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Rabun County, Georgia
Biographies
Logan Edwin Bleckley
Logan Edwin Bleckley was born in Rabun County, Georgia, on July 3,
1827, and in 1846 was admitted to the bar. To accumulate a small
working capital he obtained a clerical position with the State Railroad
of Atlanta and subsequently secured the appointment of secretary to the
governor. In 1851 he opened an office for practice in Atlanta; served
as reporter of the Supreme Court in 1864-67; in 1875 was appointed one
of the judges of the State Supreme Court and served as chief justice of
that body in 1887-94. Whether as a practitioner or a judge he stood in
the front ranks. Judge Bleckley died at Clarkesville, Georgia, on March
6, 1907.
[A Standard of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 6, 1917, submitted by C.
Danielson]
Sylvester Bleckley
During a residence of more than forty years at Anderson Sylvester
Bleckley acquired a fortune as a merchant, and identified himself so
completely with the life and spirit of the community that he deserves
permanent memory as one of the builders of the city.
He was born at Clayton, Rabun County, Georgia, July 16, 1832, son of
Judge James and Catherine (Lutz) Bleckley. Grandfather James Bleckley
was a North Carolinian of English and Irish lineage and a teacher by
profession. Judge James Bleckley was born in Lincoln County, North
Carolina, in 1803. His wife was a native of Burke County in the same
state, born in 1800, daughter of John Lutz and granddaughter of George
Lutz, who came from Germany, settling first in Pennsylvania and
afterward in North Carolina. James Bleckley and Catherine
Lutz were married in 1823, and soon afterward moved to Rabun County,
Georgia, where they were early settlers. Though a farmer, James
Bleckley was a man of great influence in his community and filled
successively the offices of sheriff, clerk, ordinary and judge of the
County Court. He died in 1870 and his wife in 1874. The late Chief
Justice Logan E. Bleckley of Georgia, was their son.
Sylvester Bleckley grew up on a farm in his native county, acquired a
fa1r education at Clayton, and at the age of nineteen was working as a
clerk and bookkeeper at Athens, Georgia. In March, 1853, at the age of
twenty-one, he came to Anderson and forthwith became a member of the
firm England, Bleckley & Company, general merchants. He soon became
the leading sp1rit in the organization and finally sole proprietor, and
continued the business alone until he admitted his son-in-law, J. J.
Fretwell, as a partner. He was engaged in business with Mr. Fretwell at
the time of his death.
He was a democrat, but held only minor positions of a political nature.
He was a member of the Baptist Church, and his influence was always
sought in support of every public spirited enterprise. He is remembered
as a gentleman of fine appearance, large, portly and dignified. He died
at Anderson in 1896. In September, 1856, he married Miss Ann Elizabeth
Hammond. She was born in Anderson County, a daughter of Benjamin F.
Hammond, and she survived her husband several years. Mr. and Mrs.
Bleckley became the parents of five daughters: Josephine, widow of John
E. Peoples, of Anderson; Mary C., who married J. J. Fretwell and is
deceased; Ella, wife of William Laughlin, of Anderson; Annie M., who is
married to Albert G. Means, of Anderson; and Zoe, wife of Fred Maxwell,
of Anderson.
[History of South Carolina, Volume 3, 1920, submitted by C. Danielson]
Charles A. Rogers
Charles A. Rogers. Undoubtedly the diversified knowledge, the prudence,
the practical judgment and the persistent industry whereby men become
successful agriculturists, are the same desirable and even necessary
qualities for thorough understanding and satisfactory performance of
the duties of many public offices. Technical details may soon be
learned, but these are only a small part of the measure of usefulness
expected in a responsible public official. A long and successful
contest with the soil, through changing seasons and under both
favorable and unfavorable conditions, well prepare a man for the proper
consideration of other problems and for the exercise of the steady and
faithful attention which these are liable to demand. Thus a wise choice
was made when Charles A. Rogers, county clerk of Rabun County, was
called from his agricultural activities, in which he had been
successfully engaged for many years, to assume the duties of his
present position, in which his efficiency has been amply proven.
Charles A. Rogers was born in Rabun County, Georgia, September 8, 1879,
and is a son of Clennie and Mollie (Hummicut) Rogers, the latter of
whom was born in Georgia in 1857 and still resides in Rabun County. The
father of Charles A. Rogers was born in Tennessee and in boyhood
accompanied his parents to Rabun County, Georgia, where he was reared,
educated and married. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and continued
the same until his death, when aged fifty-four years. Of his family of
six children, Charles A. was the second born, the others being:
Catherine, Mrs. Monte Rogers, residing at Mountain City, Georgia; and
Logan, Jessie, Walter and Mrs. Bessie Giles, all of whom reside in
Rabun County.
Through boyhood Mr. Rogers, who is now secretary and treasurer of the
Clayton Board of Education, attended the public schools here, after
which he assisted his father and in the course of time embarked in
farming for himself, continuing to be actively engaged until 1913, when
he was elected county clerk of Rabun County, since which time his
attention has been largely given to the duties of his office. He
retains the management of his farm, however, one of the best in this
section of the state. Mainly through his own efforts has Mr. Rogers
become a man of ample fortune and that he has also won the confidence
and regard of his fellow citizens is shown by his election to an
important public office. He has always given his political support to
the democratic party.
In 1900 Mr. Rogers was united in marriage with Miss Eva Mozeley, a
daughter of William Madison Mozely, of a well known old family of the
county. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have four children: Alma, Annie, Brandon
and Maude, the youngest having been born at Clayton, February 1, 1915.
Mr. Rogers and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Blue Lodge and Chapter and also
to the Odd Fellows and the Red Men.
[A Standard of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 6, 1917, submitted by C.
Danielson]
James F. Smith
James F. Smith was born in Rabun County, Georgia, in September, 1851,
and is a son of John F. and Sarah H. (Fuller) Smith. Both parents of
Judge Smith were born in Georgia and their entire lives were spent in
the state. Farming was the father's occupation and practically his only
absence from his estate was during the years he gave to serving as a
private in a Georgia regiment, in the Confederate army, during the war
between the states. He survived to the age of eighty-one years, passing
away in 1905, having reared a family of eleven children, James F. being
the fifth in order of birth. The mother died in 1907 at the age of
eighty-three years.
James F. Smith attended the country schools in boyhood and then became
a farmer and still continues to manage a large farm in his native
county, owning many acres of well improved land, although since 1909 he
has not been actively engaged. He has been a factor in democratic
politics for a long time and occasionally has accepted a public office,
at one time serving two terms as tax collector of Rabun County prior to
being elected to his present office of ordinary. The close of his first
term found his public duties so efficiently performed that his party
and the public generally accepted him as a candidate again and
re-elected him. He has some additional interests, being a director of
the Georgia Engineer & Construction Company.
In 1871 Judge Smith was united in marriage with Miss Clarissa A. King,
who is a daughter of Marcus L. King, a representative citizen of old
family settlement in Rabun County. The following children have been
born to Judge and Mrs. Smith: Mrs. Sarah Burrel, who is a resident of
Clayton. Georgia; Mrs. Mary A. Blaylock, who is a resident of Burton,
Georgia; Mrs. Georgia E. Flanders, who resides in Emanuel County,
Georgia; James L., who lives in Stevens County; Thomas F. and Augustus
L., both of whom live at Clayton, Georgia; Hope, who lives in Stevens
County; and Buren C, Coburn and Ray, all of whom reside at Clayton.
Judge Smith is a member of the Baptist Church and is back of many of
its benevolent and philanthropic movements.
Although for many years a man of affluence, owning valuable property at
Clayton in addition to his farm, Judge Smith has known less prosperous
days and what he has accomplished in every way has been due largely to
his own industry and enterprise. He is widely known over Rabun County
and is one of the ablest judges o£ Northern Georgia.
[A Standard of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 6, 1917, submitted by C.
Danielson]
David Munsey--Interview
David Munsey, father of Dr. Munsey, was by nature no ordinary man.
After he deserted his family, he went to Georgia, married again in the
lower walks of life, straightened up, was relicensed to preach— for he
had been a local preacher—and was so good a preacher that he sometimes
preached to packed audiences. Occasionally presiding elders would send
him to take their places in the pulpit at their quarterly meetings when
they could not attend. But it seems that this second probation was not
more successful than the first.
The Rev. H. W. Bays gives the following account of an interview with
Mr. Munsey in his last days:
I met David Munsey, father of the famous W. E. Munsey, in September,
1869, in the little village of Clayton, Rabun County, Ga. He was then
an old man, but straight and finely built. He was poorly clad. I was
standing in the store of Mr. Newton McConnell, in Clayton, when a tall,
poorly clad old man came in and asked for some tobacco. Before I had
learned his name I was struck with the inherent force of his utterance
and with the marks of intelligence in his face. As soon as he had
gotten the tobacco he left without a word, and his step was as light
and springy as that of a boy of fifteen years.
Learning who he was, I followed him to the street, hailed him, and told
him who I was. He seemed glad to meet me, and yet saddened at the
meeting. We stepped behind an old building near by and had a hasty
conversation. I said to him: "You are the father of William E. Munsey."
He replied: "Yes, sir; and I am proud of him." He then drew from the
inner pocket of his well-worn coat a neat little photograph of that
great preacher, and added: "Here, sir, is a small picture of my son
Elbert which he sent me not long ago, and here is a letter from him
asking me to go and live with him, and I am going as soon as I can." I
think that Dr. Munsey lived at that time in Baltimore. In our
conversation he mentioned the facts that Elbert was fond of books in
his early boyhood and that he had tried to put books into his hands.
I begged him to go to his son, and he said that he would; but he never
did, for he was murdered by a negro not long after the interview. He
was at that time miller in a little grist mill, and was perhaps
accustomed to lodge in the mill. While standing in the door of his mill
after night a negro man approached him and shot him fatally. This
killing took place near Clayton, Ga., in the winter of 1870.
There was something in David Munsey's make-up which f1lled me with
regret and at the same time with admiration. He must have been six feet
and three or four inches in height, and at the time of the above
interview he was as straight and erect as an Indian. His speech was
measured, his grammar correct, and he spoke with a force rarely heard
in private conversation. His head was oval and well balanced on his
shoulders; his legs and arms were long and well-shaped; his eye was
deep sky-blue, large and of a somewhat melancholy cast.
[Holston Methodism, Volume 5, 1913, submitted by C. Danielson]
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