The name Scarborough is an old and honorable one. Family records show that several brothers came to this country during the Revolutionary War and settled here. The Scarborough coat of arms shows that this family descended from the nobility of Great Britain.
Noah Scarborough emigrated from South Carolina to Houston County, Georgia, later moving to Pulaski County, near the present Friendship Baptist Church, about 1836. (Records show he paid tax in said county in 1837.) He was a large landowner, being given a land grant for his services in the Mexican War. He donated the land on which the first Friendship Church was built, and in 1852 was buried in this churchyard-being the first person interred there.
Josey, son of Noah Scarborough, was born in 1822, and attended school in Houston County, Georgia. He was a justice of the peace and a Mason. In 1843 he married Nancy Elinor Knight, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Fountain) Knight, the latter of an old Georgia family. During the War Between the States he served in the Forty-fifth Georgia Regiment. He died in 1864 of an illness in the war, and is buried in Dalton, Georgia. Their children are: John Franklin, who married Susan Singletary, who died in 1927; Harmon David, who married Mary Taylor, who died in 1932; Mary Isabella, who married John Gunn, who died in 1928; Amanda, who married Augustus Mixon, who died in 1913; Ellen Bethany, who married John Tippett, who died in 1904; Malissa, who married William Faircloth, who died in 1931; Thomas Jefferson, who married Martha Mims. Verna Scarborough, great-granddaughter of Josey and Elinor Scarborough, married Dr. J. C. Thoroughman, of Newnan, Georgia (noted surgeon of Changchow, China), in 1929. They are now foreign missionaries there. Their children are: Margaret and James Chansellor.
Thomas J., son of Josey and Elinor Scarborough, was born February 6, 1845. At the age of nineteen he enlisted in the Confederate Army, in the Fifth Georgia Reserves. During his services in the war he was stationed as a guard at the Andersonville prison. He has attained the ripe age of ninety years with alert mental faculties, and possesses a cheerful smile. He is a member of Friendship Baptist Church and is a devout Christian. On December 20, 1868, he married Martha Mims of Houston County. Their children are: Thomas Jefferson, died 1900; Ollie, died in infancy; Dr. Joseph Franklin, married Ellen Hogsett, died 1902; Robert Lee, married Georgia Turner; Lucy Elinor, married Clark Ligon; David Crockett, married Mary Louis Fleming.
Robert Lee, son of Thomas and Martha (Mims) Scarborough, was born December 7, 1876. “Bob,” as he is fondly known to the people of the county, is a man of a high sense of honor and sterling qualities of mind. He is a prominent merchant and planter. His education was mainly obtained at New Ebenezer College, Cochran, Georgia, now Middle Georgia College, where he graduated in 1895. He is one of the county’s largest landowners and most successful farmers. He bears a marked devotion for his home and family, and is known for his integrity and thrift. In his dealings with the business world it may well be said of him: “In his face I see a map of truth, loyalty, and honesty.” On December 29, 1901, he married Georgia Winifred Turner, a graduate of Hawkinsville High School, a talented musician, and member of Professor Kaler’s Orchestra, daughter of George and Jane (Dueitte) Turner. Their children are: Robert Lee, who attended the Agricultural and Mechanical School at Americus, and Draughon’s Business College, Atlanta. Joseph Franklin, graduate of Hawkinsville High School, attended Mercer. University, Macon, Ga. Jane Claire, graduate of Hawkinsville High School, attended Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn., and has a B.S. degree from Georgia State College for Women, Milledgeville, Ga. She married R. E. Hedlund in April, 1935, and is living in Chicago. Martha Frances, a graduate of Hawkinsville High School, 1935, and is now attending Georgia State College for Women, Milledgeville, Ga. Georgia Ruth (see sketch of Dr. Ruth Scarborough). Paul Turner, attended Norman Institute, Norman Park, Ga., and graduated from Georgia-Alabama Business College, Macon, Ga. He married Thelma Ussery, and their children are: Mary Winifred and Paula Ruth Scarborough.