Carroll County GaArchives Biographies.....Benford, James H.L. 1837 - uk
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
E. Robertson lrober@plantationcable.net July 27, 2004, 12:15 am

Author: MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA
JAMES H. L. BENFORD, farmer, Victory, Carroll Co., Ga., son of John and Martha 
(Anders) Benford, was born in Twiggs county, Ga., in 1837. His paternal 
grandparents, George and Elizabeth Benford, were Virginians, and he was a 
soldier in the patriot army during the revolutionary war. His father was born 
in Virginia in 1818, came to Georgia when a young man and settled first in Bibb 
county; he afterward went to Twiggs county and settled in the woods and cleared 
a farm. He was a soldier in the Indian war of 1836, and was wounded in the arm. 
His maternal grandparents, Robin and Elizabeth Anders, were natives of 
Maryland, but migrated to Georgia, and were among the earliest settlers of 
Twiggs county. Mr. Benford was reared on the farm in Twiggs county and remained 
on it until he was eighteen years old, when he removed to Carroll county and 
settled in the woods on the tract whereon he now lives. There was not a stick 
amiss on the land, and he cleared the land for his farm by himself. There were 
four families moved together in ox carts, and all of them occupied an eighteen 
by eighteen log cabin together, cooking, etc., until they could build. He-went 
to school-only one week;and was never taught anything but the alphabet.
In 1861 he enlisted in Company B, Cleburne's regiment, known as the "Pattison 
Rangers." He participated in quite a number of battles-Gatling's farm, 
Petersburg Columbia, etc., but was most of the time on scouting duty, and often 
on special courier service. For nearly a month, at one time, his command was
chased by Gen. Kilpatrick, fighting nearly every day. He was captured once
in Virginia, and when commanded to surrender his gun he threw it down and broke 
it, and then put his foot on his sober and broke that, too; he then told his 
captors to toke him if they wanted to. As they were taking him to their lines, 
after dark, dangerous as the attempt seemed, he succeeded in eluding their 
vigilance and escaped. For a long time he was a courier for Gen. Lee, whose 
pass he bore permitting him to go where and when he pleased at his discretion. 
At the time of the surrender he was scouting in the rear of the Union army. He 
came out of the war with nothing but his land, and when his father died had his 
family to care for, giving the children a fair education. He owns now 1,500 
acres of good land, including a well-improved farm, ,and has the reputation 
among his neighbors of being one of the most progressive and one of the best 
farmers in Carroll county., He certainly ranks among the solidest and most 
substantial of the county's citizens. In 1865 Mr. Morris was married to Miss 
Fannie Morris, born in Meriwether county and daughter of William and Sarah 
(Ayers) Morris. Fifteen children have blessed this union, of whom thirteen are 
living: Henry, Price, Alice, Lity, Warren; Terrell, Eugenia, Perdue, Anna, 
Sula, Edell, Artentious, and Pious. Mr. Benford is a master Mason. and himself 
and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church.



Additional Comments:
“MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA”, Historical and Biographical Sketches
by S. Emmett Lucas, Jr., Published in 1896.  Transcribed by Elizabeth Robertson 
July 2004.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/carroll/bios/nbs10benford.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/gafiles/

File size: 3.8 Kb