Laurens-Houston-Muscogee County GaArchives Biographies.....Dean, Elijah 1794 - November 10, 1858 ************************************************ 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: Sharon Dean Lee sdlee1@cox.net March 17, 2007, 7:18 pm Author: Thomas Herbert Dean The following chapter is from Thomas Herbert Dean's book The Deans: Two Hundred Years Across the South (C1987), and it is addressed to his children and grandchildren. Thomas H. Dean, a descendant from Richard Dean, Elijah Dean, and James Jefferson Dean, is the son of Thomas Jefferson and Hattye Forbes Bryan Dean. Thanks to Thomas H. Dean's meticulous research, many of Richard Dean's descendants have entered chapters of DAR around the country. CHAPTER TWO PART 2 ELIJAH DEAN, SR. Elijah Sr. was your Great, Great, Great Grandfather was born in Washington County, Georgia, in the year 1794 and place was confirmed by the fact that Elijah personally appeared before the inferior court of Muscogee County, on the 7th. day of November, 1850, to establish his to receive bounty land as a result of his service to States of America. Elijah certified his age at that 56 years old. Elijah personally signed this document, also certified his and his wife, Martha Page Dean's, please birth and age in the 1850 census of Muscogee County, Georgia. Not much is known about his early childhood in County. We do know this was a wilderness territory and Elijah probably did not have an opportunity to attend school in his early days. However, along the line, plenty of smarts and became a very influential citizen, military Officer and businessman. Elijah was born in the fifth year of the presidency of the first president, George Washington, the so called Father our Country. The newly written constitution of the U.S. was very young and he would live to see the first fourteen of America in office. I would imagine that Elijah spent his boyhood other young people did in areas like his. Most day light hours were spent working on his Father’s farm, cutting wood or other chores and when not busy fishing or hunting. Game was plentiful and in a good bit of the families food. Several families get together at night for “candy pullings" and square dancing, and in the fall of the year, for corn shucking and shelling for seed. Another favorite of the women folk was cotton seed picking and quilting parties. So life at that time was not necessarily all work and no play, although life was very hard by our standards of today. By the time Elijah was 18 years old, he was the Georgia Militia under General David Blackshear and at age 20, he was a First Lieutenant. Elijah's military career lasted on and off for many years, 1812-1838. He fought in the War of 1812, (1814-1815), and retired with the rank of Major in 1838. Elijah was instrumental in establishing and maintaining the Houston County Militia in its early days, in the year 1830, established the new districts necessary to develop a third Battalion in Houston County, which changed the 55th Division into the 55th Regiment. While living in Houston County, Georgia, he was commander of a Battalion consisting of the 13th and 14th districts of the 55th Division and later of the parts of the 14th and 15th districts of the then 55th Regiment. At the time, he was serving under David Blackshear in Washington County, (now Laurens County), he was responsible for "Deans Military District" around the Big Creek area. Elijah married your Great, Great, Great Grandmother, Martha Page in 1814, in Laurens County. Martha was born in Burke County, Ga., in 1796, and was from a very prominent family. She was a descendent of Henry Page of Middlesex, (Sussex), England, who came to Virginia in 1650. The Pages were living in Laurens County, when Martha and Elijah were married. They had a total of thirteen children, 10 boys and 3 girls. Your Great, Great Grandfather, James J. was the youngest of the bunch. The children born to Elijah and Martha in Laurens County, were Rebecca, 1815, David, 1817, Martha, 1818, Jephta, 1820, John, 1823, Simeon, 1824, and Lunsford in 1826. Ten of the thirteen children lived to full maturity. Elijah. and his family lived on the home place on Big Creek, until he sold it in 1826. The 120 acre "home place" was land that his Father, Richard, probably gave him when he and Martha were married, since the land was conveyed directly from father to son. About the time Elijah's son, John, was born in 1823, a very familiar place to you was "born" to the white settlers in East Tennessee. The place is Cades Cove in the Smokey Moun¬tains. Sound familiar? It should! This is one of the prettiest places on God's earth Cades Cove belonged to the Indian Nation until about the year 1823, and at that time was opened to the White Nation. Along with. military duties, farming and raising his family, Elijah Sr. was active in the community affairs in Laurens County, and quite often was called on to serve on committees and juries. Elijah also bought and sold land west of the Oconee River during the period 1814, to 1826. After selling the homeplace in 1826, Elijah and family, along with his Father, Richard, moved from Laurens County, to Houston County, Ga. Most likely, they traveled along the Old Chicken or Chickasaw trail, as it was called. The trail was the old Indian path that ran east to west through. Dublin,(Laurens Co.) to Hawkinsville, Ga., to Perry,(Houston County) and on west. Elijah bought 405 acres of land (lots 164 and 187) in the 14th district of Houston County, in 1826, and 1827. The family owned well over a thou¬sand acres of land in the 14th. district between 1826, and 1838. The 14th.. district is just south of Perry, Ga., and is in the black soil area of the state. This land is considered some of the best land in the state. The land lies in the rectangle between the towns of Perry, Henderson, Montezuma, and Marshallville As was the custom with large plantation owners, during that time period of history, our Richard and Elijah are recorded as having a number of slaves working for them on the plantation. A point of humor, I gathered from an old deed, was that a creek running through their land was called "Hogcrawl" Creek. How they selected that name is any ones guess. This is a big creek and retains that name today. By the year 1829, the Cherry families, the Reese families, the Hightower families and the Cobb families were clustered around Richard and Elijah in the 14th and 15th districts of Houston County. Two of the Hightower boys from Montgomery Co. Georgia, had married Richard's daughters before his move to Houston County, and one of them G.D. followed Richard and Elijah to Houston County in 1832 or 1833. G.D. apparently lived on Elijah's lot 164 and Richard stayed with them part of the time until they all moved to Muscogee County, Ga. Some of the Hightowers had moved to Houston County about the time Elijah and Richard did. Lemuel Cherry was later to marry Elijah's oldest daughter and Tomlin W. Reese was to marry Elijah's third child. The Cobbs had a farm next door to Elijah's land and I believe William T. and possibly McClain Cobb married Richard's Granddaughters (by his Daughters). At any rate both followed Richard and Elijah from Houston County to Muscogee County, and at Richard's death, bought some of his personal things. Proving this is a task to be accomplished later. Lemuel Cherry and Tomlin Reese (spelled Tomerlane on deed) owned adjoining land in the 14th district until the families moved to Muscogee in 1839. Lemuel sold his home place, lot 201, 12 Feb. 1839, David Dean witness, and Tomlin Reese sold his home place, lot 183, which joined Lemuel's land on the south east corner, in early 1839 also. Elijah was a plantation owner, in the Military and bought and sold land all during his stay in Houston County. The balance of Elijah's and Martha's children were born in Houston County, including your Great, Great Grandad James J. The children born here were, Henry, 1827, Elijah Jr., 1829, Bryan, 1831, Joseph, 1833, Elizabeth, 1834, and our James J. in 1836. Of special interest to me, was that in the 1850 census, Elijah Jr. certified that he was born in Laurens County, Ga. This leads me to believe that Martha may have gone back to Dublin to stay with her Sister, Elizabeth, or her Mother, while Elijah Jr. and possibly Henry was born. All the rest of the children listed Houston County as birth place,(those born after 1826). When our James J [James Jefferson Dean] was born, Martha was 40 years old and Elijah was 42. In 1838, Elijah sold all of his land in Houston County, and along with his family and Father, Richard, moved to Muscogee County, Ga. Richard's daughter, her husband G.D. Hightower and their children moved along with them, too. Martha R. Dean, Elijah and Martha's third child, married Tomlin W. Reese, in 1836, in Houston County, Ga. They apparently moved with the family to Muscogee County, too. I want to add another point of interest here about life in Houston County. I mentioned in Richard's life about our people being industrious and always paying their way, well a little more can be said about Elijah in this area. Old tax records in Houston County indicate that a fairly large number of land own¬ers from time to time were delinquent in paying their taxes and in many cases lost their land as a result. Well, Elijah's. Son-In-Law, Lemuel Cherry, who had married Elijah and Martha's oldest child, Rebecca, in Houston County, in 1833, lost his 202 1/2 acres (land lot 201 in the 14th. district) near Elijah's place in 1835. Lemuel was a Justice of the Peace at the time, or became one shortly afterward. Anyway, Elijah bought lot 201, and held it so Lemuel could buy it back from him. Lemuel kept this land until about 1839, when he sold it and followed Elijah to Muscogee County. Rebecca and Lemuel have a descendent, Dean Garner, living in Birmingham, Alabama, at this time. Sometime during the year, 1836, Lemuel Cherry's, Father, George, died in nearby Pulaski County, and Lemuel was made Administrator of George's estate and legal guardian for George's three minor boys, George Wyatt, William and Robert Cherry. Apparently, the boys went with Lemuel to Muscogee County, for in December, 1852, George Wyatt married Elijah and Martha's youngest daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Wyatt later moved on to Dale County, Alabama, lived on Elijah's and later James!J. Dean's place and raised a large family there. After the move to Muscogee County, the family bought quite extensive land holdings in the 6th and 7th district of Muscogee. This land was just south of and was bordered by Upatoi Creek on the north west and was near the Chatahoochee River. Columbus, Georgia, was on the other side of the creek and several miles north of them. Old Chattahoochee County records contain information show¬ing that Elijah was a planner and overseer for building a bridge across Upatoi Creek and a road to Columbus. Since Elijah lived on the south side of the creek and needed the bridge and road to get to Columbus, I feel he was a real sharpy and talked the county into constructing the bridge and road and paying for them. The home place area has since become Chattahoochee County and the land is now contained in Fort Benning, GA. On July 10, 1840, Richard died there and is buried in the area. Elijah and his family lived in the 6th and 7th districts of Muscogee County until the 1850's, and several of the children were married there, including David, Lunsford R., Elizabeth, Simeon, Jeptha and Elijah Jr. In the year 1852, Elijah's sons began buying land in South Central Alabama. In January of that year, Elijah Jr. bought 79 acres of land on Rocky Head Creek in Dale County, Alabama. Jeptha bought land there in March, 1852. Elijah Sr. bought land on the creek in January, 1853, and moved with his family to Rocky Head Creek in 1854. Elijah and his family lived in Muscogee County, Ga., for about 15 years. His sons, David and Simeon bought land on Rocky Head Creek in 1854, and 1855, and by 1855, the family owned over 1600 acres there. Rocky Head Creek in Dale County, AL, is only about 3 or 4 miles from what is now Ariton, as you know it, where so many of the Dean generations have lived for so many years. You will learn much, much more about this area as we track James J., Jefferson J., Thomas Jefferson and me, your Pa, through these parts. I do not believe Elijah Sr. and Martha sold the home place in Muscogee County, Ga., when they moved to Dale County. Appar¬ently Martha R. and her Husband, T.W. Reese, and probably some of the other children stayed. At any rate, Martha paid taxes on land there in 1857, and church records in Chattahoochee County, GA, indicate Elijah Jr. and his wife, Catherine, and possibly other children may have returned to the area to live in 1859 or 1860. Around that time, Elijah Jr., Jeptha, Simeon, Joseph and Lunsford joined the Confederate Army from Harris County, a county next to Muscogee County, Ga. After the war, Elijah Jr., Jeptha, Joseph, and Lunsford went to Texas and Elijah Jr. and Jeptha settled in Breckenridge, Texas. Elijah Jr. later moved on to New Mexico, and died there in 1916. Mrs. David Shull, now living in Houston, Texas, is a descendent of Elijah Jr. I also believe Martha R. Dean and husband, Tomlin W. Reese moved onto Texas with the Dean boys or moved shortly afterwards. Martha R. and Tomlin have a descendent, Mrs. Donald (Judith) Wakeman, living in Fort Worth, Texas. Another descendent of Martha R. Dean and Tomlin Reese, Margaret Goodman, lives in Garland, Texas. After moving to Dale County, Alabama, in 1854, Elijah Sr, continued to farm until his death in 1858. He is buried in Mt. Olive Cemetery near Rocky Head, Alabama. Elijah Sr. was a Primitive Baptist and apparently very strong in his religious beliefs. Very soon after moving to Dale County, he began organizing Mt. Olive Church there; The nearest Primitive Baptist Church at that time was at Clayhatchee, Alabama, many miles south of Rocky Head. Among the first members, were Elijah Sr., his wife, Martha, their two sons, Elijah Jr. and Lunsford and their wives. Simeon also joined the church. Elijah Jr. was a deacon of the church, and I understand he became a Baptist Minister sometime later. After Elijah Sr. died, Martha lived mostly with her son, David, in Dale County, Alabama. She lived for a short while with her daughter, Elizabeth after Elijah died, then moved with David. She later lived with James J. until her death in 1874. Martha applied for and received a pension from the U.S. Government in her later years. The pension was granted for the Military service rendered by Elijah Sr. to the United States. Martha is buried fn Dale County, Alabama. To sum up Elijah Dean Sr., I would have to say, from what I have learned about his life, that Elijah was an ambitious, highly motivated, strongly self disciplined type person. He apparently was dedicated to family, friends, community and country and was an organizer and pusher to get things done. He apparently was well liked by family and friends and strong in his religious beliefs. Elijah certainly proved by his life and accomplishments, that he was and is a valuable asset and influence to his following generations. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/laurens/bios/dean924gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 15.7 Kb