Terrell-Dougherty County GaArchives Biographies.....Gunnell, Charles Wood 1862 - 1908 ************************************************ 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 30, 2004, 10:23 pm 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 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/terrell/bios/gbs484gunnell.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb