Personality Sketches in Hall County including Bryant, Burford, Dunnagan, Grahams, Hopkins, and Mann Family Information, Hall, Georgia http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/hall/newspapers/sketchts.txt ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB PROJECT NOTICE: In keeping with the USGenWeb Project policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. GAGenWeb Archives File Manager, Hall County Carolyn Golowka, ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by Bill Stephenson, Jr., February 2001 Transcription by William L. Stephenson, Jr. Reprinted by permission granted to William L. Stephenson, Jr. by Sybil McRay to be placed in the ALGenWeb Archives, part of the USGenWeb Project. Personality sketches in Hall during 1869 The Times of Gainesville, September 15, 1974 - Sybil McRay, Special to The Times An 1889 publication titled “souvenir Sketches of Georgia and Florida” has write-ups on several Hall Countians and descendants of Hall Countians. These personality sketches tell about the migration of families from this area and the accomplishments of their offspring. Ezekiel D. Graham was born in Jackson County Sept.4, 1840. His father, William Graham, was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1814, and a grandson of William Graham, of Charlotte, N. C., one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. William, father of Ezekiel Graham, moved to Jackson County when a boy, and for several years was engaged in the mercantile business in that county. On Dec. 10, 1839, William Graham was married in Hall County to Louisa B. Dunnagan, daughter of Ezekeil J. and Lydia Ann Brown Dunnagan, a well known family of Hall [County]. In 1858, William and Louisa moved to Arkansas where William turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. At the outbreak of the War Between the States, he joined the Confederate Army and died while in the service in 1862. William and Louisa Dunagan Graham were parents of eight children: Ezekiel D., Samuel A., Liddia L., Susan, William A., Margaret, Julia, and Augustus. Ezekiel D. Graham, subject of the personality sketch, was brought up principally in Chattooga County and was educated in Lafayette. In 1858 he was licensed to practice law and was admitted to the bar in Trenton. He practiced his profession at Trenton until the commencement of the war and he joined the Confederate Army as a private in Company C, of the 6th Georgia Infantry. He was soon promoted to first Lieutenant of his company and from that to Captain of the company, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. He then returned to Trenton and resumed the practice of law. In 1865, he was elected from Dade County to the constitutional convention, and in 1870 was elected from Dade County to the legislature. In 1872, he was elector for president and vice president on the Georgia state ticket, and in 1874 was again elected to the legislature from Dade County and served one term. In 1877, he moved to Cartersville and engaged in the legal profession. Ezekiel Graham was married June 19, 1866, to Laura Mann, daughter of Emanuel and Jane Taylor Mann who moved from Georgia to Knoxville, Tenn. The couple became parents of five children: William M., Lou, Kate, Laura, and Cora Graham. In 1888, Ezekiel Graham was a delegate from Georgia to the National Democratic Convention which met in St. Louis, MO. Ezekiel J. Dunagan, grandfather to Ezekiel Graham, is buried in Hall County. H. Burford, M.D., was born near Gainesville, Hall County June 2, 1851, and practices as a physician in Brunswick. He was the son of Dr. William Burford and Laura Bryant Burford. Dr. William Burford, father of Dr. H. Burford, was born in South Carolina in 1821 and attended medical lectures at University of New York, graduating in 1846. His teachers were: Prof. Valentine Mott in surgery, Prof. John W. Draper in chemistry, and Prof Gunning S. Bedford in obstetrics. Dr. William Burford was regarded as one of Georgia’s outstanding physicians. He was also proprietor of a wholesale drug establishment that was burned during the War Between the States at a loss of $100,000. William Burford was the son of Thomas Burford, a native of Virginia, surveyor and teacher, supposedly a relative of John Randolph of Roanoke. Mrs. Laura Bryant Buford was born in Pickens County and was a daughter of Hugh Bryant, of Scotch Irish descent. Hugh Bryant was a wealthy planter, and for the sake of his wealth was hanged by jayhawkers, who robbed him of $10,000 in gold. Dr. H. Burford was the eldest for four children born to his parents, the others being Thomas, Sallie and Selina. He was educated primarily in private schools and in 1870 began reading of medicine under his father. Prior to his graduation he was assistant to Dr. George H. Stone in the Marine Hospital at Savannah from 1876 to 1879, and in the former year was the first to detect yellow fever in that city. He was also demonstrator of anatomy in the Savannah Medical College in 1880 and assistant surgeon in the Marine Hospital in 1880 and 1881. In December 1881, he moved to Brunswick where he was regarded as one of the city’s leading practitioners and in 1887 was appointed health officer of the city. He was married July 18, 1883 to Mary K. Hopkins, daughter of E. M. and Frances Rathbone Hopkins of Savannah. H. and Mary K. Burford became parents of a son Hugh. Thomas Burford, grandfather to Dr. H. Burford, is buried in Hall County.