Grady-Thomas-Mitchell County GaArchives Biographies.....Alderman, Byron Alonzo 1854 - living in 1913 ************************************************ 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 October 31, 2004, 11:22 pm Author: William Harden p. 1029-1031 BYRON ALONZO ALDERMAN. A retired business man and one of the leading citizens of Pine Park in Grady county, Mr. Alderman is a lifelong resident of southwest Georgia, and beginning his own career in the woods and in a log cabin home he has used thrift and dilligence in acquiring a generous measure of prosperity and has provided well for his family, at the same time performing with fidelity his obligations to his community. Byron Alonzo Alderman was born on a farm eight miles northwest of Thomasville, November 15, 1854. His father was Hon. Isaac Alderman, a man of unusual influence and ability. He was born December 5, 1826, in Sampson or Duplin county, North Carolina, where his parents were life-long residents. He was reared in his native state by his widowed mother, and acquired a better education than the ordinary. His great-grandfather, Daniel Alderman, married Abigail Harris and came to New Jersey from England about 1750; removed to North Carolina in the year 1755. Daniel Alderman had three sons: John, who married Mary Cashwell; Daniel, who married Sarah Newton, and David, who married Jemima Hall. David Alderman, Jr., who was Isaac Alderman's grandfather, had three sons: David, who married Nancy Morgan; Isaac, who married Elizabeth Morgan, and Elisha, who married a cousin, Rebecca Alderman. Daniel Alderman also had five daughters: Jemima, who married James Bland; Rachel, who married Bryant Buxton; Sarah, who married James Newton; Mary, who married John Grumpier, and Elizabeth, who remained single. Elisha Alderman and Rebecca Alderman were the parents of Hon. Isaac Alderman, and they had ten children, whose names are: James, Jemima, Sarah, Amos, Joseph, David, Isaac, Daniel, Susan, William. lion. Isaac Alderman when a young man, took the vocation of teaching and on coming to Georgia he followed that line of work for a number of years. His first residence was in Thomas county, where he taught school and bought a piece of land eight miles northwest of Thomasville, where he built a log house in which his son, Byron A., was born. He continued to teach while superintending the improvements of his land, and in time had acquired a substantial home and the means to provide well for his family. In the year 1863, he enlisted in the Confederate army and was in the struggle until the close. After the war he again took up teaching and farming, and remained on the old homestead until his death, September 24, 1900. The maiden name of his wife was Susan Alderman, daughter of Timothy and Sally (Williams) Alderman, and distantly related to the family of which Isaac Alderman was a member. She was born August 30, 1832, and died November 29, 1897. Timothy Alderman was a native of North Carolina and his wife, Sally, a native of Georgia. Isaac Alderman had a number of public honors during his career, serving as a member of the Thomas County Board of Education and also as a member of the board of county commissioners. He was also honored by election as a representative of Thomas county in the state legislature. Both he and his wife were members of the Baptist church. Their six children were: Byron Alonzo, Laura, Virginia, Marcas E., Fannie and Mattie. Byron Alonzo Alderman, as a boy, attended the rural schools and was later given the privilege of attendance in the high schools at Warsaw, North Carolina. Though well-educated he did not adopt a learned profession, but chose the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. Early in his career he bought 250 acres of land covered with timber, and cornering upon his father's homestead. He went into the woods and at an eligible site cleared off some of the trees, erected a log cabin, and it was in that home that he and his young wife began married life. In time he effected the clearing of a large amount of land, and was a prosperous and successful farmer there until January, 1899, and in that year he moved into Pine Park and in September of the same year established himself in the mercantile business. In 1908 ill health compelled him to give up the close confinement of the store and he was then succeeded by his son, Early L. Mr. Alderman was first married in 1878 to Janie Walker, who was born in Thomas county, a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Kitchen) Walker. (See sketch of Dr. W. A. Walker.) Mrs. Alderman died in the year 1881. In 1885 he married his present wife, Martha Harman Kemph. She was born near Camilla, in Mitchell county, Georgia. Her father was Jacob Henry Kemph, a native of Georgia, and a son of Faulton Kemph. Faulton Kemph was born in Germany and when a young man spent fourteen weeks on a sailing vessel, which brought him to Georgia. He lived for a time in Burke county, and thence moved to Lee county. He was a well educated man and was honored by official preferment in Lee county, where he spent his last years. He married a Miss Lewis, and reared two sons, of whom John enlisted in the Confederate service at the breaking out of the war and lost his life in battle. Jacob Henry Kemph, father of Mrs. Alderman, lived in Dougherty county for some years after his marriage and later moved to Mitchell county, buying a farm about three and one-half miles south of Camilla. That was his home and scene of labors when the war came on, and in 1863, the month not now being known, he entered the service of the Confederacy, and remained until the close. He returned home very ill, and died on the third day of May, 1865, three days after he reached home. The maiden name of his wife was Eveline Sapp, who was born in Mitchell county, daughter of DeLain and Mary (Chastain) Sapp, natives and life-long residents of Georgia. Mrs. Alderman* mother, who died at the age of seventy-two, reared five children, whose names are: Mary F., John Morgan, Julia L., Martha Harman and Henry DeLain. Mr. Alderman has just one son, by his first wife, named Early Lenwood. He is now engaged in the mercantile business as successor to his father at Pine Park. Mr. Early Alderman married Miss May belle Sanford, and has three children named: Lenwood, William S. and Elizabeth Jane. Mr. and Mrs. Alderman worship in the Baptist church in which he is a deacon. In the year 1912, he was honored by appointment as a member of the board of county commissioners of Grady county to fill a vacancy, and in the fall of the same year, he was elected by the people to the same office. Additional Comments: From: A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA BY WILLIAM HARDEN VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1913 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/grady/bios/gbs498alderman.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 7.1 Kb