Savannah Biographies

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  Florence Margaret Martus (1868-1943) Savannah's Waving Girl

  Lisa M. Summerlin

  The girl in the statue is Florence Margaret Martus who for forty-four years kept a vigil of the Savannah River, welcoming the ships to the port and waving them safely out to sea. She Humbly dedicated most of her life to this simple cause.

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  Francis Levett, Jr

  Gina Cupstid

  This paper examines the life of Francis Levett, Jr. He is remembered for his contributions to the Florida government during the British colonial period, circa 1760-1780, and for the establishment of Julianton Plantation, McIntosh County, GA., which would become the Levett family legacy, lasting from 1787 until 1866.

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  George Adam Keller (1821-1900)

  Rick Leech

  George Adam Keller was born into a family of planters in northwest Chatham County in 1821 and continued the tra­dition, cultivating crops, especially rice, and livestock, all the while building up his land holdings, such as with the purchase of Drakies plantation in 1871, He probably bought Coldbrook plantation in 1852 and was active in the Democratic Party, the County Road Commissioners, and served as clerk of the North Salem Baptist Church for almost 50 years. He had at least 17 children by his first wife Mar­tha and subsequently Mary, and died at Coldbrook in 1900, a well-respected gentleman planter.

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  George H. Ash, Master Builder

  Lindsey P. Henderson

  Few men who left so great an impression on their day and generation are as little known as George H. Ash.

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  George Milford Willett

  Lee Anne Renew

  George Milford Willett was born in Milford, New Jersey, on November 4, 1817, and called to Savannah, Georgia in 1836. He married a native Savannahian, Maria Barthelmiess, in 1839 and the couple eventually had five children:these were Ella lob., Laura, Georgia, George H. Willett, Jr., and Emma Florence. At various times during his life, George worked as a carpenter, brick maker,

  and railroad conductor. He spent a great deal of time involved in various business transactions or court cases which were related to his occupations, George N, Willett died from paralysis of the heart on October 25, :t890, at the age of 73.

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  George Nicoll Nichols (1822-1905)

  Randy Houston

  Mr. George Nicoll Nichols, a great printer, compositor, and slave owner, was born,

  November 12,1822, in Chatham County, Georgia. He died at the lawful age of eighty-two at his residence, No 17, 39th Street, East, April 13,1905, Savannah, Georgia. During his life, the city of Savannah was facing many changes. The fires that engulfed many historic sections of the city, the Civil War that took the lives of many prestigious citizens, political changes, the Reconstruction, and the yellow fever epidemics of the 1850's and the 1870 's were only a few events that reflected the changes in a city that grew from a population of 14,000 in 1850 into that of 54,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. His business interests were Real Estate, a Print, Binder, and Blank Book Manufacturer, Newspaper Publisher, and one of the founders and directors of the Citizen Mutual Loan Association, afterward, the Citizen's Bank. Mr. Nichols was also associated with several prominent clubs in the community which included the Board of Aldermen from 1869 to 1871 and again from 1883 to 1891. Nichols married Maria E. Nungezer in 1848 and together they had five children, two of whom were twin boys buried at White Bluff. Maria E. Nichols died in 1872 and Mr. Nichols remarried Mary Jane (Minnie) Mongin in 1873. They had three children. The Nichols descendants were and remained active members of the Savannah community in the fields of education, medicine, and civic organizations.

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  George Wallace Hunter (1806-?)

  Armstrong State University

  He came to Georgia in 1825 and married Eliza Ann Mears on December 25, 1828. They had children-names are unknown. They lived in Currietown on the corner of Harris Street and Montgomery Street. Eliza bought the property in 1838 and in 1843 a judgement of $10,000 was levied against George and the property was taken. He was the captain of the 4th Beat Company, Georgia Militia and was the first Treasurer of the Georgia Historical Society in 1839-resigned in 1840. He was the Secretary of the Savannah Bible Society, as well as other organizations, and he was a cashier at the Marine and Fire Insurance Bank. He had a brother John Hunter who died in 1842. Eliza died in 1840 and is buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. George disappears from record at the end of 1842 and no other information is available after that time.

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  George Washington Hardcastle: A Biography in Savannah

  Cynthia A. Freeman

  George Washington Hardcastle and wife Ann arrived in Savannah during the week of 20 august 1843. He worked at his occupation of wheelwright, eventually entering business for himself in 1850. Mr. Hardcastle expanded his business and built the present building at 30-38 Montgomery St., Franklin Ward. After a series of loans from the Oglethorpe Mutual Loan Association, Mr. Hardcastle sold his business in 1856. During his entrepreneurship, he was involved with the fire department, International Order of Odd Fellows, Clinton Lodge No. 54 (Ancient York Masons), and the Georgia Militia. After Divesting himself of the business, he was a delivery clerk and then a news agent. A minor Skirmish with the law in 1868 and a small robbery at his news stand are the last known about Mr. Hardcastle. No death date was found.

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  George Welshman Owens: Attorney, Planter, Politician, Family Man (1786-1856)

  Ralph Costen

  George Welshman Owens was an active participant in all dimensions of living - business, political, family, and social-civic. He had a visionary streak, with strong human convictions, which he attempted to translate in action.

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  Gilbert Butler

  Susan H. Albu

  Gilbert Butler was a devoted husband and father who had the pleasure of celebrating his fiftieth wedding anniversary in a time when this was a rare event. He was a carpenter, a builder and an architect who did work on many of Savannah’s buildings as the city grew from 1825 to 1875. He was a participated member of his community serving as an alderman, a member of the fire company, and on political and civic committees as he was needed. He was a man everyone could count on.

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  Green Fleetwood

  Mary Ann E. Edenfield

  Green Fleetwood, 1810-1856, was a river pilot, planter and shipper who in 1832 married Mary Morgan of Effingham County. They had seven children, five boys and two girls. Green and family lived on Houston Street before buying lot 22 Columbia Ward, currently 128 Habersham Street in 1850 and finally in 1854 building a house.

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  (Harry) Henry Cunningham

  Alfred Ownes

  Henry Cunningham (1759-1842). Was a free man of color, a minister of the gospel, a craftsman, a slaveholder, and speculator of sorts in real estate whose life was not without its controversies.

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  Hazen Kimball: Savannah Factor (1767-1819)

  Catherine A. Bitler

  Hazen Kimball, a prominent Savannah merchant, was a native of Concord, New Hampshire. The son of John and Anne Kimball, he owned his own mercantile establishment here in Savannah. Kimball was active in many aspects of society. He served as both Treasurer and Secretary Pro Tem of the Chamber of Commerce; he was a member if the New England Society of Georgia and he was a member of the Savannah Library Society. Upon his death, because he never married, his brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews all received portions of his estate as his lawful heirs.

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  Henry James Dickerson

  William Walker III

  Capt. Henry J. Dickerson was born in Maryland, but came to Savannah at age 19 as a sailor. He soon became owner of a small ship which led to the purchase of more ships. He was one of the first persons in Savannah to become involved in stevadoring on a large scale. Capt. Dickerson also became involved with some banking activities. He married Miss Margaret Drummond of Savannah and they had several children. His second wife was Mrs. Emma Dawson, a widow. Capt. Dickerson died at his home in Savannah in 1883. From the biography, p. 2

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  Henry Kollock Burroughs

  Tracy D. Bearden

  Henry Kollock Burroughs was born into a prominent Savannah family at the beginning of the nine­teenth century. He married, had a large family, and led an active and distinguished life in his home town as a physician. In 1845 he was elected mayor, an office to which he was re-elected two more times falling victim to consumption, he died still a relatively young man and in the prime of his life, at age forty-two.

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  Henry Rootes Jackson

  Tom Corbin

  Henry Rootes Jackson-lawyer, soldier, diplomat, poet. Born in 1820 in Athens, Georgia and died on May 23, 1898. Jackson was Colonol of the Irish Jasper Greens during the Mexican War. In 1823, he was appointed U.S. District Attorney for the state of Georgia. President Pierce appointed him Minister to Austria in 1853. A delegate to the Charleston and Baltimore Conventions of 1860. He fought for the Confederate Army during the War of Secession. Afterwards, he returned to Savannah to continue his association in the law firm of Jackson, Lawton & Basinger. Appointed Minister to Mexico by President Cleveland in 1885, he served until 1887. He was president of the Georgia Historical Society from 1875 until his death in 1898. Married first to Cornelia Augusta Davenport then to Florence Barclay King. His book of poems entitled Tallulah and Other Poems, was published in 1850.

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  Herman Kuhlman (1808?-1876)

  Judith C. Wood

  Herman Kuhlman born circa 1808 in either Hanover, Lower Saxony or Westenberg, Prussia. Emigrated to U.S. (year unknown). Married a German woman named Caroline (year unknown).Came to Savannah in the early 1840's and worked in the grocery business. Had eight children between the years 1841-1852 (all died at early ages, except for two). Caroline died in 1852. Kuhlman remarried in 1853 to Emelie Engels, also of Germany. Had eleven children between the years 1854-1876. Gave up grocery business for farming in the early 1860's. Moved to Tattnall County, Ga. between the years 1860-1870. Died in Tattnall Co. on December 12, 1876. (Burial place unknown).

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  Hill Gowdy: The Image of a Man

  Carol L. Montgomery

  Hill Gowdy is a reality of the past and an image in the present. The actual life began in Hartford County, Connecticut in 1819. He came to the city of Savannah as a commission merchant from New York in 1841, travelling back and forth between the two port cities for several years. He married, had a large family, carried on a business, and eventually left Savannah to remain in New York until his death in 1884. Somewhere within and around 11:.he:sa bare facts was a real, warm, living man. We are left with only the cold traces and an image.

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  Honoria Foley

  Eve Valdez

  Honoria Foley was born in Kerry, Ireland in 1831. It is unknown when Foley actually came to Savannah, but she first appears sometime during the 1840's. While unwedded, Honoria lived with Rev. John J. Kirby.

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  Hugh Cullen

  Brenda S. Williams

  Hugh Cullen immigrated from County Leitram, Ireland to Savannah in 1819. He was a grocer by trade, but he also became active in politics around 1840. In 1843, he was Savannah’s Superintendent of Streets and Lanes. He lived on lot number 4, Warren Ward. He and his wife, Mary, had six children, two of which lived to adulthood. He died in 1861 and was buried in the Cullen’s vault in the Catholic Cemetery.

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  Hyman Wallace Witcover: An Inconclusive Biography

  Ronald M. Thompson

  Hyman Wallace Witcover was born in Darlington, S.C. on July 16, 1871. At a young age-in 1888-Witcover began a lengthy tenure as a draftsmen for Savannah Architect A. S. Eichberg. In 1900 became himself an architect. Some of his more notable works in Savannah include the Savannah City Hall, the Public Library, Sacred Heart Church, the National Bank Building and the Scottish Rite Temple at Bull and Charlton Streets. As an architect , he was a member of the Savannah Society of Architects and the American Institute of Architects. Witcover distinguished career as an architect is excelled only be his long affiliation with the Scottish Rite Masonry and his extensive involvement in the educational and cultural betterment of Savannah. As a Freemason, he became the Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Georgia in 1911. Once eligible for Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction in 1914, he did in 1923 enjoy the privilege to serve on the Supreme Council as Secretary General. With the death of his Savannah wife, Agnes Dillon Witcover, in 1932 and ill health, he resigned his high post in 1934 and returned to Darlington. He died there after a long illness on the evening og October 2, 1936.

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  Index to Savannah Biographies A-B

  Armstrong State University

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  Index to Savannah Biographies A-Z

  Armstrong State University

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  Index to Savannah Biographies C-D

  Armstrong State University

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  Index to Savannah Biographies E-H

  Armstrong State University