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 68

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 68

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).

REV. JOHN WESLEY PAYNE, of Cherokee county, was born in Rutherford county, N. C., on June 5, 1820. In 1828 he moved with his parents to Haber- sham county, this state. In 1835 he settled in Lumpkin county. His occupation has been that of a farmer. At the commencement of the civil war, Mr. Payne was a strong Union man, having been schooled in the democracy of Jackson's day. During the war he rendered efficient service to the Federal government. During 1864 he was engaged as a scout and guide, and in January, 1865, he formally enlisted in the service of the United States, engaging in military duty, and acting as chaplain of his regiment during the remainder of the war. On Aug. 21, 1840, he inarried Miss Nancy Potts, daughter of Samuel Potts, of Habersham county. By this marriage they had nineteen children, seven of whom survive: Charles C., of Arkansas; William J., of Cherokee county; John C., of Pickens county; David A., of Bartow county; Susan, wife of J. B. Lively ; Melinda, wife of Marion Anderson, and Louisa, wife of Adolphus Smith. The father of Mr. Payne was Charles C. Payne, a native of Rockingham county, Va., who married Sally Crowder, of North Carolina. He died in 1867, in Habersham county. The mother of Mr. Payne died in that county in 1841. His grandfather was Thomas Payne, also born in Rockingham county, Va. He commanded a company under Gen. Washington

467

CHEROKEE COUNTY SKETCHES.

in the war of the revolution, and served throughout that struggle. He was a soldier of high character, and a citizen of worth and reputation. During his service as a scout in the late war, Mr. Payne was taken prisoner near Pine Log church, in Bar- tow county, by Wheeler's cavalry. He was first taken to Augusta, where an attempt was made to execute him as a spy. His life having been spared, he was sent to Augusta for trial, and on his way to that city he escaped from his guard by leaping through the car window. After enduring severe hardship, he finally made his way to his home in Cherokee county, traveling on foot, and experiencing the pangs of hunger and fatigue. His wife died on Feb. 19, 1891, and in May following he married Miss Sarah McCreary, of Pickens county, daughter of William and Catherine McCreary. Mrs. McCreary died in 1863. Mrs. Payne has two brothers and five sisters living: William, a resident of Indian Territory; John, of Kansas City, Mo .; Eliza, wife of Mr. Reagan; Martha, wife of Dr. David Wade, of Macon, Ga .; Nancy, wife of Mr. Hales; Hulda, wife of James Ledford, of Clay county, N. C., and Emily, wife of G. W. Little, of Pickens county. She had two brothers in the late war, one in the Confederate and the other in the Federal service. Mrs. Payne is a native of Lumpkin county, Ga., where she was born in 1843. Mr. Payne is an elder of the Church of Christ in Pickens county, and for thirty-seven years has been a minister of that church. Mrs. Payne is also a member of the Church of Christ.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PERRY, a well-known newspaper man and insur- ance agent, and a prominent citizen of Canton, Cherokee Co., was born at Marietta, Ga., July 27, 1859, where he was raised and educated in the common schools of Cobb county, where he received a limited education. In 1876 he grad- uated at Moore's business college in Atlanta, where he attained an excellent record for efficiency in the course of study which he pursued at that well-known institu- tion. After finishing his course he followed the occupation of clerk and book- keeper, and in that capacity his services were engaged by different prominent business houses in Marietta. In 1877-78 he was in the service of the Marietta Paper Manufacturing company, where he acquired a practical knowledge of the art of making paper. In 1871-72-73 he was in the employ of the Marietta "Journal" and there acquired a knowledge of printing. In May, 1879, he located at Canton, and became business manager of the Georgia "Advocate," an organ of the Meth- odist church south, until that paper was moved to Atlanta. In January, 1880, he established the Cherokee "Advance" at Canton. The paper succeeded fairly well, but as the rent paid for the material was exorbitant, he gave it up at the end of the year, and kept books for Capt. J. M. McAfee until January, 1884, when he bought, on credit, the materials, "good will" and books of the "Advance" and devoted himself to the building up of that newspaper. The paper had changed proprietors several times in the interval between 1881 and 1884, and had proved a business failure. By persistent work and close attention to business, Mr. Perry succeeded in paying for the outfit and has since put in new type, presses and a steam engine. The "Advance" is now on a firm basis and has over 1,400 sub- scribers. Mr. Perry's aim has properly been to make it a live, progressive, clean and pure newspaper, and he has made it the instrument for developing and adver- tising his section. In times of election and other important happenings, couriers on horse and the telegraph are employed to gather the fullest and most authentic information for earliest publication. Two instances deserve mention: The day after the cyclone, of 1885, the "Advance" contained four columns of the most reliable account of it, the facts being obtained by Mr. Perry in a night's visit and stay in the devastated portions of Cherokee county. The morning after the

468

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

meeting of the Georgia Press association at Canton in 1888 the "Advance" con- tained a full report of the meeting, including a synopsis of all the speeches deliv- ered at the banquet only a few hours before. The Georgia Weekly Press associa- tion has honored Mr. Perry with its presidency, and the Georgia Press association with its vice-presidency. He is now secretary of the Georgia Press association. Mr. Perry is in his thirty-seventh year-he is the type of physical manhood and mental austerity. He is a gentleman of affable and agreeable presence, of polished manners and diffident bearing. He has doubtless a bright and promising future, and bids fair to reach the front rank in journalism, to the pursuit of which he is devotedly attached, and toward which he successfully directs a well-preserved energy, supported by a sense of high honor and business integrity. Mr. Perry has never sought nor desired political preferment, although frequently solicited to become a candidate for such honors. He was, however, a member of the town coun- cil of Canton from the time of its organization until a very recent period. In 1891 he was elected mayor of Canton without solicitation or desire on his part. In 1892 he was strongly solicited to become the democratic candidate for the office of senator in the thirty-ninth senatorial district of Georgia, comprising the counties of Cherokee, Milton and Forsyth, but a dislike for political advancement and a sense of duty to his profession as a journalist induced him to decline the proffered honor, although the nomination was equivalent to an election. Mr. Perry is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church south, and is superintendent of the Sunday school in that church at Canton. He has been president and secre- tary of the County Sunday School association, of which association he is now vice-president. He is also superintendent of the Sunday school association of the twenty-first district of Georgia, comprising the counties of Cobb, Cherokee, Milton and Pickens, which position he also held in 1892. He is a member of the masonic fraternity, and is secretary of Royal Arch lodge, No. 71, and holds the same office in Masonic lodge, No. 77. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which lodge he has also been secretary, vice grand, etc. He has always taken an active part in temperance work, and organized a lodge of Good Templars at Canton in 1880. Mr. Perry is ever ready to advance the temporal and industrial interests of his town and section, and was instrumental in establishing the bank of Canton. He is a member of the board of directors of this bank and is secretary of the board. On March 27, 1893, he was appointed postmaster at Canton, and was the first postmaster of the fourth class appointed in the state of Georgia under the Cleveland administration of 1893-97. At the death of James L. Jordan, clerk of the superior court of Cherokee county, in the fall of 1892, Mr. Perry was appointed to fill out the unexpired term, which appointment he accepted, but he declined to become a candidate at the general election in January, 1893, although urged to do so as the democratic nominee. In January, 1894, he was elected a member of the board of education of Canton public schools for the term of six years. On June 24, 1880, Mr. Perry was united in marriage to Miss Addie Blanche Upshaw, daughter of John R. Upshaw of Alabama. Seven children were born of this marriage: Mabel Blanche, born Feb. 17, 1882; Benjamin Franklin, born June 14, 1883; Clarence Atkins, born March 23, 1885; Charles Roe, born Dec. 13, 1886; Mattie Estill, born Nov. 26, 1888; Ella Grady, born Nov. 5, 1890; and Julia 'Thene, born May 5, 1893. The father of Mr. Perry was Anselum Roe Perry, a native of South Carolina, where he was born March 30, 1826. He settled in Georgia early in the fifties. His occupation was that of a paper maker and book- binder. On Oct. 18, 1855, he married the mother of the subject of this sketch at Marietta, Ga. Her maiden name was Parthenia Adeline Gault. She was the

469

CHEROKEE COUNTY SKETCHES.

daughter of Joseph Gault, a prominent lawyer of Marietta. She is still living with her son in Canton. Anselum Roe Perry died at Marietta March 4, 1872.

WILLIAM T. SATERFIELD, educator and farmer, Ball Ground, Cherokee county, was born April 15, 1836, in Pickens county, S. C., and was the son of Thornton D. and Mary Ann (Powell) Saterfield. His immediate ancestry were natives of South Carolina and his grandfather Saterfield was a brave soldier in the revolutionary war. Mr. Saterfield's father came to Georgia in 1841, and located in Habersham county, now embraced in White county, eleven miles west of Clarkesville. Mr. Saterfield was only six years old at this time. He was educated at Zion high school, under the principalship of Prof. W. N. Swift. He left school when seventeen years of age to engage in teaching in White county, and from that time has labored in this profession. He has been interested at times in mer- cantile pursuits and in farming, but he has never relinquished his hold on the ferulc. Mr. Saterfield enlisted in the first company that left Lumpkin county, which was rejected, after which he volunteered in Young's battalion and was honorably discharged after an active service of two years. Mr. Saterfield was married to Miss Susan C. Huff, daughter of John and Susan Huff, on Nov. 17, 1868. They have two children, one son and one daughter. Martha, a daughter, married Marcus L. Thatcher of Cherokee county. They have three children, William, May, and Ernest. Joseph M. Saterfield married Miss Josie Rudicil, of Cherokee county. They have two children, Joseph and Azzie. Mr. Saterfield has been a member of the Missionary Baptist church for fifteen years, and has served as clerk of the congregation with which he is connected. He is an Odd Fellow and a royal arch Mason, having been a member for thirty years of the masonic lodge and sixteen of the I. O. O. F. He has filled all the chairs in both fraternities. Mr. Saterfield has been a citizen of Ball Ground for three years, and by his honorable character has won the esteem and high regard of the people of this thriving town.

COL. JOHN J. A. SHARP, a well-known citizen of Cherokee county, residing at Walesca, was born in Pickens district, S. C., in 1828, where he was raised and educated. In December, 1853, he settled in Cherokee county, where he now resides. He taught school for two years and then engaged in mercantile busi- ness at Walesca until the commencement of the war. In 1857 he was com- missioned colonel of militia. In August, 1861, he raised a company for the Confederate service, of which he was made captain. His company was attached to the Twenty-third Georgia regiment, commanded by Col. Thomas Hutchinson of Cherokee county. This regiment was ordered to Virginia and there was an- nexed to Colquitt's brigade. He participated in the siege of Yorktown and in the fight at Williamsburg and in May, 1862, his command was engaged in the battle of Seven Pines. His company suffered severely in this battle. His command was actively engaged in the seven days' fight in defense of Richmond and from there moved to Manassas by way of Orange court house, arriving on the field at Manassas too late to take part in the battle. He was next engaged at Sharpsburg, or Antietam, retreating to Winchester, destroying railroads and burning bridges on the route. At Winchester Col. Sharp, having previously received a major's commission, was placed in temporary command of his regiment and acted in that capacity until the battle of Chancellorsville. He was with his command in the battle of Fredericksburg, and in May, 1863, participated in the celebrated battle of Chancellorsville, where, after severe fighting, he was captured, together with 100 of his men. He was taken to the old capitol prison at Washington, D.

470

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

C., where he remained about twenty days a prisoner of war, yet kindly treated. Having been exchanged, he rejoined his regiment at Kingston, N. C. His com- mand was next ordered to Richmond, Wilmington and James island, doing active duty at Morris island. After a stay of six months in the vicinity of Charleston he went with his command to Florida, where he met the enemy at Lake City and fought at the battle of Ocean pond, when the Federals fell back to Jacksonville. He encountered Butler at Drury's bluff and his regiment finally joined the army of northern Virginia at Second Cold Harbor. The fight at Cold Harbor was one of the severest battles of the war. After a siege lasting fifteen days the army returned to Petersburg and was engaged throughout the prolonged siege of that city, being constantly under fire for the ensuing three months. His division was next engaged at Fort Harrison and at Fort Fisher. After the fall of Fort Fisher, his command fell back to Wilmington, Kingston and Bentonville, where Col. Sharp was engaged for the last time in the defense of the Confederacy and the honor of the south. While leading his regiment in a charge on the enemy's breast- work on Sunday evening, March 18, 1865, he was severely wounded, having been shot down in the assault. He had given his best efforts to uphold the Confederate cause and now, at the close of the long contest, his blood was finally shed in its defense. He was carried from the field and removed to a hospital, and later was conveyed in the president's ambulance to Salsbury. His record throughout the war is the story of a career as active as it was chivalrous and patriotic, having been engaged in most of the historic battles fought by the army of northern Virginia. He was promoted first from a captaincy to be major of his regiment and later to be lieutenant-colonel, and frequently was its commanding officer. At the close of the war he returned to his home penniless, was elected to the lower house of the legislature and served one term. He was again elected to the legislature in 1873. He engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits at Walesca, in which he was successful. He has taken an active interest in promoting the mental wel- fare of his community and took a leading part in the establishment of Reinhardt Normal college at Walesca, of which he is an able supporter. Col. Sharp was first married in 1859 to Miss Martha Moss, daughter of David Moss of Cherokee county. She died during the war.

On Nov. 18, 1868, he was again mar- ried to Miss Mary J. Reinhardt, daughter of Lewis W. and Jane Rein- hardt. They have six children: Ramsey Colquitt, born Nov. 9, 1870; Homer Franklin, born Feb. 24, 1873; Hettie Marvin, born April 5, 1875; May Hampton, born April II, 1877; Rubie Augusta, born Feb. 14, 1880, and Garnett White, born May 15, 1883. The father of Col. Sharp was John Sharp, a native of North Carolina, where he was born in 1805. He died in Pickens district, S. C., in 1880. The mother of Col. Sharp was Catharine White, daughter of Alexander and Agnes White. She was born in South Carolina about 1805. His paternal grand- father was John Sharp, a native of Germany, who migrated to North Carolina in his youth after the close of the revolutionary war. Alexander White, the maternal grandfather of Col. Sharp, was born and raised in Abbeville district, S. C., about the close of the revolution; he died in Pickens district, S. C., in 1852.

471

CLARKE COUNTY SKETCHES.

CLARKE COUNTY.

DANIEL M. AARON, merchant, Athens, Clarke Co., Ga., son of John R. and Melissa F. (Mathews) Aaron, was born in 1845. Mr. Aaron's grandfather was born in the old dominion, but when a youth ran away from home and came to Georgia, where he settled and married, and where Mr. Aaron's father was born in 1815. The reason why his grandfather ran away from home was this: His father died when he was quite young and his mother married again. This last husband was cruel to his mother and one day when he was whipping her Mr. Aaron's grandfather seized an ax and threw it at his step-father, which hit and felled him to the ground. Without waiting to see the effect of his act he ran away from home and came to Georgia. Although Mr. Aaron's great-grandfather left a very good property when he died, his grandfather was afraid not only to return to his native state, but to make inquiry about any share he might have in the patrimony. Farming was the principal occupation of Mr. Aaron's father, but during the late civil war he worked in a cotton mill, making cloth and clothing for the soldiers. Mr. Aaron had the misfortune to lose his arm when he was nine years old while working in a cotton factory, but received a very good common-school education. He taught school awhile when a young man and then worked in a cotton mill ten or twelve years, at the same time conducting a farm. About six years ago he came to Athens and engaged in merchandising and is doing a very good business. Attentive and accommodating and prompt in meeting his obligations, monetary, religious and social, he enjoys the confidence of his fellow-citizens. Mr. Aaron was married in 1871 to Miss Melinda, born in Franklin county, Ga., daughter of John and Sallie Bennett, who has borne him nine children. Those living are Sarah M., Melissa J., Mary E., Nancy C., William R., Walter J., Upson and Henry. He is a member of the I. O. F. F. and himself and wife are members of the Methodist church.

REV. SAMUEL BENEDICT, deceased, doctor of divinity, was born of Congre- gational ancestry in Litchfield, Conn., Sept. 16, 1824. He first became inter- ested in the Episcopal church through the friendship of the Rev. Dr. Payne, rector of the parish at Litchfield, but he was not confirmed until his freshman year in college. He was graduated from Trinity college, Hartford, Conn., in 1847, at the head of his class. After leaving college he was for a time head master of the Episcopal academy at Cheshire, Conn. He then studied theology at the Berkley Divinity school, finishing his course there in 1850. On Nov. 20, of that year he was ordained deacon by Bishop Brownell. Shortly afterward he was appointed tutor and then adjunct professor of ancient languages in Trinity college. He was ordained priest in 1853. His first charge in the ministry was St. James parish, West Hartford, for four years, from 1852 to 1856. He was afterward assistant minister to the famous Dr. Croswell, in Trinity parish, New Haven, for two years, from 1856 to 1858. He was next rector of St. James' church, Marietta, Ga., for nine years, from 1858 to 1867, with the exception of eighteen months during the war, when he was curate of St. Andrew's church, Gumsby, Canada; then rector of St. John's church, Savannah, Ga., for ten years, 1867 to 1877, and finally rector of St. Paul's church, Cincinnati, Ohio, for fourteen years, from Oct. 23, 1877 to Oct. 6, 1891, when he died, aged sixty-seven years. His honors and services were many and marked. The honorary degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him

472

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

by William and Mary college, Virginia, in 1870. For several years he was a member of the standing committee of the diocese of Georgia; was chairman of the standing committee in southern Ohio from 1880 to 1889, and for twenty-one con- secutive years was deputy to the general convention. There he was long distin- guished as one of the committee on amendments to the constitution; and more recently as a member, also, of the committee on the revision of the Hymnal. In 1888 he was nominated for assistant bishop of the diocese of southern Ohio; and in all the diocesan conventions bore a prominent and influential part.

SAMUEL CALDWELL BENEDICT, physician and surgeon, Athens, Clarke Co., Ga., son of Samuel (D. D.) and Julia Bush (Hicks) Benedict, grandson of Andrew Benedict, was born at Hartford, Conn., Sept. 20, 1855. His early school days were passed in Savannah and Marietta, Ga., and he received the degree of bachelor of arts in 1876 from the university of Georgia. He taught school and raised the money necessary for his collegiate and medical education; he also spent three years at hard work on a farm, which gave him a fine physique and stamina. He attended one year's lectures at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, and two courses at the Miami Medical college, Cincinnati, Ohio, receiving from the latter the degree of M. D. in 1879. He was resident physician to Cincinnati hospital in 1879-80; and was acting assistant surgeon, United States army, 1880-81, chiefly in the field, and in charge of field hospital at Fort Cummings, New Mexico, in the war against the Apaches, under Victorio, and first settled in civil practice at Athens, Ga., in 1882, which has since been his home. He has been professor of medical jurisprudence in the university of Georgia law school since 1883; and was appointed by Gov. John B. Gordon delegate from Georgia to the quarantine con- ference, Montgomery, Ala., in 1889. By appointment of Gov. Northen he was a delegate from Georgia to the Pan-American Medical congress in 1893, and was made honorary chairman of section on railway surgery. He is a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, American Medical association, National Asso- ciation of Railway Surgeons, of which he was vice-president in 1892; of the com- mittee on medical legislation for Georgia; surgeon for the Clarke Rifles, and for several railway companies, and medical examiner for several life insurance com- panies. He is also a member of the association of Acting Assistant Surgeons, United States army. In 1894 he was orator of the Georgia Medical association- his subject being: Suggestion and Its Therapeutic Value. Among Dr. Bene- dict's more important papers are: Aseptic vs. Antiseptic Surgery, Transactions Medical Association of the State of Georgia, 1886; The Value of Blood Clot for Dead Spaces, Transactions National Association of Railway Surgeons, 1892; Pathology and Pathological Anatomy of Injuries to Spinal Cord Without Fracture of Vertebrae, idem, 1893. Dr. Benedict's most important surgical operation was reported in the "Medical Record," March 5, 1892-An Enormous Congenital Umbilical Hernia Without Cutaneous Covering; Operation and Recovery; the first successful operation of the kind on record, and the child is now living. This opera- tion excited much interest among the profession. Dr. Benedict is particularly inter- ested in surgery and in diseases of children. He is a Knight of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor commander and past deputy grand chancellor of Georgia. Dr. Benedict was married July 27, 1882, to Miss Annie Rodgers Bloomfield, of Athens, Ga., and to them three children have been born: Ravaud, Nancy and Julia Benedict.

WILLIAM ELLISON BOGGS, D. D., LL. D., chancellor of the university of Georgia, Athens, was born in Ahmednuggur, presidency of Bombay, India, May 12, 1838. The family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and Dr. Boggs' ancestors

473

CLARKE COUNTY SKETCHES.

emigrated to this country in 1704, and settled in Maryland, their descendants migrating southward to Virginia and the Carolinas. His grandfather, Joseph Boggs, was a native of South Carolina, served under Gen. Sumter during the revolutionary war, and was a famous scout and rifle shot. Dr. Boggs' father, Rev. George W. Boggs, was born in Pickens district, South Carolina, was a Presbyterian minister, and for seven years was a missionary in India, a work to which he was devoted, but was compelled to relinquish on account of the complete failure of his wife's health. It was during Dr. Boggs' early childhood that his parents returned by way of Liverpool, England, to Charleston, S. C. He received his preparatory education at Winnsborough, in that state, and then entered the South Carolina college, Columbia, from which he was graduated in 1859. Of his classmates but few survive the disastrous "war between the states." After his graduation he entered the Theological seminary, at Columbia, with a view to entering the Presbyterian ministry, where he remained until the spring of 1861, when he served as a private in the Sixth South Carolina regiment. At the end of active operations for the year he resumed his studies, was ordained, and in the spring of 1863 returned to his regiment as its chaplain, serving as such until with his command he surrendered at Appomattox. After that event he returned to his home in South Carolina and preached a year in Winnsborough, when he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Columbia, S. C. In 1871 he accepted a call from the Second Presbyterian church in Memphis, Tenn., where he remained through the fearfully fatal yellow fever epidemics of 1873, 1878-79. In December, 1879, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Central Presbyterian church in Atlanta. After three years' acceptable service there he resigned-in the fall of 1882-to fill the chair of church history and government in the Presbyterian Theological seminary at Columbia, S. C. He retained that chair until the case of Dr. James Woodrow came up, when Dr. Boggs, finding it impossible to condemn his colleague because of his scientific opinions, resigned his professorship, and returned to Memphis to resume the charge of the church, of which he had been pastor formerly. At this post he remained until the spring of 1889, when he was elected to and accepted the chancellorship of the university of Georgia. Dr. Boggs has been the recipient of the following collegiate degrees: In 1859 he received the degree of A. B. from the South Carolina college; later, the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the Southwestern Presbyterian university, at Clarkesville, Tenn., and the degree of LL. D. by the Central university of Ken- tucky, at Richmond. As an educator, and as an educational administrative official Dr. Boggs ranks with the foremost in the Union, and is placing Georgia's uni- versity on a high plane as a scholastic institution. Dr. Boggs was married in 1870 to Miss Marion A., daughter of the late Adam L. Alexander, Esq., of Washington, Ga., and to them there have been born six children, of whom five survive-four sons and one daughter.

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 68

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