Noteworthy among the active and enterprising citizens of Hawkinsville and Pulaski County is Lou Stephen Harrell. He is ever using his means and influence to advance the various worthy objects connected with his community.
Mr. Harrell was born August 30, 1878. His ancestry on both sides can be traced beyond the sixteenth century. Among the pioneer settlers of Pulaski County, his Harrell and Mitchell ancestors are outstanding, having engaged in the Revolutionary War and the War Between the States.
His father, Benjamine Hamilton Harrell, married Mary Obedience Mitchell.
It is interesting to know that his Harrell grandparents were: Wright W. Harrell, who married Sara Ann Hamilton; Levi Harrell, who married Elizabeth Holt; and Levi Harrell (Revolutionary soldier), who married a Mrs. Cole.
His Mitchell grandparents were: Richard D. Mitchell, who married Louisa Gordon Phelps; Stephen Mitchell II, who married Margaret Vass; Stephen Mitchell (Revolutionary soldier), born in Ireland, who married Celia Batts, born in Scotland, and came to Georgia, establishing a home near Heard’s Bridge in Washington County. Their great-grandson, Richard Mitchell and Louisa G. Phelps, married in Pulaski County, July 15, 1846.
The Harrells settled in Pulaski, coming from Ansen County, North Carolina.
Mr. Harrell grew up on the Harrell plantations in Pulaski and Dodge Counties, receiving his education in Dodge County and Eastman. He moved to Hawkinsville in 1902, engaging in an extensive lumber business. He was elected to the office of tax receiver in November 1920, and has faithfully served his county in that capacity since then.
Mr. Harrell is a deacon of the First Baptist Church, coming from a long line of deacons. His great-grandfather, Stephen Mitchell, was a deacon of the first Baptist Church established in Hawkinsville.
He married Miss Frances Evelyn Bagby, daughter of Charles Wright and Elizabeth Adams Bagby, August 23, 1908. To this union was born a son, Lou Stephen Harrell, Jr.