When an Event Involving My Relative Sparked a Lynching (Part III)

[Part I is here.] [Part II is here.]

Recently, I have been studying and compiling information about lynchings in Georgia.  So when I came across the article about my second cousin, James Francis Hammock, he was actually not the subject of my search.  The victim of the mob violence, John Shake, was.

It most likely was on the second read-through of the article that I made the connection.  I distinctly remember my jaw dropping, and a small amount of anxiety creeping up within me.  Later, a sense of relief came in a wave when I realized J. F. Hammock was not directly involved in the brutal hanging of John Shake.  Next came the wondering of how my cousin felt about what happened.  The genealogist side took over, and I got lucky.

DEPLORES LYNCHING.

Notwithstanding Victim Was Negro Who Shot Him.
Macon, Ga., July 28. – G. [sic] F. Hammock, a Dunbar merchant who is in the hospital here, deplores the lynching Sunday of John Shake, a negro, by a Houston county mob for shooting Hammock, while robbing his store.

Hammock will recover.

[News-Press (Ft. Myers, Florida) – 28 July 1913 – via Newspapers.com]

I won't lie.  Finding this blurb in the newspaper made me feel better.  But, truth be told, I can't really know for sure how genuine the comment was.  The clipping is simply something to be added to the whole body of research.

I chose not to dissect the original article detailing the alleged crime, as I believe knowing that it all happened in 1913 Georgia is enough.  If you are unsure of my meaning of this, may I humbly suggest the time period and environment is definitely worthy of study.  My opinion of the alleged criminality of John Shake is this:  maybe the decision to shoot at Hammock was one of opportunity.  If John Shake was truly caught trying to rob the store, he likely saw no way out.  He might have felt, believed, known, that his life was over no matter what he did.  So his best option was to try to escape the untenable situation.

What can I do to help the cause? "Tell the world the facts."

I've been reading some of the brave work done by anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells-Barnett.  So much – yet too much for this space – is worth quoting.  Hopefully the following will be sufficient:

The Negro does not claim that all of the one thousand black men, women and children, who have been hanged, shot and burned alive during the past ten years, were innocent of the charges made against them…

But we do insist that the punishment is not the same for both classes of criminals.  In lynching, opportunity is not given the Negro to defend himself against the unsupported accusations of white men and women.  The word of the accuser is held to be true and the excited bloodthirsty mob demands that the rule of law be reversed and instead of proving the accused to be guilty, the victim of their hate and revenge must prove himself innocent.  No evidence he can offer will satisfy the mob; he is bound hand and foot and swung to eternity.  Then to excuse its infamy, the mob almost invariably reports the monstrous falsehood that its victim made a full confession before he was hanged.

Does any of this matter today? Should it matter at all?

I can only answer those questions for myself:  yes, it matters, and it should.  Some may argue I'm applying presentism, interpreting past events in terms of modern values.  I respectfully disagree.

Slavery had been abolished with the ratification of the 13th amendment almost 48 years prior to the lynching of John Shake.  African Americans quickly proved they could be an integral part of society; they ran businesses and held public office during Reconstruction.  But southern states chose to enact harsh laws that enforced segregation and rolled back many of the meager freedoms African Americans had gained.

The law of the land had been circumvented.  Because African Americans had gotten too "uppity," mobs of people felt it necessary to teach them their place.  On a constant basis, and to the death.

This is not only wrong now, it was wrong then.

---

A Promise Kept

I've said my piece regarding the lynching of John Shake and my cousin's part in it, but I promised to return to the map shared in the first post.  Here it is again:

Even though I wasn't around in 1913, and John wasn't around when I grew up, I look at this map and see our crossed paths.

I was born in Wellston, though the name was changed to Warner Robins before my birth.  The Houston Medical Center stands roughly seven miles from the Dunbar Community.  Before I left my hometown a few years ago, I was living at Centerville – my apartment being roughly four miles from the Dunbar Community.

I've been to the swampy, muddy banks of the Ocmulgee River.  I can picture the scene in my mind.  The map above is dated 1933, but you have to believe those same pathways existed twenty years before.

I'll bet I've walked where those bloodhounds and groups of men – swelling to the number of 100 – feverishly searched and hunted for their prey.  I might have even stood on the once blood-soaked ground below where John Shake took his last breath.  This research experience, some 105 years after the fact, hit home for me.

Post (Post?) Script

It just so happens I am finishing this post on the 150th anniversary of the birth of W. E. B. Du Bois.  A link to an article written by Ibram X. Kendi came with my Twitter feed this morning.  The article is entitled The Soul of W. E. B. Du Bois, and it's about Du Bois's famous collection of essays called The Souls of Black Folk.  I confess to having never read this collection of Du Bois writings, but Kendi's article convinced me to do so.  The Souls of Black Folk is now waiting on my kindle.  A portion of The Soul of W. E. B. Du Bois combines words penned by Du Bois and Kendi:

“Let there spring, Gentle One, from out its leaves vigor of thought and thoughtful deep to reap the harvest wonderful,” Du Bois prayed at the end of Souls, in the section he called an afterthought. “Let the ears of a guilty people tingle with truth, and seventy millions sigh for the righteousness which exalteth nations, in this drear day when human brotherhood is a mockery and a snare.” Looking at the harvest of black thought since Souls, his prayers have been answered. But looking at our drear days when human unity remains a farce, his prayers have yet to be answered.

When an Event Involving My Relative Sparked a Lynching (Part II)

[Part I is here.]

So, who was J. F. Hammock? And given the use of initials, am I sure this was my relative?

James Francis "Jinks" Hammock was born 6 February 1877 in Houston County, Georgia to William Warren Peavy (1849-1899) and Scynthia A. Hammock (1854-1905).  A year after Jinks was born, for reasons that would require telling a whole other story, he was being raised by his maternal grandparents.  So James Francis Peavy became James Francis Hammock.

The Peavys of that area of Houston (later Peach) County called the town of Byron home.  This was not far from the community of Dunbar, where the lynching of John Shake took place.  Even on a present-day map, you can see Peavy Road and Dunbar Road are less than four miles from each other.

Census records for 1880, 1900, 1920, 1930, and 1940 place J. F. Hammock in Militia District 771 (locally known as Upper Fifth), which contained the community of Dunbar.  It was also noted on the 1920 census that he was residing on a farm on Dunbar Road.

A December 1909 obituary dedicated to the memory of his grandmother Sarah Hammock, specifically placed J. F. at the community of Dunbar.

James Francis Hammock married Minnie Lewis Avant on 29 July 1910.  The couple had daughter Sara nearly one year later.  This "wife and little daughter" family of J. F. follows exactly the narrative of the Macon Telegraph article.

If this wasn't enough to convince me the J. F. Hammock in the article about the lynching of John Shake was my second cousin James Francis, the document that would was his World War I Draft Registration (via FamilySearch).  In the space for notes to be made about the physical description of James Francis Hammock was this:  Lame arm from gun shot wound.  The card was dated September 1918, five years after the lynching of John Shake.

Just to button things up, James Francis Hammock died 18 January 1960, just a month after his wife.  The couple was buried at the Liberty Methodist Church graveyard in the Walden community of Bibb County, Georgia (where Minnie was from).  The church also was where James and Minnie were married.

Now, who was John Shake?

It truly bothers me greatly to admit I have no clue.  I have searched for him in census records from 1870 to 1910 in Houston and surrounding counties in Georgia.  Strange not to find a single mention of a man who supposedly was born around 1863 and lived in the same area all his life (or at least about 50 years, it was claimed).  I'm inclined to think the news articles were wildly inaccurate regarding this man who had his life taken from him in 1913.  Given he was a black man in the Jim Crow South, I guess it should be expected.

Conversely, I was able to locate no fewer than 19 records (including census, newspaper, military, cemetery, and marriage) regarding cousin James without leaving my home! The dichotomy between the lives of the two men brought together at that single point in time cannot be overstated.

To be clear, according to MonroeWorkToday, the lynching of John Shake is referenced in the Tuskegee University Archives database, in A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930, and in Fitzhugh Brundage's Lynching in the New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930.  But we may never know if the original newspaper source was faulty.

One more tomorrow. [Go to Part III.]

When an Event Involving My Relative Sparked a Lynching (Part I)

I've been thinking about how to write this series of posts for days.  Sitting here now, I'm still unsure what the final product will be.

So here we go.  The short of it is this:

On a summer night in 1913, my second cousin caught a supposed burglar attempting to rob his store at Dunbar, Houston County, Georgia.  The apparent perpetrator fired a gun at my cousin, wounding him in two places.  Afterwards the shooter fled the scene.  Neighbors came to the aid of my cousin, who was shortly thereafter taken to a hospital in the next county over.  A large group of men gathered and set out to find the person they believed attempted murder.  After some hours, they caught their man.  Upon returning to the community where the crime was committed, the group hung the crook and filled his body with bullets.

That is how I interpreted the published newspaper accounts that contemporaneously described the event.  As you can see, the alleged crime committed by the alleged criminal escalated from attempted burglary to attempted murder in no time flat.

What follows next is a transcription of the first newspaper article I read, in its entirety.  See if you get the same out of it that I did.  I'm including a map of some pertinent places mentioned in the article, and I will elaborate on what those locales mean to me in a later post.

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
Monday, 28 July 1913 - pg. 1 [via GenealogyBank's Newspaper Archive]

LYNCH NEGRO WHO FIRES ON MERCHANT

Houston Posse Is Rewarded After All-Day Search.

STRUNG UP AT DUNBAR

John Shake Had Shot J. F. Hammock.

CAUGHT ROBBING STORE

When Dunbar Merchant Interrupted Negro Burglar at His Work, Latter Fires On Him, Wounding Him in Wrist And Breast -- 100 Men Take Up Chase.

Eighteen hours after he had shot and seriously wounded J. F. Hammock, a merchant at Dunbar, thirteen miles south of Macon, in Houston county, when interrupted while in the act of robbing the store of Hanson and Hammock, John Shake, a fifty-year-old negro, was run down by a posse composed of one hundred Houston county men and lynched yesterday afternoon about 5 o'clock, a short distance from Dunbar. His body was strung up to a tree and was riddled with bullets.

J. F. Hammock, who was shot by the negro, is not fatally hurt, though at Williams sanitarium, in this city, last night it was stated he was weak from loss of blood and had suffered considerably from the shock. The charge from a shot gun had struck him on the left wrist, fracturing the bones and had also lodged in the breast, though the latter wound is not thought to be serious.

Hears Noise at Store.
It was about 11 o'clock Saturday night, an hour after the store at Dunbar had been closed, that Mr. Hammock, who lives with his wife and little daughter, three hundred yards from the store, heard a noise like someone breaking into the store. Two or three previous attempts having recently been made to burglarize the store, Mr. Hammock decided to investigate and, slipping up to the building, he saw a man inside.

"Come out of there; I have you," Mr. Hammock shouted, but the negro did not come as directed. Instead he secured a shotgun from inside the store and, searching about, found some shells with which to load the weapon. Then he appeared in the doorway and fired. Mr. Hammock fell to the ground wounded, and the negro fled.

Recognizes the Negro.
Mrs. Hammock, who heard the shot, quickly ran to her husband's assistance and called for aid. Mr. Hammock had recognized the negro as John Shake, a man about 50 years of age, who had lived around Dunbar practically all of his life and who had been under suspicion for some time as the party who had attempted to rob the store before.

A short time after the shooting a posse was formed and the search for the negro began. During the day the posse was augmented by others until it finally numbered one hundred men, all bent on running the negro down and avenging the attempt on the life of their friend and neighbor. The posse was divided into small groups of men, who were strung out across the county. Finally about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon the negro was found in a swamp on the river bank, near Wellston, about 10 miles below Dunbar. The negro was captured and brought back to Dunbar, arriving there about 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. He confessed that it was he who had done the shooting and without further ado he was strung up.

Wounded Man Brought Here.
While the posse had gone in pursuit of the negro, a call was sent to Macon for L. H. Burghard's ambulance and the injured man was brought to the Williams' sanitarium for medical attention, reaching this city at 4 o'clock yesterday morning.

Mr. Hammock is one of the best known men of Houston county, and has a wife and little daughter. The shooting aroused his friends to a high pitch of indignation.

Another article from another Georgia city's newspaper, The Augusta Chronicle, was published under this headline:

STRING HIM UP IN THE VERY HEART OF NEGRO SETTLEMENT:  Angry Georgia Mob Riddles Body of Black Who Shot Down Merchant Near Macon.

The same tale is basically told, with the addition that bloodhounds were used to track John Shake, and he was found in neck-deep swamp water.

An article out of Florida's Miami Herald began this way:

CHASED WITH BLOODHOUNDS, THEN HANGED

Fate of Negro Thief Who Mortally Wounded J. F. Hammock of Dunbar, Ga.

NEGRO WAS CAUGHT ROBBING STORE, AND RATHER THAN BE CAUGHT EMPTIED A SHOTGUN INTO HAMMOCK'S BODY -- HAMMOCK IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION IN MACON HOSPITAL.

Finally, the Asheville Citizen-Times of North Carolina published under this brazen falsehood:

GEORGIANS LYNCH NEGRO WHO KILLED A MERCHANT

The second to last line of the article did admit, "It is thought he [Hammock] will recover."

As you ponder the plight of John Shake, I leave you (for now) with this cautionary quote from Fitzhugh Brundage, author of Lynching in the New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930 --

For all of the information that newspaper accounts provide, their serious limitations also must be recognized.  Because the majority of extant newspapers from the period are white newspapers, they reflect the harsh racial attitudes of the day, and their accounts of lynchings, the alleged crimes that prompted lynchings, and the portrayals of mob victims must be treated with great caution…[W]hite descriptions of both the alleged offenses and the character of lynching victims cannot be accepted without question.

Be back tomorrow. [Go to Part II.]

Arsenic Used (an Attempt at Hoodoo?)

While conducting some other historical research, I came across the following newspaper article.  As someone with an interest in "folk medicine" and herbalism, I found the item interesting.  While I claim no expertise on the subject of Hoodoo, that is indeed what the article reminded me of.

Using the definition provided at ConjureDoctor.com, Hoodoo is

Southern folk magic grounded in centuries of African American heritage within the southern United States. Hoodoo is often known by other names including: conjure, rootwork, root doctoring, laying tricks, working roots or doing the "work". It is important to note, that contrary to what some authors may write in their books, Hoodoo is NOT Voodoo (Vodou). Hoodoo blends together the magical technology of Congo slaves that were taken from Africa in the slave trade, combined with Native American herbal knowledge, bits of European folk magic and Jewish mysticism.

Here's the article.  I'd love for anyone who has studied this more than I to weigh in on the subject.  Am I correct in drawing a correlation to Hoodoo?

Houston Home Journal (Perry, Georgia)
29 November 1888 – pg. 3 [Viewable online at South Georgia Historic Newspapers.]

Arsenic Used.

On Tuesday of last week Mr. Charlie Dasher and a Mr. Hicks were poisoned by drinking coffee at the home of Mr. S. F. Dasher, at Myrtle.

Immediately after drinking the coffee, the gentlemen named became deathly sick.  As soon as possible medical attention was secured, and it was ascertained that they had swallowed arsenic.  Further investigation revealed the fact that the arsenic was in the coffee they drank, no other person at the table having taken coffee: no one else became sick.

Suspicion was directed to Kate Allen, a negro woman, whom Mr. S. F. Dasher had threatened to whip for raising a disturbance on his premises.  Evidently Mr. S. F. Dasher was the person saught [sic] to be injured.

On Friday Kate Allen, and her cousin Henrietta Allen, were arrest[e]d and placed in the jail at Perry.  They confessed that it was through them that the poison was administered, but claimed that they did not know it was poison, but thought it was only a "conjure" powder that would "down the fuss."

Henrietta Allen placed the poison in the coffee while she was in Mr. Dasher's kitchen visiting the cook, a sister of Kate Allen, who gave it to her.

Kate Allen declares that she received the powder from "Dr." Ransom, a negro man, known among the negroes as an "Indian doctor." He is a travelling character, and was in Houston several years ago.  The negroes regard him with great veneration, and think his power to cure diseases and "conjure" people without limit.  He was arrested in Macon Tuesday, and county Bailiff Tuttle went up after him yesterday.  This so-called doctor is believed to be only the paid agent [of] another negro who treasures a "grudge" against Mr. S. F. Dasher.

It is almost certain that the really guilty party will be apprehended and brought to justice.  The two women were before the Houston county court yesterday, and were committed to the Supreme court for trial.

Messrs. Dasher and Hicks have about recovered from the effects of the poison.

*Image credit:  Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. (1926). Mississippi hoodo-doctors. Retrieved from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. No known US copyright restrictions.

Eli Warren: of Sound Sense and Patriotism

About a week ago, we began a walking tour of Perry, a town in Houston County, Georgia. It took us a little over an hour to visit just under 30 "significant sites". We have many more to go, and definitely plan to finish the tour.

One of the sites we had the pleasure to see was a house built for Eli Warren (b. 1801). It dates prior to 1870, and several window panes still with the home today bear dates of 1893 and 1894.

The brochure I have to accompany the tour states: "General Warren sat in two constitutional conventions of Georgia, in both of which also sat his only son, and in one of which also his son-in-law, Colonel Goode; a coincidence never equaled in the history of this State."

Eli Warren died 14 February 1882 and rests in Evergreen Cemetery, about five blocks from his former home at 906 Evergreen Street. I visited his grave site about four years ago.

And here's an obituary from the 15 February 1882 Atlanta Constitution:

General Eli Warren

His Sudden Death Yesterday from Heart Disease

A special dispatch to "The Constitution" states that General Eli Warren died suddenly at his home in Perry at 12 o'clock yesterday of heart disease.

General Warren was one of the oldest of the living prominent men in Georgia, being eighty-two years of age. He was perhaps during his lifetime more continually identified with public matters in Georgia than any other man in the state. Although more than four score years of age, his interest in public matters continued up, we might say, to the day of his death. As a lawyer and as a planter, as a legislator, as a member of conventions and as a party leader no man has been more honest, and no man's acts have been marked by more strong, sound sense and patriotism than those of General Warren. His acts as a member of the constitutional convention of 1877 bear out the statement that the last years of his life witnessed a clearness of mind and soundness of judgement rarely found in one of his age. He has been the friend, acquaintance and contemporary of every distinguished public man in Georgia for the last half a century and has been personally respected by them all. He has enjoyed their confidence as well as the confidence of the people. He was known as a man who took great interest in agriculture, indentifying himself with the interests of the farmers. While he was not what we would call a finished orator, he was an unusually strong writer and a man who always expressed his opinions fearlessly and openly upon all questions. He was one of the few men that we have had in Georgia who dared to face public criticism and adverse public opinion. He was never afraid to express his sentiments and act by his judgement.

He leaves two children that we remember -- a son, Mr. Josiah L. Warren, of Savannah, and a daughter, who married Judge Grice, at one time of the Macon judicial circuit. Mr. Warren, of Savannah, is a man of about 45 years of age and inherits the independence and ability of his father together with his turn for political management.

In the death of Judge Warren Georgia loses a noble man whose service in the forming of her fundamental law was the fitting conclusion of a long life of usefulness and honor.

Eli Warren
Born Feb 27, 1801
Died Feb 14, 1882

Honored and Useful in Life,
And Peaceful in Death.
His Children Rise Up and
Call Him Blessed.

I'm actually connected to General Eli Warren. He was an uncle of the husband (Silas Scarborough) of the sister-in-law (Martha Jackson) of my 2nd great grand uncle, William Peavy.

Lester Cemetery in Elko

Many, many moons ago, I received a listing of burials at Lester Cemetery in Elko, Houston County, Georgia. I had them online with one of the county projects, but it was subsequently removed when I changed things over on my website.

Cover page I received with list.

I just finished putting all the burials (that weren't already there) on FindAGrave.  Give it a search, if you'd like.  Surnames include:

Brown, Burke, Cobb, Cosby, Crowd, Dyer, Jackson, Lester, Malcolm, McNair, Perry, Thomas, Vance

Search for cemetery records in Lester Family Cemetery, GA at by entering a surname and clicking search: Lester Family Cemetery, GA (78 names)All of Find A Grave (117.9 million names) Restrict search to Surname

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.

Office of Dr. Moultrie Warren (1880-1915)

This shop was originally constructed for Dr. Moultrie Alfred Warren
(1880-1915) as a doctor's office and drug store. Later, it became Vinson's
Pharmacy, and then, finally, the Robertson's Pharmacy. It now houses the
Byron, Georgia Welcome Center.

Photo taken about 2004 by S. Lincecum

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.

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.

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.

A Friend of Friends Friday: Negro Man Named Bob Brought to Jail

Augusta Chronicle, Georgia
24 April 1840
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)

BROUGHT TO JAIL, on the 15th instant, a negro man by the name of BOB, and says he belongs to Samuel Felder of Perry, Houston county, Geo. Said negro is about five feet nine or ten inches high, of light complexion, no scars, except one on the breast by the whip. The owner is requested to come forward, pay charges and take him away. JAMES HALL, Sheriff

Samuel Felder's Confederate Application for Presidential Pardon (Amanuensis Monday Tuesday)

Yesterday I posted a transcription of Edward Lewis Felder's Confederate Application for Presidential Pardon. Today I will bring you his father's. Samuel Felder was born 24 November 1796 in South Carolina, possibly a son of Henry Felder and Margaret Standmeyer. In 1860 he was living in Houston County, Georgia with a combined real and personal estate valued at $107,152. He was the owner of twenty slaves.

Samuel's son (Samuel Felder, Jr.) enlisted and fought with Company C, Georgia 6th Infantry Regiment. Samuel, Jr. died from wounds 1 June 1862, most likely in Virginia as a result of the Battle of Seven Pines.

[Pg 1, Left Side]
Houston Co Georgia
Aug 16th 1865

Felder Samuel
Citizen

Applies for Pardon

_____ Dist of Columbus
Macon Georgia
Aug 16th 1865
Respectfully forwarded
Jno Thorton
Brig Genrl U.S.V.
Comdry

[Pg 1, Right Side]
Houston County
Georgia
Samuel Felder
_____ application for pardon

Executive Office
Provisional Govt of Geo
Milledgeville, Sep 8, 1865
This applicant makes what I believe to be an honest confession of his great sorrow in favoring the secession of Georgia. He is represented as a reliable and conscientious man, and certainly takes a proper view of the results of the war. So, I believe he will in future make a peaceable & loyal citizen. I recommend his pardon.
J. Johnson
Pro Gov of Ga

Eli Warren Atto for applicant & his address is "Fort Valley
Houston County
Georgia"

[Pg 2]

Perry, Houston County, Georgia
August the 12th 1865,

To His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States -- J.C.

I am a citizen of Houston County Georgia, residing in the town of Perry. I am Sixty eight years old & have a wife & five living children - I am excluded from the benefits of the Amnesty Proclamation of your Excellency of the 29th May last and under the 13 chapter therein only & Because I was a voluntarily participant in the late Rebelion of the South against the United States - and was on the said 29th of May & am now worth in taxable property over the sum of Twenty thousand ($20,000) dollars besides slaves, and respectfully ask that your Excellency grant me a special pardon, that being the only exception in said proclamation _____

The government of the United States has no property of min it its possession -- nor am I aware of having any property of the Government of the United States in my possession -

No proceedings have been commenced against me in any of the courts of the United States for Treason - or for conspiracy against the Government of the United States - so far as I know, or believe or ever heard of -

I am neither a politician or professional man and never held a civil or military office in my life except some 40 years ago I was a Justice of the Peace, - I ever & always have been a farmer and have devoted the most of my time & attention to that business -- And I know less about the Constitution & political matters than those [Pg 3] should know that have made them their study. An unfortunate strife has long since existed between the North & the South upon the slavery question -- Many leading politicians of the South professed to believe - & so assured the people, that for Georgia or the slave states to secede from the union would put an end to that strife, be a complete remedy for that evil -- That it was a rightful & peaceable remedy, that instead of causing a war between the two sections that it was a measure of peace between them - & would result in good to both North & South - because it would restore & establish peace between the two sections. -- This was what many of the leading politicians in the South assured the people -- Those to whom I had been in the habit of looking for advice on political matters & who had my confidence assured me that no war - but peace between the two sections on the slavery question would result from secession - and confiding in their opinions & judgement on the subject of secession & wishing to see the strife so long & so unhapily existing between the North & the South on the slavery question put an end to - & that to peaceably - I was for that cause, in favor of Georgia's seceeding from the Union - & so voted for members of the Convention that passed the Ordinance of Secession. -- In giving that vote, I am satisfied that I at least made a great mistake - for I was deceived as to the effect of secession upon the peace of the country - & my conduct in that regard I regret. ~

But what assumed to be a Confederate Government having soon thereafter been established - I then felt it to be [Pg 4] right to aid to some extent the country of my residence in the war that it seems so unexpectedly to me, resulted from or _____ out of secession -- In this though I never took up arms or in any way entered the service of the Confederate States - so called - but did contribute something in money & supplies to sustain the confederate soldiers in the field - this I did though to a limited extent. ~

But the war has terminated disastrously to the South & I most heartily wish it never had commenced & I pray your Excellency to grant me a special pardon as I desire to be restored to all the rights & privileges of a citizen of the United States. ~ I recognize the fact that slavery is dead & cannot be revived -- I have taken an Amnesty Oath hereto attached & will in good faith conform to all the obligations thereby imposed.
I am very Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
SamL Felder

Georgia
Houston County

Before me personally came Samuel Felder of said county & state and being duly sworn says on oath that the facts stated in his foregoing petition are true. ~
Sworn to & subscribed before me, this August 12th - 1865
W. T. Swift Ordinary
Houston Co Ga

Samuel died a couple of years later on 3 October 1867. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery at Perry, Georgia. His epitaph states he was A Baptist 40 Years.

Edward Felder's Confederate Application for Presidential Pardon (Amanuensis Monday)

Edward Lewis Felder was born 3 May 1826 in South Carolina to Samuel and Ann Felder. In 1860, he was living in Houston County, Georgia and was the owner of thirty slaves. Here is a transcript of his Confederate Application for Presidential Pardon:

[Pg 1, Left Side]
Application for Special Pardon by Edward L. Felder
of Houston County State of Georgia
Within 13 Exception
Sept 28 / 65
Worth over $20,000
Perry, Geo

[Pg 1, Right Side]
Executive Officer
Provisional Govt of Geo
Milledgeville Sep 2 1865
I recommend pardon & amnesty for this applicant, as I am satisfied from his character and petition, he will prove a peaceable, loyal & useful citizen.
J. Johnson
Pro Gov of Ga

[Pg 2]
Application for Special Pardon
State of Georgia
Houston County
Town of Perry
August 26th, 1865

To His Excellency Andrew Johnson
President of the United States

The Petition of Edward L. Felder respectfully showeth that he is a resident citizen of said county and state, that he is thirty nine years of age, that he has a wife and six children, and that he is excluded from the benefits of Amnesty Proclamation of May 29. Eighteen Hundred and Sixty five. only by reason of his holding property of the value of Twenty Thousand Dollars, though Petitioner is _____, but little if any over that amount.

Your Petitioner respectfully showeth that none of his property is in possession of the United States Government and that no proceedings have been instituted against him in any of the courts of the United States, for treason or conspiracy against the Government of the United States.

Your Petitioner further showeth that in Eighteen Hundred and Sixty, he voted for delegates to the state conventions to consider such measures as might be necessary, to [redress? reduce?], what all professed to _____, grievances to the South. with the understanding however, that said delegates were not in favor of secession, as the only remedy. And your petitioner [Pg 3] now sees that secession was a great and fatal mistake. Your Petitioner has never been in the service of the Confederate States, and fully recognizes the authority and dignity of the United States and acquiesces in its policy.

Your Petitioner has informed his former slaves that they are free, and made a fair and liberal contract with them, which has been approved by the Commandant of this post. and realizes and acknowledges the fact, that slavery is forever extinguished.

Your Petitioner has already lost greatly by the war.

Your Petitioner has taken and subscribed the oath hereto attached and will faithfully observe its obligations, and desires to be restored to all the rights and privileges of a citizen of the United States. Therefore your Petitioner prays that your Excellency may grant him a Special Pardon, and your Petitioner will ever pray & c & c.

E. L. Felder
Petitioner

(Affidavit and Amnesty Oath over.)

[Pg 4]
State of Georgia
Houston County

Ordinarys Office in & for said County

I Edward L. Felder of said county and state do swear before Almighty God, that the facts stated in the foregoing petition to which my signature appears are true.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 26th day August 26th 1865.
W. T. Swift
Ordny Houston County Georgia

Apparently, Edward was able to maintain his lifestyle even after the war, as the 1870 Houston County, Georgia federal census shows his real estate plus personal estate combine to be valued at $72,000.

Edward died 25 August 1872 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery at Perry, Houston County, Georgia.

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.