USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 39
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SOLOMAN HERRMAN. The city of Eastman is proud of her mayor, and she has a good right to be. for he is one of the most progressive men in this section of the state and has contributed largely to the suc- cess of the city and the surrounding country. His success has been due entirely to his own efforts, for with the exception of a good edu- cation he started out in life with little to help him in getting a start.
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His business ability, especially along financial lines, is undoubted and his position as president of one of the most reliable and prosperous banks in Eastman is a proof of this fact. No measure conducive to the welfare of the people of Eastman is carried ont without the aid or the leadership of Mr. Herrman, and the people of Eastinan showed their appreciation of his services as well as their confidence in his sincere efforts to aid in the development of the city, and the cause of good government. by electing him mayor.
Soloman Herrman was born on August 20, 1859, in Dublin, Georgia. His parents, both natives of Germany, were Henry and Henrietta (Goodman) Herrman. The father emigrated from Bavaria, which was also the mother's native province. in 1849. He located in New York, where he married his wife, and where they resided for a short time. They came to Georgia about 1852, and located in Dublin, where Mr. Herrman went into the mercantile business. Soloman Herrman is the eldest of a family of four, the others being Dr. J. D. Herrman, Albert Herrman, who is in the insurance business in Eastman, and Mrs. S. Harris. Henry Herrman died in 1875, aged fifty-three, and his wife reached the age of sixty-six, dying in 1893.
Soloman Herrman received his earlier education in the schools at Dublin, Georgia, and his later education in the public schools of New York City. His parents moved back to this metropolis for the sake of giving their children a better education than they could secure in Georgia, and when they had completed their studies, the parents moved back to Georgia. Soloman Herrman entered the business world as a merchant, the scene of his first efforts being Eastman, though it was quite a different Eastman from the city today. He first came here in 1872, when the innnense cotton trade which now amounts to about eighteen thousand bales per year, was only about two hundred. There was not a brick building in the place, where now there are between eighty and one hundred. Mr. Herrman has therefore grown up with . the town, and with each step forward that she has made he has risen also.
The biggest feat which Mr. Herrman has accomplished in recent years is the organization of the Merchants and Farmers Bank. This bank was founded in 1905, and Mr. Herrman was one of the leading promoters who stood ready to support the enterprise should it show signs of failing. However, nothing like that happened, and the bank was a success from the very beginning. Mr. Herrman was elected vice- president, and held this position until the bank was organized in 1910 into the First National Bank, when he became president. This bank is one of the leading financial institutions in this part of the state. The capital stock is $100,000, and the corporation owns the building in which the bank is located, it having been built especially for the purpose.
Mr. Herrman was elected mayor in 1912 to succeed his brother, Doctor Herrman, who had served as the chief executive of the city for the two preceding terms. Soloman Herrman is also president of the Dodge Fertilizer Works, and is the principal owner in this enter- prise. He is also deeply interested in agriculture and owns a planta- tion that supports abont one hundred and fifty souls. About twelve hundred aeres of this land is under enltivation, being planted largely in cotton. He handles about thirty plows, and raises on an average of three, hundred bales of cotton yearly. His deep interest in educa- tional matters is shown by his membership on the board of education for the city. He has been an active member of the board for sixteen years. and the present state of the city schools is due in no small measure to his efforts.
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Mr. Herrman was married on December 7, 1892, to Sophie Bashinski of Tennille, Washington county, Georgia. She is the daughter of Sam Bashinski, a merchant of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Herrman have four children. Joseph was born on February 19, 1895; Thelma's birthday was July 15, 1898; September 3. 1900, saw the birth of Julian, and Jennie Claire was born on August 20, 1905.
Mr. Herrman is a Royal Arch Mason, a charter member of the chap- ter at Eastman, and, a member of the blue lodge, also in Eastman. In his religious beliefs he is a Hebrew.
JOHN BENJAMIN CLARK, M. D., is one of the best known physicians in the central part of Georgia, and a man whose efficiency and lofty purpose entitle him to stand high among the names in the medical pro- fession. Thoroughly grounded in the elements of medicine at several eastern schools of high standing he has since increased his knowledge by the experience gained from his large general practice. Although he has been an extremely busy man he has yet found time for eivic and social interests and is a prominent and popular man in his locality.
Born in Dodge county, Georgia, March 29, 1869, his parents were Harlow and Cassie Annic ( Miller) Clark. Dodge county, or Mont- gomery county, as it was called at that time, was also the birthplace of his father, who first saw the light on February 26, 1845. Mr. Clark, Sr., who is still living, ran away from home when he was fourteen years of age to enter the army, enlisting under Col. Alfred H. Colquist in Wheeler's Brigade. Many times during the war he proved himself a hero, and even after the surrender was in a battle below Atlanta. Dr. Clark's mother was born near Mt. Vernon, Montgomery county, September 19, 1846. The subject of this sketch was one of five children, four of whom, Symanthy T., Mary F. and Cassie G. are still living. His one brother, Bartlett Hamilton, died in March, 1905, just five days before he was to have been graduated from the law school of the University of Virginia.
Dr. Clark received his primary education in the public schools of Dodge county, and from them was sent to Dahlonega Agriculture College, where he took both the preparatory and college courses. He received his A. B. degree with the class of 1891. Most of his medical work was taken at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Maryland; he supplemented the teaching he received there, however, by attending at the same time the lectures at Johns Hopkins University. After receiving his M. D. he at once started practice in Eastman, where his merits as a physician and his personal integrity soon attracted to him a substantial clientele. Dr. Clark has found opportunity among the many demands on his time for a participation in social affairs, and is a Royal Arch Mason and a Shriner K. T., holding membership in the Macon lodge. He is also a substantial landowner, owning the title deed to fourteen hundred acres of land, of which eleven hundred are under cultivation, and bearing sufficiently to support as tenants seventy- two people.
His wife, Annie M. Clark, is the daughter of Robert Harwell of Mechlinburg. Virginia. and is a graduate of St. Mary's Female Sem- inary of Maryland. They have had three children, Frederick Harlow, born in 1895; Alma May, born in 1898, and Mary Campbell, born in 1907. Frederick is at present a student at College Park, Atlanta.
JOSEPH DANIEL WILSON. An active and prosperons merchant, a whole-souled and pleasant gentleman, and a progressive citizen. Joseph Daniel Wilson of Quitman has contributed his full share in
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promoting the best interests of this section of Brooks county. A son of Jeremiah Wilson. Jr., he was born November 12, 1862, on the parental homestead in Brooks county, Georgia, four miles from Quit- man.
His grandfather, Jeremiah Wilson, Sr., was born in Ireland. He lived for a while in Effingham county, Georgia, from there coming to the southern part of the state. and locating in that part of Lowndes county that is now included within the limits of Brooks county. The country roundabout was then heavily timbered, with only here and there an open place in which stood the cabin of the pioneer. Game of all kinds filled the forests, and the Indians, which still claimed this land as their happy hunting ground, made frequent raids upon the whites, ofttimes massaering many of the newcomers. The grand- father was a member of a company formed for defense against the hostile savages, and for services which he rendered in various Indian warfares was granted two lots of land. The tracts which he selected for his own were in that part of Lowndes county now included in Brooks county, one lying six miles north of Quitman, and the other four miles to the northwest. He located on the latter tract, the removal from Walton county being made with teams. the only mode of transportation in those early days. before railroads were dreamed of. Clearing a space, he erected a log house, splitting puncheon for the floors, and riving shakes for the roofs. He was a well educated man, and did much of the surveying of public lands. In 1858 he surveyed and platted the town of Quitman. A successful agriculturist. he carried on general farming with the help of slaves, continuing to reside on his farm until his death at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, whose maiden name was Betty Lucas, survived him a brief time.
The only son in a family of seven children, JJeremiah Wilson, Jr., was five years old when he came with his parents to Brooks county. Succeeding to the occupation in which he was reared, and inheriting the parental homestead, he carried on general farming throughout his active career. being assisted by slaves until they were freed. He was quite prosperous in his undertakings, and operated his land until his death, in 1891.
Jeremiah Wilson, Jr., married Delilah Robinson, who was born in Wayne county, Georgia, in 1829, a daughter of James Robinson. Her grandfather. Frederick Robinson, was born either in England. or in North Carolina, of English parents. He fought bravely for independ- ence in the Revolutionary war, assisting the colonists in their heroic struggle. About 1818 he migrated to Georgia. becoming one of the early settlers of Wayne county. Purchasing land on the west side of the Altamaha river, he began the improvement of a farm, and was there a resident until his death. He married Jane Thomas, who was born in North Carolina, and died in Wayne county, Georgia.
One of a family of six children, James Robinson was born in Robin- son county, North Carolina, and came with the family to Georgia as a youth. When ready to establish a household of his own, he bought land at Fort Barrington. Wayne county, and began life as a tiller of the soil. Moving with his wife and their three children to Lowndes county in 1834, he purchased land situated but two miles from Throop- ville, then the county seat, making the removal with teams of his own, they being not carriages, but carts drawn by oxen or horses. In 1836 he disposed of that farm. moving to the west part of the county. in the part now included in Brooks county. Purchasing a traet of land lying one mile west of Okapileo creek, Mr. Robinson erected a log house, and began the pioneer task of redeeming a farm from the forest.
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People of this part of the Union then lived in a very primitive manner, there being neither railways in the state. and no convenient markets near. All cooking was done at the fireplace, there being no stoves, and all materials for elothing was carded, spun and woven at home, every housewife being proficient as a weaver and spinner, and also as a dress- maker and tailor.
The maiden name of the wife of James Robinson was Sarah Gibson. She was born in Wayne county, Georgia, where her father, Jack Gibson, was an carly settler, and the owner of a large rice plantation which he operated with slave labor. Mrs. Delilah ( Robinson) Wilson sur- vived her husband but a short time. dying May 20, 1892. Thirteen chil- dren blessed their union. as follows: Sally ; Betty; Jeremiah, the third : James, Frank: Alice: IIenry; Jamie: Joseph D., the subject of this sketch ; Mary ; Robert E. L. ; Lillie: and Thomas Jackson.
Educated in the public schools of Brooks county. Joseph D. Wilson remained on the home farm until 1885, assisting in its labors. The soil having no particular attractions for him, he then began his mercantile career in Quitman. for three years being employed as a clerk. Embark- ing in business for himself as a haberdasher in 1888. Mr. Wilson has since built up an extensive and remunerative trade in Quitman and the surrounding country. being liberally patronized by the people, who have the utmost confidence in him.
In his political affiliation Mr. Wilson is a Demoerat, and active in party ranks. He has filled various offices of trust and responsibility, for a dozen or more years having been a member of the city council, and in 1908 having been elected mayor of Quitman. Fraternally he belongs to Shalto Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Wilson married in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1902, Daisy M. Justus, a daughter of Edwin Justus. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are con- sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
WELCOME HOPE THOMAS. Prominent among the active and progres- sive agriculturists of Brooks county is Welcome Hope Thomas, who owns . and occupies one of the most attractive and desirable farming estates in the Grooverville district. A native of Florida. he was born. March 5, 1872, at Clear Harbor Water, of Virginian ancestry, his grandfather, Robinson Thomas, having been a life-long resident of Virginia.
Henry Robinson Thomas, Mr. Thomas's father. was born. reared and married in Brunswick county, Virginia. His health becoming impaired, he was ordered South. and spent ten years in Florida. dur- ing which time he lived in ten different places. Coming to Georgia in 1874, he settled in Quitman, Brooks county, where he was engaged in business as a merchant until his death, in 1880, while yet in the prime of life. His wife. whose maiden name was Matilda Catherine Simmons, was born in Mecklenburg. Virginia, a daughter of John and Jane Sim- mons, who spent their entire lives in the Old Dominion. She now makes her home in Brooks county, living with her son Welcome Ilope Thomas. To her and her husband seven children were born, namely : Sally W., Minnie T., Florida V., Maggie M .. Welcome Hope. John R .. and Flo- rence C.
Having completed his studies in the public schools of Quitman. Wel- come Hope Thomas was there for four years clerk in a general store. Giving up that position, he settled in the Grooverville district, on the farm which he now owns and ocenpies, and for twelve years snecess- fully carried on general farming. Returning then to Quitman, Mr. Thomas embarked in mercantile pursuits, and there continued in busi-
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ness until 1908. In that year he again assumed possession of his own farm, and in its management has met with most gratifying results. IIe has now one thousand and fifty acres of land, on which he has made im- provements of value, his buildings being commodious and convenient, and pleasantly located. Here he carries on farming and stock raising in a profitable manner, never being satisfied with less than the best pos- sible results.
Mr. Thomas married, in 1893, Lorena Groover, a daughter of Clin- ton D. and Alice (Joiner) Groover, and grand-daughter of James and Elizabeth (Denmark) Groover. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are the parents of seven children, namely: Herman R., Allie C., Ernest G., Brantly D., Welcome Hope, Jr., Clinton D .. and Lorena. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically Mr. Thomas is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Royal Arcanum, and to the Knights of Pythias.
WILLIAM MARSHALL. One of the colonial Georgia families is rep- resented by William Marshall, of Hahira, Lowndes county, and the name has also been elosely identified with the development and eivic progress of south Georgia for a great many years.
Mr. Marshall was born in Lowndes county, Jannary 13. 1848, and was a son of Matthew and grandson of Henry Marshall. Henry Mar- shall, a native of Georgia and deseended from colonial settlers, moved from the northern part of the state to Irwin county, purchasing land and settling in a district now ineluded in Berrien county. South Geor- gia was then a wilderness, most of the land in state ownership, deer, bear and wolves roamed everywhere through the woods, many of the Georgia Indians had not yet left and the Florida tribes were still occupy- ing their aboriginal homes. Hunting parties of Indians often caused alarm, and more than onee hostile raids were made from across the Florida line. A log fort protected every settlement. and there the women and children took refuge while the men stood guard or went in pursuit of the red foes. In this vieinity and amid such conditions the grand- father farmed and raised stock during his active career, and after the death of his wife spent the last years of a long life in the home of his son Matthew. His death occurred at the age of ninety-six. ITis first wife, the grandmother of William Marshall, was named Sarah McMul- len, who was of Scotch ancestry. She died young, leaving four chil- dren. There were also several children by the grandfather's second marriage.
Matthew Marshall, who was born in this state and was reared in Irwin county, later came to Lowndes county and bought timbered land south of the present town of Hahira, where for many years he was engaged in general farming and stock raising. Railroads did not pene- trate this vieinity for many years after his settlement, and he hauled his eotton and other products away to market at the nearest Florida ports. He was one of the snecessful men of his time, acquired large landed possessions and much stoek, and gave each of his children a good start in life. Thongh past military age during the war. in 1864 he en- listed in the reserves and went to the defense of Atlanta, serving until the end of the war, escaping either wounds or capture. He then re- snmed farming and continued it until his death at the age of sixty- seven.
Matthew Marshall married Huldah Bradford. A native of Irwin county, she was a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Griffin) Brad- ford. Her father afterwards came to Lowndes county, settling seven miles south of Hahira, where he was engaged in farming until the death
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of his wife, after which he lived at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Marshall. Huldah (Bradford) Marshall died at the age of sixty-seven. She reared ten children, whose names were William, Henry, John, Mary, Frank, George. Matthew, Sarah F., Edward and Huldah.
Though only his early boyhood was passed before the war, William Marshall remembers when his old home vicinity had not yet emerged from its pioneer conditions. Cook stoves had not been introduced when he was a boy, and the housewives still carded and spun and wove, and his clothing as that of other members' of the family was all homespun. His early traning gave him habits of industry. and he has never lacked that prosperity which is the reward of progressive effort and ability .. On becoming of age he was given a tract of land which his grandfather had formerly owned and on which his uncle had built a frame house. There he was engaged in farming until 1893, at which time he sold out and bought an orange grove in Sumter county, Florida. He lived there until the grove was frozen, and was then engaged in truck farming in Dade county, Florida. until 1906, and after a year's residence in Perry, that state, he returned to Lowndes county and bought a farm near Ha- hira. In 1911 he retired from active pursuits, and has since resided in Hahira.
Though his energies have been devoted to practical business he has not failed to discharge the duties of good citizenship. In Lowndes and in Dade county, he has given sixteen years of service in the office of jus- tice of the peace. In politics he is a Democrat. His father was a char- ter member of his Masonic lodge, and Mr. Marshall is likewise a charter member of Hahira Lodge No. 346, F. & A. M., and also became a char- ter member of the lodge organized at Lauderdale, Florida.
Mr. Marshall was married in 1870 to Miss Elizabeth Powell, who was born in Telfair county, this state, a daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Powell. Mr. Marshall and wife became the parents of two sons, Alexander Hitch and John W. The first married Sally Allen. John W. married Jane A. Bellamy, and has one son named Brandt. Mrs. Marshall died March 6, 1913.
WILLIS H. KING AND JOHN H. KING. Well-known and highly re- spected citizens, as well as prominent and progressive agriculturists of the Grooverville district, Willis H. King and John H. King are of pioneer stock, being sons of the late James King, who spent the major part of his life in this part of Georgia, and grandsons of Willis King, one of the very early settlers of that part of Lowndes county that was set off as Brooks county.
Willis King was born, reared, and married in Edgefield district, South Carolina. In 1830 he came with his family to what is now Hickory Head district, Brooks county, Georgia, crossing the interven- ing country with teams, and bringing all of his worldly possessions. Southwestern Georgia seemed then one vast forest, the clearing of the few settlers being few and far between. Wild animals and game of all kinds roamed at will, while the Indians proved at times so trouble- some and treacherous that it was necessary to build a fort as a place of refuge for the women and children when danger was nich, while all of the meu of the locality banded together to resist the attacks of the savages. The people of those days lived in a primitive manner. sub- sisting on the products of their land, game from the forest, or fish from the streams. There were then no railroads or near-by markets, all trading being done at the gulf ports in Florida. The land at that time was nearly all owned by the state, and for sale at prices low enongh to attract much immigration. Acquiring large tracts of tin-
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bered land, Willis King eleared a good farm, and here spent the remain- der of his life. His wife, whose maiden name was Naney Williams, was born in Edgefield district, South Carolina, and died in Brooks county, Georgia. at the age of eighty years, outliving him. She reared nine children, as follows: Fany, Mary, Barbara, Mahala, Elizabeth, David, James, Wilson, and Willis A.
Born in 1823. JJames King was a lad of seven years when he came with his parents to Lowndes county. Georgia. As soon as old enough to wield an axe or a hoe, he began to assist his father in the clearing and improving of a homestead. On attaining his majority, he bought of his father land in the Grooverville distriet, of what is now Brooks county, erected a small log cabin, splitting puncheon to cover one half of the earth floor, and for a while there kept bachelor's hall. When ready to marry. he built a two-story, double log house, and continued the arduous task of clearing and improving a farm. For several years he had to team all of his surplus produce to either Tallahassee or New- port, Florida, the round trip consuming much valuable time. Success- ful in his undertakings, he bought land at different times, becoming owner of two thousand acres in one body, besides owning outlying tracts. He was held in high respect as a man and a citizen, and his death, which occurred November 16, 1876. was a loss to the community. He married Catherine Brown, who was born in what is now Brooks county, Georgia, a daughter of Hezekiah and Eliza ( Dixon) Brown, natives of Alabama. She passed to the higher life in 1881. having sur- vived him nearly five years. She reared three children, namely : Willis H., John H., and Naney. Naney, now living at Saint James, Louisiana, is the widow of Thomas Carter, who at his death left her with four chil- dren, namely : Thomas Carter, of Oeala. Florida ; Julia : Katherine Mae, and Mack. During the Civil war James King was detailed to care for the families of absent soldiers, but was not called out until sent to the defense of Atlanta.
Willis H. King was born in the Grooverville district, Brooks county, October 6, 1852. and as a boy and youth received a practical education in the common branches of study. He resided on the old homestead with his parents as long as they lived. and at the death of the mother, in 1881, succeeded to its ownership. He now owns six hundred and fifty acres of land, located in lots sixty-six. sixty-seven, seventy-two and twenty-six, and as a general farmer and stock-raiser is carrying on a successful and profitable business. He has never married, but after living by himself for many years is now a welcome member of his brother's household.
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