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 60

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 60

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he served during the civil war was re-organized soon after the termination of hostilities and he was made second lieutenant, was promoted to captain, and later was made major of the First regiment, Georgia volunteers, which rank he held until January, 1894. Maj. Schwarz is a consistent member of the Roman Catholic church. He was happily married in Savannah in 1859, to Mary Geil, daughter of Jacob Geil, and they have four children now in life, viz .: Fred, Rudolph A., Mary, Thekla and John G.

JOHN SCREVEN, one of the most prominent citizens of southern Georgia, was born in Savannah, Ga., Sept. 18, 1827. His father, Dr. James P. Screven, mayor, state senator and railroad president, was of English descent, his ancestor, Rev. William Screven, coming to Maine, and then to South Carolina, where he founded the first Baptist church. Dr. Screven was also descended from Thomas Smith, colonial governor of South Carolina. John Screven's mother was Hannah Georgia Bryan, whose ancestor, Jonathan Bryan, was an associate justice and royal councilman, and one of the founders of the colony of Georgia. John Screven was taught by eminent teachers of Savannah and attended Franklin college, now a part of the university of Georgia, sharing the honor of the first gold medal awarded for sophomore declamation. Leaving before he had gradu- ated, he completed his studies at home under private tutors. He read law under Judge William Law, went abroad in 1848, spent some time in Heidelberg, and was admitted to the bar in Savannah in 1849, but left the profession soon after to manage his father's estate. In 1852 he was elected a justice of the inferior court, which place he held until 1866. In 1859 he was chosen president of the Atlantic & Gulf railroad upon the death of his father, the then president, but when the war began he was given leave of absence from railroad duty for military service. In 1857 he had been elected captain of the Savannah Volunteer Guards, the oldest infantry corps of Georgia, the command of which his father resigned, and in 1861 he was commissioned major of artillery, and assigned to the command of the Eighteenth Georgia battalion, and with it directed the erection of sea defenses until 1862, when, at the request of his railroad directors, he was ordered back to railway duties to attend to military transportation. In 1864 he raised and was lieu- tenant-colonel of a battalion for the defense of the inner lines of Savannah. In June, 1865, he began the restoration of his railroad, destroyed from Savannah to the Altamaha river. He continued president until 1880-over twenty years- when his company was succeeded by the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad company. In 1859 he was chosen one of the representatives from the county of Chatham to the general assembly of Georgia, and mayor of Savannah in 1869, and re-elected mayor twice. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Georgia in 1877; in 1880 associate arbitrator of the Southern Railway & Steam- ship association; in 1883 declined to be a capitol commissioner; in 1889 was made a member of the board of trustees of the university of Georgia, having been a member of the old board since early after the civil war; was president of the Savannah University club, trustee Chatham academy, fellow New York Geo- graphical society, first vice-president Georgia Historical society, and president of the Sons of the Revolution in Georgia. Col. Screven has, indeed, traced the path of his honored father with singular closeness in his solid virtues, valuable dis- tinctions and hold on public esteem. As a citizen, soldier, railway magnate, legislator and man of letters and affairs, he has been equally equipped and made a rounded record. In every trust he has borne himself with dignity, wisdom, ability and conservatism, and has won public confidence. As a student and reader, his culture is varied and broad, and he enjoys his magnificent library. In him dignity does not have to bear the burden of ostentation. Of delightful suavity, he

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is a true type of the southern gentleman. Latterly, Col. Screven has devoted his attention to rice planting on the estate bequeathed him by his father. He has been twice married, first to Miss Mary Footman, of Savannah, in 1849, who died in 1863, and then to Mrs. Mary Eleanor Brown, daughter of Dr. H. O'K. Nesbitt, and . niece of United States Senator Berrien, in 1865, who died in 1883.

DANIEL R. THOMAS. The accident of birth, as to place of nativity, may have very little to do with the career of the individual, and, while citizenship in the United States invests every citizen in any state with all immunities and privileges of those to the manor born, yet it is a matter of pride, a badge of honor to a state to be able to say of any thrifty and honored citizen: "This is my son." The subject of this biographical sketch was born in the city of Savannah, Ga., on Aug. 27, 1843. His father was John T. Thomas, whose ancestors came of that noble band of Huguenots who settled in South Carolina, and his mother was descended from the sturdy stock of Salzburgers, who came early in the history of the colony of Georgia to contribute to its life and prosperity. The predominant traits of Mr. Thomas' character plainly demonstrate his lineage. The patient, minute, and careful attention which he pays to all the details of business, to the demands that the public and the church have, from time to time, made on him, and the conscientiousness with which he discharges his duties, bespeak the characteristic inherited from the Salzburgers, while the energy and zeal that mark the pursuit and maintaining of his purposes and opinions derive their force and power from the blood of the Huguenots. By these hereditary endowments he has overcome many obstacles and imperfections and won a high place among the honored names of his native city. In his childhood his health was extremely delicate and his sight imperfect, so that he could not acquire the foundations of a liberal education, although the opportunity was not wanting, and at the age of fifteen years he gave up the schools and applied himself to work in a clerical capacity, accumulating, by careful attention, a fund of experience that served him better in the struggle of life than the scholastic theories of the books. In 1862, although far from being a robust, vigorous youth, he volunteered his services to his state and section as a private in Company I, First Volunteer regiment of Georgia, and continued in active service as long as his health permitted, and when he could no longer continue in active service in the field, he served with equal devotion in other departments of the Confederate service, in Savannah, Forsyth, and Macon, Ga. His books were kept with accuracy and care, and were carefully preserved, so that after the fall of Savannah he was able, in Forsyth, Ga., to make a complete statement, and to obtain a full settlement with the Hon. E. G. Cabanis, state collector of war taxes. At the close of the war he had the experience gained by a faithful discharge of his duties and his contact with men in the various branches of the service in which he had been engaged, and an attenuated purse. Loyal to his native city, he made his way to Savannah from Johnson county, Ga., and, notwithstanding the difficulties of transportation, he contributed to com- merce by bringing four bales of cotton with him. This being the first receipt of cotton since the Federal occupation of the city, attracted marked attention and received a prominent notice in the Savannah "Republican." For a while Mr. Thomas engaged in business as an insurance agent in Macon, Ga., where he remained until March, 1866, when he returned to Savannah, and in July of that year commenced a more independent and extensive business, in the commission, fertilizer and coal business, in copartnership with Capt. D. G. Purse. This firm established a business second to none in its credit and reliability, and derived a profitable return as the fruit of the integrity, thrift and unremitting energy of its members. In December, 1878, this firm was dissolved, Mr. Thomas continuing in

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the coal trade, and Mr. Purse devoting his attention to the commission and fertilizer business. During all these years Mr. Thomas had suffered greatly from impaired vision and disease of the eyes, and his suffering became so intense, in 1874, that he had to seek the advice of an oculist, whose skillful treatment gave him such relief that he was able to enlarge his field of action, and take part in matters of public concern. The embarrassed condition of the finances of the city presented a difficult question for adjustment. Mr. Thomas took an active part in effecting a satisfactory compromise between the city and the bondholders, whereby the credit of the city was restored and enhanced, while the rate of interest was materially reduced, and the time of payment of the debt extended for a long period. In view of this valuable service he was elected a member of the sinking fund commission for a term of ten years, and resigned the office only to assume the more arduous position of an alderman. He was re-elected a member of the commission in July, 1891. Elected an alderman in January, 1883, he rendered valuable services to the city for six years as an active member of many of the committees of council, mainly those of accounts, finance and streets and lanes, besides serving for a term as a member of the sanitary commission, a body created by the legislature after the terrible experience of the epidemic of 1876. Mr. Thomas was well qualified to serve as a member of this body. He was among those who stood by his striken city, fearlessly faced the dread destroyer and gained a fund of practical knowledge that made him an efficient member of the sanitary board. No alderman has ever devoted more time and earnest attention to the details of his respective departments. He was especially prominent and successful in his efforts to improve the financial condition of the city, and in reducing the rate of taxation, and there has never been a more vigilant superintendent of the accounts of the city. His vote determined the introduction of asphalt paving, which, commencing with the improvement of such business streets as Broughton and Congress, has culminated in the construction of two of the most beautiful streets in any city, in the asphalt paving of Liberty and Bull streets. As chairman of the committees on streets and lanes Mr. Thomas exhibited the most satisfactory and substantial proof of his capacity as alderman. The streets, parks, squares, sidewalks and trees all showed improvement under his watchful care, and the "Forest City" maintained its well-earned fame during his term of office. His suc- cessful career as alderman impressed a large number of our most conservative citizens with his eligibility for the office of mayor, and he was nominated for this office, and received the earnest support of a constituency that would do honor to any man. Mr. Thomas was not possessed by the politicians, he declined to engage in an unseemly scramble for the office, he accepted the nomination and the success- ful results of the election without the compromise of a single principle of honor and integrity. While Mr. Thomas has always been an energetic man of business, giving careful attention to his private affairs, active and earnest in his public services, he has also been prominent in matters pertaining to religion and broad and practical charity. For many years he has been a devoted member of the Independent Presbyterian church, for four years one of the trustees, and is now in the eighth year of his office as elder. He has for years served as a member of the board of managers of Savannah's oldest and most beneficent charity-the Union society-of which he has been vice-president since 1891, and whose suc- cessful rearing and education of helpless orphan boys has given to Georgia some of her most useful citizens. Many of the incorporated institutions of Savannah have felt the benefit of the sound judgment and practical suggestions of Mr. Thomas. He has served as a director in railroad companies, banking institutions, investment companies and in such adventures as contributed materially in building up the city. The Brush Electric Light and Power company and the De Soto hotel

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each received substantial support and liberal subscriptions from him. Mr. Thomas is still in the prime of life, one of the live men of his native city, and, while unabated in activity and usefulness, he is training one of his own blood to excel him in his devotion to church and state. On May 13, 1892, he associated with him his son, John Murchison Thomas, in his business as a partner, and the firm of D. R. Thomas & Son is one of the substantial business houses of Savannah. The effect of such a life should be to encourage young men to remain at home, and, by faithful work and diligent training, fit themselves to occupy useful and honorable positions and demonstrate that one may be the successful architect of his own fortune and be not without honor in his own community.

I EWIS TATTNALL TURNER, one of the prominent citizens of Savannah, Ga., was born in the little township of Hardwick, Bryan Co., Ga., Nov. 5, 1846. At an early age he was called upon to mourn the death of his estimable mother, and soon after her decease he removed to the home of his grandfather, Mr. Lewis Turner, planter, of White Marsh island, Chatham Co., Ga., where he remained until twelve years of age. From 1858-61 he attended school at Savannah, Ga., and also spent one year at the Georgia Military institute, at Marietta, which institution he left July, 1863, in order to enlist in the Confederate service, as junior lieutenant of Company A, Sixth Georgia reserves, and served as such until the war closed. Lieut. Turner was an active participant in the skirmishes around Savannah, and vicinity of Pocotalago, S. C., and in the battle of Bentonville, N. C. After the surrender he made his way-back to Savannah, and entered the cotton export firm of William Battersby & Co., as clerk, and remained with them until Mr. Battersby retired, about 1870, when the firm became Muir & Duckworth. In 1873 he was sent to New Orleans, as manager of the branch house there, under the firm name of Muir, Duckworth & Co., and remained until 1890, when he returned to Savannah to take charge of the business of the firm, the senior partner, Mr. Duckworth, going to England to live. When Mr. Muir retired, in 1888, the firm became Duckworth, Turner & Co., as at present known. Mr. Duckworth has charge of the house in Liverpool; there is a branch house in Manchester, England, and one in New Orleans, La. The house was originally founded in 1819, in Charleston, S. C., by Walter Duckworth, who died the same year of yellow fever, he being succeeded by Joseph Battersby, and he by William Battersby, and after- ward by Francis Muir and Joseph B. Duckworth, son-in-law of William Battersby. Mr. Turner is vice-president of the Cotton exchange, a director of the Central railroad of Georgia, and the Ocean Steamship company, president of the board of trustees of the Georgia infirmary, and a director in the Marion Phosphate company, the Baldwin Fertilizer company, and is one of the commissioners of pilotage of the city of Savannah. He is also member of the Savannah Yacht club, is a pay member of the Georgia Hussars, and is an elder in the Independent Presbyterian church. He was happily married, in 1868, to Mary Wylly Newell, daughter of the late Commander Thomas M. Newell, of the United States navy, and they have three sons and a daughter. Mr. Turner does not seek office and takes no part in politics.

BENJAMIN SCREVEN WELLS. Family tradition has it that the Wells family is of English origin. Mr. James T. Wells, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of South Carolina, and served throughout the war be- tween the states in a Georgia regiment. He departed this life in 1891, at the age of sixty-eight years. Of Benjamin S. Wells, whose name heads this sketch, one of his associates says: "He is strictly honest, conscientious and thoroughly reliable. While not a member of any church, he is moral and an ardent supporter

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of the right. He makes a success of almost everything he undertakes to do." Mr. Wells was born in the city of Savannah, Ga., Feb. 27, 1857, and was reared and educated in that city. In 1871 he began his business career as a clerk for the Andrew Low company, of Savannah, and upon the dissolution of that firm re- mained with their successors for five years. He then entered the employ of Brierly & Maitland Dugall, with whom he remained two years, at that time setting 11p in the cotton business alone. In 1881 his brother, James T. Wells, was associated with him. Since the retirement of the latter, in September, 1893, Mr. B. S. Wells has conducted the business alone. In addition to his extensive cotton business Mr. Wells is largely engaged in truck farming and owns a farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres six miles from Savannah, upon which he produces annually a great amount of truck, which finds ready sale in the markets of the east. Among the more prominent social and military organizations he is a inember of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a pay member of the Georgia hussars and the time-honored Chatham artillery. He was happily married in 1879 to Miss Jennie, daughter of James Gribble, deceased, of North Carolina. Mrs. Wells departed this life in July, 1892, leaving as issue of that union four sons and a daughter. She was a most lovable woman and was highly esteemed by all who knew her.

JESSE PARKER WILLIAMS, commission merchant and railroad president, Savannah, Ga., was born in Wayne county, N. C., Dec. 27, 1842. His father, Mack Williams, was a native of North Carolina, and a son of Charles Williams, who was a captain of cavalry in the army of the colonies during the revolution. Jesse Parker Williams was reared and received his earlier education in his native county, attended the Franklin military institute 1858-9, and during the autumn of 1860 became a student at the university of Virginia. When the sullen boom of the opening gun sounded along Charleston harbor he closed his books and return- ing home enlisted as a private in the Twentieth North Carolina infantry. Resigning his commission as captain after a year's service, he returned to his home and was made adjutant of Nethercot's battalion of rangers, but resigned after several months' service and organized an infantry company at Kenston, N. C., and served as its captain until the close of hostilities. Capt. Williams was an active participant in the battles of Washington, Plymouth, Wilmington, Wise's Fork and Bentonville, N. C., and Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Fort Harrison and Walthall Junction, Va., and also in several skirmishes in North Carolina in 1863. After the war had closed Capt. Williams was for two years employed as book- keeper for a firm at Conway, S. C .; in 1868 he engaged in the lumber business, and two years later in the mercantile business at Fort Harrelson, S. C. In 1880 he removed to Savannah, Ga., and entered the commission business, as at present conducted. In addition to other extensive business interests, Mr. Williams is president of the Seaboard Construction company, owning the Middle Georgia & Atlantic railroad, sixty-five miles in length, running from Milledgeville to Cov- ington, Ga., of which road he is president. He was also connected with the banking business in Savannah for several years. Mr. Williams is a master Mason and he has never held nor sought public office. He is a steward of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal church south, of Savannah, and a member of the board of trustees of Emory college, Oxford, Ga. He was married in 1873 to Olivia Out- land, who died without issue, and in 1879 to Cora V. Taylor, daughter of W. H. B. Taylor, of Statesboro, Ga.

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G EORGE BOARDMAN WHATLEY, a prominent attorney of Savannah, Chatham Co., Ga., was born on Beech island, now Aiken county, S. C., Dec. 27, 1853, being a son of Rev. Edmund Lampkin and Elizabeth (Lawton) Whatley. Rev. Edmund Lampkin Whatley was a native of South Carolina, a Baptist min- ister, was editor and proprietor of the "Edgefield Advertiser" for many years, and was the author of a novel entitled The Pine Farm, published in Nashville, Tenn., in 1860. During the war between the states he served as chaplain of a South Carolina regiment known as the "Edgefield rangers." He departed this life in 1886. Elizabeth Lawton Whatley, his wife, was a native of South Carolina, and a daughter of Rev. Joseph J. Lawton, a prominent Baptist minister of that state. George Boardman Whatley was reared in his native district until he was fourteen years of age, removed with his parents to Scarboro, Ga., in 1867, and four years later came to Savannah, Ga., where he completed his education in the schools of that city. He then taught school in the state of Georgia for several years, studying law meantime, and was admitted to the bar at Decatur, De Kalb Co., Ga., on Sept. 25, 1877. Returning to Savannah, he at once entered actively and success- fully upon the practice of his profession in that city, which has been continued uninterruptedly to this time, and he now sustains a very desirable rank among the members of the legal fraternity of Savannah. Though he had never sought office, nor had he taken any active part in politics up to that time, he was an ardent champion of Gen. Clement A. Evans for the democratic nomination for the governorship of Georgia; was afterward elected a member of the first con- gressional district convention, and by that body chosen chairman of the executive committee of the first congressional district of Georgia, which position he now holds. Mr. Whatley is a member of the masonic fraternity, the Baptist church, and is prominently connected with the Georgia Historical society. On Feb. I, 1882, he was happily married to Miss Georgia Helen, daughter of John B. Ryals, of Montgomery county, Ga., and that union has been blessed by the birth of a son and three daughters.

CAPT. JOHN FRANCIS WHEATON, a prominent underwriter of Savannah, Ga., was born in Guilford, Newhaven Co., Conn., Jan. 22, 1822. He lived in the county of his birth until he was sixteen years of age, and received his educa- tional advantages there. His home was at Hartford three years, and then at Bridgeport, Conn. In 1852 he removed to Savannah, Ga., where he engaged in the lumber business. In January, 1861, he entered the service of Georgia as a member of the state troops, and the following July enlisted in the army of the Confederate states as sergeant of the Chatham artillery, was promoted to lieutenant of his company in May, 1862, and to captain in December of the same year. Capt. Wheaton was an active participant in the battles of James island, Battery Wagner, around Charleston, Oolustee, Fla., and Columbia, S. C. At the close of hostilities he came to Augusta, and soon after to Savannah, where he con- ducted a general merchandise business until 1875, since which time he has given his attention to insurance. Capt. Wheaton was mayor of Savannah from 1877 to 1883, and now holds the position of commissioner of pilotage. Prior to the civil war he served as an alderman of the city of Savannah for two years. From 1879 to 1883 he served as president of the Savannah cotton exchange and from August, 1886, to February, 1890, was collector of the port of Savannah, under an appointment from President Cleveland. He is now president of the United Hydraulic Cotton Press company; the Pawnee Land and Mineral company, the latter company owning 6,700 acres of coal lands in Blount county, Ala. He resigned the command of the Chatham artillery July 2, 1895, and is a member of

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the Oglethorpe club, the Commercial club, the Savannah Yacht club and the Georgia Historical society. Capt. Wheaton is a royal arch Mason and a regular attendant of St. John's church of Savannah. He was married in October, 1847, at Bridgeport, Conn., and has one son and a daughter, viz .: Samuel J. Wheaton, and Kate, the wife of H. K. Burras, of New York.

JOHN R. YOUNG, was born in Thomas county, Ga., April 7, 1856, and is the son of the late Remer Young, who was one of the largest and most successful planters of Lowndes county, to which county he removed in 1859, where the earlier years in the life of John R. Young were spent. From estimable and cultured parents the son inherited splendid traits of character. He was educated at Val- dosta institute and at the university of Georgia. After completing his education he spent a few years on his father's plantation, and in the management of the planta- tion of J. W. Lathrop & Co., in Lowndes county, after which, with an associate, he began the manufacture of naval stores, a business venture, which proved to be successful, but which he disposed of to accept a position with the large naval stores house of Peacock, Hunt & Co., in 1883. After two years with this firm, Messrs. Ellis and Holt, the junior partners, withdrew from the company, and formed a co- partnership under the firm name of Ellis, Holt & Co., and offered Mr. Young an interest in the business, which he accepted. Subsequent to the death of Mr. Holt, Mr. C. B. Parker was admitted, and the firm became Ellis, Young & Co., under which it was built up, and now conducts one of the largest trades in turpentine and resin in the world. That the present high standing and immense naval stores trade of the firm of Ellis, Young & Co., is largely due to the energy and business foresight of Mr. Young cannot be doubted. This young man of thirty-nine, who came to Savannah twelve years ago, an entire stranger, is to-day so thoroughly identified with every enterprise of a public character that no one is better known on 'change and throughout Georgia and Florida. In these years Mr. Young has stamped the impress of his sterling business qualities and infectious zeal upon every project looking to the advancement and progress of not only his own city and state, but it has been extended to the peninsular state of Florida. In addition to his share of the active management of the naval stores and general merchandise interest of the firm of Ellis, Young & Co., Mr. Young organized the Georgia Pine Investment company, of which he is president. This corporation has a capital of $75,000, owns 100,000 acres of the best pine lands of the south, and an interest in five of the largest turpentine farms in the south. No man has a more abiding faith in the continued prosperity and future grandeur of this seaport, whose every indus- trial, commercial and railroad interest he has aided to foster, and to the develop- ment of which he has brought to bear individual enthusiasm which has been infectious. Mr. Young's success and ability as a business man so widely attracted attention through the commercial channels of Savannah that four years after he arrived in Savannah he was elected vice-president of the board of trade. and was at the following election promoted to the presidency by the board, and the next year was re-elected. Mr. Young's address in 1890, reviewing the trade of Savannah for 1889, was one of the ablest documents of its kind ever presented for the considera- tion of the board, and showed that all the ramifications in the city's commerce had been thoroughly canvassed by him, and that he was familiar with every statis- tical detail of one of the most prosperous' commercial years known in the city of Savannah. In that report he showed that Savannah had done a naval stores business for that year of nearly $6,000,000, an increase of $1,500,000 over the year previous, and that the grain, provision and grocery trade had increased 25 per cent .. and this in the light of the fact that prices on nearly all the leading articles were

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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 60

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