Lowndes-Macon County GaArchives Biographies.....Webb, John Elijah 1861 - 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 27, 2004, 1:12 am Author: William Harden p. 954-955 JOHN ELIJAH WEBB. Now one of the most prosperous planters of Lowndes county and a citizen whose services have often contributed to the general advancement and public welfare of his community. John Elijah Webb began his career practically without any of the material equipment and capital which are supposed to be necessary to successful endeavor. He is one of the substantial men upon whom the solid prosperity and civic progress of south Georgia depend. John Elijah Webb was born in Macon county, Georgia, July 16, 1861, a son of John and Elizabeth (Lamb) Webb. The Webb family with its connections has been identified with this state for nearly a century, and its members have been honorable and productive factors in the civic and material life of the state. A brief history of Mr. Webb's antecedents is published elsewhere in this work in the sketch of W. W. Webb, and hence need not be repeated here. The war all but destroyed the fortunes of Mr. Webb's father, and as his childhood fell during: the years of that struggle and the reconstruction period he was without many of the advantages which youths of the best families enjoyed before the war and in the modern era of prosperity. To the education supplied by the neighborhood schools he has since added by extensive reading. His assistance was early required on the farm, and when still a very young man the entire management of the home place devolved upon him through the retirement of his father from active labor on account of ill health. In meeting the responsibilities of this situation, his first act was to sell all the mules to pay off indebtedness, and this heroic measure left him without stock to run the place. Giving his personal note for $40.00 to a colored man in payment for a blind horse, he thus began his independent career at farming. He had his parents to support and a younger brother and sister to educate, but his industry and courage never failed to meet the responsibilities. Finally he sold his horse for $25.00 and bought a mule for $100.00. With $75.00 cash he gave his note for $40.00 for the balance. This brief sketch will not take up the details of the-way in which he worked out success, and the above facts are mentioned merely to show some of the difficulties in his start. What he has accomplished from such a beginning is illustrated in his present possession of a plantation of eight hundred acres in one body, well stocked and with excellent building improvements, and he also owns an interest in a tract of four hundred acres. Mr. Webb is a director in the Hahira Bank, is a member of the Senith Mercantile Company, and a stockholder in the Tennessee Oil & Gas Company. At the age of twenty-four Mr. Webb was married to Miss Anna P. Nichols, who was born in Lowndes county, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Vickers) Nichols. Mr. and Mrs. Webb are parents of the following children: Mary. Elizabeth. Everett, Pearl, Vesta Van Buren, Minnie Eugenia. Mr. Webb and wife are members of the Methodist church. In politics he is a Democrat, and has long taken an active part in public affairs. For four years he was member of the county board of education, and also did good service on the county board of road and revenue commissioners. He was a member of the latter when the court house was constructed, when the first definite steps were taken to straighten the county roads, and when the bridges at Troupville and over the Little river were built. These bridges can now be crossed at any stage of water, and are considered among the best improvements of the county. 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/lowndes/bios/gbs440webb.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 4.3 Kb