A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II, Part 70

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

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MAJOR WILLIAM BERRY STEPHENS. A record of well won suceess has been made by Major William Berry Stephens, a stalwart member of the Chatham county bar, who has proved his remarkable fitness for the profession he adorns in the heat of constant litigation. Among his many claims to distinction is his prominence in Georgian military affairs, for he holds the office of major of the Savannah Volunteer Guards and is a veteran of the Spanish-American war, in which he served as sergeant of Company B, of the Second Georgia Infantry, United States Volun- teers. Major Stephens is the scion of one of the oldest and most dis- tinguished American families, with the members of which through many generations patriotism has stood for far more than a mere rhetorical expression.

Major Stephens shares his natal day with the Father of the Country, his birth having occurred near Morven, Brooks county, Georgia, Febru- ary 22, 1870. He is a son of John Hugh and Sarah C. (Hendry) Ste- phens, the former born at Society Hill, Darlington county, South Caro- lina, September 19, 1842. and the latter at Morven, Brooks county, August 19. 1846. It is a matter of well-confirmed tradition that Major Stephens' maternal great-great-grandfather, Robert Hendry, who came from Virginia to Georgia and lies buried at Taylor's Creek, Liberty county, served under " Lighthorse Harry" Lee in the Revolutionary war. The paternal grandfather of Major Stephens served with the South Carolina troops in Florida during the Seminole Indian war of 1835-42 and two maternal grand-uncles, William Hendry and Normal Campbell. are known to have served against the Indians in Georgia. participating in the battle of Brushy Creek. Major Stephens' maternal grandfather, Neal Hendry, was one whose conscientious conviction of the supreme right of the states to sever their union with the national government led him to give his influence and service to the Confederacy, at the time of the Civil war. He was major in command of a detachment in middle Florida, guarding salt works along the coast and supplying cattle to the southern armies. The subject's father, as a youth of twenty, entered the service of the South, enlisting on August 1, 1861, at Madison, Florida. as a private in Company C, Fourth Florida Volunteer Infantry and he served in turn in the brigades commanded by Preston. Palmer, Ander- son, Finley, Stovall and Smith. He was in the thick of events: was wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro. Tennessee, and later participated in the battles of Jackson. Chickamanga and Missionary Ridge, as well as at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, April 9, 1865, thus serving until the close of the war. This highly respected gentleman now resides in Jack- sonville, Florida, and finds pleasure in renewing associations with the comrades of other days as a member of Robert E. Lee Camp. No. 58. United Confederate Veterans. The Stephens family is a race of sol- diers and three of the sons of the foregoing upheld its military prestige at the time of the war with Spain. John Hugh, Jr., and Robert D. were members of the First Florida Infantry. United States Volunteers, and the former lost his life by disease while in the service.

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Major Stephens received his early education in the publie schools of Thomas and Mitchell counties, Georgia, and his higher academic studies were prosecuted under the direction of private tutors. In early youth he became imbued with the desire to enter the law and in 1889 he beeame a elerieal assistant in the law office of Chisholm & Erwin. of Savannah, under whose able preceptorship he prosecuted his legal studies. In 1896 lie was admitted to the bar and his excellent preliminary train- ing having given him a grasp upon essentials which he utilized to the last degree, he at once entered upon a career, which has given him both sue- cess and high renown. From 1898 to January 1. 1900, he was division counsel for the Plant system of railways and then, upon the dissolution of the firm of Erwin, DuBignon, Chisholm & Clay, he resigned the afore- mentioned office and entered into a professional partnership with Hon. Fleming G. DuBignon, under the firm name of DuBignon & Stephens, this association continuing until the latter part- of the year 1902, when it was dissolved upon the removal of Mr. DuBignon to the city of Atlanta. Since that time Major Stephens has conducted an indi- vidual professional business in Savannah.

Major Stephens' connection with affairs military dates from May, 1890, when he became a private in Company B. Savannah Volunteer Guards, and was later promoted to corporal and sergeant. On May 2, 1898, he was enrolled as a private in Company B, Second Georgia In- fantry, United States Volunteers, for service in the war with Spain. He was appointed sergeant as soon as mustered and proceeded with his eoinand to the reserve camp at Tampa, Florida, where he remained in serviee until the close of the war. Ile was honorably discharged at Huntsville, Alabama, August 29. 1898. in compliance with his own re- quest. Upon his return to Savannah he immediately re-enlisted, as a private in Company B, Savannah Volunteer Guards, serving as such until he was commissioned captain of his company, February 1. 1900. In March, 1904, he resigned the captainey and re-enlisted as a private, serving as such until the following November. when he was commissioned major of battalion of the Savannah Volunteer Guards, the battalion having been converted into heavy artillery by act of the general assem- blv, December 18, 1900. He still holds the office of major of this bat- talion and is also a member of Franeis S. Bartow Camp, No. 95, United Sons of Confederate Veterans in Savannah.

Major Stephens has always been loyal to the principles of the Demo- cratic party. In 1906, he was urged by a strong representation of Savannah's best citizenship to become a candidate for the state senate in opposition to an already nominated candidate who, although per- sonally a man of the highest character. represented a political element in the city that a great many people deemed dangerons and inimical to Savannah's best interests. Major Stephens, responding to this call in a spirit of patriotism, entered the race just seven days prior to the election. and after a spirited and exciting contest. was elected by a majority of abont six hundred, as a member of the state senate. repre- senting the first senatorial district, embracing the counties of Chat- ham, Bryan and Effingham. Major Stephens' most notable achieve- ment in the senate was his sneeess in bringing the senate and the lower house together in the passage of the law which terminated the convict lease system in Georgia. thus taking the hire of convicts ont of the hands of corporations and putting them to work on the public roads. Public opinion upholds this as one of the most beneficent enactments of legislation that has taken place in Georgia in many years. . Major Stephens accomplished this by skillful parliamentary tacties and a final speech in the senate, in the face of the strongest and most bitter oppo- sition.

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The following tribute to Major Stephens is contributed by Judge Walter G. Charlton, of Savannah, judge of the supreme court, and one of the ablest jurists in the state :

"In the pursuit of his profession, Major Stephens has not only attained to success, but his career has also been marked by a thorough devotion to the highest ideals of his calling. This has been the dominant purpose of his life, to which his active participation in public affairs has been the natural incident. Of a singularly open and candid nature. rapid in conclusions and entirely bold in expression, he has been an effective soldier because he has been a consistent and fearless lawyer."

Major Stephens was happily married on September 6, 1899, his chosen lady being Miss Clifford B. Dasher, daughter of Frank W. and Grace B. (Lovell ) Dasher, of Savannah. Into their household, one of the favorite social gathering-places in the city, has been born one son, William Hugh, the date of whose birth was December 18, 1900.

Major Stephens is identified with the following organizations : Ancient Landmark Lodge. No. 231, Free and Accepted Masons; Georgia Chapter. No. 3, Royal Arch Masons; Georgia Council, No. 2. Royal and Select Masters: Palestine Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar; Alee Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Alpha Lodge, No. 1. Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; the Savannah Bar Associa- tion; the Guards' Club: the Oglethorpe Club; the Savannah Yacht Club, and the Forest City Gun Club. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and are active in church and philanthropie work.

CHARLES WOOD GUNNELL. A man of marked business capacity. intelligence and enterprise, the late Charles Wood Gunnell. of Bron- wood, did much towards advancing the agricultural prosperity of Ter- rell county, through his wise experiments clearly demonstrating the advantage and profit to be derived from growing pecans for commercial purposes. A native of Terrell county, he was born on a farm near Bronwood, May 28, 1862. and his death, which occurred in Bronwood, November 13, 1908, was mourned as a loss not only to his immediate family and friends, but to the entire community.

William Henry Gunnell, his father, was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Terrell county when the war between the states broke out. Entering the Confederate army, he went with his command to Vir- ginia, and was killed in the engagement at Maryland Heights. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Powell, survived him a few years, passing away in 1875.

Industrious and studious, Charles Wood Gunnell acquired a prac- tical education when young, and until his marriage was employed as a bookkeeper for Sheffield & Bell, at Albany, Georgia. Returning then to Terrell county, he located at Bronwood, and there maintained his residence during the remainder of his life. Mr. Gunnell was for many years engaged in the warehouse business in Bronwood, and while thus employed purchased land in and near his home, and embarked in agri- cultural and horticultural pursuits. In 1891 he planted pecan nuts, and the trees, which he patiently watched and nurtured, four hundred in number, on twelve acres of land. constitute one of the best and most highly prodnetive pecan orchards in the entire Union. An expert from the United States Department of Agriculture inspected this large orchard, and five pounds of nuts from each of two trees were taken to Washington for exhibition. In competition with the best mits elsewhere grown, the nuts from each of those two trees were awarded a silver loving eup. Those same two trees are now officially named, one being

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the "Gunnell," and the other being named "Bronwood." Mr. Gunnell was one of the very first to experiment with the culture of peean nuts in this section of the country, and he proved most satisfactorily that nuts of that variety are a profitable crop to raise. In 1912 the Gunnell orchard yielded three thousand, five hundred pounds of nuts, a large and valuable erop.

Mr. Gunnell married, October 18. 1888. Rushie Geise, who was born in Dawson, Georgia, a daughter of Renben and JJerusha ( Wood) Geise, of whom a brief sketch may be found on another page of this volume. Three children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gunnell, namely : Charles Will, who was graduated from Mercer College, and is now studying law in the University of Georgia, at Athens; Martha R., who possesses great artistic talent. is a student at Andrews College, in C'uth- bert ; and Ralph Leighton. Mrs. Gunnell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. to which Mr. Gunnell also belonged ; she is likewise a member of Mary Brantley Chapter, United Daughters of the Con- federacy ; of Stone Castle Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolu- tion ; and of the Order of the Eastern Star.

REUBEN GEISE. A former highly respected resident of Dawson. the late Reuben Geise was for many years successfully engaged in the lum- ber business, and contributed his full share in advancing the industrial interests of this part of Terrell county. A son of George Adam Geise. Jr., he was born. September 8. 1821, in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania. of substantial German ancestry.

His paternal grandfather, George Adam Geise, Sr., was born, June 4, 1725, in Hanover, Germany, and was there bred and educated. At the age of twenty-nine years he came to America in the good ship "Peggy," and located in Bern township, Pennsylvania. He there bought land, and was engaged in farming until his death. June 29. 1784. He proved himself loyal to his adopted country, bravely assisting the colonists in their struggle for independence. He married Barbara Ilaag. who was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania. July 31, 1738, and there died in August, 1814, having survived him thirty years.

George Adam Geise. Jr., was born in Bernville. Berks county, Penn- sylvania, June 17, 1772. He married April 15, 1797, Susanna Bright, who was born in Bern township. Berks county, a daughter of John and Anna Maria ( Leis) Brecht. as the name was then spelled, though it was later changed to Bright, and a granddaughter of David Brecht. Her great-grandfather, Stephen Brecht. emigrated from Germany to America in colonial times, coming to this country a widower with three small children. Settling in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, he bought a traet from three Pennbrothers. John. Thomas and Richard. the land having been a part of their original grant. David Brecht, whose birth occurred in the Fatherland, September 8. 1719. was one of the three children that came with his father to this country. He served in the Revolutionary army, after which he resumed farming at his okl home in Berks county, residing there until his death. September 22. 1783. John Brecht, or Bright, as he spelled his name, and his wife were both life-long residents of Berks county, his death orenrring February 9, 1834, and hers on May 24. 1842.

George Adam Geise, Jr .. and wife were also life-long residents of their native county. He died March 29. 1858. while her death ocenrred October 9. 1856. Both were buried in the Lutheran cemetery, at New- manstown. Pennsylvania. They were the parents of fourteen children, and when her death occurred they had sixty-three grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-grandchildren.

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While a boy in his teens, Renben Geise joined his brother George, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Learning the trade of a miller. he subse- quently built a flour mill at Big Spring, Tuscumbia, Franklin county, and operated it as a merchant mill. Being thus employed during the war between the states. he was exempted from military duty. but dur- ing the last year of the conflict he entered the Confederate service, and was assigned to duty in the transportation of leather. . He went with the army from Dixon Station, Alabama, to Rome, Georgia, from there refugeeing to Dawson, Georgia. At the close of the war, Mr. Geise es- tablished a saw mill in Dawson, and embarked in the lumber business, subsequently furuishing the Central Georgia Railroad Company with lumber. Meeting with well merited suceess, he continued in the lum- ber business until his death. October 25, 1880.

Reuben Geise married Jerusha Halsey Wood, who was born in Huntsville, Alabama. November 16, 1831, a daughter of Lewis Wood. Her paternal grandfather, Joseph Wood, was born in Newark, New Jersey, October 14. 1760. of English lineage. He was well educated, and taught school in different places in his native state, and also served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married April 2, 1780, Jo- anna Tuttle, whose birth occurred June 12. 1762. He was a personal friend of George Washington. with whom he served as a soldier. Lewis Wood was born in Newark, New Jersey, April 10, 1794, and as a young man migrated to Richmond, Virginia, from there going to Huntsville, Alabaina, where he resided until his death. in 1836. Lewis Wood mar- ried, in Huntsville, Alabama, February 27. 1822, Mary Ann Woods. who, though of the same name, was not a relative. Her father, Leighton Wood, third, was a native of Richmond, Virginia, a son of Leighton Wood, second, who was born in England, in the city of Bristol, where · his father, Leighton Wood. first. was, as far as known, a life-long resi- dent. Leighton Wood, second. immigrated to America, and settled in Virginia, where he fought with the colonists in their struggle for inde- pendence. Elected auditor of Hanover county, Virginia, in 1780, he served from May until November, of that year, when the Virginia as- sembly elected him solieitor general, an office which he filled most effi- ciently until 1791. In 1801 he returned to England, and there died in 1805. He married a daughter of Rev. Benjamin Franklin Blagrove. an Episcopalian rector. and chaplain of the Virginia assembly in 1781.

Leighton Wood. third, served in the War of 1812. He married Mary Younghusband, whose father, William Younghusband. a resident of Richmond. Virginia, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, while her grandfather, Isaac Younghusband, was captain of a company of soldiers in the same war. After his marriage, Leighton Wood. third. went with his wife to Kentucky, where his death occurred. Ilis widow subsequently moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where she spent her re- maining days.

Mrs. Reuben Geise passed to the higher life September 3, 1885. To her and her husband five children were born and reared. namely: Owen Nelson. Mary .Wood. Susie Bright. James Deshler, and Rushie Lee. Mary Wood is the wife of D. J. Ray, of Atlanta, Georgia. Susie Bright married Walter S. Dozier, of whom a brief sketch may be found else- where in this biographieal work. Rushie Lee is the widow of Charles Wood Gamell, of whom a brief sketch also appears in this volume. Mrs. Walter S. Dozier is a genealogist. and to her the Geise and Dozier fam- ilies are greatly indebted for their family histories. she having devoted much time in searching records, and in corresponding with members of the different branches of both families.

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BENJAMIN F. EVANS. A merchant at Fowlstown, formerly a sub- stantial farmer, and a veteran of the Civil war, Mr. Evans has spent practically all his life in Decatur county, and is a resident well known to all the citizenship of this community.

Benjamin F. Evans was born in Decatur county, February 24, 1843. His father was William Evans, born in North Carolina, and came to Georgia accompanied by his wife and five children. The trip to this state was made with team and wagon, and William Evans located at Attapulgus Creek, buying timbered land there. All the country in this section was sparsely populated, and he had his share of pioneer labors and experiences. He participated in the battle of Roanoke, where the Indians made their last stand in contending. for this country. He im- proved a part of his land, then sold and bought other land on the same creek, and remained a resident in that vicinity until his death at the age of eighty-five. The maiden name of his wife was Martha Pope of North Carolina. She died at the age of seventy-five. The nine chil- dren reared by them were Nathan, John. Nancy, William. Feth, Mary A., Martha, Benjamin F., and Margaret E.

Benjamin F. Evans attended the neighborhood schools and assisted on the farm while growing to manhood in this county. In April. 1862. when nineteen years of age he entered the Confederate service as a member of Company D in the Seventeenth Georgia Infantry. He was with the command in Virginia, and his record of battles includes many of the most important of the war, among them being the seven days' fight around the Richmond. the second Manassas, Sharpsburg. Fred- ericksburg. Gettysburg. Seven Pines, and others. At Chickamauga he was severely wounded and spent some time in a hospital at Macon. When able for duty he was placed on detached work in the enrolling service at home and so continued until the close of the war. After the war he rented a piece of land and engaged actively in farming until 1884. Hle then came to Fowlstown and opened a stock of goods and has been engaged in merchandising to the present time.

In 1867, Mr. Evans married Harriet Eliza Callahan, who was born in Gadsen county. Florida, a daughter of William and Eliza Cooper Callahan. She was left an orphan at the age of two years, and was reared in the home of her maternal grandparents, Samnel and Sarah Cooper. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have five children now living, whose names are Annie. Callie, Oliver, Ada and Lilla. Annie married W. M. Wells. and her six children are named Malory, Deloy, Thelma, Caroline, Ethal and Tula. Callie married F. C. Cooper and her two children are Agnes and Grace. Lilla is the wife of M. F. Laing, and has two children named May Lilla and Carleton.

ELIJAH A. J. RICH. The following sketch contains the important facts in the life and family record of a Georgian, whose name in Decatur county stands for all that is honest and of good report for successful thrift and business integrity, and for a position in the com- munity which all must respeet. The Rich family were among the pioneers of southwest Georgia, and made homes out of the wilderness. and later descendants fought for their homes and the Southland in the great war between the states. Mr. Rich himself spent his early life in . the pioneer epoch of this region, and none wonkl deny that the. com- forts and blessings of good children that now surround himself and wife were merited rewards to worthy and well spent lives.

Elijah A. J. Rich was born in Randolph county, Georgia. November 16, 1840, a son of Thomas JJ. Rich, who was born in North Carolina, and a grandson of Martin Rich, who was also born in North Carolina, and

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came from there to Georgia, as an early settler in the southern part of the latter state. The grandfather spent the remaining years of his life in Decatur county. The maiden name of his wife, the grandmother, was Sarah Overstreet, who survived her husband many years.

Thomas J. Rich, the father, was a youth when he came to Georgia, and for a time after his marriage he lived in Randolph county, and then in 1841 moved to Deeatur county, buying a traet of timbered land ten miles northwest of Bainbridge on the Bainbridge & Blakely road. In the midst of the woods he built a log house, and after providing pioneer comforts for his family began making a farm ont of the wilder- ness. In 1858 he sold out and bought a place in Miller county, but after a year's residence there, sold and returned to Decatur county. where he bonght land five and a half miles northwest of Bainbridge. He was past military age at the time of the Civil war, but in 1864 enlisted in the Georgia Reserves, and went with that command to the defense of Atlanta. IIe was severely wounded in the battle of Grizzleville Station, and was taken to Maeon, where he died a few weeks later at the age of fifty-five. His remains were brought back to Miller county and interred in the Fann cemetery. Thomas J. Rich married Lettie Fann, who was born in North Carolina, a daughter of Elijah Fann, of the same state. The Fann and Rich family came to Georgia at the same time, in com- pany with other immigrating families. They made the removal over- land, with teams and wagons and camped along the roadside every night. In their wagons they brought their household goods. This colony settled in the southern part of Decatur county, buying land six miles south of Colquit on Spring creek, where he resided until his death. After coming to Georgia, he had participated as a volunteer in the Indian wars. The mother of Mr. Elijah A. Rich died when forty years of age, and left ten children, namely: Martha J., Sarah. Elijah A. J., Susan L., Augustus M., Washington, John T., Charles F., Riley B., and Caroline. Of these Elijah A. J., Augustus M., Washington and John T., served all through the Civil war as soldiers, Charles going out as a boy in the last year of the struggle.

Elijah A. J. Rich was but one year old when his parents settled in Decatur county. At that time and for some years later, all southwest Georgia was sparsely settled, and all kinds of game abounded through this seetion. There were no railroads then nor for many years to come, and Bainbridge was the market for the settlers over a wide radius of country. Though the Rich family was probably as prosperous as any of their neighbors, they had all the privations and inconveniences of pioneer existence. The mother was a most diligent housekeeper and either by her own hands or with the aid of her house slave, spun and wove all the cloth and dressed all her children in homespun garments. As a boy, Elijah A. J. attended the pioneer schools, kept up in the neighborhood by subscriptions of the residents who were able to give their children such advantages. He had at an early age taken an active part in the farm, and soon after the breaking ont of the Civil war he enlisted in Company A of the Fifty-ninth Georgia Infantry, with which he went into Virginia, and joined Lee's army. Ilis regiment was assigned to General Longstreet's corps, and participated in many of the important battles of the Virginia campaign, including that at Seven Pines. Gettysburg. Fredericksburg, and the numerous struggles around Richmond and Petersburg. For his excellent service to the South he was elected first lieutenant in Company A. A short time before the surrender of General Lee. he was wounded. and was granted a furlough, and before its expiration, peace was declared. so that he never rejoined his command. He soon bought a piece of land about

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A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II, Part 70

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

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