WARE COUNTY  GA  Biography  George W. Deen

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Barbara Winge barbarawinge@yahoo.com

http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/ware/bios/deen.txt

GEO. W. DEEN
G. W. Deen was born in Appling county about 5 miles south
of old Holmesville, the former county site of Appling, on
the 12th day of March 18_5. His mother and father died in
1863, leaving a family of eight children, two girls and
six boys, the oldest only 14 years. The family remained
at the old homestead under the guardianship of an uncle
until the elder ones were married and the subject of this
sketch launched out for better or worse in 1878. His
first years work was on the farm of Mr. I. I. Moody, "A
more generous and kind-hearted man and woman than he and
his wife could not have been found." Money was scarce and
labor cheap. There was a few old farmers that had some
gold buried around their smoke houses, and Jessie
Aldrige, a well to do farmer and cattle raiser was one of
them. To him Mr. Moody went when pay day came and sold
some cattle, secured the gold and paid off the then happy
boy. $55.00 saved out of a year's work at $6.00 per month
was not bad, and a prouder and richer boy could not have
been found.

The inclination to speculate, early exerted itself and
his gold was sold to his friend, George Roberson, a
grocery merchant at a premium of 15 per cent. This pile
being carefully put away he contracted with Mr. W. W.
Graham of Holmesville, for the next year at $8.00 per
month. This was as the first to work on the farm and the
wages as the first year carefully saved, and here it was
that he obtained from Mr. Wallace and Capt. E. D. Graham
his first ideas of business being often left at the store
of Capt. Graham when he would be away, to clerk and keep
post office. The third year was spent clerking in a drug
store at Hazlehurst for Dr. Mann and Dr. Latimer. The
next year was his first entry into business.

He and Dr. Graham forming a co-partnership in a drug
business which was successfully run for about 3 years,
selling out to Dr. Graham, he and his brother C. W. Deen
went into a general mercantile business which lasted
about 2 years, when he again sold out and went out 12
miles from Baxley into the turpentine business with his
life long friends, Mr. W. W. Beach, and John R. Young.
This co-partnership lasted for 3 years when he bought his
partners out and continued the business for 1 year and
sold out and again formed a co-partnership with Mr. W. W.
Beach and Ellis Young & Co., to operate a turpentine
place at Beach in Ware county. This business was sold and
the same firm bought and sold a turpentine place at
Nichols in Coffee county, and in about 3 years he moved
to Waycross where he has since lived, though still
operating places at Nichols, and since which time he has
been interested in numerous turpentine places in both
Georgia and Florida. His work and ambition for the past
few years has been the building up and development of
Waycross, and South Georgia.

He has an ever abiding faith in South Georgia. He bought
the Hillard lands in and near Waycross in April 1905, and
this is now one of the most beautiful suburbs of the
Magic City being well laid off with streets graded, shade
trees growing and near 100 houses now built and occupied
by select people. It was anounced at the start that
Deenwood lots would only be sold to white people of a
good class. This popular suburb well under way, he bought
the mill sites of the Southern Pine Co., at Offerman and
Nichols and they too have been beautifully laid off,
street graded, banks, and other enterprises established
and lots selling without hunting buyers. 

He is a great believer in community farming and has laid
off numerous tracts of land for farming purposes, which
can be bought on terms to suit the purchaser. The Deen
Realty and Improvement Co., of which he is General
Manager owns and controls large bodies of timber and
land. He has aided in establishing many of Waycross best
enterprises and has held several positions of honor and
trust, among them being: President of the Grace-Brantley
Co., President Hicks Gas Motor Co., President Merchants
and Farmers Bank of Nichols, President First National
Bank of Waycross, Director of South Atlantic Car & Mfg.
Co., has served as Alderman of the city and at last
election was elected State Senator from the 5th
Senatorial District...

Ref: WAYCROSS EVENING HERALD, Industrial Edition, Waycross, Georgia, June, 1907, p. 12.

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