USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 62
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Having by diligent study acquired a practical education in the dis- triet schools, Mathew James Harrell remained with his parents until his marriage. Beginning then the struggle of life on his own account, he purchased seventy-five acres of land, fifteen acres only of which had been improved. His natural ability, early training and energetic spirit counted mueh in his favor, and through his own efforts he won success in his agricultural labors. Since that time, Mr. Harrell has bought and sold several traets of land. and now has title to upwards of seven hun- dred and fifty aeres, some of which is heavily timbered, while large fields are under a high state of cultivation, yielding abundant harvests each year. On his home place, situated four miles from Quitman, on the Grooverville road, Mr. Harrell has lived for the past fifteen years. Here he has a fine set of farm buildings, and in addition to carrying on mixed husbandry he has a well equipped saw mill. which he erected primarily for his own use. For a number of years he operated a threshing machine in various parts of the county.
Mr. Harrell first married, when but twenty years old, Aimie Olive Winter, a daughter of Jeremiah and Lizzie ( Boring) Winter, and grand- daughter of Dr. Thomas and Martha ( Le Noir) Boring. She passed to the higher life one short year after their marriage and her babe fol- lowed a few months later. Mr. Harrell married second Miss Addie Groover, who was born in Brooks county, Georgia, a daughter of Thomas and Snsan (JJoiner) Groover, and grand-danghter of James and Elizabeth ( Demark ) Groover, pioneer settlers of Brooks county. Her Vol. 11-27
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mother died when she was but an infant, and her father subsequently married Sarah Joiner, a sister of his first wife, and an aunt of Mrs. Har- rell. Eight children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Harrell, naniely : Bennet, a well-known farmer; Walter, a clerk in the Quitman postoffice ; Samuel T .; Annie Laurie, wife of W. D. Long; Ida Olivia, who was killed by a runaway horse at the age of fifteen on her way from school ; Mathew J., Jr .. Alma, and Wallace Eugene. Samuel T. Harrell, the third son. is a lawyer in Quitman, being in the firm of Bennett & Har- rell. Mr. Harrell is a member of the Hickory Head Agricultural Soci- ety, and both he and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN HENRY EMANUEL. Since 1909 sheriff of Deeatur county, Mr. Emanuel has been known to the citizens of this county since childhood, has been recognized as an industrious, independent man of action, and few men have entered office in this county with so thorough a confidence on the part of their supporters.
John Henry Emanuel was born on a farm five miles southwest of Faceville. Ilis father Hilliard Marion Emanuel was born in the same locality, March 3. 1843. The father was reared on a farm and when a young man bought a tract of timbered land which is still included in his land holdings. There he built a log cabin, surrounded by the woods, and a primitive home it furnished to his family. He was one of the men who hewed out of the wilderness a fertile well developed farm, and thus added to the general prosperity of this section of the state. After a few years he built a more pretentious log house, and subse- quently a good frame house which he still occupies as his residence. The maiden name of his wife was Martha J. Gray, who was born in Decatur county, a daughter of James and Jane (Cartledge) Gray. All the nine children of the parents were born in one of the log houses just mentioned. Their names are as follows: Martha F., James H .. John Henry, Ella V., Hattie E., Amanda E., Letitia, William Lee and Daisey.
During his youth Mr. John Henry Emanuel was given the privileges of the neighborhood district schools, and at the same time assisted in the work of the home farm. When he was eighteen his father gave him his time and he started out for himself. He earned his first regular pay by cutting wood at fifty cents a cord, and later was for a time in the employ of the S. F. & W. Railroad Company. after which he returned to farming, which he followed for several years. He was clerk for a time and in carpenter work, and at various occupations until 1909, in which year he was elected to the office of sheriff, and his efficient record has caused his retention in that office to the present time.
In October 14. 1894. Mr. Emanuel married Miss Nancy Cora Camp- bell. She died June 8. 1902. In 1904 Mr. Emanuel married Emna L. Smith. The one daughter by the first marriage is named Dottie Lea, and the four children of the second union are Essie Pauline, John II., Jr., Frank W., and Woodrow.
ROBERT FRITZ ZEIGLER. Talented, enterprising, and progressive, Prof. Robert Fritz Zeigler is one of the more successful of the younger generation of edneators in Ware county, as proprietor of Waveross Business College, at Wayeross, helping many a young Georgian fit him- self for a career of usefulness in industrial, business and professional fields. A native of South Carolina. he was born Angust 21, 1889, in Orangeburg county, where his father. Jesse Littleton Zeigler, was also born. Ilis grandfather, George Josiah Zeigler, a life-long farmer in South Carolina, was a son of George John Zeigler, who was born in
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Germany. He married Caroline Narcissus Averheart, who was the daughter of John Averheart, who came from Ireland during the Revolu- tionary war.
Brought up and educated in Orangeburg county, Sonth Carolina, Jesse Littleton Zeigler was well drilled in agricultural pursuits as a boy, and as a young man, worked for several years in a mercantile establish- ment. Subsequently forming a partnership with Mr. F. J. Buyck, he became junior member of the firm of Buyck & Zeigler, farmers; mer- chants and inillers, whose mills were located in and around Pine Grove township, at the same time being interested for awhile in a mercantile establishment at Fort Motte, owning that store with his oldest son, who had charge of it. The part of Orangeburg county in which he has lived for many years has been detached from that county, and now forms a part of Calhoun county, which he served as supervisor during the years 1909-12 inclusive.
Mr. Jesse Littleton Zeigler has been twice married. He married first Mary Fredonia Gaffney, who was born in Richland county, South Carolina, a daughter of William M. and Alice Euphenia Gaffney. She died in February 1904, leaving eight children, as follows: Jesse Me- Lennan, Alice Euphenia, Ida Lec, Noland Theobald, Robert Fritz. Euna Fredonia, Jorene Buyck and George Josiah. Jorene Buyck and George Josiah are now attending Orangeburg College, Orangeburg, S. C. Jesse M. and Noland T., who was a teacher for a few years, were engaged in the motor business for a short while at Orangeburg, after which Jesse M. accepted a position, which he now holds, with the International Har- vester Company, as salesman and demonstrator. Noland T. is at present a traveling auditor, making Atlanta, Georgia, headquarters. Jesse MI. married Maude Paulling Carroll, and they have three children, Sally Fredonia, Mande Carroll, and Myrtle May. Mr. J. L. Zeigler married for his second wife, in 1906. Lillian O. Jones, and they have three chil- dren, Capers Hayne, Jennie Lorene, and William Klauber.
Growing to manhood in Orangeburg county, South Carolina, Robert Fritz Zeigler was educated in the publie and academical schools, later entering the Southern Business College, then at Orangeburg, for the study of book keeping and phonography. Under the instruction of Prof. A. II. White, a master penman and teacher of business science, he advanced rapidly, displaying unsnal skill and ability. Recognizing in Mr. Zeigler those qualities that make a successful teacher, Prof. White organized the Orangeburg Business College, and offered him a position in the Shorthand Department, which he accepted and later became Principal of that department. which position he held for about two years. With the desire to better qualify himself, he took advantage of the home course offered to teachers of Pernin's Universal Phonography, by the Pernin Shorthand Institute, Detroit. Michigan.
Going then to Columbus, Georgia, he continued as a teacher there for a short time, when, having an opportunity to enter upon a broader sphere of action. he came to Wayeross to assume charge of the Way- cross Business College, which was then, in March 1908, owned by Ben- jamin JJ. Ferguson. Four months later, in July, 1908, Prof. Zeigler purchased the school from Mr. Ferguson, which he has since conducted with marked success. This institution is one of the leading ones of the kind in southeast Georgia, and under the efficient teaching of the pro- fessor and his assistants, the many pupils who come from various parts of Georgia and adjoining states, become familiar with typewriting. shorthand. bookkeeping, business mathematies. penmanship. English correspondence, office practice, and other branches of study used in the comercial world. As a peman, Mr. Zeigler has reached a high state
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of perfection, and his pupils find that he possesses not only the ability to write well himself. but that still rarer talent, which enables him to impart his knowledge to others.
True to the religious faith in which he was reared. Prof. Zeigler united with the Baptist church, and is now a deacon in the First Baptist church of Waycross, and the superintendent of its Sunday school.
NATHAN ATKINSON BROWN. A well-known and highly esteemed resident of Museogee county, Nathan Atkinson Brown, of Columbus, Georgia, has served as deputy clerk of the United States circuit and district courts. and United States commissioner, for many years, and during the time has administered the affairs of his office so wisely and conscientiously, and with such thoroughness as to win the approval of all concerned.
Ile was born March 6, 1866. in Camden county, Georgia, on the same plantation that his father, the late Capt. Nathan Atkinson Brown, first drew the breath of life.
His grandfather David Brown was born in Piekens district. South Carolina. Coming to Georgia in pioneer days, he bought land in Cam- den county, and on this plantation, which he redeemed from its original wildness, spent the remainder of his life. He married Elizabeth At- kinson, and they reared a large family of children.
Capt. Nathan Atkinson Brown received his early education under the instruction of private tutors, later attending the Marietta Military Institute of Georgia. Although fitted for a professional career he chose the independent occupation of an agriculturalist, and with the assistance of slaves carried on farming successfully. During the war between the states, he entered the Confederate service on the fifth day of August. 1861, as a first lieutenant "Camden Rifles" in Company "I" of the 13th Georgia Regiment, Georgia Volunteers, C. S. A., commanded by Colonel Styles. Ile was honorably discharged from service by Col. Dunean L. Clinch on or about the 15th day of April, 1865, at which time he held the rank of captain of Company "C," 4th Georgia Cavalry. He was on duty the greater part of the war in south Georgia and Florida. The sword which he carried during the war was also used in the Revolutionary war by his grand-uncle John Atkinson, and in the War of 1812 by his uncle Nathan Atkinson. and is now one of the cherished possessions of his son Nathan A. Brown, of whom we write. He lived but a short time after the elose of the war, his death occurring on February 23d, 1866.
Capt. Nathan Atkinson Brown married Louisa Tupper Nicholes. who was born in Beaufort distriet. South Carolina, a daughter of Dr. Henry J., and Eliza Witter ( Turner) Nicholes, natives of the same state. Dr. Nieholes was a successful physician. and also an extensive planter. He operated his lands with his slaves' help, owning valuable rice planta- tions in Camden county, and cotton plantations in Glynn county. Georgia. During, or soon after the war, he removed from Camden to Cobb county, buying a home in Marietta and running a farm a few miles from that town. After spending a useful life, he departed this life for a more glorious one above. Left a widow when yonng. Mrs. Louisa Nicholes Brown, who had three small children. Enla, Lillie and Nathan Atkinson Brown, joined her father in Marietta. After his death she moved to Atlanta where she has resided up to the present time.
But an infant when his father died. Nathan A. Brown was partly brought up and educated in Marietta. After moving to Atlanta. he studied stenography, and secured a situation with the Richmond &
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Danville Railroad Company, and was for several years stationed at Atlanta. Subsequently accepting a position with the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company he went to New Mexico, and was in the railway office at Albuquerque until 1890. During that period Mr. Brown spent his leisure time in reading law, and in that year returned to Georgia to still further pursue his legal studies. He entered the Atlanta Law School, and was among the first graduates receiving his degree of B. L., June 29, 1892. After completing his course he was admitted to the bar, and subsequently entered the office of Judge Henry B. Tompkins, for- merly of the Savannah circuit. In 1897, Mr. Brown was appointed deputy clerk of the United States circuit and districts courts at Colnm- bus, Georgia, and also United States commissioner, and he has continued in offiee ever since: his long record of service in those positions being ample proof of his ability and efficiency.
Mr. Brown first married in 1893, at Danville, New York, Miss Rose Hopkins, of Clay City, Illinois, a daughter of Win. Hopkins and Miriam (Kelly) Hopkins. She bore him three sons. Donald Vincent, Nathan Atkinson, and William Hopkins Brown. The former was a beautiful child of four years when he died of scarlet fever. ITis devoted mother followed him to the beautiful mansion above in September, 1904. Mr. Brown's second marriage, which took place at Macon, Georgia, June 4, 1908, was to Miss Annie Daniel, of Macon, Georgia, a daughter of Wil- liam Brantly and Urquhart ( Evans) Daniel, and of this union two children have been born, namely: Mildred Daniel Brown and Louise Evans Brown. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Baptist church. Fraternally he belongs to Mount Hermon Lodge No. 304, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons.
WILLIAM T. CHINA. A eapable and intelligent business man of Lyons, Toombs county, William T. China, eashier of the Toombs County Bank, has long been identified with the best interests of the community, and has proved himself a valuable and worthy eitizen. Born at Wil- liamsburg, South Carolina, April 28, 1874, he was reared in the homes of relatives. his parents having died when he was a child.
Growing to manhood in his native state, Mr. China acquired a prae- tical education in the public schools, and was early trained to habits of industry and thrift. Coming to Georgia in 1898, he first engaged in the turpentine business. and was afterwards bookkeeper for the Lyons Trading Company for a year. In 1906, Mr. China was elected cashier of the Toombs County Bank, a position which he has since filled ably and satisfactorily. This institution has a capital stock of $30,000, and is under the management of men of tried and true integrity and ability, . Enoch J. Giles being its president ; R. L. Page. vice-president : and Mr. China, cashier. Mr. China has never shirked the responsibilities of publie office, but is now serving most acceptably as a member of the city council, and as city treasurer.
On December 25, 1899, Mr. China was nited in marriage with Mamie J. Parker, a daughter of J. P. Parker, of Troy, Alabama. She is a most estimable woman, and a member of the Baptist church.
WILLIAM E. DAVIS. One of the oldest residents of the town of Meigs, and a representative of a family which has been identified with Georgia for several generations. Mr. Davis has had a long and interesting career. He is a native of Oglethorpe county, where he was born December 19, 1839.
His father. William JJ. Davis, who was born in Virginia. December 14, 1802, at an early age was left an orphan and then went to live
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with an unele. Middleton Pope. Soon afterward the Pope family came to Georgia, and he was reared on a farm in Oglethorpe county, his unele being one of the first settlers there. Middleton Pope acquired large tracts of land in that part of the state, operating them with slave labor. His wife survived him and spent her last days in Athens. Their only child married David C. Barrow, of which union was born Pope Barrow. Early in his career William J. Davis bought land in Oglethorpe county. having slaves to work it, and lived there until his death on September 8, 1858. He married Angelina Lumpkin on the 24th of December, 1827. She was born in Oglethorpe county. June 28, 1801. and belonged to one of the most prominent families in Georgia during the first half of the last century. Her father was Rev. George Lumpkin. a native and life- long resident of Oglethorpe county, where he conducted a farm and also performed the duties of a pioneer minister of the Missionary Baptist church. A brother of this minister was a governor of the state of Georgia, and another brother was Judge Joseph Lumpkin. Mrs. William J. Davis died on December 21. 1847. Both she and her hus- band were members of the Missionary Baptist church. They were the parents of eleven children, named as follows: George, Middleton. Sarah, Annie J .. Matilda. Martha A., William E., Mary, Lucy Pope, Howell Cobb, and Josephine.
William E. Davis was sixteen years old when his father died, and his older brother Middleton then returned home and became head of the family until its members had found homes of their own. Not long after attaining manhood and taking up the serious duties of life, the war broke out and William E., then a young man of twenty-two, en- listed in May. 1861, in Company K of the Eighth Georgia Infantry under Colonel Barton. The command went to the front and was attached to Longstreet's corps in the army of North Virginia, participating in many of the campaigns and battles in the principal seat of the civil conflict. He was in the first battle at Manassas Junetion, and a few days later was within a few miles and in plain sight of the city of Washington. The seven days' fighting around Richmond, the Wilder- ness, Williamsburg. Martinsburg, were other notable engagements in which he did a soldier's part. At Mechanicsburg, Company K and another company were sent out to meet the Yankees. All were lying on the ground when a shell burst above them. Mr. Davis was stunned by one of the fragments while the men on each side of him were killed outright, and he was covered with their blood. The companies re- treated and he was left for dead among his slain comrades. After a time. when he recovered consciousness, he observed that the enemy had occu- pied the field all about him. Keeping still and watching his opportunity. he finally crawled into a swamp, and at night found his way back to camp, where he was passed by the piekets. He then lay down among his sleeping comrades. and the next morning afforded them a surprise as though returned from the dead, and they hailed him as the dead man. ITis captain had already dispatched a letter informing Mr. Davis' sister of his death on the field of battle, and it was some time before the truth came to end her bereavement. Mr. Davis performed a strenuous service as a southern soldier until the spring of 1864, when on account of disability he was honorably discharged and returned home. As soon as he had recovered, however, he was back in service. this time in the Twenty-ninth Battalion of Georgia Cavalry, and was in the coast defense until the close of the war.
In May. 1865, his duty to the southland had been discharged and he went to his sister's home in Decatur county. He arrived so destitute of clothing that she tore np one of her dresses to make him a shirt. Mr.
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Davis is one of the honored citizens who, at the close of the war, set to work in the reconstruction of their own fortunes and the rebuilding of a new industrial society. His first employment was as overseer on a Decatur county farm, where he remained two years. He then paid six hundred dollars for sixty-two and a half acres of land in Mitchell comity, rebuilt a log house that stood on the place, and there commenced his career as an independent farmer. From that time to the present, through much hard labor and careful management during the earlier years, he has been on the highroad to material prosperity. In a few years he sold his first place and bought two hundred and fifty acres fifteen miles southwest of Camilla. which continued to be his home for about ten years. He then sold and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty- five acres six miles southeast of Camilla, and lived there until 1884. In that year he transferred his residence to Thomas county and the vicinity of the present town of Meigs, buying one hundred and twenty- five acres close to the present townsite. A sawmill, a turpentine still and a commissary then comprised all the activities at the point, and he has witnessed every important addition to the town. He afterwards increased his land to three hundred acres, and continued to operate it and make it his home until 1911, in which year he moved into town and built a comfortable residence for his declining years. Ilis home is surrounded by a considerable tract of land in the cultivation of which he keeps himself busy. .
Mr. Davis was married in 1867 to Miss Martha Evans. She was born in Baker county, this state. Her father. Alfred Evans. a native of Alabama, who was left an orphan, came to Georgia, settling in Baker county, where he lived some years, then moved to Decatur and later to Mitchell county. and finally to Cairo, which was then in Thomas county but is now the county seat of Grady county. At Cairo he bought a farm now included in the town limits, and lived there till his death at the age of fifty-two. Alfred Evans married Grace Ann Smith, who died at Cairo aged seventy-two years, and she reared ten children.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis are the parents of eleven children, namely : William M., Alfred. Leonora, Russell, Mattie, Gordon, Lucy, Haggard, Clifford, Herbert and Rossa. William has been twice married, his first wife being Della Adams and his second Bessie Brandage. His eight children, all by the first wife, are Roseoe, Annie, Emma, Meda, Johnnie, Ernest, Ruby and George. Alfred, the second son, married Katie Wilkes, and their children include Lois, Wilkes, Edwin. Harrold and Kathleen. Leonora married J. J. Boswell, and they have one son. Julian. Russell married Nabbie Grant, and they have four children. Jewell, Jolm, Evans and Nina. Mattie is the wife of J. D. Atkinson. and her two children are Grace and Clifford. Gordon married Mittie Lay. Lucy is the wife of J. A. Sasser, and their three children are Lucille, Ina and Mildred. Haggard married Hattie Redfern. Clif- ford is the wife of Hayward Singleton, and has two children, Hnkdah and Ilagar. Herbert married Jimmie Goklen, and they have one son. Frederick.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis have enjoyed long and prosperous lives. have provided well for themselves and children. and in the evening of life their greatest pleasure is in the large family of children and grand- children who honor and venerate them. All the family are members of the Baptist church.
ROBERT E. BARFIELD. The present mayor of the town of Hahira has for a number of years been one of the progressive farmers of this vi- cinity and represents a pioneer family in Lowndes county. Mr. Bar-
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field was born on the farm where he now resides on the 6th of March, 1878, his residence being within the corporate limits.
His grandfather was Frederick Jones Barfield, who was probably born in Jones county. this state. and in 1858 moved to Lowndes county, which was then much larger than at present, with the county seat at Troupville. No railroads had yet penetrated to this section, and he was one of the pioneers in development of the country. He bought a tract of timber land four miles south of the present site of Hahira, and with his slaves was engaged in general farming up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was fifty-five years old. The maiden name of his wife was Bethany Brewer, who was born either in Jones or an adjoining county, and she survived her husband several years.
The father of Robert E. Barfield was named Gen. Lafayette Barfield, and he was born in Jones county in 1857, but lived in Lowndes county from the time he was one year of age. On beginning life for himself he purehased a tract of land, part of which is now included in the town of Hahira. About thirty-five acres of it was eleared, and the log cabin in which Robert E. was born constituted the principal improvement on the place at the time. On the death of the grandfather he left this place and took charge of the old home estate in the interest of the other heirs, and later bought the other interests and became sole owner. There he lived until his death in 1896 at the age of thirty-nine. He married Feddie Wilson. a native of Lowndes eonnty and danghter of Solomon and Sarah Wilson, pioneers of this county. She is now a resident of Arizona. She reared nine ehildren, named as follows: Navie E., Robert E., Sally, Frederick, Maggie Gordon, General L., Jr., Maude, Pearl and Hester Eugene.
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