Ben Hill County was created July 31, 1906, from the northern section of Irwin County and the Western section of Wilcox County.

Prior to the creation of  Ben Hill County from sections of Irwin and Wilcox Counties, there were Caucasian pioneers living in the area near the banks of the Ocmulgee River, near what we now know as Bowen's Mill.  The only reminder of the bustling little community of Crisp, is the cemetery. 

Crisp cemetery is the final resting place of many early pioneers to this part of Georgia, though many of these early pioneers graves are unmarked.  Some markers have been lost due to vandalism, some due to their perhaps being made of wood which did not survive.   Perhaps I will find some of the names of those buried in the area in early newspapers, otherwise we may never know the names of all  those early pioneers buried in the Crisp Cemetery. These people lived in the area long before Ben Hill County was created and therefore were the earliest Ben Hill County pioneers. Some of the people living in the area moved into the City of Fitzgerald once the city was created and the lots were sold, thus also becoming early pioneers of Fitzgerald.  A Southern presence was always a big part of Fitzgerald

 I love the South perhaps because it is the land of my birth and but for short periods in my life I have lived in the South as did most of my ancestors save three lines. One of Northern origin is  David Horton who was born in Rye, New York who came to Wake County, North Carolina   prior to the American Revolutionary War; Another was John Willcox, I  who was from Pennsylvania but moved to  Chatham County, North Carolina during 1759.  And last and closest to my own generation,  is  John Mahoney  who came here with the railroad in the 1870s.

 John Robert Mahoney came into Georgia soon after the American Civil War and I guess he wanted to continue living after he wooed and wed a  Confederate Veteran's young sixteen year old daughter.  After all,  Great Granddaddy Mahoney was a Yankee from Maine. So he lied about where he came from and is listed incorrectly on several census schedules. On one census schedule his place of birth is listed as  Alabama and on another one same thing.  Sure.  And his parents were born in Ireland. Oh, of course.

 Then on another one it says he was born in Ireland and his parents were born in Ireland.  Now after he arrives in Fitzgerald, a Yankee haven in the middle of Georgia, he finally owns up to where he was born, Portland, Maine.  Lo and behold we have a clue.  When he died the informant, my Great Grandmother stated his place of birth was Portland, Maine.  We were told he was born in Ireland, but then once or twice my maternal Grandmother, his daughter-in-law admitted he was a bit of a mystery and that she knew he was born in either New York or Maine. 

Now that is about as Yankee as anyone can get without heading up to Canada.  John Robert known as R. J.  with the initials of his name transposed, was  thirty-six years old and a real dapper fellow with lots of living behind him when he came to Georgia.  He had worked as a boy on the steamboats out of Portland, Maine that ran up and down the Eastern Coastline.  Then if family tradition is correct, and I do question that after so many other fibs that was told to us about our ancestry, was a clown for one of the large Circuses. Supposedly, he was an acrobat and could flip backwards and do other acrobatic feats, but that didn't convince me that he was a acrobatic Clown in the Circus.

But  I can almost believe that family tradition for lots of little boys wanted to run away with the Circus when they were young and I actually knew one of my generation who did, but the family chased him down and came to Florida to get him and take him home. A Mahoney family in the North some years ago contacted me and we exchanged letters and emails told me about their missing John Mahoney.  They lived in an area that was famous for the Circus. We know he lived in New York at one time and that could be the connection but no proof, so the story remains a family tradition, folk tale.

What we know is that he wasn't born in Ireland but in Maine, proved with his death certificate and also with his christening record which was copied from  Portland, Maine records.   And we do know that at some point in time a Mahoney came to this country from Ireland and had the name either Mahony, Mahoney or O'Mahoney and they had baby blue eyes, fair hair and fair complexions and one of that person's descendant's is the parent of our Mahoney ancestor. 

The Mahoney family played a role in Fitzgerald's history through their maternal lines and also through Mr. Mahoney's work at the local newspaper office and his father's work at the railroad but other than that the Mahoney family did not play a role in the early settlement of Irwin County prior to Ben Hill County being created.  The Conner, Steely, Luke, Harrell, Willcox, Rountree, Thomas, Bass, Driskell, Revels, Gibbs, Rouse, Tomberlin, Brown,  and other collateral and allied lines did however,

Ben Hill County Pioneers Buried In Crisp Cemetery:

Enoch H. Watkins and wife Martha; Ruby Morris; James B. Watkins and wife Ophalia BRADLEY Watkins; Sarah Holly STEELY Luke wife of George Washington Matthew Luke, I CSA Soldier, Co. F 49th Georgia Infantry, son of Irwin County Pioneers William Luke and Sarah RHODES Luke; Russell A. Luke, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Luke; Frances Luke; Fannie R. Matthews daughter of G. N. and A. Matthews;  Madar Luke, daughter of George W. M. Luke and Sarah Holly STEELY Luke; Lucy Luke, twin sister to Madar Luke; Sallie Luke, Daughter of George W. M. Luke and Sarah Holly STEELY Luke; John Buchanan; Walter T. Willcox, son of T. D. and R. A. Willcox; Georgia May Willcox; Captain T. D. Willcox; Roxanna REID Willcox; Sallie, Daughter of L. and A. C. Willcox; Lewis Willcox; David Hanes; Martha E. Hanes; Mary C. Roberts; Minnie F. Roberts; William P. Matthews; Abbie Willcox, Daughter of Lewis and A. C. Willcox; J. A. McIntyre, son of J. W. and F. P. McIntyre; Fannie R. Matthews, Daughter of G. N. and A. Matthews; Infant Daughter of T. D. and R. A. Willcox; David Troup and wife, Henryetta RABB Troup; Hugh McCartney; Thomas H. Blair; Mary Horton Daughter of Lemuel and Frances Horton; Lemuel Horton; Sgt. George W. Horton, Co F. 49th Georgia Infantry CSA; Sennie A. Bye; Elizabeth Fussell; Byrd W. Fussell.  Also I believe my Great Great Grandparents Hershal "Huke" Steely and his wife Alice Forbes, parents of Sarah Holly STEELY Luke are buried in this cemetery and their graves are among those many unmarked graves. 

[Cemetery transcriptions were found in "Cemeteries of the Willcox Family," by the late John D. Willcox and Tad Evans, and permission for my using the same was given by both authors. The Willcox Family Cemetery Foundation,  provides perpetual care for cemeteries where our Willcox family members are buried.  The Foundation was began by John D. Willcox and Tad Evans and is carried on by Polly Willcox, Tad Evans, and other Willcox family members who are members of the foundation. Photos of Crisp Cemetery by David Willcox of Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia.]

My Great Great Great Grandfather

John Willcox, Jr. aka John Willcox, III
son of John Willcox, II and Mary LEA Willcox
and a brother to General Mark Lea Willcox, state
legislator and one of the founders of the Georgia Supreme Court.

My Great Great Great Grandmother

 Louisa Conner, daughter of Reverend Wilson Conner who preached some of the earliest sermons in the area now known as Ben Hill, Irwin, Turner, Wilcox, Telfair Counties.   Wife of  John Willcox, III, some refer to him as John Willcox, Jr. a son of John Willcox, II, and the brother to General Mark Lea Willcox.  The Willcox family lived across the Ocmulgee River from present day Ben Hill County. 

The first seat of county government in Irwin county was in Crisp,  on lot #147, in the 4th district at the house of David Williams.  The second county seat was on lot # 147, 4th district at the house of Murdock McDuffie.
 

Crisp settlement included the Troup's, Horton's, Luke's, Parramore's, Goff's/Gaff's, Williams', Young's, McCall's, McDuffie's and many others.  The community had a blacksmith, a grist mill, cotton gin, country store, post office, steamboat docks, and a community cemetery.   There were no church buildings during the early years for the residents to attend services and religious meetings were held in the resident's homes.  Irwin County Court was held in the homes of some of the local pioneers, and small meeting houses until the site of the County Seat was moved to Irwinville and a wood frame courthouse was constructed.

Early church services were held in the homes of pioneer families and the preachers, called circuit riders, rode by horseback, from circuit to circuit.

One of those was my ancestor, Reverend Wilson Conner, whose circuit included the area which became Irwin County. The following information can be found in John Ben Pate's book, "History of Turner County" published in1933.

EARLY PREACHERS

Rev. Wilson Conner was a native of South Carolina and a contemporary of Rev. Jesse Mercer and at one period of his life, at least, was as loyal to the organized work of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and was as great and energetic in the sphere in which he lived and moved, as was Mercer in his work among those in more elevated paths of life.

In 1824, the Georgia Baptist Convention employed D. C. Mallory, Jonathan Davis and Wilson Conner as missionaries.

Davis and Mallory were each to receive a salary of one thousand dollars per year, while Conner was to receive only four hundred dollars per year for his work. It seems that Conner's position with the Georgia Baptist Convention lasted from 1824 to 1839, or for a period of fifteen years.

Brother Conner, a resident of Effingham County, and a member of the Sunbury Association, to be near his work, moved to Dooly County. Before moving here his daughter Lucy married a Mr. Joseph Ryals of Montgomery County. (No mention here of Louisa who married John Willcox )They were the parents of Rev. J. G. Ryals, D. D., of Cartersville, Georgia, who was born in Montgomery County in 1824, the same year that his grandfather, Rev. Wilson Conner, was employed by the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Under the employment of the Georgia Baptist Convention, Rev. Conner's territory was South Georgia, west of the Ocmulgee River. This was a new field of labor, as the Indians only a few years before had ceded their ]ands to the pale faced settlers. The exact dates were 1818 and 1821.

The territory included what is now the following associations: The Houston, Little River, Pulaski, Turner, Ben Hill, Irwin and Mallory and at that time was considered as belonging to the Ebenezer Association.

Brother Conner lived to be a very old man and it is said, died in the pulpit after having preached a great sermon from the text, "Verily I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live."

His membership at one time was held by Ozias (now Bethlehem) Church in Ben Hill County. Rev. Wilson Conner and Rev. John Martin organized this church in 1832, as the minutes of that church show, being well preserved. When the Georgia Baptist Convention met at Forsyth in 1835, Rev. Wilson Conner preached in the Presbyterian Church on Sunday, which shows the old wiregrass pioneer preacher was a man of no mean ability.

Rev. Wilson Conner organized the Hawkinsville Baptist Church at old Hartford just across the Ocmulgee in 1830. He also organized New Hope, two miles south of Abbeville, Georgia, January 25, 1830, and was assisted by Rev. David Wood and Rev. Jordan Baker and in 1839 the Houston Association met with New Hope and the missionary sermon was preached by Rev. Jesse Mercer and while here he was doubtless the guest of Rev. Wilson Conner. At this session New Hope withdrew from the Houston Association and joined an anti-missionary association known as the Pulaski. The church still exists and is a member of the Pulaski Primitive Association; Ozias (now Bethlehem) Church, near Bowen's Mill in Ben Hill County; Dorminy's Mill in Ben Hill County; Rock Hill near Arabi, became a primitive Baptist Church and was disorganized in 1855; Mt. Ariel, Camp Creek, Ebenezer, Mt. Bezer of Dooly County; Pindertown of now Worth County, long since discontinued; Hephzibah, near Byromville; Bethel above Cordele, dissolved about thirty-five years ago. Antioch and Big Creek of Pulaski County; Mount Oliver, Dry Creek and Beulah in Houston County.

Whether or not Rev. Conner organized all of these churches cannot be determined. He probably did not but undoubtedly he assisted the local preachers and encouraged and advised them in all of this great work.

About 1830, Rev. William Pate and Rev. Warren Dykes, two very prominent Baptist preachers moved into this territory and with burning zeal labored for the salvation of souls. Many young ministers of that day were ordained, among them being Sylvester Walden, Thomas Aldridge, Wiley Willis, Sam Stone and Dan Reeves.

These young preachers labored long and grew old, and long since have passed away and another generation of preachers has come and gone, and still another has grown old, and another generation of preachers is now rising up to carry on the work of redemption.

Some of the early churches became Primitive in faith and fought the State Convention, whose missionary zeal brought them into existence, while the majority of the churches have remained true to the organized work.

Rev. Wilson Connor's old Bible dictionary and a few more old books were destroyed two or three years ago when the home of his grandson, Lewis Connor, was burned.

Faithful to the last and expecting a brighter day, old Brother Connor passed away and lies resting from his long life of service.

Wilson Conner's Great Grandson-in-law,  George Washington Matthew Luke, Jr., husband of his Great Granddaughter, Elizabeth Harrell Luke, my Great Grandfather was known as the "The Fiddling Minister," because he carried his fiddle with him where ever he preached.  He  played for the congregations along his circuit thus earning him that nick name.  According to family tradition he rode from church circuit with his fiddle tied onto his saddlebags.

Pauline "Polly" Willcox, daughter of  Lula HARRELL Wilcox and Bill Willcox related a story to me about the way  Elizabeth Daniel Harrell, daughter of Levi Holt Harrell and Mary Jane WILLCOX Harrell met the young Minister George W. M. Luke.  According to the story Polly's Mother related to her was that Elizabeth "Bette" had gone to visit a cousin in Jacksonville, Telfair County, Georgia. The young ladies went to a  revival where the handsome young Minister was preaching and playing his fiddle. The young couple met and fell in love and later married on her Parent's plantation in Pulaski County, Georgia.

Elizabeth's maternal Grandparents was John Willcox and Louisa CONNER Willcox of Telfair County, Georgia.  The Willcox plantation was near the community of Temperance. The community of Temperance was on the Telfair County side of the Ocmulgee River and opposite from the old "Crisp" settlement in old Irwin County.  Family members traveled back and forth across the river on pole boats to visit one another and to do business with the local farmers.  There was no ferry service known of until much later. After Fitzgerald was built some of the locals suggested a ferry be built to carry passengers to the other side of the river.  It was sometime after 1900 that a ferry was finally built. On more than one occasion my Great Grandfather, George W. M. Luke, Jr. went into the newspaper office in Fitzgerald and mentioned to editor Mercer about  the need  for a ferry across the Ocmulgee River.  Editor Mercer wrote about these visits and comments that my ancestor made and eventually a ferry was built to accommodate residents of Telfair and Ben Hill County who wished to visit the other County.

Ferry service made it much easier for the local people to visit relatives and attend to business transactions,  without having to take the long way around to get to Temperance and Milan in Telfair County.   Steamboat travel was still available from the dock in Crisp on the Irwin County side of the river.

In 1835 three steamboat companies operated on the river.  The Willcox family was again involved in river travel, this time through steamboats rather than the pole boats like old John Willcox had operated in the early years. Captain Joe Willcox, one family member,  was operating steamboats up and down the river.

A steady flow of traffic transporting cotton and lumber to the markets of Savannah and Darien from the wharves of Macon, Hawkinsville, Abbeville, Jacksonville, and Lumber City, and from the river landings of prosperous Ocmulgee River plantations.

When railroads arrived in Irwin County, the Okmulgee's importance for shipping local products, such as cotton dwindled to1% of the amount being shipped.  Between 1870 and 1900, steamboats were also used as a major transport for the barrels of rosins and gum spirits. In 1889, there were nine steamboats  that operated on the Ocmulgee River. By 1924 steamboat travels had practically came to an end. Occasionally,  moonlight cruises were offered for large parties. Other entertaining excursions carried people up and down the river to vacation spots and to visit family members that lived in other areas along the riverboat charts.  River travel  became a novelty and no longer a necessity after railroads expanded their routes and took away the commercial accounts once handled by river travel.  

The Willcox Family Cemetery Fund, provides perpetual care for cemeteries where our Willcox family members are buried. The Foundation was began by John D. Willcox and Tad Evans and is carried on by Polly Willcox, Tad Evans, and other Willcox family members who are members of the foundation.

The creation of the Colony City, The founding of Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald, "The Colony City", Ben Hill Co., GA.

Ben Hill County is created from portions of Irwin and Wilcox Counties in November 1906.

 Fitzgerald is the County Seat and the "only" city in the county. There are a few small communities but they are not towns or cities. These small communities had a postal facility which was often housed in a country store that served the residents in the rural areas.
 

The actual history of Ben Hill County begins in 1906 and prior to that would be included in the History of Irwin County by J. B. Clements. 

The City of Fitzgerald was incorporated  and built on land owned by the Drew brothers, natives of North Carolina.   They like many of the people who lived in the area were veterans and the families of veterans of the American Civil War.  Feelings were still very strained when the first of the Colonists arrived in the area.  The City of Fitzgerald was built in an area where there was no actual town, only a small post office which served the area the natives called Swann.  The following image is from a letter that Louie Harper scanned and contributed the image for this website.

 

Letter  Postmarked in Swann, Georgia in 1894.
Contributed by Louie Harper 2005

Standing on the porch of their home are my Great Grandparents George Washington Matthew Luke, Jr. and Elizabeth Daniel HARRELL Luke, early residents of  Ben Hill County, Georgia.  Within the City limits, near the VFW and City Pool area,  on North end of town near highway towards Bowen's Mill.  This house burned to the ground in the 1920s and another home was built on the area where the original home sat. The second home was a one story home. 

Family of George W. M. Luke, Jr. and his wife Elizabeth Daniel HARRELL Luke

My Great Grandparents with my Grandfather George Michael Luke in front of his father, George W. M. Luke, Jr. and his siblings, Mary Jessie in her Mother's lap, and Callie Blanche between parents.

Elizabeth Daniel HARRELL Luke, a  Granddaughter of Louisa Conner and John Willcox is sitting with her husband George Washington Matthew Luke, son of George W. M. Luke and Sarah Holly Steely.

Ben Hill County Communities:
Abba,  Fitzgerald, Queensland, Roanoke Acres, Wiggins, Westwood.

Historical:

Communities once a part of Irwin County: Bowen's Mill, Crisp, Swan, Wolf pit. Crisp Cemetery is all that remains of Crisp. The first Irwin County Seat was located at Crisp and later moved to Irwinville, and even later to Ocilla, which is the present County Seat of Irwin County.

Creation of the American Tribune Soldiers Company
1895

Fitzgerald has a unique beginning in that it was built by northern and mid-western colonists who traveled south in covered wagons. The city is named for its founder, Mr. Philander Fitzgerald, a newspaper publisher and Union Veteran, who organized the American Tribune Soldiers Colony and selected a tract of some 50,000 acres in Irwin County, Georgia.

Philander H. Fitzgerald, owner of the American Tribune Newspaper, also a veteran Union Army drummer boy, resident of Indianapolis,  Indiana wrote a letter to, Georgia Governor, William J. Nothen, (a Confederate Veteran) to express Mr. Fitzgerald's interest in establishing a Colony of Union Veterans in the South.

Mr. Fitzgerald's idea of a Northern Colony was well received by the Governor and Mr. Fitzgerald set the wheels in progress by  organizing The American Tribune Soldiers Company and set out to sell 50,000 shares of stock at $10.00 per share. He advertised the venture in his own newspaper which had a large circulation to Northern Veterans in the Midwestern states. On July 8, 1895, with the assistance and cooperation of Governor Nothen, the Company purchased 50,00 acres of land from the Drew brothers, who owned and operated a saw mill, in the Irwin County community of Swan. (The City of Fitzgerald was built on the land that was once known as Swan)

The company sold stock throughout the north and mid-western states, by advertising in one of Mr. Fitzgerald's Newspapers.  In July of 1895 the land was purchased from the sale of the stock and within one year the City of Fitzgerald was incorporated. Stocks were not hard to sell for veterans and their families living in the Midwestern states were suffering from a severe drought which had lasted for some years and the winters were very bitter so many were eager to leave the states where they were living for the more moderate climate of the south. 

The Company purchased an additional 50,000 acres which increased the total purchased to 100,000 acres. All members on the Company's Board were Union Veterans with the exception of one Confederate Veteran, R. V. Bowen of GA. When some of the local residents who had long lived in the area were approached about selling their land to the Company, they refused saying, they would not sell their land to Yankees.

Although some would have you believe that all local residents accepted the newcomers to the area, that was not entirely true. There were many who resented the Northerners who "invaded" their land for a second time.  Once when a group of Union Veterans and their families spread out a picnic at the site of President Jefferson Davis' capture, where present day Jeff Davis park is situated, caused no little uproar. In fact to some it was the same as a slap in the faces of the pioneer families of the area, the  Confederate veterans and their families.

After some determined Southern men addressed the problem on the public sidewalks of Fitzgerald, the rude oversight was never repeated  by the Northern and Midwestern Colonists and peace finally came.  But throughout the early years the focus of the City was towards the Grand Army of the Republic and made little of the Southern veterans, though many still lived in the area and many more lay beneath the soil their pioneer ancestors tilled.

By the Spring of 1896,  8,000 newcomers were living in Fitzgerald, which had been incorporated by Georgia General Assembly, December 2, 1896.  Ben Hill County was cut out of Irwin and Wilcox Counties July 31, 1906 and  organized January 5, 1907.  Schools opened for session in the fall of 1896, out of a faculty of twelve, there was only one Southerner.

Fitzgerald High School opened in the fall of 1909 and  the only High School until it burned in 2003 due a fire which destroyed almost all of the inner structure of the building.  First Ward School was located on West Altamaha (the original wood frame building was destroyed by fire, and later a brick structure was built.  I spent my first years of school attending this school, I have some photos taken in the 1940s of the building if I can find them I will scan them and place them here so others can enjoy looking back). Third Ward School opened in about 1896-97.  This school  was destroyed by fire and later rebuilt.  Roanoke, a one room wood frame building, was opened for class in about 1898. 

 When the colonists first arrived to the area there were already many pioneer families living in the area that had been cut out of Irwin and Wilcox Counties to form Ben Hill County.  Some of the pioneer families had lived in the area when it was still Indian Territory, and Irwin County had not yet been created.  These pioneer men were Confederate Veterans and the children of Confederate Veterans who lived near the area once known as Crisp.  Also the Bowen's Mill area and scattered about Ben Hill County in small clusters of farms.

The family cemeteries and small community churches were reminders of early life in the area.  The land the colonists settled on had been pine forests which had belonged to the Drew Brothers who sold the property to the Colony Company.  The early Union Veterans and their families set up small makeshift homes until better permanent structures could be constructed.  There was no shortage of wood and within a very short period of time a small settlement grew into a beautiful city like none other in the South. 

Mr. Fitzgerald laid out the city in a perfect square with an area of approximately one mile. All streets and parks were named to carry out the theme of South and North to celebrate the coming together of the Union and to honor both Union and Confederate Veterans.  The drives that border the inner city are named for Northern and Southern Battleships.  The streets which run North and South on the east side are named for Southern Generals.  The main recreation area was named Blue and Gray Park.

By the summer of 1896 there were three newspapers, eleven churches, 250 places of business, two railroads, and twenty five miles of open streets.
 

Not long after that the Lee Grant Hotel was built which at that time was the  largest wood frame building in Georgia was built. There was an opera house which would seat up to 1,200 people. Later an indoor bathing pool was built and a large exhibition hall named the "Cotton Palace".

Granitoid Structures

Photo From Collection of Mrs. Floyd Eads, Jr., This is a photo of her
late husband's maternal Grandfather, the father of Vernice Beauchamp Eads.
[Mrs. Floyd Ead's, Jr. m widow of Floyd Eads, Jr. is my paternal Aunt, Willie
Elizabeth (Luke) Bugg]

An Opera House was built, where theatrical troupes from all over came to entertain the people of Fitzgerald.  The entertainment drew people from neighboring counties to Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald Opera House - 1899

Click On Thumbnail At Right.........................................................>

 

The County Seat is Fitzgerald.
The First Grand Jury.
Photo submitted by Catherine Coolidge
 

First Ward School
,   

                                                               Third Ward School

Roanoke School

First Baptist Church

Fitzgerald is also the home of Georgia's "Last of the Confederate Soldiers, " William Jordan "Josh" Bush: Born near Gordon, Georgia in Wilkinson County on July 10, 1845.  His parents were Francis Marion Bush and Elizabeth Pattishall Bush.  He moved to Fitzgerald, GA in 1932. Photos of Gen. Josh Bush and his wife are contributed to this site by Louie Harper, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, from Mr. Harper's personal collection of historical photographs.
 

Wilkinson County, GA 1860 Census
Division: Ramah District   Page Number: 43

15 292 294 Bush F. M. 31 M . Clerk & Farmer 1,800 2,975 GA . . . . .
16 292 294 Bush Elizabeth 30 F . House Keeper . . GA . . . . .
17 292 294 Bush John J. 12 M . . . . GA . X . . .
18 292 294 Bush J. W. 9 M . . . . GA . X . . .
19 292 294 Bush E. J. 7 M . . . . GA . X . . .
20 292 294 Bush Frances 5 F . . . . GA . . . . .
21 292 294 Bush Mary 3 F . . . . GA . . . . .
22 292 294 Bush W. J. 23 M . Farm Laborer . . GA

[the age of W. J. is wrong as he was born July 10, 1845]. I believe he had an older brother Benjamin also, not listed here. ]

He was only sixteen years old when he joined Company B, 14th GA Regiment GA Infantry. And on Oct. 22, 1861 he was discharged from the unit  when his commanding officer learned that "Josh" was only sixteen years old.

Then October of 1864 he was enlisting again this time in the 430th District 9th Senatorial District GA Militia. He did not apply for a pension until he was 93 years of age.

In 1874 he married Mary Seely  [could have been Steely, as I have found the surname  misspelled as Seely, Sealey, Stealy in some records] and they had six children. Mary and his children preceded him in death. He met Effie Tennell Sharp a widow with tow children and they married in 1922 and were together at his death in 1952.

It was Uncle "Josh" and Aunt Effie to my Dad, his Dad, and my paternal Granddad's siblings.    Uncle Josh was related to my Father's Paternal Grandmother and perhaps Grandfather also,  through Uncle Josh's Maternal line.  At least that is where I believe the connection comes in.  After the Civil War was over and Uncle Josh was still a young  man, he ran the post office on the Harrell Plantation in Rhine, Georgia.  Daddy said they had their own post office, a general store, grist mill and it was like a town within itself.  The former slaves that had been freed long before the Civil War had been sharecroppers on the land and in some cases had been given land to farm. 

The Harrell land covered many thousands of acres of Pulaski and what is now parts of Dodge County.  Since my Dad descends from two of William Holt Harrell's sons I do not know which Plantation that Uncle Josh was on but believe it was the land that Levi Holt Harrell later farmed, but I am not certain.  Levi Holt Harrell and Charles Harrell are my Dad's ancestors, since his mother and father were first cousins twice removed.

I have newspapers that Aunt Effie sent to my Dad's paternal Aunt "Callie Blanche (Luke) Lane, when my Grandfather, George Michael Luke died and when, his mother,  my Great Grandmother Bettie D. (Harrell) Luke died.   The newspapers each have her signature, signed, "Love Aunt Effie."

My family connection to Uncle Josh: [I believe is through Mary Seely's Pattishall or Seely line that the Luke/Harrell/Steely/Delk connection comes in.   Mary Harrell, Grandmother of my Sarah Holly Steely, wife of George W. M. Luke, pioneer of Irwin County, GA and former resident of Wilkinson County (1870 Census, next to Huke Steely, his father in law) was a neighbor and perhaps a relative of Elizabeth Pattishall (see 1840 Wilkinson County, GA Census Page 296, lines 1 and 4. Each woman was the head of a household.  Each had been widowed.  Hershal aka Hucal /Huke Steely, Sr. was the father of Mary and Sarah Steely. 

Their mother was a daughter of Mary (Delk) Harrell and Reuben Harrell of Wilkinson County.  1n 1850 Mary and Sarah were living with their maternal Grandmother, Mary Harrell and their maternal Uncle William Harrell in Wilkinson County, GA.   The Bush family, Harrell and Steely families were neighbors and more than likely connected through marriages in the Pattishall and the Steely families.  My Paternal Great Grandparents were distant cousins through their Harrell lines. So that would have made William Jordan "Josh" Bush a cousin of both George Washington Matthew Luke (through his Mother's line) and of Elizabeth "Bettie" Harrell Luke (through her father's Harrell line.)

According to my Dad, Bettie Harrell Luke, his paternal Grandmother, referred to Josh Bush as Cousin Josh.   No doubt there was a family connection at least through one of those Wilkinson County lines.

Uncle Josh received his first and only uniform when he was presented with a Brookes Brothers tailor-made replica of Robert E. Lee's Calvary uniform, a gift from 20th Century -Fox Pictures in gratitude for his technical advice on the movie "Two Flags West."

 I recall going to there house with my Dad when I was a little girl.  Aunt Effie was always very sweet to me.  Uncle Josh would occasionally nod or smile but for the most part my only memories of him are of him sitting in his chair sound asleep. 

Aunt Effie showed me his uniform that he is wearing in the photo shown above.  Louie Harper was very kind by sharing that photo and also one that was published when Uncle Josh died. 

Aunt Effie wrote my Paternal Grandfather's obituary and also my Paternal Great Grandmother's obituary.  Each one included an original poem.  When I visited the Cyclorama  at Grant Park in Atlanta  during the early 1970s I saw Uncle's Josh's uniform inside a glass case and felt proud that I had the opportunity to actually know him and hear all of the stories that my Dad told me about him.   And that my Great Aunt Blanche had told me about "Uncle Josh." 

 It was Aunt Effie though that I recall the most.  She was a school teacher.  She was a pretty woman for her age and must have been very pretty when she was a very young woman.  Pictured above with her daughter, Mrs. Janie Sharp Law, also a Ben Hill County, GA resident.

The first commemorative Confederate postal stamp was autographed by General Josh Bush.  Aunt Effie also received a lot of attention from the media and the crowds when she rode in the car with actors Roddy McDowell and Richard Widmark during a parade in Atlanta in the late 1940s during "Old South Week."

Photos of Bush family: Obituary of W. J. Bush, and the General and Mrs. Bush contributed by Louie Harper, Fitzgerald, Georgia.

See the early views of Fitzgerald in the images copied below