Pierre Chastain, the Immigrant, and His Continuing Influence Part 4 Learning from the Past – Shaping the Future

Jason Coward Chastain (March 10, 1818 – June 12, 1900) was of the sixth generation from Pierre “The Immigrant” Chastain, a son of John C. Chastain (1791-1880) and Nancy Coward Chastain (1800-1867). John C. Chastain was a son of Edward Brigand Chastain (1769-1834) and Hannah Brown Chastain (1771-ca 1832-37). He was descended from John “Ten Shilling Bell” Chastain, Pierre Chastain, Jr. and Pierre “The Immigrant” Chastain.

Jason Coward Chastain was born in Jackson County near Sylva, North Carolina. He went to the area along the Toccoa River in Upper Dial Community of then Union County (in 1854 this area became part of Fannin) and bought land and built his first cabin there. He returned to North Carolina where he married Mary “Polly” Rogers on Christmas Eve in 1840. They moved by covered wagon, bringing boxwoods with them to transplant at their new home. Her father gave Mary Rogers Chastain a slave named Isom to assist with the farm work. Jason and Mary had eight children, seven daughters and one son. As they prospered, Jason added to his holdings and buildings. He later built a fine ten-room plantation-type home which is still intact today.

Noting that Isom seemed depressed, his master found that it was because he had to leave his beloved named Leah behind in North Carolina. Jason went back, purchased Leah, the slave, and presented her to Isom for his wife. Jason and Mary provided well for them and treated them kindly. A story has been passed down about Mary baking fresh yeast bread and giving Leah’s children bread spread with butter and honey as they sat on her back porch steps. When the emancipation proclamation came, they wanted to remain at the Chastain farm because they had been so kindly treated. The black families did all eventually leave the Chastains and returned to North Carolina, but in 1896 some of Isom and Leah’s children visited Mary once again before her death.

One day a lamb was missing from Jason’s flock. A son-in-law felt he could find out where the lamb had gone. Suspecting Isom and Leah of stealing and killing the lamb for their dinner, Taylor Stephens slipped to their cabin and looked in at their window, expecting to see roast lamb on the table. Instead, he saw Leah, Isom and their children bowed in prayer and heard Isom praying for “Old Mastuh Jason and Ole Missey Mary, and bless Mr. Taylor and pretty Miss Mary, too.” No lamb was on the table, only the simplest fare. But in the hearts of the couple was gratitude for their blessings and prayers for their owner’s family. About three days later the lamb wandered back onto the farm.

Jason Chastain had a large farm, kept a store, had sheep and cattle, and was involved in church and community activities. A family cemetery on the hill back of his house has his monument bearing this epitaph: “I have been a soldier for the right.” In addition, these words are inscribed on his stone:

“Dear friends and neighbors,
Come one, come all and see
Where the old man lies.
Then, dear children,
When you die
Be placed here by me
On this hill
Which God has formed.
So, on the Resurrection morn
We may rise in unison
And join that blood-washed throng
And abide throughout the cycles of eternity
In that clime of eternal bliss.
So mote it be. Amen.

Indeed, in remembering several in the Chastain generations, we agree with Longfellow:

“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.”

Yes, the face of these mountains of Appalachia from Virginia where Pierre “The Immigrant” Chastain and his family settled, to these hills of North Georgia, he and his people have left giant footprints in the sands of time. As Union County poet Byron Herbert Reece wrote in his poem, “Choestoe”:

Yes, sprung from the hard earth,
Nurtured by hard labor,
We know the names that built the fallen dwellings
Going to ruin in old dooryard orchards.

There is peace here, quiet and unhurried living,
Something to wonder at in aged faces.
These are not all I mean, but symbols for it,
A thing, if one but has the spirit for it,
Better, I say, than many rabbits dancing.
(published in “The Prairie Schooner, Spring, 1944)

We have become cosmopolitan in the mountains. With our increasing population and changing culture, we should come to appreciate even more our legacy from hardy pioneers who carved out farms and built homes in a mountain wilderness. We laud their efforts to endow us with a sound work ethic and keen sense of responsibility for our environment, our family values, our religious ideals. With economic instability and political unrest, we need especially to learn from the past as we face the future. We need time to consider whence we have come and where we are going. I invite you, as does our mountain poet, Byron Herbert Reece, to take time apart and, as he says in this poem:

In the Far Dark Woods Go Roving

Whenever the heart’s in trouble
Caught in the snare of the years,
And the sum of the tears is double
The amount of youthful tears,

In the far dark woods go roving
And find there to match your mood
A kindred spirit moving
Where the wild winds blow in the wood.
-Byron Herbert Reece
from Bow Down in Jericho, 1950

c2011 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 29, 2011 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Early Settlers in Union County with Ledford Surname

A search of the 1834 (first) census of the newly-formed Union County (founded 1832) did not yield any citizens listed in the 147 households and 903 population with the surname Ledford.

However, by the 1840 census, when Mr. John Butt, Jr. made his way to all the households he found to register heads of household and number of males and females with the general ages within those residencies, he located four households with the name Ledford.

Ledford is an interesting name, seems to be English in origin, and is what is termed a “habitational” name, with those bearing it having come from a particular location in the old country known by the name. The “ford” part is easy to determine. People would have lived by or near a ford in a stream. We wonder, then, was Led, the first syllable, from the name of a stream? Actually, yes. The Lyd River flowed through Somerset and Devon in England, and was known as “a noisy stream.” The Old English Lyd meant just that. But in Surrey, people were called Latchfords who lived by the stream there. Eventually, through the standardization of English spellings, the surname settled into Ledford, those who lived by the ford by the River Lyd.

The first of the Ledford ancestors of some of those who eventually settled in the new Union County, Georgia seem to be descendants of the John Ledford who came from England to North Carolina about 1763.

By the 1840 census in Union County, Georgia, there were four households of Ledfords enumerated. This writer was not able to learn the relationship, if any, between these four Ledford households. They could have been brothers, cousins or otherwise related.

Benjamin Ledford had nine in his household in 1840—six males and three females. He and his wife were both listed in the age category of “40 and under 50.”

Thomas Ledford had six males and two females in his household. He and his wife were “thirty and under forty.”

William Ledford had three males and six females in his household. He was “forty and under fifty” and his wife was “thirty and under forty.”

The fourth Ledford household was that of George, who had five males and three females. He was “thirty and under forty,” and his wife was in that same age category. Therefore, we count and find that 20 males and 15 females, or a total of 35 Ledfords made their home in Union in 1840.

Moving to the 1850 Union County census, it is interesting to note whether the same households are listed again, and if any other Ledford households have been set up within the ten-year period. It is noteworthy, too, that by the 1850 census, the government had made the decision to list not only the heads-of-households, but the spouse and children, the ages, and where each member of the household had been born.

Let’s take a look at Ledford households in the 1850 Union Census, from which we learn much more information. The only household with the same-named head of household in 1850 as in the 1840 census was that of Benjamin. Whether Thomas, William and George were going by another given name by 1850 is not known. But households, according to the information given to Mr. Butt, the census taker in 1850, were headed by Silas, Porter, David, Benjamin, and James.

Silas Ledford and his wife, spelled Deilly (Delia ?) lived in household # 53. He was 28, had been born in North Carolina, his wife, 29, had been born in South Carolina, and they had been in Georgia at least five years, because their oldest child and the three others listed were all born in Georgia. Their children were Thomas, 5, Benjamin, 4, Caroline, 2, and Louisa, 1. We learn from other research that Silas was a son of Benjamin and Grace Owenby Ledford, the one settler from the 1840 census who had remained in Union County. My curiosity turned me to the Union County marriage records where I found this listing: Silas Ledford married Dolly Elmiry Bowling in Union County on December 19, 1841, with the Rev. Elisha Hedden performing the ceremony. The census-taker’s spelling, “Deilly,” therefore should have been “Dolly” for Silas’s wife’s name.

Household # 54, next door to Silas and Dolly, had the family of Porter Ledford, age 23, born in North Carolina, his wife, Temarina, age 20, also born in North Carolina, and their four-month old baby, Marion. Again, the Union County marriage records yielded the date of this couple’s marriage—August 28, 1848, when Thomas Ervin, a justice-of-the-peace performed the ceremony. The bride’s name was Damaris A. Rogers. Again, this helps us correct a misspelling from the census record of “Temarina” to Damaris. Porter Ledford was the sixth child of Silas and Dolly Ledford, and was given the name Porter after his maternal grandfather, Porter Owenby.

Household 87 was home to David Ledford, age 31, born in North Carolina, and his wife Jane, 35, also born in North Carolina. They had been in Union County less than two years in 1850, for their four listed children, Rachel, 9, Marion, 6, Hardy, 4, and Madison, 2, had all been born in North Carolina.

In 1850, the household of Benjamin Ledford, age 50, born in North Carolina, was listed as # 133 in the enumeration. Living there were his wife, 51, born in North Carolina, and listed as “Racy,” an unusual name, to say the least. Make that an error in entry, which probably should have been Gracy, or Grace—Grace Owenby Ledford, whom Benjamin married in North Carolina before moving to the Ivy Log section of Union County, Georgia sometime before 1840. In Benjamin and Grace’s household in 1850 were two children still at home, Vianna, age 20 and Benjamin (Jr.?), 11, both born in North Carolina. Registered in their household was another female, Caroline Brown, age 19, born in North Carolina.

A young man, Jacob Ledford, age 20, was listed as living in Household 475 with Eli Henson and Elizabeth Henson and their three children, James, 7, Archibald, 5, and Jacob, 1.

In household # 619 were James Ledford, 35, born in North Carolina, his wife, Nancy, 32, also born in North Carolina. Their first three children, Caroline 10, LaFayette 7 and Lucious, 6, were born in North Carolina, but Asberry, 4, and Jane, 1, were born in Georgia.

The last of the Ledford households appearing in the 1850 Union census was that of the family or Hiram Ledford, 47, and his wife, Mary, 47, both born in North Carolina. They had seven children listed as still living at home in 1850, all born in North Carolina: John, 25, Spencer, 22, Marion, 15, James, 12, George, 10, Hiram, 8, and Alexander, 5. They had evidently moved to Union County after 1845 since Alexander was not born in Georgia.

These families were the beginnings of the Ledfords who remained in Union and Towns counties of upper Georgia. We will follow some of them in subsequent accounts.



c2011 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Aug. 18, 2011 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

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.

A Memorial Day Tribute to Major Robert Neal Collins Sr.

Young Robert Neal Collins served as a gunner in the US Army Air Force during World War II. He would proceed to the rank of Major and become a pilot as he spent a total of 27 years in the US Air Force Reserves.

How many times Major Robert Neal Collins, Sr. (1921- 2007), US Air Force Veteran of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnamese War, flight instructor, lover of flying, read or quoted "High Flight" by John Gillespie McGee, Jr., I know not. But the poem so characterizes Mr. Collins that I reproduce it here in his memory and for our consideration as we observe Memorial Day, 2007.

High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds--and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of--Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
-John Gillespie McGee, Jr. (1922-1941)

Major Robert Neal Collins, Sr. experienced the same lofty thoughts the young American-born British fighter pilot so aptly expressed in his sonnet. The young McGee, at age 19, was killed December 11, 1941 in a training flight as his plane from the Spitfire Squadron fell near Scopwick, Lincolnshire, England. The young pilot wrote the poem on the back of a letter sent to his parents. He noted: "I am enclosing a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon after I landed." His parents shared the poem with the world, and it has inspired countless thousands.

On March 14, 2007, three days shy of his eighty-sixth birthday, R. Neal Collins "slipped the surly bonds of earth." It was not in a plane this time for the flyer, soaring high above the clouds, but God came down, touched the hand of His servant, and said, "Come away with me. This time, I am taking you where you will experience flight and freedom as you've never seen before. He truly "touched the face of God."

When I heard of R. Neal's passing, I thought back to the beginning of World War II. Three men, born the same year, 1921, on the same Collins Road in Choestoe, joined the U. S. Army Air Force. One was Robert Neal Collins (a cousin), one was William Clyde Collins (my double-first cousin), and one was Francis Eugene Dyer (my brother).

At Choestoe Church where the three young men were members, we kept them in our prayers throughout the war, praying for their safety and return. They were on the list of many others from our community who followed their patriotic leanings and were willing to give all for our country. All three sons of Francis Thurman "Bob" Collins and Mary Viola Collins (she had died in 1937 before World War II began) served during World War II. Cecil W. Collins was in the U. S. Coast Guard; James Thompson Collins was in the U. S. Navy; and Robert Neal Collins was in the U. S. Air Force. All three of the Collins brothers and their cousins, Clyde Collins and Eugene Dyer, returned as decorated heroes from the conflict. The community and their relatives felt pride in their noble service.

Following World War II, Robert Neal Collins, Sr. resumed his life, but kept his ties to the U. S. Air Force by serving in the Reserves. For twenty-seven years he served his country, retiring in 1970 with the rank of major. During the Vietnam Conflict, he was activated and spent sixteen months with Airlift 445 at Dobbins Air Force Base, flying to England and Vietnam. As a certified flight instructor, he taught many in the North Georgia area how to fly.

He was a noted teacher. In 1954 he received the Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia and in 1964 the Master of Science degree from George Peabody College.

He taught mathematics at Union County High School, his alma mater, and in night classes at Young Harris College. Known for his wry wit and humor, he had the ability to make his classroom one of ease, yet of strong purpose. Many former students rise up and call him blessed.

On October 19, 1951, he married beautiful Ruby Rogers, daughter of Thomas Franklin and Jessie Teague Rogers. To Neal and Ruby were born three children: Robert Neal, Jr. on November 18, 1953; Rhenee on January 2, 1955; and Joseph R., born June 15, 1961. Family was important to this couple. They reared their children and cherished their grandchildren as they arrived. At the time of Neal's death on March 14, 2007, they had six grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. Ruby and Neal celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in October, 2001. Relatives and friends expressed the love and admiration they felt for this couple.

Church and a right relationship with the Lord were important to Robert Neal Collins, Sr. He was a Sunday School teacher, director of the Sunday School for years, and a long-time ordained deacon of Choestoe Baptist Church where he grew up. His steady influence and eye for fair administration led the church through years of growth, then through reversals to renewed growth and redirection. Neal sought the leadership of God and led others to depend on Him.

Family has suggested that memorial donations may be made to the Choestoe Church Building Fund for the church's new Family Life Center that Neal helped to engineer.

I hope you re-read the lines of "High Flight." Major Robert Neal Collins had the lofty experiences so aptly penned by John Gillespie McGee, Jr. In addition, R. Neal had the experience of seeing insight blossom on the faces of students as he taught them and they responded to his instruction. Whether he was guiding an eager student in the intricacies of flight or opening up the secrets of mathematics to a high school or college student, he was himself both learner and teacher. As Henry Adams stated: "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." We remember you gratefully, Major Robert Neal Collins, Jr.

c 2007 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 24, 2007 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Dr. William Thomas Meeks Sr. Town and country doctor

Continuing the stories of outstanding doctors who practiced medicine in Union County in the past (Dr. Edge and Dr. Rogers), we turn our attention this week to Dr. William Thomas Meeks, Sr. He might be labeled both a "town and country" doctor, having an office in his home just west of town toward Blue Ridge, and also making house calls throughout the county.

William Thomas Meeks was born August 26, 1874. He was twelve years of age when his father, John Wellborn Meeks, moved to Union County in 1886. The family farmed. The elder Mr. Meeks wanted as good an education as possible for his sons, Jesse and William, so after finishing the local school, they went to the Hiawassee Academy founded by the noted Baptist preacher cousins, Dr. George W. Truett and Dr. Fernando Coello McConnell. There the brothers would have "batched,"- that is, found a place to board and provide their own meals as they attended classes.

When William Thomas Meeks was in his early twenties, he went out to Arizona to find a job so that he could earn enough money to pay off the mortgage on the family farm. It is assumed that he reached this goal, for he returned to Blairsville and worked for awhile as a carpenter, helping to build the "old" court house on the square.

William Meeks and Dollie Adeline Colwell (1885-1987) began their courtship which culminated in their marriage in 1908. Meeks had long harbored a dream to become a doctor. In 1912, with his wife and young son, John Jacob (who was born prematurely October 23, 1908 weighing 2 pounds, 8 ounces, and was kept "incubated" in a shoe box, watched carefully and warmed by a wood stove), the family moved to Atlanta and he began studies at the old Atlanta School of Physicians and Surgeons.

Life was hard as they lived on Highland Avenue in Atlanta. Mrs. Meeks kept a cow and sold milk to neighbors. The cow also provided milk for the Meeks family, which had increased by another son, William Thomas, Jr., born October 1, 1914.

While not in classes at the medical college (which became Emory University School of Medicine the year Dr. Meeks graduated in 1915), he cut trees for the Coca Cola Company, and the couple sold Bibles for a publishing company.

Dr. Meeks had a desire to serve among his own people in Union County, so they returned to set up his practice. He made house calls, riding a black horse in all sorts of weather to see his patients over a wide area of the county. The story is told that at times the weather was so cold Mrs. Meeks had to use hot water or a hammer to melt or break up the ice formed on the stirrups so that Dr. Meeks could dismount from his horse upon his return from calls.

The third Meeks son was born in Blairsville March 23, 1918 and named Jack Littleton.

A major flu epidemic struck in 1918. It was just prior to this period that the Meeks family moved from Union County to Hall County and set up his practice in the mill village of New Holland. Several people from Union County had already moved there seeking employment in the cotton mills. He delivered babies and tended the sick. On his house calls, especially during the flu epidemic, he went from house to house up and down the streets trying to help the desperately ill people. It was reported that he delivered more babies than any doctor in Hall County, Georgia between the years of 1918 and 1935 when he practiced there.

As she did while they were in Atlanta, Dollie Meeks made sure her family had what they needed to eat. She had a chicken lot and kept fryers and hens that provided meat and eggs for her family.

The fourth Meeks son, Charles Edward, was born October 2, 1921 while the family lived in Hall County.

In 1935, Dr. Meeks moved his family back to Union County. He maintained an office in his home where he saw patients. He continued house calls, using a Model A Ford for transportation on the poor roads. Only one paved road went through the county at that time, what is now Highway 129 from Neel Gap to the North Carolina line (opened in 1925). Other roads were dirt, and often impassable in winter weather. Many a time, Dr. Meeks had to get a farmer with his team to pull his Model A through the mud. He often parked it and walked a distance to the house where he went to deliver a baby or to attend the sick.

The good doctor suffered a stroke in 1944. He did not recover, and died July 10, 1944. He was interred at the new Blairsville Cemetery. Mrs. Dollie Adeline Colwell Meeks lived until January 23, 1987.

The sons had distinguished careers but none of them followed their father into medical practice. John lived in Charleston, SC where he owned a furniture and moving business. He died in 1988. William T. Meeks, Jr., better known as Bill, graduated from the University of Georgia and returned to Union County where he became a farmer, merchant and legislator. Jack Littleton graduated from Georgia School of Technology with a chemical engineering degree. After a stint with the US Navy in which he reached the rank of Commander, he got a job with the Clorox Company and worked as chemist, plant manager, and regional manager. Charles Edward graduated from Georgia Tech in chemical engineering and held positions with various chemical manufacturing companies, the latest being in Lock Haven, PA with Quantum Chemicals until his retirement in 1988.

Today, Meeks Park in Union County stands as a monument to this family who were honorable and productive citizens.

[The major resource for this article was the "Dr. William Thomas Meeks, Sr." story in The Heritage of Union County, 1994, page 236.]

c 2007 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Feb. 8, 2007 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Noted country doctor Dr. William H. Rogers

Union County citizens of a past generation owe a debt of gratitude to exemplary country doctors like Dr. Herbert Monroe Edge (subject of last week's column) and Dr. William H. Rogers, each of whom practiced for over fifty years among the country people they loved.

William H. Rogers was born July 27, 1872 in Union County, just seven years after the end of the Civil War. He was educated in one-room schools in the county. Having a desire to become a doctor, he entered and graduated from Southern Medical College in Atlanta and from Emory University School of Medicine. While he was still in medical school, he married the love of his life, Frances Iowa Reid, a Union County girl.

To this couple were born nine children, six sons and three daughters: Bessie, George Reid, Roy, Franklin Randall, Andy Ralph, Lucille, Rain, Nora Lee, and W. H. The Rogers family lived in the Young Cane District of Union County.

Dr. Rogers' long years of service to his home county brought memorable rewards, none of which he sought but which he received by virtue of his unselfish work. He received Presidential Citations for his service to the war efforts during both World War I and World War II. The American Medical Association recognized Dr. Rogers for fifty years of outstanding service.

He saw the need of his own people in Union County for better medical service, and returned to his home county where he practiced for over fifty years. With his medical bag and compassionate personality, he went to country homes to deliver hundreds of babies and to give treatment and medications to young and old. He rode miles on his horse, and then after the advent of the automobile, he bumped along dusty and muddy country roads to meet the demands of a full and burgeoning practice.

Dr. Rogers died February 23, 1959 and was laid to rest in the Confidence United Methodist Church Cemetery in Lower Young Cane. His beloved wife, Frances Iowa Reid Rogers (born December 13, 1877) had preceded her husband in death on September 27, 1958.

The Rev. Claude Patterson gave the eulogy at Dr. Rogers' funeral. He related how Dr. Rogers had a moving religious experience when he was a lad, and often gave public testimony to his love for Christ and the Lord's leadership in his life.

"He was indeed one of us," the Rev. Patterson said. "He could rightly be called 'The Missionary Doctor' for he was a missionary to many of us. The weather was never too bad, the night never too dark, to deter his errands of mercy. The family was never too poor for him to minister to them. The roads were never so rough that he didn't manage somehow to get to his patient. Many times he [went] to his sick neighbor when his own body was racked with pain, or [he] was near exhaustion from long hours in the saddle or at the wheel of his little automobile. He lived a sacrificial life."

The eulogy praised him as 'The Good Samaritan' who bound up physical wounds and ministered to spiritual needs as well.

Several descendants of this good doctor still live in Union County. And, beyond that, many of the babies at whose birth he was the attending physician can be thankful that they got a good start in life from this country doctor's ministrations.

[Sources used for this article: Sketches of Union County History, Volume 2, pages 95- 96. The Heritage of Union County, page 278.]

c 2007 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Jan. 25, 2007 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

James Butts – Proud owner of a Gillespie Rifle

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.

Sidney Harshaw (1815-1875) was born in Burke County, NC. He was living in Union County at the time of the 1850 census. He owned thirteen slaves in 1850.

He met Salinda Plott (1835-1907) of the Plotttown section of Union/Towns counties. She was born in North Carolina. Whether she and Sidney met before they moved to Union County is not known. They were married August 31, 1854, two years before Towns was formed from a portion of Union. Her parents were George and Rebecca Land Plott.

Sidney Harshaw's estate covered the land that is now a part of Meeks Park west of Blairsville. He operated a grist mill. Sidney Harshaw's great, great grandson, James Butts, states that part of the grist mill can still be seen at Meeks Park after a century and a half.

Sidney and Salinda Plott Harshaw had seven daughters: Barbara Ann Harshaw (1855-1932) married Jacob Luther (Uncle "Boney") Colwell; Harriet Elizabeth Harshaw (1857-1917) married Hiram Theodore ("Red") Colwell; Sarah Cleopatra ("Clee") Harshaw (1859-1923) married Archibald Blucher Butt; Ellen Harshaw (1862-?) married Cicero Y. Rogers; Mary Harshaw (1863-?); Emma Lou Harshaw (1865-1943); and Julia Harshaw (1870-1939).

James B. Butts who now owns his great, great grandfather Harshaw's Gillespie rifle is the fifth generation of Harshaws. His descendancy comes through Sarah Cleopatra ("Clee") Harshaw Butt and Archibald Blucher Butt along this line: Their fifth child, Robert Bryan Butt (1897-1948) and Zora Gibson Butt (1907-1980) had a son, James Robert Butt (b. 1932), who married Betty Ann Davidson. James B. Butts and Jeff Butts (the fifth generation from Sidney Harshaw) were their sons. And now the sixth generation, Logan and Morgan Butts (Shelly Burks Butts is Logan's mother and Lisa Lovell Butts is Morgan's mother), can proudly display the Gillespie rifle of their great, great, great grandfather, Sidney Harshaw.

But the signed John Gillespie-made rifle did not always have a safe place with Sidney Harshaw's descendants. This is the story James Butts tells of how he came to receive the treasured firearm.

Emma Lou Harshaw died in 1943. Sidney Harshaw’s youngest daughter, Julia Harshaw, died in 1939. An estate sale was held following the deaths of these daughters. James Robert Butt, James Butt's father, remembers going to the estate sale with his father, Robert Bryan Butt. The Gillespie rifle was an item up for bids. Local blacksmith, Marion Jackson received the rifle at the highest bid of fifty cents! He took it to his blacksmith shop just off highway 129 north out of Blairsville, and put it on display.

Union County Historian Ed Mauney saw the gun and immediately recognized it for what it was--a treasured, signed John Gillespie-made long rifle. He offered Mr. Jackson $5.00 for it, and the blacksmith accepted his offer. Mr. Mauney did much research on the Gillespie rifles made at East Fork in North Carolina.

The gun changed owners again. Claude LaFayette Butt (1879-1960), a grandson of Sidney Harshaw (son of Archibald Blucher and Sarah Cleopatra Harshaw Butt), bought the gun from Ed Mauney for $15.00. Many will remember Mr. Claude Butt as the long-time Union County Clerk of Court. A state patrolman offered to pay Claude Butt $35.00 for the gun, but he refused, knowing that it was a family heirloom. The rifle passed from Claude Butt to James Robert Butt, great grandson of Sidney Harshaw and James B. Butts's father.

Ed Mauney (1897-1977) in his research found that the particular gun owned by the Butts family was indeed made in Union County after John Gillespie moved here. Its stock is of lovely curly maple and the gun, well crafted and lovingly preserved, bears the proud initials of its maker, "J. G." When Ed Mauney bought the gun, he also received a framed portrait of the gun's maker. That picture was used in Dennis Gillespie's book, The Gillespie Gun Makers of East Fork, NC.

[Note: Many thanks to James B. Butts of Blairsville for much of the information in this column, and to him and Jerry Taylor, Towns County Historian, for the descendancy chart of Sidney Harshaw's family. For questions or to contact me, I may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel. net, telephone 478-453- 8751, or mail: Ethelene Dyer Jones, 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411. Best wishes to all, and may we ever be aware of our rich mountain area history!]

c 2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Oct. 19, 2006 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Tracing more Townsend ties

With the disaster of Katrina and that hurricane’s aftermath, the thousands dislodged from their homes, the hundreds injured and killed, and with statistics and losses still rising, it is difficult to pull away from reports of the present catastrophe long enough to return to a quieter time and trace connections through the mists of time.

The ties to Eli Townsend and Sarah Elizabeth (Sally) Dyer Townsend’s descendants are so numerous that to trace them all would take a long book. For the benefit of this short column, I will focus today on a child of Eli and Sally’s first child, Andrew (Andrew Crockett Townsend, Sr.) and trace connections through Andrew’s sixth child, Elizabeth, who married William Jackson Shuler.

Elizabeth Townsend Shuler (Feb. 1, 1861-June 9, 1947) grew up in a household of seven children. They were the children of Andrew Townsend (1826-?) and Malinda Ingram Townsend (1829-1903). Malinda’s parents were John Little Ingram and Mary “Polly” Cagle Ingram. The marriage of Andrew and Malinda brought together two early-settler families of Union County.

Elizabeth’s siblings were Thompson L. (known as “Bud”) Townsend; Thomas Simpson (known as “Simp”) Townsend who married Ruthie West and Wilda Hood; Nancy J. Townsend (who married Thomas N. England); Amanda Jane (who married Enoch Chapman Hood).; Andrew Crockett Jr. (who married Myra Anne Duckworth, Mary Duckworth, and Mary Hunter); and Clarasie Townsend (who married Joshua Columbus Fortenberry).

The story of Elizabeth Townsend Shuler and William Jackson Shuler is told in the book by their third child, the Rev. Edward Leander Shuler, entitled Blood Mountain: An Historical Story about Choestoe and Choestoeans. To the union of Elizabeth and Jack Shuler were born 14 children, all but two of whom grew to adulthood and married. Two sets of twin girls were among the 14 children. The children grew into productive citizens, two becoming ministers, five choosing to be teachers and the others following other vocations.

In order of birth the 14 children were: Allen Candler Shuler (April 19, 1883-Sept. 1, 1967) married Lillian Lipscomb and Louise Rogers. William T. (Sept 8, 1884-April 16, 1901) died at age 16; Edward Leander (March 15, 1886-?) married Laura Collins (sister to Dr. M.D. Collins, Georgia’s long-time State Superintendent of Schools); Benjamin Franklin (Feb. 14, 1888-March 7, 1978) married Gertrude Wilson (March 27,1892-March 6, 1980). They were educators, she teaching mainly at Union County High School and Frank serving for 20 years as Superintendent of Union County Schools. He was a founding director of the Union County Bank. Andrew Harve (1889-?) married Ophelia Maddox. Della (1891 ?) married J. M. Chastain. Lydia Jane (1893-1967) married Lester Stovall. Ruth (1894-1948) married Epp L. Russell. Ada and Ida, twins, (born April 21, 1897, death dates unknown); Ada married Ralph Cavender and Ida married Herbert Jones. Alice (March 27, 1899-March 21, 1989) married James I. Wilson, a brother to her sister-in-law, Gertrude Wilson Shuler. Henry Grady (Dec. 31, 1900 ? June 16, 1901) was buried at Union Baptist Church Cemetery. Twins Myrtle and Bert, known as Mert and Bert, were born February 10, 1904. Mert married Watson Collins. She was a teacher. She died January 29, 1988. Bert married Joseph Warnie Dyer. She died May 31, 1987. The twins Mert and Bert and their spouses were interred at the Choestoe Baptist Church Cemetery.

In his book recounting life at the Jack Shuler farm along the Logan Turpike, Edward Shuler tells about the Ponder Post Office being in a portion of their house and of travelers stopping by to spend the night and take the supper meal and breakfast with the Shulers and rest their mules or horses before going on to Blairsville or to Cleveland, depending on whether they were traveling north or south. The Shuler boys helped their father keep the Logan Turnpike, the major trade route in those days, in repair by removing brush, filling in potholes, and shoring up the roadbed. Never knowing when guests might arrive unannounced, Elizabeth Townsend Shuler always seemed ready to give them a good mountain meal of cured meat, vegetables, cornbread and biscuits, and fruit cobbler or apple stack cake for dessert. Jack Shuler also had a country store. He and his wife were founding members of the Union Baptist Church.

Even though their formal education was only in the oneteacher schools of the communities where they grew up, they were ambitious for their children to get an education. The girls went to the Blairsville Collegiate Institute. The boys attended Hiawassee Academy. Beyond these institutions, the children on their own pursued further college education. Two sons, Allen Candler and Benjamin Franklin served in World War I and were deployed to France.

When surveying was in progress for the right-of-way for Highway 129, Jack Shuler “walked many miles with the surveyors over the hollows and around the cliffs out in the Blue Ridge…on Oak Mountain …above Harkins old fields over in White County…at Tesnatee Gap…by Cow Rock and Camp Branch to Frogtown Gap…northward along Wolf Creek and down under Blood Mountain.” (Shuler, “Blood Mountain,” p. 142) The road was finished and opened in 1925. It took the place of the old Logan Turnpike, and the laborious work Mr. Shuler and his boys had done to keep the old road open was no longer necessary. Jack Shuler built his third house in “Lower Choestoe” close to the new highway, but he always longed to return to the Hood Chapel and Union Church Community where he and Elizabeth Townsend Shuler had reared their large family. They were interred in the cemetery at Union Church. Their tombstones read: Elizabeth Townsend Shuler (Feb. 1, 1861Jun. 9, 1947); William Jackson Shuler (June 14, 1860-July 4, 1936).

c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published September 8, 2005 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

More from ‘The Pioneer’ Union County School Paper, May 1936

This article is a continuation of the rich store of information I found in the old copy of “The Pioneer” newspaper published by and for the senior class of May 1936 of Union County High School.

Before I proceed with notable items from that premiere issue, let me digress to laud all of the more than 190 who attended the notable 2005 DyerSouther Association Reunion held July 17, 2005 at the North Georgia Technical College Campus. Those who have contacted me say, “It was one of the best, if not the best.”

The service was dedicated to long-time family historian, the late Watson Benjamin Dyer (1901-2005) whose five books of published family history helped many to find their family roots. Several items of his memorabilia were presented to the Union County Historical Museum.

A noteworthy item was on display: a double-yoke for oxen which William Jesse Souther Jr. used on his team as he moved from Old Fort, N.C., to Choestoe prior to 1848. A gift from Jesse’s grandson, John Paul Souther of Gainesville, restored by great, great, great grandson Theodore Thomas of Blairsville, the yoke was presented to the Museum. Those who saw the yoke and touched the wood were in awe that it was still intact after more than 150 years.

A picture of Lt. Col. John Paul Souther, a picture of the ten medals he earned as an outstanding U.S. Army Air Force officer in World War II, and a plaque honoring him were donated to the Museum. Those who participated in the Reunion had feelings of deep pride for roots going back to hardy citizens who helped to form Union County and go out into the world to make a difference.

The person receiving the “eldest person present” award was the inimitable Mrs. Dora Hunter Allison Spiva, teacher extraordinary, whose mother was Martha Souther Hunter. At age 100 Mrs. Spiva still encourages by her presence and wisdom. She was the faculty sponsor for that long-ago “Pioneer” Union County High School paper which is bringing us insights and delights from 1936.

“The Pioneer” business manager was Sarah Kelley, assisted by Mary Belle McGlamery. Advertisements evidently paid the cost of publishing the paper, with multiple pictures. It was a professional-looking newspaper, printed for the Pioneer Staff by Fannin County Times Press of Morganton and Blue Ridge, Ga.

With transportation in 1936 at a premium toward the end of the great depression, the co-business managers went as far away as Murphy, N.C., to sell ads. Probably their sponsor, Mrs. Allison, took them in her automobile to Murphy. They could have walked around the town of Blairsville to sell ads there.

The businesses in Murphy that sold ads to the girls were Dr. Thompson who wrote: “If you have a toothache, see me.” The Mauney Drug Company in the Adams Building “welcomes you where courtesy is a pleasure and service is a habit.” Crisp’s Studio was known for good portraiture and photographs. E.C. Moore was the Dodge and Plymouth distributor in Murphy. The Murphy Hardware “is always ready to serve you.”

The Dayton Brothers advertised, “When in Murphy and you need a taxi, see us.” Candler’s Store and Beauty Shop invited customers to drop in for a visit.

The town was not listed in some advertisements. Perhaps readers know whether these were in Murphy, Blairsville or elsewhere:

“Edward’s Hotel and Café, a good place to eat, rooms and cold drinks, satisfaction guaranteed.” West End Service Station had gas, oil and groceries. The Nation Wide Grocery Service “in the post office building appreciates your business,” with B. J. Wilson, Manager.

The other advertisers gave Blairsville as their location. These community-minded businesses at that time willing to help with publication of the high school paper were: Akins Hotel, J. M. Akins, Proprietor; Good Gulf Service Station, Grady Cook, Manager; Texaco Service Station, Robert Butt, Manager; Butt’s Drug Store, “Service with a Smile;” Margie’s Sandwich Shop, “A good place to eat”; T. S. Candler, Attorney-at-Law; Compliments of Allison Brothers, General Merchandise; Roger’s Cash Store, “Appreciates your business;” Blairsville Barber Shop, “two excellent barbers, work reasonable.”

Union County High School, Dr. J. M. Nicholson, Superintendent, had one of the larger advertisements bearing announcements for the school year 1936-1937. He stated that all transportation would be continued in all communities served during 1935-1936. The faculty would remain the same for the new school year. Teachers in the country schools were kindly requested to send names of seventh grade graduates so they could be contacted and encouraged to attend high school. [Note: Before the days of compulsory attendance laws, this announcement was intended as an enticement for students to continue their education into high school.]

Editor Bennie Lee Helton had a word of thanks to all who made “The Pioneer” possible: “To our class members, faculty, and others in the school who have spoken words of confidence; to Crisp’s Studio who made the pictures and to Citizens’ Engraving Company who gave discounts for engravings; to The Fannin County Times Press for their printing, kindnesses and willingness to help us; and to others who may have pushed our cause, we thank you.”

I’m sure the editor and seniors of the Class of 1936 had not the faintest notion that sixty-nine years into the future some history buff (yours truly) would examine with awe the contents of The Pioneer” and be amazed at the information they printed for posterity.

Some of the mottoes chosen by seniors for their profile showed the spirit prevalent in 1936 as seniors looked forward to commencement and life: Several chose “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Paddle your own canoe,” was another favorite. “Rowing but not drifting,” showed purpose. “Rolling on” indicated the future was full-speed ahead. “A clear conscience is a good pillow,” stated one. And lest the “Rolling on” gathered too much momentum in life, another warned “Rolling stones gather no moss.”

c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published July 21, 2005 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.