Chatham-Camden County GaArchives Biographies.....Millar, Charles Clarke 1816 - 1880
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 15, 2004, 1:41 pm

Author: William Harden
p. 714-715

   CHARLES CLARKE MILLAR. Sometimes by executive order the wheels of a great
railroad system are checked for a few moments to signalize the passing of a
famous official, such is our appreciation of that which is spectacular and
unusual. But when the stipulated time has expired work is resumed and those who
did not know the man quickly forget the incident. It is the man whose passing
can claim the thoughts of his fellow workmen and arouse their sorrow and regret
who receives the truest tribute in this busy day and age, and such a man is
invariably one who has worked with and worked for his associates, who has
understood and appreciated them, rather than one far distant who by the chance
of fortune or fate has attained to a directive capacity.

   Of the latter class, the well-beloved leader and loyal co-worker, was the
late Charles Clarke Millar, of Savannah, for forty years master car builder for
the Central of Georgia Railroad. His long connection with, the system as its
master car builder was in itself a silent tribute to his ability and character,
and there is another silent testimonial to his worth standing beside his grave
in the beautiful cemetery at Savannah. It is a monument of chaste but striking
design, and bears upon one face the following inscription:

CHARLES C. MILLAR
Died May 5, 1880      Age 64 years.

   Erected by the employes of the Central Railroad Car Department, with which he
was connected as master car builder for forty years, in grateful remembrance of
his many virtues.

   This brief, but beautiful tribute from the grateful hearts of men who were
for years intimately associated with Mr. Millar in their daily life, and who
knew better than any others what a splendid type of character he possessed,
indicates how fondly he was held in the affections of his friends and fellow
workers.

   Charles Clarke Millar was born at St. Mary's, Camden county, Georgia, March
19, 1816, and died at Savannah, Georgia, on May 5, 1880. He was a son of Jacob
and Lydia (Pierce) Millar. Jacob Millar was born in Boston, Massachusetts,
September 15, 1777, and settled at St. Mary's, Georgia, in 1809. He removed to
Savannah with his family about 1837 and died in that city on August 29, 1854.
His wife, Lydia Pierce, was descended from a long line of prominent New England
ancestry, one of her forbears being Capt. Michael Pierce, who was distinguished
for his service in King Philip's war. Jacob Millar himself was of English
ancestry, the members of his family being early settlers in New England and
members of the Plymouth colony, and thus of old Puritan stock.

   In 1837, the year that he came of age, Charles Clarke Millar came to
Savannah, which city continued his home as long as he lived. He entered the
railroad service with the Central of Georgia, and in 1840 was appointed master
car builder. He remained in that position continuously as long as he lived,
covering a period of forty years, with the exception of the time that he was
doing railroad duty for the Confederacy during the war between the states. These
duties, however, were mainly in connection with the Confederate government's use
of the Central of Georgia, so that his service with that company was practically
continuous. He espoused immediately and unequivocally the cause of the
Confederacy when the war broke out, and his sympathies remained strongly with
the latter.

   As previously noted, his services were eagerly accepted and he was detailed
on railroad duty, where his practical knowledge and efficiency made his service
a particularly valuable one. During the two scourges of yellow fever in 1854 and
in 1876, he remained in the city, attending to his business duties and
preserving the routine of affairs, and in addition, aiding the sick and
suffering in every possible way. He was a member of the Masons and the Odd
Fellows, but took the keenest inter est in the latter organization, particularly
in its field of charity and practical usefulness. No more faithful member of the
order ever was known in the vicinity, and he esteemed it a privilege to
encounter a call to aid a sick or needy brother or his family.

   His kindness to the distressed or suffering was by means limited to his
fraternal affiliations, however, but his bounty was ample and free. He was kind
and considerate to his men, and they reciprocated. He possessed a taste for good
literature and was an insatiable reader. His well-stocked library was one of his
most valued possessions and one that he delighted in, and many of his leisure
hours were spent there, communing with the best authors. He was ever ready to
lend a good book to any of his hundreds of employes, believing that the
inspiration of a good book was one of the best resources of man.

   In 1845 Mr. Millar married Miss Mary Letitia Yonge, who was born in
Liverpool, England, but at the time of her marriage was a resident of Darien,
Georgia. Of their children only one daughter survives the parents. She is Mrs.
Carrie Millar Everitt, and she has five children: Edward Millar Everitt, Athol
Everitt, Thomas B. Everitt, Horace P. Everitt, and Carrie, the wife of Louis Boyle.

   Mr. Millar's brother, Horace P. Millar, was born in St. Mary's in 1826, and
died in Savannah in 1867. He, like his brother, was a railroad man, but was not
so well known in Savannah, having lived there for only two years prior to his
death. He, too, left to his wife and children the heritage of a good name and an
honorable record, and one could not ask for more.


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

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

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