Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Tennille, George Francis 1873 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 15, 2004, 11:03 am

Author: William Harden
p. 700-701

   GEORGE FRANCIS TENNILLE. As third vice-president of the Southern Cotton Oil
Company, George Francis Tennille holds a position of great importance and
responsibility, having immediate control of its Savannah works and offices, the
plant in this city being the most extensive one of the company's system. A son
of the late Capt. William Alexander Tennille, he was born, March 6, 1873, in New
York City, and was there reared and educated, completing his early education at
Columbia University, where he was graduated in chemistry in 1894.

   His great-grandfather, Lieut. Francis Tennille, was the son of a French
Huguenot, who emigrated from France after the Edict of Nantes, settling in
Virginia. He was born in Virginia, in Prince William county, and came from there
to Georgia in colonial days, locating in Washington county as a pioneer. During
the Revolutionary war he enlisted for service in the Georgia Brigade of the
Continental army, being mustered in as lieutenant of the second battalion,
afterwards being promoted first to the rank of captain, later being commissioned
lieutenant colonel. He had the distinction of being one of the charter members
of the Society of the Cincinnati in Georgia. He married Mary Bacon Dixon, a
daughter of Robert and Ann (Bacon) Dixon, and granddaughter of Gen. Nathaniel
Bacon, of Virginia, who was a lineal descendant of the famous English family of
that name.

   Mr. Tennille's paternal grandfather, Col. Francis Tillman Tennille, was born
near Sandersville, Washington county, Georgia, in 1799, and spent his entire
life in his native state, dying in 1877.

   Capt. William Alexander Tennille's birth occurred in Washington county,
Georgia, in 1840. He was reared at Fort Gaines, Georgia, his father having large
plantation interests in that vicinity, and was graduated from the University of
Georgia with the class of 1860. Entering the Confederate army at the breaking
out of the Civil war, he served until the close of the conflict in Company D,
Ninth Georgia Infantry, at the close holding the rank of captain on the staff of
Gen. "Tige" Anderson. Serving almost the entire time in Lee's Army of Northern
Virginia, he proved himself a brave and efficient soldier, his military record,
especially in the battle of Gettysburg, being spoken of in the highest terms by
all who are familiar with it. Removing after the war to New York City, the
captain was there a resident until his death, in 1905. He married Clara Tuttle,
a daughter of George Hudson and Mary (Dawkin) .Tuttle, and she is still living.
She is a direct descendant of William Tuttle, who came from England to America
in 1635, settling first in Boston, and later removing to New Haven, Connecticut.
His descendants have furnished many distinguished names in American history.

   Beginning his service with the Southern Cotton Oil Company in 1897, George
Francis Tennille at first followed his profession of a chemist in the Savannah
plant. Proving himself efficient in many directions, he was advanced to higher
positions from time to time, being promoted first to the position of
superintendent, then manager, later becoming district manager, and, in 1911,
being made third vice-president of the company. This being an executive position
with the concern makes it more or less of general jurisdiction. Mr. Tennille,
however, has under his immediate charge the Savannah works and offices of the
company, these comprising one of the main centers of the great corporation,
which owns and operates over ninety cotton oil mills scattered throughout the
South. The plant in Savannah covers more than twenty acres, it being one of the
largest belonging to the Southern Cotton Oil Company, which ranks among the
largest industrial organizations in the United States. It includes a large crude
oil mill, a refinery, soap works, and plants for the manufacture of lard and
paint. The headquarters of the freight department and of the company's chemical
department are also located in Savannah, and are under Mr. Tennille's charge.

   Mr. Tennille belongs to several patriotic, business and social organizations.
He is a member of the Georgia Society of the Cincinnati; of the New York Society
of the Sons of the Revolution; of the University Club of New York; the Society
of Chemical Industry; the American Chemical Society; the Oglethorpe Club; the
Yacht Club; the Golf Club; the Cotillion Club, and many others.

   In Savannah, in 1903, Mr. Tennille was united in marriage with Miss Jessie
Chisholm, a daughter of William W. Chisholm, and they have one child, Dorothy
Tennille. Mrs. Tennille is descended from some of the oldest and most
distinguished families of the South. Her grandfather, Murdock Chisholm, married
Georgia A. Barnard, who belonged to that branch of the well-known Barnard family
that is perpetuated by having had named one of the thoroughfares of Savannah,
Barnard street. Mrs. Tennille's great-grandfather, Maj. John Barnard, was a
member of the provincial congress assembled in Savannah, July 4, 1775, and
assisted in raising the first liberty pole in the city. During the Revolutionary
war he commanded a company which attacked the crew of a British frigate which
had been landed on Wilmington island, and captured them all. He was finally
himself taken prisoner by the British, but was later exchanged, and participated
in the siege of- Savannah, serving until the close of the struggle. Major
Barnard was a son of Col. John Barnard of the British army, who, about 1743,
came to Savannah in command of a regiment called the "Rangers," and settled on
Wilmington island. He held his commission in the British army until his death.

   William W. Chisholm married Jessie M. Fowke, a daughter of Dr. Richard
Chandler Powke, and granddaughter of Dr. John Sidneyham Fowke, who was a surgeon
in the United States -navy in the early part of the nineteenth century. The
founder of the American family of Fowke was Col. Gerard Fowke, an officer of the
British army, who settled in Virginia prior to 1657, and became an extensive
landholder in both Virginia and Maryland. His son, Col. Gerard Fowke, Jr., and
his grandson, Capt. Chandler Fowke, held military and civil positions in
Maryland and Virginia. Among other prominent characters in the ancestral line of
Mrs. Tennille were Capt. Adam Thoroughgood, who emigrated from England to
Virginia in 1621; Thomas Harrison, of Fauquier county, Virginia; and Isaac
Mazyck, who was born in Saint Martin's, France, immigrated to South Carolina
about 1740, and became a prominent citizen of Charleston.



Additional Comments:
A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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