Thomas-Brooks-Screven County GaArchives Biographies.....Roberts, Hezekiah 1850 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 20, 2004, 12:04 pm

Author: William Harden
p. 844-845

   HEZEKIAH ROBERTS. A veteran of the war between the states and the first mayor
of the town of Pavo, where he now resides, Hezekiah Roberts and his family have
been identified with the substantial development of South Georgia since the
beginning of settlement and progress in this region.

   Mr. Roberts was born in that part of Lowndes county that is now the Tallokas
district of Brooks county, on the 25th of December, 1840. His grandfather was
Thomas Roberts, a Scotchman, who was born either in England or Scotland, and who
on coming to America settled in Screven county, Georgia, where he spent the
remainder of his days. He married a Miss Ponder, who died in Screven county and
they were the parents of one son, Elias, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Patience.

   Elias Roberts, after spending his youth in Screven county and a few years'
residence in Chatham county, brought his family into the sparsely populated
region of Southwest Georgia. He and his household made the removal in private
conveyances and brought all their movable property, with slaves and live stock,
locating in the west part of Lowndes county. Most of the land in this region was
still owned by the state, though some of it had been purchased by non-resident
speculators. Elias Roberts, having bought land bordering Mule creek, first built
a house of round logs to shelter his family. Then his slaves laboriously
whip-sawed boards from the native timber and with a skilled house-joiner and
carpenter to direct the operations, a commodious two-story dwelling was erected.
The boards were two and a half inches thick, were dove-tailed together at the
ends, and were fastened to the studding with wooden -dowel-pins in lieu of
nails. When finished, and for some years afterward, this was the most
pretentious residence in all this countryside. A few years after Mr. Roberts
settled there, he was approached one day by a speculator, who owned several lots
in this region, and who offered his land for sale at fifteen dollars per lot (a
lot containing 490 acres). Mr. Roberts bought and paid the price asked for one
lot, which was covered with fine oak timber, but told the speculator he thought
the rest of his land was valueless for farming purposes. Elias Roberts remained
a resident at the place of his first settlement until his death, at the age of
sixty-three years. Before coming into this part of Georgia, he had served under
General Jackson in the Florida Indian wars, and after coming here was a member
of a company organized for protection against the Indians over the border, the
company being several times called out to drive the red men back to their
reservations. During such troublous times the Roberts homestead above described
became the place of refuge for the women and children of the settlement, so that
it served both as a residence and a fort. Elias Roberts had been a participant
in the battle of Brushy Creek in 1836, when the Indians made their last great
stand in defense of their hunting grounds.

   Elias Roberts married Nancy Nevils, whose birthplace was at Statesboro,
Bulloch county, Georgia. Her father, Jacob Nevils, was one of the very earliest
settlers of Bulloch county, where he bought land and improved a farm, a part of
which is now included in the town of Statesboro. There he resided until his
death at the age of ninety-eight. His wife, whose Christian name was Nicey,
attained to an even greater age, living one year beyond a century. They reared a
large family of children, and Mrs. Elias Roberts likewise attained advanced age,
being eighty-two at the time of her demise. Her nine children were John, Mary,
Jane, Elias, James, Jacob, Nicey, Hezekiah and L. E.

   As one of the youngest of this family, Mr. Hezekiah Roberts was about twelve
years old when his father died, and as the older brothers had gone from home he
became his mother's chief assistant in the management of the farm and slaves. He
continued in this way until the breaking out of the war in 1861, at which time
he enlisted in Company C of the Seventh Georgia Battalion, later being
transferred to the Sixty-first Georgia Infantry. His first service was at
Brunswick and Savannah, and he then went into the army of north Virginia under
Stonewall Jackson, and his regiment saw almost constant movement of. campaigning
and fighting until September, 1864, when it was captured. He and his comrades
were then confined at Point Lookout, Maryland, until 1865, when they were
paroled. The war closed before he was exchanged, so he came home and resumed the
work of the farm. He succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead which his
father had carved out of the wilderness, and was there successfully engaged in
general farming and stock raising until 1897. Since that year his home has been
in Pavo, of which town, at its incorporation, he served as the first mayor.

   Mr. Roberts was first married at the age of twenty-seven to Dency Morgan, who
was born in Echols county, Georgia, a daughter of Elihu Morgan. She died in
1876. For his second wife Mr. Roberts married Moselle Peacock, a daughter of
Delamar and Mary A. (McKinnon) Peacock, of Thomas county. The history of this
well known family in Southwest Georgia is told in the sketch of Duncan D.
Peacock, elsewhere in this work. By his first union Mr. Roberts has three
children, John L., J. Sidney and Emma, and the four children of the second
marriage are Mamie, Frank, Wessie and Jack H. John L., who is a physician at
Pavo, married Eveline Gray and has one son, John L., Jr. J. Sidney married Annie
Stevens and has four children: Thelma, Joseph "Sidney, Ellis and Clara. Emma is
the wife of Dr. J. W. L. Brannen, and their two children are Leone and Mamie
Evelyn. Frank married Pearl Hutchins and has one daughter, Catherine. Wessie is
the wife of H. C. Ford and they have one child, Hugh C., Jr. Mr. Roberts and
wife are members of the Pavo Methodist church and he is a Democrat in politics.



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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