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 96

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 96

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into a general merchandise business for himself and continued it until 1878. The two years following he combined farming and clerking; and the next four years he engaged as a clerk exclusively. He then (1884) re-embarked in mer- chandising at Woolsey, and has succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. His business has steadily increased in volume and value, until he is now the leading merchant of his locality and has accumulated a quite valuable property. His great success is another practical illustration of what industry, fair dealing, and unswerving integrity of character will accomplish. He is one of the mostly promising business men in the county. He is a member and secretary of the county board of education, and has been postmaster at Woolsey since 1885, when the office was established. An excellent record for a ten years' citizenship. Mr. Lewis was married Dec. 24, 1872, to Miss Clemenza Isabella, daughter of Dr. Isaac Gray and Emeline Clemenza (Reagan) Woolsey, who has borne him eight children: Edgar Marcellus, deceased, born Nov. 26, 1873; Lola Adelia, born Dec. 16, 1875, at home; Isaac Woolsey, born March 21, 1878, superintending home farm; Mamie Almanza, deceased, born Aug. 7, 1880; Clemenza Pearl, born Nov. 28, 1882; James Carl, born July 4, 1885; Lillian Jewell, born Nov. 26, 1888; and Luther Forrest, born Nov. 1, 1891. Mr. Lewis and his wife are active and prominent members of the Missionary Baptist church.

DANIEL M'D. LUCAS, merchant, Inman, Fayette Co., Ga., son of Archibald and Mary (MacDougald) Lucas, was born in Fayette county Jan. 6, 1832. His paternal grandparents were natives of Scotland, and emigrated to the United States in 1796, and settled in North Carolina, where Mr. Lucas' father was born in 1799. He migrated from North Carolina to Georgia in 1827 and settled in Fayette county, where he died in 1842. His mother was born in Scotland, Dec. 22, 1800, and came to this country with her parents who settled in South Carolina, in 1804. Mr. Lucas received a common school education, and remained on the farm until he was twenty-two years old, when he began farming on his own account and continued it until 1884, when he entered upon mercantile life at Inman, which he has pursued since with results entirely satisfactory to himself. He has done a good and increasing and profitable business, stands well as a reliable merchant in commercial circles, and has the implicit confidence of the people. On May 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company C-of which he was elected first lieutenant- Fifty-third Georgia regiment (Col. L. T. Doyal) which reached Richmond in June. While in the service he, with his command, participated in many of the bloodiest and most important battles of the war with marked intrepidity and courage. Among them: Seven days' fight around Richmond, Antietam, Funkston, Get- tysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Cedar Run, Petersburg, Berryville, etc., some of which lasted from two to seven days. After the last-named battle he was promoted and commissioned as captain, and discharged its duties with fidelity and distinction until the surrender. In 1856 he was elected justice of the peace, but held the office only one year. After the war he resumed farming, and after many years of success supplemented it by a general merchandise store at Inman. Mr. Lucas was married Feb. 2, 1854, to Miss Rebecca Ann-born in Henry county, Ga., May 22, 1838-daughter of Joseph Sanders and Frances. Asbury (Sinchcomb) Chambers. Their parents were born in Ireland, and came when young to this country. Mr. Chambers was born in South Carolina in 1804, and died in 1859; and his wife was born in Elbert county, Ga., in 1802, and died in 1893. To Mr. and Mrs. Lucas six children have been born: Mary Frances, born in November, 1854, wife of James W. Dixon, Fayette county; Archibald

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Joseph, born in July, 1856, farmer, Fayette county; Jamcs Andrew, born in October, 1858, farmer-homestead; Martha Jane, born May, 1860; Margaret Ann, born June, 1862; and John Lee, born July, 1866, associated with his father in busi- ness at Inman. Mr. Lucas is a royal arch Mason, and himself and wife are work- ing and prominent members of the Methodist church, of which he was a steward inany years, and has been a local preacher for nearly two-score years.

FLIJAH BURRELL WELDEN, physician and surgeon, Inman, Fayette Co., Ga., son of Burrell and Martha Anne (McCutcheon) Welden, was born in Henry (now Spalding) county, May 18, 1844. His paternal grandparents came from North Carolina to Georgia, and were among the early settlers of what is now Henry county. His father was born in what is now Jasper county, Nov. 9. 1806, was a farmer, and died in November, 1869. His mother, a descendant of Scottish emigrants who settled in Virginia in colonial times, was born in Hall county, Ga., July 4, 1812, and died in September, 1874. Dr. Welden was raised on the farm and attended the country schools until he was eighteen years of age. Then, in 1862, he enlisted in Company C (Capt. John L. Moore), Thirteenth Georgia regiment, with which he participated in the following battles: Second Manassas, Fairfax Court House, Second Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Frederick City, Winchester, Strausburg, Harper's Ferry, Spottsylvania Court House, Fish- er's hill and Petersburg, where the command was under fire and in the ditches two months. In the engagement at Burkeville station he was wounded in the hip about April 4, and sent to the hospital, but recovered in time to be with his com- mand when surrendered at Appomattox. Returning home to Spalding county, he attended the academy until 1867, when he began the study of medicine under Dr. Edward Knott, and pursued it until 1869, and then attended a course of lectures at the university of New Orleans, remaining a year. Subsequently he attended a course of lectures at the medical college of Georgia, at Augusta, from which he was graduated in March, 1871. He soon afterward located where he now lives, and has established an excellent professional reputation, accumulated property, and acquired a wide influence which he has exerted in the interest of the material and moral advancement of the people. He was a member of the board of county commissioners from 1884 to 1890, and one of the committee which superintended the building of the new courthouse at Fayetteville. His influence has been strongly and beneficially exercised in behalf of every enterprise calculated to develop the resources and build up the county. In connection with his practice he has conducted a profitable drug business at Inman, of which and the county he is a leading citizen. Dr. Welden was married Nov. 20, 1873, to Miss Mary Frances-born Dec. 9, 1856-daughter of Rev. Mozee and Sarah (Hill) Harp. (For sketch of these see that of W. N. T. Harp in this work.) Nine children blessed this union: Minnie Russell, born Dec. 27, 1874; Annie Ellen, born Dec. 20, 1876; William Paul, born March 24, 1879; Mary Emma, born Sept. 15, 1881 ; John Bur- rcll, born Feb. I, 1884; Andrew Carl, born July 21, 1886: Sallie Slaughter, born Aug. 1, 1889; Martha Nettie, born March 14, 1892, and Walter Willard, born July 9, 1894. Dr. Welden is a prominent member of the masonic fraternity; has been worshipful master of the lodge, and exalted to the royal arch degree; and himself and wife are members of the Methodist church, of which he has been a steward for fifteen years.

ISAAC GRAY WOOLSEY, physician and surgeon, Woolsey, Fayette Co., Ga., son of Zephaniah and Anna (Crouch) Woolsey, was born in Cumberland (now Clinton) county, Ky., Oct. 14, 1828. His paternal grandparents were of I-42

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English-Scotch lineage, direct descendants of Cardinal Woolsey. His father was born in Greene county, Tenn., Nov. II, 1783, was a private soldier in Capt. Cross' company and served under Gen. William Henry Harrison in the last war with Great Britain. He died Dec. 16, 1854. His mother was born in Washington county, Tenn., Nov. 24, 1793, and died Dec. 31, 1845. Dr. Woolsey remained at home and attended the common schools of the locality until he was eighteen years old, when he entered Franklin academy, remaining a year. For about four years after this he was in the mercantile business, and then went to Fentress county, Tenn., as principal of Mount Cumberland academy, serving three years. Having studied medicine during this period under Dr. W. H. Owens, he next attended lectures at the Cincinnati, Ohio, College of Medicine and Surgery. Returning to Fentress county he entered upon the practice of medicine under a certificate from the college until 1861. That year he enlisted under Capt. W. S. Bledsoe, as quartermaster, and served in that capacity until Aug. 10, 1862. He then organized Company C, Eighth Tennessee Confederate cavalry, Col. G. G. Dibrell, at Cookville, Putnam Co., Tenn. The regiment was assigned to Gen. N. B. Forrest's division, then at Murfreesboro, Tenn. With his command he par- ticipated in all the battles in which this brilliant commander was engaged down to the battle of Chickamauga, when, Sept. 19, 1863, he was wounded in his right arm while repelling an advance of the Union army in an attempt to make a right flank on Gen. Cheatham's division. During all this time he promptly and gal- lantly discharged every duty assigned him, acting by detail as surgeon and assist- ant surgeon of the regiment a part of the time during his connection with it. Resigning his commission as captain on account of his wound, he refugeed to Locust Grove, Henry Co. After the surrender he located at Locust Grove, where he practiced until the fall of 1872, when (1872-73) he took a second course of lectures in the Cincinnati college of medicine and surgery, from which he was graduated in March, 1873. After his graduation he resumed his practice at Locust Grove, but remained there only until 1875, when he moved to Fayette county, where, in addition to attending to an extensive practice, he has conducted large farming and mercantile interests. In 1864 he was ordained a minister of the Baptist denomination at Liberty church, Gordon county, Ga. From about that time until 1891 he served three or four churches, but his health failing him then, he resigned all except his home church at Woolsey. During many years of this period he has officiated as clerk of Flint River association, and for five years past has been, and is now, its moderator. He is fully alive to the intellectual and religious advancement of the society and is extensively and influentially useful along these lines. Dr. Woolsey was happily married Feb. 29, 1852, to Miss Eme- line Clemanza, daughter of Col. Charles Reagan, of Fentress county, Tenn., who, together with his wife, was a native of Tennessee., He was a colonel of militia, and for many years was clerk of the superior court of the county. The following named children blessed this union: Charles Reagan, born Dec. 6, 1852, farmer, Fayette county; Adela Ann, born Jan. 4, 1854, wife of J. J. Wilson, Butts county, Ga .: Clemanza Isabella, born Dec. 10, 1855, wife of J. T. Lewis, Woolsey; James Zephaniah, deceased, born July 31, 1857, and Isaac Gray, Jr., born Aug. 3, 1861, farmer, Fayette county. The mother of these children died Feb. 1, 1862, from physical exhaustion consequent upon ministering to the relief of Gen. Zollicoffer's troops while encamped near her father's farm after their retreat from the battle of Somerset, Ky. For his second wife he married Mrs. Arvazenia Frances (nee Hutcheson) Wood, daughter of Alfred and Matilda (Siegler) Hutcheson, de- scendants of early settlers of Virginia. He was a wealthy planter before the war .and was nearly ruined by it. Dr. Woolsey has had no children by his last

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marriage, but he feels thankful to the Giver of all Good that his wife has been to him an affectionate and devoted companion, and a tender and loving stepmother to his orphaned children. He realizes that in his marital relation he has been doubly blessed.

FLOYD COUNTY.

WILLIAM FANKLIN AYER, agent Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railway, Rome, Floyd Co., Ga., was born in Barnwell district, S. C., Jan. 23, 1830. There he received his primary schooling; then, at the age of sixteen, he was sent to Abbeville, and later entered the South Carolina college at Columbia, then under the presidency of Hon. William C. Preston, from which he graduated in 1850. In 1847 his father moved to Floyd county, so when he left college he came to his father's new home and assisted in the management of his plantation interests, in which he continued until the war between the states began. In May, 1861, he enlisted in the Eighth Georgia regiment, Col. Francis Bartow (in whose honor Bartow county was named), of Savannah, who immediately appointed him quartermaster of the regiment. Within thirty days the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth and the Eleventh Georgia and the First Kentucky regiments were organized as a brigade and Col. Bartow was made brigadier-general and placed in command, when he appointed Mr. Ayer brigade quartermaster. Gen. Bartow was killed at the First Manassas battle and was succeeded by Gen. G. R. Anderson, and the brigade assigned to the division commanded by Gen. D. R. Jones, who made Mr. Ayer division quartermaster. He retained this position until August, 1862, when he was transferred to the army of Tennessee, and assigned to duty as post quar- termaster at Dalton, Ga., while the army occupied that place as a base. After the evacuation of Dalton, and Gen. Hood succeeded to the command, Mr. Ayer was appointed chief quartermaster of the army of Tennessee, and held the position until the surrender of Gen. Johnston at Greensboro, N. C., in April, 1865. He was in the following campaigns: The Peninsular, in Virginia; the seven days' fight around Richmond, Dalton to Atlanta, the subsequent Tennessee campaign, and finally in the Carolinas. His arduous service during his connection with the army required untiring industry, sound judgment, endurance that could bear any strain, sleepless vigilance, and prompt and strict business methods, combined with superior administrative ability. That he possessed this needed happy combina- tion of qualifications is proved by his continuous promotion and retention, and that he met every emergency incident to his responsible position goes without saying. During the war his family had moved to South Carolina, to a point opposite and not far from Augusta, Ga., where he joined them after the surrender, and remained through the summer of 1865. The latter part of that year he came to Rome, formed a partnership with J. C. McDonald, engaged in the hardware business, which was continued until 1887, when they sold out and retired. Mr. Ayer then accepted the office of agent of the Chattanooga, Rome & Carrollton railway at Rome, and for the Rome railway. When these roads were separated, in 1889, he was appointed superintendent of the Rome railway and held the office until 1894, when the Rome railway was bought by the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railway, and he was appointed agent and still holds the position. He has served the city of Rome as alderman for two terms and three terms as mayor.

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Mr. Ayer was married in 1852 to Miss Sarah Virginia, daughter of the late Rev. J. L. Brookes, of Edgefield district (now Aiken county, S. C.) and they have nine children: Sarah V., wife of Prof. Bothwell Graham; Laura, wife of Royal R. Smith; Julia, unmarried; William F., Jr .; Anna, unmarried; Eliza, Cornelius K., Iverson B. and Mary Celesta. He is an influential member of the Baptist church.

ROBERT BATTEY, physician and surgeon, Rome, Floyd Co., Ga., son of Cephas and Mary Agnews (Magruder) Battey, was born in Richmond county (near Augusta), Ga., Nov. 26, 1828. The Batteys are of English origin, and emigrated to Providence, R. I., as Quakers. His father was born and brought up near Keysville, on Lake Champlain, and afterward was a hotel and omnibus pro- prietor. His mother was of the same family as the distinguished Gen. John B. Magruder, of Union and Confederate fame, and the eminent Dr. Magruder of Washington city, and was a native of Richmond county. Dr. Battey's boyhood. schooling was received at the Richmond academy, Augusta, and his later education at Phillips' school, Andover, Mass. When about seventeen he accepted a situation as salesman in a store in Augusta, and subsequently went to Michigan and obtained like employment in Detroit. During his residence in that state he clerked awhile for Zach Chandler, afterward United States senator. Later he went into the drug trade in Marshall, Mich., and studied pharmacy. In 1847 he returned to Rome and engaged a while as clerk in a drug store, and then went into business on his own account, and while conducting his business studied medicine. He then attended lectures at Jefferson Medical college, from which he was graduated in 1857. He soon afterward located in Rome and commenced the practice, was successful from the start, and very soon had an extensive general practice. In August, 1872, he performed what is known to the profession as "Battey's opera- tion," involving a principle elucidative of the change of life in women. In view of his success Jefferson college conferred on him the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1889. In 1882 he established an infirmary in Rome, whose capacity is about 100, where he has successfully treated thousands of patients from both north and south. In 1891 he established the Martha Battey hospital, a benevolent institution, pro- viding for country, town and railway patients, which has been a success from the beginning, and is patronized by the United States marine service. He is an active member of the State Medical society of Georgia, of the American Medical associa- tion, and of the British Gynecological society, and is an honorary member of the Obstetrical society of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Philadelphia college of pharmacy. He has also contributed essays and articles and reports of interesting cases to the various medical periodicals throughout the country. Dr. Battey is universally admitted to be one of the most skillful members of the profession in the south. Dr. Battey was married in Rome, Dec. 20, 1849, to Miss Martha B. Smith, and they have eight children living: Mrs. Gracie C. Bayard; William C .; George Magruder; Mary; Dr. Henry H .; Anderson R .; Mrs. Bessie B. Troutman, and Mrs. E. C. Crichton, of the Atlanta business college.

WILLIAM E. BEYSIEGEL, clerk superior court, Rome, Floyd Co., Ga., son of Charles and Catharine (Hummell) Beysiegel, was born in Demopolis, Ala., Nov. 15 ,1858. His father was a native of Germany, and by trade a skilled gun and locksmith. When about twenty years old he emigrated to this country, and after stopping awhile in Chicago, came to Alabama, where he prospered in his call- ing and died in 1877. His mother was a born and bred Alabaman. Mr. Beysiegel received a good common school education, and, though but a boy, started when only twelve years old to work out life's problem. At that age he came to Rome,

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and when fifteen years old entered the office of A. E. Ross, clerk of the superior court of Floyd county, as assistant. After eighteen years' continuous service with Mr. Ross he was elected in 1891 Mr. Ross' successor, and he has been re-elected at each succeeding election. The office has been bestowed by his fellow-citizens of Floyd county in recognition of exceptional competency and faithfulness in office. Mr. Beysiegel was married Sept. 15, 1893, to Miss Louise Beysiegel, born in Ger- many, but who came to this country in 1890. He has always been a democrat, but no aspirant for office.

JOHN J. BLACK, county tax collector, Rome, Floyd Co., Ga., son of George S. and Mary (Ralls) Black, was born in Cass (now Bartow) county, June 7, 1844. His father was of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in South Carolina, and came to Georgia when a young man. He moved to Rome about 1856, where he engaged in merchandising. His mother, of English ancestry, was born, reared and edu- cated in Greenesboro, Greene Co., Ga. Mr. Black was about twelve years old when his father came to Rome, where he attended a private school taught by Prof. P. M. Sheibley, an educator of ripe scholarship and excellent reputation. He remained at this school until he was seventeen years of age, when, on the occur- rence of the war, he enlisted in the Rome light guards, Capt. Magruder, which became Company A of Col. Francis Bartow's regiment. (Col. Bartow was a son- in-law of Hon. John McPherson Berrien, was one of the most popular men in the state, was killed in the battle of first Manassas, and in commemoration of his valor the name of Cass county was changed to Bartow.) With his regiment he partici- pated in the first battle of Manassas, where he was captured, but was so fortunate as to escape. He afterward saw much and arduous service-was in many hotly contested engagements, notably the Yorktown campaign and the seven days' fight around Richmond. During the latter part of the war he was in the ordnance department. After the war he returned to Rome and engaged awhile in soliciting insurance, and in bookkeeping, and afterward traveled two years for a Louisville, Ky., house. In 1876 he was elected tax collector, and has been continuously re- elected since. He is a democrat, and has been chairman of the county executive committee. He was a delegate to the late gubernatorial convention, and sup- ported Gen. Evans. The best and most substantial attestation of his faithfulness as a public officer, and of the appreciation in which he is held, is his continuous re-election to an office of such importance and responsibility. Mr. Black married Miss Belle Findley, of Alabama, who died in 1884 after having borne him four children: Paul S., Duke, Gertrude, and May Belle. In 1886 he married Miss Ella Bailey, of Rome, of the art department of the Presbyterian college, by whom he has had three children: Marion, John J., and Ella. He is a prominent member of the Methodist church.

REUBEN G. CLARK, banker, Rome, Floyd Co., son of Joseph and Martha (Grove) Clark, was born in Grainger county, Tenn., Nov. 10, 1833, and was the first-born of seven children. His father was of English extraction, and was also born in Grainger county. The original members of the family who came to this country were farmers, but their descendants have gradually drifted into mercantile and other pursuits. On his mother's side he is of German descent. Mr. Clark was educated in the common schools of his native county, and at the age of sixteen began life for himself as a clerk in Rutledge, Tenn. In 1860 he went to Knox- ville, Tenn., and embarked in a wholesale general merchandise business under the firm 'name of Clark & Mills. In July, 1861, he enlisted in and was made captain of Company I, Fifty-ninth Tennessee regiment, and entered the Confederate service, in which he remained until the surrender. He was present at the siege of

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Vicksburg, where he was captured, but was exchanged the following September. He re-entered the service at once, bore his part in all the engagements in which his command participated, and shared all the vicissitudes, privations and hardships incident to soldier-life. In 1866 he came to Rome, and under the firm name of Clark & Harbin embarked in the retail dry goods trade. At the end of five years he formed a partnership with W. F. McWilliams, the firm being W. F. McWil- liams & Co., and engaged in the wholesale dry goods business, and continued it twelve years. He then bought the interest of his partner and organized the firm of R. G. Clark & Co., which he conducted six years, doing a business that amounted to $500,000 annually. Selling out at this time he entered upon a private banking business, which he has since carried on most successfully. In addition to his banking interests he owns a great deal of real etate, is one of the safest and solidest citizens of Floyd county, and is considered one of its ablest financiers. Capt. Clark was married in 1868 to Miss Alice Smith, youngest sister of Col. W. H. Smith ("Bill Arp"), who was born and brought up in Rome, by whom he had four children, two of whom, Rosa Lee and Carrie, are living. The mother of these died in May, 1891. In January, 1894, Mr. Clark contracted a second marriage with Miss Mary Joseph King, daughter of J. Burroughs King, of Savannah, Ga., and related to the distinguished Habersham family. In politics Mr. Clark is a stanch democrat, and is an influential member of the Presbyterian church.

FELIX CORPUT, farmer, horticulturist and merchant, Cave Spring, Floyd Co., Ga., was born in Brussels, Belgium, April 10, 1840. Ten years afterward his parents emigrated to Georgia and settled near Rome, where they lived four years, moving thence to Cherokee county, Ala., where the son remained until 1858, returning then to Rome. Accepting a situation as clerk in a dry-goods store, he was so employed until May, 1861, when he entered the Confederate service with the Cherokee artillery, of Rome, Ga., of which he had been a member two years. He served with this battery of artillery first as a private, next as corporal, and lastly as quartermaster sergeant. In January, 1865, he was appointed to the quartermaster's department, with the rank of captain, which position and rank he retained until the end of the war. After the war he entered the freight office of the Macon & Western railway at Macon, Ga., where he remained about two years, when he resigned and embarked in the coal trade, following it two years, and then engaged in the produce business, in which he continued about sixteen years. While in Macon he served two years as a mem- ber of the city council, during which he was chosen mayor pro tem., and also served the city four years as mayor. In 1886 he moved to his summer home at Cave Spring, where he has since been profitably engaged in agricultural, horti- cultural and mercantile pursuits, and usefully employed in promoting and pro- tecting the interests of the cultivation of the soil. From 1887 to 1892 he was president of the Floyd County Agricultural society, and during the same period was president of the Floyd County Farmers' alliance (being one of its organizers and its first president), and for five years was chairman of the executive committee of the state alliance. In 1890 he organized the Alliance State exchange and raised the necessary capital for its operation. He was elected president, but re- signed after placing the exchange on a working basis. In 1891 the Farmers' Alliance Co-operative company, of Cave Spring, was organized, of which he was then elected and has since continued president. He is a member of the board of directors of the state experiment station near Griffin, and is chair- man of the executive committee. He is also president of the board of trustees of the Georgia school for the deaf. In 1892 he was elected to represent his sena-

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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 96

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