USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 10
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Ezekiel Forman, father of Gen. T. M. Forman and son of JJoseph and Elizabeth Lee Forman, married first Augustine, or Augustina, Marslı, daughter of Thomas Marsh and Mary ( Thompson) Marsh; the latter a granddaughter of John Thompson and Judith ( IIerrman) Thompson ; the latter a daughter of Augustin Herrman and JJanitia his wife, daughter of Casper and Judith Varlethi.
Ezekiel Forman was commissioned high sheriff of Kent County, Maryland, January 14, 1776; appointed paymaster to the eastern shore marching militia ; member of the Council of Safety of Maryland and died at his wilderness plantation four or five miles from Natchez, Mis- issippi, having journeyed down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to this plantation to cultivate tobacco. He wrote an interesting narrative of this journey, which has been printed, a copy being in the possession of the writer of this paper.
Augustine Herrman, colonist, first in New Amsterdam, now New York, and next Lord of Bohemia Manor in Maryland; he acquired this title and large tract of land through his making a valuable map of Maryland and Virginia at a cost to him of ten thousand dollars or two hundred pounds, which was an important acquisition to Mary- land, and thereby the grant of the title of Lord and the Bohemia Manor. Ile was born at Prague, Bohemia, and died on his manor in 1686; his father and mother were Augustin Ephraim Herrman and Beatrice, daughter of Casper Redel of Prague, a patrician family. A copy of the above mentioned map is in the possession of the writer of these papers, and the original map has been in the map department of the British Museum these many years.
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To return to Dr. Sereven: A monument committee, composed of John Shelhnan, John Stevens, William B. Bulloch. J. V. Bevan, R. W. Habersham, A. Porter, James P. Sereven, William Gaston, Alexander Telfair, A. B. Fanin and J. Bond Read, was formed to erect monu- inents to General Green and the Count Pulaski; and on November 30, 1826, the state authorized a committee, of which Dr. Sereven was a member, to institute a lottery by which to obtain funds for these monuments.
In 1834 there was cholera in Savannah, and in December, the state appropriated $15.000 to be used in a Lazaretto to be located at Savan- nah, and Dr. Sereven was one of a committee to select a site. This com- mittee reported. February 5, 1835. in favor of the extreme western point of Tybee island. which was on Lazaretto creek.
About 1835, Dr. Sereven retired from the practice of medicine and with his family resided at Non Chalance. Wilmington island. for the purpose of actively prosecuting his planting interests there as well as in South Carolina and in Georgia on the Savannah river. This he fol- lowed successfully, thereby gathering large profits. and if he chose, the position of a man at ease in this world's goods. His energy and mental endowment allowed but little ease. However, about 1847-8, he and his family moved back to Savannah, and it is found that he was an alder- man in the 61st, 62nd. 63d and 64th administrations of the city, and mayor in the 67th administration.
As alderman, during the calamitous yellow fever of 1854, he sent his family to Non Chalance, Wilmington island, remaining himself un- mindful of the dread fever. At one time, September 21, 1854, he as act- ing mayor, and Mr. Alderman Mallory, were the only ones of the mayor and aldermen, who were able to care for the interests of the city. Fort- unately the fever did not attack him. His greatest misfortune was after the fever had almost ceased, when on November 7, 1854, his son, James, was drowned in the river north of Non Chalance, while en- deavoring to swim ashore to safety with a young lady who was visiting the family.
During the period from 1850 to and including 1857. the improve- ments to the city were the acquirement of the Springfield plantation, purchased by Dr. Sereven and turned over to the city of Savannah at the purchase price: the establishment of Laurel Grove cemetery; intro- duction of gas; the building of water works; building of the Savannah. Albany and Gulf and Atlantic and Gulf railroads (now the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad), of which Dr. Sereven was president : introduction of a public school system. For this, see Gamble-Mayor Myers report. 1799-1900. In 1855, Dr. Sereven visited New York. England and France and Holland to observe the methods for the supply and purification of water, which might apply for use at Savannah. During his absence and without his knowledge, he was elected senator to the legislature by his fellow citizens. As mayor of the city his administration met with gen- eral approbation.
Dr. Cosmo P. Richardsone. the popular captain of the Savannah Volunteer Guards (organized 1802), having died early in 1:52. Dr. Sereven was soon after elected their captain, which met with hearty appreciation. for with his accustomed energy and intelligence. he thor- oughly fitted himself by sincere devotion. And so he demonstrated his capacity as a military leader and the Guards flourished. One instance of his fondness for the corps was his gift of several lots of land in the southern section of the city. It should be mentioned that in 1835, he volunteered, probably with the Guards. to serve in Florida. against the Indians. He resigned his command abont 1857, when his son. John, succeeded him.
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Dr. Sereven having died in Virginia in July, 1859, his remains were there temporarily interred, and on the 9th of April, 1860, they were brought to his late residence at the southwest corner of Congress and Abercorn streets in Savannah. On that day the mayor and aldermen met and adopted the following resolutions, introduced by Mr. Alder- man Abraham Minis: "Whereas, it has pleased Almighty Providence to remove from our midst one of our most cherished citizens-one who has served this community most zealously, faithfully and creditably- one who never took a place that he did not fill, and one than whom Savannah had never a more true and loving son, for whose prosperity life itself was not too great a sacrifice.
"Dr. James P. Sereven was useful and honorable among men; dis- charging many publie duties, and among them the mayoralty of our city, and no one in that capacity has ever labored more zealously and suc- cessfully for her weal; it is therefore meet that as his remains are borne from afar, whence he breathed his last. to mingle with the sands he loved so well, that this council shall endeavor to pay all respect to so much departed worth.
"Be it therefore resolved, That the Mayor and Aldermen, accom- panied by the officers of the council. will, in their official capacity, as a body attend the funeral ceremonies of the honored deceased.
"Be it further resolved, That a copy of these proceedings be fur- nished to the family of the deceased, and be published in the gazettes of the city."
The funeral was held on April 10, 1860, and the remains placed in the Sereven vault in Laurel Grove cemetery.
In the Savannah Republican was published: "The characteristics of Dr. Sereven were not only an acute and comprehensive intellect, but an energy and perseverance of industry, which made him anywhere and everywhere a man of mark."
It was also written of him: "He was an extraordinary man, fitted by physical and intellectual equipment to lead in affairs requiring great energy, resolution, devotion and judgment. The public and private confidence, enlisted through these eminent qualities, entitled him to the distinctions he actually attained, and to them would have been added the highest honors of the state had his life been prolonged."
COL. JOHN SCREVEN. (Prepared by Thomas F. Sereven.) In presenting a memorial of Col. John Sereven, and of such as he, an eloquent tribute to the Confederate dead by a contemporary may be appropriately used: "Yes, strew their graves with roses, for we loved them and they loved us and gave their lives for us. Sprinkle them with lilies, for their motives were pure and their shields bright and stainless as their honor. Scatter them with forget-me-nots, for they dwell forever in our hearts, unforgotten. Cover them with immortelles, for their deeds are immortal, and while the rains deseend to beautify their graves, while the sunshine gilds bright their memorial stones, while a southern emotion or impulse exists, we shall never cease to love and honor them:" and so with John Sereven, for he occupied a sphere of love and reverence in the hearts and minds of his fellow men who mourned when he was removed from their sight and companionship.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, September 18. 1827. the oldest child of Dr. James Proctor Sereven and Hannah Georgia (Bryan) Sereven, he imbibed the teachings of tender parents and these sentiments, when developed, displayed him a man among men,-a mind well balanced, educated in scholarly knowledge and refinement. and equipped with energy and capacity to fill almost any position of honor and trust.
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One of his courses of education was at a school near Philadelphia ; the next being at Bolmar's (who had been a soldier in the army of Napoleon the Great ) at or near Princeton, New Jersey, where he was an apt and appreciative scholar: then at Franklin College, later the University of Georgia. At Franklin College, in the sophomore elass, he contested for the prize medal offered to the best elocutionist. He and one other student were adjudged the best, and there being but one medal, another was furnished and presented to him. He did not graduate at this college, for when on a vacation at home, the faculty invited him not to return. Yet in after years, he was appointed one of the board of trustees for this university. Upon his retirement from college his studies were directed by a competent tutor. He then studied law with Judge William Law, one of the distinguished lawyers of Savannah. Finishing the course in law, he began the practice. At his father's solieitations he elosed his office and undertook to manage his large planting interests. This he followed with unbounded energy, · intelligence and suecess. He introdueed rollers for erushing plowed land, riee plows and a rice sowing machine, which were valuable in the preparation of rice lands for cultivation and in the sowing of seed.
In the year 1847, Colonel Sereven went to Europe, and meeting the Hon. George Baneroft in London, he was advised to begin his studies at Heidelberg. After a few months, his health not being good and a longing for home possessing him, he returned to Savannah to resume planting. In 1849 he married the beautiful and lovely in character Mary White Footman, a daughter of Dr. Richard and Mary Constanee (Maxwell) Footman, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Habersham) Maxwell, a daughter of James and Ilester (Wylly) Habersham, a sister of Col. Richard Wylly and daughter of Alexander Wylly. James Habersham was a son of Hon. James Habersham (a native of England, immigrant to the province of Georgia and who held many high and important offiees in Georgia) and his wife Mary (Bolton) Habersham.
Colonel Sereven's second marriage was to Mary Eleanor (Nesbit) Browne, widow of Col. Thomas Browne (eolonel of Seeond Alabama Regiment of Cavalry, and killed at Murfreesboro), and daughter of Hugh O'Kiefe Nesbit of Macon, Georgia. She died in 1883. Colonel Sereven had seven children by his first marriage and two by the second. Three children of the first marriage survived him, but two of these soon followed. One ehild of the second marriage survived him, and she died soon afterward, but there are descendants in the first, seeond and third generations.
Colonel Sereven was elceted, in 1858. captain of the Savannah Vol- unteer Guards. He was wonderfully successful in this command, the guards largely inereasing in numbers and skill in the military exercises, and in popularity. They soon purchased a suitable building and lot for an armory on the corner of York and Bull streets. When General Sherman and his troops occupied Savannah, this building was burned. On January 3, 1861, Hon. Joseph E. Brown, governor of Georgia, as a precaution, ordered the seizure of Fort Pulaski at the month of the Savannah river. A detachment of the guards, under Captain Sereven's conmand, the Oglethorpe Light Infantry. Capt. F. S. Bartow and the Chatham Artillery were sent to carry out the order and the fort was seized and occupied. The guards performed service at several periods during the months of January and February, 1861. Their next service under Captain Sereven, clothed in Confederate gray (they were the first military companies to adopt the gray uniform) was in the Con- federate states' service for sixty days, April and May, 1861, at a battery at Thunderbolt, Chatham county; the second term of service was for
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six months at Fort Sereven and Battery Stiles on Green island, both under the command of Captain Sereven. The third enlistment as the Savannah Volunteer Guards Battalion, in 1863, designated as the Eighteenth Georgia Battalion, of three companies, A, B and C, was on March 1, 1862, for three years, or the war. Captain Sereven was elected major, but served only as acting such, not being commissioned by the state, but shortly after a commission was issued to him as major of artillery by the Confederate government. During this enlistment he was frequently absent from his command, having an additional duty imposed upon him by the authorities in supervising obstructions in the Savannah river by means of sunken eribs loaded with stone or brick; but he was permanently detached in December, 1862, from the com- mand to take charge of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad for the better transportation of government supplies and troops. Upon General Sher- man's approach to Savannah in December. 1864, Colonel Sereven, with the equipments of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, left the city for south- west Georgia, and. at Way's Station. in Bryan county, narrowly escaped capture by that general's troops, who were marching on Fort McAllister. Colonel Sereven returned to Savannah in May, 1865. It was in 1864 that his services were required in Savannah in the work of raising troops. Succeeding with five companies, he was commissioned a lieu- tenant-colonel, and thence liis title of colonel. The command of the Savannah Volunteer Guards fell to Capt. William S. Basinger of Com- pany A, he being the senior officer. After the war, in 1872, he, Major Basinger, was elected major of the battalion of the Savannah Volun- teer Guards and served for about ten years, after which he resigned, when the corps desired Colonel Sereven to accept the command, but he declined the honor.
In 1859 Colonel Sereven succeeded his father in the presidency of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad. After the war between the Confederate states and the United States, he was retained in the presidency for many years, encountering serious difficulties in the management and maintenance of the road in consequence of the costs of its restoration of the roadbed and the poverty of the contiguous country, which indeed were largely attributable to the results of the war and course pursued by the victors. The company having gone into bankruptcy, he was retained as receiver. It was finally sold and was called the Savannah, Florida & Western Railway, now the Atlantic Coast Line.
Colonel Sereven was elected the mayor of Savannah to serve during administrative periods from 1869 to 1873, but resigned before the expiration of the last period. In the election to that office in 1869, he represented the Democratic party of the city and was opposed by the Republican party. He received a majority of 2.010 votes over his opponent. Upon this result there was great rejoicing, evidenced by a grand parade of citizens bearing banners. Whilst mayor he was charged with mal-administration of the affairs of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, but at a meeting of the stockholders, he was re-elected presi- dent, and at a later publie meeting of stockholders and citizens he was honorably exonerated from these charges. His administrative abilities and resolution were markedly judicious. An instance was while mayor of the city, during the regime of Aaron Alperio Bradley, the leader of the Republican negroes and carpet baggers, when anticipating the seizure by this class of the polls at an election to be soon hield, he notitied the volunteer companies of the city to be ready, sent to New York for a rapid fire gun, requested the aid of the authorities at Washington, D. C., and sending for one of the leaders of the white Republicans in- formed him that he would be the first one shot if any sneh action
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occurred. The white leader left Savannah that night and no disturb- ance occurred at the polls.
On March 11, 1873, Colonel Sereven was persented with a hand- some gift, upon which was inseribed: "Hon. John Sereven, mayor of Savannah, 1869-1873. A token of esteem and affection from the Savan- nah Police Department, March 11, 1873."
Having been relieved of his railroad duties upon the sale of the Atlantie & Gulf Railroad, he was chosen an associate arbitrator of the Southern Railway & Steamship Association, and as such served with distinguished credit and approval.
He was the first president of the Sons of the Revolution, a member of the Jasper Monumental Association, president of the board of trustees of the Chatham Academy, member and third vice-president of the Confederate Veteran's Association, Camp 756, president of the Georgia Historical Society, trustee of the University of Georgia, member of the board of education, member of the legislature, 1859-60, judge of the inferior court of Chatham county from 1852, honorary mein- ber of the Savannah Volunteer Guards, commissioner on the eonstrue- tion of the state capitol at Atlanta, Georgia, member of the Savannah Benevolent Association, member of the Drainage Commission, 1877. In the yellow fever epidemie of 1876, "he rendered fearless, devoted and noble service." Ilis oldest son, James Proetor Sereven, died of this 'disease. Col. Sereven was attacked, but recovered, having remained in the city to attend to his railroad duties.
Col. Sereven's last publie effort was in the fall of 1899, when an executive committee, of which he was chairman, made complete prep- arations for the reunion of the Georgia division of the United Con- federate Veterans to be held in Savannah on November 22, 23, and 24, 1899. This was a notable event and was attended by numerous Vet- erans and Daughters of the Confederacy with their distinguished guests. On this occasion he delivered an address of welcome.
Col. Sereven was an excellent presiding officer at meetings of elubs, associations, committees, and popular assemblies, for he understood parliamentary law and its application. In conversation, his charm of manner and his diction made him most entertaining. He was not given to story-telling. As an orator he had but few equals. As a writer he was lucid and cultivated. His mind was a storehouse of varied and valuable information acquired from youth to old age. In height he was about five feet ten and a half inches, slender in build, graceful in his movements, ever polite, easily approached, and kind and generous in all ways.
The following is copied from the report of the committee of the Georgia Historical Society on the death of Col. Sereven, which occurred on January 9, 1900; the committeemen were members of the society: Col. George A. Mereer, Dr. R. J. Nunn, Judge Robert Falligant, B. A. Denmark, Esq., and JJ. R. Sanssy, Esq.
"At the date of his decease he was president of the University Chib of Savannah. president of the board of trustees of Chatham Academy, president of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and president of the Georgia Historical Society. It is to the dignified, able. and efficient discharge of the important functions of this last . high office that your committee more particularly seek to pay merited tribute. . "Col. Sereven was elected a member of our society on the 10th day of March, 1851. Hle was chosen a enrator February 13, 1888. At the last date he was elected second viec-president and first vice-president on February 12, 1889. Ou June 16, 1898, upon the death of our then lamented president, the distinguished Henry R. Jackson, he was unan-
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imously chosen president of the society, and filled the office up to the day of his death. For this position he was eminently fitted both by character and training. His conduct as man and officer was a model to all observers; his deportment was suave and winning; and his literary ability and culture, his love of art, his sympathy with every proper expression of beauty, were pronounced and abiding. One of the strong- est qualifications he held for the position was his becoming attention to details. He fully appreciated the value of minutia and did not con- sider it the mark of a strong mind to neglect little things. While he accepted the rules which Shakespeare announced through the mouth of Lepidus that 'small to great matters must give way,' he did so with the frequent qualification of Enorbarbus, 'not if the small come first.' He knew that compacted grains of sand often make a surer foundation than mighty blocks of stone. In fine, he obeyed the injunction of the Apostle, and did all things, both great and small, at all times and in all places, decently and in order.
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"Col. Sereven was one of the last links left that bound us to a gen- eration less materialized, less selfish and money loving. and in many respects possessing more high tones than onr own. He belonged to that class of men who help to punctuate a cycle, and the bloom of whose life and character adorns a generation. He was always considerate and conciliating. His voice, like Cadelia's, was soft, gentle and low, and he was too refined a gentleman to be ever noisily demonstrative or other- wise. He was a very rare combination of the fortiter in re with the suaviter in modo. He always wore upon the iron hand the velvet glove. To the abounding virility of the strong man he united the gentle courtesy of the refined and delicate woman. The very atmosphere that he exhaled was redolent of his goodness and spread the pure contagion of his life and purpose. It was impossible to come within the sphere of his influ- ence without feeling a sense of betterment, and realizing a consciousness of elevation. He was indeed a knight without fear and without re- proach. What better can be said of him than that he was always a perfect southern gentleman, and at a period when to reach such an ideal was to be a little lower than the angels.
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"Happy Historical Society to have numbered among its guides such noble characters, and to have been able to diffuse its divine purposes through the influences and example of such pure and lofty example ! Be it therefore
"Resolved, 1st, That in the death of Col. John Sereven the Georgia Historical Society has lost a most faithful and accomplished presiding officer, a wise counsellor, and a cherished and lamented friend.
"2d. That the city of Savannah has lost one of her most public spirited and useful citizens, who occupied a large place at every state of its progress, and in all its advancements, charities, and amenities was ever foremost.
"3d. That a certified copy of these proceedings be sent to the fam- ily of the deceased with the profoundest sympathy of the Society.
"4th. That they be spread upon the minutes of the Society upon pages specially set apart for that purpose.
"5th. That the chair of the late president be draped in mourning for a period of sixty days."
Hon. Robert Falligant, for the committee appointed by the board of managers to prepare suitable resolutions tonehing the death of Presi- dent John Sereven, made the following report which was ordered to be spread upon the minutes :
"Col. John Sereven, Sons of the Revolution. A Minute.
"In common with many organizations of the city, eivil and mili-
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tary, our Society mourns the loss of a distinguished son and a devoted president in the death of Col. John Sereven. So broad and catholic was the spirit, so many and versatile were the gifts, so deep and pro- found the interest of Colonel Sereven, that he touched the life of the city at every point, and while health and strength continued he never ceased to give himself and of the brilliant personality he possessed to the welfare of every institution that tended to broaden and enrich our communal life. And thus, as the municipality of Savannah mourns in his death the loss of one who filled with highest honor the office of chief executive ; as the veterans of the past and the Volunteer Guards of the present stood together around his grave to testify to the fearless soldier in times of war and the wise counselor in times of peace; as state and city both remember with gratitude the illustrious statesman who reflected honor to the name of Georgia: so it seems good to us, his associates in the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, to enter this minute of respect and admiration upon the pages of our record. To us, in the more lim- ited sphere of usefulness, as he was to others in the broader sphere of life's activities, Col. Sereven was always the wise counselor, the help- ful friend, the judicious manager of the patriotic interests of our Society. Himself the descendant of a long line of distinguished ancestry, he was particularly fitted to kindle and preserve a live interest in the deeds of the heroic men of the early days of our country. Possessing a fund of historie lore, well versed in the history of his native state, with a mind enriched by varied reading, it seemed to him-and through him to us- a duty to keep alive, by this Society the memory of the men whose wise statesmanship established, and whose blood cemented, the original Union of the States.
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