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 93

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 93

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

S. C. STARKE, farmer, Flatwoods, Elbert Co., Ga., was born in Fairfield county, S. C., in 1818, and is the son of S. C. and Anne Mickle Starke. His grandfather, William Starke, was a native of and lived all his life in South Caro- lina. He and five brothers served in the army of the patriots in the revolutionary war. He was of Welsh descent and a public-spirited and high-minded gentle- inan. His son, S. C. Starke, was born in South Carolina and moved with his family to Elbert county, Ga., in 1827. He was a big farmer and a respected citizen. He died in Alabama, where he had moved a few years previous. He was married to a daughter of John and Jane Mickle. The latter was of Irish ancestry, and was a native and life-long resident of South Carolina. He was learned and deeply religious, and was one of the best-informed men on the scrip- tures and scriptural writings in the state. Mr. S. C. Starke was brought up on the farm and received the benefit of an academic education. He taught school for a short time and in 1843 was married to Mary A. Brewer, daughter of Edmund H. and Lucy (Carter) Brewer. Mr. Brewer was born and reared in Elbert county. By this union the following children were born: Mary, the wife of Thomas W. Hill; Sarah, wife of Ex-Gov. B. R. Tillman of South Carolina; E. B., who mar- ried a daughter of Dr. Baker; Addie, wife of George C. Grogan. The mother was born in 1824. They are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1863 Mr. Starke was elected to the state legislature and served four years. He was a very able member of the committee on agriculture, and to his earnest efforts are due many laws which were enacted of interest and benefit to the farmer. He is a self-made man, starting in life as a poor boy; he had accumu- lated a splendid competence at the breaking out of the war. There was little left of it when the strife ended, but he went to work again and now owns about 1,100 acres of choice land.

A. C. STOVALL, farmer, Oglesby, Elbert Co., was born in Franklin county, Ga., in 1819, and is the son of George H. and Nancy (Christian) Stovall. He descends from old revolutionary stock, his grandfather having served in the war for independence, while his father battled against the English in the war of 1812. James S. Stovall, a revolutionary soldier, of French descent, married a Miss Bradley, daughter of an old Virginia patriot. With his wife and family he left his native state in 1787, and coming to Georgia, settled in what is now Elbert county, where he died from the effects of a wound received in the revolutionary conflict. A son, George, born in Virginia in 1781, married Nancy Christian of Elbert county, a daughter of John Christian, a well-to-do farmer, who had come to Georgia with Mr. Stovall's father in 1787. Mr. Christian was a prosperous farmer and a fine gentleman. Soon after his marriage George Stovall moved to Franklin county, where he bought a farm and passed his life. He served his country in the second war with Great Britain and attained the rank of captain, and was a brave and honest man. His son, A. C. Stovall, was raised on the farm and received his education at the "old field" school. In 1838 he married Mary L. Christian, daughter of Dr. Edward L. Christian, a physician of prominence in Madison county, Ga. By this marriage the following children,

now living, were born: Cornelia, wife of John L. Mize; Mary, who married C. A. Brock; Sarah R., who married Ira T. Harbor. Mrs. Stovall was born in Madison county, Ga., in 1822, and died in 1848. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a most estimable woman. In 1859 Mr. Stovall married Sarah F. Almond, daughter of James and Amanda M. (Fortson) Almond. She was born in Elbert county in 1833. They have four living children: James T., Albert S. J., Minnie L. and Benjamin. Mrs. Stovall is a member of the Baptist

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church and a woman much loved by her friends. Mr. Stovall began life as a poor boy, and after acquiring considerable property by his industry and energy, he suffered a big loss by the war, but he again set to work and now is again "on top." He owns a nice farm of 560 acres near Oglesby on Dove creek post office.

JUDGE EDMUND BREWER TATE, Elberton, Elbert Co., Ga., was born in the same county April 2, 1841, on his father's farm, four miles south of the city of Elberton, and was the sixth son of Edmund B. and Mahala (Fortson) Tate. His father, Edmund B. Tate, was born in Madison county, Ga., and was a farmer and slave-owner. He died in Elbert county (where he had lived the most of his life) at the age of seventy-seven. Judge Tate's paternal grandfather was Robert L. Tate, who came to Georgia from North Carolina about 1800. Judge Tate was reared on the farm and received the schooling furnished by the public and private schools of his section. Just entering manhood when the war broke out, he hastened to join the army, enlisting in Company C, Fifteenth Georgia volunteers, under Capt. L. H. O. Martin, leaving home for the front July 15, 1861. His record during the great conflict was one of active cam- paigning and fighting, embracing various bloody engagements and battles; was in the seven days' battle around Richmond, second battle of Manassas, Sharps- burg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, besides other minor engagements. He was severely wounded in the battle of Chickamauga, on Sept. 19, 1863, by a minie ball, which entered his left nipple, went through his left lung and came out on left side of spinal column, and near the same; the ball not only pierced his body through, but made sixteen holes through an army blanket, which at the time was rolled up and carried over his shoulders. While the wound was severe and thought at the time to be fatal, yet, by the good nursing of his father, who hastened to his bedside, which was in a large barn on the field of battle which had been converted into a hospital, he so far recovered that his father in the short space of one month carried him home. Judge Tate, not having recovered sufficiently to return to the army, and seeing he would not again be able for active service, in January, 1865, opened what was known in those days as an "old field" school at Asbury Chapel, in Elbert county, which was a success. This, his first venture to set up for himself, gave him two hundred dollars in gold, which was the foundation for his present fortune, which is not very large, but comfortable. Judge Tate has been a lifelong democrat and has been active in the political affairs in Elbert county, having held some office in the gift of his people nearly continuously since 1866. In January, 1866, he was elected clerk of Elbert superior court, which office he held for one term. In 1868 he was elected ordinary of Elbert county, holding that office one term of nearly five years. In 1878 Judge Tate was elected county commissioner of roads and revenue of Elbert county, holding four terms (sixteen years); the last twelve years was honored with the chairmanship of that body, which expired in January, 1895. He was one of the three commissioners who recognized the crying need and necessity of Elbert county for better public buildings to take the place of the old dilapidated ones which she had. They accomplished their object, though not without great opposition by a large percentage of the people. Through these efforts Elbert county now has a splendid $8,000 modern jail and a magnificent $40,000 court house, all of this work being accomplished during the last two years in office- 1893 and 1894. In November, 1866, Judge Tate was married to Miss Ella G. Mathews, second daughter of Dr. Albert C. Mathews, one of Elbert's most promi- nent physicians. Four sons and one daughter blessed this marriage; two sons, Robert Enos and Eddie B., died in their second year. The living sons are Ora

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Eugene and Albert Mathews. His daughter, Mrs. Sophia Tate Bigham, wife of E. W. Bigham, died in 1894, leaving one child, a boy, E. B. Bigham. The mother, a most exemplary Christian and loving and dutiful wife, was born in 1849 and died Jan. 10, 1881. Judge Tate was wedded a second time, the latter part of 1881, to Miss Mattie A. (daughter of James C. Wright of Wilkes county, Ga., who was a prominent farmer), born in Wilkes county in 1850. The fruits of this union are two children, a son and daughter: James Wright Tate and Em-Mai Tate. The family are members of the Methodist church, and Judge Tate is also a member of the masonic fraternity. Judge Tate, in the fall of 1870, engaged in the mercantile business and continued therein for twenty years in the city of Elberton. Having, by strict economy and perseverance, accumulated a nice little property, he is now (1895) building one of the nicest and finest resi- dences in the city of Elberton. Judge Tate possesses a remarkably clear and well-poised judgment and is seldom in error upon any business project he has carefully investigated; as a business man there are few men better posted and equipped than he is. He was one of eight brothers who entered the Confederate army, three of whom were killed in the service.

J N. WALL, farmer, Elberton, was born in Elbert county in 1850. His grand- father was Willis Wall, born in Virginia, and a settler in Elbert county before it was carved out of Wilkes county. He married Martha Page, and was a soldier in the patriot ranks in the war for independence. He was a farmer and a slave- holder. His son, B. C. Wall, married Mattie W. Nunelee, and was a merchant for many years at Longstreet, then a prosperous town in Elbert county. He was a large slave-holder and owned a large plantation, upon which he died in 1878 at an advanced age. His son, Mr. J. N. Wall, the subject of this memoir, was given a good education and attended the Elberton high school, then a leading institution of the state. In 1868 he married Ella Fortson, daughter of Haley and Jennie (Hanson) Fortson. Mr. Fortson was born in Elbert county, but now lives in Florida, where he is a large fruit-grower. To Mr. and Mrs. Wall have been born thirteen children: Elizabeth, Willie, Walter, George, Cassie, James, Sarah, Clarence, Talullah, Janie, Longstreet, Henry and Lee. The mother was born in Elbert county in 1849. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Mr. Wall was a member of the county board of roads and revenue for four years and has been county school commissioner since 1890. His early life was spent on the farm, but in 1876 he was ordained a minister of the Gospel, since which time he has preached regularly. He is a bright and clever gentleman, and one beloved by his flock and respected by the community at large.

GEORGE WOOSTER is of English nativity, and was born in Buckinghamshire in 1853, his parents being James and Sarah (Eggleton) Wooster, the former born in Buckinghamshire in 1802 and died in 1863. When but a youth, not out of his teens, young Wooster, who had been reared on a farm, left his English home to seek his fortune in the western world. He sailed from England for the United States Oct. 17, 1871, came first to Pike county, Ga., and a few weeks afterward finding his way to Meriwether county, where he arrived with but five cents in his pocket. But with true English courage and persevering energy he sought work, willing to do anything honorable for a living rather than be an idler. He worked a year for Daniel Keith, and then rented land from him for five years. After this he rented Mrs. T. P. Atkinson's farm in Oakland for a year, and then the place belonging to Thor Atkinson. He made his first investment in land in the county in 1881, and five years later bought a stock of goods, and set up in the

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EMANUEL COUNTY SKETCHES.

mercantile business. He is a man of marked ability and versatile talent, as is evident from the fact that he has been very successful in several distinct lines of work. His fine farm of 350 acres is well cultivated and well stocked. He also did a thriving business in general merchandise, of which he had an extensive and well selected stock. Moreover, he ran a public gin, a planing mill and sawmill. In spite of the adverse circumstances of his earlier years and the fact that his education was somewhat limited, Mr. Wooster has made a success of his life work and is honored among his fellow-men. He is a notable instance of what pluck and perseverance will accomplish. In 1874 Mr. Wooster married Miss Cynthia Williams, a daughter of Stephen and Nancy A. (Simpson) Williams, who died in 1880. His present wife, who was Miss Pennie Esters, the daughter of David and Elizabeth (Caldwell) Esters, was born in 1859, and reared in Meriwether county. They were married in 1881, and have had three children, none of whom is living. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wooster are members of the Primitive Baptist church. Mr. Wooster has recently removed to Flatwoods, Elbert Co., which is now his home.

EMANUEL COUNTY.

JAMES AMASCUS COLEMAN, merchant and manufacturer, Rountree, Emanuel Co., Ga., son of Elisha and Winnie Coleman, was born in Emanuel county in March, 1848. His father was born in Burke county, came to Emanuel county when a young man, married, settled down to farming and made agriculture the pursuit of his life. They are both living, and are respectively eighty-two and eighty-one years of age, and revered members of the Methodist church. Four children were born to them-three living to perpetuate their name and virtues: Matthew, killed at Sharpsburg while serving in the Confederate army; John C., an ex-Confederate soldier, who has been clerk of the superior court of Emanuel county, elected ordinary for several terms, now retired and accounted the wealthiest citizen of the county; Elisha J., Emanuel county, ex- lieutenant Georgia militia during the war, now a successful farmer, and James A., the subject of this sketch. Mr. Coleman was educated at the common schools of the county, and when only sixteen years of age enlisted in the Confederate service and was a participant in battle at Honey Hill, S. C. On his return from the army he engaged for several years in farming, and later engaged in rafting timber. He next engaged with his brother, John C., in a general merchandise business in Swainsborough, which continued four years. In 1888 he formed a partnership with James H. Ellison, and with him embarked in the saw-mill business, and in connection with it carried on a farm, running ten plows and a store, which last commanded a good trade. In 1894 the firm added to their enterprise the manu- facture of naval stores. The firm owns the Coleman & Ellison railway, which connects with the Midville & Ellison railway at Midville. The sawmill cuts from 20,000 to 30,000 feet of lumber per day, and their turpentine farm produces 600 barrels of spirits and 2,500 barrels of resin annually, and their pay-roll amounts to more than $30,000 per annum. Confining himself to his business interests he neither desired nor sought office, but in 1894 he was nominated as the only citizen likely to defeat the populists. After one of the hottest campaigns ever .conducted in the county he was elected over the strongest man his opponents

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

could present to represent Emanuel county in the general assembly. He started in life without capital, but relying on his own resources, his energy, perseverance and strict business principles and practice, he has made a good business reputation and accumulated considerable property, with prospects of a large fortune in the near future. Mr. Coleman was married in 1884 to Miss Fannie, daughter of Enoch M. and Susan Lake, who has borne him five children: Ruby Pearl, deceased; the second child, not named; John Randolph, Winnie and Cleveland.

FLISHA JORDAN COLEMAN, farmer, Swainsborough, Emanuel Co., Ga., son of Elisha and Winnie Coleman, was born in Emanuel county May 6, 1846. (For further particulars of parents and other members of the family, see sketch of James A. Coleman in these Memoirs.) Mr. Coleman was reared on the farm and attended the common schools of the county. At the early age of sixteen he enlisted in the Georgia militia and served in the army, and when twenty years old commenced farming on his own account. As a "starter" his father gave him a horse and enough to feed it a year. Excepting that during the later years he has run a grist mill and operated a ginnery, he has confined himself to farming, at which he has been satisfactorily successful. He is not wealthy, but he has a fine farm under good cultivation, with a pleasant home and a competency, and enjoys to the fullest extent the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. Mr. Coleman was married July 15, 1874, to Miss Harriett, daughter of Enoch Lake, of Laurens county, by whom he has had twelve children, of whom eight are living: Beulah, Matthew, Otis, Fannie, Elisha, Lester, Sudie, and one not named. Those deceased are: Ada, Charles, Douglas, and one that died in infancy.

HENRY CLAY EDENFIELD, merchant, Swainsborough, Emanuel Co., Ga., son of David J. and Jane (Kennedy) Edenfield, was born in Emanuel county Dec. 29, 1859. His father was a mechanic, was also engaged in farming, and served as an officer in the Confederate army during the war between the states. There were born to Mr. Edenfield's parents the following children: Milton C., deceased; Henry Clay, Julian, Hattie, Jessie, Ida, Eva, Wright, Rufus, Mollie, Bessie and Gilbert. Mr. Edenfield was reared on the farm, and received as good an education as was obtainable at the near-by country schools. When eighteen years of age he entered the employ of Davis & Marks, at Midville, Ga., as a clerk

and remained there three years. He then engaged as a clerk with John Coleman, Swainsborough, the largest merchant in the place. Four years later he went to Stillmore, Emanuel Co., and clerked for George M. Brinson until 1889, when he returned to Swainsborough and embarked in a general merchandise business on his own account. He has given his entire attention to his business, keeping abreast with the times, and studying and supplying the wants of the people, so that he has become a leading merchant and is doing a large, if not the largest, business of any merchant in the town. His enterprise and prudence, industrious habits and judicious investments have resulted in the accumulation of a large property- and the promise of a very bright future. Mr. Edenfield was married Feb. 7, 1886, to Miss Fannie, daughter of Thomas and Emma E. Lewis, of Emanuel county, by whom he has had two children: Bertha, born in August, 1888, and Vera, born in September, 1892. He is a member of the town council, a member of the Royal Arcanum and a master Mason.

EPHRAIM A. EDENFIELD, merchant, Stillmore, Emanuel Co., Ga., son of John H. and Jane (Polk) Edenfield, was born in Emanuel county Jan. 23, 1865. His paternal grandparents were natives of North Carolina, and his great-

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grandfather served in the continental army through the revolutionary war. Some years afterward his grandparents migrated to Georgia and were among the early settlers of what is now Emanuel county. Mr. Edenfield's father was a farmer, and served in the Confederate army during the war between the states. He reared the following children: Elizabeth, deceased wife of W. T. Mooring, Emanuel county; Martha, wife of George M. Morris, same county; Marguerite, wife of Jackson Collins; Viannah, deceased wife of Iverson Lanier, also deceased; John H., merchant and farmer, Bulloch county; George P., bookkeeper, Emanuel county; Thomas Jackson, merchant and farmer. Mr. Edenfield received such education as was obtainable at the common schools of the county, and then buying a farm on credit engaged in farming. He went to Stillmore in 1889, and was the first person to locate there after the mill was started. In 1885, with a cash capital of $35, he went to Savannah to buy a stock of goods and open a general merchandise store. He bought his merchandise, hauled it seventy miles by wagon, and commenced business near where he is at this time. He has been won- derfully successful, and has made money very fast. In 1892-93, in addition to his other businesses, he engaged in the manufacture of naval stores. He now carries a well-assorted stock of general merchandise worth $12,000, the best and largest in that part of the county, and does the largest trade of any store in the place. While he has been thus engaged in merchandising and building up this large and profit- able business, he has been conducting his farm. Although he started with so little-of experience and capital-and is now only thirty years of age, he is worth more than $50,000-which it must be admitted is a very remarkable record, and demonstrates the possession of more than ordinary ability. In view of what he has already accomplished it is difficult to set a limit to what he may accomplish. Mr. Edenfield married Miss Wealthy, daughter of Jackson and Roxa Bird, of Tattnall county, who has borne him one son, Samuel, born in September, 1883.

ALFRED HERRINGTON, lawyer, Swainsboro, Emanuel Co., Ga., son of Manning and Lucretia (Phillips) Herrington, was born in Emanuel county Nov. 21, 1858. On both sides he is of Irish lineage. His paternal great-grand- father, Ephraim Herrington, was a North Carolinian, a soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war, and was present at the surrender of Corn- wallis at Yorktown. He migrated to Robeson county, N. C., and came to Georgia early in the present century and was among the pioneer settlers of Emanuel county. Mr. Herrington's grandfather, James Herrington, was born in North Carolina and came with the family to Emanuel county, in which his father was born. Mr. Herrington's father was a mechanic and enlisted early in the late civil war in Capt. Miller's rangers, which became a part of the Seventh Georgia cavalry. After participating in a number of engagements he was detailed to take charge of the mechanical corps. He died Sept. 11, 1864, from the effects. of extreme exposure and hardships suffered while in the Confederate service. Mr. Herrington's mother was a daughter of Anthony Phillips, whose family also came from North Carolina to Emanuel county. They were the parents of six children, all living: Alfred, Anthony M., John C., Melissa, Florence Elizabeth, and Dicey. Mr. Herrington was the eldest son, and his father dying while he was yet young, and devolving upon him the care of the family in straitened circum- stances, his educational advantages were of the most meager kind. The first pair of shoes he had after the death of his father he inade himself, and then to get money to pay for an education he cut and rafted timber to market. He entered the university of Georgia at Athens in 1872, but he had so little money and the demands on him at his home were such that he was deprived of graduation I-41

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by leaving the university. Knowing no such word as "fail" he persevered, read law under the preceptorship of Hon. C. C. Kibbee of Hawkinsville (now of Macon), Ga., and was admitted to the bar at Pulaski superior court in December, 1877. He located at Mount Vernon, Montgomery Co., Ga., and practiced law there one year. In 1884 he moved his office to Swainsboro. Although without money he determined to succeed. Possessing a strong mind, an inflexible pur- pose and superior ability, and withtal being a hard student, he soon became the leading attorney and had the largest practice of anyone at the bar. In 1888 he was elected to represent Emanuel county in the general assembly, and after serving the term retired from politics; however, such was the pressure brought upon him, and so urgent were the solicitations of appreciative friends, that he consented to accept the nomination of elector on the democratic electoral ticket in 1892, and of course was elected. He was appointed as one of the U. S. commissioners in the matter of the Cherokee strip, but at the end of three montlis resigned and returned to the practice of his profession, to which he is an enthus- iastic devotee. He is pre-eminently popular in his native county, whose citizens manifest the greatest anxiety to advance him politically. In 1894 a recommenda- tion of him by the democratic executive committee of his county as a candidate for congress received the unanimous endorsement of the county in a primary election, but he peremptorily declined to allow his name to be presented to the congressional nominating convention of the first district. Being young, an enthusiastic democrat, of unquestionable ability and determined will, and already towering professionally above men older than he in years and practice, he undoubt- edly has before him a brilliant professional and political career and great pecu- niary prosperity. Mr. Herrington was married March 13, 1890, to Miss Annie Lee, daughter of L. H. Wilkins of Richmond county, a union which has been blessed with three children: Thomas Norwood, Pat. Calhoun, and Morris Daw- son. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and a Royal Arch Mason.

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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 93

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