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 85

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 85

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DAWSON COUNTY SKETCHES.

married March 4, 1864, to Sarah, daughter of Elijah and Jane (Fields) Castleberry. He is an uncompromising democrat, a master Mason and a consistent and influ- ential member of the Baptist church.

VIRGIL D. MONROE, farmer, Dixon, Dawson Co., Ga., son of Daniel P. and Carey A. (Dodson) Monroe, was born in Haywood county, N. C., June 9, 1841. His father, of Irish descent, was born in South Carolina, and his mother, of Scotch descent, was born in North Carolina. In 1844 his father came to Georgia and settled in Habersham county, thence to Cherokee, and finally to Lumpkin county, settling on land now included in Dawson county. By profession he was a school teacher-but in connection with teaching, he managed a small farm, and engaged in wagon-making-and was conceded to be the best mechanic in that line in the county. He was recognized as a man of more than ordinary ability, and attained to considerable prominence. He was elected clerk of the superior court five terms successively, county judge one term, and in 1866 was elected to the state convention. The following children were born to him: Mary M., deceased; Van Buren H., deceased; Samuel L., de- ceased; Martha C .; Daniel G .; Virgil D., the subject of this sketch; John W., de- ceased; Louisa A., and Marion R. His wife died in 1879 and he in 1881. Mr. Virgil D. Monroe was reared a farmer, and making farming his life occupation, is regarded as one of the best, as he has certainly been one of the most successful in the county. In 1864 he enlisted in Company H, Capt. W. A. Twiggs, Fifth Tennessee Mounted infantry, Col. S. B. Boyd, Union army. He is one of the oldest settlers of Dawson county, and has been foremost and active in promoting every move- ment to improve the town and develop the resources of the county. For several years he was a notary public, and ex-officio justice of the peace, and ordinary of the county four years. He is one of the county's solidest and most substantial citizens. In 1894 he moved from Dawsonville to the southeastern part of the county, where he owns a large and magnificent tract of land. Mr. Monroe was married in 1866 to Miss Susan-born Jan. 20, 1846-daughter of William and Rachel (Darnell) Kelly, who has borne him four children: Amanda L., wife of James H. Owens; Mary M .; Emma L., and an infant child, deceased. He is an uncompromising republican, a member of the I. O. O. F., and himself and wife are members of the Methodist church.

JOHN PALMOUR, farmer-capitalist, Dougherty, Dawson Co., Ga., son of John and Nancy (Boon) Palmour, was born in Hall county, Ga., June 10, 1829. His parents were born in South Carolina, and while yet young, came to Georgia and settled in Hall county. Subsequently he moved to Lumpkin (now Dawson) county, and engaged in farming. When he settled on the place the Indians were nearly as numerous in northeast Georgia as the whites are now, and the country nearly an unbroken forest. The Indians, however, Mr. Palmour says, were very peaceable, and spent their time hunting-but would steal corn and other farm products. His father died in 1836. To him seven children were born: Ratcliffe; Silas, deceased; John, the subject of this sketch; Lucinda; Narcissus; Elizabeth and Sally. Mr. Palmour-a genuine pioneer-was raised on the farm. Soon after the late war began he enlisted in a company commanded by Capt. Russell, which was a part of Col. Findlay's regiment. He was made first lieutenant of the company, and with it did efficient service. Near the close of the war he was elected a justice of the inferior court, and came home. He has represented his county in the general assembly six sessions, and ranks very high in political circles. He has a very large, excellently well-located farm, which is one of the best- equipped and best-arranged of any in that part of the state, on which he has built

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and operated a large, first-class grist mill. While profitably managing these interests he has also been profitably interested in other important enterprises. He owns a large brick hotel in Gainesville, Hall Co., Ga., and scattered through- out northeast Georgia, he owns various large bodies of valuable mineral lands. Of extensive information and great will power, he exercises a potent influence politically and otherwise. Mr. Palmour was married March 16, 1849, to Miss Caroline Couch-born March 16, 1834-daughter of Terry and Agnes Couch; a union which has been blessed with fifteen children, of whom the following survive: Benjamin, life insurance agent; Silas, farmer; William A., a leading phy- sician of Gainesville, Ga .; Edgar, farmer, and Homer, dentist, Dougherty, Ga .; Oscar, student, North Georgia Agricultural college, Dahlonega, Ga .; John L., traveling in the west; Raymond, remaining at home; Sallie, wife of Richard Block; Amanda, wife of J. D. Whelchel, and Malinda, wife of R. A. Gober. Messrs. Block and Gober are merchants, and Mr. J. D. Whelchel is a farmer. Mr. Palmour is an unyielding democrat, and a master Mason, and himself and wife are members of the Methodist church.

A MOS ROPER, farmer, Yellow Creek, Dawson Co., Ga., son of Tyre and Melinda (Ednes) Roper, was born in Pickens district, S. C., Dec. 23, 1845. His parents were natives of South Carolina, and his father was a prosperous farmer and Baptist minister of considerable prominence. They were the parents of nine children: Rachel, Jesse, Rebecca, Samuel, Eliza, Annie; Amos, the subject of this sketch; Mary, and Vashti. Mr. Roper was reared on the farm and educated at the common schools of the district. He enlisted in 1862 in Company H (Capt. Philpot), Second South Carolina regiment, and with his regiment participated in many important battles-among them, the Wilderness and Darbytown. At the last-named battle he was wounded, Oct. 7, 1864, and was taken to Jackson. . After receiving his discharge he returned to South Carolina, and to farming. In 1875 he came to Georgia and bought the farm in Dawson county on which he now lives, which contains 2,140 acres. He came out of the war with only $16, and this large farm with its capacious and substantial improvements are the fruits of his hard work and extraordinary good management. In 1891 he was elected tax collector and served one term. He is energetic and enterprising, and always on the alert-always ready-to lend a helping hand to measures calculated to benefit the county. Mr. Roper was married Dec. 31, 1868, to Mary E., daughter of Cor- nelius and Harriet (Lynch) Keith, of old South Carolina families. Six children have blessed this union: John A., married Nancy Burdine; Annie, wife of William M. Gentry; Harriet, wife of Andrew Turner; Sarah, Cornelia, and Foster. He is a very strong and enthusiastic populist, and himself and wife are working and very prominent members of the Baptist church.

JOHN B. THOMAS, journalist, Dawsonville, Dawson Co., Ga., son of William H. and Mary (Stegall) Thomas, was born in Lumpkin county, Ga., March 28, 1847. He is of Scotch-Welsh descent, and his parents were natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Georgia. His father was a farmer and a pioneer settler of North Georgia, and died in 1868; and his mother died in 1884. To them eight children were born: Elizabeth (deceased); Sarah (deceased); William C .; John B., the subject of this sketch; California (deceased); Martha J., wife of Joseph W. Woodward; and Henry H. Mr. Thomas learned the printer's art when a mere boy, and worked at the trade until just after the beginning of the war between the states. In 1862, when not quite sixteen years of age he enlisted in Company C (Capt. R. R. Asbury), Fifty-second Georgia regiment, and went to the front.

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DECATUR COUNTY SKETCHES.

The regiment was ordered to Knoxville, accompanied Gen. Bragg in the Kentucky campaign, and participated in the battles of Tazewell, Tenn., and Frankfort, Ky. He was at the siege of Vicksburg, and in the battles of Lookout mountain and Missionary ridge. His regiment was with the army from Dalton toward Atlanta, and took an active part in the campaign. At Kennesaw mountain he was cap- tured and sent to Camp Chase, Cincinnati, and was confined there until the close of the war. After his release he went to Kentucky where he stopped awhile, and then went to Mississippi, where he was foreman of a bridge gang about a year. Returning to his Lumpkin county home he engaged in the newspaper business in Dahlonega. In 1872 he went to Utah, and after engaging in mining four years returned to Dahlonega and resumed the newspaper business. In 1888 he sold out and embarked in mining in Lumpkin county, and followed it two years, when he came to Dawsonville and bought a printing office and material, and has devoted his time and attention since to the permanent establishment of the "Dawson County Advertiser." He is also agent for Dawson county for the Georgia immigration bureau. Mr. Thomas is energetic and progressive, well posted and public spirited, and all the time on the alert to advance the best interests of Dawson county. Mr. Thomas was married Oct. 8, 1871, to Miss Julia, daughter of Thomas H. Kilgore, by whom he had one child which died in infancy-and July 27, 1872, the mother died. In 1879 he contracted a second marriage, with Miss Martha J., daughter of Benjamin T. White, a union which has been blessed with five children: Mary T., born Jan. 9, 1880; William T., born Dec. 5, 1883; Anna J., born March 21, 1885; Maude, born in 1889; and Ruth, born Sept. 30, 1893. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and a master Mason, and himself and wife are members of the Methodist church.

DECATUR COUNTY.

R B. BOWER. For fourteen years, by successive re-election, Byron B. Bower, Bainbridge, Decatur Co., Ga., has been the popular and honored presiding judge of the superior courts of Albany circuit, comprising Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Dougherty, Mitchell and Worth counties. Judge Bower descends from the sturdy stock which settled New England, and his great-grandfather, John B. Bower, was a resident of Providence, R. I., during the revolutionary war, where Isaac Bower, the judge's grandfather was born. When he was eighteen years of age, he came on a visit to relatives in Georgia, and was so favorably impressed that he determined to make his home here. He married a lady of Baldwin county and made his home in Milledgeville, where he lived all his life, except an interval of five years in Arkansas, raised a family, and died in 1863. The judge's father, Isaac B. Bower, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Talbotton, Talbot Co., Ga. He was married in Talbot county July 8, 1838, to Miss Adeline D. Breedlove, and the next year moved to Early county, where he purchased and conducted a plantation in connection with his law practice. After a short resi- dence there near Fort Gaines he located in Cuthbert, Randolph Co., in 1854, where he remained until 1864, continuing the practice of his profession and the supervision of his farm. From 1864 to 1866 he lived in the adjoining county of Miller and became interested and very prominent in politics, and represented the county in the constitutional convention of 1865 and in the state senate. In

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

1866 he moved to Bainbridge, which has since been his home, where his father died Oct. 3, 1873, during a yellow fever epidemic. He was a man of sterling character and was specially honored in the Georgia reports by a biographical sketch from the pen of Hon. Richard H. Clark, judge of Stone Mountain circuit -his life-long friend. He raised a family of seven children: Byron B., Marcene, killed at the Black and White station fight during the war; John, deceased; Iamthus, merchant, Decatur county; Euzema, who moved to Los Angeles, Cal., after having been prominently identified with state politics many years, during which he served a term in the state senate; Richmond M., merchant, Decatur county; Ceneilla, wife of Rev. W. M. McAlexander, a Presbyterian divine, Mem- phis, Tenn. Judge Bower's mother is still living and is a member of his family. Judge Bower was born in Talbotton Sept. 26, 1839, began the study of law at the age of seventeen and a year later was admitted to the bar. After a few months' practice with his father he located in Newton, Baker Co., and although quite young took an active interest in politics. The year following he was elected justice of the peace; and six days before he attained his majority he was elected ordinary of the county, defeating a gentleman who was backed by the influence of the late Senator Colquitt. This was in September, 1860, and when, the following winter, the war spirit developed he enlisted as a private in the Cuthbert Rifles, one of the first companies at Tuscaloosa. The next year he suffered a severe attack of pneumonia while on duty at Cumberland gap, and when convalescent returned home. But the need of his country was too pressing for him to remain contented at home, and a few months later found him again in the field, this time a member of Company B, Eighth Georgia cavalry. At the taking of Plym- outh, N. C., he led the company as captain, having previously served as its orderly sergeant, and the regiment as adjutant. Soon after the company was ordered to join Gen. Lee's army, and he was thenceforth in conflict almost daily about Petersburg. He participated in the famous Hampton beef raid when that daring and valorous general stampeded 3,000 beeves from a point immediately in the rear and within one mile of Grant's headquarters. After the surrender Mr. Bower settled in Miller county, was elected county judge and served until 1868, when he removed to Bainbridge, which has since been his home. In 1882 he was one of the five candidates before the general assembly for judge of the Albany circuit, and after a spirited contest he was elected on the eighth ballot to fill an unexpired term of two years. So satisfactorily and efficiently has he discharged the responsible duties of his office that he has been re-elected three times since without opposition. Judge Bower was married in Bainbridge in June, 1871, to Miss Ellen L. Dickenson, formerly of Virginia, a union which has been blessed with nine children, of whom six are living: Byron B., Jr., in senior class univer- sity of Georgia, reputed to be one of the brightest members of the class; Ever- giline Vestalgar, also a student at the university of Georgia; Gordon, Don Roland, Jack, and Lucien Conway. The very estimable mother of these died in March, 1885, and the following year her sister Annie was called upon to assume the duties of the head of the judge's household, to be called away by death a few months later. It is almost superfluous to add that the judge is an unswerving democrat; he is also a member of the masonic fraternity, and of the Methodist church.

JOHN H. BOYETT, JR., son of John H. and Elizabeth (Trawick) Boyett, was born June 7, 1864, in the western part of Decatur county, Ga. John's parents had four children: Isaac L., a planter; Elizabeth, single, with brother; Julia Ann (Mrs. Samuel Brunson, Decatur county) and John. The Boyetts are of Irish

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DECATUR COUNTY SKETCHES.

origin and members of the family came to this country among its earliest settlers. Isaac Boyett, John's grandfather, was a soldier in the Indian wars. He came to Georgia and settled in the western part of Decatur county, being one of the three families there in 1836. He lived and died on a plantation then settled. The Trawicks are of Welsh descent, the branch in Georgia coming from North Caro- lina. Mr. Boyett's grandfather Trawick served under Gen. Jackson, and while in this service helped to blaze the first road from the Carolinas into Georgia, after- ward known as the "Three Notch Road," or Jackson's trail. John H. Boyett, his father, was born in North Carolina, and came to Georgia with the family. In 1853 he and Elizabeth Trawick were married, and to them were born four chil- dren. Mr. Boyett's father enlisted as a member of Company A, Fifty-first Georgia regiment in May, 1861, and served in Virginia. He was in many hard-fought battles, was wounded once and once captured and passed ninety days in prison. While doing picket duty in Shenandoah valley, just before day, Oct. 19, 1864, he was shot dead by a Federal picket and was buried where he fell. His devoted widow still cherishes his memory, making her home among her children awaiting her summons to join him. Mr. Boyett grew to manhood in his native country, enjoying but limited educational advantages, in fact the most of his education has been picked up, as it were, since he attained to man's estate. His first business venture was with a brother in 1889 at the home place, and known as Boyettville. As Boyett Brothers they conducted a general merchandise business until Aug. I, 1891, when he purchased a half interest in the general merchandise business of S. D. Cherry at Donalsonville, the firm being Cherry & Boyett, with flattering promise of splendid success. He is a democrat and for four years was a member of the county democratic executive committee and a notary public. Mr. Boyett is held in high estimation as a citizen and business man.

S. J. CHESNUT, M. D., son of R. G. and Mary (King) Chesnut, was born in Bainbridge, Ga., Nov. 16, 1862. The Chesnuts were of Irish and the Kings of Scotch descent. The lineage of the latter can be traced to the famous McDonald clan in Scotland. Of the Chesnut family three brothers came from Ireland-one settling in North Carolina, one in South Carolina and the other in the west. The brother which settled in South Carolina was the great-grandfather of Dr. Chesnut. David, his grandfather, moved to and settled in Newton county, Ga., where he reared his family. The doctor's father late in the forties went from Newton county to Attapulgus, Decatur Co., to take charge of the school there as principal-that then being a somewhat famous school center. There he married his first wife, a Miss Donalson (of a pioneer family), by whom he had three children: C. E., planter, Decatur county; W. A., farmer, De Kalb county, Ga., and Mrs. E. G. Wilson, Decatur county. This wife died in 1855, and Mr. Chesnut married his second wife (Mary King) in Americus, Ga., in 1860, who also bore him three children: R. G., railroader, Ocala, Fla .; S. J., physician, and David K., who died in infancy. Mr. Chesnut was a graduate of Erskine college, a thoroughly educated man and a thorough educator himself. His life-work was that of a teacher, and he was considered one of the very best in the south. He was a democrat in principle. Dr. Chesnut had the benefit of the scholarly instruc- tion his father could impart and was trained under his wise guidance and disci- pline at Attapulgus. In 1886 he attended a session of the Peabody Normal school at Atlanta. In 1884 he taught school at Whigham and subsequently at other places-two years at Attapulgus-until 1889. In the fall of that year he entered the medical department of the university of Maryland, where he remained three years, graduating in 1892. Returning home he was accepted as a partner by Dr.

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L. H. Peacock, with whom he had passed his vacation, taking a high rank and establishing an enviable reputation in his profession. Nov. 13, 1893, Dr. Chesnut married Ella, daughter of C. L. Harrell. He is a democrat in politics and in religious faith a Methodist, although his family are Presbyterians. He is also a Knight of Pythias.

CURRY. This is also one of the pioneer families of Decatur county, one whose numerous representatives have for many years imparted strength and solidity to the framework of its political and social life. Of Scotch Presbyterian stock, their austere religiosity and unyielding opposition to immorality in all its forms have always been most marked. The progenitor of this branch of the family in this country was Duncan Curry, who came from Argyleshire, Scotland, before the revolutionary war and settled in North Carolina. During that memorable con- flict, while at home for a brief period, he was murdered by a band of guerrillas, led by one Cunningham. This sad event occurred a few months before the head of this family, Duncan Curry, was born. When only seven years of age his mother died and he was bound out to a family named McPherson, and by them apprenticed to a gunsmith. When eighteen years old, having served his appren- ticeship, he came to Telfair county, Ga., where he married a Miss Sarah Smith, and where he lived until 1823, when with a family of six children he removed to Decatur county, Ga., and settled near the site of the present town of Climax. He resided here until his death, February, 1849. Mrs. Curry died in 1834. Mr. Curry ivas a man of excellent sense, an active, ardent whig and was frequently the chosen standard-bearer of the party and served both Telfair and Decatur counties in the general assembly. Nine children were born to this pioneer couple, all of whom are dead excepting Dr. Joshua Curry of Bainbridge. They were: Mary, who married David Holloman; Cassandra, Archibald, Duncan, Calvin, Martin L., Joshua C., Sarah J. (Mrs. Dr. Martin R. Martin) and Margaret, who married Edward Love. Of these we further mention Duncan and Calvin.

Duncan Curry was born in Telfair county, Ga., March 6, 1818. Near Quincy, Fla., Oct. 23, 1845, he married Mary Jane Love, of a North Carolina family which settled in Florida in 1824. His wife is still living. They were the happy parents of eleven children: Duncan, Sallie (deceased), Julia F., Marion H., Mary Ann (Mrs. Alex. Maxwell, Hico, Tex.), Joseph, Margaret (deceased), Janey (Mrs. Eugene B. Townsend, Climax), Mary L. (Mrs. Manton Alford, Mar- ion county, S. C.) and Daniel L. The head of this family died April 26, 1886. He was a quiet man, true to his convictions and highly esteemed, and with the ex- ception of the time of the war, devoted the years of his life to agricultural pur- suits. He was an excellent farmer and wise manager. During the late war he was importuned to accept the captaincy of a company, and yielding to the general desire, he led to the field Company F, Fiftieth Georgia regiment, and participated in the Second Manassas and Fredericksburg battles. Retiring on a certificate of disability, he returned home and was made captain of commissary work and did efficient service until the war ended.

Calvin A. Curry was born in Telfair county, Ga., May 8, 1820, and Feb. 9, 1843, at Quincy, Fla., married Jane E. Gregory, by whom he had ten children, seven of whom are living: D. B., J. G., H. C., A. B., C. H., A. D. and Amittie S. (Mrs. J. H. Martin, Hawkinsville, Ga.). Mr. Curry died of brain fever April 21, 1867, but his wife is still living. Mr. Curry was always greatly inter- ested in public affairs and was an ardent whig partisan, but could not be induced to accept an office. The Currys, however, were best known in their religious life; they were the pioneers of Presbyterianism in Decatur county, and were

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noted for their devotion to its teachings. Calvin was especially active and con- cerned for the welfare of the church, and always insisted on having a good min- ister in the community. Indeed, to enumerate the many virtues of this member among a family so noted for piety, would require more space than can be devoted to this sketch. His was indeed a golden character, unbending in its integrity, re- lentless in its justice, spotless in its purity. The Bible was the absolute law of its household, and family prayers always preceded the day's duties. Even his slaves were held responsible for their "shorter catechism," he himself hearing them recite every Sunday morning. His children were raised in the most careful manner and are known as persons of the highest character.

Henry C. Curry, son of Calvin A. and Jane E. (Gregory) Curry, was born Nov. 20, 1850, and received his education under the tutorship of Rev. H. F. Hoyl. He was married in Camilla, Ga., April 30, 1878, to Miss S. E. McElveen, by whom he has two sons: H. H. and C. A. Mr. Curry taught school success- fully for several years and then conducted a general merchandise store in Bainbridge. In 1886 he was appointed agent for the Alabama Midland and the Savannah, Florida & Western railways at Bainbridge, a position he still holds to the entire satisfaction of the corporations and the public. He is an active member of the Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder, and is secretary of Orion lodge, F. & A. M.

S. H. DICKENSON. It affords the biographer much pleasure to note in this sketch the essential points in the history of a man who, for nearly sixty years, was one of Decatur county's most respected citizens. Coming to the county in 1835, he was a potent factor in its development, and by untiring industry and good business judgment he succeeded in making himself comfortable in the world's goods, and in the declining years of his life enjoyed the hard, well-earned fruit of his toil. Mr. Dickenson was a scion of an old Virginia family, whose home for many generations has been in Caroline county, in that state. Thomas, the father of S. H., was married, in that county, to Annie Parker, by whom he had nine children: Matilda, S. H., John P., William, Thomas, Lucy, George, Mary and Annie, of whom S. H. was the last to depart this life. Mr. Dickenson was born in Caroline county Sept. 15, 1815. At the age of twenty, in company with a younger brother, he came to Decatur county, having been induced to do so by an uncle, John I. Dickenson, who was greatly interested in the then new and all- absorbing silk craze. The idea was to introduce the Morus multicaulis-or many- leaved mulberry-extensively used for feeding silk-worms. The death of the uncle the next year caused the collapse of the scheme. Mr. Dickenson, however, con- cluded to remain in the south, and, so, after spending a year in Florida, he built a mill on the Flint river, now just across from Bainbridge. In consequence of the hard times which followed the panic of 1837, a failure of this venture was caused. Nothing daunted, Mr. D. moved his mill to Tallahassee, Fla., where he continued milling for ten years. In 1850 he bought a small tract of land on the Chattahoochee river, directly west of Bainbridge, erected his mill on it, and in connection with it established a general merchandise store. His success exceeded his most san- guine anticipation. From time to time he added to his property, until he had some 5,000 acres of valuable land and a fine milling property. Since 1880 the cares of his business have been largely assumed by one of his sons-Mr. Dickenson gradually retiring from active control. In 1886 he purchased a beautiful site, and built an elegant house in the quaint old county-seat of Decatur, where he resided until his death, Dec. 27, 1894. The energy and independence of Mr. Dickenson are finely illustrated by the following incident. In the early seventies he became

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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 85

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