TALIAFERRO COUNTY, GA - BIOS Sanford, Capt James M. ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joel Mize jmize@joelmize.com For much more information see: http://joel.mize.home.comcast.net/genealogy/story7.htm Captain James Monroe Sanford STORIES CAPTAIN JAMES MONROE SANFORD AND HIS LOST FAMILY This is about a man and his family, whose story remains unfinished. It is he from whom your Opa got the middle name Sanford, which was also the name of his grandson, John Sanford Ramsey, and is also the middle name for Brent and Zachary. I first heard of this Grandpa Sanford from my uncle Joe Putnam about 1963, when he gave me a sketch of our family tree and pointed to this man on his chart and said he is Jimmy (a variation of James) Sanford born in Edinburg, Scotland and was married to Ann Bryson. And I thought wow, a Grandpa from Scotland ! After over 35 years of looking for him in the records, I haven’t proved he was in fact from Scotland, nor do I find a record of his wife, Ann Bryson, but I do find wife Frances Coleman Smith, who he married in 1820 in the town of Washington, Wilkes County Georgia. Someday, perhaps one of you grandchildren can help find out more about this Grandpa. From his records in the military and in the United States census records, we know that he was born in (or about) the year 1795. No reliable record of where he was born has yet been found. He first enlisted for duty as a soldier in the second war that America had with the British; this is called the War of 1812. As a 19 year old boy he joined Captain Isaiah T. Irvin’s Company in Colonel Booth’s Regiment of Georgia Infantry. Captain Irvin was retired and then Captain Herman Mercer was in charge of the Company, still under Colonel Booth, to whom Private James Monroe Sanford must have made a good impression as he was promoted to Corporal. The war ended and on April 28, 1815 discharge papers were signed and on May 1, 1815 young Grandpa Jimmy Sanford was released from duty. Grandpa Jimmy made good friends in the army and won the respect of his commanders. When they called again for him to re-join the army, he would always be ready. But now he would return to his home in Washington, Georgia. It was only two years later that a big problem arose with the warlike Indians who lived in the swamps of Florida. The tribe that lived there was called the Seminoles, and they were fearsome warriors. These Indians were causing trouble for the white settlers in that state so one of the heroes of the War of 1812, Andy Jackson, who would later become President of the United States, organized a volunteer army to arrest and punish the leaders of the Seminole Indians. Colonel Booth asked Grandpa Jimmy to volunteer for this dangerous assignment and he gladly did just that. He was enlisted in the Company of Captain Reynolds and may have served as Sargeant during this campaign which lasted from 1817 into 1818. The danger of this assignment was not only the excellent Seminole Indians, but their home in the swamps of south Georgia and Florida were filled with alligators, snakes, leeches and other critters. But Grandpa Jimmy was very resilient. He kept himself in good physical condition and was ever vigilant for any enemy who might come his way. He proved himself a good Indian fighter in this campaign and would be remembered again anytime the Indians caused trouble in the years to come. After this little war was over, Grandpa Jimmy returned again to his home in Washington, Georgia. He had his eye on a pretty girl there who was almost nine years younger than he was. Her name was Frances Smith. They courted in the proper way and grew to love each other. So one day in 1820, young Grandpa Jimmy, now age 25, asked Frances’ father, George Smith if he could marry young Frances, who was but age 16. George Smith was satisfied that young Jimmy being strong and faithful to his friends would be a good mate and provider for his daughter so he consented. A wedding was set and on November 22, 1820 the two were married by Walter Campbell, a Baptist preacher and Justice of the Peace. This young couple began to start a family and are thought to have had several children, mostly girls - or maybe all girls. Only two names are known for sure but some others can be guessed. Someday, with your help, maybe we’ll know all their names. In 1844 Grandpa Jimmy and two of his daughters joined the Dewberry #2 Baptist church, located north of Gainesville, Hall County Georgia; they then withdrew membership after six months. The two daughter were Lucinda (born 1822), and our Granny Matilda Frances Sanford (born 1826). These two children are known for sure and three other daughters may also have been in this family. It is not known if they had a son. The other three daughters may have been two twins - Mary and Sarah (born 1827), and finally Louisa (born 1840). During this time of having a family, the United States government decided to relocate the Indian tribes to the west into Oklahoma territory, and needed to raise a volunteer army to make sure this decision was carried out. So in 1836, Grandpa Jimmy volunteered the third time for army duty and because of his good record as an Indian fighter was made Captain of a Company which served under Colonel William Porter. The Indians were removed with little trouble, except many of them suffered much hardship and death on the long winter’s march from Georgia and Alabama into Oklahoma. http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/military/indian/sandford.txt Taliaferro County Roster It would seem that the last years of Grandpa Jimmy and Grandma Frances were not all good ones. They began to live apart for reasons that we do not know. In 1850, Grandpa Jimmy is living alone in Crawfordville Georgia, but has the care of a small granddaughter named Cacy Griffith. Grandma Frances is living with their two twin daughters (both seemingly widowed early) on the other side of Georgia, at Augusta in 1860. And in 1870, Grandpa Jimmy has moved on into south Alabama, living with daughter Louisa (also widowed). So some tragedies seemed to have struck this family, but we can only ponder at the reasons for their separation and lonliness. Someday, we’ll ask the right people who have studied the families into which they married and maybe we’ll find the answers to this puzzle. Sometimes fate and poor decisions lead families to live apart; so this story proves that life and families who begin well and mean well do not always end-up to be “happily ever after”. Note: Much of the information contained in this story is learned from the Pension records of both James Monroe Sanford and his wife Frances, as well as from US census records.