Baldwin County GaArchives History .....History of Baldwin County - Sanford-Stetson Biography 1925
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 7, 2004, 6:38 pm

p. 440-443

THE SANFORD FAMILY

    Probably the most noted homestead in this section of the state is the old
Sanford house, in Green County, a few miles east of Greensboro. It has been
owned, and occupied by some member of the family for the past one hundred and
sixteen years.

    Jeremiah Sanford, a soldier of the Revolution and a personal friend of
Washington, came from Virginia to Georgia in 1800, bringing with him several
grown sons. They bought land on the outskirts of Greensboro and settled where
the Sanford house was built, in 1816. The material for its construction was
hauled from the vicinity of Milledgeville in wagons, a distance of forty-four
miles.

    Jeremiah and Ada Palmer Sanford removed from Loudon County, Virginia, to
Hancock County, Georgia, about the year 1800 or 1811. Both of them became
members of the Baptist Church, at Island Creek. They had three sons, two of whom
are dead, and six daughters, one of whom is dead. All of those living are
consistent members of the Baptist church.

    All of these daughters have been married, two of them having lost three
husbands. The oldest, Mrs. Mary Peek, lives in Hancock County, Georgia, aged
seventy-two years. Mrs. E. P. Peek lives in Green County, Georgia, aged
sixty-seven years. Mrs. P. Gary, lives in Coosa county, Ala., aged sixty-five
years. Mrs. M. W. Greene lives in LaGrange, Georgia, aged sixty-three. Mrs< C.
C. Respass lives in Eatonton, Georgia, aged fifty-five. All of these sisters met
recently at the home of P. H. Greene, in good health and spirits, to spend
several weeks together in peace and harmony, as they have ever lived, always
preferring each others' peace and happiness to their own. The writer of this
short sketch, whose acquaintance has extended over a space of thirty or forty
years, has never heard of a single harsh or unkind word spoken to, or of, each
other. They never call each other's names without saying "sister." The meeting
of five sisters, at their advanced age, at one place, is an incident that seldom
occurs, and this, in all probability, will never occur again. Mr. Prophet, the
celebarated artist of La Grange, has taken the likeness of these sisters,
together with the writer, in the group.

    No family in the State has been more distinguished for the number of pious
and useful members it has furnished to the State than the Sanford family, and
the influence which they have exercised, and are still exercising, of good, can
be known fully, only when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. "Happy
the hearts where graces reign, where love inspires the breast."

    One of this family has filled the Chair of Mathematics, at Mercer
University, for more than thirty years, and is now preparing a series of
arithmetics which will probably supercede all others in the South.

    Judge D. B. Sanford secured his purely academic education in a high school
in Greensboro, and at the age of 20 was appointed deputy clerk, of the supreme
Court of the State, taking up his residence in Milledgeville, then the Capital.

    He was appointed to this office in 1859, and was the incubent at the time of
the outbreak of the War between the States. He at once resigned the position to
go forth in defense of the cause of the Confederacy. He returned to Green County
and assisted in the organization of the "Green Rifles," which organization was
mustered into the Confederate service as Company "A" Phillips Legion, of Georgia
Infantry.

    He enlisted as private and was several times promoted, finally being made
Captain of his company.

    In the battle of Sailor's Creek, Va., while in command of his company, he
was wounded, captured by the enemy, and taken to Washington, D. C., where he
remained until the close of the war; his exchange being effected in July, 1865.
He took part in a large number of important battles, besides skirmishes and
other small minor engagements, making a record for gallant and faithful service.
At the close of the war, Judge Sanford returned to Milledgeville, where, in
Oct., 1865, he was chosen enrolling clerk, of the first State Convention, held
after the war.

    This Convention drafted, and adopted), a new constitution for the
commonwealth. He remained in Milledgeville, where he took up law, under
effective preceptorship, and was admitted to the Bar, in 1866.

    From that time, he was numbered among the representative lawyers of
Milledgeville and Baldwin County, having distinctive professional precedence and
being fortified by broad and exact knowledge of the intracacies of jurisprudence.

    In 1873, he was chosen Judge of the Court of Ordinary, of Baldwin County,
and continued in this office until 1891, a period of 18 years.

    He was Chairman of the board of G. M. C., Vice-President of the
Milledgeville Banking Co., of whose board of directors he had been a member
since its organization, as the oldest banking institution of the town, in 1889.

    He was always affiliated with the Confederate Veterans. On Jan. 8, 1868, he
was married to Elizabeth Stetson, who came from the city of Boston, Mass., in 1840.

    Judge Sanford died April 11, 1912.

    Daniel B. Stetson came to Milledgeville in 1842, became a merchant and
trader, developing an enormous mercantile business, corresponding with the
department stores of today. He was largely engaged in buying cotton of the
planters in exchange for supplies; and in absence of railroad facilities, it is
said his couriers were constantly riding between Milledgeville, Savannah,
Mobile, and New Orleans.

    At one time he was Judge of the Superior Court. He was a prominent member of
the Baptist Church.

    He enjoyed a reputation for honesty and fair dealings, and was ever ready to
assist others. Two prominent business men of Milledgeville affirm they owe their
success in life to the assistance, received long ago, from Daniel B. Stetson.

    The oldest son, William, enlisted in the Southern Army at the age of 17.
Afterwards, he became a cotton merchant at Savannah. He afterward moved to
Jacksonville, Florida, where he died in 1914.

    The second son, James Daniel, also served in the Southern Army in 1864 and
1865. On his return, he live in Hawkinsville, Ga., afterward moving to Macon.

    Elizabeth, only daughter, married D. B. Sanford, in 1868.

    Daniel B. Stetson was a slave holder and his slaves remained loyal to him
during the war. He died before his sons returned from the war, and is buried in
Milledgeville.



Additional Comments:
From: 

Part V

HISTORY of BALDWIN COUNTY GEORGIA

BY MRS. ANNA MARIA GREEN COOK

ILLUSTRATED

ANDERSON. S. C.
Keys-Hearn Printing Co.
-1925—


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