USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 67
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FRANK U. GARRARD. A lawyer of Cohimbns whose practice has brought him into relationship with many of the largest corporations and business concerns of the state, Mr. Frank U. Garrard represents an old family and his father before him was one of the ablest members of the Columbus bar.
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Frank U. Garrard was born at Columbus, Jannary 1, 1876. a son of the late Louis F. and Annie ( Foster) Garrard. As a boy he attended private schools in Columbus, and when seventeen years old began the study in the law offices of his father. He continued in this way for several years, and on December 4, 1897, was admitted to the bar. He practiced law alone for several years and then was taken into partner- ship with his father under the firm name of Garrard & Garrard. This firm was counsel for many of the larger corporations of Columbus, and also had a large general practice. the ability of the firm being reeog- nized both as trial and as counsel lawyers. On the death of the senior Garrard the son has continued the business formerly conducted by the joint firm. and now enjoys a large and successful business. Mr. Gar- rard is attorney for the Columbus Investment Company: The Columbus Railroad Company: The Muskogee Real Estate and Investment Com- pany; The Columbus Power Company: The Gas Light Company of Co- lumbus ; The Stone & Webster Engineering Syndicate: and the Third National Bank and the Columbus Savings Bank. Mr. Garrard was mar- ried December 12, 1900. to Miss Sara Gardiner of Sparta. They are the parents of four children. namely: Louise Gardiner, born December 2, 1902; Margaret, born February 3, 1906: Frank, Jr., born January 5, 1910; and Gardiner, born May 14, 1912. Mr. Garrard is affiliated with Mt. Harmen lodge. No. 304. A. F. & A. M. : Darly Chapter No. 7. R. A. M .; and is a Knights Templar Mason and a member of the Alee Temple of the Mystie Shrine. He is also affiliated with Columbus lodge, No. 67. I. O. O. F., and with R. E. Lee lodge, of the Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men. He also has membership in the Georgia State Bar Association. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner wor- ship in the Presbyterian church of which he is an elder in the church at Columbus. His chief recreations are automobiling and hunting.
DWIGHT L. ROGERS, praetieing attorney at Ocilla, Georgia. and one of the leading men of that place, is a native of Georgia, born at Shiloh. near Reidsville. Tattnall county, on August 17, 1886. He is the son of William and Isabella Augusta (Lang) Rogers. The father was a native of Tattnall county and the mother of Liberty county. William Rogers was a merchant and eoudueted a mereantile business for years in Reids- ville. They were the parents of six children, named as follows: San- key C., a merchant of Reidsville; Beulah C., the wife of Judge Collins. judge of the city court of Reidsville; J. M., engaged in the hotel busi- ness at Hazelhurst ; Dwight L., of this review; Annabel, the wife of M. E. Flanders ; and Henry Levy a student in the University of Georgia, who is now in his junior year and will graduate with the class of 1913 in law. The parents, who were both of Irish birth, are now deceased.
As a boy and youth. Mr. Rogers attended the schools of Reidsville finishing the high school at that place and then entering Locust Grove Institute. Ile finished his education with a course at the University of Georgia, graduating from the law department with the class of 1909. and receiving at that time his B. S. degree. He was one of the popular and prominent young men of his class, and was a member of the debat- ing team representing the University of Georgia, versus the University of North Carolina. honors being carried off by the University of Georgia contingent. He was a member of the Sphinx fraternity, and also the eaptain of a company of militia while at the university, Ile finished his law studies at Mercer University at Macon, and was graduated in 1910, being admitted to the bar in JJune of the same year.
Mr. Rogers immediately located at Ocilla, where he formed a part- nership with a Mr. Jordan, which partnership has endured up to the
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present time, and Mr. Rogers is fast forging to the front in the practice of his chosen profession.
ELIJAH MACK DANIEL LITTLEFIELD. One of the prosperous farmers and influential citizens of Decatur county, Elijah Mack Daniel Little- field, began his career with limited opportunities, and has acquired one of the best country estates in Decatur county, and is a man of substantial position and influence.
He was born in Kershaw, district of South Carolina, October 15, 1848. IIis father was John Littlefield, who so far as known was born in South Carolina, and about 1850 went west. expecting to find a loca- tion and take his family out to the western country. He died of cholera in Mexico. Ilis wife. thus left a widow, with two children. in 1860. removed to Florida, settling in Calhoun county where she married Samuel Etheridge, a planter of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Etheridge spent their last days in Florida. By her second marriage she reared one daughter, named Mary Drusilla, who now lives with Mr. Littlefield in Decatur county, and presides over his household. Mr. Littlefield has one brother, John Wesley Littlefield, who owns and occupies a farm only a short distance from Elijah's home. John Wesley married Jane Clinard, and has seven children whose names are Ida, Rosa, Cera, William C., John Daniel. Bertha and Eugene.
Elijah M. D. Littlefield as a boy made the best of liniited opportu- nities to attain an education in the rural schools, which were much broken up by reason of the war, and his own time was largely required at home. During the latter part of the war he enlisted as a boy soldier in the State militia, but was never called out for active duty. When a young man he came to Decatur eounty. and began his career on rented land. He got a start, succeeded in practically every venture he undertook and after ten years bought four hundred aeres comprising the fine farm which he now owns. This land he has improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. Ile has built a comfortable home, besides houses for his tenants. a large tobaeco barn, and sheds for stoek. Mr. Littlefield has recently planted an orange grove on his farm. He and his sisters are members of the Christian church and he affiliates with the Masonic lodge.
JOHN WEST MCMULLEN. A life-long resident of Brooks county. where his birth occurred on January 6, 1838, John West MeMullen is a fine representative of those brave pioneers of old, who in their efforts to establish homes for themselves and their deseendants endured hard- ships and trials difficult for the people of this generation to realize. How well they succeeded in their undertakings the broad expanse of eultivated fields to be seen in every direction, the commodions dwellings that have replaced the humble log cabins, and the long trains of palace ears used for transportation in place of the carts drawn by oxen or horses bear visible evidence. Mr. MeMullen's paternal grandfather was one of the earlier settlers of Georgia, having located in Thomas county while that seetion of the country was in its pristine willness. He was of thrifty Scotch ancestry, and a man of sterling integrity. His chil- dren, which included a sou named James. who became the father of John West MeMullen. were all born and reared in Georgia.
James MeMullen was trained to habits of industry, and early showed natural ability as a mechanic. Although he never learned a trade. he became an expert with tools, and could do general blacksmithing. or make either a barrel or a wagon. After his marriage he lived for awhile in Thomas county, from there removing to that part of Lowndes county
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that is now a part of Brooks county. Purchasing land in the Hickory Head distriet. he was there a resident until his death, at the age of sixty years. He married Harriet Rountree, who was born in Lowndes county, where her father, a pioneer settler, was murdered by negroes while taking the produce of his farm to one of the marketing points in Florida, either Tallahassee or Newport. She, too, died at the age of three score years. To her and her husband eight children were born. as fol- lows: Henrietta. William, Martha, John West, Josephine. Robert, George, and Margaret. In his political affiliations James MeMullen was a Whig, and long before there were any railways in Georgia he served as a representative to the state legislature.
Brought up on the home farm, John West MeMullen gleaned his knowledge of the three "R's" in the district schools, and as a boy be- came familiar with the various branches of agriculture. In June, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Ninth Georgia Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to Longstreet's Corps, Army of North Virginia. Continu- ing with his regiment in all of its engagements, he was at the front at the Battle of Antietam. where. on. September 17, 1862, he was severely wounded, a minie ball lodging in his shoulder. Later the ball worked downward, and in 1864 his father extracted it, cutting it out. Having been incapacitated for active duty for nearly two years, Mr. MeMullen then rejoined his regiment. and continued with his command, in Vir- ginia, until the surrender of General Lee. Mr. MeMullen and a few of his comrades refused to surrender, and having made their escape walked to their homes in Georgia. Resuming farming in Hickory Head pre- cinet, Mr. McMullen resided there for many years, but is now living retired in Quitman.
In 1868 Mr. MeMullen was united in marriage with Sarah J. Lee, who was born in that part of Thomas county now included within the boundaries of Brooks county, March 20, 1844, where her parents. John and Eliza (Groover) Lee, were pioneer settlers. His wife, who survived him, died in Thomasville. Mr. and Mrs. McMullen are the parents of four children, namely: Margaret, James, Florrie, and John Lee. Maggie, wife of Walter Avera, has three children, Mary Mec. Walter and James. James, son of John W. McMullen, married Hattie Arrington, and they have one child. James. Florrie, who married Charles Avera, died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving two children, Daisy and Charles. J. Lee married Julia Arrington, and they have two children, John Lee and Thomas Briggs. Mr. and Mrs. McMullen are worthy members of the Hickory Head Missionary Baptist church.
JAMES FREDERICK SOUTER. For twenty years a member of the Georgia bar, and since 1902 located in practice at Preston, the county seat of Webster county, Mr. Souter easily stands in the very front rank of his profession in his home county, and has a large practice in all the courts and as large a general business as any other lawyer in that sec- tion.
James Frederick Souter who was born on a farm in Macon county. Georgia. June 8, 1865, on both his father's and mother's side represents old and respected families in this state. His father was John W. Souter, who was born near Cohimbia, South Carolina, in 1828, and his grandfather was Cullias Souter, who came from South Carolina to Georgia. and settled in Macon county abont 1849. The grandfather bought a traet of land. ten miles west of Oglethorpe, and cleared away the wilderness and created an excellent farm and homestead. He died on that old estate, and was the father of several children.
John W. Sonter, the father, was reared and educated in his native
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state, and after moving to Georgia, bought land in the same loeality as his father had. He possessed a number of slaves, and employed their labor in operating his plantation until the breaking out of the Civil war. He was one of the loyal sons of Georgia. who responded to the call of the Confederacy, and he joined Rylander's Battalion, with which command he went to the front and was in many of the great battles of the war. He was wounded only onee and that not severely, and escaped capture. Resuming his farm operations after the war, he continued in the quiet industry and substantial prosperity of his homestead until his death at the age of eighty-four years. The maiden name of his wife was Eliza Barfield. She was born in North Carolina, a daughter of Jesse Barfield, who was a native of the same state, and who came to Georgia. about 1835. This migration from North Carolina to Georgia was ac- complished in real pioneer style. Several wagons and teams were required to haul the household goods, and many of the slaves either rode horseback or walked by the side of the wagons. The Barfields located in what is now Macon county and at that time nearly the entire western half of Georgia was in the condition it had been from the beginning of American history. No railroads were built for a number of years, and in all that vast district, devoted almost entirely to plantation, Macon was the one great market and depot for supplies. Mr. Barfield in this county became a farmer and remained there until his death. Mrs. Souter, the mother, died at the age of sixty-eight years. She reared four children, whose names are Nancy C., Mary, John M., and James Frederick.
Mr. James F. Souter when a boy attended the schools which were then found in the country distriet of Macon county, and was given a little better than ordinary educational equipment by attendance in the Tazewell high school. Reared on a farm he continued in that occupa- tion until 1893. In the meantime he had taken up the study of law and pursued it industriously, and on being admitted to the bar he located at Oglethorp where he was engaged in praetiee until 1903. In that year he moved to Preston, where his office has since been, and where he has acquired a liberal share of professional business.
Mr. Souter in 1895 married Eliza Brooks, who was born in Maeon county, a daughter of Benjamin C. and Sarah Brooks. Mr. and Mrs. Souter's four children are Laverne. Lester, Mary and Hoyle. As an able lawyer Mr. Souter has naturally been honored with publie position and responsibility. He served as a member of the city eouneil, and was mayor of Preston, and in 1911 was elected by the county board of edu- cation as county superintendent of schools, his choice and appointment being confirmed by election of the people during the same year. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Patriotie Order Sons of America.
JAMES BERRIEN FINCH. For many years intimately associated with the advancement of the mercantile interests of Quitman, the late James Berrien Finch, one of the most respected and highly esteemed citizens of his community, passed his later years retired from all business ar- tivities. ITis earliest association with this place was in the latter part of the Civil war. where he did service in the conseript department for some time, and when peace was finally restored, he opened a mercantile estab- lishment in the city, and there continued to be actively engaged in that field of enterprise until his retirement in 1909. Mr. Finch was over one of the most loyal and publie-spirited of men. and one whose connection with Quitman was one of the fortunate circumstances of that place. He gave most praiseworthy service to the city as a public official in many and varied capacities, and to him may be traced directly the insti-
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gation of many an innovation in the communal life of the place. His death proved a loss indeed to the entire community, and one that will long be felt in the places where he was known, esteemed and honored.
James Berrien Finch was born in Madison county. Florida, on the plantation of his father. Charles Finch. Details concerning the parent- age and ancestry of Mr. Finch are all too meager, but it is known that his father was of Scotch-Irish stock, and that his Grandfather Finch, was one of the early planters of Sereven county, Georgia.
Reared and educated in Sereven county, Charles Finch migrated as a young man to Madison county, Florida, where he bought land, and with the assistance of his slaves. tilled the soil there for a few years. Selling out his Florida interests in 1846, he returned to Georgia. and located some twelve miles south of the present site of (Quitman, in what was then Lowndes county. Clearing a part of his purchase, here he continued a resident until his death. at the age of fifty-eight years. He married Rebecca Jones, who was born in Sereven county, and who died in Brooks connty a year or two after his death, at the age of sixty years. her death being resultant from an injury she sustained when thrown from a car- riage. She was the mother of the following children : Andrew, Henry, Martha, James Berrien, and Hilliard J.
A boy of ten years when he came with his parents to Brooks county, James Berrien Finch became familiar with the different branches of agriculture on the home farm, but as a young man he embarked in mer- cantile pursuits at Nankin. At that time Tebeauville, now called Way- cross, was the nearest railway station, and whenever his business called him to New York. where he replenished his stock, he had to travel by stage to that place, thence by rail to Savannah, where he took boat for New York City.
When the alarm of war rang throughout the land, Mr. Finch promptly enlisted in Company K. Fiftieth Georgia Volunteer Infantry, and as second lieutenant of his company went to the front, his regiment being assigned to the Army of the Potomac. IIe participated in many emupaigns. marches and engagements. continuing in active service until after the battle of Sharpsburg, where he was hit on the head by the frag- ment of a shell. receiving a wound that resulted in his losing the sight of one eye. Thus disabled, Mr. Finch was not again eligible for active army service, but he was detailed for conseript work in Georgia, with headquarters at Quitman. After the close of the war he continued in Quitman, there opening up a mercantile establishment, and he continued to be actively and successfully engaged in that enterprise until 1909, when he retired from active business interests and took his ease as long as he lived.
Public-spirited and progressive, Mr. Finch was a man who ever manifested the most intelligent and wholesouled interest in the affairs of the public, and he was among the foremost in the inauguration of beneficial enterprises. For fifteen years he served as a member of the village and city council. a part of that time being president of the board. While he was thus active in the management of the affairs of the com- umnity, the first artesian well was opened, and the first opera house built, while other improvements of a similar value were made possible.
In 1865, Mr. Finch married Mary MeCall, who was born in Sereven county, Georgia, and who was a daughter of Francis S. and Ann ( Dob- son ) MeCall, of whom a more extended notice may be found elsewhere in this work. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Finch. namely : J. I., Frank, George S .. Nina A .. Rebecca and Herbert. The first born, now the wife of Dan Boone, married for her first husband Dr. Will Wood, who at his death left her with one son, Will Wood, JJr. Frank
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attended Mercer College for two years and in his twentieth year was graduated from the University of Georgia. Entering then upon a pro- fessional career, he taught school but four months when he was thrown from a horse and killed. this bringing to a sad end what promised to be a life of brilliant record and achievement. George S. Finch married Berta Griffin, and they have two children: Le Roy and Nina. Nina - A., who married Thomas E. Hampton, has one child, Mary Lee. Rebecca married E. D. Lambright, and they have one daughter, Mary Wallace Lambright.
CAPT. JAMES LACHLISON FOSTER. A distinguished soldier and offieer of the Confederate army during the Civil war, and for more than forty years prominent in the Georgia lumber industry, Captain Foster is one of the best loved citizens of Savannah.
Captain Foster was born in the city of Philadelphia, June 2. 1841, and was twelve years of age when brought to Savannah, Georgia. by his parents. After securing his education at Chatham Academy, Savannah, and Paris Hill Academy in Sereven county, Georgia, he served an ap- prenticeship in the machine shop and foundry of his uncles R. and J. Lachlison. He was twenty years of age when the Civil war broke upon the country and, becoming a soldier, he attained distinction both as a member of the land and the naval forces of the Confederaey. In 1861, he answered his country's call for volunteers by enlisting in Company B, Oglethorpe Light Infantry, under Capt. Fred Simms.
He was captured in the fall of Fort Pulaski and was a prisoner at Governor's Island, Fort Columbus, and Fort Delaware, and after his exchange was commissioned in the Confederate navy in 1863. He was appointed to duty as third assistant engineer No. 84 on board the iron- clad "Isondiga," Captain Kennard, in the fleet of Commodore Tatnall at Savannah, later becoming its chief engineer, and in December, 1864, when the Confederate forces evacuated that city he took a prominent part, his gunboat covering the retreat at the pontoon bridges on the Savannah river. He directed the burning of the bridges immediately following, thus preventing immediate pursuit by General Sherman's forces. IIe also barned the gunboat before leaving for Charleston. For this and other distinguished services he rose rapidly in the navy, being appointed chief engineer of the ironclad "Palmetto State" and afterwards the "Chicora." two of the most formidable gunboats in the Confederate navy. Early in 1865, he was placed in charge of the ram "Jackson" at Columbus. Escaping capture when the latter city fell, he reported for duty at Angusta a few days before the surrender at Appomattox. Mr. Foster attained the rank of first assistant engineer in the navy (assimilated rank of major in the army ).
In 1869, Captain Foster joined his cousins, Thomas and Joseph IIil- ton, and formed the company of Hiltons and Foster to manufacture Inin- ber at Union Island near Darien, Georgia. He has been associated with this company and its successors as superintendent. director and viee president in all its expansion and various changes since that time. Dur- ing this time he resided first in MeIntosh county, Georgia, and then on St. Simon's Island. Glynn county, Georgia. While living in Glynn county he was one of the commissioners for that county.
Captain Foster was for several years captain of the MeIntosh Light Dragoons, and served with distinction as senator for the second senatorial district in the state legislature in 1904 and 1905. ITis genial- ity, sturdy Scotch determination, English courage and Yankee industry, to which was added the southern pride of the only home of his memory, were qualities which. when fused in the patriotic erncible of a most
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devastating and levelling war and in the face of depressing reconstruc- tion demoralization. have redeemed the old South and brought this beloved seetion forward with strides to the forefront. Captain Foster has earned and honored his position as a prominent citizen of the re- habilitated south.
Captain Foster was first married in 1867 to Miss Lettice Austin of Savannah. She died in 1888, and he was subsequently married to Miss Elizabeth Lachlison. Captain Foster has by his first marriage one daughter, Lettice Elizabeth, who is married to Manley B. Tharin. Captain Foster also had a son, Robert Lachlison Foster, who married Miss Emma L. Mitchelson. The son died in 1899, leaving one daughter, Roberta Wymore Foster.
JOSHUA BARROW. An old resident and representative of one of the old families of Thomas county, Joshua Barrow died at his home in that vicinity, February 19, 1910. The record of the family has an appro- priate place in this history, and is briefly as follows:
Joshua Barrow was born in Thomas county, Georgia, June 19, 1827. His father was John E. Barrow, who was born in North Carolina, March 14, 1798. The grandfather was Joseph Barrow, a native of North Caro- lina, who came to Georgia late in life and spent his declining years in Thomas county. John E. Barrow, the father, came to Georgia when a young man and located in Camden county, where for some years he was employed on the estate of General Coffee as overseer. After his mar- riage he came into southwest Georgia, accompanied by his bride, and made the journey with a horse and cart, bringing along all their earthly possessions. He traded the horse, saddle and bridle for a traet of land about three miles southwest of the present site of Boston, and began life in the unbroken wilderness. By his industrious efforts he cleared up a large tract of land and was a prosperous citizen of Thomas county until his death at the age of seventy-seven. The maiden name of his wife was Mary McCann, who was born in North Carolina, December 11, 1807. Her father was Joshua McCann, who came from North Carolina and lived on a farm in Camden county, Georgia, and then moved to Thomas county, locating southwest of the present city of Boston, where he remained until his death at a good old age. The maiden name of the wife of Joshua MeCan was Sophie Passmore, who survived her hus- band several years. Mrs. John G. Barrow died at the age of ninety years.
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