Biographies of Cobb County, Georgia

CHARLES JAMES McDONALD, the nineteenth governor of Georgia, who held that office from 1839 to 1843, was a native of South Carolina, born at Charleston on July 9, 1793. His parents moved to Hancock county, Ga., when he was a boy and his early educational training was received at the hands of the Rev. Nathan S. S. Beman, one of the famous teachers of that day. He then entered the South Carolina College, at Columbia, and was graduated in 1816. Leaving college, he entered the law office of Joel Crawford, and after a year of study under that eminent lawyer was admitted to the bar, in is 17. Governor McDonald's abilities were of such a pronounced order that in 1822, after five years at the bar, he was made Solicitor-General of the Flint circuit, and in 1825 became the judge of that circuit. Like many men of his day he had taken an active part in the State militia, and in 1823 had been elected to the post of Brigadier-General. As judge of the Flint circuit, his prudence and firmness were often called into play, as he presided over the frontier district in which there was naturally a lawless element. He was a member of the lower house of the General Assembly in 1830. In 1834 he was elected to the State Senate and again in 1837. His previous career at the bar and on the bench gave him prestige in the General Assembly, and he took high rank in that body. Indeed, he had acquired such prominence that in 1839 he was elected to succeed Governor Gilmer as Governor of Georgia.
He came into office under trying circumstances. The State treasury was empty. The evil effects of the great panic of 1837 were still pressing upon the people like a nightmare. The great work of building the Western and Atlantic Railroad was languishing. The public debt had been increased to one million dollars,—an enormous sum in those days. Worst of all, the State credit was at a low ebb, because of the protest of an obligation of three hundred thousand dollars which had been contracted by the Central Bank under authority of the General Assembly. Commerce and business generally were paralyzed. A preceding act of unwisdom was largely responsible for the evil condition of the State's finances. In 1837 the Legislature had passed an act allowing the counties of the State to retain the general tax, the same to be applied by the inferior courts to county purposes. As might have been expected, the counties frittered away the money. The bank was nearly destroyed by placing upon it a burden which did not belong to it, and the State was left without resource or credit.
Governor McDonald had inherited from his Scotch ancestors a hard head and sound judgment. Never did he need his inherent qualities more than he did in the situation which then confronted him. He first recommended that the State resume the entire amount of State tax which had been given to the counties with but little benefit to them and greatly to the injury of the State. This recommendation prevailed, and a law was enacted ordering the State tax turned into the State treasury. Almost immediately following this necessary action, in 1841 the Legislature passed an act reducing the taxes of the State twenty per cent. This act Governor McDonald promptly vetoed, with an argument brief and pointed and a statement of the conditions which made his veto message unanswerable. He had been reelected in 1841, and on November 8, 1842, in his annual message urging upon the Legislature the only effective remedy for relieving the State from its difficulties, he used these words: "The difficulty should be met at once. Had there been no Central Bank the expense of the government must have been met by taxation. These expenses having been paid by the Central Bank, they become a legitimate charge upon taxation. This must be the resort, or the government is inevitably dishonored. The public faith must be maintained, and to pause to discuss the question of preferences between taxation and dishonor would be to cause a reflection upon the character of the people whose servants we are," The issue was joined. The Legislature had rejected a measure calling for additional taxation to meet these just claims. The session was near its close. It was evident that unless some drastic action was taken the Legislature would adjourn, leaving an obligation of one hundred and ten thousand dollars unprovided for. Governor McDonald acted with firmness and promptness. He shut the doors of the treasury in the face of the members of the General Assembly. Great excitement followed. The members of the Legislature denounced him as a tyrant worse than Andrew Jackson, who had proceeded beyond all reasonable limits. Even bis political friends, alarmed at the storm that had been raised, urged him to recede from his position and rescind his order to the Treasurer. He resolutely refused. As a result, the necessary bill was finally passed and at the next session he was able to report an improved condition of the finances and a revival of confidence in the Central Bank.
It was without doubt a most fortunate thing for Georgia that at that critical period in the affairs of the State a man of Governor McDonald's firmness, prudence and business sagacity was put at the head of her affairs.
A strong advocate of popular education he used these words in addressing the Legislature: "The first thing to be regarded in a republic is the virtue of the people. The second, their intelligence, and both are essential to the maintenance of our free institutions. The first inspires them with a disposition to do right. The second arms them with power to resist wrong.''
During his term of office, in August, 1840, a party of Indians from Florida made a raid into the counties of Camden and Ware, murdering and plundering. Governor McDonald promptly informed the Secretary of War and without waiting on the action of the Federal government took effective measures for the security of the people. Later he presented the claims of Georgia for expenditure incurred in this matter to the general government, and their justice being recognized the State was reimbursed.
Governor McDonald was a strict constructionist of the Federal Constitution. He always held to the position that the Federal and State governments were distinct powers, each sovereign in its own sphere, and neither had a right to interfere in the affairs of the other when acting within constitutional limitations. In every question of disputed authority, therefore, he fell back upon the Constitution itself and made that the final arbiter. Ever ready to maintain the rights of his State, he was always ready to concede to the general government everything granted under the Constitution. During his term he had occasion to make some very sharp criticisms on resolutions passed by an anti-slavery convention in London, and on the action of the Governor of New York in refusing to deliver up a fugitive slave, and in his correspondence with Governor Seward he made a most masterly exposition of the constitutional question.
In 1850 he was defeated for Governor by Howell Cobb, and in that same year was a delegate to the Nashville States-rights Convention. There he took high ground in regard to southern rights and held that the people of these States had a right to move with their property into the territory newly acquired from Mexico and advocated the adoption of the Missouri Compromise recommended by the Nashville Convention. In the controversy raging at that time over this matter, he said: "If the Constitution of the Union were administered according to its letter and spirit, the South would not complain." In 1855, Governor McDonald was appointed a member of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and held that position until 1859. He died at his home in Marietta on December 16, 1860, in the sixty eighth year of his age.
As a judge, he was rigidly just and a most capable interpreter of the law; in personal life, a man of stern integrity, yet with much benevolence of heart. Of methodical, untiring industry, calm judgment, urbane manners, and absolute fidelity to every trust, he enjoyed universal respect and esteem from the people of Georgia. On occasions when political deals were suggested to him, the rewards of which would have been personal preferment, his invariable answer was: "I have never bargained for any office, and if I do not receive it without conditions, I shall never reach it." In the line of distinguished men who have filled the office of Governor of Georgia, it is simple justice to say that not one served more capably, more acceptably or more effectively than Governor McDonald.
In 1819, he was married to Anne Franklin, the daughter of Dr. Franklin, of Macon, Ga. Of this marriage, there were four children. Subsequent to the death of his wife, he married, in 1839, Mrs. Kuffin, of Virginia, who was the widowed daughter of Judge Spencer Roane, of Virginia. There was no issue of this marriage.
In the present generation, several of the descendants of Governor McDonald have reached distinction in their chosen profession, among whom may be mentioned Judge Spencer R. Atkinson,—now a prominent lawyer and a former judge of the Superior and Supreme Courts of Georgia; Judge Samuel C. Atkinson,—who is at present judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia; Hon. Harry F. Dunwoody, a prominent lawyer of the State, who resides at Brunswick, Ga., and who was a former State Senator; Hon. Alex. A. Lawrence, a leading lawyer, who resides at Savannah, Ga., and who is at present a Representative in the General Assembly from the county of Chatham. The first three mentioned are grandsons, and the latter a great grandson, of Governor McDonald.
Source: "Men of Mark in Georgia: a complete and elaborate history...", Volume 2 By William J. Northen - Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer

Phillips, Col. William, a native of South Carolina, removed to Georgia in early life and settled in Cobb county, where he practiced law and was at one time solicitor for his circuit. He was a member of the convention which nominated the first time Joseph E. Brown to be governor of Georgia. At the time of the secession of the state he was on the staff of Governor Brown and as such assisted in the negotiations which led to the surrender of the Augusta arsenal to the Georgia state forces. He organized Phillips' Legion, consisting of fifteen companies of infantry, six of cavalry, and one of artillery, a command which served first in West Virginia, then on the Georgia coast, and from the Seven Days battles to Appomattox. The infantry companies shared the fortunes of the army of Northern Virginia, while the cavalry companies followed Stuart and then Hampton, ending their military career near Goldsboro, N. C. It was while serving on the Georgia coast that Colonel Phillips lost an eye in a combat near Pocotaligo, S. C. Resigning command of the Legion, each section of which continued to bear his name to the end, he was appointed by Governor Brown brigadier-general of state troops, and served in that capacity to the close of the war. He has ever since the return of peace resided at Marietta, pursuing the practice of law, and conducting farming operations.
Source: Cyclopedia of Georgia Transcribed by Friends for Free Genealogy

In 1895, he stood a Civil Sendee Examination and out of forty applicants was one of ten to pass and one of seven to receive an appointment as physician in Indian Service. During the same year he was sent by the Surgeon General of the Marine Hospital Service as Sanitary Inspector on the Revenue Cutter Forward, to patrol the Gulf Coast to look for yellow fever infected vessels. He then went to Pima, Arizona, as Agency Physician to the Pimas, Papagoes and Maricopas, and to the Indian School. From there he went to Gulf Quarantine, Mississippi, in the Marine Hospital Service, as Acting Assistant Surgeon, having to be present during the fumigation of vessels. After leaving there he went back to Indian Service and was sent to Oneida Indian Industrial School and attended the Oneida Indians and the Oneida Hospital of Episcopal Church. Then was sent as school physician to Cheyenne River Agency, South Dakota, where he attended the children at the school and the Indians on the Reservation. From there he went to Cherokee Indian School, North Carolina and attended as physician to the school and the Cherokee Indians. After leaving there he went by transfer to Washington, D. C, Pension Office, where he rose to be Medical Examiner. Doctor Bulloch has also been a writer of many articles on historical and sanitary subjects, his articles to be found in different medical magazines and other printed matter also author of stories and of many works on genealogy.
Source: The National Genealogical Society Quarterly April 1913

McEachern, John N., president of the Industrial Life & Health Insurance Company, of Atlanta, and a member of the board of aldermen of the capital city, is a native Georgian, having been born in Cobb county, April 9, 1853. He is a son of David L. and Esther M. A. (White) McEachern, both of whom were born in Cabarrus county, N. C.,-the former on Jan. 15, 1814, and the latter on Dec. 23, 1817. They passed the closing years of their years of their lives in Cobb county, Ga., the father having been a farmer by vocation. At the time of the Civil war he was appointed by President Davis to look after the interests of the wives and widows of Confederate soldiers from Cobb county, his loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy being of the most insistent type. Wilkes W. White, an uncle of the subject of this review, organized a company for the Confederate service, the same having been recruited at Marietta, and which became a part of the Seventh Georgia infantry, in which he was promoted to the office of colonel. He was wounded in one of the engagements commonly designated as the Seven Days’ battles, in the vicinity of Richmond, and his injuries were so severe that he was compelled to retire from active service. John N. McEachern was afforded the advantages of the common schools of his native county, where he was reared to maturity and continued to reside until 1889, when he removed to the city of Atlanta and secured a position as solicitor for a Baltimore insurance company. He proved most successful in this connection and remained thus employed for two years, when he effected the organization of the Industrial Life & Health Insurance Company, which is incorporated under the laws of the state. He was forthwith elected president and general manager of the company which, under his able administration, has forged to the forefront, having now more than 150,000 policies in force and being the largest insurance company of the sort having its home office south of the mason & Dixon line. Mr. McEachern is know as one of the leading insurance men of the state and is a citizen of liberal and public-spirited views. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and has represented the seventh ward on the board of aldermen since 1903. He is treasurer of the board of stewards of the Park Street Methodist Episcopal church South, of which both he and his wife are zealous members, and is a director of the Wesleyan Memorial hospital, of Atlanta. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. On Sept. 30, 1896, Mr. McEachern was united in marriage to Miss Lula C. Dobbs, daughter of Ransom and Vesta (Dupee) Dobbs, of Cobb county, where she was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. McEachern have three children, namely: Elizabeth Florine, born July 22, 1897; John Newton, born Feb. 20, 1899; and Lula Christine, born Jan. 30, 1901.
[Source: Georgia Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Vol 2, Publ 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson]

McElreath, Walter, is numbered among the representative members of the Georgia bar and is successfully established in the practice of his profession in the city of Atlanta. He was born at Lost Mountain, Cobb county, Ga., July 17, 1867, and is a son of William A. and Jane (McEachern) McElreath, both of whom were likewise born at Lost Mountain. The McElreaths, or McIlraths, are a very ancient Scottish family, having lived in Galloway from the earliest days of Scotch history until the time of the Covenanters, when most of the family migrated to County Antrim, Ireland, after having furnished several martyrs to the cause of the Covenanters. About the close of the eighteenth century Michael McElreath, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to America and settled in Spartanburg county, S. C. In the year 1828, immediately upon the removal of the Creek Indians from Western Georgia he removed from South Carolina to Georgia and located where the town of Winston, Douglas county, now stands. A few years later, after the removal of the Cherokees from northern Georgia, his son John, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled on the old McElreath homestead at Lost Mountain, Cobb county, where members of the family still reside, the identification of the name with the history of western and northern Georgia having been continued from the time of the Indians to the present. The maternal ancestors of Mr. McElreath were the McEacherns and McKinleys, Scotch people who settled in the community around the old Rock River church, in North Carolina. An interesting and unusual condition, as designating the purity of the Scotch-Irish ancestry of Mr. McElreath, is that for a period of more than a century he has had no ancestor, in either the paternal or maternal line, whose family name did not have the Scotch prefix of “Mc”, save in the case of his maternal grandmother, whose name was White but who was of Scotch genealogy. William A. McElreath was a valiant soldier of the Confederacy throughout the Civil war, having enlisted in 1861 as a private in Company D, Seventh Georgia volunteer infantry, and took part in many of the most important engagements of the great conflict, from first Manassas to Appomattox. Walter McElreath, the immediate subject of this review was afforded the advantages of the common schools of his native county, after which he continued his studies in Washington & Lee university at Lexington, Va. He then took up the study of law, being admitted to the bar at Marietta, Ga., in November, 1894. In January of the following year he engaged in the practice of his profession in Atlanta, where he has given his undivided attention to his work as a lawyer, having built up an excellent general practice, devoting himself, however, almost exclusively to civil practice and making a specialty of corporation law. He is known as a man of broad general culture, a close student of the law, a forceful advocate and a successful practitioner. In politics he has always accorded an unwavering allegiance to the Democratic party, but has taken an interest in political affairs only from the standpoint of a public-spirited citizen. He has filled the office of president of the Young Men’s Democratic league of Fulton county, but has never sought or held public office, considering his profession worthy of his best thought and his full attention. He and his wife are members of Grace Methodist Episcopal church, South, and he is a member of its board of stewards. On Nov. 26, 1896, Mr. McElreath was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Anderson, daughter of Hon. Charles H. and Martha (Summers) Anderson, of Powder Springs, Ga.
[Source: Georgia Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Vol 2, Publ 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson]

Brumby, Thomas Mason, naval officer, was born in 1855 in Marietta, Ga. He was one of the survivors of the hurricane off Samoa in 1889. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1887. In 1897-98 he was at the naval observatory and War College; was then assigned flag-lieutenant on the Olympia, of Dewey's squadron; and was present on the flagship at the Manila victory. He died Dec. 17, 1899, in Washington. D.C.
[Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States, by William Herringshaw, 1909 – Transcribed by Therman Kellar]