Park for Nancy Hart, a Revolutionary Heroine

Lucian Lamar Knight described her as an "undaunted queen of the forest..."

NANCY HART
On Wahatche (War Woman) Creek, in Revolutionary times, lived Nancy
Morgan Hart, her husband, Benjamin, and their children.  Six feet tall,
masculine in strength and courage, Nancy Hart was a staunch patriot, a
deadly shot, a skilled doctor, and a good neighbor.  A spy for the colonists,
she is credited with capturing several Tories.  Later, with her son, John, and
his family, she joined a wagon train to Henderson County, Kentucky,
where she is buried...A replica of her log home, with chimney stones from the
original, is in the Nancy Hart Park, [in Elbert County.]

"The most famous story of Hart's escapades as a frontier patriot began when a group of six (some accounts say five) Tories came to her cabin and demanded information concerning the location of a certain Whig leader. Only minutes earlier, the Whig, hotly pursued by the Tories, had stopped by the Hart cabin and enlisted Hart's aid as he made his escape. Hart insisted that no one had passed through her neck of the woods for days. Convinced that she was lying, one of the Tories shot and killed Hart's prized gobbler. After ordering her to cook the turkey, the Tories entered the cabin, stacked their weapons in the corner, and demanded something to drink. Hart obliged them by opening her jugs of wine. Once the Tories began to feel the intoxicating effects of the wine, Hart sent her daughter Sukey to the spring for a bucket of water. Hart secretly instructed her to blow a conch shell, which was kept on a nearby stump, to alert the neighbors that Tories were in the cabin.

As Hart served her unwanted guests, she frequently passed between them and their stacked weapons. Inconspicuously, she began to pass the loaded muskets, one by one, through a chink in the cabin wall to Sukey, who had by this time slipped around to the rear of the building. When the Tories noticed what she was doing and sprang to their feet, Hart threatened to shoot the first man who moved a foot. Ignoring her warning, one Tory lunged forward, and Hart pulled the trigger, killing the man. Seizing another weapon, she urged her daughter to run for help. Hart shot a second Tory who made a move toward the stacked weapons and held off the remaining loyalists until her husband and several others arrived. Benjamin Hart wanted to shoot the Tories, but Hart wanted them to hang. Consequently the remaining Tories were hanged from a nearby tree. In 1912 workmen grading a railroad near the site of the old Hart cabin unearthed a neat row of six skeletons that lay under nearly three feet of earth and were estimated to have been buried for at least a century. This discovery seemed to validate the most oft-told story of the Hart legend." [snippet from New Georgia Encyclopedia article, "Nancy Hart (ca. 1735-1830)"]

Click here for Nancy's FindAGrave memorial.

Update! Here's another tidbit I learned from Lucian Lamar Knight:

Hartford One of Georgia's Lost Towns.
Hartford, the first county-seat of Pulaski, formerly stood on a high bluff of the Ocmulgee River, just opposite the site of the present [1913] town of Hawkinsville. It is today numbered among the dead towns of Georgia, but in the early days of the State it was an Indian trading post of very great importance, on what was then the frontier...The town was named for Nancy Hart, the celebrated heroine of the Revolution. In 1837, the court-house was removed from Hartford to Hawkinsville, dating from which event the fortunes of the little border stronghold began to decline, until it became at last only a dim memory of the remote past; and there survives today but a few fragmentary remains to mark the spot.

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.

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.

David C. Adams, 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.

David C. Adams, merchant and banker at Fort Gaines, Ga, was born in Pulaski County, same state, February 5, 1834. His father, Thomas Adams, was born in North Carolina, was a mechanic, moved to Georgia and died in Hawkinsville in 1836. His wife, Charity (Goff) Adams, bore him three children, of whom David C. is the eldest. The latter was reared in Houston County, Ga, on a farm, and educated in the common schools. In 1852 he went to Randolph County, Ga, and commenced clerking in Cuthbert, and in 1856 he removed to Fort Gaines in Clay County, and engaged in farming. In 1864 he joined the Confederate service as lieutenant in Company E, in Smith's Brigade, and served until the close of the war. He then commenced the livery business in Fort Gaines, but in 1869 he sold out and commenced a mercantile business on a small scale, which has steadily grown, and he now has the largest business house in Fort Gaines. He is considered to be the wealthiest man in Clay County, and his wealth has been gained within the last 25 years. March 5, 1855, he married Miss Emily Cone, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Peterson) Cone, of Cuthbert, Ga. To this union have been born four children, viz: Sarah A., Edward, Ross L., and Frank B. Mrs. Emily Adams died January 1, 1883, and September 17, 1884, Mr. Adams married Miss Lucy Wood, daughter of William Wood, of Henry County, Ala. To this union have been born two children, viz: Lucile and David C. Jr. Mr. Adams is a bright Mason, a member of the Baptist Church, and in politics is a Democrat.

Christopher C. Anderson, 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.

Christopher C. Anderson, civil engineer, Hawkinsville, was born January 7, 1840, in Twiggs County, Ga. His parents are Thomas W. and Susan (Roach) Anderson. Susan Roach was native of Georgia. Thomas W. was born in St. Augustine during the Spanish occupation of that colony. The children born to these parents were three: George, Susan F., wife of J. M. Gatewood, living in Albany, Ga, and Christopher C. Our subject was one of forty-three who graduated at Mercer College while the same was located at Penfield, class of 1861. He enlisted in the Sixth Georgia Regiment of Infantry, Twiggs Guards. Later he served in Blunt's battalion of Light Artillery. He saw service in twenty-eight pitched battles, besides skirmishes. Twenty-six years ago this day, he heard the first bomb shell, and saw the first Yankee soldier. The sound of that shell was music, sweet music to his ears. He had been lying idle so long and drilling he was anxious to get to business; but before the war closed the sound of that death-dealing instrument had lost its charms. That same night he saw for the first time a limb amputated. The different battles in the order of their occurrence were as follows: Siege of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Boonsboro or South Mountain, Sharpsburg or Antietam (in his opinion the hardest fought battle of the war), Fredericksburg, and again under General Hooker, Wilderness, Cancellorsville, Battery Wagoner, Fort Sumter siege, James Island, Ocean Pond, Petersburg, Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor (June 1, 1864), same June 3, Petersburg (June 16), same June 28, Petersburg blow-up (July 31), (April 7, 1863), Petersburg, same April 2. He surrendered at Appomattox. At Ocean Pond was shot in the side and returned home on sixty days' furlough. At Petersburg was wounded twice, not seriously. He was never taken prisoner, and his general health was splendid. The war closing, he taught school one year, then went to civil engineering, in which he has been quite successfully engaged ever since. He was married December 13, 1865 to Miss Laura, daughter of Joseph and Mary J. (Johnson) Tooke, of Houston County. Seven times has their home been made happy in the birth of children, as follows: Charles E., on the telegraph corps at Macon; Lela, Thomas W., Payton, Marie L., Alma and Julia. Mrs. Anderson is a member of the Baptist and her husband a member of the Episcopal Church.

Bellview Holiness Church

Bellview Holiness Church is located in Pulaski County, Georgia. About five years ago, Virginia Nobles Koons provided some information about the church, as well as photos of longstanding members who descended from the founder.

"Bellview Holiness Church was established by my great-grandfather, George Washington Irving Nobles. He donated the land and built the church. He was a minister and is listed as performing many of the marriages in the county at that time. He lived in the Whitfield District, near Bellview, which was a Hardshell Baptist Church at that time. The denomination has changed several times. My grandfather, John Washington Irving Nobles was the church clerk for many years. My father and his siblings and cousins were all raised attending the church. It was a Holiness Baptist Church during my childhood, when my grandmother, Ida Mae Akins Nobles was still living and a member of the church. There was an article in the Hawkinsville Dispatch many years ago about my father's aging cousins who were still members of the church, all of them are now deceased. They were Stella Arnold, Ida Mae Moore, and Jewell Bridges, all daughters of Nancy Nobles Conner."

John Washington Irving Nobles, son of Sarah Jane Howell

& George Washington Irving Nobles, founder of Bellview

Church.

Ida Mae Akins Nobles, wife of John W. Nobles

Martha Nobles Coody, Gene Neumans (deceased), Jake
Nobles (hiding), Johnnie Nobles Moore abt 1991 at Bellview
Homecoming.  Martha, Jake, & Johnnie are children of John
Washington Irving Nobles & Ida Me Akins.

Jake W. Nobles

Rev. Clarence Howell Neumans also grew up attending the Bellview
Church.  His parents were Zachariah Neumans & Georgia Nobles.  Georgia
was the daughter of the founder of the church and first pastor, Rev. George
W. Nobles & the sister of John W. Nobles, who was the church clerk.  He's
on the left.  The gentleman on the right is James "Red" Black.

Colonel Allen S. Cutts, 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.

Col. Allen S. Cutts was born in Pulaski County, Ga, December 4, 1826. His father, Major Cutts, was born in North Carolina, and came to Georgia in the early part of this century, settled in Warren County, but soon afterwards went to Pulaski County. In 1830 he moved to Houston County, where he lived until 1835, when he removed to Randolph County, where he died in 1843. He was by occupation a farmer all his life. His wife was Miss Elizabeth Linsey before marriage. She was born in Indiana. To their union were born twelve children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest child. He was brought up a farmer boy in Houston and Randolph counties, and received only a common school education. In 1851 he engaged in the mercantile business in Oglethopre, Ga, and continued the same until 1854, when he went to Americus and resumed business, in which he continued until the outbreak of the war. He then joined the Confederate army and raised a company of artillery in Americus, of which he was made captain. In 1862 he raised a battalion of artillery, known as Cutts' artillery, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and shortly afterwards to colonel. This battalion won a wide reputation by its fine work. At the close of the war Colonel Cutts returned to Americus and devoted his time to agricultural pursuits and cotton buying. He was at one time a man of large means, but like a great many others has met with reverses in business and lost a great deal. He is now engaged in cotton buying, and is one of Americus's best men. In 1872-73-74, he was mayor of Americus.

December 17, 1854, he was married to Miss Fannie O. Brown, daughter of James V. Brown, of Monroe County, Ga. To this union were born six children, viz: Claude S., Clarence V., Earnest A., Allen S., Inez M. and Eldridge H. His wife died December 8, 1886. Col. Cutts went to the Mexican war in 1846, and joined Company E, of Septoe's artillery as first sergeant of the company, and served in the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo, and returned to Georgia in 1848. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and F. A. M., and also of the Methodist Church. In politics he is a Democrat.

Ezekiel H. 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 2008.

Ezekiel H. Taylor, physician and surgeon, Hawkinsville, Ga, was born in Pulaski County, October 7, 1826. His parents are Robert N. and Louisa (Taylor) Taylor (no relation). The father was a physician and practiced in Pulaski and adjoining counties for forty years. He was one of the most noted practitioners in that part of Georgia, and no physician in the State did a larger practice. For successive days he has made over $100 a day in Pulaski, Houston, Dooly, Wilcox and Dodge counties. He would go from fifty to 100 miles in a trip, and no man in the State was more beloved than he. He was one of the kindest and most charitable of men, and never made any distinction between rich and poor. His income was never less than fifteen thousand and was sometimes twenty-five thousand dollars a year. He merchandised at Hawkinsville for four or five years (about 1826), and he also owned an interest in some boats on the river. His death occurred in 1852, at the age of fifty-four years, and his wife died in 1837, at the age of thirty years. Their children were: Ezekiel H., Richard deceased at the age of twelve years; Thomas L., died on pneumonia in Macon, at the age of fifty-five years, and Augustus R., died of Bright's disease March, 1887, aged fifty years. Robert N. Taylor's second marriage was to Miss Phillips, by whom he had two children, Louisa and Roberta (the latter dying in 1882, at the age of twenty-two years). The second Mrs. Taylor died in 1879, aged fifty years.

Dr. E. H. Taylor attended four years in the academic course, then graduated at Athens, class of 1845. He went to California March 8, 1849, and there passed two and a half years in the gold regions in company with his father and six others. He had a pleasant time, and has regretted many times since that he did not make that his permanent home. On going he first went to New Orleans, thence to Golgona, thence to Panama, thence to California. Cholera broke out on board the vessel, and his father took it in a malignant form, but recovered. He took calomel treatment prescribed by himself against the protests of the physicians on board. After remaining for a time in Coloma, they moved to American river, went into camp at Middle fork, and remained there about two years. They came home in 1851. Our subject attended medical college in the University of New York, graduated in 1852, and began practice at once. He opened out in Hawkinsville, where he remained for five years; then lived in Thomas County for six years; thence went to Laurens County, remained there for 1861 to 1880, then returned to Hawkinsville, and has since been practicing there with very good success. During the war he was county physician on the county board and was not in the service. He was married July 13, 1853, to Miss Sarah A., daughter of Pleasant G. Stone, of Dooly County. Their children are: Robert J., Henry E., Ezekiel, Eugenia and Augustus L. Robert J. is in the drug business in Hawkinsville, Ga; his first wife was Fannie Dillon (died in 1884); his second marriage was to Miss Mary Pate, daughter of Maj. John Pate, of Hawkinsville. Henry E. is in the shoe business at Brunswick, and is the consort of Miss Belle Davis, of Macon. Ezekiel, in merchandising at Hawkinsville, is the consort of Miss Mattie Ferguson of that place. Eugenia is a successful teacher of drawing and painting. Augustus L. is clerking in the drug store. Our subject is a member of the Masonic order, also of the I. O. O. F. He is a good physician, stands first-class in his profession, and is much respected by a large and increasing circle of acquaintances. Both parents are members of the Baptist Church, and the children all are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject's mother's father was Hon. Ezekiel Taylor, who by occupation was a farmer, but had served in the legislature many years. He was well and favorable known throughout the State.

James F. 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 2006.

James F. Nelson was born in Twiggs County, Ga, August 30, 1833. His family is of English extraction, being related to the late Lord Nelson, who fought and put to rout "all the might of Denmark's crown." His grandfather was a native of Virginia, but settled with his family at an early day in Georgia. Alfred Nelson was our subject's father. He was born in Virginia, but reared in Georgia, where he was a planter all his life. Mr. Nelson's mother was a Miss Jenkins before marriage, her christian name Mary, and she was a daughter of William Jenkins, a successful planter of Houston County, Ga. His brothers and sisters are: John Nelson, planter of Pulaski County, Ga; Martin, a lumberman of Houston County, Ga; Margaret, wife of N. C. Greer, of Brunswick, Ga; Rebecca M., wife of Columbus Mitchell, sheriff of Wilcox County, Ga; Caroline S., wife of Columbus; Murray, a planter of Coffee County, Ga; Fannie Pugh, widow. Mr. Nelson received a common-school education in Perry, Houston County, Ga, and finished by taking an academical course at Holly Springs, Ga. On quitting the latter place he began teaching, and followed this successfully for a number of years, first in Houston County then at Midway, and then at Dawson. He gave up teaching in 1868, and embarked in the general mercantile business, which he followed for one year at Dawson, and moved in 1870 to Brunswick, Ga, where he continued in the same business for the period of twelve years. At the end of that time he closed out his mercantile interests and in connection with his sons built the Ocean Hotel at that place, then the largest hotel in the city. He was interested in the management of this house for some time, but afterward sold out, and, on account of his failing health, moved to Florida and located in Orlando. During his residence in Brunswick he was for six years an alderman of the city, for four years mayor, and for five years clerk and treasurer, and on leaving there the city council presented him with a beautiful golden crowned staff in grateful remembrance of his faithful services while filling these various offices. Mr. Nelson married Miss Martha Ann Summerford, daughter of William Summerford, planter of Dooly County, Ga. To this union have been born four children: Annie May, wife of H. H. Dickson, of Orlando, Fla; Eugene A., of Brunswick, Ga,...; James F., Jr., conductor on the B. & W. R.R., and William H., in the printing business in New York city. Mr. Nelson is a Mason and a zealous member of the Baptist Church.