Georgia:  Coweta County:  Biography of W. W. SASSER

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W. W. SASSER, one of the leading men of Coweta county, is of the hardy 
pioneer stock, to which many of the state's most valuable citizens belong. 
His grandfather, John Sasser, a native of England, came to America prior to 
the revolution and took part in that heroic struggle for liberty. His son 
William was a soldier in the war of 1812. During this war, on one occasion 
he and a comrade quarreled and to punish them their officers compelled them 
to undress, smear themselves all over with grease and fight it out. They 
then made friends and the episode was a lesson to them both. William Sasser 
married Elizabeth Beverly, like himself a native of Laurens district, S. C., 
and in 1818, with her and their two children, set out for Georgia. Their 
vehicle was a dump-cart, and in this comfortless conveyance they made their 
toilsome way over rough roads and by-paths, and often through an almost 
trackless wilderness to their destination. For a short time they rented a 
small cabin while Mr. Sasser was building one for himself. He completed this 
and began to clear up his land that fall. With his brother-in-law, who had 
come with him, he engaged in sawing lumber, using the old-fashioned whipsaw 
for a year. After that he was employed as an overseer. In 1825 he removed 
to Monroe county and with his savings bought a piece of land. On reaching 
his newly-purchased property he immediately began to saw the boards with 
which to make a shelter for his wife and five children, the land being 
covered with the heavy forest which at that time constituted the wealth of 
central Georgia. After six years on this site, during which time (Feb. 7, 
1829) his son, W. W. Sasser, was born, Mr. Sasser moved to Meriwether county, 
Ga., where he again settled in the woods and in this place he dwelt until his 
death. He and his wife were consistent members of the Baptist church. In 
this home, amid such surroundings, W. W. Sasser was reared, attending school 
in the old log schoolhouse which alone could be found in country districts at 
that time. The seats were of split slabs, the chimney of sticks and dirt, 
the fireplace six or seven feet wide, the roof tied on. William Sasser at 
his death turned all his property over into the hands of his son, W. W. 
Sasser, with the request that he rear and keep the family, and properly 
school them and otherwise care for them, and this he has faithfully done. 
During three years of the war he was running a mail route and did not do much 
fighting; during the last of the war he was one of Joe Brown's favorites. 
Mr. Sasser is a royal arch Mason. For seven years he was county commissioner 
for Coweta county, and then on account of ill health was compelled to resign. 
He is greatly liked and thoroughly respected by all who know him. On May 
14, 1857, he married Keziah Boyd, daughter of Milton and Jane (Douglass) 
Boyd, both natives of South Carolina, who settled in Meriwether county, near 
Greeneville, about the year 1836. Mr. Boyd was a soldier in the war of 1812. 
The daughter, now Mrs. Sasser, was born in South Carolina and was but two 
years old at the time of the removal of her parents to Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sasser have been blessed with a family of eight children, of whom seven are 
now living: Charles F., Milton, J. A., Hugh, B. Edward, Lula and Eunice. 
John was the name of the son who died. Mr. and Mrs. Sasser are faithful and 
devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church and so, likewise, are all 
their children.

Transcribed from MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA published by the Southern Historical 
Association, 1895.