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 99

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 99

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SNOWDEN ROBERTSON, physician and surgeon, Dallas. Paulding Co., Ga., son of Charles and Mary (Wilkes) Robertson, was born in LaGrange, Troup Co., Ga., in 1840. His paternal grandfather, Pleasant Robertson, of English parentage, was born in Petersburg, Va., in 1770, whence the family migrated to Georgia about 1808, traveling in an ox-cart and settled in the woods in Oglethorpe county. A plantation was cleared and in a few years he became one of the largest and most substantial planters in the county. Dr. Robertson's father was born in Lexington, Oglethorpe Co., Ga., in 1812, raised on the farın,

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and educated in the common country schools. In addition to superintending his extensive planting interests he was widely known as a contractor and builder. In 1838 he moved to LaGrange, where he continued his planting and other business until his death in 1891. The doctor's mother was a daughter of Moses Wilkes, and was born in Oglethorpe county in 1820. Her father was a soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war, and migrated from Virginia to Georgia about 1810. She was married to Mr. Robertson in 1839, and Dr. Robert- son is the only living child-the other son having died on the Manassas battle- field in the eighteenth year of his age. She died in 1842. Dr. Robertson, after the death of his mother, was taken to the home of his grandparents in Oglethorpe county, who raised and educated him, and with whom he remained until 1857. During this time he attended the celebrated Meson academy at Lexington, and began the study of medicine under Dr. Wadkins. He then moved to Powder Springs, Cobb Co., Ga., where he attended school one year, and continued the study of medicine under Dr. J. F. Cotton. In October, 1860, he entered the Atlanta Medical college, and the May following enlisted in Company D, Seventh Georgia regiment. After ten months' faithful service in this command he was transferred to the medical department at Lynchburg, where he did valuable hospital service until the close of the war. He then returned to Powder Springs, where he practiced medicine under a license until October, 1872, when he re-entered Atlanta Medical college, and graduated the following March. Imme- diately afterward he located in Dallas, where he soon secured a large and remu- nerative practice, which has constantly increased in extent and value. Dr. Rob- ertson's reputation as a successful physician and skillful surgeon extends afar, and in that part of the state he stands at the head of his profession. In July, 1890, he established a drug store in Dallas, which he has conducted in connection with his practice, in which he has been exceptionally successful. Dr. Robertson was married in 1864 to Miss Lou C., daughter of Adam and Maria (Martin) Sum- mers. Four children, all living, have blessed this union: Mrs. Frances M. Mason, Mrs. Nettie V. Davis, Dr. Emmett H. Robertson, and Charles H. Rob- ertson. Dr. Robertson has been a master Mason since 1864, and has been for a long time identified with the Methodist church. Dr. E. H. Robertson, a son, graduated at Memphis, Tenn., with honor, and is loved by all who know him.

W ILLIAM L. ROLLINS, farmer-mechanic and county commissioner, Dallas, Paulding Co., Ga., son of Williamson and Martha (Price) Rollins, was born in Campbell county, Ga., in 1832. His grandfather, John Rollins, migrated from North Carolina to Georgia in 1818, coming in an oxcart, and settled in what is now Campbell county. From there he moved to what is now Paulding county, whence two years afterward he moved to Murray county, Ga., where he died in 1850. He was a successful farmer and a minister of the Primitive Baptist church. Mr. Rollins' father was born in North Carolina in 1812, came to Georgia withi the family in 1818, and in 1828 married Miss Price. She was the daughter of John and Mary A. Price, was born in Oglethorpe county, Ga., in 1813, and died Jan. 28, 1886. To them ten children were born. Mr. Rollins was raised a farmer, and received some education at the common country schools, but chiefly he educated himself at home. In 1848 he engaged in gold mining, and followed it two years. Possessing mechanical talent and ambition he came to Dallas in 1856, and embarked in the manufacture of wagons and buggies. Two years afterward he entered the railway shops at Chattanooga, and worked there and in Nashville, Tenn., a number of years. In 1862 he was pressed into the Confederate service, joined Company C, First Georgia cavalry, and accompanied it in the

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Tennessee and Kentucky campaigns. In December, 1863, he was captured at Nashville, and took the oath of allegiance to the United States. From then until the close of the war he was employed by the United States government, first as teamster for supply wagon, and then in railway repair shops. Since the war Mr. Rollins has been engaged principally in farming, in which he has prospered. He lias been a justice of the peace eight years, and county commissioner since 1890. Mr. Rollins was married in September, 1857, to Miss Caroline, daughter of Joseph and Lucinda (Carter) Ragsdale, a union which was blessed with three children: Mrs. Mary E. McAdams, Mrs. Martha L. Worthen, and Joseph W. Their mother died in Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 21, 1864, and on Jan. 21, 1866, Mr. Rollins was married to Mrs. Elizabeth (nee Gordon) Duff, daughter of Joseph and Mahala (Lard) Gordon. Of the children born to them only one, Walter C., is living. Mr. Rollins is a much respected and honored citizen of the city and county.

HASTINGS C. SCOGGINS, educator and farmer, Dallas. Paulding Co., Ga., son of Gillim and Oretha (Chandler) Scoggins, was born in Carroll county, Ga., in 1844. His father was born in Virginia in 1780, where he grew to manhood and then came to Georgia and settled in Oglethorpe county-one of its earliest settlers. He afterward moved to Coweta county, and thence to Carroll county, where he died-about 1860. He was a commissioned officer in the war of 1812. His mother was born in Virginia in 1800, and was married to his father in 1836 -- each being the other's second conjugal companion. To them three children were born: Mrs. Elizabeth Nixon, Seaborn S., and Hastings C., the subject of this sketch. She died in 1874. Mr. Scoggins was educated in the common schools of the county-meantime working on the farm, until he was eighteen years of age, when he began teaching. Alternately teaching and going to school, he finally acquired a good classical education and adopted the profession of a teacher. Having had the misfortune to be born with but one foot, he was exempt from military service. In 1867 he moved to Chattooga county, where he prospered; but in 1870 returned to Carroll county Two years later he moved to his present home. In 1874 he was elected justice of the peace and served three years; in 1879 he was elected tax receiver and served one term; and in 1881 he was elected school commissioner, which office he held four years. In 1885 he was elected ordinary of the county and held the office eight years, during which time he superintended the erection of the new court house. Since 1880 he has been engaged in farming, in which he has been very successful. The public offices to which he has been successively and continuously elected, and each new office . a promotion, shows that he is very popular and that his official faithfulness and ability have been appreciated. Mr. Scoggins was married Aug. 27, 1868, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Andrew and Katie (Woods) Millican, of Chattooga county, who has borne him seven children, all sons: Charles A., Gillim A., Jesse E., O'Connor, Claudius, Alphonso C., and Robert B. It may safely be assumed that Mr. Scoggins will be continued in the public service

WILLIAM J. SHEFFIELD, merchant, Huntsville, Paulding Co., Ga., was born in Paulding county Aug. 11, 1840. He was raised on the farm, and received only such limited education as could be obtained at the common schools in the country at that time. June 18, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Nineteenth Georgia regiment, went immediately to the front, and was in very many of the most obstinately contested and important battles of the war, among them Seven Pines, second Manassas, seven days' fight around Richmond, Cold Harbor, Gaines' Mill, Bermuda Hundred, Charleston, Fort Sumter, in the Florida cam-

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paign at the battle of Ocean Pond, in the North Carolina and Virginia campaigns. During the fights around Richmond he carried his brother-in-law, who had been dangerously wounded, from the battlefield. At the battle of Petersburg he was shot through the right leg, and in June, 1864, it was amputated above the knee. He remained in the hospital four months, and suffered excessively from gangrene and inattention. As soon as he was able he returned home and taught school for many months. In 1866 he was elected tax receiver of the county, and held the office six years. The next two years, 1872-73, he engaged in farming, and then he commenced merchandising-a business which he has continued in since with great success. He has built up a large and profitable trade, and stands well in the commercial world. Mr. Sheffield was married in 1869 to Miss Martha A., daughter of Stephen D. and Emeline (Thompson) Roberts, by whom he has had five children, all living: Ison, Effie M., Snowdon, Lester, and Lizzie. It is an interesting fact that three Sheffield brothers married three Roberts sisters. He has been an exemplary member of the Baptist church since 1886, and is much respected by all who know him.

JOHN G. WOOD, farmer, Dallas, Paulding Co., Ga., son of Elias and Jane (Oliver) Wood, was born in what is now Fulton county, Ga., in 1839. His father was born in South Carolina in 1812, was reared in the country and educated at the neighboring schools. In 1836 he was married, and in 1839 migrated to Georgia, making the journey in ox-carts, and living in a tent until ground could be cleared and a house built. He was accompanied by five brothers and three sisters, all of whom settled in Georgia. He died in 1874. Mr. Woods' mother was born in Ireland in 1808, and was the daughter of Andrew and Mary (Gibson) Oliver, who came to America in 1810. Mr Wood was raised on the farm and educated in the common schools of the time and locality. He enlisted in May, 1861, in Company B, Seventh Georgia regiment, went immediately to the front and served through the war. With his command he was in many of the really important battles of the war, including first and second Manassas, Malvern hill (where he was wounded and lost a finger front his left hand and had a ball pass through fourteen folds of his blanket and flatten against the skin), Yorktown, Fort McClellan, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Seven Pines, Boonsboro gap, Knox- ville, Charleston, Tenn., Lookout mountain, etc. After the surrender he resumed his farm life, and in 1874 moved to and settled in Paulding county, where he has come to be recognized as one of its most thorough and progressive farmers. Mr. Wood was married in August, 1866, to Miss Rhoda, daughter of Wesley and Elizabeth (Landers) Hudson, an old South Carolina family, by whom he has had nine children: John F., David L., Mrs. Loduska Scoggins, Elias W., Charles W., William G., Thomas J., James A., and Robert V. He is an exemplary and valued member of the Missionary Baptist church. His fellow citizens repose the fullest confidence in him as a neighbor and citizen.

PICKENS COUNTY.

WILLIAM STEPHEN CLAYTON, a leading citizen of Pickens county, was born on a farm at Cartecay in Gilmer county, July 28, 1858, where he lived until his twenty-second year. He was educated at the Ellijay seminary and at

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Oakland academy. After finishing his education he was for three years the representative of various mercantile houscs, and in that capacity traveled through the southern states. During the administration of President Harrison he served as storekeeper and gauger in the internal revenue service in the state of Georgia. At the expiration of his term of service he became general manager and one of the proprietors of the "Republican," a weekly newspaper published at Jasper, and the organ of the republican party in Pickens county, and has continued the publica- tion of that paper successfully and profitably to the present time. The "Republi- can" is a bright and progressive weckly, and has the distinction of being the only republican paper cdited and published in Georgia by a white man. It has an extensive and well-merited circulation in northern Georgia and throughout the state. Connected with Mr. Clayton in the publication of the "Republican" is Mr. Freeman W. Padgett, an affable and promising young newspaper man and a native of Pickens county. Messrs. Clayton and Padgett are members of the Georgia Weekly Press association. Both of these gentlemen are active and con- sistent republicans, and have been prominent in the councils of that party in this state. The proprietors conduct a job office in connection with the publishing department of the "Republican," and in this line have succeeded in establishing a successful and lucrative business. Mr. Clayton's father is still living in Gilmer county. He is a native of North Carolina, where he was born near Asheville, Buncombe Co., in 1822. In 1843 he married Elizabeth Osborn, daughter of Newman Osborn, of Buncombe county, N. C. He moved to Gilmer county about sixty years ago, and he still lives on the same farm on which he settled fifty years since. At the time he settled in Gilmer county the Cherokee Indians were in possession of the country and he was reared among them. Before the war he filled several county offices, and during that struggle he was a prominent Union man and served with his son, Jeremiah, in the Tenth Tennessee Union regiment. The mother of Mr. Clayton is still living with his father in Gilmer county.

H ON. SION ARRINGTON DARNELL, of Jasper, Pickens Co., one of the best-known men in the state of Georgia, is a true representative of the new south, and of its best interests. This scholarly gentleman and brilliant lawyer was born in Pickens county Dec. 28, 1845. His early opportunities for securing an education and the cultivation of his mind were extremely limited, and yet were sufficient, with so much of contrast in the surroundings of his earlier years, to inspire and develop in him great ambition to learn. He attended his first school in Pickens county in the fall of 1855, but at that time by his own exertions he had been able to read for three years, and was possessed of considerable elementary knowledge. His first teacher had no difficulty with him. It was his ambition to stand at the head of his classes, and he read all the books he could find, thus early laying the foundation for the mature thought and comprehensive knowledge of later years. Until he was sixteen years of age he attended such schools as his section of the state afforded, usually about three months in each year, meantime doing work incident to the early life of a farmer's son. In every situation in which he was placed he was industrious and reliable. Fond of athletic sports, he was yet free from the many errors incident to their indulgence and to the character of youth. When he was seventeen years of age he taught a large and flourishing school a few miles from his home, where, by his example and steady purpose, he imbued the minds of the youth he taught with the same high ambition that guided him; and it has been to him a source of pride that in this school he found and encouraged some of the brightest young intellects of Georgia-gems of the mountains-in whose shadows they lived. The vicissitudes of war broke up this school, and Mr. Darnell was confronted with the question as to whether it was

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his duty to fight for or against the integrity of the union of states. He had while yet a boy read the speeches of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, and was thor- oughly in sympathy with the national views of these great statesmen. He never for a moment believed in the doctrine of state sovereignty in the sense in which it was sought to be applied, and, therefore, when the crisis came, he with his father and a younger brother escaped from the Confederacy, and after being captured by Confederate scouts, condemned to be shot, taken to the place of execution, and released by Union soldiers, he became a private soldier in the Union army, and was honorably discharged at the termination of hostilities. Returning to the wrecked home of his father he resumed the work of aiding him in the maintenance of a large family. In the county of Mr. Darnell's birth the Union sentiment at the outbreak of the war was very strong, and a great majority of its people voted against secession. After the ordinance of secession was passed on Jan. 19, 1861, the Union men, of whom Mr. Darnell's father was one, placed the flag of the United States on a staff in front of the courthouse at Jasper, and kept it there, sometimes guarding it with guns, until it was beaten to pieces by the winds. In January, 1866, when a little more than twenty years of age, Mr. Darnell was elected to the office of tax collector and served out his term, at the end of which he was elected from the county of Pickens to the lower house of the legislature of Georgia as a republican. He was an advocate of a general system of education throughout the state, and devoted much of his time in the preparation of a bill to establish that system. He has always believed in the education of all the children of the state at public expense as one of the best safeguards of the public welfare. He also advocated the construction of the Marietta & North Georgia railway, now in operation through north Georgia. While a member of the legislature he served on the committees on banks, railways, elections and judiciary, although not then a member of the legal profession. In September, 1872, he was admitted to the bar, and has been in active practice ever since. In March, 1873, he was appointed special commissioner of claims for Georgia, under the act of congress of March 3, 1871, and held this appointment until January, 1879, when he resigned to accept the appointment of assistant United States attorney for the district of Georgia, which he held until March, 1882, and in the meantime represented the United States in cases from Georgia before the French and American claims commission, then in session in Washington. In July, 1882, he was appointed United States attorney for the southern district of Georgia, serving the entire term of four years, to the satisfaction of the government. Since the age of twenty- two he has been a member of the republican state committee of Georgia, and in 1880, 1888 and 1892 he was a delegate to the national republican conventions at Chicago and Minneapolis. In all the political campaigns in Georgia during the past twenty-five years he has addressed the people throughout the state. He is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and past commander of two posts in the state; he was also a delegate to the national encampment at Milwaukee in 1889. In March, 1889, he was appointed by President Harrison United States attorney for the northern district of Georgia, and served the full term of four years. He has been a member of the Baptist church since 1866. On Feb. 22, 1871, Mr. Darnell was married to Miss Susie Hotchkiss, at Marietta, Ga., and now resides, with his wife and two children, a son and a daughter, at Jasper. Mr. Darnell comes from a long line of ancestry, having its origin in the first family of his name in Maryland in the time of the first Lord Baltimore. The wife of Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a Miss Mary Darnell, whose father was prominent in the history of that state. His immediate ancestors were descended from revolutionary soldiers, and bore a prominent and heroic part in

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the war for independence of the colonies. Notwithstanding this, Mr. Darnell does not claim what others have been or may have done. He has always belicved in the maxim, "Career open to merit and talent without regard to the accident of birth," and that he has as much right to patent his own nobility as to clain it from others.

WILLIAM T. DAY, of Jasper, one of the leaders of the Pickens county bar, was born in Walton county, in this state, on Sept. 30, 1828. He resided in that county until he arrived at the age of fourteen, when he moved with his parents to Cherokce county. He received a common school education. At the age of twenty-six he commenced the study of law with Daniel H. Byrd, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1854. Immediately thereafter he located at Jasper. Mr. Day has enjoyed an active practice during many years in both the state and Federal courts. During the late war, while opposed to the principle of secession, he nevertheless felt in duty bound to protect his state and the lives of its people, and he accordingly entered the service of the state of Georgia as captain of Company D, Eighth regiment, commanded by .Col. E. W. Chastain. He afterward served under Gov. Brown, his entire term of service extending upward of three years. In 1860 Mr. Day was elected one of the delegates from Pickens county to the celebrated secession convention to be held at Milledgeville in January, 1861. In that convention he became conspicuous as an opponent of secession, and voted against the resolution dissolving the relation between the Federal Union and the state of Georgia. In 1877 Mr. Day was elected a delegate to the state convention that adopted the present state constitution. In 1880-81 he was a member of the house of representatives of the state of Georgia, repre- senting Pickens county. In 1884-85 he served in the state senate of Georgia, representing the forty-first senatorial district, which included the counties of Pickens, Gilmer and Fannin. Mr. Day was married in 1866 to Miss Teresa P. Craig, of Harris county. Six children, three girls and three boys, were born of this marriage, all of whom survive. The wife of Mr. Day died in February, 1894. His father, Lewis Day, was a native of South Carolina, who settled in Georgia about 1824, and died in Cherokee county in 1876. The mother of Mr. Day was Alpha Dixon, daughter of Thomas Dixon, of Walton county. She died in Cherokee county in 1885. His grandfather on his father's side was William Day, a native of Virginia, who lived to a ripe old age and died in South Carolina. William Day was a soldier in the war of the revolution, having rendered active service throughout that struggle. He was afterward rewarded with a pension for his services in the war, which he continued to receive up to the time of his death.

ISAAC GRANT, of Jasper, Pickens Co., was born in Hall county, in this state, Oct. 24, 1854, where he was raised on a farm, and where he lived until his thirty-first year. He was educated at Grange academy, Hall county, and at the Jasper institute. At the age of thirty-four he commenced the study of law under W. H. Simmons, a prominent lawyer at Jasper. In 1882 he was admitted to the bar by Hon. James R. Brown, presiding judge of the superior court of Pickens county. Immediately thereafter he commenced the practice of his profession at Jasper, and has since continued his practice throughout the Blue Ridge and north- eastern circuits. On May 12, 1885, Mr. Grant was married to Miss Lula Mauldin, daughter of Allen Mauldin, of Easley, S. C. Three children have been born of this marriage, all of whom survive: Leland Stanford, born June 13, 1888; Inice Gertrude, born Feb. 13, 1891, and Imer, born March 4, 1893. The father of Mr. Grant was Radford Grant, born in Spartanburg county, S. C., April 23, 1823, who

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came to Georgia in 1844, and settled in Hall county, near Gainesville, on a farm, where he resided until his death, Oct. 24, 1871. The mother of Mr. Grant is Mary, daughter of John G. Williams, of Hall county. She is still living in that county. Mr. Grant is a member of the masonic fraternity at Jasper, and is a prominent citizen of that town, and of Pickens county.

JOHN WILLIS HENLEY, of Jasper, Pickens Co., was born at Dahlonega, Lumpkin Co., Ga., March 28, 1852. When a baby, his parents removed to Banks county, this state, where, left fatherless at a tender age, his early childhood was spent. The character of this boy may be illustrated by the fact that, older than his brothers and sisters, he was looked to for advice and pecuniary assistance in the place of his deceased father. A good son, and, recognizing the responsibility left to him, he devoted his entire time and energies to the supporting of his mother, brothers and sisters, and by so doing, was entirely deprived of any opportunities for acquiring a schooling. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, Mr. Henley availed himself, through all these years, of every chance to gain such knowledge by self-study and research as lay in his power. In 1874 he attended the Fort Mountain institute for a short period, and his studious habits, quickness of learning, and natural ability are attested to by the fact of his being competent to take charge of a school in Gordon and Murray counties soon after this. This venture was not a success, financially, however, as his salary in the latter county was not sufficient to defray living expenses. A year later, desiring to take advantage of the chance presented to gain further knowledge, he entered the North Georgia Agricultural college, at Dahlonega, taking the classical course, and graduating from that institution with the degree of bachelor of arts in 1879. He entered college with but $15 to defray expenses, and supported himself while there entirely by devoting his spare time to teaching vacations. But the

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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 99

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