Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 144

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I > Part 144

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SEABORN KITCHENS, farmer, Gibson, Glascock Co., Ga., son of Lawrence and Mary (Brooks) Kitchens, was born in Warren county, Ga., March 8, 1830. He was raised on the farm, and received such education as could be obtained at the common country schools of the locality and period. When eighteen years of age he began life for himself, and made his first money by working on a neighbor- ing farm. Five years afterward he bought a piece of land with the money he had saved and began farming for himself, since which time he has increased his worldly possessions and grown in the public estimation. He was county surveyor of Warren county in 1857-58, and when Glascock county was organized served the new county in the same capacity from 1858 to 1860. He was elected ordinary of the county and served eight years consecutively. He afterward served for a time as clerk of the superior and inferior courts, has been county treasurer, and in 1888 was elected to represent the county in the general assembly. So ably and so faithfully did he serve the people in these various offices of responsibility and honor, that he made himself one of the most popular citizens of the county, and can have bestowed upon him any office in the gift of the county he may desire. His fellow-citizens have implicit confidence in his ability, capacity and honesty. Mr. Kitchens was married in December, 1851, to Miss Martha, daughter of Lindsey Deadwyler, of Fayette county, Ga., who has borne him four children, three sons and one daughter, all living and an honor to their esteemed parents. He is a prominent and honored member of the masonic fraternity.

ROBERT L. KITCHENS, farmer, Gibson, Glascock Co., Ga., son of Seaborn and Martha (Deadwyler) Kitchens, was born in Glascock county Dec. II, 1861. He worked on the farm and attended the common schools of the county until he reached manhood. He then bought a farm and commenced life for him- self. Except three years' merchandising at Mitchell, Glascock Co., farming has been the occupation of his life. He is a good and progressive farmer, and has been successful and prosperous. Public-spirited, of genial disposition and popular manners, and having influential family connections, he may be regarded as having a bright future before him. Mr. Kitchens was married Dec. 22, 1883, to Miss Gracie V., daughter of William R. Hunter, of Glascock county, by whom he has had four children, all daughters, the eldest of whom is dead. The children are: Lillian F., deceased, William, Sallie Kate, Martha M.

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GLYNN COUNTY.

FRANK D. AIKEN, ship broker, Brunswick, Glynn Co., Ga., son of Isaac and Fannie M. (Beyan) Aiken, was born on Hurd's island, McIntosh Co., Ga., July 14, 1861. Mr. Aiken's father, of Irish lineage, was born in Winnsboro, S. C., came to Georgia in 1854, and after the war between the states went to Pensacola, Fla., where he now resides. He enlisted in 1861, and was captain of Company B, Forty-seventh Georgia regiment, in which capacity he served until 1864, when he was assigned to the special duty of collecting the taxes from five counties in Georgia. His mother was of English descent, and was the daughter of P. M. and Mary (Ellison) Bryan, of New Berne, N. C. Mr. Aiken, when only thirteen years old and a poor boy, began life for himself. What education he had was mainly obtained at Darien, Ga. In 1887 he embarked in the ship brokerage business in Brunswick, and in 1889 established planing mills. In both these enterprises he has been eminently successful-prospered from the start-and has attained enviable honorable prominence locally and abroad, in the commercial world. He is (and has been since 1888) a director of the board of trade, and has been a director of the Merchants' and Traders' bank since its organization. He was a member of the city board of aldermen two years; in January, 1894, he was elected county commissioner, and in January, 1895, was elected treasurer of the county. In addition to the above he has held several other positions of public trust. He is also second vice-president of the Brunswick club, the only social

club in the city. He was first lieutenant of the Brunswick light horse guards until the troop was discharged for the purpose of re-organizing into a naval reserve artillery, which company of fifty-six men-the first and only company of Georgia's navy-he is now commander of. Mr. Aiken's present important and highly honorable relations to the commercial interests of this prospectively great south- ern seaport, gives promise of an exceedingly brilliant future. Mr. Aiken was married in January, 1894, to Miss Frances B., daughter of Mallory P. King, and granddaughter of the distinguished Thomas Butler King, of ante-bellum fame, half a century ago one of the foremost of Georgia's statesmen.

W ARNOLD, proprietor of "Ocean View House," St. Simon's island, Glynn Co., Ga., is a son of Frederick Arnold, and was born in Prussia March 4, 1846. His father was a native of Bromberg, Germany, where he spent his days, and where he died in 1849. Mr. Arnold's father gave him a good education preparatory to his studying for the profession of an architect. At the age of seventeen he commenced life for himself, without financial means. In 1869 he came to the United States, and after a short stop in New York came to Tattnall county, Ga., in 1870. Later he determined to settle permanently on St. Simon's island. Selecting the most eligible site, commanding an expansive "ocean view," he purchased thirty acres on the ocean beach, and has built and conducts in luxurious style and on the most liberal scale "Ocean View House," which is fast gaining the distinction of being one of the most attractive, delightful and popular of the summer resorts on the south Atlantic coast. Mr. Arnold was married in 1881 to Miss Anna F., daughter of Charles and Sarah (Hay) Stevens, natives respectively of Denmark and England. Mr. Stevens came to this country when about twenty-two years old, and died in Fort Delaware during the war, when about fifty years old. Mrs. Stevens (nee Hay) came to the United States when about

mauralieu

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eighteen years of age, is still living, and is about seventy-seven years old. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold were blessed with two children, Leopold and Winniebauld. Mr. Arnold is a member of the Lutheran, and Mrs. Arnold is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

R. C. BAUMGARTNER, meat merchant, Brunswick, Glynn Co., Ga., fourth of ten children, is a son of John and Anna (Naven Schwander) Baumgartner, and was born in Bene, Switzerland, May 13, 1858. His father was a farmer and dairyman, who came to this country in 1867, and settled first in Pittsburg, Pa., but in 1873 removed to South Pittsburg, Tenn. Here his father died in 1884, aged fifty-nine years; and his mother died in 1891, aged sixty-three years. R. C. Baumgartner, when about twenty years of age, left the parental roof-his only capital a hopeful spirit, an honest purpose and a brave heart-to fight the battle of life. His success demonstrates how wisely and how well he has used his capital. In 1882 he came to Brunswick, which has since been his home. By close attention to business, acting justly, and being scrupulously careful about his meats, he has established a good reputation and secured a permanent paying patronage. Mr. Baumgartner was married Feb. 17, 1883, to Miss Amelia, daughter of Van Hauten -- himself a native of the United States, but whose father was a native of Hol- land and whose mother was a native of France. The following children are the offspring of this union: Carl Jackson, Lottie Amelia, Hugh Edward, and Ellen. Mrs. Baumgartner is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Mr. Baum- gartner has been exalted to the royal arch degree in Masonry and is treasurer of the local chapter.

F. D. BIGGS, liveryman, Brunswick, Glynn Co., Ga., is a son of Daniel and Olive (Collins) Biggs, natives of North Carolina, and was born at Antioch, N. C., July 31, 1858. Daniel was a son of William Biggs, who came from England to the United States when a boy. Mr. Biggs was educated at Trinity College, N. C. When he reached manhood he began life for himself, relying on his own re- sources and pluck for success. He has lived in three states, and filled several public offices, having been a justice of the peace in Baldwin county, Ala., and Escambia county, Fla., and is now successfully running a livery stable in Bruns- wick. Mr. Biggs married Miss Cinderilla, daughter of Malcolm and Frances (Tur- ner) Baggett-both Floridians- in 1881. He is a member of the A. O. U. W .; the I. O. O. F .; the Knights of Pythias; the Knights of Honor; and of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Popular, obliging and enterprising, he is sure to swell to hand- some property his already large surplus.

W G. BRANTLEY, solicitor-general of Brunswick circuit court, is the son of B. D. and Jeanette (McCrae) Brantley, natives respectively of Laurens and Montgomery counties, Ga., and was born in Blackshear, Pierce Co., Ga., Sept. 18, 1860. His father was a merchant, and died leaving a very prosperous business which has been continued as "The A. P. Brantley Co." His mother is still living at Blackshear. Her parents emigrated to this country from Scotland, locating in Montgomery county. Mr. Brantley was liberally educated in the public schools and at the university of Georgia. He read law under Hon. John C. Nichols, Black- shear, was admitted to the bar in 1882, and was at once accepted as a partner by his Blackstonian preceptor, under the firm name of Nichols & Brantley. Two years later he retired from the firm and practiced by himself. In 1884 he repre- sented Pierce county, and afterward the Third senatorial district in the general as- sembly. In 1888 he was elected solicitor-general of Brunswick circuit and re- elected in 1892. When a member of the senate he took a very prominent part in

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the passage of the telegraph bill of 1887, and in opposition to the sale of the West- ern & Atlantic railroad. As solicitor-general he has been exceptionally successful, and is considered one of the ablest of the state's officials. Mr. Brantley also stands high as a practical business man. The best evidence of the estimation in which his professional ability and statesmanlike qualities are held, lies in the fact that he was tendered the judgeship of Brunswick circuit, and other equally honorable official positions. His name was also mentioned in connection with the seat in the United States senate made vacant by the death of Senator A. H. Colquitt. These very flattering manifestations of appreciation, however, fail to inflate or unbalance him. He is as unassuming as his thousands of admiring friends regard him pre- eminently able.

R. E. L. BURFORD, M. D., physician and surgeon and United States sanitary inspector, marine hospital service, Brunswick, Ga., is a son of John and Almeda (Thompson) Burford, and was born in Anderson county, Ky., March 2, 1861. His father, who is a breeder of and dealer in blooded horses and cattle in the famous "blue grass region of Kentucky," is of English and his mother of Scotch descent. Dr. Burford graduated from Georgetown college, Georgetown, Ky., and also from the medical university of Louisville, Ky., and passed the best examinations in all the branches taught, receiving the class honors. He also made an excellent record in his literary studies. One month after his graduation Dr. Burford located and opened an office in Brunswick, Ga., and at once gained the confidence and esteem of the people. In September, 1893, unexpectedly and wholly unsolicited by him, he was appointed United States sanitary inspector, marine hospital service at Brunswick, Ga., and placed in charge of the government station at that port. He has rapidly risen in public estimation and attained to an enviable and well-deserved reputation in his profession. He has already won by his demonstrated superior ability, a large and lucrative patronage. In the highest and most honorable sense of the term, he is a gentleman, and is sure to win his way to professional eminence. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.

HUGH BURFORD, physician and surgeon, Brunswick, Glynn Co., Ga., son of Dr. William B. and Laura (Bryant) Burford, natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Georgia, was born in Hall county, Ga., June 2, 1852. During his childhood his parents removed to Ringgold, Catoosa Co., Ga., where his father enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. Here, in the schools of Ringgold, was laid the foundation of his education; the higher or collegiate education contem- plated was cut off by reverses consequent upon the war between the states. After the battle of Chickamauga the family refugeed to Orange county, Fla., where young Burford's education was completed under the private tutorage of Rev. Dr. Bell, distinguished for his superior ability as an educator and for his strict religious discipline. After a brief experience in mercantile pursuits, he, with J. Ira Gore as a partner, established and published the Florida "State Journal," a weekly paper, at Cedar Keys, Fla. Later he sold his interest in the enterprise to his partner and began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of his father, and in 1875 took his first course of medical lectures at the Savannah Medical college. During the yellow fever epidemic in Savannah in 1876 several of the professors fell victims to its ravages and the college exercises were suspended, so that he did not graduate until 1879, when he graduated at the head of his class. He took an active part and rendered efficient service during the epidemic until prostrated by yellow fever, and then for four years -- 1877-80-was assistant to the surgeon in the marine hos- pital, enjoying a good private practice in the city, beside discharging the duties of demonstrator of anatomy in Savannah Medical college, to which he was elected

RE & Burford

Hugh Buford

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in 1879. Family and estate matters at his home in Florida necessitated his going there, thus breaking up the prosperous future promised in Savannah. He spent about a year in assisting his widowed mother in settling up his father's business and then, in 1882, came to Brunswick, which has since been his home. While Dr. Burford pays special attention to gynecology and obstetrics he practices in every branch of his profession, in which he has been phenomenally successful, enjoys an extensive practice, ranks among the most eminent of the profession in the state and has attained an enviable national reputation. He is by general consent regarded as the most popular and prominent physician in Brunswick. He is- president of the board of health, and in that capacity devoted his untiring efforts. to alleviate suffering during the yellow fever epidemic of 1893. He is acting assist- ant surgeon of the marine hospital service at Brunswick; member of the Georgia State Medical association; of the National Association Railway Surgeons, and of Association Railway Surgeons of the United States. He is also the medical exam- iner at Brunswick for the following named insurance companies: New York Life, New York Mutual, Equitable, New Jersey Benefit Mutual, Pennsylvania Mutual, Manhattan, Phoenix, Massachusetts Benefit, United States, Maryland Life, Fidel- ity and Casualty company, Massachusetts Mutual Benefit and several others. Dr. Burford was married in July, 1883, to Miss Mary K.,-born in Tarrytown, N. Y .- daughter of Edward M. and Frances (Rathbone) Hopkins of Savannah, and to them three children have been born: Hugh, aged eleven; Dorothy, aged five, and an infant not named. Dr. Burford is a member of the I. O. O. F., a master Mason and a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. Mrs. Burford is a de- voted member of the Presbyterian church.

DR. WILLIAM BERRIEN BURROUGHS, of Brunswick, Glynn Co., Ga., bears an old and distinguished name in Georgia. He can probably trace his ancestry back as far on both sides as any man in the state. The antiquity and prominence of the Burroughs name are seen from the following heraldic records: "The first attempt to reach China by this route (Nova Zembla) was made by the Muscovy or Russian company in 1553, under Sir Hugh Willoughby in three ships, with Richard Chanceller as pilot major. The leader and two vessels with seventy men were lost on the coast of Lapland; the third ship, under com- mand of Capt. Stephen Burroughs with Chancellor, reached the White sea safely and commercial relations were established with Russia. In 1556 Capt. Stephen Burroughs had chief command of another expedition. He doubled Cape North, touched at Nova Zembla, discovered the island Wygatz and Wygatz straits, which separate Nova Zembla from the then supposed continent, and reached north lati- tude seventy degrees, three minutes-a higher point than had been reached by any previous navigator. He returned to England and published an account of his observations. He was the first who observed the declination of the magnetic needle." Following is the coat of arms as given in the best books on heraldry: " 'Azure, a Bend wavy argent between two Fleurs de lis Ermine,' and was as- signed and granted by Robert Cooke, of Clarencieux, Jan. 27, 1586, in the twenty- ninth year of Queen Elizabeth, to William Burroughs, Esq., clerk and comptroller of the queen's navy, son of Walter Burroughs, descended from the Burroughs at Northam, near Barnstable in the county of Devon." Sir John Burroughs was grandson of William Burroughs, of Sandwich, Kent, by the daughter of Basil Gasell, of Newkirk, Bralant, and garter king of arms. He received a classical education and afterward studied law at Grey's Inn. In 1623 he was appointed keeper of records in the tower of London. In June of the same year the earl marshal, to whom he was secretary, appointed him herald extraordinary. I-62

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On December 30 of the same year he was made king of arms at Arundel house in the Strand. He received the favor of knighthood July 17, 1624. In 1634 he was made garter principal. He attended his sovereign, Charles I., when he went to Scotland to be crowned in 1633. On April 14, 1636, he obtained a grant to en- title him to the fees of his office of garter while employed beyond the sea in the king's special service. He died Oct. 21, 1643, leaving two sons and two daugh- ters. His son John was knighted by Charles II. The family has continued in London to the present day. Silas M. Burroughs, the head of the largest drug house in the world-Burroughs, Wellcome & Co., of London-is one of this fam- ily. John is a family name, for we find in English history John Burroughs, a divine who died in 1386. He was D. D. of Cambridge, rector of Collingham, Nottinghamshire; appointed July 1, 1384, to the post of chancellor of his univer- sity. Another John, a benedictine who flourished in 1340, was the author of some books on travels. The progenitor of the family in America was John, born in England, Dorsetshire county, in 1617, and came to America and landed at Salem, Mass., about 1642. He was a member of the long parliament that assembled November 3, 1640, which was dissolved by Cromwell, and with many others fled from England to escape religious prosecution. He moved from Salem to Long Island, N. Y., early in the forties. Long Island was then occupied by the Camassee Indians. He was one of the original settlers of Middleburg in 1652 and paid his share of "the Indian rate," one pound, ten shillings, in 1656. On March 13, 1662, he was elected town clerk and clerk of the court. He was one of the seven patentees of Newtown in 1666. Being a leading man and skillful penman, quite a rare accomplishment in those days, he was continued in office as town clerk for eleven years, and at his death, in August, 1678 (his will is on record in New York and an original copy is still in possession of the family of Mr. George Wyckoff Burroughs), his eldest son was elected to fill his position and held the office for many years. His family continue in New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania and Connecticut. Benjamin Burroughs, the grandfather of our subject, and the great-great-great-grandson of John, was the first to bring the name south. He was born at Newtown, L. I., March 31, 1779, and died at Savannah, Ga., April 14, 1837, aged fifty-seven. He moved to Augusta, Ga., thence to Savannah, and on July 2, 1799, at the age of twenty, married in Savannah Miss Catharine Eirick, daughter of Alexander Eirick, who was a meinber of the colonial parliament. Isabella, her sister, married Dimas Ponce, and Ruth, a younger sister, married Francis Harney Welman, an officer of the British navy, in January, 1807, whose daughter, Mrs. John H. Reid, of Savannah, a charming and elegant lady of the old school, survives him. Catharine Eirick's mother's maiden name was Ruth Erwin, daughter of Christopher Erwin, born in Antrim county, Ireland, Jan. 8, 1754. One sister of Ruth Erwin married Capt. Loyer, of the French army, from whom are descended the Davants, of Savannah, Ga .; another sister married Gov. Jared Irwin, her cousin, the letter being changed some generations before from I to E on account of religious differences. Benjamin Burroughs, prominent as a cotton and commission merchant in the city of Savannah, was largely interested in the steamship "Savannah." His partner-Mr. Sturges-and himself owned one-third of the ship, and they shipped cotton to Liverpool on her first voyage. Ocean navigation by steam was inaugurated by the voyage of the "Savannah" in 1819 from Savannah to England and Russia; the paddles were made of canvas and the arms of iron, and the wheels were so arranged that they could be dismounted at pleasure, and it was adapted to the use of steam or sails, accord- ing to circumstances. She left Savannah May 26, 1819, and reached Liverpool after a passage of twenty-five days, during which the engine was employed

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eighteen days. Benjamin Burroughs was an elder in the Independent Presby- terian church in Savannah, and gave $5,000 to assist in building the same in 1817. His children were Joseph H., merchant, Savannah; William Howe, planter in Florida, who married Ann McLeod, afterward moved to Savannah and was a cotton merchant-one child survives him-Joseph Hallett; Benjamin Burroughs, Presbyterian minister at Vernonberg, Ga., married Rosa Williams-three chil- dren living-James P. Burroughs, Miss Rosa Burroughs and Mrs. Theo. Liv- ingston, of Jacksonville, Fla .; Dr. Henry Kollock Burroughs, physician, and many years mayor of Savannah, married Ella Dessaussure, of Charleston, S. C., who survives him, and has several daughters; Oliver S., planter, of Tallahassee, Fla., married Ann C. Maxwell-two sons, B. M. and E. W. Burroughs, survive him; Elizabeth Reed married Dr. John S. Law, of Cincinnati, O .; their children are John Hugh, Benjamin, Frank, Wallace, Charles Green, and one daughter. Catharine, daughter of Benjamin Burroughs, married Charles Green, of Savan- nah, Ga. Joseph Hallett Burroughs was the eldest son of Benjamin, and father of William Berrien Burroughs (our subject), was born in Savannah June 30, 1803, was a graduate of Yale college and entered the cotton business with his father. On June 26, 1828, he was married at Savannah to Miss Valeria Gibbons Berrien. On his mother's side the name is none the less known or distinguished. The Berriens are an old French family and the seat of their ancestors was Berrien, a considerable town in the department of Finisterre; their ancestor was a Huguenot, who, during the civil wars of France was forced to flee and take refuge in Hol- land. Cornelius Jansen Berrien was the first of the name that emigrated to this country, and was the progenitor of the family here. He settled at Flatbush, Long Island, N. Y., in 1669, and married Jeannette, daughter of Jan Stryker, and being a person of character and education, he enjoyed offices in the town government, and was a deacon in the Dutch church. After his death he was succeeded by his son John, who held several positions of honor and trust. Cornelius, a son of John, married Sarah Hallette, and lived on Berrien's island, near Long Island. He was the grandfather of William Berrien, D. D., rector of Trinity church, New York, for thirty-three years, in which parish he ministered in holy things for fifty-two years, and married Jane, daughter of Elias B. Dayton, of Elizabethtown, N. J. Peter was a son of Cornelius, was a surveyor by profession and became a large land-owner and served several years as supervisor. He gave the land upon which the first Dutch church in Newton was erected. Cornelius was a son of Peter. He was a prominent man-elder in the church, magistrate, etc. His son John was chosen on the committee of safety in 1775. John Berrien, son of Peter, married Margaret Eaton; he lived at Rocky Hill, Somerset Co., N. J. He was one of the judges of the supreme court of judicature of that state (then col- ony). Gen. Washington was visiting his family, and made it his headquarters, and it was from the door-steps of this house that Washington's farewell address was delivered to his army; the address is familiar to every schoolboy. Their children were Ionna, who married a Mr. Spencer, of Maryland, whence Spen- cer Baird; Valeria, who married a Mr. Le Conte, whence Dr. Joseph and Dr. John Le Conte, and John, who emigrated to Georgia in 1775; at fifteen years of age he was lieutenant in the First Georgia regiment; at seventeen he was captain in the same command; at eighteen he was appointed by Gen. Lachlan McIntosh brigade-major in the northern army; he was conspicuous in the battles of Mon- mouth and Valley Forge, and in several other engagements, and continued in service until the close of the war. He married Miss Margaret MacPherson, of Philadelphia, daughter of Capt. John MacPherson, and sister of Gen. Wm. Mac Pherson, of revolutionary fame, and sister of Capt. John MacPherson, aid-de-camp

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 144

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1294

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294