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 162

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 162

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JOE L. ELLIS, a native of Houston county and one of its leading citizens, was born Dec. 16, 1837. His parents were poor and he had little opportunity for acquiring an education. His youth was spent in hard labor, but by honesty and perseverance he has risen to comfortable circumstances. He owns 1,800 acres of the finest land in Houston county. He has had many misfortunes to contend with, one of which was the destruction of all his buildings by fire in 1888. But, as he had overcome other difficulties, so he arose above this misfortune, and thus justly merits his well-earned reputation as a progressive citizen and untiring worker. In 1862 Mr. Ellis enlisted in the Forty-fifth Georgia infantry and served until the close of the war. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness, where he was seriously wounded. He was also at Chancellorsville, second Manassas, and in many minor engagements. Mr. Ellis married Miss Catherine Daniel, of Houston county, who was well known and highly respected. To this marriage have been born five children, four of whom are living-Dora, Mrs. Brown Pitts, of Florida; Stonewall; Mattie, and Mary. Together with these children, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are enjoying the competency he has acquired, and live happily in the esteem of a large circle of neighbors and acquaintances.

J. M. GRAY .- The Hon. J. M. Gray was born in Crawford county, Ga., Feb. II, 1842. When but a boy he enlisted in the Confederate service as a member of Company C, Sixth Georgia volunteers, under Capt. Anderson. He participated in all the more important engagements of the war in Virginia, Maryland and Florida. On May 31, 1862, he was wounded by a rifle ball in the lower left limb, and the flesh retains to-day the "leaden messenger." Near the close of the war he was captured at Bentonville, N. C., and confined at Johnson's island, Ohio, where he remained a prisoner until the surrender. In June of 1865 he returned to Fort Valley, having for four years and one month battled bravely for the undying principles of the Confederacy. Upon his return he at once directed his attention to agriculture, beginning with no capital and on a very small scale. In 1872 he became engaged in the mercantile business, having previously been identified with railroad interests. The following year the present house of Gray

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Bros. was formed, and their success has been phenomenal. They now conduct the largest establishment between Macon and Americus. A member of the state legislature in 1882, he served on several committees, chief of which was the railroad commission, of which he was chairman. Since the expiration of his term he has devoted his time and attention to farming and mercantile pursuits. Mr. Gray married a Miss Love, of Effingham county, Ga. To them was born but one child, Charles, who is a resident of Fort Valley. In 1867 the mother died. After a period a second marriage was solemnized, the lady, Mrs. Kelly, being a native of Talbot county, Ga. But two children have been born to this union, Annie, Mrs. Charles D. Hurt, Atlanta, and Belle, who resides with her parents. Mr. Gray is a thorough democrat, and for six years has done good service as chairman of the board of county school commissioners. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. The Grays are of Scotch descent, the family being among the earliest settlers of what is now Wilkinson county, then the abode of the red man. Peter Gray, the father of J. M. Gray, was born in the above named county and when he was but a boy the family moved to Crawford county, locating on the Flint river. Here on his father's plantation Peter grew to manhood. The usual inheritance from Scotch ancestry, thrift and industry, gave him precedence, and many a rich planter in the early days of the present century entrusted to him their entire farming interests. He married Miss Win- nifred, a daughter of one of Putnam county's earliest and foremost citizens. To this union three boys were born: William C., who was a member of Company C, Sixth Georgia regiment, who was wounded and died at Richmond; C. G., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere; and Jefferson M., subject of this sketch. The father of these boys was a man of strong convictions, and did not hesitate to condemn wrong under any circumstances. He was a devout Methodist and always jealous of his religious principles. He died in 1883, his wife having preceded him in 1879, and they lie buried in Fort Valley's beautiful cemetery.

CAPT. JOHN A. HOUSER was born in South Carolina on Aug. 1, 1827, and was there reared. He acquired a collegiate education, having been graduated from the South Carolina Military academy in 1850. During the following year (1851) he located himself in Houston county, Ga., where he became a teacher in the schools of that county. In 1852 he engaged in farming and continued plying that vocation for some five years, when he engaged in mercantile pursuits in Perry, Ga. He immediately became identified with the interests of the com- munity in which he dwelt, and the opening of the late war found him captain of a volunteer company which was of the Southern Rights guard. The individual wealth of Capt. Houser's company represented more than a million of dollars, and the equipment of the company was the finest obtainable. At the first call for volunteers this company was first to tender their services, a distinction of which they may well be proud. The company was detailed to Pensacola, Fla., and served there four months, then was transferred to northwest Virginia, under Gen. Stonewall Jackson. They were in many dangerous and perilous engagements and exploits, and acquitted themselves under Capt. Houser's leadership in a most creditable manner. Capt. Houser happily received no wounds, though shot through the clothing upon one occasion. At the close of the war the captain returned to Fort Valley and began anew, and by enterprise, energy and judicious investments he has become not only wealthy in point of finance, but enjoys the esteem and respect of a wide circle of friends. He married in 1851 Miss Elizabeth A. Jones, a native of Charleston, S. C., and to them have been born the following children: Edward J., deceased; Franklin C .; Julia J. Reese, of Thomasville, Ga .; Nettie L. (Mrs. A. B. Green), of Fort Valley; Lizzie Kate, deceased. Capt. Houser has been a lifelong democrat and while not aspiring to political prom-

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inence lie has been the mayor of Fort Valley for a number of years, and has done a vast amount of good for the little city. At present he is one of its largest property holders, and has a large amount of capital invested in other interests. Both the captain and his wife are members of the Methodist church. The Houser family history may be briefly stated as follows: Andrew Houser, a native of Germany, moved to America in 1739 and located in South Carolina, where he miade for himself a most successful career, and this without capital or other advantages in commencement. During the revolution he was a brave and gallant patriot under Gen. Marion. He reared a family of seven children, of whom at the date of this writing (1894) there is but one living, and he, Peter M., is a venerable and esteemed resident of South Carolina. Andrew Houser lived to the advanced age of eighty-two. His success was due entirely to his own industry and thrift. David Houser, the son of Andrew, was born in 1798 in South Caro- lina, in which state his entire career was passed. He was a man of good education and superior mental poise and for a number of years represented his district in the state legislature, and for more than forty years was secretary and treasurer of the local board of county commissioners. Both he and his wife were devoted Christians and members of the Methodist church. His vocation was that of a planter. He married Miss Ann Louisa Felder, a member of an old and prom- inent South Carolina family, and to them were born thirteen children, the names of whom are: David H., Ann L., John A., Caroline, Madison, Felder, Andrew, William, Mary, Martha, Ellen, Lewis, and one not named. Of the above there is but one living, Capt. John A. The father of these died in 1876, and the mother in 1863.

DR. JOSEPH PALMER, ordinary of Houston county, Ga. The family of which this gentleman is a member was promulgated in America by one Thomas Palmer, who emigrated to the colonies in 1685. He married Sarah Saunders and reared three sons, Thomas, John, and Peter. Of these John married Marianne Gendron, who was the daughter of John Gendron and Elizabeth Mazych, and granddaughter of Philip Gendron, a native of England. A son of this marriage, John Palmer, married Mary Mayham, daughter of Col. Hezekiah Mayham, who was colonel of the second regiment of South Carolina cavalry during the war for independence. John Gendron Palmer, their son, was senior captain in the First regiment of South Carolina cavalry-McDonald's-during the same war. He married Ann Cahnsac. This lady bore a son, Joseph, who upon arriving at maturity became connected by marriage with the famous Marion family of South Carolina, his wife being Elizabeth Porcher, a daughter of Benjamin, eldest brother of Gen. Francis Marion, of immortal revolutionary memory. This couple were the grandparents of Dr. Joseph Palmer of Perry, whose father, John Gendron Palmer, married Catherine Conturier Marion, daughter of Francis Marion Dwight, the adopted son and grandnephew of Gen. Francis Marion, whose mother was Christiana Broughton, daughter of Gov. Broughton and grand- daughter of Sir Nathaniel Johnson. Dr. Joseph Palmier was born July 10, 1835, in Pineville, S. C. He was reared in and about Charleston, and was graduated from the military academy of that city. Selecting medicine as his profession he took two courses of lectures in the South Carolina college and one course in the Jefferson Medical college in Philadelphia, and a hospital course in the Bellevue hospital of New York. He completed his medical studies in 1858 and immediately located in Perry, Houston Co., where he has since resided, actively and success- fully engaging in practice until his election to his present position in 1892. Dr. Palmer, as a South Carolinian, early became impatient of northern interference with the south, and having had military training was one of the first to begin active preparations for the conflict. In January, 1861, the Southern Rights

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guards, one of the volunteer companies of the state of which he was first lieutenant, offered their services to Gov. Brown under his call for twelve months troops and were mustered into service on March 18, 1861, at Macon, Ga. They were ordered to Pensacola, Fla., April 1, 1861, when after six weeks' service they were ordered to Richmond, Va., and were assigned to Gen. Garnet's command and then sta- . tioned at Laurel Hill in northwest Virginia. After the defeat of Col. Pegram at Rich Mountain, Gen. Garnet was forced to retreat from his position at Laurel Hill, Liuet. Palmer was placed in command of his army, which position he held on the whole retreat. He was promoted adjutant of the regiment in December, 1861, holding his position until April, 1862, when the regiment was mustered out of service-its time having expired. Upon returning home the majority of the company organized the Southern Rights battery, of which he was elected captain. With this battery he joined Bragg in his Kentucky campaign. At the battle of Perryville he was made major for gallant conduct. After Bragg's retreat from Kentucky he was assigned to Gen. Morgan's command in December, 1862, and went on the famous 1,000-mile raid through Kentucky, in which they fought nine fights, paroled 4,000 prisoners, destroyed the railroad from Munfordsville, Ky., to within seventeen miles of Louisville, and reaching McMinnville, Tenn., in safety, after having traveled 1,000 miles in fifteen days. For gallantry at the battle of Elizabethtown, Gen. Morgan presented Dr. Palmer with a sword cap- tured from Col. Smith, a Federal commanding officer. On the return of Morgan, Maj. Palmer was ordered by Gen. Bragg to organize the battalion of reserve artil- lery, which position he held until the return of the army of Tennessee to North Carolina. He was the senior artillery officer of the army of Tennessee. After the battle of Bentonville he was ordered with his regiment to Danville, Va., to guard Gen. Lee's rear and supplies. After Lee's surrender he held Danville till Gen. Johnston got his army out of Raleigh; then rejoined Gen. Johnston at Greens- boro, N. C., having had the honor of commanding the first and last rear guard of the Confederate army east of the Mississippi. Dr. Palmer first married in 1864, Miss Mary Lewis, daughter of Curtis Lewis of Griffin, Ga. Seven children blessed that marriage; Curtis L .; John G .; Kate Marion, now Mrs. John F. Logan; Joseph; Frances Dwight; Mary L .; and Nat H. Only three children, Mrs. Logan, Joseph and Frank, survive their mother, who died in April, 1880. In 1887 Dr. Palmer married Miss Florence Hill, daughter of Judge J. A. Hill and Maria Holt. The children born to this union are Maria Holt, James Hill, Lila Legare, Ellison Capers and Florence Hill. Dr. Palmer is a Methodist, a Mason and a stanch, useful and faithful citizen of Houston for so long a period that he is revered as is, possibly, no other. His popularity is boundless and his friends numberless.

A C. RILEY. A family of widely-scattered connections by inter-marriages, and of no inconsiderable note throughout Georgia and the south, is that of Riley, of Welsh-Dutch extraction, a branch of which was among the early settlers of Houston county, Ga. Alonzo Church Riley, judge of the county court, Perry, Houston Co., Ga., son of George Samuel and Caroline Catharine (Wade) Riley, was born in Perry, May 17, 1856. His great-great-grandparents were Wm. and Mary (Whetstone) Guisentine-she being of Welsh lineage. To them one child, Mary, was born, who married John Goolsen, a Welshman. They had one child, also named Mary, who married Jacob Riley, the grandfather of Judge A. C. Riley, who had the following brothers and sisters: John, George, Christian, Daniel, David, Nancy, and Mary. To Jacob and Mary (Goolsen) Riley nine children were born: John, Mary, Caroline Rebecca, Sarah, Frances, Cornelia, Jacob, Annie and George Samuel. John married a Miss Tison, who are not known to

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have had any children; Mary married Absalom Marshall, by whom she had four children: Cornelius, Charles, Carrie and William; Caroline Rebecca married John C. Staley, and to them eight children were born: George, Willie, Irene, Edmund, John, Robert, Emma and Mary; Sarah married first Ezekiel Coney, by whom she had four children: Cornelia, Emma, Eva and Frank, and for her second husband she married Cornelius Boozman, by whom she had one son, John; Frances married Dr. W. W. Hovis, of Perry, but they had no children; Jacob married Miss Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had three children: George, Brown and Winnie; Annie married Murdock Wilcox, and to them three children were born: Lewis, Mary and Thomas; George Samuel, the youngest child of Jacob and Mary (Goolsen) Riley, and Judge Riley's father, was born in Orange- burg district, S. C., March 7, 1829, where he received his preparatory education and then entered the university of Georgia, whence he was graduated with the first in the class of 1849. After his graduation he studied law, was admitted to the bar, located and entered upon the practice of law in Perry in 1852. In Jan- uary, 1856, he was elected ordinary of Houston county, but his tenure of the office was brief, as he died on May 17 following. Judge Riley's father was married Dec. 10, 1850, to Miss Caroline Catharine, daughter of Rev. D. F. and Catharine E. (Treuitlen) Wade. To Mr. and Mrs. Wade three children were born: Caroline Catharine, born Jan. 16, 1828; Margaret Amanda, born Jan. 15, 1830, and John Daniel, born May 13, 1834. Rev. Daniel F. Wade died Feb. 8, 1858, aged about fifty-seven years. His widow died May 24, 1864, in the fifty-seventh year of her age. Judge Riley's grandfather on his mother's side was J. A. Treuitlen, the first gover- nor of Georgia elected under the first constitution that was adopted in 1777. Gov. Treuitlen had been conspicuously active and daringly aggressive before and dur- ing the revolutionary war. After the British regained Savannah he fell into the hands of the tories, who, it is related, murdered him and in the presence of his family chopped his body to pieces and then sent the pieces to their sympathizers. Judge Riley's parents had two children: Georgia Caroline, born Feb. 7, 1852, who was married to Edward Patterson, then of Eufalia, Ala., now of Gainesville, Ga., and who is the mother of two girls: Marion, born March 19, 1877, and Carrie Elizabeth, born Sept. 12, 1882, and Alonzo Church Riley, the subject of this sketch. His mother and sister were graduated by Wesleyan Female college, Macon, and it is a coincidence that he mentions with justifiable pride that they graduated with the first honors of their classes. After the death of his father, which occurred when he was only eight months old, Judge Riley's mother went to her father's home in Macon county, Ga., and after remaining there two years removed to Fort Valley, where his boyhood days were passed until 1865, where he attended school and the academy of which Rev. T. B. Russell was principal, and his mother taught a private school, and assisted in the female seminary. In 1871 his mother went with her children to his uncle, John D. Wade, a physician at Winchester, Macon Co., who soon afterward was burned out, and both families lost nearly all they possessed. Having prepared himself, Judge Riley entered the university of Georgia, from which he was graduated in 1877; during his college course he received the senior medal for the best debater in the Demosthenian society, and graduated with the degree of A. B. After his graduation he taught school first in Hayneville, Houston Co., then in Alabama. Returning to Hayneville he taught about six months, then went to his Uncle John Wade's and boarded, while he read law under Judge Samuel Hale while he was spending his summer at Fort Valley, walking to Fort Valley twice a week. He was afterward admitted to the bar at Crawford superior court, Judge Charles F. Crisp, now speaker of the United States house of representatives, and at once, without a dollar, com- menced the practice at Fort Valley. In 1882 he was elected mayor of the city.

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served one term, then went to Macon, but after an experience of eighteen months moved back to Fort Valley. He was again elected mayor, but resigned to accept the appointment of county judge, tendered him by Gov. Gordon, for the unexpired term of Judge A. L. Miller, who had been appointed judge of the superior court. On the expiration of his term he was reappointed by Gov. Northen, and is now acceptably discharging the duties of the office. Since his appointment he has made his home in Perry. Judge Riley was married Jan. 19, 1881, to Miss Lula A. Frederick, of Marshallville, an old schoolmate, and to them these children have been born: Alice Tomlinson, born Nov. 16, 1881, died Jan. 31, 1882; Carrie Elise, born April 28, 1883; Alonzo Church, Jr., born June 28, 1885; Eugenia, born Dec. 20, 1887; Frederick Treuitlen, born Feb. 28, 1889; Gladys, born Jan. II, 1891, and Howard Wade, born June 10, 1893.

EZEKIEL H. WIMBERLY. John Wimberly, the grandfather of the gentle- man whose name heads this sketch, was a native of Virginia, and in manhood emigrated to North Carolina, where he died at the age of seventy-five. His chil- dren, all of whom became prominent men, were: Abner, Ezekiel, Perry, Lewis, John, William, Fred, James and Henry, and one daughter, Clorie, who married Mr. Watson, of South Carolina. Henry, the ninth son, father of Ezekiel H., was born in North Carolina in 1800. When a youth he moved to Bibb county, Ga., and became a planter of moderate means, and married Nancy O. Childers, of Washington county, Ga., formerly of North Carolina. He became the father of eight children, of whom there are now living: Ezekiel H., Sarah, widow of Ben- jamın A. Hudson, and Martha, wife of Richard R. Williams. He became a resi- dent of Houston county in 1828, was a whig in politics, and was ready at all times to defend his principles in a solidly democratic community. His death occurred in 1840 and that of his wife in 1866. He was among the most substantial citizens of his county and a man of wide popularity. Ezekiel H. was born in Bibb county, Ga., Aug. 20, 1824. 'Soon after his birth the family moved to Houston county, where he was reared and received such education as was obtainable in the old-fashioned log school houses of that day, with their uncomfortable benches and high platforms and cast-iron rules. Feb. 12, 1845, he married Mary E., daughter of James Pope, and to them were born five children: Henry, James, John, Mattie and Mary. The mother of these children died June 9, 1858. During the war he was assigned the most difficult and dangerous task of conveying supplies to the army. His son Henry enlisted in the Confederate service when but sixteen years of age, and was a member of the Southern Rights guards. He died at the hospital in Madison, Ga., in 1864. The present wife of Mr. Wimberly was Miss Lucy E., daughter of Rev. Y. F. Tignen, of south Georgia conference, to whom he was married April 26, 1860. She is the mother of five children: Fletcher, Lee, William, Oliver and Ezekiel H., Jr. Only two are living-Lee, wife of J. F. Coney, Hawkinsville, Ga., and Ezekiel H., Jr., a promising young man at home, farming and merchandising at Hayneville, Ga. He promises a bright future. The above presents a brief history of one of Houston's very best families. Ezekiel H., the present worthy representative, and familiarly known as "Uncle Zeke," lives in a country home, typical of ante-bellum days, where the latch string is always out, and where good cheer prevails to an extent truly grateful in these modern times. His plantation consists of 800 acres of land, which, under the supervision of himself, are made to yield the most abundant harvest. Mr. Wim- berly possesses in a flattering degree the respect of a large circle of friends whom he delights to entertain with the hospitality of a southern gentleman of the old school.

COCKERELE LETCHWORTH ENGLAND 1955

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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 162

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