Baldwin County GAGenWeb

Misc. Baldwin County Georgia Biographies





JOHN T. ALLEN, Judge of the county court, Milledgeville, Baldwin co. James Troup Allen, was born at Mt. Zion, Hancock county, Oct. 21, 1861. His father is, and all his life has been a farmer in Hancock county., During the late war he was a non-commissioned officer in the Confederate service and remained until the surrender.
  Judge Allen was raised on the farm, and received such education as the near by schools could give, and in 1880, when the middle Georgia military institute opened its doors a Milledgeville, he entered that institution, graduating  from it in 1883. He then entered the law department of the university of Georgia at Athens, which he graduated in 1884, and was at once admitted to the bar, but returned to his home at Mt. Zion. Early in the ensuing year he came to Milledgeville, and in April formed a law partnership with Hon. Robert Whitfield, which still continues. He is a well-read and able lawyer, credibly sustaining the dignity of his judicial position, to which he was elected in 1889 and after serving four years was re-elected.
     Judge Allen was married Nov. 27, 1890 to Miss Hattie, daughter of H. E. Hendrix, of Milledgeville, by whom he has had three children: Marion, Isabelle A., and Gladys Pernita. He is a member of the I.O.O. F., a royal arch Mason, and affiliates with the Presbyterian church."Memoirs of Georgia" Vol. II The Southern Historical Association 1895

CHARLES LARKIN BASS, lawyer, Clarkesville, Habersham Co., Ga., son of Dr. Charles H. and Mattie (Greene) Bass, was born near Milledgeville, Baldwin county, Ga., April 30, 1869. His great-grandfather on his father's side was Wm. Rabun, once governor of Georgia, and for whom Rabun county was named. William Rabun was born in Halifax county, N.C., April 8, 1771, and came to Georgia in 1795 with his father Matthew Rabun, who settled in Wilkes county, and a year later moved thence to Hancock county. Though but indifferently educated, he possessed mental endowments and a personality that brought him into popular favor, and he was elected repeatedly to both the lower and upper house of the general assembly. He was president of the senate when Gov. Mitchell resigned in March, 1817, and was acting governor from that time until November, when he was elected governor, and afterward, by the people, for a full term, during which he had a spicy correspondence with Gen. Jackson. He died on his plantation in Hancock county while governor, Oct. 24, 1819, and his message was delivered to the general assembly by the president of the senate, Matthew Talbot, who succeeded him. Dr. Larkin Bass, an eminent physician, who married Miss mary, a daughter of Gov. Rabun, was the grandfather of Charles Larkin Bass. His father, Dr. Charles H. Bass, was a son of Dr. Larkin and Mary (Rabun) Bass, and was born in Hancock County. In 1858 he married Miss Mattie, daughter of Thomas F. Greene, of Milledgeville. Dr. Bass ranked very high as a member of the medical profession, as a gentleman of scholarly attainments and varied information. Hew was assistant physician of the state lunatic asylum soon after his graduation from the Medical college of Georgia, until his death, which occurred in 1872. His widow is still living, and makes her home with her son in Clarksville. Of nine children born to this union five survive: Addie, Mary Rabun, Mattie, Julia and Charles L. Mr. Bass' maternal great-grandfather was William Montgomery Greene, an Irish patriot, who, on account of his participation in the rebellion of 1798, was compelled to seek refuge in the United States. He was a friend of Thomas Addis and Robert Emmett, and assisted in the capture of the latter's remains from the keeper of the Killmainham jail, and their subsequent interment.  He was a cousin of the celebrated Lord Edward Fitzgerald, for whom he named his son, Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald Greene, Mr. Bass' grandfather. Dr. Greene was superintendent of the state lunatic asylum for a period of thirty-six years, a statement of which fact is evidence enough as to his capability and fidelity. Dr. Greene married Miss Adeline, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hawkins) Crowder, a granddaughter of Col. John Hawkins, who served with distinction in the revolutionary war under the immediate command of Washington. Mr Bass received his early education in Milledgeville, but finished it in the Atlanta high school in 1884. The following year the family removed to Clarksville, where they made their permanent home. Deciding to embrace the legal profession he commenced reading law, and in 1890 was admitted to the bar at Habersham superior court, Hon. C. J. Wellborn, judge presiding. Entering at once upon the practice, and giving his enthusiastic and undivided attention to this profession, he has already secured an extensive practice and a wealthy and influential clientage in the northeastern circuit. His practice is general and covers every branch of the profession, and his record is that of a well-read lawyer, a prudent counselor and polished advocate. His style before a jury is that of easy and affable character, which invariably marks the successful nisi prius lawyer and wins verdicts. He has a large clientage in whose confidence his professional and private character is safe and permanently secure. Politically, Mr. Bass is a strong and active and consistent democrat. In 1890 he was a chairman of the county committee, and later president of the democratic club of Habersham county, rendering invaluable service in the campaign of 1892. That year he was elected a member of the state gubernatorial convention, and gave his enthusiastic support to the state ticket. Mr. Bass is a young man of marked ability, accomplished and polished manners, for whom the future would seem to have much in store. Reasonably and honorably ambitious to attain to distinction, his many friends in his section of the state will doubtless see to it that his abilities are recognized and his services rewarded.
Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1 Historical Society of Georgia, 1895


JOHN A. CALLAWAY . Physician and surgeon, Milledgeville, Baldwin county was born in Milledgeville. Aug. 17, 1858. His boyhood days were spent in the city, and he received his primary and preparatory education in excellent schools. He afterward attended Mercer university, from which he gradated in 1877, and then began the study of medicine. After careful preparation he attended lectures at the college of physicians and surgeons, New  York city, from which he was graduated in 1881, and returned to Milledgeville, where he located and has since practised his profession. Dr. Callaway is a man of natural ability, and of more that ordinary skill as a surgeon. Personally he is a very pleasant and most affable gentleman, and universally popular. He is a member of the state medical association.
   Dr. Callaway was married in 1882 to Miss Bessie Fleming, a union which has been blessed with two bright sons- Leon and Thomas. He is a member of the masonic fraternity and a member of the Baptist church.Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1 Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

SAMUEL M'DONAL CARTER is the owner of the largest and most  valuable plantation in Murray county, commonly known as "Carter's Quarter," on which he resided nearly half a century. He was born in Baldwin county, near Milledgeville, in 1826. His family and ancestors have been prominent in the public affairs of Georgia during several generations, and have borne an honorable and distinguished part in the history of this state, while contributing largely to its  social and industrial progress. His paternal grandfather, Maj. Carter, served in the patriot army during the war of the revolution and was killed in the battle of Augusta, toward the close of that prolonged struggle for human rights and independence. His father, Farish Carter, was born in South Carolina, but was reared in Georgia and settled in Baldwin county about 1809, where he resided until his death in 1861. Farish Carter was an active business man, and an extensive and successful planter. Early in life by his zeal, industry and good management, he accumulated a large fortune, and his influence in political and financial affairs were felt throughout the state. Cartersville, the prosperous county seat of Bartow county, received its name in his honor. He married Miss Eliza McDonald, sister of Hon. Charles James McDonald, a distinguished citizen of Georgia, an associate justice of the supreme court and governor of the state from 1839 to 1843. The issue of his marriage was five children: Samuel McD., Mary, who married Jonathan Davis, of South Carolina; Catharine, wife of Dr. John H. Furman, of that state; Benjamin, who died while representing Murray county in the general assembly, and James. The mother of Col. Carter died in Baldwin county in 1865. He was educated in that county and at Oglethrope college, from which institution he was graduated about 1846. In 1850 he settled  in Murray county upon his plantation, where he has since resided, an esteemed, respected and influential citizen. During the war, from 1861 to 1865, he supported the cause of the Confederacy. In 1850 he married Miss Emily Colquitt, daughter of Senator Walter T. Colquitt, and sister of the late Senator Alfred H. Colquitt. They reared five children: Farish, who died while a student at Norwood school in Virginia; Colquitt, at present clerk of the United States district court for the northern district of Georgia, residing at Atlanta; Mary, now deceased, who became of the wife of Benjamin H. Hill, of the Atlanta bar; Kate C., who married Prof. Robert Emmett Mitchell, of Atlanta, and Benjamin F., married Lillian Whitman, of Dalton, Ga., at present residing in Atlanta, and is in the service of the agricultural department. The wife of Col. Carter died in Murray county in 1867. He was again married to Miss Sallie Jeter, daughter of William Lamar Jeter, formerly of Columbus, Ga. This lady was a grand-niece of Mirabeau B. Lamar and ex-Senator Walter T. Colquitt. By this marriage he had five children: Emily Colquitt, wife of Hal Divine, Chattanooga, Tenn; Sallie Jeter; Pauline, Samuel McD., Jr. and Eliza. Col. Carter has four grand-children: Mary Hill, and Emily Cornelia, daughters of Benjamin F.; Robert Emmett, son of Kate C. Mitchell, and Rebecca Lamar, daughter of Emily C. Divine.      Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

J. HARRIS CHAPPELL President of the Georgia Normal and Industrial college, Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., was born near Macon, Bibb Co. Ga, Oct. 18, 1849. When eight years old his father moved to Columbus, Ga. where he received his primary education. Later, in 1869-70, he attended the university of Virginia. Soon after leaving the university he began teaching school and filling engagements in Clinton, Jones Co., and in other small country towns until 1877, when he located at his old home in Columbus, where he remained seven yes. In 1884 he was elected principal of the State normal school. Jacksonville, Ala., which he held two years and was re-elected, but he declined because of the earnest and urgent solicitations of leading citizens of  Columbus. Ga. to return to that city and establish a high grade girls' school. In response to this urgent solicitation he went to Columbus and opened the school. He met with phenomenal success, the attendance soon reaching 150 pupils, demanding a faculty of ten teachers. He was principal- equivalent to a  presidency - of this school until 1891, when he retired to accept his present position. He was elected secretary of  the Georgia State Teachers' association in 1887, and served one year, and in 1888 he was elected president.  For a number of times he has been chosen or appointed by the association as an essayist - unfailingly meeting every expectation. As a practical educator, and one commanding the fullest confidence of the public as such, President Chappell doubtless has equals, but he has few, if any, superiors.
   President Chappell was married in 1883 to Carrie, daughter of the late G. H. Brown, of Madison, Ga., for many years president of the Madison female college. She died childless in 1886, and in 1891, he contracted a second marriage with Etta, daughter of Dr. J. Kincaid, Rome, Ga., by whom he has had two children- Calmese, deceased, and Cornelia.Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

PETER J. CLINE. Industry and economy, when accompanied by intelligently directed enterprise, will general win under any surroundings: but there and now then occur cases of more than ordinary success and interest. One of the most conspicuous of these, as well as one of the most instructive, is that of Peter J. Cline, merchant-farmer and stock raiser, Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., Ga., son of Peter and Bridget Cline, who was born in Augusta, Ga., Sept. 22, 1845. His parents were natives of County Roscommon, Ireland, and the subject of this sketch was the only one of the children born in this country. Mr. Cline's father, a  teacher by profession, emigrated to this country in 1843 and settled in Augusta, Ga., where, by his unusual ability he soon attained prominence and influence and position in the city government. About three years afterward he sent for his family, and two years later, in 1848, he died, aged thirty-nine years. His widow was born in 1813 and died in 1853. Both were devout Catholics.
    On the death of his parents Mr. Cline was placed under the guardianship of his sister, Miss Mary E. Cline, who with himself were the only surviving members of the family. He was sent to Sharon, Taliaferro Co., Ga., to school. While he was at school his sister married  Patrick Otis, of Augusta, Ga., and after his return from school he was "cash-boy" in a dry-goods store for some time in Augusta. In February, 1861, he was sent to St. Vincent college in Pennsylvania, where he remained until July. 1864, when he left there and started home. By the time he had reached Louisville, Ky., his money gave out, and having no friends and knowing no one through whom to get a passport, he sought employment which he finally obtained on the railway, and worked his way as a brakeman to Nashville. In that city, having some friends, he secured a situation in a crockery store and retained it some considerable time. Himself and other "southern boys" there were very closely watched, but the national characteristics of impulsiveness and impetuous courage caused him to be more closely watched than others, and involved him in several fights with the Federal authorities, and finally five weeks' incarceration in jail- and he was really threatened with more serious punishment. Through the influence of kind friends he was finally released, and there being no railway transportation, he left Nashville as quickly as possible for Augusta by wagon, via Atlanta. On reaching Augusta he obtained a situation in a dry-goods store, which he kept until December following, when he went to Crawfordville, Ga., where he clerked several months. In 1869, he went to Atlanta, where he remained about a year. Returning to Augusta he clerked awhile and then formed a partnership with J. P. Quinn and sold silk and broadcloth in South Carolina with horse and wagon - a portable store. Starting with a joint capital of $150, he made $1,400 in between four and five months. He now "struck out" for bigger things. In September 1870, he and his partner began business in Milledgeville under the firm name of Cline & Quinn, and in 1873 established a branch store, with Mr. Quinn as manager in Eatonton, Ga. In 1875, the firm with $23,000 cash capital, dissolved. Their success had been phenomenal  from the beginning; a very striking example, as well as affording the greatest encouragement to young men ambitious of success in any line of human endeavour. Turning his attention to husbandry, he has been no less successful and prosperous; and here, also, sets an example which thousands of southern farmers would do well to emulate. He has a large grass farm, is the largest hay producer in that part of the state, and is making money at it. In addition, to this he has one of the largest and best blooded herds of Jersey cattle in the south - no better pedigree in the country-in which he takes just pride, as well as realizes large profits. When southern farmers "wake up" and work up to the greatest possibilities of their section there will be tens of thousands like the enterprising subject of this sketch. It was hardly possible that a man of Mr. Cline's practical business qualities should be overlooked by his fellow-citizens so he has been elected to the mayoralty of Milledgeville, been a member of the board of trustees of the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural college, a director in the bank,  and was appointed by Gov. Northen a member of the board of commissioners to the colored school at Savannah - All through the urgent solicitation of friends. He has always been an active temperance worker, and although not a prohibitionist has never taken a drink of whisky. How much of his success may be credited to that?
   Mr. Cline was married in 1874 to Miss Katie  L., daughter of  Hugh Treanor, of Milledgeville, by whom he seven children, six of whom are living. The mother of these, a devout and exemplary member of the Catholic Church died in August, 1884. Subsequently he married a sister of his first wife, who has borne him six children, of whom five survive. Mr. Cline and wife and family are devout and influential members of the Catholic church. Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

COL. CHARLES DU BIGNON Deceased, was the son of Col. Henry and Amelia (Nicolson) Du Bignon, and was born on Jekyl island, Glynn county, Ga., Jan. 4, 1809. After receiving his preparatory education in his native state he went north to finish it. On his return he read law under the late R. R. Cuyler, one of the most eminent lawyers of his time, and for many years the able president of the Central Railroad & Banking company, and located in Glynn county. In 1841 he was elected to represent the county at the general assembly at Milledgeville, then the capital. In 1844 he moved from Glynn to Baldwin county, where he made his permanent home, and abandoned politics and the practice of his profession to look after the very large plantation interests of his wife, whose father, Senator Grantland, was then one of the wealthiest men in Georgia. He was a magnificent specimen of southern manhood and chivalry and was made captain of the governor's horse guards, which composed of the flower of the citizenry of the state's capital and Baldwin county. As the captain of his company he went to the Confederate army in Virginia. He died at Woodville, near Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., Sept. 13, 1877, and is entombed in the cemetery at Milledgeville. His estimable widow, who survives him, is living at the old homestead.
   Col. Du Bignon was married Jan. 4, 1844, to Miss Anna V., daughter of Hon. Seaton and Ann (Tinsley) Grantland, a union blessed with the following - named children: Charles Fleming, who lost his life in the Confederate service; Seaton G., deceased since the war; Katharine, who married Gen. Moxley Sorrell, now of the Ocean Steamship company, with office in New York; Fleming  G., lawyer, Savannah, Ga., sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in these Memoirs, and Charles P., youngest child and son, who is living with his aged mother at the Grantland old homestead, Woodville, Ga. Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

JOHN MARTIN EDWARDS. County Treasurer, Milledgeville, son of Martin Edwards, was born in Milledgeville in 1840. His father was born in Rockingham county, N.C., in 1800, ran away from home, when a boy, and finally settled in Augusta, Ga., in 1836. He was married in 1838, very poor, and about the same time began life in earnest by engaging in peddling.  After accumulating a small sum from his savings he settled in Milledgeville and engaged in merchandising; was prosperous and acquired considerable property, and died in 1879. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. His widow, whose maiden name was Miller, is still living at the old homestead, her home since 1848, where she awaits the summons to a reunion with him who has gone before. She is a revered and exemplary member of the Methodist church. Eight children blessed this union: John M., the subject of this sketch; Annie E., wife of M. Kidd; Susan E., widow of M. R. Bell; Perry J., who was a soldier in the Confederate army; George F.; Jefferson, drowned when thirteen years old; Mary, deceased, and Warren.
     Mr. Edwards was reared in Milledgeville, where he was schooled until he was seventeen years old, when he was made overseer of his father's plantation.  He remained there until the civil war began, when he joined the state troops and served six months under Col. Robert T. Harris. He then enlisted in the Confederate service, and gallantly participated in some of the most important battles of the war, among them Vicksburg, seven day's fight around Richmond, Knoxville, Murfreesboro, Missionary ridge, Powder Springs, Kennesaw mountain, and the battles around Atlanta, remaining in the service until the surrender, losing no time in hospitals or by furlough. His father had 6,000 or 8,000 acres of land, and on this on his return home he commenced farming. Of the corn he raised he sold 100 bushels for $250, which was the foundation of his present estate. In 1873 he was made deputy sheriff and server four years, and in 1885 he was elected treasurer of Baldwin county, to which he has been continuously re-elected since, the highest testimony possible as to his business capability and integrity. He is now operating thirty hands on the farm, and is accounted one of the best farmers, as well as one of the solidest and most influential of Baldwin county's citizens.
   Mr. Edwards was married, in 1869, to Miss Bessie, daughter of Robert Himes (Hines), Franklin county, Tenn. Four children have been the fruit of this union: Himes (Hines) M., William Stroud, Mattie T., deceased at six years of age, and Bessie. Mr. Edwards is a member of the I.O.O. F. and a Master Mason, and Mrs. Edwards is an active working member of the Baptist church.  Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

CHARLES W. ENNIS, Ex-sheriff, farmer, Milledgeville, Ga., son of P.M. and Evaline (Minor) Ennis, was born in Baldwin county in 1845. He grew to manhood on the farm and enjoyed very good educational advantages at the country schools and in Milledgeville. His father was of Scotch-Irish descent, born in Baldwin county, and died in 1891. His mother died in 1882. Both were members of the Primitive Baptist church. On reaching manhood he engaged in farming, which he has made the principal pursuit of his life. In 1863 he entered the Confederate service as a member of the governor's horse guards, Capt, Nichols, and continued in it until the close of the war. He was a participant in the battles of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor, and many others - in all fourteen engagements in twelve months, besides numerous skirmishes. Early in 1865 he was captured and sent to Hart's island, N.Y., where he was detained until June 19, 1865. He reached home July 3, to find his father's farm nearly deviated - stock and provisions all gone, the Federal army having passed over it. In 1875 he embarked in the saw-mill business, which he successfully followed until 1879, when he was elected sheriff of the county. He was continuously re-elected until 1895, having served for sixteen consecutive years. While discharging the responsible duties of sheriff so efficiently as to be continued so long in it, he conducted his farming with success. His faithfulness and efficiency and the consequent merited popularity could not be better attested than by his prolonged retention in office.
      Mr. Ennis was married in 1866 to Miss Eliza F., daughter of George W. and Abia (Lewis) Barnes, natives respectively of Maryland and North Carolina. To them six children have been born: Sonora, Charles P., killed in 1891 by a boiler explosion; Cora, J. Howard, farmer; Ernest and Willie. He is a Master Mason and has filled several offices  - senior warden and others -below that of worshipful master, and is a member of the Fraternal Mutual Insurance company. Himself and wife are members of the Baptist church, of which he has been a deacon for more than twenty years, and a trustee for a long time, and Mrs. Ennis is a working member of the Ladies' Aid society. Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

SAMUEL EVANS,cotton merchant, Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., Ga., son of Jesse and Rebecca (Cash) Evans, was born in Person Co., N.C., May 5, 1841. His paternal great-grandfather was born in Wales, England, and came to this country and settled in Philadelphia before the revolutionary ward, during which he served in the patriot army. Soon after the war he moved to North Carolina and settled in Orange county. Samuel Evans, his son, and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Philadelphia, and while yet young came with his parents to North Carolina, where he died in 1840. he married a daughter of Levi Sweeney, whose wife was a Miss Ledbetter. There were natives of Ireland and emigrated to this county about 1775. She lived to be over one hundred years old. The wife of Samuel Evans died in 1862. These old matrons remembered well and recounted vividly the privations and stirring events which occurred during and after the war for independence. A brother of Mrs. Evans - John Sweeney - served during the revolutionary war and was wounded nearer the Savannah river; for many years the family preserved the old flint-and-steel musket he carried, which is believed to have seen some service during the late war. Mr. Evans' father was born in Orange Co., N.C., in 1808, where he married and had nine children born to him, of whom six were boys: Azariah, killed at the battle of Plymouth; Henry H., wounded in the battle of Murfreesboro, now in North Carolina; John S., killed in the battle of Sharpsburg; William, who came to Georgia and afterward went to Tennessee, where he died in 1872; Moses D.. in North Carolina, and Samuel, the subject of this sketch. The parents of Mr. Evans were industrious farming people, accumulated quite a large property for the times-including but few slaves-and were devoted members of the Primitive Baptist church. When Mr. Evans' great-grandfather on his mother's side (Cash) settled in North Carolina he received five square miles of land for a rifle valued at $75. Mr. Evans' mother was a daughter of Moses Cash, and her mother was an Oakley, the family being related to the Ashleys. She was born in 1810 and was married in 1829. The father died in 1878 and the mother in 1881.
  Mr. Evans spent his boyhood on the farm in North Carolina and attending school. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate service, but on account of a broken ankle was assigned to detail duty, and remained in the service four years-two of which were at the presidential mansion. After the war he engaged in farming for about a year, then, in addition, began the manufacture of plug tobacco, and in 1871 established a business in Milledgeville which he continued three years. At the end of that time he embarked in the heavy grocery and farmers' supplies business and pursed that until 1887, when he entered the cotton commission business, which he has successfully pursed to the present time, at the same time profitable operating a thirty-plow plantation. As a good and progressive farmer and successful business man and an able manager and financier he is not outranked by any citizen of the county.
  Mr. Evans was married in 1869 to Miss Zella, daughter of Isaiah and Elizabeth V. (Anderson) Bumpass, anglicized from the French - de Bumpre. Of thirteen children born to them five survive: Alice L, Addie V., Bessie, Samuel and George C. He is an ardent member of the Masonic fraternity and himself and wife and all the children are members of the Methodist church.
Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

CHARLES RHODES HARPER. Farmer, Meriwether, Baldwin Co., was one of five children born to Robert H. and Eliza Ann (Carter) Harper. The father was born in Hancock county in 18176, and was a big farmer and a large slaveholder before the war. He served in the state militia during the war, and died im 1884. His wife was born in Putnam county, Ga. in 1810, and died in 1881.  They were good, honest, Christian people, who enjoyed the esteem of everyone. Mr. Charles Rhodes Harper was born in Putnam county in 1842, and his boyhood days were those of the farmer's lad, with a meagre schooling, picked up here and there in the old log school houses. When the war broke out he enlisted in the state militia, where he did duty for six months, and then went out in Company H, Fifty-seventh Georgia regiment. He was attached to Walker's Brigade, in the battles of Peachtree creek and Decatur, and was also at the siege of Vicksburg and his war record is as creditable as has been his private life.
     In 1866 he was married to Anna E. Tatum, a daughter of Dudley H. Tatum, a native of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Harper have had born to them seven children, as follows: John B., Fanny E., Married; Robert D., deceased; Charles T., a student in the Technological school; Fannie E., a graduate of the Milledgeville normal school; Julia M., and Emma G., deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Harper are devout Christians, belonging to the methodist church, of which Mr. Harper has long been a steward and trustee. Mr. Harper is one of the largest landowners in Baldwin county, and owns about 2,100 acres of finely cultivated land. The estate is now managed by his son.Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

WILLIAM GARNER HAWKINS, farmer, Milledgeville, Ga., son of Peterson and Mary P. Hawkins, was born in Baldwin County Feb. 1, 1844. his fathter was born near Petersburg, Va., in 1813, and when a mere boy came to Georgia and settled in Baldwin county, where he engaged in farming, and which he made his home until he died in 1893. His wife was born in 1825 and is still living-both parents having from many years made their home with the subject of this sketch. They had but wo chldren: William Gardner and Jane Rebecca, who married W. S. Elam, and died in 1882.
  Mr. Hawkins was raised on the  farm and educated in the common schools i the county. In 1861 he enlisted in the Baldwin Blues, Capt. Caraker, and went  immediately to the front. He was in the battles at Kings' school-house and Malvern Hill, where, being seriously wounded, he returned home. In a short time he rejoined his command, but receiving discharge on account of disability he returned home. he resumed his frm work, to which he has since devoted his etire time and attention. he has prospered and has large farming interests, and is regarded as one of the foremost farmers in Baldwin county.
   Mr. Hawkins was married in 1874 to Miss Fannie, daughter of D. H. and Frances Tatum, who bore him five children: Bernard H., just finishing his education; Kirby P.; Dudley R.; Mary A. and Willie G. Mrs. Hawkins, an exemplar membr of the Presbyterian church, is still living. Mr. Hawkins is a member  of the Masonic fraternity and of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895
HILBURN/HILBUN FAMILY

I'm researching my ancestors, the Hilburn/Hilbun family, who were found in Burke Co., GA as early as 1788.  Some other Hilburns, believed to be cousins of the BUrke Co. ones, were in Baldwin County for a few years.  THe following info is a timeline of their presence there:


1817- Milledgeville, Baldwin GA- Oct 1- Letter for Frederick Hilburn left in Post Office.

1820- Baldwin, GA. Census.  Woodard A. Hilburn- 1 M< 10; 2 M 10-16; 1> 45; 2 F<10; 1 F 26-45.

1825- GEORGIA- Baldwin Co., Mariah Hilburn married Jacob Calaway 28 Jul.  Believed to be Woodard Hilburn's daughter.

1826- Baldwin, GA.  John L. Hilbun (Jehu) married Elizabeth Wirsham 14 Mar 1826.  Believed to be Woodard's son who later lived in Alabama.

1827- Feb 13: Baldwin, GA.  Vaughn Hilburn listed in newspaper in Milledgeville. Was a stagecoach driver betw. Milledgeville & Augusta.  His descendants are still in Georgia, primarily in Laurens County and many of whom spell their name "Hilbun".

Woodard/Woodward Hilbun later moved to Conecuh County, AL and then to Pontotoc Co., MS, where he is found in the 1850 US Census.  It's believed that he died there.  His children, Frederick, and William Hilbun settled for a few years in Desoto Co., MS.  Some of their descendants moved on to Texas and many later moved to California.  These Hilbuns primarily spell their name as HILBUN.

Woodward Hilbun served in the War of 1812 in North Carolina and the earliest record I have found of him is from 1800 in Brunswick County, NC.  He also owned land in Bladen, NC. :

1800 Brunswick- Oct 28. 1094 (235). Woodard Hilbern enters 400 a.; border: Elias Duncan; includes the place where Shadrick Wilson lived. “Abstracts of Land Entries: Brunswick Co, NC, 1794-1820” by R. B. Pruitt, 1989, p 66.

It's believed that his father was Vaughan Hilbun/Hilburn, found in Colonial N. C., served in the Revolutionary War in NC and who died in Hinds Co., MS in 1833/34, whose will I have a copy of.   Woodward's siblings were many, some of whom appear to be Frederick, James, Luke, Henry, John, Thomas, Francis.  The assumption of their relationship is based on the fact that they were in Brunswick Co., NC near each other and some of them are listed together on land records.  Vaughan also was in Brunswick but moved to Mississippi Territory as early as 1813 (record found).

I believe that the Vaughan Hilburn of Baldwin County, GA is LIKELY the son of Woodward Hilbun as he is the only Hilbun documented as living in that area of Georgia.  If others have documentation of something different, please let me know.   Joy Hilbun Mohr


DR. ANDREW JACKSON FOARD was the son of Wyatt Foard (1796-1831) and Mary C. McCarty.   Wyatt Foard was the son of Francis Foard (1753-1833) and Sallie n
North of North Carolina.  Francis Foard had a total of 19 children by two wives.  (Family myth is that there were three other children by Sallie North, but has not been proven.)   There were five sons of Francis Foard that came from North Carolina to Baldwin County, GA.   Braxton, Thomas, Francis, Abraham and Wyatt.

Dr. Andrew Jackson Foard was born abt. 1823 in Baldwin County, Georgia.  He was the Medical Director for the Confederate Army of Tennessee.  He died in March, 1868 in Charleston, South Carolina.  His remains were brought to his home town and he is buried at Milledgeville City Cemetery.

Obituary of Dr. Andrew J. Foard:
 The remains of this eminent and highly esteemed gentleman, reached here on last Friday evening, and were escorted o the house of Dr. S. G. White, where they remained in state and were visited by his numerous friends until Sunday afternoon.   At 3 o'clock that day, the Rev. Mr. Flint, of the Presbyterian Church, in the presence of a large assemblage of our citizens of all classes, delivered an eloquent and impressive funeral discourse.
 The procession was then formed in the following order:
 1st. Clergy
 2nd. Hearse, attended by the members of the medical profession of this city and vicinity, as pall bearers.
 3rd.  A large number of young ladies carried wreaths of flowers and evergreens.
 4th.  Citizens on foot and in carriages.
 Upon arriving at the entrance of the Cemetery, the Choirs of several churches united in singing, as the procession moved slowly down the main avenue.  On reaching the grave, the Burial Service of the Church of England, (of which the deceased was a member), was impressively read, by the Rev. Mr. Malloy of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  The services being concluded, the young ladies passed around the grave, casting therein the wreathes they bore, singing as they moved an appropriate Hymn.
 The ceremonies from beginning to end, were most impressive.  The deep and heartfelt interest manifested by those present gave assurance of the esteem in which Dr. Foard was held by our community and evinced there desire to honor one, who born in their midst, had achieved such distinction in his profession, and rendered such important service to his country.
 His numerous friends in various parts of the United States will be gratified to learn, that the Doctor's protracted illness at Baltimore, and during the few days he survived after reaching Charleston, that he was the recipient of the attention and kindness of the ladies, and Medical Fraternity, of these cities.  And that his remains now repose in the home of his childhood.

A very special thank you to Ms. Joseph Foard of Kentucky, who sent me this photo of Dr. Andrew J. Foard.

Submitted by Tonya Crosby......thcrosby@yahoo.com


JUDGE LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR was a son of  John Lamar and was born July 15, 1797, and from boyhood was a lover of books, reading with good effect almost everything that came within his reach, but had a decided partiality to poetry and other works of imagination. In after life he was distinguished for his attainment in belles-lettres, for the classic purity of his composition, and for his forensic eloquence.
   In 1816 he commenced the study of law in the office of Joel Crawford at Milledgeville, where he read with great assiduity, and, among other acquisitions, became an accurate pleader. Having spent twelve months or more in this office and wishing to complete his professional education, he repaired to the celebrated law-school at Litchfield, in the state of Connecticut, in which Judges Reeve and Gould alternated in delivering a course of lectures. During a period of thirty years or more the Litchfield school was almost the only institution of the kind and by far the most famed, in the United States. It was sought by students from almost every part of the union, and from no state, probably, in greater numbers than Georgia.
   About the year 1818 or 1819 Lamar was licensed " to plead and practice in the several courts of law and equity in this state," opened an office at Milledgeville, and not many months thereafter married Miss Bird, the daughter of an eminent physician of that place. Though few lawyers have brought to the bar higher qualifications, he lacked some, and for a few years his prospects were anything but bright. While others with not a tithe of genius or learning were seen to be reaping rich harvests of fees and crowded with clients, he remained poor and almost briefless. How and why did this happen? Courage, truth and honor were among the most conspicuous element of his character, and he seemed to have the esteem and confidence of every one. But he could not court clients or solicit patronage; his characteristic independence and legatee self-esteem would not tolerate even the semblance of unworthy condescension. He doubtless wanted what is commonly called address; he had no turn for frivolous chat, story telling, anecdotes, ect. In short, he lacked those qualifications on which humbler natures rely for conciliating popular favor.
   But there was another peculiarity attached to this gifted young man, which is very seldom seen in persons of his age and fervid temperament. It would seem that the tone of his nervous system was liable to accidental spells of depression, which not only impaired his capacity for social companionship, but, at times, the highest energies of his mind. At the bar and elsewhere, when under the weight of this incubus, he has been known to betray a want of thought and of expertness in the transaction of business, which, to those who knew him best, was astonishing. On one occasion, an important case of his being on trial in the county of Twiggs-a case he had much at heart, and in which he had made great preparation- when in the prescribed order of speaking it became his turn to address the special jury, he arose with perfect self-possession and having proceed through an exordium  of great appropriateness and beauty, suddenly came to a dead pause. No one knew the cause until he, with humility and confusion of face that betrayed the deep mortification under which he suffered, declared in an undertone to his associate counsel, that he could not proceed, and that the the whole advocacy of the cause must fall into the hands of the associate.
   In the summer of 1821, his first preceptor in the law having retired from the practice some four or five years before, resumed it, and Lamar became his partner. This co-partnership, by its terms, was limited  to three years, and before the expiration of that time Lamar had so many opportunities of exhibiting proofs of his great professional ability that he never afterward wanted clients or fees.
    Mr.  Lamar doubtless had ambition - a legitimate ambition - to acquire, by meritorious actions, that fame and fortune which may at all times be justly awarded to useful and brilliant achievements; but he had an insuperable aversion to catching  office as a mere fortuitous windfall, or getting it by surrendering himself to the arbitrary management of a political party. Under  the influence of such generous self-denial, he more than once refused his name as a candidate, when success was little less than certain. This conduct when Thomas W. Cobb - about the fall of 1828 - became a candidate for the bench of the Ocmulgee circuit, will serve to exemplify some of the loft traits which belonged to the character of Lamar.
   Mr. Cobb was an experienced and confessedly an able lawyer - had been for many years a respectable member of congress, desired to continue in the public service, but in the decline of life preferred a station nearer his home. That popularity, however, which carried him three terms to the house of representatives, and afterward to the senate of the United States, now forsook him. He was beaten on a joint vote of the general assembly, by a large majority; but for some cause, best known to himself, his successful opponent (Judge Eli S. Shorter) within a few days resigned the commission of judge, and the vacancy had to be filled. Cobb's friends again presented his name, and Lamar was importuned to offer as the rival candidate. Had he consented, his election was morally certain; but he had becoming respect for Mr. Cobb's seniority and past services, was no stranger to the unworthy motives of those who were most intent on a second defeat, nor to the plasticity of that illy-organized college of electors, the general assembly. His refusal was peremptory, and Mr. Cobb was permitted to take the office he so much coveted.
    Before the term for which Mr. Cobb had elected expired, his death made a vacancy which Mr. Lamar could honorably consent to fill. He came, then, into office on such conditions as met his approbation, and continued until the day of his own lamented death to discharge its duties with signal ability, and with public applause which few in judicial stations have had the good fortune to receive.
    The melancholy event of Judge Lamar's death (occasioned; as it was, by his own hand) filled the wide circle of his friends and acquaintances with lamentation and astonishment. He was yet a young man, with sufficient wealth for entire independence, unequalled popularity, a wife and children on whom he doted; no man, indeed, seemed to have more to attach him to life. To the inquiry everywhere made, "What could have caused the suicide?" no satisfactory answer was given. Some supposed it to be a religious frenzy, originating in recent and deep impressions on the subject. One who knew him intimately has assigned that which was probably the true and only cause - insanity, resulting from accidental derangement of cerebral organism. The disease of which the judge died may, therefore, be assumed a natural one, and as explicable, on pathological principles, as apoplexy or any other malady of the brain.
   Whatever may have been predicted of the eventful career of Judge Lamar, had he lived longer and been placed in congress, or on some other thereatter favorable to the display of his splendid oratory and ardent patriotism, it is admitted that, both at the bar and on the bench, he attained the first rank. He presided with great dignity, and was most effective in the dispatch of business. No one who knew the man ever ventured on an act of rudeness or disrespect to his court; yet every person whose deportment was worthy of it had unfailing assurances of his kindness. His lectures of instruction to the grand juries, at the opening of a term, were delivered in admirable style; and his charges to special and petit juries, engaged in the trial of difficult and much-litigated cases, might well serve as models to any bench.
   His manners in public and private life were wholly free from useless formality, but frank, bland and refined. He left a young family of sons and daughters (one of his sons, L.Q. C. Lamar became United States senator from Mississippi, secretary of the interior under Mr. Cleveland's first term, and a justice of the supreme court of the United States.
 The above and foregoing is from the pen of his law partner, the late eminent Joel Crawford, and this testimony, from one so competent, establishing the high rank of Judge Lamar in the profession, and also as a citizen, the attempt to improve  the picture would be so vain; no room is left or art or friendship to throw further light on a character so nobly molded. He was truly a man of great moral elevation, and universally beloved. His sensibilities were very acute, and his emulation was entirely unselfish. Aiming to extend the conquests of his profound intellect to the verge of possibility, he overtasked his nervous system, resulting in that deplorable act which deprived his country and his friends of a pattern of excellence. His fame secure, his virtures  without a blemish, his memory will ever remain dear to the people of Georgia, and to all who can appreciate an exalted nature. He is buried in the beautiful cemetery at Milledgeville, Ga. A handsome monument, in the form of an obelisk, twelve or fifteen feet high, has been erected by the members of the bar over his remains, on which is the following inscription, which is said to have been from the pen of the late Judge Iverson L. Harris"
   "Sacred to the memory of Lucius Q. C. Lamar,  late judge of the superior court of the Ocmulgee circuit, who, during a brief period of four years, discharged the duties of that high office with probity, firmness, efficiency and unquestionable reputation. The devoted love of his family, the ardent attachment of personal friends, the admiration of the bar, and the universal approbation of his enlightened admiration of justice, attest the goodness and greatness of one arrested by death too early in the bright career in which he had been placed by his native state."
   " Born, July 15, 1797. Died July 4, 1834"  Memoirs of Georgia Volume 11Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

SAM MARLOR
submitted by
According to The Union-Recorder Bicentennial 2003 special section Sam, a slave of builder John Marlow saved the captial from burning in 1831. "He was publicly commended for his efforts and rewarded with an order of emanicpation by the General Assembly in 1834 which also included the appropriation of $12,000 with which to compensate his owner, the builder John Marlor. Sam then took his former owner's name and became know as Sam Marlor (or Marlowe)."
See below:

ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN MILLEDGEVILLE, AT AN ANNUAL SESSION IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1833.
RESOLUTIONS WHICH ORIGINATED IN THE SENATE.
1833 Vol. 1 -- Page: 367
Sequential Number: 196
IN SENATE.
The committee, to whom was referred the communication of his excellency the Governor, in relation to the fire at the state-house, and the exertions made to extinguish the same, and recommending some provision for the black man Sam, the property of Mr. Marlor -- have had the same under consideration, and are of opinion that such essential services rendered by the said man Sam, in which he could have no interest, merit nothing short of his emancipation; and therefore recommend the appropriation of a sufficient sum to pay Mr. Marlor the full value of him, and that he be set at [Illegible Text] under such regulations as now exist for the government of free persons of colour. And that the further sum of -- dollars be appropriated, to be disbursed under the authority of his Excellency, in compensating such other slaves and free persons, as rendered their aid in extinguishing said fire.
Your committee beg leave also to offer the following resolution.
Resolved, That his excellency the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized to cause the old part of the state-house building to be made to correspond in appearance with the new part at the north end; and also, to cause the roof to be covered with copper or slate, so as to make it fire proof, and that he be authorized to contract with some competent workmen for the performance of the same, which shall be done under the superintendence of such persons as be may appoint for that suppose.
Resolved further, That the sum of twelve thousand dollars be appropriated for that purpose, and that the same be inserted in the appropriation bill.
Agreed to, 9th Dec. 1833.
JACOB WOOD,
President of the Senate.
Attest -- JOHN A. CUTHBERT, Secretary.
In the House of Representatives,
Concurred in, 21st Dec. 1833.
THOMAS GLASCOCK,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Attest -- JOSEPH STURGIS, Clerk.
WILSON LUMPKIN, Governor.


BLIND WILLIE McTELL
submitted by Michael Gray

Blind Willie McTell, real name Willie Samuel McTier, an African-American, was born in the Happy Valley area of
Thomson, McDuffie County, Georgia, in 1898 or 1901, most likely on May 5th. His mother is believed to have
been a Minnie Watkins, from Jefferson County, and his father an Ed McTier of McDuffie.

At the age of about 7 he moved with his mother to the city of Statesboro, Bulloch County, Georgia.

Blind from birth, he never behaved as if this were a handicap, and went on to become the pre-eminent blues
musician of the whole Piedmont region and blues style. He was a great 12-string guitarist and wrote a number
of songs including 'Statesboro Blues', made famous as a rock hit by the Allman Brothers in the 1970s. McTell
recorded first in 1927. He was recorded in Atlanta in 1940 for the Library of Congress.

In later life Blind Willie McTell was also a gospel singer and a member of several church congregations. He
died on August 19, 1959, in Milledgeville State Hospital, Baldwin County, after suffering a second stroke.

He married Ruth Kate Williams, of Wrens GA, in 1934 but his longest-lasting and most significant relationship
was with his second wife, Helen Edwards McTell, nee Broughton, whose family came from Brickstore in Newton
County GA. They lived together in Atlanta until her death in late 1958.

I am interested in tracing any living relative of Helen Broughton Edwards McTell, as well as in solving the
mystery of where she is buried.


WALTER PAINE, clerk of the superior court, Milledgeville, was born in Milledgeville in 1835. He was raised and received his primary education in he city and finished his education at Oglethorpe university, then located at Midway, Baldwin  county. At the beginning of the civil war he was in the hotel business in Milledgeville and in June, 1861, enlisted and entered the service, but was discharged on account of physical disability and returned home. He remained at home until January, 1863, when he entered the Georgia reserves as lieutenant but was at once made captain of Company D, Fifth regiment, continuing in the service until the surrender. He was a Savannah when the city was evacuated and was afterward in the following engagements: River's bridge, Coosahatcher and Pocotaligo, and was then detailed to accompany wounded soldiers to Augusta  and saw no more active service. After the close of the war he returned to Milledgeville, but soon afterward went to Macon and accepted a clerkship in the freight department of the Central railway, which he held three years. He then returned to Milledgeville, where he engaged as bookkeeper for G. W. Haas, groceryman, with whom he remained for several years. In 1873 he was elected clerk of the superior court, to which office he has been continuously re-elected since.
    Capt. Paine was married in 1857 to Miss Gertrude Dasher. She having died, he contracted a second marriage in 1872 with Miss Anna E. Turner. Mr. Paine has one son, Charles H. Paine, who is in the drug business at Valdosta, Ga.
Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

Dr.THEOPHILUS O.POWELL, superintendent of the state lunatic asylum, was born in Brunswick county, Va., in 1837, and when six or seven years of age came to Georgia with his parents, who settled in Sparta, Hancock county . There he was educated largely under the supervision of that very eminent educator, Richard Malcom Johnston, of national fame, and after studying medicine for a long time attended lectures at the Georgia Medial college, Augusta, from which he graduated in 1859. Soon after his graduated he located in Sparta and was rapidly advancing in the public estimation when the civil war broke out. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the Forty-ninth Georgia regiment and served as such until about August, 1862, when he accepted an appointment as first assistant physician to the state insane asylum at Milledgeville. he served as such until February, 1879, when he was appointed superintendent, a position which he has creditable held ever since. While in the Confederate service Dr. Powell was in all the battles around Richmond and many skirmishes. In 1886, in compliance with a resolution of the senate and house of representatives o the general assembly of Georgia, Dr. Powell submitted to that body a full and exhaustive report of his "investigations as to the increase of insanity in this state, and the most important factors in its causation so far as it has been practicable to ascertain them."  This report reflects the highest credit on Dr. Powell's professional erudition, profound study and patient research and placed him high "on the roll of honor" of the medical profession. His great scientific attainments, intelligent considerateness for the unfortunate and conscientious discharge of every duty devolving upon him has commended him to the confidence of the people and of the "powers that be," who are satisfied that no more efficient officer could be found. Dr. Powell is a member of the State Medical association of Georgia and was president of the State Medical association in 1887; is a member of the American Medico-Psychological association and of the National Medico-Legal society, and few, if any members of the profession stand higher than he.
   Dr. Powell was married in 1860 to Miss Frances, daughter of Edward Birdsong, of Hancock county, a union blessed with two children: Julia, wife of P. A. West of Baldwin county, and Harriet, wife of John Conn of Milledgeville, Ga. He is a chapter Mason, Scottish rite and a trustee of Milledgeville Lodge No. 3 F. and A.M. Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

MAURICE MARTIN MINTER
     "Maurice Martin Minter, the subject of this sketch, was a man who achieved success entirely through his own efforts and through his persistent work in his chosen field of applied science.
     He was born on May 13, 1871 near Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, the son of Charles Floyd and Martha Jane (Chambers) Minter both of whom were born in Baldwin County, where his father conducted a plantation. He was one of four boys, his brothers being: John Easter Minter of Columbus, Ga., Charles R. Minter, living in Baldwin County, Georgia and William T. Minter, living in Texas. 
    Mr. Minter was educated in Georgia  and left school at the age of eighteen to enter the employ of Stevens Pottery Company of Baldwin County where he  first became acquainted with Ceramic products production. He remained with this concern for seventeen years and when he severed his connection with them he was employed by the Baldwin County Brick and Tile Company of Milledgeville as manager of the plant. This position he held until 1910 when he came to Columbus to take charge of Muscogee Brick and Terracotta Company here. In 1912 he removed to Albany, Georgia and to take charge of the Flint River Brick Company which position he occupied when he started the concern which is now known as the Minter System.
   During all of his work at the different kinds of Ceramic Products plants Mr. Minter was constantly studying the science of applied heat for the purpose of burning clay products and also studying text books on this subject and applying theory to practice until he became probably the best informed man in the United States on the subject of heat conservation and the application in the industry. Through his efforts and the efforts of his associates enormous sums of money have been saved by this industry, and the science of burning clay products has advanced materially.
  Mr. Minter was the vice-president of the Minter System. A concern engaged in the engineering and construction of kilns for burning clay products, and plants of their design are scattered all over the United States and Canada and some are in foreign countries.
  On January 18, 1893 Mr. Minter was married to Miss Martha Gibson of Jones County, Georgia near Milledgeville, and to them were born ten children: Millard, Gibson, Thomas, James, Mrs. R. B. Preston (Vivian), Annie and Dorothy (Mrs. D. M. Watson), Mildred and Martha (deceased), one boy who died in infancy, and there are six grandchildren. Mr. Minter died July 17, 1929."
From: Telfair, Nancy. A history of Columbus, Georgia : 1828-1928 Columbus, Ga.: Historical Pub. Co., c1929, 574  pgs.
 

JOHN EASTER MINTER
    " John Easter Minter was born in Baldwin County, Georgia, August 2, 1868, and died in Columbus, Georgia, May 20, 1947. He was the son of Floyd and Martha Chambers Minter, both deceased, who were also born in Baldwin County. He was the brother of M. M.. Minter and Charles Floyd Minter, both deceased, and Thomas Minter of Cason, Texas. Mr. Minter attended the Baldwin County Schools and, later, the Southern Business University in Atlanta, Georgia. 
     He was married to Miss Winnifred Moore in Tampa, Florida, March 27, 1895. She was the daughter of Samuel Lewis and Julia Bradley Moore of Monticello, Florida. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Minter: Winnifred Bradley, now the wife of Lt. Col. Jacob R. Moon, U.S. Army, and John Easter Minter, Jr. He is survived by four grandchildren: Mrs William Nielsen, Jacob Robert Moon, Jr., Marti Minter and John Easter Minter III and three great-grandchildren: Cynthia Winnifred Smith, Kenneth Cooper Smith and Jennifer Nielsen. Mrs. Minter departed this life May 28, 1929, in Columbus, Georgia.
     John Easter Minter began his career in business at the age of 20 years at Stevens Pottery, Georgia in 1888. In 1892 he was made assistant manager of the H. Stevens Sons Sewer Pipe Company in Macon, Georgia. He held this position until 1909 and during the time invented and patented several machines used in sewer pipe manufacture. He came to Columbus as one of the organizers of the Columbus Sewer Pipe Company. This plant was planned and constructed under his under his supervision and he held the position of General Manager until 1919. He designed the plant of the Dixie Brick Company, at Dixieland, Alabama, in which the Minter system of kilns, originated by his brother, M. M.. Minter, was installed. He became president in 1939, serving in that capacity until his retirement in 1942. Mr. Minter was an organizer and officer of the Clay Products Exchange which was formed as a sales organization in 1933. He designed and invented processes making for improvement in clay goods production and some of the most beautiful face brick produced in the South were manufactured under his supervision.
     At one time he was Senior Councilor of the United Commercial Travelers of America, Charter Member and Treasurer of the Southern Clay Products Association, Director of the Columbus Chamber of Commece and a member of the Elks, Muscogee Club, Kiwanis Club, and Columbus County Club. He belonged to the Methodist Church of Baldwin County and was a Democrat.
     Mr. Minter's popularity was as wide as his acquaintanceship, and his kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity made his presence a joy. He was most considerate, and delighted when he could help others. He was always active in humanitarian work and a leader in the community in civic enterprises."
From: Worsley, Etta Blanchard. Columbus on the Chattahoochee. Columbus, Ga.: Columbus Office Supply Co., 1951, 670  pgs.


MAYOR JOSEPH STALEY
No better illustration of what industry joined to intelligence and sobriety will accomplish can be found than in the case of the subject of this sketch.
   He was born in Lancastershire, England, March 26, 1824, and after receiving an ordinary education and the rudiments of a trade as a tinner, came to this country and located in Milledgeville, Ga., beginning life as a journeyman. After two years of hard work and strict economy he saved enough from his earnings to open a small tin-shop. In time he added a stock of hardware and his business grew; until the opening of the war he was driving a splendid trade and was on the road to wealth and independence. Like many others who were just fairly getting started he closed his store, sacrificed his property, and threw himself and fortunes into the uncertain conflict of arms. He joined the "Baldwin Blues," which were mustered into the Fourth Georgia regiment and sent into the Fourth Georgia regiment and sent to join the conflict then raging in Virginia. After some service in the army of north Virginia, he was discharged on account of failing health and sent home, when he was placed in the State armory and there remained until the surrender. At the close he opened a small shop again and began anew. By the exercise of the same industry and economy, and the same attention to his own affairs which characterized his earlier years, his business has grown and prospered and he now has the best house of the kind in any country town in middle Georgia; not only that, but he has interests outside. he has been active in the movements to secure for his town a system of gas and water works, a street car line and a building and loan association. He has also been one  of the aldermen of the town many years, and was recently elected mayor. He has become thoroughly Americanized, although of foreign birth, and is in active sympathy with all distinctively American interests. His wife is a Georgia lady, being a descendent of one of the old families of Wilkinson County - her maiden name Martha J. Sanders. He has but one child, a daughter, Sarah Isabella.

Source: Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida. Chicago, IL: F.A. Battey & Company, 1889.

February 28, 1909
The Atlanta Constitution
JOSEPH STALEY IS DEAD. Aged  Citizen of Baldwin Was Stricken With Pneumonia.
Milledgeville, Ga., February 27. (Special) Joseph Staley, one of Milledgeville's oldest citizens, died today of pneumonia. he was in his eighty-fifth year, and had been constantly in business in this city for over fifty years. He was a native of England, coming to this section when thirty years of age, and for years has been in the hardware business. Mr. Staley fought through the war as a member of the Baldwin Blues. Up to a few days ago he actively attended to his business.

Staley Avenue in Milledgeville is named after Mayor Joseph Staley


STEELE - COOPER FAMILY
Submitted by Shelley Martinez
My grandmother was Belle P. Steele Shelton Screen, born March 6, 1912 in Milledgeville. My grandmother died March 12, 1999. Her parents were John Kennedy Steele (b. Aug 30, 1890, d. June 1941) and Lorean Cooper (b. Dec. 26, 1893, d. Nov. 1969). Both parents were born in Milledgeville. The Steele's were very light-skinned mulattos who worked in the building trades (carpenters, bricklayers, etc.).

My ggrandmother, Lorean Cooper was the daughter of Belle Powell (b. July 1857, d. Jan. 1925) and Allen Cooper. My family has named the females after those two women. My mother was Lorean (Loraine) Shelton Nuttall (b. 4/13/1941, d. 10/29/1989). I named my daughter Loren after her grandmother. Belle Powell is supposedly the daughter of a Cherokee slave, Sarah/Sallie or Hannah Powell and a GA Congressman. I have been trying to find out their names for nearly 2 years, which is how I got started on this genealogy kick.

The story as my grandmother told me was that her grandparents, Belle & Allen, received a house at the corner of Hancock & Warren St. from the Congressman. In the summer of 1894, Allen supposedly ran off with Belle's best friend and then sold the house out from under Belle and the children. My gran was the youngest of 7 children at 6 months.

The next child was my great-aunt Marion Cooper Hulien (b. 1889, d. 1978). Belle had to send all but the youngest two children out to work for other families while she became a nurse, trained by a cousin (on her father's side) who had recently finished medical school. Belle and this doctor worked in Chattanooga, TN. The youngest two children, Lorean and Marion, lived with Belle's sister, Mariah Crawford (b. 1848, d. 1940). Eventually, Belle Powell Cooper ended up working for Abby Crawford and George Fort Milton, Jr. in Chattanooga according to the 1920 census.

George Fort Milton, Jr., was the editor of the Chattanooga News. His wife, Abby Crawford Milton (b. 1881, d. 1991), was the daughter of Attorney Charles Peter Crawford (the son of Hon. Joel Crawford) and Anna Ripley Orme (father was Richard M. Orme, publisher of the Southern Recorder & Milledgeville Mayor). (See posts re: Abby Crawford Fort at this message board on June 23, 2003.)

My grandmother told us how when the Milton's would come to Milledgeville, she would play with their children and they would pick her up in a limo. She and her parents lived in the house at Warren and Hancock St. Her grandmother had bought back the house. Anyway, Joel Crawford was a slaveholder of 114 in Hancock County.

I don't think it is a coincidence that Belle Cooper worked for the Milton's. I believe she, her sister, Mariah Crawford, and mother had a connection to the Crawfords. Mariah and Belle did not have the same father. My guess is that their mother (Sarah/Sallie/Hannah Powell) was owned by Joel Crawford and had Mariah on the Crawford property with another slave. She later had Belle with a prominent politico possibly in Milledgeville. This is just my guess but I think it makes some sense. I am searching for evidence and hope to write a book about the family.

To conclude - my grandmother's family moved to Wash, DC in 1920, where my grandmother lived the rest of her life. She married twice. First to Wendell Shelton of Lynchburg, VA. He was my mother's father. He died before I got to know him. They divorced when my mother was 4. Later, in 1955, my grandmother married a Milledgeville native, Lewis (Louis) Rogers (Roger) Screen. Roger moved to DC around 1933. He retired from the DC police force after 20 years. His mother was Nettie Johnson Humphries Screen. His biological father was James Humphries. James died before Roger was 2 when Nettie married Sol H. Screen. Sol adopted Roger.

My grandparents maintained close ties to Milledgeville and when I was a child we used to spend our summers there. I recently went through my grandmother's old papers and found a real treasure trove of information about Roger. I came across several letters from Carl Vinson to my grandfather and the president of GA College. Roger had contributed money to the college for the Carl Vinson chair. Carl Vinson refers to my grandfather as a life long friend. Considering my grandfather was Black and Vinson, White, I consider this a significant acknowledgement. Anyway, I could go on and on but these are some of the ties and relations my family has to Milledgeville and some of its prominent families. More than anything, I would like to find out more about Wm. & George Steele and the parents of Belle Powell Cooper.


HENRY STEVENS, Founder of Steven's Pottery
Henry Stevens, was the founder of Steven's Pottery in Southwest Baldwin County. He was born July 21, 1813, the son of Walter and Elizabeth Stevens of Cornwall, England, where he began working at a local pottery at a young age. At the age of 18, he became a sailor on a merchant ship that sailed between Liverpool and New York. At the age of 23 he went to Augusta and worked for the railroad as foreman of hands that were building the railroad between Augusta and Union Point. That work finished he was a railroad conductor for a few years. He, with his brothers and parents, settled in Greene County.
    On May 20, 1837 he married Matilda Stevens in Greene County. She was the daughter of  John and Martha Stevens formerly of N.C. Their eight children were: Martha Jane, Walter Crawford, Annie E., John Henry, Fannie Matilda, Eliza, William Park, and one who died as an infant.
    He farmed and went into the sawmill business in Greene County selling and erecting the Page Mill throughout Middle Ga. In 1854 he purchased a large tract of land in southwest Baldwin County where he sat up a saw mill plant.The brick and ceramic "pottery division" was started in 1858. Stevens Pottery was called Whiting at one time. During the civil war he furnished the troops with knives, shoe pegs and Joe Brown Pikes. Mrs. Matilda Stevens died in 1862, age 39.  Mr. Stevens married Caroline "Carrie" Torrance, daughter of William & Mary Torrance,  Feb. 28, 1865. They had no children
When Sherman troops came through in 1865 the mills were burned and the pottery works leveled. After the war he rebuilt his business and it flourished. In 1871 he began making sewer pipe, pottery,  stoneware and brick and his business was known as Kaolin Pottery and Mills.
    In 1876 Mr Stevens sold the business to his sons John Henry and William Crawford and his brother William P. Stevens, a merchant in  Sparta, who was made general manager and treasurer.  The  company was called H. Stevens Sons Company, Macon. When William P. Stevens died the company name was changed to Stevens Bros Company
  Mr. Stevens was a Mason and a devout Christian of the Methodist faith, a steward nearly all his life and a trustee.
   Henry Stevens died Jan. 16, 1883 and Carrie Stevens died  June 10, 1883.  He, along with his 2 wives, and other relatives are buried in Matilda Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Stevens Pottery. The chapel was named after Matilda Stevens.

WALTER CRAWFORD STEVENS
    Born in 1846 in Green County, the oldest son of Henry and Matilda Stevens, Walter was eight years old when the family moved to Baldwin County. He was educated at Emory College in Oxford.
    In 1872 he married Emma Heard Davis, daughter of Wilson and Mary Wright Davis of Newton County. They had three children: Mittie Irene, Maria, and one child who died as an infant. Mr and Mrs Stevens were active members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Stevens was a steward in the church.
     He joined with his brother John Henry  Stevens and Uncle William P Stevens, in 1876,  forming  the H. Stevens Sons Company, Macon. When William P. Stevens died the company name was changed to Stevens Bros Company. In addition to the pottery business they cultivated about 1,000 acres of land.

JOHN HENRY STEVENS
    Born April 5, 1851 in Greene County, the second son of Henry and Matilda Stevens. John was 4 when the family moved to Baldwin County. He attended Emory College in Oxford for two years. He married Julia Antoinette Webb in 1873. There six children were Lemma, Henry A., John H. Jr., Maggie Mell, Julia Pearl and Ruby.
    After going in business for himself, he joined with his brother Walter Crawford Stevens and Uncle William P Stevens, in 1876,  forming  the H. Stevens Sons Company, Macon. When William P. Stevens died the company name was changed to Stevens Bros Company.  In addition to the pottery business they cultivated about 1,000 acres of land. Around 1890 they built the Stevens home, which is still standing, in Stevens Pottery.
   Henry A. Stevens died as an infant in 1878. John Henry Stevens, Jr. died at the age of 2 in 1884. Maggie Mell Stevens died at the age of 3 in 1888. Julia Pearl Stevens died at the age of 14 in 1904. Mrs. Julia Stevens died Jan. 24, 1919 and is buried in Matilda Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery next to  John Henry Stevens who died Jan. 25, 1927.
 
 
 

WILLIAM PARK STEVENS
      Born in Baldwin county, Ga. March 31, 1859, of English parentage, and the youngest of three brothers. His parents were Henry and Matilda Stevens (for whose sketch see that of Henry Stevens, Baldwin county). After receiving a through education, he crossed the  water and visited his father's old home, and spent quite a while prospecting among the clay industries of Great Britain. On he return he accepted a position as superintendent for Stevens Bros. Co., Stevens Pottery,Ga., which position he held with credit until his father's death, at which time he launched out on his own account, in the saw and planing mill business and merchandising, in which he was successful and made money. After cutting all the timber contiguous to his mills he disposed of his interests in this line, formed a company, consisting of himself and two brothers, W. C. and J. H Stevens, of Stevens Bros. Co., and built a sewer pipe plant at Macon, Ga, and commenced the manufacture of sewer pipe, fire brick, flue goods, etc. under the name of Henry Stevens Sons Co., the subject of this sketch being elected general manager and treasuer.
     By never-failing courage and tenacity, and not knowing what "fail" means, mr. Stevens soon built and equipped a modern plant, furnished with the best machinery,  and by his shrewdness and foresight, the plant has been a success since its inception, and has not shut down since it was started, except for repairs.
    Mr. Stevens married Miss Emma G. Stephens, a daughter of John W. Stephens and C. A. Stephens. her father belonged to a well-known Mississippi family, and died in Nashville, Tenn., while in the Confederate service. To them three bright and beautiful children have been born: Estelle, born Sept. 2, 1885; Fannie, born Aug. 27, 1888; and William Park, Jr., born June 25, 1892. Mr. Stevens claims that to his wife is due a great deal of the credit for his successful business career. he is charitable and courteous, but stern and positive in business transactions; says "No" without changing, and is what all practical business men, with whom he has dealings, term a shrewd and conservative business man. Mrs. Stevens is a prominent member of the Methodist church.Memoirs of Georgia Volume 1Historical Society of Georgia, 1895

Sources: Memoirs of Georgia, Southern Historical Association; Marriage Records of Baldwin Co. Ga.;  1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 Census Records; The Baldwin Bulletin, May 1 2003; Acts of General Assembly  March 3, 1875


JOSEPH H, WHITE, M.D., was born in Milledgeville, Ga., May 4, 1859, and is a son of Edward J. and M.A. (Hill) White. Edward J. White was born in Milledgeville, Ga., in 1827, and died in 1881. He was a druggist and pharmacist, and was also steward and treasurer of the Insane Asylum at Milledgeville for years. He was a son of Dr. B. A. White, who was born in Louisville, Ga., in 1792, practiced medicine for fifty years, and was president of the Medical Board of the State of Georgia for twenty years, and was surgeon general of the State of Georgia in 1861-1865. He was a son of Major Edward White, a native of Boston, Mass., of English extraction, and a major in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. M. A. White was born in Baldwin County, Ga., and is a daughter of David B. Hill, who was born in Georgia in 1790, and was a planter by occupation. He was thrown from a horse and killed in 1845. His father was David B. Hill, a native of Ireland.
   Joseph H. White is the elder of two living children, viz: Joseph H. and Thomas E. He was  educated in the schools in Milledgeville, and in 1876 commenced to read medicine with Dr. S. G. White; after the death of Dr. S. G. White, he read with Dr. W. H. Hall. He next attended three full course of medical lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., and graduated from that institution in 1883. He then went to St. Joseph Hospital (then used as a marine hospital) , and was house physician for one year. In September, 1884, he went before the examining board of the United States Marine Hospital service, passed the examination and was stationed at New Orleans, La., and remained until March, 1885, at which time he moved to Savannah to take charge of the marine Hospital at Savannah and National Quarantine Station at Sapolo Sound, Ga., and is the present incumbent of the latter station.
   In January, 1885, he married Miss Emily H. Humber, of Putnam County, Ga., a daughter of Robert C. and Elizabeth A. (Ingram) Humber. To this union two children have been born- Emily H. and Mary R. The doctor is a member of the Episcopal Church, while Mrs. White is a Methodist. Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida. Chicago, IL: F.A. Battey & Company, 188

ROBERT WHITFIELD lawyer, Milledgeville, Baldwin Co. Ga, who was born there in 1852, is one of the rising, as well as one of the most gifted young men of Georgia. His boyhood and early youth were spent-during the "unpleasantness" - on the old family plantation in Jasper county, Ga. In 1867 he entered Mercer university, then located at Penfield, Ga. where he remained two years. he next entered the university of Georgia, Athens, from which he graduated in 1870 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, some of his classmates being the following gentlemen, who have also left their impress on local or state legislation: Washington Dessau, Walter B. Hill, Nat E. Harris, C. L. Bartlett (congressman), Judge C. C. Jones, Rev. J. D. Hhammond, Dr. A. S. Campbell, et al. The ensuing year he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and immediately located at Conyers, Rockdale Co., Ga. Six months later he went to Jackson, Butts Co., Ga., as to be conveniently near indian Springs, on account of his health. he remained here three years, doing some practice, and then spent the year 1875 on the plantation in Jasper county.  The ensuing year he located in Milledgeville, and formed a law partnership with Hon. Fleming du Bignon, now of Savannah, which continued until 1884. A year or so later he entered into partnership with Jon T. Adams, which still exists. In 1878 Mr. Whitfield was elected solicitor-general of Ocmulgee circuit, which comprises the counties of Morgan, Greene, Putnam, Jasper, Jones, Wilkinson and Laurens. This election was for an unexpired term, the incumbent having resigned; but wo years later-1880-he was elected for a full term of four years. In 1883 he was again  elected to the same office. The following November be resigned, as he had been elected at the October election to represent the twentieth senatorial district in the general assembly. In that body he was made chairman of the committee on the penitentiary, and placed on the committees of general judiciary and lunatic asylum.
As a legislator he was chiefly interested in the railway questions before the senate-particularly the lease of the Western & Atlantic (State) railway. He was the author of resolutions for the settlement of the betterment issues with the lessees, defeated at the time, but afterward passed substantially as he introduced them; and he was made chairman of the joint special committee appointed to settle the question and to whom the resolutions introduced by him were referred. It was while in the senate, in 1889, that Mr. Whitfield had the hard fight-which he won-to secure the location of the Girls' Normal school at Milledgeville; and it was during this senatorial term that Mr. Whitfield
developed, by intellectual capacity, great legislative ability and statesmanlike qualities, which have marked him as one of the foremost of the rising young men of the state.  In 1890 the people called again for his services, and he was elected to represent Baldwin county in the general assembly, and was placed on the committees on general judiciary, finance, lunatic asylum,and Western & Atlantic railway, and chairman of the special judiciary committee. Mr. Whitfield has always taken a very active part in politics, and has attained to great popularity, prominence and influence. He has served on the democratic state executive committee, stumped the state. In the race for the sixth district congressional nomination he was defeated by his old classmate, Charles L. Bartlett. It may be safely assumed that he has before him a brilliant professional and political future.
   Mr. Whitfield was happily married, in December, 1877, to Miss Effie, daughter of the late Judge Charles E. Harris, of Macon. Four children-three boys and one girl-have blessed this union, Robert Jr., Charles H., Anna and Marion. He is a Master Mason and a member of the Protestant Epispocal church. Memoirs Of Georgia Vol 2 1895
 

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