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 152

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 152

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

PROF. HAYWOOD J. PEARCE was born in Columbus, Muscogee Co., Ga.,

Aug. 26, 1871, and is the only child and son of Mr. Thomas J. and Mrs. Vir- ginia (Biggers) Pearce, of that place. His earlier education was acquired in the private schools of the city of Columbus, but at the age of fifteen he entered the preparatory department of Emory college, Oxford, Ga., from which institution he received his diploma in June, 1891. Immediately after graduation he was elected to the chair of Latin in the Columbus Female college, afterward assuming the presidency of the same institution, and remaining there until his present con- nection was formed. Prof. Pearce was married in August, 1892, to Miss Mary Matthews, of Columbus, and three children have blessed their union. The asso- ciation of Profs. Van Hoose and Pearce in the management of the great institu- tion under their charge has been and is a most pleasant one; but no biography of these gentlemen would be complete without a description of the great enter- prise to which they have consecrated their lives, their talents and their money. Nestled at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains, in that section of the state known as northeast Georgia, is the beautiful, prosperous city of Gainesville. Fourteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, its atmosphere is as pure as that of the mountains, and this, coupled with the fact that its water is so cool as never, even in the hottest weather, to require ice, makes it the Mecca to which thousands from the lower portions of Georgia flock during the summer months, seeking health and rest. Fever, chills, malarial diseases and mosquitoes are abso- lutely unknown to its people, and it is the testimony of physicians of national reputation that a year's residence in this favored section is of incalculable benefit to anyone. It is to such a place as this that the Georgia Female seminary invites its pupils. The college campus embraces some seven acres, beautifully shaded by primeval oaks, and affords splendid opportunities for exercise and amuse- ment. An elegant gymnasium, ten-pin alley, tennis, quoits and croquet are pro- vided in order that the young ladies may have ample facilities for exercise. The college buildings are of brick and marble, with elegantly finished interiors. An $18,000 addition was made quite recently to the home department, thus making this one of the best arranged and most commodious home schools for young ladies in the southern states. The college library is a magnificent room, 40x60 feet, tiled with Georgia marble and finished in Georgia pine. It is exceedingly well lighted and affords excellent opportunities for reading and recreation. Bath I-65

I026

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

rooms and steam heat add to the comfort of the pupils. Religious services are held at the college both morning and evening, and pupils attend such churches on the Sabbath as parents may designate. One of the chief attractions of this school is the young ladies' reading room, which is fitted up with handsome book-cases, filled with carefully selected books, comfortable chairs, tables, pictures and other accessories, which combine to make it a favorite resort for all who love reading. In literature, music, art, elocution, and physical culture this institution stands in the very front rank of the colleges for women in the southern states. It is doubtful if there are a dozen institutions of its kind with as high a curriculum south. The advantages afforded in the music depart- ment are very fine, possessing as it does the only real conservatory in the southern states, in which the pupil is taught the mastery of every musical instrument, including the pipe organ recently purchased by its enterprising principals. Dur- ing the early months of the coming year (1896) it is proposed that a new audi- torium building, with a seating capacity of 1,000, shall be added to the already extensive buildings of the institution. The department of art offers exceptional advantages also, and its facilities are constantly being increased in order to keep pace with the growth of this particular part of the school. It is gratifying to note that the efforts of the proprietors of the school are meeting with signal success. During the collegiate year just closed eleven states were represented among the student body of the institution, and it is but a question of time when this institution will be reckoned among the leading female colleges of the union.

HON. GEORGE W. WALKER, mayor of Gainesville, Ga., was born in Bartow county, Ga., on Oct. 13, 1845, and is a son of Felix and Mary B. (Ford) Walker. He is the youngest in a family of five living children, viz .: Emaline, Margaret, Cassie, Mary and George W. He learned the blacksmith's trade when young, established a carriage manufactory in Gainesville, Ga., in 1876, and has since devoted his attention to that business, and now has a thriving trade through- out the state. In 1885 he was elected mayor of Gainesville and served one term. For the two years previous to that time he had served as a member of the city council. In December, 1893, he was again chosen mayor of Gainesville, and retains that office at this time. In 1869 he was happily joined in the bonds of holy wedlock to Miss Ella I. Smith, daughter of William P. Smith, a distinguished citizen of Gainesville, Ga. This union has been blessed by the birth of five children, now in life, viz .: William Clyde, Harry, Raiford, Ella and Ileta.

HANCOCK COUNTY.

JAMES M. ARCHER, planter, Sparta, Hancock Co., Ga. The gentleman herein named is one of the old-school planters of Hancock county, and is living on the same plantation which his father cultivated before him. He is one of that class of planters who believe in raising their own "hog and hominy," who make their farms self-sustaining, and who are to-day the only prosperous people in the state. Would that Georgia had more of them. They are the bone and sinew of the country. Grandfather William Archer came to Hancock county early in the present century. He lived to a good old age, and reared a large and prosperous

I027

HANCOCK COUNTY SKETCHES.

family. William was the father of James M. and was born in the county in 1812. He married in 1833 Miss Elizabeth Jackson, who was of German descent, and was also a native of the county. But two children were born to the union: William J., who married and reared a family in the county, and died in 1889, and James M., whose name heads this sketch. The mother of these boys was a woman of fine qualities, and taught them to "fear God and regard man" in all the walks of life. She died at a ripe old age in 1878. William Archer was a man of iron constitution and a capacity and will for hard work equaled by but few in his day. He began life in very moderate circumstances and by middle age had placed himself in the ranks of the wealthy planters of the county. This was not accom- plished by trading and short practices, but by actually "digging it out of the soil." During his life-time he was a liberal supporter of the Baptist church, and is remembered as a man of large hospitality and generous impulses. He died in 1887. James M. Archer has followed in his father's footsteps, and is looked upon as a man equally as valuable to the community. His public spirit is proverbial, and he occupies a high place in church and society, holding the respect of all who know him. He was born Jan. 12, 1837, and was given such education as the common schools of the county afforded. He married his present estimable wife, Clarissa Ann Peeler, March 21, 1861. She was a daughter of Rev. Berry Peeler, who came from South Carolina, and was for many years prior to his death a prominent and gifted minister of the Baptist church. Twelve children resulted from this union, as follows: Ida J., deceased; Addie L., widow of Dr. L. S. Garner, living now with her parents; William B., deceased; Flavius J., planter, Hancock county; Sarah B., deceased; Green P .; J. Harvey; an infant, unnamed; Anna May, Jesse Mercer, Lillian E. and Isaac Holmes. Mr. Archer is one of the heaviest land-owners in the county, paying tax on some 3,000 acres of land. He lives on the old Archer plantation, eight miles south of Sparta, in a commodious new house, surrounded by such comforts as make life pleasant in the county. During the late war he did his whole duty as a private soldier in Company E, Thirty-second Georgia regiment, Col. George P. Harrison, commanding. He enlisted in 1862 and served on the coast defenses in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, participated in the battle of Ocean Pond, in the latter state, and the bombardment of Battery Wagoner, near Savannah. Mr. Archer is a democrat in political belief, and a deacon in the Baptist church. Socially he is regarded highly, being a gentleman of entertaining conversational powers and of most hospitable disposition.

A.S. BASS, postmaster, depot agent and storekeeper, Devereaux, Hancock Co., Ga., a station on the Macon & Augusta railway, in the western part of the county. Mr. Bass comes from good old Virginia stock, from which state his grandfather, Edmund Bass, emigrated when in his teens. Mr. Bass' father mar- ried a Miss Ingram, and settled in the western part of the county, where he reared a family of four sons and five daughters: Milton, married Ann Culver, a sister of Hardy C., whose family is mentioned elsewhere, and became the father of the following children: Ann E., Mrs. Wm. Coleman, Devereaux; W. H., Macon; A. S., the subject of this sketch; Carrie G., widow of J. W. Mote, Devereaux; George E., private Company K, Fifteenth Georgia regiment, wounded and cap- tured at Gettysburg, died in a Federal prison; Wesley A., planter near Devereaux; Hardy W., Baldwin county; Mary J., deceased; Sallie E .; Mrs. Wm. Brown, Devereaux; Mattie L., Mrs. F. A. Hall, Milledgeville. Mrs. Bass died in 1869. She was a woman of superior qualities and is remembered by her children as a mother faithful and true to their best interests. The father lived till 1883. He

1028

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

early mastered the art of successfully tilling his native heath, and was regarded as an authority on all questions pertaining to agriculture. He accumulated a good estate, and in his public and private benefactions was liberal and just. He was a member and active worker in the Methodist church, and as such is remembered as being of peculiar and wonderful power in prayer. Although not an educated man, when "talking to the Lord" he had a command of language seldom sur- passed. "Syd" Bass, as he is familiarly known, came to manhood on the wave that ushered in the civil war, having been born June 22, 1841. He enlisted as a private in Company K, Fifteenth Georgia regiment, in 1861. He participated in some of the hardest fought battles of the war, notably the seven days' fight around Richmond, Fredericksburg, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and Sec- ond Manassas, and wears the marks of two Yankee bullets, having been wounded in the shoulder at Sharpsburg, and in the thigh at Second Manassas. Witnessing the surrender of his beloved chieftain at Appomattox, he returned home, gladly laying down the implements of war to engage in the industries of peace. The business of Mr. Bass since the war has been such as to give him a large acquaint- ance in the county, among whom he is regarded as a faithful and conscientious official. He is a democrat, is a Mason and belongs to the Methodist church. The marriage of Mr. Bass was consummated with Miss Ella C. Simmons in 1872, who is the mother of three children: George E., died in infancy; Anna le Gay and Ora E., young ladies at home.

CAPT. RICHARD B. BAXTER, Sparta, Hancock Co., Ga., is the only rep- resentative left in Hancock county of a very prominent and influential family whose members have won eminence in professional and business circles wherever they may have located, notably Judge Eli Baxter, an uncle of the above gen- tleman, who for several decades was one of the leaders of the bar of middle Geor- gia, and a judge of the superior court, and Thomas W., the same gentleman's father, who died a successful and prosperous merchant and manufacturer in Athens. Richard B. Baxter was born in Athens, Ga., Nov. 27, 1840, the son of Thomas W. and Mary (Wiley) Baxter. His people were North Carolinians and came to the state in its early history. His father died when Richard was but four years old. He spent his life as a business man, successively in Milledgeville, Macon and Athens, and was a man of fine business capacity, his early death cutting off a career that would have been brilliant in its success. At the time of his death he was engaged in various enterprises and was president of the Athens Manufac- turing company. Mrs. Baxter was a member of the Wiley family, which has also been prominent in the state. She died in 1869, the mother of the following children: Andrew, Atlanta, Ga .; Mary, deceased, who married Judge J. J. Gresh- am, Macon, Ga .; Thomas W., Baltimore; Sarah, widow of W. E. Bird, Balti- more; Dr. J. S., Macon, president of the Southwestern railway; Eli L., died of disease in the late war; Edwin G., killed in Texas, and Richard B. This last- named gentleman was graduated from Franklin college (now the university of Georgia) in 1860. The year which followed was one of great interest to the young graduate, who was just at that age when the blood mantles and oppres- sion seems most galling. When the stirring events of that year culminated in the convention which met at Milledgeville he heartily acquiesced in its decision and soon became a member of the Athens guard. This company went to the front among the very first troops, and in the organization became Company K, Third Georgia regiment. The regiment was first stationed at Portsmouth, then fortified Roanoke Island. It was subsequently detailed to patrol the Dismal Swamp canal, where it had its first engagement at South Mills. After the evacua-

1029

HANCOCK COUNTY SKETCHES.

tion of Norfolk it was ordered to Petersburg, and beginning with the Seven Pines fight about Richmond, participated successively in all the important engage- ments throughout Virginia, was in the Maryland campaign (wounded at Sharps- burg), and participated in the great battle at Gettysburg, in all of which Mr. Baxter followed the varying fortunes of the army. After the battle he was transferred to Company E, Fifteenth Georgia regiment, and went with Longstreet to reinforce the army of the west. At Chickamauga and Knoxville he did his duty gallantly, but while on a foraging tour near the latter place was unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the enemy. This was in January, 1864. He was taken to the Rock Island military prison, from which he marched out in the very last squad which left it in 1865, the gates swinging open never again to bar the coming and going of the southern soldier. The memory of those long dreary months still lingers with the soldier and makes him appreciate to the fullest extent the liberty of thought and action. Returning home to Athens, Capt. Baxter was there happily married Aug. 9 to Miss Kate, daughter of Tinsley W. Rucker. This perfect union was broken in 1882 when death claimed the mother of his children, whom they worshiped with a love akin to the divine. These children are honoring themselves and their parents in taking useful positions in life as they come to maturity. John S., Jr., who is prominently identified with one of the Macon railroads, is a graduate of Emory college; Edgeworth B. was educated at Princeton, where he was graduated and is now a successful practitioner of the law at Augusta; Elizabeth H. was educated at the Misses Bonds' school at Balti- more, and is now the wife of J. Lane Mullaly, Sparta, Ga. The three remaining children are young people at home: Georgia F., Richard B., Jr., and Thomas W. Capt. Baxter moved to Sparta in 1867, where he has since engaged in planting and in the management of the large property which he possesses. His home reflects the character of the man in its quiet elegance. He is a keen business man, a courteous and elegant gentleman, and a citizen whom his friends delight to honor. He votes the democratic ticket, and is a consistent and prominent mem- ber of the Presbyterian church.

R.A. BEALL, Culverton, Hancock Co., Ga., is the son of Jesse R. Beall and Mary Culpepper. The family is of English extraction and came to Virginia in the colonial period, whence many members moved to and settled in North Carolina. Mr. Beall's grandfather, Samuel Beall, came from North Carolina to Georgia and settled in Warren county, Ga., about the beginning of this century. His family consisted of three sons, Erasmus, Robert and Jesse R., and one daughter, Mary, all deceased but Jesse R., father of the gentleman above named. He was born in 1812, and married in Warren county. His children were as follows: Mary, widow of Samuel Hall; America, deceased; Jane, Mrs. William A. Suther- land, Pulaski county; Annie, Mrs. J. C. Key, Milledgeville; Viola, deceased; Samuel, Jefferson county; R. A., Columbus, deceased, killed at Sharpsburg, private in Company A, Twentieth Georgia regiment; William H., Jefferson county. The mother of these children died in 1869. Mr. Beall has since re- married and now lives in Jefferson county. R. A. Beall was born January 31, 1836. He grew to man's estate on a Warren county plantation, and at the age of twenty-two married Fitzena C. Cheely. Eight children have grown up about him: James T., Hancock county; Jesse K., merchant; J. Frank, Macon; R. C., Hancock county; Anna May, single; Lucillus, Sparta; Albert C., Han- cock county, and Louise. Mr. Beall has passed his life in agricultural pursuits for the most part, and is a man of well-known probity of character and un- doubted integrity. As a veteran of the late war, he delights in recalling the

1030

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

scenes of those sanguinary days, and grows eloquent in his defense of the lost cause. Enlisting as a private in Company B, Fifteenth Georgia regiment, in 1861, he arrived on the field just after the first battle of Manassas. In the spring of 1862 he took part in the seven days' fight around Richmond, and later was at Seven Pines, Sharpsburg, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. In this bloody fight Mr. Beall was severely wounded in the right leg during the second day. He was placed in a temporary hospital, which was afterward captured by the enemy, and he thus became a prisoner of war. As he was a commissioned officer at the time, he was carried to Johnson's Island, in which summer resort he remained till February of 1864, when he was removed to Point Lookout. After a short stay there he was transferred to the prison at Fort Delaware, from whence he was paroled late in 1864. After his exchange he again entered the army, and being given a detail to look after government stores and the wounded at Lynch- burg, served at that point till the surrender. Mr. Beall is a democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist church. His sons and daughters have all grown up about him, honorable men and noble women, and he lives among them secure in their respect and love.

COL. W. L. L. BOWEN. Nestling among the pine-clad hills of the upper Ogee- chee river is the quiet little village of Jewells-a busy little world in itself, with its humming cotton factory, the center of interest and the thrift of its citizens attested by many pretty homes. The large company store bears the firm name of Bowen, Jewell & Co., the subject of this sketch being the senior member. Col. Bowen is a Tennesseean by birth, the son of Reece and Mary (Moody) Bowen, and was born in Granger county Oct. 22, 1838. He grew to manhood in that county, and was just completing his education in what is now known as Carson and Newman college when the war broke out. Four full years he followed the fortunes of the Confederacy, after which he went to Florida, where he engaged successfully in vari- ous business enterprises until 1881. In that year he moved to Jewells, and 'subse- quently he bought a controlling interest in the plant of his father-in-law, D. A. Jewell, and has since devoted his energies to its operation. The company has one of the finest cotton factory plants in the state, operating some 3,800 spindles and 120 looms, together with a ginnery and grist-mill, and is doing a large and paying business. Col. Bowen was one of the very first to respond to the call to arms in the late civil war. A senior at college, within a few months of graduation, he insisted on leaving for the front. . The president, finding it useless to argue further, handed him his diploma as he took the train for Charleston. Arriving at that point he joined a company of minute men, but soon went to Florida, where he entered the regular army as quartermaster. This service, however, smacked too little of war for a young man of spirit, and he therefore enlisted in the Fourth Florida, a regiment of infantry which was being organized for the army in the west, and of which he was elected major. Just previous to going to Tennessee he was elected lieutenant-colonel, and on the death of the colonel commanding in 1862, was promoted to that position. While leading his regiment at the battle of Murfreesboro, his conduct under fire was such as to call forth the warmest praise of his ranking officers, and he was promoted to brigadier-general of the Confed- erate army. Col. Bowen, however, has modestly refrained from prefixing that title to his name, as his commission, though issued, never reached him on account of the unsettled and chaotic condition of things near the close of the war. During the war Col. Bowen enjoyed the fullest confidence of his commanding officers, and was frequently entrusted with most important business. He was personally ac- quainted with a large number of the leading men, both in and out of the army, and relates many interesting occurrences. The following incident he relates illus-

W. L. L. BOWEN.

IO3I

HANCOCK COUNTY SKETCHES.

trates Gen. Hardee's keen sense of humor. It was on the day of the noted Peach- tree creek engagement during the battle of Atlanta. The battle had been raging for some time with heavy losses to each army. The brave Gen. William H. T. Walker had just fallen, and Gen. Hardee, feeling that Hood should be apprised of his death, dispatched Col. Bowen to him with the sad intelligence. "Go back," said Hood, "and tell Hardee to press up Peachtree creek. It's the grandest route of the war." On hearing these orders Hardee drily remarked. "Yes, but it's the wrong kind of a route." Col. Bowen retired with the army before Sherman, and, joining Johnston in South Carolina, was shortly after sent with important dispatches to Gen. Lee. He delivered the dispatches to that general the day before the evacuation of Richmond, and returned to Johnston's army, to be soon surrendered at Greensboro, N. C. Instead of returning to his native state Col. Bowen came south, and, on arriving at Milledgeville, was taken with a severe attack of fever. During his convalescence he one day drove over to the little town of Jewells. It was there he first met the lady who now as his wife graces his beautiful home, though at that time she was but a little girl. Locating in Florida, the visits which the colonel now and then made to his people in Tennessee were supplemented by calls at Jewells. It was thus the "old, old story" was again rehearsed, and on June 28, 1877, Miss Mary E. Jewell became Mrs. Bowen. This lady, who graduated with distinguished honors at Lucy Cobb institute in 1875, is a daughter of D. A. Jewell and Mary A. (Shea) Jewell, her father having in a great measure built the factory and founded the town which bears his name. To them have been born seven children: Marie, Lucile, deceased, Mabel, Orlando, Reece, deceased, Marian, and Robert E. Lee. Col. Bowen is the leading figure in his community. In poli- tics he is a stanch democrat, in faith a Missionary Baptist and a deacon in the church to which he belongs, and is also a royal arch Mason.

JOSIAH CARR, planter, Culverton, Hancock Co., Ga., is a North Carolinian, where he was born in Franklin county, May 9, 1828. Bereft of his parents at a tender age, Col. Carr came to Hancock county, Ga., where he found a protector in the person of an elder brother, James Carr. He was one of a family of seven children: James; Willis; John and Robert E., deceased; Green B., planter, Han- cock county; Samuel, lives in Hopkins county, Tex., and Josiah. When Col. Carr came to manhood he found a wife in Miss Susan B. Barksdale, who lived but a year, dying without issue. In 1868 he again married, Sarah E. Collins becoming his wife. This lady died Aug. 26, 1880, the mother of two sons: Robert Lee, who grew to manhood, a bright, promising youth, but was stricken with typhoid fever, and died Oct. 26, 1892, and John Henry, a manly youth, now living with his father. Col. Carr served his state to the best of his ability during the civil war, but was too feeble in health to stand service in the field. His plantation consists of 3,000 acres of choice land, lying eight miles northeast of Sparta. He still holds to democracy, and is a member of the Baptist church.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 152

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