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 117

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 117

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_MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Samuel H. Perkins, Esq. After reading law here for about a year, he matriculated at Dane Law school, Harvard university, Cambridge, Mass., from which institu- tion he received in 1855 his degree of LL. B. While he was a member of that law school Joel Parker, Theophilus Parsons and Edward G. Loring were the pro- fessors. Besides taking his regular law course, he attended the lectures of Profs. Agassiz, Mr. Longfellow, Dr. Wyman, Prof. Lowell and Dr. Holmes. Returning home in the winter of 1854 he entered the law office of Ward & Owens in Savannah and was called to the bar in that, his native city, on May 24, 1855. In due course he was admitted to plead and practice in the supreme court of Georgia, in the sixth circuit court of the United States, in the district court of the Confederate states, and in the supreme court of the United States. During the second year of his professional life he became the junior partner of the law firm of Ward, Owens & Jones. When Mr. Ward went abroad as United States minister to China Mr. Owens retired from the firm, and the Hon. Henry R. Jackson, late United States minister to Austria, was admitted as a member. The firm continued to be Ward, Jackson & Jones until Judge Jackson took his seat upon the bench as judge of the district court of the Confederate States of America for the district of Georgia. The business of this law firm was large and lucrative. On Nov. 9, 1858, Col. Jones married Miss Ruth Berrien Whitehead, of Burke county, Ga. He was married a second time on Oct. 28, 1863, to Miss Eva Berrien Eve, of Augusta, Ga., a niece of the late Dr. Paul F. Eve, of Nashville, Tenn. These ladies were respectively niece and grand-niece of the Hon. John McPherson Berrien, attor- ney-general of the United States during Jackson's administration, and afterward United States senator from Georgia. In 1859 Col. Jones was chosen an alderman of Savannah, and in the following year he was, without solicitation, nominated and elected mayor of that city-a position, writes Gov. Stephens, seldom, if ever before, conferred on one so young by a corporation possessing so much wealth, population and commercial importance. With the exception of this position of inayor he never held public office in his life, or drew a dollar of the people's money. During the term of his mayoralty the Confederate revolution was pre- cipitated, and many unusual questions arose demanding for their solution serious consideration and prompt decision. Col. Jones was a secessionist, and it is be- lieved that one of the earliest public addresses on the situation delivered in Sa- vannah fell from his lips. Declining a re-election to the mayoralty, he joined the Chatham artillery (Capt. Claghorn) of which light battery he was the senior first lieutenant. He had been mustered into Confederate service with that battery as its senior first lieutenant on July 31, 1861, and remained on leave until his labors in the capacity of mayor were concluded. The Chatham artillery was then sta- tioned on the Georgia coast. In the fall of 1862 the subject of this sketch was promoted to the grade of lieutenant-colonel of artillery, P. A. C. S., and was assigned to duty as chief of artillery for the military district of Georgia. The assignment was important and the command extensive, including some eight light batteries and nearly 200 guns in fixed position. This command was subsequently enlarged so as to embrace the artillery in the third military district of South Carolina. His headquarters were established at Savannah. Col. Jones was brought into intimate personal and military relations with Gen. Beauregard, Lieut .- Gen. Hardee, Maj .- Gens. McLaws, Gilmer, Taliaferro, and Patton Ander- son, and Brig .- Gens. Mercer, Lawton and others. He loved and took special pride in the artillery arm of the service, and preferred it to any other. In illustra- tion of his partiality for this arm of the service it may be stated that at one time a commission of brigadier-general of infantry was tendered him, which he declined. The artillery, both light and heavy, in the military district of Georgia, was remark-

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able for its proficiency. Col. Jones was chief of artillery during the siege of Sa- vannah in December, 1864, which he has so graphically described in his work on that subject, and figured prominently in the defense of the city. He was at one time in command of the field artillery on James island, during the siege of Charles- ton, and at another was chief of artillery on the staff of Maj .- Gen. Patton Anderson in Florida. Upon the fall of Savannah he was summoned by Gen. Hardee to the position of chief of artillery upon his staff, and was included in the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army, which occurred near Greensboro, N. C., in April, 1865. Late in December, 1865, Col. Jones removed with his family to New York city, and there resumed the practice of his profession, which had been interrupted by the war. Returning with his family to Georgia in the spring of 1877, Col. Jones fixed his home at Montrose, in Summerville, near Augusta, Ga., where he continued to reside up to the day of his death, which occurred on July 19, 1893. Since his return to his native state, aside from his professional labors, he has not been unmindful of his historical researches and literary pursuits. Among his later publications may be mentioned his Life and Services of Commodore Josiah Tattnall (1878), Memorial of Jean Pierre Purry (1880), the Georgia Historical Society, its Founders, Patrons and Friends (1881), the Life and Services of ex- Gov. Charles Jones Jenkins (1884), Sepulture of Maj .- Gen. Nathaniel Greene, and of Brig .- Gen. Count Casimir Pulaski (1885), the Life, Literary Labors and Neglected Grave of Richard Henry Wilde (1885), Biographical Sketch of the Hon. Maj. John Habersham of Georgia (1886), Brig .- Gen. Robert Toombs (1886), the Life and Services of the Hon. Samuel Elbert of Georgia (1887), the English Colonization of Georgia (1887), Negro Myths from the Georgia Coast (1888), and lastly, and more particularly, his History of Georgia (1883), a work of which the historian Bancroft remarked that it was the finest state history he had ever read, and that its high qualities fairly entitled its author to be called the Macaulay of the south. In addition to the publications to which we have alluded, Col. Jones has printed addresses and discourses upon a variety of topics, prominent among which are his oration upon the unveiling and dedication of the Confederate mon- ument in Augusta, Ga., (1878), his funeral oration pronounced at the capitol of Georgia over the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, late governor of the state (1883), and his address entitled The Old South (1887). In this connection we may men- tion the addresses which he has delivered before the Confederate Survivors' asso- ciation of Augusta, Ga., an organization of which he was president, which was founded and has been perpetuated largely through his instrumentality, and which is among the oldest associations of this character in the south. Col. Jones' literary labors during the year 1888, in addition to the publications already referred to, embrace three historical addresses and the memorial histories of the cities of Sa- vannah and Augusta, Ga., during the eighteenth century. Subsequently one book, his Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress (1891), and eight pamphlets, were the products of his pen. The career of the late Col. Charles Colcock Jones, Jr., LL. D., as an author and man of letters began in 1859 when his Indian Remains in Southern Georgia-an address delivered before the Georgia Historical society on its twentieth anniversary-was given to the public. Aside from his report as mayor of Savannah, it will be remembered that his Monumental Remains of Georgia, and his oration delivered on the occasion of the celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Chatham artillery, likewise appeared in 1861. The twelve years of his residence in New York and in Brooklyn were, in a literary way, very productive, and among the contributions from his pen at this time may be mentioned his Historical Sketch of the Chatham Artillery during the Confederate Struggle for Independence (1867),

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Ancient Tumuli of the Savannah River (1868), Historical Sketch of Tomo-Chi- Chi, Mico of the Yamacraws (1868), Ancient Tumuli in Georgia (1869), Reminis- cences of the Last Days, Death and Burial of Gen. Henry Lee (1870), Casimir Pulaski, an address before the Georgia Historical society on its thirty-second anniversary (1873), Antiquities of the Southern Indians, particularly of the Geor- gia Tribes (1873), the Siege of Savannah in 1.779, as described in two contem- poraneous journals of French officers in the fleet of Count D'Estaing (1874), the Siege of Savannah in December, 1864, and the Confederate Operations in Georgia and the Third Military District of South Carolina during Gen. Sher- man's March from Atlanta to the Sea (1874), Sergt. William Jasper, an address before the Georgia Historical society (1876); A Piece of Secret History (1876), and A Roster of General Officers, Heads of Departments, Senators, Representa- tives, Military Organizations, etc., in Confederate Service during the War Be- tween the States (1876). From his earliest years he evinced a love for the colla- tion and classification of primitive objects. His collection, comprising some

20,000 specimens, is one of unusual interest. It illustrates in the most complete manner the customs and occupations of the aboriginal population prior to the advent of Europeans, and before the cruel Spaniards had rudely interrupted their simple methods of life. In association with the collection are several hundred typical objects of primitive manufacture from Europe, Asia, Africa and other locali- ties. As a collector of autographs and historical documents Col. Jones occupied a distinguished place among those whose tastes were in harmony with his own. His series of Autograph Letters and Portraits of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, of Autograph Letters and Portraits of Presidents of the Con- tinental Congress, of Presidents and of Vice-Presidents of the United States, of Autograph Letters and Portraits of Members of the Continental Congress, of Autograph Letters and Portraits of the Chief Justices and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, and of the Attorney-Generals of the United States, of Auto- graph Letters and Portraits of the Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and of Autograph Letters and Portraits of the Signers of the Confederate Constitution are worthy monuments to his industry in this fascinating avenue of research. Twice complimented with the degree of Doctor of Laws, and hon- ored with membership in various literary and scientific societies both in this country and in Europe, the beloved president of the Confederate Survivors' association of Augusta, Ga., cherishing the memories which it perpetuates, and expending his latest breath in its patriotic service, gallant in war, courteous in peace, gifted, magnetic and never so happy as when celebrating the glories of southern woman- hood, Col. Jones was a commanding figure in the community in which he lived.

WILLIAM C. JONES, secretary and treasurer of the Augusta Real Estate & Improvement company, of Augusta, Ga., was born in that city on Sept. 30, 1832. His father, William H. Jones, a native of Virginia, was the first teller of the Georgia Railroad bank, in Augusta, holding that position uninterruptedly from 1837 till 1866. He was born Jan. 25, 1793, and died in Augusta on June 9, 1875. At the time of his death he was the oldest past master of Webb lodge No. I, F. and A. M., of Augusta, one of the oldest Masons residing in Georgia and the oldest member of the board of trustees of the Masonic hall, a noted edifice of Au- gusta. William C. Jones was reared in Augusta and received his education at the old Richmond academy, leaving that noted seat of learning in 1849 to accept a position in the general offices of the Georgia railroad, which he creditably filled for four years. In 1853 he went on the survey of the Savannah River railroad, thence on the survey of the Memphis & Charleston railroad, where he was engaged

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RICHMOND COUNTY SKETCHES.

until 1859, when he returned to Augusta to accept the position as superintendent of the Augusta & Savannah railroad, serving in that capacity for three years. In 1875 Mr. Jones was elected city sheriff and assessor of Augusta and held that place until November, 1891, when he was chosen secretary and treasurer of the Augusta Real Estate & Improvement company. He now holds, also, the position of chairman of the finance committee of the board of education of Augusta, hav- ing been a member of that board for the past six years, the past four as chairman of the finance committee, and was elected president of the board of education in June, 1895. He is also treasurer of the Summerville Land company, and has been a member of the board of health of Augusta since 1889. Mr. Jones was for a long while a vestryman of St. Paul's Episcopal church of Augusta, and is a Knight Templar Mason. He was happily married in 1867 to Miss Ella, daugh- ter of the late Rev. Hansford D. Duncan, a native of South Carolina. Mrs. Jones departed this life in 1880, leaving as the fruit of that union four daughters and two sons, all of whom are living, viz .: Emiline, wife of Charles Whitsell, of Colleton district, S. C .; Duncan A. Jones, Martha, wife of W. H. Tutt, of Augusta; Constance Jones; Henry, now a cadet at the Virginia Military institute, and Ella Duncan Jones.

HON. JOSEPH RUCKER LAMAR, Augusta, Ga., one of the leading lawyers of Georgia, was born in Ruckersville, Elbert Co., Ga., in 1857, being the eldest of two sons and a daughter born to Rev. James S. and Mary (Rucker) Lamar. The other children born to this union were Philip and Mary. Rev. James S. Lamar was born in Gwinnett county, Ga., May 18, 1829. His father, Philip, a farmer, was born in Edgefield district, S. C., in 1796, moved to Georgia when a young man and settled in Gwinnett county, afterward moving to Muscogee county, Ga., where he died in 1860. He was a man who stood high in his community. His wife, Mary Anthony, was born in South Carolina in 1802, bore him seven children, and died in 1861. The early life of Rev. James S. Lamar was spent on his father's farm. In 1853-54 he attended Bethany college, Brooke Co., W. Va., to prepare himself for the ministry, and was graduated from that institution in July, 1854. During the following autumn he began preaching in Augusta, Ga., and remained there in charge of the Christian church until 1875, when he went to Louisville, Ky., was there only one year and returned to Augusta, where he lived until 1884. He then removed to Atlanta, and was pastor of the church in that city until 1887, thence removing to Valdosta, Ga., to assume charge of the church there. He was happily married on June 2, 1856, to Miss Mary Rucker, daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Speer) Rucker, of Ruckersville, Elbert Co. She bore him three chil- dren, viz .: Joseph R., Philip, and Mary, who departed this life on Jan. 27, 1864. Rev. James S. Lamar was married a second time, Dec. 5, 1865, to Miss Sallie M. Ford, daughter of Dr. Lewis D. and Emily (Childs) Ford, of Augusta. They have no children. For many years he was associate editor of the "Christian Stand- ard," organ of the Christian church, and published in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also the author of several valuable published works of especial value to the Christian denomination. Joseph R. Lamar resided in the village of his birth until he had arrived at the age of nine years, when he removed with his parents to Augusta, where he received the greater part of his primary education. He was given the very best academical and collegiate training. During the years 1874-75 he at- tended the university of Georgia, Athens, thence entering Bethany college, and was graduated from the latter institution in 1877. He then entered the law depart- ment of Washington and Lee university, Lexington, Va., and was admitted to the practice of law at the spring term, 1878, of Richmond superior court. He formed a co-partnership in the practice of law with Hon. H. Clay Foster, of Augusta, and

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the firm was one of the most popular and successful in that city, noted for the exceptional brilliancy and ability of its bar. Mr. Lamar was elected to the general assembly, the first office he ever held, in 1886. In the house and on the commit- tees on railroads, general judiciary, and banks, he took high rank as a careful, conservative and able legislator, rendering such valuable service to his constitu- ents and the state that he was re-elected at the end of his term for the session of 1888-89. He took an active part in the discussion of the famous Olive bill, which sought to forfeit the charters of certain railroads in the state, and won a lasting reputation by his masterful argument of the question then at issue. In 1889 Mr. Lamar was chosen chairman of the committee of one hundred, organized to reform the city civil service of Augusta, and in that capacity rendered incalculable service to that municipality. In December, 1893, he was appointed by Gov. William J. Northen and the supreme court a member of the commission to codify the laws of Georgia, the other members of that commission being Judge John L. Hopkins, of Atlanta, and ex-Attorney-General Clifford Anderson, of Macon. The commission had in hand a work of much magnitude, viz .: The division of the civil and penal laws of Georgia, which were compiled and issued in separate volumes. The com- bined labors of this distinguished trio are receiving the well-earned commendation of the most prominent members of the legal profession in Georgia. Personally Mr. Lamar is modest and unobtrusive, almost to a fault, yet firm and unyielding when he has arrived at a decision. He is courteous and polished in manner, and has generous social endowments that make him a prime favorite with his friends throughout Georgia. Though never having sought political preferment, as such, he has always been a close observer of public affairs, and in politics is a democrat. Mr. Lamar was married in 1879 to Clarinda, daughter of Dr. W. K. Pendleton, president of Bethany college, West Virginia, and two manly sons are the fruit of that union. Young, talented and amply equipped for any position in the gift of the people of Georgia, the future holds forth much promise, and the friends of the distinguished gentleman whose name heads this sketch predict for him a still more brilliant career of honor and usefulness in the service of his native state.

LIEUT .- COL. I. CLARENCE LEVY, late commander of the First battalion, Georgia volunteers, was born in the village of Hamburg, S. C., Jan. 12, 1850, and lived there until twelve years of age, when he removed across the Savannah river to the city of Augusta, Ga. He was educated at the old Richmond county academy, and later attended the private school of Prof. John Neely. In 1869 he attended Eastman Business college, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Returning to Augusta, Ga., in August, 1871, he entered into a co-partnership with his father in the cloth- ing business, which he has conducted alone since the death of the latter in 1879. As a member of the volunteer forces of Georgia Col. Levy won much distinction, serving in the ranks and as a commissioned officer for twenty-one years. On March 17, 1873, he enlisted as a private in the Clinch rifles of Augusta. On Oct. 16, 1873, he was elected secretary and treasurer of that company, and in 1879 was unanimously elected sergeant for life, an honorary position. On May 2, 1881, he - was promoted to the office of second lieutenant of the Clinch rifles, and was made first lieutenant in 1883, being called to the captaincy of that company on Nov. 18, 1884, which position he held until Nov. 9, 1889. The retirement of Lieut .- Col. Levy, on Feb. 1, 1894, was a surprise to the officers of his battalion, as well as to the individual members of his command, and many were the expressions of regret he received from them. Even the adjutant-general of Georgia, Col. John McIn- tosh Kell, refused to accept his resignation when tendered him officially, hoping that Col. Levy would reconsider his action. But he was obdurate, and on account of pressing business would not accede to the request to remain in office. There-

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upon his name was placed on the roll of Georgia's retired officers, giving him all the rights, privileges, immunities and exemptions enjoyed by the volunteers in active service. It is but just to mention in this connection that to the efforts of Col. Levy is chiefly attributable the re-organization of the First battalion and the revival of the military spirit in the city of Augusta, there being now no less than fifteen military organizations there, of which thirteen are white companies. Mr. Levy is also greatly interested in the progress and development of the city of Augusta, and is active in its progress. He is now president of the Jewish con- gregation, an ex-director of the Irish-American Dime Savings bank, and a director of the Monte Sano Land company, the Augusta Exposition company, past sachem of Monon tribe of Red Men, past chancellor of Woodlawn lodge, Knights of Pythias, ex-captain of Augusta division, uniform rank, Knights of Pythias, secre- tary of the American Legion of Honor, president of the local board of the Columbus Building and Loan association, chairman of the board of trustees, I. O. B. B., and an active member of the Woodmen of the World, and a director Young Men's Business League. He is also an associate member of the United States Military Service institution.

WILLIAM E. M'COY, a prominent textile manufacturer of Augusta, Ga., was born in that city on Nov. 14, 1840, being a son of Charles and Frances A. (Tutt) McCoy. He was educated in Augusta, but in early life began a mercantile career as a clerk, and when the civil war began was a bookkeeper. May 11, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private in Company A, known as the Clinch Rifles, of the Fifth Georgia regiment. He served throughout the war, and was an active participant in the battle of Santa Rosa Island, near Pensacola, Fla .; the battles of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Farmington, Miss. After the battle of Murfreesboro he was detailed for duty in the quartermaster's department, where he served until the close of hostilities. After the return of peace he came back to Augusta and began to clerk for a living. His first experience in cotton manu- facturing was as bookkeeper for the Grantville Manufacturing company, Grant- ville, S. C., in January, 1868. The year following he was made cashier of that company and stationed at Augusta in the office of the president, H. H. Hickman, and remained there until April 1878, when, having resigned, he went to New York and remained there one year. He then returned to Augusta and pur- chased the Augusta waste works, which he successfully operated until October, 1881, when a stock company was formed, the name of the new corporation being changed to Riverside mills. Mr. McCoy was elected president of the new company and successfully held that position until February, 1894, when he resigned in order to accept the newly-created office of vice-president, which he now holds. The growth of the mill under his management as president was very rapid and most gratifying. At present about 250 operatives are afforded employment in the manufacturing of cotton batting, machinery waste and paper stock, being the only concern of its kind in the southern states. The phenomenal success of this enterprise is due largely to Mr. McCoy, who, from the beginning, has given it his individual attention. He is also largely interested in other corporations, being a member of the various boards of directors of the following institutions: The John P. King Manufacturing company, Augusta Land company, Georgia Rail- road bank, the Manufacturers' Insurance Mutual Aid society (which is strictly an insurance company), and the Southern Manufacturers' association. Mr. McCoy is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and has taken an active part in the masonic fraternity, being a thirty-second degree Mason, and is past grand captain-general of the grand commandery of the state of Georgia. He

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was happily married in 1878 to Mrs. Katharine Hammond Gregg, who died in 1882. Leaving the Confederate ranks in the spring of 1865, a penniless soldier, Mr. McCoy has, by his energy and persistent and determined efforts, gained a most creditable place among the merchants of Augusta. He is a thorough master of his line of business and feels a justifiable pride in its progress. He is a hard and methodical worker and possesses executive and administrative ability to a marked degree. High-minded and of the strictest integrity, his standing in Augusta, in all that constitutes good citizenship, is of the very highest order.

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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 117

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