USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 34
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ness of Mr. Clay. It is mounted on a handsome marble pedestal, which stands at the rear of a platform sur- rounded by an artistic coping. On either side are group- ed clusters of electric lights, underneath which there are drinking fountains. Seats are also provided for pedes- trains. Thus not only the glow of sympathetic feeling but the spirit of helpfulness which made Senator Clay's life a benediction to the State are perennially represen- ted. The inscriptions on the monument are as follows:
(North)
Alexander Stephens Clay. Citizen. Lawyer. Statesman. Born on a Cobb County farm, September 25, 1853. Died a member of the United States Senate, November 13, 1910.
His life was largely given to the service of his people. As Councilman of his home city; Representa- tive of his county in the General Assembly for six years, during which time he was Speaker pro tem. and Speaker of the House; State Senator and Presi- dent of the Georgia Senate; elected to the United States Senate, in 1896, and twice re-elected without opposition.
(East)
We live in deeds, not years; In thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. (South)
To the exemplary citizen, faithful friend, trusted and honored public servant, this monument is erected by his friends, who knew him best and loved him most, as a token of their love and esteem, and as an inspiration to noble action to those who may come after them.
"Seest thou a man diligent in business? He shall stand before kings."
(West)
Guided by lofty ideals, and steadfast zeal for the right, and a sublime faith in his people and country, with an untiring energy, he did his duty as God gave him the light to see it.
" After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well."
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Roswell: A Famous Old Town of Ante- Bellum Regime.
Volume II.
Bulloch Hall: Home of Ex-President Roosevelt's Mother.
Volume II.
Barrington Hall. Within sight of the old Bulloch home, stands another stately mansion of the ante-bellum period : Barrington Hall. Built in the form of a square, two stories in height, the handsome old struc- ture is surrounded on three sides by handsome pillars, giving it a dignity of aspect which few homes of the modern type possess. The area is beautifully shaded with forest trees, and to the west of it runs the main highway of the town. This was formerly the home of Barrington King, who was for years President of the Roswell mills. It is today the residence of his daughter, Mrs. William E. Baker. Her husband, who was a Pres- byterian minister, has been long since deceased; and she is now spending the tranquil and serene eventide of her life amid the scenes of her youth. Mrs. Baker was one of the attendants at the wedding of President Roosevelt's mother.
Phoenix Hall. In outward appearance, an exact repro- duction of the old Bulloch home is Phoe- nix Hall, which faces the open court or driveway leading to the former mansion. There is a story to the effect that it was built at first entirely of wood and that when after the prevalent fashion of the period, it was formally opened with a house-warming, it took fire and burned to the ground, despite the efforts of the assembled guests to extinguish the flames. On being rebuilt, the wood was replaced with brick, and the building stands today intact,
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as substantial as when it was first erected. This was the home of Major John Dunwody, who was related by mar- riage to the Bullochs. It was afterwards occupied by General Andrew J. Hansell, the successor to Barrington King, as president of the Roswell Mills.
The First Sewing Machine : Invented by Dr. Goulding.
Volume II.
The Grave of Dr. Goulding. Volume TT. 7
The Grave of Roswell King.
Volume II.
Where a President's Grandfather Sleeps. Volume II.
Original Settlers. As given by White, the early pioneers of Cobb were: Taliaferro McAfee, Colonel Merritt, Osburn Mullins, Daniel Reid, Isaac Grey, Thomas Hairston, Daniel R. Turner, L. Simpson, Mat- thias Bates, John L. Moore, James Anderson, Josiah Massey, William C. Greene, Simon Strickland, Reuben Benson, Allen A. Winn, Archibald Howell, Samuel M. Malony, Milliam Malony, Joseph D. Shewmake, Samuel Young, William Mayes, Robert Lemon, William Guess, Martin Adams, Bradley Smith, Jackson Gregory, Wil- liam W. Duncan, Lema Kirtley, John Rowe, George W. Winter, Thomas Pritchard, Alfred Edwards, Wiley Roberts, James Foot, sen., George W. Gober, William B. Crane, John B. Brockman, T. H. McClusky, P. M. Oliver, Thomas Whitehead, Robert Groves, D. Moore, and others.
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To the foregoing list may be added Roswell King, the founder of Roswell; Barrington King, his son; Gen. Andrew J. Hansell, long president of the Roswell mills; Major Dunwody; Joseph Morris, and R. T. Latimer. Thomas I. Oglesby, father of the two well known finan- ciers and business men of Quitman, Ga., was also an early settler. He was one of the pioneer manufacturers of cotton gins. As early as 1849, Dr. Cox establishedTa water cure sanitarium at the base of Kennesaw mountain, to which a number of people from the malarial districts resorted.
adibluoD .ICI
On September 16, 1833, Judge John W. Hooper pre- siding, the first session of the Superior Court was held at Marietta and the first Grand Jury was sworn as follows : Jacob R. Brooks, George Baker, Simpson Dyer, James Berry, Ferdinand Jett, William B. Malone, "Sidney F. Fouche, John W. Lowrey, John Moore James La Davis, William Pursell, John Page, William Harris, Daniel May, John Clay, John James, Samuel Hannon, David Ken- nedy, James Power. ily a na zig -- ) 10
Cobb's Noted Two of Georgia's honored Chief-Execu- Residents. tobtives belong to the roster of Cobb's distin- todoof Amb guished residents. Governor Charles J. McDonald and Governor Joseph M. Brown. [A -198 Toun David Irwin, an eminent jurist of the ante-bellum . period, lived at Marietta. He was the first Judge of the Blue Ridge Circuit, an office which he held by virtue of . several different elections. He served continuously from 1851 to 1855 when Joseph E. Brown succeeded him; and .again, after an interval of ten years, he resumed his old place on the bench, retaining it from 1865 to 1868. With Thomas R. R. (Cobb, and Richard H. Clarke, he was one of the original codifiers of the laws of Georgia. As first named, the commissioners appointed by the Legislature
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to execute this task were : Iverson L. Harris, Herschel V. Johnson and David Irwin. The first two declined to serve, whereupon Judge Clarke and Mr. Cobb were sub- stituted for them. The importance to Georgia of the work performed by this great trio of lawyers hardly admits of exaggeration. Judge Irwin reached the ripe old age of 79. He died in Marietta.
George D. Anderson, a brilliant young South Caro- linian, settled in Cobb soon after the new county was opened. He filled a number of high positions; and, on one occasion, was appointed by President Van Buren to investigate certain alleged frauds perpetrated upon the Indians. He achieved distinction on the bench; but at the early age of thirty-eight he died suddenly, at Spring Place, in Murray County, Ga., while holding court. His son, Dr. William D. Anderson, began a career of unusual promise in Georgia politics, was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, and seemed to be on the way to Congress when he relinquished his ambitions for public life, much to the surprise of his friends, entered the Methodist pulpit, and became quite a noted preacher.
William H. Sparks, a distinguished minister, who in his old age devoted his leisure hours to compiling his "Memories of Fifty Years" spent the evening of his life at Marietta.
Dr. George White, the famous author of the two price- less volumes, "White's Statistics of Georgia" and "White's Historical Collections of Georgia," lived here for several years, after which he removed to Memphis, Tenn. He was an Episcopal clergyman and an educator. William H. Underwood, the noted wit, died at Marietta, while making the rounds of his judicial circuit. Here lived Colonel James D. Waddell, a gallant soldier, long clerk of the Georgia House of Representatives. He wrote an excellent biography of Judge Linton Stephens.
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The distinguished William G. McAdoo, of New York, who built the great tunnel underneath the Hudson, one of the most stupendous achievements of modern engineer- ing skill, was a native of Cobb. To complete this gigantic project an expenditure of more than $70,000,000 was re- quired. The management of the Wilson presidential campaign in 1912 devolved largely upon Mr. McAdoo, due to the serious illness of the campaign manager.
George N. Lester, a member of the Confederate Con- gress, a Captain in the Civil War who lost an arm in the struggle, a Judge of the Superior Court, and a lawyer of high rank, lived at Marietta. He assisted Judge Irwin in revising the Code of Georgia and held at one time the office of Supreme Court Reporter. He sought election to the Federal Congress but was narrowly defeated by Dr. William H. Felton.
Brigadier-General William Phillips who organized and commanded the famous Legion which was called by his name during the Civil War lived at Marietta. He became a lawyer of some note, and died at the age of four-score years.
John B. Goodwin, of Baltimore, Md., one of the most eminent Odd Fellows in the United States, was born in Cobb. He was twice mayor of the city of Atlanta. John W. Robertson, formerly an Adjutant General of the State, lived in Cobb. This was also the home of Colonel R. T. Nesbitt, for several years State Commissioner of Agriculture.
But the most distinguished resident of Marietta was United States Senator Alexander Stephens Clay. After serving in both branches of the State Legislature and presiding with great dignity over the deliberations of each body, he was elected in 1896 to succeed General John B. Gordon in the Senate of the United States. He was twice successively re-elected to this high office and was entering upon his third term when his brilliant career
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of usefulness in the public councils was suddenly termi- nated. The cause of his death was an affection of the stomach. Even when the hand of disease was laid heavily upon him and the end was fast approaching, he remained at his post of duty like a sentinel of ancient Rome. He literally died "with all his harness on and every buckle shining bright." The funeral of Senator Clay at Marietta will long be remembered. He was a native of Cobb, in which county he was born on September 25, 1853. His deatlı occurred in Atlanta, Ga., November 13, 1910. He was in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and was survived by his father and mother. The residence of Senator Clay in Marietta stands in a grove of trees, facing the rail- road.
COFFEE
Created by Legislative Act, February 9, 1854, from parts of three counties: Appling, Irwin and Telfair. Named for General John Coffee, a distinguished soldier, who was twice elected to Congress from Georgia. Douglas, the county-seat, named for Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois. When organized in 1854, Coffee included a part of Ben Hill.
General John Coffee was an Indian figliter whose services to the State on the frontier, extending over a number of years, made him one of the most conspicuous figures of his day in Georgia. Though a native of Vir- ginia, in which State he was born, in 1784, he came to Georgia at an early age, settling first in Hancock and afterwards in Telfair. The latter county then embraced an area of 800 square miles and was rich in game, afford- ing the young pioneer an abundance of sport. He often spent weeks with his gun in the pathless solitudes of the forest. It was chiefly the region of country around his home and in upper Florida, which supplied the arena for his activities as a soldier. He built a highway through the wilderness to facilitate the movement of his troops and for more than half a century it was known as the "Old Coffee Road." Today a part of it forms the
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boundary line between Berrien and Coffee Counties. He was not a man of showy gifts, but he possessed great strength of character. General Coffee was twice elected to Congress but did not live to complete his second term, the unexpired portion of which was filled by William C. Dawson, of Greene.
Historical Hernando de Soto, in the spring of 1540,
Traditions. probably passed through Coffee County, on his famous expedition in search of gold. One of the Indian villages at which he stopped in South Geor- gia was Taolli. Says Jones, in Vol. I, History of Geor- gia: "The site of Taolli cannot now be definitely ascer- tained; but since it was near Achese, which, according to Mr. Gallatin, is the Muscogee name for the Ocmulgee River, we may not greatly err in locating it somewhere in Irwin or Coffee County. [Irwin, at the present time, does not reach to the Ocmulgee River.]
Original Settlers. See Appling and Irwin Counties, from which Coffee was formed.
To the list of pioneers may be added: Daniel Lott, George Wilcox, Nathaniel Ashley, James Ward, Abram Hargroves, Elijah Paulk, John Vickers, Hampton Tan- ner, Moses Kirkland, James Pearson, Hal Peterson, Himerick Meeks, John Ricketson, Jolın M. Spence, Staf- ford Davis, Dunk Douglas, and John Gaskins .*
Douglas, the county-seat of Coffee, is one of the busi- est young towns of South Georgia, a center of numerous commercial activities. It is destined to become an impor-
* These names were furnished by Judge W. P. Ward, Ordinary of Coffee.
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tant city in the near future. Some of the far-sighted men of affairs who, foreseeing the possibilities of the town, located here at an early period were : Ben Peterson, C. A. Ward, Dr. John Barber, F. W. Dart, J. R. Overman, Marshall Ashley, J. W. Quincy, Dr. W. F. Sibbett, J. F. Overstreet, J. M. Dent, Frank Sweat, and Joe Brewer. In the fall of 1911 a handsome Confederate monument was unveiled at Douglas to the heroes of the Lost Cause.
COLQUITT
Created by Legislative Act, February 25, 1856, from Irwin and Thomas Counties. Named for Hon. Walter T. Colquitt, one of the most noted of Georgia's ante-bellum jurists and statesmen. Moultrie, the county-seat, named for General William Moultrie, of the Revolution.
Judge Walter T. Colquitt was one of the most bril- liantly gifted of Georgia's ante-bellum statesmen. As an orator his achievements on the hustings have rarely been excelled; he was also a minister of the gospel and a jurist of high rank; and by reason of his prestige as a popular leader he was elected to a seat in the Senate of the United States. Judge Colquitt came of English stock and was born in Halifax County, Va., on December 27, 1799. His boyhood days were spent in Hancock County, Ga., whither his parents removed and he received his educa- tion in the famous academy at Mount Zion. Later he located in Columbus, where he continued to reside until his death. He was twice elected to Congress as a Whig; but, on the nomination of William Henry Harrison, he gave his support to Van Buren, the nominee of the Demo- crats. Notwithstanding this change of front-the result of deliberate conviction-he was soon thereafter elected to the United States Senate, where his power as an ad- vocate was most distinctly felt; but he resigned his seat in 1848, taking no further part in politics. Judge Col- quitt died at his home in Columbus, while in the merid- ian of life, at the age of fifty-six. He is buried in Linn-
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wood ('emetery, on the Jeter lot, where his grave is un- marked. Judge Colquitt was three times married. Of his children-Alfred H. Colquitt, "the hero of Olustee," became a Major-General in the Confederate army, Gov- ernor of Georgia, and United States Senator; while Pey- ton H. Colquitt was killed at the head of his regiment while leading a gallant charge, in the battle of Chicka+ mauga, in 1863.
Recollections of of Judge Walter T. Colquitt.
Volume II.
Moultrie : An Out- Written only in bare facts, strip- line Sketch. ped of any embellishments, the his- tory of Moultrie for the past twenty years reads like a story of the Arabian Nights. Two decades ago, the population of Moultrie was ninety souls. Ten years later the town numbered 2,250 inhabitants; and, according to a local census taken in the spring of 1912, there were living within the corporate limits 5,045 people. Twenty years ago the business enterprises of Moultrie consisted of some half dozen grog shops and grocery stores combined. Today there are more than one hundred and fifty solid commercial and industrial establishments. There was not a bank in Moultrie until 1896. At the present time there are three strong banks with an aggregate deposit of over $1,250,000. Using census figures and bank deposits as a basis of comparison, the official records of the government show that in per capita of wealth, Moultrie outstrips any other city in Georgia. The first railroad reached the future town, then a mere village, in 1896. This was the Georgia Northern. Today there are five lines entering the city : The Georgia Northern, the Atlanta, Birmingham and. Atlantic, the Valdosta, Moultrie and Western, the Flint River and Northeastern and the Georgia and Florida. It
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is an item of some interest to note in this connection that out of the many hundred adult residents of Moultrie, only one is a native of Colquitt. The type of citizenship is unusually high. There is not a community in Georgia in which a larger percentage of the people stand for good morals and progressive business methods.
To mention some of the pioneer spirits who imparted the first impetus of growth to the future town, the list is headed by the present wide-awake and popular mayor, Hon. W. C. Vereen. Mr. Vereen is one of the wealthiest citizens of the State, a captain of industry, a leader in the religious as well as in the business life of the com- munity, and a man respected by all for his unblemished character. Mr. J. R. Hall, a large wholesale dealer, was an early settler in the town to whose growth he has made substantial contributions. He is one of the financial pillars of Moultrie. Colonel Z. H. Clark, a banker, has for seventeen years been a powerful factor in local affairs and to him is due in large measure the splendid school system for which the town is noted. The late Rev. E. H. Bryan, pastor of the first church organized here in the early days, was the religious pioneer of Moultrie. Judge R. L. Shipp, one of the leading members of the Georgia Bar, was among the first lawyers and also one of the first mayors. The Pidcocks, including the late John Pidcock, J. N. Pidcock, C. W. Pidcock, and F. R. Pidcock, were the builders of the Georgia Northern Rail- road. The last three still own and operate the line and are active citizens of Moultrie. The late W. B. Dukes was one of the most influential men of the community in the early days. He was also one of the commissioners who built the present court house, an edifice universally admired by visitors. Mr. A. Huber, a wealthy landowner, has possibly erected more buildings in Moultrie than any other one citizen. Judge W. A. Covington, a resident of
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Moultrie, is one of the foremost citizens of the State, and a great temperance leader to whose powerful advocacy in the Georgia Legislature is chiefly due the present State-wide prohibition law .*
COLUMBIA
Created by Legislative Act, December 10, 1790, from Richmond County. Named for the great navigator and discoverer of the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus. Appling, the county-seat, named for the noted Appling family, to which Colonel Daniel Appling, an officer of the War of 1812, belonged. When first organized in 1790 Columbia includ- ed the greater part of McDuffie.
At Hopewell, on the Kiokee, a treaty of good-will be- tween the State of Georgia and the Creek nation of Indians was negotiated on April 17, 1786. Colonel Ben- jamin Hawkins, General Lachlan McIntosh, General Andrew Pickens, and Joseph Martin, Esq., witnessed the compact on the part of the State. But the treaty was repudiated by the Indians, under the leadership of Alex- ander MeGillivray, who for more than ten years was the dominant spirit of the long protracted struggle known as the Oconee War.
The Tomb of Daniel Just to the south of the court house, Marshall. in the town of Appling, on the old Augusta road, rest the mortal ashes of Daniel Marshall, the founder of the Baptist church in Georgia; and on the handsome marble stone which marks the sacred spot is chiselled the following epitaph :
Rev. Daniel Marshall. Born 1706. Died 1784.
Pioneer Baptist minister. Established Kiokee, the first Baptist church in Georgia, in 1772. Erected by the People of Georgia, in 1903, in recognition of his devotion and consecration to the cause of Christ.
* For the information contained in this sketch the author is indebted to Capt. Thad Adams of Moultrie.
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Old Kiokee: Daniel Marshall's Arrest.
Volume II.
Moses Waddell. In the spring of 1794, there came to
Mount Carmel : Columbia County, from his former home in North Carolina, a devout Presbyte- rian minister, destined to become one of the most re- nowned educators of his day: Dr. Moses Waddell. Two miles and a half east of the present site of Appling, he established in the first year of his ministry in Georgia a school which he called Mount Carmel. Says Ex-Governor Northen : "Among his pupils at this time was William H. Crawford, who afterwards became one of the most distinguished citizens of the nation, and whose entire scholastic training was received from Dr. Waddell, since he never attended any other institution of learning. About this time, Dr. Waddell received a call to Abbeville Dis- trict, S. C., in what was then known as the Calhoun Settlement, so called because the family of Calhouns had selected this part of upper South Carolina for settlement when they were driven from Virginia by the Indians in 1756. Patrick Calhoun, the father of John C. Calhoun, was at the head of the settlement, and an elder in the Presbyterian church.
"Here Dr. Waddell met the lady who afterwards be- came his first wife, Miss Catherine Calhoun, the only daughter of Patrick Calhoun. In 1795, during his resi- dence in Columbia County, he was married to Miss Cal- houn. She survived the marriage by little more than a year, leaving an infant daughter who soon followed the mother. John C. Calhoun, the younger brother, was under the tuition of Dr. Waddell for two years, during which time he was prepared for the Junior class at Yale College. While in attendance at Hampden-Sidney Col- lege in Virginia in 1793, he became greatly attached to Miss Elizabeth Woodson Pleasants. The acquaintance culminated in an engagement but the parents of Miss
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Pleasants objected because the home of the young min- ister was located in the wilds of Georgia, a frontier State exposed to devastation by Indians. The young people accepted the situation, and later Mr. Waddell married Miss Calhoun. After her death, he remained a widower four years, and, having learned that Miss Pleasants was still unmarried, he renewed his suit and was married to her in 1800.1''
Captain Thomas With the single exception of John
Cobb: A Noted Hames, a soldier of the Revolution
Centenarian. buried at Marietta, the record for lon- gevity in this State belongs to a former resident of Columbia : Captain Thomas Cobb-an ances- tor of Henry W. Grady, of Judge Henry L. Benning, of Mrs. Samuel Spencer, and of many well known people of Georgia. He was also a brother of John Cobb, of Jefferson, from whom the Cobbs of Athens are de- scended. Captain Cobb was an officer in the Revolution. He came to Georgia at the close of hostilities, purchased extensive tracts of land in Columbia, outlived not only his children but most of his grandchildren, and died at the phenomenal age of 110 years, possessed of large holdings.
There are various traditions among the descendants of Captain Cobb respecting the age to which he attained. Some place it at 115 years, some at 120, and some even as high as 130 years. But these figures are probably exaggerated.
White puts the age of Captain Cobb at 110 years. From this recognized authority we quote the following paragraph :2
"Captain Cobb, aged 110. 'He was a native of Buck- ingham County, Va. His patriotism induced him to take part with the country in the struggle for the independence
1 William J. Northen in Men of Mark in Georgia, Vol. II.
2 White's Historical Collections, Columbia County, Savannah, 1856.
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of these States and he was often associated in the counsels of the chiefs of those startling times. He held offices under the Commonwealth, after it obtained self-govern- ment, and removed to Georgia about the year 1783. He was an agriculturist, and the efficient manager of his plantation for eighty or ninety years. Such was the com- prehensiveness of his mind and physical activity that he was surrounded with abundance under every difficulty of season. Perhaps no man in Georgia, during so long a time, enjoyed so much entirely from his own resources'."
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