USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 63
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Robert E. Barfield, the oldest son of this family, was reared on the old homestead south of Hahira and attended sehool in Mineola. Being eighteen when his father died. the care of the estate devolved upon him, his father's will making him executor, and on coming of age he took full charge. The farm was his home until his marriage, and he then moved to Valdosta and served twenty-one months as deputy sheriff. After this official service he lived on the farm again for a year, and then managed the farm two years from his home in Valdosta. He was engaged in sawmilling for two years, at the end of which time he located in IIahira and the following year built his present residenee in town, located on the same farm on which he was born. He has been chiefly occupied in general farming. As a resident of town he takes an aetive part in its affairs, and is now serving his second term in the office of mayor.
. Mr. Barfield was married in 1898 to Miss Eula Belle Newton, who was born in Brooks county, a daughter of James and Sarah J. Newton. Mr. and Mrs. Barfield have one son, Robert E., Jr. Mrs. Barfield is a member of the Baptist church, which her husband also attends. Fra- ternally he affiliates with Valdosta Lodge No. 346, A. F. & A. M., and with Adele Chapter, R. A. M. In polities he is a Democrat.
JOHN ELIJJA!I WEBB. Now one of the most prosperous planters of Lowndes county and a citizen whose services have often contributed to the general advancement and public welfare of his community. - John Elijah Webb began his career practically without any of the material equipment and capital which are supposed to be necessary to success- ful endeavor. He is one of the substantial men upon whom the solid prosperity and civie progress of south Georgia depend.
John Elijah Webb was born in Macon county, Georgia. July 16. 1861, a son of John and Elizabeth ( Lamb) Webb. The Webb family
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with its connections has been identified with this state for nearly a century, and its members have been honorable and productive factors in the civic and material life of the state. A brief history of Mr. Webb's antecedents is published elsewhere in this work in the sketch of W. W. Webb. and hence need not be repeated here.
The war all but destroyed the fortunes of Mr. Webb's father, and as his childhood fell during the years of that struggle and the recon- struction period he was without many of the advantages which youths of the best families enjoyed before the war and in the modern era of.pros- perity. To the education supplied by the neighborhood schools he has since added by extensive reading. His assistance was early required on the farm, and when still a very young man the entire management of the home place devolved upon him through the retirement of his father from active labor on account of ill health. In meeting the re- sponsibilities of this situation, his first aet was to sell all the mules to pay off indebteduess. and this heroic measure left him without stock to run the place. Giving his personal note for $40.00 to a colored man in payment for a blind horse, he thus began his independent career at farming. He had his parents to support and a younger brother and sister to edueate. but his industry and courage never failed to meet the responsibilities. Finally he sold his horse for $25.00 and bought a mule for $100.00.
With $75.00 cash he gave his note for $40.00 for the balance. This brief sketch will not take up the details of the way in which he worked out success, and the above facts are men- tioned merely to show some of the difficulties in his start. What he has accomplished from such a beginning is illustrated in his present possession of a plantation of eight hundred acres in one body. well stocked and with excellent building improvements, and he also owns an interest in a traet of four hundred acres. Mr. Webb is a director in the Hahira Bank, is a member of the Seuith Mereantile Company, and a stockholder in the Tennessee Oil & Gas Company.
At the age of twenty-four Mr. Webb was married to Miss Anna P. Nichols, who was born in Lowndes county. a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Vickers) Nichols. Mr. and Mrs. Webb are parents of the fol- lowing children : Mary, Elizabeth, Everett, Pearl. Vesta Van Buren, Minnie Eugenia. Mr. Webb and wife are members of the Methodist church.
In polities he is a Democrat, and has long taken an active part in publie affairs. For four years he was member of the county board of education, and also did good service on the county board of road and revenue commissioners. He was a member of the latter when the conrt house was constructed, when the first definite steps were taken to straighten the county roads, and when the bridges at Troupville and over the Little river were built. These bridges can now be crossed at any stage of water, and are considered among the best improvements of the county.
C. C. CURRY. A man of distinctive energy and much force of char- acter. C. C. Curry, of Vidalia, head of the law firm of Curry & Williams, possesses a natural aptitude for the work of his profession, being indus- trions, earnest and persistent in the advocacy of his client's canse, while his record gives evidence of his wide legal knowledge and his broad rea- soning powers have won him snecess in his labors. A native of Wash- ington county, Georgia, he was born May 7, 1871. near Curry's old mill site, in the vieinity of Warthen Station. His father, A. G. Curry, served in the Confederate army during the Civil war, enlisting in a com- pany of Georgia Volunteer Infantry, and for awhile being a prisoner- of-war.
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Leaving the old home farm at the age of twenty-one years, C. C. Curry began work for himself as a bridge constructor on a railroad in Florida, for three years standing guard over a gang of convict laborers in Dutton. During that period he attended school for the first time. and by night study progressed from the primer to the third reader. Going then to Hague, Florida, he found himself so far behind in his studies that he became somewhat discouraged, and returned to the eonviet camp, where he remained a year. Having while there made good use of his every leisure moment, Mr. Curry entered the Normal institute at Jasper, Florida. A year later the professors of that school established the Georgia Normal College and Business Institute, and Mr. Curry became one of its first pupils. For three years he paid his way through that institution by janitor service, and the succeeding two years by tutoring. Going then to Valparaiso, Indiana, he entered the Law depart- ment of the Northern Indiana Normal school, and by working as a waiter in a restaurant, and selling books, he maintained himself until his graduation, with the class of 1901, with a good record for scholar- ship.
Returning to Georgia. Mr. Curry began the practice of his profes- sion at Abbeville, and as a lawyer has been eminently successful. He is now located at Vidalia, being senior member of the firm of Curry & Williams, attorneys, and has here built up a substantial and remunera- tive patronage. A man of pleasing address and personality, with a gift for oratory, Mr. Curry has won quite a reputation as a platform dialect entertainer, lecturer, eloentionist, humorist and musician, in the latter eapacity being an expert banjo player. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons.
Mr. Curry married, at Abbeville. Georgia. Mattie Doster, a daughter of A. J. and Caroline Doster, and into their home four sons have made their advent, namely: Clifton, born in 1902; Olin Wimberly, born in 1904; A. J. (Jack), born in 1906; and Joe Brown, born in 1908.
WALTER EDWARD BRADLEY. Realizing the fact that the editor and proprietor of a newspaper occupies a vantage ground which may make or mar a reputation. or build up or break down a cause worthy of sup- port, the citizens of Baxley have reason for congratulation that the Baxley News-Banner is in such safe, sagacious and thoroughly clean hands. It is considered one of the best general newspapers in the eounty, as well as an outspoken, fairplay exponent of all measures for the benefit of the community, and is in all respects well worthy of the care and sound judgment displayed in its columns, and reflects credit on its owner, Walter Edward Bradley. Mr. Bradley is a native of Appling county. and was born near the town of Graham, August 24. 1888, a son of Elijah and Annie (Downs) Bradley. His grandfather. Edward Bradley, was a native of Chatham county, where he was a large slave holder and planter, and his maternal grandfather. D. M. Downs, also came from that locality. Elijah Bradley was born and reared in Liberty county, served as second lieutenant in a Georgia regi- ment during the war between the states, under General Lee. and after the close of hostilities became a prominent merchant. He and his wife had the following children: J. R., who is thirty-four years of age: Walter Edward: Joseph, who is sixteen years old; Snsie, the wife of T. M. Brown, a merchant of Tifton, Georgia ; and Ruby, who married J. K. Kinzey, a locomotive engineer residing at Tallahassee, Florida.
Walter Edward Bradley was three years of age when his parents removed to Eastman, Dodge county, and there he resided twelve years, his early education being secured in the public schools of that place. He
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was graduated from the Eastman high school in 1900, and after attend- ing Emory College for one term started to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Eastman Times-Journal, with which he was associated until coming to Baxley in the latter part of 1909. He then became the successor of D. M. Parker as editor and publisher of the Vores-Banner, which he has succeeded in making one of the most popular and reliable sheets in the county. This is a flourishing. bright, attractive and well- edited newspaper, and enjoys a large circulation in Baxley and the surrounding country. The office is fitted with all modern appliances found in first-class establishments, and the job printing department has a large and rapidly growing patronage. Mr. Bradley supports all movements which he believes will be of benefit to his community, and is recognized as wielding a great deal of influence in forming public opinion in publie matters.
On April 23, 1910, Mr. Bradley was married to Miss Sallie Maie Melton, daughter of the late G. T. Melton, a planter and merchant of Baxley, and they have a bright, interesting son, Edward Melton. now aged two years. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley are popular in social circles. and are well known in religious work as members of the Methodist church South. He is fraternally connected with the Masons, the Odd Fellows. the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World.
GEORGE FLETCHER MCLEOD. The people who constitute the bone and sinew of this country are not those who are unstable and unsettled, who fly from this occupation to that, who do not know where they stand on political questions till they are told how to vote, and who take no active and intelligent interest in affairs affecting their schools. church and property. The backbone of this country is made up of families which have made their own homes, who are alive to the best interests of the community in which they reside, who are so honest that it is no trouble for their neighbors to know it, who attend to their own bnsi- ness and are too busy to attend to that of others, who work steadily on from day to day, taking the sunshine with the storm, and who rear a fine family to an honest name and comfortable home. Snel people are always welcome in any community and any country. Among such people is the valiant ex-soldier and successful business man, who is the subject of this brief review-George Fletcher MeLeod.
Mr. MeLeod was born November 23, 1842, in Maeon, Georgia, and when a child of four years removed with his parents John Fletcher and Harriet (Smith) MeLeod. to near Abbeville, Wilcox county, Georgia. He resided upon his father's farm until about the age of seventeen years, giving over the roseate days of youth to obtaining a schooling. assisting his father in the work of the farm and in the usual pursuits and recreations dear to boyhood. He was the first young man to enlist in the Confederate army from Wilcox county, becoming a member of Company C, Eighth Georgia Infantry, of General Bartow's command. He participated in the first battle of Bull Run, was severely wounded in the head with a minnie ball and remained in the hospital at Char- lottesville, Virginia, for abont a year. As soon as he was able to leave the hospital he went, back to service and served throughout the re- mainder of the great conflict as captain of the commissary department.
After the termination of the Civil war, Mr. MeLeod accepted the new conditions with manly courage and fortitude and at once took his place in the business world, engaging in the saw-mill, lumber and timber business at Abbeville, Georgia, for a number of years and since then has been engaged in other pursuits. Ile has fine executive ability and fine business principles and has proved successful. He has also had impor-
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tant financial connections and was at one time president and is now director of the Bank of Abbeville, no small part of the high standing of this monetary institution being due to his discrimination. Mr. MeLeod had five brothers and two sisters, but he is now the only surviving member of his family.
On December 20. 1881, the subject was united in marriage to Martha Wimberly, daughter of Lewis Dawson and Juliet (Powell) Wimberly, of Macon. Mrs. McLeod's family is a representative one of the South, her maternal grandfather. Hugh Powell, and his wife, Martha ( Cottrell) Powell, having been well-known Virginians. The subject and his admir- able wife have reared three fine sons and two charming and accomplished daughters to young manhood and womanhood. John Lewis is now located in Savannah: George Fletcher is in Abbeville; Wimberly is a student in the State University at Athens, Georgia ; and Julia and Irene reside at home. Miss Julia is a rarely gifted elocutionist and teacher of the art and has given many dramatic readings for the benefit of churches, schools and societies. Irene is a gifted vocalist and is a much sought soloist and member of local choirs.
Mr. MeLeod is a popular Mason and exemplifies in his own living the ideals of moral and social justice and brotherly love for which the order stands. Ile is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the S. D. Fullen Camp. United Confederate Veterans with whom he renews the old comradeship of other days. Mrs. MeLeod, one of Abbeville's representative ladies, has been president of the Abbe- ville Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy since its organiza- tion some twelve years ago. The subject and his family are helpful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
V. L. DARBY. M. D. A rising young physician of Denton, V. L. Darby. M. D .. where he has a good practice, is fast winning for himself an honored name in the medical profession. Ile was born, February 29, 1884, on a farm near Monroe, Walton county, Georgia, and this year, 1912, had the pleasure of celebrating his natal day the seventh time. His parents. W. L. and Lulu ( Hale) Darby, were both natives of Walton county, having been born on neighboring plantations.
Completing his early education in the Vidalia High school. V. L. Darby spent two years in the Medical department of the University of Georgia, in Augusta, and at the age of twenty-one years, in 1905, was graduated from the Maryland Medical College. in Baltimore, there re- eeiving the degree of MI. D. Then, after practicing medicine in Vidalia, Georgia, for a year. he took a post graduate course in New Orleans, while in that city spending some time at the Central America Yellow Fever Quarantine station for the state of Louisiana. gaining profes- sional knowledge and experience impossible to acquire elsewhere. Re- turning to Georgia. Dr. Darby settled first in Hoschton. from there coming again to Vidalia, where he built up a good patronage, and about February 1, 1913, he moved to Denton; his success in dealing with diffienlt eases having won for him the confidence and good will of the people.
Dr. Darby has the distinction of being a charter member of the Chi Zeta Chi medical fraternity, which was organized at the University of Georgia in 1903, being the first Greek Letter society of that institution. He also belongs to several of Vidalia's fraternal lodges, including the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Woodmen of the World. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
At Hoschton, Georgia, Dr. Darby was united in marriage with Ruth
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Hosch, a daughter of Hlou. John R. Iloseh, her father having been a man of prominence and influence, and one of the leading Inmber manu- facturers and dealers of his community. The doctor and Mrs. Darby have one child, Virgil Hosch Darby, born in 1909.
REV. JOSEPH N. SMITH. An ardent believer and upholder of the truths of the Holy Scriptures, Rev. Joseph N. Smith, of Hazlehurst, Jeff Davis county, is known far and wide as a man of strong convictions, and deep consecration, and as one who is bound heart and soul to the work of the Christian ministry. A native of Georgia, he was born, March 31, 1852, in Emanuel county, on the farm of his father, John G. Smith.
Born in North Carolina, John G. Smith was but a small lad when brought by his parents to Georgia, where he grew to manhood, and sub- sequently made farming his chief occupation. During the Civil war he served bravely in a Georgia regiment, being commissioned as lieu- tenant of his company, and acting as captain in time of need. Ile took part in many engagements of note, and in a hard-fought battle just above Atlanta, was severely wounded. Two of his brothers, W. D. Smith and George W. Smith, also took part in the Civil war. serving in the Thirty-second Georgia Regiment, under Colonel Harrison. George W., the younger brother, died while in the army, at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, while the elder brother, W. D., served as a private throughout the entire war, and at the engagement at Ocean Pond being severely injured by the falling of a trec.
Spending the first forty years of his life in Emanuel county, Joseph N. Smith acquired his early education in the district schools, and as a boy and youth became familiar with farm work. In early life he mani- fested strong religious tendencies, and almost as a matter of course entered the ministry, becoming associated with the Primitive Baptist church. In 1877 he was licensed to preach, and in November, 1878, Mr. Smith was ordained to full work in the denomination, and even now serves from one to four churches regularly. He also does contraet work as a carpenter and builder, making good use of his natural mechanical ability and genius. Leaving his native county in 1894, Mr. Smith spent four years in Laurens county. Going then to Telfair county, he remained in Helena eight years, but for the past six years has maintained his home in Hazlehurst, and has here continued active work in the ministry, meeting with a due need of success in his labors.
Rev. Mr. Smith married, in 1873, Miss Georgia Gillis. a daughter of A. J. Gillis, who served as a member of the Georgia Cavalry in the Civil war, and of Elizabeth ( Rieks) Gillis. Of the eleven children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Smith one child, Dora. has passed to the higher life, and ten are living, and all are married, namely: JJ. A., born in 1878; J. T., born in 1880; C. O .. born in 1885; W. L., born in 1894: Hilrie, born in 1898; Lizzie, Mollie, Mamie, and Vernie. The family are all members of the Primitive Baptist church, and active workers therein.
ANDREW GILL, who is road-master for the Gulf Line Railroad at Sylvester, Georgia, was born on February 10, 1854. near Troupville. (Lowndes) now Brooks county, Georgia, on the farm of his father, John Gill. His mother was Nancy ( MeLeod) Gill, a native of Virginia, while his father was a native of South Carolina. Both were of Scotch allees- try. John Gill served in the Volunteer army of the Confederate states of America during the Civil war and saw much active service throughout its duration. He was wounded at Gettysburg and came home in January, 1865.
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Until he was nineteen years of age, Andrew Gill assisted with the work of the farm. his actual school attendance in those years not aggre- gating nine months. After leaving the farm he went to work as a track hand, beginning October 3, 1873, in the employ of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad. remaining thus employed for four months. At the end of that time he was promoted to the position of section foreman, a post which he held for sixteen years with that road and its successors, the Plant System and the Atlantic Coast Line. In 1890 he was pro- moted from the position of track foreman to that of conductor of a construction train, and he served three years in that capacity. In 1893 he was made supervisor of the Fifth Division of the Plant System, serving thus for nine years, after which he was promoted to the position of road-master, in which important position he continued for two years, making his entire service with this company, as measured by time, to cover a period of thirty years. In 1904, Mr. Gill quit the railroad ser- vice and engaged in business for himself as the operator of a naval store, and in this enterprise he continued through a period of seven years. In October. 1911. he took service as superintendent of construction with the Cotton State Construction Company in railroad building, the work being in connection with the Gulf Line Railroad where he is at present employed as road-master.
Mr. Gill has been twice married. On March 9, 1875, he was united in marriage with Sarah Martin, the daughter of A. V. Martin of Georgia. She died on October 20, 1877, leaving two children,-Mary, who died in her nineteenth year of life, and W. D., who died in infancy. On Janu- ary 22, 1879, he was married to Mollie Foster, the daughter of Hampton C. Foster, a native of Tennessee, and Sarah (Smith ) Foster, of Georgia. Of this latter union ten children were born, of which number nine are living. They are: Andrew W .; Fannie L .; Hampton C .; Lewis M .; Anna Vashti; M. W. Roy; Katie; Peter, and Robert L. Mr. Gill had two brothers,-Daniel and Angus, both of whom are deceased, and his sisters, Jane and Laura, are both married and make their homes in Georgia.
The Gill family is one held in high esteem in their community, where they have been well known for years. They have no definite church affiliations, but attend all churches impartially. Mr. Gill is a Mason of the Royal Arch degree.
R. LEE MOORE. The South perhaps more than any other region has been famous for the public-spirited men it has produced. Its lawyers have attained to the highest eminence in the jurisprudence of the nation ; its publicists have determined wisely and well questions of public policy, and its military men have for their gallantry achieved undying fame in the hearts of the people. In this region and from such honored fore- bears resides R. Lee Moore, one of Statesboro's leading citizens and a former mayor of the community.' In him there runs a strain of all these characteristics, which combined in splendid manhood have enabled him to attain to the position he ocenpies in the hearts of his fellow townsmen.
Mr. Moore has not yet attained to the meridian of life, despite the attainments which he bears and which usually mark the man of more advanced years. He was born at Scarboro, in Sereven county. Georgia, on November 27, 1867. his parents being Zacariah and Mary (Jackson) Moore. The former was a native of Washington county, Georgia. Octo- ber 2, 1825. being the date of his nativity. He died in 1887. His wife, who was born in Wilkinson county. Georgia, in 1840, is still living.
Reared on the home plantation in Sereven county, R. Lee Moore was carefully educated for a profession. His early educational training
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was in Scarboro Academy, after which he continued his studies at the Middle Georgia Military Academy at Millidgeville, of which Gen. D. H. Hill was then president. Passing from college to active life he taught school for a time in Sereven county, and later was employed as a salesman in a mercantile establishment at Millen.
His ambition beekoned him onward, however, and he went to the city of Savannah, whose larger field afforded the opportunity he so greatly desired. He found employment as a clerk and bookkeeper, and at once set about the study of law. the privilege of practicing at the bar being the goal toward which he set his course. He finally entered the law de- partment of the University of Georgia, in which he graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1890, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of his native state at Athens, June 18, 1890 by Judge N. L. Hutchinson.
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