Thomas Jefferson Hooper and Some of His Descendants (Great Grandson of Absalom Hooper, Sr, Revolutionary War Soldier – Part 4, Hooper Family)

Just about now I am seeing that to trace all the descendants of Absalom Hooper, Sr. (c 1764-1845), Revolutionary War soldier, and write even the barest sketch of them, would fill a good-sized book. We’ve focused on Absalom, Sr. and two of his sons, Absalom, Jr. and Andrew, who were in Union County, Georgia by the 1840 census. Today’s focus will be on a great grandson of the Revolutionary War soldier who had a distinguished name, Thomas Jefferson Hooper, named for that inimitable and intelligent third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826, president 1801-1809). Descendants of Thomas Jefferson Hooper are still living within the area of Union and Towns counties today, and true to their forebears’ example, they continue to be productive citizens.

Thomas Jefferson Hooper was born November 1, 1845 in Jackson County, North Carolina. He would live until October 8, 1921 and be buried between his two wives in the Old Burch Cemetery in Towns County. He is listed as four years of age in the 1850 census of Union County, Georgia, not having reached his fifth birthday when the census taker visited the home of his parents to enumerate the household. His father was Benjamin Chastain Hooper (1812-1862) and his mother was Elizabeth Cathey Hooper (1815-1888). You might like to refer to the Cathey family articles written previously to see Elizabeth’s connections. Going back another generation, Benjamin Chastain Hooper’s parents were James and Mary Emaline Chastain Hooper, his mother a descendant of the noted Virginia settler, Pierre Chastain, ancestor of many who proudly claim this Chastain connection. James, father of Benjamin Chastain Hooper, was the first son of famed Absalom Hooper, Sr., Revolutionary War soldier.

When Thomas Jefferson Hooper went a-courting as a young man, he gained enough courage to go to the home of the Rev. Elijah Kimsey, a noted early preacher in the mountain area whose wife was Sarah Bryson Kimsey. Thomas Jefferson had caught the eye and favor of their daughter. Thomas Jefferson Hooper wed Araminta Caroline Kimsey (1846-1874) on Christmas Eve, 1865 when the Civil War was still a raw memory in the minds of many.

To Thomas Jefferson and Araminta Kimsey Hooper were born five children: (1) William (1866) who married Emma Stuart Coffey; (2) Violet Virginia (1869-1929) who married Warne Ketron Hedden (son of the Rev. Elisha Hedden and Juanita Caroline Butt Hedden); (3) Georgia Ann (1871-1921) who married Col. Sylvester M. Ledford; (4) Ollie Araminta “Minnie” (1872-1946) who married David Henry Puett; and (5) Mary Caroline known as “Callie” (1874) who married John H. Davis. Araminta died September 6, 1874, possibly from complications from childbirth when Callie was born. Thomas Jefferson Hooper was thus left with five small children.

He found himself another good wife, the second being Sarah Elizabeth Clementine Ellis (1852-1939), daughter of J. C. and Elizabeth Ellis, whom he married August 22, 1876. In addition to helping Thomas Jefferson rear the first five children, Sarah and he had five children, making him ten altogether: (1) James Lafayette (1881-1954) who married Eva Elinora Barrett; (2) Martha Elizabeth (1884-1937) who married Walter E. Warren; (3) Noah Franklin (1887-1942) who married Julia Kelley; (4) Maggie (1890-1961) who married Charles Colwell; and (5) Richard (1895) who married Ezra Willa Mae known as “Billie” Wood.

Thomas Jefferson Hooper moved his family into the town of Hiawassee, Georgia. There he established the Hooper Hotel, a stately and Victorian-designed landmark that received guests and served notable food for several years. In the town he also helped to establish the Bank of Hiawassee and set up and outfitted a mercantile store. He was elected to and served in the Georgia Legislature from Towns County in 1911-1912. Mr. Hooper was also a trustee of the Hiawassee Academy; an outstanding mountain boarding school founded by Dr. George W. Truett and Dr. Fernando Coello McConnell, cousins, and noted Baptist ministers.

Focusing now on the first son of Thomas Jefferson Hooper and Sarah Ellis Hooper, James LaFayette Hooper (Sr.), born March 1, 1881 (died April 8, 1954), he attended Hiawassee Academy, graduating in 1902. He went to the Atlanta College of Pharmacy and became a licensed pharmacist, working first in Cornelia, Georgia, and then opening Hooper’s Drug Store in 1911 in Buford, Georgia. He married the love of his life, Eva Elinora Barrett, daughter of Forrest C. and Mary Holcomb Barrett of Nacoochee Valley, Georgia on May 2, 1909. The couple returned to Hiawassee in 1914 and opened the Hooper’s Drug Store there. It proved to be one of the most continuously-operated businesses in the town, with the founder’s son, James LaFayette Hooper, Jr. (1914-1982) who graduated from the Southern School of Pharmacy in 1937, succeeding his father as owner and pharmacist. Later a grandson, Representative Ralph Twiggs, Jr. owned and operated the store, succeeded by purchaser Charles Nicholson.

James LaFayette Hooper, Sr. and Eva Barrett Hooper had four children: (1) Faye who married Ralph J. Twiggs, Sr.; (2) James LaFayette, Jr. who married Mary Richardson; (3) Gussie who married J. Walter Moore; and (4) Sarah who married Dr. John H. Carswell.

The legacy of serving the community has continued in the Hooper descendants.

We have only to trace the progeny of Absalom Hooper, Sr. through many generations to see that various regions of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and other states have benefited from the genuine hardiness, community spirit, work ethic, public service and church and educational support from those who hark back to the stalwart young man (Absalom, Sr.) who served his country well beginning in 1776 in our War for Independence. As we observe Veterans Day on November 11, we have opportunity to reflect on this heritage and salute those who have stood faithfully in the gap to win and preserve freedom from then until now and into the future.

c2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Nov. 11, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Andrew Hooper, Fourth Child of Revolutionary Soldier Absalom Hooper, Sr. (Part 3 – Hooper Family)

Andrew Hooper was the fourth of twelve children born to Absalom, Sr. and Sarah Salers Hooper, and one of the three Hooper brothers who settled in Union County, Georgia by 1840.

Andrew Hooper was born about 1792 and died in 1849. His place of birth is held to be Pendleton District, South Carolina. He grew up in Haywood County, North Carolina where his parents moved when he was young. It was there he met and married Dicie (sometimes spelled Dicey) whose maiden name is unknown.

Like his father before him who had served in the Revolutionary War, Andrew also heard the call of his country during the “unpleasantness” known in the annals of US history as the War of 1812 against Great Britain. His term of service was short, from February 16, 1815 when he volunteered until March 12, 1815 when he was honorably discharged. His army pay for the twenty-six days was $6. 93. However, as will be seen later, he had another recompense coming after his death.

It is not known precisely when Andrew Hooper migrated to Union County, Georgia to settle along Fodder Creek in what became Towns County in 1856. Andrew and his wife Dicey were residents and in the Union Census of 1840, having in their household himself and his wife who were listed as between 40-50 years of age with six children. Ages and genders of the children were two males between 10-15, one male between 20-30, one female between 5-10 and two females between 15-20. It is assumed that Andrew Hooper was a farmer at Fodder Creek. He may have assisted his brother Absalom, Jr. with his grist mill.

The known children of Andrew and Dicey Hooper were:

(1) Jonathan Hooper (1820-1880 ?) who married Lucinda Barrett (believed to be part Cherokee) in Union County on February 9, 1854 with William Burch performing their ceremony. After Towns was formed from Union County, Jonathan and Lucinda moved to the head of Byers Creek in Towns and made a living by sawmilling and farming. Jonathan was a cripple, small of stature. They had Millie Ann, Robert Richard, Jonathan “Pink”, Icey (or Dicea, after her Grandmother Hooper), Green Berry (died as infant), Mary Ollie, Gus, and Ulysses Allen. After Jonathan’s death, Lucinda married a Rizley.

(2) Sarah Hooper (1821-?) married Noah Shook and had children Mary, Jonathan, Permelia and Rebecca by 1850, with additions and/or name changes of Adaline, Dicea and Sarah (listed in 1860 census).

(3) Matilda Caroline Hooper (1824-1911) married William Burton Rogers on November 5, 1843. They lived in the Cynth Creek section of Towns County and at their deaths were interred in the Lower Hightower Cemetery. Children of this couple were Disa Manerva, Jonathan Burton, Melton Augustus, Martin W., Christopher Columbus, Freeman H., Elihu Montgomery, N. Leander, and David.

(4) William J. Hooper (1828-1878) married Jemima Hooper, his first cousin, daughter of his Uncle Absalom Hooper, Jr., in Union County, GA on August 16, 1851 with M. L. Burch, justice of the peace, performing the ceremony. William enlisted in the Confederate Army in May, 1864 with Young’s Battallion, Company 1, Hampton’s Brigade. He was seriously wounded at Lovejoy Station when Sherman was marching through Georgia. Although surviving, his wounds troubled him the rest of his life. By 1870, Jemima Hooper and her widowed sister, Hannah Hooper Gilbert and children, were living in the widowed Jemima’s household.

(5) Andrew Green Hooper (1829-1898) married Martha Talitha Berry. Their children were Dicie Rebecca, John Chapman, William Alonzo; Margaret Haseltine, Louisa Arah, Highley Al, and Andrew Young. Andrew, like his brother William, enlisted in the Confederate Army, Company D, 24th Regiment. He survived the war. His widow Margaret received a Confederate pension after his death.

(6) A female child was listed in the 1840 census without a name, born between 1830-1835. No further information is found on her.

A short time after Andrew Hooper’s first wife Dicey died in 1847, he married Mary Cantrell on July 2, 1847. Mary Cantrell may have been a widow, bringing some of her own children to live in Andrew’s household. The 1850 census has some children not quite identifiable by names of children of Andrew and his first wife Dicea. These were Mary, 29; Nancy, 12, Jane 9; Sarahan 6, Mahala 4, and John 1. It is known, however, that two of these were identified as “minor children” of Andrew Hooper and received a land grant on June 30, 1857 for their father’s service in the War of 1812. It could be that Mary Mahalia (known as “Polly”) may have been a child born to Andrew and Dicey, and that her mother died at childbirth. At any rate, children 7 and 8 of Andrew Hooper were:

(7) Mary Mahalia “Polly” Hooper born in 1846 or 1847. She married David Nicholson.

(8) John Harley Hooper (1849-1912), son of Andrew and Mary Cantrell Hooper married Martha Evaline Brewster. Their seven children were Jane, Martha Ann, Mary Etta, William Luther, John, Georgia and Lula.

Andrew Hooper and his family joined the lure of new lands in the 1830s and became a part of growing Union County sometime between 1834 and 1840. Numerous descendants still reside within the mountain region near where their ancestors took up residence.

c2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Nov. 4, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Descendants of Revolutionary War Soldier, Absalom Hooper, Sr. - Absalom Hooper, Jr. (Part 2 - Hooper Family)

Several children, sons and daughters, of the Revolutionary War soldier, Absalom Hooper (Sr.) were residents of Union County, Georgia by the time of the 1840 census. We saw from last week’s story that at least three of his sons settled here: Absalom, Jr., Andrew and Enas (Enos). Likewise, at least two daughters, Kissiah Hooper who married Milton Brown and Mary Hooper who married Henry Brown were also in Union. Then, as time moved on and Towns County was formed from a portion of Union in 1856, some of the Hooper landholdings were taken in as part of the new county of Towns.

Absalom Hooper, Jr. was born about 1800 to Absalom Hooper, Sr. and Sarah Sales Hooper in the Pendleton District of South Carolina, but that region was not to be their permanent home. They settled in Haywood County, North Carolina where Absalom, Jr. married Martha (called “Mattie”) Kelley.

It seems that Absalom, Jr.’s older brother, Andrew, born about 1792, led the migration of the Hooper siblings to the new and burgeoning Union County. The Fodder Creek section in what would become Towns County was the domicile of Absalom, Jr. and his family. In 1840, the census that does not give names except for the head-of-household, gave numbers in that household as one male (10 to 15), 1 male (20-30) and 1 male (40-50), Absalom himself. Females in the house numbered eight: one (under 5), three (5-10), one (10-15), two (15-20), one (40-50), Martha Kelley Hooper herself. They were reported as having one slave. With nine children at home at the time, and Absalom himself being both a farmer and a miller, the family no doubt needed the help their slave provided.

Piecing together what information we can find from the 1850 census (which was the first US census to list names of children as well as head-of-household), together with various family records, we can determine that Absalom, Jr. and Martha Kelley Hooper had eleven known children.

(1) The oldest of their children was named Thomas, possibly the 20-30-year old listed in the 1840 census. I found a marriage record for Thomas Hooper to Cynthia Rogers in the Union County marriage records. They were married February 1, 1849 by the Rev. John Corn (one of the more-noted Baptist ministers of this early period of Union County history). About six years before Towns was formed from Union, a land transaction took place in which Thomas Hooper purchased land on Fodder Creek on March 28, 1850 from William A. Brown. Thomas did not keep the land but eight years, for records show he sold it to Henry Picklesimer on January 29, 1858. I have not proven this, but because some of the female Hoopers married into Brown and Picklesimer families, Thomas’s land transaction may have been to kin. To date, I have not located names of children of Thomas and Cynthia Rogers Hooper.

(2) The second child of Absalom, Jr. and Mattie Kelley Hooper was named Elizabeth, born about 1822 before the family migrated to Union County. She would have been one of the females between 15 and 20 years of age in the 1840 census. Again Rev. John Corn performed a Hooper wedding when Elizabeth married Josiah Wood (known as “Cy”) on September 29, 1847 in Union County. Known children of Elizabeth and “Cy” Wood were a daughter named Perthena born in 1850 and twins, Abner and Absalom L, born May 25, 1856. Note how the name Absalom is carried to multiple generations. Twin Abner may have died young as it is hard to find a record of him beyond his birth.

(3) Mary Hooper was born in 1825. According to Hearthstones of Home (Towns County History book, 1983), Mary married Henry Picklesimer. The Mary Hooper I found in Union County marriage records shows that one Mary Hooper (evidently not this daughter of Absalom, Jr. and Martha Kelley Hooper) married David Nicholson on February 22, 1855. Mary, daughter of Absalom, Jr. and her husband Henry Pickelsimer had these known children: William (b. 1844), Martha Adaline (b. 1846), Margaret (b. 1849), Andrew (b. 1852), Willborn (b. 1854), Alrina A. known as “Sis” (b. 1856) and Jason (known as “Bird,” b. 1859).

(4) The fourth child may have been named Francis. This family of Hoopers was living next door to Absalom, Jr. and Martha in the 1850 census, with his age as 24, born in North Carolina, wife Alvina, 22, also born in North Carolina and their nine-month old daughter, Sarah.

(5) Daughter Nirma Hooper was age 22, born in North Carolina, listed still at home in the 1850 census (born 1828). There is no listing of her marriage that I have found.

(6) Jemima Hooper (spelled Jermima in the Union County marriage records) was born in 1829. She married her first cousin, William J. Hooper, son of her uncle Andrew Hooper. The marriage took place August 16, 1851. They may have had one daughter, Jane. William was badly wounded in the Civil War and returned with health problems that persisted until his death in 1878. Jemima died in 1907. Jemima drew a Civil War widow’s pension.

(7) Sarah was born August 27, 1831 and died December 22, 1919. She married Samuel Nicholson on January 27, 1848 with the Rev. John Corn performing the ceremony. They had children John Thomas (b. 1849), Andrew Absalom (b. 1851), Martha Dorcas (b. 1853), Leander Columbus (b. 1856) and Carnmiller (?) Jane (b. 1868). This family also lived at Fodder Creek in Towns County and were responsible for giving land for the Fodder Creek School and Enotah Baptist Church.

(8) Margaret was born April 5, 1834. She married John W. Gilbert in Union County on December 23, 1852, with Justice of the Peace M. L. Burch performing the ceremony. This same justice of the peace performed Margaret’s sister Jemima’s wedding in 1851. Margaret and John had these children: Martha (b. 1853), Delia Ann (b. 1855), Mary Ellen (b. 1857), Sarah Frances (b. 1859) and John Absalom DeKalb Gilbert (b. 1861). John Gilbert was elected sheriff of Towns County in 1857. When the Civil War came, he enlisted in the Hiawasse Volunteers and was killed in the war. Widow Margaret Hooper Gilbert later married Joseph Brewster and they moved to Tennessee after the war.

(9) Hannah Hooper was born in 1836 in North Carolina. She was listed as 14 in the 1850 Union census. She married William Gilbert on November 4, 1853 with an M. Lance, justice of the peace, performing their ceremony in Union County. William Gilbert was a brother to Hannah’s sister Margaret’s husband, John W. Gilbert. According to a Hooper family Bible Hannah and “William’s four little boys” are listed as Larkin Pinkney (b. 1856), William Bartley (b. 1857), Oliver Perry (b. 1860) and George W. (b. 1862). Hannah’s husband William evidently died in the Civil War. By the time of the 1870 census, Widow Hannah Hooper and her four children were living in the household of her sister Jemima, also a widow, and her children. These sisters who married brothers seemed to have reared the double-first cousins—their children—in the Fodder Creek section of Towns County that once was part of Union County.

(10) Martha Ann (b. 1842 in Georgia) married Javan Brown on February 4, 1864, the son of Milton and Mary Hooper Brown. Martha Ann and Javan were first cousins. Their children were Willard (b. 1856), Carrie (b. 1865), Icey (b. 1868), Thomas (b. 1874) Amanda (b. 1875), Robert (b. 1879) and Columbus “Lum”, (b. date unknown).

(11) John, the last child of Absalom, Jr. and Martha Kelley Hooper was born in 1850, but no further information about him is known at this time.

With a large family of eleven children to rear, we can imagine that life was not easy on their Fodder Creek farm for Absalom, Jr. and Martha. He was a miller, an occupation that was of assistance to his community while bringing in a little extra corn and grain to the mill operator. Martha Hooper died July 19, 1862 and Absalom, Jr. died a little later on October 16, 1862. They were buried on their own property, but their son-in-law, Samuel Nicholson, who bought most of Absalom, Jr.’s land, gave land for the Enotah Baptist Church location, and the Hooper family cemetery was incorporated into the Enotah Baptist Church Cemetery. If you go there to visit, know that the land was once part of our own Union County.

c2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Oct. 28, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Hooper Early Settlers in Union Descended From Absalom Hooper (Sr.) Revolutionary War Soldier

No Hooper families were listed in the 1834 special census of the new county of Union founded in 1832. However, by the 1840 census, three families of Hoopers with heads-of-households listed as Absalom, Andrew and Enas (Enos) were living in Union. Absalom and his wife were between thirty and forty and had two sons and eight daughters and one slave. Andrew and his wife were also between forty and fifty and had three sons and three daughters. Enas (probably should have been spelled Enos) and his wife were between thirty and forty and had six sons and four daughters. By the 1850 census, the Hooper population had grown with seven households enumerated.

The first three Hooper men to settle in Union were all sons of the Revolutionary War soldier, Absalom Hooper (Sr.). Some of the exploits of this soldier show his bravery, daring and determination. He was born about 1764 in South Carolina in the vicinity of the Green and Main Broad Rivers. His father died when he was a youngster. His mother sided with the Tories (those favoring the British). But Absalom Hooper definitely had sympathies for the colonists and left home to join the U. S. forces in 1776. His pay was to be in bounty of $30.00 and $5.00 per month, plus 640 acres of land at the close of the war. However that payment was not forthcoming according to his signed statement in 1833.

His military service saw him in many places during the war. He was under the command of General Howe at Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. But the British General Sir Henry Clinton conquered the island and Howe and his forces went to Florida and fought against the British forces at the St. Mary’s River. From there they returned to Charleston, to Purrysburg, SC, and finally into Georgia. He was in the attack against the British at Stono Fort on the Edisto River. From thence his regiment went to Beaufort Island. Back to Savannah, he was with the American and French forces, allies, in the siege of Savannah. There Absalom Hooper was wounded in the right arm. From there they returned to Charleston where Absalom received another wound, that time in his left thigh. He was imprisoned and was in the enemy prison hospital until he somewhat recovered. He escaped and went to Georgia to find refuge in his uncle’s frontier home. The Tories captured him, held him five days and brought him to trial, but released him.

He heard of the whereabouts of his group, and joined up again at Augusta in Captain Daniel Gunnals’ regiment. They had skirmishes around the Augusta area, especially with parties of Tories. Then his regiment went to South Carolina and joined forces with General Pickens around the Little River area and Ninety-Six District. The Cherokee during the Revolution sided with the British. Absalom and his regiment were in the Battle of Long Swamp against the Cherokee but were defeated. They returned to Long Swamp, and awaited the end of the war.

Absalom Hooper married Sarah Salers at Pistol Creek in Elbert County, Georgia about 1783. Ten years after they married, they moved from Georgia to Table Rock, South Carolina. Their next move was about 1810 to Haywood County, North Carolina (later that area was named Jackson County). Along the Tuckaseegee River where they settled, some of the highest peaks in North Carolina towered above their land. There they reared their family of twelve children: James (1784), Elizabeth (1786), Andrew (1792), Kissiah (1794), Nancy (1797), Mary (1798), Absalom, Jr. (1880), Eleanor (1800), Margaret (1802), Enos (1805), William (1806), and Isaac (1807).

Three of these children of Absalom and Sarah Salers Hooper moved to the new county of Union sometime in the late 1830s and were counted in the 1840 Union census. Also Hooper sisters moved to the area. Kissiah married Milton Brown. They were living in Union when the 1834 census was taken, with eleven in their household. She and Milton preceded her three brothers, Absalom, Jr., Andrew and Enos in settling in Union. Mary who married Henry Brown lived in the Hightower section of Union that became a part of Towns County when it was formed in 1856. In fact, most of the Hooper households were on land that became Towns, so they automatically became citizens of the new county of Towns. Nancy Hooper and her husband, Benjamin Chastain, were in Union by 1850 and their farm at Hightower was absorbed into Towns.

Next week’s column will present more on the Hooper family that still has many descendants with multiple last names still remaining in the Towns and Union County areas.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Oct. 21, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Memorial Day and Thoughts on Freedom

We have a valuable gift, one not wrapped and tied with ribbons. It is intrinsic to America and our constitutional way of life. The gift is costly. The gift is freedom and it has been bought with blood and tears, life and limbs, sacrifice and abnegation.

Memorial Day is a time of reflection on aspects of freedom, its cost in lives and in sacrifice, not only in those who bore arms and met death in service, but the families who suffer through terrible losses.

When some casualties of military service were returned to Choestoe for memorial rites, I was young. But the impression made on me of how young men laid down their lives was deeply imbedded within. I remember the funeral service for James Jasper Hunter (August 16, 1923-December 5, 1945). He was a cousin who died not in battle but as a result of a transfer truck accident. Multiple family members and community people gathered to mourn on that cold, dark winter day when his casket lay ready to be lowered into the grave. Our pastor, the Rev. Claud Boynton, gave accolades of Jasper's service, of his dying young but heroically. Then later, another member of the same family, William Jack Hunter (Sept. 2, 1932 - August 5, 1954) died at sea. Both Jasper and Jack were sons of William Jesse Hunter (1886- 1982) and Sadie Collins Hunter (1900-1979).

Brothers James Jasper Hunter and William Jack Hunter were in military service when they died. They were willing to lay down their lives for their country, but were not killed in battle.

Later, even after the major conflicts of World War II had ended or were drawing to a close, another of our Choestoe boys, James Ford Lance (March 14, 1927 - January 12, 1946) was returned for burial. We gathered at Chostoe's Salem Methodist Church to mourn with his family and bid farewell to yet another young man who met death while in the service of his country. He was laid to rest in Union Memory Gardens at Blairsville.

There were others in what we now call "The Greatest Generation" who were among Union County's war dead from World War II. Having been present for some of the funerals, my young mind was trying to sort out the meaning of freedom and the price paid for it. War is no respecter of persons. The young take up arms. Some die. The parents of those laid to rest grieve and wonder at the high cost of liberty.

Union County has a stately and impressive War Memorial dedicated in 1995. On the monument is a quotation from William Shakespeare (from his Henry V): "But we…shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

The monument lists names of those who lost their lives In the Indian Wars, the Mexican War, the War Between the States including both Federal and Confederate soldiers (a list not complete yet, but longer than the lists for all other wars combined); World War I., World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. I am not sure, but plans for the War Memorial no doubt include listings from the current Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Since much emphasis is now placed on "The Greatest Generation," those who fought in and lost their lives in World War II, 1941- 1946, I list below those whose names appear on that memorial marker. Union County lost twenty two sons in that conflict. We pause to salute their memory and to offer thanks for the sacrifice of their lives for freedom.

Akins, Herbert J.

Dyer, Tommy A.

Hooper, W. C.

Rogers, Thomas J.

Anderson, Beecher L.

Everett, Frank J.

Lance, James F.

Sullivan, John C.

Barnes, Clyde N.

Gregory, Arlie

Marr, Charles L.

Summerour, Robert L.

Burnette, Monroe, Jr.

Grizzle, Garnie L.

Owenby, H. J.

Wilson, Wroodrow L.

Davenport, James U.

Grizzle, Garnie L.

Plott, J. B.

Dover, John G.

Harkins, Waymond

Rogers, Dale C.

The honorable William Gladstone, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1868-1894 wrote: "Show me the manner in which a nation or community cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies for its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals."

Resource: I am grateful to David Friedly of Blairsville for information from the Union County War Memorial and for the picture with this article.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 28, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The privilege of owning old Gillespie-made rifles

Billy Harkins of Union County holds two Gillespie-made rifles. The long rifle was made for W. W. Carland of Henderson County, NC by Harvey Gillespie. The shorter "hog" rifle belonged to Billy's great grandfather, Bill Bowers. Indications are that it was made by Harvey Gillespie.

Perhaps James Butts and Billy Harkins are not the only two current citizens of Union County, Georgia who own original Gillespie-made rifles. But these two men have been generous in sharing information and pictures with me which they gave permission to publish through this column.

These two are proud owners of tried and true firearms made by descendants of the Gillespie gunmakers of East Fork, North Carolina, and of grandsons of the original John Gillespie, Sr.--John and James A. who migrated to Union County and Harvey who remained in Henderson County, NC. Each (and other Gillespie descendants) plied their gunsmith trade well.

Last week's column told of how James Butts became the privileged owner of a rifle which had been made for his grandfather, Sydney Harshaw. It was made by John Gillespie who migrated to Union County in 1849.

Billy Harkins of V Harkins Road, Blairsville, a carpenter by trade and a gunsmith by avocation and hobby, is the privileged owner of a Gillespie-made "hog" rifle owned by his great, great grandfather, Bill Bowers, who married Sarah ("Sally") Gillespie, daughter of Moses Gillespie.

Billy Harkins also owns a Gillespie-made rifle which was fashioned specifically for a W. W. Carland who lived in the area of Henderson County, NC. Billy Harkins found a date on that long rifle showing it was crafted in 1873. Neither of these rifles is signed, but through extensive research and stories passed down, the current owner has found earmarks to identify Harvey Gillespie as the gunmaker for both rifles.

It sounds easy to say, "Harvey Gillespie made these rifles," even though his signature, other than some characteristic "code" markings, does not appear on either of the rifles now owned by Billy Harkins. You see, there were several named Harvey Gillespie who made guns. One was John Harvey Gillespie (1810-1891), son of William, grandson of John, Sr. and Jane Harvey Gillespie (Jane's maiden name "Harvey" was passed along for generations, as was the custom then).

The Harvey Gillespie whom Billy Harkins believes made the guns he owns was a brother to John R. Gillespie and James A. Gillespie who migrated to Union County in 1849. But their brother, Harvey, remained in North Carolina.

Harvey Gillespie (June 18, 1820-August 19, 1877) was the son of Mathew Gillespie and his wife, Elizabeth Sitton Gillespie, their seventh of twelve children, five sons and seven daughters.

Elizabeth Sitton's father, Phillip Sitton, owned an ironworks located on the South Mills River near present-day Mills River, NC. Nearby on Queen's Creek, Mathew Gillespie set up his gunsmith shop, and all five of his sons, John R., Phillip, Harvey, James A. and Wilson learned the gunsmith trade while working with their father. The son named Harvey (as were the other eleven children of Mathew and Elizabeth Gillespie) was born in Henderson County, NC. Harvey was buried in Henderson County, as was his wife, Sarah Hooper Gillespie.

Billy Harkins is grateful to Vesta Waldroop Byrd who found the old Gillespie-made hog rifle stored in a building at their home. Knowing that the old rifle belonged to Billy Harkins' great grandfather, Bill Bowers,Vesta gave the rifle to Billy. Stories Billy heard in his childhood make the rifle very personal and treasured. One he especially enjoyed hearing was how his grandfather went out into the woods near Owltown Gap where he lived looking for wild turkeys. Bill Bowers found a flock, and giving good aim, shot and killed two turkeys with the same shot. Whether that happened near Thanksgiving or not, we don't know. At any rate, the Bowers family enjoyed a feast of wild turkey with all the fixings.

Billy is amazed at the true aim of both old rifles he owns. As he makes replicas of them, he is careful to get the best materials with which to make his copies and to craft them with precision as did the Gillespie gunmakers of long ago.

"Why did you decide to start making replicas of the rifles?" I asked Billy.

"I appreciate the tedious and precise work the Gillespie and other gunmakers did in crafting their guns. It took skill, patience and perseverance to make them. I am interested in helping to preserve old fire arms and other antiques from the folk art point of view. I enjoy attending gun shows and recently attended the annual show in Lexington, Kentucky. I have been invited to the Museum of Appalachia near Knoxville, Tennessee to show my guns."

Billy Harkins is a carpenter and especially enjoys custom carpentry such as making rails of laurel wood and custom-ordered furniture. Mantels are another of his specialties. "I've crafted and hung several mantels," he said. Toward the end of our conversation, he invited me to call him and come by to see his gunshop, his antique guns, and the replicas he makes. I asked if he would be willing to accommodate other interested persons and he gave me permission to list his telephone number. Just call him in advance at 706-745-9405 for an appointment. He also owns a very old powder horn and hunting bag, as well as the attachment to measure the amount of powder needed for the guns.

On October 19, he took Dennis Glazener of Midlothian, Virginia, author of the book, "The Gillespie Gun Makers of East Fork, NC" (2006), another descendant of the gunmakers of fame, to meet Mr. Odell Plott of Young Harris. Mr. Plott, up in years now, is still alert and active, and related to the Gillespies through marriage. He took Glazener and Billy Harkins to the spot just off Georgia Highway 76 near the Towns/Union line, almost directly in front of Zion Methodist Church, where John and James Gillespie first worked together in their joint gunsmith shop. After the accident with a barrel being loaded on the forge with gunpowder still in it, the brothers went their separate ways. John Gillespie moved closer to Young Harris, to a location on the now Plott Town Road. The house John Gillespie lived in is still standing. A flat spot near the house appears to be the location where his gunshop stood.

I've traced the Gillespies and their descendants through four lengthy columns. My deep gratitude goes to Dennis Glazener, James Butts and Billy Harkins for taking the time through published book, emails, pictures and telephone calls to give rich information about the family who, through several generations, crafted a product of necessity and recreation. These men generously shared their knowledge of the guns and their makers with me I feel almost as if I have walked in the footsteps of the John Gillespies, James, Harvey and others. Dennis Glazener and Billy Harkins have learned to build replicas of the famous guns. All, including James Butts, appreciate the guns that have lasted far longer than a century. They save the real implements. I like to think I save a portion of this rich heritage through words.

James Butts is pictured with his children, Logan and Morgan, holding a long rifle made by John Gillespie for Sydney Harshaw, James' great, great grandfather.

c 2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Oct. 26, 2006 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.