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. II, Part 105

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166

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. II > Part 105

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A SA C. PIPKIN. The gentleman here mentioned is an enterprising business man of Hawkinsville, and justice of the peace for that bailiwick. He has his father's name, and that gentleman was the son of Isaac Pipkin, a North Caro- linian by birth. He settled in Laurens county when it was a wilderness, and became one of the prosperous planters and merchants of that community. Five children constituted his family: Kinchen, Isaac, Asa, Nancy and Florinda. Mr. Pipkin's father, Asa, was born on Rocky creek in 1800. Being orphaned at twelve years, he was bound out to a family by the name of Huff. Cruel treatment caused him to run away from them, and coming to Pulaski county he secured employment on a mail route from Hartford, Pulaski Co., to Jacksonville, Telfair Co., Ga. He prospered and became a planter in Pulaski county, and was a man of excellent influence. He was a democrat, politically, and is said to have been one of the founders of the Baptist church at Hawkinsville. His death occurred in 1856. His wife, Margaret Smith, a native of Hartford, was the mother of ten children, and died in February of 1868. Alexander, the eldest son, lieutenant Company G, Eighth Georgia regiment, died in Richmond during the war; William J. died in an epidemic of measles in 1856, together with four others; Franklin, deceased; Mrs. Margaret Smith, and Asa Cornelius. The last-named was born Dec. 13, 1840, in Houston county, Ga. He was reared in Hawkinsville. In March, 1862, his country found in him a willing defender, Company K, of the Forty-ninth Georgia, enlisting him as a private soldier. He did his duty nobly at second Manassas, Seven Pines, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg and Spottsylvania. Three times he was wounded, but not more serious than a broken arm. In March of 1865 he was captured and spent the next three months at Point Lookout prison. Returning home in July, the problem that faced him was the maintenance of a mother and sister, and nothing to start on. He tried farming, but was not successful, and in 1872 he started a small fruit stand on the sidewalk. He made some headway and three years later moved inside. Fortune still smiled, though his progress wvas slow.

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In 1884 he had the misfortune to be burned out; no insurance. This necessitated a new start. In three years he was again doing well. Fire again destroyed his stock in 1892, but he is still doing business, and a large one. Besides conducting his store he cultivated a plantation. The foregoing evidences the pluck of A. C. Pipkin. Some men never give up. Put them on a desert island and it imme- diately begins to blossom. Mr. Pipkin is a stanch democrat, and a vorking member of the church his father founded. He has been justice of the peace for the past twenty years, and as a business man and gentleman none stand higher. He entered the matrimonial state in Houston county, Jan. 12, 1869, Eliza A., daughter of John Poole, becoming his wife. They have but one child living, Mrs. L. N. Anderson of Hawkinsville.

JUDGE A. C. PATE, an able and experienced jurist of Hawkinsville, and for thirteen years succeeding the establishment of Oconee circuit in 1872, its distinguished head is a native of Washington county, Ga., born near Sandersville, April II, 1836. He is the son of Redding Pate and his mother was Elizabeth Miller. Both of their grandfathers were from North Carolina and soldiers in the continental army during the war of 1776 to 1781. Until eighteen years of age Judge Pate remained in Washington county, acquiring an academic education in the high school of Sandersville. He then went to Dooly county, where he sold goods for his brother a year, and then took up the study of the profession which he has so honored. He was admitted in 1857, before Judge Robert Hardeman of the Ocmulgee circuit, and began practice, which he continued uninterruptedly until the war. During this event he served his country as a member of a company of Georgia volunteer infantry, being under the leadership of Gen. Joe Johnston most of the time. In January of 1866 he came to Hawkinsville and opened an office, becoming associated later with Judge L. C. Ryan. On the establishment of Oconee circuit in 1872, Judge Pate's name was presented to Gov. Smith, and his standing in the profession occasioned such an array of supporters as to secure his appointment, though comparatively a young man. Four years later he was re-appointed, and in 1881 he was elected by the senate for the succeeding term of four years. After thirteen years of continuous service, Judge Pate declined to be a candidate for office, and has since devoted his attention to the practice in Hawkinsville. As a judge he was fearless and just, and prepared his opinions with such care and legal acumen as to secure the hearty endorsement of the entire bar. But very few of his decisions were reversed by the supreme court of the state. Judge Pate was married to Miss Martha J. Williamson, a daughter of Thully Williamson of Pulaski county. She died March 9, 1887, the mother of two children: Mrs. Dr. N. P. Jelks, and Mrs. F. S. Lewis, both of Hawkinsville.

A DOLPHUS W. PEURIFOY, M. D. This gentleman is one of Pulaski's excellent corps of physicians. He was born March 12, 1830, in Henry county, Ga. His medical education was secured at the university of Pennsylvania, and in 1852 he began the practice of medicine in Bibb county. After four years' practice there he removed to Crawford county, and in 1861, located at Perry Houston Co., Ga. He spent a year in the army as surgeon of the Eleventh Georgia, but on request of Gov. Brown, who had been petitioned by his patrons he returned to his practice. For fifteen years Dr. Peurifoy enjoyed a large and remunerative practice in Perry. In 1874 he came to Pulaski county, and has since built up a fine practice. The doctor's marriage was solemnized in Crawford county in 1854, his wife having been Mrs. Boone. Only one child, Ida, was born to the marriage, who resides with her parents. Dr. Peurifoy is a lover of home, and is never happier than when about his own fireside. He votes the democratic ticket, is a

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master Mason and a member of the Baptist church. Dr. Peurifoy is the son of Caswell, a native of Jasper county, Ga. He was a planter in that county, and in the later years of his life entered the Baptist ministry. He married Caroline Underwood of Putnam county, and reared four children, viz .: Mrs. Banks of Monroe county; John, Pike county; Mrs. Sarah Peters of Alabama, and Adolphus W. The father of this family died in 1872, at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother in 1891, at eighty-eight years of age.

A LEXANDER RAGAN. A volume which purports to mention the early families of Pulaski county must of necessity give space to the name which appears above, as those holding it have been prominent in the annals of the county since the days of "Old Hickory" Jackson. Robert A. Ragan was born in North Carolina in 1798, and there remained until 1835, when he came to Houston county, Ga. After a year's residence there he settled in Pulaski, where he married and reared his family. His wife was Mary Evans, a Scotch lady, who bore him a number of children, the following of whom are living: Alexander; Robert A .; Mrs. Mary Razor; Julia, Mrs. J. M. Lancaster; Jane, Mrs. W. M. Anderson; all living in Pulaski county. The father died in 1853, but the mother survived until 1893, furnishing, possibly, the best authenticated case of extreme longevity that was ever known in the county. She was born Jan. 1, 1792, and she lived to the extremely advanced age of one hundred and one years, two months and four days. Both parents were communicants of the Metho- dist church. Alexander Ragan was born in Robinson county, N. C., March 6, 1827, and was but eight years old when the family removed to Georgia. His education was limited to the country schools. The consort of his young manhood was Sophia, daughter of H. L. Davis of Pulaski county, prominent as a judge of the inferior court and a justice in the early days of the county. By this marriage there resulted ten children, eight of whom are living, as follows: T. B .; D. L .; Alexander, Jr .; L. H .; W. P .; N. R .; Elizabeth, who is Mrs. Lowry; and Eudora, who is Mrs. C. C. Atkinson. The wife died in 1890 and Mr. Ragan subsequently married Miss Frances E. Dunn, daughter of Martha Dunn of Dodge county. One son has been born to them, Jolin Janies. Mr. Ragan is a democrat, and has been for thirty-five years a deacon in the Baptist church.

THOMAS BARTOW RAGAN was born Nov. 28, 1862, in Pulaski county, Ga., and is the son of Alexander Ragan. He was reared on the farm and in con- sequence thereof his opportunities for acquiring a book knowledge were very limited, but being of an inquiring turn of mind and possessed of a most tenacious memory, he succeeded largely in educating himself. At eighteen years of age he began clerking for J. F. Lewis & Co. of Hawkinsville. His success and use- fulness in that capacity is indicated by his continuous service for the same firm for a period of five years. With the result of the savings of the preceding five years, added to some little borrowed capital, he united with a brother and they embarked in the mercantile business, under the name of R. T. Ragan & Co. In 1889, the senior member of the firm died, and Mr. T. B. Ragan purchased his interest in the business. As at the beginning of his career as a merchant, he continued the business with the greatest success. Oct. 9, 1889, he married Miss Bell, daughter of L. D. and Julia A. Wimberly of Jones county, Ga. Two children came to bless their union: Elsie and Mattie Grace. Mr. Ragan is a member of the Hawkinsville council, a democrat in politics and a Baptist in faith. Mr. Ragan having been reared on a farm has always had much love for the farm and for stock-raising, and from his accumulations he has bought and now owns several good plantations in Pulaski and adjoining counties.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

[ AWRENCE C. RYAN, the honored and efficient judge of the county court of Pulaski, is a native of that old historic town of Milledgeville, Ga. He comes of sturdy Irish stock, his paternal grandfather being a descendant of one of two brothers who emigrated from Ireland in early colonial days. He was a native of Baltimore, Md., and settled in Warren county, Ga. He located subsequently at Milledgeville, where he became a figure of somc note in the early history of Georgia. By profession a lawyer, he was also editor and publisher of the "Georgia Argus," the first number of which appeared in 1810. His son, Chas. E., married Mary A., daughter of Samuel Buffington of Milledgeville, at whose board sat many an illustrious son of Georgia. The fruit of this union was three children, one of whom died in infancy. Mary O., is Mrs. J. B. Mitchell of Hawkinsville, and Lawrence C. is the subject of this mention. The father served the govern- ment in the postal department for many years, and as a Mason and member of the Episcopal church was much respected. Judge L. C. Ryan was born Sept. 13, 1845. He began his business life quite early at Madison, Ga., in a drug store, and from which town he came to Hawkinsville in 1860. Though but a mere boy in age and especially in stature, when the war broke out he enlisted in the service, joining the Thirty-first Georgia Volunteer infantry under Capt. Warren D. Wood. The fact that he was a youth of very slight build caused him to be dubbed "Little Georgia," a title which followed him clear through the war. The hardships of camp life proved too much for him, however, and after a severe illness at Lynch- burg, Va., he returned to Hawkinsville. His recovery being complete, he again took the field, this time in the Twenty-second battery of Georgia artillery, where he served to the close of the war. Returning to Hawkinsville, he assisted Prof. J. L. Warren in teaching school, at the same time studying the higher branches and reading law. The spring of 1867 witnessed his admission to the bar of Pulaski county, in which year he formed a partnership with Judge A. C. Pate. This part- nership was dissolved in 1884 on the election of Mr. Ryan to the present judge- ship. Judge Ryan has conducted the affairs of this office to the entire satisfac- tion of the members of the bar and the public in general, and is regarded by all as a most efficient and conscientious official. Miss Eleanora Bozeman, daughter of C. M. Bozeman of Pulaski county, became the judge's wife in 1868, and to the marriage five children have been born: Frank B., Mary E., Anna W., Chas. B., and Lawrence C., Jr. Judge Ryan is a respected member of the Methodist church and is of course a democrat. Besides the dutics of his office, he is inter- ested in fruit-growing, having a large fruit farm in pears, peaches and grapes, which yield him a good return for the capital invested.

ANTON SCHNEIDER, a respected citizen of Hawkinsville, is a native of Prussia, and was born Oct. 1, 1825. In youth he was apprenticed to a cabinet- maker and four years were consumed in learning the trade. At that date, in that country it was necessary that a mechanic should travel throughout the various provinces before he became a master mechanic. Therefore at the conclusion of his time of service, Mr. Schneider traveled through Germany. When war broke out in Baden he joined the forces of the revolutionists known by the name of the forty-niners. After the defeat of his party, they were exiled from Ger- many. Mr. Schneider was given passage from Banma in Switzerland by way of Havre de Grace to New York on the ship "Statesman," which landed in New York, July 13, 1850, a stranger in a strange land and without a dollar. Through the assistance of the editor of a German periodical of that city, he and his companions obtained a gift from German citizens of a small amount and soon found lodgings. His worldly possessions at that time were contained in a small

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box which was carried under his arm. Being a skillful mechanic he soon secured employment and remained in New York for eight years In the spring of 1858 he journeyed southward, and obtaining employment at Savannah, Ga., he located there. During the epidemic of yellow fever which followed, he moved to Macon, Ga., and afterward located at Hawkinsville, Ga. This was in the summer of 1860. Here he formed a partnership with Mr. Albert Starowski, which continued until 1883, when the latter met a violent accidental death. Much sorrow was felt at the death of his partner, unusual affection having existed between the two. In 1861 Mr. Schneider enlisted in Capt. O. C. Home's company, Tenth regiment, Georgia volunteers, and went to the front to do battle for his adopted country. Here his skill as master mechanic was employed in the Williamsburg hospital and about the headquarters of the officers. He was among the bravest at the battle of Seven Pines and at Second Manassas. He was taken prisoner at South Mountain and confined in Fort Delaware. After three weeks' close confinement he was paroled for three months. He then went to Richmond, where he did good service as a pattern-maker in the Confederate gun shops. Here he remained until the close of the war and the advent of the Federal troops found him an interested spectator. From Richmond he returned to Savannah on board the steamer "Clyde," which also contained the family of the Confederate President Davis, who were returning south from Fortress Monroe. He then came back to his adopted home at Hawkinsville and resumed business as cabinet-maker and dealer in furniture. In 1875 he became interested in grape culture, and with his partner, Starowski, established the Pine Level vineyard near Hawkinsville, employed a skillful wine-maker, sent to Europe for a cooper to prepare the necessary vessels and built up an industry of large proportions. Mr. Schneider was married on Sept. 16, 1885, to Miss Matilda Markert, an American lady of German descent. From this union, which proved to be a happy one, but one child, Miss Minnie May, is now living. Mr. Schneider has been successful in all his undertakings and is today worth about $50,000, all of which, as well as his enviable reputation, he has gained by industry, honesty and fair dealing. He is a liberal democrat and votes in accordance with the dictates of his own reason.

AUGUSTUS A. SMITH, M. D., an eminent physician of Hawkinsville, was born July 15, 1847, in Telfair county, Ga., and was there reared. He acquired a common school education and attended Savannah Medical college, receiving his diploma in 1875. He came to Hawkinsville, Ga., and at once commenced a large and lucrative practice. He married Miss Elizabeth Hodge, sister of M. T. Hodge (sketch of whom appears elsewhere), Nov. 25, 1879, at Henderson, Ga. Their family consists of eight daughters. Dr. Smith has filled the chair of president and vice-president of the Georgia Medical association, occupying the former in 1892-3. Although he has interests in many enterprises he devotes his personal attention to his profession. He is a member of the Baptist church and a democrat, but aspires to no political prominence. He was appointed by Gov. Atkinson a member of the state board of medical examiners, and at the organiza- tion of the board, at Atlanta, in January, 1895, was chosen chairman, which posi- tion he now holds.

FMMONS C. SMITH, fancy stockman and breeder, Hawkinsville, Ga., is one of the best known men in his line of business in the wire-grass region. His splendid and excellently situated stock farm is the resort for all lovers of fine animals, of which he owns a large number, well bred and well trained. Mr. Smith takes an active interest in the race track and has trained a number of the horses

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now making fine records on the eastern tracks. Mr. Smith comes honestly by his love of horses, having been reared in old Kentucky state, where he was born at Newcastle, Henry Co., Feb. 4, 1861, the son of Samuel and Maud (Emmons) Smith. His education was obtained in the common schools of the day and at the Lexington business college, where he graduated in 1880. Mr. Smith favors the democratic party in politics, and affiliates with the masonic fraternity, Emi- nence lodge, Eminence, Ky. The marriage of Mr. Smith occurred in Talmouth, Ky., where he wedded Miss Mamie Monroe, who is the mother of three bright boys: Harry Samuel, Emmons Carlisle, Jr., and Herbert Monroe.

JAMES LUCAS WALKER. The gentleman here mentioned is one of Pulaski's most experienced and extensive planters, and a gentleman of prominence in the public and social life of the county. He was born July 18, 1838, in Pulaski county, and at nineteen began his life as a planter. In 1861 he entered the army as a private of Company E of Phillips' legion, and was in all the leading battles fought by this celebrated detachment of the army. And though he had numerous close calls from Yankee bullets, which pierced his clothing in many instances, he returned unhurt. Dec. 13, 1873, Emma P. Lamkin became his wife. But one of the two children born to her lived to maturity, a daughter, Nellie, upon whom has been lavished the most devoted attention, and who is a most refined and educated young lady. Mr. Walker is one of the most prosperous planters of his section. He devotes much attention to the raising of fine stock and has been successful to a marked degree. He is a democrat, but courts no political distinction. The fact that Mrs. Walker is a member of a very old and honorable family of Georgia will excuse the mention of them in this sketch. The original family name is peculiar in construction, being of Welsh origin. Lewis Abb Lewis Lamkin was directly descended from the original Welsh emigrants, and was born in West- moreland county, Va., within a few miles of the birthplace of Gen. George Wash- ington, in 1751. His sons were Samuel, Lewis Abb Lewis, the founder of the Lamkin family in Texas; William, who died without issue, and John Lewis Lam- kin. The father of these children passed his life in Nash county, N. C., and was a most distinguished citizen. John Lewis Lamkin was born in Nash county, N. C., Jan. 15, 1784. He married Penelope Cain, a native of the same county, and they became the parents of Emily, who married J. L. Wyche; Eliza, died in youth; James Lewis, Elmira and Charity. In 1817 the family removed to Georgia, where they settled in Telfair county. In 1857 they came to Pulaski. James Lewis Lam- kin was born in Nash county, N. C., Dec. 8, 1817. He married Sarah Dillard, a daughter of Nicholas P., an early settler of Twiggs county, and bore him three children: Mrs. J. L. Walker, Mrs. O. A. Horne and Mrs. Dr. N. P. Jelks, the latter deceased. The father of these children was a man of very decided literary merit, and was a citizen of unusual usefulness and prominence in Pulaski county during his lifetime. He died in 1887 and his wife in 1890.

PUTNAM COUNTY.

ADAMS. This family is one of the most prominent and influential in Putnam county, and so intimately connected with its moral and social advancement that no history of the county would be complete which omitted to make mention of it. Honor and uprightness of character and purpose are the foundation on

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PUTNAM COUNTY SKETCHES.

which its influence has been established, and by which its strong individuality has been impressed on its conspicuously intelligent population. In all the elements of exalted citizenship Putnam county takes a front position among her sister counties, and this is due to the precept and example of families like this. Unam- bitious of prominent political position, though sometimes reluctantly complying with urgent public demand, the Adamses have been content to exert their influence through irreproachable private life, and being useful in the personal cultivation and inculcation of Christian principles. Tradition connects the family with the two presidents, though this Putnam branch does not positively claim such connec- tion. The first reliable knowledge of the family ancestry begins with John Adams, of Tar River, N. C., who migrated thence to Greene county, Ga., soon after the revolutionary war, where he married and raised three sons. Two of these, Rob- ert and John, raised families in Greene county, while the third, William E., is the immediate progenitor of those in Putnam county. He was born in North Carolina in 1786, and at the age of twenty years married Mrs. Mary A. (nee Rosser) Harris. In 1808 they bought 200 acres of land on Oconee river, in the eastern part of Putnam county. There they raised the following family, all of whom are dead excepting Benson W. Adams, of Eatonton: Rebecca, wife of A. D. Gatewood, died at eighty-three years of age; John F. and David R., died at sixty-seven; Mary A., wife of James A. Wilson, died when thirty years of age; Martha W., wife of Dr. Green Johnson, died when sixty-nine years of age; William, died at twenty; James Monroe, died at twenty-eight; Thomas J., died at eight; Benjamin F., died at sixty-seven; Andrew J., died at three; Benson W., living, Eatonton, Ga., and Asbury A., who died at the age of sixty-two years. Of the father of this family it can be said that while he did not become wealthy nor distinguished in public life, he, beginning life in a dirt floor log cabin, raised and educated a large family, settled them about him as they reached maturity, and meanwhile increased his plantation to 1,400 acres. He was very well educated for the times, and at different periods of his life taught school. He was a soldier in the last war with Great Britain-carrying a wound in the hand he received while in the service, and for one term represented the county in the general assembly. In his home life he was a rigid disciplinarian and was a faithful and consistent member of the Methodist church, of which he was a local preacher. Benson W. Adams, only survivor of the family of William E. and Mary A. (Rosser) Adams, was born in Putnam county, April 27, 1825, and was first married in 1849 to Miss Ann, daughter of John Hudson, who bore him two children: John W., clerk of Putnam county superior court, and Ellis H., physician, Newborn, Newton Co., Ga. Their mother died in September, 1855. His second marriage was to Mrs. L. E. (nee Marshall) Leiter-still living-daughter of Rev. Jabez P. Marshall, also a prominent Baptist minister, and granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Marshall, also a Baptist minister, and said to have been the founder of the first Baptist church in Georgia. Four children blessed this marriage: Leonora, widow of Dr. Arthur Dean, Atlanta; Florence A., wife of Col. James A. Noyes, Atlanta; Eu- gene F., superintendent R. & D. R. R. shops, Atlanta, and Angelyn T., superin- tendent of Boulevard public school, Atlanta, was married June 27, 1895, to Rev. A. A. Marshall, of Atlanta. In March, 1862, when his oppressed south-land called her sons to her rescue, he enlisted in the Forty-second Georgia regiment and served in the western army to the close of the war, most of the time as quar- termaster. He was with Pemberton at the never-to-be-forgotten siege of Vicks- burg, after which he came east, and when Gen. Johnston surrendered he was at Washington, Ga., where by virtue of his office he had charge of affairs when the specie train and the late president of the Confederacy arrived. His manage-

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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. II, Part 105

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1166

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166