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 146

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 146

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

986

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

by his own determined effort he has acquired an extensive store of knowledge, and his superior intelligence and ability are recognized wherever he is known. The fact that in spite of discouragements and restricted privileges he has risen from a comparatively poor boy to wealth and influence is a result almost wholly due to his honorable and upright life. Devoting himself unselfishly to the ad- vancement of every movement and every cause calculated to promote the material, educational and religious interests of the city and county, he enjoys the unquali- fied esteem of the intelligent community so highly favored by his membership.

ARTHUR MERRILL KNIGHT, a prominent business man of Waycross, Ware Co., Ga., is of New England ancestry on the paternal side, being the grandson of Peter M. Knight, a Maine ship-builder; possessed withal of much literary taste and ability, as is attested by a unique volume, Gems of Poetry, written and beautifully illustrated with the pen by his own hand in 1832-a volume carefully treasured and dearly cherished by his grandson. Albion Williamson Knight, the son of this poet, was born in Brunswick, Me., Jan. 5, 1823. Having studied the healing art he began its practice at White Sulphur Springs, Fla., his practice constantly growing in extent and successfulness. Having remained here about twenty years, he moved in 1871 to Live Oak, Fla., whence after a year he moved to Jacksonville, where he remained until his death, Sept. 6, 1889. He had been health officer for fourteen years, which to some extent crowded out his other practice; was secretary of the State Medical association, also of the masonic lodge, and was an elder in the Presbyterian church. Dr. Knight's wife was Miss Caroline Demeré, a descendant of one of two brothers of that name who came over with Oglethorpe and settled at Frederica on St. Simon's island, where Mrs. Knight was born. Her brothers were in the southern army during the war. Arthur Merrill Knight was the fifth son of Dr. and Mrs. Knight, and was born at White Sulphur Springs, Fla., Nov. 16, 1859. His early training was received in the common schools of his native town and of Live Oak; at Jacksonville he attended a parochial school, supplementing the knowledge there acquired by private study. In 1876 he began clerking for his brother, with whom he remained about a year and then engaged with M. P. Moody. In 1878 he clerked for H. P. Holbrook, and the succeeding year formed a co-partnership with E. S. Hull. In less than a year he sold out. Subsequently he occupied various clerical posi- tions until in 1885, when he took a six months' trip to Colorado for the benefit of his health. In November, 1886, he accepted the position he now holds as passenger and freight agent for the Plant system at Waycross. In this position he has had to do largely with the growth and development not only of the railroad but also of the city of Waycross. He is intensely interested in local public affairs and development in general, and carries many responsibilities. He is a stock- holder, secretary and treasurer of the Waycross Herald Publishing company, also of the Waycross Barrel Manufacturing company, and is president of the bank of Waycross. He owns some real estate, and is also doing a real estate and insurance business. In 1889-90 Mr. Knight was city alderman from his ward, and in 1891-92-93 was mayor of the city. As Episcopal church warden he appointed the building committee which is now completing a neat rectory costing $1,500-in addition to the land, a part of the church realty, which is worth about $1,000. May 6, 1884, Mr. Knight was married to Miss Susan Fatio Daniel, daughter of Col. James Jaquelin and Emily (L'Engie) Daniel, of Jacksonville, Fla. Col. Daniel, who was widely known for his large-hearted benevolence, died in 1888 of yellow fever, a sacrifice to his care and sympathy for the suffering, to whom he devoted himself. The mother of Mrs. Daniel, Mrs. Susan Fatio

987

WARE COUNTY SKETCHES.

L'Engle, of whom her granddaughter, Mrs. Knight, is a namesake, died in Jack- sonville March 5, 1895, in the eighty-ninth year of her age. Mr. Knight and his wife have been blessed with two sons, Jaquelin Emile and Arthur Merrill.

THOMAS ELIJAH LANIER, one of the active, intelligent men of business of Waycross, Ware Co., was born in Screven county, Ga., July 31, 1845. He is the eldest son of Robert F. Lanier, a Methodist preacher, a member of the south Georgia conference, by which he was sent, in 1857, to Clinch county, then very sparsely settled, where he lived upon a small farm near the present site of Homerville. In 1863 he removed to Lowndes county, near Ocean Pond, on the present site of Lake Park. The son, Thomas E., being a poor boy, and reared on the farm, had but limited educational advantages. When but seventeen years of age he volunteered as a soldier in the service of the Confederacy. After two years, at the storming of Fort McAllister, December, 1864, he was captured and sent to Point Lookout, Md., where he remained a prisoner until after the close of hostilities, receiving his discharge June 28, 1865. Returning home Mr. Lanier found his father's property gone, so hc went to work on the farm to help restore and replenish it. Jan. 11, 1866, he married Miss Sarah Strickland, daughter of Henry Strickland, of Ocean Pond; who died in Jasper, Fla., in November, 1881. After his marriage Mr. Lanier rented a small farm and engaged in farming, plowing with oxen for lack of means to purchase horses or mules. After three years, his health failing, he sold out for something over $1,000, and having a natural genius for mechanics, moved to Valdosta and learned the art of watchmaking of James M. Gray, with whom he remained three and a half years. He then bought out his employer and set up for himself, and by his diligence and reliability soon built up a fine business. Then came reverses-fire, and severe illness-so that he was reduced almost to his starting point. Accepting what he could get for his property he sold out and moved to Jasper, Fla., where for four years he carried on the mercantile and saw-mill business, but without success. In 1883 he returned to Georgia and settled in Waycross, and entered into the business for which he was so much better adapted. Although he began without capital and on a small scale, merely as a repairer of watches and jewelry, he little by little added to his stock, gaining meanwhile the confidence of the people, until his success has been almost phenomenal. Now, after little more than ten years, he is owner of one of the largest and best jewelry establishments in southern Georgia; and having already gained a competency can retire from active business whenever he sees fit. But being still in the prime of life, only in his fiftieth year, liale and strong, and bidding fair to live to a ripe old age, it is to be presumed that Mr. Lanier will continue to keep abreast of the activities of the growing city in which he lives. When he came to Waycross it was but a struggling village of about 600 inhabitants, where homes were offered free to settlers by the generous founder, Dr. Lott. Mr. Lanier at once entered heartily into every cntcrprise whose object was the improvement of the town, and especially schools and churches, and the laying out and drainage of the city. He served several times on the board of aldermen, and was one of the committee who framed the present city charter. He was chairman of the building committee of the new Methodist church, of which he is a member. He was active in cstablishing the public school system, and started the first school of importance. Mr. Lanier is a strong advo- cate of temperance and has labored hard to kecp whisky out of Waycross, and, in fact, to promote everything which will tend to elevate the character of the community, and to oppose everything debasing. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, holding the highest office in the gift of the lodge. Mr. Lanier has

988

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

dealt considerably in real estate, and has erected several dwellings and other buildings. His life has been temperate, honorable and industrious, and he enjoys the confidence and esteem of the whole community.

JOSEPH PARKER LIDE, one of Waresboro's merchants, and the present incumbent of the postoffice, was born in King's Mountain, N. C., July 18, 1863. His father, Robert Hopkins Lide, was a farmer, who entered the-service of the Confederacy, and early in the war was put in the Ore Banks iron works, for the protection of which 100 men were detailed. Mrs. Lide was Miss Rachel Parker, the daughter of Cortez Parker, for fifteen years-until his death-super- intendent of King's Mountain gold mine. Young Lide, having obtained a limited education in the common schools, at eighteen years of age began life for himself as a clerk. After a year in this employment he engaged as mate on the steamer Santee, on the Peedee river; and a year later he went to Florida, where for two years he worked in a saw-mill, and then spent three years as a sailor on the west coast of Florida for the Naples Land Improvement company. After two years more of clerking and saw-mill work he came to Waresboro and accepted a situation as salesman with J. M. Spence & Co. In 1892 Mr. Lide entered into business on his own account, carrying on a general merchandise establishment, in connection with which he also served as postmaster. He has also been a member of the council, and mayor pro tempore. He is not a politician, although interested in whatever will be for the benefit of the city, and a strict democrat. Mr. Dide is a member of the Metodist church, andalso belongs to the Knights of Pythias. April 10, 1892, he married Miss Lavina Anna Miller, daughter of David J. and Serena (Sweat) Miller, of Waresboro. Mr. and Mrs. Lide have one son, Robert Miller.

THOMAS MILLER M'CONNELL, Manor, Ware Co., Ga., second son of William Scott and Laura Mary (Blakely) McConnell, was born in Williams- burg district, S. C., April 3, 1860. His father, who was a farmer, a naval store keeper, and a justice of the peace, was born Sept. 26, 1827. He served in the Confederate army as a private, and received a wound in the right side, which ultimately resulted in his death, March 19, 1881, at the age of fifty-four years. There is nothing known of Mr. McConnell's grandparents on his father's side more than that they always lived in commanding prominence in their community. His grandfather on his mother's side, William H. Blakely, was a teacher, and his grandmother, Carthenia Blakely, was a lady that commanded the highest respect from all who knew her. Mr. McConnell's opportunities for education in his boyhood days were but limited; however, he continued to add to his stock whenever able until he became intelligent and well informed. At the age of twenty years he left home, carrying with him as his only legacy an iron will coupled with an ambition that would make any millionaire proud if he could only realize its actual worth. At this time he engaged in the turpentine business in the woods of Georgetown county, S. C., as a laborer, where he remained about three years. Leaving there in 1883 he moved to Echols county, Ga., and followed the same business with Capt. J. B. Withers for a short time, then he moved to Manor, Ware Co., working for the same employer for about a year. He then bought out the business and continued it in his own name until 1891, when two of his brothers, W. G. and J. E. McConnell, became associated with him as partners. In the meantime he had bought a turpentine farm near Waresboro, Ga., and established a new farm at Blunt's Ferry, Fla. He realizes from these turpentine farms an annual production of about 125,000 gallons of spirits of

989

WARE COUNTY SKETCHES.

turpentine and about 7,500 barrels rosin, and employs about 300 men and fifteen teams. He owns and leases about 34,000 acres of land, and has, besides, a good farm at his home. In addition to this he owns a pear orchard of 1,200 bearing trees at Naylor, Lowndes Co., Ga. He carries on a general mercantile and supply business, and has done a great work in building the magic little town of Manor, as well as being a source of help to the surrounding country. He owns some bank stock and a large interest in the Florida Land and Improvement company. He has a $20,000 paid up life insurance policy, and owns considerable stock in the Interstate Building and Loan association of Atlanta, and is president of the board of his town. Mr. McConnell is a master Mason, and a member of the Methodist church in Manor. Mr. McConnell was married to Miss Agnes Frazier Britton, daughter of Thomas Nelson and Rebecca Ervin (Gordon) Britton, of Chappel, Georgetown Co., S. C. Mr. Britton was born in 1812, died in 1892, and was a captain in the Confederate army-having charge of a company on the coast. He was a man quite prominent in public affairs. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell are the parents of four daughters: Sue Ethel, born Jan. 1, 1886; Rubie Edith, born April 8, 1888; Laura Scott, born Jan. 10, 1889; Frazier Pearl, born Nov. 27, 1891.

JOHN CLOUGH M'DONALD, the youngest son of Capt. McDonald by his first wife, was born Nov. 7, 1859, on his father's farm near Waresboro. Having obtained a good common school education, in 1877 he entered Moore's Southern Business university, Atlanta. Determining to follow the legal profession he went to Savannah and read law under Hon. Rufus E. Lester, present member of congress from the first district. On June 18, 1880, although he lacked several months of having reached his majority, was admitted to practice. Since that time he has devoted himself to his profession with persevering ardor, and has met with constant success, his practice being extensive not only in his own county, but also in those surrounding it. Although his chief and constant attention has been given to the duties of his profession, political preferment has not been want- ing, but has come to him unsought. In 1885 Mr. McDonald was mayor of Way- cross, was at one time chairman of the congressional district committee, and for several years chairman of the county democratic committee. Mr. McDonald is

held in the highest esteem by the citizens of Waycross, and by a large circle of influential friends. He is a member of the Georgia Bar association and in 1884 was admitted to practice in the supreme court. Mr. McDonald was married June 28, 1894, to Miss Annie, daughter of Capt. A. W. Hilliard, formerly of Waycross (until 1880), but now of Dinsmore, Fla. Capt. Hilliard belongs to one of the oldest families of Ware county, and is recognized as one of the most straight- forward and upright of men. Mr. McDonald is a Knight of Pythias, and has filled all the local offices in the gift of the order, also that of representative to the state lodge. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald are working members of the Methodist church.

JOHN CLOUGH M'DONALD, Waycross, Ware Co., Ga., is of Scotch descent, a grandson of Dr. Randall McDonald, a native of the Isle of Skye, who came first to South Carolina, later to Georgia, where for many years he carried on his large plantation, together with a successful and extensive practice. He served for some time as senator in the general assembly and died in December, 1864. His wife was Miss Catharine Miller, and their son, William Angus, was born Feb. II, 1817, in Bulloch county. He received a good common-school education and served for four years in the Indian wars. For many years he has been an im-

990

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

portant character in the political affairs of his county; he was representative in the years 1842, 1847-48, 1877, 1888-89; he was state senator in the years 1856, 1867-68, 1882 and 1883, and was sent to the constitutional convention of 1877. At the outbreak of the war Mr. McDonald raised a company which formed a part of the Twenty-sixth Georgia regiment; later he was promoted to the position of lieutenant-colonel, but during the Cold Harbor engagement he received a wound from which his recovery was not perfect, so that he was compelled to resign, but he never lost his interest in his associates in the midst of the dangers and trials of war, and devoted much of his time and means to the relief of their families, and of the wounded. In 1841 Mr. McDonald married Miss Tabitha, a daughter of Capt. James A. Sweat, who died in 1859, leaving five sons and five daughters, the youngest being John C. McDonald, the subject of this sketch. In 1860 Col. McDonald married Miss Mary Dean, of whom death bereaved him in 1872. She was the mother of five sons and two daughters. Col. McDonald's third wife, Miss Rebecca Thompson, is the daughter of a well-known minister, who is also a successful planter. To them have been born one son and four daughters. Col. McDonald has been a resident of Ware county for sixty years; on his present farm thirty-nine years; is hale and hearty, bidding fair to become a centenarian. He has twenty-two children, fifty-eight grand-children, ten great-grandchildren, and has moreover reared a number of orphans, fitting them for lives of usefulness and honor, and long after he has passed from earth his influence will be felt in ever-widening circles. He has been a Methodist for forty-nine years, and a preacher thirty-five years, and is also a member of the masonic fraternity.

JOHN HENRY MILLER, Manor, Ware Co., Ga., eldest son of Ezekiel Stephen and Eleanor (Dyers) Miller, was born Jan. 24, 1835, on Glenmore farm, four miles from his present home, the region being then inhabited chiefly by Indians. His father, a farmer who served in the Seminole war and died in 1863, was the youngest of the nine children of William and Amy (Barker) Miller, the latter a native of Ireland, the former an Englishman who came to America prior to the war of the revolution, in which he was a soldier. Passing his boyhood and early manhood on that backwoods farm, in a sparsely settled community, John H. Miller had but few educational privileges, only attending school about four and a half months. Early in the war, Oct. 1, 1861, he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Georgia regiment, in what was then Company H, later, upon re-organization, Company K. He was under Gens. John B. Gordon and Evans, and in a number of battles: Seven Pines, both battles of Manassas, both at Harper's Ferry, Fred- ericksburg, Sharpsburg, Warrenton, Spottsylvania, Malvern Hill, Lynchburg, Cold Harbor, Cedar River, Monocacy, Gettysburg and Fisher's Hill. At this last, Sept. 22, 1864, he was captured and sent to Point Lookout, Md., where he was held until after the surrender, when he was released June 18, 1865, arriving home July II. He returned to his farm work for the remainder of that year, then moved to Clinch county, where he also pursued the same occupation. After five years he moved to Manor, Ware Co., his present home, where he continued for some vears to devote himself to farming and gardening. The present town of Manor has come into existence and grown to its present size since Mr. Miller made his home within its borders. For twenty-two years he has been justice of the peace, and is postmaster. Mr. Miller is a deacon in the Primitive Baptist church, and has been a member of the masonic order. Dec. 28, 1865, he married Mrs. Lavina Lee, daughter of Richard A. and Lavina (Newman) Bennett. Mrs. Miller has a son and a daughter by her first husband.

99I

WARE COUNTY SKETCHES.

FRANK C. OWENS, now a retired merchant of Waycross, Ware Co., Ga., is the youngest of the four children of John and Floeyann (Sheffield) Owens, and was born at White Sulphur Springs Oct. 14, 1864. His father was a success- ful planter at Evergreen, Fla .; was also prominent in public affairs, and held several important positions. Young Owens attended school in Saint Mary's, Ga., and later took a partial course at the South Georgia college, Thomasville, Ga., and at Moore's Business university, Atlanta, Ga. Before completing his educa- tion he was with J. & T. Kydd at Fernandina, Fla., and from 1882, for seven years, he was traveling salesman for Lippman Bros., of Savannah, Ga., during which time he engaged in the mercantile business in Oviedo, Fla., and in Waycross, Ga. In 1889 Mr. Owens gave up traveling and settled in Waycross, his own affairs having grown to such magnitude as to demand all his attention. A year later the stocks of his two stores were destroyed by fire, and Mr. Owens then purchased the land upon which he erected a handsome brick block, known as the "Owens Block," containing ten stores and the Phoenix hotel of forty rooms. Immediately upon the completion of his block in '91, Mr. Owens started four of the stores, in which an excellent business has been carried on ever since. Mr. Owens is also the owner of valuable real estate in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Thomasville, Ga. In May of 1894, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected president of the Bank of Waycross, which position he resigned in anticipation of retiring from business, which he did in June of '95. He is an enterprising and useful citizen, whose worth is appreciated by his fellow-townsmen. In 1890, on New Year's day, Mr. Owens married Miss Theo Wright, whose father, Capt. A. B. Wright, of Greenville, S. C., served in the Confederate army throughout the war.

THOMAS SPALDING PAINE, a leading merchant of Waycross, Ware Co., Ga., is the youngest son of Charles Joshua and Ann (Johnson) Paine, the former a prominent physician of Georgia, and for a number of years dean of the physicians of the state, whose duty it was to examine all physicians before license to practice could be given. Dr. Paine died in 1859. His son, Thomas S., who was born in Milledgeville, April 17, 1839, was educated in the public schools of his native city, and in the military school at Marietta. Immediately after his father's death in June, 1859, the young man left the city of his birth and went to Thomasville, where for two years he was engaged in clerical positions, which he resigned in July, 1861, to enter the Confederate army. He received the com- mission of first lieutenant of Company B, Twenty-ninth Georgia regiment, which was sent to the coast. The following April he was transferred to Brevard's bat- talion of Florida as ordnance sergeant, under Gen. Finnegan, stationed near Jacksonville, whose force had an engagement Nov. 9, 1862, with the gunboats on the St. John's river. In January, 1863, Mr. Paine organized a cavalry company, Company E, of the Twentieth Georgia battalion, and was stationed on the coast that year. In April, 1864, the battalion was ordered to Virginia where, in an en- gagement with the Federal forces advancing upon Cold Harbor, the colonel, J. M. Milen, and Maj. Thompson, were killed, and the battalion was attached to the Tenth Georgia regiment. This regiment was in the battles at Cold Harbor, Tre- vilian Station, where Mr. Paine received a slight wound, and at White House. The next January they were transferred to Gen. Joseph Johnston's command and sent to Charleston, from which time until the surrender they were almost constantly engaged in skirmishes. After his discharge, and return home Mr. Paine at once went into the drug business, but after some time sold out and trav- eled in the interest of the Botanic Blood Balm Co., until 1892, when he resumed

992

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

the drug business in Waycross, his present home. In this he has greatly pros- pered, and has moreover identified himself with the interests of the city. Dec. 24, 1862, Mr. Paine was married to Miss Lena Mary Seixas, of Thomasville, a grand- daughter of Jacob Seixas, a refugee from the island of San Dominigo during the insurrection. He has in his possession a valuable family relic-a solid gold snuff- box weighing five ounces and worth $150, a present from his wife's father. They have two daughters and two sons, one of the latter a railroad engineer; the other is engaged in the store with his father. Mr. Paine and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

WILLIAM RILEY RATCLIFF, Waycross, Ware Co., Ga., was born in Worth county, Ga., Nov. 29, 1850. He is the eldest son of Redding Luke and Clarkie (Kimball) Ratcliff, the former a son of Luke Ratcliff, who ran away from his home in North Carolina and engaged in farming in western Florida; he served in the Indian war, during which he was taken ill, and was given a furlough to return home, but died upon the way. His son continued as a farmer in Florida, and there on the farm young William R. was reared, receiving only such education as was obtainable in a backwoods school. Having reached the age of twenty-one, he rented a farm, which he worked for two years, and then spent a year in Texas, employed on railroads. He returned to work two years on his father's farm, and also took a forward stride educationally by devoting eight months to study in school. He then again went into railroad work, three months as a common laborer, after which he received promotion, being placed in charge of repair work on the Atlantic & Gulf railroad at Argyle. In 1878 Mr. Ratcliff came to Way- cross, and late in the next year was put in charge of the track-laying crews upon the new line between Waycross and Jacksonville, on which he laid the first rail. On this new line, after its completion, he had charge of a construction train for about three years, and then was put in charge of a division as supervisor at Savan- nah. Two years later he was given the supervision of the Waycross Short line, which he has held ever since. During some of the time Mr. Ratcliff has been in this business convict labor was employed, and he was in charge of the convict force. He is a member of the Roadmasters' Association, in which he takes an active interest, often contributing articles upon appropriate subjects at the meet- ings of this body. Mr. Ratcliff is also a member of the Employers' Mutual Relief association, pertaining to the Plant system, in which system he takes a deep interest, and has aided greatly in promoting its welfare and present success. He owns some real estate in Waycross. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Oct. 1, 1881, Mr. Ratcliff married Miss Georgie Ann Smith, daughter of Azaniah and Katie (Yates) Smith. Mr. Ratcliff and his wife have one son.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 146

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