12 September 2012

John W. Cooper, a Biographical and Historical Sketch

Ancestry.com. Georgia Baptists : historical and biographical [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
Original data: Campbell, Jesse H.. Georgia Baptists : historical and biographical. Macon, Ga.: J.W. Burke & Co., 1874.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum about 2006.

JOHN W. COOPER

Elder John W. Cooper was born in Henry county, Virginia, January 17th, 1783, and, with the family, removed to Wilkes county, Georgia, in 1786. He united with the old Ebenezer church, and was baptized by elder Jesse Mercer in 1805; some time afterwards, his membership was removed to Rehoboth church. In the winter of 1825 he removed to Monroe county, Georgia; was a member of the Mount Pleasant church, where he was ordained as a minister of the gospel in 1826, Elder Davis Smith being one of the Presbytery. In the winter of 1828 he removed to Harris county, Georgia, being one of the earliest settlers, which was soon after the purchase of the territory from the Indians, lying between the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers. In a few months after this, he aided in the constitution of Sardis church, in the western part of the county, which was one of the first churches organized west of the Flint river. He aided in the constitution of most of the churches in that immediate section of the State, as also in that which lay opposite in Alabama. He was a prime and active mover in the organization of the Western Association, of which he was elected moderator in 1841, the introductory sermon of which session was preached by Elder Jesse Moon, the father Miss Lottie Moon, now a missionary to China. He was re-elected annually, until his removal to Houston county, in the winter of 1848, and if my information be correct, was elected that year by acclamation, being the last session of that body he ever attended. He was present at the Georgia Baptist Convention in Marietta, in 1850, at which the illness that ended his life began. Returning home quite indisposed, he went to the monthly meeting of what was then Sandridge, now Factory church, Houston county, the first Sabbath in May, 1850, where he preached his last sermon. He died May 30th, 1850, with an abiding faith in the Saviour, whose glorious gospel he had preached more than forty years, his last words being, "O, that I could live to warn sinners!"

The education of the subject of this sketch was very limited. In his early life, neither means nor facilities were at his command. As a minister, the Bible was almost his only book of study, and with it, as was common with Baptist preachers in his day, he was very familiar. His views were not warped by the sayinggs of men; while he was solid as a rock in the doctrines of grace and the ordinances of the gospel, and never compromised with error, he was never rash. In Western Georgia, where he spent most of his ministerial life, he abounded in labors. So far as remembered, he was never without four churches, and unfrequently, to attend some of them, it required from Friday morning till Monday night. It was rare, indeed, he ever failed to meet his appointments. As was not uncommon in those early times, he frequently made tours of preaching to destitute sections and regions beyond. His preaching was without much method, always abounding in scriptural language, truth and illustration. He was of tender heart, often affected to tears. His labors were greatly blessed, and large churches were built up under his ministry. One of his sons says that a prayer meeting was held in a private house, at which began a work of great power. The meeting was removed to old Mountain Creek church, near which he lived, and continued, without interruption, forty-five days, during which one hundred and sixty-three persons were added to the church, and that, too, when the country was thinly settled.

Though rather emotional, he did not approve of noisy meetings. It is worthy of note, howaever, that on one occasion he was the subject of what was adjudged an unusual measure of the Holy Spirit's influence. It occurred at Beech Spring church, where he was aiding Elder George Granberry in a meeting of much interest. He had preached at the forenoon service, at the close of which his family physician observed a peculiar appearance of countenance, and insisted that he should go into the open air, which he declined, further than taking a seat upon the door-steps. In a moment, he began clapping his hands gently, and expressing himself as being very happy. He exhorted every unrenewed person whom he saw, and at the house of a precious man, (Deacon Joel Hood,) he had every servant called to the bed upon which he lay, and urged upon them immediate repentance. The clapping of hands, (which seemed involuntary,) and the talking continued, with a moment's interruption, until a late hour of the night, when "tired nature" succumbed to sleep. In the morning he was quite restored, and said the whole affair seemed as a dream. The writer witnessed the entire scene. He received but little for preaching. It is probable he never mentioned money to a church. I have heard him say a church to which he preached many years, and was not less than fifteen miles distant from him, never paid him enough to shoe his horse. At another, an old brother was appraoched by one of the deacons, who replied, "It is as much his business to preach as it is mine to go and hear;" and, doubtless, not a few are possessed with a like sentiment to-day.

His habits of industry are regularity would have secured him an abundance of this world's goods had he given himself to their acquisition. But he "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the world." As a man, he always enjoyed the entire confidence of his acquaintances, which confidence was never abased. He paid his debts, was peaceable in society, never shirked responsibility, lived and died without a stain upon his character. As a christian, he was prayerful -- walked by faith rather than by sight -- without pretension wholly, and with the exception named above, his religious life was even, and his end peace.

Rev. George F. Cooper, of Americus, one of the best and ablest men in the State, is a son of his.

11 September 2012

John Springs Baxter, a Biographical Sketch

From Memoirs of Georgia, Volume II by The Southern Historical Association, 1895.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum about 2006.

John Springs Baxter, one of Macon's most distinguished citizens, was born in that city, Dec 3, 1832, and was taken to Athens when but a child in arms, by his parents. In that city he grew to manhood, attending private instruction in Dr. Beman's famous school, and graduating from the University of Georgia in 1853, with the degree of A. B. He then went to Jefferson Medical college, at Philadelphia, and was graduated in 1856. He returned to Macon and there began practice. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the Macon volunteers, an old military company, organized about 1825, which was assigned to the Second Georgia battalion, and known as Company B. He served as a private till April, 1862, when he was made surgeon of the battalion, and acted as such about two months. He then went to Richmond, where he was made assistant surgeon to the Third Georgia hospital. Two months afterward he was appointed surgeon of the Forty-sixth Georgia regiment, in the field, which regiment was then stationed at Charleston, SC. He accompanied the regiment, in May, 1863, to the relief of Vicksburg, and remained with the army until the surrender of Gen. Johnston, at Greensborough, NC. He officiated as surgeon in the battles of Jackson, Miss., and on the retreat from Chattanooga to Atlanta. After the war he resumed his practice in Macon, for about a year, and then went into the general maerchandise business with George S. Jones, under the firm name of Jones & Baxter. He retired from business the latter part of 1873, and in 1876 was made a director of Southwestern, running from Macon to Eufaula, Ala. and Columbus, Ga, the length of the road being 333 miles. In May, 1891, he was made president of the Southwestern, and served as such until February, 1894, and at the election of that year was made vice-president, an office which he now holds. In 1876, in connection with the late W. B. Johnston, he prganized the first artificial ice company established at Macon, and carried it on until 1884, and then sold out. He was one of the original incorporators of the Macon Brewing company, and was one of its directors, and when the company went into the hands of a receiver, in 1891, he and R. H. Plant reorganized the company as the Acme Brewing company, of which he is now a director. He was one of the men who agitated and secured the building of the Macon water works, and was a director up to 1893. He is a director of the Central Georgia bank, the Macon Fire insurance company, the Macon Building and Loan association, and the Ocmulgee Land company, all of Macon, and of the Southern Mutual Insurance company, of Athens, Ga. Dr. Baxter was married in November, 1858, to Caroline, daughter of the late Judge Edward D. Tracy, a resident of Macon, and has one child, Tracy Baxter, who is an attorney in Macon. His wife died in 1861, and Dr. Baxter has never remarried. He belongs to no church, though he affiliates with the Presbyterians, and belongs to no secret society. The only office he ever held was that of city physician, one year, 1857.

The father of Dr. Baxter was Thomas W. Baxter, born in Greene county in 1786. He was a merchant in Macon and Milledgeville, Ga, for many years, and later had charge of the Athens manufacturing company. He died in Athens in 1844. Thomas W. Baxter was a brave soldier in the Seminole war, and in the civil war furnished six sons, including the subject of this sketch, to the Confederate army, viz: Andrew, Thomas W., Eli L., who died in service; Edwin G. Baxter, killed in the service in Texas, and Richard B., who was all through the service until the attack on Knoxville in 1864, where he was captured and held until the war was over. He was in the Third Georgia regiment, first, and was a private in the Fifteenth Georgia regiment when he was captured. The grandfather and grandmother of Dr. Baxter were natives of North Carolina, and the family is of Scotch-Irish descent.

10 September 2012

James M. Rawls, a Biographical Sketch

Source: Georgia and Florida Biographies [database on-line].
Original Data from Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida,
Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public, and many
Early Settled Families in These States
. F. A. Battey & Company, 1889.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum 2005.

James M. Rawls, of Cuthbert, Ga, is a native of Houston county, same State, and was born December 3, 1838. He is a son of Silas Rawls, a highly esteemed farmer of Georgia, who was born in 1805 and removed to Texas, where he died. Rebecca (Jenkins) Rawls, mother of James M., was born in Georgia and bore her husband thirteen children, of whom the subject is the seventh child.

James M. Rawls was reared in Houston County, educated in the common school, and in early life followed farming. In 1857 he taught school in Dougherty County for a short time, then in Early County, after which he farmed again until the outbreak of the war. He then joined the Confederate army as a private in the Fifty-fifth Georgia infantry, but served only a short time. In 1864 he again joined the army and served until he was wounded in August, 1864, at Atlanta. He afterward farmed in Miller County until 1873, and then engaged in the mercantile business in Arlington, Ga, until January, 1887, when he located in Cuthbert and formed a partnership with C. D. Webb. In 1857 he was married to Miss Rebecca Oliver, daughter of Joshua B. and Sarah A. (Dupree) Oliver of Dooly County, Ga. Their home has been made happy in the birth of two children, Ida and Sarah.

Mr. Rawls and wife are members of the Methodist Church and Mr. Rawls is a member of the F. and A. M.

09 September 2012

Joseph L. Guill, a Biographical Sketch

Source: Georgia and Florida Biographies [database on-line].
Original Data from Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida,
Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public, and many
Early Settled Families in These States
. F. A. Battey & Company, 1889.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum 2005.

Joseph L. Guill, operator, deputy postmaster, railroad agent, Scotland, Ga, was born in Oglethorpe County, January 22, 1862. His parents are Augustus W. and Permelia (Lumpkin) Guill, natives of Georgia. The father was a blacksmith, later a farmer, and is still living in Greene County, Ga, aged fifty-six. His wife died December 3, 1880. She was a member of the Baptist Church. They had two children, Augustus B. (deceased in infancy) and our subject. His father's brothers and sisters were Matilda, wife of Samuel Young, living in Oglethorpe County; Larkin A. married Laura Godfrey (deceased); Frances, Rebecca, William, Augustus W., Josiah A., Jackson R. (deceased at the age of thirty-two). William was wounded in the foot during the war and limps from the wound, as the ball still remains. Subject's mother's father was twice married.

Our subject was married October 9, 1887, to Miss Elia V. Rollins, daughter of Judge C. W. Rollins, and Mattie C. (Norwood) Rollins, of Houston County. The children of the Judge are Eula C., wife of J. I. Kemp, living in Scotland; Elia V., and Fulton L. Our subject has been in his present position many years. He is a good man, and carries the confidence and respect of a large circle of acquaintances. Mr. Guill was made a member of the Masonic fraternity in 1885 in McRae Lodge 100, situated at Scotland, Ga.

06 September 2012

James C. Johnson, M.D., a Biographical Sketch

Source: Georgia and Florida Biographies [database on-line].
Original Data from Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida, Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public, and many Early Settled Families in These States. F. A. Battey & Company, 1889.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum 2005.

James C. Johnson, M.D., Macon, is a native of Henry County, GA, born November 1, 1838, and is a son of Thomas B. and Amanda M. (Cain) Johnson. Thomas B. was a son of David Johnson, one of the oldest settlers of Georgia, coming from Virginia. He died in 1865 at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Thomas B. was born in Putnam County, Ga, and is now a resident of Spalding County, and is yet in the enjoyment of good health at the age of eighty-two years. For many years he has represented his county in the State legislature. His wife, Amanda M., died in 1887 at the age of seventy-nine years. They were married at the respective ages of nineteen and seventeen years, and lived on the same farm, five miles from Griffin, in the enjoyment of each other's society more than sixty-three years. Both were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for more than sixty years. Thomas B. Johnson was a model temperance man. He never used tobacco in any form, and for more than sixty years has not tasted intoxicants. His wife's father left his home in the State of Louisiana at the age of fifty years, going to Texas to transact business, and was never heard of afterward. He had $1,000 in his possession at the time, and it is presumed that he was murdered for his money.

James C. Johnson, our subject, received good educational advantages, and graduated at the Atlanta Medical College in the class of 1859. He located at Wellborn's Mills, Houston County, the same year, and began the practice of medicine. He was a partner of Dr. L. B. Alexander, now of Monroe County, for one year, after which he practiced his profession alone. He entered the Confederate service as physician and surgeon in the spring of 1862, and continued therewith until the close of the war. He was surgeon of the second regiment of the Georgia reserve corps, and by virtue of his commission became brigade surgeon. He was stationed at Andersonville prison for two years, going there when that prison contained 1,600, and was there when the number had increased to 38,000. He slept in the same room and ate at the same table with Captain Wirtz for one year, and the same with A. W. Perrons, the first commander of the post. At the close of the war he opened an office at Echeconnee Station, Houston County, where he had an extensive practice, making a speciality of surgical diseases of females; obstetrics and diseases of children. During the winter of 1865 and '66 he treated fifty-seven cases of small-pox for Houston County and sixteen cases for Crawford County, Ga, and as an evidence of his success it is only necessary to say that in the seventy-three cases he only lost two patients. The two counties mentioned rewarded him for services rendered by paying him $5,750, and during this time he also attended individual cases of small-pox that paid him more than $1,000. His practice that year amounted to more thatn $7,200. He has followed his profession for a period of thirty years with gratifying success, and has now a large and lucrative practice in the city of Macon, where he has made his home since March, 1884. The doctor was married in 1862 to Miss Annie Eliza Reynolds, daughter of James and Sarah (Paul) Reynolds. To this marriage has been born two children: William Reynolds and Mattie N. -- the latter a school-girl, in her teens. William R. was married February 27, 1887, to Miss Mina L. Kent, of Bibb County, Ga. To them was born in May, 1888, a son named Thomas Blanton Johnson.

04 June 2012

Hon. Allatia C. Westbrook, a Biographical Sketch

By Darwinek via
Wikimedia Commons
Source: Georgia and Florida Biographies [database on-line].
Original Data from Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida, Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public, and many Early Settled Families in These States. F. A. Battey & Company, 1889.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum 2005.

Hon. Allatia C. Westbrook of Albany, Ga, was born in Houston County, Ga, March 19, 1842, and is the son of Richard N. and Josephine A. (Coley) Westbrook, the former of whom was born in North Carolina, near New Berne, and the latter in Pulaski County, Ga. Richard N. moved to Georgia when young and lived awhile in Twiggs County, a planter, then in Houston County, and died in Macon County. He and wife were the parents of ten children: Mary C., William T., John S., Elbert W., Permelia A., Allatia C., Josaphia A., Clara E., Richard N., and Houston A., of whom Allatia C. was the sixth child. He was reared in Houston and Macon counties, went to Chunnenuggee, Ala., when young and there lived with his uncle, Col. W. W. Battle, and received his education. At the outbreak of the war, although an advocate of the Union, he joined the Confederate army as private in company C, of the First Georgia volunteers, served twelve months, returned home, raised a cavalry company and joined the Eighth Georgia cavalry as captain of the company (Co. K). He served in that capacity until early in 1865, when he, being disabled from a wound received in battle at Greenbrier, Va, was ordered to take command of the post at Albany, where he served until the surrender, April, 1865. After the war he engaged in the mercantile business in Albany very successfully until 1883, since which time he has been dealing in real estate and doing an insurance business. No one stands higher in the estimation of the people than Mr. Westbrook, as is shown by the various offices tendered him. He has accumulated considerable property, and is in good financial condition. In 1869 he was elected treasurer of Dougherty County, but declined the office. In 1872 he was elected mayor of Albany, and has been re-elected several times since. In 1875 he was elected to the legislature from Dougherty County, and served in the session of 1875-76, was re-elected and served in the session of 1887-78. In 1881 he was elected to the State senate from the tenth senatorial district and served in 1881-82.

Mr. Westbrook is carrying on farming extensively in Dougherty and Baldwin Counties and is a large landowner. He is also claim adjuster of the Central Railroad & Banking Co., of Georgia. He has never married. He is an Episcopalian in religious belief.

03 June 2012

Henry Marshall Bozeman, a Biographical Sketch

Source: Georgia and Florida Biographies [database on-line].
Original Data from Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida,
Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public, and many
Early Settled Families in These States
. F. A. Battey & Company, 1889.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum 2005.

Image by Darwinek via Wikimedia Commons
Henry Marshall Bozeman, of the firm of Bozeman & Regan, Hawkinsville, Ga, was born in Houston County, Ga, November 1, 1837. His parents were Col. John and Rebecca Jewell (Pratt) Bozeman, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of New Hampshire. Col. John Bozeman was born April 27, 1793, and was first married April 23, 1818, to Elizabeth Murphy, who was born December 25, 1798. This union was blessed by the birth of eight children: Cornelius M., the first son, was born April 8, 1819; he married Miss Elizabeth Farmer, became the father of nine children and died in 1881; Eliza Ann, the eldest daughter, was born November 11, 1820, and died May 10, 1848. She was married to Samuel Buffington of Milledgeville, and bore him four children, John, Elizabeth, Sallie and Samuel; the two boys are deceased, but the girls are yet living and married. The colonel's second son and third child, John, was born June 27, 1823, married, had two children, and died in 1856 or 1857, in or about the Everglades of Florida, in the effort to eject Billy Bowlegs. The fourth child, Sarah Frances, was born December 25, 1825; she also married Samuel Buffington, bore him two children, now deceased, while she herself died in Jacksonville, Fla, about 1856. Milton, the third son and fifth child, was born September 18, 1827, was a Confederate soldier, was captured in South Carolina and taken to New York, where he died in prison and was buried on Hart's Island. Amanda M., the third daughter, was born April 18, 1830, and died December 26, 1834. Emily C., the fourth daughter, was born December 17, 1831, and died August 18, 1832. Albert, the fourth son and eighth and youngest child born to this union, was born February 13, 1834, and died March 10, 1853.

Mrs. Elizabeth (Murphy) Bozeman died February 20, 1836, and on the 14th day of February, 1837, Col. Bozeman married Miss Rebecca Jewell Pratt, who was born April 23, 1808, and who was a Yankee lady of high culture and noted for her musical talent. She was teaching music in one of the Institutes of Hancock County when he became acquainted with her. Her father's name was Henry Pratt, of Winchester, NH. His children were Addison, Henry, Marshall, Horace, Julius, Eliza, Charlotte and Rebecca, all noted for musical ability. Marshall Pratt was one of the first musicians of the United States in his day. They were, it is thought, first cousins to Ex-Gov Marshall Jewell of Connecticut. The fruit of this union was Henry Marshall Bozeman only. Mrs. Rebecca J. Bozeman died February 17, 1838, when her son was but three months old, and on July 23, 1838, Col. Bozeman married Miss Sarah B. Pratt, of Vermont, a first cousin of his second wife. To this marriage there were no children born, and of the nine born to the colonel, Henry M. is the only one living.

Col. John Bozeman served in the Florida Indian war, was several times elected to the State legislature from the Milledgeville district, and was justice of the peace at the time of his death, which occurred at or near White Sulphur Springs, Fla, November 10, 1848. His widow, Sarah B., married J. F. Baxter, but died in Memphis, Tenn, in 1884.

Henry Marshall Bozeman began in 1857 by clerking in Hawkinsville. He had come from the farm and continued in the store until he enlisted in September, 1861, in Company F, Thirty-first regiment, Pulaski volunteer infantry. Cold Harbor was the first engagement in which he took part. He received a shot that day, June 27, 1862, in the thigh and will always carry the scar and a deep one. He has the ball, which is flattened out considerably. He was disabled four months, and was at home most of the time on furlough. He was first lieutenant of the company, resigned in June, 1863, came home and enlisted in the siege battery at Thunderbolt. He did no service in the battery but formed the Sixty-third regiment, Col. Gordon, and proceeded to Dalton, to Joe E. Johnson's army in the upper part of Georgia. He was in skirmishes from Dalton to Jonesboro, was wounded and disabled a short time. He was wounded in the first battle of Fredricksburg and disabled for about two weeks. He was in the service until the surrender, and from Jonesboro he followed Gen. Hood to Nashville, Tenn, on foot, and was with Smith's brigade guarding the wagon train at the Tennessee river at the time the battle of Franklin, Tenn, was fought -- the battle which proved what southern soldiers were, marching right up to the Yankee breastworks, through an open field, and making them skedaddle like wild hogs. Though the Confederates suffered severely for their rash act, from Nashville the army took it a foot out to Meridian, Miss, and from there started to join Gen. Lee in Virginia, but while on the way, in North Carolina, heard of Lee's surrender, but went on until it was confirmed, and then turned back every man and went to his home. He was never taken prisoner and in the main had good health. The war closing he went to clerking and continued that until 1883, since when he has been doing for himself under the firm name of Bozeman & Regan. He has succeeded in business very well. He is a member of the city council, serving his second term.

Capt. Thomas L. Willcox, of Irwin County, Ga, father-in-law of our subject, was born February 17, 1812, and Abbie McDuffie, of the same county, was born February 22, 1816; they were married November 20, 1830, and had thirteen children. Mrs. Abbie Willcox died in 1864, and the captain next married a Miss Nan Smith, and six more children were the result. Capt. Tom was a wealthy, prominent man of his county, went to the legislature several times, and was the most popular man throughout all southern Georgia. He is a very old man now and he and his second wife are living at Jacksonville, in Telfair County, Ga. His sixth daughter, Abbie, became Mrs. Abbie Bozeman, March 1, 1868. She was born December 22, 1848, and on January 30, 1869, her first and only child, a son, was born. She died on February 3, 1869. The child, named after her, Abbie Murdoch, is yet living, nineteen years old, and doing well. On November 4, 1869, Mr. Bozeman married Capt. Tom Willcox's seventh daughter, Julia. She was born July 29, 1853. Their oldest son, Frank McCrimmon, was born September 7, 1870, and is still living. Zenobia, a girl, was born October 7, 1874 and died September 4, 1878; Sarah Rebecca was born October 12, 1879 and is yet living; Estelle, the youngest, was born April 8, 1885.

Mr. Bozeman is a Mason and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Church, also both sons. Few men in the community stand higher for honesty, integrity, and golden rule dealing than does the subject of this sketch. The subject's father's father was Meady Bozeman, who died January, 1809, and whose wife's maiden name was Chloe Nelson, who died October 11, 1821.
Ancestry.com

28 May 2012

Capt. George D. Allen, a Biographical Sketch

From Memoirs of Georgia, Volume II by The Southern Historical Association, 1895.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum about 2006.

Capt. George D. Allen comes of "Old Dominion" stock. His father, Maj. W. A. Allen, was born in Amelia county, Va., in 1815, and reared on a plantation. He, with his father, Capt. Alexander Allen, removed to Bedford county, Tenn., in 1834, where he married Martha E. Davidson, daughter of George Davidson, who was a native North Carolinian. Maj. Allen, while a resident of Tennessee, was a man of distinction and influence, having served a term in the senate of that state. After the war he came south and located at Forsyth, Ga., where he now resides, enjoying, by choice, the life of a quiet citizen, much loved and respected by the people of his community.

Capt. George D. Allen was born in Shelbyville, Tenn., Dec. 30, 1843, and passed his boyhood days on the home plantation, and was being educated at the Shelbyville university when war became the cry. He at once enlisted in Company B, Forty-first Tennessee regiment of the C. S. A., and served through the entire four years. His service, for the most part, was in the Army of the West, where he was in all the important battles. At the fall of Fort Donelson, in 1862, he was captured and spent seven months in prison at Indianapolis. He was exchanged in time to take part in the siege of Vicksburg. From this time he served as aide-de-camp to Gen. H. B. Davidson, and at the close of the war was on the right flank of Lee's immortal band at Appomattox.

Capt. Allen returned to his father's country home in June, 1865. The following October he married Miss M. Eufaula Scandrett, an accomplished lady of Griffin, Ga. They are the parents of eight children, four of whom are living: Lawson D., George D., Jr.; Harry S., and Stewart W., all of whom are now having the best educational advantages.

Capt. Allen came to Georgia in 1866, engaged in cotton planting two years, and in 1868 embarked in the mercantile business at Forsyth, Ga. He was chairman of board county commissioners and mayor of the city. It was during his administration and largely owing to his energy and influence that the Monroe Female college, the oldest female college in the south, was rebuilt.

The year 1884 marks the date of Capt. Allen's coming to Macon, since which he has been one of her most energestic and successful business men. He engaged in the wholesale grocery trade, and in 1890 organized the firm of Allen & Dumas Co., of which he was president and general manager. In December, 1894, he became sole owner of the business, which includes the Juliette water mills, located at Juliette, Ga., twenty-two miles north of Macon, on the Southern railway, and one of the largest and best-equipped grist mills in the south.

Capt. Allen is, in religion, a Methodist, is a Knight Templar Mason, and a citizen of whom Macon may well feel proud for his enterprise and ability.

05 April 2012

Then and Now: Allatoona Pass and Battlefield

The town of Allatoona, in Bartow County, was a travel hub prior to the Civil War. Wagon roads converged there, where ridges came together for an "easy" crossing of the Allatoona mountains. In 1864, the Battle of Allatoona was fought between Confederate and Union soldiers. More than 1,500 men lost their lives, some being buried on the battlefield.

I visited this battlefield about a year ago, and it is amazing how little has changed in these almost 150 years. Though the land was reclaimed by the forest, the battlefield is easy to view with the still standing plantation home, deep railroad cut, easily traveled old wagon road, visible trenches, and defined Star Fort.

In 1866, photographer George N. Barnard captured an image of the town and railroad. I found it on an informational marker maintained by Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites:

"The plantation residence on the far left is the John Clayton (now
Mooney) House.  This privately owned structure looks much the
same today as in the Barnard photograph.  Pictured immediately left
of the railroad tracks stood the Allatoona train depot.  Across the
tracks were the warehouses and sheds in which large quantities of
Federal supplies were stored at the time of the battle.  Built to
defend the railroad below, the Star Fort is visible atop the hill on the
left.  The Tennessee Wagon Road winds northward up and over the
hill to right."
I wish I would have thought to attempt to recapture an image at the same angle as Barnard's, but I didn't. I did get a couple of nice photos, though. The first is of the 1830 Clayton-Mooney Home, and the second is of the deep cut where the Western & Atlantic railroad once ran.



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29 March 2012

Giles D. Webb, a Biographical Sketch

Source: Georgia and Florida Biographies [database on-line].
Original Data from Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida,
Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public, and many
Early Settled Families in These States
. F. A. Battey & Company, 1889.
Transcribed by S. Lincecum 2006.

Giles D. Webb, merchant of Cuthbert, Ga, was born in Houston County, Ga, April 21, 1846. His parents are Samuel and Mary (Askew) Webb, the former of Washington County and the latter of Laurens County. Samuel Webb removed to Houston County when young and afterward died in Early County, where he was a farmer and a very highly esteemed citizen. He was a member of the Methodist Church for many years before his death.

Giles D., the subject, is the seventh of nine children. His youth was spent in Early County on the farm. He was in the Confederate army during the latter part of the war, after which he spent a year in school in Sumter County. He then commenced clerking in Blakely, Ga, which he continued until 1869, when he formed a partnership with T. E. Hightower, at Damascus, Early County, Ga, and carried on a prosperous mercantile business until January, 1886. He then retired from business until January, 1888, when he formed a partnership with J. M. Rawls, Cuthbert, Ga, and at once built up a large trade at that place. Mr. Webb is an energetic and shrewd business man and as a result has been successful financially. September 30, 1875, he was married to Miss Sallie Pullen, daughter of Henry T. and Ann (Jones) Pullen. They are the parents of three children, viz: Emmie, Hugh I. and Giles D., Jr., who died in 1882. His wife died July 8, 1882, and October 27, 1885, he was married to Mrs. Ella D. Small, widow of Arthur Small and daughter of Dr. William P. Matthews, of Talbot County, Ga. Mrs. Webb has one child, Arthur P. Small, by her first husband. Mr. Webb and wife are members of the Methodist Church.

01 February 2012

Haunted Georgia? "The Bealls 1860 Restaurant's Ghostly Fare"

I bought this book (Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State) by Alan Brown for my grandfather as a Christmas present last December. I am not one to believe every ghost story I read or hear, but do find them of interest. Especially those rooted in history. Even though it was a gift, I couldn't resist peeking and jotting down a few notes from a couple of the stories in the book. I knew Grandpa wouldn't mind, and I plan to borrow and finish reading it when he's done. :-)

One of the stories in the book is "The Bealls 1860 Restaurant's Ghostly Fare." Located at 315 College Street in Macon, GA, the restaurant was open in the 1990s. The building was once a residence, built by Nathan Beall around 1860.

Beall House
Photo © 2012 S. Lincecum
The crux of the story of this house centers around sorrow. Nathan Beall, a wealthy planter born about 1799, was enumerated in the 1860 Bibb County, GA census with his wife Martha, daughter Juliet R., and son George C.1

According to the book, George enlisted in 1862 with the 47th Regiment of the Georgia Infantry. And "by February 1863, he had become one of thousands of young soldiers listed as missing."2 I might disagree here after consulting the service records of two George Bealls that served in the Confederate Army at approximately the same time. I initially found the two men with Ancestry's American Civil War Soldiers database.3

Moving to Fold3, I looked over the Confederate service record for George Beall (aka D. W. Beall, aka George W. Bell) of the 47th Georgia Infantry. This man enlisted at Randolph County, GA and was present with his company in Mar/Apr 1862, May/Jun 1862, Jul/Aug 1862, Sep/Oct 1862, Nov/Dec 1862, and Jan/Feb 1863.4

The other soldier, George C. Beall (aka George C. Beale, aka G. C. Beal), enlisted at Macon, GA with the 28th Siege Artillery Battalion. He was elected 1st Lieutenant July 1863 and resigned a month later. In October of the same year, this George is in a hospital at Macon.5 I think this is more likely the son of Nathan Beall, and I question exactly how "missing" he was.

The next portrait of sorrow regarding the Beall house deals with Nathan's daughter Juliet. Haunted Georgia states her husband, Dr. George C. Griffin, disappeared about the same time ("between Petersburg and Macon") as Juliet's brother while serving as an assistant surgeon during the Civil War... "For the rest of her life, Juliet sat in the study on the second floor, where she stared out the window in the hope that someday her husband would return home."6

Juliet R. Beall married George G. Griffin 4 July 1861 in Bibb County, Georgia.7 G. G. Griffin's service record states he served with the 8th Georgia Infantry. He was indeed relieved of his duties in Petersburg, VA and told to report to Macon, GA for assignment.8 I don't know if he went missing for some time or not, but I doubt Juliet spent the "rest of her life" waiting for him to return home. The 1870 Hamilton, Harris County, Georgia census9 and the 1880 Cassville, Bartow County, Georgia census10 show Dr. George G. and Juliet R. Griffin together with a growing family. George died 4 April 1904 in Covington, Georgia.11

About the end of the Civil War, Nathan Beall sold his home to Leonidas A. Jordan.12 Lee was "a cultivated gentleman of great wealth, and is known throughout the state as one of the largest planters and real estate owners in Georgia."13

Sorrow seemed to continue to permeate the building even with a new family residing within. After a twenty-three year marriage, Lee's wife Julia died 30 December 1891 of grippe and pneumonia. She did not die in her Macon home, though. She died at the home of her mother in Wynnton (Columbus), Georgia.14

A few years after Julia's death, Leonidas married Miss Ilah Dunlap. She was quite a bit younger than he, about 50 years. Supposedly, Ilah looked to Leonidas just like his first wife at that young age. And by the way, Ilah became the sole beneficiary of Lee's vast fortune and real estate holdings.

Photo © 2011/2
S. Lincecum
Continuing along with the Haunted Georgia story, a most sorrowful marriage between Ilah and Leonidas lasted until his death in 1899. It is written that Ilah kept her husband a "virtual prisoner in his own home." None of his friends and family were even allowed to visit. Furthermore, upon his death, Ilah buried Leonidas beneath "only a modest county marker." Conversely, upon her death, Ilah was "buried in the largest mausoleum in Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery."15

I've done a bit of research about Ilah, but did not uncover much about her true relationship with Leonidas. I have no idea if she cared for him deeply, just married him for the money, or waffled somewhere in between. I can say she was a daughter of a wealthy man, and her inheritance from her father was quite substantial. This came a few years after the death of Leonidas. And while Leonidas does not have a grand marker in his burial place of Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville, GA, he is buried in a JORDAN family plot -- next to the tallest monument in the cemetery. Ilah is also buried with family -- the DUNLAP mausoleum was erected for her father.

After the Beall house became a restaurant in 1993, quite a bit of paranormal activity was witnessed. This included ice cubes "jumping" out of glasses, a ghostly presence of a young girl in a white dress, glasses flying off counters, books flying off shelves, and chandeliers flickering on and off. The most notable disturbance occurred one year close to the anniversary of Julia's death: "The waiters were going about their business when all at once, all of the pipes began to shake. The noise became so loud that some waiters placed their hands over their ears."16

Does all this mean the Beall house is haunted? I have no idea. But, if you've stayed with me this far, you might be interested in this: On the day I photographed the outside of the building I took more than 20 pictures. Every one came out clear as a bell, save one -- an image of the front of the Beall house.

Photo © 2012 S. Lincecum




Footnotes:
1. 1860 U.S. census, Bibb Co., Georgia, population schedule, Macon, p. 132, dwelling 985, family 1020, Nathan H. Beall household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed January 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.
2. Alan Brown, Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008), 31.
3. "American Civil War Soldiers," database, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3737 : accessed January 2012), entries for George Beall.
4. "Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia," digital images, Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com : accessed January 2012), entry for George W. Bell, Pvt., Co. B, 47th Georgia Inf., Confederate; citing NARA M266 - Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Georgia units.
5. "Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia," digital images, Fold3, entry for George C. Beall, 1st Lt, Co. A, 28th Georgia Siege Artillery Battalion, Confederate.
6. Brown, Haunted Georgia, 31.
7. "Georgia Marriages, 1808-1967," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed January 2012), entry for Juliet R. Beall and George G. Griffin, married 4 July 1861; citing Marriage Records, FHL microfilm 203,066 - index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.
8. "Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia," digital images, Fold3, entry for G. G. Griffin, Assistant Surgeon, 8th Georgia Inf., Confederate.
9. 1870 U.S. census, Harris Co., Georgia, population schedule, Hamilton, p. 157, dwelling 1193, family 1204, George G. & Juliet R. Griffin household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed January 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication M593.
10. 1880 U.S. census, Bartow Co., Georgia, population schedule, Cassville, p. 2, dwelling 13, family 14, George & Juliet Griffin household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed January 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T9.
11. "Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929," database, MyFamily.com Inc., Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7833 : accessed January 2012), entry for George G. Griffin.
12. Brown, Haunted Georgia, 31.
13. "The Marriage of Miss Ilah Dunlap to Colonel Lee Jordan at Macon," The Consitution (Atlanta, Georgia), 26 April 1894; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed January 2012), Historical Newspapers.
14. "Sudden Death of Mrs. Lee Jordan," Columbus Daily Enquirer (Georgia), 31 December 1891; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed January 2012), Historical Newspapers.
15. Brown, Haunted Georgia, 31.
16. Brown, Haunted Georgia, 32.