Biographies of Pulaski County Georgia Collections – Page 3 of 6

Biography of Judge Anthony Cowart Pate

Judge Anthony Cowart Pate was a lineal descendant of Sir John Pate Baron of Leicestershire, England, whose son, Major’ Thomas Pate, emigrated to America in 1672, settling in Gloucester County, Virginia. His son, Matthew, married Anne Reade, and their son, Jacob, married Zilla Broach, whose son, Jacob, was the father of John. John married Nancy Cowart in 1794. Their son, Redding, born in 1796, married Elizabeth Miller in 1829. Both of their grandfathers were from North Carolina and soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Their children were John Redding and Anthony Cowart. Anthony was born in Washington County, Georgia, near Sandersville, … Read more

Biography of Josephus Tarver

Among the outstanding citizens of Hawkinsville, and a man well known throughout the State in. the field of journalism, was Mr. Josephus Tarver. The family was prominently connected with the early history of the county. Mr. Tarver was the son of Andrew Jackson Tarver, a member of one of the pioneer families of Georgia, and Mrs. Elizabeth Daniel Tarver. Andrew Jackson Tarver served as a soldier of the Confederacy and died while in camp at Little Rock, Ark. Mrs. Elizabeth Daniel Tarver was the daughter of Dr. Henry Daniels, a practicing dentist, who built and operated Hawkinsville’s first hotel. It … Read more

Biography of Johnathan Joseph Jelks

Johnathan Joseph Jelks, third son of James Oliver and Mary Polhill Jelks, was born January 15, 1841, in Hawkinsville, Ga., spending his life there and in Florida and Macon, Ga., where he died May 11, 1911. In 1861, in the War Between the States, he enlisted in Company G of the Eighth Georgia Infantry. The gallant men of this famous regiment distinguished themselves at the first Battle of Manassas, and were saluted for their bravery by General Beauregard. He served with General Tige Anderson’s Brigade, Longstreet’s Corps, fighting at Dam No. 1, on the Yorktown line, in the Seven Days’ … Read more

Biography of John W. and Robert J. Lancaster

John Wilson, born August 1, 1843, and Robert Johnson, born March 6, 1852, were sons of William (born April 13, 1813, died May 8, 1903) and Pherbia Wilson Lancaster (born March 9, 1821, died April 16, 1900), and grandsons of Washington and Nancy Johnson Lancaster, who came here from Burke County and built a nice home near what is now Bembry’s Mill. Washington obtained these lands, including lot No. 388, the mill site, from William S. Lancaster, a Revolutionary soldier, who purchased the latter from Cornelia Dunahoo at the land drawing in Milledgeville, November 7, 1807. The deed to this … Read more

Biography of John Laurens Anderson

John Laurens Anderson, son of Robert Saunders Anderson and Sarah Wooten Anderson, was born in Pulaski County, February 25, 1848. It was a happy day in his boyhood when his father gave him a sizeable bill to purchase his choice of books at an auction sale of a private library of classics. Naturally studious, from these books he gained more than ordinary knowledge of standard literature and command of the English language. He joined the Confederate Army in his fourteenth year, Company H, Seventh Georgia Reserve Regiment, was severely wounded at Griswoldville, carrying the bullet in his leg thereafter. Standing … Read more

Biography of John Joseph Sparrow

The Sparrows came to Georgia along with other immigrants from Carolina in. the eighteenth century. They lived in Pulaski while it was still a part of Wilkinson County. John Joseph Sparrow (1829-1873), of Pulaski proper, was a son of John Sparrow (1792-1833) and Ellender Crutchfield (17971850). He was a progressive farmer, merchant, and realtor of more than ordinary ability. While his health prevented his acceptance in the army proper, he was active in the service of the Confederacy at home. He was Ordinary of the county from 1862 to 1864, and was ever worthy of the confidence„ and trust placed … Read more

Biography of John James Whitfield

The oldest son of a family of eight children who survived infancy, the exigencies of the situation prevented even a high school education, for at the age of 14 he entered the path as assistant bread winner, taking store jobs at meager pay with John Henry & Son, then M. D. Willcox, D. C. Joiner, and at the age of 17, with Merritt & Coney. On the dissolution of the latter firm, with R. A. Merritt taking the hardware division, young Whitfield entered that business. Mr. Merritt, going to Macon to live in 1889, sold his young protégé a half … Read more

Biography of John Henry Caldwell

The members of the Henry-Caldwell family are descended from ancient families of England, France, and Ireland. Judge John Henry, head of the Henry-Caldwell family in Hawkinsville, was born June 12, in Belfast, Ireland. At the age of five years he came with his parents to this country, locating at Westfield, New York, and coming to Georgia as a very young man. For several years he lived at Hayneville, in Houston County, where he married Miss Civility Coates Kendrick, a descendant of some of the first families of Virginia, who served with distinction during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods. Just after … Read more

Biography of John Daniel DuPree

The DuPree family settled nine miles southwest of Hawkinsville, in what later became DuPree’s Militia District of Pulaski County, in the early 1800’s, and some of- their descendants have lived there continually since. John Daniel DuPree is a direct descendant of Jeremiah DuPree, born in 1754, in Brunswick County, Virginia. Early in life Jeremiah moved to Greensville County, Virginia, from which place he volunteered for the Revolution in 1777, and was appointed ensign. In the Battle of Guilford he received a severe wound which disabled him for three months. He later re-entered the service, was in the expedition to Yorktown … Read more

Biography of John Buchan

The great-grandfather of the Buchans of Pulaski County was John Buchan, a Scotchman. He married Rachel McBride (Irish), and they were immigrants from Carolina in the early part of the eighteenth century. He was an extensive landholder in Pulaski and what is now Dodge, Bleckley, and Laurens Counties, and was Justice of the Peace in 1844 and tax collector in 1852-53. To this union seven children were born. Of these, David Augustus Buchan, a prominent farmer, cattle and slave owner, remained in Pulaski. He married Martha Simmons, and during the Confederate War served in Company J, Fifth Regiment, Georgia Reserves. … Read more

Biography of Joe J. Anderson

Joe J. Anderson, son of Robert Sanders and Sallie Wooten Anderson, was born near Hawkinsville, March 10, 1846, and died September 3, 1926. He married Laura Sheppard of Hawkinsville, Georgia, June 25, 1867. He was a Mason, was reared to agricultural pursuits, and became a large landowner and planter. At sixteen years of age he answered the call to arms, and served four years in Company B, Fourteenth Georgia Artillery, as flag-bearer. In battle at Griswoldville his flagstaff was shot into splinters. He stood on his horse and held the flag high above his head, using his body as a … Read more

Biography of Jesse Stallings Willis

Jesse Stallings Willis, son of Rev. Cary C. Willis, was born May 8, 1835, in Muscogee County, Georgia. He was married to Amanda D. Horne, daughter of Rev. Jesse R. Horne of Houston .County, Georgia, on May 25, 1859. On March 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Forty-fifth Infantry, and was seriously wounded June 27, 1862, in the Seven Days Fight Around Richmond. He was taken by a slow train on a day coach to the railroad point nearest his home in Georgia, hauled from there in a spring wagon twenty-five miles in an unconscious condition and was for … Read more

Biography of James Patrick McGriff

The name of McGriff is inseparably linked with the early history of Pulaski County. James Patrick McGriff, the subject of this sketch, is the son of Patrick Thomas McGriff and Frances Sutton McGriff. He was born in Pulaski County, May 31, 1869. He received his early education in the schools of Hawkinsville and later had extensive training at Eastman’s Business School in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., graduating from there in 1886. Returning home, he engaged in the mercantile business until 1893. During that year he, was elected to the position of clerk and treasurer of the City of Hawkinsville, and served … Read more

Biography of James Oliver Jelks Jr.

James Oliver Jelks, Jr., was born July 4, 1839, the second son of James Oliver Jelks, whose ancestors came to this country from Wales, and of Mary Polhill, of Burke County, Georgia. Mr. Jelks, Jr., was a pioneer merchant of Hawkinsville. He erected the first building used exclusively for storekeeping, and established the general mercantile business of J. 0. Jelks and Brother in 1865, one of the first business firms to be organized there after the War Between the States, in which he enlisted in Company G, Eighth Georgia Regiment. This firm was located at the corner of Commerce and … Read more

Biography of James Oliver Jelks

James Oliver Jelks, son of William Jelks and Mary Wallace, was born October 29, 1802, in Halifax County, North Carolina, where his mother’s people were reared. His father’s parents came directly from Wales, settling in Edgecombe County, N. C. They were the parents of Ruskin, Dixon, Etheldred, Robert, Jane, and William. Ruskin Jelks settled in Baton Rouge, La., and became the founder of that branch of the family. William moved to Greene County, Georgia, traveling in a snowstorm, when James Oliver was one month old. Three years later he moved to Pulaski County, Georgia. Mary Wallace’s brother, Elijah, moved from … Read more

Biography of James Lucas Walker

James Lucas Walker, better known as “Jim Crow,” was born on July 18, 1838, at Longstreet, Bleckley County, Georgia (formerly a part of Pulaski County), and died in Cochran, Georgia, on July 31, 1913. His grandfather, George Walker, with his brother, Thomas, and his sister, Mary, and her husband, John Dallas, came directly from Ireland to America in 1750, landing in Pennsylvania. George and Thomas immigrated to Georgia, settling in Burke County. The former was a soldier with the Georgia troops in the Revolutionary War. He was the father of David Walker, who married Ann Lucas. They became the parents … Read more

Biography of James Lewis Lamkin

James Lewis Lamkin was the grandson of Lewis Abb Lewis Lamkin, who was directly descended from original Welsh emigrants, and was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1751, and died November 8, 1832. He spent most of his life in Nash County, N. C., and was a most distinguished citizen. His wife was Charity Williams, daughter of Samuel Williams, whose will is still in possession of one of his descendants. Their sons were Samuel, Lewis Abb Lewis, Jr., founder of the family in Texas, William and John Lewis. John Lewis was born in Nash County, N. C., January 15, 1784. … Read more

Biography of James Franklin Coney

James Franklin Coney, son of Ezekiel and Sara Riley Coney, was born June 1, 1855, in Pulaski County, Georgia. He was a lifelong resident of the county, moving to Hawkinsville when a small lad. Mr. Coney grew up in the respect and confidence of the people, which he enjoyed fully during the seventy years of his life. Receiving his education in the schools of his native city, he later graduated from the Commercial College, Baltimore, Md. Being naturally endowed with an even-tempered and pleasing disposition, an unusually bright mind and sound discriminating judgment, he demonstrated in his early career his … Read more

Biography of James Ferdinand Fleming

One of the most interesting of the pioneer citizens of Pulaski was James Ferdinand Fleming. His parents, James and Elizabeth Leonard Fleming, came from South Carolina in 1855 and settled at “Seven Miles Farm,” where he was born on June 8, 1858. When quite young he learned his first lesson in thrift by hauling logs to pay his tuition to private school. He proved himself a good student and won a certificate of merit. He began business as a farmer, but in 1883 he entered the mercantile business, which he continued successfully in the same building until his death. His … Read more

Biography of James Burwell Mitchell

James Burwell Mitchell, son of Dr. John Vass Mitchell and Janet Atkins Mitchell, was born in Hawkinsville, Georgia, November 16, 1834, and died November 27, 1911. He began the study of law at an early age with Judge Peter E. Love, judge of the Superior Court of the Southern District, and was admitted to the bar April 17, 1854, when only nineteen years old. He commenced the practice of his profession in his native town. By fitness, study, knowledge and experience he was favored for public service. His taste for books was enduring, and he was a constant student. He … Read more