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Tattnall County,
Georgia
Biographies
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Hon. William H. Brewton
Hon. William H. Brewton. When, in January, 1915, William H. Brewton was
elected ordinary of Evans County, the new and prosperous county
recently created from parts of the counties of Bulloch and Tattnall,
the people of this locality gave expression to the confidence in which
they held this sterling citizen and to their commendation of his former
efforts in offices of public trust. A lifelong resident of this part of
the state, the greater part of his energies have been devoted to
agricultural pursuits, in which he has not only displayed his abilities
as a planter but as well his earnest belief in high business ideals.
Judge Brewton was born near the town of Bellville, in Tattnall County,
Georgia, December 21, 1865, and is a son of Berry B. and Candacy
(Tippins) Brewton. His father was born in this county, a member of an
old Georgia family, and was residing here engaged in farming when the
war between the states came on. He offered his services as a soldier to
the Confederacy and was accepted as a private of an infantry company
recruited in his county, which subsequently saw much active service.
Mr. Brewton participated in many engagements during the three and
one-half years of his service, and on one occasion was slightly
wounded, but at the end of the war returned in safety to his family
with an excellent record for bravery and faithful performance of duty.
lie then resumed his farming operations, and continued to be engaged
therein during the remaining years of his life, his death occurring in
Tattnall County in 1912. He was a stanch and unswerving democrat in his
political views, took a prominent part in the councils of his party in
this section, showed an interest in public affairs, and in 1885 and
1886 served as tax collector of Tattnall County. He was a member of the
Methodist Church, to which Mrs. Brewton, also a native of Tattnall
County, likewise belonged. In their family there were eleven children,
and of these seven still survive.
The early education of William H. Brewton was secured in Tattnall
County, where he attended the old Brewton schoolhouse, so named in
honor of the family. Later he was sent by his father to a boarding
school, where he remained several months and then returned to his home,
where he completed his training for the agricultural life which he
expected to lead. At the age of twenty-one years he embarked upon his
independent career as a farmer, settling on a property on Bull Creek,
which he brought to a high state of cultivation. Eventually he disposed
of this land and bought his present farm, then in Bulloch County, but
which is now located in Evans County, in the vicinity of Claxton. This
is a tract of 675 acres, with about 200 under cultivation, part of
which is devoted to the raising of cotton, and a part is pasture land,
where Judge Brewton breeds a high grade of cattle. Both as a general
farmer and stockraiser he has gained an enviable reputation, while his
business methods have never been criticized.
From the time of the attainment of his majority, Judge Brewton has been
a stanch and unwavering democrat. His first official position was that
of constable, in which he served for six years, and at the expiration
of his term he was made justice of the peace, that office occupying his
attention for four years. By the end of his service in the latter
capacity the people had come to regard him as one of the strong and
reliable men of the community, the best kind of material for service in
an official capacity. Accordingly they elected him, in January, 1915,
to the office of ordinary, or judge of probate, of Evans County, and
have since had no reason to regret of their choice. Judge Brewton has
the judicial mind and possesses a broad knowledge of human nature, its
failings and peculiarities. His brand of justice is always tempered
with humanity, and there are few jurists in this part of the state who
are more popular generally with the law abiding citizens. With his
family he attends the Methodist Church, while his fraternal connection
is with the Knights of Pythias.
Mrs. Brewton was before her marriage, April 16, 1889, Miss Sheldona
Hodges, the daughter of I. J. and Mary (McDilda) Hodges, and born June
1, 1866. Eleven children have been born to Judge and Mrs. Brewton: one
who died young; Mamie, born in 1890; Nellie, born in 1892; Mattie, born
in 1893; Gussie, born in 1895; William McKinley, born in 1897; Edna,
born in 1898; Sallie Kate, born in 1899; Blanche, born in 1901; one who
died in infancy; Ida, born in 1905; and Alline, born in 1907.
[A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, 1917, submitted
by C. Danielson]
Hon.
Charles Gordon Edwards
Hon. Charles Gordon Edwards. Now in his fifth consecutive term as a
Georgia representative in Congress, Charles G. Edwards is one of the
brilliant and resourceful public men of Georgia, and has shown real
ability as a leader and successful worker in the domain of national
politics. A lawyer by profession, he comes of one of the finest
families of Tattnall County, where the name is one of the most
respected in that section of Georgia. Congressman Edwards himself is a
resident of Savannah, where he began his law practice fifteen years ago.
Born in Tattnall County July 2, 1878, he was one of a family of nine
children, seven boys and two girls. One son, Robert H. Edwards, died
two years ago leaving six sons. The brothers and sisters of Congressman
Edwards are: J. C., Dr. T. M., Robert H., W. L., Dr. S. O., and Grover
Cleveland Edwards; and Mrs. Jennie Hendricks and Mrs. Dr. B. E. Miller.
All his brothers are highly respected citizens and are all living in
the county of their birth, engaged in farming and other business and
professional pursuits.
The first American ancestor of Congressman Edwards was Willis F.
Edwards, who came from England to Virginia, moved from that state to
North Carolina, and was one of the substantial farmers and planters in
those states during colonial and early statehood times. The
distinguishing part of his record was his service as a soldier in the
Continental line during the Revolutionary war. He enlisted from North
Carolina. The old powder gourd which he carried in the war is now in
the National Museum at Washington, D. C.
This patriot and first settler of the Edwards family married Sarah
O'Neal. Her family first settled in Virginia, later moving to North
Carolina, and her father, John O'Neal, was likewise a soldier in the
Revolution, and as the name indicates came originally from Scotland.
One of the sons of the Revolutionary soldier was also named Willis F.
Edwards, and lived in North Carolina. In the next generation was Dr.
William H. Edwards, grandfather of the Georgia congressman. He came to
Georgia as a mere boy, settling in Tattnall County, where he earned the
distinction of casting the first democratic vote in that county. He was
a prominent physician and also a citizen and served as member of two
constitutional 'conventions in this state. He was a member of the
Methodist Church. He owned large tracts of land in Tattnall, Bryan and
adjoining counties. Doctor Edwards married Miss Sands of Tattnall
County. She was of Irish extraction, with some Scotch admixture. They
reared a large family, only two of whom are now living: Hon. Willis F.
Edwards, third, and lIon. Thomas J. Edwards of Tattnall County.
Hon. Thomas Jefferson Edwards, father of Charles G., was born in
Tattnall County and in business lines has followed farming and
merchandising. His early education was limited because of the fact that
the war broke out in his early manhood and he was one of the boy
soldiers of the Confederacy. lIe served throughout the war from 1861
until the close as a private in the ranks, and for a time was a courier
with Gen. Bob Anderson. He and five brothers entered the war, one of
them was killed on the battlefield and two wounded.
Thomas J. Edwards represented Tattnall County two terms in the House of
Representatives, and is an active democrat and Methodist. He married
Miss Ann Conley, who died two years ago, and is buried in the. Brenton
Cemetery in Tattnall County (now Evans County). Her father was the late
Rev. William Fletcher Conley, while her mother was a Miss Boring, who
came from the vicinity of Ringgold. Georgia. Rev. William F. Conley was
one of the ablest ministers of the Methodist Church in Tattnall County,
and he likewise served as a member of the constitutional convention
many years ago. The Conleys were also among the earliest American
settlers and some of them saw service in the Revolutionary war.
With the example of so many courageous and worthy ancestors before him
and around him, Charles Gordon Edwards may be said to have been
fortunate from his very birth. As a boy he attended the common schools
of Tattnall and Bryan counties, the Gordon Institute at Barnesville,
the Florida Agricultural College at Lake City, Florida, and in 1898
took his degree LL. B. from the law department of the University of
Georgia. He was a member of a graduating class in law school of forty
men, and a number of others in the same class have since risen to
distinction. Among them might be mentioned Richard M. Lester, prominent
at the bar and in state politics, now a partner in the law practice
with Mr. Edwards under the firm name of Edwards & Lester;
Congressman J. R. Walker; Railroad Commissioner J. A. Perry;
Representatives Fowler of Bibb County, J. F. Mitchell of Thomas County,
J. O. Adams of Gainesville, Georgia, and Assistant United States
Attorney Charles Akerman.
When only twenty years of age Mr. Edwards began practice at Reidsville
in Tattnall County, but from there moved to Savannah and has been a
member of the bar of that city since January, 1900. In these fifteen
years he has had three partnerships. While at Reidsville he was with
Judge J. V. Kelley under the firm name of Kelley & Edwards; at
Savannah was with Col. Robert J. Travis, under the firm name of Travis
& Edwards; and then was associated with Mr. A. L. Alexander, of
Savannah, under the firm name of Alexander & Edwards until their
relationship was dissolved when Mr. Edwards went to Congress. Mr.
Edwards has recently formed a co-partnership with Hon. Richard M.
Lester. All the firms and the individuals named have been very
successful as lawyers in Georgia. Mr. Edwards has, after ten years of
congressional service, declined a re-election to Congress in order to
resume his law practice at Savannah, with his old schoolmate and
friend, Richard M. Lester. Mr. Edwards was the youngest man in the
Sixtieth and Sixty-first congresses ever elected from Georgia.
From early youth Mr. Edwards has taken a studious and practical
interest in politics, and after his admission to the bar and before his
removal to Savannah he was nominated by the democrats for
representative of Tattnall County. He declined the nomination, though
there was no opposition and the nomination practically assured an
election, for the reason that he was preparing to move to Savannah. His
natural leadership among men, and an inheritance of political talent
derived from his ancestors on both sides, kept Mr. Edwards in the
center of things political at Savannah, even while he was busy in
establishing his reputation as a lawyer. On October 11, 1906, at
Savannah he was nominated for Congress by the democrats, and was
elected in the general election of November, 1906. He took his seat in
the Sixtieth Congress, and has since been re-elected to the
Sixty-first, Sixty-second, Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth congresses,
serving continuously from March, 1907, with his present term expiring
in March, 1917. Those who are best informed on the subject of
individual values in the current congresses at Washington place a high
estimate upon the influence and leadership of Charles G. Edwards in the
House of Representatives. He is a member of some of the most important
committees, including the committee on rivers and harbors, and has
studied to make of himself a valuable representative not only of his
home state but of the country at large in the solution of all national
problems. It will be recalled that it was Congressman Edwards who
secured the appropriation with which the handsome monument to Generals
Screven and Stewart were erected at Midway Cemetery in Liberty County,
Georgia. He is also a member of the National Good Roads Congress.
There are many organizations and movements which have claimed his
attention and which are the stronger by his membership. He belongs to
the Georgia Bar Association, the Savannah Bar Association, the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the various fraternal and benevolent
orders, and shows a keen interest in all charitable work, was a member
of the Sigma Nu college fraternity of the University of Georgia
Chapter, is affiliated with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Mystic Shrine, the Sons of
Confederate Veterans, etc. He served in the Savannah Volunteer Guards
of the Georgia Militia as a private, as corporal and as sergeant, and
was later a lieutenant in the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, First Georgia
Regiment.
On December 17, 1902, Congressman Edwards married at Waycross, Georgia,
Miss Ora Beach. Mrs. Edwards gained her education in the high school of
Waycross, in Cox College at College Park, Georgia, and is a graduate
from the latter institution. She is a daughter of the late Hon. W. W.
and Mrs. Margie (Hinson) Beach of Waycross. The Hinsons are one of the
oldest and best known families of Coffee and Jeff Davis counties,
Georgia. Her father, Hon. W. W. Beach, represented his native County of
Appling in the Georgia Legislature, and subsequently removed to Ware
County, Georgia. He was a popular and progressive citizen, and at the
time of his death was a man of considerable wealth and a large land
owner. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have one son, Master Charles Beach Edwards,
born October 30, 1904.
[A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, 1917, submitted
by C. Danielson]
John
Herschel Moore
John Herschel Moore. One of the live and enterprising business men of
Reidsville, Tattnall County, for a number of years has been John
Herschel Moore. He is now proprietor and manager of the only cotton
ginning establishment in that town and also conducts a fine farm in
Tattnall County. His own career has been worked out in this county, and
his family have been members of this community for a great many years.
Mr. Moore was born in Tattnall County, August 10, 1872. His father was
Asbury Porter Moore, who was born in Tattnall County March 31, 1839.
His mother's maiden name is Queen Victoria Maddox, who was born in
Tattnall County sixty-two years ago. Asbury P. Moore followed farming
all his active life. He was in the war between the states, and
volunteered with some of the first troops to leave Tattnall County for
the front. He was under Generals Lawton and Gordon up to the time he
was captured, and spent eighteen months in prison on Johnson's Island
in Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio. After the war he took up farming in
Tattnall County and was long regarded as one of the substantial and
honorable residents of that community. He died February 28, 1916. He
and his wife had three children: John H.; M. Harvey, who is now
thirty-five years of age; and Miss Aliph, aged thirty.
John H. Moore did not begin to attend school until he was eight years
of age. Then for two and a half years he had the advantages of local
schools for three months each year and after that his education was
left largely to his own study and such as he could acquire from the
school of practical experience. He followed farm work and early
manifested a special inclination for mechanical pursuits, and was
employed as a machinist or machinist's helper at different places. He
then went into business with the firm of Southwell & Moore as
cotton ginners, and to their plant they added a novelty wood working
establishment. This firm subsequently became that of Moore & Smith,
and they finally took another partner by the name of Lewis, Each one of
the three partners had a different line of machine work, and in the
aggregate they conducted a large and prosperous business. Finally Mr.
Moore bought out the interests of his partners and abandoned the
machine shop and has since concentrated all his time upon ginning
cotton and planing mill work. He now has the only complete ginning
establishment in Reidsville and it is a very busy establishment
especially during the fall and winter months. When his time is not
taken up with cotton ginning, Mr. Moore looks after his fine farm near
Reidsville, and he owns an attractive home in the town.
Mr. Moore married Miss Roxie Smith, daughter of Zach Smith, from Union
County, North Carolina. She died July 11, 1916, and left six children:
Vernon, aged seventeen; Aurelia, aged sixteen; Effie Lee, aged
fourteen; Raymond Marconi, aged twelve; Edwin, aged ten; and Dorothy,
aged seven. Mr. Moore is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and with his
family is a member of the Methodist Church.
[A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, 1917, submitted
by C. Danielson]
Hon.
Sheldon Perkins Smith
Hon. Sheldon Perkins Smith. When someone speaks of the grand old man of
Lyons and Toombs County it is only the stranger in that community who
has to be informed that reference is made to the venerable judge of the
Probate Court, Sheldon Perkins Smith. Now nearly eighty-five years of
age, practically his entire life has been one of unselfish service and
devotion to his fellow men and his home community. It is common report
in Toombs County that Judge Smith, as a result of his impulsive and
broad-minded generosity, has given away a fortune. In fact he has
apparently found his chief pleasure in helping those that needed help,
regardless of politics, religion or creed. It would be difficult to
conceive a higher degree of esteem than that paid by his fellow
citizens to this fine old citizen of Lyons.
Born in the State of Rhode Island June 27, 1831, Judge Smith is a son
of Nicholas Peek and Urania (Turtelott) Smith. America has been the
home of this branch of the Smith family for about two centuries. The
immigrant ancestor was Christopher Smith, who came from England and
settled in Rhode Island, and his oldest son was Benjamin. The line of
descent thenceforward is traced through Stephen, Simeon, Nicholas and
finally Judge Smith. On the maternal side the Turtelott family were
French Huguenots. Judge Smith's grandmother Dorcas Turtelott married
Capt. Jonathan Aborn, who was master of a sailing vessel, and he died
while on a voyage at Calcutta, India, in June, 1820. The family was
established in Georgia by Nicholas Peck Smith, who in 1824 came to
Tattnall County and established a mercantile enterprise. In 1832 he
sent North for his family, and they made their home on the Altamaha
River in Tattnall County, where he continued his career as a successful
merchant and planter until his death in 1867 at the age of eighty
years. His wife passed away in 1841. There was a large family of
children, including the following: Dorcas, who died in Toombs County in
February, 1911; Daniel, who died in Plainfield, New York; Urania, who
married Farquhar McRae, and she died at Mount Vernon; Sheldon Perkins,
next in age; Nicholas P., who died of yellow fever at Savannah in 1876;
Mary A., who first married Dr. Lucien Tucker, and is now the widow of
Dr. James Harrison and resides in Washington, D. C.; Elizabeth died in
Liberty County, Georgia, in 1858; Robert A. died at Charleston, South
Carolina, in 1863 from typhoid fever while in the Confederate army. The
daughter’s, were all educated in the Ladies' Seminary at Warren, Rhode
Island.
Judge Smith finished his education under a private tutor, Col. J. S.
Bradwell, at Hinesville, Georgia. For a number of years he was with his
father in the store, until the latter's death, and then employed his
resources in merchandising and planting in Tattnall County. The most
prominent feature of his career, however, has not been his business
success, but his official service. During the Civil war Governor Joseph
E. Brown, the war governor of Georgia, appointed him justice of the
peace for Tattnall, later Toombs County, and that office he filled with
admirable ability and with an administration of justice which was firm
but kindly, sympathetic and interested, for fully half a century, from
1863 until 1913. In 1913 Judge Smith was elected Judge of Probate or
Ordinary for Toombs County, and in that dignified and useful office it
is likely that he will spend his last days. Judge Smith has always been
an admirer of the principles of Masonry, though he has never joined the
order himself.
On December 5, 1853, in Tattnall County he married Miss Frances Bell,
who was born in Tattnall County, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth E.
(Johnson) Bell. Her mother was the daughter of Allen E. Johnson. After
more than half a century of married companionship Mrs. Smith passed
away in June, 1908. Thirteen children were born to her, and a number of
them are still living and filling dignified and useful positions in the
world. Elizabeth died in 1871; Frances E. is the wife of Harrison
Clifton, of Toombs County; Dorcas married Henry Mann and died in Toombs
County; Joseph B. is a resident of Kingsland, Georgia; Sheldon P. lives
in Geneva, Florida; Nicholas was accidentally killed by the Southern
Railway at Baxley, Georgia; Mary, who married Dan McMillan died in
Montgomery County, Georgia; Octavia died in Tattnall County; Robert is
now state representative from Toombs County and a farmer in that
locality; Allen is an engineer for the Georgia Southern Railway at
Valdosta; Daisy is the wife of J. A. Pearson, who alternates in
residence between Savannah and Tattnall County; Simeon died in infancy;
Louise lives at home with her father in Lyons.
Prior to the war both Judge Smith and his father owned from forty to
fifty slaves and conducted one of the largest plantations in Tattnall
County. However, slavery was not an institution which Judge Smith
favored, and he literally fought the secession movement in Georgia, and
for that reason aroused much ill feeling and prejudice against him. The
unpopularity of that time has long since passed away, and the views
which he advocated almost alone have long since been accepted by the
great majority of right thinking people.
[A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, 1917, submitted
by C. Danielson]
Manning
Jasper Stubbs
Manning Jasper Stubbs. Among the substantial farmers of Evans County
who have made an especially creditable record in husbandry and in
citizenship is Manning Jasper Stubbs, whose attractive home and
productive farm are situated at Claxton. While Mr. Stubbs is perhaps
best known as an agriculturist, he has also a wide business
acquaintance, having been for thirty-five years the proprietor of a
cotton gin at Claxton. He is a methodical, progressive and successful
farmer and business man and a citizen in whom every worthy publie
enterprise has always found a ready and earnest supporter.
Mr. Stubbs was born February 10, 1855, in Tattnall County, Georgia, and
is a son of James Stephen and Rachael (Moody) Stubbs. His father, a
native of North Carolina, was an early settler of Tattnall County,
where he followed carpentry and farming, and where he had just entered
upon what promised to be a successful career when his death occurred in
1860. He was a man of substantial traits of character and highly
esteemed among those who knew him. Mrs. Rachael (Moody) Stubbs was born
in Liberty County, Eastern Georgia, and died in 1905.
Manning J. Stubbs was only five years of age when his father died, but
he was carefully trained by his devoted mother and secured a fair
education in the public schools of' his native county. When ready to
enter upon his career he adopted the vocation of farming and through
perseverance and industry managed to accumulate a small property, to
which he had added from time to time as his finances have permitted
until he is now the owner of a valuable and productive farm. This he
has improved with modern buildings and good equipment, and operates
under the latest approved methods. About the year 1880, Mr. Stubbs
became interested in cotton ginning, and this business has furnished an
outlet for his energies during thirty-five years. He has built up a
business in Evans County that is important in size and scope and has
established a reputation as a strictly reliable, far-sighted and
capable business man. As a citizen he has not been an office seeker,
but has endeavored at all times to discharge his share of the
responsibilities of citizenship, and for more than twenty-four years
has been judge of one of the justice courts of his locality.
Politically he adheres to the principles of the democratic party.
In 1880 Mr. Stubbs was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Melissa
Swindle, of Tattnall County, Georgia, and to this union there have been
born fourteen children, of whom seven still survive: Mrs. Lulu Legraid;
William Talley, who is single and associated with his father in farming
and the gin business; Mrs. Birdie Lee Dorsey; Mrs. Gussie Moore; Mrs.
Anna Wambles, and the Misses Nancy Kate and Jessie Stubbs, who are
unmarried and reside with their parents.
Mr. Stubbs was reared in the faith of the Primitive Baptist Church and
has been a member of that denomination all of his life, being at
present clerk of the congregation at Claxton.
[A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, 1917, submitted
by C. Danielson]
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