Coweta county, GA Genealogy and History and Biographies

Georgia Genealogy Trails

"Where your Journey Begins"

Berry

WILLIAM BYRD BERRY

H Hall

HONORABLE HEWLETT A. HALL

Coweta County Georgia
Biographies

JOHN RAY,

John Ray who for forty years was one of the foremost men at the Georgia bar and a leader in the political life of the State, was of Scotch-Irish origin. He was bom at Drim Stevlin, Donegal, province of Ulster, Ireland, on March 17, 1792. His parents were David and Lucy (Atcherson) Ray, strict Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Young John was reared in his native village, and being of a studious disposition acquired a good education. At the age of twenty, with the consent of his parents, he came to America, and landed at Philadelphia, October 27, 1812. He spent a few weeks with an uncle already domiciled in this country, and then opened a school in Chester county, Pa. Later he taught on the eastern shore of Maryland. In 1822 he began the study of law at Staunton, Va., and was admitted to the bar in Richmond in 1823. Moving to Augusta, Ga., he taught a grammar school, in which he had as scholars some of the leading merchants of that city. This grammar school was peculiar, inasmuch as it was intended for grown people rather than children. He also taught school for one year at Washington, Wilkes county, where among the pupils was a boy, afterwards distinguished as the Hon. Robert Toombs. In 1828 he moved to Coweta county, which had but recently been purchased from the Creek Indians, and began the practice of law at the county site, Newnan. His practice was successful from the start, and he acquired a high reputation for legal ability, not only in his judicial circuit, but throughout all western Georgia. In addition to his important litigation he did nearly the entire collecting business for the merchants of Augusta and Charleston. Pleading was then a fine art, and he was especially skilled in that part of the profession. He was an orator, with full, rich voice and graceful gestures, remarkable mastery of language, and a glowing imagination. When to these gifts was added a careful preparation of his cases, with a thorough knowledge of the law, his preeminence as a lawyer can be understood.

In 1833 he married Miss Bethenia G. Lavender, of the best Virginia stock, by whom he had six children. The great need of that time was schools, and Mr. Ray, in spite of the demands of his great practice, devoted much time to the cause of education. He organized a scheme for building a large new seminary. Subscribing five hundred dollars, he was made president of the board of trustees, which place he held and filled effectively, without interruption, until his death, a period of thirty years. He obtained the best teachers from the North, sending his carriage to Augusta for them, in that era without railroads, and had the satisfaction of seeing the ISTewnan Seminary become a famous seat of learning for western Georgia.

In 1848, when the "Palmetto Regiment" of South Carolina was on its way to the seat of war in Mexico, it passed through Newnan. The citizens, learning of their approach, prepared a dinner for the entire regiment, and selected John Ray to deliver the welcoming address. This he did, in words so glowing with eloquence and patriotism as to win the hearty applause of both soldiers and citizens. He had the hospitality of an Irishman and the business judgment of a Scotchman. His charity never failed and his courtesy was of equal quality to all. He kept in his heart a warm spot for his Irish fellow-countrymen, and aided them to find employment, loaned money to the needy, and cared for the sick. He invested his large earnings in plantations and negro slaves, and was a humane master. His slaves had the best of care, were protected from the cruelty of overseers, were well fed, with good houses, and a garden patch and orchard for each family. He looked especially after their morals, required them to attend church, and supplied them with colored preachers. He so won their affection that after the emancipation nearly all of them remained in his employment up to his death.

Among the public men of the day he had a host of warm friends, among them Senator Walter T. Colquitt, Supreme Court Justice Hiram "Warner, Congressman Hugh A. Haralson, Charles Dougherty, Judge Kenyon, and others. Former Governor Joseph E. Brown, himself a fine judge of men, spoke of him as one of the most capable of his contemporaries. While an active Democrat, always ready to give time and service to the public, Mr. Ray invariably declined office, though often urged to accept. In 1862 his friends, despite his wishes, made him presidential elector, and he cast the vote of Georgia for Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens for President and Vice-President of the Confederacy. He was an ardent champion of the South in the war, but never lost his calmness and prudence, which is illustrated by the following incident : When the Ordinance of Secession was passed, the people of Newnan met to ratify it. It was an occasion of excitement, and one of the enthusiastic speakers claimed that one Southerner could whip ten Northerners. Judge Ray responded to the urgent calls, and while approving the action of the Secession Convention, he deplored the talk of war. Said it was a very sad hour for him. He further went on to say that, while having great faith in Southern valor and not doubting that under certain circumstances one Southern man might overcome two, five, or even ten Northerners, as for himself he preferred to fight man to man. This moderation carried the crowd with its quiet sense and sarcasm.

Mr. Ray died July 21, 1868, and was buried in the cemetery at Newnan, Ga., where for forty years he had been an honored citizen. Of the six children born to him, Georgia Ann married Abner R. Welborn, and is now deceased ; Mary Lucy married, first Joseph R. Holliday, and later Capt. Isaac S. Boyd, and is now deceased; Susan Adele married W. B. Melson, and is now deceased. His surviving children are Hibernia Emmett, who married Andrew J. Love, of Harris county; Capt. John D. Ray, who married Miss Mary Rawson, of Atlanta, and is a planter in Coweta county; Hon. Lavender R. Ray, a farmer and lawyer at Newnan, and State senator in 1884-85, now a resident of Atlanta, who married Miss Annie Felder, of Americus.
BERNARD SUTTLER.

WILLIAM BYRD BERRY

William Byrd Berry was born in Newnan, Coweta county, Georgia, August 11, 1831. He was the eldest son of Andrew J. Berry and Eliza Emily (Parks) Berry, both of distinguished Virginia parentage the former being of Scotch-Irish descent, and the latter tracing her ancestry to the early English pioneers who settled the colony at Jamestown. These were the Byrds, Harrisons, Parkses, and Custises all people of acknowledged culture and prominence in the Colonial period. The Berry and Parks families migrated to South Carolina before the Revolution, and afterwards settled in Georgia, being esteemed for their worth and influence in every community in which they lived.

Andrew J. Berry was one of the pioneers of this section. He assisted in laying off the town of ISTewnan in 1828, and was closely identified with the early history and subsequent development of the city. A successful banker, merchant, and planter, he was a man of mark in the community, highly honored and esteemed by his fellow citizens of every class and condition in life.

William Byrd Berry received his early education in the schools at Newnan, and later attended a select private school at Brownwood, Troup county, Georgia. He was a diligent student, and especially proficient in some of the higher branches of learning. His father having been a successful merchant and planter, he decided on a business career in preference to a profession, and when quite a young man, before the era of railroads, he became part owner and manager of several important stage lines in the South and West. These were considered big enterprises in those days, demanding for their successful management executive ability of a high order, and the experience thus gained proved invaluable to him in after years, when larger interests claimed his time and service. When stage lines ceased to be profitable, owing to the general railroad development throughout the country, he turned his attention to railway construction. His first work in this line was in 1849, when as a member of an engineering corps he assisted in surveying the route for the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. When the road was completed he accepted employment with the company as a train conductor, and filled this position for several years. Later he succeeded his father as a director, and afterwards was made president of the road, managing the company's affairs with the same intelligence and ability that characterized all his business undertakings. He finally retired from the presidency, after a successful administration, but was retained as a member of the board of directors, and continued in this connection until his death.

In 1861 he engaged in the banking business with his father, and in 1871 organized the First National Bank of Newnan. He was placed at the head of this institution, and continued as president until 1893, in which year he retired from active business.

In 1884 he was elected Mayor of jSTewnan, and served two terms in this office. In 1902 he was chosen as one of the Representatives from Coweta county in the Legislature, but died before taking his seat.

He was a veteran of the Civil War, first enlisting as a member of Company F, Phillips' Legion. During the last year of the war he also served as a member of the State troops under Captain T. M. Jones, Willcoxon's Regiment.

On April 17, 1861, Mr. Berry was united in marriage to Hibernia Lawrence, daughter of John and Olive (Echols) Dougherty, pioneer residents of Newnan. To this union four children were born, viz: Andrew Jay, who died in 1885 ; John Dougherty (Judge of the City Court of Atlanta from 1895 to 1899), who died March 14, 1899 ; Thomas Joel, who died in infancy; and Olive Emily, wife of Congressman Gordon Lee, of the Seventh Georgia District, who is the only surviving child. Mrs. Berry died October 4, 1871, and Mr. Berry passed away October 26, 1902.

While Mr. Berry was essentially a man of affairs, and had numerous business cares and responsibilities, socially he was a most charming companion. He enjoyed his personal friendships thoroughly, and had many warm attachments especially among the friends of his younger days. He was devoted to his family, lavishing upon his motherless children a wealth of affection, and manifesting for their welfare and happiness a tender solicitude, that revealed the depths of a paternal love as beautiful as it was rare.

Decided in his convictions, of rugged honesty and unswerving integrity, he was as much esteemed for his strength of character as for his many admirable personal traits. He left an impress upon the community that will outlast the generation that knew and honored him in life, and that will ever lament his death.
JAMES E. BROWN.

ALVAN DEAN FREEMAN

Alvan Dean Freeman, of Coweta county, was born in Elbert county March 15, 1842. He was married to Miss Ella C. Hall October 28, 1869. After her death he was married to Mrs. Hattie W. Arnall December 4, 1894. He has had six children, four of whom are living.

Samuel Freeman, the father of Alvan Dean, was a lawyer of prominence in Franklin county, having represented his county in the lower house of the General Assembly in 1847, and also in Coweta county, where he resided with his family from December, 1853, to the time of his death. He was a very devout and consecrated member of the Baptist church and was conspicuous for his fidelity to duty and his love of justice and truth. He was a man free from guile, whose speech was pure. His industry, sobriety and piety made his life in the home, in society and in the church a benediction and an inspiration. John Johnson, of Massachusetts, the great-grandfather of Alvan Dean, was an officer in the war of the Revolution. His paternal grandfather lost an arm in the war of 1812.

Young Freeman received his preliminary and secondary education at the Newman Male Seminary, under the direction of Profs. Wm. H. Davis, Daniel Walker and Joel C. Broadnax. This school was among the foremost in the State at the time. He was graduated from Mercer University in 1861. The Civil War began just as he was prepared to enter upon his business and professional career.

He joined the Confederate service the year of his graduation and remained in the army until April 9, 1865. He entered the service as a private and was promoted sergeant, and subsequently brevet lieutenant. He served in the First Regiment, Georgia Volunteers and the Twelfth Battalion.

Immediately upon his surrender at Appomattox in 1865 and his return home, he studied law in the office of his father and was admitted to the practice in 1866.

Mr. Freeman is a man of good business abilities, as is attested by the positions to which he has been called. He was made a director in the People's Bank of Xewnan, and later, a director in the Savannah, Griffin and ]STorth Alabama Railroad. His talents and ability as a lawyer received early recognition, as he was appointed Solicitor of the Coweta County Court in 1866, the year in which he entered upon the practice of his profession.

In 1889 he was made Judge of the City Court of ISTewnan, and has held that position continuously since that date. His present term extends to 1910. His uninterrupted service in so responsible a position is strong evidence of his eminent fitness.

Judge Freeman has always been a Democrat, strictly loyal to party policy, but he is, at the same time, a pronounced Prohibitionist. In vigorous utterance he presents his views upon this subject whenever he believes the matter needs to be discussed before the public. He believes the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage are the prolific source of poverty, destitution, suffering and crime. The sale of whiskey, he believes, is a high crime against the peace and good order of the State. He believes, therefore, that the legalized manufacture and sale of whiskey is a shame upon the civilization of the age. He constantly urges that a national law prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors would be the most farreaching, helpful and beneficial enactment ever written upon the statute books of any country or any age. His personal record is in full accord with his public protestation, as he has been, during his entire life a "total abstainer."

In accord with these views, it is due to say, Judge Freeman is a man of large public spirit. He enters with active interest upon whatever be believes concerns the weal of his immediate community or the broader interests of the commonwealth. He is an untiring worker for whatever cause he espouses and never knows the meaning of defeat. He does not seek office for himself, but he is active, always in the support of good measures and good men. Whilst he is always open to conviction, his views are intelligently formed and strongly pronounced. He is outspoken upon all public questions.

Judge Freeman does not devote his time exclusively to the duties of his profession. He has never been an educator in the strict sense of the term, but he takes great interest in the educational problems of the day. He gives much of his time without charge to the educational institutions of his community, the State and, indeed, the South. He was for some years a director in the Georgia Normal and Industrial College.

He is a prominent and useful member of the Baptist church. The denomination has used his gifts to great advantage in the direction of denominational schools and colleges. He is a member of the Education Commission of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Mercer University since 1881. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary since 1892. He has been a member of the State Mission Board of the Georgia Baptist Convention since 1882. He was Vice-President of the Georgia Baptist Convention 1891, 1892, 1896 and at other times. He was Moderator of the Western Baptist Association in 1904 and a member of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1897. Soon after he united with the First Baptist church in Newnan in 1865, in which he has since retained his membership, he recognized, advocated and practiced the duty of paying to the Lord one-tenth of his income, and more than that as thank offerings, his idea being that the one-tenth was a debt, and until that was fully paid, one could not make a thank offering.

Judge Freeman never accepts public position simply because of the distinction it may bring to him. He works because of his interest in the cause and the results possible to be obtained. He is at all times and everywhere a very active man. He accepts place because of the conviction that he can render service where he has been called.

Judge Freeman will not accept any position, social or political, that he believes would interefere with his church or denominational relations. His effort has been to build a life of service and usefulness to his fellows, and nothing is allowed to contravene this purpose.

He was a member of the Board of Aldermen of the ISTewnan City Council in 1885. Judge Freeman has high ideals for American citizenship. When asked for a sentiment that he would commend as the basis of principles, methods and habits which will contribute most to sound ideals and success in life, he replied, "Fear God and keep His commandments. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy steps. Bo only the things that are honorable, so that life, with all its fruits and achievements, may be devoted to the service of God."
W. J. NORTHER

JOSEPH HARRIS CHAPPELL

In1889 Hon. W. Y. Atkinson, representing the county of Coweta in the lower house of the General Assembly, introduce a bill creating the Georgia Normal and Industrial College, for the education and training of the young women of the State. This bill was enacted into law and was approved November 8, 1889. This marked the first effort on the part of the State to give aid to the training and education of women.

Joseph Harris Chappell was made the first president of the institution. For fourteen years he held the position continuously, with distinction to himself and with marked success for the institution. Because of failing health he resigned all connection with the institution in the summer of 1905, and, with a view to recovery, sought rest from his arduous labors.

Mr. Chappell was born in Bibb county, October 18, 1849. He married Miss Carrie Brown in 1883. She died childless in 1886. Afterwards he married Miss Henrietta Kincaid, June 26, 1891. To this marriage there have been born four children, three of whom are living. Absalom Harris Chappell, whose sketch appears in another volume of this work, was the father of Joseph Harris. His mother was Miss Loretto Rebecca Lamar.

Joseph Harris Chappell recalls with peculiar appreciation the beautiful influence exerted by his mother upon his moral and spiritual life. His ancestors, on his father's side, came from England about 1650 and settled in Virginia. The Lamars were Huguenots from France and settled in Maryland.

As a boy, Joseph Harris was of rather small size, strong and fairly healthy. He was reared mainly in the city, but spent two years when a youth in the country on his father's farm. He did all kinds of work usually done on a cotton plantation, and he regards these as the most interesting years of his life.

He received his primary and academic education in the city schools of Columbus. He attended the University of Virginia one year, but never graduated. He was given the degree of A.M. by Emory College and Ph.D. by the Peabody Normal College at Nashville.

He began life as a teacher in a country village school at Clinton in 1872, where he remained for eight years. In 1880 he was made assistant teacher in the Columbus Female College. This position he held until 1883. He was President of the State Normal School at Jacksonville, Ala., from 1884 to 1885 ; President of Chappell College for Women, Columbus, 1886 to 1891; president of the Georgia Normal and Industrial College, Milledgeville, from 1891 to 1905. Dr. Chappell was Secretary of the Georgia Teachers' Association for one year, 1876, and was made President of this Association for the succeeding year.

In the intervals of his busy life Dr. Chappell prepared for the young men and young women of Georgia a little book, published by Silver, Burdett and Co., under the title of Georgia History Stories. The volume is the outgrowth of careful reading, study and research by the gifted author and is manifestly the work of a master mind. With striking originality and a singular felicity, Dr. Chappell presents the volume in twenty chapters, either commemorative of dramatic and critical episodes in Georgia history, or descriptive of the personal courage and heroism of her defenders, whose illustrious achievements finally resulted in the State's redemption from oppression by a foreign foe or from the intrigues by domestic traitors.

The baccalaureate addresses delivered by Dr. Chappell to the graduating classes of the Georgia Normal and Industrial School from 1891 to 1904, inclusive, have been published in book form under the auspices of the alumna? of the institution, and they make most charming and helpful reading for the young women of the day. Whilst it is hardly possible to make selection from among these admirable deliverances, it is more than likely the address delivered to the class of 1898, "Deep Calls Unto Deep," contains the strongest and deepest convictions of his mind and heart and soul, and, therefore, presents a fair reflex of the character of the man.

Probably no man has more strongly influenced the character of the young womanhood of the State than did Dr. Chappell. For thirty-one years a teacher, he touched hundreds of young lives, and by his earnest, faithful labors, his sympathetic interest and his high ideal of womanhood, he exerted a mighty power for good. In addition to his personal intercourse, he was, through his lectures and addresses, a source of inspiration to many who were not brought into intimate relation with him, for he possessed the rare and beautiful gift of eloquence, and that grace and charm of manner that carried his audience with him, making it think as he thought and feel as he felt. And the thought and the feeling were always noble. He held up before his pupils examples of right living, not in the passionless outlines of maxim or precept, but voiced in language so rich, so beautiful, so persuasive, that the lessons he taught have sunk deep into the minds and hearts of his hearers to ripen into a rich fruitage and achievement. Dr. Chappell was a member of the Episcopal Church and named the following as the books that gave him most help in fitting him for his work in life : The Bible, Emerson, Carlyle, Ruskin and inspiring books as distinguished from the didactic and the technical.

Dr. Chappell, although a lifelong teacher, was not so by choice, but because of circumstances over which he had no control. One of the disappointments of his life, he said, was that he could not become a lawyer. He attained far greater success than he anticipated at the beginning. His advice to the young was: "Whatever falls to your lot to do in this world, do it to the very best of your ability."

Dr. Chappell died at Columbus, April 7, 1906, and was buried at Milledgeville two days later.
W. J. NORTHEN.

DREWRY ARTHUR CARMICHAEL

The flourishing little city of Union City, some sixteen miles southwest of Atlanta, owes its existence to one man. This town, however, is but a part of the work of that man. We can not think of Union City without D. A. Carmichael coming into mind. He is yet in the prime of life, born near Moreland, Coweta county, April 6, 1867, son of James Young and Julia Ann Carmichael. Like so many of the best citizens of our country of the present day, he is of that strong Scotch-Irish stock which has been engaged in pioneering from the first settlement of the Colonies down to the present and D. A. Carmichael is as true a pioneer as ever were his forefathers.

His family was founded in South Carolina by his greatgreat-grandfather, who came across the water something like one hundred and fifteen years ago, and was married on board ship during the passage. In 1838, Mr. Carmichael's father' moved from South Carolina and settled on a farm near Morelaud, Georgia. He was married May 16, 1839 ; and this marriage endured for fifty-six years, during which period he and his wife reared thirteen children.

Reared on the farm and obtaining his education in local schools, D. A. Carmichael established himself as a farmer where Union City now stands, in 1889. But he was not by any means an average fanner he wanted to find a better way to do things ; and so he became an inventor, and like all inventors, he had to learn to talk and tell about his inventions. For a long time he did not find many converts, but his persistence in telling about them and showing them, and the merits of the inventions themselves, finally won out, and today the Carmichael implements are known far and wide. He is patentee of the combined seed and fertilizer distributor, and single fertilizer and planter; the combined turning and subsoil plow, and a gin compress. His active and inventive mind is always at work to find some method of getting to the farmer a better and more economical way of doing things.

He was not satisfied with being merely an inventor he decided to become a town builder. And so, in 1908, he started in to found a city. He gave away a lot of land, secured the A. B. and A. Railroad, which established a station for the new town, also built a connecting track with the A. and W. P. Railroad. Then he went to work on the Farmers' Union and induced them to make the new town of Union City National and State headquarters. He won out on that too, and now for a little town, Union City is perhaps more widely known than any other town of its size in America, and has grown from one family in three years to a population of near eight hundred. He had the honor of being its first elected Mayor and certainly no man can be found that will deny that he was entitled to that honor.

Contemporaneously with his starting in business on his own account, Mr. Carmichael was married, October 13, 1889, to Cora J. Westbrook, daughter of William R. and Frances M. (Black) Westbrook. They have five children: Vera, Opal, Chelsea W., Wayman L., and Mary Florence Carmichael. Mr. Carmichael is an active member of the Methodist Church, in which he is a steward. He is affiliated with the Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He is an occasional contributor to The Farmers' Union News. He is not an active politician.

He believes in absolute equality before the law., and therefore subscribes to the Jeffersonian doctrine of "Equal rights to all and special privileges to none." For Georgia, he wants to see compulsory education laws.

Mr. Carmichael has been active and useful in the great work of the Farmers' Union, which has its headquarters at the town of which he is the founder; and that society, which, in the educational work it has done among the farmers of the country has never had its equal, is indebted to him for valuable service, recognition of which is made in Barrett's book treating upon the active men of the Farmers' Alliance. Mr. Carmichael is now president and general manager of the Carmichael Manufacturing Company, which makes the implements he invents. He is a director in the Farmers' State Bank, of Union City ; director in the Farmers' Cotton Warehouse ; director in the Fail-burn and Atlanta Railway and Electric Company, which has recently begun operation ; and though the variety of his occupations demands every moment of his time, he seems to enjoy the work and to thrive on his labors. A useful man, his friends are coextensive with his acquaintance.

Speaking of the Farmers' Union, it is not out of place to mention here that, never satisfied with the things already done, it constantly plans for something greater and Mr. Carmichael is one of the active supporters of the movement in the order looking to the establishment of a great farmers' university, to be located at Union City.

The Carmichael family is Scotch, and in that country has given name to a parish. Back in the fourteenth century Sir John Carmichael, of the parish of that name, was a leading soldier among the Scottish auxiliai*ies in France, and his descendants by constant promotion finally obtained the Earldom of Hyndford, now extinct. A distinguishing feature of the Carmichael coat of arms is that, whatever variations are found in the shield proper, they nearly all adhere to the same motto an old French phrase "Toujours prest," which means "Always ready." D. A. Carmichael is certainly living up to the family motto. BERNARD SUTTLER

JAMES HAMILTON HALL

The life of the late Reverend James Hamilton Hall, of Newnan, was as remarkable in some respects as that of the great Apostle Paul. Paul, as a Pharisee of the straightest sect and an unbeliever in the new doctrine, was a great persecutor of the new sect of Christians until God, in his wisdom, called him to the work of evangelizing the Gentiles. Mr. Hall, while not like Paul, a persecutor, was yet an unbeliever, and drifted a long way from anything that looked like Christian faith or practice, until in the fulness of time God called him to the work in which for more than forty years he was so signally successful.

He was born in Greenville, Meriwether county, on April 16, 1836, son of Alexander and Elizabeth Hall. His father was a cultured gentleman, a Presbyterian in religious faith, who spent his life on the plantation by preference, though fitted for any calling, and contrary to his desire, was forced into a certain measure of prominence. He, at one time, represented his district in the State Senate. Being in a position of financial ease, he gave to his son the best educational advantages. The young man arrived at manhood and became, through a certain philosophic trend of mind, imbedded in the meshes of unbelief. He even went so far as for a time to lead an aimless and dissipated life. He had one strong anchor in the shape of the young lady to whom he was engaged, Miss Sarah E. Hall, of Greene county. She was a woman of strong Christian character, and while she positively refused to marry him during this period of his life, she yet did not let him entirely go, and her influence, combined with that of other friends finally induced in him a season of serious thought. Like the man he was, he fought the battle out alone in his own room, and in November, 1859, threw off the shackles of unbelief and took up the cross of Christian duty. Two weeks later, on November 2, 1859, his fiancee, who had been faithful to him through the dark period, married him.

In May, 1860, he was baptized into the Bethlehem Church, of Coweta county. In August, 1861, he was ordained to the Baptist ministry at the meeting of the Western Association. His first work was as pastor of the church at Franklin, Heard county. Later he served the Providence, Mt. Lebanon, and Greenville churches in Meriwether county. From these he came back to his home county and ministered to Bethlehem, Mt. Lebanon and White Oak Grove churches in Coweta county and Bethel church in Heard county. From the pastorate of these he was called in 1869 to the Newnan church, where he concluded his life service in a pastorate of over thirty years.

His work at Newnan was remarkable. One who knew him well testifies to his profound devotion to the work, his broad catholicity on great questions, his adherence to the plain common sense of Scripture, his refusal to compromise with error and the courageous facing of every responsibility. It is said that he would have made a very able jurist, as he had the gift of clear and concise expression in a most remarkable degree. Three clays of the week he gave to pastoral work and three days to his study. Not a great reader of books, he was yet a profound student. He thoroughly analyzed and grasped his subjects in his own mind, so that when he came into the pulpit he was able to teach in such a manner that his audience could grasp them equally. He was neither sensational nor in the ordinary sense of the word eloquent, and yet for many long years he held a profound mastery over the congregation which he served with so much fidelity and ability. It is said that he possessed a most original manner of putting things before his people. He would take an old and familiar text and both astonish and delight his congregation by advancing ideas that were entirely fresh and new, and yet entirely germane to the subject under discussion. Fearless, he was yet humble ; spiritual, he yet did not withdraw himself from the world ; a cultured gentleman, he could reach down to the most humble and illiterate.

He was blest exceptionally in the noble wife who had done so much to save him in his earlier years. A woman of strong character and much good sense, she was a helper to him in every sense of the word, and assisted him in many ways towards making his work successful. She was, indeed, an inspiration to him.

Eight children were born to him. Of these, four survive him, two boys and two girls. One of these sons, the Honorable Hewlett A. Hall, of ISTewnan, is one of the well known men of the State, has served with great ability in the General Assembly, as Solicitor-General of the Coweta Judicial Circuit, and Attorney-General of the State, is recognized as one of the foremost lawyers of Georgia, and though a man of exceeding modesty and most retiring disposition (like his grandfather and to some extent like his father), has, contrary to his inclinations, been from time to time forced into public life.

Mr. Hall died in ISTewnan on July 18, 1903, after more than forty years of untiring labor in the cause of the Master, whom like Saul of Tarsus, he came to serve only through great tribulation, and left behind him a memory that will long be revered by the Christian people of the State of Georgia.
A. B. CALDWELL.

HONORABLE HEWLETT A. HALL

The Honorable Hewlett A. Hall of Newnan, lawyer, late Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Georgia, and one of the recognized leaders of his party in the State, is somewhat of a mystery to many people who know of him only by reputation, and even to some of those who have slight acquaintance with him. Of a most retiring disposition, utterly averse to notoriety, never seeking publicity, abhorrent of the system of advertising practiced by some public men, and absolutely without any of the arts of the politician, it is hard for some to understand how he has arrived at his present position in the State. Those persons, however, who are well acquainted with Mr. Hall, are at no loss to account for his prominence. Blessed with a keen intellect, a seasoned lawyer, whose attainments are far beyond the average even among professional leaders, with unconquerable determination in whatever he undertakes, careless of public favor but resolute in what he believes to be right, it would be surprising indeed if he had not won position.

Mr. Hall was born in Meriwether county, Georgia, on February 21, 1862. His father, the Reverend James Hamilton Hall, whose biography appears in this work, was for forty years one of the most successful Baptist ministers of Georgia. His mother, Mrs. Sarah R. Hall, whose maiden name was also Hal], but of another family, was a woman of remarkable force of character and strong spirituality. Mr. Hall's family was originally Scotch and Presbyterian. Two centuries back, when the Church of England had the upper hand in Scotland and the Presbyterians were being persecuted, his great-great-grandfather migrated to Ireland, where his great-grandfather, Hugh Hall, wa3 born on February 8, 1754. Hugh Hall migrated to America, where he first settled in the State of Pennsylvania and married Mary Reid, who was probably also of Scotch-Irish extraction. From Pennsylvania Hugh Hall moved to JSTorth Carolina, and while a resident of that State, Alexander Hall, grandfather of our subject, was born. Continuing his southward movements, Hugh Hall finally settled in Greene county, Georgia, where he reared a large family and died. His son Alexander moved first from Greene county to Butts, and after a short residence there, to- Meriwether county in 1828. He married Betsy Brown, daughter of Reuben and Betsy (Lang) Brown, and of this marriage was born the Reverend James Hamilton Hall, father of the subject of this sketch.

With such a father and mother, Hewlett Hall lacked nothing in the way of educational or moral training, and after passing through the j^ewnan schools he entered Mercer University and was graduated from that institution in 1883 with the degree of A.B. He then studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1885.

He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Newnan, and has continued up to the present, interrupted only by his terms of public service. Mr. Hall is primarily a lawyer, wedded to his profession, and of such natural ability and understanding that his reputation as a strong lawyer is Statewide. He represents many of the leading local institutions as general counsel, and has a large and lucrative practice. A man of unusual modesty and devoted to his profession, he has refrained from seeking public place, but has nevertheless always felt a keen interest in public affairs, and outside of his professional studies his reading is mainly along the line of political history and economics. In 1894 the people of his district sent him to the General Assembly, where he served for four years. He was chairman of the Penitentiary Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee. During his service he framed the present Penitentiary law of the State, which was known as "the Hall bill." At the completion of his second term, he retired again to private life ; but his service in the Legislature had added largely to his reputation, and it thus happened that in 1900 he was appointed by President Mclvinley an Assistant Director in the International Congress to be held in Paris, France, and he spent three months in that city. He did not appear in public life again until 1908. All Georgians will remember the heated campaign of that year, in which Mr. Hall was a supporter of the present incumbent of the Governor's office. When the convention met, to the surprise of some unfamiliar with his abilities, he was elected Chairman of the State Convention and thus became ex-officio Chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee, which position he filled until 1910.

A careful observer of the trend of public affairs and an acute reasoner, he believes that the most important public question before the citizens of our country today is a real revision of the tariff, by which he means revision along the lines of honesty and equity in the interest of all the people, and not the sort of tinkering we have had of late years, which has always been in the interest of a few. He is certainly not far wrong in his analysis of present conditions ; for if the tariff be not the most important question, it is certainly one of the two or three most important ones.

His public service includes a partial term in the office of Solicitor-General of the Coweta Circuit, to which place he was appointed in 1904, to fill out an unexpired term, and in which office he conducted himself with his usual ability and fidelity to duty.

In 1910 he was appointed Attorney-General of the State to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Hart (resigned), which position he filled most acceptably.

Mr. Hall is a member of the Baptist church. On December 7, 1898, he married Miss Mary Johnston, of Harris county, daughter of William C. and Julia (Copeland) Johnston. They have two children a daughter, Sarah, and a son, James Hamilton Hall.
A. B. CALDWELL.

GEORGE FREDERICK HUNNICUTT

George Frederick Hunnicuttpresent editor of The Southern Cultivator., the oldest and probably the most influential farmer's paper in the Southern States, succeeded his father, the Reverend James B. Hunnicutt, in that position. This family was founded in Georgia by the paternal grandfather of George F. Hunnicutt, Doctor J. E. P. Hunnicutt, who came from Petersburg, Virginia ; settled in Coweta county, and was a practicing physician and farmer. On the maternal side of the line, Mr. Hunnicutt's grandfather, Doctor G. H. Page, came from Newberry, South Carolina, and he also was a practicing physician, having as a side line a mercantile interest.

George F. Hunnicutt was born in Turin, Georgia, October 20, 1862, son of James B. and Emily Jane (Page) Hunnicutt. His father a remarkable man combined with the vocation of preacher the avocation of a farmer. His farming ability led him finally into the publishing business, becoming the editor and proprietor of The Southern Cultivator. When he took hold of it the paper was in a moribund condition, almost without circulation and without standing, though it had been published for a number of years. He built it up into one of the finest agricultural journals of the country and left it as an inheritance to his sons, who have carried forward the work successfully and built upon the foundation laid by the father. There seems to have been a very large measure of ability in the last generation in this family, for the Reverend W. L. C. Hunnicutt, of Mississippi, a brother of James B. Hunnicutt, is one of the noted preachers, teachers, and writers of our generation. Another interesting family connection grows out of the fact that the paternal grandmother of Mr. Hunnicutt was an aunt of the late Governor Atkinson, bringing that family into relationship with the Hunnicutts.

George F. Hunnicutt had a good education, obtained in the Senoia High School and the University of Georgia, from which last institution he was graduated in 1883, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Farming runs in the blood of these Hunnicutts, and so George F. Hunnicutt took up farming as an occupation after his graduation from college. He carried on a dairy and truck farm near Athens for twenty years, up to 1904, when he was called upon to move to Atlanta and take the editorship of Tlie Southern Cultivator. A thoughtful and studious man, with a good education, who had served for ten years on the Board of Education of Clarke county, and had already been a writer in The Southern Cultivator., Mr. Hunnicutt came to his new field of labor well equipped for the work, except in the way of experience. That experience he has gained. He has kept the paper up to the standard established by the father, and even improved it, and it now ranks well up among the agricultural journals of our country. In addition to this he has compiled and edited "Southern Crops," and "David Dickson and Jim Smith's Farming," which are among the most popular and useful books published for the benefit of Southern farmers.

Mr. Hunnicutt has been twice married. His first wife was Miss May Barnard, daughter of Keverend H. R. Barnard, of Athens. Subsequent to her death he married Miss Mary Wilson Middlemas, daughter of A. O. Middlemas, of Barnesville. Five children have been born to him, of whom three are living : James Barnard, William Lytleton, and Dorothy May Hunnicutt.

Mr. Hunnicutt is a Methodist, a prominent member of the Farmers' Union, and a Democrat.

He does not scatter his shot much. Since taking up his present position he has devoted himself in the most singlehearted fashion to the building up of Southern agriculture, and for some years past now it is but fair to say that no man has done better work for Southern farmers. He is a widely read man, of diversified tastes. He frankly admits he likes novels, is an extensive reader of history and of scientific works, especially bearing upon the science of agriculture. He believes that the best interests of our section are to be promoted by concerted and continued efforts to develop not one, but all of our resources, and that we should give especial attention to agriculture, which is the foundation stone of our prosperity laying stress upon diversification of crops and the raising of live stock. "Good work and clean morals" is his shibboleth for our people. He says he knows of but three things that are essential: Hard work, a clean moral life, and a strenuous effort towards better and higher ideals. In justice to Mr. Hunnicutt it must be said that he strives faithfully to live up to his ideals.
A. B. CALDWELL.

HONORABLE JOSEPH T. KIRBY,

The Honorable Joseph T. Kirby of Newnan, farmer, merchant, and Representative in the General Assembly, was born in the town where he now resides, on March 3, 1856, son of John Terrell and Lavana (Bohannon) Kirby.

Kirby is an old and numerously represented English family, the original name of which was Kirkby, which is suggestive of a Scottish beginning to the family. Numerous branches of the family in Great Britain have ranked high, there being quite a number of coats of arms ; and there is a record of one of the Kirby, or Kirkby, families which resided for eighteen generations at the old Hall known as "Kirkby in Furness," Lancashire, England. The branch of the family to which our subject belongs apparently came to South Carolina by way of Ireland, and was rated as belonging to the Scotch-Irish stock which so largely settled the upper reaches of that State. The family has been very numerous in Spartanburg, and in Landrum's History of that county appears mention of twenty-nine Kirbys, of whom twenty-seven were Confederate soldiers, many of these being killed and wounded. Prior to the Civil War, for several generations, members of the family had been prominent in Spartanburg, and from that county Tolleson Kirby, grandfather of Joseph T. Kirby, came to Georgia and settled in Coweta about 1840. Tolleson Kirby's mother was a Miss Lipscomb.

Through his paternal grandmother, Teresa (Wilkins) Kirby, Mr. Kirby traces his ancestry in an unbroken line to King Edward I of England. In this same line was William Tyrrell, companion of William the Conqueror, in 1066, at the battle of Hastings.

On the maternal side he is descended from the Poseys, of French Hugeunot stock, who emigrated to England, and from there came to Baltimore with Lord Baltimore. One branch of the family still retains (and resides on) the original grant of land made to their first American ancestor, in Charles county, Maryland.

Mr. Kirby attended the Newnan schools and the University of Georgia. He then took a business course in a Baltimore business college, and began his business life at Newnan in 1876 as a merchant. He spent nine years in the mercantile business, and in 1885 engaged in banking, being cashier of a national bank for five years. He then went back to mercantile business in combination with farming. These interests he has continued up to the present time, but the farming has become the heavy end, as he has now one of the largest farms of the country, running between forty-five and fifty plows.

Outside of these large business interests, which naturally have been very engrossing, he has yet found time to serve the public. For two terms he was an Alderman of Newnan ; for four years chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. In 1908 he was elected a Member of the General Assembly; served that term and was reelected in 1910 for the present term.

Mr. Kirby has been twice married. His first wife was Lou Walker, daughter of M. T. and Julia (Callaway) Walker, of West Point. He married secondly, Lillian Dent, daughter of Joseph E. and Elizabeth D. (Stegall) Dent, of Newnan. He has one son, Joseph Tolleson Kirby, Junior.

Mrs. Kirby's father was Joseph Ephraim Dent, born near Danville, in Pittsylvania county, \7 Virginia, and removed to Georgia at the age of sixteen. A few years later he brought his father's family to the State. His brother, W. B. W. Dent, of whom a brief sketch appears in Volume II of this work, was a Member of Congress in the fifties of the last century. Joseph E. Dent was a merchant, banker and farmer. His father, John T. Dent, was a son of William Barton Dent, who was descended from Colonel Thomas Dent, who came from Gisboro, Yorkshire, England, in 1662, established the Gisboro Manor at the mouth of the Anacostia River, in Southern Maryland, and founded a family, later distinguished. This Thomas Dent married Rebecca Wilkinson, and a daughter of this marriage, Barbara, married Colonel Thomas Brooke long time President of the Council of Maryland, and one time Acting Governor of the Colony. A descendant of this Thomas Dent, John Dent, was a member of the First Provincial Convention of Maryland, which on July 20, 1775, issued the famous manifesto, to which his name is attached. I n a political' way Mr. Kirby has been a steadfast Democrat through life, and though well informed on political matters, and a strong supporter of the party with which he is aligned, his greatest interest has inclined in the direction of the development of the country, rather than to political things. He is a strong fraternalist, being affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the various Masonic bodies from Blue Lodge to Shrine, the Odd Fellows, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and the Order of Elks. Religiously he is a communicant of the Baptist Church.

His preferred line of reading is history which is almost equal to a certificate of good citizenship. He is a strong believer in economic government, and believes the greatest need of the country to be a more economical administration of governmental affairs and the improvement of our labor laws.

Mr. Kirby has made a conspicuous success of his business affairs, and now, a vigorous man, in easv circumstances, thor- v oughly well equipped, is in position to serve the State well, and has the inclination to so do.
BERNARD SUTTLER.

SAMUEL ERNEST LEIGH

Georgia has few more versatile sons than the Honorable Samuel E. Leigh, of Grantville, who is a graduated lawyer ; was for years a successful educator ; is now a leading farmer and manufacturer of his section, and has been a most useful legislator. Mr. Leigh was born near ISTewnan on December 6, 1848, son of Benjamin and Mary Eugenia (Culberson) Leigh. His father was a farmer, who served both in the Indian War of 1836, and the War between the States, and was for long years connected with the State Militia. His immediate family was founded in Georgia by his grandfather, Anselm Leigh, of Virginia, who moved to Wilkes county, Georgia, and the family later moved to Coweta.

The Leigh family is an ancient one in Great Britain, dating back for many centuries, holding many grants of coat armor, and has contributed many distinguished men both in the old country and the new. A member of Mr. Leigh's family was Senator Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Reporter of the Supreme Court of Virginia, and United States Senator, who was one of his direct ancestors.

Mr. Leigh attended local schools in his youth ; went through the Walker High School at Newnan, thence to Emory College, of which he is a graduate, and in 1870 began teaching in Cowet a county. Later on he spent two years at the University of Virginia, in the Law School then under the care of the famous John B. Minor, accounted the greatest teacher of law in the United States. 'After graduating from the Law School he was admitted to the Bar in Virginia, but has never practiced the profession. He taught school for more than fifteen years; was principal of the Grantville High School for fifteen years, and finally retired from the schoolroom in 1891.

The owner of a large farm he gave his attention to the operation of his farm, combined with the conduct of a cotton gin and sawmill. His operations in these directions were so successful that the constant accumulation of capital caused him to invest in other directions, and he now has large interests in banks and cotton and oil mills, outside of the local interests at home, which he personally looks after.

For many years past he has been president of the County Board of Education ; and in looking back over the past he derives much pleasure from contemplating the careers of many of his pupils, a large number of whom are successful business men, bankers, and professional men, from Florida to Maine.

Mr. Leigh has been a staunch Democrat all his life in a political way, and in 1902 the people of Coweta county sent him to the General Assembly and kept him there four years. During his four years of service he was a conspicuous and most highly valued member of that body. Every interest that appeals to him enlists his most active support. A leader in educational work, useful in the Legislature, he is equally a leader in the church. In the Methodist Church, of which he is a member, he is a trustee, member of the board of stewards, and recording steward. In addition to that,, lie is district lay leader of the Laymen's Missionary Movement of the La Grange District, and was sent by his conference as one of its delegates to the General Conference which met in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1910. This is the highest honor that can be conferred upon a Methodist layman. He is active in fraternal circles, being a member of the Chi Phi college fraternity; of the Masons, Red Men, Odd Fellows, and Junior Order of United American Mechanics.

The record here given illustrates the statement made in the beginning, that Mr. Leigh is one of the most versatile men in the State, and shows more than that, that in everything to which he turns his hand he is a pronounced success and easily becomes a leader. His county possesses no more valuable and no more highly valued citizen than he.

Mr. Leigh was married on August 3, 1904, to Mrs. Itura R. Colley, who was formerly one of his pupils, and who is a daughter of Thomas C. Moreland, a prominent farmer of his section.

Mr. Leigh regards education as the key to a larger prosperity and a greater degree of happiness for our people. Having spent many years of his life in the training of the youth he is in a position to judge of the needs of our people in this direction, and his opinion in this matter is worthy of respect. Next in importance to education Mr. Leigh places the building of good roads. During his four years in the General Assembly he was an ardent advocate of the bill creating the District Agricultural Schools, now in successful operation. This measure was introduced by his former classmate at Emory, H. H. Perry, with whom Mr. Leigh shared first honors at college.
BERNARD SUTTLER.

HONORABLE MATTHEW H. COUCH,

The Honorable Matthew H. Couch of Senoia, merchant, banker and legislator, is one of the survivors of that strong generation of men which fought the greatest war in history, and then out of the chaos brought by that war rebuilt a bankrupt country. He is a native Georgian, born in Coweta county on February 14, 1837. His father, Matthew Couch, a native of South Carolina and notwithstanding his English name said to have been of German origin married Jane Ensley, of Irish descent ; and after two children had been born to them, made the journey from South Carolina to Coweta county, in 1828, in a one horse wagon. In that immediate section the Indians had just vacated, and a little farther north were still in possession. Matthew Couch was of the stuff of which pioneers are made. He went into the woods and bought fifty acres of land from the man who had preceded him, for which he agreed to pay three hundred dollars. Mr. Shoats, the man who had sold the land, said later on that he never expected to get his pay for it, but to his amazement, at the end of the contract time of two years, Mr. Couch came forward with the money in full. When one considers the time of this transaction, the unsettled nature of the country, the long distance from the market, and the scarcity of money, it gives one a good idea of the tremendous amount of labor done by the pioneer farmer to scrape together this three hundred dollars. One sample of his work may be given. His land was all in woods. He would work hard all day clearing land for himself for cultivation, and then work half of the night by torchlight, splitting rails for a neighbor, in order to earn the money with which to buy food for his family and to save money with which to pay for his own land. Like all the pioneer settlers he was a good hunter and game was plentiful, this helped out. He reared eleven children and accumulated a handsome competency for himself. Three of his sons, Berry, Andrew, and John, were killed in the war; and another, Madison, died from illness caused by exposure while serving as a soldier. The family must have been of that strong German Lutheran stock which, about 1735, settled in South Carolina, as may be gathered from their favorite given names. Mr. Couch's grandfather's name was Enoch ; his father's was Matthew ; then appear the names of the Apostles, Andrew, John, and James. Through all these generations the family has been eminently religious and strong supporters of the Baptist Church.

Matthew H. Couch is a worthy son of the old pioneer. What little schooling he had was obtained in the little log schoolhouses with puncheon seats and floors, with scant comfort and short terms. The earlier years of his manhood were spent on the farm. At the outbreak of the war he was a young man of twenty-four. He immediately enlisted in the Second Georgia Battalion in a company commanded by Captain L. T. Doyle, the battalion being under the command of Major Tom Hardeman. In 1862 he was elected Sergeant of his company and served in that rank until the end of the war. His battalion was attached to the Army of Northern Virginia and Mr. Couch participated in all the famous campaigns of that great army, coming out unhurt. Returning home, he engaged in mercantile business; and possessed of decided business capacity, he was shortly able to establish a business of his own. From that time down to the present he has been to some extent interested in merchandising, and some years ago operated the most successful and largest business establishment in Senoia. Some years back, however, he became interested in banking ; invested in the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and was made president, in which capacity he is yet serving. Mr. Couch is quite as good a banker as he was a merchant and has made a success of the operations of his bank.

On March 2, 1872, Mr. Couch was married to Miss Henrietta Cock, daughter of Judge Benjamin F. and Margaret Cock of Lee county. Of this marriage five children were born, of whom three are living: Mrs. Pearl Couch Pollock, Mrs. Madge Couch Elder, and Mrs. Maibelle Couch Nolan.

Mr. Couch has also at times made investment in manufacturing enterprises, though he has not given to these personal attention. He has for a long time been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, being a chapter Mason, and has held various positions of honor in the fraternity. For many years, though a staunch Democrat, he had persistently refused to accept any public office beyond Mayor of his town, in which capacity he served for eight years, 1877-1885 ; but finally, in 1907, he was induced to become a candidate for the Legislature. He was elected and served for four sessions, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910. In the General Assembly Mr. Couch was the same sort of member that he was in business a safe man. Never stampeded, he judged of every question upon its merits after consideration, and voted according to his conscience. His career in the Legislature was that of a steady going, prudent, honorable member. As a citizen of Coweta county he not only holds a prominent place in the community by reason of his business connections and standing, but also by his personal qualities, which make him much liked by his neighbors, and he is sincerely respected by all who know him.
BERNARD SUTTLER. Source: Men Of Mark in Georgia

JOHN WILLIAM HUMPHRIES

Humphries, John William, of Buchanan, is the able and honored incumbent of the office of treasurer of Haralson county and one of the sterling veterans of the Confederate service in the war between the states. He was born in Coweta county, Ga., Dec. 13, 1836, and is a son of John T.B. and Sarah (Brock) Humphries, the former of whom was born in South Carolina, in 1816, and the latter in Coweta county, Ga., in 1818. John Humphries, grandfather of the subject of this review, passed his entire life in South Carolina. John T.B. Humphries came to Georgia when a youth and settled in Coweta county, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1851. He was a farmer by vocation and served in the Creek Indian war, under Captain Greer, of Newman. Allen Gay, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, in the maternal line, was a soldier in the Continental army during the war of the Revolution. Mr. Humphries’ maternal grandfather and one of the sons of the latter were likewise in service in the Creek Indian war, and two uncles, David C. Humphries and Wesley Duncan, were Confederate soldiers in the Civil war. John W. Humphries was afforded the advantages of the common schools of Coweta county, and after the death of his father he largely assumed the responsibilities of caring for the family, being the eldest of the children. He was married in the year 1858 and took up his residence in Fulton county on a farm, which had been given to his wife by her father. In the summer of 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company A, Third Georgia volunteer infantry, being promoted to corporal. He served six months when he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home. In April, 1862, he reenlisted, becoming a member of Company A, Ninth Georgia battalion of light artillery, in which he took part in the battles of Chickamauga and the engagements at Sweetwater, Knoxville, Bean’s Station, Rogersville, Winchester and Appomattox Court House. He was captured with his command at Lincolnton, N.C., and was there paroled at the close of the war. He then returned to his plantation, in Fulton county, where he continued to reside until 1874, when he sold the property and removed to Haralson county. Here he purchased another plantation, which he still owns and upon which he continued to reside until 1902, when he was elected treasurer of the county and removed to Buchanan, where he still remains in tenure of this responsible office, having handled the fiscal affairs of the county with much discrimination and acceptability. He was bailiff of the district court in Fulton county for six years and since coming to Haralson county he has served as notary public. He is a member of the United Confederate Veterans, is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Primitive Baptist church. On Feb. 25, 1858, Mr. Humphries was united in marriage to Miss Rhoda C. Herring, daughter of Joel and Easter (Cheatam) Herring, of Fulton county, and following is a brief record concerning the children of this union: Dr. Robert D. is successfully established in the practice of his profession in the state of Alabama; Sarah Charlotte Henry died at the age of thirty-six years; Esther Waldrop died at the age of thirty-five years; John William died at the age of three months; Rhoda Caroline is the wife of Joseph W. Dean, of Haralson county; Mary Elizabeth is the wife of A.R. White, of Alabama; Martha Frances is the wife of W.H. Garner, of Haralson county; and Thomas D. and Amanda also reside in this county.(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Kim Mohler)

Musgrove, Mary. One of General Oglethorpe’s first objects was to treat with the Indians for a portion of their lands. Among the Yamacraws, the tribe that inhabited the bluff where Savannah now stands, he found a half-breed woman named Mary Musgrove, who understood both the English and Creek languages. She was a native of the Indian town of Coweta, was educated and baptized into the church in South Carolina, and married the son of Col. John Musgrove, who was sent in 1716 to form a treaty of alliance with the Creeks. Oglethorpe gained this woman’s good will by the presentation of some showy trinkets and then employed her as an interpreter at a salary of £100 a year. By her assistance the leading chiefs of the Upper and Lower Creeks were summoned to attend a council at Savannah in Mary, 1733. Fifty chiefs answered the summons and a treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of both parties. By this treaty the Indians reserved a tract above Pipemaker’s creek the islands of Ossabaw, Sapelo and St. Catherine’s, while the whites were given permission to settle any place else in the Indian domain. About three years after this Musgrove died and Mary, at the suggestion of Oglethorpe, established a trading house on the south side of the Altamaha river, where she married a Captain Matthews. He died in 1742 and subsequently she married Rev. Thomas Bosomworth, a minister of the Church of England, then in the employ of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. Although this man wore the divine livery he was of a very mercenary turn of mind. Shortly after his marriage he went to England, where he remained for about two years, and upon his return to Georgia set on foot a scheme to get possession of the islands reserved by the treaty of 1733. In December, 1747, seventeen Indians, calling themselves the kings and chiefs of the different towns, visited Frederica. While they were there Bosomworth selected one of them as being suited to his purpose-an egotistic, vacillating fellow named Malatche-and suggested to him the idea of having himself crowned king of the entire Creek nation. A paper, declaring Malatche to be the rightful king of the Creeks and vesting him with power to make treaties, etc., was drawn up by the wily Bosomworth and sighed by the other sixteen pretended chiefs. As soon as Malatche was acknowledged king Bosomworth purchased from him, for a few pieces of cloth, some guns and ammunition and a hundred pounds of vermilion, the coveted islands. To stock these islands he bought on credit from Carolina planters a large number of cattle, but the venture not coming up to his expectations, he found himself hopelessly in debt. In this emergency Bosomworth induced his wife to declare herself the elder sister of Malatche and therefore the queen of the Creek nation. A council of the Indians was called, Mary made a long speech, in which she posed as a martyr and urged the warriors to expel the whites from the lands south of the Savannah river. The Indians, fired by her adroit statement of her imaginary wrongs, pledged themselves to stand by her to the last drop of their blood in defence of her royal person and in the attempt to recover the lands of which she had been defrauded. At the head of a large body Mary set out for Savannah, to demand of the authorities there a recognition of her claims. A messenger was sent in advance to notify the president of her coming and that unless her rights were acknowledged she had determined to extirpate the whole settlement. Upon the arrival of the Indians they were ordered to leave their arms outside the town. After some show of reluctance, but being overawed by the imposing appearance of Noble Jones at the head of a troop of mounted men, they submitted and Bosomworth, dressed in his clerical robes, accompanied by his wife and followed by the Creeks, entered the town. Bosomworth was not permitted to occupy a seat in the council, and it was finally found advisable to privately lay hold of Mary and confine her until the Indians could be pacified. Having the “royal family” out of the way a banquet was given to the chiefs and head men, at which they were informed that the whole scheme was one of Bosomworth’s to secure the lands for himself and that they were being duped by the designing man. The banquet was followed by a council and President Stephens addressed the Indians boldly regarding the claim of Mrs. Bosomworth. He reminded them that when General Oglethorpe first became acquainted with her she was living in a hut, surrounded by the most squalid poverty, entirely unlike the queen of a great nation like the Creeks; that she was not the sister of Malatche, but the daughter of a white man, and that Bosomworth only wanted her sustained in order that he might grow rich at the expense of the Indians. After much debate and several stormy scenes the Indians withdrew and returned to their homes, leaving their queen to take care of herself. Through the influence of Adam Bosomworth, a brother of Thomas, the latter was made to apologize to the president and council and soon after he and his wife left the colony.
After Georgia became a royal province the claim of Mrs. Bosomworth was again brought to public notice. The Indian lands near Pipemaker’s creek, consisting of about 4,000 acres, had been allotted to several white persons, who had settled thereon, and after the trustees surrendered the charter these settlers applied for a royal grant to their holdings. In this they were thwarted by the Bosomworths, who entered caveats against the proceedings. During the administration of Governor Ellis her claims were finally settled. Her title to St. Catherine’s island was confirmed, she was allowed £450 for goods expended in his Majesty’s service, and a salary of £100 a year, dating back for sixteen and a half years, the payments to be made out of the proceeds of the sale of Ossabaw and Sapelo islands, the excess, if any, to go to the government.
[Source: Georgia Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Vol 2, Publ 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson]

Atkinson, William Yates, lawyer, governor, was born June 26, 1855, in Newnan, Ga. In 1878 he began the practice of law in Newnan, Ga. In 1886-94 he was a representative in the Georgia state legislature; and in 1890 and 1892 was president of the democratic state conventions. In 1894-98 he was governor of Georgia. He died Aug. 8, 1899, in Newnan, Ga.
[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]

BYRON, J. LEE, DR......Middle Ga. Argus - December 1894 Dr. Byron is a native Georgian. He was born in Coweta county just before the war between the states. His parents moved to Carroll county and settled on a
farm near Carrolton, where his mother still lives. After acquiring a liberal education he commenced teaching within two hundred yards of the old school house where he first entered school, teaching many children of parents with whom he had been a student in his early boyhood. After teaching there three years he went to visit his sister who lived in Arkansas, and taught there for two years. When he returned to Georgia he went into the drug store of his brother-in-law, Dr. J. C. Brown, at Whitesburg, now of Carrolton, and studied pharmacy and medicine four years. He then entered the Atlanta Medical College in 1885, from which he graduated March 4th,1887, and came to Jackson in April following. By his unwavering and close application to business he has made an enviable reputation. He is industrious, painstaking, ambitious and admirable equipped in professional learning. Though modest and unassuming, he is active and untiring, ever anxious to learn whatever will be conductive to the furtherance of his profession, do credit to his calling and benefit suffering humanity. The doctor is so congenial and pleasant that the sick feel better in his presence, and his very successful practice has so inspired confidence in his ability, until people would really be surprised to ear of one of his patients dying, which they never do when their sickness is caused from anything a full knowledge of medicine well applied to the case can remove.
The following life insurance companies for all of which he is medical examiner, hold him in high esteem: Washington Life, New York; Manhattan, New York; Mutual Benefit, Newark, N. J.; Massachusetts Benefit, Boston; Fidelity Mutual, Philadelphia; Neverland(?) Life, Amsterdam, Holland.
Elsewhere we give a fair representation of his residence on Main street, but the picture of himself does not do him full justice. Jackson and Butts county are proud of all such men as Dr. J. Lee Byron.
"MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA", Historical and Biographical Sketches, by S. Emmett Lucas, Jr., PUBLISHED IN 1896.
Contributed by Friends for Free Genealogy