USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 9
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1. Sherwood's Gazetteer.
95
MILITARY.
THE MCINTOSH FAMILY.
Among the military men of the county we might also men- tion the name of several of the McIntosh's. Although these were all the descendants of Col. John McIntosh, Mohr, the chief of the clan that came over and settled with the Scot- tish highlanders at New Inverness, near Darien, in 1736, and made the Altamaha district, now McIntosh county, named after them, their headquarters, they were nevertheless more or less associated with the Midway people, whose pastor, Rev. John Osgood, occasionally visited and preached to them. Some of the family lived awhile in Liberty. Col. James S. McIntosh was born there. Col. John McIntosh, a nephew of General Lachlan McIntosh, was in command of the fort at Sunbury November 25, 1778, when he sent that laconic answer to Col. Fuser, the British officer, who had demanded its surrender, "Come and take it.". It was doubt- less during his stay in Liberty that his son, Col. James S. McIntosh, was born June 19, 1787, who fell mortally woun- ded at Molino del Rey, and died in the city of Mexico Sept. 26, 1847.1 Major Lachlan McIntosh, the brother of Col John McIntosh, and father of Commodore James M. McIn- tosh, lived for awhile at Sunbury. Here his daughter, Miss Maria McIntosh, the authoress, was born in 1803, and if his son, Commodore James M. McIntosh, was not born there, he was so much identified with the people that when the Georgia state legislature in 1860 requested the governor to have his remains removed from the navy yard at Pensa- cola, Florida, where they had been deposited, they were carried and laid beside relatives and kindred in the Midway grave yard, where they now repose. Is it saying too much, therefore, that Liberty county has an interest in, and may justly lay claim to, a part at least of the fame and valorous deeds of this remarkable family ?
Among the early prominent military men of the par- ish might also be mentioned the names of Major William
1. The legislature of Georgia, a few months afterwards, ordered the removal of his body, which was carried to Savannah and deposited May 18, 1848, in the tomb with his grand uncle, Major General Lachlan McIntosh.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Baker and Captains Winn and Way and Maxwell and the notorious Bob Sallett, who seemed to have been a kind of independent sharpshooter, and who was especially a terror to the marauding bands of Tories and British. When a boy I heard the statement made that he had lost an only brother at their hand, and the purpose to avenge his death only made him the more reckless and determined.
CONGRESSMEN.
HON. BENJAMIN ANDREW.
I first mention Hon. Benjamin Andrew, one of the original colony from Carolina, president of the first Executive Coun- cil, convened upon the election of John Adam Treutlin gov- ernor of Georgia in 1777, and three years afterwards elected a member of the Continental Congress, of whose home Bar- tram, in his travels, speaks of as "the seat of virtue, where hospitality, piety, and philosophy formed the happy family, where the weary traveler and stranger found a hearty wel- come, and from whence, it must be his own fault, if he de- parted without being greatly benefited."1
He was a man of wealth and influence, having two homes, a summer and a winter, one on the Riceboro road, which he afterwards sold to John Lambert, and one on Colonel's Is- land. He was associate justice with George Walton for a number of years, also a member of the legislature. In later years he removed to Richmond county and made Augusta his home, and where he died. Mrs. Elizabeth Andrew Hill, of Griffin, Ga., and one of the vice-presidents of the "Daugh- ters of the Revolution," is a great granddaughter of his.
HON. JOHN ELLIOTT, U. S. SENATOR.
The son of Col. John Elliott and grandson of John Elliott, one of the original settlers, was born in St. John's parish October 24, 1773, baptized December 8, 1773, and six years in the United States Senate from 1819 to 1835, married
1. Travels P. 4.
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CONGRESSMEN.
Esther, daughter of Dr. James Dunwoody, October 1, 1795. The daughter, Esther Amarantha, born unto them married James Stephen Bullock, grandson of Archibald Bullock, president of the Provincial Congress that met in Savannah July 4, 1775, and first republican governor of Georgia.
HON. JOHN A. CUTHBERT.
Born in Savannah June 3, 1788, received into Midway church January 1, 1815. His father a colonel in the Revo- lutionary war, graduated at Princeton 1805, law student in New York in 1809. In 1810 elected to the state legisla- ture from Liberty county, which county he continued to represent for years, during the war of 1812 commanded a volunteer company to protect the coast, in 1818 elected rep- resentative in congress on one general ticket, in 1831 be- came editor and subsequently proprietor of "The Federal Union," a paper published at Milledgeville, in 1837 removed to Mobile, Alabama, to practice law, in 1840 elected judge of the county court of Mobile, and in 1852 appointed judge of the circuit court, and died near Mobile Sept. 22, 1861.1
HON. ALFRED IVERSON, U. S. SENATOR.
Born in Liberty county December 3, 1798.2 His father, Robert Iverson, and mother, Rebecca Jones, were both mem- bers of Midway church, his father being received July 2, 1790, and also one of the subscribers to the articles of incorpora- tion of the church. His son, Alfred, was graduated at ยท Princeton in 1820, studied law and practiced at Columbus, Georgia, three times member of the legislature in the house, and once in the upper house, for seven years judge of supe- rior court for Columbus circuit, presidential elector in 1844, in 1846 chosen to congress, afterwards elected to United States Senate December 3, 1852, for a long time chairman of committee on Claims, withdrew on passage of Secession,
1. Ap. Cy. Biog.
2. The encyclopedias say Burke county, but his brother, the late B. V. Iverson, of Macon, told me that Liberty was the place of his birth, where his father lived before going to Burke. So his daughter, Mrs. Branham, of Kirkwood, and his son, Judge Iver. son, of Kissimmee, Fla., write that they have always understood their father was born in Liberty county.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
entered the service as colonel of a regiment in Confederate army, in November, 1862, became Brigadier General, and died in Macon March 4, 1873.
HON. AUGUSTUS OCTAVIUS BACON, U. S. SENATOR.
Son of Rev. Augustus O. Bacon and regular descendant of the early settlers. His father was a Baptist minister, reared in the bosom of the Midway church and society, spending one year at the Presbyterian Seminary at Columbia, S. C. His mother was Louisa Jones, daughter of Samuel Jones, and a member of Midway church. His parents both lie sleeping side by side in the old church yard at Midway. He himself was born in the adjoining county of Bryan October 20, 1839, where his father was minister at the time, received his school education in Liberty county, graduated at the University in the literary department in 1859 and law in 1860, adjutant of Ninth Georgia Regiment C. S. A. 1861-2, subsequently captain in the provisional army on staff duty, practiced law in Macon 1866, president of the state demo- cratic convention in 1880, delegate from state at large in convention at Chicago in 1884, presidential elector on dem- ocratic ticket in 1868, in 1871 elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, being a member for fourteen years, and for eight years Speaker of the House, candidate for govern- or of Georgia in 1883 and came within one vote of nomina- tion, and at present United States Senator, to which he was elected November, 1894.
HON. WILLIAM B. FLEMING.
Son of William and Catharine Fleming, born in Liberty county October 29, 1803, baptized the December following, received into Midway church May 26, 1821, graduated at Yale College in 1824 or '25, entered upon the practice of law in 1835 or '36, removed to Savannah in the fall of 1837. Af- ter service in the legislature, thrice judge of the Eastern cir- cuit, first from Nov. 11, 1845, to 1849, and second from Nov. 7, 1853, to 1868, and third from 1879 to 1881, one of the signers of the articles of Secession, though in favor of the
HON. JOHN E. WARD.
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JURISTS.
Union to the last moment, appointed in 1878 by Governor Colquitt to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Julian Hartridge in Congress as Representative, and when there, refusing to meet on Sunday to wind up the business previous to ad- journment, feeling that such a meeting was a profanation of the Lord's day. For this simple act, if no more, let his name be handed down to the latest generation as a worthy son of a worthy people. He died at Walthourville August 19, 1886.
JURISTS.
HON. WILLIAM E. LAW.
Celebrated jurist and advocate at the bar, son of Benja- min and Mary Law, members of the Midway congregation, born at Sunbury March 27, 1793, educated at Sunbury by Dr. McWhir, removed to Savannah at nineteen years of age, taught school in Chatham academy and studied law at night; appointed judge of the Eastern Circuit by Governor John Forsyth May 12, 1829, retired from the bench June 17, 1834, joined Independent church at Savannah under the pastorate of Dr. Daniel Baker, soon after elected elder in said church, and died in Savannah January 22, 1874. He was an eloquent ar d forcible speaker, delivered the oration at the Centennial Celebration at Midway in 1852. The writer was present and heard it and well remembers the impression made
HON. JOHN E. WARD.
Jurist, advocate and diplomatist, the son of William and Annie Ward. His mother was the daughther of Maj. Lach- lan McIntosh and sister of Commodore J. M. McIntosh. He was born in Sunbury October 2, 1814, received into Mid- way church August, 1831. In a letter to me he speaks of the "dear old church." He entered upon the practice of law and removed to Savannah, Ga., in 1835, was solicitor of the Eastern Circuit in 1836, appointed U. S. District Attorney
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
in 1838, resigned to enter the State Legislature, returned to the House in 1845 and 1853, when chosen speaker, was elected mayor of Savannah in 1854, in 1856, presided over the democratic national convention that met in Cincinnati and nominated James Buchanan president, in 1857 entered the State Senate and was chosen president and acting Lieu. tenant Governor, resigning in 1858 on being appointed U. S. minister to China, departed to his post in January, 1859, the first American or English minister, or of any other na- tion to visit Peking and hold a counsel with the officials of that great empire; Cushing and others who preceded him, being merely commissioners, he minister plenipotentiary. At the recent dinner given to Li Chung Hang, the illustrious ex-prime minister of China, at Waldorf's, in New York, Aug. 29, 1896, the honor was put upon Mr. Ward to preside, lead the distinguished guest to the seat of honor, and read the toasts. Upon the secession of Georgia, Mr. Ward resigned his position as minister to China, though strongly opposed to the measure. In January, 1866, he re- moved from Savannah to New York, where he has since, and is still engaged in the practice of law.
AUTHORS.
REV. ABIEL HOLMES, D. D.
Among the authors and writers we might mention the name of Dr. Abiel Holmes, for six years pastor of the Mid- way church. His "Annals," two volumes, are to this day esteemed by scholars as a work of great merit. What influ- ence the church might exert over the son through the father can never be known. It is also worthy of note that Oliver Wendall Holmes, known everywhere as author of the "Au- tocrat of the Breakfast Table," and by his other numerous writings, was a son of Dr. Holmes, and was born in Cam- bridge, Mass., Aug. 29, 1809, after the removal of his father from Midway, and died in Boston October 7, 1894.
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AUTHORS.
REV. JEDIDIAH MORSE, D. D.
It might not be amiss just here likewise simply to call at- tention to the fact that Dr. Jedidiah Morse, so well known by his "American Gazetteer" and "Elements of Geography," and which books had such an extensive circulation as to give to him the title of "Father of American Geography," was for awhile in early life minister of Midway church.
REV. F. R. GOULDING.
Among the native writers we mention the name of Rev. F. R. Goulding, the author of "Young Marooners," a book that not only bids fair to be, but actually has become, the rival of Robinson Crusoe in its claims upon the young.
COL. CHARLES C. JONES, JR., LL. D.
Historian, biographer, and archaeologist, son of Rev. C. C. Jones, D. D., a native of Liberty county, was born in Sa- vannah, Ga., October 28, 1831, while his father was minis- ter there, returning with his parents the next year to Liberty county, where he was reared and trained, graduated at Princeton in June, 1832, received diploma from law school in Cambridge, Mass., in 1855, became junior partner of the firm of Ward, Owens and Jones, alderman of Savannah in 1859, and mayor in 1860, a position seldom attained by one so young, entered the Confederate service as First Lieuten- ant of the Chatham artillery, chief of artillery in the siege of Savannah in December, 1864, afterwards upon staff of Gen. Hardee. But chiefly has he excelled as a writer. His con- tributions in the direction of State Biography, History and Archaeology, especially the antiquities of the Southern In- dians, are numerous and valuable. To no man is the state of Georgia more indebted for contributions to her historical record, and for original researches, both in this country and Europe. His Miscellanies, Historical and Biographical sketches, Reminiscences, Memorials and Addresses on vari- ous occasions, too numerous to mention, are exceedingly
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
valuable and will be more appreciated with the flight of time. But especially are we indebted to him for his history of Georgia, of which Bancroft the historian, said, "It was the finest state history he had ever read, and that its high qualities fairly entitled its author to be called the Mac- aulay of the South." We are also largely indebted for the transcription and publication, for which he was employed by the state, of the old Colonial acts from 1735 to 1774, and also the transaction of the Trustees of the Colony, by Hon. John Percival, earl of Egmont. He died at his home on the Sandhills near Augusta, July 19, 1893, leaving a son, Charles Edgeworth Jones, walking in the steps of his father, and who is fast acquiring a reputation as a writer of learning and ability.
MISS MARIA M'CINTOSH.
In the list of lady authors we mention the name of Miss Maria McIntosh, the daughter of Major Lachlan McIntosh, and half sister of Commodore James M. McIntosh and of the mother of Hon. John E. Ward, the writer of so many volumes, born in Sunbury in 1803, and died in Morristown, N. J., February 25, 1878.
MEDICINE.
In the department of medicine might be mentioned the names of Drs. Dunwoody and Axson, army surgeons, and later that of Dr. J. M. B. Harden, born in Bryan county January 19, 1810, and died at Tallahassee, Fla., February 16, 1848, who was particularly skilled in the sciences allied to his profession, as chemistry and botany, and had made great progress in astronomy, geology, conchology, zoology. Dr. Harden married Miss Jane LeConte, the sister of the celebrated professors, and has left a son, Judge John L. Har- den, who is the secretary of the Midway Society and Mon- umental Association.
103
CIVIL ENGINEERING.
PROF. JOSEPH JONES, M. D., LL. D.
Brother of Charles C. Jones, jr., and son of Rev. C. C. Jones, D. D., was born in Liberty county September 6, 1833, graduated in medicine in University of Pennsylvania 1855, elected the same year to the chair of professor of chemistry in Savannah Medical College, in 1858 elected to chair of natural philosophy and natural theology in University of Georgia, in 1859 elected to the chair of chemistry in Medical College in Augusta, for six months in Confederate cavalry service during the war, for the rest of the time full surgeon in the army, to whom important places and duties were as- signed ; and he improved the splendid opportunities afforded by army life for the study of fevers and various other dis- eases which were duly published in the various medical jour- nals. His contributions to medical science were frequent and valuable, his great work being "Medical and Surgical Memories," upon which he was engaged during the later years of his life. In 1867 he was elected to a professorship in the Medical College of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1868 elected to the chair of chemistry and chemical medicine in Tulane University in New Orleans, elected and ordained a Ruling Elder in the First Presbyterian church of Augusta, Ga., was an Elder in the Napolean Avenue church, New Or- leans, at the time of his death February 17, 1896.
CIVIL ENGINEERING.
In the department of Civil Engineering I mention the name of Grant Wilkins, son of Joseph C. and Mary E. Grant Wilkins, born in Liberty county February 20, 1843. His father was a member of Midway church, received December 14, 1833, when only fifteen years old. The subject of this notice remained in Liberty county until 1860. In 1861 en- listed as private in the Troup county artillery, after service in various departments in the war, entered the civil engi- neering service of the government in 1867. In 1868 wentinto business for himself, making the construction of bridges his specialty, and in his line is regarded as one of the leading
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
architects in the country. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Cotton States and International Expo- sition, and as chief of construction, drew all the plans for the laying off the grounds. He was the engineer of the At- lanta Forsyth Street Bridge, which structure will ever stand as a monument of his engineering skill and ability.
PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS.
Among the professors and teachers might be mentioned the namesof Rev. Drs. Thomas Goulding and C. C. Jones, pro- fessors at Columbia Theological Seminary. Rev. Dr. William Mc Whir, who, though not a native, claimed Liberty county as his adopted home, and who for many years maintained one of the most celebrated and extensively patronized schools in the state. Rev. P. H. Mell, D. D., professor at Mercer College, afterwards professor and then chancellor of the State University, at Athens, Ga., who also has a son, P. A. Mell, jr., professor at the State Military School at Auburn, Alabama, and the Rev. Messrs. J. W. Baker and Donald Fraser, D. D., professors at Oglethorpe University.
PROFS. JOHN AND JOSEPH LECONTE.
These two celebrated brothers of world-wide reputation as scientists, were born in Liberty county. Their father. Dr. Louis LeConte, a signer of the articles of incorporation, their mother, Miss Ann Quarterman, a devoted member of the Midway church; the former son born December 4, 1818, the latter, September 26, 1823; the former baptized Februa- ry, 1819, the latter in November, 1823. Both for awhile taught by A. H. Stephens. Both graduated with distinc- tion at Athens. Both studied medicine. After the practice of medicine for two years in Savannah, John accepted the chair of chemistry and physics at Athens. Joseph also prac- ticed a short while in Macon, Ga., then took a course under Agassiz, after which he was elected to the chair of natural history in the old Oglethorpe College, where, after a short time he went to the University of South Carolina at Colum- bia, where his brother had already been located a year. He
PROF. JOSEPH LECONTE.
PROF. JOHN LECONTE.
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PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS.
remained in Columbia fourteen years, leaving with his brother to accept positions in the University of California at Berkeley in 1869. Prof. John LeConte is known as the father of the University of California. Under the care and guidance of himself and brother from an institution of thirty- eight pupils and no income, it became a school with 1200 pupils and an income of over $350,000. These brothers were never separated from the time Joseph left Oglethorpe for Athens, with the exception of the one year in which John preceded him to Columbia, until his death which occurred April, 1891. The works of these two brothers are known in all scientific circles of the world. The work of Prof. Jo- seph LeConte on Geology is used as a text book in nearly all of the colleges of the country. He still lives at the Universi- ty of California. Mrs. Emma LeConte Furman, his daugh- ter, and wife of the late Farish C. Furman, author of the celebrated Furman Compost, still lives and conducts the farm successfully on a scientific basis.
DR. WILLIAM LOUIS JONES.
Son of William and Mary (Roberts) Jones, members of Midway church, born in Liberty county March 27, 1827, graduated at University of Georgia in 1845, took degree of M. D. in college of Surgeons and Physicians, in New York, in 1845, and degree of Bachelor of Science in Lawrence Sci- entific School at Harvard in 1851, elected professor of Nat- ural History in University of Georgia in 1851 and resigned in 1852, re-elected in 1861 and resigned in 1872. In 1886 elected professor of Agriculture in University of Georgia, and in 1889 Director of Georgia Experimental Station until re- moved to Griffin in 1890. In 1891 resigned his professor- ship in the University, and in the autumn of 1867 his father purchased the "Southern Cultivator" and ran it jointly till 1872, when he became sole proprietor and editor, and so continued till 1887 (twenty years). He is still living in At- lanta and a regular contributor to the same.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
MILTON E. BACON.
Among other teachers, I mention the name of Milton E. Bacon, founder of one of the celebrated Female Colleges in LaGrange, Ga. He was the fourth son of Thomas and Sarah Bacon, and a regular descendant of the early settlers, the church record giving an account of the marriage of his parents and grandparents, and also of some of the children. He was born in Liberty county July 22, 1818, graduated at the State University in 1836, and married Mary Lu- cilla Wilson, daughter of Major Josiah Wilson, and grand- daughter of General Daniel Stewart, December 10, 1841. In 1843 he took charge of the Female College established in LaGrange, Ga., by Rev. John E. Dawson, Baptist minister, and had it chartered as a Female Seminary in 1845, over which he continued to preside with marked success till 1855, when he removed to Aberdeen, Mississippi, to take charge of the Female College in that place, where he remained till 1861, when he became professor in the Judson Female Col- lege, Alabama, returning to Aberdeen in 1872, being made President of the Female College at Winona, Mississippi, in 1879, which position he filled till his death May 10, 1886.
After his removal from LaGrange, Mr. C. C. Cox, who married his youngest daughter, Mary, in 1851 as- sumed the presidency. Though the original building was burned in 1864, when used as a hospital, the school still continues and flourishes, together with its twin sister gone out from it, known as the "Southern Female College," re- cently established at College Park, near Atlanta, in 1895, and under the control of his descendants.
SAMUEL MCWHIR VARNEDOE.
Named after Dr. McWhir, and son of Nathaniel Varnedoe, a deacon in the church, was born in Liberty county August 3, 1816, received into Midway church February 25, 1832, Hon. A. H. Stephens, one of his teachers, graduated at Frank- lin College in 1836, represented the county twice in the leg- islature, a teacher at Jonesville for a number of years, in
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PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS.
1856 the nominee of the American party for congress, and defeated by Hon James L. Seward, of Thomasville. After the war removed to Valdosta, where in 1866, he established the Valdosta Institute, which he conducted with great suc- cess till his death April 23, 1878. Hundreds of pupils have gone out from the school. He was ordained Ruling Elder in the Valdosta Presbyterian church May 19, 1866, which position he filled at the time of his death. His son, J. O. Varnedoe, who assisted him for a time in the school, is a prominent business man of the place, filling the office of may- or, Alderman, and President of the Board of Trade, was the first captain of the Valdosta Videttes, and now the popular and accomplished colonel of the Fourth Georgia Regiment, of which it is a part.
JOHN B. MALLARD.
Son of John and Lydia Mallard, born September 18, 1808, baptized October 16, 1808, spent one year at the Theolog- ical Seminary at Columbia, S. C., teacher of a Female School at Walthourville, then principal of the Midway Female Sem- inary, Baldwin county, Ga., afterwards professor in Ogle- thorpe College, and author of "The Short Account of the Midway Congregational Church,"1 elected Deacon of Mid way church in 1838 and died at Walthourville June 22, 1877.
PROF. JOHN E. BAKER.
Among the teachers now living, I mention Prof. John E. Baker, son of W. Q. Baker, born in Liberty county March 22, 1833, graduated at Oglethorpe College in 1859, received into Midway church May 15, 1862, first a teacher at Fletcher Institute at Thomasville, Ga., in 1866, and after. wards president of "Young Female College," in the same place in 1869, which place he still holds.
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