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 152

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 152

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J. FLETCHER WRIGHT, planter, Gooseberry, Webster Co., Ga., son of Jacob and Nancy (Howell) Wright, was born in Edgefield district, S. C., May 23, 1842. His paternal grandfather, James Wright, was a native of Ireland, who, on his emigration to this country settled in South Carolina. Mr. Wright's father was born in Edgefield district, in that state, and lived there until he died in 1863. His mother was a daughter of Joseph Howell. Mr. Wright grew to manhood and was educated in Edgefield district, and in 1862 enlisted in Company A, Twen- ty-second South Carolina regiment, and remained with it until the surrender. He bore a part in the battles of Secessionville and Kingston, after which the command was ordered to Virginia, went with the army into Maryland, and then participated in the battles at Petersburg. At this battle he was shot in the head by a negro soldier and for eight months lingered from the effects of the wound-during eight weeks of which he was blind and paralyzed. After the war he returned to South Carolina, where he remained until 1867, when he came to Georgia and settled in Webster county. He is a good and prosperous farmer, a genial gen- tleman, and very much liked. His home is a beautiful one, situated about four miles from Weston. Mr. Wright was married in 1869 to Miss Carrie, daughter of John Jennings, formerly of Edgefield district, S. C., by whom he has had one child-Lovena, wife of W. M. Dunn. Mr. Wright is a very ardent democrat, but never sought or held office. He is also a member of the masonic fraternity, and himself and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

WHITE COUNTY.

JOHN RANDOLPH GLEN, editor and publisher, Cleveland, White Co., Ga., son of James and Susan (Littlejohn) Glen, was born in Nacoochee Valley, White Co., Dec. 10, 1866. His paternal grandfather, John Glen, was a native of Lochwinnoch, Scotland, a skilled mechanic, who emigrated to this country about 1820, and settled in Orange county, N. Y., where he married Miss Eliza Baldwin. He afterward came to Georgia and settled in Athens, Clarke Co., where he was engaged in building and outfitting the old Atliens (first) cotton factory. Subse- quently he moved to Nachoochee Valley, where he died in 1880, aged eighty-six years. His wife died there in 1871. Mr. Glen's father was born in Glen county; his mother was a daughter of Abraham Littlejohn of North Carolina; and both are now living in Nachoochee Valley. To them six children have been born, all of whom survive: Mamie; Annie; Jessie, wife of Oscar Kenimer; Lizzie; James L .; and John R., the subject of this sketch. Mr. Glen was reared and educated in White county, and from 1882 to 1886 engaged in teaching school; the next year he went to Fort Wayne, Tex., and engaged in merchandising two years. From there he went to the mining districts of Montana, and for awhile engaged in mining. Later he embarked in commercial enterprises at Pecos City, El Paso and Corpus Christi, Tex. In 1891 he returned to his home in White county, and after a brief service as editor of the "Clarkesville Advertiser" he bought the "Cleveland Progress," of which he has since been proprietor and editor. It is the organ of the county and of the democratic party, ranks high among the weekly papers of Georgia, has a large and excellent patronage; and while it has been a great financial success, has attained to marked influence in northeast Georgia. In addition to his newspaper he has a fine job printing outfit, from which he turns out excellent work. In 1893 Mr. Glen's services to his party were recognized and rewarded by his appointment as postmaster at Cleveland.

JOHN J. KIMSEY, lawyer, Cleveland, White Co., Ga., son of Thomas M. and Emeline (Stover) Kimsey, was born in Cherokee county, May 23, 1849. His paternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Kimsey, was a native of Ireland, emigrated to this country before the revolutionary war, and settled in North Carolina. His grandfather, also named Benjamin, was born in Buncombe county, N. C., where he lived and farmed until he died. Mr. Kimsey's father was born in Buncombe county, N. C., in 1802, where he was raised. Early in life, he, with his brother William, came to Georgia and settled in Habersham (now White) county, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. For forty years of his life he was a minister of the Baptist church, and preached in the border counties of Georgia and North Carolina, by whose people he was very highly esteemed. He died May I, 1864. His wife was a native of Habersham county and by her he had nine children: Sarah, wife of G. M. Dodd; Rebecca, wife of Hon. W. A. Reeves, White county; Adeline, wife of W. G. Blackwell; James P .; John J., the subject of this sketch; Georgia, wife of T. A. Christy; Singleton M .; Henry D., and Louisa. Mr. Kimsey was about a year old when his father settled in what is now White county, in which he was raised and educated. Deciding to adopt the legal profession he commenced the study of law under Hon. M. G. Boyd, then of Cleveland, now of Dahlonega, Ga., and at the March term of Hall superior court, 1873, Judge George D. Rice, presiding, he was admitted to the bar. He located at once in Hiawassee,

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Towns Co., but in 1874 he moved to Cleveland, where he has sinee lived and praetieed law. He has risen rapidly in his profession, won an enviable reputa- tion, and the confidenee of a large and influential elientage. He is regarded as one of the soundest lawyers in the eireuit, is a safe counselor and an able advocate, and does a large general practice in the northeastern eireuit. He has managed important eases sueeessfully before the supreme court of Georgia, and had much to do with establishing judicial precedents in that tribunal. In 1877-at the age of twenty-eight-he was elected to represent White eounty in the general assembly, and was re-elected in 1880 and 1882, serving three terms. Among other com- mittees he was placed on that on judiciary, one of the most important, where his legal aequirements made him a potential power in shaping its recommendations for legislative aetion. His influence and usefulness as a wise legislator, and in behalf of the interests of his constituents eannot be overestimated. Oct. 29, 1894, he was elected by the general assembly judge of the superior court of the north- eastern judicial eireuit for the term of four years. Mr. Kimsey was married Dee. · 23, 1876, to Miss Lou E., daughter of Hon. C. P. Craig of White county, and

formerly a member of the general assembly. Three children have blessed this union: Minnie, Bertha and Bonnie. Early in 1886 Mrs. Kimsey died, and in the latter part of the same year he married Miss Nora, daughter of M. R. T. Kenimer of Cleveland, and of the children born to them two-Fannie and Clifton Clay-are living. Being comparatively young, and of commanding ability, few men have before them brighter prospeets for professional distinetion and political prefer- ment.

GEORGE SCOTT KYTLE, lawyer and county school commissioner, Cleve- land, White Co., Ga., son of Calvin H. and Caroline H. (Dean) Kytle, was born in White county, July 7, 1870. On his father's side his family is of German ancestry, his great-grandfather, Zachariah Kytle, having been born in Germany, and emigrated to this country and settled in South Carolina before the revolu- tionary war, during which he was a soldier in the patriot army. His paternal grandfather, Zachariah Kytle, was born in Spartanburg, S. C., where he grew to manhood and married, and afterward migrated to Georgia and settled in Haber- sham eounty, where he died in 1868. He was a farmer and raised a family of ten children. Mr. Kytle's father was born in Habersham eounty, Dec. 3, 1830, and received such education as could be obtained at the country schools in that locality and period. After completing liis own ednieation he taught sehool eleven years in all, in Habersham and White counties before and after the war. In 1862 he enlisted in the Third Georgia cavalry, which formed a part of Gen. Wheeler's command, served during the war and actively participated in the fatiguing marehes and bloody skirmishes and battles which made that command so famous for daring and bravery. Sinee the war he has been elected to many offiees of honor and responsibility, all of which he has filled acceptably, serving the best in- terests of the people. In 1868 he was elected to represent White eounty in the general assembly. In 1876 he was elected a member of the county board of eduea- tion. and was re-elected for twelve years eonseeutively, rendering efficient and val- uable serviee. Recognizing his ability and appreciating what he had done, the people, in 1888, eleeted him eounty commissioner, and when his term expired re- eleeted him. He resigned, however, in 1893, when he was sueeeeded by his son. He is justly regarded as one of White eounty's most useful eitizens, and is held in very high estimation. In 1865 he was married to Miss Caroline H., daughter of Wiley Dean, born in Habersham, and now a eitizen of White eounty. Mr. Dean married Miss Anna Wiley, by whom he had nine ehildren, and died while in the army during the late war. His wife was born in 1832 and died in 1876. To Mr.

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Kytle's parents thirteen children have been born, all of whom survive: John Wiley; George Scott, the subject of this sketch; Martha E., wife of John M. Haynes; Mary J., wife of Albert H. Henderson; Emma J .; Henry M .; Robert Lee; Alexander Stephens; Anna; Beulah; Birdie May; Jura and Frances. Mr. Kytle received his primary education in the common schools of the county, and then attended the Hiawassee (Towns county) high school. Then, September, 1889, he entered the sophomore class, Mercer university, where he took a classical course and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June, 1892, ranking high in the class. Without loss of time he went to Lexington, Ky., and entered the Com- mercial college there and took a full business course, graduating December following. During vacations, while pursuing his studies, he taught school to defray his expenses. Returning home, he entered the office of Hon. John J. Kim- sey, under whose able preceptorship he read law, and was admitted to the bar at the March term, 1894, of Towns county superior court, Judge C. J. Wellborn, pre- siding. He at once opened an office in Cleveland and entered upon the practice under the most encouraging auspices, and the promise of a brilliantly successful professional career. The estimation in which he is held by his fellow-citizens in White county could not be more emphatically expressed than it was by his election in 1893, at the age of twenty-two, as county school commissioner, the youngest man in the state honored by being elected to that very responsible office. The energy and self-reliant determined spirit he has always displayed, and his exceptionally rapid advancement accomplished by his persistent exertions while yet so young, guarantee pre-eminence in whatever he undertakes. Of scholarly attainments, and ambitious, broad-minded, and possessing liberal views, he may be regarded as one of the rising young men of the state-one who will leave his impress on her history.

FLIJAH F. STARR, physician and surgeon, Nacoochee, White Co., Ga., son of Elijah and Hannah (Townsend) Starr, was born in Greene county, Ga., July 20, 1820. His paternal grandfather, Henry Starr, was a native of Maryland, who married a Virginia lady, and migrated to Georgia about the beginning of the present century. Dr. Starr's father was born in Maryland in 1780, and about the time he reached manhood he came to Georgia, where he married his wife, a member of an old Virginia family, and, in 1824, moved to Habersham county and bought and settled on land now included in White county. He was a farmer and stock-raiser and died at his home Jan. 5, 1837. His widow died in 1870, aged ninety years. They reared a family of six children, two sons and four daugh- ters, of whom the doctor is the sole survivor. Dr. Starr was about four years old when his parents settled in Habersham (now White) county, where he was educated and grew to manhood. He completed his education in Clarkesville, where the late Stanhope Erwin was one of his instructors. Having determined to adopt the medical profession he began the study of medicine under the precep- torship of Dr. William J. Rusk, of Clarkesville, and then entered the medical col- lege of Georgia, Augusta, from which he graduated in 1844. He located at first at Nacoochee, but very soon afterward went to Fairmont, Gordon Co., Ga., whence, a few years later, he moved to Rome, Ga., where he established a fine professional reputation and a remunerative practice. In 1856 he returned to Nacoochee, where he located permanently. Early in the civil war he was com- missioned surgeon of the Twenty-fourth Georgia regiment, which was assigned to Gen. Longstreet's division, army of northern Virginia, with which he rendered three years' skillful and valuable service on many of the bloodiest battlefields of that disastrous conflict. Among the battles in which, with his command, he

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WHITE COUNTY SKETCHES.

participated, were: Gettysburg, Antietam, second Manassas, seven days' fight around Richmond, siege of Knoxville, Chickamauga, etc. His health failing, he resigned and came home and resumed the practical duties of his profession -- his fame and patronage increasing with the years, and embracing White and Habersham counties. He has made a study of, and has been especially successful in the treatment of acute diseases and inflammatory rheumatism. The first year of his practice he successfully treated a case of inguinal hernia in Towns county, and has since operated for the same conditions with equal satisfactory results. He is widely and favorably known to the college faculties and the medical profession generally throughout the state, and particularly to the people of White and con- tiguous counties. Dr. Starr was married in May, 1846, to Miss Hannah M .. daughter of Maj. Edward Williams, of Nocoochee valley, by whom he has had ten children, two of whom, only, survive: Lulu, wife of C. L. Hutchins, Gwinnett county ; and Ellene, at home. Of the others, Mary H., died Sept. 15, 1893; Amelia E., wife of F. L. Asbury, died Aug. 26, 1893; Tattie, matron Wesleyan Female college, Macon, Ga., died Sept. 20, 1893; George Williams, died Sept. 5, 1893, and four died young.

A BNER FRANKLIN UNDERWOOD, physician and surgeon, Cleveland, White Co., Ga., son of Dr. Joseph and Macriah (Dunagan) Underwood, was born in Elbert county, Ga., Aug. 6, 1825. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Underwood, was one of seven brothers of English descent, born in Virginia, who after his marriage migrated to Georgia and settled in Elbert county near the Savannah river. His maternal great-great-grandfather was a native of Ireland, who emigrated to this country and settled in South Carolina, where he married. His maternal great-grandfather, Joseph Dunagan, son of the above, was born in South Carolina, was a frontiersman and a local Methodist preacher, and a bona- fide pioneer of western civilization. He penetrated the then western wilds as far as Kentucky, where he met Daniel Boone, and, later, helped him build the first blockhouse, constructed on the present site of the city of Nashville. He died west of the Mississippi early in the present century. Mis mother's father, Abner Duna- gan, was a prominent farmer in Habersham county. Dr. Underwood's father was born in Elbert county in 1799, where he was raised and where he married. In 1832 he moved to Habersham county, where he practiced medicine, which he continued during his active life. In 1872 he moved to Alabama, where he died in 1875. He practiced his profession, he always declared, because he loved to do so, not for gain. Of the children born to him ten reached maturity: Abner F., the subject of this sketch; Thomas Gibbs, M. D., Franklin county, Ga .; Delilah, wife of Jeptha A. Merritt, White county; Frances E., wife of M. V. Edwards, White county; Bersheba Adeline, deceased wife of Ped Latham; Sarah Emeline, widow of John C. McMackin, Atlanta; Mary L., deceased wife of Thomas L. De Voe; Jasper W., M. D., White county; William B., Baptist minister, Texas; Reu- ben Case, died in Kansas in 1871, at which time he was a student at law. Dr. Underwood was about seven years old when his parents moved from Elbert to Habersham, and settled on land now included in White county. Here he received the best education to be obtained under frontier and pioneer conditions. Approaching manhood he decided on being a physician, commenced its study under the direction of his father, and in January, 1847, was duly licensed and began the practice, in which he was eminently successful from the start, profes- sionally and financially. Some years afterward he attended lectures at the Atlanta Medical college, from which he graduated in 1860. Since that time he has suc- cessfully practiced in White and adjoining counties, doing an extensive and remunerative practice. But Dr. Underwood could not be restricted to the routine

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

of his practice; the activity of his mind and the interest he felt in the public good and advancement, impelled him to be an active participant in the politics of the day. He was opposed to secession, but when it became an actuality he patriot- ically went with the state; believing in the right, he seriously questioned the policy of secession. He was steadfastly a supporter of Mr. Stephens' policy of compro- mise, and, as such was elected in 1863 to represent the Thirty-second senatorial district in the general assembly, serving his constituents faithfully and accept- ably. In 1865 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention; and was also elected a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1877. In this convention he had the distinguishing honor of being named as one of the special judiciary committee of twenty-six, of which Hon. Robert Toombs was chairman, the most important committee of that body, and whose recommendations, engrafted on the constitution, have molded subsequent legislation. After the war he sincerely and patriotically accepted the situation, and was ready to accept the measures of reconstruction, save those incorporated in the fifteenth amend- ment to the Federal constitution. He has been and is a firm supporter of the popular and uniform education of white and black; and believes that the educa- tion of the colored race will, in the end, solve the great racial question-and he is a stanch supporter of his conviction. He has all his life been a strong and consist- ent democrat, frequently sent to its conventions, and invited to its councils-in all of which he has been prominent and influential- in this respect his zeal and vigor are unimpaired by age. Dr. Underwood was happily married June 3, 1850, to Sarah Ann-born in Lumpkin county, Ga .- daughter of John and Martha Cantrell, and of the children born to them five survive: Joseph W. H .; Amanda M., wife of George M. Quillian, Hall county; Thomas G., physician, born March 9, 1858, now at Maysville, Banks Co., Ga .; Hopson B., born Jan. 8, 1861, farmer, White county; and Martha L., born March 23, 1864, wife of Dr. A. S. Cantrell, Milton county. On Dec. II, 1890, Dr. Underwood contracted a second marriage with Mrs. Mary J. (nee Eubanks) Faulkner, daughter of Giles Eubanks, in whose congenial companionship he is spending the closing years of his active and useful life. Joseph W. H. Underwood was born in Hall county, Ga., Sept. 15; at the June term, 1877, of Towns county superior court, was admitted to the bar, Judge George N. Lester presiding. He has an excellent practice in the superior courts of his own and adjoining circuits, and in the supreme court of Georgia. He is a sound lawyer, ranks well with the profession, and has a large and influential clientage. In 1875 he was appointed postmaster at Cleveland, but resigned in 1877. Oct. 25, of that year, he married Miss Mary O., daughter of John H. and Nancy Craven of White county.

EDWIN P. WILLIAMS, farmer, Nacoochee valley, White Co., Ga., son of Edward and Mary (Brown) Williams, was born in Burke county, N. C., Nov. 27, 1814. His father was born in Lowell, Mass., the latter part of the last cen- tury. When a young man he came to Charleston, S. C., and, later, went thence to Morgantown, Burke Co., N. C., where he married his wife, who was a daugh- ter of Daniel Brown, one of the first settlers and oldest citizens of the county. He came to Georgia in 1823, and purchased a large tract of land in Nacoochee valley, then in Habersham, now in White county. He died just before the war. Mr. Wil- liams was nine years old when the family migrated to this state, and grew to manhood and was educated in Nacoochee valley, in the shadow of Mount Yonah; and there, hale and hearty, at the age of eighty, he still lives. Farming has been his life occupation; but, in connection with it, he has conducted a general mer- chandise store, and stock-raising. Mr. Williams' superior business qualifications,

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WHITFIELD COUNTY SKETCHES.

unswerving integrity and uprightness of character and sound judgment pointed to him as a general administrator of estates, as a consequence of which very many estates, of relatives and others, have been entrusted to his management, and all accountings have been made with the most scrupulous exactitude, giving satisfac- tion in each case. Although utterly indifferent to political office, he was induced to become a candidate in 1858 to represent the county in the general assembly; and after a most exciting and hard-fought contest succeeded in defeat- ing Col. William B. Shelton, one of the ablest and most popular citizens then in the county. It is needless to add that Mr. Williams represented the county with his accustomed fidelity and faithfulness, and of course to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He was also the contracting builder of the public buildings at Cleveland, the county site of the new county (White) just before the war-a work honestly done. Among the interesting incidents of the north Georgia pio- neer are the visits he remembers and likes to tell about, of John C. Calhoun to his father's home in the long ago. That distinguished statesman once owned valuable mining interests in that section, where there is a mine now that bears his name. Mr. Williams is yet active and on the alert, now as ever, for the new and good, and no citizen ranks higher in all those excellencies which make the model citizen. Mr. Williams was happily married in Burke county, N. C., in 1838, to Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Alfred Perkins, a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent families in that county, and a cousin of Gov. Caldwell. Of ten children born to them the following are living: Alfred, Nacoochee; Robert, Na- coochee; Sarah Jane, wife of Gaylor Bristol, Nacoochee; Lusannah, wife of J. R. Lumsden; Hattie, wife of J. L. Johnson, Gainesville, Ga. Of those deceased, Church, a youth of unusual promise, entered the Confederate service, and died of brain fever at Goldsboro, N. C., in 1862, when only sixteen years of age.

WHITFIELD COUNTY.

JOSEPH BOGLE, of Whitfield county, residing in Dalton, and at present ordi- nary of that county, was born in Blount county, Tenn., in 1843. His father, Capt. John W. Bogle, died soon after the birth of Joseph, and in 1844 the latter was brought by his mother to Whitfield county. Later the family settled in Gor- don county, where Mr. Bogle was reared, and where he learned the tanner's trade while in the service of his uncle, Joseph Bogle, a prominent citizen of Bartow county, and at one time justice of the inferior court of the county. The opening of the war found him thus engaged. His sympathies and surroundings naturally prompted him to take sides with the Confederacy. He enlisted as a private sol- dier in Company I, Fortieth Georgia infantry, commanded by Col. Abda John- son, and shortly afterward was engaged in the battle of Tazewell, the siege of Cumberland Gap and Perryville. He fought in the Tennessee and Kentucky campaign under Gen. Bragg. His regiment being ordered to Vicksburg, he pro- ceeded thither. He fought at the battle of Baker's creek and throughout the celebrated siege of Vicksburg in May and June, 1863. During the siege he was severely wounded, having been shot in the left arm, the ball lodging in a Testa- ment in the pocket of his coat; he thus miraculously escaped death. After the capture of Vicksburg, on July 4, 1863, he was paroled and returned to his home.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

On being exchanged a few months later he rejoined his regiment in time to par- ticipate in the battle of Missionary Ridge, although by reason of his wound he was unable to take an active part in the fight. For a short time he was detailed to serve in the postoffice department of the army. He accompanied his regiment from the Tennessee line to Atlanta, and was engaged in that series of battles and skirmishes which finally resulted in the capture of that city in 1864. He fought at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain and Peachtree Creek. He was finally made prisoner of war in front of Atlanta and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he remained until the close of the war. On his release he settled permanently in Whitfield county and engaged first in the tanning business and then in agricultural pursuits. About 1880 he settled in Dalton. He was elected and served three terms as alderman and one term as tax receiver of Whitfield county to the eminent satisfaction of the public, a fact best evidenced by his nom- ination and election to the office of ordinary of Whitfield county in 1893. He is an efficient and capable official, and the people of Whitfield county could not intrust business to better hands. Mr. Bogle is an active member of the Bap- tist church at Dalton. He is a member of the American Legion of Honor. He . has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Lou Longley, whom he married in 1868. Six children are the fruit of this marriage: Bertha, wife of W. J. Van- diver, agent for the Georgia Central railroad at Barnsville, Ga .; John W., fore- man of the Cherokee Manufacturing company at Dalton; Frank H., engaged in farming in Whitfield county; Lena, Edgar and William. His first wife died in 1882. In 1884 he was again married to Miss Christina Scott, of Whitfield county, and by this marriage they have two children: Walter Scott and Grace. The father of Mr. Bogle was a native of Tennessee. His mother was Nancy J. Hen- derson, also born in that state. His only sister, Mrs. William Dillard, of Gordon county, is deceased. The family are of Scotch-Irish extraction. Three brothers of the name of Bogle settled in the United States, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina respectively. Mr. Bogle is a descendant of the Virginia family, some of whom settled in Tennessee.

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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 152

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