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Liberty
County Biographies
ANDREW, Benjamin
(1730—1799)
ANDREW, Benjamin, a Delegate from Georgia; born in Dorchester, S.C., in 1730; moved to Georgia in 1754 and became
a planter in St. John’s Parish; president of State Executive Council in 1777; elected as a Delegate to the Continental
Congress in 1780; associate justice for the County of Liberty for several terms; died in Liberty County, Georgia,
about 1799. [Source: Biographical Directory of the United States
Congress, 1771-Present - Contributed by A. Newell]
FRASER, Hon. Joseph Bacon
In the public life of Liberty County, it is doubtful if there is a better known citizen than Joseph Bacon Fraser,
county treasurer, mayor of Hinesville, and a man who has always given freely of his time and talents to the public
welfare. Primarily a business man, of recent years his official duties have been of so important a character that
they have required the greater part of his attention, but he still has large and extensive interests and his name
is identified with several institutions which have an important place in the business scheme of this part of Georgia.
Mr. Fraser was born at Hinesville, Liberty County, Georgia, February 12, 1860, and is a son of Simon A. and Mary
W. (Bacon) Fraser. The mother was born in Flemington, Liberty County, Georgia, a daughter of Maj. John and Mary
(Hazzard) Bacon. Her father, John Bacon, got his title in the War of 1812, became a large planter in this county
and died at about the age of sixty. He was a native of Georgia, of English descent, and his wife, Mary Hazzard.
was also a native of Georgia. She died in this county in 1865, aged sixty-eight years. She was also of English
descent. Mrs. Mary (Bacon) Fraser was reared, educated and married in this county, where she spent her life: she
was noted for her piety. She was a Presbyterian and was an active church worker at the old historic Midway Church.
She died at the age of fifty-eight years and left six living children. There was also one deceased. The children
were: Flora Ellen, who married George M. Mills, and she died and left one son, Wallace F.; Jane B., dead, who left
three children; William A., who died and left seven children; Donald A., who died in 1884 at twenty-eight years
of age; Wallace W., deceased, who had three children; Joseph B.; and Mary J., who married C. J. Martin of this
county and has seven children.
The Frasers are an old and prominent family of Liberty County, where its members have held leading and responsible
positions in business, the professions and public life, one bearing the name being the late Dr. William Fraser,
who after a trip to Scotland, returned to Hinesville, and then went to Hawkinsville, where he built up a reputation
as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of his day and community, and died about 1860. Donald Fraser, the
grand father of Joseph B. Fraser, was born in Inverness, Scotland, and in the year 1804 emigrated to the United
States and took up his residence near the Town of Midway, in Liberty County, Georgia, on a plantation. There he
passed away about the year 1828, one of his community's substantial and highly respected citizens.
Simon A. Fraser, father of Joseph Bacon Fraser, was born in Liberty County, Georgia, and was twelve years of age
when sent by his parents to Scotland to be educated. With a liberal training, he returned to his Georgia home,
where he started raising cotton, and prior to the Civil war became the owner of a large number of slaves. In addition
to serving as a member of the
Georgia Legislature, during the period of the war he not only acted as clerk of the Superior Court, but was appointed
by the Confederate Government to look after and care for the families of soldiers who were serving at the front.
At the close of the war he engaged in merchandising at Mclntosh, but did not long survive the close of that struggle,
dying in 1870. He was one of the -strong, capable and forceful men of his community, being almost constantly in
public office, and at one time was judge of the Inferior Court. He was universally esteemed and his record was
one of which his descendants may well be proud.
Joseph Bacon Fraser was eight years of age when he started to attend the public; schools of Hinesville, and in
1878 he had completed his educational training and was ready to enter upon his career. Accordingly he engaged in
the naval store business at Mclntosh, and that enterprise continued to occupy his attention for about ten years,
when he started to occupy himself in the business of raising stock, He was so engaged in 1907, when he was elected
clerk of the Superior Court, a position which his father had held many years before, and occupied that place until
January 1, 1915. His public duties were discharged in such a faithful and energetic manner that in January, 1915,
he was elected county treasurer of Liberty County, and this office he has continued to hold, his service having
been eminently satisfactory to the people. In 1913 Mr. Fraser was elected mayor of Hinesville, and re-elected in
1915; and under his administration the city has made noticeable strides in the way of advancement and progress.
He is a firm believer in the value of education, has always been a friend and supporter of the schools, and at
present is secretary and treasurer of the school board. In every way he has shown himself a stirring, energetic
and public-spirited citizen. Mayor Fraser is a stockholder in the Hinesville Bank, and a director in the Flemington,
Hinesville & Western Railroad, and is the owner of considerable real estate, both city and rural. With his
family, he attends the Presbyterian Church, where he serves as deacon and treasurer.
Mayor Fraser was married December 10, 1885, at Savannah, Georgia, to Miss Clara Maria Boulinean, a daughter of
A. B. Boulinean, and to this union there have been born seven children as follows: Charles W., born October 29,
1886, who married Miss Catherine Olive Smith, of Hinesville; Mary B., born August 31, 1888; Donald A., born January
10, 1890, who is secretary, treasurer and superintendent of the Flemington, Hinesville & Western Railroad,
and in 1916 is captain of Company B,Second Squadron (the old Liberty Independent Troop) National Guard, and now
stationed at Camp Harris, Macon, Georgia; Addie W., born October 30, 1891; Harry B., born September 4, 1893; Joseph
Bacon, Jr., born July 15, 1895; and Thomas Layton, born March 16, 1899. [A
Standard History of Georgia and Georgians Volume 5, by Lucian Lamar Knight, 1917 - Submitted by Brenda Wiesner]
LAYTON, Thomas Spencer
Thomas Spencer Layton, M. D. The various prosperous and thriving communities of Liberty County have their full
quota of able physicians and surgeons, and among this class of professional men is found, located at Hinesville,
Dr. Thomas Spencer Layton. In contemplating the career of a physician, the first and most important thoughts which
present themselves are derived from the great value of the knowledge which is in the possession of the well trained
practitioner of the healing art, and the intense desire he must have, especially if he be at all philanthropic,
that all the people should be well acquainted with the laws of health. In this connection Doctor Layton is particularly
deserving of mention.
Born in Laurens County, South Carolina, April 11, 1858, Doctor Layton is a son of George Washington and Adeline
(Todd) Layton. His father, born at Spartanburg, South Carolina, followed farming until the outbreak of the war
between the South and the North, when he enlisted in the Eighth Georgia Battalion of Volunteer Infantry, and served
therewith until his death at Vicksburg, Mississippi, just before the fall of that city in 1863. His wife, Adeline
(Todd) Layton, was born in Laurens County, South Carolina, and they had three children, of whom Thomas Spencer
was the first born. She was later married a second time and had seven children, and her death occurred in Bartow
County, in 1892.
At the age of six years Thomas Spencer Layton was sent to school, and from then until he was sixteen years old
he attended school somewhat irregularly. It was necessary that he contribute largely to his own support, and for
some years he was engaged in various enterprises, but he never gave up his cherished desire of entering the medical
profession, and with this aim in view took every opportunity of studying the science. In 1889 he entered the medical
department of the University of Georgia, at Augusta, and after one term went to the Southern Medical College, at
Atlanta, where he finished his course and graduated with his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1891. He had a very
creditable record as a student and finished fourth in a large class. Doctor Layton entered upon his professional
career at Stilesboro, Georgia, but after six or eight months moved to the community of Pine Log, Georgia, where
he also spent a short time. Desiring a broader field, he came to Hinesville, in Liberty County, where he has since
steadily advanced to a leading place among medical men. He has a large practice of the most desirable kind, being
family physician for a number of the representative families of the county. He belongs to the various organizations
of medical men in Georgia, keeps fully abreast of the numerous advancements of his calling, and has a high reputation
among his professional brethren. Doctor Layton has prospered in a material way and has interested himself in a
number of successful business ventures, among which are the Hinesville Bank, of which he is a director, the Flemington,
Hinesville & Western Railroad of Liberty County, of which he also holds a position on the directing board,
and the Liberty County Herald, one of the leading newspapers of this section. He owns his own home at Hinesville,
as well as other real estate, and is considered one of the substantial men of the Liberty County seat. Politically
a democrat, he has taken some interest in public affairs, although not as an aspirant for personal preferment.
With his family, he belongs to the Presbyterian Church at Flemington. Fraternally, Doctor Layton is affiliated
with the Masons.
On July 3, 1890, Doctor Layton was married to Miss Leila M. Boulinean, daughter of B. L. and Maria Beal (Dove)
Boulinean, of Richmond County, Georgia, and a member of an old and prominent family of Savannah. They have no children.
[A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians Volume 5, by Lucian Lamar Knight, 1917 - Submitted by Brenda Wiesner]
JAMES SIMMONS MCINTOSH
THE McINTOSH CLAN headed by its chief, John Moore McIntosh, came to Georgia with General Oglethorpe. From that
time to the present, in peace and war, the McIntosh family has been one of the most notable in the State, and in
every war waged by our country, both in the army and navy, they have served as gallant soldiers and sailors. Col.
John S. McIntosh, fourth son of Col. John McIntosh, one of the Revolutionary officers of the family, was born in
Liberty county, the seat of the McIntosh family, June 19, 1787. He inherited the military tastes of the family,
and when the War of 1812 broke out, entered the army as a lieutenant and was attached to a rifle regiment in which
he saw hard service on the northern frontier and in Canada. In May, 1814, a detachment of his regiment, under command
of Major Daniel Appling, another Georgian, was detailed as a guard for a number of supply boats, under command
of Captain Woolsey, of the navy, which were going from Oswego to supply certain new vessels of war then being built
at Sackett's Harbor. After leaving Oswego they entered Sandy Creek with the intention of landing the supplies,
which were then to be conveyed overland to Sackett's Harbor. Sir James Yeo, the British commander of the lake fleet,
dispatched several gunboats and cutters to capture these stores and the escort. The British entered the creek and
disembarked a body of marines and sailors to carry out the orders of their commander. Major Appling's small detachment
of riflemen, learning of the approach of the enemy, concealed themselves in the woods, and as soon as they were
sufficiently near poured into them such a deadly fire that in a few minutes the whole were killed, wounded or prisoners,
not a man escaped, nor a gunboat. This complete defeat led the British commander to raise the blockade. Major Appling
won great recognition for his conduct in this matter, and the Legislature of Georgia complimented Lieutenant McIntosh
with a sword. In another combat with the enemy at Buffalo, he received a severe wound. On his recovery he married
a New York lady and rejoined the army, becoming an officer in the regulars. At the close of that war he was employed
in different sections, served with General Jackson throughout the Indian War, and for a considerable time commanded
the post at Tampa, Fla. He was transferred from there to Mobile, and later to the command of Fort Mitchell in Georgia
during the exciting controversy with the Federal government. This was a situation of great delicacy for a native
Georgian, but he contrived to obey his orders without giving offense to his native State. He was then sent west
of the Mississippi River and stationed for a time at Fort Gibson, Ark., then transferred to Prairie DuChien, Wis.
He was then in command of Fort Winnebago, Wis., Fort Gratiot, Mich., and finally, Detroit, Mich., from which place
he was ordered to Texas in anticipation of trouble with Mexico. He arrived at Corpus Christi in October, 1845,
and reported to General Taylor. By this time he had risen to the rank of a Colonel in the regular army, and on
the advance to the Rio Grande was in command of a brigade. At the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma,
on the 8th and 9th of May, 1846, he distinguished himself, receiving in the first-named battle at the head of one
regiment a charge of fifteen hundred lancers, and repulsing them with great slaughter. In the next day's battle
the struggle was more desperate, and in charging the Mexican lines, his horse was killed in the chaparral, and
a number of ambushed Mexicans sprang upon him. He was pinned to the ground with bayonets, one going through and
breaking his left arm, and another thrusting him in the mouth, the bayonet passing through his neck and coming
out behind the ear. Leaving him for dead the Mexicans ran. Dragging himself forward in this dreadful condition,
he met Captain Duncan, of the artillery, who not noticing his ghastly wounds at first glance, asked him for support.
The Colonel replied with great difficulty that he would give him the support, and asked for some water. Exhausted
from loss of blood, he soon fell. At first his recovery looked hopeless, but they sent him for a brief stay in
Georgia and a few months with his children in New York, and though yet feeble he applied for service in the war
still raging in Mexico. On his way back to the seat of war, he visited Savannah, where his fellow-citizens presented
him with a handsome sword. Arriving at Vera Cruz he was placed in command of a baggage train, with a large amount
of money to pay the army, and started for the city of Mexico. Attacked by guerrillas, he held his ground until
reinforced by General Cadwallader, from Vera Cruz. After a tedious march with many skirmishes he reached the headquarters
of the army and assumed command of the Fifth Infantry, a regiment which loved him as a father. He led his regiment
in the battles of Contreras and Cherubusco, and at the murderous combat of Molino del Hey, in which last struggle
he was mortally wounded while at the head of his regiment. He survived his wounds several weeks and died in the
city of Mexico, deeply regretted. The commanding general of division in the hard-fought battle in which Colonel
Mclntosh fell, said: "In my official reports, it has been among my most pleasing and grateful duties to do
full justice to an officer and soldier, than whom none, not one, is left of higher gallantry or patriotism. He
died as he lived, the true-hearted friend, the courteous gentleman, the gallant soldier and patriot." The
Legislature of Georgia ordered his remains removed from Mexico to his native State, and the citizens of Savannah
followed them to their last resting place in the tomb of his venerated kinsman, Major General Lachlan Mclntosh,
on March 18, 1848. Colonel Mclntosh was a soldierly man of middle size, strong and active, of fair complexion,
quick of temper, taciturn with strangers, kind and cheerful with his friends.
Of his sixty years of life, thirty-five were given to the military service of his country. He left four sons and
one daughter. One of his sons, James McQueen Mclntosh, was a captain in the regular army at the beginning of the
Civil War. He resigned his commission, tendered his services to the Confederacy, was commissioned brigadier-general,
and fell at the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., in 1862, while gallantly leading his brigade. Another son, John Baillie
McIntosh, entered the old navy, served a few years and resigned. In 1861 he went with the Union, served during
the entire war with distinction, rising to the rank of brigade commander. Remained in regular army after the war,
and retired in 1870 with rank of brigadier-general. ["Men of
Mark in Georgia: a complete and elaborate history", Volume 2 By William J. Northen - Transcribed by Barb Ziegenmeyer]
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