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 71

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 71

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CLARKE COUNTY SKETCHES.

clientage. In 1894 he was a candidate for judge of the western circuit, but although he made a strong race was defeated. Possessing marked ability, pluck and energy, and young, he may confidently look forward to professional and political prefer- ment. Mr. Strickland was married in Oconee county, Ga., Oct. 15, 1879, to Miss Lucy, daughter of the late Rev .. Dr. J. G. McNorton, who has borne him four children: Norma L., Roy, Samuel Guy, and John J., Jr. Mr. Strickland is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the masonic fraternity, and is an influential member of the Baptist church.

WILLIAM W. THOMAS .- Clarke county has been the birth-place or the home of many of the brave and grand men who made her history, whose achievements on battle-fields, in the walks of science and literature, in legislative halls and in the forum have lent luster to its pages. Of these, for true bravery and moral courage, morality and social purity, unsullied honor and unswerving integ- rity, none rank higher than that of Thomas, a name which one of the subdivisions of Georgia worthily bears. Of this noted family is William Winstead Thomas, president of the Southern Mutual Insurance company, son of Stevens and Isabella Thomas, who was born in Athens in 1849. Mr. Thomas' father was born in Athens in 1814, and died there in 1891, aged seventy-seven years. He was a trustee of the university of Georgia for many years-1867-1881-and for twenty-six years -up to the time of his death-secretary of the Southern Mutual Insurance com- pany. Receiving his preparatory education, Mr. Thomas entered the university of Georgia, from which he was graduated with the degree of arts bachelor in 1868, in the class with Henry W. Grady, Walter S. Gordon, Peter W. Meldrim and others who have since attained distinction. In 1869 he received the degree of C. E., and later that of A. M. After his graduation Mr. Thomas followed the profession of civil engineering in Georgia and South Carolina until 1875, when he entered the employ of the Southern Mutual Insurance company as adjuster. He held this position until 1891, when he was elected secretary, and in 1894 was elected president. He was a trustee of the university of Georgia from 1881 to 1891, when he resigned. From 1883 to 1889 he was an efficient and valuable member of the state capitol commission which built the state capitol. This com- mission was one of the very few, if not the only one, of the kind which erected a public building within the appropriation and returned a balance to the treasury. He is also a director in the Georgia Railway and Banking company, and in the Augusta and Savannah Railway company. He worthily represents and sustains the fair fame of the honored name he bears. Mr. Thomas was married in 1878 to Miss Pamela J., daughter of the late William Spenser Brown, who was a son of Gen. Jacob Brown, commander-in-chief of the United States army from 1821 till 1828. Mrs. Thomas is also a niece of the wife of Hon. Charles J. Jenkins. who was the first elected governor of Georgia after the war, and ex-associate justice of the supreme court. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas two children have been born, Gertrude and Isabel. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Presbyterian church.

H.C. WHITE, professor of chemistry, university of Georgia, Athens, was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1850. His family is of English origin, and his father, Levi S. White, born in Maryland, was in the Confederate service during the late civil war. He was in the ordnance department, in which he attained to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After receiving an excellent preparatory education in the schools of Baltimore, Prof. White entered the university of Virginia, from which lie graduated with the degree of B. S. in 1868, and received the degree of C. E. in 1870. Soon after his graduation he was attached to the Peabody institute in

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Baltimore; subsequently he accepted the chair of chemistry at St. John's college, Annapolis, Md., which he occupied until 1872, when he came to Athens to fill the chair he now holds. In 1880 he was appointed state chemist and held the appointment ten years, when he was made vice-director of the state experiment station and president of the state college (science department of the university), which position he still retains. He is a fellow of the Chemical society of Great Britain, corresponding member of the British association, and a member of other learned societies at home and abroad. He has been a very useful member of the faculty, and in his specialties has been of very great service to the state as a whole, and to such of its citizens as sought the benefit of his knowledge. He is the author of several scientific works, a contributor to scientific journals, and author of numerous published essays and addresses. He has served two terms in the city council of Athens. Prof. White was married in 1872 to Miss Ella F. Roberts, of Baltimore, Md. He is a member and a vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal church.

JOHN R. WHITE, president of The Georgia Manufacturing company, manu- facturer and planter of Whitehall, Clarke Co., Ga., son of John and Jeannett Richards White, was born in Clarke county in 1847. His parents were natives of Ireland, where they were married in 1836, and emigrating to the United States the same year, settled in Clarke county. His father, being a practical manufacturer with a knowledge of bookkeeping, secured the position of general manager of the Georgia factory situated on Oconee river, five miles below Athens, said fac- tory being built by Augustus Clayton and Thos. Moore in 1828. Being master of his business, industrious and frugal, of superior executive and financial ability, he saved money and when the opportunity offered bought stock, until he owned the entire plant and was phenomenally successful and prosperous up to his death, which occurred in 1881. He organized and started the national bank of Athens in 1866, of which he was president when he died. His management of the bank was very successful, paying large dividends to its stockholders besides laying aside a large surplus fund, there only being thirteen national banks in the United States having as large a surplus in proportion to its capital. He contributed largely to the building of the Northeastern railroad of Georgia and to the upbuilding of Athens. He was a man of extreme promptitude and punctuality, exact to a cent in all money matters and the soul of honor and integrity. He reared four chil- dren: Rosena, wife of State Senator W. J. Morton; James, cashier of the National bank of Athens; Maggie, wife of W. P. Welch, and John R., the subject of this sketch, all of whom were born and reared in Clarke county. The parents in re- ligious faith were Unitarians. Mr. J. R. White received a good common-school education and at the age of seventeen entered the Confederate army as private in Toomb's regiment. Either directly or indirectly he has been connected with the mill all his life. In 1892 the factory was burned, rebuilt in 1893 with larger capacity and equipped with the latest improved machinery. In May, 1895, he added a factory for the manufacture of pants, shirts and drawers with a capacity of thirty dozen per day, which will soon be increased to meet the growing demand. Mr. White inherits the sterling business characteristics of his father and is one of Clarke county's most substantial and solid citizens. He is a justice of the peace and mayor of Whitehall. Mr. White was married in 1882 to Miss Lillie Paine of Newton county, daughter of James G. and Rebecca (Graves) Paine and grand- daughter of the late Bishop Paine of Mississippi. They have four children: John R., Hugh W., Robert Paine and Sarah Frances.

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CLAY COUNTY SKETCHES.

JAMES WHITE, banker, Athens, Clarke Co., Ga., son of John White, manu- facturer and capitalist, was born near Athens, in Clarke county in 1839, and received his early schooling at the near-by schools and in Athens. He attended the University of Georgia awhile, but did not graduate. During his youth he was practically trained to succeed his father in the management of his large manufac- turing interests, about four miles south of Athens, and later in the management of his augmented capital. Originally the cotton manufacturing plant belonged ex- clusively to his father, but subsequently was incorporated as the Georgia Manufacturing company. In 1863 Mr. White enlisted in a company organized in Athens, of which he was commissioned captain and the company assigned to Adams' battalion. After six months' active service he engaged in manufacturing for the Confederate government, and continued in the business until after the close of the war. After being engaged in manufacturing about fifteen years he entered the national bank, in which his father was a very large stockholder, as cashier-a position he still holds, and whose responsible duties he discharges with the utmost efficiency and exactitude. Mr. White was married in 1884 to Miss Julia D., daughter of the late John D. Ashton of Waynesboro, Burke Co., Ga., by whom he has had one child, Rosena A. He is not a member of any secret order, but affiliates with the Presbyterian church.

CLAY COUNTY.

JAMES N. BIGBIE, a prominent citizen and leading farmer of Clay county, post-office, Coleman, Randolph Co., Ga., is a native of South Carolina, but was reared in Georgia. He was born Oct. 17, 1826, in Abbeville district, S. C., and was the son of Thomas Bigbie. The father was also born in the same district and during his lifetime was distinguished in the practice of medicine and in the pulpit. He married Rebecca Robinson, a native of Anderson district, S. C., who died in Abbeville in 1835, and was the mother of nine children. Dr. Bigbie was the second time married to Miss Burnett of South Carolina. In 1838 they moved to Georgia and settled in Coweta county, later removing to Talbot, thence to Harris and later to Randolph county. Dr. Bigbie finally located in Early county in 1850. In 1860 he moved to Alabama, dying there in 1870, aged seventy-five years. He was an old-line whig until after the war, when he became a democrat. He was for years a justice of the peace in South Carolina and later in Georgia. His wife died during the war. Both belonged to the Methodist church. By his second marriage four children were born (the first two were twins, both of whom were soldiers in the late war): Thomas died in Douglas prison and Benjamin F., taken prisoner at Gettysburg, is supposed to have died at Point Lookout from wounds received in battle; the third child, Llewellen W., lives in New Mexico; Margaret A., the fourth child, married M. Burch and lives in Geneva county, Ala. Of the children born by his first marriage but two of the nine are living: James N., the subject of this sketch, and Nancy Colton, the latter living in Florida. John Y. died in South Carolina, aged about twenty-one; A. E. died in Clay county in 1884; George died in South Carolina of yellow fever; Wm. S. married in Talbot county and moved to Mississippi, dying in Attala county; Annie married M. R. Ship and moved to Mississippi and later to Illinois; Rebecca married A. M.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Brown and died in Illinois, and one died in infancy. Archibald Bigbie, grand- father of James N. Bigbie, was a native of Virginia, and left an orphan at an early age. Later he went to South Carolina and there married Miss Madison, a native of Virginia and first cousin of President Madison. John Robinson, the mater- nal grandfather of James N. Bigbie, came from North to South Carolina, where he married Miss Carr for his second wife. She was in the fort on Brand river during the revolution and lived to an extreme old age. The subject of this sketch lived in South Carolina until about twelve years of age, attending the schools a few months each year, and mastering his education by the aid of the pine-knot at night. In 1843 he located in La Fayette county, Miss., and from there went to the Mexican war in 1846, joining Company F of the First Mississippi volun- teers, known as the Mississippi rifles, under command of Jefferson Davis. At the battle of Buena Vista he was wounded and lost his left arm, but remained until his term of service expired. He then came to Georgia and in 1847 located in Harris county, and was elected messenger of the legislature. He then returned from its capital to Harris county and engaged in merchandising. He was elected tax collector and justice of the peace, serving in such positions till the breaking out of the war, when he was elected captain of the First Volunteer company of Harris county, but not receiving orders did not take the field. He was married to Miss Jane Grant, a native of South Carolina, but raised in Georgia, and during the war he moved to Clay county, where he has since resided. Mr. Bigbie has been a member of the county board and served as one of the jury commissioners and for the past ten years has been one of the county commis- sioners. Before the war he was a whig, now he is an ardent democrat, taking an active part in county, state and national politics. Mrs. Bigbie is a member of the Baptist church. To them have been born six children: Franconia, the wife of John W. Rhodes of Grenada. Miss .; John E., deceased; Mattie, who married J. A. Whaley of Randolph county; Mary J., wife of W. H. Ingram, now deceased; William Deley, who lives on the home place, and James P., deceased. Mr. Bigbie is guardian of the two children of John E. Mr. and Mrs. Bigbie live in a pleasant home eleven miles east of Fort Gaines.

W D. R. CRAWFORD, a prominent planter of Clay county, Ga., was born in Newton county in 1839, and is the son of Joel H. and Sarah A. (King) Crawford, both of whom were natives of Greene county, Ga. They were the descendants of the old Crawford family first identified with the state's history in the earliest settlements of Columbia county, and for generations distinguished in agricultural pursuits. Joel Crawford was born in 1812, and was the son of David Crawford, who married Frances H. Crawford, the daughter of Joel Crawford and Frances Harris of Columbia county. In 1835 David Crawford and wife moved to Newton county, and in 1853 to Decatur county, where they died some years later full of years and respected and beloved by all who knew them. Joel H. Crawford, the father of the subject of this sketch, was one of five children, and spent his boyhood days in Newton county, receiving his education from the common schools and those valuable instructors, experience and observation. InI 1838 he was married to Miss Sarah A. King, who was born in Greene county in 1818, and was the daughter of William J. King, an old Virginia family, which located in Newton county in 1826. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford remained in Newton county until 1859, when they removed to Decatur county, where they lived for five years, and then migrated to Clay county, where they continued to reside. He farmed all his life, and never took an active part in politics. He was a whig until after the war, since which time he is a democrat. Although not a member of

THOMAS R. DAVIS.

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CLAY COUNTY SKETCHES.

any church, he was a Christian gentleman, highly revered by all who knew him. Mrs. Crawford is still living, and resides with her son. She is a member of the Methodist church, to which she has belonged for over half a century, and enjoys excellent health for one of her age. One son was born to this union, Wm. D. R., the subject of this sketch. He was married to Miss Martha R. Hayes, daughter of Jonathan and Nancy Hayes. She was born in Talbot county and reared in Muscogee county. To this union were born: Minnie Laura, wife of John S. Hastings of Clay county; and William J. H., who lives on the home place with his parents. Mrs. Crawford is a consistent member of the Methodist church. They reside on a pleasant homestead three miles from Bluffton. In politics Mr. Crawford is a democrat. During the war he served in the state militia in and around Atlanta, and was in front of Sherman on his march through the state, belonging to Company D, Tenth Georgia regiment, under the command of Col. Davis, of Calhoun county.

THOMAS R. DAVIS, planter and tax receiver of Clay county, Bluffton, Ga., was born in North Carolina in 1831, and is the son of John and Sarah (Blue) Davis, natives of that state. In 1834 the parents moved overland to Georgia and settled in Early county, in what was then known as the fourth district, on what is now called the Tennell place. Here he purchased a tract of land, for which he gave a horse in payment, and settled down to work the soil. After the Indian war of 1835-36 he moved farther south, and on Lime Branch in Early county built a water mill, the first in that part of the state. A few years later he erected a mill at Bluffton. In 1848 he purchased land on Spring creek near which the son now lives. The father and a son, Duncan, served in the Indian war, and the former was bailiff of the county court. Agriculture and building occupied his attention almost exclusively. Although not a member of any church he was a respecter of religion, a liberal supporter of all the denominations, with a leaning toward the Presbyterians. He was twice married, the mother of the subject of this sketch dying while they lived at Bluffton. She was a member of the Meth- odist church and the mother of eight children, all of whom lived to be grown men and women. Duncan, the eldest son, was a member of the general assembly from Early county in 1857. The others were Nancy Cowart, John Davis, Eliza- beth, Margaret Fulton, William, Daniel B., and Thomas R. The father married for his second wife Mrs. Rowe, who after his death in 1857 moved to Arkansas, where she died at the home of her daughter. Mr. Davis was prominently and favorably known throughout Clay and surrounding counties. He was a true gentleman whose world-wide charity endeared him to all. Thomas R. Davis was but a baby when his parents moved to Georgia. He grew to manhood on the farm and received his intellectual training in the common schools. At twenty-one years of age he started for himself in farming, only to be interrupted by the war. He enlisted in Company F, Thirty-second Georgia regiment infantry, commanded by George P. Harrison, Jr., and did service along the coast from Ocean Pond, Fla., to Wilmington, N. C. In the bombardment of Fort Sumter he lost his left arm by a piece of flying shell. He was also injured in the hip by the same shell . and so disabled that he was compelled to retire from the service. He was in the engagements of his regiment at Ocean Pond, Ft. Sumter, Battery Wagoner, and many minor skirmishes. Mr. Davis first married Miss Sophronia Todd, a native of Early county, Ga., and daughter of Wilson Todd, who was killed near Macon, Ga., during the war. To them were born five children, T. Jefferson Davis, born January, 1862, alone living. Mrs. Davis died in 1865, and Mr. Davis was married to Miss Ann Eliza Fain, daughter of Reuben Fain, and granddaughter of Matthew

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Fain, who settled in Georgia about 1836. His sons, Davis and Reuben, settled in Early county and reared large families. By this second marriage six children were born to Mr. Davis, three of whom are living: Ella Arkadelphia, wife of George T. Fair; Annie Elizabeth, and Amo Vincy. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the Baptist church. In politics he is a democrat and was re-elected tax receiver for the third time, and is the nominee for the fourth term. He is popular with all who know him, irrespective of party, and is an efficient and painstaking officer. He lives in a pleasan home on the Dawson and Dover road, three miles from Bluffton.

JOSEPH B. GRIMSLEY, planter, Ft. Gaines, Clay Co., Ga., was born in Stew- art county, Ga., in 1841. Joseph Grimsley, the head of the Grimsley family in Georgia, was a native Carolinian, coming to Georgia when a young man, and settling in Baldwin county. Here he married and had a family of children: Pris- cilla, Richard, Mrs. Odom, and Walton. In the early part of the twenties he moved to Early county on what is now known as Herrod's creek. Here he built mills which he conducted up to the time of his death, Oct. 24, 1860, aged 80 years. In politics he was a whig, in religion he belonged to the Methodist church. He was a captain in the war of 1812, and served with distinction. He was possessed of a good education for the times, and was a lover of sport, taking much pleasure in the hunt and with the rod. A brother of Joseph, Richard Grimsley, located in Early county some years before him and settled the plantation now owned by Mr. Naramore, and the first court ever held in Early county was held at Richard Grimsley's house. He afterward moved to Kalomokee creek, in Clay county, and built one of the first mills in that section of the state. He lived there up to the time of his death in 1840, when the property was turned over to the heirs of Joseph Grimsley, Richard having died without issue. Richard Grimsley, the eldest son of Joseph Grimsley, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born Feb. 14, 1807, and died July 2, 1885. His early life was spent in Early county, with a few years in Stewart county. He was married to Miss Harriet Hawkins, and in 1851 he returned to the mill property of his uncle on Kalomokee creek. He afterward moved to a farm near there, where he lived until his death. During the Indian war he served as a soldier. In politics he was a whig until after the war, when he became an active democrat. Though not a member of any church he was a man of high moral character, honest and upright in all the walks of life, and respected by all who knew him. His wife, Harriet Hawkins, was a native of North Carolina, and an excellent Christian lady, belonging to the Missionary Baptist church. She died Jan. 16, 1889, aged eighty years. To this union were born nine children: Sarah C., Mary R., Harriet J., Richard S., Joseph B., William C .,Versey P., Jeremiah W., and Benjamin F. Joseph B. Grimsley came to what is now Clay county with his parents when a lad. Here he grew to maturity, receiving his education in Early county, where he lived with his grandfather and attended Glen Springs Academy. When the war broke out he entered the Con- federate service in Capt. Fowler's company from Ft. Gaines, state troops, for six months. Returning home the company was reorganized as the Cotton Planters' guard under command of Capt. Bass, of Ft. Gaines, and became Company E, Fifty-ninth Georgia regiment, and was assigned to duty in the army of Virginia. He participated in the battles of Suffolk, Va., and Gettysburg, when at the latter place he was captured and imprisoned twenty-two months in Fort Delaware. He: was also wounded in that engagement. Since the war Mr. Grimsley has been engaged in farming. His home, five miles south of Ft. Gaines, is one of the finest in the county, and the estate comprises 5,000 acres, more than one-half of which

W. R. HARRISON.

CLAY COUNTY SKETCHES.

493

is under a fine state of cultivation. All this is the result, altogether, of the energy and push of Mr. Grimsley, who, for a few years after the war, was working for wages. He married Miss Sallie E., daughter of John P. Best, a planter of Clay county. She is a member of the Missionary Baptist church.

JERRY W. GRIMSLEY, merchant and planter, Fort Gaines, Clay Co., Ga., is a highly respected citizen of the county. He was the eighth child of Richard and Harriet (Hawkins) Grimsley, and was born in Stewart county in 1850. He remained at home with his parents in Clay county until twenty-four years of age, receiving his education in a little log school-house of the primitive order, a few miles from his home, and helping in the milling and farming. He then leased a farm in Clay county, which he worked for three years. With his profits he com- menced a merchandise business in Fort Gaines. After five years in this enterprise he moved to his present location, about eight miles southeast of Fort Gaines on the Bluffton road, where he is engaged in planting and general mer- chandising. He has 600 acres of choice land under a fine state of cultivation, besides many acres of woodland. Mr. Grimsley is one of the very progressive farmers of Clay county and operates grist and saw-mills in connection with his farming. He married Mrs. Parmelia West (nee Foster), daughter of Alexander Foster of Fort Gaines. She was the wife of Edgar West, by whom she had two children: John B. and Erline. To Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley two children were born: Harriet Louise and Nellie Pearl. Mrs. Grimsley is a member of the Baptist church and he is a prominent member of the masonic fraternity. They enjoy a pleas- ant home with their interesting family near his place of business.

WILLIAM ROBERT HARRISON, tax collector and prominent planter of Clay county, post-office, Bluffton, Ga., is a native of Beaufort district, S. C., and was born near the present county site of Hampton county. He was born in 1839 and was the son of Henry David, a native of the same district in South Carolina, who was born in 1805, and was the son of Amos Harrison, a native of that state. The Harrison family, of Irish descent, came to America at an early day, locating in South Carolina. Amos, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a boy during the revolutionary times and remembered those stirring times distinctly. He followed farming and his sons were big rice planters in lower Beaufort. He afterward moved to the upper part of the district, where he died, aged eighty-six years. He was a democrat and a member of the Primitive Baptist church. He was married to Sarah Ann Hamilton Oct. 4, 1804; she lived to a good old age. To them six children were born: Henry, David, George, Hamilton, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah, all deceased. Henry David, the father of William Robert, lived in South Carolina on a farm adjoining his father's until 1857, when he came to Georgia, settling in Clay county, having purchased the McElvy mills and farm, which place is now owned by J. W. Harrison. The first mill in this section of the state was erected here by Thomas King. For years the place was renowned throughout southwestern Georgia. When the county was formed the justice's court was held here and Mr. McElvy's mills was the scene of the adjustment of legal difficulties for the people from all over the county. Mr. Harrison was prominent in politics, but would accept no office. He was success- ful in his business affairs and died in 1864, lamented by all who knew him. His wife was Caroline Ulmer, a native of the old state of South Carolina. She was born in 1814 and died in 1890. They both belonged to the Primitive Baptist church. To this union were born twelve children: Mary E. married John A. Cordray in South Carolina, where she died before her people came to Georgia; Amos J.,

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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 71

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