Tift County, Georgia Genealogy and History - Presented by Genealogy Trails History Group

Hendricks, Willie H., M. D., is one of the leading medical practitioners of Tift county, his residence and professional headquarters being in the thriving town of Tifton. He was born on a plantation a few miles west of Statesboro, Bulloch county, Ga., Aug. 16, 1873, a son of Robert and Nancy (Parish) Hendricks, both of whom were likewise native of Bulloch county. In 1889 they removed to Arkansas, where they still live, the father being a successful agriculturist. After attending the public schools of Bulloch county Doctor Hendricks continued his studies in the high school at Millen, Screven county, where he completed his more purely academic education. In preparation for the work of his chosen profession he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis, Mo., and graduated in this institution as a member of the class of 1897, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1901 he took an effective post-graduate course in the New Orleans polyclinic, and in 1903 did farther post-graduate work in the New York polyclinic. He has built up an excellent practice in Tifton and his success in the work of his profession, both as a physician and surgeon has been most gratifying. He is identified with the American medical association and the Medical Association of Georgia ; is surgeon to the Georgia Southern & Florida railroad and medical examiner for the following life insurance companies: Equitable, Penn Mutual, Pacific Mutual, Sun Life, Franklin Life, Michigan Mutual and Provident Savings, as well as for the Knights of Pythias and Woodmen of the World, of both of which fraternal orders he is a member. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Free and Accepted Masons. He is vice-president of the Merchants' and Farmers, bank, of Tifton, and is one of the progressive citizens of that city. In politics he renders allegiance to the Democracy and belongs to the Baptist church. His wife is a Methodist. On Dec. 21, 1898, Doctor Hendricks was united in marriage to Miss Lula May Dell, daughter of Charles G. and Margaret A. (Thompson) Dell, of Tift, Ga. The children of this union are: Vera May, born Dec. 16, 1900, and Margaret Glenn, born Oct. 11, 1902.
Source Georgia: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and ... edited by Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans

Hon. Robert Cochran Ellis, a leading member of the bar of Southern Georgia, now in practice at Tifton in Tift County, is a former member of the Georgia State Legislature, and has found and utilized many opportunities to serve the public welfare.
He was born in Quitman County, Georgia, December 15, 1872, a son of Thomas J. and Rebecca (Gay) Ellis. His father was born in Houston County, Georgia, in 1831, but his parents soon thereafter moved to the neighborhood of Union Church in then Lee, later Randolph and now Quitman County, Georgia. He was educated there and was engaged in farming when the war broke out. Offering his services to the Confederacy, he was soon taken out of the ranks and sent to Savannah where he was made a military conductor on the Central Railway with the rank of lieutenant and brevet colonel. His run extended from Savannah to Macon, Georgia, a time, and then from Macon to Georgetown. At the close of the war he resumed farming in Quitman County and for many years was a prominent and prosperous planter of that locality. He had a keen interest fa the public welfare, was active in politics, and for many years held the office of tax collector of Quitman County. He gained and held the complete confidence of all people with whom he associated. When he died in Quitman County in 1912, he was eighty-one years of age. His wife passed away in 1871 at the age of thirty-six, leaving nine children, of whom Robert was sixth. The other children now living are: James L. Ellis, M. D., Dothan, Alabama; George R. Ellis, attorney at law, Americus, Georgia; Rev. Thomas D. Ellis, D. D., now presiding elder Americus District, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mrs. William M. Bryan, Thomasville, Georgia.
Robert Cochran Ellis gained his early training in the country schools of Quitman County, and developed a good constitution by assisting his father on the home farm. He attended Emory College, from which he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in }897. After two years of school teaching, having decided to become a lawyer, he entered the office of his brother, Col. George R. Ellis, of Americus in Sumter County, with whom he remained two years as a student. Admitted to the bar in 1901 he began practice at Americus, but in the same year removed to Tifton, where he has built up his practice and local reputation as a member of the bar. In the meantime other connections have been formed with the business and civic life of his state. He is a director of the National Bank of Tifton, is vice president of the Empire Loan and Trust Company of Americus, and he has some extensive farming property in Tift County.
His service in the Legislature of Georgia ran from 1911 to 1914. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1914, but has recently been elected again and is a member of the Legislature for 1917-18. During his earlier terms he was a member of the General Judiciary, Ways and Means, Agricultural and other committees. In 1914 he fathered the important measure known as the Public' Health Bill, which is now the law of the state and represents some of the most advanced thought and standards of the public health movement. Mr. Ellis is a member of the Georgia State Bar Association, the Tift County Bar Association, belongs to the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is unmarried.
Source: A standard history of Georgia and Georgians: Volume 6 - Page 3214

Rawson, Charles Wilson, of Albany, is one of the representative business men and popular citizens of Dougherty county, where he has made his home from the time of his birth, and is at the present time mayor of his city. He was born Dec. 5, 1866, and is a son of Charles Wilson Rawson, Sr., and Annie Elizabeth Rawson. He has two sisters, Mrs. Annie Tarver and Mrs. Alice Denison, both of whom are likewise residents of Albany. Mr. Rawson is a grandson of the late Col. Nelson Tift, who was the founder of the city of Albany, and in whose honor Tift county, organized in 1905, was named. He was the first Democratic congressman from the first district of Georgia after the close of the Civil war. The subject of this sketch secured his early educational training in the schools of his native town, and from 1885 to 1887, inclusive, was private secretary to his grandfather, Colonel Tift. In 1888 he engaged in the mercantile business in Albany and has since continued actively identified with the industrial and commercial affairs of this thriving municipality, being now half-owner and also manager of the grocery business conducted by the firm of Mock & Rawson ; president of the Albany Machinery Company; president of the retail grocers' association of Albany, and is recognized as a progressive and reliable business man and public-spirited citizen. In politics Mr. Rawson has most strenuously held to the principles advocated by the Democratic party; was a member of the city council of Albany in 1903-4, but was not a candidate for re-election in 1905. A still more distinctive mark of popular esteem was to be accorded him, however, for in that year he was elected mayor of the city, without opposition, for the two years' term beginning Jan. 1, 1906. He is also chairman of the water and electric-light commission and chairman of the city board of education. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church and he is at the present time junior warden of the vestry of St. Paul's parish, as well as chairman of the finance committee. On Nov. 8, 1888, Mr. Rawson was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Cheatham, daughter of Col. O. F. and Mattie (Gardner) Cheatham, of Edgefield, S. C, and of this union were born two children—Charles Wilson, who died at the age of three and one-half years, and Lucy Fitz Allen, who died at the age of two and one-half years.
Georgia: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and ... edited by Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans

Hendricks, Willie H., M. D., is one of the leading medical practitioners of Tift county, his residence and professional headquarters being in the thriving town of Tifton. He was born on a plantation a few miles west of Statesboro, Bulloch county, Ga., Aug. 16, 1873, a son of Robert and Nancy (Parish) Hendricks, both of whom were likewise native of Bulloch county. In 1889 they removed to Arkansas, where they still live, the father being a successful agriculturist. After attending the public schools of Bulloch county Doctor Hendricks continued his studies in the high school at Millen, Screven county, where he completed his more purely academic education. In preparation for the work of his chosen profession he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis, Mo., and graduated in this institution as a member of the class of 1897, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1901 he took an effective post-graduate course in the New Orleans polyclinic, and in 1903 did farther post-graduate work in the New York polyclinic. He has built up an excellent practice in Tifton and his success in the work of his profession, both as a physician and surgeon has been most gratifying. He is identified with the American medical association and the Medical Association of Georgia; is surgeon to the Georgia Southern & Florida railroad and medical examiner for the following life insurance companies: Equitable, Penn Mutual, Pacific Mutual, Sun Life, Franklin Life, Michigan Mutual and Provident Savings, as well as for the Knights of Pythias and Woodmen of the World, of both of which fraternal orders he is a member. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Free and Accepted Masons. He is vice-president of the Merchants’ and Farmers, bank, of Tifton, and is one of the progressive citizens of that city. In politics he renders allegiance to the Democracy and belongs to the Baptist church. His wife is a Methodist. On Dec. 21, 1898, Doctor Hendricks was united in marriage to Miss Lula May Dell, daughter of Charles G. and Margaret A. (Thompson) Dell, of Tyty, Ga. The children of this union are: Vera May, born Dec. 16, 1900, and Margaret Glenn, born Oct. 11, 1902.
(Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Angelia Carpenter)