Walter T. Colquitt, by Lucian Lamar Knight

Walter T. Colquitt
[Wikimedia Commons]

The following is a sketch of Walter T. Colquitt, namesake of Colquitt County, as penned by Lucian Lamar Knight for his 1914 publication, Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends:

Judge Walter T. Colquitt was one of the most brilliantly gifted of Georgia's ante-bellum statesman. As an orator his achievements on the hustings have rarely been excelled; he was also a minister of the gospel and a jurist of high rank; and by reason of his prestige as a popular leader he was elected to a seat in the Senate of the United States. Judge Colquitt came of English stock and was born in Halifax County, Va., on December 27, 1799. His boyhood days were spent in Hancock County, Ga., whither his parent removed and he received his education in the famous academy at Mt. Zion. Later he located in Columbus, where he continued to reside until his death. He was twice elected to Congress as a Whig; but, on the nomination of William Henry Harrison, he gave his support to Van Buren, the nominee of the Democrats. Notwithstanding this change of fronts -- the result of deliberate conviction -- he was soon thereafter elected to the United States Senate, where his power as an advocate was most distinctly felt; but he resigned his seat in 1848, taking no further part in politics. Judge Colquitt died at his home in Columbus, while in the meridian of life, at the age of fifty-six. He is buried in Linnwood [sic] Cemetery, on the Jeter lot, where his grave is unmarked. Judge Colquitt was three times married. Of his children -- Alfred H. Colquitt, "the hero of Olustee," became a Major-General in the Confederate Army, Governor of Georgia, and United States Senator; while Peyton H. Colquitt was killed at the head of his regiment while leading a gallant charge, in the Battle of Chickamauga, in 1863.

Judge Colquitt's son Peyton was also interred at Linwood Cemetery. I have posted about him at the Southern Graves blog.

Photo © 2006 S. Lincecum

Parrish Brothers of Berrien County, Georgia

I would be thrilled to find a description of one of my ancestors in a history book, let alone a set of seven! The following is from Lucian Lamar Knight's Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends (pg. 303, pub. 1914).

The Parrish family of Berrien holds a somewhat unique record. Seven sons of the Rev. Ansel Parriash, an itinerant Methodist minister, represent an aggregate weight of 1,568 pounds, or an average weight of 224 pounds each. They recently held a family reunion at the home of Mr. J. A. J. Parrish, of Adel, at which time the scales were brought into use, showing the weight of the brothers to be as follows: J. W. Parrish, of Adel, 308 pounds; E. C. Parrish, of Adel, 229 pounds; A. B. Parrish of Savannah, 221 pounds; J. A. Parrish, of Adel, 218 pounds; J. W. Parrish, of Lois, 209 pounds; H. W. Parrish, of Sparks 202 pounds; and J. A. B. Parrish of Valdosta, 181 pounds...not a single member of the family has ever known a serious illness. With ages ranging at present from 42 to 63 years, they are vigorous, energetic, industrious men, showing no signs of corpulent or surplus flesh, engaged in widely different occupations, well-esteemed, prosperous, intelligent and high-minded men. It is a custom of the brothers to hold a family reunion each year in the month of February; and no matter how far from home this season of the year finds them or on what business intent, they always return for these festive gatherings.

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Image Credit: VintageKin.com

Hon. Wm D. Murray, 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 about 2005.

Hon. Wm. D. Murray, merchant of Ellaville, Schley County, Ga, was born in Houston County, Ga, June 20, 1844. His father, John S. Murray, was born in Burke County, Ga, in 1799, but when a young man moved to Houston County, where he resided until 1846, at which time he removed to Taylor County, Ga, where he died in 1868. He was a farmer by occupation and was always looked upon as a leader among farmers. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years before his death and a christian gentleman in every respect. His wife, Julia A. (Royal) Murray, was born in Burke County also; she bore him eight children, viz: Catherine C., Anthony R., Asa, Mary E., Dora A., Wm. D., Joanna J. and Arthur C.

William D. Murray was brought up on the farm in Taylor County and educated in the common schools. During the late war he served a short time in the Confederate service in the commissary department at Milledgeville, Ga. At the close of the conflict he turned his attention to schoolteaching and followed the same (giving some little attention to agricultural pursuits) until 1882, when he engaged in the cotton commission and mercantile business at Ellaville, Ga, in which he has become very successful. He started in life a poor boy, but by his great energy and close application to business has accumulated considerable property and is now regarded as one of the most substantial men financially in Schley County. In 1882-83 he represented Schley County in the legislature; in 1884-85 he represented Schley, Sumter and Macon counties in the State senate, and was one among the prominent members of both these bodies. December 20, 1871, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine E. Howe, daughter of John F. and Emaline (Raines) Howe, of Schley County. Mr. Murray is a member of the F. and A. M. fraternity and of the M. E. Church.

William R. Cox, a Biographical Sketch

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

William R. Cox, senior member of the large wholesale grocery firm of Cox & Chappell, Macon, Ga, is a native of the county in which he now resides. He is a son of D. M. Cox, who soon after his birth, April 4, 1843, removed to Houston county. Here William R. came to years of maturity, receiving such education as could be had in the ordinary schools of that period. The war between the states was the first great event of his life, and though but a youth, he did battle bravely for the undying principles of the Confederacy. Mr. Cox enlisted in the First Georgia, in April of 1861, and passed the twelve months of that enlistment in Pensacola, Fla., and in Virginia. Returning to Macon when his enlistment had expired, the company of which he was a member a month later was mustered into the artillery service and joined Ge. Bragg, who was operating in the department of Tennessee. As a corporal of this company Mr. Cox followed it with varying fortune through a large number of important campaigns and it is but just to add that they were looked upon as one of the most efficient and skilled batteries in the western army. Mr. Cox received a slight wound at Perryville, Ky, but otherwise returned from the war unharmed. Perry, Houston Co., was the point at which Mr. Cox made his first business venture, but disposing of his interests there in 1868 he came to Macon, where he began at the bottom round, clerking for several years. He afterward became junior member of the firm of Jacques, Johnson & Cox, wholesale dealers in liquors and cigars. He subsequently established in company with Mr. Corbin the firm of Cox & Corbin, and now handles groceries and provisions exclusively. The domestic life of Mr. Cox has been most felicitous, his home having been presided over since November of 1873 by Lizzie, the accomplished daughter of Col. J. E. Jones, a former president of the Central Georgia bank, and for long years a leading spirit in the business circles of Macon. After his death Mr. Cox purchased the old Jones homestead, one of the mose beautiful residence properties in the city, where he now resides. William R. Cox is a wide-awake business man, and is interested in various business enterprises. He is vice-president of the Central Georgia bank, and a director of the Southwestern railroad. In politics he votes the democratic ticket, is a Methodist in religion, and is an ex-alderman of the city of Macon, and president of the Alexander free school board of that city.

William A. Davis, a Biographical Sketch

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

William A. Davis, one of the most prominent business men in Bibb county, was born on a farm eight miles east of Macon, Ga, April 4, 1847, living there until he was thirty years of age. He studied at Jeffersonville, Twiggs Co., Ga, in the years 1861-2-3. In 1863, though but sixteen years old, he entered the Confederate service, enlisting in Company B, Second Georgia battalion of cavalry, as a private, and later was made orderly sergeant, serving as such until the surrender. He fought in the battles of Chickamauga and Griswoldville, participated in many skirmishes, and left the service with an enviable record. After the cessation of hostilities he resumed his studies at the academy of Allentown, Twiggs Co., of which James E. Croslin, an educator of reputation, was principal, and then returned to his home in Bibb county, being called there by the death of his father. He managed the homestead from 1866 to 1877, during which period he was elected to represent Twiggs county on the general assembly, and during the session served with distinction on the committees on agriculture, public institutions and other matters before the legislature. A majority of his fellow-members not favoring the permanent institution of the college at Dahlonega, a bill to that end was defeated, but Mr. Davis secured a reconsideration and succeeded to having the bill passed, to which fact the agricultural college at that point now owes its existence, and for which service he received unstinted praise. Entering municipal as well as state politics Mr. Davis has been elected alderman from three different wards of the city of Macon -- serving six years in all in the city council -- and for four years of that time he acted as mayor pro tem. He has also been road commissioner from his district for several years. In 1880 he came to Macon and five years later, in company with M. C. Balcomb, engaged in the business of handling cotton, the style of the firm being Davis & Balcomb. The firm existed until 1890, when it was re-arranged under the title of W. A. Davis & Co., and now continues as such. For years Mr. Davis was a director of the Merchants' National bank of Macon, which went into voluntary liquidation in 1893. He is now vice-president and director of the Guarantee company of Macon, and has interests in various other business enterprises. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Mystic Shriner. He has held all the principal offices in the subordinate lodges, to-wit, past master of Macon lodge, No. 5, F. & A. M.; past high priest of Constantine chapter, Royal Arch Masons; past eminent commander of the St. Omar commandery, Knights Templars, and he is at this time grand senior warden of the grand lodge of the state. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Encampment, having held all the chairs and being at present district deputy grand master. He is past noble grand of the United Brother's lodge, I. O. O. F., and past chief patriarch of the Encampment. He is, as well, a Knight of Pythias. He affiliates with Baptist church, and, while living on his farm, was for many years a deacon of the local church. In 1868 Mr. Davis married Mary R., daughter of J. W. and Susan (Barlow) Summers; they have four children, Hattie B., Edwin, Mabel C. and Gussie M. Edwin is a graduate of Mercer university, Macon. Mr. Davis' father was Elisha Davis, a native of Burke county, Ga, who was several times elected to the general assembly. He was a jurist and served on the bench of the inferior court of Bibb county for many years. He died in 1866 at the age of sixty-one. Two of his sons, in addition to William A., served in the late war. John N. was in the Bibb county cavalry and with the western army almost all the time that army was in the field. Gilbert M. enlisted in Hampton's brigade as a private, saw service during the entire war period, and was mustered out when in command of his company. Elisha Davis' father was John Davis, a Virginian by birth and the son of John Davis, a Welshman, who emigrated from Wales to Virginia and was killed in the revolution at the battle of Brandywine. William A. Davis has won his way in life by force of individuality and honest determination to succeed, using his great natural abilities to the best advantage; and as a public-spirited citizen has won a host of friends in social, business and political circles.

Thomas J. Saunders, 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 about 2005.

Thomas J. Saunders was born in Houston County, Ga, December 15, 1837. His parents were Warren E. and Sarah R. (Harvin) Saunders, natives of South Carolina. The father was born January 6, 1796, and died April 13, 1873; the mother died June 13, 1874, aged sixty-six. Both parents were members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Warren E. Saunders was married twice and had two children born to him by his first marriage. His second marriage was as above and the fruit of said marriage was thirteen children, namely: Laura, John (deceased), Sarah (deceased), Amanda (deceased), Elizabeth, Thomas J., Benjamin R., Wm. W., Martha (deceased), Mary, Francis M. (deceased), Richard H. (deceased), and Horace B.

Thomas J. Saunders began for himself by farming, which he continued until 1873. He had a stroke pf paralysis in 1857, and for eight years was partly disabled. That stroke partly exempted him from army service, but he served, however, eight months at one time, three at another, and four and three at other times. He began work on the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad in January, 1873, and has been in the employ of the road ever since, and has made quite a success of his business.

He was married December 27, 1860, to Josephine, daughter of Isaac C. and Ann (Whitehurst) West, and the children born to this union are five in number.

Mr. Saunders is a member of the K. of H. and the Baptist Church. Our subject's father was the only son of the family that lived to manhood, and of the fourteen children in all, two daughers only survive, namely: Rebecca, living in Pike County, Ala, the wife of Smith Owens; Emma, the youngest daughter, living in Stewart County, the wife of John Cain.

Mr. Saunders is an old citizen of McVille, extensively known and well respected as an honest, hard worker.

Simeon Taylor, 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 about 2006.

Simeon W. Taylor, doctor and druggist, Hawkinsville, Ga, was born in Houston County, Ga, June 3, 1835. His parents were Drury and Elizabeth (Shepherd) Taylor, both natives of Georgia. Drury Taylor was a farmer, and served as sheriff of his native county for many years, served in the legislature one term, and served as sheriff of Pulaski County for six years after moving there. He died in 1882, aged seventy-four. Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor is still living at the age of seventy-four. These parents had five children: Simeon W., Henry S., William H., John R. and Eugenia. Henry S. is in business in Hawkinsville. William H. died at Petersburg, of brain fever, at the age of twenty-two. He was in the Third Georgia infantry, having enlisted in the fall of 1861; he was married to Harriet Lock. John R. is a tailor, living in Hawkinsville, and married to Martha J. Poole. Eugenia, consort of J. L. Barron, is living in Hawkinsville.

Our subject was educated in the Houston County schools. He began for himself as an overseer at the age of twenty-one, and continued as such for five months, when he began to read medicine. He then went to the University of Nashville, and graduated therefrom in 1859. He began practice at once at Hawkinsville, continuing until he enlisted in May, 1861, regiment Eighth (Barton's old regiment), company G, of which he was commissioned second lieutenant. He served in the war three years, and took part in some of the prominent battles, among others both battles of Manassas, seven days' fight around Richmond, besides numerous skirmishes. He resigned and returned home on account of ill health. On returning he opened out a practice, and continued until 1869, when he went to Florida. He remained there in practice until 1882, after which time he was in Hawkinsville in practice until October, 1887, when he opened a drug store and now carries on that business in connection with his practice. During the sixties he served as county treasurer two terms. The doctor is a good business man, a prominent merchant and one of the worthy citizens of Hawkinsville.

He was first married in May, 1867, to Miss Sarah Whitfield, daughter of Col. Whitfield, late of Pulaski County. Two daughters, Stella and Aurora, blessed this union. Mrs. Sarah Taylor died in 1872, at the age of twenty-five years. She was a member of the Baptist Church. His second marriage occurred in October, 1874, to Miss M. E. Beall, daughter of Dr. B. B. Beall, of Alabama. The children by this marriage are Marion Ryland and Minnie B. The doctor is a member of the Masonic order, also of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject's father's father, Simeon Taylor, was from North Carolina. He moved to Houston County, Ga, and was one of its earliest settlers. His wife's name was Millie Williams. She died in 1875, aged seventy-five years. Our subject's maternal grandfather was Henry Shepherd. He died near Henderson, Ga, many years since.

Samuel A. Riley, a Biographical Sketch

Image 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 about 2006.

Samuel A. Riley, physician and surgeon, Hawkinsville, Ga, was born in Orangeburg, SC, February 16, 1829. His parents were Christian and Eugenia (Whetstone) Riley, the latter from a prominent family in the old State. The father was a farmer, and had been by trade a hatter. He died suddenly from apoplexy in 1833, at the age of forty-five, and the mother died in 1831, at the age of thirty-eight, both devout members of the Methodist Church. The children of our subject's parents were Mary, George F., Samuel A., Asbury, Benjamin and John. Mary, wife of Jacob Zimmerman, died at the age of forty, a member of the Methodist Church. George F., consort of Miss Elizabeth Golson, who was the widow of Jennings Culler, was in the service, came home ill, and never recognized his brother, who came to see him the same day, and died at the age of forty-four. He was a member of the Methodist Church. Asbury died at the age of eighteen years. John served as commissary of several counties in the late war, an active business man, an agent in the government department. The railroad ran through his plantation and he remained and worked until the last moment, when Sherman's forces were coming through. He succeeded in getting all cattle, meat and supplies away before the Federal forces came, which forces destroyed every thing before them, not leaving even the well-curb, or a rail on the fence. John died in August, 1873, aged forty-six, and worth $30,000. His wife, Rachel Howser, was from an old and respected family of South Carolinians. Our subject was educated in Houston County. His medical education was received in Jefferson Medical College (one of the best in the land). He graduated in the class of March, 1852, and began practice April 15 of the same year in Hayneville, Ga. He remained there thirty-one years, when, in 1883, he moved to Hawkinsville, Ga where he has been a very successful practitioner. He took no part in the war, but worked as hard as any who were there, giving his services gratis during almost the entire time of the war. He was married in 1853 to Miss Harriet L. Winn (Winnsborough, SC, was named for her grandfather). Their children are John, Charles, Samuel, Mary E. and William S. John is a farmer in Houston County. Charles is consort of Miss Ada Hall, living on a farm in Baldwin County. They have two children: Joseph T., married to Miss Ainsworth, daughter of Rev. Ainsworth, a noted divine in the Methodist Church. Samuel died at the age of eighteen years. Mary E. was consort of O. E. Hoover. She died February, 1885, aged twenty-three. William S., consort of Miss Buff, a grand-daughter of Rev. James Dunwoody of the Methodist Church. Our subject's wife died July, 1866, aged thirty-seven, a member of the Methodist Church. He was next married in 1867 to Miss Emma L. Havis, an own cousin of his first wife, daughter of Col. Jesse D. Havis, of South Carolina. The children by the second marriage are Jesse H., Franklin A., Harriet M., Elizabeth W., Jennie C., Samuel and Lawrence. The doctor, his wife, and all the children but the three youngest, are members of the Methodist Church.

Marmaduke G. Bayne, 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 about 2006.

Marmaduke G. Bayne is one of the progressive young lawyers of Macon, Bibb County, Ga, and was born in Jones County, Ga, November 26, 1854; a son of Henry H. and Nancy (Gresham) Bayne, both native of Jones County. Henry H. Bayne was a son of John Bayne, a school teacher, and a gentleman of prominence in his day, having represented Jones County in the legislature of 1830. Henry H. was a planter, but also a patriot, and was killed in the fight at Ocean Pond, Fla, in 1863, while serving in the Confederate service under General Colquitt. He was the father of eight children, of whom seven are still living -- Emily M., William E., John W., M. G. (our subject), Charles E., Henry F., and Nancy F.

Marmaduke G. Bayne, as will be seen from the above, was left an orphan before he was eight years of age, and, having no inheritance, was compelled to care for himself. He went from Jones to Bibb County, where for six years he worked for his board and clothing, his employer and protector being John Mitchell. He then worked on a farm for some time, saved money and entered Carrollton Institute, John M. Richardson, president, and studied ten months; he next taught a while, saved money, and entered the University of Georgia, at Athens, from which he graduated in 1878. Once more he resorted to school teaching, reading law the meanwhile under preceptorship of W. E. Collier, and was admitted to the bar, November 10, 1879, at Macon. He first practiced at Fort Valley, Ga, where he remained five years, filled the offices of city treasurer and alderman, and then, in 1884, returned to Macon, where he has since resided, and where his professional abilities are fully recognized. He was married in April, 1879, to Miss Minnie Rushing, of Byron, Ga, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hardison) Rushing, of Houston County. To this happy marriage have been born four children, namely: Lester, Alva, Emma and Marmaduke. Mr. Bayne is a Democrat, and he and wife are members of the Baptist Church.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Eugene A. Nelson, 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.

Eugene A. Nelson, city clerk and treasurer of Brunswick, was born in Houston County, Ga, April 12, 1858. He is a son of James F. Nelson,...

The subject of this sketch was educated at Dawson and Brunswick, Ga, and at Warford's College at Spartansburg, SC. He began his career as a merchant in Brunswick, Ga, and followed this business up to 1881, when, his father and brother having built the Ocean Hotel at Brunswick, he gave up merchandising and took charge of that house and ran it till the fall of 1884. At this time he was elected clerk of the superior court. He held this office, together with those of county school commissioner and clerk of the commissioners of roads and revenues, till January, 1888, when he resigned the first-mentioned office to accept the office of clerk and treasurer of the city of Brunswick, made vacant by his father's resignation.

Mr. Nelson is a man who is admirably fitted by nature and by his early training for clerical positions. He is systematic, close, attentive and business-like in everything; and his integrity is beyond question, as the citizens of Brunswick have testified by their repeated bestowals on him of places of honor and trust. He has filled his offices creditably, especially that of county school commissioner, having been largely instrumental in developing the public school system of which Brunswick now boasts, and which constitutes not the least of that proud city's possessions.

September 7, 1882, Mr. Nelson married Miss Dollie Ivey, of Brunswick.

He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Honor and to the Baptist Church, in all of which he takes an active interest and has held positions of trust.

D. W. K. Peacock, 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.

D. W. K. Peacock, dealer in minerals, Cartersville, Ga, was born in North Carolina, December 8, 1829, and is son of Lewis and Harriet (Killen) Peacock. The former was a Baptist preacher and farmer, was a son of David Peacock, a native of England, and died in 1847 -- his birth having taken place in North Carolina in 1800. Mrs. Harriet (Killen) Peacock is also native of North Carolina, and is a daughter of William Killen, a native of Ireland. She has two children living -- D. W. K. and James.

D. W. K. Peacock was taken to Houston County, Ga, in 1831, by his father, and attended the schools of that county until fourteen years of age, when he removed to Bartow County, Ga, where he has since resided. He began his active business life in 1849 by becoming assistant agent at the depot in Cartersville, where he remained two years; in 1852 he opened a general store and sold goods until about 1870; in 1871 he became cashier of the Planters & Miners Bank of Cartersville, and the same year was appointed secretary and treasurer of the Cartersville & Vanwert (now the East & West Alabama) Railroad, which position he held until 1873, when the road went into the hands of a receiver, and Mr. Peacock became the general manager, and operated the road until 1876, when it was sold. In 1876, also, the bank of which Mr. Peacock was cashier discontinued business. While connected with the bank Mr. Peacock was also engaged in the manufacture of pig iron, and his career during the war is also worthy of notice. In 1861 he was appointed military storekeeper for the State of Georgia; in 1862 was promoted to captain and assistant commissary, and in 1864 promoted to major. He has also been county surveyor of Bartow County for six years. For several years past he has turned his attention to real estate, and has effected some of the largest transfers ever made in the State of Georgia. He is now making a specialty of mineral lands, in which his transactions are frequent and extensive. Mr. Peacock was married July 25, 1854, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Thomas Powell, and there have been born to him six children, of whom three are living: Edgar L., Lucy C. Veal, and Hattie. Mr. Peacock is a Knight Templar and a member of the Legion of Honor. In politics he is a Democrat, and with his wife is a member of the Baptist Church.