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 147

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 147

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GORDON COUNTY SKETCHES.

DR. I. N. HUFFAKER, Plainville, Gordon Co., Ga., son of James L. and Isabel (Kincamon) Huffaker, was born in Bradley county, Tenn., Sept. 2, 1852. In 1853 his father moved from Tennessee to Georgia and settled on a farm in Whitfield county, and in 1889 he moved to Gordon Co., Ga., which has since been his home. Dr. Huffaker enjoyed only moderate educational advantages, having attended the best schools in the country in his boyhood and youth. He attended lectures in Southern Medical college, Atlanta, from which he graduated in 1882. He immediately located in Plainville, Ga., and entered upon the practice of his profession. Success has crowned his labors. He enjoys a remunerative busi- ness, both as a physician and merchant. He married Miss Mollie Williamson, oldest daughter of R. M. and Elizabeth Williamson, and two sons have blessed their union, William I. and James R. Huffaker.

MADISON D. PATE, farmer, Sugar Valley, Gordon Co., Ga., son of Madison and Nancy (Tidwell) Pate, was born in Talbot county, Ga., July 31, 1859. His parents were natives of Warren county, Ga., where they were married, and afterward moved to Talbot county, where they died in 1874. Of their children the following survive: Joe E .; George W .; John D .; Annie, and Madison D., the subject of this sketch. When quite young Mr. Pate was taken to Tennessee, where he remained about a year on a farm, and then was brought back to Georgia, to Murray county, where he lived seven years on a farm. In 1881 he entered the ma- chine shops of the Richmond & Danville (old Georgia Air Line), and worked there faithfully eleven years. In 1892 he had the good fortune to draw $15,000 in the Louisiana State lottery, and after remaining in the shops three months he decided on investing a liberal portion of his money in Gordon county. His home is on the land he then bought, and he has one of the finest farms in that section of the state. His educational advantages were very limited, but he managed to obtain between the hours of labor on the farm and in the shops a fairly good English rudimental education. Progressive and deservedly prosperous, he com- mands the respect of all. He is an ardent member of the Order of Red Men.

JOHN TALIAFERRO, farmer and real estate dealer, Plainville, Gordon Co., Ga., son of Dickerson and Mary (Harris) Taliaferro, was born March 7, 1828. His paternal grandfather, Charles Taliaferro, was a native of Virginia, who early in life moved to Surry county, N. C., where he settled and raised his family. Mr. Taliaferro's father migrated from Surry county, N. C., to Georgia, in 1846, and set- tled in the woods, where he cleared a farm in what is now Whitfield county. In 1850 he was elected to represent the county in the general assembly. His wife died in 1889 and he in 1893. Mr. Taliaferro enjoyed fairly good educational advantages in Surry county, N. C., where he lived on the farm until he was eighteen years old, when his father moved to Georgia. On reaching maturity he engaged in farming, which has been the principal pursuit of his life. When the war between the states began he enlisted in a company-of which he was made first lieutenant-in a regiment commanded by Col. Wright. After sixteen months' service he was released from further duty on account of his broken-down health. On his return home he resumed farming, anl in connection with it dealt in real estate largely to his pecuniary interest. In 1862 he moved from Whitfield to Gordon county, and fourteen years later went to Rome, in Floyd county. In 1880 he moved back to Gordon county, to the place which is now his home. He started in life with no means, but invested so judiciously and financiered so ably that he has accumulated a large property, is one of the most solid citizens of the county, and regarded as one of its ablest financiers-influential and highly esteemed. Mr. Taliaferro has been married twice. Oct. 1, 1859, he was married to Miss Frances, daughter of I-63

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Samuel and Emeline (Lynch) King, of Gordon county, who died leaving six chil- dren: Mary Ellen, Lula, Samuel Dickerson, Charles Harden, George William, and John Henry. July 24, 1887, he contracted a second marriage with Sarah E., daughter of M. J. and Priscilla Velvin, of Carroll county, Ga. He is a master Mason and a prominent member of the Methodist church.

GREENE COUNTY.

COPELAND. Greene county, Ga., has been prolific of men noted for great in- tellectual endowments, advanced thought and action, broad-mindedness and public spirit, and inflexible integrity of character. Though not politically con- spicuous, a worthy representative of the patriotic and self-reliant characteristics of its citizens is the family of Copeland, one of the earliest of its settlers. One of the living representatives of this family is Edward A. Copeland, banker, Greensboro, son of Obadiah and Sarah (Credille) Copeland, who was born in Greene county in 1849. His father was born in Greene county in 1806; was raised a farmer, and followed farming all his life. He was a soldier in the Creek war in 1836, and was a justice of the peace many years. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Methodist church. His mother was a daughter of Dray Credille, who was also of the early settlers. She was born in Greene county and was a very enthusias, tic, old-time shouting Wesleyan Methodist. After her marriage she helped clear the land for the farm, and in burning the brush after night. Mr. Copeland was raised on his father's farm, and received a fairly good education, a collegiate one having been prevented by the war between the states, which nearly ruined his father. When about fifteen years of age he engaged as a clerk in the store of C. A. Davis, Greensboro, at $25 a month. He remained there until he was twenty-one years of age, when Mr. Davis loaned him $10,000 with which to buy an interest in his business. During his clerkship he had saved $250, but loaned it to a friend who never returned it. A few years later he became a member of the firm of McCall, Copeland & Co., remaining five years, and then embarked in the grocery business. He continued this for five years with unusually profitable results, when he formed the co-partnership of Copeland, Seals & Armor in 1883, and bought the business of the successors of McCall, Copeland & Co. This firm continued business five years, and although their sales averaged $80,000 annually, they lost only $2,000 in that time. In 1888 he withdrew from mercantile life, and in 1889 built a house and established a private bank. The capital stock of the bank is $60,000, and he has managed it with such consummate financial skill as to have had on Jan. I, 1895, a surplus of more than $20,000. As a business man and as a financier he has developed extraordinary ability, and takes rank with the foremost, not only in his immediate locality, but in the state. Industrious, prompt, just and of unim- peachable integrity, he has the unlimited confidence of the large and valuable capitalistic constituency he has won and retains. He has served as a director of the Georgia Railroad and Banking company and is now a member of the board of county commissioners. Being comparatively young, with a record such as his already made, it may be safely assumed that not many years hence few men in the state will outrank him as a manager of money or as a man of wealth. Mr. Copeland was happily married in 1879 to Miss Leila J .- born and raised in Greensboro-daughter of William A. and Anna A. (Kimbrough) Davis, by whom

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GREENE COUNTY SKETCHES.

he has had two children: Anna and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Copeland are very prom- inent members of the Methodist church, of which he is a steward and trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school.

JOHN T. DOLVIN, farmer, Siloam, Greene Co., Ga., son of James and Mar- garet (McHargue) Dolvin, was born in Greene county in 1826. His paternal grandparents, John and Nancy (Hogue) Dolvin, were natives of Maryland, came to Georgia in 1783 and settled in that part of Washington county which was or- ganized as Greene county in 1786, on land which has ever since remained in the family. He was a soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war seven years; and the lands in this state were acquired under a United States warrant for those services. The subject of this sketch has in his possession the hone and razor used by his grandfather during the war. In 1780-82 he was a justice of the peace in Maryland. Farming was his occupation, but in early life he taught school several years. His wife was a strict and exemplary member of the Presbyterian church, and was a charter member of the first church instituted in Greene county. Mr. Dolvin's father was born in 1792 on the family homestead, and his mother was born on an adjoining homestead, both of which are now the property of Mr. Dolvin. He was educated at the old-time dirt-floor log schoolhouse, with split log seats and stick-and-mud chimney, and was raised a farmer. He was a soldier under Gen. Jackson in the Indian war of 1813-14, acting as orderly sergeant, his commanding officer being Capt. (afterward Gen.) Thomas Dawson. He was a hard worker, temperate in all things, and a forty-years member of the Methodist church, of which he was a steward. He died in 1880. Mr. Dolvin's maternal great-grandparents, Joshua and Lucina McHargue, were natives of Ireland, emigrated to this country early in life and settled in Georgia; and his mother's parents, John and Martha (Thomas) McHargue, were born in Greene county. Mr. Dolvin attained to man- hood on the farm and received a good education at the log school house of the period. He was frequently solicited to teach school, but declined. In 1852 he was elected justice of the peace, has been continuously re-elected since, and has never had a single decision reversed. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Capt. Robert L. McWhorter, Third Georgia regiment, Col. Ambrose R. Wright. Among other important battles he participated in the seven days' fight around Richmond, Mal- vern Hill, second Manassas, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Petersburg, etc. He served through the war without receiving a wound or being captured; he served as brigade commissary, as well as in minor official positions, and sur- rendered at Appomattox, after which he walked home. His and his wife's family were really pioneers; and, as already stated, he owns and lives on the land settled by their grandparents on which both were born. He owns a thousand acres of as good land as there is in Greene county, is a solid and model citizen, than whom none is more genuinely esteemed. Mr. Dolvin was married in 1851 to Miss Ann, daughter of Johnson and Eliza (Cheney) Boswell, natives of Wilkes county, Ga., who had seven sons and two sons-in-law in the Confederate service during the late "unpleasantness." Seven children blessed this union: James B .; John Gill- more; Martha A .; Sarah E .; Fannie I .; Hattie, and Floyd. Mr. Dolvin was once a member of the I. O. O. F., and is now a master Mason, and himself and wife are prominent members of the Presbyterian church.

HART. Very prominent among the leading and most influential families of Greene county is that of Hart, so historically prominent that a territorial sub- division of the state bears its name. A representative and distinguished member of this family is John C. Hart, judge of Ocmulgee circuit, Union Point, Greene Co., son of James and Maria (Collier) Hart, who was born in Greene county in 1854.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

His paternal grandparents, Thomas and Anna (Barnett) Hart, were natives of Virginia, whence they migrated on horseback and in wagons to Georgia, and settled in the woods in Greene county. He was an officer in the patriot army during the revolutionary war, and the family had in its possession the epaulettes he wore until about three years ago, when, by the burning of a house in which they were, they were destroyed. He was a farmer and also a brick mason, and built the court house in which his grandson, the subject of this sketch, now holds court as judge. He also built the chapel of the university of Georgia at Athens. Judge Hart's father was born in Greenc county in 1825, and after "graduating" from the "old-field" school improved upon and finished his education by his own unaided efforts. When a youth he went to Augusta and engaged as a clerk, and later was in partnership with Alfred Baker, under the firm name of Baker & Hart, and ranked with the leading merchants in that go-ahead, progressive city. As a member of the city council of Augusta he superintended the planting of the trees in Greene street, which has made that thoroughfare one of the most attract- ive and delightful of streets, the equal of any in any city of the Union. During the (now rapidly receding) "unpleasantness" he served in the state militia. On a certain occasion during this time Gov. Brown visited Union Point, and the "boys" (students) at Mercer university, Penfield, planned to "mob" the governor, but Mr. Hart took the matter in hand and prevented the consummation of the outrage. Judge Hart has in his possession the letter written to his father by Gov. Brown conveying his thanks for the service. He died in 1875. Judge Hart's mother was a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Germany) Collier, native South Carolinians. Dr. Collier was a very eminent and popular physician, and was a cousin of James Pettigrew, the great South Carolina lawyer. Judge Hart was raised on the farm, and after receiving a good primary and preparatory edu- cation at the schools in the county, entered the university of Georgia, Athens, from which he graduated as bachelor of law in 1875, and located at Union Point, and commenced the practice of law in connection with farming. The year he graduated his father died leaving a debt of $10,000 with 12 per cent. interest on the old homestead. This debt the judge paid, principal and interest. He rose very rapidly as a profound lawyer in the estimation of the people and the bar, soon became a leading member of both the local and circuit bar, and now has a state wide reputation. Since his elevation to the bench his rulings have been generally sustained, and he probably has before him as bright a professional and political future as any member of the legal profession in Georgia. Judge Hart was married in 1877 to Miss Irene, born and raised in Augusta, Ga., daughter of James W. and Georgia Horton, natives of Jackson county, Ga. Three children are the fruit of this union: Henry H., John C., and an infant unnamed. The home of Judge Hart at Union Point is one of the most delightful in the county, and can hardly be surpassed in Georgia. He is a member of the Chi Phi fraternity and a master Mason, and himself and wife are very prominent members of the Presbyterian church.

Virginia Hart, sister of Judge John C. Hart, was born and raised in Greene county, Ga., and was married in 1865 to Samuel H. Sibley, a leading merchant of Augusta, Ga. He was a son of Josiah Sibley, who three score years ago was a very prominent merchant and warehouseman in Hamburg, S. C. A brother of his, Amory Sibley, was a large cotton buyer in Augusta and president of the Mechanics' bank. These brothers were direct lineal descendants of John Sibley, who came to America in 1629.

Samuel H. Sibley enlisted in Company A, Cobb's legion, and gallantly served through the war, at the close of which he engaged in business in Augusta, with

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GREENE COUNTY SKETCHES.

increasing success until his death, leaving a widow and four children: Jennie, Katie, Samuel H., Jr. and Hart. Samuel H. Sibley, Jr., after receiving his pre- paratory education attended tlie university of Georgia, Athens, from which he was graduated with the first honor in 1892. Subsequently he studied law and was admitted to the bar. Although young he has attained to a front position in the legal profession, his great ability and early success giving promise of a brilliant professional and political career.

S.J. JERNIGAN, farmer, White Plains, Greene Co., Ga., son of Hardy and Frances (Colvert) Jernigan, was born in Hancock county, Ga., in 181I. His paternal grandparents, Needom (Sandey) Jernigan, were natives of North Caro- lina, who moved to South Carolina, where he enlisted in the patriot army during the revolutionary war and served as a lieutenant till the close of the war, enduring all the hardships and privations incident to that conflict, but escaped capture and was wounded but once. After the war he moved to Georgia and settled in Burke county, coming with pack horses and ox carts held together with wooden pins and hickory withes on oldtime block wheels. At first they lived almost entirely on wild game; the carcass of a deer jerked and dried would last several days. Mr. Jernigan's father was born in South Carolina in 1766, and came to Georgia with his parents after the revolutionary war. On one occasion, when living in Burke county, having killed a beef and salt was needed, he went a long distance for it and it cost one dollar a quart. Returning, riding leisurely along, he spied a coon, and couldn't resist the temptation to attempt its capture. He failed in his attempt and to add to the mortification of his failure his salt fell off into some water and was ruined. He was married in 1790, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. His mother was a daughter of John Colvert, whose family was among the early settlers of Wilkes county. He was a very prominent and leading citizen of the county. Mr. Jernigan grew to manhood in Hancock county, Ga., where he was educated at the oft-described historic dirt-floor log school house, what education he has having been obtained between "laying-by" and "fodder-pulling time." He was a volunteer soldier in the Seminole or Florida war of 1836. On March 31 that year the Federal forces had a fight with the Seminole chief, Osceola, and would have captured him but for Gen. Scott's trustfulness and Osceola's treachery. The Indians had their women and children with them, and displayed a white flag, which Gen. Scott respected, and ordered his troops to fall back. This was Osceola's ruse to gain time, and taking advantage of the time gained, the wily chief transported the live stock and women and children across the river, and then violating their promise to meet in council they stealthily returned and killed many of the Federal troops. Returning from the war he engaged in farming, which has been his occupation since. In 1850 he moved to Greene county and made it his permanent home. He was a major of the militia when it was a local distinction. Mr. Jernigan was married in 1838 to Miss Evaline B., born in Greene county, daughter of Duke and Susan (Weathers) Williams, and to them the follow- ing children have been born: John R., Emma, Henry, Charles, James, deceased. William, Mary Willie, Nuna J., Melville and Robert Lee. He was made a master Mason in 1836, is one of the oldest Masons in the state, and has held most of the offices in the blue lodge; and himself and wife are devout and prominent members of the Baptist church.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

GWINNETT COUNTY.

ROBERT H. ALLEN, merchant and manufacturer, Buford, Gwinnett Co., Ga., son of Washington and Biddy (Mackin) Allen, was born in Gwinnett county in 1841. His father was a native of Virginia, and when a young man came to Georgia and settled in Gwinnett county. He began life as a farmer, but after his marriage he joined his father-in-law in the tannery business. This proved to be very profitable and he accumulated a quite large estate. Mr. Allen was reared on the farm and received a very good education at the near-by country schools. Early in the civil war he enlisted in a company in the Sixteenth Georgia battalion, but not long afterward joined the Thirteenth Georgia cavalry, and during the time he was in the service was engaged in very many bloody skirmishes and hotly contested battles. After the war he engaged in general merchandising in Buford, and in 1868 embarked in the tannery business also. Beginning with an old mule he worked hard and struggled on and made some money which he judiciously invested. Now he has a large general merchandising store and is a leading merchant of the town, has a fine, well-stocked farm, a large tannery, and a factory equipped with a thirty-five horse power engine and its complement of suitable improved machinery, where he makes saddles, bridles, harness and other leather goods. He has an extensive and ready market for his products -- good evidence of honest work. Mr. Allen's physical misfortune speaks well for his courage and perseverance and adds vastly to his credit. Some years ago a stroke of paralysis deprived him of the use of his lower limbs and made him a cripple for life. His only mode of perambulation is by a light wagon drawn by a well-trained pair of goats, and in this way he travels the streets on business. He has worthily won the business prosperity and the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens which he enjoys. Mr. Allen was married Dec. 15, 1864, to Miss Einily, daughter of Thomas L. and Emily (Atkinson) Hadaway, by whom he has had one child, Cora, wife of E. W. Vance, who is general manager of his business. Mr. Allen is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has been a master Mason for more than thirty years.

BRAND is the name of a family which within a comparatively few years has forged itself to the front in Gwinnett county, in the person of Charles H. Brand, a leading lawyer and politician at Lawrenceville. He was a son of Egbert M. and Julia (Cooper) Brand, and was born in Loganville, Walton county, April 20, 1861. Isaiah C. Brand, his grandfather, was a native of Virginia, migrated to Georgia about 1818, and settled in the woods in what is now Walton county, near the present line between Walton and Gwinnett counties. He was a justice of the peace in the early years of the county, and attained to considerable promi- nence. Mr. Brand's father was born in Walton county in 1833. The necessity of working on the farm precluded his receiving even the limited education obtainable at that time at the country common schools. When about eighteen years of age he began life for himself as a clerk at four dollars per month. Managing to save a little money he engaged in peddling chickens, eggs, etc., with a cart and steer, going eighteen miles to market. He made money and finally commenced mer- chandising, and this increasing, he addded farming and accumulated a fortune. When the war began he had 100 bales of cotton, which were set fire to and burned by the Federal soldiers. He was an uncompromising, unflinching Union man, and came near being hung during the war because he would not renounce his

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GWINNETT COUNTY SKETCHES.

principles. He never sought or held an office, but was always ready to aid his friends. After the war he again engaged in general merchandising and farming, and has acquired considerable wealth. Mr. Brand was reared on the farm, and educated at the university of Georgia, and was graduated in the class of 1881 -- inany of whose members have held and are now holding the highest positions of trust in the state. In 1882 he began the study of law with Col. (now Judge) N. L. Hutchins, and the ensuing fall was admitted to the bar. He immediately afterward commenced the practice and forged rapidly forward to a front position at the local and circuit bar. His professional and political advancement has been phenomenal. He has been very successful and has a large practice, which in- creases as the years roll by, and his fellow-citizens have the most implicit confi- dence in his judgment and integrity. It has been aptly remarked that his is "an old head on young shoulders." He has served Lawrenceville as mayor three years; has been chairman of the county democratic committee twelve years, was chairman of the ninth district congressional conventions of 1892 and 1894; has been a delegate to the last six congressional and the last four gubernatorial con- ventions, and is now a member of the democratic state executive committee. In 1894 he was elected to represent the thirty-fourth senatorial district in the general assembly, where his ability and influence were at once recognized, and he was elected president pro tem. of the senate. Mr. Brand was married in 1885 to Miss Estelle, daughter of Col. S. J. and Sallie (Simmons) Winn, who died, an exemplary member of the Methodist church, in 1893, leaving two children: Luelle and Julia. He is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., of which fraternity he is a grand officer, and in line of promotion to its highest honors.

IM. BRAND, real estate and insurance, son of Egbert M. and Julia (Cooper) Brand, was born in Loganville, Walton Co., Ga., Feb. 7, 1867. (For sketch of his father see sketch of C. H. Brand in these Memoirs). His mother was a daughter of Levi M. and Martha Cooper, descended from early settlers of Georgia. Mr. Cooper was a prosperous farmer and a prominent citizen. Four of his sons were in the Confederate service during the war between the states, one of whom was killed. Mr. Brand was educated in the public schools of the county, and afterward taught school for a short time, and subsequently graduated from the university of Georgia in 1888.

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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 147

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