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 134

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 134

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GEORGE W. JOHNSON, farmer, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of John B. and Lowis (Grigg) Johnson, was born in Macon county, N. C., April 17, 1841. His paternal grandfather, Robert Johnson, was a native of North Caro- lina, came to Georgia, and settled in Lumpkin county, where he engaged in mining and died some years before the late civil war. Mr. Johnson's father was born in Burke county, N. C., about 1815. He was raised in that county, and later moved to Macon county, where he lived some years; then in 1853 came to Georgia, and is now living in Union county. His wife was a daughter of Woody Grigg of Burke county, N. C., and died in Union county, July II, 1894, aged eighty-four years. To them eleven children were born: James H .; Martha C .; Asaph W .; George W., the subject of this sketch; John O .; William M .; Robert G .; Alfred B., and three who died in infancy. Mr. Johnson lived in the county of his birth until 1853, when he came with the family to Union (now Towns) county, where he was principally reared, and educated in the common schools of the county. Since attaining to manhood he has been mostly engaged in agri- cultural pursuits with satisfactory success. In 1861 he was commissioned first

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lieutenant of a militia company in his county, and in the spring of 1862 he enlisted in Company A, Smith's legion, which afterward became the Sixth Georgia regi- ment, Col. Sumner J. Smith. The July following, his health being impaired, he came home on leave of absence, and saw no more service in the Confederate army. The next August he accepted from Gov. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee a commission as first lieutenant in the Second regiment, Tennessee cavalry, United States of America, and saw very active service throughout the war. With his regiment he participated in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and Nash- ville, and in innumerable fights and skirmishes which preceded the most import- ant battles, rendering efficient and valuable service to the Union army. After the war he returned to his farm. Being a man of ability and activity, and possess- ing great force and independence of character, he gained great influence in the county. In 1868 he was elected to represent Towns county in the general assem- bly, in which he served on the committee on military affairs, and auditing com- mittee, and supported with his utmost energy and ability the legislation in aid of the Georgia Air Line railway, and represented his county with conspicuous efficiency and faithfulness. He was a member of the county board of education fifteen years, and served many years as one of the jury commissioners. He has also filled several Federal offices-particularly that of United States commissioner in the internal revenue service under President Harrison-with conspicuously good judgment and fidelity. Mr. Johnson was married July 6, 1861, to Miss Frances A., daughter of John and Alvira Johnson of Towns county, by whom he has had fourteen children: Thomas S., Mary L., John M., Ada M., Lillie L., Wil- liam M., James O., Alfred E., Edwin A., and Bessie B. (twins), all living; and George B., died in 1863; Ida V., died in 1874; Henry H., died in 1893; and one died in infancy.

SYLVESTER M. LEDFORD, lawyer, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of Jason W. and Mary (Holden) Ledford, was born in Clay county, N. C., July 30, 1864. His paternal grandfather, Jason Ledford, was a native of North Carolina, and married Elizabeth Bradley, by whom he had eleven children, all of whom are now living: Alfred, Rabun county; E. Mc., Eli, Daniel, all of Clay county, N. C .; Joseph, Union county, Ga .; Jason W., Towns county; Mary, wife of Jason Led- ford; Nancy, wife of Thomas Henson; Lery, wife of Cicero Ledford, all of Clay county, N. C .; Sallie, wife of Miles Fulbright; Matilda, wife of David Crumley, both of Tennessee. He died in Clay county, N. C., in 1885, where his widow is still living. Mr. Ledford's father was born in Macon county, N. C., about 1833, and married Mary Holden, who was born in Towns county. Eight children were born to them, of whom five survive: Sylvester M., the subject of this sketch; Ida A., wife of George W. Bradley, Towns county; Ellen, wife of L. L. Berrong, Towns county; Lillie, wife of E. H. Kinney of New Mexico, married Feb. 3, 1895, in Hiawassee; and James E., unmarried. He entered the Confederate service at the beginning of hostilities and remained until the surrender. He returned to his farm after the war and now lives in Hiawassee, Towns county. His wife died in Clay county, N. C., Aug. 12, 1876. Mr. Ledford's maternal grandfather, James Holden, of direct Irish descent, was born in North Carolina and lived in Clay county. He married Nancy Motes, and of the children born to then four sur- vive: Richard; William; Sallie, wife of Riley Jones, all of Clay county, N. C., and Jackson, De Kalb county, Ala. The parentage on both sides are purely of Irish, Dutch and English descent. Mr. Ledford grew to manhood in Clay county, receiving his early education in the common schools, then attended Hayesville college, same county, and completed his literary course in 1891 at the Hiawassee school. During this period he alternated between attending and teach-

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ing school, thus earning the means to pay his educational and other expenses preparatory to entering the legal profession-which he had determined upon. Under the preceptorship of Hon. John J. Kimsey, Cleveland, White Co., Ga., he studied law, and in November, 1892, was admitted to the bar in Blairsville, Union county superior court, Judge C. J. Wellborn presiding. He soon afterward located in Hiawassee and has already secured an extensive and valuable clientage in the northeastern circuit. He is a good lawyer and safe counselor, and is increasing in reputation and patronage, with flattering prospects of a splendid success professionally and politically He stands well with the people of the county, and his professional brethren. For two years he has been clerk of the superior court-an office he still holds-having entire charge of the affairs of the office. He is a devout and prominent member of the Baptist church. James E. Ledford, brother of Sylvester M., was born in Clay county, Nov. 5, 1866. After receiving a primary education at the common schools of his native county, he attended the Hiawassee school, where, in addition to the usual English branches, he took a course in Latin and Greek. He is now successfully engaged in teach- ing; and being ambitious, studious and persevering, and possessing unques- tioned talent, he is making rapid strides toward a front position as an educator.

WILLIAM R. M'CONNELL, retired merchant, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of John and Mary (Kimsey) McConnell, was born in Macon county, N. C., in 1825. His paternal grandfather, William McConnell, was a native of South Carolina, and the youngest of four sons of a soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war-the other three being David, Miles and John; the last named also being a soldier in the army. During the war his grandfather-then a mere boy-and his mother were driven by the tories into North Carolina and across the Tar river, and the family settled in Iredell county. When his grand- uncle, John, returned from the war to his home in South Carolina, he killed the tory captain who had driven his mother and brother from their homes. He sub- sequently migrated from North Carolina to Georgia, and settled near Gaines- ville, Hall Co., where he reared a family. Of his sons, one, Eli, was for many years principal keeper of the penitentiary, and another, John, became the pro- prietor of extensive milling interests in pioneer days, in what was then known as Cherokee Georgia. After the revolutionary war Mr. McConnell's grandfather moved to Macon county, N. C., where his father was born and reared. When grown he went to Cherokee county, N. C. (adjoining Macon, then on the west), of which he was a pioneer settler. He married Mary Kimsey of Tennessee, and reared the following named children: William R., the subject of this sketch; Elijah E .; Thomas Newton; Charles B .; Irene; James H., who served as a cap- tain during the late civil war, and died from the effects of wounds received; Joseph J .; John; and Elisha, the last named also a Confederate soldier who died while a prisoner at Chicago, Ill. He was a man of great energy, and enterprise, and for many years lived in the North Carolina counties of what was then Cherokee and Macon counties, which bordered on what are now Fannin, Union, Towns and Rabun counties in Georgia, in all of which he was well known as a successful , farmer, trader and stock-raiser. He died in Macon county, N. C., in 1867, and his widow about 1869, both quite aged. Mr. McConnell was raised on the farm, and educated in Macon county, N. C., and on reaching his majority came to Union (now Towns) county, Ga., and taught school a year, and then kept store near the present site of Hiawassee the next two years. He then went to Cherokee county, N. C., where he engaged in merchandising until 1856, when he came to Hiawassee, the county site of the then new county of Towns, which since then has been his home. He at once engaged in general merchandising, to which he added a hotel

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business, and conducted them for thirty years. Few, if any, citizens are more widely or more favorably known all over north Georgia and western North Carolina than William R. McConnell. Before the war between the states was pre- cipitated, he was a pronounced Union man; but after the ordinance of secession was passed he followed Mr. Stephens and supported the Confederate cause, a step which nearly ruined him-his home, buildings, and other property having been destroyed by incendiarism. In 1864 he was commissioned to raise a company for the Confederate service, of which he was made captain; and shortly after- ward was appointed regimental quartermaster of Col Ledford's regiment, Gen. Wofford's brigade, retaining the office until the surrender. Returning to his home he resumed merchandising, which he followed until 1890, and accumulated a large estate-particularly in lands. As far back as 1853 his attention was directed to mining, and the mineral resources of his section. He studied mineralogy, and practically acquainted himself with the country, and invested all the money he could spare from his general business in mineral lands; thereby becoming the possessor of large tracts containing deposits of mica, asbestos, copper and iron pyrites, sulphates of iron and corundum and gold. He is now engaged more especially in developing and disposing of a large portion of his large and valuable mineral properties. He has always taken an active and prominent part in all enterprises calculated to advance the development and permanent advancement of the town and county materially, educationally and religiously. It was due to his push and energy, and largely to his very liberal contributions that Hiawassee high school was established, and has become so flourishing an institution. Few men have exhibited a more enlightened judgment and liberality along these lines than he. In 1872 he was elected county school commissioner, and was consec- utively re-elected twenty years-until age and ill health compelled him, in 1892, to positively decline longer incumbency. He was by far the most active, unsel- fish and popular official the county ever had, and declined preferred compensa- tion. He has been an ardent politician, and has frequently represented the county in democratic conventions, always taking a prominent and leading part in their deliberations and campaigns. Mr. McConnell was married in 1848 to Miss Jane C., daughter of Benjamin C. Jameson, of Tennessee, a niece of Col. J. Y. Jameson, for many years, and at the time of his death, a distinguished member of the general assembly of Georgia. To them eight children have been born: Lucius D. (deceased), Feb. 16, 1868; John C., merchant, Gainesville; Aletha, wife of Thomas A. Capps, Toccoa, Ga .; E. Rose, wife of Dr. I. A. Kitron, Clarkesville, Ga .; Fernando C., born in 1856, D. D., now of Lynchburg, Va., and one of the most distinguished divines in the south. He studied theology at the Baptist Theological seminary, Louisville, Ky., and afterward graduated at Mercer uni- versity, Macon, Ga. He is a ripe scholar, and is richly endowed by nature intel- lectually and physically, and is widely known throughout the south; Amelia I., wife of O. C. Wyly, merchant, Hiawassee; Kittie L. J., wife of J. Miles Berrong, United States commissioner, Hiawassee; and Samuel, merchant, Gainesville, Ga.

JESSE M. RICE, teacher, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of Jesse and Mary L. (Deaver) Rice, was born in Cherokee county, N. C., in 1864. His paternal grandparents, Isaac and Melinda (Rice) Rice, were natives of Washington county, Tenn., where they were raised and married, and whence they moved to Cherokee county, N. C., about 1831. They had nine children: Jesse; Spencer (deceased); Joseph (deceased); Alfred; Isaac; Samantha, married William Phillips; Sallie, married Jesse Tilson; Cordelia, married J. C. Jenkins; Emeline, married R. A. Kline-all living in Cherokee county, N. C. His maternal grandparents, Rev. Reuben and Lydia (Thomas) Deaver, were natives of Buncombe county, N. C.,

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and raised eleven children: Shepherd, Ephraim, John, William, Miles, Varianna, Mary L., Alley, Samantha, Nancy and Susan. Of these Shepherd, Ephraim and William were soldiers in the Union army; Ephraim serving to the close of the war, was wounded, but with his brother Shepherd still lives in Cherokee county. Wil- liam died since the war. Mr. Rice's father was born in Washington county, Tenn., and married Mary L. Deaver, born in Buncombe county, N. C., by whom he had two children: William H., now in Missouri; and Jesse M., the subject of this sketch. He died in 1864; but his widow is still living. Mr. Rice was raised and received his early education in the common schools in the county of his birth; and on attaining to manhood engaged in farming. Inspired by a desire for learning, and acquiring a taste for literature, he determined on securing a better education, and preparing himself for the vocation of a teacher. He accordingly left the farın, came to Hiawassee and entered the high school, where he finished his studies in the English branches and mastered Latin and Greek. He is now engaged in teaching in Towns county with unusual success, bidding fair to take high rank among educators. With natural gifts of a high order, he is assiduously cultivating them; add to these a rare intelligence, courteous bearing and pleasing address, and a happy faculty for imparting instruction, and we have conditions that insure success. Mr. Rice was married in 1886 to Miss Emily Deaver, daugh- ter of T. S. Deaver, of Cherokee county, N. C.

WILLIAM S. SNYDER, farmer, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of George L. and Margaret E. (Haynes) Snyder, was born near Waynesville, Hay- wood Co., N. C., June 30, 1847. His great-grandfather, Adam Snyder, was born in Pennsylvania about the middle of the last century, was a soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war; and after the war migrated to North Caro- lina, where he settled in Haywood county among the Indians, and raised a fani- ily. He died at a very advanced age about 1857. His grandfather, John Sny- der, was born about the close of the last century in Haywood county, N. C., where he lived all his life. He married Catharine Smothers, who was born in the same county, by whom he had eleven children: George L .; Nelson; Leander; Daniel; Taylor; Betsey, wife of William Davis; Pollie, wife of Jacob Shuke; Bar- bara, deceased wife of Joseph Sorrells; Margaret, wife of Wilson Allman; Ellen (deceased); and Catharine. He died in 1868; but his widow, aged ninety-two, is still living in the county of her birth. Mr. Snyder's father was born in Haywood county, N. C., in 1828, where he married Margaret E., daughter of Rev. William Haynes, and by whom he had fourteen children: William S., the subject of this sketch; James L .; John L .; Humphrey R .; Mary Elizabeth, wife of William Hanson; Thomas N., and Charles Burton, who died in infancy; Robert G .; Sarah Jane, wife of William J. Fisher; George W .; Kizar E., wife of Elbert Ens- ley; Ulysses G .; Doctor S., and Henry, all of whom live in Macon and Jackson counties, N. C. He was a successful farmer and stock-raiser in Jackson county, where he died in 1882, and where his widow now lives. Mr. Snyder lived in Hay- wood county, N. C., until 1855, when his parents moved to Jackson county, same state, where his father spent the remainder of his life excepting two years, 1864-5, when he refugeed to Knoxville, Tenn. The family is of good old revolutionary and Union-loving stock; self-reliant, and self-sustaining; and here, where his family had cleared and settled farms when the Indians roamed the forests, and lived and prospered for generations, Mr. Snyder grew to manhood, and mar- ried, and had children born to him. Indulging the laudable ambition to give his children the best educational advantages at his command, he removed to Hia- wassee in 1892 that they might have the benefit of its most excellent school and instructors, thus manifesting his high appreciation of a liberal education, and of

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the facilities for bestowing it afforded by the institution located here. He is one of the most widely, as well as one of the most favorably known citizens in the border counties of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Mr. Snyder was married in 1867 to Miss Margaret J. Bryson, who has borne him nine children: George H., Clay county, N. C .; Robert L., and William L., Knoxville, Tenn .; Odius Erastus; Norah Florence; Claude M .; John L. W .; Arthur H .; Walter Evart, with "the old folks at home."

HOWELL C. STANDRIDGE, ex-teacher and farmer, Hiawassee, Towns Co., Ga., son of Henry B. and Satirah (Kimsey) Standridge, was born in what is now White county, Ga., in 1851. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Standridge, was a native of South Carolina, and was born about 1774. After his marriage he came to Georgia and settled in what is now White county-a pioneer-where he died in 1876. Mr. Standridge's father was born in Habersham county in 1830, where he was reared a farmer, and where he married his wife-a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Kimsey-by whom he had four children: Howell C., the sub- ject of this sketch; Junius H .; Martha C., wife of Samuel Brown, White county ; and Mary A., wife of A. Stringer. He enlisted as a private in the Forty-third Georgia regiment, assigned to the western army, and was present at Vicksburg, where he died at the close of the siege. His widow died in Douglas county, Ga., in 1892. Mr. Standridge received his primary education in the common schools of the county, and completed his literary studies at the North Georgia Agricul- tural college at Dahlonega, Ga. After leaving college, he taught school twenty years with great success and profit, establishing an enviable reputation as an educator. In the meantime he read law, and about 1880 was admitted to the bar at Cobb county superior court. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster at Hia- wassee, and served until 1889, discharging the duties of the office with fidelity and acceptability. He is a gentleman of culture, of extensive reading and infor- mation, and varied literary attainments. For the past three years his secular pur- suit has been agriculture, in which he takes a special pride and interest. Mr. Standridge was married in 1878 to Miss Mattie, daughter of Rev. Elisha Hedden, an old settler of Hiawassee, and a Baptist minister for sixty-two years. Of the children born to them five are living: Agnes, Branson, Gordon, Mamie, and Pink. Mr. Standridge has been a consistent and active member of the Baptist church for eighteen years; and in 1888 was regularly ordained as a minister, and in which capacity he has devotedly and usefully served the church since.

TROUP COUNTY.

A.D. ABRAHAM, banker, La Grange, Troup Co., Ga., son of A. D. Abraham, was a native of Virginia. His father was also a native of Virginia and fol- lowed farming all his life. Mr. Abraham was reared and educated in Virginia, and came to Georgia and settled in Meriwether county in 1855, where he engaged in farming. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company F, Forty-first Georgia regiment. He was elected captain of the company, but after serving a short time he was appointed inspector of field transportation for Hood's corps; a position he held and whose arduous duties he acceptably discharged until the surrender. He

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was a participant in the first battle of Manassas, and afterward, though not in the ranks, was in many hard-fought battles, and shared in the hardships and priva- tions of soldier life. He was in the siege of Vicksburg forty-eight days; and was in the battles of Franklin, Perryville and Chickamauga, and on duty with Hood's command all the way to Atlanta, and during the siege of that city, then went with him to Nashville; and, finally, to North Carolina, where, when hostilities ceased, lie was paroled. Only a short time ago he had in his possession the first order issued by Gen. Stephenson for the fattest mules to be killed for commissary pur- poses. The war over he returned home and resumed his farming operations. In 1871 the La Grange Trust and Banking company was organized with H. S. Wim- bish as president, and Mr. Abraham as vice-president. He sustained this relation to the bank until 1874, when Mr. Wimbish died, and Mr. Abraham was elected president; which position he held until 1892, when, on account of ill-health, he resigned-after eighteen years' service. He is a thorough business man; a man of the highest sene of honor; financially strong and an able financier; and no per- son in Troup county is more highly esteemed as a citizen than he. Mr. Abraham was married Dec. 5, 1855, to Miss Mary A., daughter of Robert M. and Sarah (Col- lier) Porram, formerly of Virginia, and among the pioneer settlers of Meriwether county. To them six children have been born: Carrie, Robert P., Nannie H., Mary L., Lillian, and Florence. Mrs. Abraham is an exemplary and useful member of the Methodist church. Mr. Abraham has a delightful home not far from the public square; his beautiful mansion being built on a natural elevation, the land gently declining on all sides, giving perfect drainage-the building itself of attractive architecture, and finished and furnished interiorly with all modern conveniences-surrounded with shrubbery and every variety of flowers. Mr. Abraham is a gentleman of very great affability of character, with a cordial hand- shake and pleasant greeting for all-so much so, that the school children covet his courteous recognition of their salute.

G. V. BODDIE, farmer, Mountville, Troup county, Ga., son of Nathan V. and Elizabeth W. (Battle) Boddie, was born in Warren county, Ga., in 1828. His paternal grandparent, Bennett Boddie, was a native of North Carolina, and lived and died in his native state. He was a soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war. Mr. Boddie's father was born near Raleigh, N. C., on a farm which had passed from father to son for generations. He came to Georgia in 1819, and settled in Warren county, where he remained until 1828, when he moved to Troup county. The country was sparsely settled, and main roads far apart, so that before he could get to his proposed home he had to cut a road to it through the woods. A rude double log cabin was the home of his family for years. His maternal grandfather, William Battle, was a native of North Carolina, and was a soldier in the revolutionary war. Mr. Boddie was raised on the farm, and after attending school when a boy in the old log school house, he was sent to a boarding school. He then engaged in farming. When the civil war began he sent a substitute to the army, but subsequently, in 1863, he enlisted in a state cavalry company and served eighteen months. The war over he returned to his farm. He

. settled on the farm where he now lives in 1858, has taken great pride in it, and made it one of the very best improved farms in that part of the state. He is one of the progressive farmers, and one of the most substantial and reliable citizens in Troup county, and, when occasion calls for it, exercises a great and salutary influence. Mr. Boddie was married in 1860 to Miss Rebecca A., daughter of Henry F. and Rebecca (Moss) Scott. Her parents were natives of Virginia, and soon after their marriage came to Georgia. Mr. Scott was a soldier in the Creek Indian war of 1836. Mr. Boddie is a royal arch Mason; connected himself with

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the fraternity in 1850, is a quite prominent and useful member, and has served in inany offices. Himself and wife are valued and influential members of the Methodist church.

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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 134

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