Stories from Gus Adams, published in Tifton Gazette, Tift Co. GA Walker Family ************************************************ 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: J. E. (Edd) Dorminey edorminey@dishmail.net Around the "turn of the Century" (1912) there was a man by the name of Gus Adams (friends called him "Pat") who lived near Chula, Tift County, GA with several families. First with William and Louisa Jane Branch and then at the home of some of their grown children. After a while he moved in with the D.H. Hogan family. Gus was from Brooklyn, New York and came to Georgia about 1878 where he followed his occupation as a painter and decorator. While residing and working around the Chula area, he went from home to home and knew all the old residents of this section and visited with them. He attended family reunions, annual meetings and celebrations, and his writings of these gatherings were an interesting feature of the "Tifton Gazette" in Tifton Georgia for many years. Gus died in 1933. These stories live on to tell some very interesting histories of the different families of the area. Look especially at the "Whiddon" write up as it is very interesting in relation to the Dorminy family and where they originated. SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION Bob Morrell was editor of the Tifton Gazette 30 years ago when he and his wife Betty discovered and salvaged these genealogies from some old Tifton Gazette papers that were crumbling and falling apart from being exposed to age, dust, South Georgia heat and humidity. Betty took these old papers and copied the Gus Adams genealogies onto "teletype" paper on her typewriter. She said that during the process the act of turning the pages would tear the brittle newsprint and she had to have something placed under them to turn them or they would crumble in her hands. If she hadn^Òt saved these family histories, they would have been lost forever as no other source has been found that has copies of these articles except the one on the Paulk^Òs and part of the one on the Dorminy family which we obtained from another source CAUTION!!! Please be aware that Mr. Adams did not have the benefit of a computer to cross check his information. He has a LOT of mistakes in these histories but if you use them, and are aware of this fact, you can benefit by having a starting point. Do not use this information as your final reference . I know for a fact that a lot of Dorminy information as well as other information is partially WRONG so to be forwarned is to be forarmed. ==================================================================== Tifton Gazette April 12, 1912 Vol. XXI No. 49 THE WALKER'S Hezekiah, Jonathan, Jack and Wash Walker came from South Carolina, in the early days of Irwin county. Hezekiah married Becky Hall, sister of Jim Hall, who killed old Thomas Young. Their children were: Joe, Jim, George, Hezekiah Jr., Tom, Dan, Betsy, Susan, Judy and Dave. Joe, son of Hezejuah, married Eliza Griffin. They moved to Florida. Jim, son of Hezekiah (One-Arm Jim),married Roxy Baker, sister of Harmon Baker. Their children were: Harmon, Jack, Hamo, Lennon, Julia and Susie, single. Tint married Lucie Purvis; Addie married John Salter; Kate married Murdock Stone; Babe married Eph. Cory; Miami married K. Blansette; Jane married J. Poole; Bessie married Fred Gibbs. George married Mary Jane Goff, sister of John Goff. Their children were: Dan, who married Winnie Simmons; George married Diancy Sumner, daughter of Stewart Sumner; John married Feraby Eldridge; Eliza married Ed Johns of Chula; Minnie married Tom Willis; Lucy married Luke Goodman; Arley was burned to death in the field. The clothing caught fire from a trash pile. Hezekiah Jr., son of old Hezekiah, married Betty Purvis. Their children were: Joe married Delany Eldridge; Tom died; Jim married Narcissa Purvis; Mattie died. Tom, son of old Hezekiah, married Mary Nall. They separated. Their children were: Dan, Tom and Becky. He next married Frankie Purvis. Dan, son of old Hezekiah, never married. Betsy, son of old Hezekiah, married Dave Hancock; Susan married Jacob Tucker; Martha married Frank Sinclair. Dave, son of Hezekiah, married Sarah Anne Simpson. Their children were: Sam, Susie, Jane, Mattie, and Viola. Jonathan, brother of Hezekiah, married Betsy Gibbs. Jack married Sabry Clements, sister of old Abraham Clements. They lived on the west side of the Alapaha river, directly upon the Bone pond. Bone ran the first steam grist mill near Irwinville and utilized the pond named after him. He concealed a slave near the close of the war. The slave was the property of Sam Young. Jack Walker detected the darky in the Bone swamp upon Bone's premises. Bone and Walker evidently had a struggle, in which Walker was killed, his body dragged in the swamp and apparently concealed by Bone. Walker's folks missed him when he failed to return. He had departed from home early in the morning. A posse of neighbors searched and discovered his body in the Bone swamp. Bone never confessed the crime but his 14-year-old son divulged the particulars. Bone was lynched at the west end of the farm and buried by the citizens and neighbors. The children of Jack and Sabry were: Abraham, John, Sam, "Dink" or Melanchton, Rachel, Sarah, Jane, Jonathan, Joseph, and Jim. Abraham died. John married Jane Hogan, daughter of D.M. Hogan. Their children were: Milton, Dave and Jane, who married John Smith, son of Lawson. "Red Sam", son of Jack, married Annie Belle McCoy. Their children: Eli married Unie Luke, daughter of J.J. Luke. Mary married John Dorminy, son of Willis Dorminy. Melanchton, son of Jack, married Martha Fletcher. He was killed by Short-Neck John Williams. Their children were: John, who married Laney Marchant; Jehu married Mary Strobell; Mattie married Robert McCant. He was accidentally shot and killed by his brother. She next married Millard Moore. Rachel, daughter of Jack, married D. Jonah Hogan, who was tax collector of Irwin county 1902-1904. They moved to Florida. Their children were: John married Jane Ewen, Mattie married Prof. H. Mirray; Julia married Boy Purvis. All reside in Irwin County. Sambo and Elija accompanied their parents to Florida. Sarah, daughter of Jack, is single. Jonathan, son of Jack, married Margaret Fletcher, daughter of old Black Jim. Their children: Jim is single; Alice married Ed Clements; Kate married Robert Land. Joseph, son of Jack, married Jane Hancock, daughter of Rev. Joe Hancock. Their children: Morris is single; A.P. married Miss Smith; Dink married Miss Hall; Jonathan, Jane and George, single. Jim, son of Jack, married Minnie Cowan. Their children: Ed married Unie Taylor; Jack, single. --- Please take note that this information came from long ago and has not been corrected for accuracy. Many of these sketches have names transposed or just plain wrong information so use this as a starting point, not the final end to your research. THIS IS NOT AN ORIGINAL DOCUMENT. It is a summary of the genealogical findings of one man, Gus Adams, which were unsubstantiated and should be used as such. ---