Chattahoochee-Twiggs-Pulaski County GaArchives Biographies.....Wilkinson, William Greene 1813 - 1865 ************************************************ 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: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 4, 2004, 10:57 am Author: Mrs. Harry Dixon REV. WILLIAM GREENE WILKINSON Written By Mrs. Harry Dixon (data furnished by Mrs. Mary Wilkinson Miller). Rev. William Greene Wilkinson, who came to Chattahoochee County, then part of Muscogee, in 1838 from Twiggs, County, Georgia, is a descendant of the English family of Wilkinsons who have left distinguished records in every section of the United States, in commercial, educational, and professional life. A religious strain seems to characterize the entire family, in addition to an uncommon degree of natural refinement, culture, sobriety, gentility, honor and self-reliance. Between 1802 and 1807 John Lawrence Wilkinson (b. Sept. 2, 1762) is thought to have emigrated from North Carolina to Georgia with his wife Cristiana Luther and several small children, stopping in Montgomery County, Ga., for an unknown length of time, where his eighth child, Lawrence, was born. In 1809 he moved into Twiggs County, settling where the celebrated "Longstreet" road crossed the Pulaski County line, (now the line of Bleckley County) about twelve miles north of Cochran. This road was once noted for the superiority of its aristocratic farmers. The house place contained about 1500 acres, including some of the richest lands in that section. Cotton six feet high and other fine crops were raised here; some articles made by him, a neat hand mallet, an iron wedge, and an old door made in 1830 or '40 before there were any sawmills in the country, are prized possessions of his descendants. The neat and legible handwriting in his old family Bible, perfectly preserved, indicates that he was a man of no ordinary culture. In addition to other business interests, he kept an Inn which, no doubt, was a popular hostelry on that much travelled road. He is mentioned in Gilmer's History of Georgia. John L. Wilkinson died Aug. 23, 1841 and was buried at his request about three-quarters of a mile from the old homestead on the banks of a creek and his grave marked by a large pile of rocks. Christiana Luther Wilkinson died Aug. 13, 1855 and is buried in Macon County near the home of her son Benjamin B., with whom she lived at that time. They were the parents of eleven children: (1) Micajah Wilkinson, b. Apr. 11, 1794; m. 2nd Catherine Phillips. (2) Elizabeth, b. June 20, 1790; (3) James, b. Nov. 30, 1797; (4) Washing-ton Mayberry b. Jan. 27, 1800; (5) John Jr. b. Mar. 4, 1802, m. Fannie Wynne; (6) Benjamin Benanael b. about 1804, m. Mary Ann Hall; (7) Thulia, b. Oct. 9, 1806, m. Josiah Whitehurst; (8) Lawrence Goldwire (or Goulden) b. Nov. 15, 1808, m. Elizabeth Jane Miller; (9) William Green b. July 18, 1813, m. Eliza Ann King; (10) Susannah Adkin b. May 2, 1815, m. (1st) Bryan Clark, m. (2nd) a Mr. Southwell. (11) Calvin Robinson b. Mar. 22, 1820, m. Frances Field, who lived several years in Chattahoochee County. Francis Field Wilkinson died in 1864, and she and her infant are buried in Mt. Olive Cemetery at Cusseta, Ga. Other children; Elvenia Ellafair, m. John Dorsey and reared a family in Polk County, Fla.; Ludie m. a Steagall, and lived in Miller County; Jack died unmarried; was drowned at a picnic in Florida when a boat overturned, and he tried to rescue his fiance; Fannie m. a Mr. Richelberger, and reared a family at Wildwood, Fla. The ninth child of John Lawrence and Cristiana Luther Wilkinson, William Green Wilkinson, b. July 18, 1813 in Twiggs County, was married on June 16, 1836 to Eliza King of Pulaski County, (b. Feb. 20, 1818) by the bride's great uncle Green Brown Esq., Justice of Peace. Three months before his marriage Wm. Green Wilkinson joined the troops in Florida fighting the Indians. At the end of this war he was honorably discharged and afterwards received a grant of 160 acres in Florida, which he sold. The first year after his marriage he was overseer for his father in Twiggs County, but the urge of rich lands to the westward soon caused him to follow his wife's parents to Chattahoochee County, where in 1838 he settled on the west side of Ochillee Creek on the road from Halloca to Cusseta. The two-room house built on a little knoll was soon replaced with a larger house on a hill across the creek. This place was sold to his brother Calvin Wilkinson in exchange for the Cherry place. C. R. Wilkinson sold his home to Pinckney Rogers and it is still known as the Rogers Place. W. G. Wilkinson moved to the Cherry Place where he lived till 1856 when he bought the Wooldridge and Holt plantation near Cusseta. He enlarged the four room house to nine rooms and lived there till his death. It was a beautiful place in its setting of 150 acres of original oak, its well kept garden, carriage house and negro quarters nearby. He joined Mt. Paran Primitive Baptist Church in Muscogee County in 1839. Here he was licensed to preach Oct. 2, 1845, but where he was ordained has been forgotten. He was chosen delegate many times to the Associational meetings, served as moderator of the Association and as preacher at Mt. Paran Church, Mt. Olive at Cusseta, at the Church near Pineville in Marion County, at Slaughter Creek Church, Stewart County, Harmony Primitive Church in Richland, Ga., and elsewhere. He was highly respected and greatly beloved throughout the sections he served. His sermons were characterized by their brevity. It is said that he never preached a long sermon, but plunged immediately into his subject, speaking rapidly and ending suddenly. He ably supported his family from the produce on his 900 acres of rich farm land, said to be one of the richest in the county at that time. His slaves were well cared for, and humanely treated. During his absence from home at one time his overseer unjustly whipped a slave, it was thought, and he would never hire another. During the War Between the States, being exempt from service, as a preacher, he gave liberally of his possessions. He would not raise as much cotton as was permitted, preferring to raise more food to help feed the soldiers, among whom were three of his own sons, John Henry, Joseph and William, besides the sons of all his relatives and friends. He was a remarkable man in many ways, inspiring in his children the greatest love, respect and confidence; and in his wife much more than the average love, admiration and veneration. Some of his writings have been preserved; no sermons, because he spoke extemporaneously, but many treatises on religious subjects. His death occurred July 21, 1865 and he is buried in the family cemetery across the road where later were buried many of his children, his wife, grandchildren, and a confederate soldier, Jim Cobb, son of one of his nearest neighbors and closest friends, "Uncle Buck and Aunt Kizzie Cobb." Though he never accepted pay for serving a church, he prospered, and at his death left a large and valuable estate not including the thirty-three slaves which had been freed at the close of the war, a few months before. His wife, Eliza Ann Wilkinson who was a' woman of extraordinary character and ability, lived to rear their twelve children, deservedly winning the love and admiration of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. At her death, Jan. 20, 1898, she was buried beside the devoted husband who had preceded her by 33 years. Christiana Elizabeth, her oldest daughter, never married, but devoted her life to her widowed mother and the younger children. She died Dec. 17, 1903, and is buried at her request at her mother's feet in the family cemetery. Mrs. Mary Wilkinson Miller, her youngest daughter, was an honor graduate of Cox College (at La Grange) in the class of 1885. She has much literary work to her credit through which she honors this elder sister whose devotion added to the success of any work she has even attempted. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY, GEORGIA By N. K. Rogers Dedicated to KASIHITA CHAPTER U. D. C. and all worthy descendants of the County's first settlers. Copyright 1933 by N. K. ROGERS PRINTED BY COLUMBUS OFFICE SUPPLY CO. COLUMBUS, GA. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/chattahoochee/bios/gbs537wilkinso.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 8.6 Kb