Terrell-Dougherty County GaArchives Biographies.....Gunnell, Charles Wood 1862 - 1908
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Author: William Harden
p. 1004-1005

   CHARLES WOOD GUNNELL. A man of marked business capacity, intelligence and
enterprise, the late Charles Wood Gunnell, of Bronwood, did much towards
advancing the agricultural prosperity of Terrell county, through his wise
experiments clearly demonstrating the advantage and profit to be derived from
growing pecans for commercial purposes. A native of Terrell county, he was born
on a farm near Bronwood, May 28, 1862, and his death, which occurred in
Bronwood, November 13, 1908, was mourned as a loss not only to his immediate
family and friends, but to the entire community.

   William Henry Gunnell, his father, was engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Terrell county when the war between the states broke out. Entering the
Confederate army, he went with his command to Virginia, and was killed in the
engagement at Maryland Heights. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Powell,
survived him a few years, passing away in 1875.

   Industrious and studious, Charles Wood Gunnell acquired a practical education
when young, and until his marriage was employed as a bookkeeper for Sheffield &
Bell, at Albany, Georgia. Returning then to Terrell county, he located at
Bronwood, and there maintained his residence during the remainder of his life.
Mr. Gunnell was for many years engaged in the warehouse business in Bronwood,
and while thus employed purchased land in and near his home, and embarked in
agricultural and horticultural pursuits. In 1891 he planted pecan nuts, and the
trees, which he patiently watched and nurtured, four hundred in number, on
twelve acres of land, constitute one of the best and most highly productive
pecan orchards in the entire Union. An expert from the United States Department
of Agriculture inspected this large orchard, and five pounds of nuts from each
of two trees were taken to Washington for exhibition. In competition with the
best nuts elsewhere grown, the nuts from each of those two trees were awarded a
silver loving cup. Those same two trees are now officially named, one being the
"Gunnell," and the other being named "Bronwood." Mr. Gunnell was one of the very
first to experiment with the culture of pecan nuts in this section of the
country, and he proved most satisfactorily that nuts of that variety are a
profitable crop to raise. In 1912 the Gunnell orchard yielded three thousand,
five hundred pounds of nuts, a large and valuable crop.

   Mr. Gunnell married, October 18, 1888, Rushie Geise, who was born in Dawson,
Georgia, a daughter of Reuben and Jerusha (Wood) Geise, of whom a brief sketch
may be found on another page of this volume. Three children were born of the
union of Mr. and Mrs. Gunnell, namely: Charles Will, who was graduated from
Mercer College, and is now studying law in the University of Georgia, at Athens;
Martha R., who possesses great artistic talent, is a student at Andrews College,
in Cuthbert; and Ralph Leighton. Mrs. Gunnell is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, to which Mr. Gunnell also belonged; she is likewise a member
of Mary Brantley Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy; of Stone Castle
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution ; and of the Order of the Eastern
Star.


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

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