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 153

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 153

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D. C. P. CLARK, one of the oldest citizens of Whitfield county, was born in this county on April 20, 1836. Whitfield has always been his residence. He grew up on a farm and has been engaged during the chief part of his lifetime in agricultural pursuits. His father was Benjamin Clark, born in Lincoln county, N. C., May 31, 1793. He married Lucy Dalton, daughter of Rev. John Dalton, a Baptist minister in Rutherford county, that state. Benjamin Clark was the first settler in what is now Tunnel Hill, arriving there March 15, 1832. He engaged in farming and followed that occupation during the remainder of his life. He served in the war of 1812. In 1836 he went to Texas and participated in the movement led by Davy Crockett and Gen. Sam Houston, which resulted in the independence of Texas. For this service he was afterward paid a liberal sum of money by the state of Texas. At the commencement of the late war he entered the Confederate service and performed military duty for six months, when, owing to ill health and old age, he honorably retired. He survived until Dec. 6, 1876, and died in Whitfield county, aged eighty-four years. His wife died Jan. 8, 1882. In his early life he represented Haywood county in the legislature of North Carolina. By his marriage he had nine children: Mary T., wife of John S. Martin; Zachariah D .; Myria S., wife of Francis Williams; Lucy M., wife of H. M. Ward; Benjamin M., William S., John J., Alfred W. and David C. P. Mr. D. C. P. Clark entered the Confederate service, enlisting in Company D, of the First Confederate Georgia regiment, commanded by Col. George A. Smith, of

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Macon. His first service was at Fort Gaines, Ala., protecting the coast line, May, 1863, when his command was ordered to Tennessee to join Gen. Bragg, who was then making preparations for the celebrated campaign of that year. He fought at the battle of Chickamauga, where he was slightly wounded. During this battle and the remainder of his service he acted as sergeant of his company. On Nov. 25 he fought at Missionary Ridge and later went into winter quarters at Dalton. At the opening of the Atlanta campaign his regiment fought under Johnston from Dalton to Atlanta, constituting the reserve force at Resaca, and was engaged at New Hope church, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek and at Atlanta. During the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, his term of service having expired, and being unable to obtain a furlough to return to his home, and recog- nizing the Confederate cause to be a failure he retired from the ranks and with- drew to the north of the Ohio river. A few months later he returned to his home and again engaged in farming. During the past fifteen years he has been justice of the peace and has served the public in that capacity faithfully and well. He is an all-round good citizen, with a large and influential number of stanch friends in Whitfield county. On Jan. 20, 1859, Mr. Clark was married to Mrs. Emily McSpadden, daughter of Isaac Hufaker. They have six children: Mitchell L., David P., deceased, Auroria T., Annie L., Isaac O. and Robert R. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Clark, was a soldier of the war of the revolution who fought for the liberties of the colonies. His maternal grandfather was John Dal- ton, who also fought on the colonial side in that war. Mr. Clark is a member of the Baptist church.

H P. COLVARD, one of the rising young business men of Dalton, Ga., is a native of the state of Tennessee, and was born at Pikeville, Bledsoe Co., April 27, 1869. He was reared in that county and educated in White county, completing his studies in 1887. For a short time he engaged in merchandising in Bledsoe county, and then for four years was a traveling salesman for the South- ern Monumental company, of Chattanooga, Tenn. He finally settled in Dalton on Nov. II, 1892, and resolved to embark in business on his own account. He became engaged in the marble and stone trade under the firm name of Baker & Colvard, manufacturers and dealers in marble and granite monuments. The busi- ness of the firm prospered during two years, engaged extensively in that industry, and became one of the reliable institutions of the city. In January, 1895, Mr. Colvard purchased the interest of his partner and became the sole operator of the plant, which is now known as the Dalton marble works. An excellent grade of work is being turned out by the present proprietor, the market for his product extending from Texas to Maryland and throughout the South generally. Mr. Colvard is a shrewd business man, possessing a good share of energy and activity in his business methods and transactions. He is one of the most popular business men of Dalton, and stands well in business and social circles, at all times displaying those qualities inherent to success in life. His father was Jesse Colvard, who was born near Murphy, N. C., Oct. 7, 1800. By his second marriage to Miss Sarah Cooper they had three sons and five daughters: Nancy, wife of W. M. Smith, of Chattanooga; Ann, wife of M. De Board, of Pikeville, Tenn .; Jennie, wife of John Childers, now of Texas; W. A. Colvard, of Ken- tucky; H. P., Dalton; A. T., of Pikeville, Tenn .; Florence, wife of R. Pendergrass, of Billingsly, Tenn .; and Lilah, residing with her parents in Tennessee. The father of Mr. Colvard died on Jan. 23, 1876, at Pikeville. Mr. Colvard is a member of the M. E. church south, is a master Mason-member of Dalton

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lodge No. 105; a member of the K. of P., Dalton lodge No. 29, and of the order of Woodmen of the World, at Dalton.

JOHN F. HARRIS, M. D., belongs to one of the oldest families of Murray county, where he was born in 1854. His father was Miniard Harris, born in North Carolina in 1800, who settled in Gwinnett county in his youth and early in the 30's moved to Murray county, where he passed the remainder of his life engaged in planting. He was one among the successful farmers of his section and enjoyed many years of prosperity. He filled numerous offices of trust and responsibility in his county, including those of treasurer and tax collector. He married Miss Martha M. Holland, daughter of Jacob Holland, one of the first settlers of Murray county, but formerly of South Carolina. They reared ten chil- dren, two daughters and eight sons: Eliza, wife of J. A. Glass; Martha, deceased; James F., a physician of prominence, Murray county; W. D. Harris, an eminent lawyer of Texas, and at present judge of the district court in that state; Dr. John F., subject of present sketch; T. J. Harris, a practicing lawyer at Summerville, Ga .; D. H., a dentist at Dalton; M. B., a prominent member of the bar at Fort Worth, Tex .; S. H., a physician at Nashville, Tenn., and George W., an attorney, Fort Worth, Tex. Miniard Harris died in Murray county in 1867. His wife sur- vives him. Dr. John F. Harris was educated in the schools of Murray county, and in 1876 entered the North Georgia Agricultural college at Dahlonega and pursued a course of study during two years. He next taught school in Murray county and read law at Spring Place, was admitted to the bar, but never engaged in the practice of that profession. From his early youth his heart was set on the study and practice of medicine. He accordingly placed himself under the guidance of Dr. W. Anderson, of Spring Place, and commenced the study of medicine. Later he attended, from 1881 to 1883, the Eclectic college of medicine in Atlanta, and was graduated from that institution in 1883 with special honors and was valedictorian of his class. He began the practice of his profession in his native county, and in 1884 he moved to Parker county, Tex., where for three years he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice and rapidly rose to prominence in his profession. Ill health compelled him to abandon his adopted state; he returned to Murray county and resumed his practice. In 1893 he settled in Dalton. His experience as a physician has been very extensive and he stands high in the med- ical fraternity in North Georgia. His professional skill and private character are vouched for by the best citizens in his community. His success in treating diseases of children and also diseases of the mind and nervous system has been remark- able. He was a member of the State Medical association of Texas and is now of the Medical association of this state. He was recently appointed by Gov. At- kinson a member of the state board of medical examiners. In 1881 he married Miss Mary E. Pindeset, of Tennessee. They have two children: Ray Winifred and Laura Ella.

CHARLES H. HUMPHREYS, of Dalton, a prominent educator, was born in Bradley county, Tenn., June 10, 1856, where he lived with his parents until 1869, when he moved with his family to Murray county, Ga. He was educated at the public schools and at Sumach seminary, where he pursued a classical course of study during four years, and was graduated in 1882. He finished his studies at Holbrook Normal university, near Knoxville, Tenn. At intervals during his period of study he taught school at Rock Spring, in Walker county, and the pro- ceeds of his salary were expended in defraying his expenses at the seminary. During the years 1883-84-85 he taught school in Gordon county, at Coosawattee

JOHN F. HARRIS.

Η. Κ. ΜΑΙΝ.

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WHITFIELD COUNTY SKETCHES.

seminary. In 1885 he became principal of the Sumach seminary. There he con- tinued to administer instruction and direct the study of students from several states during five years. In 1890 he moved to Dalton and gave instruction in music for upward of two years. He resumed his place at Sumach seminary, where he remained until 1894, when he entered upon his duties as principal of the Dalton high school and located permanently in that city. Mr. Humphreys is a gentleman of excellent educational qualifications and possesses the art of impart- ing successfully his thoughts and acquirements of mind to others. His manner is refined and dignified, yet devoid of fastidiousness and ostentation. His career as an educator has been eminently successful. Early in life he cultivated a taste for music and became proficient in that art after studying under distinguished masters. His aim in life has chiefly been the development of the moral and mental faculties of youth, and hundreds of his former pupils in different states will bear testimony to the value of his labors, and the high standing of the institution over which he so long presided. He is a ruling elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Sumach. He belongs to the masonic fraternity and is past-worshipful master of Sumach lodge No. 55. For many years he has been identified with the Sunday school work in his church and has been superintendent of the Sunday school and chorister. In 1882 Prof. Humphreys was married to Miss Lucy A. Harris, daughter of Capt. W. G. Harris, of Murray county, a playmate of his youth, and during their married life his assistant and co-laborer at the seminary. For six years he enjoyed the blessings which their union brought him, then his wife died in Murray county in 1889. Three years later, in 1892, he was married to Miss Lenora Smith, daughter of Dr. F. W. Smith, of Spring City, Tenn. One child, Mary E., has been born to them. Dr. Smith is a native of Ohio, where he practiced medicine for twenty-five years. About 1885 he emigrated to Ten- nessee and later settled at Dalton, where he now lives and practices his profession. The father of Prof. Humphreys was Rev. John R. Humphreys, born in Tennessee in 1826 of Irish descent. For many years he was a successful teacher and a Presbyterian minister in the state of Tennessee. He married Miss Mary Henkle, of that state, daughter of George Henkle, a native of Germany. Eight children were the issue of their marriage, four of whom survive: William L., a farmer in Texas; Sarah C., wife of John S. Hambright, also of Texas; Charles H., and Rebecca E., wife of John F. Smith, of Dalton. The father of Prof. Humphreys died in Murray county, Dec. 31, 1878. His mother died Dec. 25, 1891, in Whit- field county.

HENRY K. MAIN, physician, Dalton, was born in Ashe county, N. C., in 1844. In 1849 his parents settled in Gordon county, Ga., and there he was reared. The ancestor of the Main family in North Carolina was Henry Main, the great- grandfather of Dr. Main, who was born in Salsbury, England, and immigrated to Ashe county in the last century. He fought in the colonial army during the revolutionary war, was taken prisoner at the battle of Brandywine, and pressed into the British servicc, in which he compulsorily continued during the remainder of the war. His son was Charles Main, grandfather of Dr. Main, also born in Ashe county. Dr. Main's father was Lemuel Main, the seventh son in a family of sixteen children, born and reared in Ashe county. Hc married in 1843 Miss Sarah Kinnamon, near Taylorsville, Tenn., and had four children. Of these, Barbara E., wife of L. J. Cook, Blue Spring, Ga .; Delara, wife of J. S. Dupree of Whitfield county; and Dr. Main, survive. At the commencement of the war, Dr. Main was in his eighteenth year. The chivalrous spirit of youth incited him to enlist in Company A, Thirty-sixth Georgia infantry, commanded by Col. Jesse A.

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Glenn, and he was made sergeant of his company. He fought in the Tennessee and Kentucky campaign in 1862, and was engaged at Tazewell, Cumberland Gap, Richmond, Ky., and Murfreesboro. His command having been ordered to the support of Vicksburg, he fought in 1863 at Baker's Creek, where in a hand-to-hand contest he shot down the commander of a battery and performed gallant service on the field. He fought through the celebrated siege of Vicksburg and after its capture he was paroled. He again joined his regiment after the battle of Chickamauga, and was engaged at Missionary Ridge. The winter of 1863-64 he passed in winter quarters at Dalton, and the following spring and summer he served in the Atlanta campaign. He fought under Johnston and at Resaca, but sickness compelled him to abandon the service during the Atlanta campaign, and he finally returned to his home after undergoing the hardship of soldier-life for upwards of three years. Having qualified himself after the war for the medical profession by a thorough course of study, he engaged in its practice during a period of ten years at Blue Springs, Sugar Valley and Calhoun. He was very successful, and in 1879 he moved to Dalton, where he has continued to reside and follow his profession. He has also for many years conducted, in connection with his practice, a large and prosperous drug business. In 1877 Dr. Main married Mrs. De Alva C. Whittaker of Smithville, Ga. By this marriage they had one son, now deceased, and Mrs. Main died in November, 1882, at Dalton. April 10, 1889, he married Miss Alice McNabb of Knoxville, Tenn. They have had three children, one son and three daughters, of whom the daughters survive: Florence, Myrtle and Susan Electa. Dr. Main is an active and widely known member of most of the benevolent and secret organizations of this state. He is a royal arch Mason, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to the uniformed rank of the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and has been lodge deputy of the Good Templars at Dalton. He has given much attention to the art of music, which he has thor- oughly mastered, and has been three times elected president of the northwestern musical convention at Dalton. He has also served as vice-president of the Pharmaceutical society. For many years he has been a member of the Joseph E. Johnston camp of Confederate veterans at Dalton, and in 1894 was a delegate from that camp to the annual reunion at Birmingham, Ala. Dr. Main has also served as president of the Thirty-sixth Georgia Regiment association since 1889. He is in every way one of Dalton's substantial and worthy citizens, and is an excellent representative of the conservative but progressive element which con- trols and directs both the social and business affairs of that city.

FRANK MANLY. Among the enterprising business men of Dalton the name of Frank Manly, president of the Manly Machine company, appropriately finds a place in this chapter. Mr. Manly was born in Dalton in 1866. He received his preliminary education in the schools of his native town. In 1882 he entered Emory college, Oxford, Ga., and pursued a classical course of study during three years. In 1885 he went to Philadelphia and became the representative of the Manly & Cooper iron works of that city. For three years he continued in the service of that institution, traveling in its interest through the northern and western states, and rapidly acquired a practical knowledge of his business, which afterward became of important value to him. In 1888 he returned to Dalton and established the foundry and machine shop, and the business now known as the Manly Machine company. His enterprise soon gained a sound footing among the manufacturing institutions of Dalton. The specialty of this company is the manufacture of saw-mill machinery, boilers and engines, which are being pro-

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duced on an extensive scale for the southern market-the demand coming from every southern state. This plant is a favorable and important one among the industries of Dalton, and front its very incipiency the establishment has been a financial success to the stockholders; and may be considered a fixture among the successful business plants in that enterprising city. In 1892 Mr. Manly married Miss Maggie Pitner, daughter of Maj. T. H. Pitner, an old and prominent citizen of Whitfield county. They have one child, Howard. The father of Mr. Manly is Dr. W. J. Manly, for many years a practicing physician at Dalton, now retired from the active duties of his profession. He was born in Dorset, Vt., in 1821, where he studied medicine and practiced during many years. He married Miss Martha Willard of Malone, N. Y., and located at Dalton about 1859. They have four children: Maggie, wife of Dr. C. P. Gordon, a leading physician at Dalton; Gertrude, wife of Hon. T. R. Jones, a prominent member of the Whitfield bar, a lady of excellent and accomplished literary attainments; Mr. Frank Manly; and Nelly of Dalton. Both of the parents of Mr. Manly are still living. Mr. Manly takes an active interest in the progress and welfare of his town, and is possessed of that hopeful and trusting spirit which invariably distinguishes the successful buiness man. He is prominent in any and all legitimate movements having for their object the advancement and prosperity of Dalton and its people. He fairly represents the spirit which at the present time predominates in the social and industrial life of the south; influenced by a laudable ambition to seize the oppor- tunity which fortune and the occasion presents to meliorate the condition and enhance the value of property. The south is fortunate in possessing such stable and persevering characters, and Dalton is happy in being classed among the number of business towns where this element is daily recognized. Mr. Manly is one of the active members of the Presbyterian church at Dalton and one of its stanch supporters.

REV. M. A. MATHEWS. This scholarly and distinguished divine, at present pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Dalton, and justly considered one of the ablest members of the clerical profession in this state, is a native of Georgia. He was born at Calhoun, in Gordon county, in 1867, and was reared in that county. His father is M. L. Mathews, a native of Halifax county, N. C., born in 1827, and was the son of Frank C. Mathews, a prominent planter born in that state in 1765 and died in 1850. M. L. Mathews settled in Gordon county, Ga., about 1840. He married in 1851, at Summerville, in Chattooga county, Miss Melinda Clemmons, daughter of George W. Clemmons, for many years engaged in the hotel business at that place. Melinda Clemmons was born in Jackson county, Tenn., in 1833, and moved with her parents to Chattooga county in 1843. By that marriage they had twelve children, two of whom survive: Miss Laura, now of Dalton, and Rev. M. A. Rev. M. A. Mathews was educated at the Gordon institute and early resolved to embrace the clerical profession. Under the supervision of a private tutor he was enabled to pursue the Princeton college theological course and in 1886, before he attained his majority, he was licensed to preach the gospel. In 1887 he was ordained and given charge of the First Presbyterian church at Cal- houn, where, with a mind fully equipped for the task and its responsibilities, he entered upon his pastoral duties and continued in their discharge during a period of four years. From the outset his career was marked with brilliant and success- ful achievements in the cause of the gospel. In him, as well became his mission and profession, were united the simplicity and artlessness of the true Christian teacher, the persuasive eloquence of the enthusiastic evangelist, the logical pow- ers and cogent reasonings of the finished scholar, and the courtly bearing and

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refined manners of the true gentleman. The great talents of such a man must necessarily be known abroad, despite the humility of the character, and pressing invitations to participate in evangelistic work were extended to him from all parts of the country, and pulpits and forums await his pleasure and opportunity. These invitations he accepted and continues to accept in so far as his services as an evangelist does not deteriorate from his duties as a resident pastor. In 1887- 88 he took an active part in the temperance work and agitation then being vigor- ously conducted throughout this state, and his labors largely contributed to the success of that movement. On May 1, 1893, he became pastor of the First Pres- byterian church at Dalton. His labors at that place have met with distinguished consideration and marvelous success. The large increase in the membership of the church was a fitting and invariable response to his practical but aggressive efforts and Herculean labors in the field of morals and religion. In promoting and advancing the cause of the gospel among men Mr. Mathews is no theorist. He is pre-eminently a practical man, a man of method and sense, who avails himself of any and all justifiable means to reach the hearts and enlighten the understanding of men. In the affairs of everyday life he is active and enterprising, lending his aid and influence to any enterprise or measure intended to promote the material welfare of his fellow men, believing that such enterprises and meas- ures, when legitimate in themselves, are but other agencies through which the blessings of God are conferred upon man. His services as an evangelist have been rendered gratuitously, and pecuniary offers for his religious services have never governed nor influenced his pastoral duties. He has felt it his duty to decline numerous flattering offers and calls to large and wealthy pastorates, believing the labor which he undertook in his present charge is still incompleted. Consequently a pressing call to the First Presbyterian church at San Antonio, Tex., at a prof- fered salary of $4,000 per year, he has felt it his duty to decline. Similar offers from other churches he has also declined. Recently he accepted an invitation from the hands of his friend, Dr. Talmage, of the Brooklyn tabernacle, to occupy his pulpit in the city during the latter's contemplated trip abroad, a pleasure denied him, however, by reason of the conflagration which resulted in the destruction of that famous temple of worship. Mr. Mathews is still a young man, and in the natural order of things can hardly be said to have reached that period of life when the mental powers are supposed to attain the highest stage of development. Life is still before him, with its golden opportunities to serve his Maker in the service of society, to promote by his efforts and example the welfare and happi- ness of his kind. He needs no promptings in his labors. As a preacher in the pulpit, a lecturer on the forum, and a writer for the press, this tireless and inde- fatigable servant has pursued the even tenor of his way in expounding the truths of the gospel, ever cheerful and full of hope that in the end his labors will receive that reward which the Redeemer promised. Mr. Mathews is a devoted student of profane literature, as of religious subjects. His library at Dalton is, perhaps, the largest private miscellaneous collection of books in the state. With- in its precincts he lives and works, prepares his lectures and sermons, entertains his friends and visitors by an occasional conversazione in an elegant and charming manner. He is a royal arch Mason, takes an active interest in masonic affairs, and at the meetings of the craft is always a welcome attendant.

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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 153

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