Misc Baldwin County GA Biographies
JOHN T. ALLEN, Judge of the
county court, Milledgeville, Baldwin co. James Troup Allen, was born at
Mt. Zion, Hancock county, Oct. 21, 1861. His father is, and all his life
has been a farmer in Hancock county., During the late war he was a
non-commissioned officer in the Confederate service and remained until
the surrender.
Judge Allen
was raised on the farm, and received such education as the near by
schools could give, and in 1880, when the middle Georgia military
institute opened its doors a Milledgeville, he entered that institution,
graduating from it in 1883. He then entered the law department of
the university of Georgia at Athens, which he graduated in 1884, and was
at once admitted to the bar, but returned to his home at Mt. Zion. Early
in the ensuing year he came to Milledgeville, and in April formed a law
partnership with Hon. Robert Whitfield, which still continues. He is a
well-read and able lawyer, credibly sustaining the dignity of his
judicial position, to which he was elected in 1889 and after serving
four years was re-elected.
Judge Allen was married Nov. 27, 1890 to Miss Hattie, daughter of H. E.
Hendrix, of Milledgeville, by whom he has had three children: Marion,
Isabelle A., and Gladys Pernita. He is a member of the I.O.O. F., a
royal arch Mason, and affiliates with the Presbyterian church."Memoirs
of Georgia" Vol. II The Southern Historical Association 1895
CHARLES LARKIN
BASS, lawyer, Clarkesville, Habersham Co., Ga., son of
Dr. Charles H. and Mattie (Greene) Bass, was born near Milledgeville,
Baldwin county, Ga., April 30, 1869. His great-grandfather on his
father's side was Wm. Rabun, once governor of Georgia, and for whom
Rabun county was named. William Rabun was born in Halifax county, N.C.,
April 8, 1771, and came to Georgia in 1795 with his father Matthew
Rabun, who settled in Wilkes county, and a year later moved thence to
Hancock county. Though but indifferently educated, he possessed mental
endowments and a personality that brought him into popular favor, and he
was elected repeatedly to both the lower and upper house of the general
assembly. He was president of the senate when Gov. Mitchell resigned in
March, 1817, and was acting governor from that time until November, when
he was elected governor, and afterward, by the people, for a full term,
during which he had a spicy correspondence with Gen. Jackson. He died on
his plantation in Hancock county while governor, Oct. 24, 1819, and his
message was delivered to the general assembly by the president of the
senate, Matthew Talbot, who succeeded him. Dr. Larkin Bass, an eminent
physician, who married Miss mary, a daughter of Gov. Rabun, was the
grandfather of Charles Larkin Bass. His father, Dr. Charles H. Bass, was
a son of Dr. Larkin and Mary (Rabun) Bass, and was born in Hancock
County. In 1858 he married Miss Mattie, daughter of Thomas F. Greene, of
Milledgeville. Dr. Bass ranked very high as a member of the medical
profession, as a gentleman of scholarly attainments and varied
information. Hew was assistant physician of the state lunatic asylum
soon after his graduation from the Medical college of Georgia, until his
death, which occurred in 1872. His widow is still living, and makes her
home with her son in Clarksville. Of nine children born to this union
five survive: Addie, Mary Rabun, Mattie, Julia and Charles L. Mr. Bass'
maternal great-grandfather was William Montgomery Greene, an Irish
patriot, who, on account of his participation in the rebellion of 1798,
was compelled to seek refuge in the United States. He was a friend of
Thomas Addis and Robert Emmett, and assisted in the capture of the
latter's remains from the keeper of the Killmainham jail, and their
subsequent interment. He was a cousin of the celebrated Lord
Edward Fitzgerald, for whom he named his son, Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald
Greene, Mr. Bass' grandfather. Dr. Greene was superintendent of the
state lunatic asylum for a period of thirty-six years, a statement of
which fact is evidence enough as to his capability and fidelity. Dr.
Greene married Miss Adeline, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hawkins)
Crowder, a granddaughter of Col. John Hawkins, who served with
distinction in the revolutionary war under the immediate command of
Washington. Mr Bass received his early education in Milledgeville, but
finished it in the Atlanta high school in 1884. The following year the
family removed to Clarksville, where they made their permanent home.
Deciding to embrace the legal profession he commenced reading law, and
in 1890 was admitted to the bar at Habersham superior court, Hon. C. J.
Wellborn, judge presiding. Entering at once upon the practice, and
giving his enthusiastic and undivided attention to this profession, he
has already secured an extensive practice and a wealthy and influential
clientage in the northeastern circuit. His practice is general and
covers every branch of the profession, and his record is that of a
well-read lawyer, a prudent counselor and polished advocate. His style
before a jury is that of easy and affable character, which invariably
marks the successful nisi prius lawyer and wins verdicts. He has a large
clientage in whose confidence his professional and private character is
safe and permanently secure. Politically, Mr. Bass is a strong and
active and consistent democrat. In 1890 he was a chairman of the county
committee, and later president of the democratic club of Habersham
county, rendering invaluable service in the campaign of 1892. That year
he was elected a member of the state gubernatorial convention, and gave
his enthusiastic support to the state ticket. Mr. Bass is a young man of
marked ability, accomplished and polished manners, for whom the future
would seem to have much in store. Reasonably and honorably ambitious to
attain to distinction, his many friends in his section of the state will
doubtless see to it that his abilities are recognized and his services
rewarded.
Memoirs of
Georgia Volume 1 Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
JOHN A. CALLAWAY . Physician
and surgeon, Milledgeville, Baldwin county was born in Milledgeville.
Aug. 17, 1858. His boyhood days were spent in the city, and he received
his primary and preparatory education in excellent schools. He afterward
attended Mercer university, from which he gradated in 1877, and then
began the study of medicine. After careful preparation he attended
lectures at the college of physicians and surgeons, New York city, from
which he was graduated in 1881, and returned to Milledgeville, where he
located and has since practised his profession. Dr. Callaway is a man of
natural ability, and of more that ordinary skill as a surgeon.
Personally he is a very pleasant and most affable gentleman, and
universally popular. He is a member of the state medical association.
Dr. Callaway was married in 1882 to Miss Bessie Fleming, a union
which has been blessed with two bright sons- Leon and Thomas. He is a
member of the masonic fraternity and a member of the Baptist church.Memoirs
of Georgia Volume 1 Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
SAMUEL M'DONAL CARTER is
the owner of the largest and most valuable plantation in Murray county,
commonly known as "Carter's Quarter," on which he resided nearly half a
century. He was born in Baldwin county, near Milledgeville, in 1826. His
family and ancestors have been prominent in the public affairs of
Georgia during several generations, and have borne an honorable and
distinguished part in the history of this state, while contributing
largely to its social and industrial progress. His paternal
grandfather, Maj. Carter, served in the patriot army during the war of
the revolution and was killed in the battle of Augusta, toward the close
of that prolonged struggle for human rights and independence. His
father, Farish Carter, was born in South Carolina, but was reared in
Georgia and settled in Baldwin county about 1809, where he resided until
his death in 1861. Farish Carter was an active business man, and an
extensive and successful planter. Early in life by his zeal, industry
and good management, he accumulated a large fortune, and his influence
in political and financial affairs were felt throughout the state.
Cartersville, the prosperous county seat of Bartow county, received its
name in his honor. He married Miss Eliza McDonald, sister of Hon.
Charles James McDonald, a distinguished citizen of Georgia, an associate
justice of the supreme court and governor of the state from 1839 to
1843. The issue of his marriage was five children: Samuel McD., Mary,
who married Jonathan Davis, of South Carolina; Catharine, wife of Dr.
John H. Furman, of that state; Benjamin, who died while representing
Murray county in the general assembly, and James. The mother of Col.
Carter died in Baldwin county in 1865. He was educated in that county
and at Oglethrope college, from which institution he was graduated about
1846. In 1850 he settled in Murray county upon his plantation, where he
has since resided, an esteemed, respected and influential citizen.
During the war, from 1861 to 1865, he supported the cause of the
Confederacy. In 1850 he married Miss Emily Colquitt, daughter of Senator
Walter T. Colquitt, and sister of the late Senator Alfred H. Colquitt.
They reared five children: Farish, who died while a student at Norwood
school in Virginia; Colquitt, at present clerk of the United States
district court for the northern district of Georgia, residing at
Atlanta; Mary, now deceased, who became of the wife of Benjamin H. Hill,
of the Atlanta bar; Kate C., who married Prof. Robert Emmett Mitchell,
of Atlanta, and Benjamin F., married Lillian Whitman, of Dalton, Ga., at
present residing in Atlanta, and is in the service of the agricultural
department. The wife of Col. Carter died in Murray county in 1867. He
was again married to Miss Sallie Jeter, daughter of William Lamar Jeter,
formerly of Columbus, Ga. This lady was a grand-niece of Mirabeau B.
Lamar and ex-Senator Walter T. Colquitt. By this marriage he had five
children: Emily Colquitt, wife of Hal Divine, Chattanooga, Tenn; Sallie
Jeter; Pauline, Samuel McD., Jr. and Eliza. Col. Carter has four
grand-children: Mary Hill, and Emily Cornelia, daughters of Benjamin F.;
Robert Emmett, son of Kate C. Mitchell, and Rebecca Lamar, daughter of
Emily C. Divine. Memoirs of Georgia
Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
J. HARRIS CHAPPELL President
of the Georgia Normal and Industrial college, Milledgeville, Baldwin
Co., was born near Macon, Bibb Co. Ga, Oct. 18, 1849. When eight years
old his father moved to Columbus, Ga. where he received his primary
education. Later, in 1869-70, he attended the university of Virginia.
Soon after leaving the university he began teaching school and filling
engagements in Clinton, Jones Co., and in other small country towns
until 1877, when he located at his old home in Columbus, where he
remained seven yes. In 1884 he was elected principal of the State normal
school. Jacksonville, Ala., which he held two years and was re-elected,
but he declined because of the earnest and urgent solicitations of
leading citizens of Columbus. Ga. to return to that city and establish
a high grade girls' school. In response to this urgent solicitation he
went to Columbus and opened the school. He met with phenomenal success,
the attendance soon reaching 150 pupils, demanding a faculty of ten
teachers. He was principal- equivalent to a presidency - of this school
until 1891, when he retired to accept his present position. He was
elected secretary of the Georgia State Teachers' association in 1887,
and served one year, and in 1888 he was elected president. For a number
of times he has been chosen or appointed by the association as an
essayist - unfailingly meeting every expectation. As a practical
educator, and one commanding the fullest confidence of the public as
such, President Chappell doubtless has equals, but he has few, if any,
superiors.
President Chappell was married in 1883 to Carrie, daughter of the
late G. H. Brown, of Madison, Ga., for many years president of the
Madison female college. She died childless in 1886, and in 1891, he
contracted a second marriage with Etta, daughter of Dr. J. Kincaid,
Rome, Ga., by whom he has had two children- Calmese, deceased, and
Cornelia.Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical
Society of Georgia, 1895
PETER J. CLINE. Industry and
economy, when accompanied by intelligently directed enterprise, will
general win under any surroundings: but there and now then occur cases
of more than ordinary success and interest. One of the most conspicuous
of these, as well as one of the most instructive, is that of Peter J.
Cline, merchant-farmer and stock raiser, Milledgeville, Baldwin Co.,
Ga., son of Peter and Bridget Cline, who was born in Augusta, Ga., Sept.
22, 1845. His parents were natives of County Roscommon, Ireland, and the
subject of this sketch was the only one of the children born in this
country. Mr. Cline's father, a teacher by profession, emigrated to this
country in 1843 and settled in Augusta, Ga., where, by his unusual
ability he soon attained 
prominence
and influence and position in the city government. About three years
afterward he sent for his family, and two years later, in 1848, he died,
aged thirty-nine years. His widow was born in 1813 and died in 1853.
Both were devout Catholics.
On the death of his parents Mr. Cline was placed under the
guardianship of his sister, Miss Mary E. Cline, who with himself were
the only surviving members of the family. He was sent to Sharon,
Taliaferro Co., Ga., to school. While he was at school his sister
married Patrick Otis, of Augusta, Ga., and after his return from school
he was "cash-boy" in a dry-goods store for some time in Augusta. In
February, 1861, he was sent to St. Vincent college in Pennsylvania,
where he remained until July. 1864, when he left there and started home.
By the time he had reached Louisville, Ky., his money gave out, and
having no friends and knowing no one through whom to get a passport, he
sought employment which he finally obtained on the railway, and worked
his way as a brakeman to Nashville. In that city, having some friends,
he secured a situation in a crockery store and retained it some
considerable time. Himself and other "southern boys" there were very
closely watched, but the national characteristics of impulsiveness and
impetuous courage caused him to be more closely watched than others, and
involved him in several fights with the Federal authorities, and finally
five weeks' incarceration in jail- and he was really threatened with
more serious punishment. Through the influence of kind friends he was
finally released, and there being no railway transportation, he left
Nashville as quickly as possible for Augusta by wagon, via Atlanta. On
reaching Augusta he obtained a situation in a dry-goods store, which he
kept until December following, when he went to Crawfordville, Ga., where
he clerked several months. In 1869, he went to Atlanta, where he
remained about a year. Returning to Augusta he clerked awhile and then
formed a partnership with J. P. Quinn and sold silk and broadcloth in
South Carolina with horse and wagon - a portable store. Starting with a
joint capital of $150, he made $1,400 in between four and five months.
He now "struck out" for bigger things. In September 1870, he and his
partner began business in Milledgeville under the firm name of Cline &
Quinn, and in 1873 established a branch store, with Mr. Quinn as manager
in Eatonton, Ga. In 1875, the firm with $23,000 cash capital, dissolved.
Their success had been phenomenal from the beginning; a very striking
example, as well as affording the greatest encouragement to young men
ambitious of success in any line of human endeavour. Turning his
attention to husbandry, he has been no less successful and prosperous;
and here, also, sets an example which thousands of southern farmers
would do well to emulate. He has a large grass farm, is the largest hay
producer in that part of the state, and is making money at it. In
addition, to this he has one of the largest and best blooded herds of
Jersey cattle in the south - no better pedigree in the country-in which
he takes just pride, as well as realizes large profits. When southern
farmers "wake up" and work up to the greatest possibilities of their
section there will be tens of thousands like the enterprising subject of
this sketch. It was hardly possible that a man of Mr. Cline's practical
business qualities should be overlooked by his fellow-citizens so he has
been elected to the mayoralty of Milledgeville, been a member of the
board of trustees of the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural
college, a director in the bank, and was appointed by Gov. Northen a
member of the board of commissioners to the colored school at Savannah -
All through the urgent solicitation of friends. He has always been an
active temperance worker, and although not a prohibitionist has never
taken a drink of whisky. How much of his success may be credited to
that?
Mr. Cline was married in 1874 to Miss Katie L., daughter of Hugh
Treanor, of Milledgeville, by whom he seven children, six of whom are
living. The mother of these, a devout and exemplary member of the
Catholic Church died in August, 1884. Subsequently he married a sister
of his first wife, who has borne him six children, of whom five survive.
Mr. Cline and wife and family are devout and influential members of the
Catholic church. Memoirs of Georgia
Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
COL. CHARLES DU BIGNON Deceased,
was the son of Col. Henry and Amelia (Nicolson) Du Bignon, and was born
on Jekyl island, Glynn county, Ga., Jan. 4, 1809. After receiving his
preparatory education in his native state he went north to finish it. On
his return he read law under the late R. R. Cuyler, one of the most
eminent lawyers of his time, and for many years the able president of
the Central Railroad & Banking company, and located in Glynn county. In
1841 he was elected to represent the county at the general assembly at
Milledgeville, then the capital. In 1844 he moved from Glynn to Baldwin
county, where he made his permanent home, and abandoned politics and the
practice of his profession to look after the very large plantation
interests of his wife, whose father, Senator Grantland, was then one of
the wealthiest men in Georgia. He was a magnificent specimen of southern
manhood and chivalry and was made captain of the governor's horse
guards, which composed of the flower of the citizenry of the state's
capital and Baldwin county. As the captain of his company he went to the
Confederate army in Virginia. He died at Woodville, near Milledgeville,
Baldwin Co., Sept. 13, 1877, and is entombed in the cemetery at
Milledgeville. His estimable widow, who survives him, is living at the
old homestead.
Col. Du Bignon was married Jan. 4, 1844, to Miss Anna V., daughter of
Hon. Seaton and Ann (Tinsley) Grantland, a union blessed with the
following - named children: Charles Fleming, who lost his life in the
Confederate service; Seaton G., deceased since the war; Katharine, who
married Gen. Moxley Sorrell, now of the Ocean Steamship company, with
office in New York; Fleming G., lawyer, Savannah, Ga., sketch of whom
will be found elsewhere in these Memoirs, and Charles P., youngest child
and son, who is living with his aged mother at the Grantland old
homestead, Woodville, Ga. Memoirs of
Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
JOHN MARTIN EDWARDS. County
Treasurer, Milledgeville, son of Martin Edwards, was born in
Milledgeville in 1840. His father was born in Rockingham county, N.C.,
in 1800, ran away from home, when a boy, and finally settled in Augusta,
Ga., in 1836. He was married in 1838, very poor, and about the same time
began life in earnest by engaging in peddling. After accumulating a
small sum from his savings he settled in Milledgeville and engaged in
merchandising; was prosperous and acquired considerable property, and
died in 1879. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. His widow,
whose maiden name was Miller, is still living at the old homestead, her
home since 1848, where she awaits the summons to a reunion with him who
has gone before. She is a revered and exemplary member of the Methodist
church. Eight children blessed this union: John M., the subject of this
sketch; Annie E., wife of M. Kidd; Susan E., widow of M. R. Bell; Perry
J., who was a soldier in the Confederate army; George F.; Jefferson,
drowned when thirteen years old; Mary, deceased, and Warren.
Mr. Edwards was reared in Milledgeville, where he was schooled
until he was seventeen years old, when he was made overseer of his
father's plantation. He remained there until the civil war began, when
he joined the state troops and served six months under Col. Robert T.
Harris. He then enlisted in the Confederate service, and gallantly
participated in some of the most important battles of the war, among
them Vicksburg, seven day's fight around Richmond, Knoxville,
Murfreesboro, Missionary ridge, Powder Springs, Kennesaw mountain, and
the battles around Atlanta, remaining in the service until the
surrender, losing no time in hospitals or by furlough. His father had
6,000 or 8,000 acres of land, and on this on his return home he
commenced farming. Of the corn he raised he sold 100 bushels for $250,
which was the foundation of his present estate. In 1873 he was made
deputy sheriff and server four years, and in 1885 he was elected
treasurer of Baldwin county, to which he has been continuously
re-elected since, the highest testimony possible as to his business
capability and integrity. He is now operating thirty hands on the farm,
and is accounted one of the best farmers, as well as one of the solidest
and most influential of Baldwin county's citizens.
Mr. Edwards was married, in 1869, to Miss Bessie, daughter of Robert
Himes (Hines), Franklin county, Tenn. Four children have been the fruit
of this union: Himes (Hines) M., William Stroud, Mattie T., deceased at
six years of age, and Bessie. Mr. Edwards is a member of the I.O.O. F.
and a Master Mason, and Mrs. Edwards is an active working member of the
Baptist church. Memoirs of Georgia
Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
CHARLES W. ENNIS, Ex-sheriff,
farmer, Milledgeville, Ga., son of P.M. and Evaline (Minor) Ennis, was
born in Baldwin county in 1845. He grew to manhood on the farm and
enjoyed very good educational advantages at the country schools and in
Milledgeville. His father was of Scotch-Irish descent, born in Baldwin
county, and died in 1891. His mother died in 1882. Both were members of
the Primitive Baptist church. On reaching manhood he engaged in farming,
which he has made the principal pursuit of his life. In 1863 he entered
the Confederate service as a member of the governor's horse guards,
Capt, Nichols, and continued in it until the close of the war. He was a
participant in the battles of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor, and many
others - in all fourteen engagements in twelve months, besides numerous
skirmishes. Early in 1865 he was captured and sent to Hart's island,
N.Y., where he was detained until June 19, 1865. He reached home July 3,
to find his father's farm nearly deviated - stock and provisions all
gone, the Federal army having passed over it. In 1875 he embarked in the
saw-mill business, which he successfully followed until 1879, when he
was elected sheriff of the county. He was continuously re-elected until
1895, having served for sixteen consecutive years. While discharging the
responsible duties of sheriff so efficiently as to be continued so long
in it, he conducted his farming with success. His faithfulness and
efficiency and the consequent merited popularity could not be better
attested than by his prolonged retention in office.
Mr. Ennis was married in 1866 to Miss Eliza F., daughter of George
W. and Abia (Lewis) Barnes, natives respectively of Maryland and North
Carolina. To them six children have been born: Sonora, Charles P.,
killed in 1891 by a boiler explosion; Cora, J. Howard, farmer; Ernest
and Willie. He is a Master Mason and has filled several offices -
senior warden and others -below that of worshipful master, and is a
member of the Fraternal Mutual Insurance company. Himself and wife are
members of the Baptist church, of which he has been a deacon for more
than twenty years, and a trustee for a long time, and Mrs. Ennis is a
working member of the Ladies' Aid society. Memoirs
of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
SAMUEL EVANS,cotton
merchant, Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., Ga., son of Jesse and Rebecca
(Cash) Evans, was born in Person Co., N.C., May 5, 1841. His paternal
great-grandfather was born in Wales, England, and came to this country
and settled in Philadelphia before the revolutionary ward, during which
he served in the patriot army. Soon after the war he moved to North
Carolina and settled in Orange county. Samuel Evans, his son, and
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Philadelphia, and
while yet young came with his parents to North Carolina, where he died
in 1840. he married a daughter of Levi Sweeney, whose wife was a Miss
Ledbetter. There were natives of Ireland and emigrated to this county
about 1775. She lived to be over one hundred years old. The wife of
Samuel Evans died in 1862. These old matrons remembered well and
recounted vividly the privations and stirring events which occurred
during and after the war for independence. A brother of Mrs. Evans -
John Sweeney - served during the revolutionary war and was wounded
nearer the Savannah river; for many years the family preserved the old
flint-and-steel musket he carried, which is believed to have seen some
service during the late war. Mr. Evans' father was born in Orange Co.,
N.C., in 1808, where he married and had nine children born to him, of
whom six were boys: Azariah, killed at the battle of Plymouth; Henry H.,
wounded in the battle of Murfreesboro, now in North Carolina; John S.,
killed in the battle of Sharpsburg; William, who came to Georgia and
afterward went to Tennessee, where he died in 1872; Moses D.. in North
Carolina, and Samuel, the subject of this sketch. The parents of Mr.
Evans were industrious farming people, accumulated quite a large
property for the times-including but few slaves-and were devoted members
of the Primitive Baptist church. When Mr. Evans' great-grandfather on
his mother's side (Cash) settled in North Carolina he received five
square miles of land for a rifle valued at $75. Mr. Evans' mother was a
daughter of Moses Cash, and her mother was an Oakley, the family being
related to the Ashleys. She was born in 1810 and was married in 1829.
The father died in 1878 and the mother in 1881.
Mr. Evans spent his boyhood on the farm in North Carolina and
attending school. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate service, but on
account of a broken ankle was assigned to detail duty, and remained in
the service four years-two of which were at the presidential mansion.
After the war he engaged in farming for about a year, then, in addition,
began the manufacture of plug tobacco, and in 1871 established a
business in Milledgeville which he continued three years. At the end of
that time he embarked in the heavy grocery and farmers' supplies
business and pursed that until 1887, when he entered the cotton
commission business, which he has successfully pursed to the present
time, at the same time profitable operating a thirty-plow plantation. As
a good and progressive farmer and successful business man and an able
manager and financier he is not outranked by any citizen of the county.
Mr. Evans was married in 1869 to Miss Zella, daughter of Isaiah and
Elizabeth V. (Anderson) Bumpass, anglicized from the French - de Bumpre.
Of thirteen children born to them five survive: Alice L, Addie V.,
Bessie, Samuel and George C. He is an ardent member of the Masonic
fraternity and himself and wife and all the children are members of the
Methodist church.
Memoirs of Georgia Volume
1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
CHARLES RHODES HARPER. Farmer,
Meriwether, Baldwin Co., was one of five children born to Robert H. and
Eliza Ann (Carter) Harper. The father was born in Hancock county in
18176, and was a big farmer and a large slaveholder before the war. He
served in the state militia during the war, and died im 1884. His wife
was born in Putnam county, Ga. in 1810, and died in 1881. They were
good, honest, Christian people, who enjoyed the esteem of everyone. Mr.
Charles Rhodes Harper was born in Putnam county in 1842, and his boyhood
days were those of the farmer's lad, with a meagre schooling, picked up
here and there in the old log school houses. When the war broke out he
enlisted in the state militia, where he did duty for six months, and
then went out in Company H, Fifty-seventh Georgia regiment. He was
attached to Walker's Brigade, in the battles of Peachtree creek and
Decatur, and was also at the siege of Vicksburg and his war record is as
creditable as has been his private life.
In 1866 he was married to Anna E. Tatum, a daughter of Dudley H.
Tatum, a native of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Harper have had born to
them seven children, as follows: John B., Fanny E., Married; Robert D.,
deceased; Charles T., a student in the Technological school; Fannie E.,
a graduate of the Milledgeville normal school; Julia M., and Emma G.,
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Harper are devout Christians, belonging to the
methodist church, of which Mr. Harper has long been a steward and
trustee. Mr. Harper is one of the largest landowners in Baldwin county,
and owns about 2,100 acres of finely cultivated land. The estate is now
managed by his son.Memoirs of Georgia Volume
1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
WILLIAM GARNER HAWKINS, farmer,
Milledgeville, Ga., son of Peterson and Mary P. Hawkins, was born in
Baldwin County Feb. 1, 1844. his fathter was born near Petersburg, Va.,
in 1813, and when a mere boy came to Georgia and settled in Baldwin
county, where he engaged in farming, and which he made his home until he
died in 1893. His wife was born in 1825 and is still living-both parents
having from many years made their home with the subject of this sketch.
They had but wo chldren: William Gardner and Jane Rebecca, who married
W. S. Elam, and died in 1882.
Mr. Hawkins was raised on the farm and educated in the common schools
i the county. In 1861 he enlisted in the Baldwin Blues, Capt. Caraker,
and went immediately to the front. He was in the battles at Kings'
school-house and Malvern Hill, where, being seriously wounded, he
returned home. In a short time he rejoined his command, but receiving
discharge on account of disability he returned home. he resumed his frm
work, to which he has since devoted his etire time and attention. he has
prospered and has large farming interests, and is regarded as one of the
foremost farmers in Baldwin county.
Mr. Hawkins was married in 1874 to Miss Fannie, daughter of D. H. and
Frances Tatum, who bore him five children: Bernard H., just finishing
his education; Kirby P.; Dudley R.; Mary A. and Willie G. Mrs. Hawkins,
an exemplar membr of the Presbyterian church, is still living. Mr.
Hawkins is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Presbyterian
Church, of which he is an elder. Memoirs
of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
HILBURN/HILBUN FAMILY
I'm researching my ancestors, the
Hilburn/Hilbun family, who were found in Burke Co., GA as early
as 1788. Some other Hilburns, believed to be cousins of
the BUrke Co. ones, were in Baldwin County for a few years.
THe following info is a timeline of their presence there:
1817- Milledgeville, Baldwin GA- Oct 1-
Letter for Frederick Hilburn left in Post Office.
1820- Baldwin, GA. Census. Woodard A.
Hilburn- 1 M< 10; 2 M 10-16; 1> 45; 2 F<10; 1 F 26-45.
1825- GEORGIA- Baldwin Co., Mariah Hilburn
married Jacob Calaway 28 Jul. Believed to be Woodard Hilburn's
daughter.
1826- Baldwin, GA. John L. Hilbun
(Jehu) married Elizabeth Wirsham 14 Mar 1826. Believed to be
Woodard's son who later lived in Alabama.
1827- Feb 13: Baldwin, GA. Vaughn
Hilburn listed in newspaper in Milledgeville. Was a stagecoach driver
betw. Milledgeville & Augusta. His descendants are still in
Georgia, primarily in Laurens County and many of whom spell their name
"Hilbun".
Woodard/Woodward Hilbun later moved to
Conecuh County, AL and then to Pontotoc Co., MS, where he is found in
the 1850 US Census. It's believed that he died there. His
children, Frederick, and William Hilbun settled for a few years in
Desoto Co., MS. Some of their descendants moved on to Texas and
many later moved to California. These Hilbuns primarily spell
their name as HILBUN.
Woodward Hilbun served in the War of 1812 in
North Carolina and the earliest record I have found of him is from 1800
in Brunswick County, NC. He also owned land in Bladen, NC. :
1800 Brunswick- Oct 28. 1094 (235). Woodard
Hilbern enters 400 a.; border: Elias Duncan; includes the place where
Shadrick Wilson lived. “Abstracts of Land Entries: Brunswick Co, NC,
1794-1820” by R. B. Pruitt, 1989, p 66.
It's believed that his father was Vaughan
Hilbun/Hilburn, found in Colonial N. C., served in the Revolutionary War
in NC and who died in Hinds Co., MS in 1833/34, whose will I have a copy
of. Woodward's siblings were many, some of whom appear to be
Frederick, James, Luke, Henry, John, Thomas, Francis. The
assumption of their relationship is based on the fact that they were in
Brunswick Co., NC near each other and some of them are listed together
on land records. Vaughan also was in Brunswick but moved to
Mississippi Territory as early as 1813 (record found).
I believe that the Vaughan Hilburn of Baldwin
County, GA is LIKELY the son of Woodward Hilbun as he is the only Hilbun
documented as living in that area of Georgia. If others have
documentation of something different, please let me know. Joy
Hilbun Mohr
DR. ANDREW JACKSON FOARD was
the son of Wyatt Foard (1796-1831) and Mary C. McCarty. Wyatt Foard
was the son of Francis Foard (1753-1833) and Sallie n
North of North Carolina. Francis Foard had a total of 19 children by
two wives. (Family myth is that there were three other children by
Sallie North, but has not been proven.) There were five sons of
Francis Foard that came from North Carolina to Baldwin County, GA.
Braxton, Thomas, Francis, Abraham and Wyatt.
Dr. Andrew Jackson Foard was born abt. 1823
in Baldwin County, Georgia. He was the Medical Director for the
Confederate Army of Tennessee. He died in March, 1868 in
Charleston, South Carolina. His remains were brought to his home
town and he is buried at Milledgeville City Cemetery.
Obituary of Dr. Andrew J. Foard:
The remains of this eminent and highly
esteemed gentleman, reached here on last Friday evening, and were
escorted o the house of Dr. S. G. White, where they remained in state
and were visited by his numerous friends until Sunday afternoon.
At 3 o'clock that day, the Rev. Mr. Flint, of the Presbyterian Church,
in the presence of a large assemblage of our citizens of all classes,
delivered an eloquent and impressive funeral discourse.
The procession was then formed in the
following order:
1st. Clergy
2nd. Hearse, attended by the members of the
medical profession of this city and vicinity, as pall bearers.
3rd. A large number of young ladies
carried wreaths of flowers and evergreens.
4th. Citizens on foot and in
carriages.
Upon arriving at the
entrance of the Cemetery, the Choirs of several churches united in
singing, as the procession moved slowly down the main avenue. On
reaching the grave, the Burial Service of the Church of England, (of
which the deceased was a member), was impressively read, by the Rev. Mr.
Malloy of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The services being
concluded, the young ladies passed around the grave, casting therein the
wreathes they bore, singing as they moved an appropriate Hymn.
The ceremonies from beginning to end, were
most impressive. The deep and heartfelt interest manifested by
those present gave assurance of the esteem in which Dr. Foard was held
by our community and evinced there desire to honor one, who born in
their midst, had achieved such distinction in his profession, and
rendered such important service to his country.
His numerous friends in various parts of the
United States will be gratified to learn, that the Doctor's protracted
illness at Baltimore, and during the few days he survived after reaching
Charleston, that he was the recipient of the attention and kindness of
the ladies, and Medical Fraternity, of these cities. And that his
remains now repose in the home of his childhood.
A very special thank you to Ms. Joseph Foard
of Kentucky, who sent me this photo of Dr. Andrew J. Foard.
Submitted by Tonya
Crosby......thcrosby@yahoo.com
JUDGE LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR was
a son of John Lamar and was born July 15, 1797, and from boyhood was a
lover of books, reading with good effect almost everything that came
within his reach, but had a decided partiality to poetry and other works
of imagination. In after life he was distinguished for his attainment in
belles-lettres, for the classic purity of his composition, and for his
forensic eloquence.
In 1816 he commenced the study of law in the office of Joel Crawford
at Milledgeville, where he read with great assiduity, and, among other
acquisitions, became an accurate pleader. Having spent twelve months or
more in this office and wishing to complete his professional education,
he repaired to the celebrated law-school at Litchfield, in the state of
Connecticut, in which Judges Reeve and Gould alternated in delivering a
course of lectures. During a period of thirty years or more the
Litchfield school was almost the only institution of the kind and by far
the most famed, in the United States. It was sought by students from
almost every part of the union, and from no state, probably, in greater
numbers than Georgia.
About the year 1818 or 1819 Lamar was licensed " to plead and
practice in the several courts of law and equity in this state," opened
an office at Milledgeville, and not many months thereafter married Miss
Bird, the daughter of an eminent physician of that place. Though few
lawyers have brought to the bar higher qualifications, he lacked some,
and for a few years his prospects were anything but bright. While others
with not a tithe of genius or learning were seen to be reaping rich
harvests of fees and crowded with clients, he remained poor and almost
briefless. How and why did this happen? Courage, truth and honor were
among the most conspicuous element of his character, and he seemed to
have the esteem and confidence of every one. But he could not court
clients or solicit patronage; his characteristic independence and
legatee self-esteem would not tolerate even the semblance of unworthy
condescension. He doubtless wanted what is commonly called address; he
had no turn for frivolous chat, story telling, anecdotes, ect. In short,
he lacked those qualifications on which humbler natures rely for
conciliating popular favor.
But there was another peculiarity attached to this gifted young man,
which is very seldom seen in persons of his age and fervid temperament.
It would seem that the tone of his nervous system was liable to
accidental spells of depression, which not only impaired his capacity
for social companionship, but, at times, the highest energies of his
mind. At the bar and elsewhere, when under the weight of this incubus,
he has been known to betray a want of thought and of expertness in the
transaction of business, which, to those who knew him best, was
astonishing. On one occasion, an important case of his being on trial in
the county of Twiggs-a case he had much at heart, and in which he had
made great preparation- when in the prescribed order of speaking it
became his turn to address the special jury, he arose with perfect
self-possession and having proceed through an exordium of great
appropriateness and beauty, suddenly came to a dead pause. No one knew
the cause until he, with humility and confusion of face that betrayed
the deep mortification under which he suffered, declared in an undertone
to his associate counsel, that he could not proceed, and that the the
whole advocacy of the cause must fall into the hands of the associate.
In the summer of 1821, his first preceptor in the law having retired
from the practice some four or five years before, resumed it, and Lamar
became his partner. This co-partnership, by its terms, was limited to
three years, and before the expiration of that time Lamar had so many
opportunities of exhibiting proofs of his great professional ability
that he never afterward wanted clients or fees.
Mr. Lamar doubtless had ambition - a legitimate ambition - to
acquire, by meritorious actions, that fame and fortune which may at all
times be justly awarded to useful and brilliant achievements; but he had
an insuperable aversion to catching office as a mere fortuitous
windfall, or getting it by surrendering himself to the arbitrary
management of a political party. Under the influence of such generous
self-denial, he more than once refused his name as a candidate, when
success was little less than certain. This conduct when Thomas W. Cobb -
about the fall of 1828 - became a candidate for the bench of the
Ocmulgee circuit, will serve to exemplify some of the loft traits which
belonged to the character of Lamar.
Mr. Cobb was an experienced and confessedly an able lawyer - had been
for many years a respectable member of congress, desired to continue in
the public service, but in the decline of life preferred a station
nearer his home. That popularity, however, which carried him three terms
to the house of representatives, and afterward to the senate of the
United States, now forsook him. He was beaten on a joint vote of the
general assembly, by a large majority; but for some cause, best known to
himself, his successful opponent (Judge Eli S. Shorter) within a few
days resigned the commission of judge, and the vacancy had to be filled.
Cobb's friends again presented his name, and Lamar was importuned to
offer as the rival candidate. Had he consented, his election was morally
certain; but he had becoming respect for Mr. Cobb's seniority and past
services, was no stranger to the unworthy motives of those who were most
intent on a second defeat, nor to the plasticity of that illy-organized
college of electors, the general assembly. His refusal was peremptory,
and Mr. Cobb was permitted to take the office he so much coveted.
Before the term for which Mr. Cobb had elected expired, his death
made a vacancy which Mr. Lamar could honorably consent to fill. He came,
then, into office on such conditions as met his approbation, and
continued until the day of his own lamented death to discharge its
duties with signal ability, and with public applause which few in
judicial stations have had the good fortune to receive.
The melancholy event of Judge Lamar's death (occasioned; as it was,
by his own hand) filled the wide circle of his friends and acquaintances
with lamentation and astonishment. He was yet a young man, with
sufficient wealth for entire independence, unequalled popularity, a wife
and children on whom he doted; no man, indeed, seemed to have more to
attach him to life. To the inquiry everywhere made, "What could have
caused the suicide?" no satisfactory answer was given. Some supposed it
to be a religious frenzy, originating in recent and deep impressions on
the subject. One who knew him intimately has assigned that which was
probably the true and only cause - insanity, resulting from accidental
derangement of cerebral organism. The disease of which the judge died
may, therefore, be assumed a natural one, and as explicable, on
pathological principles, as apoplexy or any other malady of the brain.
Whatever may have been predicted of the eventful career of Judge
Lamar, had he lived longer and been placed in congress, or on some other
thereatter favorable to the display of his splendid oratory and ardent
patriotism, it is admitted that, both at the bar and on the bench, he
attained the first rank. He presided with great dignity, and was most
effective in the dispatch of business. No one who knew the man ever
ventured on an act of rudeness or disrespect to his court; yet every
person whose deportment was worthy of it had unfailing assurances of his
kindness. His lectures of instruction to the grand juries, at the
opening of a term, were delivered in admirable style; and his charges to
special and petit juries, engaged in the trial of difficult and
much-litigated cases, might well serve as models to any bench.
His manners in public and private life were wholly free from useless
formality, but frank, bland and refined. He left a young family of sons
and daughters (one of his sons, L.Q. C. Lamar became United States
senator from Mississippi, secretary of the interior under Mr.
Cleveland's first term, and a justice of the supreme court of the United
States.
The above and foregoing is from the pen of his law partner, the late
eminent Joel Crawford, and this testimony, from one so competent,
establishing the high rank of Judge Lamar in the profession, and also as
a citizen, the attempt to improve the picture would be so vain; no room
is left or art or friendship to throw further light on a character so
nobly molded. He was truly a man of great moral elevation, and
universally beloved. His sensibilities were very acute, and his
emulation was entirely unselfish. Aiming to extend the conquests of his
profound intellect to the verge of possibility, he overtasked his
nervous system, resulting in that deplorable act which deprived his
country and his friends of a pattern of excellence. His fame secure, his
virtures without a blemish, his memory will ever remain dear to the
people of Georgia, and to all who can appreciate an exalted nature. He
is buried in the beautiful cemetery at Milledgeville, Ga. A handsome
monument, in the form of an obelisk, twelve or fifteen feet high, has
been erected by the members of the bar over his remains, on which is the
following inscription, which is said to have been from the pen of the
late Judge Iverson L. Harris"
"Sacred to the memory of Lucius Q. C. Lamar, late judge of the
superior court of the Ocmulgee circuit, who, during a brief period of
four years, discharged the duties of that high office with probity,
firmness, efficiency and unquestionable reputation. The devoted love of
his family, the ardent attachment of personal friends, the admiration of
the bar, and the universal approbation of his enlightened admiration of
justice, attest the goodness and greatness of one arrested by death too
early in the bright career in which he had been placed by his native
state."
" Born, July 15, 1797. Died July 4, 1834" Memoirs
of Georgia Volume 11Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
SAM MARLOR
submitted by Eileen B. McAdams
According to The Union-Recorder Bicentennial 2003
special section Sam, a slave of builder John Marlow saved the captial
from burning in 1831. "He was publicly commended for his efforts and
rewarded with an order of emanicpation by the General Assembly in 1834
which also included the appropriation of $12,000 with which to
compensate his owner, the builder John Marlor. Sam then took his former
owner's name and became know as Sam Marlor (or Marlowe)."
See below:
ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN MILLEDGEVILLE, AT AN ANNUAL SESSION
IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1833.
RESOLUTIONS WHICH ORIGINATED
IN THE SENATE.
1833
Vol. 1 -- Page: 367
Sequential Number: 196
IN SENATE.
The committee, to whom was
referred the communication of his excellency the Governor, in relation
to the fire at the state-house, and the exertions made to extinguish the
same, and recommending some provision for the black man Sam, the
property of Mr. Marlor -- have had the
same under consideration, and are of opinion that such essential
services rendered by the said man Sam, in which he could have no
interest, merit nothing short of his emancipation; and
therefore recommend the appropriation of a sufficient sum to pay Mr.
Marlor the full value of him, and that he be set at [Illegible Text]
under such regulations as now exist for the government of free persons
of colour. And that the further sum of -- dollars be appropriated, to be
disbursed under the authority of his Excellency, in compensating such
other slaves and free persons, as rendered their aid in extinguishing
said fire.
Your
committee beg leave also to offer the following resolution.
Resolved, That his excellency
the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized to cause the old part of
the state-house building to be made to correspond in appearance with the
new part at the north end; and also, to cause the roof to be covered
with copper or slate, so as to make it fire proof, and that he be
authorized to contract with some competent workmen for the performance
of the same, which shall be done under the superintendence of such
persons as be may appoint for that suppose.
Resolved further, That the
sum of twelve thousand dollars be appropriated for that purpose, and
that the same be inserted in the appropriation bill.
Agreed to, 9th Dec. 1833.
JACOB WOOD,
President of the Senate.
Attest -- JOHN A. CUTHBERT,
Secretary.
In the
House of Representatives,
Concurred in, 21st Dec. 1833.
THOMAS GLASCOCK,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
Attest -- JOSEPH STURGIS, Clerk.
WILSON LUMPKIN, Governor.
BLIND WILLIE McTELL
submitted by Michael
Gray
Blind Willie McTell, real name Willie Samuel
McTier, an African-American, was born in the Happy Valley area of
Thomson, McDuffie County, Georgia, in 1898 or
1901, most likely on May 5th. His mother is believed to have
been a Minnie Watkins, from Jefferson County,
and his father an Ed McTier of McDuffie.
At the age of about 7 he moved with his
mother to the city of Statesboro, Bulloch County, Georgia.
Blind from birth, he never behaved as if this
were a handicap, and went on to become the pre-eminent blues
musician of the whole Piedmont region and
blues style. He was a great 12-string guitarist and wrote a number
of songs including 'Statesboro Blues', made
famous as a rock hit by the Allman Brothers in the 1970s. McTell
recorded first in 1927. He was recorded in
Atlanta in 1940 for the Library of Congress.
In later life Blind Willie McTell was also a
gospel singer and a member of several church congregations. He
died on August 19, 1959, in Milledgeville
State Hospital, Baldwin County, after suffering a second stroke.
He married Ruth Kate Williams, of Wrens GA,
in 1934 but his longest-lasting and most significant relationship
was with his second wife, Helen Edwards
McTell, nee Broughton, whose family came from Brickstore in Newton
County GA. They lived together in Atlanta
until her death in late 1958.
I am interested in tracing any living
relative of Helen Broughton Edwards McTell, as well as in solving the
mystery of where she is buried.
WALTER PAINE, clerk of the
superior court, Milledgeville, was born in Milledgeville in 1835. He was
raised and received his primary education in he city and finished his
education at Oglethorpe university, then located at Midway, Baldwin
county. At the beginning of the civil war he was in the hotel business
in Milledgeville and in June, 1861, enlisted and entered the service,
but was discharged on account of physical disability and returned home.
He remained at home until January, 1863, when he entered the Georgia
reserves as lieutenant but was at once made captain of Company D, Fifth
regiment, continuing in the service until the surrender. He was a
Savannah when the city was evacuated and was afterward in the following
engagements: River's bridge, Coosahatcher and Pocotaligo, and was then
detailed to accompany wounded soldiers to Augusta and saw no more
active service. After the close of the war he returned to Milledgeville,
but soon afterward went to Macon and accepted a clerkship in the freight
department of the Central railway, which he held three years. He then
returned to Milledgeville, where he engaged as bookkeeper for G. W.
Haas, groceryman, with whom he remained for several years. In 1873 he
was elected clerk of the superior court, to which office he has been
continuously re-elected since.
Capt. Paine was married in 1857 to Miss Gertrude Dasher. She having
died, he contracted a second marriage in 1872 with Miss Anna E. Turner.
Mr. Paine has one son, Charles H. Paine, who is in the drug business at
Valdosta, Ga.
Memoirs of Georgia Volume
1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
Dr.THEOPHILUS O.POWELL, superintendent
of the state lunatic asylum, was born in Brunswick county, Va., in 1837,
and when six or seven years of age came to Georgia with his parents, who
settled in Sparta, Hancock county . There he was educated largely under
the supervision of that very eminent educator, Richard Malcom Johnston,
of national fame, and after studying medicine for a long time attended
lectures at the Georgia Medial college, Augusta, from which he graduated
in 1859. Soon after his graduated he located in Sparta and was rapidly
advancing in the public estimation when the civil war broke out. In 1861
he enlisted as a private in the Forty-ninth Georgia regiment and served
as such until about August, 1862, when he accepted an appointment as
first assistant physician to the state insane asylum at Milledgeville.
he served as such until February, 1879, when he was appointed
superintendent, a position which he has creditable held ever since.
While in the Confederate service Dr. Powell was in all the battles
around Richmond and many skirmishes. In 1886, in compliance with a
resolution of the senate and house of representatives o the general
assembly of Georgia, Dr. Powell submitted to that body a full and
exhaustive report of his "investigations as to the increase of insanity
in this state, and the most important factors in its causation so far as
it has been practicable to ascertain them." This report reflects the
highest credit on Dr. Powell's professional erudition, profound study
and patient research and placed him high "on the roll of honor" of the
medical profession. His great scientific attainments, intelligent
considerateness for the unfortunate and conscientious discharge of every
duty devolving upon him has commended him to the confidence of the
people and of the "powers that be," who are satisfied that no more
efficient officer could be found. Dr. Powell is a member of the State
Medical association of Georgia and was president of the State Medical
association in 1887; is a member of the American Medico-Psychological
association and of the National Medico-Legal society, and few, if any
members of the profession stand higher than he.
Dr. Powell was married in 1860 to Miss Frances, daughter of Edward
Birdsong, of Hancock county, a union blessed with two children: Julia,
wife of P. A. West of Baldwin county, and Harriet, wife of John Conn of
Milledgeville, Ga. He is a chapter Mason, Scottish rite and a trustee of
Milledgeville Lodge No. 3 F. and A.M. Memoirs
of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
MAURICE MARTIN MINTER
"Maurice Martin Minter, the subject of this sketch, was a man who
achieved success entirely through his own efforts and through his
persistent work in his chosen field of applied science.
He was born on May 13, 1871 near Milledgeville, Baldwin County,
Georgia, the son of Charles Floyd and Martha Jane (Chambers) Minter both
of whom were born in Baldwin County, where his father conducted a
plantation. He was one of four boys, his brothers being: John Easter
Minter of Columbus, Ga., Charles R. Minter, living in Baldwin County,
Georgia and William T. Minter, living in Texas. 
Mr. Minter was educated in Georgia and left school at the age of
eighteen to enter the employ of Stevens Pottery Company of Baldwin
County where he first became acquainted with Ceramic products
production. He remained with this concern for seventeen years and when
he severed his connection with them he was employed by the Baldwin
County Brick and Tile Company of Milledgeville as manager of the plant.
This position he held until 1910 when he came to Columbus to take charge
of Muscogee Brick and Terracotta Company here. In 1912 he removed to
Albany, Georgia and to take charge of the Flint River Brick Company
which position he occupied when he started the concern which is now
known as the Minter System.
During all of his work at the different kinds of Ceramic Products
plants Mr. Minter was constantly studying the science of applied heat
for the purpose of burning clay products and also studying text books on
this subject and applying theory to practice until he became probably
the best informed man in the United States on the subject of heat
conservation and the application in the industry. Through his efforts
and the efforts of his associates enormous sums of money have been saved
by this industry, and the science of burning clay products has advanced
materially.
Mr. Minter was the vice-president of the Minter System. A concern
engaged in the engineering and construction of kilns for burning clay
products, and plants of their design are scattered all over the United
States and Canada and some are in foreign countries.
On January 18, 1893 Mr. Minter was married to Miss Martha Gibson of
Jones County, Georgia near Milledgeville, and to them were born ten
children: Millard, Gibson, Thomas, James, Mrs. R. B. Preston (Vivian),
Annie and Dorothy (Mrs. D. M. Watson), Mildred and Martha (deceased),
one boy who died in infancy, and there are six grandchildren. Mr. Minter
died July 17, 1929."
From: Telfair, Nancy. A history of Columbus, Georgia : 1828-1928
Columbus, Ga.: Historical Pub. Co., c1929, 574 pgs.
JOHN
EASTER MINTER
" John Easter Minter was born in Baldwin County, Georgia, August 2,
1868, and died in Columbus, Georgia, May 20, 1947. He was the son of
Floyd and Martha Chambers Minter, both deceased, who were also born in
Baldwin County. He was the brother of M. M.. Minter and Charles Floyd
Minter, both deceased, and Thomas Minter of Cason, Texas. Mr. Minter
attended the Baldwin County Schools and, later, the Southern Business
University in Atlanta, Georgia. 
He was married to
Miss Winnifred Moore in Tampa, Florida, March 27, 1895. She was the
daughter of Samuel Lewis and Julia Bradley Moore of Monticello, Florida.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Minter: Winnifred Bradley, now
the wife of Lt. Col. Jacob R. Moon, U.S. Army, and John Easter Minter,
Jr. He is survived by four grandchildren: Mrs William Nielsen, Jacob
Robert Moon, Jr., Marti Minter and John Easter Minter III and three
great-grandchildren: Cynthia Winnifred Smith, Kenneth Cooper Smith and
Jennifer Nielsen. Mrs. Minter departed this life May 28, 1929, in
Columbus, Georgia.
John Easter Minter began his career in business at the age of 20 years
at Stevens Pottery, Georgia in 1888. In 1892 he was made assistant
manager of the H. Stevens Sons Sewer Pipe Company in Macon, Georgia. He
held this position until 1909 and during the time invented and patented
several machines used in sewer pipe manufacture. He came to Columbus as
one of the organizers of the Columbus Sewer Pipe Company. This plant was
planned and constructed under his under his supervision and he held the
position of General Manager until 1919. He designed the plant of the
Dixie Brick Company, at Dixieland, Alabama, in which the Minter system
of kilns, originated by his brother, M. M.. Minter, was installed. He
became president in 1939, serving in that capacity until his retirement
in 1942. Mr. Minter was an organizer and officer of the Clay Products
Exchange which was formed as a sales organization in 1933. He designed
and invented processes making for improvement in clay goods production
and some of the most beautiful face brick produced in the South were
manufactured under his supervision.
At one time he was
Senior Councilor of the United Commercial Travelers of America, Charter
Member and Treasurer of the Southern Clay Products Association, Director
of the Columbus Chamber of Commece and a member of the Elks, Muscogee
Club, Kiwanis Club, and Columbus County Club. He belonged to the
Methodist Church of Baldwin County and was a Democrat.
Mr. Minter's
popularity was as wide as his acquaintanceship, and his kindness,
thoughtfulness and generosity made his presence a joy. He was most
considerate, and delighted when he could help others. He was always
active in humanitarian work and a leader in the community in civic
enterprises."
From:
Worsley, Etta Blanchard. Columbus on the Chattahoochee. Columbus, Ga.:
Columbus Office Supply Co., 1951, 670 pgs.
MAYOR JOSEPH STALEY
No better illustration of what industry joined to intelligence and
sobriety will accomplish can be found than in the case of the subject of
this sketch.
He was born in Lancastershire, England, March 26, 1824, and after
receiving an ordinary education and the rudiments of a trade as a
tinner, came to this country and located in Milledgeville, Ga.,
beginning life as a journeyman. After two years of hard work and strict
economy he saved enough from his earnings to open a small tin-shop. In
time he added a stock of hardware and his business grew; until the
opening of the war he was driving a splendid trade and was on the road
to wealth and independence. Like many others who were just fairly
getting started he closed his store, sacrificed his property, and threw
himself and fortunes into the uncertain conflict of arms. He joined the
"Baldwin Blues," which were mustered into the Fourth Georgia regiment
and sent into the Fourth Georgia regiment and sent to join the conflict
then raging in Virginia. After some service in the army of north
Virginia, he was discharged on account of failing health and sent home,
when he was placed in the State armory and there remained until the
surrender. At the close he opened a small shop again and began anew. By
the exercise of the same industry and economy, and the same attention to
his own affairs which characterized his earlier years, his business has
grown and prospered and he now has the best house of the kind in any
country town in middle Georgia; not only that, but he has interests
outside. he has been active in the movements to secure for his town a
system of gas and water works, a street car line and a building and loan
association. He has also been one of the aldermen of the town many
years, and was recently elected mayor. He has become thoroughly
Americanized, although of foreign birth, and is in active sympathy with
all distinctively American interests. His wife is a Georgia lady, being
a descendent of one of the old families of Wilkinson County - her maiden
name Martha J. Sanders. He has but one child, a daughter, Sarah
Isabella.
Source: Biographical Souvenir of
the States of Georgia and Florida. Chicago, IL: F.A. Battey & Company,
1889.
February 28, 1909
The Atlanta Constitution
JOSEPH STALEY IS DEAD. Aged Citizen of
Baldwin Was Stricken With Pneumonia.
Milledgeville, Ga., February 27. (Special)
Joseph Staley, one of Milledgeville's oldest citizens, died today of
pneumonia. he was in his eighty-fifth year, and had been constantly in
business in this city for over fifty years. He was a native of England,
coming to this section when thirty years of age, and for years has been
in the hardware business. Mr. Staley fought through the war as a member
of the Baldwin Blues. Up to a few days ago he actively attended to his
business.
Staley Avenue in Milledgeville is named after
Mayor Joseph Staley
STEELE - COOPER
FAMILY
Submitted by Shelley
Martinez
My grandmother was Belle P. Steele Shelton Screen, born March 6, 1912 in
Milledgeville. My grandmother died March 12, 1999. Her parents were John
Kennedy Steele (b. Aug 30, 1890, d. June 1941) and Lorean Cooper (b.
Dec. 26, 1893, d. Nov. 1969). Both parents were born in Milledgeville.
The Steele's were very light-skinned mulattos who worked in the building
trades (carpenters, bricklayers, etc.).
My ggrandmother, Lorean
Cooper was the daughter of Belle Powell (b. July 1857, d. Jan. 1925) and
Allen Cooper. My family has named the females after those two women. My
mother was Lorean (Loraine) Shelton Nuttall (b. 4/13/1941, d.
10/29/1989). I named my daughter Loren after her grandmother. Belle
Powell is supposedly the daughter of a Cherokee slave, Sarah/Sallie or
Hannah Powell and a GA Congressman. I have been trying to find out their
names for nearly 2 years, which is how I got started on this genealogy
kick.
The story as my grandmother
told me was that her grandparents, Belle & Allen, received a house at
the corner of Hancock & Warren St. from the Congressman. In the summer
of 1894, Allen supposedly ran off with Belle's best friend and then sold
the house out from under Belle and the children. My gran was the
youngest of 7 children at 6 months.
The next child was my
great-aunt Marion Cooper Hulien (b. 1889, d. 1978). Belle had to send
all but the youngest two children out to work for other families while
she became a nurse, trained by a cousin (on her father's side) who had
recently finished medical school. Belle and this doctor worked in
Chattanooga, TN. The youngest two children, Lorean and Marion, lived
with Belle's sister, Mariah Crawford (b. 1848, d. 1940). Eventually,
Belle Powell Cooper ended up working for Abby Crawford and George Fort
Milton, Jr. in Chattanooga according to the 1920 census.
George Fort Milton, Jr., was
the editor of the Chattanooga News. His wife, Abby Crawford Milton (b.
1881, d. 1991), was the daughter of Attorney Charles Peter Crawford (the
son of Hon. Joel Crawford) and Anna Ripley Orme (father was Richard M.
Orme, publisher of the Southern Recorder & Milledgeville Mayor). (See
posts re: Abby Crawford Fort at this message board on June 23, 2003.)
My grandmother told us how
when the Milton's would come to Milledgeville, she would play with their
children and they would pick her up in a limo. She and her parents lived
in the house at Warren and Hancock St. Her grandmother had bought back
the house. Anyway, Joel Crawford was a slaveholder of 114 in Hancock
County.
I don't think it is a
coincidence that Belle Cooper worked for the Milton's. I believe she,
her sister, Mariah Crawford, and mother had a connection to the
Crawfords. Mariah and Belle did not have the same father. My guess is
that their mother (Sarah/Sallie/Hannah Powell) was owned by Joel
Crawford and had Mariah on the Crawford property with another slave. She
later had Belle with a prominent politico possibly in Milledgeville.
This is just my guess but I think it makes some sense. I am searching
for evidence and hope to write a book about the family.
To conclude - my
grandmother's family moved to Wash, DC in 1920, where my grandmother
lived the rest of her life. She married twice. First to Wendell Shelton
of Lynchburg, VA. He was my mother's father. He died before I got to
know him. They divorced when my mother was 4. Later, in 1955, my
grandmother married a Milledgeville native, Lewis (Louis) Rogers (Roger)
Screen. Roger moved to DC around 1933. He retired from the DC police
force after 20 years. His mother was Nettie Johnson Humphries Screen.
His biological father was James Humphries. James died before Roger was 2
when Nettie married Sol H. Screen. Sol adopted Roger.
My grandparents maintained
close ties to Milledgeville and when I was a child we used to spend our
summers there. I recently went through my grandmother's old papers and
found a real treasure trove of information about Roger. I came across
several letters from Carl Vinson to my grandfather and the president of
GA College. Roger had contributed money to the college for the Carl
Vinson chair. Carl Vinson refers to my grandfather as a life long
friend. Considering my grandfather was Black and Vinson, White, I
consider this a significant acknowledgement. Anyway, I could go on and
on but these are some of the ties and relations my family has to
Milledgeville and some of its prominent families. More than anything, I
would like to find out more about Wm. & George Steele and the parents of
Belle Powell Cooper.
HENRY STEVENS, Founder
of Steven's Pottery
Henry Stevens, was the founder of Steven's Pottery in Southwest Baldwin
County. He was born July 21, 1813, the son of Walter and Elizabeth
Stevens of Cornwall, England, where he began working at a local pottery
at a young age. At the age of 18, he became a sailor on a merchant ship
that sailed between Liverpool and New York. At the age of 23 he went to
Augusta and worked for the railroad as foreman of hands that were
building the railroad between Augusta and Union Point. That work
finished he was a railroad conductor for a few years. He, with his
brothers and parents, settled in Greene County.
On May 20, 1837 he married Matilda Stevens in Greene County. She was
the daughter of John and Martha Stevens formerly of N.C. Their eight
children were: Martha Jane, Walter Crawford, Annie E., John Henry,
Fannie Matilda, Eliza, William Park, and one who died as an infant.
He farmed and went into the sawmill business in Greene County
selling and erecting the Page Mill throughout Middle Ga. In 1854 he
purchased a large tract of land in southwest Baldwin County where he sat
up a saw mill plant.The brick and ceramic "pottery division" was started
in 1858. Stevens Pottery was called Whiting at one time. During the
civil war he furnished the troops with knives, shoe pegs and Joe Brown
Pikes. Mrs. Matilda Stevens died in 1862, age 39. Mr. Stevens married
Caroline "Carrie" Torrance, daughter of William & Mary Torrance, Feb.
28, 1865. They had no children
When Sherman troops came through in 1865 the mills were burned and the
pottery works leveled. After the war he rebuilt his business and it
flourished. In 1871 he began making sewer pipe, pottery, stoneware and
brick and his business was known as Kaolin Pottery and Mills.
In 1876 Mr Stevens sold the business to his sons John Henry and
William Crawford and his brother William P. Stevens, a merchant in
Sparta, who was made general manager and treasurer. The company was
called H. Stevens Sons Company, Macon. When William P. Stevens died the
company name was changed to Stevens Bros Company
Mr. Stevens was a Mason and a devout Christian of the Methodist faith,
a steward nearly all his life and a trustee.
Henry Stevens died Jan. 16, 1883 and Carrie Stevens died June 10,
1883. He, along with his 2 wives, and other relatives are buried in
Matilda Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Stevens Pottery. The chapel
was named after Matilda Stevens.
WALTER CRAWFORD STEVENS
Born in 1846 in Green County, the oldest son of Henry and Matilda
Stevens, Walter was eight years old when the family moved to Baldwin
County. He was educated at Emory College in Oxford.
In 1872 he married Emma
Heard Davis, daughter of Wilson and Mary Wright Davis of Newton County.
They had three children: Mittie Irene, Maria, and one child who died as
an infant. Mr and Mrs Stevens were active members of the Methodist
Church. Mr. Stevens was a steward in the church.
He joined with his
brother John Henry Stevens and Uncle William P Stevens, in 1876,
forming the H. Stevens Sons Company, Macon. When William P.
Stevens died the company name was changed to Stevens Bros Company. In
addition to the pottery business they cultivated about 1,000 acres of
land.
JOHN
HENRY STEVENS
Born April 5, 1851 in Greene County, the second son of Henry and Matilda
Stevens. John was 4 when the family moved to Baldwin County. He attended
Emory College in Oxford for two years. He married Julia Antoinette Webb
in 1873. There six children were Lemma, Henry A., John H. Jr., Maggie
Mell, Julia Pearl and Ruby.
After going in business for himself, he joined with his brother Walter
Crawford Stevens and Uncle William P Stevens, in 1876, forming
the H. Stevens Sons Company, Macon. When William P. Stevens died the
company name was changed to Stevens Bros Company. In addition to
the pottery business they cultivated about 1,000 acres of land. Around
1890 they built the Stevens home, which is still standing, in Stevens
Pottery.
Henry A.
Stevens died as an infant in 1878. John Henry Stevens, Jr. died at the
age of 2 in 1884. Maggie Mell Stevens died at the age of 3 in 1888.
Julia Pearl Stevens died at the age of 14 in 1904. Mrs. Julia Stevens
died Jan. 24, 1919 and is buried in Matilda Chapel Methodist Church
Cemetery next to John Henry Stevens who died Jan. 25, 1927.
WILLIAM PARK STEVENS
Born in
Baldwin county, Ga. March 31, 1859, of English parentage, and the
youngest of three brothers. His parents were Henry and Matilda Stevens
(for whose sketch see that of Henry Stevens, Baldwin county). After
receiving a through education, he crossed the water and visited
his father's old home, and spent quite a while prospecting among the
clay industries of Great Britain. On he return he accepted a position as
superintendent for Stevens Bros. Co., Stevens Pottery,Ga., which
position he held with credit until his father's death, at which time he
launched out on his own account, in the saw and planing mill business
and merchandising, in which he was successful and made money. After
cutting all the timber contiguous to his mills he disposed of his
interests in this line, formed a company, consisting of himself and two
brothers, W. C. and J. H Stevens, of Stevens Bros. Co., and built a
sewer pipe plant at Macon, Ga, and commenced the manufacture of sewer
pipe, fire brick, flue goods, etc. under the name of Henry Stevens Sons
Co., the subject of this sketch being elected general manager and
treasuer.
By never-failing courage and tenacity, and not knowing what "fail"
means, mr. Stevens soon built and equipped a modern plant, furnished
with the best machinery, and by his shrewdness and foresight, the
plant has been a success since its inception, and has not shut down
since it was started, except for repairs.
Mr. Stevens married Miss
Emma G. Stephens, a daughter of John W. Stephens and C. A. Stephens. her
father belonged to a well-known Mississippi family, and died in
Nashville, Tenn., while in the Confederate service. To them three bright
and beautiful children have been born: Estelle, born Sept. 2, 1885;
Fannie, born Aug. 27, 1888; and William Park, Jr., born June 25, 1892.
Mr. Stevens claims that to his wife is due a great deal of the credit
for his successful business career. he is charitable and courteous, but
stern and positive in business transactions; says "No" without changing,
and is what all practical business men, with whom he has dealings, term
a shrewd and conservative business man. Mrs. Stevens is a prominent
member of the Methodist church.Memoirs of Georgia
Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
Sources: Memoirs of
Georgia, Southern Historical Association; Marriage
Records of Baldwin Co. Ga.; 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910
Census Records; The Baldwin Bulletin, May 1 2003;
Acts of General Assembly March 3, 1875
JOSEPH H, WHITE, M.D., was born in
Milledgeville, Ga., May 4, 1859, and is a son of Edward J. and M.A.
(Hill) White. Edward J. White was born in Milledgeville, Ga., in 1827,
and died in 1881. He was a druggist and pharmacist, and was also steward
and treasurer of the Insane Asylum at Milledgeville for years. He was a
son of Dr. B. A. White, who was born in Louisville, Ga., in 1792,
practiced medicine for fifty years, and was president of the Medical
Board of the State of Georgia for twenty years, and was surgeon general
of the State of Georgia in 1861-1865. He was a son of Major Edward
White, a native of Boston, Mass., of English extraction, and a major in
the Revolutionary war. Mrs. M. A. White was born in Baldwin County, Ga.,
and is a daughter of David B. Hill, who was born in Georgia in 1790, and
was a planter by occupation. He was thrown from a horse and killed in
1845. His father was David B. Hill, a native of Ireland.
Joseph H. White is the elder of two living children, viz: Joseph H.
and Thomas E. He was educated in the schools in Milledgeville, and in
1876 commenced to read medicine with Dr. S. G. White; after the death of
Dr. S. G. White, he read with Dr. W. H. Hall. He next attended three
full course of medical lectures at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., and graduated from that institution in 1883.
He then went to St. Joseph Hospital (then used as a marine hospital) ,
and was house physician for one year. In September, 1884, he went before
the examining board of the United States Marine Hospital service, passed
the examination and was stationed at New Orleans, La., and remained
until March, 1885, at which time he moved to Savannah to take charge of
the marine Hospital at Savannah and National Quarantine Station at
Sapolo Sound, Ga., and is the present incumbent of the latter station.
In January, 1885, he married Miss Emily H. Humber, of Putnam County,
Ga., a daughter of Robert C. and Elizabeth A. (Ingram) Humber. To this
union two children have been born- Emily H. and Mary R. The doctor is a
member of the Episcopal Church, while Mrs. White is a Methodist. Biographical
Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida. Chicago, IL: F.A. Battey
& Company, 188
ROBERT WHITFIELD lawyer,
Milledgeville, Baldwin Co. Ga, who was born there in 1852, is one of the
rising, as well as one of the most gifted young men of Georgia. His
boyhood and early youth were spent-during the "unpleasantness" - on the
old family plantation in Jasper county, Ga. In 1867 he entered Mercer
university, then located at Penfield, Ga. where he remained two years.
he next entered the university of Georgia, Athens, from which he
graduated in 1870 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, some of his
classmates being the following gentlemen, who have also left their
impress on local or state legislation: Washington Dessau, Walter B.
Hill, Nat E. Harris, C. L. Bartlett (congressman), Judge C. C. Jones,
Rev. J. D. Hhammond, Dr. A. S. Campbell, et al. The ensuing year he
graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and immediately located
at Conyers, Rockdale Co., Ga. Six months later he went to Jackson, Butts
Co., Ga., as to be conveniently near indian Springs, on account of his
health. he remained here three years, doing some practice, and then
spent the year 1875 on the plantation in Jasper county. The ensuing
year he located in Milledgeville, and formed a law partnership with Hon.
Fleming du Bignon, now of Savannah, which 
continued
until 1884. A year or so later he entered into partnership with Jon T.
Adams, which still exists. In 1878 Mr. Whitfield was elected
solicitor-general of Ocmulgee circuit, which comprises the counties of
Morgan, Greene, Putnam, Jasper, Jones, Wilkinson and Laurens. This
election was for an unexpired term, the incumbent having resigned; but
wo years later-1880-he was elected for a full term of four years. In
1883 he was again elected to the same office. The following November be
resigned, as he had been elected at the October election to represent
the twentieth senatorial district in the general assembly. In that body
he was made chairman of the committee on the penitentiary, and placed on
the committees of general judiciary and lunatic asylum.
As a legislator he was chiefly interested in the railway questions
before the senate-particularly the lease of the Western & Atlantic
(State) railway. He was the author of resolutions for the settlement of
the betterment issues with the lessees, defeated at the time, but
afterward passed substantially as he introduced them; and he was made
chairman of the joint special committee appointed to settle the question
and to whom the resolutions introduced by him were referred. It was
while in the senate, in 1889, that Mr. Whitfield had the hard
fight-which he won-to secure the location of the Girls' Normal school at
Milledgeville; and it was during this senatorial term that Mr. Whitfield
developed, by intellectual capacity, great legislative ability and
statesmanlike qualities, which have marked him as one of the foremost of
the rising young men of the state. In 1890 the people called again for
his services, and he was elected to represent Baldwin county in the
general assembly, and was placed on the committees on general judiciary,
finance, lunatic asylum,and Western & Atlantic railway, and chairman of
the special judiciary committee. Mr. Whitfield has always taken a very
active part in politics, and has attained to great popularity,
prominence and influence. He has served on the democratic state
executive committee, stumped the state. In the race for the sixth
district congressional nomination he was defeated by his old classmate,
Charles L. Bartlett. It may be safely assumed that he has before him a
brilliant professional and political future.
Mr. Whitfield was happily married, in December, 1877, to Miss Effie,
daughter of the late Judge Charles E. Harris, of Macon. Four
children-three boys and one girl-have blessed this union, Robert Jr.,
Charles H., Anna and Marion. He is a Master Mason and a member of the
Protestant Epispocal church. Memoirs Of
Georgia Vol 2 1895
