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 67

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 67

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tinued in active service until 1862, when he died of disease at Cumberland Gap. By his marriage he had five children: Beulah, wife of A. B. S. Mosley, of Rome; Lizzie, deceased; Octavia, wife of N. E. Adamson; A. W., and Hon. Wesley Shropshire, the present representative of Chattooga county, and a well-known member of the Chattooga bar. Mr. Shropshire was educated in the schools of

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Chattooga county and in 1883 commenced the study of law with Hon. F. A. Kirby, of Summerville. After pursuing a course of study he was admitted to the bar, and immediately thereafter commenced the practice of his profession in Chattooga county, where he has continued to reside and enjoy the emoluments of his profession. In 1892 and 1893 he was elected and served as mayor of Summerville, receiving in both elections every vote cast. In 1894 he became the candidate of the democratic party for representative in the general assembly, and after a vigorous contest was elected over F. G. Little, populist candidate, by a large majority. During his legislative service he served on the committees on judiciary, railroads, deaf and dumb institute, and on enrollments. His legislative service was marked by considerate and conservative action in dealing with public questions and measures, and both in committee and on the floor of the house he became prominent among the young legislators who participated in the labors of the session. He represents an element rapidly gaining vantage ground and recognition in Georgia affairs, and in the social and political life of this state, and the future opens before him replete with opportunites of advancement and useful- ness. He married in 1884 Miss Hattie Marshall of Shelbyville, Tenn., daughter of Moses Marshall. They have one child, Beulah. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Shropshire are members of the Methodist church.

CHEROKEE COUNTY.

THOMAS BELL is an old resident of Cherokee county and resides near Fort Buffington. He was born in that county in 1851 and has always resided there, and is engaged in farming. His father is Thomas Reuben Bell, born in Henry county, this state, in 1815, and still lives in Cherokee county, where he is engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which he has been remarkably successful. He was a soldier in the late war and saw active service in the state troops. In 1834 he was married to Miss Surena Messer, daughter of David Messer, of Henry county, where she was born in 1819. His wife is still living. On Aug. 22, 1872, Thomas Bell was married to Miss Kimness Chanlee, daughter of Judge Tilman Chanlee, of Cherokee county. Eleven children-eight boys and three girls-were born to them, all of whom survive: James L., born Aug. 3, 1873; John K., born April 3, 1875; Suviler, born Nov. 26, 1876; Andrew B., born Nov. 18, 1878; Cherokee D., born Feb. 15, 1881; Samuel W., born Jan. 9, 1883; Oscar W., born March 23, 1885; Thomas Tilman, born April 17, 1887; Fred, born Jan. 22, 1890; Cleopatra, born Dec. 28, 1891, and William F., born March 29, 1894. Mr. Bell belongs to a family of fourteen children, nine of whont are still living. His sister Roda is the wife of G. W. Tippens; Martha is unmarried; Jefferson; Mary is the wife of WV. F. Chanlee, and Luvenia is married to W. H. Robertson; Franklin; Reuben G .; Nancy Jane, wife of R. B. Clark. His brother John, who served in the Twenty-third Georgia regiment during the war. was killed in battle under Stone- wall Jackson in Virginia. Alfred died in 1853; William, Bethaney and two more children died early in life. The survivors all reside in Cherokee county. Mr. Bell takes an active interest in politics and was nominated by the populists for the legislature in 1892 and again in 1894, but was defeated both times-and unjustly, so many of his adherents think.

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CHEROKEE COUNTY SKETCHES.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BROOKE, farmer, Canton, was born May 8, 1829, in Hall county, Ga., and was the son of John Prescott and Esther (Bennett) Brooke. His father, a large planter, was an influential citizen of Hall county and was sheriff and several times member of the legislature. Mr. Brooke was the tenth of thirteen children. He was educated in the common schools, the facilities for higher learning that we now enjoy not then existing. When he was about twenty-one years old he accepted a situation as clerk in a mercantile estab- lishment at Marietta, Ga., where he was employed for several years. His health failing, he left the store to begin a farm life in Cherokee county, which he has since followed, only being interrupted by the civil war. He married Mary E., daughter of Joseph L. and Aratenta Dial. Mr. Dial was a large planter living in Cherokee county and one of the earlier settlers of this region. There were but few families living in the county when he took up his abode there, the Indians having full possession of the country. Mrs. Brooke's ancestors came from South Carolina. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brooke seven children, six of whom are living: Malissa T. married Mr. N. K. Scott and they have five children. Jefferson Prescott Brooke married Miss Maud Howell, and they are the parents of four children. Elizabeth Hastings married Joseph E. Johnston, and they have two children. George Washington, Mary Myrtle, and Trelly John are the other children. Ida E. is the deceased child. Mr. Brooke enlisted in Company G, Third Georgia regiment, cavalry, and was in the western army. He was in the battles of Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain and was captured at Dalton, Ga., being held prisoner until after the surrender of Gen. Lee. Mr. Brooke is a member and deacon of the Missionary Baptist church, having united with this denomination when a young man. He has been successful as a farmer and has accumulated considerable property. He owns an elegant home in the beautiful city of Canton.

[ EVI F. BURTZ, farmer, Modesto, Cherokee Co., was born April 15, 1832, in Pendleton district, S. C., and is the son of Levi and Sallie Burtz. His parents were of German descent and were Quakers in religious training and belief. The father was a farmer and school teacher, and when Levi was about four years old brought his family to Georgia. Levi Burtz was the youngest of eight children and was given the benefit of the educational facilities offered by the common schools of Georgia. When he reached manhood he started in business for himself as a tanner and pursued the same with success until the civil war broke out. He was among the first to respond to the call of the South for volunteers, and, leaving family and business, he enlisted in 1861 in the Confederate service and served until the war closed. He was in the western army and in a number of notable battles. Chickamauga was probably the hardest fight for him. He was at Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Missionary Ridge, and was taken prisoner in Kentucky. After a few months' imprisonment he was exchanged and joined his regiment at Vicksburg. When the war closed Mr. Burtz returned to Cherokee county, his home, and resumed his business. In a few years he became interested in farming, which he has since continued. In January, 1893, Mr. Burtz was elected county treasurer and filled that office for two years. He has been a member of the Methodist church for forty-five years-since he was eighteen years of age-and holds a license as a local minister, issued in 1867. Mr. Burtz was married Aug. 28, 1851, to Hester Ann Dobbs, of Cherokee county. There were born to them five children-four living and one dead-Joseph M., Cicero M., George Allen, Sallie Marguerite, Franklin Pierce (deceased). All the children are married and all belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, as does Mrs. Burtz.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

JESSE MILLER BURTZ, one of Cherokee county's prominent citizens, was born Jan. 22, 1825, in Pickens district, S. C. His ancestry on both sides were German-Dutch, and both of his grandfathers were in the patriot army during the revolutionary war, his mother's father serving under Gen. Greene in the battles of Guilford C. H., and Camden. Mr. Burtz' father moved to Georgia and located in Cherokee county in 1839, and died there March 13, 1875, aged eighty- two years. His mother died in 1840 in her forty-fifth year. Mr. Burtz was a boy only fourteen years old when he came with his parents to his new home in Georgia. He received a common-school education and learned the tanner's trade, and when of age entered into this business for himself. This he followed until the civil war broke out, at which time Mr. Burtz had made about $24,000. His devotion to the cause of the Confederacy was shown in his equipment of 156 men,

whom he enlisted in the ranks and sent to the war. Of these there were not over twenty-five that returned from the conflict. Mr. Burtz was captain of Company F, Twenty-eighth Georgia regiment, and was first under Gen. Fetherston, later under Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt. He was in all the battles around Richmond, at the second battle of Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredricksburg and at Ocean Pond, Fla. His health failing, he went into the cavalry service, and also conducted a tannery for the Confederate government. After the war Mr. Burtz spent fourteen years in Mitchell county, Ga. He was mayor of Camilla and representative of that county one term in the legislature. He was United States commissioner eight years and filled other offices of responsibility. He married Miss Eliza L. Mothershed, daughter of Isaac T. and Emma Mothershed. Mrs. Burtz came with her parents to Georgia in 1846 and was married Dec. 30, 1847. They have three living children: Charles, Franklin Pierce and Susan, wife of Mr. Stewart. Mr. Burtz is a Mason. After a long and busy life Mr. Burtz is pleasantly spend- ing his declining days with his family on his fine farm near Canton.

ALFRED BURTON COGGINS, retired merchant, Canton, was born Oct. 22, 1838, in Gilmer county, Ga., and is the son of Jolin Lilly and Elizabeth (King) Coggins. His father was born in Tennessee and his mother in North Carolina. They took up a home in Gilmer county before the Indians were re- moved to their reservation, and were among the first settlers of the county. They were devout members of the Missionary Baptist Church and brought their chil- dren up in the teachings of a Christian character. The mother died at the age of sixty-five years, but the father lived to be seventy-three, dying in May, 1891. Alfred Coggins was the third of nine children. He was sent to school in the neighborhood of his home, and at the age of twenty-one began life for himself as a farmer. A year later he was wedded to Miss Louisa Smith, daughter of Balus and Matilda Smith. This marriage has been blessed with nine children, all living, viz .: John Judson, Georgia, Kansas, Augustus Lee, Charles Cicero, Thomas Raleigh, Lillie, Maggie and Burton Franklin. Mr. Coggins was in the mercantile business twenty-six years, first in Gilmer county, afterward in Pickens county, and sixteen years in Canton. In 1894 he retired from active business life, though he has interests in the Coggins gold mines, which have been operated with a yield of $100 per ton. In May, 1862, Mr. Coggins enlisted in the Sixth Georgia regiment, (cavalry), Company D, under Gen. Wheeler. He was in a fight at Philadelphia, Tenn., at the siege of Knoxville, and in a number of other engagements, serving until the end of the war in 1865. Mr. Coggins is a member of the Missionary Baptist church of Canton, and belongs to the fraternal order of Knights of Honor. Mrs. Coggins is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Coggins is a thorough business man, with an experience in life and knowledge of men that makes him

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invaluable in counsel. He has never taken an active part in politics, preferring to leave that to others. He is well acquainted in his section of the state and enjoys the esteem of all.

JOHN W. FIELD, M. D., is a practicing physician of Cherokee Mills. He was born in Cherokee county on March 22, 1872, was educated in the common schools, and finished his studies at Reinhardt Normal college. In 1890, having resolved to enter the medical profession, he commenced the study of that science linder the guidance of his brother, Dr. Charles H. Field, of Kennesaw, Ga. Later, in 1891, he entered the Atlanta college of eclectic medicine and surgery, pursuing a full course of study in that well-known institution, and graduating therefrom on March 2, 1894, standing high in his class. Immediately thereafter he com- menced the practice of medicine at Cherokee Mills, where he has already acquired a good and growing general practice, and is rapidly rising to merited prominence and acquiring an excellent reputation as a physician. The father of Dr. Field is Logan Field, of Cherokee Mills. He was born in Greenville district, S. C., on March 24, 1834. Nine years later he moved with his parents to Georgia, settling in! Habersham county. At the age of eighteen he visited the west, traveling through the states of Texas, Arkansas and Kansas. Returning to Georgia, he settled permanently in Cherokee county. In 1862 he enlisted in Company B, Forty-third Georgia regiment, and participated in the battles of Bridgeport, Chat- tanooga and Tazewell, Tenn., Cumberland Gap, Richmond and Lexington, Ky. He fought at Murfreesboro, Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, Big Black River and throughout the entire siege of Vicksburg. After the capture of that city he was paroled, and later, having been exchanged, he was engaged at Missionary Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek and throughout the siege of Atlanta. He then returned with Hood by way of Flor- ence, Ala., and was engaged in the destructive battles of Franklin and Nashville. On the return from Nashville he was taken prisoner and confined at Camp Chase, Ohio, until June, 1865, when he was released. His military record is a remarkable one. He was a soldier who never shirked duty nor wanted courage. His family was ruined by the war. Three of his brothers died in the service of the Confed- eracy; one was killed in the battle of Chancellorsville, another wounded during the seven days' fight at Richmond, and died in the hospital, while the third died in the service. In 1859 Mr. Field was married to Miss Jane C. Rippie, daughter of Rev. A. J. Rippie, of Cherokee county. Two children were born of this marriage: Mary Lewella, wife of Dr. J. W. Loringood, of Cherokee county; his other child, together with his wife, died during the war. In 1868 Mr. Field was again married to Miss Minerva Kennett, daughter of George Kennett, of Cherokee county, and by this marriage they have four children: Dr. Charles H. Field, of Kennesaw, Ga., the subject of this sketch; Mattie E. and Sally L. The father of Mr. Field was Gen. J. R. Field, a native of Gifford county, N. C. He was a prominent citizen of Habersham county, where he died at the hands of an assassin, in Clarksville, in 1846. The mother of Mr. Field was Polly Perkins, daughter of William Perkins, of Lincoln county, N. C. She died in Cherokee county in 1889. By their marriage J. R. and Polly Field had nine children: Catherine, wife of Presley Payne; Mary Jane, wife of P. Iry; Eliza, wife of W. H. Ferguson; Nancy, wife of R. M. Fortner; Susan, wife of A. B. Iry; William, who died in the service of the Confederacy at the commencement of the war; Joseph W., wounded in the seven days' fight at Richmond, and died in the hospital; John W., killed at the battle of Chancellorsville, and Logan Field. The family of Mr. Field on his inother's side is of Scotch-Irish descent, and on the side of his father is of English descent.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

JAMES GORDON KINCAID, of Cherokee county, is a native of Arkansas, where he was born in 1870. In 1876 he settled with his parents near Hickory Flat, in Cherokee county, where he was reared and educated, and where he now resides. He has acquired a practical knowledge of mechanics, and is engaged in manufacturing and agriculture, conducts an excellent farm and a saw-mill, of which he has made a success in the manufacture of lumber. In 1891 Mr. Kincaid was married to Miss Bana Barrett, daughter of B. and Lerina Barrett, of Cherokee county. They have had two children: Mattie Ozella, born March 13, 1892, who died Sept. 1, 1893, and Benjamin Jefferson, born April 18, 1894. The father of Mr. Kincaid is William J. Kincaid, a native of Georgia. In 1868 he settled in Arkansas and removed to Georgia in 1876. He now resides in Cherokee county. Early in 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate service, in the Second Georgia regi- ment. He served through the war and participated in the first and second battles of Manassas, in the seven days' fight in defense of Richmond, and in most of the engagements of the army of northern Virginia. The mother of Mr. Kincaid was Mary A. Ragsdall, who was born in Cherokee county, Ga., and is still living. Mr. Kincaid belongs to a family of five children : Mattie, Mrs. C. W. Miller, Tennessee; Odella, Oscar, Oda and James. Mr. Kincaid is a young man of engaging presence and agreeable manners, and bids fair to succeed in life.

A DONIRAM SYLVESTER KING, farmer, Canton, was born March 22, 1837, in that part of Buncombe county, N. C., which is now Henderson county. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin and Mary Ann King. The father was a native of North Carolina, and his father and grandfather were Virginians. Mr. King is of Irish-English ancestry. His great-grandfather was of Scotch-Irish and English parentage, and his great-grandmother on his father's side was Irish. His paternal great-grandfather was a soldier in the revolutionary war. Benjamin King was a Baptist minister and large planter. With his wife he came to Georgia in 1845, and located in Whitfield county. He enlisted in the Confederate army and was made captain of Company F, Thirty-third Georgia regiment. Mr. Adoniram King was a member of Company F, Second Georgia regiment, and after twelve months' service he re-enlisted in Company B, Forty-third regiment. The first year he was in the army of Virginia, and later in the western army. He was in the first and second battles of Manassas, Upson heights, Evansville, and a number of lesser engagements, when in the Virginia army. He was in the battles' of Chickamauga, Tenn .; Bridgeport, and near Knoxville, and was through Kentucky, engaging in the fights at Crab Apple, Perryville, Henderson, and thence to Tennessee, partici- pating in the battles of Franklin and Murfreesboro. He was at Vicksburg, Miss., and in a battle at Bull's Run, near Vicksburg, where he was struck by two balls, one fracturing his hip and lodging in his back-bone, and one striking his leg below the left knee, fracturing the bone. He was left on the field for dead, and remained there for a day and night. When found he was put in charge of the enemy and was sent to Enterprise, Miss., to the hospital. When his father returned from the Virginia army he brought the son home, where he remained until the battle of Chickamauga. He entered this memorable fight on one crutch and a stick. When Mr. King was transferred from the army of Virginia to the western army he was major of the drill. He was at Lookout mountain and Missionary ridge, and in the campaign from there to Atlanta. He was in all the engagements around Atlanta, and was captured there, July 31, 1864, and sent to Johnson's island. Mr. King was married, May 19, 1859, to Miss Martha Matilda Evans, daughter of John and Elizabeth Evans, of Cherokee county, Ga. There were born to them one son and three daughters: Jackson Sylvester, born June 21, 1861; Martha Theo-

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dosia, born April 19, 1864; Mary Elizabeth, Jan. 7, 1867; Talulah Christina, April 20, 1869. After the war Mr. King removed his family to Arkansas and resumed his farmer's life. While living there, in 1871, the wife died, and Mr. King immedi- ately returned to Georgia, locating on a farm near Atlanta, where he remained three years. From there he moved to Meriwether county, where, July 18, 1875, he wedded Miss Nancy Reader Folds. This union was favored by the birth of six children: Thomas Erwin, born April 28, 1876, died in infancy ; Olin Carlton, born May 14, 1877, died in infancy ; Benjamin Adoniram, July 9, 1878; William Theophi- lus, July 9, 1881, died in childhood; Marion W., Sept. 11, 1883, and Luther Franklin, born July 5, 1887. Mr. King returned to Cherokee county in the early part of 1886. He has been engaged in farming all his life. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church nearly a quarter of a century, and his wife is of the same religious faith. Mr. King has been a class-leader, superintendent of the Sunday school and steward of the church for years. He is a man of strict probity, and by his energy and industry and fair dealing with his fellow-man has prospered.

PATTERSON HAMPTON LYON, mayor of Ball Ground, Cherokee Co., was born March 14, 1836, in Rutherford county, N. C., and is the son of Asher John and Nancy Lyon. Mr. Lyon's grandfather was John Lyon, and was a native of North Carolina, in which state his ancestors for the past century have lived. Mr. Lyon's father and grandfather on his father's side moved to Cherokee county in 1847, and took up a home at a place one and a half miles from where Mr. Lyon now lives. His father was a school teacher, and taught in North Carolina and Georgia, and while following this vocation in Missouri died in 1875, in his sixty- third year. There were born to Asher and Nancy Lyon thirteen children: Patterson H., John Benjamin, Peter Calvin, Stephen, Elizabeth D., David Benedict, Merrit Rickman, Amanda, Virginia, Abram Asher, Millison, Emily, and Joseph Emerson Brown. Mrs. Nancy Lyon died in 1859 at the age of forty-two. Mr. Lyon's grand- father on his father's side died in 1873 in his eighty-first year, and his grandmother died in 1875 at the age of eighty-three. Mr. Lyon was eleven years old when his father came to Cherokee county, and in his boyhood attended the schools of the neighborhood and received private instruction at the hands of his father. When he reached his twenty-first year he began farming for himself. When the war broke out Mr. Lyon enlisted for six months in the state militia, and in May, 1862, he joined Company A, Forty-third Georgia regiment, under Col. Harris. He was in the battle of Chattanooga in 1862, at Tazewell, Cumberland Gap, Tenn., Cov- ington, Ky., Lancaster, and Richmond, Ky. He participated in an engagement near Vicksburg, Miss., and at Baker's creek, where he had part of his ear shot off. He was in the forty-seven days' siege of Vicksburg, and was wounded in the leg on the Kennesaw line July 1, 1864. In 1863, Mr. Lyon was made lieutenant of his company, and in September, 1864, was promoted to captain. The entire company was captured at Jonesborough, Ga. Capt. Lyon was home on a fur- lough at the time, but before his leave expired he made up another company and led it into service. He was at Kingston, Ga., when Gen. Lee surrendered. Follow- ing the war Mr. Lyon engaged in the mercantile business at Marietta. He was deputy marshal and then marshal of that city for four years. In 1877 he moved to Ball Ground, to improve his property in that vicinity, and engaged in sawmilling. He owned several hundred acres of land where the town is now located when the railroad was built. He has since continued to look after his property and officiate as mayor, having been elected to this office five times. Capt. Lyon drew the charter for the town, and was the first mayor. He is an active member of the I-30

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I. O. O. F. Capt. Lyon was married to Miss Nancy A. Carpenter, daughter of Jacob D. and Sarah E. Carpenter, of Cherokee county. There were born to them twelve children: Alfred Cicero, Sarah Elizabeth, James Buchanan, Annie, Laura, Robert Lee, Lottie Belle, Cora Ophelia, Leila (deceased), Winnie Davis (deceased),. Merrit Clifton, and Mamie. Eight are married, the last two named being single.

HOWARD WALKER NEWMAN, lawyer, Canton, Cherokee Co., was born in Knoxville, Tenn., July 16, 1840. His parents were Jacob and Caroline H. (Austin) Newman, natives of the valley of Virginia, the father being born in Shenandoah county and the mother in Albemarle county. Jacob Newman was a prosperous contractor. On both sides are found ancestors who served their country on the battlefields of the revolutionary war. Mr. Newman's grand- father, on his mother's side, was a near neighbor and intimate friend of Thomas Jefferson, and of the same politics of the great leader. His mother was a Baptist, and her husband, Jacob, was a free thinker. There were born to them seven children, of whom Col. Howard Newman was the youngest. His early education was had in the schools of Knoxville, and he completed his studies at Emory and Henry colleges in 1857. He further pursued studies at the East Tennessee uni- versity in 1858. He enlisted in the First Tennessee regiment (Peter Turney's regiment), Company C, and was made captain. He was in all the engagements that embraced the army of Virginia, and was with Gen. Lee at the surrender. He received several wounds while in service. After the war he read law under Gov. Peter Turney in Winchester, Tenn., and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He remained in Winchester, where he practiced his profession, until 1876, when he moved to Canton, Ga. Here he has since followed his profession with satisfactory results. In 1888, Col. Newman was a democratic presidential elector for the ninth Georgia congressional district. He was married Jan. 17, 1867, to Maggie, daughter of Judge Joseph Donaldson, of Cherokee county. Four children have blessed the union, only one of whom has been spared the parents-Howard Roy. Mr. Newman is an Odd Fellow, and has always taken much interest in the order. He has investments in farming lands, and devotes some attention to agricultural pursuits. Col. Newman is one of the leading lawyers of the Cherokee bar, and commands a large practice in county, district and the supreme court.

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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 67

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