-
ties for himself, and has surmounted the obstacles which he has found im-
peding his way.
Doctor Holton was born in Appling County, Oeoi^a, December 15, 1871,
and is a son of 0. J. and Eliza (Dedge) Holton, the former a native of
Emanuel County, Georgia, and the latter of the State of North Carolina. .
G. J. Holton was reared in his native county, where rather late in life he
began to study for the profesdon of law, and in its practice was one of the
pioneer members of the Appling County Bar. At the outbreak of the war
between the states, he gave up a large and lucrative practice to join the army
of the Confederacy, cheerfully putting aside persoufil interests that he might
serve the cause of the Southland, and was soon raised to the rank of major.
"With the fall of the Lost Cause, he returned to Appling County, where he
gathered together the broken threads of his legal business, and slowly fought
his way back to the position be bad maintained when war's'demands called
him to take up arms. Major Holton subsequently became the leading mem-
ber of the Appling County Bar, connected with the most important cases
that came before the courts ot his and other sections of the state, as well as
before the highest federal tribunal, the Supreme Court of the United States.
He took an important part in the various movements which made for ad-
Tancement and development in bis section, and was the promoter of a number
of ideas which led to better legislation. When he died, in June, 1902, at the
age of seventy-three years, his community lost one of its best citizens and
most highly respected men, while the bar of Appling County was deprived
of one who had always honored its best traditions. He had also been one of
the extensive land owners of his county. Mrs. Holton, who was reared and
educated in North Carolina, came aa a young lady to Georgia, and met and
married Major Holton in Appling County. She was bom June 6, 1829, and
died February 3, 1903, aged more than seventy-four years. Major and Mrs.
Holton were the parents of nine children, of whom Quitman was the youngest.
As a lad Quitman Holton attended the country schools of Appling County,
and early decided that his life should be given to the practice of medicine.
His higher education he determined to earn himself, and with tjiis end in
view entered the office of his father, in the capacity of stem^rapher, a
position which he held for several years. With the money thus earned and
means from other sources of work, he was able to ta^e the necessary studies
to fit him for the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons, and subse-
quently he took a course in that institution, being graduated therefrom with
his cherished degree of Doctor of Medicine, April 4, 1902. He at once began
practice in his native county, where he remained for something over a year,
but in 1904 went to the Town of Braxton, where he gained further experi-
ence for six years. In 1910 he decided upon the county seat of Coffee County,
Douglas, as his field of practice, and here he has gained an enviable reputa-
tion and practice within the short period of six years. His uniform cour-
tesy and kind disposition have gained him many friends outside those whom
he has met in a profesMonal way. His attention, however, is given chiefly
to his profession, which makes heavy demands upon his time and energy and
is constantly increasing. In addition to taking care of a large private prac-
tice, he is associated with a private institution at Douglas, of which Doctor
Roberts is the head. However, he has found time to engage in much study
and research, and in 1910 took a post-graduate course at the New York Post-
Graduate College, The Doctor keeps abreast of the advancements being made
in the profession, and belongs to the American Medical Association, the
Georgia State Medical Society, the Southern Medical Society and the Eleventh
District Medical Association, of which he is at present the vice president,
evidence of the high regard in which he is held by his fellow-practitioners.
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2782 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Fraternally he is affiliated with the Odd Fellows and the Masons, and has
Ii«ld office iD both bodies. In political matters the Doctor unfalteringly sup-
ports the democratic party. He ia a Baptist in religious belief and at this
time chairman of the board of deacons.
On July 5, 1905, Doctor Holton was married in Appling County, Georgia,
to Miss ESie Mims, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Alims, well known farm-
ing people of that county. Doctor and Mrs. Holton have had two children :
Howard Vance, bora April 26, 1910, who died at the age of twenty-two
months; and an infant which died at the age of three days.
T. PiNCKNBY Waring, M. D. One of the most thoronghly trained and
ablest physicians and surgeons of Georgia is Dr. T. Pinckney Waring qt
Savannah, where he has been in practice, particularly as a surgeon, for
twenty years.
A native of Savannah he was born February 28, 1867, a son of Dr. James
Johnston and Mary Broughton (Alston) Waring, the former a native of
Geor^a and the latter of South Carolina. Dr. James J. Waring was in his
time one of the foremost physicians of the South. He graduated from Yale
College in 1850, and in 1852 graduated M. D. from the Jefferson Medical Col-
lege of Philadelphia. In 1854 he began practice in the City of Washington, and
after two years of study and observation in Europe accepted the chair of obstet-
rics and diseases of women in the medical school at- Washington conducted in
connection with the Columbian University. During the Civil war he was in
service for a very short period as a surgeon with, the medical staff. In 1862
he located in Savannah, where he continued in active practice until his death .
in January, 1888, at the age of fifty-eight. For two terms he served as alder-
man of the city. His wife survived him many years and passed away at
Savannah in April, 1915, at the age of eighty-seven. Of their sii children
four are still living.
Dr. T. Pinekney Waring, who was the fifth of these children, received a
liberal education. He attended schools in Savannah and elsewhere and in
1889 was graduated in the regular collegiate course from Yale University. He
took up the study of medicine in the medical department of Columbia Univer-
sity at New York City, where he graduated in 1892. After two years of post-
graduate work and service as an interne in the Bellevue Hospital he went
abroad and spent one year in Berlin. Since 1895 Doctor Waring has been
in practice at Savannah and his work as a surgeon has been especially note-
worthy. He has been a familiar figure in all the public and private hospitals
of the city, and served on the staff of the different institutions, and is a
Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Alumni
Soeiety of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He is also affiliated with
the County and State Medical societies, the American Medical Association and
the Southern Surgical Association. Fraternally he ia a thirty-second degree
Scottish Rite Mason, and in 1903 was ma-ster of his Masonic lodge, and ia a
member of Palestine Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a director of the
Hibernian Bank and a member of the Oglethorpe Club.
On December 24, 1902, at Savannah, he married Miss Martha Gallaudet
Backus, daughter of Henry L. and Alice Backus. They are the parents of
three children : Alice Waring, bom at Savannah in 1904; Miss Mary Waring,
bom in 1908 ; and Thomas Pinckney Waring, Jr., bom June 11, 1916.
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