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 79

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 79

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[B. C. EVANS, planter, Baconton, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of Ezekiel and Zarah (Bacon) Evans, was born in Bernwell (now Aken) district, S. C., in 1830. The family is of Welsh extraction-members of it having gone from Wales to Belfast, Ireland, where they were linen weavers. Mr. Evans' great- grandfather emigrated thence to America and settled in South Carolina, bringing his flax wheel with him. His son James, Mr. Evans' grandfather, was born in South Carolina. His father, Ezekiel, was born in Abbeville district, S. C., in 1787, and was reared and received a good education there. His wife was born in Edgefield district, S. C., in 1803. During the war with Great Britain in 1812-14 a cavalry company was raised in the Evans neighborhood, which he joined, but the company was not called into service. In early life he taught school, then settled on a farm and married-thereafter making farming his life pursuit. In 1836, with his wife and seven children, he came by wagon to Georgia and settled in Houston county, purchasing two tracts of land partially improved, where he lived until he died. He was very successful and accumulated a quite valuable estate. For a number of years he was a justice of the peace, the only office he ever held, for although well qualified he never desired or sought office. He was an "old-line whig" and and uncompromising union man. Ten children were born to them, only two of whom are now living: L. B. C., the subject of this sketch, and Mary, widow of Kinchen Radford, who makes her home with Mr. Evans. The deceased children are: Henry, died in Dooly county, Ga .; John, died in Houston county in 1877; Sarah, died in the same county and year; Clara, wife of John K. Long, Thomas county, Ga .; James R., died in the Confederate service near Charleston, S. C., and three who died when young. Himself and wife were members of the Methodist church, and both died in Houston county-she in 1844 and he in 1854. The maternal grandfather of Mr. L. B. C. Evans, Lydwell Bacon, was a small boy when the British occupied Augusta, and went with his mother to live near that city, their home neighborhood being full of tories. His father at the time was in the patriot army, under Gen. Greene. Mr. Evans was but five years old when his parents moved to Georgia; yet he says he well remembers the trip, especially the first day, as it rained the entire day and he wondered where he was going to sleep. He received a common school education in Houston county, and when he became of age he began farming on his own account. Soon after himself and his brother John bought the home place and operated it until 1859, when they sold it with the intention of going to Louisiana. But the war having been precipitated, they abandoned their purpose. In 1858 he went to Texas to look at the country, going overland to Greenwood, Miss., thence by water to Baton Rouge, La., from there up Red river to Shreveport, La., and then on a prospecting tour in Texas. In March, 1862, he enlisted in an artillery company, Capt. Joe Palmer, now (1895) ordinary of Houston county, and served under

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Gens. Bragg, Johnston and Hood. He was a participant in the battle of Perry- ville, Ky., was with Morgan in his Kentucky raid, in front of Gen. Sherman's army, Chattanooga to Atlanta, and with his command aided in the defense of that city. His command did not accompany Gen. Hood to Tennessee, but re- mained in Georgia, and in the service until the surrender. He received two flesh wounds from bullets-one in the leg and one on his jaw-during the war, but was otherwise unhurt. After the war he returned to Houston county, bought a farm, and cultivated it until 1877, when he sold it and bought land near Baconton and settled on it. He now owns 500 acres, a large portion of which is under productive and profitable cultivation, with a roomy and comfortable residence and large and substantial outbuildings such as a prosperous and progressive farmer would have. Mr. Evans was married three times. His first wife was Miss Hat- tie Lane, by whom he had two children: Susie, wife of E. D. Glousier, merchant and postmaster, Baconton, and Edith C., deceased wife of J. D. Frazier. The mother of these having died, he married Miss Julia Logan, who bore him two children: James L., at home, and Matthew, who died when nine months old, in 1874. His son by this marriage was educated at Cuthbert, Randolph Co., Ga., and is with the family, assisting in the management of the farm. For his third wife he married Mrs. Hazleton, of Muscogee county, Ga. Mr. Evans is a demo- crat, and himself and family are members of the Methodist church, of which he is a steward.

JOHN C. FRAZIER, planter and sheep raiser, Raiford, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of David and Penelope (Crawford) Frazier, was born in Pulaski county, Ga., in 1825. His father was a native of North Carolina, was left an orphan, and raised by Stig. Graham of Pulaski county. After he had attained manhood and married and had one child, he moved to Thomas county, where he lived until his death, which occurred when our subject was four years old, by his falling from a house he was raising. His mother married again and lived in Thomas county until her children were grown, when she moved to Mitchell county and lived with one of her sons until she died, eighty years of age. By her first husband she was the mother of three children: John C., the subject of this sketch; W. B., who served through the late civil war, the only survivor of the first company he was a member of, and one of four survivors of the second, and is now engaged in stock raising near Ft. Myers, in Everglade county, Fla .; Eliza Jane, near Camilla, widow of David Faircloth. Mr. Frazier was reared a farmer and stock-raiser in Thomas county, and received an exceedingly limited education. When grown he purchased a farm on the Flint river in that part of Baker now included in Mitchell county, and lived there about eight years. He then bought and settled the place where he now lives, and has since been engaged in farming and sheep husbandry. For forty-five years he has lived in sight of where he now lives, and small oak trees he planted on his present home place are now large enough for saw-logs. He owns a very large body of land, and besides being extensively engaged in farming, has about 2,000 sheep. During the war Mr. Frazier was detailed to look after government stock. Mr. Frazier has been married twice. He first married Miss Susan Faircloth, Georgia-born, who died in April, 1884 (a member of the Baptist church), leaving six children: Raiford C., merchant and postmaster at Raiford, named for him; Calvin, deceased; John W., near Baconton; William B .; J. D .; and Andrew J., all three near the home place. His second wife was Miss Elizabeth Jassiert, of German descent, born in Greene county, Ga. Mr. Frazier belongs to the democratic party, and is a member of the Baptist church. He is

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a hard worker and good manager; the largest sheep grower in the county, honor- able in everything, and held in the highest esteem.

JUDSON L. HAND, planter, merchant and manufacturer, Pelham, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of Columbus W. and Columbia A. (Bower) Hand-natives respectively of Burke and Baldwin counties, Ga .- was born in Houston county, Ga., in 1851. His father early in life settled on a plantation in Houston county and followed farming. In 1856 he moved to Sumter county, where he died in 1880, aged fifty-seven years. His widow, our subject's mother, is still living on the home plantation. He was a very successful planter, a democrat in politics, served as a lieutenant in the late civil war, and was wounded in one of the fights around Macon, Ga. Of the children born to him, five are now living: Mrs. Emma Stewart, living on the old homestead; Judson L., subject of this sketch; Mrs. Ella Mckellar, living on a part of the old homestead; Mrs. Ida Scarborough, Twiggs county; Mrs. Alice Barrow, wife of Rev. A. Barrow. Mr. Hand was raised and educated and prepared for college in Sumter county, and graduated with honor in 1871 from the university of Georgia. At college he was a member of the K. A. fraternity, and editor and business manager of the college paper. Starting in life for himself he invested largely in lands and located at Pelham, in Mitchell county, where he engaged extensively in agriculture and the lumber business, in which he was very prosperous. He owns 20,000 acres of land, 13,000 of which is virgin forest, and 2,600 acres under cultivation. Of this, in 1894, he had 600 acres in watermelons. Besides his extensive farming and lumber interests at Pelham he is interested in a large ginnery and a cottonseed-oil mill. In 1876 he commenced a general merchandise business on a small scale, and this business has grown, until now it is the largest business in plantation sup- plies in south Georgia. From 1878 to 1888 he was extensively engaged in the turpentine business, and in 1883 he was the largest naval stores operator in the south. He is to-day the largest melon grower in the United States. Evidences of his sagacity and business enterprise are seen in the development and prosperity of the country around him everywhere. A few years ago he introduced in his section the culture of sea island cotton by planting it on his own farm, and now it is one of the most important crops. in South Georgia. He takes an active interest in politics and has represented Mitchell county and the Eighth senatorial district in the general assembly. His home is one of the most delightful and charming in all that section, his residence being one of the finest, almost palatial in its magnificent proportions, its imposing architectural exterior, and its elaborately finished and embellished interior, all surrounded by a profusion of flowers unexcelled for gorgeousness and fragrance. Mr. Hand married Miss Enna Collinsworth of Sumter county, a graduate of Furlow college at Americus; a union which has been blessed with three children: Florence, Irene and Leland. He is a strong working democrat, and a master Mason. He is the master spirit and president of the Hand Trading company, and one of the wealthiest citizens in that part of Georgia.

ABSALOM JACKSON, deceased, son of William Jackson, was born in Greene county, Ga., early in the present century. William Jackson, his father, was a descendant of English-Scotch emigrants, who came to this country some time before the revolutionary war and settled in Georgia. He served through that war in the patriot army, lived in Greene county afterward, where he accumulated a valuable estate, and died in 1835 or 1836, at a very advanced age. His wife survived him a number of years. To them four children were born: Nathan, who settled in Florida, where he raised a large family; Absalom, the subject of

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this sketch; Elizabeth, wife of Archibald Odum, a revolutionary soldier, who died at the age of eighty-four years, at the home of George S. Jackson; Susie, who died unmarried. Absalom Jackson when a boy accompanied the family to Wilkinson county, Ga., where after attaining his majority he married Miss Elizabeth Smylis of Jefferson county, Ga. They remained in Wilkinson county until 1841, when they removed to that part of Baker now included in Dougherty county, and settled at Blue Springs, near Albany. His intention was to build a saw and grist mill, but abandoning the enterprise, he returned a year atferward to Wilkinson county, where, forty-five years of age, he died. He was an "old-line whig," and a consistent member of the Baptist church. Soon after his death his widow and children returned to Blue Springs, where they lived until 1855, when the family moved to Mitchell county and settled near what is now known as Baconton, where the mother died in 1880, aged seventy-six years, at the home of George W. Jackson. She was a strict member of the Baptist church. They were the parents of six children: Rev. James W., deceased, Methodist minister; Greene S .; John L., Pike county; George W., near Baconton; Jason M., Miller county, and Mary, deceased wife of Joseph Walker, Camilla.

GREENE SMYLIS JACKSON, planter, Baconton, Mitcheil Co., Ga., son of Absalom and Elizabeth (Smylis) Jackson, was born in Wilkinson county, Dec. 25, 1826. He was raised on the farm and enjoyed good school advantages, including attendance at Cool Springs academy, until he was fifteen years old, when his father moved to Baker (now Dougherty) county, after which his school education was very limited. He remained with his mother-his father having died when he was in his nineteenth year-until he was twenty-five years old. He then commenced farming for himself, and, in 1862, removed to his present place, four miles east of Baconton, which has been his home ever since. During the latter part of the war he served as a militiaman; and after the surrender he was appointed an agent of the bureau to preserve peace between the whites and the colored people. He was elected justice of the peace some years ago and held the office until 1892. Mr. Jackson was married in 1858 to Miss Virginia Peacock, daughter of Robert Peacock, a native of North Carolina, who migrated to Georgia. Mr. Peacock was twice married, and was the father of eighteen children. Three of those by the first, and eight by the last marriage are still living, the eldest of whom, Benajah, is nearly ninety years old. Mrs. Jackson was a daughter by the second marriage, the twelfth born to her father, was born in Macon county and raised in Brooks. Nine children have blessed this union: Ella, deceased wife of J. A. Jones, Camilla; W. T .; Thomas; Minnie, wife of Daniels; Robert T., dentist, located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America; Lillie; Flora; Julius; Greene S., Jr. Mr. Jackson is a stanch democrat, and himself and family are members of the Methodist church, of which he was a steward for many years, and has been Sunday school superintendent for fifteen years.

GEORGE W. JACKSON, planter, Baconton, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of Absalom and Elizabeth (Smylis) Jackson, was born in Wilkinson county, Ga., Jan. 20, 1834. He was but a boy when his father and family moved to near" Blue Springs, in what is now Dougherty county, and what education he received was obtained at the common schools of the country. His father died when he was about ten years old, but the family lived together until 1855, when his mother, with his sister, youngest brother and himself, nioved to near what is now Bacon- ton, where his mother bought a tract of 160 acres of land and settled upon it; where she lived, cared for by the subject of this sketch, until her death. Mr.

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Jackson has gradually added to this original purchase until he has 2,000 acres of choice, eligibly located land, 1,250 acres of which have been cleared; nearly all of which is under improved cultivation. Mr. Jackson enlisted early in the war between the states, and was a lieutenant in Dearing's brigade, W. H. F. Lee's division. He served about four years, two of which were on picket duty along the Virginia and North Carolina coast, and participated in the obstinately con- tested fights around Petersburg. After the war he returned to his farm, which it has been his pride to improve. He is wide-awake and progressive, and an active and liberal promoter of every movement calculated to advance the material and moral interests of the county. He was county commissioner eight years, which is the only public office he ever held. He is devoted to his home and interesting family, and is particularly anxious that all his children should be well educated. Mr. Jackson married Miss Eulelia Peacock (a sister of the wife of his brother, Greene S. ), daughter of Robert Peacock, a wealthy Brooks county planter-a union which has been blessed with eight children-three sons and five daughters; Lula V., wife of W. H. Brimberry, Camilla; Nellie A .: Florence May; George Pierce; Harry N .; Jewell; Irvin Finton, and Lucia. Mr. Jackson is an ardent democrat, a member of the A. O. U. W., and himself and wife and family are ardent members of the Methodist church.

THOMAS PALMER, planter, Camilla, Mitchell Co., son of Daniel and Caro- line (Collins) Palmer, was born in Stewart county in 1853, and was a mere babe when the family moved by wagon, camping by the wayside over night, from Stewart to Mitchell county, where he was raised, and educated-limitedly-in the common schools of the county. He began life for himself as a merchant in Camilla in 1875-76, and then went to Texas, where he remained a year. Return- ing to Camilla he re-entered mercantile life there, but, later moved to Flint in the same county, where he did business one year. He then went to Florida, where he followed merchandising, milling and fruit-growing a number of years. Com- ing back to Mitchell county he settled permanently on the "old plantation," where he is now extensively engaged in farming. Partaking of the practical characteristics of the family, and of genial and friendly traits, he has been suc- cessful in his various enterprises, and won the respect and esteem of those among whom he has lived. Mr .. Palmer married Miss Josie McClain, daughter of Dr. W. R. McClain, a practicing physician of Early county, Ga. She was born and raised, and liberally educated at Damascus, in that county Two children-a son and a daughter-have been born to them: Martin and Mittie C. He is a democrat, and a master Mason, and Mrs. Palmer is a member of the Methodist church.

J. B. PALMER, planter, Camilla, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of Daniel and Caro- line (Collins) Palmer, was born in Stewart county, Ga., in 1846. His father was born in Twiggs county, Ga., in 1818, and when quite young was left an orphan, and taken in charge by his grandmother-Bullard. She died before he was fully grown and he went to Stewart county, where he engaged in farming, and was very prosperous. In 1854 he moved with his family to that part of Baker, now included in Mitchell county, settling on Flint river east of Newton, where they resided some years. From there he went to a place below Newton, where he lived until settling his place near Camilla. During the late civil war he enlisted in the Seventh Georgia regiment, Gen. Bennings' brigade, as a pri- vate, and saw much active and arduous service. At the battle of Chickamauga he was seriously wounded and was left insensible-probably for dead-on the bat- tlefield. Being disabled by the wound he was discharged from further service.

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Seven children were born to him: J. B .; Marthena, Mrs. Baggs; Joseph (deceased); Thomas; Mittie, Mrs. Spence; J. H .; and Mollie (deceased). The mother of these children died in the fall of 1866, and he subsequently married Mrs. Rhoda (nee Adams) Swearingen, and is now, in his old age, enjoying the accumulations of a usefully spent life, at his cosy home in Camilla. J. B. Palmer was raised in what is now Mitchell county, receiving the little education he has at the common schools. During the war he was a member of Capt. Wimberly's cavalry company, Hood's command. In 1867 he commenced farming on his own account, and in 1870 settled on the tract of land two miles north of Camilla on which he now lives. It was in the woods, but he cleared a large portion of it, and has it in a fine state of cultivation. Mr. Paliner was married Jan. 13, 1871, to Miss Mollie E., daughter of A. H. Cox of Mitchell county, by whom he has had three children: Carrie, wife of O. O. Worley; Willie D., and Benjamin F. (deceased). Mr. Palmer is a democrat, and has served as county commissioner eight years. He is a member of the Baptist church, and his wife is a member of the Methodist church, and no members of the community are held in higher esteem.

J. H. SCAIFE, lawyer, ex-judge county court, Camilla, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of Rev. Jamieson and Melissa (Lovejoy) Scaife, natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Georgia, was born in Selma, Ala., Feb. 5, 1849. His father was born in Union district, S. C., in 1810, and was raised on a plantation not far from Spartanburg. His educational advantages were exceedingly limited, but by devoting all his spare time to study after reaching maturity, he acquired a good education. About this time he came to Georgia and settled in Jasper county, where he married his wife, who was born in the county. Later he was received into the Georgia conference of the M. E. church, in which he remained many years, when his family had become so large his salary was inadequate to their proper support. Withdrawing from the conference he went to Alabama and went on a farm; but at the expiration of a year he returned to Georgia and purchased land in Stewart county, where he farmed extensively, and so profitably that at the close of the civil war he freed fifty negroes-the result of his accumu- lations. After the surrender he moved to Eufaula, Ala., where he engaged in merchandising until 1869; giving his personal attention, however, to the min- istry. In 1873 he came to Mitchell county and settled-and died in April, 1875. His wife died in Alabama in 1891 in the eighty-first year of her age. Thirteen children were the fruit of this union, six of whom survive: Mrs. M. A. Doris, Cairo, Ga .; Mrs. Bostwick, and Mrs. J. H. Powell, Camilla; Prof. J. F. and Dr. W. L. Camilla; and J. H., the subject of this sketch. Those deceased are: Mrs. B. Noble; F. A., killed at Murfreesboro, Tenn .; J. W., and Miss Lou; and three died in infancy. Judge Scaife was raised principally in Stewart county, Ga., where he attended the academy at Lumpkin. While in Eufaula he attended the male academy, of which Rev. W. H. Patterson was principal. Subsequently he attended Cumberland university, Lebanon, Tenn., and after his graduation he read law under Col. W. B. Wilborn, Eufaula, Ala., and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He returned to Camilla soon afterward, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession, securing by his ability an influential and remunerative clientage. In 1884 he was appointed judge of the county court, but resigned in 1886 on account of impaired health, and went to Florida, where he remained until the following year. In 1892 he was elected to represent the Eighth senatorial district in the general asesmbly. Ardent and active he has always been prominent in politics; his opinions are convictions; he is outspoken in his expression of them, and is very influential with his party. Judge Scaife married Mrs. Emmons,

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widow of Dr. Emmons. She was born in Louisiana, but was raised in Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. When grown to young womanhood her parents moved to Denison, Texas, where she married Dr. Emmons. He came from Texas to Georgia and located in Camilla, where he died. Judge Scaife is a master Mason, and Mrs. Scaife is an active and earnest Christian and an ardent mission worker. Their home, in its surroundings, and its religious and social attractions, is one of the most delightful and charming in the county.

WILLIAM N. SPENCE, solicitor-general Albany circuit, Camilla, Mitchell Co., Ga., son of William and Susan (Hilliard) Spence, was born in Stewart county, Ga., Feb. 25, 1851. The family in this country descended from two brothers, Joseph and William Spence, who came from England to America among the earliest colonists, and settled-Joseph in Virginia, and William in North Caro- lina. Thorpe Spence, great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Virginia, and when a young man came to Georgia and settled in Burke county, where he married Miss Charity Smith, an orphan girl raised by a Mr. William Hinds. He died in middle age leaving five sons: Bluford, Greene, Littleton, Eastern, and Joseph, all deceased. His widow afterward married a Mr. Miller, by whom she had two sons: George and Levi, both now living in Alabama. Mr. Spence's grandfather, Bluford Spence, was raised in Burke county, where he married Miss Polly Fann, who died after bearing one child-Susan, now deceased-who mar- ried James Adams. For his second wife he married Miss Elizabeth Fitzgerald, also of Burke county. Subsequently he moved to Pulaski county, and thence- about 1830-to Stewart county, and settled on a farm on the Chattahoochee river, where he died about 1836. He served with an Alabama command in the Florida war. He left his widow and seven children, of whom three-Joseph T., Greene, and Sarah, wife of J. A. Collins, are now living; and four-Ann, Mrs. Metcalf; Mary, Mrs. Walker; Martha, Mrs. Thompson; and William, our subject's father, are dead. His widow married James Hilliard in Stewart county, who moved the family to Mitchell county and lived there awhile, and then went to Brooks county, where she died, and he married Miss Clara Clark of Florida. William Spence, the father of our subject, was born in Burke county in 1822, but was raised and educated in Stewart county, where he followed farming, and where, about 1845, he married Miss Susan Hilliard. About 1861 he enlisted in a com- pany of state troops-after moving his family to Mitchell county-and was in the service in Tennessee with Gen. Johnston's army, participating in very many engagements of more or less importance, and in the fights around Atlanta. After the war he resided a few years in Mitchell county, then removed to Brooks county ; but in a short time he moved back to Mitchell county. Subsequently he moved to Houston county, where he died in 1885, aged sixty-three years, having for the greater part of his life been a consistent member of the Baptist church. He was twice married. By his first wife he had nine children, five of whom are living: William N, the subject of this sketch; Mary C., wife of Mr. Perry, postmaster at Camilla; Irene E., wife of Rev. William B. Bennet, Quitman, Ga., county judge of Brooks county; Carswell, Hawkinsville, Pulaski Co .; and Susan, wife of R. Tip Ragan, Hawkinsville. The following four are dead: Andrew J., James Hilliard, Celia Ellen, and Bluford. The mother of these died in Stewart county, 1863, and the father afterward married Miss Nancy Hallibur- ton, who survives him and makes her home with Mr. W. N. Spence, in Camilla. Mr. Spence lived in Stewart county until he was twelve years of age, when his father moved to Mitchell county, and after remaining three years moved to Brooks county, he attending the schools in the several counties. He afterward attended the university of Kentucky, at Lexington, and then returning

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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 79

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