Jenkins County, Georgia Genealogy and History Biographies - Presented by Genealogy Trails History Group

Lane, Remer Young, M. D., holds precedence as one of the able and popular physicians and surgeons of Jenkins county, being engaged in the practice of his profession at Millen, the county seat. He was born on a plantation in Emanuel county, Ga., Oct. 4, 1861, and is a son of Dr. Edward W. and Caroline (Lanier) Lane, the former a native of Emanuel and the latter of Bulloch county. The Lane and Lanier families were early founded in North Carolina, whence came representatives of each to Georgia in 1783, and settled in the same portion of Emanuel county, a few miles distant from the present city of Millen. Both families have been prominently identified with the history of this section of the state during all the intervening years. Dr. Edward W. Lane became one of the distinguished physicians of his native county, where he was engaged in active practice for forty years and after retiring from practice made his home with his son Remer Y. until his death on April 15, 1906. He was for many years prominent in the party councils, and served as a member of the state senate in 1890-91. He was born July 28, 1824, and had thus passed the age of four score years. His wife died in 1890, and is survived by three sons: Dr. John I., who is a representative physician of Brooklet, Bulloch county; Dr. Benjamin L., who is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Butts, Jenkins county; and Dr. Remer Y., who is the subject of this review. Dr. Remer Y. Lane completed a course of study in the high school at Swainsboro, Emanuel county, and then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Md., where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884, receiving from this famous institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He was thereafter engaged in the practice of his profession at Butts, now within the limits of the recently organized county of Jenkins, where he remained until January, 1906, when he removed to Millen. In the winter of 1890-91 Dr. Lane took a post-graduate course in the New York polyclinic. In addition to the exacting work of his profession he has for many years been a producer of naval stores and has also maintained a personal supervision of his extensive plantation interests. He is the owner of 1,500 acres of land in Jenkins county, about one-half of which is under effective cultivation. He is a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, is a Royal Arch Mason and is a past master of the blue lodge of the fraternity. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. On May 2, 1895, he was united in marriage to Miss Annie Goette, of Stafford, S. C., and they have three children—Edward W., John G. and Caroline.
Source: Georgia: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and ...edited by Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans

Godbee, Walter S., is one of the best known and most honored citizens of the new county of Jenkins, and none was more prominent in securing the organization of the county and the establishing of the county seat at Millen, which city is his place of residence. He is the owner of valuable realty in Millen and has extensive plantation interests in the county. He was born in the sixty-eighth district, in Burke county, Ga., Feb. 28, 1857, and in the same county were born his parents, Dr. Franklin G. and Roseline (Dixon) God bee. The father was one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of that part of the state, having been graduated in the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, and during the Civil war he was a loyal and ardent supporter of the cause of the Confederacy, serving as captain of the Alexander Grays. He organized this company at Alexander, Burke county, and was in first captain, later resigning this office and resuming the active practice of his profession. Walter S. Godbee was graduated at Emory college, Oxford, Ga., as a member —-- of the class of 1876, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his business career, which has been one of marked success and prestige, he has been identified continuously with the plantation industry. He was also engaged in the mercantile business for some time at Perkins, Burke county, and later in Millen—his entire period of identification with mercantile interests covering seventeen years. He located in Millen in 1896, and here he conducted a general merchandise business until Jan. 1, 1904, when he retired from this line of enterprise. Thereafter he served one year as editor of the Millen News, and through the volumes of this paper he exercised powerful influence in bringing about the formation of Jenkins county and the locating of the county-seat in Millen. After accomplishing his purpose in this regard he retired from the editorial chair, since which time he has given his attention to the supervision of his plantation and other capitalistic interests. He compiled the data setting forth the claims for the new county of Jenkins and personally presented these claims to the legislative committee on new counties, in Atlanta, during the legislative session of 1905. He is the owner of a number of improved properties in Millen, including one of the finest business blocks in the city, and he is known as one of the most loyal and progressive citizens of the new county. Though he has been in public life but little, there are few men in the state more widely known within its borders, while it may be said that his circle of friends is circumscribed only by that of his acquaintances. He is specially fond of hunting and fishing, and in both lines has made a record practically unexcelled by that of any other resident of the eastern part of the state, being an expert with gun and rod. Mr. Godbee gives his allegiance to the Democratic party; served four years as postmaster at Millen, and for several years was a member of the city board of education. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church South, and was secretary and treasurer of the building committee which had charge of the erection of the fine new church edifice in Millen, aiding materially by personal donation and in securing the gift of the beautiful lot on which the church stands. He is a Master Mason, and as a young man he was identified with the Stonewall Rifles for several years, this being a popular military organization of Burke county. On Oct. 7, 1880, Mr. Godbee was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Spaeth, who died Sept. 10, 1881, leaving one daughter, Margaret. July 12, 1887, Mr. Godbee married Miss Edna M. Perkins, of Perkins, Burke county, and they have three children—Frank Mills, Walter Kingsland, and Sarah Jessie. The following pertinent excerpt from Mr. Godbee's old home county paper, the True Citizen, of Waynesboro, under date of Sept. 16, 1905, is consistently incorporated in this article: "In speaking of the prominent men in this section of the state you will not find one more often talked of than Hon. Walter S. Godbee, of Millen, formerly of Burke county but now a resident of the new county of Jenkins. The new county had no more ardent supporter, no harder worker and no more public-spirited man than Mr. Godbee. His time and talents were used in its behalf. As editor of the Millen News he brought it to the front, and his editorials were widely copied and elicited many favorable comments. When he took charge of the News it needed help, and being without newspaper experience his career has been little less than remarkable. His work in Millen has been for the upbuilding and uplifting of the community. He was a prime mover in the building of the Millen high school, was a member of the board of education, was postmaster for several years, is a member of the town council and has done much for the town during his service as a councilman. The white primary has proven to be one of the greatest political movements begun by him, outside of the new county movement, in which he and others made many personal sacrifices. He also made the first speech favoring a white primary in Jenkins county. That he has been successful one needs only to visit Millen to find proofs. He was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Citizens' bank, a new financial institution in Millen." Mr. Godbee is also a charter member of the new Millen cotton mill, is one of its stockholders, and takes an active interest in all public affairs of county and city.
Source: Georgia: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and ...edited by Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans

Lanier, Walter Victor, superintendent of the public schools of Millen, Jenkins county, is recognized as one of the able educators of this part of the state, while he enjoys marked popularity both professionally and as a citizen. He was born on a farm in Brooks county, Ga., July 14. 1865, and is a son of Rev. Thomas W. and Clara S. (Smith) Lanier, the former of whom was born in Screven county, in 1840, and the latter in Greene county, in 1842. They now reside in Guyton, Effingham county, the father being a retired clergyman of the Baptist church. He is a son of Noel W. and Sarah (Tullis) Lanier, both native of Screven county. At the funeral of Noel W. Lanier the officiating clergyman spoke of him as follows: "The deceased lived all his life within a half-mile of his birthplace and did not leave an enemy." The Lanier family was early established in Georgia, and one of its representatives was Sidney Lanier, the celebrated poet and musician. In the maternal line Professor Lanier is a nephew of Dr. Osborn L. Smith, former president of Emory college; of Dr. C W. Smith, who was professor of mathematics in Wesleyan female college, at Macon, for more than thirty years; and of Dr. Rufus W. Smith, who is now president of LaGrange female college, at La Grange, Ga. After a due preliminary discipline Professor Lanier entered Mercer university, and later he attended the University of Georgia. At the age of seventeen years he began teaching in the public schools of Screven county, and for four years he alternated between the life of a student and that of a teacher, defraying his collegiate expenses by his earnings as a teacher. Since leaving the university, in 1886, he has followed the pedagogic profession almost continuously, in the states of Georgia and South Carolina. For two years he was superintendent of the schools of Dublin, Ga.; two years superintendent of the public schools of Allendale, S. C; two years superintendent of the schools of Brunson, S. C; and in January, 1898, he was installed superintendent of the public schools of Millen, of which position he has since remained the incumbent, his long tenure of the office giving patent evidence of his successful administration and the appreciative estimate placed upon his services by the community. His corps of assistants number six teachers, and the schools are maintained at a high standard. Professor Lanier is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and is a member of the Baptist church, being a deacon in the local church of this denomination. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, in the latter of which he is past grand representative in the grand lodge of the state. On Dec. 21, 1887, he was united in marriage to Miss Minnie L. O'Gilvie, who died on Jan. 31, 1904, leaving three children, Clara Eileen and Charles Fortson, twins, and George Ellis. On Nov. 24, 1904, he married Miss Charlotte E. O'Daniel, of Norfolk, Va., and they have one son. Francis William.
Source: Georgia: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, edited by Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans

Parker, Sidney C, president of the C. Parker Company, of Millen, one of the most extensive mercantile concerns in Jenkins county, is a member of one of the old and honored families of eastern Georgia, an enterprising and successful business man and representative citizen. He was born on the homestead plantation, in Screven county, Ga., Dec. 6, 1878. The same county was the birthplace of his parents, Crawford and Jeannette (Burke) Parker, the former born in 1845 and the latter in 1850, both being now deceased. The mother passed away in 1881 and the father's death occurred in 1899. The latter was a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, and was thereafter engaged in superintending his plantation interests in Screven county until 1880, when he took up his residence in Millen, which is now the county seat of the newly organized county of Jenkins. Here he became a prominent and wealthy merchant and banker, retaining also his extensive plantation properties, while he stood high in popular confidence and esteem, having ordered his life according to the highest ethical principles, a business man of marked ability and a citizen of influence. He was senior member of the mercantile firm of C. Parker & Co., of which he was the founder, the business having been conducted under his individual name until 1898, when the title of C. Parker & Co. was adopted, thus continuing until his death. In 1900 the surviving partner, Joseph P. Applewhite, and the subject of this sketch, eldest son of the founder, incorporated the business under the present title, the C. Parker Company. Sidney C. Parker has been president of the company from the time of its organization, and Mr. Applewhite is secretary and treasurer. Sidney C. Parker secured his rudimentary education in the schools of Millen, after which he attended a military school at Dahlonega, Ga., supplementing this discipline with a course in the Atlanta business college. At the age of eighteen years he became connected with his father's mercantile business, with which he has since been associated. As president of the C. Parker Company he has ably upheld the prestige and honor of the family name, proving a worthy successor to his honored father. He is a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Millen and of the directorate of the Morton oil mills, of Millen. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, and he is serving his fifth year as a member of the board of aldermen of Millen. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church and he is identified with the Millen lodge of Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor. On Dec. 8, 1903, Mr. Parker was united in marriage to Miss Blanche A. Latta, daughter of DeLacy Latta, of Griffin, Spalding county.
Source: Cyclopedia of Georgia Transcribed by Friends for Free Genealogy

Turner, William R., cashier of the Citizens' bank, Milieu, Jenkins county, was born on the plantation of his father, near Barnesville, Pike county, Ga., Feb. 14, 1883. He is a son of Capt. Benjamin M. and Mary Ella (Banks) Turner, the former born in Barnesville, April 1, 1839, and the latter was born in Hancock county, in 1849. Captain Turner was a lawyer by profession and was distinctively a man of affairs, having been identified extensively with planting interests and also been engaged in the mercantile business for a number of years prior to his death, which occurred on April 3, 1900. He commanded a company in a battalion of sharpshooters, in the Confederate service, during the war between the states, and was one of the prominent and influential citizens of Pike county, where he held the uniform esteem of all who knew him. His widow still resides in Barnesville. William R. Turner secured his preparatory educational discipline in Gordon institute, at Barnesville, and then entered the University of Georgia, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He also studied law at the university, but has never taken up the work of the profession. After his graduation he became bookkeeper in the Citizens' bank of Barnesville, where he remained two years, gaining a thorough knowledge of the executive details of the banking business. Upon the organization of the Citizens' bank of Millen he was chosen its cashier, and has since served in that capacity, his able efforts having done much to further the upbuilding of this popular new financial institution. He is one of the stockholders of the bank and is a member of its directorate, while he is known as one of the progressive young business men of Millen. He is a Democrat in his political proclivities; a member of the Baptist church; is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Phi Delta Theta college fraternity. During the last term of administration of Governor Candler Mr. Turner served on his military staff, the governor having been a college roommate of his father. Turner's and Howell's Ferries.—During Hood's northward march in the fall of 1864 there were skirmishing at these points on the Chattahoochee river, nearly due west of Atlanta, on October 19th.
Source: Georgia Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form EDITED BY Ex-Governor ALLEN D. CANDLER AND General CLEMENT A. EVANS Vo. 3 1906

Jones, Henry A., M. D., is one of the leading representatives of his profession in Jenkins county, maintaining his residence and professional headquarters in Millen, the county seat. He was born in Herndon, Burke county, Ga., Aug. 27, 1868, and is a son of Henry W. and Martha (Aiken) Jones, the former of whom was likewise born in Herndon, Sept, 24, 1824, and the latter in Madison, Morgan county, in May, 1830. Henry W. Jones rendered valuable service as an engineer for the Confederacy during the war between the states, having been connected with a Georgia regiment. After the war he became one of the successful planters of Burke county, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on Aug. 8, 1900, while his widow was summoned to the life eternal in December, 1902. She was a daughter of Bartley and Lucy (Cummings) Aiken, the latter having been a daughter of a prominent physician in Virginia. The paternal grandparents of Doctor Jones were Henry Philip and Sarah (Vickers) Jones, of Burke county, where the respective families were early founded. Doctor Jones secured his literary education in Emory college at Oxford, Ga., and he then entered the medical department of the University of New York, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He initiated the practice of his profession in Herndon, Burke county, where he remained four years, at the expiration of which, in 1896, he located in Millen. Here he has built up a fine practice and gained a strong hold on popular confidence and esteem. He is a close student of his profession and keeps abreast of the advances made in the same, while he is a frequent contributor to leading medical periodicals. He is a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, and is a local surgeon of the Millen & Southwestern railway. In politics he is a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church South, in which he is a trustee. He is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic fraternity, and with its adjunct organization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He was for several years a member of the Burke Troop of cavalry, a part of the First Georgia regiment, and he served for a time as regimental surgeon. On Nov. 28, 1897, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Daniel, daughter of Elias Daniel, of Millen, and they have one daughter, Miriam Daniel Jones, born May 4, 1899.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Tracy McAllister)

Godbee, Walter S., is one of the best known and most honored citizens of the new county of Jenkins, and none was more prominent in securing the organization of the county and the establishing of the county seat at Millen, which city is his place of residence. He is the owner of valuable realty in Millen and has extensive plantation interests in the county. He was born in the sixty-eighth district, in Burke county, Ga., Feb. 28, 1857, and in the same county were born his parents., Dr. Franklin G. and Roseline (Dixon) Godbee. The father was one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of that part of the state, having been graduated in the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, and during the Civil war he was a loyal and ardent supporter of the cause of the Confederacy, serving as captain of the Alexander Grays. He organized this company at Alexander, Burke county, and was in first captain, later resigning this office and resuming the active practice of his profession. Walter S. Godbee was graduated at Emory college, Oxford, Ga., as a member of the class of 1876, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his business career, which has been one of marked success and prestige, he has been identified continuously with the plantation industry. He was also engaged in the mercantile business for some time at Perkins, Burke county, and later in Millen—his entire period of identification with mercantile interests covering seventeen years. He located in Millen in 1896, and here he conducted a general merchandise business until Jan. 1, 1904, when he retired from this line of enterprise. Thereafter he served one year as editor of the Millen News, and through the columns of the paper he exercised powerful influence in bringing about the formation of Jenkins county and the locating of the county seat in Millen. After accomplishing his purpose in this regard he retired from the editorial chair, since which time he has given his attention to the supervision of his plantation and other capitalistic interests. He compiled the data setting forth the claims for the new county of Jenkins and personally presented these claims to the legislative committee on new counties, in Atlanta, during the legislative session of 1905. He is the owner of a number of improved properties in Millen, including one of the finest business blocks in the city, and he is known as one of the most loyal and progressive citizens of the new county. Though he has been in public life but little, there are few men in the state more widely known within its borders, while it may be said that his circle of friends is circumscribed only by that of his acquaintances. He is specially fond of hunting and fishing, and in both lines had made a record practically unexcelled by that of any other resident of the eastern part of the state, being an expert with gun and rod. Mr. Godbee gives his allegiance to the Democratic party; served four years as postmaster at Millen, and for several years was a member of the city board of education. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church South, and was secretary and treasurer of the building committee which had charge of the erection of the fine new church edifice in Millen, aiding materially by personal donation and in securing the gift of the beautiful lot on which the church stands. He is a Master Mason, and as a young man he was identified with the Stonewall Rifles for several years, this being a popular military organization of Burke county. On Oct. 7, 1880, M. Godbee was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Spaeth, who died on Sept. 10, 1881 leaving one daughter, Margaret. July 12, 1887, Mr. Godbee married Miss Edna M. Perkins, of Perkins, Burke county, and they have three children—Frank Mills, Walter Kingsland, and Sarah Jessie. The following pertinent excerpt from Mr. Godbee’s old home county paper, the True Citizen, of Waynesboro, under date of Sept. 16, 1905, is consistently incorporated in this article: “In speaking of the prominent men in this section of the state you will not find one more often talked of than Hon. Walter S. Godbee, of Millen, formerly Burke county but now a resident of the new county of Jenkins. The new county had no more ardent supporter, no harder worker, and no more public-spirited man than Mr. Godbee. His time and talents were used in its behalf. As editor of the Millen News he brought it to the front, and his editorials were widely copies and elicited many favorable comments. When he took charge of the News it needed help, and being without newspaper experience his career has been little less than remarkable. His work in Millen has been for the upbuilding and uplifting of the community. He was a prime mover in the building of the Millen high school, was a member of the board of education, was postmaster for several years, is a member of the town council and has done much for the town during his service as a councilman. The white primary has proven to be one of the greatest political movements begun by him, outside of the new county movement, in which he and others made many personal sacrifices. He also made the first speech favoring a white primary in Jenkins county. That he has been successful one only needs to visit Millen to find proofs. He was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Citizens’ bank, a new financial institution in Millen.” Mr. Godbee is also a charter member of the new Millen cotton mill, is one of its stockholders, and takes an active interest in all public affairs of county and city.
(Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Marilyn Clore)