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 88

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 88

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MURRAY COUNTY SKETCHES.

excellent plantation, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1886. His widow died in Spring Place, Murray Co., Ga., in 1892. Mr. Maddox was a man of strict integrity, great force of character, and superior executive ability. He left the mark of his influence on every community favored with his citizenship. He had a large and influential acquaintance in what is known as Cherokee, Ga., and no citizen possessed or deserved warmer or truer friends than he -- and he retained the respect and confidence of all who knew him to the last. He was among the last of the survivors of the pioneer settlers of that mountain region, whose courage, industry, thrift and pro- gressiveness have placed that then unknown extended area-a treasure-house of wealth in forest growth and minerals-on the highway to development and pros- perity. Judge Maddox was married Dec. 31, 1849, to Miss Martha, daughter of Col. Samuel Tate (also an early settler) of Cherokee county, and one of its most influential citizens, and to them nine children were born: Mary, now of Atlanta, for many years a school teacher in Pickens, Whitfield and Murray counties; Eliza, wife of W. A. Simmons, Jasper, Pickens Co .; Stephen, merchant, Weather- ford, Tex .; Samuel, lawyer, Dalton, Ga., who has been mayor of the city; Joseph, mechanic, Columbus, Ga .; John, deceased; Sally, wife of W. J. Wrinkle, Colum- bus, Ga .; Martha, wife of R. A. Pierce, Spring Place, Ga., and Charles, Spring Place.

HON. JAMES A. M'KAMY. Col. McKamy is one of Murray county's pros- perous agriculturists and representative citizens. He was born at Maryville, Blount Co., Tenn., on Oct. 29, 1825, the son of William McKamy and his wife, Nancy Caldwell, who were married on Jan. 20, 1820, in Blount county. William was born in that county in 1790, and was reared among the hardy pioneers of those days. His wife was born in Hawkins county, Tenn., and was the daughter of David Caldwell. Col. McKamy was brought up on his father's farm, and was edu- cated in the schools of his neighborhood. At the commencement of the Mexican war he entered the service of the United States and was commissioned first lieuten- ant of Company F, Fifth regiment, Tennessee infantry. His regiment served under Gen. Twiggs, and saw active service on the line between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, and was engaged at the battles of La Soladad and Palverda. He con- tinued in the service until the close of the war, and in 1848 returned with his regiment to the United States. He was honorably discharged at Memphis, Tenn. After the war he was engaged as bookkeeper and accountant for a mercantile house in his native county and later conducted a mercantile business on his own account. During the administration of President Buchanan he served as post- master at Maryville. At the commencement of hostilities between the states he entered the Confederate service as captain of Company E, Third Tennessee infan- try, and later was commissioned major and lieutenant-colonel of his regiment respectively. He was engaged with his regiment at the first battle of Manassas. His regiment was next ordered to Tennessee, where he participated in the campaign in east Tennessee, and for a time served as member of court-martial at Knoxville. Returning with his regiment to Virginia he remained engaged in active service in the valley during the greater part of the war. While fighting under Early at the battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, he was made prisoner of war, and sent to Fort Delaware, where he was confined until July 24, 1865. Returning to his home after valiant service rendered in behalf of the south, and for the maintenance of her rights under the constitution, he found it necessary for his personal safety to depart from his native state, then overrun with Federal troops and lawless mobs. He accordingly settled in Murray county, this state, where he has since resided, and engaged successfully in agricultural pursuits. He became one of the leading

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citizens of his adopted county, and has taken an active interest in the management of her affairs. From 1871 to the present time he has been a member of the board of education of Murray county, and has served as a commissioner of roads and revenues. In 1886 he became the candidate of the democratic party for the office of senator from the Forty-third senatorial district, comprising the counties of Gor- don, Whitfield and Murray. He was elected and served as senator during the years 1886-87. In the legislature he was assigned to the committees on agriculture, public property, privileges and elections, mines and mining, and immigration. In committee work he soon demonstrated his efficiency as a valuable legislator, and also took an active part in the deliberations on the floor of the senate. At the close of his legislative term it was generally conceded that he had made one of the best representatives ever returned from the Forty-third district. By their marriage the parents of Col. McKamy had seven children: David; James A .; John; William; Margaret, who married George Maxwell; Nancy; and Mary, who married S. W. Eldridge. The paternal grandfather of Col. McKamy was James McKamy, born in Rockbridge county, Va., about 1752. He served in the patriot army during the war of the revolution, and settled in Tennessee in 1787, married Nancy Telford, reared a family, and died in Blount county, that state, in 1845. His son William served in the war of 1812. Col. McKamy is a member of the Presbyterian church and belongs to the masonic fraternity.

MAJ. M. D. L. M'CROSKEY, retired merchant, Cohutta Springs, was born in McMinn county, Tenn., May 22, 1830. His early life was spent in that county, where he received his education. In his youth he acquired a taste for a mercan- tile and business career, and his first business venture was at Montgomery, Ala., where he disposed of a lot of horses, and acquired in 1855 an interest in a livery stable. This interest he soon disposed of and went to Atlanta. In the spring of 1858 he visited New York city and became associated with a leading mercantile house, and was at once launched upon a business career, successfully conducted through many and various ventures for upward of a quarter of a century. During this period his calling as a salesman required his presence at different times in all parts and sections of the Union. He early acquired an extensive business acquaint- ance, and profited by his opportunities to familiarize himself with business meth- ods, and to obtain an acute knowledge of human nature in all its phases. There is, probably, no resident of this state better informed regarding the condition of the country, its business needs and requirements, than Maj. McCroskey. A gentleman of affable and agreeable presence, of broad mind, ripened by many years of personal experience with men and affairs, he is doubtless possessed of advantages that can only be acquired in the school of personal experience. The opening of the great war between the states found him in New York city. His sympathies were natur- ally with the southern people, and his trade relations and patrons were chiefly south of Mason and Dixon's line. He accordingly resolved to return to the south, and arrived in Savannah in the spring of 1861. He engaged in the drug business in Atlanta until 1863, when he went to Saltville, Va., and was there engaged in the salt trade and manufacture until the close of the war. He received a major's com- mission from the Confederate government, and held the rank from 1863 until the surrender of Lee and Johnston. He sustained close business relations with that government, and supplied the army with the product of his salt works until his plant was captured by Federal troops under Gen. Stoneman. In the autumn of 1865 he returned to New York and again engaged in mercantile pursuits, which he followed until 1890. In the latter year he retired from business and settled with his family in Atlanta. In that city he resides during the winter seasons, retiring to his fine country seat in Murray county in the summer of each year. His plantation is one

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of the largest and most productive in North Georgia, and contains 2,240 acres of choice agricultural land, interspersed with heavy timber and possessing excellent spring water. Here Maj. McCroskey enjoys in quiet retirement the profitable results of many years of honest business industry, and a competency honorably achieved. Besides his estate in Murray county he is the owner of a valuable business block in Atlanta and a fine dairy farm in the suburbs of that city, on which is located his winter residence. And here, as well as on his Murray county plantation, this social and genial gentleman is ever at home to his friends. In 1868 Maj. McCros- key was united in marriage in Brooklyn, N. Y., to Miss Lizzie Carn. His wife was the daughter of John and Lizzie Carn, of Bamburg, S. C., and was reared and edu- cated at Charleston, where she resided until the commencement of the war, when she took up her home in Atlanta. Mrs. McCroskey was present at the bombard- ment of Fort Sumter, and stood within fifty feet of the first gun fired at the fort. By their marriage they had two daughters: Lizzie Bell and Julia Evans. Lizzie died in New York city in April, 1870, a child remarkable for intelligence and pre- cocity. Julia is at present a student in the high school in Atlanta. The father of Maj. McCroskey was a native of Sevier county, Tenn., where he was born in 1807. He resided in that county until 1860, when he settled in Atlanta and engaged in mercantile business. He died at Cleveland, Tenn., in 1892, at the age of eighty- four years. He married Sarah Stephenson, a daughter of Andrew Stephenson, of Sevier county, Tenn. They reared two sons and six daughters: Louisa, now deceased; Caroline, deceased; Amanda, wife of J. T. Horle, of Cleveland, Tenn .; Tennie and Harriet, residents of Chattanooga, and Addie. also deceased. The mother of Maj. McCroskey died at Tunnel Hill, Ga., in 1871.

HON. PLEASANT M'GHEE, farmer, Spring Place, is a native of Morgan county, Tenn., although by nurture and long established residence, he has acquired all the tastes and manners of the Georgian. His parents died during his early infancy. In 1840, at the age of seven years, he was brought to Murray county by his grandfather, and was chiefly reared in that county. In 1849 the gold fever broke out in California and he migrated to southwestern Missouri near the Indian territory, where he lived and traded among the Indians. In 1855, witli a company of friends he started for the gold fields on the Pacific slope, jour- neying by way of Fort Scott, Fort Kearney, and Fort Laramie, over the vast prairies, crossing the Rocky mountains, to the north of Salt Lake City, at Soda Springs, and after experiencing divers adventures and hairbreadth escapes finally arrived at Sacramento in August. At what is now known as Eldorado he engaged in mining during the following eighteen months, and succeeded fairly well. In 1857 he recrossed the mountains and the prairies, and again located in south- west Missouri, engaging in the cattle trade, which he operated successfully until 1858, when he returned to Georgia and married Miss Frances Cleveland, daugh- ter of Robert Cleveland. They moved to southwest Missouri, where Mr. McGhee engaged in farming and trading. Previous to the commencement of the war Mr. McGhee was a sturdy Union man; but when state after state withdrew from the Federal compact he took sides with the Confederacy. He first enlisted in the territorial regiment. Obtaining a leave of absence he returned to Georgia with his family, and then rejoined his command under Col. Stanwiddie. The forces were reorganized and Mr. McGhee aided in raising a company, of which he was first made lieutenant; and later, on the death of the captain, he was elected and commissioned captain of Company H, Sixteenth Missouri infantry. This regi- ment was commanded by Col. Lewis, and was attached to Parson's brigade. He was first engaged at the battle of Prairie Grove, in Arkansas, and fought at Helena, on July 3, 1863, under Price, where his command sustained defeat. Capt.

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McGhee entered the fight with forty men and retired with fifteen, twenty-five having been killed, wounded or captured. He, too, sustained a slight wound. He was next engaged in the battle of Mansfield, La, under Gen. Kirby Smith. Here Banks and the Federals sustained a severe defeat, losing a larg amount of commissary stores. His command entered winter quarters at Camden, Ark., and continued in active service until surrendered at Shreveport, La., in 1865, where he was paroled and returned to his home in broken health. His property inter- ests were ruined during the war, and as a result of four years of strife. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and by his industry, perseverance and good judg- ment he soon found himself in possession of a reasonable competency. As a man of affairs he rapidly arose to prominence in his county. His friends realiz- ing his worth frequently urged his name for public office. In the years 1881-82- 83-84, he served as a member of the board of commissioners of Murray county. In 1886 he became the candidate of his party for representative in the legislature; he was elected and served in the general assembly for 1886-87, and served on the committee on agriculture, mines and mining, counties and county mat- ters, wild lands, and roads and bridges, and in all of these committees he was an active and zealous worker. He introduced a bill to prevent landlords and retail merchants from charging in excess of 15 per cent. of the value of the property or goods. This bill stirred up considerable commotion, and Mr. McGhee is still of the opinion that it was a just and equitable measure and should have been enacted into a law. He returned from the legislature with clean hands and a good name, and has since followed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture on his farm near Spring Place. While not actively engaged in politics he still takes an active interest in all questions affecting the prosperity of Georgia and her people. By his marriage Mr. McGhee has five children: Orazaba E., wife of John L. Galt; William T .; Florence J., who married Howard Lowry; Pleasant F .; and Oscar R.

JOSEPH A. PRICE, M. D., is by birth a Tennesseean, having been born in McMinn county in July 5, 1854. He was educated at Cog Hill. On finishing his studies he engaged for three years in agricultural and mercantile pursuits. He began the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr J. C. King of Cog Hill, and engaged in the practice of medicine in Tennessee in 1875. In 1878 he settled in Murray county, Ga., where he has since resided. In 1880 he entered the Southern Medical college at Atlanta, and continued a student in that institution until the spring of 1882, when he was graduated. He at once entered actively upon the practice of his profession in Murray county. In 1886, he took a special course in the Atlanta Medical college on diseases of women and children, and at the close of his course he received the Adynamia degree. His practice is extensive throughout the counties of Murray and Whitfield in this state, and in Polk and Bradley counties in Tennessee. Dr. Price makes a specialty of the treatment of the diseases of women and children. He is a gentleman of high character and acknowledged ability in his profession. He is an active member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian church at Sumach. In 1876 he married Miss Susie E. Smith, daughter of B. F. Smith of Murray county, and has one son, Thomas. The father of Dr. Price was George W. Price, a native of Virginia, who migrated to Tennessee in his youth. He married Matilda Howard of Union Court House, S. C., and reared eight children: John H., now deceased; Nathaniel S. of Polk county. Tenn .; Henry B. of Texas; Joseph A .; Martha, who married George W. Moore and is now dead; Louisa, wife of M. M. Baker of Polk county, Tenn .; Abigail (deceased); Tenny S., wife of James Osborne of Polk county. Tenn. John H. and Nathaniel S. both served in the Confederate army during the war. On the death of his father Dr. Price inherited an estate of the value of $1,500

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which soon passed from out his hands. Being thrown upon his own resources he earned every dollar afterward spent on his education, and defrayed his expenses at college with the proceeds of his early professional earnings. To his energy and perseverance is due his success in life, and his present position of independence.

F.O. STAFFORD, physician, Dennis, is one of Murray county's leading physi- cians. He is a native of Sevier county, Tenn., where he was born in 1834. In 1846 he moved with his parents to Georgia, settling first in Chattooga and later in Dade county, where he grew to manhood. The father of Dr. Stafford was Mathew A. Stafford, born in North Carolina, who was a son of Henry Stafford, of Virginia. Mathew married Sally M. Smith in Tennessee, reared a family and died in that state about 1857. Dr. Stafford was educated in the common schools of the country and at Sulphur Springs academy, Alabama. He taught in the common schools for a time, but having manifested a strong desire to engage in the practice of medicine, he resolved to prepare himself for that profession. In 1855 he entered the medical department of the university of Georgia at Augusta, where he pursued a course of study until the autumn of 1856, when he entered the Nash- ville (Tenn.) Medical college, and was graduated from that institution in the spring of 1857. Immediately thereafter he commenced the practice of his profession in Marion county, Tenn., where he continued to reside until the first year of the late war of 1861-65. He enlisted in Company H, Third Tennessee cavalry, of which company he was made first lieutenant and afterward captain. His regiment was attached to Gen. Forrest's brigade, that was organized at Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 1862. He saw active service during the Tennessee and Kentucky campaign of 1862-63, and fought at Mumfordville, Perryville, Fort Donelson, Shiloh and many other places. In 1862-63 he participated in the celebrated raid made by Gen. For- rest over the Mobile & Ohio railroad and fought during this raid at the battle of Lexington, Tenn., and other engagements. In this raid more than 200 miles of railroad were destroyed from below Grand Junction to Union City and more than 5,000 Federals made prisoners of war. He was again engaged under Gen. Forrest at the battle of Spring Hill, Tenn., both followed and preceded by active skirmish- ing. His command covered Bragg's retreat from Tullahoma to Chattanooga, and in September, 1863, he fought at the great battle of Chickamauga. In May, 1863, he participated in the pursuit and capture of Gen. Strait and his command near Rome, Ga. The object of this raid of the Federal force of 2,500 cavalry was the destruction of the arsenals and cap factories at Rome and Atlanta. As senior captain, Dr. Stafford commanded the advance guard of Gen. Forrest's brigade during this running fight. The pursuit commenced at Moulton, Ala., and continued for five days and nights, in which there were quite a number of engagements, and resulted in the capture of Gen. Strait and his forces at the widow Larence's, twenty-three miles west of Rome. During the pursuit and just before the capture the advance guard, under command of Capt. Stafford, arrived at a stream in the immediate rear of Strait's forces. The stream was swollen, and the bridge had just been destroyed by the Federals and was still burning and falling in. Capt. Stafford realizing that immediate action was necessary, has- tened back to an adjoining residence, some three or four hundred yards, where he inquired of a young girl sixteen years old, a Miss Sansum, whether the stream could be safely forded anywhere near by, as it was dangerous swimming at the bridge. During the conversation Gen. Forrest and his command came up at double quick time. The young lady pointed out a fording place a half mile dis- tant. She was invited by Gen. Forrest to direct the course of the troops, and leap- ing upon the horse of Gen. Forrest, she rode behind him, and soon succeeded in

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piloting over the stream the entire command, an event which resulted a few hours later in the capture and surrender of Gen. Strait and all of his forces. In the fall of 1863 Dr. Stafford retired from the service in the Confederate army. Being in constant danger of capture by lawless and marauding bands, he surrendered himself to the Federals soon after, and was appointed surgeon of the First Vidette cavalry, United States volunteers, where he served for nearly a year. At the close of the war he settled in Murray county, Ga., where during the past thirty years he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he has risen to eminence, and enjoys a high reputation as a skillful physician and surgeon. His practice at one time was very large and extended over a good portion of the counties of Murray, Whitfield, Gorden, Pickens and Gilmer. He is an active man of affairs in Murray county, and took an active part in the sup- pression of white-capism in 1894-95. He is a master Mason, and a member of the Methodist church south. Dr. Stafford is the father of four children, two of whom are living: Laura M., wife of James G. Prigmore, of South Pittsburg, Tenn., and Emmie O., a recent graduate of the Dalton Female college, in the class of 1894.

VAN L. WATTS, a rising member of the Murray county bar, residing at Spring Place, was born at Fairmount, in Gordon county, Ga., in 1871. In 1881 he moved to Cherokee county with his parents, where he grew to manhood. He was educated in the schools of Cherokee county. He early resolved to prepare himself for the practice of law, and engaged in the study of that science in Chero- kee county, where on Sept. 28, 1892, he was regularly admitted to the bar in the superior court of Pickens county, at Jasper. In May, 1893, he settled at Spring Place, where he has since practiced his profession, and is winning a reputation as commendable as it is merited for skill and dexterity in the trial of cases, and for prudence and diligence in the management of the legal business. In June, 1894, Mr. Watts married Miss Minnie Daly, of Spring Place, daughter of Simon Daly, and they have one son, Roy F., born May 14, 1895. The father of Mr. Watts was Sylvester R. Watts, born in Gordon county, this state, who married Miss Celia E. Stanton, daughter of Hon. J. W. Stanton, of Gordon county. The issue of this marriage was seven children: Henry L., of Cherokee county; Emma L., engaged in teaching at Ducktown, Tenn .; John Q., a student at Young Harris college, Union county, Ga .; Stanton P., of Fairmount, Ga .; Martin F., of Chero- kee county; Sylvester R., Jr., also of that county, and Van L. He enlisted in the Sixth Georgia cavalry the last year of the war, when but seventeen years old, and defended the cause of the south. He died in Cherokee county in 1883. The paternal grandfather of Van L. Watts was Pleasant Watts, a native of South Caro- lina, who died in Gordon county in 1856.

MUSCOGEE COUNTY.

JOHN HICKS BASS, county commissioner of Muscogee county, Ga., was born in Monroe county, Ga., in 1821. His paternal grandfather was John H. Bass, who was a native of Virginia. He married in Virginia and came to Georgia and settled in Hancock county, where he died about 1852. The father of John Hicks Bass was Eden Bass, a native of Hancock county, and born in 1777. He was

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a merchant in Troup county, Ga., for many years. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and married a Miss Nancy Clay. They had eleven children, of whom nine lived to maturity and two now survive: John H .; Rebecca E., widow successively of William L. Stanley and J. W. Sappington, both of Columbus. John Hicks Bass had two brothers who saw military service, viz .: Robert L., a soldier in the Creek war in 1836, and Maston G., a major in Col. John Brown's regiment, Confederate states army, and killed at Richmond. In 1828 J. H. Bass removed with his parents to Troup county, Ga., and lived there and in Cham- bers county, Ala., until 1841. He received his entire education in Troup county, and left school at the age of seventeen, working on his father's farmi until he liad arrived at the age of twenty. In 1841 he removed to Columbus, and entered the City hotel, kept by his father, and clerked there four years. Then he and his brother, Robert L. (deccased), took charge of the Oglethorpe hotel and conducted it until October, 1860. In 1857 they also bought and opened another hotel called the Perry house and conducted that also until the war began, when they were compelled to close it. In 1861 J. H. Bass bought an interest in the "Columbus Times" and ran that paper throughout the war; and was in the Home guards during the last year of the war but saw no active service. After the war he commenced to farm and still follows that pursuit. He has large farming interests in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties, and produces about 400 bales of cotton annually. Mr. Bass is a member of the board of directors of the Third National bank and of the Hamburger cotton mills, Columbus. He has served as an alder- man, and has been county commissioner for twelve years. He is a demitted Mason and affiliates with the Presbyterian church. He was happily married in 1854 to Frances E., daughter of the late Archibald McGruder, a native of Georgia, and an old and respected resident of Chattahoochee county, who died in Muscogee county, 1865. This union has been blessed by the birth of several children: Dr. A. C. Bass, of Columbus, Ga .; Jennie B., wife of V. M. Brown, of Charlotte, N. C., and Roberta S., wife of James A. Lewis, of Columbus.

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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 88

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