A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II, Part 14

Author: Harden, William, 1844-1936
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1208

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Although born in Savannah. Christian David Lebey was educated in Connecticut, and subsequently established an extensive jewelry busi- ness in Savannah, where the greater part of his life was spent.

David Christian was a life-long resident of Savannah. He married Rosina I. Courtenay. who was likewise born in Savannah, being a daugh- ter of Edward T. and Rosina ( Bland) Courtenay, and a granddaughter on the maternal side of Richard Bland, who was of English lineage. On the paternal side she was a direct descendant of Carlisle Courtenay, the Earl of Devon, who was of French ancestry. The earl's sons removed to Ireland, and from that country John Courtenay, a member of that family, and the great-grandfather of Mr. Lebey, came to Savannah long before the Revolution, being accompanied on the voyage across the At- lantic by his brother, Charles, who settled at Charleston, South Carolina, and there became founder of the present prominent Courtenay family of that city. Edward T. Courtenay was for many years one of the lead- ing cotton merchants of Savannah.

Charles C. Lebey was brought up and educated in Savannah, and now has charge of the local cotton of the Seaboard Air Line. For sev- eral years past Mr. Lebey has made his home at the suburban town of Pooler, in Chatham county, of which he is now serving his fourth term as mayor, having been re-elected to this position three successive times. Fraternally he is a member, and worshipful master, of Turner Lodge. No. 16, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, of Pooler; also a Scottish Rite and York Rite Mason and a member of the P. O. S. of A., the J. O. A. U., the K. of P. and the Redinen.

Mr. Lebey's wife, who prior to her marriage was Miss Mamie E. Amdreau, was born in Tampa, Florida.

WILLIAM VIRGINIUS DAVIS, vice-president and manager of the Sa- vannah Trust Company, prominent banker, and well known for prae- tically all his life in Savannah. is one of the foremost figures in the business life of this city. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 14, 1871, and is the son of Thomas J. and Frances V. ( Price) Davis. The father was born in Portsmonth, Virginia, and the mother in Wilmington, North Carolina. She died in 1896. For many years Thomas Davis was a grain merchant in Savannah, and he is still living in this city, but is retired from active business life.

Although born in Jacksonville, William V. Davis is practically a Savannahian, as his parents removed to the Georgia city when he was an infant, and he was reared and educated here, attending the public

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sehools and Chatham Academy. In 1889, when he was eighteen years old, he went to Texas, loeating at Palestine, where he became stenog- rapher and secretary to Hon. Thomas M. Campbell, one of the promi- nent lawyers of that state, who was then the receiver and later the general manager of the International & Great Northern Railroad. and who was governor of Texas from 1906 to 1910. He was connected with Mr. Campbell's office for nearly four years and was then made ticket agent at Palestine for the I. & G. N. R. R., of which his unele. D. J. Price, is general passenger agent. Mr. Davis remained in that posi- tion for one year, remaining at Palestine five years in all. In 1894 he returned to Savannah and since that time he has been continually as- . soeiated with business interests headed by Capt. W. W. Mackall, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Davis first entered Captain Mackall's law office as a clerical assistant, and studying law in the meantime, but has never practiced that profession. He be- came secretary of the various railroad and industrial corporations of which Mr. Mackall was the chief. prominent among which was the Georgia Construction Company, which built the Seaboard Air Line ter- minals in Hutchinson Island.

On October 1, 1902, the Savannah Trust Company, of which Mr. Maekall is president, began business, and Mr. Davis was made its see- retary. He has been connected with this bank ever since that time. Upon the retirement of John Morris as treasurer of the company, Mr. Davis assumed the duties of that position in addition to the secretary- ship. On January 22, 1907. Mr. Davis was elected to his present posi- tion of vice-president, and, as such, is the managing official of the company.

Few financial institutions in the South have been attended by sueh substantial growth and prosperity in so short a time as has the Savan- nah Trust Company. Under its eharter it earries on both general bank- ing and trust company business, besides a real estate department that is especially flourishing and suecessful. The capital stock is $500,000, with surplus and undivided profits of nearly $300.000. The manage- ment of the bank is conservative, efficient and economical, and it has returned most satisfactory dividends to its stockholders.

While living at Palestine, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Elizabeth Wyche Hunter. She died in that city. One daughter was born of this union,-Miss Wyche Hunter Davis, now at Orange, New Jersey, in Miss Beard's school. Subsequently Mr. Davis was married to Miss Winnifred Wright Boney, of Norfolk, Virginia, and they have three children,-Thomas J .; William V., Jr .; and Frederick B.

Mr. Davis is a member of Westminster Presbyterian church, and is associated in a fraternal way with the Masonie order, being a mem- ber of Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 231, A. F. & A. M., the Georgia Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, Palestine Commandery Knights Templar and is a Shriner. IIe is also a member of the Oglethorpe Club, the Yacht Club, the Guards Club and the Golf Club.

DAVID CRENSHAW BARROW, JR. The name borne by David Cren- shaw Barrow, Jr., is a conspicuous one in the history of the state of Georgia. As educators, statesmen and members of the learned profes- sions, several of the family have won distinction and high honors. He himself has not fallen behind the standard set him by his ancestors, and is one of the most prominent and successful members of the bar of Savannah. Gifted with a logical mind. he has had the best of training for his profession, and his success has been fully merited by his close

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application to his work and the careful preparation which he gives to each case.

David Crenshaw Barrow, Jr., is the son of Middleton Pope and Sarah Church (Craig) Barrow, both of whom are deceased. The Hon- orable Middleton Pope Barrow was born in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, on the 1st of August, 1839. He was educated at the University of Georgia, from which he received the degree of A. B. in 1859, and the degree of LL. B., in 1860. Hle was admitted to the bar in 1860, and began to practice law in Athens, Georgia. With the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in the Confederate army and served throughout the war between the states, as captain of artillery and as aid-de-camp, on the staff of Major General Howard Cobb. After the war he resumed the practice of his profession in Athens, and in 1877 was elected a member of the constitutional convention. During the session of 1880-81. he was a member of the Georgia legislature, and was elected to the United States senate from Georgia to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Benjamin Hill, and served from November 15, 1882, to the 3rd of March, 1883.

After the death of his first wife, Sarah Church (Craig) Barrow, Judge Barrow married Cornelia Augusta Jackson, daughter of the late Gen. Henry R. Jackson, of Savannah. There are five children living from his first marriage, namely, Middleton Pope Barrow, Eliza- beth Church Barrow, James Barrow, David Crenshaw Barrow, and Dr. Craig Barrow. His second wife, who is now deceased, became the mother of six children, as follows: Florence Barclay, Davenport, Cor- nelia, Lucy Lumpkin, who is the wife of Francis P. McIntire; Patience Crenshaw Barrow and Sarah Pope Barrow. Only the last three named are living.

In 1893, Judge Barrow moved from Athens to Savannah, which city was his home during the remainder of his life. In 1900, he became judge of the superior court, of the eastern judicial circuit, and remained in this office until his death, which occurred on the 23rd of December, 1903. Judge Barrow was vice-president of the Georgia Historical So- ciety, and held various honorary positions in other organizations. For many years he was one of the prominent figures in the political, busi- ness, and social life of the state of Georgia.

Dr. David Crenshaw Barrow II., a brother of Pope Barrow, a distinguished educator, has been for several years chancellor of the University of Georgia. The father of these two brothers was David Crenshaw Barrow I., a cotton planter of wealth and large affairs. who spent practically all of his life at his home in Athens and on his plan- tations in Oglethorpe county. He married Miss Lucy Pope, of Ogle- thorpe county, Georgia, the only child of Middleton Pope of that county, a direct descendant of the famous Nathaniel Pope of colonial Virginia. David Crenshaw Barrow I., who was born and lived in Baldwin county, after his marriage located in Oglethorpe county, but he owned planta- tions in both counties. He was the son of James Barrow, a native of Virginia, who entered the Continental army in North Carolina in 1776 and served in various capacities throughout the Revolutionary war. He was one of that brave little army, who under General Washington. watched through the long winter amid the cold and hardships of the camp at Valley Forge. He was sent under orders from General Lee to Savannah, and thereafter was in service in Georgia, South Carolina. North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York, and was in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. His last service in the war was in the North Carolina militia, and about 1800 he settled in Baldwin county; Georgia. His wife was Precious Patience Crenshaw, of Virginia.

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Sarah Church (Craig) Barrow, the mother of David Crenshaw Bar- row III., was the daughter of Col. Lewis Stevenson Craig. of Vir- ginia, an officer of the United States army, who during the Mexican war, in which he was engaged, was promoted for gallantry from captain to lieutenant colonel. After the Mexican war he was placed in con- mand of a department in California, and here he met his death at the hands of deserters. His wife was Elizabeth Church, the danghter of Alonzo Church, president of the University of Georgia, from 1829 to 1859.

David Crenshaw Barrow III .. the subject of this sketch, was born on the Barrow plantation in Oglethorpe county, and grew to manhood in Athens, Georgia. He was graduated from the University of Georgia in 1894. After studying law for a time in the office of his father in Sa- vannah he supplemented this preparation by a short course in the law department of the University of Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in Savannah in 1896 and commenced the practice of law in that year. From that time to the present his professional work has eon- tinued with uninterrupted success and he is now a lawyer of high standing at the Savannah bar.

For several years Mr. Barrow was an active member of the mili- tary organizations in Savannah. He enlisted for the Spanish-Ameriean war as a private in the Savannah Volunteer Guards, and served at Tampa, Florida, with the Second Georgia Regiment. Receiving hon- orable discharge from that organization, he aeeepted a second lieu- tenancy in what was known as Ray's Immunes, officially the Third United States Infantry. He went to Cuba with this regiment and served seven months in Santiago provinee, being adjutant of his regi- ment at the time of his resignation in January, 1890. Upon his return to Savannah he joined the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, one of the com- panies of the First Regiment of Infantry, National Guard of Georgia. He became captain of this company, from which rank he was promoted to major of the regiment. He was subsequently made lieutenant colonel and served in that capacity until he resigned from the regiment.

In 1906, Colonel Barrow was elected a member of the Georgia state legislature, as a representative from Chatham county, and served in the sessions of 1907 and 1908. In the session of 1907, he was one of those who fought the passage of the prohibition bill, and was one of the leaders of the famous filibuster against the passage of that bill. In the session of 190S he was one of the active forces behind the legislation that abolished the convict lease system in the state of Georgia. He was assistant city attorney of Savannah for the year 1911-12. Fra- ternally, Mr. Barrow is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Barrow was married in Savannah, on the 10th of December, 1907, to Miss Emma Middleton Huger, a daughter of Joseph A. and Mary Elliott Huger. Mr. and Mrs. Barrow have two children, a son, Middleton Pope Barrow, and a daughter, Mary Elliott Barrow.

RAPHAEL THOMAS SEMMES. president of Semmes Hardware Com- pany, one of the representative wholesale concerns of Savannah, was born at Canton, Madison county, Mississippi, on the 27th of July, 1857. His father, Dr. Alphonso Thomas Semmes, was born at Washington. Wilkes eounty, Georgia, on the 28th of April. 1830; and his mother. Mary Sabina (Semmes) Semmes, was born at Georgetown, now a part of the city of Washington, District of Columbia, on the 6th of December, 1832.

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Dr. Semmes was a son of Thomas Semmes, Jr., and his first wife, Harriet Shepherd ( Bealle) Semmes, the latter being a native of Colum- bia county, Georgia, and a descendent of early settlers from Charles county, Maryland, whence her grandparents removed to Georgia. Thomas Semmes, Jr., was born in Wilkes county, Georgia, on the 19th of January, 1802, and was married on the 27th of January, 1829. He removed to Mississippi in 1852, and died at Canton, in May of 1862. He was the only child of Roger and Jane (Sanders) Semmes, who removed from Charles county, Maryland, to Wilkes county, Georgia. The former was born in Charles county, Maryland, in December, 1779, and removed to Wilkes county, Georgia, in 1800 or 1801, where he died in September, 1804. He was a son of Thomas Semmes, Sr., born 1753, who married a widow, Mrs. Mary Ann ( Rateliffe) Brawner, their marriage occurring in February, 1779, in Charles county, Maryland. In 1800. he removed to Wilkes county, Georgia, where he died on the 24th of June, 1824. He was a lieutenant in the Maryland line of troops in the war of the Revolution. (See Maryland archives. ) He was a son of James Semmes II and Mary Simpson, his last wife, who was a daughter of Andrew and Elizabethi (Green) Simpson. Elizabeth Green Simpson was the daugh- ter of Robert Green, and a granddaughter of Thomas Green. the first proprietary governor of the province of Maryland. James Semmes II was a son of James I and Mary (Goodrick) Sennes of Charles county, Maryland. James Semmes I was a son of Marmaduke Semmes of St. Mary's county, Maryland, and his mother, Fortune Semmes, was the widow of Bulmer Mitford (afterwards spelled Medford), who immi- grated to Maryland in 1664. Her first husband died in 1666, and in July, 1668, she married Marmaduke Semmes, who in 1662 had been sworn in as doorkeeper of the upper house of the province of Maryland. (See Maryland archives.)

Mary Sabina Semmes, nee Semmes, mother of the subject of this sketch, was the seventh child of Raphael and Mary Matilda (Jenkins) Semmes of Georgetown, District of Columbia. The former was an uncle of Admiral Raphael Semmes of the Confederate navy, whom he adopted in childhood. Raphael Semmes, Sr., was born in Charles county, Maryland, on the 21st of August, 1786, and died on the 12th of October, 1846, at Georgetown, District of Columbia. He was a son of Joseph and Henrietta (Thompson) Semmes of Charles county, the former of whom served in the war of the Revolution (see Maryland archives), and the latter was a daughter of Richard Thompson of Charles county, the great-great-grandson of William Thompson, who settled in Mary- land, in 1646. Joseph Semmes was born in 1754, in Charles county, and was a brother of Thomas Semmes, Sr., who became a resident of Georgia. They were sons of JJames Semmes II, and hence Joseph also was descended from Marmaduke Semmes I. and from Gov. Thomas Green, previously mentioned. Two other sons of James Semmes II, served in the Revolution, and both were killed in the battles of Long Island. One of these was Andrew Green Semmes, I. unele of Andrew Green Semmes II, of Wilkes county, Georgia, who was the father of General Paul J. Semmes, a distinguished Confederate officer in the war between the states.

Mary Matilda (Jenkins) Semmes, the maternal grandmother of the subject of this review, was born on the 28th of December, 1800, in Charles county, Maryland, a daughter of Capt. Thomas Jenkins, of Revolutionary fame, and his wife, Mary (Neale) Corry. widow of Benjamin Leslie Corry, and daughter of Richard Neale, who was a great grandson of the famous Capt. James Neale, who was an carly settler in Maryland and later was sent on an important mission to Spain in the interest of King Charles I of England, and who was still

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later one of those who stood on the scaffold with this unfortunate king when he was beheaded. He was a descendant of Ingh O'Neil, king of Ulster.

A notable member of the Semmes family, who once lived in Savannah, was Dr. Alexander Ignatins Semmes. a brother of Mary Sabina Semmes (mother of Raphael Thomas Semmes). Dr. Semmes was born in George- town, District of Columbia. was educated for the medical profession, both in America and in Europe, and practiced while living in Savannah. He married Miss Sallie Berrien, a daughter of the Hon. John McPherson Berrien of Savannah. She died without children, and after her death Dr. Semmes gave up the practice of medicine and became a Catholic priest and educator. He was professor of English literature in Pio Nono College, an institution for the education of priests, at Macon, Georgia. On account of ill health he later went to New Orleans to reside with his brother. Hon. Thomas J. Semmes, and died in that city. His reputation as a brilliant scholar is well known.

Andrew Green Simpson Semmes, a brother of Roger Semmes, the great-grandfather of Raphael Thomas Semmes, while never a resident of Savannah, had large business interests in the city. He was born in Charles County, Maryland. and came in 1800 to Wilkes county. Georgia. where he became in time, a wealthy man. He had large cotton and banking interests in Savannah, consequently was often in the city on short trips.

Dr. Alphonso T. Semmes, father of him to whom this sketeh is dedicated, was an able physician, and during the war he served in the Confederacy for a time as a surgeon in the army. but for the greater portion of the time was in the hospital service. Thomas Semmes, Jr., of Georgia and later of Mississippi, grandfather of the subject of this sketeh, crippled from paralysis and nnable to fight for his country, equipped at his own expense a company, the Semmes Rifles. 'This com- pany, raised in Canton, Mississippi, rendered valiant service in the ranks of the Confederacy.

Raphael Thomas Semmes secured his earlier educational training in the private schools in Canton, Mississippi, and supplemented this by the careful discipline and training of the Christian Brothers' College. in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Semmes had been in the Christian Brothers' College, barely a school year, not having reached the age of fifteen, when he left that institution in order to go to work: taking this step out of consideration for his father, who had suffered severe financial reverses through ill-advised investments in a cotton mill at Canton. In January, 1873, therefore. he became a clerk in a hardware store at Canton. and on the 9th of December. 1879. he located in Atlanta, Georgia. where he beeame a clerk in the hardware store of Tommey, Gregg & Beek. Two or three years later. when the firm was merged into a stock company, under the title of the Beck & Gregg Hardware Company. Mr. Semmes became a minority stockholder, and in 1891, when the concern increased its capital stock. he considerably increased his holdings. In January. 1896, he resigned his association with this company, having formed a business connection in Savannah, where he took up his residence in March of that year. In 1898, he individually established himself in the wholesale hardware business in Savannah, being the sole owner of the enterprise. but adopting the firm name of R. T. Semmes & Com- pany. In 1901. he organized the Semmes Hardware Company. for the purpose of broadening and facilitating his business, and he has been president of the company since that time. This concern now takes rank among the leading enterprises of the kind in the southern states. and substantial growth and expansion of the same being due to the able and honorable methods and the energy and discrimination shown by

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Mr. Semmes in its management. He is also a director of the Citizens and Sonthern Bank.

In politics, he is a staunch Democrat, and he and his wife are com- municants of the Roman Catholic church, with which his ancestors have been always identified. He is a member of the Maryland His- torical Society, the Virginia Historical Society, the Catholic Record Society of London, England, and of the Savannah Yacht Club. He is . one of the founders of the " Society of The Ark and The Dove." whose membership is composed of descendants of those who with Lord Balti- more's original colony, sailed from England in 1633 in the Ark and the Dove and landed in Maryland. March 25. 1634. 1Ie was married on the 30th of April, 1891, to Miss Kate Flannery, daughter of Capt. JJohn and Mary Ellen (Norton) Flannery, of Savannah, Georgia.

OLIN T. MCINTOSH. One of the most prominent and popular of the younger citizens of Savannah, Olin T. MeIntosh, is a firm believer in the city and its prospects, and is never so happy as when working for its betterment, or saying a good word for it and its people. As president of the Southern States Naval Stores Company, he is intimately asso- ciated with the advancement of one of the important industries of this section of the state. A son of William Swinton and Ida S. (Talley) McIntosh, he was born, in 1881, in MeIntosh county, Georgia, which was named in honor of one of his ancestors.

He is a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of John Mohr McIntosh, the immigrant ancestor. the line of descent being thus given : John Mohr, 1 William,2 John,3 John Nash,+ William Swinton,5 and Olin T.6

John Mohr 1 MeIntosh, a native of Scotland, immigrated to this country in colonial days, settling in what is now McIntosh county, Georgia. Two of his sons, Gen. Lachlan MeIntosh and Col. William McIntosh, served in the Revolutionary war, being officers in the Con- tinental army. Col. William 2 MeIntosh married Mary Mackay. Their son, John " McIntosh, who was a lieutenant colonel in the War of 1812, married Sarah Swinton. John Nash + MeIntosh, major in United States army, who spent his entire life in MeIntosh county, married Sallie Rokenbaugh. William Swinton > McIntosh. was a life-long resident of McIntosh county, his death occurring there in 1903.

Brought up and educated in MeIntosh county, Olin T.G McIntosh has been connected with the naval stores industry since his early life, now being president of the Southern States Naval Stores Company, one of the prominent firms of naval stores factors in Savannah, the center of this immense industry. 1le has here been located in this business since 1896, and in the promotion of the business interests and prosperity of the city has been an active factor. in a public-spirited way being asso- ciated with the younger clement that is doing great things for the growth and development of Savannah. For a number of years Mr. McIntosh was an active member of the Savannah Volunteer Guards. serving as lieutenant of Company A, of that famons organization. Fraternally, Mr. MeIntosh is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Order of Masons the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Sons of the Revolution and St. Andrew's Society.

Mr. MeIntosh married Miss Janie Lawton. daughter of Asbury Lawton, of Lawtonville, who was born in South Carolina. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh two children have been born: Annie L., and Olin T., Jr.

BENJAMIN HI. LEVY, leading merchant and publie-spirited citizen, occupies the prominent place he does today in Savannah's business and social activities because years ago he came here and laid well the foun- dation for an honorable career: that the passing decades have witnessed Vol 11-7

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dation for an honorable career; that the passing decades have witnessed his prosperity is due to his own keen insight into human nature and to his sterling qualities as an upright business man.

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A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II, Part 14

Author: Harden, William, 1844-1936 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1208

Author: Harden, William, 1844-1936
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1208