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 154

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 154

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tions. He loves politics (what man of his tastes does not?), and is proud to give his valuable aid in keeping Hancock county in the ranks of democracy. As a consistent and earnest member of the Baptist church, and a man of fine social qualities, he is much respected in the community where he has passed his life.

JAMES M. HARRIS, planter, Sparta, Hancock Co., Ga., is a representative of an old and aristocratic family, which has for long years wielded a powerful influence for good in Hancock county. Planters by occupation, and large land owners, they united with an unsurpassed technical knowledge of farming, a clever business judgment which kept them at the head of the wealthy families of the county. Few people are better or more familiarly known than "Jim" Harris. He is a son of Peterson and Rebecca (Hurt) Harris, and was born near where he now resides, Nov. 1, 1819. His parents had come some years prior to this event from Maryland and settled on Shoulder Bone creek, eight miles northwest of Sparta. Here a family of six sons were born to them. The father died at a rather early age, and the mother married and moved with all the children except James, to Alabama, where she passed the remainder of her days. After his father's death James went to reside with an uncle, Miles G. Harris, who acted as his guardian and by whom he was reared. He was happily married Feb. 4, 1845, in Hancock county, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Edwin Wiley, another of the old families of the county. Mr. Harris has no children of his own, but adopted at an early age, Moses W., a son of his wife's brother, Samuel H. Wiley, to whom they have given all the attention which could have been bestowed on one of their own flesh and blood. Moses W. was educated at the famous Mt. Zion academy, then presided over by William J. Northen, who has since filled the gubernatorial chair with such honor; and at the university of Georgia, which institution he was compelled to leave before graduation because of the serious illness of his father. From this time he gave his entire attention to the management of the plantation, knowing that, as the only representative of the family, the task would devolve upon him each year with greater weight as his father's health continued to fail. In 1876 Moses W. Harris was joined in marriage to Miss Lizzie H., a daughter of James T. Gardiner of Augusta, and to the union there have been born the following: James M., Jr., Mattie E., Sarah W., Henry B., Carrie H., Birdie, Elizabeth B. and Mary S. As intimated before, the Harris estate is one of the largest in the county, containing 5,000 acres more or less of choice plantation lands on Shoulder Bone creek. For long years Mr. Harris has given his personal attention to the cultiva- tion of these lands, and is only yielding to the force of circumstances in relinquish- ing the work to his son as age creeps upon him. The tastes of the family never ran in the line of politics or public life in any form, and, though Mr. Harris has frequently been importuned to accept honored positions in county and state, he has always refused. He has simple done his duty as a private in the ranks of democracy. The Harris family have always been of the Presbyterian faith, and James M. follows in the same pathway.

THOMAS J. JONES, M. D., a physician with a large and remunerative practice in the western part of Hancock county, postoffice Devereaux, is a man who, morally, religiously and socially commands the highest respect of a numerous clientage of friends. He comes of old Virginia stock, his father, Henly Jones, having come to Warren county, Ga., from that state early in the present century. He had married in Virginia Miss Mary Baker, who bore him fourteen children, all of whom are now deceased but the doctor. Three of them were physicians, one a school teacher, and the rest farmers. Dr. Jones was born June 3, 1829. He

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received an ordinary academic education and began the study of his profession under the preceptorship of Dr. B. H. Jones of Sparta. He subsequently went to Macon, where he continued his studics with Dr. W. S. Lightfoot. He then went to Augusta, where he attended a course of lectures at the medical college. The following year he spent at Nashville Medical college, where he was graduated in the spring of 1852. He first located in the neighborhood where he now resides, but two years later removed to southwest Georgia, where he continued the practice till the war, in Weston, Webster Co. From this point he entered the service, but the rigors of an army life proved too great a strain upon him, and after a few months he was discharged. Returning to Hancock county he has since devoted himself assiduously to the amelioration of the ills of mankind; and with such a measure of success as has brought him a fair recompense, and a reputation second to none in the county. Dec. 23, 1853, Dr. Jones was joined in wedlock to Miss Elizabeth A. Butts. She is a daughter of James I. Butts, deceased, and of a family which for many years has occupied an honorable position among the worthy yeomanry of the county. Four children came to bless their home; two died in infancy; Thomas C. lived to young manhood. Jamcs A., the only living child, is a planter near his parents, and a young man of fine promise. In 1894 he was the candidate of the people's party for the legislature, and received a flattering vote, though not sufficient to elect. Dr. Jones is a Mason of royal arch degree, and a member of the Baptist church.

I T. MIDDLEBROOKS. The name hcre mentioned will be recognized immediately by every Georgian as belonging to a family which left its imprint on every page of the state's history, and whose numerous members have impressed their individuality upon the local community of which they were a part. This sketch will be devoted particularly to that branch of the family which settled early in Hancock county, and which has for many decades exercised a leading and elevating influence on the public and private life of the county. Micajah Middlebrooks was a member of a colony which settled in the eastern part of Hancock county about the closing years of the last century. They were familiarly known as "Chesapeakers," having come from the bay of that name in Maryland. Soon after arriving he was married to Rachel Ellis, and they became the parents of four children-a son and three daughters. The original representatives of the family were puritanic in their moral and religious life and raised their children to the strictest observance of the tenets of the Methodist faith. The son, James Hall, grew to manhood under these influences and illustrated by his exemplary life the virtue of correct home training. He was a man of limited education, but with a simple child-like faith in the God of his early teaching, which caused him to be remembered by all who knew him as a man of remarkable and deep piety. In illustrating the degree in which he carried the teachings of the Bible into his daily life the following will be of service: He was a great sportsman, and loved his dog and gun. When double-barrelcd shotguns first appeared he bought the first one that came in his neighborhood. A neighbor admiring it very much and offering to trade his old gun and considerable boot-money for it, Mr. Middle- brooks agreed and the trade was consummated. On trying his neighbor's gun he found it shot better than the double-barreled gun, and therefore insisted on returning the boot-money, much to the astonishment of the other party. Mr. Middlebrooks was a member and life-long worker in the Methodist church, and a man whose memory is still fragrant in the county. He passed to his reward suddenly, dropping dead one June day in 1867, being sixty-two years of age. Having been a hard worker and a man of excellent business judgment he had accumulated a large property, which he left to his widow and children. Mrs.

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Middlebrooks was formerly Cassandra. Howell, and was also reared in Hancock county. She died in 1885, at the age of seventy-five years, a true and devoted mother, of earnest and devoted piety. She was the mother of nine children: William, Eliza, George C. and Elizabeth and John are deceased; Henry L. is a prominent citizen near Sparta; Caroline is Mrs. Thomas Worthen, Washington county; Willie is Mrs. W. N. Coleman, Hancock county, and James T. is a prosperous planter, living nine miles east of Sparta. This last-named gentleman was born March 16, 1843. Reaching manhood just as the war was at its height he enlisted as a private in Company K, Fourteenth Georgia regiment. Going to Virginia he participated in the battles of Second Manassas and Thoroughfare Gap; for a number of months after which he was prostrated by severe spells of typhoid fever. He recovered in time to join the army in its Pennsylvania cam- paign, and in the disastrous battle of Gettysburg did gallant service in the famous charge on Little Round Top. The division he was with captured this point and held it till the following day, but not being properly supported were surrounded and fell into the hands of the victorious Federals. Mr. Middlebrooks was carried to prison at Ft. Delaware and subsequently to Point Lookout, and was exchanged shortly before Lee's surrender. Since the war he has been a successful planter; and as a Christian gentleman and upright citizen is highly esteemed in the community where he resides. In April, 1876, Mr. Middlebrooks and Miss Julia, daughter of John L. Birdsong, were united in wedlock. They are the parents of an interesting family of children, whom they are rearing most circumspectly. Their names are: Howell, Edwin, Mildrim, Foster, May, deceased; Ralph, Leon and Ethel.

HENRY L. MIDDLEBROOKS, planter, near Sparta, Hancock Co., Ga., is a son of Micajah and Cassandra (Howell) Middlebrooks, and was born in Hancock county. He is a man of the most exalted Christian character, and one of the most patriotic men in the country. He enlisted as a soldier in the Con- federate army at the beginning of the "war between the states," and remained in the service to the end-suffering all the dangers and privations and gallantly performing all the duties incident to soldier life. Mr. Middlebrooks was happily married in 1860 to Miss Claude, daughter of Bishop George F. Pierce. Ten happy, bright children have blessed this union: George L., Claude, P., Waldron H., Pierce, Marvin, Blanche, Harry, Flournoy, Lillian, Estelle.

J. W. MOORE, a prominent and successful agriculturist of Culverton, Hancock Co., is the son of James and Sarah C. Moore, and was born in Taliaferro county, Ga., Feb. 2, 1827. His grandfather, Usury Moore, was a resident of Din- widdie county, Va., and emigrated to Wilkes county, Ga., in the early part of the present century, where he spent the subsequent years of his life. Capt. Moore's father was born in Virginia in 1790 and was twice married. The first wife was a Miss Irwin, who bore him five children, all now deceased. The second mar- riage was solemnized in Jones county, from which there resulted twelve children. Those living are: W. M., Sharon; J. W., the subject of this sketch; T. R., Sparta; O. D., Raytown; S. A., Hillman, and R. H., Culverton. The father was a mer- chant and planter and accumulated quite a large property. He was a man of fine qualities, and his wife was a lady of great energy and spirit. They lived to a good age, the father dying at eighty and the mother at seventy-eight years. Four of the sons entered the army and did good service for the Confederacy, one, George W., being killed in one of the fights about Richmond. Capt. Moore was reared in Taliaferro county, and was married in 1845 to Miss Frances Chand-

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ler, who died eight months later. After four years, October, 1850, he married Miss Mary J. Culver. Nine children were born to them: W. R., deceased; Ama- zon E., Mrs. Robert Lewis, Sparta; Anna T., wife of H. F. Waller, Culverton; Lewis A., hardware merchant, Macon; James G. and R. W., at home; Sallie C., wife of Robert Chapman, Sparta; Mary J., wife of D. S. Brown, Macon. Mr. Moore has lived in Culverton since 1850. The neighborhood is one of the finest in the county, having been the home for decades of some of the best families in the state. Early in life Capt. Moore was engaged in staging, operating several im- portant lines. He was tax collector of the county ten years prior to the war. During the war he was commissary of the Forty-ninth Georgia regiment, and later was made brigade commissary, with the rank of captain. Since the war his occupation has been that of a planter, and at different times he has taken an active part in politics. He was elected sheriff of the county and served with credit six years; he served three terms in succession in the general assembly, a fact showing his prominence as a citizen and his popularity in political circles. The Moore plantation, part of which lies within the corporate limits of Culverton, comprises 1,500 acres of fine lands, which the captain, by his energetic and intelli- gent system of planting, makes yield abundant crops. Capt. Moore is a demo- crat, always ready to put on the harness for his party, and the Methodist church embodies his religious creed. Locally he and his family are highly esteemed in the community where they have resided so long.

PLEASANT W. RACHEL, planter, Culverton, Hancock Co., Ga. Uncle "Ples" Rachel is a familiar figure in Hancock county, where he has for sixty-six years commanded the respect and esteem of his friends and neighbors. He was born in the county Aug. 11, 1829. His great-grandfather, Miles Rachel, moved to Georgia from North Carolina in the closing years of the last century, and set- tled in Hancock county, where his grandfather, Burrell Rachel, and his father, William Rachel, in turn, came on and off the scene of action. The early Rachels were planters by occupation, democrats in politics, and Methodists and Baptists in religious belief. William Rachel married Betsy Ann Wilson in 1823. But two children are living, Pleasant W., and an older brother, Milton H., La Grange, Ga. Those deceased were Frances, Susan W., J. L. and Ann. Of the father it can be said that he was a leading citizen of the county, upright and honorable in his dealings, and a man who made and kept considerable property in his life- time. He served the state forty years as justice of the peace, and was regarded by all as a most just and honorable officer. Pleasant W. Rachel has followed agriculture during his entire life. He married in the county in 1858 to his present worthy wife, Miss Martha E., daughter of James B. Gonder. This was a family now almost extinct in the county, but of very great respectability and some promi- nence in ante-bellum days. Five children came to cheer their home, but two of whom grew to maturity: Norwood F., now a prosperous and leading merchant in Houston, Tex., and Ida E., who married B. G. Howard, a cotton broker of the same thriving Texas city. Mr. Rachel is a democrat of the old-school variety, and serves his party faithfully as a member of the county executive committee.

I W. TREADWELL, planter, Sparta, Hancock Co., Ga., was born in Walton county, Ga., Aug. 17, 1838, the son of Hardy and Susan (Gunter) Treadwell. He started in life as a bookkeeper, but soon drifted into railroad circles. For fourteen years he was general agent of the Georgia, Macon & Augusta railroad. In 1861, just at the beginning of the war between the states he was made a mem- ber of the major-general's staff of the eleventh division of Georgia, with the rank I-66

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and commission of major. Notwithstanding he saw no active service, being engaged all the time in transporting soldiers and provisions for the army, he still holds his commission as a relic of war times. In 1868 he moved to and came into possession of the plantation where he now resides, which he has since con- tinued to cultivate. It consists of 1,940 acres, five miles due west from Sparta, and it is due Mr. Treadwell to say that it is one of the model plantations of the country. The large mansion of three stories stands surrounded by twenty-three other buildings, all used for plantation purposes; only two of the twenty-three are negro houses. In the house lot adjoining the yard are ten other buildings, mak- ing thirty-three in all near the dwelling. The negro houses are scattered over the plantation for two miles or more and the total number of buildings on the place is sixty-eight. These give ample storage room for big crops and protection for man and beast. With all things considered it is said to be the most desirable place in middle Georgia. Mr. Treadwell has made cotton raising a specialty for twenty-five years, raising from 100 to over 200 bales annually, with ample pro- vision crops. At the same time he has raised stock and operated the dairy busi- ness. Having fine pasture lands, he drifted into the breeding of Jersey cattle, ahead of all others in his county. With his extensive stock it was necessary to raise food for the same, and twenty years ago he began raising turnips, making the crop a specialty, and he has gathered from 400 to 1,000 bushels per acre, having ample to feed stock and many thousands for market. In 1880, on account of failing health, Mr. Treadwell went to Florida, and while there filled the position of general freight and passenger agent of the St. John's & Lake Eustis railroad. The climate having had the desired effect, he returned home after two years, declining the proffered superintendency of the same road. The Treadwells came from Virginia to Georgia. Mr. Treadwell's grandfather, Isaac Treadwell, settled in Clarke county in 1780. He there reared a family of nine sons, whose descend- ants are scattered throughout Georgia and in the western states. Hardy Tread- well was the third son. He married and lived until 1857 in Monroe, Ga., where he conducted a large carriage manufactory. He removed in that year to Atlanta, continuing the business till 1865, the date of his death. His children were as fol- lows: James M., deceased; Eliza, resides with J. W .; Fannie and Susie, deceased; J. W., the subject of this sketch; W. H., cashier First National bank, Jacksonville, Fla., and Jennie, wife of George S. Vardeman, Sparta. The mar- riage of Mr. Treadwell occurred at Sparta, Ga., March 25, 1868, to Elizabeth A., only daughter of J. P. Sykes, who for long years was a leading planter of Han- cock county. Two daughters were born to them: Susie T., who married Osmar D. Griffies, but was early widowed and now lives with her father, and Mary L., an accomplished young lady in her teens. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Treadwell died Dec. 12, 1893, and Mr. Treadwell was married Nov. 28, 1894, to Sarah H., the eldest daughter of Judge W. B. Hunt, who was also a noted planter of Hancock county for many years. He is a democrat in politics and he and his family are members of the Methodist church.

JAMES T. WHALEY, planter, Mayfield, Hancock Co., Ga. This gentleman is an intelligent and progressive planter of the county, living ten miles east of Sparta. His ancestry were of English descent, his paternal great-grandfather removing to Maryland about the time of the revolutionary war. His grandfather, Eli Whaley, was reared there, and when a mere boy came to Walton county, Ga. There he married and passed his days and reared a family of eight boys and three girls, who, growing to maturity, have scattered over the southern states. Thomas, the father of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, grew to man-

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hood in Walton county. He came to Hancock county in 1818, where he began life as an overseer. His thrift and strict attention to business soon put him in possession of land of his own, which he cultivated with great success. He accu- mulated property rapidly, and, though badly crippled by the results of the war, died in 1872, one of the wealthiest men in the county. During his lifetime he was influential, of great force of character, and keen business foresight. Whatever he touched seemed to spring into animated and productive life. He was a deacon in the Baptist church, and gave liberally to every worthy cause. He married four times and was the father of twelve children. He first married a Miss Vezie, who bore him two children, one now living, Sanders Whaley, of Jones county, Tex. The second wife was a Miss Smith; two of her sons are now living-Frank, at Longino, Tex., and Thomas, at Marshall, Tex. The third wife was Mary Morris-James T.'s mother. His only sister, Cora, is Mrs. J. W. Conyers, Bartow county, Ga. The fourth marriage was to a Miss Ivy, who has one child living, Ella, the wife of Henry Y. McCord, Conyers, Ga. James T. Whaley was born May 3, 1849. He is gifted in a large degree with the substantial qualities most marked in his father's character, and is regarded as a citizen of more than ordi- nary merit by friends and neighbors. He married in Hancock county, Dec. 18, 1870, Mary, daughter of William M. Allen, and to the marriage have been born twelve children, eight of whom are living: William T., agent for the Central rail- road at Mayfield; Lillian, wife of Alonzo W. Allen, Warren county, Ga .; Walter, Ina, Homer, Guy, Emory and Pauline, children at home. Mr. Whaley has a fine plantation of 800 acres ten and one-half miles east of Sparta and has surrounded himself with the comforts of a well-improved and substantial home. He is much interested in education, being at present a member of the board of education of his county. He is a member of the Baptist church, in which he is both deacon and clerk. In politics he is a democrat.

HARALSON COUNTY.

AUSTIN AYRES, farmer, Felton, Haralson Co., Ga., son of Martin and Sarah Ayres, was born in Greenville, S. C., May 18, 1822. His father was a farmer, and came by wagon from South Carolina to Georgia, and settled in Gwinnett county in 1825. In 1836 he moved from Gwinnett to Paulding county, Ga., and settled on a lot of land he drew from the government, and on which the subject of this sketch now lives. At that time the country was filled with Indians and wild game, and for many months his father's family lived in a log cabin with a dirt floor. Mr. Ayres' advantages for schooling were exceedingly meager. In 1838 he was a member of the military force which removed the Indians from Georgia. He began farm life for himself in 1846, by clearing land; then he made his purchase-a forty- acre tract. To this he has added till he now owns 1,437 acres of land. For twenty-five years he has been a justice of the peace, and is still holding the office. He has been extremely successful, and being one of the wealthiest, as well as one of the oldest citizens of the county, is highly esteemed, and commands the utmost respect of everybody. To have held the office of justice of the peace so long, common sense and a sense of justice must be paramount characteristics. Mr. Ayres was married Sept. 28, 1843, to Miss Susan, daughter of Nathan and Priscilla Gaun, who came

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from Tennessee to Georgia in 1830. To them eleven children have been born: Harriet, Mary Adaline, Jane, Nancy Letitia, Lou Genia, Alfred, Berry Reuben, Hiram, Sarah Frances, and William Solomon and Isaac, deceased. Mr. Ayres is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, having been baptized July 22, 1843.

WILLIAM J. BROWN, farmer, Buchanan, Haralson Co., Ga., son of William J. and Susan Brown, was born in Henry county, Ga., in 1852. His paternal grandfather, Roland Brown, was a farmer, a poor man, and came from South Carolina to Georgia early in the present century. His wife was a Miss Dicy Waldrop, also a native of South Carolina. The parents of our subject were born in Georgia, and the father was reared on a farm, but he started in life for himself as a brakeman on the Georgia railway. He was promoted to a conductorship on a freight train, and, saving some money, came to and settled on a farm in Haral- son county in 1860. During the war he served as captain in the army until the surrender. He also was elected and served as a justice of the inferior court, and died in 1886. Mr. Brown received a very limited education, and has followed farming exclusively. He was married Dec. 23, 1873, to Miss Nancy Carolina, daughter of Seaborn and Melinda Caroline McGarity, of Paulding county, Ga. To them nine children have been born: Carrie Leota, Willie S., Eva May, Cora Ella, Robert Joseph, Sarah Udara, Bertie, Agnes Pearl, James Benjamin. Mrs .. Brown is an exemplary member of the Methodist church. Mr. Brown is a master Mason, one of the most prosperous farmers in the county, and as a citizen com- mands the respect and esteem of all who know him.

C.C. EAVES, farmer, Buchanan, Haralson Co., Ga., son of L. B. and Lavinia (Camp) Eaves, was born in Paulding county, Ga., in 1834. His father came from Rutherford county, N. C., where he married his wife, a daughter of Cleburne Camp, who came to Georgia in 1832. When his parents settled in Haralson county they were in moderately good circumstances. His father died at the age of sixty- five, and the mother at the age of seventy-two years. Mr. Eaves was reared on the farm, but like thousands of others, children. of frontiersmen and pioneers, received very meager schooling, owing to inconveniences and disadvantages, both of accom- modations and teachers. He, however, by studying at home at night by fire-light, improved himself very much in that respect. In 1862 he enlisted in Montgomery's artillery, with which he remained about six months, when, being taken sick, he returned home and sent a substitute to the army. His attention has been given principally to his farm, although at one time he engaged in merchandising, and now, in addition to his farm, runs a grist mill. A plain, common-sense, unostenta- tious farmer, he is eniretly content with his vocation, with its sufficient income, and with being regarded by his neighbors as an honorable man and good citizen. Mr. Eaves married in 1865, for his first wife, Miss Amanda, daughter of John and Betsy Kuhrt, of Pike county, Ga., by whom he had nine children: Johnnie Cle- burne, William Taylor, Benjamin Franklin, Davy Alonzo, Davis, Lovie, Bailey, Sedford and Jackson. He married for his second wife Miss Jennie, daughter of Absolom Wilson. Himself and wife are consistent and zealous members of the Primitive Baptist church. About the close of the war he was elected a justice of the peace.

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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 154

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