Mcintosh County, Georgia biographies

THE REV. FRANCIS ROBERT GOULDING had the distinction of being a son of the first native born Presbyterian minister in Georgia. He came from the celebrated Midway colony which gave to the country eighty-three clergymen, besides a large number of lawyers, doctors, authors, statesmen, soldiers and scientists. His father was the Rev. Dr. Thomas Goulding, a very eminent Presbyterian minister, who was born in Liberty county, in 1786, a son of Thomas and Margaret (Stacy) Goulding. He was an eminent man in his church, one of the founders of the theological college at Columbia, S. C., held many appointments and was for thirty-five years one of the most useful ministers of the South. Francis R. Goulding had the best educational advantages and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1830. He then entered the theological school at Columbia, and after two years was graduated into the ministry. Immediately after entering the ministry he married Mary Wallace Howard, of Savannah, a woman of great piety and accomplishments, with a beautiful soprano voice. She it was who induced Dr. Lowell Mason to put music to Bishop Heber's famous hymn, "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," and it was first sung by her in the Presbyterian church at Savannah. Mr. Goulding served the church at Sumter, S. C., for two years and then became an agent for the American Bible Society. This position gave him an extended field of service, and being a close observer, he accumulated much information which later in life he made use of in his books. Of an inventive turn of mind, in 1842 he built a sewing machine a year or two before Howe's great invention was patented, but having no mercenary motives, he did not take the trouble to patent it. In 1843 he accepted a pastorate at Bath, Ga., the duties of which were light, and he put in his leisure time in writing a story which was published in the American Sunday School Union and well received. He then engaged in writing the book, upon which chiefly his literary reputation rests, "The Young Marooners." He spent three years in revising and correcting it, and submitted it to a New York publisher, only to have it rejected. He then sent it to a Philadelphia publishing house. The reviewer gave the manuscript to his little girl, and the child literally devoured it. Noting this he took it up himself and began to read it. The interest was so absorbing that he was not able to lay it down until he had finished it. The book ran through many editions in this country and was reprinted by six different publishers in Great Britain. It rivaled "Robinson Crusoe" in its fascination for the young, and even older persons found great entertainment in its pages.
Mr. Gouding then moved to Kingston, Ga., where for a time he taught school and put in his leisure hours on a work, "The Instincts of Birds and Beasts." His excellent wife, with whom he had lived in great happiness for twenty years, died in 1853, leaving him with six children. In 1855 he married again, Matilda Rees, who owned a beautiful home at Darien, Ga. This resulted in their moving there, and he resumed pastoral work, but still gave much time to literary pursuits. On the outbreak of the Civil War, though in poor health from malaria and hard study, he became a chaplain in the Confederate Army, and gave much time and service to the sick and wounded. In 1862 when Darien was evacuated by the Confederates, his beautiful home was burned, and his excellent library with a large mass of manuscripts was destroyed. At the close of the war he found himself an elderly man, with a family, and absolutely without means. He then resumed his pen as a means of support for his family, and wrote several other popular books, among them, "Marooner's Island," a sequel to "Young Marooners," "Woodruff Stories," "Frank Gordon," "Cousin Aleck," "Adventures Among the Indians," and "Boy Life on the Water." He died at Roswell, Ga., on August 22, 1881, nearly seventy-one years old, after a ministry of forty-eight years, leaving behind a record of a life spent in well doing, and the character of a purely spiritual man, with a literary reputation of a high order.
[Source: "Men of Mark in Georgia: a complete and elaborate history...", Volume 2 By William J. Northen - Transcribed by Barb Ziegenmeyer]

Hilton, Joseph, who was a valiant officer in the Confederate service during the Civil war, is one of the prominent lumberman and business men of the state, being president of the Hilton-Dodge Lumber Company, of Darien, McIntosh county, where he maintains his home, and also president of the Vale-Royal Lumber Company and the Millhaven Lumber Company, both of Savannah. Captain Hilton comes of Scotch and English lineage and was born in the town of Preston, Lancaster county. England, Oct. 19, 1842, a son of Thomas and Jane ( Lachlison) Hilton. He received his rudimentary education in the picturesque old town of his birth, and was eleven years of age when, in 1853, his parents bade adieu to their native land and came to America. Soon after their arrival in this country they located at Darien, where the subject of this review has ever since resided. His father here engaged in the" lumber business, being prominently identified with the development of that important industry in this section of the state, where he operated saw mills and became a citizen of influence, honored by all who knew him. He died in Darien at the venerable age of eighty-two years, his wife having passed away at the age of sixtyfour years. Both were communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church in America, having previously been identified with the Church of England of the same communion. After locating in McIntosh county Joseph Hilton continued his educational discipline in the schools of Darien and at an academy at Paris Hill, Screven county. He has been identified with the lumber industry from his youth to the present and is an authority in all details pertaining to it. He was nineteen years of age at the inception of the Civil war, and forthwith manifested his loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy. In August, 1861, he became second lieutenant of the McIntosh Guards, which at that time were mustered into the Confederate service as Company B, Twenty-sixth Georgia infantry. He proceeded with his command to the front and was soon promoted to first lieutenant and later to the captaincy of his company. Finally he was called upon to serve as acting adjutantgeneral on the staff of Gen. Clement A. Evans and continued as such until the surrender of General Lee. On that occasion he was present and received his parole at Appomattox, after having rendered gallant and faithful service during the entire course of the war and participated in many of the important battles of the great conflict. He several times received slight wounds, but none of a serious nature. His continued interest in his old comrades is evidenced by his membership in the United Confederate Veterans. In 1865, soon after returning to his home in Darien, Captain Hilton assumed charge of the lumber business of the firm of Thomas Hilton & Sons, of which his honored father was the founder and head. This firm was later succeeded by that of Hilton & Foster, in which he continued an interested principal, and still later the latter gave place to the Hilton Timber & Lumber Company, which was the immediate predecessor of the present Hilton-Dodge Lumber Company. During the various changes since 1865 Captain Hilton has continued as the head and manager of the business, and he has been president of the present company from the time of its organization. As before noted he is also president of the two important lumber concerns maintaining headquarters in the city of Savannah—the Vale-Royal Lumber Company and the Millhaven Lumber Company. His business career has been one of marked success and has gained him distinctive prestige, while no shadow has rested on his reputation during the long period which has represented his active identification with business affairs of wide scope and importance. Captain Hilton is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, but public office has never held allurement for him, though he has been at all times ready to lend his aid and influence in the support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the general weal. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, as is also Mrs. Hilton. Captain Hilton chose as his wife, Miss Ida Leigh Naylor, of Savannah, and they have four children: Miss Ida Leigh, who remains at the paternal home; Ruth Foster, who is the wife of Edmund B. Walker; Thomas, who is associated with his father in business; and Miss Lucina Gilson, who is still a member of the charming home circle.
Source Georgia: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and ... edited by Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans

McIntosh, Lachlan, soldier, was born near Inverness, Scotland, March 17, 1725. His father, who was one of the leaders of the McIntosh clan, joined General Oglethorpe in 1736 and with about one hundred Highlanders came to Georgia, founding a settlement in what is now McIntosh county. When Lachlan was old enough he went to Charleston, S. C., where he entered the counting room of Henry Laurens. A few years later he became dissatisfied with the prospects of a mercantile life and took up the work of land surveying. In this line of work he returned to Georgia, where he married and soon acquired enough property to be considered independent. At the commencement of the Revolution he raised a regiment and was appointed brigadier-general. Some differences of opinion arose between him and Governor Gwinnett, and as soon as the latter retired from office he challenged McIntosh to a duel. In the encounter both were wounded and Gwinnett died. Washington had confidence in General McIntosh’s ability and asked him to undertake the work of defending the frontier settlers of Virginia and Pennsylvania against the Indians. McIntosh accepted and was preparing for an expedition against Detroit, when he was ordered to the aid of Count D’Estaing in the attack on Savannah. After the failure of this undertaking he joined forces with General Lincoln and fell back to Charleston to defend that city against the British forces under Sir Henry Clinton. When the city capitulated he was taken prisoner and held in captivity for some time. Upon being released he returned to Georgia to find that his property had nearly all been wasted by the war, and he lived in poverty until his death at Savannah on Feb. 20, 1806.
[Source: Georgia Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Vol 2, Publ 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson]