RICHARD F. BURDEN, one of the prominent citizens of Macon, is a fine example of the adaptable American who, having achieved a large success in business, has turned to those other things which are so essential to the making up of a great Christian commonwealth, and has employed a large share of his time and talent for the uplift of his people.

From the earliest authentic family records available it appears that the great-grandfather of Richard F., Thomas Burden, was born in 1731. He was of Scotch descent, possibly of Scotch parentage, and settled in Caroline county, Virginia, whence, with his wife Mary, he removed to Newberry District, South Carolina. It was here that his son William was born in 1771. William Burden married Drucilla Liles, daughter of Sherod Liles, and from this marriage four children were born, of whom Thomas Liles was the eldest, having been born in Newberry District, South Carolina, January 25, 1809. The family removed to Georgia, and settled in Twiggs county, where William died October 6, 1820.

Thomas L. Burden grew to manhood; adopted farming as his vocation, but made many friends among his neighbors, and was called upon to accept district and county offices, which required much of his time. By this means, he became well and favorably known throughout the county, and the militia district in which he lived in Jones county is still known as the "Burden District."

On February 6, 1834, he married Sarah, daughter of Richard and Sarah (Macllvail) Barfield. His wife was born in Jones county, November 12, 1810, being the youngest of a family of nine children. Of the marriage of Thomas L. Burden and Sarah Barfield, Richard F. Burden was born in Jones county, September 11, 1851. He was too young to enter the Confederate Army in the War between the States, but had three brothers in that great struggle: William H. and Chapman, who served in the Forty-fifth Georgia Regiment; and Thomas J. in the Fifth Georgia Battalion. Chapman was killed at the Second Battle of Manassas, August 22, 1862. At the conclusion of the war Thomas J. returned to Georgia; engaged in farming in Houston county, and reared a large and respected family. William H. entered the mercantile business in Macon, Georgia, and for many years conducted a successful wholesale dry goods and shoe business under the corporate name of S. T. Coleman and Burden Company. Later he moved to Atlanta and operated a wholesale shoe business under the firm name of Coleman, Burden and Warthen Company.

W. H. Burden was the first president of the American National Bank of Macon, one of the successful and substantial national banks of the State, and is now a resident of New York City.

Richard F. Burden got his school training in the Cross Roads Academy of Jones county,and whatever else he may have learned, it grounded him well in the English and turned him out a beautiful penman, an accomplishment all too rare in our country, where men seem to write as badly as possible, instead of as well as possible. Mr. Burden-s business career began in Macon at the age of sixteen. In 1867 he entered the service of the Freeman Transfer Company and was with them two years. He then became a clerk in the treasurer-s office of the Central of Georgia Railway Company, and on August 1, 1870, entered the office of the retail dry goods business of S. T. Coleman. He settled down to steady work and spent sixteen years in the service of this company in varioiis capacities until 1886, when he became general manager of the retail department. In 1888 he bought an interest in the business and five years later it became incorporated under the firm name of Burden, Smith and Company. He was elected president of the company at its organization, which position he has held up to the present. It will be observed in this brief resume of Mr. Burden's career in business, that he had the patience to wait until the right moment came, and then he was ready to act. The concern of which he is the head has become one of the large establishments of the State, using a very heavy capital and doing a business of a half million dollars yearly. In addition to that, since its incorporation in 1893, it has paid to its stockholders annual dividends which aggregate more than double the original investment, and has a large capital invested which has been earned by the business.

It is well to bear in mind the struggle that the young man had made. His mother died in 1864 when he was thirteen years old. His father followed her in 1867, before he was sixteen. He was the youngest of a family of seven. The misfortunes of war and ill health had left his father-s estate very small; and the boy of sixteen, thrown upon his own resources without the means or opportunity to gain the collegiate education which he desired, went to work like a man to work out his own destiny. How well he has succeeded has been told.

But this is not all. Never for a moment has he been unmindful of his obligations to his fellows. Never desirous of public office, he took up the work of the church as a layman. A devoted Methodist, he has given a large share of his time, his talent and his money for many years past to the work of the church in its various departments. He is conference leader and a member of the Central Committee of the Laymen's Missionary Movement of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; he is a member of the Board of Missions of the South Georgia Conference; chairman of the Local Board of Trustees of the South Georgia Conference Orphans- Home; chairman of the board of stewards of the Vineville Methodist Church; member of the Macon Hospital Association; on the executive committee of the Macon City Hospital; member of the Board of Trustees of the Wesley Memorial Enterprises in Atlanta, Georgia; identified with the Young Men's Christian Association and Juvenile Reformatory work in the State; and was a delegate from the South Georgia Conference to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met at Asheville, North Carolina, May 4, 1910.

During all these active years Mr. Burden has found time to read. His preferred reading has been along biographical lines and books of devotional character. Of late years he has been profoundly interested in all literature pertaining to the great missionary and educational operations of the church.

On September 9, 1880, Mr. Burden was married to Miss Minnie Bass, daughter of Doctor William Capers and Ann Octavia Bass. Doctor Bass was a notable man. He was fifteen years professor in Wesleyan Female College in Macon; for twenty years its president, making a continuous connection of thirty-five years with this, the first chartered college for women in the world,and no man ever connected with it was more faithful or more highly honored for his devoted service. Of Mr. Burden's marriage, there are three children. His son, Eugene Bass Burden, a graduate of Emory College, has been actively engaged with his father in his business since his graduation, and is Adjutant of the Second Georgia Regiment, National Guard, with rank of Captain. His two daughters, Ann Octavia, now Mrs. Thos. J. Stewart, and Alice Cobb Burden, are graduates of Wesleyan Female College,a matter which must be a special pleasure to the parents in view of Doctor Bass's connection with that notable institution.

Mr. Burden is a strong supporter of the prohibition law of the State of Georgia, and he believes that the States and territories in which laws have been enacted for the abolition of the liquor traffic and its kindred evils should see to it that these laws are rigidly enforced as a means toward the uplift of the people. He is also a strong advocate of the public school system. He would like to see it promoted, extended and improved, particularly throughout the country districts. Following this up with the development of the agricultural and manufacturing resources of the State, we would have a commonwealth in which the moral and material development would go hand in hand,and this is the ideal that Mr. Burden would like to see brought to fruition.

As an illustration of the largeness of Mr. Burden's views, there appeared in a missionary paper of the Methodist Church in April, 1910, an article from him showing why the church should increase its foreign missionary funds about fivefold. He shows why it should be done, and then he shows how it can be done. The whole article, covering a short column in the magazine, is strong, clear cut, forcible and conclusive.

Measured by any standard, R. F. Burden has made a success of life, and is a citizen of whom the Commonwealth may be proud.
[Source: "Men of Mark In Georgia", Vol IV, AB Caldwell, 1912. Submitted by Brenda Wiesner]

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Eldridge Wallace Bowen

It is a far cry from the little place in Jones county, Georgia, where Rev. Eldridge Wallace Bowen was born, to the pastorate of a great city church, such as that over which he now presides at the Macedonia Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S. C. If one were to look for the sources of his success, they would perhaps be found in that threefold development which has given him a strong body inured to hard work, and which can stand any reasonable demands, a clear mind which seeks the truth and is not afraid to follow it and a heart which is "in tune with the Infinite," for let it be said that there is never a doubt on the part of Dr. Bowen or on the part of those who have heard him preach that he was Divinely called to that work. He was born at Clinton, Ga., Jan. 13, 1872. He bears his father's name; his mother was Adeline Bowen, but she was taken away from the boy at an early age. He inherits a strain of white blood from grandparents on both sides.

When he came of school age he attended school at Clinton and later entered Ballard Normal. When about sixteen years of age, he left Georgia for Florida, where he was employed in the orange groves. He recalls to this good day an experience he and a friend had clearing hammock land. When he was about nineteen he experienced the new birth and joined the Union Baptist Church at DeLand. He had long felt that he must preach. The thought had filled his mind even as a boy; but even after joining the church he hesitated for nearly three years. Finally he surrendered himself to the work and found peace and success. He was fortunate to have for his teacher in theology the pastor of the First Baptist Church at DeLand, a scholarly, Godly man, who started his student in the right direction and fixed for him proper methods of research and sermon-making. As a result of this training and his subsequent study, Dr. Bowen is regarded as one of the able preachers of the denomination, and is in great demand apart from his own pastorate. His first pastorate was the Pleasant Hill Church at Saluda. He soon added Ridge Branch near Batesburg. He remained on this work for nine years and built two churches. He was then called to the Mt. Calvary Church at Chester, where he preached for three years. In 1912 he accepted the call of the Macedonia Church, Spartanburg, where (1918), in the full bloom of mature manhood he is doing the best work of his life. He is Moderator of the Spartanburg County Association, Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention, Trustee of Morris College and a member of some of the leading committees. He was also honored by appointment on the Peace Commission of 1918 to bring together the two factions of the National Convention. Dr. Bowen has been most successful as an evangelist, and is much in demand over a wide territory for that work. On Dec. 8, 1898, he was married to Miss Leola Pudigon, a daughter of Lewis and Isabella Pudigon, of Charleston. They have eight children, Eldridge W., Jr.; Maggie L., Lewis M., Rodolphus, Isabella, Marion, Celeste and Emmett S. Bowen. Dr. Bowen sticks to his Bible, but has found the works of Spurgeon and Cummins especially helpful. He belongs to all the leading secret orders and a number of local organizations. He owns a comfortable home on North Converse Street. [Source: "History of The American Negro and its Institutions" by AB Caldwell, 1919 - Submitted by Brenda Wiesner]

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