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 133

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 133

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THOMAS COUNTY SKETCHES.

demanded the right to have spread on the journal his reason for so voting-that of compulsion-which, after determined opposition, was granted. In 1870 the democrats of the First congressional district in casting about for a candidate hit upon Col. MacIntyre as good material, as his disabilities had been removed by having been a member of the convention of 1865. Although this occurred during the heated and exciting reconstruction period, he was elected and served his con- stituents faithfully. He positively declined being a candidate for re-election, pre- ferring to remain in private life. Col. MacIntyre was married in Thomasville, June 26, 1845, to America Young, who is but six months his junior and was reared in Thomasville. He still enjoys her congenial and cheering companion- ship. To them six children have been born: Hugh J. (deceased); A. T., Jr., lawyer; America (deceased); M. Y., commission merchant, Savannah; W. R., rail- way contractor, Thomasville; and Daniel J., president Thomasville Exchange and Banking company. Col. MacIntyre is a Presbyterian in faith, and a demitted Mason.

JOSEPH HANSELL MERRILL, the youngest son of Joseph S. and Susan Ann (Hall) Merrill, was born in Thomasville, Ga., Oct. 12, 1862. On his father's side he is descended from the New England Puritans, and on his mother's side from the Halls of Hall, Devonshire, England, 1450; and Col. Thomas Hart- ley, a prominent soldier of the revolution, and member of the first American con- gress under the constitution, whose daughter married Dr. James Hall of Phila- delphia, one of the Hall family above mentioned. His early education was acquired at Fletcher institute, Thomasville; then he attended the university of Georgia (Athens), whence he graduated before reaching his eighteenth year, and with an A. B. degree-having been honored with a speaker's place in both junior and senior years. The first year after graduation he kept books for a cotton buyer, and then for three years taught in the institution where he passed his boyhood school days. During this time he studied medicine two years, but was dissuaded by friends, and entered upon the study of law under the preceptorship of Arthur Patten. In July, 1884, he was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with his preceptor under the firm name of Patten & Merrill. He continued associated with Mr. Patten until 1887, when that partnership was dissolved and he connected himself with Capt. Chas. P. Hansell, the firm being Hansell & Merrill. The firm is considered one of the best in the city, in fact, one of the best in that section of the state. They are attorneys for the city, and counselors for several important Thomasville interests. Mr. Merrill is conceded to be one of the most conscien- tious and clear-headed of the practitioners in that place, and is highly esteemed in other walks of life. He has been president of the Thomasville Real Estate and Improvement company for a number of years, and managed its affairs with con- summate skill and sagacity, with great benefit to the city. He is also president of the Thomasville Public Library association, and always evinces a patriotic public spirit by being connected prominently with all enterprises for promoting the prosperity of his city and county. He is a devoted, working member of the Presbyterian church, in the Sunday school of which he is a teacher and takes great interest. In politics he is aggressive and outspoken and to him is given a large share of the credit of crushingly defeating the opponents of democracy in the elections of 1892 and 1894. He was married Dec. 30, 1885, to Mattie Pittman, who died in July, 1888. He was married again Nov. 12, 1890, to Blanche Tar- water, his present wife. By his first marriage he had one child, Mattie, born Dec. 25, 1886, and by his second marriage two children: Katherine, born May 4, 1892, and Elizabeth, born June 30, 1894.

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FDWARD F. RICHTER, mayor of Cairo, fourteen miles west of Thomasville on the Savannah, Florida & Western railway, is a planter and merchant of no little prominence in that enterprising community, and has a life history quite interesting. He was born near Bayreuth, in Upper Franconia, Germany, Nov. 15, 1822, his parents being Charles Frederic and Margaret (Greiner) Richter, who reared three sons and one daughter: Edward F., Cairo, Ga .; John, forest- master, near Beyreuth, Germany; Joseph, planter, Colquitt county, Ga .; and Margaret, deceased. Ancestors of Mr. Richter's family for generations have held the office of forest-masters under the government. The eminent German author, Jean Paul Frederic Richter, to whom King Ludwig of Bavaria erected a monu- ment at Bayreuth, was a grand-uncle of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Richter received a liberal education at the gymnasium at Bayreuth, where he imbibed democratic principles, propagated in the schools among the scholars, and which led to the uprising in Germany in 1848, so that when he reached manhood he hated monarchy and resolved to emigrate to the United States. He contracted for passage from Bremen to Baltimore on the ill-fated ship "Johannes," which was never more heard of after leaving Bremen, but being detained, the vessel sailed without him and he took passage on the "Copernicus," Capt. Haeslop, which left port on April 17, 1844, and after a terribly stormy voyage of fifty- one days arrived at Baltimore. During the passage the "Copernicus" rescued Capt. Hall Robson of the brig "Peace," bound to Merimachi in Canada, from an ice-bank on which he and his crew had taken refuge after their vessel had foundered in the ice. He remained in Baltimore one year as bookkeeper for a wholesale house, when he was sent to Wytheville, Va., to take charge of a branch store. When war was declared by the United States against Mexico, an intense desire for an adventure impelled him to enlist in the navy, and he shipped on the "Potomac," Capt. Aulick, at New York. He was present at the bombardment and capture of Vera Cruz, and with the blockading forces. Being taken sick, he was sent to the navy hospital in New York on the line-of-battle ship "Ohio;" after his discharge from the navy he enlisted in the Ninth New York regiment of volunteers, but was transferred to the Tenth, but owing to ill-health kept on recruiting service in New York city under Lieut. Moore. The war being closed, he was employed as clerk in New York city; but being promised a very lucrative position in Crawford county, Ga., he embarked for Savannah for the new field, but the house had failed when he arrived in Crawford county, and he was disappointed. His education enabled him to meet the emergency, and he taught school at Oakchumpka academy, in Upson county; after this he accepted the charge of the Flint River manufacturing company in Upson county, which position he held until the company shut down on account of repairs and the high price of cotton. He now concluded to follow the independent occupation of a farmer, and removed to Troup county, but finally settled in Thomas county in 1852, on the west side of the Ochlockonee river. That country at that time was an almost unbroken pine forest, abounding in game. Finally, in 1884, he engaged in merchandizing in Cairo, in connection with his farm. During the civil war he served as a non-commissioned officer in Campbell's siege artillery, and was stationed the entire time at St. Mark's, Fla. Mr. Richter was married in Crawford county in 1849 to Miss Amanda F. Christie, an orphan living with her grandfather, the Rev. Dolphin Davis, a Methodist minister, by whom he had two sons, John F. D., a Baptist minister residing near Chipley, Fla., and Amandus F., a planter near Cairo. The mother of these children died in 1852 in Thomas county. He afterward married Miss Mary Ann Allgood,

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born in Laurens county, Ga., but residing with her sister in Thomas county, who bore him three sons: Edward M., deceased; Augustus F., farming near Pelham, Ga., and Franklin A., in Cairo, engaged in business as a general manager. In 1854 Mr. Richter was converted and baptized by Rev. Lacy J. Simmons, into the Missionary Baptist church at Big Creek. After the war, feeling called to the ministry, he was ordained, and for about twenty years he preached in Thomas, Mitchell and Decatur counties, but becoming afflicted with throat trouble, he was forced to retire from this active work. He was elected clerk of the Bowen association in 1874, and served a number of years until Cairo church withdrew from that association and joined the Mercer asso- ciation. Mr. Richter is a master Mason and was raised by Jackson lodge No. 48, in Crawford county, Ga., in 1848, and is now secretary of the Cairo lodge. He has always voted the democratic ticket.

SEABORN A. RODDENBERY, M. D., is one of the most important per- sonages in the thriving village of Cairo, in the western part of Thomas county, Ga., being a physician, merchant, planter, and since President Grant's administration, postmaster. George Roddenbery, his grandfather, came from North Carolina to Bulloch county, Ga., many years ago. The doctor's parents, Robert and Vicey (Anderson) Roddenbery, came to Thomas county and settled in the northern part early in the 20's, where they raised ten children to ma- turity, of whom the following are living: Margaret, Mrs. Robert Tuggle, Thomas county; Nancy, Mrs. Nathaniel E. Turner, Thomas county; Georgia Ann, Mrs. W. B. Hamilton, Thomasville; and Seaborn A., physician. The deceased are: Louisa, John K., Mary Ann, Elizabeth Jane and Sarah. Mr. Roddenbery was a planter and quite wealthy; he died in 1879 and Mrs. Roddenbery died in 1886. Seaborn A. Roddenbery was born in Thomas county Feb. 18, 1836. He studied medicine under Dr. Robert Bruce, Thomasville, and then attended lectures at Savannah, Ga., paying his own expenses, gradu- ating in 1860. Dr. Roddenbery then located near Cairo, but removed to the village in 1872, which has since been his home. July 31, 1862, the doctor was married in Decatur county, Ga., to Martha A. Braswell, whose parents formerly lived in Thomas county, where she was born and raised. To them were born ten children: Walter B., manager of father's business in Cairo; Bertha, de- ceased; Cora L., deceased; Robert S., Eufaula, Ala .; Seaborn A., teacher, Thomasville, Ga .; John W., deceased; Katie and Charles D., at home; and McIntyre and Blanche, twins, deceased. Dr. Roddenbery is a progressive citizen and is regarded as an important factor in all movements to promote the development of this section. He is a democrat, a member of the Baptist church, and a master Mason.

N. R. SPENGLER, planter, Boston, Thomas Co., son of Abraham and Rebecca T. (Wyche) Spengler, was born in Thomas county, Sept. 5, 1835. His great-grandfather emigrated from Germany to America and settled in York county, Pa., where the family resided when his father, then unmarried, came to Georgia, about 1810. His father married in Thomas county. Littleton Wyche, his mother's father, was one among the first settlers in this part of the state, before the county was organized, and where for safety and protection from the Indians the families lived in the forts. They had four children: Virginia, de- ceased; N. R .; Charlotte, Mrs. Graham, Sabine parish, La .; Elizabeth, Mrs. Williams, De Soto parish, La. When Capt. Spengler's father first came to Georgia he taught school and then sold goods in Thomasville. Leaving Thomas-

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ville, he went to Tallahassee, Fla., where he continued merchandising until he died of yellow fever in 1841. His mother afterward married a Capt. Newman, and died at her daughter's, in De Soto parish, La., in 1867. Thrown upon his own resources when young, he began business when sixteen by clerking for Denham Palmer, Monticello, Fla., and remained with him during 1854-5. The next two years he worked and went to school. In 1861 Capt. Spengler enlisted as a private in Company A, Fifty-seventh Georgia infantry, and served twelve months on the coast, when he put in a substitute. He enlisted again as second sergeant of Company E, Twelfth Georgia regiment, and served during the Atlanta campaign; was in the siege of Atlanta, and was in front of Sherman's army when "marching through Georgia," and again when that army was in Carolina, finally surrendering near Augusta. In consequence of the loss of superior officers he led his company very much of the time, valiantly winning the title of captain by which he is honorably known. The war over, he returned to the piney woods home he began in 1860, near where Boston now stands, and starting with nothing now owns a 600-acre plantation. In 1882 he was elected from this county a member of the house of representatives and served two years, which, he remarked, "was enough for me." Capt. Spengler was married Dec. 5, 1858, in Thomas county, to Mary, daughter of James English, of Lowndes county, by whom he has had five children: Joseph T., planter, Thomas county; Dora, Mrs. James Taylor; Rebecca Wyche, Mrs. Rushin; N. L., and Mattie, at home. His married children are all settled near him. Capt. Spengler is a home-staying, practical, fore-handed farmer. He is of the too few who believe farming in this country can be made to pay. While he has not become a millionaire (in purse), he has by industry, close attention, prac- ticing economy yet avoiding niggardliness, and cultivating intelligently, ac- cumulated a fair competency-a real, practical independence the millionaire (so called) never experiences. He has made money ever since the war, not ex- cepting the most unfavorable years. He does it by staying at home, working in the field with his hired help, and selling and buying for cash. Capt. Spengler is a democrat and a member of the Baptist church.

TOWNS COUNTY.

JESSE MILES BERRONG, merchant, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of Jesse and Susan (Chastain) Berrong, was born in Towns county, March 14, 1860. His paternal grandfather, Henry Napoleon Berrong, whose history par- takes largely of the romantic, was born in France toward the close of the last century. In early youth he was placed in a school at Bordeaux, where he was kidnapped and carried on board a merchant vessel and brought to America. On his arrival in port he escaped from his captors, and was subsequently adopted into an American family, and given an excellent education. He devoted the greater part of his after-life to teaching, and was regarded as one of the best educators of the locality and period. He was one of the best instructors that ever taught in Towns county, and there are many living, now advanced in years, who remember him and revere his memory. He was married three times, and raised quite a large family of children: was of an extremely benevolent disposition, and to the

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day of his death remembered, and fluently expressed himself in his mother tongue. He was a soldier during the war of 1812, and died some years ago, in Towns county, aged one hundred. Mr. Berrong's father was born in South Carolina, where he grew to manhood. He married Miss Susan, daughter of Benjamin Chastain, formerly of North Carolina, by whom he had fourteen children, of whom ten survive: William J .; Henry N .; John P .; Leander J .; Joseph M .; Sumner J .; (all in Towns county); Nancy A., wife of Elihu Denton, Rabun county; Lydia, wife of Solomon S. Corn, Tahlequah, Ind. Ter .; Isaac W., Clay county, N. C., and Jesse M., the subject of this sketch. The father died in Towns county in 1884, and the mother in 1885. Mr. Berrong was raised in Towns county, where he received his primary education, and completed his literary education in 1878 at Tallulah academy. After teaching school several years he engaged in mer- chandising at Burton, and also at Clayton, Rabun Co., which he continued three years. For a year following he engaged in farming near Hayesville, Clay Co., N. C., after which he came back to Hiawassee, where he has been engaged in general merchandising ever since. He is a man of strong and forceful personality, very energetic and persevering, and whatever he undertakes he does with all his might. Add to these characteristics a pleasing address, affability and courteousness, and the product is a man of influence, likely to secure any office or distinction. He is a striking type of a class of young men coming to the front in Georgia, and the south, who will control the future of the state. He is already a conspicuous figure in the politics of his section, and makes his influence felt. He is an ardent, working democrat, a recognized leader, has frequently represented the county in democratic conventions, and is prominent in the councils of the party in northeast Georgia. As a partial recognition of his merit and services he was appointed in May, 1893, United States commissioner at Hiawassee, an office he has creditably and acceptably filled and retains. Mr. Berrong was happily married March 12, 1885, to Miss Kittie, daughter of William R. McConnell, an old and highly esteemed citizen of the county. To them three children have been born: Fielding Pope, Olive Christine and May Belle. His brothers, William J., Leander J., John P. and Henry N., served through the late war, and Leander was taken prisoner and confined in the military prison at Elmira, N. Y., for a period of two years.

JOHN H. DAVIS, lawyer, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of Pinkney and Susan (Gurley) Davis, was born in Union county, Ga., Feb. 9, 1869. His great- grandfather on his father's side was a native of Virginia, and removed to North Carolina, where his grandfather, John Smith Davis, was born. The latter moved to Georgia, and died in Fannin county, Nov. 1I, 1892. His grandfather on his mother's side, Henry B. Gurley, of English descent, was a native of Habersham county, Ga., is yet alive, and lives in Union county. His wife, Rebecca, who died about 1880, was of German extraction, and a cousin of Hon. Joseph E. Brown, lately deceased, ex-governor and ex-United States senator of Georgia. Mr. Davis' father was born in Fannin county, where he grew to manhood, when he was married to Miss Susan Gurley of Union county, by whom he had six children: Rebecca Jane, school teacher; Mary E .; Joseph T .; Benjamin Franklin; John H., the subject of this sketch, and one, who died quite young. Both parents are still living in Union county. Mr. Davis grew to manhood on the farm in Union county, and was educated in the common schools of the county. When in his twentieth year he attended the high school at Mineral Bluff in Fannin county, and completed his literary education at Hiawassee high school in 1892. During this period he alternately taught and attended school; and, having

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decided to adopt the legal profession, began the study of law. In 1892 he entered the office of Hon. John J. Kimsey, Cleveland, White Co., Ga., where he finished his law studies, and at the September term, 1892, of Towns county superior court, Hon. C. J. Wellborn, presiding, was admitted to the bar. He at once located in Hiawassee and entered upon the practice of his profession, and has already secured a good general practice throughout the northeastern circuit in which some of the leading attorneys of the state practice. What he has accon- plished so far, considering that he has but just crossed the threshold of manhood, under adverse conditions, and by his own unaided exertions, are the proof of natural abilities and strong manly characteristics, which guarantee professional distinction and political preferment. Self-made and self-reliant-one of the people-he will excite admiration, awaken enthusiasm, and command respect, where one attaining the same position through favoring and encouraging advan- tages would not; so that it may be regarded as a certainty that he has a bright future before him. In 1893 he was appointed assistant postmaster at Hiawassee by President Cleveland; and the spring of the same year he was appointed county administrator, a position of trust and great responsibility, whose duties he satis- factorily performs, and which he still retains. Mr. Davis was married May 28, 1893, to Miss Callie, daughter of Thomas J. Hooper, a prominent merchant, and now the postmaster at Hiawassee. To them one child, Lennie May, has been born.

A SBURY B. GREENE, principal Hiawassee high school, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of J. C. Greene, was born at Plenitude in Jones county, Ga., Nov. 14, 1867. His paternal grandfather, James T. Greene, deceased, was born in Wilkes county, Ga. His father is a native Georgian, and was born March 1, 1831. He entered the Confederate service at the beginning of the late unpleasantness and was taken prisoner at Savannah and confined two years at Point Lookout, Md. He was married in 1856 to Miss Henrietta Hawthorne, a union which was blessed by eleven children: J. T. Greene, Atlanta; Nannie S., wife of A. C. Robey; J. E., Macon, Ga .; B. M. and C. L., Gray, Jones Co., Ga .; Asbury B., the subject of this sketch; Fannie; W. M., Macon, Ga .; and Mamie, Minnie and Julia, at home in Plenitude. Prof. Greene received his early education at Plenitude academy, and grew to manhood in his native county. He then entered Mercer university, Macon, Ga., from which he was graduated with second honor, and the degree of B. A. in 1889. Having determined to adopt the profession of teaching he accepted the principalship of Sumner high school, Sumner, Worth Co., Ga., where he remained a year. He resigned this position to accept a like one in the Jackson county normal school at Marianna, Fla., bearing with him the very highest testimonials from Mercer university and the patrons of Sumner high school. In September, 1891, he was chosen principal of the Stephens high school, Craw- fordsville, Ga., and one year afterward was elected principal of the high school at Hiawassee. Here his labors have been crowned with phenomenal success; the institution under his administration has made long strides in reputation and prosperity, and bids fair to take a front rank among the educational institutions of Georgia at no distant day. In the primary and intermediate departments and in the grammar school the usual English branches are taught, while in the high school proper, rhetoric, the higher mathematics and Greek and Latin are taught. A normal course has been added for the benefit of such as propose to make teaching their profession, and a music department established. In 1894 the total number of enrolled students was 222, showing that Prof. Greene has already established an enviable reputation as an educator, and that the people of that

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section are taking an increased interest in education. He has a large and magnifi- cent field, and it is gratifying to him to know that his versatile talents and scholarly attainments are so substantially appreciated.

WILLIAM J. HAYNES, physician, Young Harris institute, McTyierre, Towns Co., Ga., son of John L. and Rebecca (Brown) Haynes, was born in what is now Towns county, Feb. 14, 1841. His paternal grandfather, Ephraim Haynes, was a native of Haywood county, N. C., and late in life, migrated to Texas, where he died. Dr. Haynes' father was born in Haywood county, where he grew to manhood, and by his enterprise, industry and thrift, accumulated a fortune. In 1839 he moved to Georgia and settled on land then in Union, but now included in Towns county. He had a very extensive acquaintance in the border counties of the two states, and being a man of ability and great force of character, attained to and wielded a wide and strong influence. He was married three times. By his first wife, Rebecca Brown, he had the following-named children: Henry H .; Rachel L .; William J., the subject of this sketch; Nancy L .; James L .; Sumner R., and Augustus L. She died in 1857, and he married Amanda Scott of Cherokee county, N. C., by whom he had one child, a daughter. This wife died in 1872, and he subsequently married Mrs. Miriam Moore of Clay county, N. C., by whom, also, he had one daughter. He died in Towns county, July 25, 1893, aged seventy-nine years. Dr. Haynes was raised and educated in Union and Towns counties. At the beginning of hostilities during the late unpleasantness he enlisted in the Georgia state troops, and was in active service on the coast, principally at and around Savannah. In 1863 he enlisted in Thomas' legion, and in the latter part of that year was honorably discharged at Greenville, Tenn. He then began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. J. G. Stephens, with whom he was afterward associated in the practice for eight years. He has ever since been engaged in the general practice, though he has made a special study of obstetrics and fevers. He has achieved a high reputation and established a large practice, not only in Towns, but in adjoining counties. Faith- ful and skillful, conscientious, and a man of the highest sense of honor, he has the implicit confidence of the people. As a physician and a citizen he is held in the highest esteem. Dr. Haynes was married in July, 1867, to Miss Sarah M., daughter of Tilman H. and Mary E. Bryson of Towns county, by whom he has had seven children: Mary R., Sarah L., Henry H., Lena E., William J., Beulah E. and Edna I. He is a master 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. II, Part 133

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