Carroll County GaArchives Biographies.....Coleman, W.A. 1838 - 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, 12:20 am Author: MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA W A. COLEMAN, farmer and banker, Carrollton, Carroll Ca., Ga., son of. Henry A. and Sarah Ann (Barnes) Coleman, was born in 1838. His paternal grandparent, George Coleman, was a native Of South Carolina, and came from that state to Georgia early in this century. His father was born in Putnam county, Ga., in 1814, was reared a farmer, and was a soldier in the Indian war of 1836. Far many years he was bailiff, and also a major of militia in Cobb county, Ga., when to be a major was something of a distinction locally. He was a. prominent member of the Missionary Baptist church. His maternal grandparents, James and Sarah (McKenzie) Barnes, were among the early settlers of Lincoln, county, Ga. Mr. Coleman was reared an a farm in DeKalb county, and what little education he received was at the 'Old-time lag school so many times described elsewhere in this volume, and in obtaining it had to go three or four miles barefooted. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company E (Capt. Sharpe), First Georgia cavalry, and continued in the service until April 26, 1865. He was in many hard-fought. battles, notably Chickamauga, Resoca, Kennesaw and Marietta all the way to Atlanta and Savannah. He was on the skirmish line when Stoneman surrendered, and although he was neither wounded nor captured during the war, he narrowly escaped both. A spirit of enterprise and adventure took him to Honduras, Central America, in 1868, when he carried with him the necessary machinery and implements to engage extensively in sow-milling, fruit growing and cane- culture. He sowed the first lumber ever sowed and baled the - first cotton ever baled far shipment in that country. His extensive manufacturing, agriculture' and property interests in Honduras are now in charge of his son, William F. who resides there. From that source he derives a very large income, in addition to that from a large, well-improved farm in Carroll county, far, in addition to successfully managing enterprises so large and so remote, he prides himself on being- 'One of the best farmers in this county. His success in every thing he has undertaken has been phenomenal. He changed his residence from his farm to Carrollton, where he has an elegant home, so as to educate his children. He is one of the directors of the Carrollton bank. Mr. Coleman was married in 1858 to Miss Cynthia Riggs-born in Butts county, Ga.-daughter of John and Jane (Florence) Riggs, early settlers. Mr. Riggs was born in South Carolina, ran away from home and came to Georgia when sixteen years of age, and afterward became a Baptist minister of note. This wife died in 1877, leaving one child, William F., now in Honduras. In January 1879, Mr. Coleman married Miss Clara, daughter of Valentine and Eliza. (Gant) Kolb, a family of wealth, and among the first settlers of Meriwether county, Ga.. by this marriage two children have been born to him-Laura and James. Mrs. Coleman is a member of the Missionary Baptist church and Mr. Coleman is a master Mason. 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/nbs17coleman.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/gafiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb