Saye Family STories

Saye Family Stories
Perspectives on
Life in the South
1777–1899

Asbury Washington Saye 

Edited and Annotated by
Paul K. Graham

CHAPTER ONE

Paternal Grandparents

It is through your request, my dear son, that I undertake to write a little history of our ancestors and also of ourselves. 

To begin 

I have thought proper to give a little of the geography of the country in which our fathers settled after emigrating to Georgia in 1777. Wilkes County was laid off by the Legislature, its northern line on the Savannah River at the mouth of Lightwood Log Creek and running up said creek about one mile north of the present site of Danielsville, thence to the corner known as Cherokee Corner, nine miles below Athens on the Lexington Road. Wilkes cornered with the Creek and Cherokee Indians: the Creeks south and as far as they wanted west; the Cherokees north and west as far as they wished. In 1784 Franklin was made by the Legislature from lands taken from the Cherokees as indemnity for depredations committed by them on the whites during the war of the Revolution. Franklin lay north to northwest of Wilkes. In 1790 Elbert was laid off from the northeast corner of Wilkes, and in 1793 Oglethorpe was laid off from the northwest corner of Wilkes. In 1796 Jackson County was created, then all of Clarke and Oconee lying within its boundary, and small portions of what is now Gwinnett, Hall, and Walton counties. In 1811 Madison County was laid off from Elbert and Franklin counties mainly, but small portions taken from Jackson, Clarke and Oglethorpe counties.
Nearly all the first settlers in what is now Madison County were Pennsylvanians from the neighborhood of Carlyle in Cumberland County and were of Scotch Irish descent. That is, they were from Scotland and had settled in Ireland but finally emigrated to America and made settlements in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. They were Presbyterians and they were considered illegal bodies of worshipers, one of the dissenting bodies after the Episcopal Church became established by law in England. The Presbyterians and other dissenting bodies lost their love for England. Many of them came over and settled in the different colonies, but when England’s oppressive measures were imposed on her colonies these dissenting bodies of religious worshipers almost universally became rebellious. It was a body of Presbyterians in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, that made the first Declaration of Independence in 1775. They brought no love for England with them and were ready to lay down their lives in defense of colonial rights.1
After the Revolution numbers of them found their way to the unbroken forest of Georgia. Among them were our ancestors, including our great-grandfather Christopher Gardner. I can recollect seeing him when I was small. He was with General Washington three years and was in the battles of Germantown, Long Island, and Brandywine, and probably others. After the war he married a Miss Margaret Elliott. The Elliotts were blacksmiths. They were detailed by General Washington to assist in making the huge chains that were stretched across the Delaware River to prevent the British fleet from reaching Philadelphia. The Elliotts, with a few others, made the first settlement in what is now Madison County.2
My grandmother [Margaret Gardner] was born in Pennsylvania. Her mother died while she was an infant. Christopher Gardner came with his father-in-law (George Elliott) and his five sons (George, John, Alexander, William and Thomas) to Georgia in 1786 and made the first settlement ever made in what is now Madison County on the south fork of Broad River. The Elliotts made nails to nail on the first roof on the first church ever organized in North Georgia, or so high up in the state—I mean the first Presbyterian ever organized. There were some Presbyterian churches near the coast before this, but New Hope Church in Madison is the oldest one, organized in 1788 by the Rev. John Newton, the first Presbyterian minister that ever settled in North Georgia. He died in 1796 or 7. The Creek Indians became troublesome in 1787. My great-grandfather with the Elliotts built a fort near where Paoli now stands, to protect themselves from the inroads of the Indians.3
There is some difference in the history of Great-grandfather Richard Saye. One statement gives it that his father William or James Saye came over from England, settled in Pennsylvania, raised three sons (James, William, and Richard); and another states that Richard Saye came over from England with other emigrants about the year 1755. Mary Hodge, with her father and family, were in the same vessel with him. They married soon after they landed and settled first in Pennsylvania, but did not remain long there, but emigrated to what is now Union County, South Carolina. Both statements give Mary Hodge as Richard’s wife. Richard was my great-grandfather. He was a thrifty farmer and when the Revolutionary War broke out he volunteered his services to his adopted country and fell in the siege at Savannah in October 1779.4
My great-grandmother Mary Hodge remained in South Carolina until 1789 or 90, then removed to Wilkes County, Georgia. That part in which she settled is now Madison County. She and her family became members of New Hope Presbyterian Church. She lies in the burying ground there with many of her descendants. She raised seven children: four girls and three boys. I am not sure what the girls’ names were. The boys were James, William, and Richard. Richard, the youngest, was named for his father. He was my grandfather.5
The oldest son James married Miss Elizabeth Caruthers. They raised a large family; they were blessed with seven sons and seven daughters. I believe they raised all but one of them. He settled on the north of Walnut Fork of the Oconee River in Jackson County. He afterwards removed further up the river into Hall County. He died by February 1850. All of his children have passed away but two: Richard of Atlanta, Georgia, and Adaline of Athens, Georgia. He did well in the accumulation of property but got into trouble in his later years and lost all he had made. He had two sons young enough to go into the Confederate War. They both returned. He had sixteen grandsons that went into the war. Six returned. Martin Saye, one of his sons, lost five sons: two killed in battle, two died in camp, and one died one or two years after the war from his broken-down condition caused by the war.6
Martin Saye has four sons still living, doing very well. Martin was not the oldest son of my great-uncle James, but I was best acquainted with him. He lived some time a neighbor to my father in Cherokee County and some of his sons were about my age and grew up together in the same community.7
John Saye, I believe, was the oldest one, born about 1803 or 4 [sic, 1806]. He married a Miss Eberhart [Elizabeth] and raised six children. Four are living in Athens. One of his daughters [Martha], born blind, was educated in the blind asylum at Milledgeville. I made her acquaintance in Athens last fall as I was passing through. She is living with one of her sisters. I found her well informed and intelligent. I believe the sister she was living with never married. John lost two sons in the great Civil War, one son I believe living yet.8
James also married a Miss Eberhart [Elizabeth]. He lost two sons in the struggle for Southern independence. Two still live in Hall County where they were raised. A daughter married Elijah Tool.9
William and Sally never married. Both died in their sister Adaline Saye’s house. They had made their home with her for a long time before their deaths.10
Elizabeth never married. She removed to Arkansas with sons of the connection and died there.11
Mahala married a Mr. Eberhart [Samuel P.] and raised a large family. I have not met any of them and hence know nothing of them, only that they were raised in Hall County near where my great-uncle lived.12
Ephraim married a Miss Blackstock [Cassie A.] and raised a large family. I became acquainted with two of his boys in Atlanta: John and Daniel.13
Nancy married Alexander Deal and raised seven children. I am not acquainted with any of them.14
Robert married a Miss Dickerson [Mary Elizabeth]. I became acquainted with him in Alabama. He was a well-to-do influential man. He lost one son in the War Between the States. His wife dying, he then married a Miss King [Eleanir Eliza]. He raised several children by the first wife but none by the last wife.15
Adaline, my great-uncle’s youngest daughter, was born November the 17th 1823 and married the second day of January 1845 to a distant relative of her own name [John W. Saye]. She raised several children, lost her oldest son in our cruel war. Two of her boys are living in Athens, both doing well. I became acquainted with her youngest daughter [Agnes Alice Saye] living in Hart County, Georgia. She married John Cartledge, a nephew of the Reverend Groves H. Cartledge of Banks County, Georgia. All of her daughters have married and are doing very well.16
Richard, the youngest son of my great-uncle, was born in January 1825. He married a Miss Eliza Saye, a distant relative of his and a sister to Adaline’s husband. He raised four children by her. She dying, he married a Miss Sarah Edwards and raised two children by the last wife. As I have stated, all have passed away but Richard and Adaline.17
My great-uncle William Saye emigrated to Missouri in early life. I know very little of him. I know he raised one son. My father and he once kept up correspondence. His name was Benjamin [sic, Richard]. 

Dear son, I have received an answer from my letter to Savoy.* He [Dr. William R. Saye] was a grandson of my great-uncle William Saye. He seemed glad to hear of us and will give me more information as soon as he hears from his brother John who is living in Illinois. He says that his grandfather emigrated from Georgia to Middle Tennessee when that country was first settling up. He settled on the Harpeth but removed from there to Bedford County where he raised his family. He just raised two children, one son and one daughter. He named his son Richard. The Richard was for my grandfather. He says Richard was his father. I believe now that I was mistaken, that his name was only Richard.18
He says they pulled up stakes and removed to southwest Missouri in 1830 and that they settled in Polk County twenty miles north from Springfield, the county site of Greene County, and that William Saye died in 1834 or 5. That Richard says his father emigrated to California in 1853 and died about 1864. I stated in my sketch of William Saye that he raised one son and that his name was Benjamin. His name was Richard. I don’t know how the mistake was made. Our cousin at Savoy, Texas, is named William Robberson Saye, instead of Dr. Joseph Saye. Hope I will soon hear from him again and get a more full report of my great-uncle’s family. William R. Saye of Savoy was born November the 27th 1820. He is about nine years older than myself. He says his health is poor. I am writing for some more material for my sketches. I have now learned that all my grandfather’s children were born in Franklin County where Aunt Mary and Father grew up to womanhood and manhood. None of the others had grown when grandfather removed to Gwinnett County.19

* These three “Dear son” paragraphs originally appeared in Chapter Eight as addenda.

Dear son: since I have been writing this page I have received another letter from Dr. William R. Saye of Savoy, Texas. His grandfather was several years older than mine. He married Miss Ann McDonnell [or McDonald]. I think she married in Georgia before emigrating west. She raised two children, a son and daughter. Richard was his son. His daughter’s name was Sally. Richard Saye was born in 1800 and married in 1819 to Miss Elizabeth Robberson. There was born to them nine boys and two girls: the first one was born November the 27th 1820; Allen, the second one, died in infancy; Bennett H. Saye was the third one; the fourth child was Elizabeth Disart; Richard F. Saye was the fifth, he lives at Walnut Grove, Greene County, Missouri; Thomas P. Saye, he lives in Polk County, Missouri; Mary Ann Edwards; George lives in California; Jasper, also in California; Edwin and John (the youngest) are both dead. William Saye’s daughter [Sally] married a Mr. William Robberson, a brother to Richard’s wife. They raised a family. I have the names of the three oldest ones: Elizabeth Ann was the oldest; Allen was the second one; John W. was the third. I have not the names of all the Robberson family. My great-uncle William and family were like the Sayes they left behind when they emigrated west. They were Presbyterians of the strict order of that people. I will now give the names of Dr. William R. Saye’s children: Jesse Richard Saye, Graybill, Collin County; Mary Ann Evans, Whitewright, Grayson County; William L. Saye, Clarendon, Donley County, by profession a lawyer. I am thankful to Dr. Saye of Savoy for this information.20 

Two of my great-aunts [Sarah Saye and Mary Saye] married men by the name of Thompson. James Thompson Sr. was in the battles of Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Guilford Court House. After the war he, with his father Alexander Thompson, and William or Robbin his brother [sic, Robert Thompson], both marrying the Widow Saye’s daughters, settled on the South Fork of Broad River about the year of 1789 or 90. They and their children have all passed away so far as I know, except one grandson who is still on his grandfather’s place on the river. James Thompson raised several children, but his son James Jr. was one of the best of sons. His father became helpless for ten years or more. He would look over his father’s farm and keep his Negroes at work, then run over home about one mile from his father’s, look after his own interest, then return to his father’s, stay with him through the night or until near day, then go home for a few hours. He never stayed all night at home from the time his father was paralyzed until his death.21
James was fond of practical jokes. He used to wagon to Augusta, hauling cotton down to market and hauling goods back for the merchants and himself and neighbors. In the winter season the roads would become very bad. Once, passing through Lexington, there was a deep mud hole. He and his friends had gotten all of their wagons through but one. It got so deep in the mud they saw no way to get it out. James Thompson said to the wagoners, “Hold up, I will get the wagon out.” He ran back a short distance to a young doctor who had first set up practice. He called, “Doctor, Doctor! I have a bad case out here in the road!” The doctor gathered up his bags of medicine and started. Thompson said to him, “Get lots of eppicae, for the earth has swallowed up a wagon and team and it will take lots of eppicae to make the earth throw it up.” The doctor picked up a rock and threw at him. The crowd on the street began to laugh at the doctor, calling him Dr. Eppicae until he became weary of it, gathered up his drugs and left the place.
Soon after the war when corn was very scarce, some wagoners drove up one day and asked him if he could spare them any corn. He told them he could. He started to his house for his measure and overheard one of the men saying, “We must treat him for he is the first man that has agreed to let us have any corn.” He called to a Negro man to come quick and stand at the crib door till he got his measure, for he could not risk a man who has red rum to sell—or treat one with—at his crib door.
One of my great-aunts [Ann Saye] married a man by the name of Hodge [William]. He also settled on the South Fork of Broad River. I knew one of his sons. He lived many years in Cobb County, Georgia, and died there. Some of his children are still living not far from Marietta.22
My father had a cousin Major William Saye who resided in Madison County all his life. He married a Miss McCurdy [Agnes]. Her father was one of the Scotch Irish from Pennsylvania in the early settlement of Madison County. I knew one of her brothers who settled in Cherokee in the last purchase of lands from that tribe before their removal to their present home in the west. Before his death he removed back to Madison and died there. Major Saye raised eight children by her. She dying, he married a second time to a widow Thompson [Amanda E., née Landers] who had lost her husband in the great struggle for Southern independence. By her he raised three children. William Saye died in 1883. He was born January the 3rd 1803. His oldest son, John W. Saye of Hall County, was born in 1824 and married in 1845 to Miss Adaline Saye of Hall County. Of them I have already given an account. Richard, the second son, was born in 1826. He married Miss Ione Gathright. She dying, he married a sec ond time. His last wife was a Miss Harwell [Sarah Elizabeth]. He raised children by both wives. James, born in 1828, married but his wife had no children. Eliza Caroline, born in 1830, married in 1846. I know nothing of them now. Newton, born in 1832, married a Miss Eliza Woods and raised but one child. She died of consumption. Elizabeth, born in 1844, married James Cleland. She died some few years ago. Mr. Cleland is married again.23 

I became acquainted with Richard in Atlanta. He worked for many years in the machine shop but is now too old to work much. His children, so far as I know, are doing well. I know his son William gets good wages in his line of work. I became acquainted with Mrs. Cleland. She was an excellent woman. She suffered severe affliction for several years before she died. I saw Newton but once, so our acquaintance was slight. I was not acquainted with the Major’s younger set of children. I spent one night with his youngest daughter, Mrs. Haralson, living near Paoli in the neighborhood where she was raised. I am the best acquainted with John W. Saye, his oldest son, from whom I have got most of this history. To him and his wife and children I feel grateful for the favors bestowed on me.24

Richard Saye, my grandfather, was born in Union County, South Carolina, June 1777. He was a little over two years old when his father was killed in the siege at Savannah in October 1779. His mother seems to have been a woman of industry and economy with a fine amount of common sense. She managed to raise her children in a good Christian manner while the opportunity for doing so was much poorer than at present. My grandfather continued on his mother’s farm until 1800. Then as his brothers had learned the blacksmith trade he wished to add to that the gunsmith trade. I suppose he had learned the blacksmith trade under his brothers, so he went down in to Oglethorpe and presented himself to one Colonel Luckie. There he became a fine gunsmith.25 

I will digress a little from the history just here to relate an incident. In time of the war one of his great-grandsons was trying to show him the improvements made on our muskets. Grandfather said to him, “Go away. I have made more guns than you ever saw.” 

He came back to Madison County and soon after married Miss Margaret Gardner and removed to Franklin County. He and grandmother had united with the New Hope Church before removing to Franklin. They there united with the Hebron Church and he finally was ordained an elder of that congregation. There he raised his oldest children. Mrs. Fleming [Mary Saye] and my father being the oldest of the family, they united with the church there. Grandfather lived on the waters of the Hudson River, which runs into the Broad River, a tributary of the Savannah. In that part of the county my grandfather ran a farm, blacksmith, and gunsmith business, though he was too liberal and too loose in his business to accumulate property. He was a man that had nearly everything he wanted. His riches consisted in the fewness of his wants.26 

In 1825 he sold out and removed to Gwinnett County. There he opened up a farm and set up a blacksmith shop but never made any more guns after his removal to Gwinnett. His lands produced well a few years, but being of a light sandy soil they soon failed, though he continued to make a living there until old age caused them to break up housekeeping. They lived at my father’s in Cherokee a few years. Grandmother saw her end approaching. She was suffering of cancer. She wanted to go back to Gwinnett and be buried in the Fairview churchyard at the old church where they had worshipped God so long. I assisted father carrying them back. Grandmother died in March 1858. Grandpa remained there with Major Noel where grandma died until his death, which occurred in October 1867 in the ninety-first year of his age. Grandmother died in the seventy-sixth year of her age.27 

To give you a better knowledge of things as they existed in the days of our fathers, we must go back and see North Georgia almost an unbroken forest. There were some few settlers afar north of Broad River below where the south and north forks united, but the place our ancestors settled was inhabited entirely by the Indians. The spot where New Hope Church stands was a camping ground for them. Some relics of their camp may still be seen, or could be a few years ago, such as rude pottery and other things pertaining to Indian camp life. 

Our fathers built a fort to protect themselves from the inroads of the Cherokee Indians. Some times the Creeks made incursions up into that country. It was a Creek raid made into their settlement in 1787 that caused Grandfather Gardner and the Elliott family, with a few others, to build a fort for their protection. The place was pointed out to me where the fort stood as I passed through the old settlement last autumn.28 

When the Indians made their raid, quite often a number of the settlers fled across the Savannah River, some thirty or more miles into South Carolina, and remained there until peace was restored, but our ancestors stood their ground and built the fort for them selves and for all that sought protection with them. My grandmother used to tell us how she would run into the fort, she and her playmates, when they imagined that the Indians were coming.

The first settlers would cut down trees, haul them up, put up their cabins without hewing the logs, and daub the cracks with mortar made from the clay by shoveling the soil off to get a good sticky clay, for lime could not be secured. They built the chimneys of sticks of wood hewed and split out for the purpose, then daubed with mortar, for they could not give much time to building houses until they cleared up the lands of its heavy timbers, opening up their farms.

At first they had to live on corn bread and it was hard to get a supply of that. They found game plenty, could have plenty of meat—fish, fowl and venison—but wheat flour could not be raised nor procured. The nearest market was on the Savannah at Augusta, over one hundred miles away, and what articles they could raise on the farm or could procure in the chase as hides, furs, and other peltries must be bartered for salt and iron and other substantial necessities for the home. Leaving out the luxuries that we now enjoy, our corn bread that we so well enjoy could hardly be eaten by our ancestors. They had came over from Scotland, Ireland, and England, had first settled in Pennsylvania where wheat was grown to great perfection and was the cereal used for bread almost always there, as well as in Scotland, Ireland and England and the continent of Europe and all the East. Indian corn was not known until the discovery of America by Columbus. It was in use by the Indians. Necessity caused the early settlers of the English colonies in North America to use it as bread. It is now used by many in preference to bread from the other cereals, but it went hard with our fathers at first. In a few years they had opened up farms, found wheat did well, then turned their attention to raising as much wheat as they would need for bread, something they were glad to do. Some of the early settlers became millwrights, put up saw mills, and then began the building of better tenement houses. Corn and planing flouring mills went up in a few years, so they be came prosperous and many of them acquired considerable wealth.

There was no sugar nor other sweetening among them, but wild honey—or at least sugar—was bought at their market in Augusta in very small quantities. I can recollect that sugar was but little used among the poor people in my early days. It is used now more extensively among the poor than it was then among the wealthy, but wild bees were plentiful. They would hunt out the bee trees, cut them down, have a hive prepared to save the colony, get out the honey from the hollow of the tree, then take the hive home. The bees would generally do well. It was not long until the settlers had plenty of bees from which they procured as much honey as they needed for sweetening purposes. It was given the name of long sweetening. I do not know how it got the name. 

Our grandfathers and mothers had to adjust themselves to their surroundings. They had to cut their wheat with reap hooks. They would catch the grain with one hand and cut it down with the other. I have seen the reap hook but don’t recollect seeing grain cut down with them. My earliest recollections are when the scythe and cradle were introduced and became the common machine for saving grain. It was common in the days of reap hooks for the women as well as the men to reap wheat all day, have a dance at night, at bed time have reading of the scriptures, then prayer before retiring to rest. That was when dancing was called an innocent amusement. Playing cards then were thought to be very sinful. Now dancing is sinful and playing cards all right. Circumstances change so as to mould sentiment for or against anything. Whiskey and brandy were made then by members of (and even the elders of) the Presbyterian Church, but they would not let a man that was traveling and needed to lodge with them remain if he showed a deck of cards and proposed to play. Such a man was discountenanced. 

My grandfather was ordained an elder of Hebron Church, Franklin County, now Banks County, organized in 1858. He was set apart to the eldership in 1819. One of his brothers-in-law came and served an apprenticeship under him at the blacksmith trade. Grandfather, like all other men in those days, kept whiskey or brandy on the mantle over the fireplace. He and his brother-in-law were sitting at the fireplace one morning and grandfather looked up and saw his bottle of brandy, which had been sitting there a month unmolested. He said, “John, there is a bottle of brandy. Drink some of it whenever you feel like it. I had not thought of it all this time.” He had served one month at his trade then and said afterwards that he would never have touched it if grandfather had not offered it. I don’t think that I could keep a bottle of brandy now so easily as that, with all the United States revenue laws to help me, but I will not argue the question now with regard to the revenue laws on spirits of all kinds. If we are bettered, the betterment is reaching us very slow. Dear son, you know I would not have the stuff about me if it was made along every branch, and spring branches are plentiful in North Georgia.29
Grandfather was a very social, pleasant man, always had time to go to his church to meeting. He enjoyed life well. Let him be placed in circumstances that would have troubled most any other man and he would seem to be in a good humor, laugh and talk and soon forget his misfortunes. Grandmother was more reticent in her manners, would read the Bible and other good books, sit by the fire in the winter time and smoke her pipe of tobacco. In summer time, cutting and drying fruit in the morning, in the evening visiting around among her children. She had her peculiar way of doing things and grandfather never interfered with her having things just as she pleased. Of course they moved along smoothly.
One time after removing to Gwinnett County there was quite a revival of religion prevailing. Dr. Wilson was there. Grandfather being an active worker in the church, the doctor would ride over six miles to where grandfather lived to get him to help him at his meetings and visit some family that wished to be instructed in regard to their eternal welfare. Noticing that Grandma never objected to his coming after Grandfather, he said, “I don’t believe your wife cares how much I call you away from home.” “No,” says my grandfather. “She don’t care.” “Well,” says the doctor, “I wish my wife was that way, for she complains about my being gone so much.” “Well,” says my grandfather, “we had better swap as I am confined so much in my blacksmith shop I would suit her better.” But the trade was never made and both parties got along very well anyhow. As I have before stated, my grandfather lived to great age. He had two neighbors left back in Franklin who lived to be one hundred years old each: one Mr. Mackey and a Mr. Parks.30
I will now pass to my oldest aunt Mary Fleming, familiarly known to us as Aunt Polly. I don’t know whether she was born before Grandfather removed to Franklin or not, but with the older children she was raised in Franklin County. She married [Elijah] Harvey Fleming who was raised in the same neighborhood, but his father William had removed from there to Hall County a few years before the marriage of his son Harvey to Aunt Polly. They were married in 1823 and settled in Hall County near his father. He remained there until 1831 or 1832, then removed to DeKalb County about sixty miles south of the settlement in Hall County. He removed from there into Gwinnett County and lived near my father. My uncle’s children and myself grew up together until father removed to Cherokee in the fall of 1841. Uncle Harvey Fleming moved to Gwinnett County in the fall of 1836 before removing from DeKalb.31

He served in one of the companies in a campaign against the Creek Indians, which had become very troublesome before their re moval to their home in the west. While his company did good service, they were not brought into close conflict with the Indians at any time. There were several engagements with other commands that proved bloody, yet my uncle’s company was more fortunate. All of them returned home. Not so with the company that was made up in Gwinnett County.32 

Captain Garmany made a company in and around Lawrenceville. Some of my father’s neighbors volunteered. They soon engaged the Indians at Dr. Shepherd’s plantation and, dismounting, met the Indians on foot, the Captain thinking he would fight them Indian fashion. But they flanked him, outran him to his horses and were cutting them loose when the captain got back with a few of his men and by desperate fighting saved most of them. His men, not having his command to get back to their horses, soon found themselves almost surrounded by the enemy. About fifteen of their number ran and took shelter behind a cornfield fence, but the Indians soon routed them from there and ran them until night. It was about four o’clock in the evening when the engagement took place. Four of the fifteen that made it to the cornfield for protection were killed in the running fight that took place. Four more were killed before they could reach their horses. None were killed while fighting for their horses. The captain was shot through the hip and called to the boys to let him go and take care of themselves, but two of his men got him upon his horse and one of them jumped up behind him and carried to the fort. It was supposed that the Indian’s guns were of the poorest sort. The Indians would run up on the men in their scattered condition to within ten paces and seem to deliberately fire, miss their aim, and continue the chase, load and fire again but with poor effect.33 

Captain Jernigan, hearing the guns, rushed his men into the fight upon their horses and scattered the Indians in every direction. Otherwise they would have whipped Garmany badly. Also, Lieutenant Hamilton had been sent off in another direction that morning with twenty of Garmany’s men. He hearing the firing of Garmany’s guns ordered his men to make for the fort with all speed. They encountered the enemy in a deep forest but charged through. They wounded one of his men and tried to pull him off of his horse. The lieutenant got to the fort without losing a man. The Indians fought with savage desperation the different detachment they met that evening. Captain Garmany lost eight men, Captain Jernigan lost four. Garmany was wounded with several of his men. They all recovered from their wounds. In picking up their dead the next day they counted eighteen dead Indians, so the loss on both sides was nearly equal. This battle was fought the 9th day of June 1836, the day your Uncle George was born.34 

Garmany was attacked at the fort one day after this, but repulsed the Indians without loss to himself. His men that were killed on June the 9th, their remains were ultimately brought back and buried in the northwest corner of the courthouse yard in Lawrenceville, a white marble monument placed over their remains with their names inscribed upon it. Also Captain James Winn and Anthony Bates, they fell in defense of Texan Independence when Fannin’s men were shot by order of General Santa Anna in March 1836. But I find I have wandered from my subject. I am getting old and I find myself living back in the far past. The Seminole and Creek wars are almost stereotyped on my memory. I will just state here that there were several bloody battles with the Creek Indians before they gave up and removed west.35 

But to resume to my uncle’s narrative. He [Harvey Fleming] removed also to Cherokee County two years after my father had located out there in the fall of 1847. He removed to Cobb County, where he died in April 1848 of cancer of the stomach. That left my aunt [Mary Saye] with the heavy responsibilities of a large family to take care of and train for the duties of life, which she did successfully. Some of her children have been found among the judicial and executive bodies of the state. I will just state here that all of my Uncle Fleming’s children that were in school with me are all living yet. We were at school together but not regularly at school, only such times as we could be spared from the farm work. It was in the years from 1837 to 41. One of my sisters [Amanda Saye] died September 1895, but my brother and my five cousins are all living yet, so far as I know. We managed to dodge all the Yankee bullets. We have been trudging on together a long time somewhere between 65 and 75 years. I suppose we will find the end soon.36 

Uncle’s father [William Fleming] was among the first settlers of Franklin County. He was one day riding out looking after his horses when he was fired into by some Cherokee Indians. Three balls passed through different parts of his body, wounding him severely, but he did not fall from his horse. The Indians followed him for a while, and then gave up the chase. He got well of his wounds.37

He removed to Hall County when it was organized. He lived there until he and his wife grew too old to keep house. He then lived some time with his younger son but was living with Uncle Harvey Fleming when he died. After Uncle’s death, another son of the old man’s, then living near Selma, Alabama, came and took them home with him. He sold out his property and emigrated to Texas. They did not live long after getting out there. They both died in 1850 [sic, 1849]. He had always lived on the frontier and I suppose was glad to be buried in frontier soil. He had been a strong defender of colonial rights and was always bitter against the Tories. He was a man of very marked character. One of his sons was ordained an elder of Hebron Church at the same time my grandfather was. Most of the old man’s sons came to Texas and lived and died in the county around Austin.38

My uncle’s boys made good soldiers in the great struggle for Southern independence. Cousin Richard Fleming was in the first Manassas battle, while the traitors that made the collision with the trains prevented me and my regiment from getting into it. Cousin Richard was afterwards captured at Cumberland Gap, kept in prison twenty-five months. He is now near the Stone Mountain. His address is Braden, Georgia. He is doing well and has raised a nice family. Aunt Polly’s oldest daughter [Amanda N. Fleming] married Thomas Moore, who was for many years Clerk of the Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia. He also represented Cobb County in the Legislature, but I don’t know how often. Cousin Walker Fleming was a member of the Legislature from Cherokee County at the same time, with his brother-in-law Thomas Moore from Cobb. It would make my narrative too long to speak of all Aunt’s children separately. Suffice it to say they have got along pretty well through the world, and like myself are nearly through according to the course of nature.39

Uncle Harvey E. Fleming was born September the 25th, 1802, and died April the 7th, 1848 [sic, April 8]. Aunt Polly Fleming was born September the 20th 1802 [sic, October] and died January the 1st 1878 [sic, 1879]. They married January the 6th 1823.40

Thomas Moore’s father was a Primitive Baptist preacher. I heard him preach in my childhood days. He was a brother of the Rev. William Moore of Alabama. He was one of the pioneer preachers of North Alabama and one of the first to plant Cumberland Presbyterianism in what is now known as North Alabama. He was considered a powerful man in his day in the pulpit. Cousin Thomas Moore was born January 23rd 1810 and died the 18th of November 1896. I was pleased to make the acquaintance of his oldest daughter [Mary F. (Moore) Hamby], who is now 55 years old, as I came through Georgia. She is an excellent woman. My aunt’s youngest son is dead. I made the acquaintance of his widow also.41

NOTES

CHAPTER ONE 

1 For Saye’s likely source for Presbyterian history, see Robert Ellis Thompson, A History of the Presbyterian Churches in the United States (Chris tian Literature Co., 1895), 52–56. The Declaration of 1775 refers to the Mecklenburg Resolves. The document’s existence is contested by scholars.

2 Christopher Gardner’s service from Delaware is documented in his Rev olutionary War pension application, R3907. According to the application, he was born in Ireland in 1760 and immigrated to America in 1774. The chains connected chevaux-de-frise sunk in the Delaware River to obstruct passage of the British fleet to Philadelphia. See Paul K. Walker, Engineers of Independence: A Documentary History of the Army Engineers (Historical Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1981), 147. An artifact of this defense system is on display at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia.

3 George Elliott’s land—located on the waters of Big Beaver Dam Creek, a branch of the South Fork of Broad River—was surveyed on 10 Sept. 1787, Ga. headright surveys, bk. Q, p. 78. For the history of John Newton and the early Georgia Presbyterian churches, see George Howe, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, vol. I (Duffie & Chapman, 1870), 657–659.

4 Saye’s fall at Savannah and marriage to Mary Hodge is referenced by George Howe, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, vol. I (Duffie & Chapman, 1870), 422. William Hodge’s will mentioning son-in law Richard “Say” is described in Orlando John Hodge, Hodge Genealogy: From the First of the Name in this Country to the Present Time… (Rockwell and Churchill Press, 1900), 318, citing Lancaster Co., Pa., probate records, bk. B, p. 126. 

5 Mary “Say” household, 1790 census, Union Co., 96th Dist., S.C., p. 44. The earliest membership lists of New Hope Presbyterian Church do not survive. The church and burying ground are located on New Hope Church Road, near Comer, Ga. Mary (Hodge) Saye died 17 June 1830 in Madison Co., Ga., Georgia Courier (Athens, Ga.), 1 July 1830, p. 2.

6 James Saye married Elizabeth Carruthers, noted in a Bible in the possession of Fred Saye, Gainesville, Ga., in March 1966, transcribed by Mrs. H. S. Snelson, in the Saye Family Name Folder, Georgia Archives, Morrow, Ga. Elizabeth applied for year’s support, 23 Feb. 1850, which was confirmed 2 Oct. 1850, Hall Co., Ga., Ordinary Court minute bk. 2, p. 56. Letters of administration were issued on the estate of James Saye in March 1851 to John Saye, Hall Co., Ga., Ordinary Court minute bk. 2, p. 55. James bought 100 acres of land on the north fork of the Oconee River from Benjamin Vermillion in 1803, Jackson Co., Ga., deed bk. D, p. 406. James moved up the river about 1823, the year he bought 520 acres of land from George and Katharine Baxley, Hall Co., Ga., deed bk. A, p. 233. Two of Martin’s referenced sons served in Co. H, 18th Ga. Infantry: Alexander C. Saye died in Richmond, Va., 28 Dec. 1862; and George W. Saye (1840–) was discharged for an inability to serve. 

7 Martin Saye married Katherine N. McCoy, 21 Feb. 1833, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 75. See the Martin Say household, 1840 census, Hall Co., G.M.D. 268, p. 178. 

8 John “Say” married Elizabeth Eberhart, 12 Jan. 1826, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 35. John’s blind daughter was Martha, enumerated with the family on the 1880 census, Clarke Co., Ga., City of Athens, ED 12, p. 266D. John’s sons James N. and William L. Saye both served in Co. D, 27th Ga. Infantry. James died in Farmville, Va., on 2 June 1862 of typhoid fever. William died near Richmond before 23 Mar. 1863, when his father filed a settlement claim with the War Department. 

9 James “Say” married Elizabeth Eberhart, 14 Feb. 1832, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 70. The identity of Elijah Tool is unclear. James left a will dated 3 Dec. 1855 and proved 31 Dec. 1855, Hall Co. will bk. A, pp. 109–111. Elizabeth, as “E. A. Saye,” was enumerated with two sons (James and William) and two daughters (Susan and Mary) on the 1860 census, Hall Co., Ga., Dist. 268, p. 138. 

10 William and Sarah can be found in the John W. Saye household, 1880 census, Clarke Co., Ga., G.M.D. 219, p. 335D. 

11 Elizabeth was enumerated in the Jefferson Saye household, 1870 census, White Co., Ark., Union Twp., p. 422. 

12 Mahala Saye married Samuel P. Eberhart, 10 Sept. 1837, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 109. See the S. P. Eberhart household, 1870 census, Clarke Co., Ga., City of Athens, p. 340. 

13 Ephraim T. Saye married Cassie A. Blackstock, 24 Dec. 1840, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. 1840–1870, p. 14. Daniel and John R. Saye are listed in Atlanta City Directory for 1890 (R. L. Polk & Co., 1890), p. 1017. Asbury and John R. Saye are listed in Atlanta City Directory for 1889 (R. L. Polk & Co., 1889), p. 845. 

14 “Nancy Seng” married Alexander Deal, 6 Jan. 1840, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. 1840–1870, p. 1. See the A. Deal household, 1860 census, Hall Co., Dist. 411, p. 101. 

15 Robert Saye married Mary Elizabeth Dickerson, 18 Nov. 1842, Hall Co., Ga., marriage bk. 1840–1870, p. 33. See the Robert Say household, 1860 census, Blount Co., Ala., p. 1040. Robert’s son John served in Company H, 1st Ala. Cavalry, and died 17 Aug. 1863, Confederate States Hospital, Petersburg, Va. Robert married Miss Eleanir Eliza King, 5 Oct. 1880, Hall Co. marriage bk. B, p. 344. 

16 Margaret Adeline Saye married John Wilson Saye, 2 Jan. 1845, Madison Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 9. See the John W. Saye household, 1860 census, Clarke Co., Ga., Sandy Creek Dist. (G.M.D. 219), pp. 1009–1010. William James Saye, the eldest son, died 26 Feb. 1865 in Savannah, Report of Interments, Laurel Grove Cemetery, bur. 28 Feb. 1865. Margaret’s daughter Alice A. Saye married John G. Cartledge, 11 Mar. 1883, Clarke Co., marriage bk. H, p. 68. They are buried together in New Hope Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Madison Co., Ga. 

17 Richard W. and Eliza C. Saye were enumerated on the 1850 census, Clarke Co., Ga., Athens Dist., fol. 6. Richard W. “Says” married Sarah C. Edwards, 17 Oct. 1867, Clarke Co., Ga., marriage bk. E, p. 20. See the Richard W. and Sarah Saye household, 1880 census, Clarke Co., Athens, ED 12, p. 277A. 

18 William Saye first appears in Bedford County when he witnessed a deed, 3 Sept. 1814, Bedford Co., Tenn., deed bk. E, pp. 322–323. He purchased forty acres of land on Rock Creek, 9 July 1822, Bedford Co. deed bk. R, pp. 321–323. His son Richard Saye purchased sixteen acres of land on Rock Creek, 13 Feb. 1829, Bedford Co. deed bk. BB, p. 314. 

19 Richard Saye borrowed money from his son Bennett H. Saye, 19 Feb. 1849, with William R. Saye as trustee if the property had to be sold to pay the debt, Polk Co., Mo., deed bk. C, pp. 256–257. 

20 An exact marriage date of 23 Dec. 1819 for Richard Saye and Elizabeth Robberson has been passed down through the family, E. H. Saye, The Saye Family (1955), 18. The “first born” child, William Robberson Saye, died 6 May 1906, grave marker, Sunnyside Cemetery, Savoy, Tex. Bennett H. Saye married Nancy L. McGhill, 18 Jan. 1844, Greene Co., Mo., marriage bk. A, p. 111. Saye reversed the birth orders of the fourth and fifth children. Richard F. Saye, the fourth child, born 26 Oct. 1826, died 9 Mar. 1903, grave marker, Walnut Grove Cemetery, Greene Co., Mo. The fifth child, Sarah Elizabeth Saye, married John A. Dysart, 22 Jan. 1851, Polk Co., Mo., marriage bk. A, p. 300. Thomas P. Saye died 17 Jan. 1908, buried in Barren Creek Cemetery, Polk Co., Mo. George Marion Saye was born 7 Jan. 1836 and died 22 Aug. 1906, Sutter Co., Calif., register of deaths, vol. 1, p. 31. Mary Ann Saye married James Wesley Edwards, 22 Mar. 1855, Greene Co., Mo., marriage bk. B, p. 29. Jasper Newton Saye married and settled in Mendocino Co., Calif., 1900 census, Ten Mile River Twp., ED 78, sheet 6B. Edwin R. Saye died 11 Mar. 1893 and is buried in Grounds Cemetery, Collin Co., Tex. John Saye’s death date is unknown, but he likely died from a severe wound in the thigh received 9 Apr. 1864 at the Battle of Pleasant Hill, La., as a private in Co. K, 11th Missouri Infantry (Confederate). He was placed on the Confederate Honor Roll for his actions at the battle, General Orders from the Adjutant and Inspector-General’s Office, Confederate States Army, from July 1, 1864, to December 31, 1864, Inclusive (Evans and Cogswell, 1865), 66–95. William Robberson and his wife Sarah sold 120 acres in Greene Co., Mo., 31 March 1846, deed bk. F, p. 205. “W. Robeson,” a cabinet maker, moved to Taney Co., Mo., 1850 census, Linn Twp., fol. 369. His 1850 household included his mother-in-law “A. Say.” John W. Robberson married Sarah W. Rogers, 24 July 1849, Greene Co., Mo., marriage bk. A, p. 190. William Robberson Saye and his wife Elizabeth had eight children, 1900 census, Savoy, Fannin Co., Tex., ED 65, sheet 15A. 

21 Sarah Saye married James Thompson who obtained a pension for military service during the Revolutionary War, S32014. Sarah signed with James when he sold a farm on the South Fork Broad River, 30 Dec. 1830, Madison Co., Ga., deed bk. J, pp. 298–299. He died in 1851, Madison Co., Ga., will bk. B, pp. 56–58. Mary Saye licensed to marry Robert Thompson, 24 October 1797, Oglethorpe Co., Ga., marriage bk. 1, p. 266.

22 Asbury’s great-aunt was Ann Saye. Her marriage to William Hodge in Mar. 1790 is documented in their Revolutionary War pension applications, W4233, affidavit of Ann Hodge, 24 July [1839]. The pension paperwork includes family Bible pages and other statements establishing important genealogical dates in the Hodge family. William Hodge died 19 Dec. 1836. Ann (Saye) Hodge died 25 May 1840. The son known to Asbury was John Hodge, born 16 Aug. 1790. See the John Hodge household, 1850 census, Cobb Co., Ga., Marietta Dist., fol. 233. 

23 Asbury does not specify Major William Saye’s relationship within the wider Saye family. William H. Saye married Agnes McCurdy, 3 July 1823, Madison Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 44. Her father was John McCurdy who served in the Revolutionary War from Pennsylvania and later applied for a pension from Madison Co., S31855. William next married Amanda E. Thompson, 30 Dec. 1866, Madison Co. marriage bk. B, p. 190. Amanda was the former Amanda E. Landers who married James Thompson Jr., 7 Feb. 1856, Madison Co., marriage bk. B, p. 103. John Wilson Saye married Margaret Adeline Saye, 2 Jan. 1845, Madison Co. marriage bk. A, p. 9. Richard A. “Say” married Martha I. Gathright, 19 Mar. 1850, Clarke Co., Ga., marriage bk. D, p. 47. Martha died 28 Oct. 1860 and was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Ga. Richard A. “Seay” married Sarah Elizabeth “Harvill” [sic, Harwell], 2 May 1861, Fulton Co., Ga., marriage bk. A, p. 351. James A. Saye married Nancy B. Stone, 10 June 1867, Clarke Co. marriage bk. E, p. 56. Eliza Caroline Saye married Richard Wilson Saye, E. H. Saye, The Saye Family (1955), 75. For Eliza (Woods) Saye, “Death of Mrs. Saye,” Atlanta Journal, 7 June 1899, p. 9, and grave marker in Bethaven Cemetery, Madison Co. Eliza and Newton’s marriage was not recorded in Madison County. E. S. Saye married James D. Cleland, 19 May 1880, Fulton Co. marriage bk. E, p. 3. He remarried to Mary Ann Garner, 13 April 1892, Fulton Co., Ga. marriage bk. G, p. 692. 

24 Richard and Sarah E. Saye were enumerated on the 1880 census, Atlanta, Fulton Co., Ga., ED 89, p. 162D. William L. Saye, son of Richard, was enumerated on the 1900 census, Atlanta, ED 69, sheet 7A. See the James D. Cleland household, 1880 census, Atlanta, ED 98, p. 361D. Newton Saye was enumerated on the 1880 census, Athens, Clarke Co., Ga., ED 12, p. 267B. William’s daughter Sarah Frances Saye married William Thomas Haralson. Their daughter Clara died 27 Feb. 1957 and her obituary names her parents. See “Mrs. Clara Mae O’Kelley,” Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus), 28 Feb. 1957, p. 2. 

25 Letters of administration on the estate of Col. James Luckie were issued to his sons Alexander F. Luckie and William D. Luckie, 27 Jan. 1823, Oglethorpe Co., Ga., Ordinary Court, minutes, 1822–1827, p. 28. His estate inventory, 2 Apr. 1823, included “1 Lot Smith Tools & all its apparatus” valued at $6,000. 

26 Richard purchased 147 acres of land on Garners Spring Branch of Hudson River on 21 Jan. 1805, Franklin Co., Ga., deed bk. P, pp. 1–2. He purchased another 200 acres on 9 November 1818, Franklin Co. deed bk. HHH, fol. 174. The Saye family’s membership at Hebron Church is recounted in Alton H. Glasure, “History of Hebron Church and Community” (M.A. thesis, University of Georgia, 1933), available at John Bulow Campbell Library, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Ga.

27 Gwinnett County’s courthouse burned 12 Sept. 1871, destroying almost all county records. “Destructive Conflagration,” Atlanta Constitution, 12 Sept. 1871, p. 1. A biographical account of Richard Saye appears in James C. Flanigan, History of Gwinnett County, Georgia, vol. I (Tyler & Co., printers, 1943), 385–386. Asbury’s father, William Saye (1804–1878), lived east of Little River and south of Arnold Mill Road. For his land ownership, see Cherokee Co., Ga., Assessor, tax digest, 1849, Capt. Edwards’s Dist. (G.M.D. 890). Fairview Presbyterian Church is located at 857 Duluth Hwy., Lawrenceville. 

28 An overview of frontier conflict can be found in Kenneth Coleman, The American Revolution in Georgia, 1763–1789 (University of Georgia Press, 1958), chpt. 15. 

29 James C. Flanigan, History of Gwinnett County, Georgia, vol. I (Tyler & Co., printers, 1943), 385–386.

30 “Mr. Mackey” may be a reference to Samuel Mackie, an Irish immigrant to the U.S. who served as an elder at Hebron Church for more than fifty years, Beatrice Mackey Doughtie, The Mackeys (Variously Spelled) and Allied Families (1957), 590. “Mr. Parks” may refer to Benjamin Parks Sr., a veteran of the Revolutionary War (pension app. S31897). Neither Mackie nor Parks lived to age 100. 

31 Members of the Fleming family most often used a single m in their surname. Elijah H. “Flemming,” Isaac N. “Flemming,” William W. “Flemming,” and their father William “Flemming” were enumerated on the 1830 census, Hall Co., Ga., p. 108. Harvey purchased 202½ acres of land in DeKalb Co., Ga., in Jan. 1836 for $300 and sold it the following November for $550, DeKalb Co. deed bk. L, p. 605. He moved to Gwinnett County before the 1840 census, Gwinnett Co., Ga., fol. 91.

32 Harvey served in the Creek War (1836), E. H. “Flemming,” Jones’s Company, Woods’s Battalion, Third Brigade, Georgia Militia

33 Memoirs of Georgia, vol. I (Southern Historical Association, 1895), 100– 101. 

34 Henry W. Jernigan letters, 1836, File II, Reference Services, RG 4-2-46, Georgia Archives. No “Lieutenant Hamilton” appears in compiled military service records, but the reference may speak to ensign M. F. Hamilton of Garmany’s Co., Beall’s Ga. Mtd. Vols. 

35 The memorial to fallen soldiers of 1836 stands on the grounds of the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse, 185 West Crogan St., Lawrenceville.

36 Mary Flemming household, 1850 census, Cobb Co., Ga., Randal’s Dist., pp. 193–194. The William Saye and Elijah Fleming families are listed on the same page in the 1840 census, Gwinnett Co., Ga., fol. 91. Asbury’s sister Amanda C. (Saye) McCanless died 1 Sept. 1895 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cartersville, Ga. 

37 William Fleming served in the Revolutionary War from North Carolina and South Carolina and received a pension for his service, app. S32250. He applied for 730 acres of headright land in Franklin County on 5 September 1786 and had it surveyed the next day, Ga. headright surveys, bk. R, p. 192.

38 William Fleming was enumerated on the 1820 census, Capt. Abercrombie’s Dist., Hall Co., Ga., p. 143. He and his wife Mary have grave markers in Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Sumter Co., Ala. She died 4 Nov. 1849, and he followed ten days later. Asbury places William Fleming’s death in Texas, as does George Howe, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, vol. I (Duffie & Chapman, 1870), 339. 

39 Richard H. Fleming served in Co. A, 9th Battalion, Georgia Artillery. His residence “near Braden, Gwinnett county” is mentioned in “Some Fine Cotton,” Atlanta Journal, 4 July 1900, p. 4, and noted on U.S. Geological Survey, topographic maps, Ga., Atlanta Sheet, Sept. 1895, reprinted June 1900, placing him along the Georgia, Carolina, and Northern Railroad near the intersection of Lawrenceville Hwy. and Harmony Grove Rd. The short-lived post office of Braden operated from 1893 to 1901, U.S. Post Office Dept., Appointment of Postmasters, vol. 68A, p. 401. Thomas Moore married Amanda N. Fleming, 25 January 1844, Cherokee Co., Ga., marriage bk. 1841–1849, p. 73. See the Thomas H. Moore household, 1850 census, Cobb Co., Ga., Marietta Dist., p. 92. 

40 Elijah H. Fleming and Mary (Saye) Fleming are buried together in Smyrna Memorial Cemetery, Cobb Co., Ga. Their marriage was not recorded in either Franklin or Hall counties. 

41 Reverend William Moore’s religious perseverance on the frontier is noted in Walter B. Posey, “The Presbyterian Minister in the Early Southwest,” Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society 26, no. 4 (Dec. 1948), 216. William died 5 Nov. 1831 in Dallas Co., Ala., Alabama State Intelligencer, 12 Nov. 1831, p. 3. For Thomas’s obituary, see “Died,” Marrietta Journal & Courier, 26 Nov. 1896, p. 1. Thomas’s oldest daughter, Mary F. (Moore) Hamby (1845–1924) still lived in Cobb Co. when Asbury visited her shortly before writing this book, 1900 census, Smyrna Dist., Cobb Co., ED 46, sheet 3A. Mary (Saye) Fleming’s youngest son, Pliney Rutherford Fleming, was previously the Cobb County tax collector and died 9 Apr. 1889 in Smyrna, “Death of P. R. Fleming,” Atlanta Journal, 10 Apr. 1889, p. 1. Pliney’s widow, Mary Louise (McKinney) Fleming, died 25 Aug. 1902 in Chattanooga, Tenn., “Mary Louise Fleming,” Chattanooga News, 26 Aug. 1902, p. 7.