Denton Families Important to Towns County Development

Last week’s column introduced the Denton Family early settlers to Union County, dating back as far as 1834, when the first census revealed that seventeen by that name in three families were living in the county. The heads of Denton households then were James, Elizabeth and Eliza Denton. In the 1840 listing, we found five households headed by Levina, Samuel, Jonathan, Elijah and George M., with the Union population of Dentons then numbering twenty-three. In 1850, the Dentons were in six families numbering a total of thirty-one, headed by George, Samuel, Jonathan, Samuel, Jr., William, Elihu, and Elijah.

A precursory examination of the 1860 and 1870 Union census records did not reveal a single household of Dentons in Union. What had happened to most of these families of earlier decade census tabulations? Had a mass exodus of Denton families occurred within the twenty year period between 1850 and 1870? Furthermore, an examination of the Union County Cemetery records did not reveal marked Denton graves within the parameters of Union.

Knowing that Denton was a very prominent name in neighboring Towns County, it was rather easy to surmise what had occurred. When Towns County was formed from portions of Union in 1856, several of the Denton families, without moving from the properties they had occupied when the 1850 census was taken, had been absorbed into the new principality of Towns.

Take, for example, the family of George and Catherine Wood Denton, present in Union in 1840 and 1850. They were within the parameters of the new Towns, and were quickly oriented to life there, not having moved at all. In fact, George Denton helped the new county in its early years by being appointed (or should we say “elected”) the county’s very first Tax Collector—maybe not a very popular job but a necessary one, nonetheless, to the government of the new county.

In addition to being a farmer in the Upper Hightower section of Towns County, George also was a land surveyor. He used this skill to map out the county seat town of Hiawassee and to survey farms and holdings of other citizens. Last week’s column listed six children of George and Catherine Wood Denton. Altogether, George and his wife, the daughter of William and Nancy Osborn Wood, had eleven children whose names and birth dates are as follows: Elizabeth J. (1837), William J. (1839), Elisha H. (1841), Nancy (1843), Samuel M. (1845), Jeremiah J. (1847), John M. (1851), Martha Ann (1853), Lucinda A. (1856), Margaret M. (1856), Mary C. (1860) and Georgia (?). George and Catherine moved from the Upper Hightower section of Towns to White County. When George was back for a visit to one of his children still residing there, he became ill and died, and was buried in the Upper Hightower Baptist Church Cemetery. It is believed Catherine died and was buried in White County.

The third child of George and Catherine, Elisha H. Denton (1841-1922) joined the Confederacy during the Civil War, enlisting on August 24, 1861 and serving through January, 1865, having reached the rank of Lieutenant during his enlistment. Returning to Towns County, he married his sweetheart, Cinthia Berrong, on January 18, 1865. She was a daughter of another well-known pioneer family, Andrew Jackson and L. Osborn Berrong. Elisha and Cinthia made their home in the Swallows Creek Community of Towns County where ten children were born to them: Lillie A. (1867-1936) who married Taylor Wood and Alex Parker; Robert M. (1868-1934) who married Maggie Rogers; Louisa Caroline (1870-1938) who married Elisha Eller; James L. (1872-1941) who married Esta Foster; Ollie M (1874-1892), never married; Phairella O. (1876-1955) who married Joe Hooper; Erastus M. (1878-1936) who married Nannie McLucas; Demascus (1881-1961) who married Minnie Smith; Esco (1884-1952) who married Ora Foster; and Doll (a son, 1886-1964) who married Myrtle Eller.

Of the many descendants of George M. and Catherine Wood Denton, we can identify businessmen, bankers, educators, politicians, farmers, developers—almost every occupation.

For example, James Young Denton (1899-1982), son of Robert M. and Maggie Rogers Denton, became a noted banker and financier, having been instrumental in the growth of the Bank of Hiawassee and in securing the charter for the Union County Bank in Blairsville, and getting it established. He married Emma Belle Maney on May 20, 1920 when she was only fourteen years of age. Young was then a teacher, and he enrolled his young bride in the Hiawassee Academy. J. Y., as he was better known, and Emma Denton became quite a team. She, too, became a noted worker and director of the Bank of Hiawassee, was a horticulturist with her daylilies known far and wide. They had six children, five of whom reached adulthood and became productive citizens. Their children were J. C. Denton, Evelyn Denton (Groves), Elois Denton (Anderson), James Lanier Denton who died young from whooping cough, J. William Denton, and Emma Jean Denton (Anderson).

Another of the children of Robert M. and Maggie Rogers Denton was their daughter Isabel, born April 28, 1906, who became a noted elementary school teacher mainly in Towns County but also in White and Forsyth Counties in a career that spanned forty-three years. When my husband, the late Rev. Grover D. Jones, was pastor of the McConnell Memorial Baptist Church in Hiawassee, among our loyal members were Mrs. Isabel Hall and her beloved husband, Mr. Leonard Hall. As a young ministerial couple, we were “taken in,” encouraged and loved by this couple who often had us in their home as guests. Isabel Denton married widower Leonard Hall, a veteran of World War I, on June 29, 1947. Mrs. Isabel Denton Hall was noted not only for her work in the school system, but she served a total of twenty-five years as Hiawassee Baptist Association’s Church Training Director. When Leonard and Isabel passed on, we felt like we had lost some of our very dearest friends.

Doll Denton (1886-1964), tenth and last child of Elisha H. and Cinthia Berrong Denton, and grandson of George M. and Catherine Wood Denton, also lived in Towns County. Beset by Hodgkins disease, one of Doll’s legs had to be amputated in 1960. But he learned to walk with his prosthesis as he carried on a near-normal work life on his farm and later assisted his son-in-law, Ayscue Hopper (married to Doll’s daughter Grace), near Tuckaseegee, NC with the operation of his farm. Doll Denton married Myrtle Eller on September 10, 1905. To them were born nine children, seven daughters and two sons: Mae Belle, Grace, Gladys, Dorsey, Edith, Ethel, George, Opal and Earl. Remembered for their strong work ethic and their stalwart Christian influence, Doll and Myrtle Denton stand out as productive citizens of the area. After Doll’s death in 1964 and his burial at Lower Hightower Cemetery in Towns County, his widow Myrtle lived alternately with her daughters Edith Denton Chambers and Ethel Denton Everett in Blairsville until Myrtle’s death on March 31, 1970.

Denton is a place name deriving from the Old English word “denu” meaning valley. Scots and English settlers came to America in the early migratory years and found similar valleys to their European homelands among the hills of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. We are grateful for these hardy settlers who made a dinstinctive “Dent” in the way of life in these mountain communities.

c2011 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 12, 2011 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Denton Families ~ Early Settlers in Union County

After a brief diversion to pursue another topic, I return in this column to write about families with the surname Denton who were early settlers in Union County.

In the 1834 Union County census, three families had the name Denton, with seventeen total Denton residents, eight males and nine females. Two heads of households of these early settlers were women with similar names: Eliza Denton had two males and two females in her household. Elizabeth Denton had two males and one female residing in her home. The third Denton household was headed by James Denton whose family had four males and six females.

I expected to find these three households listed in the 1840 Union census, but the search for these three Denton families was not that easy, for none of the three appeared as heads of households in 1840 or in 1850.

Five residences in 1840 had Dentons as follows: Household numbered by the census taker as 115 had Levina Denton (one female between the age of 20 and under 30).

Further on, in household 328. was Samuel Denton, with three males under five, one male aged 20-30, 1 female under five, and 1 female aged 20 – 30. (Note: This Samuel Denton is not to be confused with the Samuel Denton, Jr. who, we will learn shortly, married Elizabeth Ann Chastain.)

Jonathan Denton in household numbered 331 had the largest of the 1840 Denton families with one male (10-15), two males (15-20), one male (40-50), one female (5-10), one female (10-15), one female (15-20) and one female (30-40). We will see that his household is also listed in 1850.

In Elijah Denton’s family (house # 469) was one male (10-15), one male (40-50) and one female (30-40).

The last Denton household in 1840 was # 471, George M. Denton, with one male (under 5), one male (20-30), one female (under 5), one female (20-30) and 1 female (60-70). The older female in Jonathan’s household may have been either Eliza or Elizabeth listed in 1834, who possibly was the mother of George Denton.

By the 1850 census, the number of Denton households had climbed to six in Union’s census, and we find that some of the names are the same as those we discovered living in the county in 1840. The total Denton population in 1850 in Union numbered 31 as follows:

Household 929: George Denton, age 37, his wife, Catherine, age 31, both born in North Carolina, and six children, all born in Georgia: Elizabeth, 13; William, 11; Elisha, 9; Nancy, 7; Madison, 5; and Jeremiah J., 2. This household had also been in Union since 1840. We will hear more about these in next week’s column.

Household 1057: Samuel Denton, 25, born in Tennessee, his wife, Missa, 23, born in North Carolina, and children John, 6; Mary, 4: and Melissa, 4 months. A search of the Union marriage records shows this Samuel Denton married Artemica Berrong on August 5, 1842. She must have preferred her shortened name, Missa, to Artemica.

Household 1081: Jonathan Denton (remember he was listed in the 1840 census), age 56, his wife, Agnes, age 46, both born in North Carolina, two older children also born in North Carolina, Francis, 20 and Rachel, 15; and three more children born in Georgia: Jonathan, 10; John, 7; Agnes, 5. Living in the household with them (as in 1840) was Betsey Denton, age 79, born in Virginia, no doubt the Elizabeth listed in the 1834 census. By searching the Pierre Chastain Family History (for several Dentons married into this line of Chastains), I discovered that Jonathan Denton was a son of Samuel Denton, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Chastain Denton. “Betsy,” living with Jonathan and Agnes in 1850, was, indeed his mother who was the Elizabeth Denton in Union by 1834. Her father was the famous Rev. John “Ten Shilling Bell” Chastain, known for establishing several Baptist churches in Virginia and the Carolinas. Her mother was Rev. Chastain’s first wife, Mary O’Bryan Chastain. Samuel Denton, Jr. was born in 1775 and died in Haywood County, NC before some of the Dentons moved into Union County prior to 1834. Elizabeth and Samuel Denton, Jr. had these known children: Jonas, Jonathan, Jemima Mimi who married John Middleton; Elijah who married Jane Coward; Hulda who married Mark Burrell; John N. who married Sarah (mnu), Cloey who married James Coward; Isaac; and George (1813-1881) who married Catherine Wood (more on this family later).

This second son of Samuel, Jr. and Elizabeth Chastain Denton, Jonathan Denton, was born May 12, 1794 and died February 17, 1881. His wife, Agnes, was a McConnell, born in 1804 and died August 23, 1860.

Jonathan and Agnes had two older children who were already married and gone from home by the 1850 census. Their oldest was Samuel (b. 1822) who married Artimissey (sic) Berrong in 1842. They were living in their home near his parents in 1850.

Jonathan and Agnes’ other older child, gone from home in 1860, was Elizabeth Ann Denton, born in 1824, who married Walter Mounteville Burrell on July 16, 1840, with Rev. Abner Chastain performing their ceremony. This family lived in Household numbered 1090 in 1850. He was 33, she 25, both born in North Carolina. Their children were William, 9, Jonathan, 7, John, 6, Marcus, 4, Laura, 2 and Sarah, 4 months.

Household 1082: William Denton, listed as a teacher, age 30, and his wife, Betsy Ann, age 27, both born in North Carolina. They had three children in 1850, all born in Georgia: Jane, age 8, Sarah, age 5, and Elizabeth, age 7 months. Union marriage records show William Denton married Elizabeth Ann Chastain on January 26, 1841 with Rev. Abner Chastain performing their ceremony.

Household 1085: Elihu Denton, age 23, born in Georgia, his wife, Marcena, 20, born in North Carolina, and their one month old male son, Pinckney, born in Georgia. I looked for this marriage record in Union’s listings, but did not find these names.

Household 1086: Elijah Denton, born in South Carolina, age 52, and his wife, Jane, age 47, born in North Carolina. This couple was listed in the 1840 census with a son, age between 10 and 15 still at home then. From what I learned in the Chastain book, Elijah was the fourth child of Samuel Denton, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Chastain Denton. Elijah was born in 1798 and married Jane Coward.

In next week’s column, we will pursue some of these Denton families to other places where they became a part of the fabric of new counties as they formed.

[Note: My columns have not gotten to the paper by the deadline on a regular basis recently because of computer breakdowns due to severe storms. Call the delays an “act of nature” rather than my being ill or negligent. We were not severely damaged, like hard-hit areas, but we were without power for three days and many electronics were damaged in the storms that raged at different times My computer was a “victim”, and hard was the task to get up and running adequately again.-EDJ]

c2011 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 5, 2011 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Through mountains mists a light in the mountains, Part 2 Truett McConnell College, 1946-2006 Holding Forth The Flame of Knowledge For Six Decades

We continue the exciting story of how Truett McConnell College, Cleveland, GA, grew from the foundations of the Hiawassee Academy (1886-1930) and the Blairsville Collegiate Institute (1904-1930). In this 60th year of the college’s founding, we celebrate the fanning of the flame of knowledge that sprang up and kept growing because people nourished the vision.

The George Truett Junior College, Inc.

From 1930 through 1944, the flame of an institution of higher learning lay dormant. But many people remembered the Hiawassee Academy and the Blairsville Collegiate Institute. The flame was there, awaiting another ignition.

Another Mountain Preachers’ School was held at Blairsville in July 1944.

Who preached the sermon that ignited the flame as Rev. Ferdinand C. McConnell had done in 1886? The person’s name is not known to this writer, but several factors were present to remind the gathered preachers that the time was right to propose a new Christian college in the mountains.

Dr. George Washington Truett died July 7, 1944. He had become a model for visionary ministers who set aggressive goals and worked to reach them. The ministers talked about establishing a college in his memory.

The Great Depression was past. America’s involvement in World War II, although taking a toll on young lives, had brought a raise in economic levels through work associated with the war effort. Many of the young men who would be returning from war when it ended would desire an education.

The vision was born in the hearts of several men. Among them were the Rev. Claud C. Boynton, Rev. L. Clinton Cutts, Dr. W. A. Taliaferro, John B. Payne (layman), Dr. Leslie S. Williams, Dr. James M. Nicholson, Mr. Frank Shuler (Union County Superintendent of Schools and a layman), and Rev. Clarence Voyles. Mountain preachers and mountain laymen seized the vision, fanned the flame.

After the Preachers’ School had ended, the above-named men met for prayer and discussion in the basement of First Baptist Church, Blairsville, where Rev. Claud C. Boynton was pastor. The dream was turned into a plan. The flame of knowledge was again ignited.

After several meetings, a committee drew up a charter and the men approved it.

The charter named the new school the George Truett Junior College, Inc. It was legally filed in Superior Court of Union County, Ga., on September 15, 1944.

A Firm Foundation and Founding

Desiring that the college have a firm foundation and adequate sponsorship, the next step was to present the plan to the Georgia Baptist Convention. Dr. Leslie S. Williams, professor at Tift College, Forsyth, gave the resolution at the Georgia Convention on November 13, 1944. The recommendation was referred to the Convention’s Executive Committee for study. Rev. Claud Boynton and others spoke in favor of the resolution.

At the 1945 Georgia Baptist Convention, the resolution to establish Truett Junior College passed and an appropriation of $25,000 was designated from the convention’s educational funds. A committee was appointed to “recommend…the best location and plans for securing additional financial support.” (from Georgia Baptist Convention Minutes, 1945, pages 80-81).

A “Committee of Ten” was appointed by the Convention’s Executive Committee to do preliminary work relative to site and fundraising. From November, 1945, through March, 1946, various north Georgia towns vied for the college’s location and pledged land, money and endowment. Blairsville was among the towns vying for the location.

At the March 12, 1946 meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, the announcement was made that Cleveland, Georgia would be the site.

Several factors entered in. The location was still within a mountain county. The college would draw students from a broad area of Georgia and elsewhere, and having the college south of high mountains such as Unicoi Gap and Neel Gap would facilitate access at a time when the state and nation were still recovering from effects of World War II, scarcities in tires and transportation. Citizens of Cleveland had pledged more in acreage, building materials, money and utility services.

The Christian Index, newspaper of the Georgia Baptist Convention, announced in its July 11, 1947 issue that the new college to honor the late Dr. George W. Truett and Dr. Fernando C. McConnell would be located at Cleveland, Georgia.

A massive area-wide rally was held in Cleveland, Georgia on July 23, 1946, the official founding date of Truett-McConnell Junior College. Rev. L. Clinton Cutts, then pastor of First Baptist Church, McCaysville, Ga., temporary chairman of the Interim Board of Trustees, presided. A large crowd of Convention officers, ministers, and citizens of a broad area attended the rally. Five persons who had attended the Hiawassee Academy when the Rev. George W. Truett taught there were present. They were Mrs. J. Miles (Maggie) Berrong of Hiawassee; Mr. B. R. Dillard of Dillard; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P. Ritchie of Clayton; and Mr. John A. Earl of Lakemont.

Sixty years had passed since the Rev. F. C. McConnell had ignited the spark for education on the courthouse steps in Hiawassee. From Cleveland, Ga., the flame was kindled and the vision was stirring toward reality.

A New College Opens Its Doors

Much work ensued from the July 23, 1946 founding date until the college opened doors to students on September 15, 1947. Facilities for classes and administrative offices had to be arranged. A curriculum and faculty had to be assembled. Plans for accreditation had to be drawn up. Arrangements for boarding students to live with citizens in the town were made.

Fifty-four charter students and eleven faculty and staff met in convocation with the first president, the Rev. Dr. Loomis Clinton Cutts leading the processional. In a little more than a year, Dr. Cutts and others had formulated plans and the word was “Go!” Much cooperation had brought about a miracle in little more than a year.

I was in that first group of students meeting on September 15, 1947. We had a vision. I had a distinct sense of mission and calling to be in that place at that time in a brand new college. It was exhilarating and motivating. And so has it been in the sixty years since to remain closely associated with the “light in the mountains.” In this sixtieth anniversary year, the vision continues. The flame still glows brightly, has taken on a new aura. “Veritas liberat” is the motto, “Truth liberates.”

c2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Mar. 2, 2006 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.