My Coleman Family and Kin

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2012-03-23T10:48:00.000-05:00

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Carroll Free Press Newspaper

2012-03-13T04:08:00.000-05:00

Extracts from the Carroll Free Press Newspaper, Carroll county, Georgia

Carroll Free Press"Carroll Co., Georgia, Friday, June 10, 1887
"Georgia Carroll County. - To all whom it may
concern. Martha Campbell, widow of Matthew Campbell,
late of said county, deceased, has applied for
twelve month's support out of the estate of said
deceased; and the appraisers appointed for said
purpose have filed in my office, according to law, a
schedule of the amount set apart to the said Martha
Campbell, and I will pass upon the same on the first
Monday in August 1887. This June 22nd, 1887. S. J.
Brown, Ordinary."

Cyclone [subsection of the Clem news] It was our privilege to assist last week in the reconstruction of the buildings of Mr. J. M. Ogletree, a victim of the late cyclone or storm. The main building of the house was unroofed, but the family being in the
dining room were left a shelter for the night. Every outbuilding was completely demolished except crib [sic], the roof of which hangs in bad style upon half broken down walls. About all his fodder was blown away, and Mr. O. told us that his wheat crop (some of which was harvested) is damaged fifty per cent, fencing was also scattered. I never saw neighbors so kind hearted. Indeed, people came as far as five miles or more, to put in their personal assistance. They put up the fencing, recovered dwelling, and got the barn under good headway. Now, Mr. Ogletree requests us to return his sincere thanks to his neighbors for their valuable help; to the merchants and citizens of Carrollton for liberal contributions in way of nails and shingles, and especially to Mr. W. A. Coleman, (with whom he was not acquainted), for a kind gift in the way of shingles and fodder. Mr. W. E. Drake had several buildings destroyed besides the usual
destruction of fencing. But I am occupying too much of your valuable space. Mr. Nathan Jones came up from Hucherson's factory last Saturday on a visit to relatives. A good many of our farmers speak of cutting wheat this week. Oats are being harvested. Good weather for farming to-day, Monday."

CARROLL COUNTY, GA - NEWSPAPERS - "Carroll Free Press"
Issue of Friday, July 1, 1887
Clem
The Clem news is "Reported by Joel"
"Maj. Henry Coleman was down visiting his son, Mr. W. A.
Coleman, lately. "Messrs Flemming & Smith were threshing
the grain of the community last week. Wheat averages
about one bushel to four shucks. This machine which is
managed by Mr. Flemming himself, does good work and the
hands are all good natured, clever fellows, and for their
good deportment, make the most desirable crowd of
threshermen. "Mrs. D. W. Crew has been quite sick for a
week or two. "Mrs. Burran is also on the sick list. "Mrs.
Jones is better. "Rev. G.C. Andrews, of Whitesburg, paid
Rev. W. L. Davenport a brief visit last week. We were
glad to see him. He was once my pastor for two years in
succession and is a good man. "....[non genealogical
information excluded] Mrs. Jane Wood of this county, has
been spending some time visiting her relatives in this
community."

-"Georgia Carroll County - To all whom it may concern.
Martha Campbell, widow of Matthew Campbell, late of said
county, deceased, has applied for twelve month's support
out of the estate of said deceased; and the appraisers
appointed for said purpose have filed in my office,
according to law, a schedule of the amount set apart to
the said Martha Campbell, and I will pass upon the same
on the first Monday in August 1887. This June 22nd, 1887.
S. J. Brown, Ordinary." [Note: I was hoping to find an
obituary for this Matthew Campbell, as he died on 8 June,
1887, per the Petition for Years' Support I found some
time ago at the Carroll County courthouse. Alas, there
was no local news from the Hulett area, and I did not
find such an obituary. If some kind soul has any
suggestions on where I might look next, I would greatly
appreciate the pointer! I understand from family history
- from a great aunt's notes - that Matthew Campbell was a
Methodist and that he is buried at Providence cemetery.
Visiting that burial ground in the woods, we found no
marker for him, though there are lots of fieldstone grave
markers and few engraved markers there.]

NEWS ARTICLE, Jan 24, 1896, CARROLL FREE PRESS, page 1, CARROLLTON, GA:
(1) " Mr. W.A. Coleman went up to Atlanta Tuesday. He will also visit Marietta before he returns."
(2) "Mr. W. A. Coleman has bought out the interest of sheriff J. C. Gammon in the business of Robison & Gammon on Newnan street and the business will hereafter be conducted under the name of Robison & Coleman.
(3) Mr. Will Coleman,(John William Coleman, s/o J.P. Coleman), has resigned the office of deputy sheriff and has accepted a position with Robison & Coleman. He will give his entire time to this firm and will be glad to have his friends call and see him."

NEWS ARTICLE: February 7, 1896, CARROLL COUNTY FREE PRESS, Newspaper, Carrollton, GA.
-" Mr. W. F. Coleman, of Spanish Honduras, son of Mr. W. A. Coleman of this place, is on a visit to his father here. He came in on last Tuesday night. He is accompanied by his little boy about seven years of age. He will remain over a month or two. He was last in the states in 1892. He comes for the benefit of his health."

NEWS ARTICLE, February 7, 1896, "CARROLL FREE PRESS," CARROLLTON, GA.
" W.A. COLEMAN; Having bought out the Jewelry store of my brother, J.P. Coleman, "I propose to keep in stock a good assortment of SOLID AND PLATED GOODS, GUNS, PISTOLS, AMMUNITION, CLOCKS, SEWING MACHINES, SPECTACLES, TOBACCO, &c. Mr. Tom Coleman will always be found ready to do all kinds of repairing of Watches, Clocks, Guns, Sewing Machines, Jewelry of all kinds &c under a gaurantee to be just what we say is, or do what we say it will do." W.A. COLEMAN."

NEWS ARTICLE: February 21, 1896, CARROLL COUNTY FREE PRESS, Newspaper, Carrollton, GA.
"Mr. Will Coleman, a son of Capt. W.A. Coleman, who is here on a visit from Honduras, has his little six year old boy with him, and he can't speak a word of English, and our little boys consider him quite a curiosity, and they in passing him, ask him to talk "furrin talk. "
(Note: The boy was William Edgar Coleman, son of William F. Coleman)

Carroll County Times Newspaper Extracts

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Extracts from the Carroll County Times Newspaper, Carrollton, Georgia.

Carroll County Times, January 5, 1872, Carrollton,GA.
GEORGIA Carroll County:
Asa Phillips, administrator on the estate of Floyd Payne, deceased, applies for letters of
dismission from said trust: therefore all persons interested, are notified to be an appear at my office,
and file their objections, if any by the first Monday in February next,
why said letters should not be granted. J. B. Juhan, Ordy.
GEORGIA – Carroll County: --J. P. Watson, adm’r on estate of W. A. Johnson,
dec’d, applies for letters of dismission from said trust- therefore all
persons interested will be and appear at my office and file their objections,
if any, by the first Monday in March next why said letters should not
be granted. D. B. JUHAN, ORD’S.
CARROLL SHERIFF SALE. Will be sold before the Court House door in Carrollton,
Carroll county, GA., within the legal hours of sale on the first
“Tuesday in February next, following property to wit:
Lot of Land No. 255, and 50 acres of Land in the SW corner of Lot No. 256, all
in 7th District, of said county: levied on as the property of Phillip
Wisenhunt, special agent to K. F. Walker and his heirs at law, by virtue of a
mortgage fi__ issued from the Superior court of said county, in favor
of Wyatt McBurney & Co., vs. Phillip Wisenhunt, special agent &c. Levied
October 1871. F. M. WILLIAMSON, sh’ff.

The Carroll County Times, June 21, 1872
DEATH of Rev. J. M. Blalock - Rev. J. M. Blalock, an old citizen of this county, and intimately identified with its history, for the past twenty or thirty years, died on last Tuesday evening at his residence in this place, after an illness of six or seven weeks. Mr. B. Was a man that was universally respected in this community, on account of his courteous deportment and fair and upright dealings, with all with whom he came in contact. As an evidence of the esteem in which he was held, we would state, that his fellow citizens confided to him repeatedly the office of Ordinary, which responsible position he filled with credit to himself, and satisfaction to his constituency. We have not space this morning (Thursday) for an extended sketch of Mr. B. We hope at an early day to publish a suitable tribute to his memory, from some one of his numerous friends in this community, more familiar than we are, with his past history.Mrs. Blalock who has been confined to her room for several months, we regret to state, is still very low, though it has been thought for the past week or two, that she was getting better. To the bereaved family in their affliction we tender our heartfelt sympathies.

The Carroll County Times, June 28, 1872
See application for letters of administration upon estate of J. M. Blalock by Mary A. Blalock and B. M. Long

Carroll County Times, 28 June 1872
Letter from Texas--- Four years have passed since I said goodbye to many friends and left Carrollton my native village. Four years ...it does not seem long ..but Carrollton particularly has suffered for during this time many of her oldest citizens have died...Judge Kingsbery...Maj. Martin, Judge Long, Dr. W. S. Tanner and Henry F. Merrell...N. J. Meador...Henry Asbery (former postmaster), Emera Kingsberry, who died at LaGrange, Ga., Jan. 1872...T. S. Garrison, Caledonia Texas, June 1, 1872.

Carroll County Times,October 11, 1872
Administrator's Sale: Will be sold on the first Tuesday in December next between the legal hours of sale 10 o'clock a. m. and 4 o'clock p. m., at the residence of J. M. Blalock, late of said county deceased, all the perishable property of said J. M,. Blalock, deceased, embracing household and kitchen furniture, cows and calves, horse, buggy, sewing machine, harness, waggon, carpet, books, piano, stove, plow gear, plows &c. &c. The sale to be continued until the whole is sold. Terms of sale are cash. No delivery of anything sold, until the terms of sale are complied with. B. M. Long, Adm'r, October 11, 1872.

Carroll County Times,October 25, 1872
Mr. Wm. McClellan has been appointed marshal, E. F. McCoy deputy. Clear the track, ye evil doers.

Carroll County Times, 15 Nov 1872
Maj. B. D. Thomasson has bought Mr. James Coleman's residence, in this place.
The price paid for the residence and four acres of ground was $1500
A good bargain

Carroll County Times, December 13, 1872
MASONIC INFORMATION. Carrollton Chapter, No. 22, R. A. M., meets 3d Tuesday of
each month. Officers elected for current Masonic year:
Jno. M. Richardson, H. P; David Stripling, K; J. P. Colman, S; W. W. Fitts, C.
H; J. W. Merrell, P. S; E. W. Wells, R. A. C; A. C. Borden, M 1 V:
P. G. Garrison, M. 2 V; L. J. Smith, M 3 V; L. J. Smith, M. 3 V; J. W. Merrell,
Tr.; W. C. New, Sec'y.; S. H. Harris, Tyler. Carroll Lodge, No. 69. F. A. M. - Officers elected for the current Masonic year. David Stripling. W. M; J. H. Haines, S. W.; D. J. Moore, J. W.; Thos.
Earnest, J. D.; J. W. Stewart, Tr.; H. B. Ragin, Secy.; A. C. Borden, Chaplain; B. M. Long,
Steward; J. Aiken, Steward; S. H. Harris, Tyler.

Carroll County Times, December 20, 1872
Death: We regret to announce the death of Mr. Wm. McClellan, Marshal of
Carrollton, which took place at his residence in this place on the 17th inst.
(1872)

Carroll County Times, April 18, 1873
Carroll Co. Grand Jury - April Term (1873)
H. A. Coleman, Foreman; S. M. Craven; F. M. Fielder; F. W. Hilley; Jethro
Jones; J. H. Archer; W. G. Marchman; R. C. Lyle; J. H. McElroy; J. G. Adamson;
Allen Bonner; J. P. Coleman; Z. T. Adams, W. H. Baker; J. D. Moore; I. N. McClendon; C. A.
Garrett; J. J. Williamson, G. S. Sharp; D. N. Tilmon; Eli Benson; W. O.
Robinson.

Carroll County Times, June 6, 1873
A brother of Mr. Jim Coleman of this place, has recently returned from
Honduras, where he is living, to visit his relatives in this country. We learn
that he brought as presents to his relatives, several birds of beautiful plumage,
from that tropical climate

Carroll County Times, July 4, 1873
BROKE JAIL: Escape of Charles Albright, Hicks and Coleman from the Coweta
Jail ---- Quite a sensation was created in town on last Monday
morning, by the report, that Charles Albright, charged with the murder of Woods
some two years ago, - Hicks, charged with the murder of Brown,
and Coleman, charged with larceny, all prisoners from this county (Carroll),
had escaped from the Coweta Jail, where they had been sent for
safe keeping, on last Saturday night. On the arrival of the hack (note:
stagecoach) in the evening, the truth of this report was confirmed, and some of
the particulars given.
It will be remembered that these prisoners had been sent from this county
because our jail was thought to be insecure, and because it was
generally believed that the Newnan jail was particularly safe as it was a new
brick structure. In this however it seems were mistaken.
As we have stated above, the escape was made on last Saturday night. This
was done by cutting and boring a hole large enough for the body to
pass through in the rear of the building. All of the prisoners who escaped,
including Wm. Albright who failed to get away, were confined to the
same cell. The reason given by William, why he did not go too, was because he
did not care to, as he preferred to stand his trial, as he had done
nothing to run away for. But the true reason is said to be, because the hole
was too small for his body, he being the largest man of the four. This
view, of the matter is further confirmed by the fact that a note was
discovered, which he had written to the jailor, bidding him an affectionate
farewell,
and requesting him to return a book which he had borrowed. The report is, and
we suppose it comes from Wm. Albright, that Coleman was the
first let down, and that he went some one or two hundred yards across a street,
and got a ladder, for the others to come down upon, the cell
being i8n the second story. It seems to us, that with all this going on around
him, the jailor who lives in the first story, right under the prisoners
cell, must certainly have slept very soundly.
Up to this writing (Thursday morning), we have heard of no efforts being
made to catch the escaped prisoners and we suppose this will be
about the last we shall hear of them.

Carroll County Times, July 11, 1873
Mrs. M. A. Kingsberry leaves today, if her health will permit, to visit her
relatives in Vermont. We wish her a pleasant trip.

Carroll County Times, August 22, 1873
PUBLIC CEMETERY - One of the great needs of Carrollton, at this time, is a public cemetery. The time has come when we are really obliged to have one, as the only burial ground in the town, (that of the M. E.Church) is filled up. As every citizen of the place is interested in this thing, we think the town council should take this matter in had, and after having selected a suitable place, through a committee, buy it for a cemetery. It should consist of at least ten acres of ground and be accessible to town. This is a matter in which the council has full jurisdiction and should be attended to at once. Care and respect shown to the dead is looked upon as one of the tests of the refinement and culture of people.

Carroll County Times,December 12, 1873
Carroll Sheriff's Sale ....will be sold...the farm of Robert H. Sopringer , in favor of John Smith, G. A. Wilson, and Elizabeth R. Russell, and Mary A. Gatewood. ....Sixteen share of stock in the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad...property of W. J. Hembree,...in faovr of Z. Bonner and Reese Watkins ....Lot of land....on which W. W. Driver now lives, in favor of J. Kingsberry Executor, vs. W. W. Driver. .... Property of J. C. Hicks....in favor of N. N. Beall and W. W. & H. F. Merrell, W. H. Awtry, W. Williams ....Property of d. M. Bloodworth...in favor of John Davis vs. A. S. Bridges and D. M. Bloodworth. ....S. C. Dickson interest in Lot No. 180...in favor of V. B. McClure .....Property of Eli Benson, in favor of J. J. Summerlin against Eli Benson. .....Property of Henry Widner in favor of Lewis Kuglar .....Property of Wright Golden in favor of E. S. Hunt. ..... Property of Mary Robinson...in favor of W. F. Brown

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, January 21, 1876, Carrollton, GA.
CARROLL COUNTY SHERIFF SALES: Will be sold on the first Tuesday in February next, before the Courthouse door in Carrollton, Carroll, County Georgia, between the hours of sale the following property, to wit: Lot of land, number 38 in Trickum district, Carroll county, Ga. Levied on as the property of the defendant, under and by virtue of two Justice court fi fas, issued from the Justice court of the 1163 district, G. M. in favor of Porter and Butler, against J. P. Coleman. Levy made and returned to me by a constable. Property pointed out by defendant. Also The above described lot of land, levied on as the property of the defendant, under and by virtue of two Justice court fi fas, issued from the Justice court of the 1163 district G. M. in favor of Bruce & Conyers against J. P. Coleman
Carroll County Times, January 21, 1876
In Bankruptcy. Northern District of Georgia, ss.
At Carrollton, in the County of Carroll, State of Georgia this 20th day of
January, 1876.
The undersigned hereby gives notice of his appointment as Assignee, of the
state of George W. Camp of Carrollton, in the county of Carroll, State of
Georgia, within said district who has been adjudged a Bankrupt upon his own
petition by the District Court of said District. W. W. Merrell, Assignee.

Carroll County Times, January 21, 1876
HYMENEAL:
At the residence of the brides mother on Wednesday evening, January 12th,
(1876) by Elder B. A. Bacon, Mr. C. W. Griffin, to Miss Maggie D. Adams.

Carroll County Times, January 21, 1876
On the 5th inst.,(Jan. 5, 1876) at the residence of the bride's Mother, by J.
M. Muse, Esq. Mr. John H. Moore of Paulding county, to Miss Susan Whisenhunt of
Carroll County.

Carroll County Times, January 21, 1876
Legal Advertisements:
CARROLL COUNTY SHERIFF SALES:
Will be sold on the first Tuesday in February next, before the Courthouse
door in Carrollton, Carroll, County Georgia, between the hours of sale the
following property, to wit:
Lot of land, number 38 in Trickum district, Carroll county, Ga. Levied on
as the property of the defendant, under and by virtue of two Justice court fi
fas, issued from the Justice court of the 1163 district, G. M. in favor of
Porter and Butler, against J. P. Coleman. Levy made and returned to me by a
constable. Property pointed out by defendant. Also
The above described lot of land, levied on as the property of the
defendant, under and by virtue of two Justice court fi fas, issued from the
Justice court of the 1163 district G. M. in favor of Bruce & Conyers against J.
P. Coleman.
Also. Fifty acres of lot of land number 36 and two acres of lot of land
number 37 in the original Eleventh district of Carroll county, Georgia, now
Trickem district, levied on as the property of the defendant for the purchase
money thereof, under and by virtue of an attachment fi fa issued from the
Justice court of the 714th district G. M. in favor of John F. Acklen against J.
B. Merrell. Levy made and returned to me by a constable.
Also. Lot of land number 139 in the Third district and Fifth section of
Carroll county Georgia. Levied on as the property of the defendant under and
by virtue of three Justice court fi fas issued from the Justice court of the
1026th district G. M., and backed by W. H. Acklen, notary public et ex officio
Justice of the Peace in and for the 714th district G. M. in favor of J. A.
Buchanan against D. W. Hashall.
Also. Lot of land number 244 in the Fifth district of Carroll, county,
Georgia. Levied on as the property of the defendant, Whit Attaway, under and
by virtue of a fi fa issued from the Superior court of Carroll county, Georgia,
in favor of W. T. Brock against W. & B. F. Attaway.
Also. ...levied on as the property of Samuel Ferrell. ....in favor of John
R. Handley.
Also.....levied on as the property of Coleman Jones.....in favor of G. D.
Crider...
Also.....levied on as the property G. B. Vies, in favor of Robert
Houseworth for the use of Richards & Tompkins.
Also.....levied on as the property of E. Hugeons, in favor of B. F.
Attaway.
Also.....levied on as the property of E. Hugeons in favor of Jesse Kenney
Also.....levied on as the property of E. Hugeons in favor of R. I. Holland
and J. Kenny
Also.....levied on as the property of Harrison Moore, by virtue of a tax fi
fa issued by James M. Hamrick, Jr. Tax Collector
Also.....levied on as the property of A. J. Richards, by virtue of a tax fi
fa issued by James M. Hamrick, Jr.
Also....." property of W. B. Conyers, tax fi fa
Also.... " property of T. H. Hinsley
Also.... " property of J. W. Merrell, in favor of J. W. Stewart
J. T. Bedingfield, Sheriff

Carroll County Times, JANUARY 28, 1876
-PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS CARDS: W. P. Cole, Attorney; D. W.
Sims, mill wright; Chandler & Cobb, Attorneys; Austin & Harris, Attorneys; W.
W. Fitts and J. G. Arnall, Physicians and Surgeons; S. E. Grow, Attorney; Dr.
I. N. Cheney, doctor; C. W. Mabry, Oscar Reese, attorneys in Lagrange and
Carrollton; W. W. & G. W. Merrell, attorneys; B. J. Lunquest, watchmaker and
jeweler; T. W. Dimmock, Architect and builder; J. F. Cole, Physician &
Surgeon; Dr. T. P. McElwreath, Dentist; J. M. Dent, attorney (Newnan GA);P.
B. Mathews, Watchmaker & Jeweler.

Carroll County Times, FEBRUARY 4, 1876
-Bowdon. With a sorrowing heart we record the death of Chas. W. Garrett, on the 17th inst.
(Jan. 7, 1876)

Carroll County Times, March 3, 1876
The sale from the personalty of G. W. Camp on last Tuesday only amounted to
$913.

Carroll County Times, March 17, 1876
Carroll County Sheriff Sales: .....property of L. M. Parker in favor of John H. Coleman
Carroll County Times, March 31, 1876
--Mr. G. W. Camp left the first of this week for Texas. We
failed to learn what part of the State he has gone to.

Carroll County Times, APRIL 14, 1876
JURIES DRAWN FOR OCTOBER COURT.
The following are the names of the grand Jurors drawn for the October term of the Superior Court for the present year: Joel A. Culpepper, J. W. Merrell, E. B. Darden, John Shadinger, L. C. Williams, J. W. Chappell, F. M. Skinner, John H. Chambers, W. Copeland, R. B. Reid, J. M. Reagan, Jas. Westbrooks, Henry A. Coleman, W. J. Doster, J. D. Wood, J. C. Cantrell, J. E. Green, G. W. Camp, H. W. Brazier, J. C. Shackelford, A. F. White, James a Bass, L. H. King, George M. Smith, Lemon Shell, H. B. Reagan, T. E. Holmes, J. R. Reives, W. S. Craven, S. W. Noland. TRAVERSE JURY: F. J. Gilbert, E. W. Barnes, J. R. Camp, J. F. Cochran, W. S. Tweedle, Isaac Lather, H. A. Strickland, C. B. Webb, J. W. Downs, W. G. Robertson, J. R. Phillips, J. M. Hambrick, Z. W. Muse, Isham Akins, J. C. Murk, Joseph Entrekin, W. J. Wynn, D. W. Adamson, R. C. Lyle, Jos. D. Moore, C. H. Lasater, Isaac Kenney, A. J. Camp, Jesse Gray, D. Y. Griffin, M. P. Trimble, R. R. Hooley, Eli Reed, John McGarity, W. C. New, W. G. Bonner, A S C Chance, G. S. Sharp, John K. Roop, Mathew Reid, E. T. Davis.
Carroll County Times, April 14, 1876, Carrollton, GA.
Our young friends Mr. Giles Boggess and Mr. Henry Coleman were united in holy bonds of matrimony on the evening of the 12th inst. Giles was married to Miss Whittle, daughter of C. Whittle living some six miles below here, and Henry was married to a cousin of Giles bride and of the same name. Our best wishes attend the newly married people.
APRIL 14, 1876}
--Off to Honduras. Mr. J. B. Coleman, well known in this county, will leave for Honduras on next Monday. Mr. C. goes out with the intention of remaining a year, when if he likes, he will return and move his family to that country. While we regret to loose Mr. Coleman as a citizen,since he wills it otherwise, we wish him a prosperous voyage and much success in that distant land.

APRIL 14, 1876}
--JURIES DRAWN FOR OCTOBER COURT.
The following are the names of the grand Jurors drawn for the October term of
the Superior Court for the present year:
Joel A. Culpepper, J. W. Merrell, E. B. Darden, John Shadinger, L. C. Williams,
J. W. Chappell, F. M. Skinner, John H. Chambers, W. Copeland, R. B. Reid, J. M.
Reagan, Jas. Westbrooks, Henry A. Coleman, W. J. Doster, J. D. Wood, J. C.
Cantrell, J. E. Green, G. W. Camp, H. W. Brazier, J. C. Shackelford, A. F.
White, James a Bass, L. H. King, George M. Smith, Lemon Shell, H. B. Reagan, T.
E. Holmes, J. R. Reives, W. S. Craven, S. W. Noland.
TRAVERSE JURY: F. J. Gilbert, E. W. Barnes, J. R. Camp, J. F. Cochran, W. S.
Tweedle, Isaac Lather, H. A. Strickland, C. B. Webb, J. W. Downs, W. G.
Robertson, J. R. Phillips, J. M. Hambrick, Z. W. Muse, Isham Akins, J. C. Murk,
Joseph Entrekin, W. J. Wynn, D. W. Adamson, R. C. Lyle, Jos. D. Moore, C. H.
Lasater, Isaac Kenney, A. J. Camp, Jesse Gray, D. Y. Griffin, M. P. Trimble, R.
R. Hooley, Eli Reed, John McGarity, W. C. New, W. G. Bonner, A S C Chance, G.
S. Sharp, John K. Roop, Mathew Reid, E. T. Davis.

Carroll County Times, APRIL 14, 1876.
--HYMENEAL. Our young friends Mr. Giles Boggess and Mr. Henry
Coleman were united in holy bonds of matrimony on the evening of the 12th
inst. Giles was married to Miss Whittle, daughter of C. Whittle living some
six miles below here, and Henry was married to a cousin of Giles bride and of
the same name. Our best wishes attend the newly married people.
(Note by transcriber: Mr. Giles Sanford Boggess married Martha Whittle, April
12, 1876. He was the son of Ahaz Jefferson Boggess and Margaret F. Benson.
Giles Sanford Boggess died September 6, 1910.
(Transcriber's Note: Henry M. Coleman was the son of James P. Coleman (see Page 132B of
the 1870 Carroll Co. Census. Henry was age 16 in 1870.)

Carroll County Times, April 14, 1876.
--Grand Jury Presentments. April Term of Carroll Superior Court
1876...various findings presented by the jury: Wm. L. Adamson, Foreman, Samuel
M. Craven, John T. Robinson, Wm. H. Worthy, John R. Garrett, Theopholus
Spurlock, Briton Gaston, John B. Warren, Wm. S. Pentecost, James H. Cobb, A. L.
Waddell, Joseph Hutchinson, Chestley Whittle, wm. W. Williams, Larkin J. A.
Turner, Joseph L. Morris, Henry T. Heath, John S. Fletcher, J. J. Velvin, John
M. Thurman.

Carroll County Times, April 21, 1876
--Carroll County Sheriff Sales.
Will be sold on the first Tuesday in May next, 1876, before the Courthouse door
in the town of Carrollton, Carroll county, Georgia, between the usual hours of
sale the following property, to-wit:
... The east half of lot of land number 4 in the Eleventh district of Carroll
county, Georgia, levied on as the property of the defendants under and by
virtue of a fifa issued from the Justice court of the 1163rd district G.M. of
said county, in favor of John H. Coleman against L. M. Parker and J. W. Parker.
... 100 acres...levied on as property of defendant.....in favor of George W.
Austin, against C. T. Wilson.
... One town lot and house in Whitesburg...known as the hours formerly occupied
by A. J. Richards as a bar room, levied on as the property of defendant under
and by virtue of two fifas issued....in favor of W. A. Turner against John C.
Brantly.
... levied on under and by virtue of one fi fa issued by J. M. Hamrick, Jr.,
Tax Collector, against A. N. Denham for taxes due for the year 1875.
... levied on .... by virtue of a fi fa issued by J. M. Hamrick, Jr., Tax
collector...against W. D. Heaton, for taxes due for the year 1875.
... levied on... by virtue of a fi fa issued by J. M. Hamrick, Jr. ...against
W. J. Pyron, for taxes due for the year 1875.
... levied on...by virtue of fi fa issued....against J. R. Thurman, for taxes
due for the year 1875.

MAY 19, 1876
Sheriff's Sales: Property of L. M. Parker and J. W. Parker, in favor of John
H. Coleman
....also property of J. J. Winkles, in favor of George W. Driver
....property of Daniel Bustle, in favor of Homer M. Key.

Married. On last Tuesday evening, (May 14, 1876) at the residence of the
bride's father, Dr. D. B. Juhan, by the Rev. Wm. Dimmock, Mr. P. P. Kingsbery
to Miss Alice Juhan...all of Carrollton

OCTOBER 27, 1876
--Death of Mr. James Blalock. Mr. James Blalock who returned
not long since from Texas, to this place, his former home, after a protracted
illness, died at the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr. B. F. Brown, on last
Tuesday, a little after noon. Mr. B. leaves a wife and babe and many relatives
and friends in this community to mourn his loss. He was reared in Carrollton
and both as a youth and man was highly regarded, for his integrity of character
and exemplary deportment. In common with the entire community we extend our
sympathy to his wife and relatives in their bereavement.

HYMENEAL. Married on Sunday, the 23rd inst.,(Oct. 23, 1876)
by J. M. Muse Esq, at the residence of the bride's father, Mr. John F. Keese to
Miss Harriet E. Mehaffey.
Also upon the same day and by the same, at the residence of the bride's
father, Mr. B. D. Cagle to Miss Francis Adams, all of the Sixth district
Carroll county. (Oct. 23, 1876)

NOVEMBER 17, 1876
Sheriff's Sale. Will be sold on the first Tuesday in December next 1876.....
....property of G. T. Connell, in favor of W. W. Merrell
....property of H. S. Jones, in favor of Officers of court of Carroll Co.
....property of L,. P. Jones, in favor of Cheney A. Garrett, administrator &c.
....property of John A. Smith, in favor of N. S. Russell
....property of Sampson McGarty, in favor of William Amis
....property of J. P. Coleman, in favor of M. A. Urquhart
....property of L. M,. and J. W. Parker, in favor of John H. Coleman
....property of J. M. Wester, in favor of B. M. Long
....Bankrupt sale, property of James R. Thomasson, Bankrupt for the benefit of
lien and general creditors of said Bankrupt.

DECEMBER 8, 1876
--Georgia, Carroll county, R. T. McCurdy, has applied for
exemption of personalty.

JANUARY 5, 1877
--HYMENEAL. Married on Thursday night the 21st of December,
1876 by P. H. Chandler Esq. at the residence of the bride's father, Mr. M. P.
McEwen of Carroll county to Miss Lucinda E. Watson of Haralson County.
On the morning of the 21st ultimo.,Dec. 1876 at the residence of the
bride's father, Mr. John McGarity, Mr. G. P. Sewell and Miss Etta McGarity, the
Rev. Mr. Roop of Carrollton officiating.
Also on the evening of the 26th ultimo, Dec. 1876 by the same, at the
residence of the bride's father, Mr. G.W. Fleming, Miss M. E. Fleming and Mr.
V. C. Pentecost.
On the evening of the 2nd inst., (Jan. 1877) at the residence of the
bride's father, Mr. W. W. Key, and Miss L. O. Banks. Rev. J. M. D. Stallings
officiating.

FEBRUARY 9, 1877
SHERIFF'S SALES:
....property of B. F. Ringer, in favor of S. T. Sims
.... property of J. R. Gray, in favor of Benson and Coleman, as assignee to T.
M. West
.... property of Joseph Sticher, in favor of Eli Benson
....property of J. L. Doster, Principal and Eli Benson, in favor of Amos &
Whitfield
....property of W. O. Robinson, in favor of Martha A. Morris
....property of J. B. Merrell Sr., in favor of J. W. Stewart
....property of Trustees of Bowdon College( John Coston, secretary, J. W.
Adamson, et al trustees), in favor of John A. Morris
....property of G. W. Camp, in favor a tax fi fa city of Carrollton
....property of Bill Benson, in favor of a tax fi fa city of Carrollton
....property of A. J. Daniel, in favor of City of Carrollton
....property of J. P. Coleman, in favor of tax fi fa, city of Carrollton
....property of Eli Benson, in favor of City of Carrollton

FEBRUARY 9, 1877
--Death of Mrs. Allen Coleman of Honduras. On last Monday
evening the remains of Mrs. Coleman, wife of Mr. Allen Coleman of Honduras,
were received at this place. From what we can learn, Mrs. Coleman left
Honduras some thirty or forty days ago for the purpose of returning to this
county where she formerly lived for the restoration of her health. She was
accompanied by her brother in-law Mr. Jno. Coleman who went out to Honduras,
from this county, last spring, besides she had along with her two children, one
a son of twelve or thirteen years of age, and the other a baby some six or
seven months old. As we have stated, Mrs. Coleman left Honduras sick, and in
crossing the Gulf of Mexico, on the way to New Orleans, her troubles were no
doubt added to by the death of her babe. Being far from land at the time of
its death there was no other alternative but to cast the remains of the little
one into the Gulf. This was no doubt a terrible shock to the mother, already
very feeble, and she did not long survive. She died we are told after she had
arrived in this country, on the cars between New Orleans and Montgomery, (we
have not been able to find out, at what exact point). and her remains were
coffined in Montgomery, and brought on as we have stated to this place Monday
evening. From here they were carried Monday night to the Sixth district of
this county, where they were buried the next day.
Mr. Allen Coleman the husband of the deceased is a son of Major Coleman of
this county. He went to Honduras after the war. His wife, the deceased, was
also a native of this county. Her maiden name was Riggs.

FEBRUARY 9, 1877
Mr. Eugene Camp has returned from Texas.

FEBRUARY 23, 1877
--We understand that the babe of Mrs. Coleman, who died on her
way from Spanish Honduras to this county, was not thrown over in the Gulf, as
stated in the notice in reference to her death, but was buried in Balize,
British Honduras.

Carroll County Times, MARCH 30, 1877
HYMENEAL: Married on the 15th inst. (March 15, 1877), by the Rev J. M. D.
Stallings, at the residence of the bride's father, Mr. J. P. Coleman, Mr. John
H. Jones and Miss Mary Coleman.

Carroll County Times, NEWSPAPER Issue of Friday, APRIL 4, 1879
Mr. Louis Whisenhunt, son of P.M. Whisenhunt, left last Tuesday morning for
Wood county, Texas.

Carroll County Times, April 11 , 1879
Joseph McClellan, aged about twenty years, died of dropsy at the residence of
his uncle, Mr. J.P. Coleman, on the 8th inst. May the God who has promised to
be a husband to the widow, comfort her in her sore affliction.

Carroll County Times, June 20, 1879
Mr. William Florence, an old citizen of Meriwether county, is dead.

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, May 28, 1880, Carrollton, Georgia.
“Major H.A. Coleman of the Sixth district has, we learn, been quite sick."

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, July 23, 1880, Carrollton, GA: " Mr. Jas P. Coleman and Z.T. Adams of this county left the latter part of last week for Sherman, Texas, where they go to look at the country."

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, August 6, 1880, Carrollton, GA. "Mr. Jim Coleman, who recently went on a trip to Texas, has returned. He is well pleased with the country."
Carroll County Times, October 8, 1880, Carrollton, GA.
OBITUARY- - " Dead - Mrs. Coleman, wife of Major H.M. Coleman of the Sixth district, departed this life, on last Sunday after a short illness, having been taken sometime Thursday. She was between 70 and 80 years of age. We extend our sympathies to the husband and children." (Note: Sarah Ann Barnes w/ H.A. Coleman. Spelling error in obit of husband's name)

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, November 19, 1880, CARROLLTON, GA.
" Major Coleman of the Sixth district has sold a part of his farm to Mr. G. Crawford. The Major speaks of breaking up housekeeping and living with his son, Mr. Jim Coleman."

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, February 4, 1881, Carrollton, Georgia: OBITUARY
It is painful to have to record the death of our beloved and and esteemed friend, Mrs Sarah Ann Coleman, the wife of Maj. H.A. Coleman, which took place on the 4th of October, 1880....She was born Aug. 27th, 1807, and was at her death 73 years, 1 month, and 7 days old.
CARROLL COUNTY TIMES,February 25, 1881, Carrollton, Georgia.
Major H.A. Coleman has gone to Cobb county, not far from Marietta, to live with one of his sons. His post office is Marietta.
CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, August 26, 1881, Carrollton, Georgia.
"Major Coleman has moved back to Carroll from Cobb, and is fixing to establish a sheep ranch in the western part of the county."

Carroll County Times ,February 15, 1884
Tommie Coleman with his wife and baby and Cicero Cox, left Monday morning for
Modesto, California. They go the lower route, via New Orleans and Houston.
Mr. J.P. Coleman went up to Atlanta with Mr. Cox and got tickets to San
Francisco for the party. He saw them all board the west bound train at Newnan
on Monday evening.

Carroll County Times , March 7, 1884
We have received the sad intelligence that Col. Bat Jones of Villa Rica, died
of Consumption in Atlanta on the night of the 4th inst. Col. Jones was well
known in western Georgia as a lawyer of ability and an influential citizen. He
was born near Villa Rica and in early life moved with his father Judge John A.
Jones to Polk county where he spent the greater part of his life. He married
the daughter of Henry Kingsberry of Polk county. To the bereaved widow and
relatives we extend our heartfelt sympathies.

Carroll County Times , March 14, 1884
On last Saturday, March the 1st, two men, the supposed robbers, were arrested.
They were two of Heard county's citizens, Mr. John House and William Cox.
They could not keep the fact concealed that they had the money. They commenced
to spend it extravagantly.

Carroll County Times , March 14, 1884
Mrs. Nancy Beall, the writer's mother, is age 87, and lingers with us, waiting
for the Master's call; she is a daily blessing to our home, a gentle, loving
monitor, hovering near to remind us that the purest and best life is one
tenderly devoted to the service and comfort of others, as hers has been.

Carroll County Times , March 14, 1884
TEMPLE Community News
Quite a gloom was cast upon our little town by the death of Mrs. J.M. Riggs who
died last Monday night. She leaves a husband and three children and many
friends to mourn her departure.

NEWSPAPER Issue of Friday, MARCH 21, 1884
While looking over some old papers a few days ago, I found the old muster roll
of Company H of the 56th Georgia Volunteers, thinking it would be intresting to
some of the readers of the Times. I give it below marking those that never
returned thus * J.M. McCalman.

56th GA Roll of Company "H"

OFFICERS

* Capt. Martin Parrish
1st Lieut. Hugh McMullan
2nd Lieut. F.R. Hunton
3rd Lieut. A.H. Duke
1st Serg't. Z.W. Muse
2nd Serg't. J.M. McCalman
3rd Serg't. W.W. Goolsby
4th Serg't. E.W. Buttram
4th Serg't. D.G. Hay
1st Corp. R.D. Reid
2nd Corp. W.W. Hanvey
3rd Corp. W.A. McMullan
4th COrp. G.H. Reid

PRIVATES
* P.J. Burrow
S.W. Brown
W.F. Buttram
F.M. Buttram
* Mercer Coltons
W.F. Connell
P.H. Chandler
* Jackson Chandler
* J.M. Collans
C.M. Carter
*A.W. Carter
C.W. Compton
Z.T. Duke
W.M. Davis
* J.S. Dale
W.T. Dorough
Jacob Durough
J.M. Edwards
T.R. Earnest
J.G. Ellis
* T.W. Fitts
* Newton Fitts
* C.H. Fuller
A.M. Gray
W.H. Gray
* J.M. Gray
* Samuel Gray
* G.W. Goodwin
Sim Goolsby
A.M. Hammock
T.N. Hammock
* J.B. Hammock
* J.M. Hammock
G.W. Hamrick
J.T. Hamrick
S.L. Holton
* John Huff
Redden Jarrell
J.D. Jordan
T.J. Jones
W.H. Jones
C.D. Johns
P.B. McKelroy
D.M. Morgan
W.G. McCleland
* E. McCleland
* Frank McCleland
Thomas P. Muse
J.H. Mathews
T.G. Moss
* W.Q. Norman
Coon Norman
C.H. Newman
T.J. Powell
* R.W. Powell
John Powell
Henry Pate
J.N. Pearce
James Pearce
* F.M. Rooks
* W.W. Rooks
* W.H. Rooks
* H.H. Sworrd
Z.G. Stidham
* W.F. Sharp
* E.W. Williams
* George Washington
* W.W. Winhurst
R.C. West
J.M. Winters
J.M. Williams
L.C. Williams
A.G. Williams
W.W. Williams
* J.A. Whitehorn
* W.W. Whitehorn
* J.P. Wise
* L.W. Warnick
J.T. Walker

Biography of Maj Greene Malcolm

2011-11-22T17:50:00.003-06:00

In 1867, Major Greene Malcolm led approximately 30 families of Confederate refugees, 70 men,women and children,to establish a Confederate colony in the Republic of Honduras. The following biography was provided to me by one of his descendants:

Major Abednego Greene Malcolm
1st Battalion (McNairy’s) Tennessee Cavalry

Abednego Greene Malcolm, known also as Greene Malcolm and in some records as Greenbury Malcolm, was born September 18, 1821 near Frankfurt, Kentucky. Orphaned at nine years of age, he was the son of a Veteran of the War of 1812 and grandson of Revolutionary War Veteran, Nathanial Greene, of Revolutionary War fame. By profession, Greene Malcolm was a Physician, having graduated from the School of Medicine at Edinburg, Scotland. He traveled extensively over Europe, parts of Asia and the Fiji Islands and once declined an offer from Commodore Perry to accompany him to Japan.
On June 9th, 1846 he enlisted for service in the Mexican War at Louisville, Kentucky serving with the 1st Regiment (Marshall’s) Kentucky Cavalry. Stationed initially at Camp Patterson, Texas on October 31st, his unit was ordered to Monterey, Mexico in December 1846. During his Mexican War service he saw action in the Battle of Agua Nacoa and was with General Taylor at the Battle of Buena Vista. He carried a scar from that battle where he received a wound inflicted by a Mexican Cavalryman. He was afterwards with General Scot at the fall of Mexico City and was the second man over the wall at the fall of that fortress city. He was discharged from service following the war on June 1st 1847 at New Orleans. During the war he contracted chronic dysentery which he never got over.
In 1848, he went to California where he amassed a fortune and lost it all by the causes of fire , flooding and Indian raids and spent the next two years on the Texas frontier fighting Indians.
On June 15th, 1861, at the opening of the War Between The States, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion, (McNairy’s), Tennessee Cavalry serving in the rank of Major. His campaign participation included operations in Kentucky and Tennessee and he carried the last train out of Atlanta, Georgia just before its fall into the hands of Federal troops.
Following the War Between The States and the South’s defeat, rather than endure the persecution and humiliation of “Reconstruction,” he traveled to Mexico, where with other like-minded Confederate soldiers, he helped to plant a Confederate colony. Following the plantation of his colony in Mexico, he returned to Atlanta, Georgia where he planed and organized another colony of ex-Confederate soldiers and their families. Setting out in the Spring of 1867, his colony of thirty families made their way to New Orleans where they booked passage for Spanish Honduras (The Republic of Honduras). Despite their difficulties, upon arrival at Fortress Omoa, near Puerto Cortes, Major Malcolm led his colony of Southern refugees into the interior of Honduras where at Comayagua, Honduras he met with representatives of the Republic and presented a letter for President Medina of the Republic of Honduras explaining their reasons for emigration and an offer of services in exchange for citizenship, certain considerations and concessions:

“GENTLEMEN:
The undersigned respectfully submits to your consideration that on the 10th of April, after a passage of ten days, I arrived in the city of Omoa with seventy souls, emigrants to your beautiful land. These persons consist of men, women and children who are what might be termed the forerunners of perhaps thousands of the best citizens of the Southern States, of the United States. We wish to make this our home.
To find in this that which we have lost in our own native land, liberty.
To make this what our country was before it was destroyed by our enemies.
Our desire is to become citizens of the Republic at once, to be a part of your people, to claim your protection, to defend you with our lives from foreign invasion, and to do our whole duty to our adopted country.
In coming among you we would state that on account of our recent great misfortunes, many of us are greatly impoverished, and without going into further preliminary remarks, would give this as our reason for asking you to grant the following privileges and donations. ...

With the highest consideration,
I am gentlemen, your obedient servant.
(Signed) G. MALCOLM.
Comayagua, Honduras, C.A., May 3, 1867.”

Soon after establishing their colony near San Pedro Sula, and naming it the colony of “Medina”, in honor of the President of the Republic of Honduras, it was decided to place the government of their local interests under the control of a council, in order to avoid the necessity of assembling the entire colony when any question of interest or expediency should arise likely to affect their welfare. At a public meeting, an election was held of the following representatives:

Major Malcolm as their presiding officer, L. G. Pirkle, H.H. Briers, George W. Walters
J.H. Wade, and P. Goldsmith, Secy.

Major Malcolm was later appointed Minister of Immigration by the government of the Republic of Honduras in order to facilitate their transition of new arrivals to the colony.

About 1870, Major Malcolm removed to Texas where he remained till his death on December 11th, 1906 in Malakoff, Henderson county, Texas. Major Malcolm was twice married, first to Nannie Roark and second to Susan Francis Lee, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Strong) Lee of San Jacinto county, Texas. From these two marriages spring many descendants. Major Malcolm is buried in the Post Oak Memorial Cemetery in Malakoff, Henderson county, Texas.

Coleman Mills

2010-06-24T12:32:00.004-05:00

In the late 1800's, the Coleman brothers, William Allen Coleman, and James P. Coleman, known as Jim and Allen Coleman, owned and operated a Cotton Gin at Whooping Creek, Georgia about eight miles south east of Carrollton. Whooping Creek was later renamed "Clem," Georgia. The name being a contraction of "Coleman."

Photo Credit: Scott Jackson,of Carrollton, GA.

Tom Coleman

2010-03-10T09:20:00.003-06:00

James Thomas(Tom)Coleman, son of James P. Coleman, at work in the family jewelry store in Carrollton, Georgia (1890). Source: Georgia National Archives, Virtual Vault, Photos of Carrollton, Georgia.

Laura Coleman and Cleve Kingsbery

2010-01-06T17:52:00.002-06:00

Laura Kolb Coleman , daughter of William Allen Coleman of Carrollton,GA. and Clara Eliza Kolb of Marietta, GA. shown with her Fiancee, Edwin Cleveland Kingsbery, known as Cleve Kingsbery, son of Edwin Kingsbery and Emily Sharpe Cleveland.
This photo was taken on August 30th, 1905 in Carrollton, Georgia. The couple were married on August 8th, 1906 in Carrollton.

Riggs Family of Carroll county,Georgia

2010-01-01T10:01:00.005-06:00

The family of the Reverend John Riggs, Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Sixth District, Carroll county, Georgia:

JOHN RIGGS, b. 22 May 1812, North Carolina, d. 30 Dec 1861(?),Georgia
Married: JANE FLORENCE, b. 22 May 1814, Lincoln co., GA.,(daughter of Thomas Florence and Lucy Blaylock of Lincolnton,GA.) d. 5 May 1869, Carroll co., GA.

CHILDREN:
Sarah M. Riggs, b. 1833, m. Thomas Cartwright
Josephine B. Riggs, b. 24 Dec 1835, m. William B. Adams
Cynthia Florence Riggs, b. 27 Mar 1837, m. William Allen Coleman
James Madison Riggs, b. 1839, m. Susan Florida Crockett
Alice W. Riggs, b. 1843, m. William J. Sims
Stephen Alexander Hamilton Riggs, b. 3 Sep 1846, m. Mary Jane McCain
John Q. Riggs, b. 22 Apr 1848, m.(1st)Anna V. Crockett,(2d)Lizzie D. ___?
Emma B. Riggs, b. 31 Jan 1850, m. Zachariah T. Kinney

Notes for Reverend John Riggs:John Riggs was born 22 May 1812 in North Carolina. At the age of 16, he came to Georgia where he became a Baptist minister. He resided in Butts county, Georgia where he is recorded as a member of the Grand Jury in 1845. In 1857, he is recorded in the Carroll county, Georgia Tax rolls for the sixth district.
In 1850 John Riggs was living in Butts co., GA. with Real Estate valued
at or funds of $500.00. He helped to take this census.
On 26 Jun 1854 John, Jane and Sarah Riggs are charter members of the
Bethel Baptist Church in Carroll county, Georgia.
Death: Died 30 Dec 1861 (not proven) Jul 7, 1862 (Ltrs of Admin., Carroll co., GA.). Place of burial is unknown.
LAND: Carroll county, Ga., Tax Digest, 6th district, 749 Military District:
(1)1857: John Riggs, 1 pole, 4 children 8-16, 405 acres land lots 147 and 124
6th district, Carroll co., Ga., land value $1620. Cash $90.00, other property
$325.00, total $2035.00
(2)1858: John Riggs, 1 pole, 405 acres, value $1600.00, cash $75.00, Other
property $475.00. Total $2150.00 tax $428
(3)1859: 1 pole, 4 children, 405 acres, $1600.00, cash $10.00. Other property
$425.00, tax $2.64
(4)1860: John Riggs, 1 pole, 4 children, 405 acres, $1600, cash $50.00, other
property $150.00, tax $531

BURIALS: Many of the Riggs family members are buried at the Bethel Baptist Church cemetery, near the town of Temple, in Carroll county, Georgia.

Kazuko & Siblings

2009-12-20T08:43:00.005-06:00

Kazuko Ozaki Coleman of Kobe City, Japan with her younger brothers and sisters, children of Kanekichi Katsu Ozaki and Miyo Yamashita. Kazuko was first wife of Elwood R. Coleman, Jr. and mother of John O. Coleman and Elizabeth F. Coleman.

Obituary, Major Henry A. Coleman

2009-11-22T01:56:00.005-06:00

Carroll Free Press, 31 October 1890, Carrollton, Georgia

DEATH OF AN OLD CITIZEN_

Major Henry A. Coleman died at the residence of his son, Mr. James Coleman, near this place, at 2 o'clock on last Monday evening.
About four years ago Mr. Coleman had a stroke of paralysis by which his health was seriously impaired. Thursday of last week he had another stroke from which he never rallied.
Major Coleman was 77 years of age at the time of his death. He was born in Putnam county, but was principally raised in DeKalb. He moved to Carroll in 1856 and has been a prominent citizen of this county since then.
The deceased was a member of the Baptist church and also of the Masonic fraternity. He was buried at Bethel church in the sixth district, the Rev. Mr. Coalson of Temple officiating at the funeral.
Mr. Coleman leaves nine living children among whom are Mr. James Coleman of this place and Captain W.A. Coleman of Lowell district.

In Memory of Kazuko Ozaki Coleman

2009-11-03T18:55:00.005-06:00

Died_ Kazuko Ozaki Coleman, on 1 November 2009 in Houston, Texas, first wife of
Elwood R. Coleman, Jr. of Slidell, Louisiana,devoted mother of John O. Coleman of Houston, TX, and Elizabeth F. Coleman Bartholmey of Baton Rouge, LA. Kazuko was born 7 March 1939 in Kobe City, Japan, daughter of Kanekichi Katsu Ozaki and Miyo Yamashita. In addition to her two children previously mentioned, she is survived by three grandsons: Andrew Coleman,William Bartholmey, Mathew Bartholmey; a grandaughter, Kaitlyn McCain, one brother and three sisters who live in Japan, and many friends and relatives through-out the United States and in Japan.

Hon. James Beall

2009-10-18T10:16:00.004-05:00

A biography of the Honorable James Beall:
An extract from "A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians," by Lucian Lamar Knight, 1917, The Lewis Publishing Company. (Vol. V, pages 2423-2424).

HON. James Beall. Now judge of the City and County courts of
Carrollton and Carroll County, James Beall has long enjoyed an enviable reputation as a lawyer, but his life and services have been only less noteworthy in the general field of citizenship, and in all movements connected with the best standards of community life, morality and religion.

Judge Beall was born at Palmetto, Campbell County, Georgia, February 7, 1860,a son of James J. and Sarah Matilda (Watts) Beall. James J. Beall was born in Rockdale County, Georgia, while his wife was a native of Alabama. The father died in 1900 at the age of seventy-five.
During the war between the states he reached the rank of captain in the Nineteenth Georgia Regiment of Infantry and was for four years identified with the army of Northern Virginia and passed through with only a slight wound in one skirmish. Professionally he was a teacher, and both before and after the war taught school in Campbell County, Georgia, and also in Haralson County,and was principal of the Palmetto schools. Judge Beall's grandfather was Josiah Beall, who added to the military distinctions of the family by serving during the Mexican war,in one of the battles of which he was killed. Josiah Beall was born in Maryland and founded the family name in Georgia, where he married Sally Butts. One of Judge Beall's uncles was Josiah Beall, who was killed in one of the battles of the Civil war. Another uncle, Egbert Beall,enlisted in the Confederate army from Texas, to which state he had removed prior to the. war. James J. Beall was the fifth in a family of ten children. His widow is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Dean, at Buchanan, Georgia, at the age of eighty years. Judge Beall was second in the family of ten children. The oldest, William Beall, who has been totally blind for many is a highly esteemed citizen of Campbell County and is serving as county treasurer. Jesse Beall, a twin brother of Judge James, is in the real estate business at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thomas Beall is a prosperous farmer in Culman County, Alabama. Robert Augustus is engaged in stock raising and ranching in the State of Nebraska. John Beall is a farmer in Cullman County, Alabama. Henry Beall for a number of years has been a conductor on the Central of Georgia Railway, his run being between Atlanta and Macon. Egbert P. Beall is a farmer in Harrison County, Georgia. Charles is associated with his brother Jesse at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sarah Jean Anette is the wife of James A. Dean, a farmer and merchant at Buchanan.
Judge Beall, though of a substantial and noteworthy family of Georgia, has partly as a matter of necessity and partly from choice been dependent upon his own abilities and resources since an early age. He graduated from Tallapoosa High School after having begun his education under his father. He read law with Judge Price Edwards of Tallapoosa and was admitted to practice by Judge C. J. James in June, 1896. In the meantime his early life had been identified with general merchandising at Waco, Tallapoosa and Bremen, Georgia. In that vocation he spent about twelve years. After admission to the bar he did his first practice at Bremen in Haralson County, and was a partner for a time with William Johnson as senior member of the firm and subsequently became senior partner with W. W. Edwards. He continued practice in Bremen until 1903 and has since lived at Carrollton. Here he was a member of the firm of Beall & Adamson, the latter being R. W. Adamson, and they enjoyed a large practice and success until Mr. Beall was elected judge of the City and County courts of Carrollton and Carroll County in 1908. He has since been re-elected to this office and is now serving in his second term. By temperament and by experience Judge Beall is well fitted for the judicial office and has given an exceptional administration. During his residence at Bremen he served in the office of mayor nearly all the years he spent there.

He has been quite a factor in democratic politics in his section of the state,and was largely instrumental in securing the election of Mr. Adamson to represent this district in the United States Congress. The duties of his office as judge of Carroll County preclude his private practice in the city or county, though outside of that jurisdiction he has a large clientele in the Coweta and Tallapoosa circuit. Judge Beall is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Royal Arcanum. His chief pleasure, however, is found in Sunday school work. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church and is assistant superintendent of the Carrollton Sunday School and has served for a number of years as president of the Carroll County Sunday School Association. Before assemblages of young people he is both a pleasing and instructive speaker, and his addresses have been frequently quoted in Sunday school and church magazines. Judge Beall also has farming interests in his part of Georgia.

On January 6, 1889, at Waco, in Haralson County, he married Miss Lydia T. O'Kelley, who was born at Grantville, in Coweta County, a daughter of Richard I. O'Kelley, a prominent lawyer, who during the latter years of his life had a high standing at the Atlanta bar. Judge Beall and wife have five children, Ruby D., born at Waco, Georgia, November 2, 1889, has gained a considerable reputation as a teacher of music. James Harvey, born at Waco December 15, 1891, read law under his father, was admitted to the bar December, 1914, and is now in practice at Carrollton. Jesse Ivy, who was born July 14, 1893, was one of twenty-six, applicants out of a class of 180 that passed the literary examination at the Annapolis Military Academy, but is now living in Spanish Honduras, associated in business with his fatherin-law, William Coleman, an extensive coffee planter and business man of Honduras and a native of Carroll County, Georgia. Jesse I. Beall was married in June, 1914, at Carrollton, to Miss Vera Coleman, who is a graduate of Shorter College. Thomas Julian was born April 28, 1897, in Carroll County, and Sarah Frances was born May 26, 1904. Mrs. Beall has found an enthusiasm similar to that of her husband in Sunday school work, is a teacher in the local schools, takes a leading part in church and missionary societies, and has frequently proved a popular entertainer through her talents as an elocutionist and a musician.

[] Notes from Woody Coleman:
[Note 1: The death of Judge Beall's grandfather, Josiah Beall,took place during the Texas War for Independence at Goliad, Texas while a member of Fannin's Georgia Troops, not during the Mexican War]

[Note 2: Lydia T. O'Kelly is also known as Louise T. O'Kelly]

My Confederate Ancestors and Kin

2009-09-17T01:43:00.006-05:00

Confederate ancestors & kin of Woody Coleman:

William Allen Coleman, Pvt., Company E, 1st Georgia Cavalry,(horse shot out from under him), married Cynthia Florence Riggs,s/o Henry Allen and
Sarah A. (Barnes) Coleman of Carroll co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Grandfather

James P. Coleman, Lt.,Company I, 7th Georgia Infantry (State Guards), s/o Maj. Henry Allen and sarah A. (Barnes) Coleman of Carroll co., GA.
Relationsahip: 2nd great Granduncle

John Henry Coleman, Pvt., Company E, 1st Georgia Cavalry,(Wounded in action),s/o Maj. Henry Allen and Sarah A. (Barnes) Coleman of Carroll co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle.

Phillip Marion Whisenhunt,Jr., Pvt., Company E, 1st Georgia Cavalry
Relationship: 2nd Great Granduncle thru marriage to Nancy C.
Coleman,d/o Maj. Henry Allen and Sarah A. (Barnes) Coleman of Carroll co., GA.

William G. McLellan, Pvt., Company H, 56th Georgia Infantry
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle thru marriage to Sarah Jane Coleman,d/o Maj. Henry Allen and Sarah A. (Barnes) Coleman of Carroll co., GA.

Zachery Taylor Adams, Pvt., Company D, 10th Georgia Cavalry
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle thru marriage to Rebecca Catherine
Coleman, d/o Maj. Henry Allen and Sarah A.(Barnes) Coleman Carroll co.,GA.

William L. Barnes, Pvt., Company F, 56th Georgia Infantry, s/o John H. Barnes of Cobb co., GA.
Relationship: 1st Cousin 4 times removed.

James Madison Riggs, Pvt.,19th Georgia Infantry and 10th Georgia Cavalry;
s/o John and Jane (Florence) Riggs of Carroll co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

Stephen A.H. Riggs, Pvt., Company E, 1st Georgia Cavalry; s/o John and Jane (Florence) Riggs of Carroll co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

William F. Young, Sgt., Company I, 26th Georgia Infantry;s/o William Redding and Mary (Kennedy) Young of Ware co., GA.
Relationship: 3rd great Granduncle

John Young, Pvt., Company L, 26th Georgia Infantry;s/o William Redding and Mary (Kennedy) Young of Ware co., GA.
Relationship: 3rd great Granduncle

Joseph L. Young, Pvt., Company L, 26th Georgia Infantry,died while in service of typhoid fever); s/o William Redding and Mary (Kennedy) Young of Ware co., GA. Relationship: 3rd great Granduncle

Sampson B. Carver, 3rd Corp, Company C, 50th Georgia Infantry; s/o
Jesse and Boissy Carver of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 3rd great Granduncle

Jesse Carver, Pvt., Company G, 4th Georgia Cavalry; s/o James and Sarah (Ricketson) Carver of Coffee co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

Allen Carver, Pvt., Company C, 50th Georgia Infantry; s/o James and
Sarah (Ricketson) Carver of Coffee co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

James H. Albritton, Corp., Company A, 50th Georgia Infantry; s/o Henry W. and Amelia Albritton of Pierce co., GA.
Relationship: 3rd great Granduncle

William J. Albritton, Pvt., Company G, 4th Georgia Cavalry; s/o Thomas H. and Mary (Strickland) Albritton of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 4th great Granduncle

Andrew J. Albritton, Pvt., Company E, 29th Georgia Infantry; s/o Thomas H. and Rhoda (Strickland) Albritton of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 4th great Granduncle

Samuel W. Register, Pvt., Company G, 50th Georgia Infantry,(wounded in action at battle of Manasses,VA.); s/o William and Luraney (Harnage)Register of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Grandfather

John Taylor Register, Corp., Company G, 50th Georgia Infantry; s/o
William and Luraney (Harnage) Register of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

Guilford A. Register, Pvt., Company G, 50th Georgia Infantry; s/o
William and Luraney (Harnage) Register of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

Oliver Perry Register, Pvt., Company G, 50th Georgia Infantry; s/o
William and Luraney (Harnage) Register of Clinch co., GA.
Relationship: 2nd great Granduncle

The Three Sons Of Owen

2009-07-09T11:12:00.056-05:00

THREE SONS OF OWEN

The following excerpts are Chapters 3, 5, and 15 from the book, The Ulster Clans, written by Revs. T. H. Mullin and J. E. Mullin, published in 1966 by North-West Books, Limavady, County Derry, Northern Ireland, and reprinted in 1989.

It has been said that Irish history, as apart from legend and romance, begins with Niall of the Nine Hostages, so called because of the pledges he wrung from nine nations. Niall was a tall, fair-haired blue-eyed hero of Gaelic blood, who became High King of Ireland in A.D. 379. A renowned warrior, much of his life was spent in predatory excursions against neighbouring countries such as England, Wales and France. It is possible that it was on one of these raiding expeditions that Saint Patrick was carried off from Britain to become a slave who herded sheep on Slemish Mountain for his pagan master. Niall died on one of these military forays to France in A.D. 405.

He had eight sons, and one of these called Laeghaire succeeded his father as High King. He held this position during Patrick's missionary activity, and tolerated the new faith, although apparently he did not wholeheartedly accept it himself. He died in battle, and by his own orders was buried standing upright with his face towards his hereditary foes. Two other sons of Niall, Eaghan (Owen) and Conall marched northwards, conquered North-West Ulster and founded there a new state with its capital at Aileach, a prehistoric stone-built fortress on a hill near Derry, at the root of the Inishowen peninsula. The territory of Conall, now Donegal. was formerly known as Tir-Conall (the land of Conall). The O'Donnells were descendants of Conall. The territory of Owen was Inishowen (the island of Owen), still known by that name. Owen's clan later expanded into Tyrone (Tir-Owen, the land of Owen).

From Owen there descended families who have played a large part in the history of Ulster, O'Neill, McLaughlin, O'Cahan, O'Hagan, O'Mellan, O'Mullan and others. To understand the relationship of these families or clans, it is necessary to understand something of their history.

Information regarding the apportionment of Inishowen amongst the sons of Owen is derived to a large extent from the "Tripartite Life of St. Patrick." This was written in part in the 9th century, and consequently has to be used with great caution as a source of knowledge for Saint Patrick's life. Nevertheless, the journey to Inishowen which it describes is not inherently improbable, for Patrick was a great traveller as Eugene Mullen's poem says.

"To all the seven kingdoms thou didst go

With toilsome journeyings, in sore privation.

Armagh thy see Primatial thou didst make

God's angel guiding. On the Willow Ridge

By that proud hill, which Macha, golden-haired

With aureate pin had lined to trace the site

Of Eamhain Fort and shape a home of valour

For the bold Craobh Ruadh, thy pastoral staff now marked

The place of more enduring battlement.

'Great glory this last House shall have' said the Lord

Of Hosts 'and in this place I will give thee peace'.

To kindly Cineal Eoghain thou didst grant

Wide sovereignty, wielded from fair Aileach".

The account of this visit to Inishowen indicates how the peninsula was apportioned to some of Owen's sons at a very early date in the history of his descendants, and if one is sceptical about the prophecy which Patrick is stated to have made about the future of the three favoured sons of Owen, one must admit the substantial accuracy of the fulfilment.

The Tripartite Life tells how Patrick blessed the children of Conall, and then went over Bernes Mor into the country of Owen to Magh Itha, where he baptised Owen. "Then Patrick blessed Eogan (Owen) with his sons. 'Which of thy sons' saith Patrick, 'is dearest to thee?' 'Muredach,' saith Eogan. 'Kingship shall descend from him forever' saith Patrick. 'And after him?' saith Patrick. 'Fergus,' saith Eogan. 'Ordained persons from him,' saith Patrick. 'And then Eochu Bindech' saith Eogan. 'Warriors from him,' saith Patrick. The story then goes on to show how one son of Fergus, Coelbad by name, made a bad beginning in respect to the fulfilment of the prophecy, for he expelled the saint from his territory. The other son Aedh (Hugh), whose territory adjoined Coelbad's, gave Saint Patrick a loving welcome and there they erected Domnach Mor Mach Tochair. Patrick then proceeded into Bretagh, the district of Owen's son Ailill, and ordained Aengus, son of Ailill in that place, Domnach Bili by name.

Wherever the word Domnach (The Lord's [day or church]) is found in placenames, the hand of Patrick can be traced. Dr. O'Donovan places Domnach Mor Magh Tochair near Carndonagh, where the nearby Glen Tocher preserves part of the name. Bretagh may be discerned on the map of Inishowen as the name of a river in the north-east of the peninsula, while Domnach Bili is now Moville. The territory of the sons of Fergus extended beyond Carndonagh to Doagh and Lough Swilly, as the headquarters of the Mulfoyle sept of Clan Fergus was at Carrickbrachy in the vicinity of Doagh. The tribal land of Murdock and Ochy Binny (Muredach and Eochu Bindech in the prophecy), lay to the south of the lands of Fergus.

We have now examined the blessing of Saint Patrick on the three favoured sons of Owen, and indicated where their inheritance in Inishowen originally lay.

IO-Clery gives the ancestry of Sir Donnell O'Cahan from Owen and Niall of the Nine Hostages as follows- Domnall ballach m Ruaidri m Maghnusa m Donnchada an einigh m Seaain m Aiberne m Diarmada m Con mhuighe m Diarmada m Con muighe na nGall m Magnusa chatha duin m Ruaidri m Domhnaill m Eachmharcaigh m Raghnaill m Iomhair m Gilla Crist m Concionaedh m Diermada m Cathusaigh m Cathain (a quo h Chathain) m Drugain m Concobhair m Fergail m Maile duin m Maile fithrigh m Aedha uairiodhnaigh m Downaill ilcealccaigh m Muircertaigh m Muirethaigh m Eogain m Neill noigiallaigh.
(Analecta Hlbernica i 8).

In the centuries following the death of Saint Patrick certain veryt important clan expansions took place in Ulster. One of these concerns the territory of Dalriada in North Antrim. The name Dalriada derives from the word Dal, meaning descendants, and Riada, the nickname of a chieftain called Cairbre Righfada (Riada) ~-- Cairbre the long-armed. The name Dalriada is still used, but chiefly in its contracted form of the Route. A descendant of Cairbre Righfada called Fergus crossed over to the sister island and founded the kingdom of Argyle or Scottish Dalriada. The invading Gaels brought with them the Gaelic language, and gave their name (for in early times the Irish were called Scots) to Scotland. The descendants of this Fergus became kings of Scottish DaIriada, and ultimately of the united kingdom of the Picts and Scots in the days of King Kenneth MacAlpin.

In later years, Columba, who was of the race of Niall of the Nine Hostages, left Lough Foyle on the famous journey that took him to Iona, and made that lovely island with its green stones and white sands a centre of Christian missionary work for Scotland. Columba returned to Ireland for the famous convention of Drumceat which took place near Limavady. Later, too, the Scottish Macdonnells were to return and settle in the Glens of Antrim.

It is, however, with the expansion of the Owen clan that we are chiefly concerned here. From a focal point at the root of Inishowen the descendants of Owen fanned out in advances to the east and south. This expansion was not swift and overwhelming, but rather a gradual advance, as in the glacier age the ice moved inexorably forward from a centre in the Derryveagh mountains and Barnesmore hills in Donegal, following in its thrusts the line of least resistance and at length covering the countryside.

The first outward thrust of the Owen clan was that of the Clan Binny, which Dr. O'Kelly places as early as 563 A.D. This thrust apparently bypassed a hard core of resistance in County Derry, the Cianachta or children of Cian, whose name is preserved in the present barony of Keenaught. Swinging south-east into County Tyrone, it may have carried Clan Binny as the spearhead of the advance of the Owen clans right to the river Blackwater (or Davel) on the borders of Tyrone and Armagh. A pocket of the O'Hamills at Clonfeacle on the Blacklwater may mark, like an erratic boulder, the extent of their advance. Clan Binny ousted Oriella clans from the district Iying west of the river Bann, from Coleraine to beside Lough Neagh, and drove them across the river. There can be no doubt of the reality of the prophecy that the descendants of Ochy Binny would be warriors. A wealth of information about the Clan Binny is contained in Dr. James O'Kelly's "Gleanings from Ulster History".

Following upon the advance of Clan Binny came Clan Fergus. The O'Clery genealogies mention descendants of Coelbad, son of Fergus, from whom well-known septs derive. One was Ogain, from whom sprang the O'Hagans; another Coinne, from whom came the O'Quins; another Mael Fabaill from whom descended a long line of Mulfoyle chieftains. The Mulfoyle sept remained beside Lough Swilly, the others pressed forward into Tyrone in the wake of Clan Binny. Although Clan Fergus was to be distinguished for its clerics, the clan was not lacking in martial qualities. Dr. O'Kelly has described it as the fighting vanguard of McLaughlin and O'Neill, as these clans battled their way towards Tullyhog and Armagh to become masters of Tyrone.

The royal clans of Ulster, O'Neill and McLaughlin, were descended from Murdock Mac-Earca. O'Devlins and O'Donnellys probably sprang from a grandson of this Murdock Mac-Earca. An important point in the descent from Murdock Mac-Earca comes with Hugh Allen, king of Ireland, who distinguished himself by a series of victories over the descendants of Conall from Donegal. This king, Hugh Allen, had two brothers, Niall Frossach and Connor, whose descendants afterwards came into prominence. From Niall Frossach through Hugh Finlay were descended both the McLaughlins and O'Neills-the O'Neills taking their surname from Niall Glundubh (Niall Black-knee). The McLaughlin and O'Neill stocks provided vigorous leaders and kings for the Owen clans in Ulster, as well as reaching at times the position of high king of Ireland. Murdock's line, from which kings were promised, provided an ample fulfilment. From the other brother of Hugh Allen-Connor there arose certain strong clans by whose combined power these northern kings were supported and maintained. It is from the descendants of Connor, the Clan Connor, that the second important thrust from the Owen Clan came. This clan is often known as Clan Connor Magh Ithe, or the Fir Magh Ithe (men of Magh Ithe). Magh Ithe is the rich countryside stretching southward from Inishowen, later known as the Laggan district in east Donegal. According to the O'Clery book of genealogies, Connor had twelve sons, from one of which called Drughan were descended the O'Cahans (O'Kanes). The O'Mullans were also descended from Connor. The McCloskeys, later prominent in County Derry, were descended from a Blosky O'Cahan mentioned the Annals under the year 1196.

It will be remembered that in earlier advances the hard core of resistance in County Derry formed by the Cianachta had been bypassed. The Cianachta, whose leading sept was the O'Connors af Glengiven in the Roe Valley, had held their position for many centuries. The overthrow of the Cianachta and the O'Connors came oddly enough from their namesakes, the Clan Connor. Between the years A.D. 900 and 1000, according to Dr. Kelly's reckoning, the families of Clan Connor moved out from the cramped territory of Magh Ithe, and eventually established themselves in Ithe whole of the territory from the Foyle to the Bann in County Derry. No express record of the conquest of Cianachta exists, and the method of the conquest is a fascinating problem to which we must later turn. When the process of conquest ends, we find various septs of Clan Connor firmly settled in County Derry, the Clan Dermot and its chief family O'Carrolan south of the Faughan river, and the O'Cahans, O'Mullans and McCloskeys scattered elsewhere over North Derry. This intermittent expansion of the Owen clans, which has been described in the present chapter, occupied several centuries. Consequent upon this expansion, and concurrent with it, various other changes took place. These changes centre around the quest for power, and for a place from which the power obtained might be competently exercised.

In early times the headquarters of the sub-kingdom of Owen had been at Aileach near Derry. For a number of centuries the kingship of North Western Ulster alternated more or less regularly between the two chief branches of the conquerors, the Clan Owen and the Clan Conall. As the Clan Conall found it more difficult to expand owing to its geographical situation, the balance of power shifted decisively to the growing Clan Owen. The series of victories won over Clan Conall by the Owen chieftain Hugh Allen and his kin resulted in the exclusion of Clan Conall from the over-kingship of the whole territory by the end of the eighth century. Thus Clan Owen became the dominant Northern dynasty, and their seat at Aileach became the headquarters of the over-kingdom now held by Clan Owen.

This honour for Aileach was not lasting. As power shifted farther south, deep into Tyrone, a new capital was required. Accordingly a more central position at Tullyhog, near Cookstown, was chosen. Professor James Hogan, in his work "The Irish Law of Kingship", places this transfer of the seat of kingship from Aileach to Tullyhog somewhere between the years A.D. 1035 and 1050. So in succeeding years Aileach became what it is today a relic of the past, massive in earth and stone, but haunted by insubstantial memories of departed glory.

Alice Milligan's poem "The Dark Palace" catches its pathos:

"There beams no light from thy hall tonight

O house of Fame!

No mead-vat seethes and no smoke upwreathes

O'er the hearth's red flame;

No high bard sings for the joy of thy kings,

And no harpers play;

No hostage moans at thy dungeon rings.

As in Muircherteach's day."

As the domain of Clan Owen broadened in Ulster, its original home in Inishowen became more and more only a Northern outpost of the clan, from which a line of subordinate Mulfoy]e chieftains, planted at Carrickbrachy, kept watch on the restless sea, and their equally restless neighbours. A description of one of these Mulfoyle chiefs is given in a poem to be found in the Book of Ballymote, and translated by McCarthy as follows:

"Worthy much of excellence is Mulfoyle,

Beloved king, distinguished, handsome,

Brilliant eyes beneath a very haughty head

Yellow hair upon a fair shoulder."

Finally Inishowen was lost to Clan Owen from a succession of causes. First, there was the gradual exodus of Clan Binny, a big section of Clan Fergus and the royal clans descended from Muircherteach, This inevitably weakened the northern outpost and was followed by internal conflict within the remaining Owen clans over the rich lands of Magh Ithe which lay to the south of Inishowen. This further weakening of the clans enabled the O'Dobertys, a powerful branch of the Conall peoples from Donegal, to force their way into Magh Ithe and then to use this as a base for further excursiom into Inishowen. The Owen families who held the northern part of Inishowen were finally crippled in two great battles; the first, a combined attack in 1117 by the forces of Clan Conall; and the second, an invasion from Scotland about a century later in which Trad O'Mulfoyle, chief of the remnants. of Clan Fergus in Inishowen, was slain with many of his people. Thus it was that the O'Dohertys and Clan Conall made themselves masters of Inishowen, the homeland of Clan Owen.

By this time, however, the Clan rested securely on a far wider base of lands in central Ulster. At the apex of the power exercised from this base were the McLaughlins and O'Neills. As in earlier days the kingship of North-West Ulster had alternated between clans Owen and Conall, so now when the Kingship was lin Owen hands there was a see-saw of power between the McLaughlins and O'Neills, both houses ruling almost alternately for a time. Eventually the O'Neills, by a combination of circumstances, which need not be detailed here, secured for themselves the kingship, and the once dominant McLaughlins lapsed into obscurity. One could almost use the word "security" with equal truth, for often the common man can sleep in security while uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

One final move must be mentioned; eventually the O'Neills removed their seat from Tullyhog, near Cookstown, to Dungannon:

". . . the town where the slow waters steal

Underneath a half-circle of stone

At the foot of the hill of O'Neill

In the middle of County Tyrone."

The main settlements around this area were those of Clan Fergus. As described in O'Dugan's Topographical poem, these vigorous chieftains "victorious over foes in every hill" who had once held territory as far north as Enagh Lough in County Derry, were now spread abroad in County Tyrone. Their lands were the very heart of the kingdom around Tullyhog. The sept of the O~Mellans had a large and well-defined territory which included Slieve Gallion to the north and what is now Cookstown to the south, the whole being known as the "Mellanaght." To the south of these lands lay the sept of the O'Hagans; some of this sept were transplanted later to a district just north of the O'Mellans. The O'Quins' land probably lay south-west of the O'Mellans in the vicinity of Lissan.

To complete the picture, we will glance briefly at the areas occupied by other Owen families. The Clan Ferady with its leading sept the MeCawellls settled around Clogher. Further north, the Clan Moen and its leading sept the O'Gormleys settled to the east and north-east of Strabane. The O'Devlins settled in the district between the Clan Fergus lands and Lough Neagh, while the O'Donnellys lived at Castlecaulfield near Dungannon. With this picture of settlements in County Tyrone the long expansion led by the favoured sons of Owen can fittingly end. It brings the O'Neills of Tyrone to the pinnacle of power within the clan, and to the verge of modern times. With the O'Donnells of Donegal who had risen to eminence within Clan Conall and shaken off O'Neill power, these representatives of the ancient ruling Gaelic race move forward to meet the challenge of a new age.

Chapter 5

O'KANES RISE TO POWER

We have viewed in the last chapter the broad territories over which the O'Cahans or O'Kanes held sway. Let us now look backwards into time, and ask how the O'Cahans had attained and kept this position. There is no express record of the capture of Cianachta by thc O'Cahans. The Irish Annals, especially in the earlier period, are records of isolated striking incidents rather than a connected historical or descriptive narrative. Thus we learn of the richness of the Irish woodlands incidentally, as when it is recorded twice in the eleventh century that the flow of the rivers was impeded by the enormous nut crops.

The capture of Cianachta by the O'Cahans took place in the century and a half which elapsed betweeen the invasions of the Norsemen and Danes, and that of the Normans. The Norse invasions are the feature of the ninth and tenth centuries. The Anna]s of Ulster record under the year 838 A.D.: "An expedition of Foreigners on Loch-Echach, from which they destroyed the territories and churches of the North of Ireland." Loch-Echach is Lough Neagh, and the Norsemen reached it by taking their long-boats up the Bann. The impression made by the Norsemen on this Northern coast (or Fochla, as it was called) is seen by another entry under the year 865: "Aedh, son of Niall, plundered all the fortresses of the Foreigners (i.e., on the coast of the Fochla) between Cinel-Eogain and Dal-Araide, so that he carried off their spoils and their flocks and herds, to his camp, after a battle. A victory was gained over them at Loch-Febhail (Lough Foyle) from which twelve score heads were brought." A few years later the Norsemen, accompanied by Clan Owen, performed the unprecedented feat of capturing the ancient fortress of Dunseverick by force.

The first part of the tenth century was also noteworthy for the activities of Norsemen and Danes. Among those killed by them was the famous Clan Owen leader, Muirchertach of the leather cloaks, and also the abbot of Coleraine. Churches and monasteries were particularly sought out by the Norsemen because of the treasures they were believed to contain. However, the Annals of Ulster record under the year 944 A.D. that Donnell and Flaherty, sons of Muirchertach, killed the foreigners of Lough Neagh and destroyed their fleet. Ten years afterwards it is recorded that Donnell took ships from the Bann estuary and embarked on a raiding expedition that took him to Lough Neagh and Lough Erne. The disruption and terror of the Norse age bit deep into Irish memories, and the Danes remain the first to be singled out for blame when some destruction has to be accounted for. The Battle of Clontarf, won by Brian Boru over tke Norsemen in 1014, marks ending of Norse hegemony in Ireland.

The eleventh century was a century of Clan Owen expansion. In the beginning of this century, a dominant position in Ulster was held by the Clan Owen chief known as Flaherty of the pilgrim staff, so called because he once made a pilgrimage to Rome. The rest of his career was marked by raids upon neighbouring clans, in which the pilgrim's staff was replaced by the restless sword. By the middle of this century the men of Magh Ithe (the Clan Connor) came into prominence by raids upon the Oriella, and on the Clan Binny of Loch-Drochait, whose territory has been placed by Dr. O'Kelly as the western side of the River Bann north of Lough Neagh.

Since the original territory of Clan Connor was in East Donegal, it would be natural to suppose that they conquered North Derry by crossing the Foyle and progressing eastwards. This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that under the year 1076 the Annals of Ulster record: "The defeat of Belat (was inflicted) by Aedh Ua Mael-Sechlainn and by the men of Magh-Itha upon the Ciannachta, so that stark slaughter of them was inflicted." Belat has disappeared as a p]ace name; but it appears on the Plantation map of Sir Thomas Phillips, covering the Grocers' lands, and is about a couple of miles east of the River Foyle. Here indeed, between the Foyle and the Faughan, part of Clan Connor settled, the Clan Dermot, who gave their name to the parish of Glendermott or Clandermott. Did Clan Connor then push on eastwards over the Roe to the Bann? This seems the most obvious route, and yet there are weighty considerations which suggest that the advance was made along the valley of the Bann. These considerations must now be summarised.

First of all, there are very definite signs of pressure by the Clan Owen upon the tribes to the west of Lough Neagh and the Bann during this century, a pressure in which the men of Magh Ithe or Clan Connor take part. Of these tribes, the Ui Tuirtre lay to the west of the northem part of Lough Neagh, the various septs of Clan Binny and Fir Li to the west of the Bann, and the Cianachta of Glinne-Geimhin in the valley of the Roe. The signs of this pressure are clearly recorded in the Annals in raid and retaliation. It has been already noticed that the men of Magh Ithe raided the most southerly of the Clan Binny septs, the Clan Binny of LochDrochait-this is recorded under the year 1053. Twice in the next quarter of a century it is recorded that the king of Tullyhog was killed by Clan Binny, while in 1081 they killed the chief of Ui Tuirtre. It should be noted that in the later occasions when Clan Binny appears in the Annals, it is always the sept known as Clan Binny of the Glen, which was the farthest north. At this particular period Clan Binny appear to be a buffer state between the northerly pressure of the Tullyhog chieftains and the Cianachta of North Derry. Earlier in the century the Annals record direct clashes between Clan Owen and the Cianachta; under 1014 when Denis Gough, chief of Cianachta, was slain; and under 1023, when the Clan Owen chieftain was slain by his own brother and the Cianachta of Glinne-Geimhin. It would almost seem as if the centre of pressure was moving eastwards during this century towards Lough Neagh and the Bann, just as the seat of the Owen kingdom moved from Aileach to Tullyhog.

In the opening years of the twelfth century, internal troubles appear in the Cianachta territory. In 1101 Echri Ua Maelmuire, chief of Cianachta, was killed by O'Connor of Glinne-Geimhin; while three years later the O'Connor chieftain of Cianachta was killed by his own people. Finally, in 1122, O'h Ainiarraidh, the chief of Cianachta, was killed by his own brothers in the middle tlle cemetery of Banagher.

Just four years previously it is recorded that the chief of Fer- managh was killed by a tribe living at Ardstraw and by the men of Craebh (or Creeve, near Coleraine). Then in 1138 it is recorded that "Raghnall, son of Imhar Ua Cathain, lord of the of the Craebh, Cianachta and Fir Li, fell through treachery and guile, the Ui-Eoghain of the Valley." The valley people are evidently Clan Binny, and the O'Cahan killed ushers the O'Cahan clan into a stormy future that occupies a large place in Ulster history for the next five and a half centuries. This is the first mention of the O'Cahans in the Annals, and it is perhaps appropriate that their coming was preceded by a great storm in the previous year. By 1138 they are obviously masters not only of the Creeve, but also of Cianachta and Fir-Li.

These changes pass silently in the Annals. It is difficult, however, to resist the impression that the centre of pressure moves toward Tullyhog, which was burned in retaliation in 1011, and had its trees uprooted by the Ulidians a century later. The best interpretation of the facts which are available seems to be that while Donnell McLaughlin, King of Clan Owen, was exerting pressure to the west and south from Tullyhog, Clan Connor and particularly the O'Cahans were pressing north until we find that the tribes of Fir Li and Ui Tuirtre are driven across the Bann, that Clan Binny is subdued and soon disappears from the Annals, while the O'Connors, once chiefs of Cianachta, are forced eventually into the position of small farmers in the district they previously ruled.

This interpretation of the evidence as pointing to the O'Cahan thrust against Cianachta as coming from the south up the Bann valley and then across the mountains must remain tentative. There is, however, some corroborating evidence. First, A. Moore Munn notes two townland names in the parish of Killelagh which he thinks point to the original settlcment of the O'Cahans, or Kanes, Tirkane (the country of Kane), and Half Gayne (the stone house of Kane). Tamneymullan, north of Maghera, must at one time have been occupied by an O'Mullan. Both the O'Mullans and the O'Cahans were descended from Connor.

By this period O'Cahan has assumed pre-eminence inside the Clan Connor. These place names confirm the tradition that O'Cahan's country at an early stage extended down to Lough Neagh.

Second, in the mountainous area between the Roe Valley and South Derry, there are a remarkable series of place names which may possibly commemorate struggles which have left no mark upon written annals of Ulster. They are as follows:
Slaghtaverty - parish of Errigal;

Slaghfreeden - parish of Lissan;

Slaghtbogy (Slatevoylagh, Slatgolan) - parish of Maghera:

Slaghtneill - parish of Killelagh;

Slaghtmanus - parish of Cumber Lower.

Similar names have been preserved which have not become modern townland names. The Phillips manuscripts give the following place-names on the Skinner's lands:
Slatelons,

Slatmone Latmiske.

In the parish of Rasharkin in the townland of Crushybracken is a place called Slaghttaggaart. It will be noticed that the word Slaght (meaning monument for the dead) is in a number of these instances connected with a proper name such as Neill, Manus and Averty. These may, of course, be connected with some earlier struggles, but it is noteworthy that Manus or Magnus is a Norse name, and that therefore this name is subsequent to the Norse invasions.

Finally, it may be noted that the O'Cahans, who were always generous benefactors to the Church, founded an Augustinian priory at Dungiven at a very early date. Their earliest connections with the North Derry area seem to be at the Creeve, and in the range of hills between the Bann and Roe. It is as O'Cahan of the Creeve, with the daughter of O'Henery (probably his wife), that the O'Cahan chief at the later date of 1192 presents the doorway of the refectory of the Black Church of Columkille in Derry. The O'Cahans sometimes regretted their generosity to the Church at a later stage.

This summarises the facts which point to the O'Cahan conquest of Cianachta as coming from the Bann valley and across the mountains. James O'Kane, of the parish of Swateragh, known as thc bard of Carntogher, wrote of this close connection with Dungiven in the lines:
"Dungiven, when darkness and silence surround you,

Enfolding your mountains that rise by the Roe,

I think of the glories that covered and crowned you,

Your power and your splendour in days long ago.

Here stood the strong castle and halls of O'Cahan,

Here spread the broad acres held under his sway,

Beyond the Moyola, the Bann and the Faughan,

And here lies the dust of their chieftain to-day.

Yes, here does he rest in your old church, Dungiven,

Who often in battle defeated the foe,

Unfurled Erin's flag to the free winds of Heaven,

And marshalled his troops on the banks of the Roe."

From 1138 the O'Cahans appear regularly in the Annals. The following references to them in the succeeding years illustrate the type of material which is available, which does not lend itself to connected narrative.

1156. Aedh, son of Ruaidhri Ua Canannain, lord of Cinel-Conaill (Donegal) was slain by Ua Cathain and Feara-na-Craeibhe (Men of the Creeve) by treachery.

1157. (The Cinel Owen lead an army into Leinster and Connaught and into King's County.) This host was defeated and many of them were slain, together with Ua Cathain of Creeve. (The Connaught men meantime had invaded Tyrone and plundered the country as far as Coolkeenaght in the parish of Faughanvale.)

1167. (The men of Leinster and lords of Desmond and Thomond dlivide Tyrone between Neill McLaughlin and Hugh O'Neill.) The part north of the mountain, i.e., Callainn (Slieve Gallion), to Niall Ua Lochlainn for two hostages, Ua Cathain of Craebh and Macan-Ghaill Ua Brain. (This illustrates the importance of the O'Cahans, for it was generally from the most important sub-clan that hostages were drawn. It also illustrates the close connection between the McLaughlins and the O'Cahans, a connection that Dr. O'Kelly has noted also between the McLaughlins and the the men of Magh Ithe.)

1171. A great predatory force was led by Maghnus Mac Duinn sleibhe Ua hEochadha and the Ulidians into Cuil-an-tuaisceirt, and they plundered Cuil-rathain (Coleraine) and other churches. A small party of the Cinel-Eoghain (Clan Owen) under Conchobhair Ua Cathain overtook them, and a battle was fought between them, in which the Ulidians were defeated, with the loss of 21 chieftains and sons of chieftains, with many others; and Maghnus himself was wounded, but he escaped from the conflict on that occasion. (Magnus McDonlevy, whose unrighteous doings are deplored by the Annals, was the ruler of the petty kingdom of Ulidia, which had its capital at Downpatrick in County Down. Twescard is a district in North Antrim stretching from Coleraine over to Armoy and Loughgiel. It is interesting to notice that this attack on North Antrim was countered by the O'Cahans, and it is probable that they had extended their sway from the Creeve to portion of North Antrim at a very early date.)

1175. The Kinel Enda were defeated and a great slaughter made of them by Eachmarcach O'Kane and Niall O'Gormley. (The territory of Enda was thirty quarterlands south of Inishowen. As already mentioned, the Gormleys were the leading sept of Clan Moen, and settled to the east and north-east of Strabane.)

1178. Randal, the son of Eachmarcach O'Kane, had been slain by the Kinel-Moen in the beginning of this summer. (Eachmarcach was the chief of the O'Cahans or O'Kanes at this period. Evidently the pact with Clan Moen was of a very temporary duration; this clan bordered on that section of Clan Connor Magh Ithe, known as the Clan Dermot, whose lands were north of theirs.)

The foregoing entries show the O'Cahans taking an active part in the tribal conflicts during the half-century or so which followed their expansion into the districts of Creeve and Cianachta. By the time of the last entry a new factor had entered Ulster history which was to exercise a continuing influence for two ceuturies on the area and clans in which we are particularly interested. This was the coming of the Normans.

John de Courcy, the younger son of a Somerset knight, without waiting for royal leave, set out to invade and conquer Ulster, which as the most warlike of the Irish kingdoms, and the most difficult of access. He is described as a tall, fair man of immense strength and remarkable daring, and he and the band of companions he assembled were well fitted for the adventures they were to undertake. De Courcy first conquered Ulidia, its capital fell into his hands in 1177, and firom this time Downpatrick was the centre of de Courcy's territories. From Ulidia, de Courcy turned northwards, where the north half of County Antrim found a champion in Cumee O'Flynn, the chieftain of Hy Tuirtre and Fir Lee. (It will be remembered that the advance of the O'Cahans had driven these tribes from their original territories across the Bann.) Cumee O'Flynn pursued a scorched-earth policy, and burned Armoy before de Courcy's arrival. However, the Normans reached and burned Coleraine and many other churches. Giraldus relates how de Courcy then received a severe defeat at Cumee O'Flynn's hands in the district of Fir Li. De Courcy was raiding some cattle when he was overpowered in a narrow pass and barely escaped with eleven of his knights to his stronghold at Down.

At this point we meet one of the factors which bedevilled the struggle for Irish independence for centuries, the inability of the clans on occasion to sink their tribal differences and to present a united front. The Ulidians and the Ui Tuirtre had borne the brunt of de Courcy's onslaught, and Rory McDonlevy and Cumee O'Flynn had been his chief opponents. They were a buffer which protected the territory of the McLaughlins and O'Cahans from the Normans. We therefore read with surprise in the Annals under the year 1181 that Donnell McLauglin has invaded Ulidia and defeated the Ulidians, Hy Tuirtre and Fir Li. In the same year the Eachmarcach O'Cahan already mentioned, with the men of Magh Ithe and the Clan Binny of the Valley (the latter evidently now Subordinate to the O'Cahans) mustered an army and crossed the Bann at Toome. They plundered all the territories of the Fir Li and Hy Tuirtre, and carried off many thousands of cows. At this point Fir Li as a state disappears from the Annals, and this is also the last appearance of the Clan Binny, who had first emerged in the Annals a century and a half previously. Cumee O'Flynn was killed by the Normans a few years afterwards, and Ui Tuirtre became a subordinate territory with an O'Flynn chief owning the Normans as overlords.

The short-sighted policy pursued by the McLaughlins and O'Cahans is thrown into relief by the happenings of the very next year. Donnell, the son of Hugh McLaughlin, marched with an army to Dunboe in Dalriada, and there gave battle to the English. Clan Owen were defeated, and among the slain was Gilchrist O'Cahan. This entry is also interesting in another way. Dalriada is generally thought of as being on the Antrim side of the Bann. O'Donovan, in his discussion of this entry, points out that this statement in the Annals of the Four Masters was carried over from the earlier Annals of Ulster and Annals of Kilronan. It may be remarked that in early times the Bann and Bann Valley did not divide so much as unite; this seems to be true of the Normans, of the O'Cahans, and probably of the Norsemen. Dalriada, therefore, may well have had its unrecorded extension at an early time on the Derry side of the Bann.

This mistake of pursuing tribal quarrels and personal vendettas in the face of a common enemy, which ended in the defeat of 1182, was to be repeated again. Under the year 1196, the Annals record that Murtough McLaughlin, described as presumptive heir to the throne of Ireland and destroyer of the cities and castles of the English, was killed by Donough, son of Blosky O'Cahan, at the instigation of Clan Owen. This Blosky, by the way, was the ancestor of the McCloskeys, who we later find as a sept in lhe country of O'Cahan. In 1197 we find the beginnings of the Norman settlement in the Coleraine and north Antrim area which was to exercise a profound influence on the neighbouring O'Cahans. Under 1197 the following entry occurs:
"John de Courcy and the English of Ulidia marched with an army to Eas Creeva, and erected the castle of Kilsanctan, and wasted and desolated the territory of Kienaghta. He left Rotsel Pitun (probably Peyton), together with a large body of forces, in the castle, out of which they proceeded to plunder and ravage the territories and the churches. Rotsel Pitun afterwards came on a predatory excursion to the harbour of Derry and plundered the churches of Cluain-I, Enagh and Dergbruagh. But Flaherty P'Muldory, Lord of Kinel-Owen and Kinel-Connell, with a small party of the northern Hy Niall, overtook him, and a battle was between them on the strand of Faughanvale, in which the English and the son of Ardgal McLaughlin were slaughtered, through the miracles of Saints Columbkille, Canice and Brecan, whose churches they had plundered."

De Courcy followed this up by further expeditions to Derry and Inishowen, and into Tyrone. De Courcy was finally expelled from Ulster in 1205, and King John gave to Hugh de Lacy all the lands of de Courcy which he could conquer. As de Courcy had made his centre at Downpatrick, so de Lacy made his centre at Carrickfergus, where the magnificent Norman castle dates from approximately this period.

Ulster resistance to the Norman onslaught continued unabated. The Ulster Annals mention in 1206 that an army was led by the son of Hugo de Lacy with the English of Meath and Leinster to Tullyhog, where they burned churches and corn, but obtained neither hostages nor pledges of submission from Hugh O'Neill on this occasion. The same people led another army into Kienaghta, they burned all the churches of that territory, besides driving off a countless number of cows. Churches at this period were sometimes used for storing corn, and for that reason came in for unwelcome attention.

De Lacy was expelled by King John in 1210, and although he was later restored to his lands in 1226-27 the interval saw a very significant happening in the grant of lands in north and north-east Ulster to a family of Scottish noblemen. In the spring of 1212, Alan, Earl of Galloway, was assigned on the King's behalf 140 knights' fees of land extending apparently over the whole northeast of the province from the River Foyle to the Glens of Antrim. From this grant were excepted ten knights' fees on each side of the River Bann near the castle of Kilsanctan, which were retained meantime in the king's hand. Under the year 1211 the Annalists relate that Thomas McUchtry (Alan's brother, and Earl of Athol) came with a fleet of 76 ships to Derry and plundered Inishowen.

King John granted him the next year that part of Derry which belonged to O'Neill. Thomas MacUchtry then in 1214 proceeded to plunder Derry, carrying off the precious articles of the church of Derry to Coleraine. The same year he strengthened his position in Coleraine by building a stone castle there, finding the materials by demolishing all the cemeteries and buildings of the town, except the church. This turbulent Scottish nobleman then received a grant from the king of Kilsantan and castle of Coleraine, with ten knights' fees on both sides of the Bann. Orpen has noticed that raids on Ulster by these men of Galloway were regularly followed by grants of land from the Crown. These grants to the Earls of Athol and Galloway, and to their uncle, Duncan of Carrick, mark the beginning of a long connection between the Scots and north-east Ulster which has continuing importance right up into modern times.

Meanwhile the Ulster chiefs were still resisting, and it is doubtful whether these grants had any real validity west of the Bann. Farrell O'Cahan, chief of Cianachta and Creeve, whose lands had on paper been granted to the Earl of Galloway, was killed in 1213 fighting against the English. However, the Ulster chieftains had not yet learned the paramount lesson of an united front, and it is surprising to learn that the next year Farrell's successor led the O'Cahans to seize the house of McLaughlin's son. The prior of the Abbey church of Derry, who with Christian zeal, but perhaps with less worldly wisdom, interposed to make peace between them, was slain on this occasion.

These grants to Scotsmen were obviously resented by the de Lacys. In 1222 the son of Hugo de Lacy came to Ireland without the consent of the king, obtained the assistance of Hugh O'Neill, and set out with him to oppose the English in Ireland. One of their first actions was to go to Coleraine where they demolished the castle that had been so recently built. When de Lacy was finally restored to his position in 1226-27, the lands of Alan and Thomas of Galloway were exempted from his grant. Shortly afterwards the castle of Coleraine was rebuilt, but we are not told by whom. The feud between the de Lacys and the Scottish nobles was long standing, and eventually the Scottish estates in Ulster disappeared. The feud had one unexpected by-product. Some years later Patrick, son of Thomas of Galloway, was murdered. Walter Bissett and his nephew John, who were accused of the crime and outlawed in Scotland, fled to Ireland, where they obtained grants of land in Glenarm and elsewhere in County Antrim previously held by the nobles from Galloway. Those grants must have been obtained from Hugh de Lacy, who died the same year without male heirs. The Bissett lands passed eventually to a girl who was the sole heiress. Mairi Bissett married a MacDonnell of the Isles, and through her the MacDonnells succeeded to the Antrim Glens from whence they rose to a position of great influence in Ulster.

Meantime the Normans had been profiting by the internal quarrels of the Clan Owen. Norman power had been gradually growing and under 1238 the Annalists note that the Lord Justice, with de Lacy, the Earl of Ulster, had deposed McLaughlin from the chieftainship of Clan Owen, and given the government of Tyrone to the son of O'Neill. This struggle for power between McLaughlin and O'Neill led three years later to the Battle of Cameirge, when O'Neill, with the assistance of the O'Donnells of Donegal, defeated McLaughlin, who was slain. The place-name of the battle is now unknown, but the traditional site is near Maghera.

At this point we reach a most interesting statement in the Annals as far as the O'Cahans are concerned, a statement which makes one realise the paucity of information in this early period. Under 1247 the Annals record:
"Eachmarcach O'Kane, Lord of Kienaghta and Firnacreeva, was slain by Manus O'Kane after having gone on a predatory excursion into his country as far as Armoy in Dalriada."

At the time of the Plantation of Ulster, a sept of O'Cahans was in possession of Dunseverick Castle, but we have no information as to how they came there nor does there seem to be any genealogy of them in this early period. This territory possessed by O'Cahans in the Route is most probably the remnant of O'Cahan possessions across the Bann in pre-Norman times. It has already been noticed under the year 1171 that Magnus McDonlevy's plundering expedition into North Antrim was countered by an O'Cahan.

The continuing power of the Normans is seen when under 1248 the Annals record that the Lord Justice of Ireland led an army to Tyrone to oppose O'Neill. Clan Owen held a council and agreed that as the English of Ireland had at this time the ascendancy over the Irish it would be advisable to give them hostages and make peace with them. On this occasion the English came as far as Coleraine, where they built a bridge across the Bann, erected the castle of Drumtarcy and a dwelling at Drom. This castle must have been erected to protect the bridge, and was almost certainly on the far side of the river, as a few years later there was a parish of Drumtarcy which apparently lay between Camus and Dunboe.

The peace so made was not a lasting one, and the Owen clans were soon to make a great effort to break the Norman yoke in the Battle of Druim-dearg at Downpatrick. Led by Brian O'Neill, Clan Owen went down in an honourable defeat in which the O'Cahans played a noteworthy part. For centuries the Irish had disdained the use of armour, and went into battle with their finest tunics, beautifully embroidered and dyed golden with saffron. The Normans, on the other hand, were heavily armoured, and this battle in particular made it apparent that courage, even of the highest quality, was not enough. Brian O'Neill was killed, and with him no less than fifteen of the O'Cahan chiefs. This shows the magnitude of the O'Cahan effort, and its dauntless quality.

We are fortunate to have two poems lamenting the Ulster losses in this battle, one by MacNamee, the bard of the O'Neills, and one by Fearghal Og Mac-na-Bhaird, whose particular interest was in the O'Cahans. MacNamee laments the loss of Magnus O'Cahan as being the most grievous after that of O'Neill himself.
"Bitter to my heart (to see) the grey Galls

Triumphing over the slaughtered Maghnus;

That the head of O'Cathain, attracting no notice,

Should be seen on the bridge of Dun.

At night did Maghnus of Macha remain

Between wounded bodies;

If Brian had not been in the slaughter

There would be no loss like O'Cathain.

Maghnus himself, Eachmarcach too,

Muircheartach, Dounchadh, Domhnall,

And Niall O'Cathain all falling with wounds:

Alas, it was not one loss only.

A misfortune to our children and our wives

Was the slaying of Maghnus O'Cathain:

That scion of Inbhear-Abhaigh never neglected

A son or a daughter of Eoghan's race."

The poems are translated in the Misccllany of the Celtic Society, 1849.

Inbhear-Abhaigh was probably the ancient name for the mouth of the River Roe. The six members of the O'Cahan family mentioned are probably heads of septs; they appear also in Mac-an-Bhaird~s poem. A Hugh O'Cahan is also mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters as having fallen.

In some ways Mac-an-Bhaird's lament is of slighter quality; but it strikes a more personal and pathetic note. It would appear that Magnus O'Cahan was, according to Irish custom, fostered and educated by Mac-an-Bhaird's father; the poet was his playmate and some years younger than he. Eachmarcach was Magnus' brother, and was similarly fostered in the Mac-an Bhaird home. The bonds of fosterbrothers were often very close, and it was so in this case. Some verses may be quoted:
"Though to me each man is a grief,

(For) O'Cathain the yellow-haired I most grieve;

He is the wound of the artery of my head,

This is the blood I cannot bear.

I gave him great love, ah, woe is me;

To him from the period of my fifth year;

Woe that I have not gone with my beloved;

Early I loved O'Cathain.

My love for O'Cathain of Cluaine

Was not the love of a woman for a man of one hour;

'Twas a love from the time of childhood hither

To my foster brother, to my tutor.

We used to give the chieftainship in our sports

To him, when high-spirited youths,

We and the king on a mound which he disgraced not,

Going thrice around it.

Until he would take me on his back

I used to continue to shed tears after him;

At all times I was the rider;

Our horse was (always) Eachmarcach."

The value of these poems lies not only in their quality, but in the fact that they are contemporary documents, and as such throw some light on the history and situation of the O'Cahans. How contemporary they are is shown by a verse from Mac-an-Bhaird's poem:

"As in the slaughter was not recognised

The fair-skinned body of O'Cathain,

And as he has not come alive to his home

They may have carried him away from the field."

The headless body of O'Cahan remained apparently on the field of battle until the next day, unrecognised among the slain. Macan-Bhaird must have written the poem before the body of Magnus had been identified, as he speculates that the fairies may have carried him off.

"In fairy mound west or east Who knows but he may still be living."

Mac-an-Bhaird's poem refers to O'Cahan of Clooney, which is near Derry. Evidently the O'Cahans at this time had a hold on North Derry as far away as Clooney. There is one verse that may throw some light on the earliest O'Cahan connections:
"The son of O'Cathain of the Craebh,

Son of Raghnall, King of Formaeil;

A tranquil meeting after him will be difficult;

The poetic art shall be an orphan."

O'Cahan is here O'Cahan of the Creeve, and is called King of Formaeil. O'Kelly takes this Formaeil to be that in the parish of Dunboe, where he also places the Glen of the Clan Binny of the Glen. But O'Donovan's suggestion that the Formaeil mentioned here is the Formaeil of Glenullin looks better, as does his identification of the Glen with Glenconkeyne-if indeed the Glen of Clan Binny be not Glenullin itself. O'Cahans certainly replaced Clan Binny in the glens and mountains in the approaches to the Roe valley.

The Battle of Down, as it has come to be known, uniting as it did the forces of Ulster and Connaught, has been described as the most formidable native effort that the English in Ulster had to meet in the thirteenth century, and in this the O'Cahans played an outstanding part. The impression made by this battle is shown bv the fact that not only Brian O'Neill, but also Manus O'Cahan and other chiefs who fell there are called "Catha an Duin" (i.e., in the Battle of Down) in the pedigree of their descendants in all the Irish genealogical books. The Battle of Down also marks an epoch Irish warfare, and in Ulster history. Norman superiority in equipment remained unchallenged, until it was met by the heavily-armed Scottish gallowglasses who had just made their first appearance in Ulster. From this period also Norman power becomes an increasingly dominant factor in north-east Ulster.

Chapter 15

CLAN FERGUS AND THE O'MELLANS

At this point let us glance back to the early chapter on the three sons of Owen, and to the genealogical chart given there. The Tripartite life of St. Patrick mentions the blessings said to have been given to Murdock, Fergus and Ochy Binny, sons of Owen and grandsons of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The blessings promised kingship to the descendants of Murdock, ordained persons to spring from Fergus, and warriors from Ochy Binny. Clan Binny made the first thrust into County Tyrone, and their story has been dealt with by Dr. O'Kelly in his book, "Gleanings from Ulster History." The history of the O'Neills and McLaughlins, who were descended from Murdock, and exercised kingship from Aileach and Tullyhog, is intertwined with Irish national history. In the earlier part of this study we have endeavoured to fill a gap in Ulster history by providing a sketch of the main septs or divisions of Clan Connor, the O'Cahans. McCloskeys and O'Mullans. We turn now to elaborate on the descendants of Fergus, son of Owen.

There are three sound reasons for dealing with Clan Fergus. First, information about the Clan is not readily available, except m scattered form. Second, there has been considerable confusion between the Clan Fergus O'Mellans and the Clan Connor O'Mullans. Third, some of the main territories of the Clan Fergus adjoin Clan Connor territory in County Derry. The main physical girder of the territory of the Owen clans is the range of the Sperrins. North of this range lay the homeland of the O'Cahans McCloskeys and O'Mullans, of Clan Connor. South of the range lay the chief territories of the O'Mellans, O'Hagans and O'Quins of Clan Fergus, at the centre of the Owen kingdom around Tullyhog, south of Cookstown.

From Clan Fergus ordained persons were promised. The Church in Ireland in which they were destined to serve was part of the wider Christian Church, but preserved its own distinctive flavour.

It had its own date for the celebration of Easter, and its own liturgical forms. Although its Clergy did not strictly observe celibacy, the church was strongly monastic in form. The bishops of the Irish Church seem often to have been subject to the abbots, and bishops were found very frequently living together in groups of seven. Aengus enumerated no less than 141 places in Ireland where there were, or had been, seven contemporary bishops in one place. A plurality of bishops in one place follows the New Testament examples of the churches of Ephesus and Philippi. One gathers, too, that the clan spirit entered largely into the appointment of bishops and abbotts as well as of other clergy. In his Life of St. Malachy, St. Bernard wrote of the Oriella clans that this proud and powerful people would not allow any bishop among them except one of their own clan. They monopolised the see of Armagh for 200 years, claiming it as their birthright.

In the centuries following St. Patrick's time, Clan Fergus provided some prominent clergy. The "Genealogiae Regnum et Sanctorum Hibernia" of the Four Masters records that Fiachna, a son of Fergus, became a bishop. However, it is through another son of Fergus called Hugh (ancestor of the O'Mellans) that the blessing of Patrick seems to find an early and continuous fulfillment. Several of Hugh's descendants, Breacan, Colman and Becan became bishops. The crowning distinction came when Mac Laisre of this family became abbot or (as the office was later), Archbishop of Armagh. With this appointment-the sixteenth in the lists of abbots of Armagh-the hold of the Oriella clan on the archbishopric was broken, and a representative of Clan Fergus appointed to the highest office in the Irish Church. Mac Laisre's descent is given as the son of Luighdeach, the son of Ronan, the son of Tuadain, the son of Hugh, the son of Fergus. Mac Laisre died 12th September of the year A.D. 622, and was followed by Tomene, son of the Ronan already mentioned, in the same high office. Tomene is mentioned by the Venerable Bede as replying to the Roman clergy concerning an accusation that the Irish Church was entertaining the Pelagian heresy. In later times the O'Mellans became prominent in ecclesiastical affairs.

Clan Fergus produced not only clergy, but also warriors. O'Dugan's topographical poem concerning the various clans of Ireland gives a large share of attention to the "Race of Owen of Valiant arms, who have obtained the palm for greatness without fraud, the acme of the nobility of Erin." O'Dugan writes of the vigorous chieftains of Clan Fergus, victorious over foes in every hill. One verse runs:

"Speak of the Siol Aedha of Eanach,

Their chieftains and their tribes.

To them the meeting was not thin

The O'Murchadhas and the O'Mellains."

The Siol Aedha, or children of Hugh, are the descendants of the Hugh, son of Fergus, with whom we have been dealing. Eanach is probably the Enagh near Derry which later became an O'Cahan stronghold, with its castle on the island in Enagh Lough.

Clan Fergus also pressed southward in the wake of Clan Binny into the heart of Tyrone. Dr. O'Kelly has described Clan Fergus as the fighting vanguard of the O'Neills and McLaughlins as they battled their way towards Tullyhog and Armagh. When the Owen clans conquered and settled in Tyrone (Tir Owen, the land of Owen) the septs of Clan Fergus obtained certain territories there. The territory of the O'Mellans (descendants of Hugh) was referred to as the "Meallanaght." It included Slieve Gallion to the north and Cookstown, to the south. As their influence in ecclesiastical affairs grew, the O'Mellans also came into possession of considerable church lands. They had for instance the church lands of Orritor. The privilege of being hereditary keepers of the Bell of St. Patrick is the chief distinction of the O'Mellan clan. Another section of the clan came into possession of lands around Donaghmore, north of Dungannon, where they were the keepers of the Bell of Clogher. Yet another section had moved to near Armagh where they were possessed "tyme out of mynde" of the territory of Lurga Ui Meallan (literally the Low Ridge of O'Mellan) which is now known as Lurgyvallen.

Two other prominent clans were descended from Coelbad, Hugh's brother, the O'Hagans and the Quinns. The O'Hagans were the hereditary custodians of Tullyhog, the hill where the Ulster kings were inaugurated. O'Dugan's poem includes a verse on the O'Hagans:

"A stout chief over Tulach Og

O'H Ogain, chief of the white roads

The plough has passed through every wood of it,

Another O'H Ogain is near it."

Some of the O'Hagan sept were transplanted at a later date to a territory lying to the north of, and adjoining that of the O'Mellans. The territory of the O'Quins of Clan Fergus, though not clearly defined, would appear to have lain to the south-west of that of the O'Mellans in the vicinity of Lissan. (There was another sept of O'Quins in the neighbourhood of Omagh who are not to be confused with the O'Quins of Clan Fergus, as the Omagh O'Quins belonged to the Fir Magh Ithe.)

The O'Hagans held a very important position in Clan Fergus. Their leading role in the inauguration of the O'Neill has been described earlier. Their leading position within Clan Fergus can be deduced from statements in the Annals. In 1081 the Annals of the Four Masters record that Magrath O'Hagan, Lord of Cinel Fergus, was slain. Under the date 1103 the Annals of Ulster mention that Raghnall O'Hagan, "the lawgiver of Tellach Og," was slain by the men of Magh Ithe. A further reference in the Annals of the Four Masters informs us that there died in 1122, Donnsleibhe O'Hagan, chief of Cinel Fergus and lawgiver of Tullyhog. The O'Hagan held the position of Brehon or judge, and the O'Hagan clan was the leading one in Clan Fergus.

It has been mentioned already that as the Owen clan gradually expanded in the heart of Ulster, Inishowen became more and more an outpost to the north. Eventually the seat of the kingdom was changed from Aileach, near Derry, to Tullyhog. Tullyhog had apparently been a place of importance from an early date. In A.D. 914, according to the Annals of Ulster, a peace was concluded at Tullyhog between the king of the province of Ulidia and the famous clan Owen leader known as Niall Glundubh. At a later date when Dungannon became the O'Neill capital, the inauguration of the O'Neill still took place at the ancient seat of power, Tullyhog.

As the O'Hagans were custodians of the historic site of Tullyhog, so the O'Mellans were custodians of that greatly venerated relic of the past, the Bell of St. Patrick's will, which may be as old as the fifth century A.D. The large majority of the bells used in the Celtic Church appear to have been portable, and to have been rung by hand. These bells are all of the type of cow or sheep bells, as used at the present day in many European countries. Ireland was probably the original home of these four-sided ecclesiastical bells, and they have been found in many areas influenced by the Irish Church, as far away as Brittany and Switzerland. A bell was one of the important items presented to ecclesiastics in the early church in Ireland, and through their associations bells were often venerated and enshrined. They were used down to modern times for the taking of oaths, and for cursing. This was a chief function of the bells, and it is mistaken to comment on them as of little use in calling people to worship. According to tradition, St. Patrick's Bell had power to ensure victory to its possessors over any enemy with which they were engaged.

The profound veneration in which the Bell of St. Patrick was held is shown by the following incident. Under the date 1044, the Annals of Ulster relate that the son of the king of Aileach raided the Ui Meith and carried off 1,200 cows and a great many prisoners in revenge for the profanation of the "clocc-ind-edechta" (the Bell of the Testament). It will be seen a little later that the desecration of Tullyhog was met with equally exemplary punishment.

In this century we find increasing strife between the O'Neills and McLaughlins to secure the kingship of Ulster. Under the date 1051 we find that Ardgar McLaughlin, who was then king, was expelled from the kingship of Tullyhog by Hugh O'Neill. However, Ardgar's son, Donnell, succeeded as king of Aileach in 1083: he held this kingship for 11 years, and then succeeded to the High Kingship of Ireland which he held for 27 years until his death at Derry in 1121. Donnell McLaughlin is described as the most warlike and capable ruler of his time. In the year 1111 an army was led by the Ulidians to Tullyhog and they cut down its ancient trees. In revenge Neill McLaughlin made a raid upon the Ulidians, and carried off 3,000 cows. Two years later Donnell McLaughlin at the head of an army deposed the king of Ulidia, retained a portion of Ulidian territory, and divided the remainder into two parts under petty chiefs. It may have been at this time that some of the O'Mellans became possessed of the lands of Kinel Awley, near the town of Banbridge.

Donnell McLaughlin caused a most magnificent shrine to be made for the better keeping of St. Patrick's Bell. On this shrine was inscribed Donnell's own name, and also the name of the keeper of the bell at that time, Chathalan O'Mulholland. A Mulholland is also mentioned as keeper in 1365. But the Annals in 1356 record the death of Solomon O'Mellan, keeper of St. Patrick's Bell, and in 1425 the keeper was also an O'Mellan. The reasons behind this system of two keepers for the Bell are not readily apparent. Dr. O'Kelly recalls that St. Columba had found the Bell of the Testament in A.D. 552 in St. Patrick's tomb, according to the Annals of Ulster, and suggests that the dual system of keepers may have been a compromise between the prestige of Patrick and Armagh and the prestige of Columba. Another possibility is that the system may be due to the struggle for power between the McLaughlins and O'Neills and their respective supporters. The working of this dual system is also obscure. Was the Bell entrusted to a keeper of one family, and then on his death to another keeper maybe of the other family? Or did Mulhollands and O'Mellans exercise a joint charge over the Bell, one keeping possession of it, the other entitled to use it in oaths and on other public occasions? The reason for this dual system, and the method of its operation are alike obscure.

The contest between McLaughlins and O'Neills to secure exclusive title to the kingship of Ulster continued for a lengthy period. In 1167 it is recorded that the rivalry was settled temporarily by force from outside. Under that date the Four Masters record that the men of Leinster and the Lords of Desmond and Thomond divided Tyrone. The part north of the mountain (Slieve Gallon or Slieve Gallion) was assigned to Neill McLaughlin, while the part south of the mountain was assigned to Hugh O'Neill. It was only an interruption of the rivalry, which continued until the O'Neills defeated the McLaughlins decisively and finally at the battle of Caimeirge in 1241. At this point the McLaughlins sink into comparative obscurity, and the O'Neills became and remained the premier Irish dynasty until the Ulster Plantation period.

It is during this period of O'Neill supremacy that the O'Mellans of Clan Fergus come into increasing prominence. Their chiefs attain to positions of importance and great honour in the kingdom, while other members following in their ecclesiastical tradition rise to prominent positions in the Church. At this period, therefore, O'Mellans are frequently mentioned in the records both of Church and state. In the following pages some of these records will be referred to, and the place of the O'Mellans in the history of the times evaluated.

The Annals of Loch Ce mention Bishop Thomas O'Mellan (Bishop of Enach-duin), who died in Rome in the year 1328. The same Annals mention, under the date 1356, the death of Solomon O'Mellan, steward or keeper of the Bell of St. Patrick. This latter event is also recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters; and is translated by Dr. O'Donovan as follows: "Solomon O'Mellan. the general patron of the Clergy of Ireland, died." Conellan's translation of the same passage has it that O'Mellan was "the most illustrious of the Clergy of Ireland."

This emphasis upon O'Mellan as patron of the clergy of Ireland is not without significance. At this time the English prelates of the Pale were putting forward strenuous efforts to support their claim that Ireland, as far as matters ecclesiastical were concerned, had been given to them by the Pope. These medieval prelates worked in conjunction with the civil authorities to promote English influence and to undermine the power of the Irish chiefs and the old Gaelic regime. This encroachment on the old order of things met with considerable opposition from the chiefs and from the Irish clergy. The O'Mellans were prominent figures in the ecclesiastical resistance. It may have been by his support of the Irish tradition that Solomon O'Mellan earned the description of general patron of the clergy of Ireland.

The importance of the O'Mellans in secular affairs can be seen from an entry in the Annals of Ulster under the date of 1425. The magnates of Ulster went to meet the Earl of March at this time, and the names mentioned included O'Neill, Owen O'Neill. and O'Menan, keeper of the Bell of St. Patrick's will. Dr. Reeves comments that O'Mellan here takes rank with some of the highest northern magnates.

The O'Neill mentioned above was Donnell Bog, son of Henry Avery. He had the support of O'Mellan and Cian Fergus; but on the other hand encountered bitter opposition from the foregoing Owen O'Neill, who was supported by O'Cahan. In 1432 Donnell Bog was in O'Cahan's country with Patrick Mulholland and O'Mellan's son, the joint keepers of the Bell. O'Cahan's two sons attacked and killed them, having captured the house where they were. Following this, Owen O'Neill was inaugurated as chief at Tullyhog.

During the term of Owen's kingship, the O'Mellans were involved on his side in a disastrous battle in 1444. Owen O'Neill and a number of Ulster chiefs led a force against the clan of Hugh Boy O'Neill, who had attained independent status in the district that came to be known as Clanaboy (Clan Aodh Boy). Their forces were defeated by the Clanaboy O'Neills and McQuillan, who demanded a large number of hostages. The hostages delivered included the son of O'Mellan, and this indicates the continuing importance of the O'Mellans.

In 1455 Henry O'Neill took his father, Owen's place, and was inaugurated at Tullyhog by O'Cahan, Mac Uidhir, Mac Mathgamna, all the O'Neill clans and the successor of Patrick. The reference to the "successor of Patrick" indicates the triumph of the English ecclesiastical party. The successor referred to is John Mey, the Archbishop of Armagh. Archbishop Mey arranged for the traditional Irish inauguration at Tullyhog to be followed by an act of confirmation at the Archbishop's residence in Armagh. This confirmation, which took place the following month, consisted of the imposition of hands by the Archbishop. This innovation was calculated to bring O'Neill under ecclesiastical authority.

Meantime, apart from their appearances in the secular sphere, the O'Mellans played a leading part in the struggle between the Irish clergy and the pro-English clergy. The Irish clergy are frequently referred to as "Inter Hibernicos," whilst the English clergy were known as "Inter Anglicos." Reeves refers to the O'Mellans of this period as "the turbulent O'Mellans."

It will be remembered that the O'Mellans had extensive territories in central Ulster which included both clan lands and Church lands. They had also a recognised and important position and office among the Owen clans. Consequently they were able to make effective resistance to English clerical encroachment in their area. One stubborn figure around which resistance gathered was Dean Charles O'Mellan.

Charles O'Mellan was Dean of Armagh in 1430, and apparently opposed attempts to further the aims of the pro-English ecclesiastics. It was decided to remove him from his office, and appoint someone willing to co-operate, namely Dionysius O'Cullen, of the Oriella clan. Accordingly in 1441 the register of Archbishop Prene pronounces Dionysius O'Cullen to be Dean of Armagh and stigmatises Charles O'Mellan as usurping dean. The extent of Dean O'Mellan's support can be judged from sentences passed at the same time upon John O'Connelly, Abbot of St. Peter and Paul, upon the Chancellor of the Chapter, on the Prior of the Culdees, on the Rectors of Clonkarney and Clonfeacle and on the Vicars of Donaghmore, Termon, Argillkieran and Clonfeacle. All these were said to have abetted the usurper O'Mellan, and this gives an idea of the support which upheld the central figure of Dean Charles.

In the same year 1441, the Primate removed the custody of St. Patrick's Bell from John O'Mellan, and conferred the charge upon the other keeper, Patrick Mulholland. The O'Mellans were thus deprived for intruding into Church lands, and for failing to account for the revenue received from the Bell for the years 1417-1441. It is interesting to notice that in the following year Nachtan O'Donnell. chief of Donegal, with the Dean and Chapter of Raphoe, were excommunicated by the Primate because they had "usurped and seized and detained the fruits and profits of the Bishoprick (of Raphoe)." In both cases revenues were detained locally which the central ecclesiastical authority claimed for itself.

The intensity of the struggle in which Dean Charles O'Mellan played a leading part can be realised when we see by the registers that a year earlier Owen O'Neill himself had been involved. In 1440 it is recorded that the Primate wrote of Eugenius (Owen) father of Henry O'Neill, Captain of his nation, and says "that whereas he (Owen) had sworn on the Baculum Jesu, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, not to disturb the Church's possessions, the Primate had sent Phillip MacKewyn to him, and O'Neill promised to produce Charles O'Mellan, intruded Dean. Mandate to him to recognise D. O'Culean as true and rightful Dean, if not he is threatened with the secular arm." There was however, no stronger secular arm in Ulster than the O'Neills themselves.

In spite of the foregoing efforts to oust Dean Charles O'Mellan the O'Mellans seem to have won the battle. In 1466 Primate Bole addressed to Charles O'Mellan, Dean of Armagh, and the rest of the Armagh clergy, letters executorial against two of the O'Mellans. We see that a quarter of a century after the early troubles and attempts to unseat him, Charles O'Mellan is still in the Deanery saddle.

The two O'Mellans now in trouble were Toal and John. In 1466 Primate John Bole paid an official visit to Armagh, the first paid by a Primate for nearly 200 years. The visit of a primate was like waving a red rag to a bull so far as some of the O'Mellans were concerned, for they well remembered that Archbishop Prene had deprived the O'Mellans of the custody of the Bell. Accordingly Toal and Jobn O'Mellan stole the primate's travelling horses: an act not so much in the nature of an ordinary theft as an indication that the primate's visit was unwelcome. The two O'Mellans were detected in the offence, and despite their plea for clemency as ecclesiastical and privileged persons, were publicly sentenced and the Deanery of Airthir placed under an interdict. One other point may be made here. From the time of Toal and John O'Mellan the public history of St. Patrick's Bell ends for many centuries. In spite of these efforts to subdue the turbulent O'Mellans, they continued to fill an important place in Clan Owen in the inauguration ceremony. Their authority and importance appears in an incident of 1493, when there was a dispute over the succession as O'Neill between two brothers, Donnell and Henry. Donnell was the elder brother, and was supported by the O'Donnells of Donegal. Nevertheless, Henry the younger was inaugurated as chief by O'Mellan and Sean O'Cahan, the vigorous and decisive O'Cahan chief. According to the Annals the act was unlawful, yet such was the authority of O'Cahan and O'Mellan that it was not set aside.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, and in the following century, there seems to have been quite a degree of development in that section of the O'Mellan sept located in County Armagh. Their chiefs appear to be differentiated from the O'Mellan himself by the addition of Oge to the name, as in 1514 when Felim Oge O'Mellan is mentioned, and as around 1600 when Owen Oge O'Mellan is named as chief of the sept there. The reference in 1514 runs as follows in the Annals of the Four Masters: "An irruption was made by Hugh, the son of Donnell O'Neill, and Con, the son of Niall, into Cluain Dabhail, against John, the son of Con; and they , burned John's town, and they sent the preys of the country before them. O'Neill and MacDonnell, with a strong body of troops, pursued and overtook them, deprived them of the preys, and routed them. In the conflict were slain five of the descendants of Art O'Neill. There are fell on the side of Hugh, the two sons of MacaGhiorr. There were also slain there, Felim Oge O'Mellan Con O'Connor."

The above account indicates that the O'Mellans of County Armagh had developed also into a fighting force. We learn from other sources that they had extensive possessions in County Armagh, mainly on Church lands. The name O'Mellan, particularly in Armagh, was at this time undergoing a change: the "O" had been dropped to a large extent and it had become Mallen. Changes were manifest also in the counties of Down and Tyrone. In Down the name had become sometimes MacMullan, and even MacMillan. Commenting on the number of persons in the priesthood in County Down who bore the name MacMullan and MacMallen, and on the general incidence of these names throughout the county, Dr. O'Laverty suggests that the change from its original form to that of MacMallen, &c., parallels the change in the name O'Lochlainn which gradually became MacLochlainn. The O'Mellans are referred to in some English records as O'Mallans The Fiants of Elizabeth state that the O'Mallons were amongst those who followed the great Shane O'Neill in north Clanaboy, most likely during his expedition against the MacDonnells.

In spite of the developments within the O'Mellan sept, they remained aligned with the O'Neills, and the O'Neills reposed great trust in them. The Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland records in 1594 an expedition on behalf of the Earl of Tyrone, who was acting for the English government, against Connor Roe Maguire. The names of the chief men involved in the expedition are given as O'Hagan, O'Quin and Patrick O'Mellan. These names will be recognised as the three chief septs of Clan Fergus. From the same source, under date 1596-7, we read that the Earl of Tyrone gives as a pledge to the English "O'Mellan, chief of his name." Under date 1600 a spy reported to the English that "Tyrone's daughter, and O'Mellan's wife are in the Camp (Tyrone's)-earnest suitors to Tyrone to draw all his forces to this country." The camp was in the region of Muskerry. where Tyrone was fighting at the time. These instances show the close relationship between the O'Mellan sept and the O'Neills (now Earls of Tyrone).

Obituary of James Clarence Coleman

2009-07-05T23:19:00.005-05:00

Obituary: James Clarence Coleman
Times Picayune Newspaper, 7-22-2007

00179 Coleman - James 'Jim' Clarence Coleman passed away on the afternoon of Friday, July 20, 2007, due to complications following surgery. He was the son of the late James Mitchell Coleman and Nena Romero Dymond, and stepson of the late Alma Meyer Coleman. He was born in New Orleans on September 7, 1940 and was a long term resident of Metairie. He graduated from Alcee Fortier High School in 1957. Jim was a self-made entrepreneur. He owned and operated Foodways, Inc. on Causeway Blvd from the early 1970s through the late 1980s. He bought Mama's Place Bar in 1987 and put his heart into it for all of his days. He had a passion for horses and participated in shows with the Kenner Mounted Drill Team. He was an active member of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ. His big heart and compassion for others will be greatly missed. He was an avid antique automobile collector; he won various awards and appeared in several movies with his cars. He is survived by his loving companion Peggy Gros; his daughters Deborah Coleman Schmidt, Stephanie Coleman, and Stacy Coleman; his granddaughters Megan Schmidt and Paige Coleman; his former spouse Fay Weller Coleman; his stepbrothers Steve Coleman, Kenny Coleman, George Norton, and Timothy Norton; and his stepsisters Ravan Coleman Lafitte, Barbara Norton Roussel,and Nancy Norton Forst. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Services at LAKE LAWN METAIRIE FUNERAL HOME, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. (in MetairieCemetery ) on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 12:00 PM. Interment will follow in Metairie Cemetery. Visitation on Monday from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM and Tuesday from 10:00 AMuntil service time. In lieu of flowers donations preferred to the Kidney Foundationof Louisiana, 8200 Hampson St., N.O.,LA 70118. To view and sign the guest bookplease go to http://www.lakelawnmetairie.com/.
Times Picayune 7/22/2007

Family Historian's Note: James Clarence Coleman, son of James M. Coleman of Honduras and Nena R. Dymond, was a Great Grandson of William Forrest Coleman of Carrollton, Georgia and San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The Coleman-McCollum Family of Alabama

2009-06-30T23:03:00.008-05:00

A biographical sketch of the family of William Allen Coleman, (son of John H. Coleman),and wife Theresa McCollum of Etowah co., Alabama and Honduras .
by Charles Perry Smith

"The family of William A. Coleman & Theresa McCollum"

Just in case any of William Allen Coleman's descendents should some day want to look up their family lineage, I am putting on paper as much as I know about the Coleman family history. I must admit that my knowledge of the family is somewhat limited.
W. A. Coleman was the son of John Henry Coleman. John H. was from the Carrollton, GA area. He was a veteran of the Confederate Army, having served in the 1st Georgia Cavalry regiment. John was a large man, well over 6 feet tall and probably weighed close to 300 pounds.
I did not know him personally, but I remember seeing him sitting on his front porch on Elmwood Avenue (#312). He lived there during the 1920's and early thirties. He died in 1932 and is buried in the cemetery at 1st Baptist Church, Hokes Bluff, AL. As far as I know he was a retired farmer. I believe he was 91 years of age when he died. He and his wife Sally were the parents of William Allen, John Henry II, Mary, Genie, Dora and Kendrick.
John Henry II was a railroad man. Mary married a Doctor Friddell and lived at Boston, GA. Dora married a Mr. Fore and lived in Birmingham, AL. Genie married a Mr. Palmer. She was divorced, I believe, and lived with John and Sally on Elmwood.
W. A. went to Honduras, Central America, about 1897 or 1898. (I say this because his oldest child Laura was born around 1899 - 1900). He married Maria Theresa McCollum, a 13-year-old orphan girl who was living with the family where W. A. was boarding. Her mother had died when she was a small child and then her father was drowned in the Chaloma River (crossing on a horse - the horse made it).
W. A. had a cousin, W. F. Coleman, who had been in Honduras for some time and was quite wealthy. At first, W. A. was engaged in the logging business. Later on he bought land and owned and operated a 1400-acre banana plantation. When he died in 1930, his estate was worth about $300,000 and consisted of land, cattle and equipment. When it was settled (in 1949 or 1950), it was worth about $15,000. W. F. Coleman was the administrator of W. A.'s estate until his death in 1941 or 1942, when the Honduras Court appointed a successor. By the time the estate was finally settled, all of the assets had disappeared except the land.
In 1937 (or thereabout) a hurricane destroyed the banana crop. The next year insects destroyed it. The next year a disease damaged it, and the United Fruit Co. quit buying bananas from that area because of the disease.
W. F. had begun raising cattle in earnest to replace bananas when he died.
We used to get a monthly financial statement from W. F. on which he showed a cash balance of about $20,000. During the years that the banana crop was not producing, the cash balance fluctuated up and down from the $20,000 figure. Then one month, he called attention to the fact that he had been administrator of the estate for so many years, during which time he had paid himself no salary. He stated that he had decided to pay himself $250 per month for all the years he had been administrator. Needless to say that took care of the cash balance.
The Coleman children (W. A. and Maria Theresa's) were Laura, Lucille, James, Margaret, Teresa, John Hugh, Lois Elizabeth, Henry and Pearl. All the children, except Laura, were sent over to the states for their education. James went to St. Louis to study or learn how to be a diesel engine mechanic. Lucille went to New York where she worked for a Honduras diplomatic or trade commission. All the others came to Gadsden, eventually.
In 1930, W. A. brought his wife, and Henry and Pearl, to the states to establish permanent residence. He was on his way to Florida (where he planned to live) and had stopped at Boston, GA to visit his sister Mary. While there, he became ill with pneumonia and died there. His widow and four youngest children stayed in Boston for several years before they came back to Gadsden. They lived in the house on Elmwood where John Henry and Sally Coleman had lived. John Hugh and Lois were graduated from Gadsden High School in 1935.
Lois and I were married on December 8, 1936. We began housekeeping on Chestnut St. in Gadsden. The Gadsden City Hall is located in the block where we had an apartment. Our landlady was Miss Emma Barrett, to whom we paid $20 per month for the furnished apartment with utilities included.
In Honduras, the Coleman's lived at Choloma, San Pedro, Sula. I believe that is near Porto Cortez on the Caribbean side of Central America.
Maria Theresa McCollum was of Irish descent. I understand that the McCollum family was quite wealthy. One of the sons who was studying to be a priest got married instead and was dis-inherited where upon he went with his bride to Honduras. He was the one who drowned.

Charles Perry Smith
March 3, 1997

Note: William Allen Coleman, 1875-1930, was the son of John Henry Coleman and Sarah Elizabeth Pentecost. He was also the nephew of William Allen Coleman of Carrollton, Georgia who served in the 1st Georgia Cavalry with his brother, John Henry Coleman. John Henry Coleman went to Honduras with his brother William and returned to Carrollton, GA. where he married Sarah E. Pentecost. The Coleman-Pentecost family then moved to Hoke's Bluff, Gadsden, Alabama.
Woody Coleman

The Conquered Banner

2009-06-16T16:46:00.009-05:00

The Conquered Banner

by Father Abram Joseph Ryan

Furl that Banner, for 'tis weary;

Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary;

Furl it, fold it, it is best;

For there's not a man to wave it,

And there's not a sword to save it,

And there's no one left to lave it

In the blood that heroes gave it;

And its foes now scorn and brave it;

Furl it, hide it, let it rest!

Take that banner down! 'tis tattered;

Broken is its shaft and shattered;

And the valiant hosts are scattered

Over whom it floated high.

Oh! 'tis hard for us to fold it;

Hard to think there's none to hold it;

Hard that those who once unrolled it

Now must furl it with a sigh.

Furl that banner! furl it sadly!

Once ten thousands hailed it gladly.

And ten thousands wildly, madly,

Swore it should forever wave;

Swore that foeman's sword should never

Hearts like theirs entwined dissever,

Till that flag should float forever

O'er their freedom or their grave!

Furl it! for the hands that grasped it,

And the hearts that fondly clasped it,

Cold and dead are lying low;

And that Banner, it is trailing!

While around it sounds the wailing

Of its people in their woe.

For, though conquered, they adore it!

Love the cold, dead hands that bore it!

Weep for those who fell before it!

Pardon those who trailed and tore it!

But, oh! wildly they deplored it!

Now who furl and fold it so.

Furl that Banner!

True, 'tis gory,

Yet 'tis wreathed around with glory,

And 'twill live in song and story,

Though its folds are in the dust;

For its fame on brightest pages,

Penned by poets and by sages,

Shall go sounding down the ages,

Furl its folds though now we must.

Furl that banner, softly, slowly!

Treat it gently, it is holy,

For it droops above the dead.

Touch it not, unfold it never,

Let it droop there, furled forever,

For its people's hopes are dead!

Obituary; Elwood Ransom Coleman, Sr.

2009-06-10T15:48:00.007-05:00

The Times Picayune; Sunday, May 31st, 1998

New Orleans, Louisiana.

Elwood Ransom Coleman, Sr. On Tuesday, May 26, 1998 at 11:30 p.m. Husband by first marriage of Anita Register Young and by second marriage of Lillian Valesquez Coleman. Father by first marriage of William Lester, Elwood Ransom, Jr., John Allen, Marie Antoinette C. Whitman and the late James Michael Coleman. Father by second marriage of Ranson and Evana Coleman. Son of the late John Allen Coleman and Marie Antoinette Follin-Perez of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Grandson of William Forrest Coleman of Carrollton, GA. and Yndelacia Paredes of Honduras. Brother of John Robert Coleman , the late John Dean (Coleman) and Ethel C. de Buining. Also survived by 13 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Aged 78 years. A native of LeCeiba, Honduras and a resident of New Orleans, LA. for 73 years.

Relatives and friends of the family; also VFW Post 5174 in Slidell,LA. are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home Chapel, 4747 Veterans Blvd. near Clearview on Monday, June 1, 1998 at 2:00p.m. Interment at Garden of Memories Cemetery.

Transcribed from an original copy of The Times Picayune newspaper, New Orleans, Louisiana, Sunday May 31, 1998, page B-5, by Woody Coleman on 6-10-09.

Death of Mrs. Allen Coleman

2009-06-07T10:26:00.009-05:00

Obituary, Carroll County Times, February 9th, 1877: Death of Mrs. Allen Coleman,(maiden name: Cynthia Florence Riggs wife of William Allen Coleman ) of Honduras.

On last Monday evening the remains of Mrs. Coleman, wife of Mr. Allen Coleman of Honduras, were received at this place. From what we can learn, Mrs. Coleman left Honduras some thirty or forty days ago for the purpose of returning to this county where she formerly lived for the restoration of her health. She was accompanied by her brother in-law Mr. Jno. Coleman who went out to Honduras, from this county, last spring, besides she had along with her two children, one a son of twelve or thirteen years of age, and the other a baby some six or seven months old. As we have stated, Mrs. Coleman left Honduras sick, and in crossing the Gulf of Mexico, on the way to New Orleans, her troubles were no doubt added to by the death of her babe. Being far from land at the time of its death there was no other alternative but to cast the remains of the little one into the Gulf. This was no doubt a terrible shock to the mother, already very feeble, and she did not long survive. She died we are told after she had arrived in this country, on the cars between New Orleans and Montgomery, (we have not been able to find out, at what exact point). and her remains were coffined in Montgomery, and brought on as we have stated to this place Monday evening. From here they were carried Monday night to the Sixth district of this county, where they were buried the next day.Mr. Allen Coleman the husband of the deceased is a son of Major Coleman of this county. He went to Honduras after the war. His wife, the deceased, was also a native of this county. Her maiden name was Riggs.February 16, 1877 ------We understand that the babe of Mrs. Coleman, who died on her way from Spanish Honduras to this county, was not thrown over in the Gulf, as stated in the notice in reference to her death, but was buried in Balize, British Honduras.

**********************************************************************************

Burial: Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery, Carroll county, Georgia.
Headstone Inscription:

"Sleep my dearest sleep, My sorrow cannot disturb thee, Altho I should ever weep, and ever sacred thy memory keep."
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MRS CYNTHIA F. COLEMAN
Wife of W.A. Coleman and Mother of J.W. & W.F. Coleman

Born March 27, 1837 Died February 3rd, 1877; Aged 39 years 10 months and 24 days;
Neighbor and devoted christian 21 years;Member of the Missionary Baptist Church"

Note: Photograph above is that of Cynthia Florence Riggs Coleman and her son, William Forrest Coleman. Date & location (probably Carrollton, GA.) unknown.

Mercer University,Junior Class, 1881.

2009-05-30T18:03:00.004-05:00

EXTRACT From: "1880-1881 CATALOGUE OF MERCER UNIVERSITY OF MACON, GEORGIA." Published by J.W. Burke & Co. Printers,Stereotypers and Binders, Macon, Georgia.

The following is a transcript of the 1881 Junior Class at Mercer University, Macon, GA., transcribed from a true copy of the original document.
(Repository: Mercer University Library, Macon, GA. )

Transcribed, 05-30-09, by: Woody Coleman, woody.coleman@yahoo.com

1881 CATALOGUE OF MERCER UNIVERSITY. (page) 7
JUNIOR CLASS.
NAME & RESIDENSE.

James L. Anderson ,..............Bibb co., GA.
Joseph L. Anderson,..............Jones co., GA.
Charleton E. Battle,.............Stewart co., GA.
Frank L. Cato,...................Sumter co., GA.
Robert E. Cato,.................Sumter Co., GA.
Samuel E. Chambliss,.............Bibb co., GA.
W. Harvey Clarke,................Polk co., GA.
John W. Coleman,.................Cobb co., GA.
William F. Coleman,..............Cobb co., GA.
Mortimer T. Davis,...............Houston co., GA.
Walter G. Green,.................Burke co., GA.
Franklin Bartow Gregory,.........Stewart co., GA.
James O. Hamilton,...............Pulaski co., GA.
Richard I. Harris,...............Washington co., GA.
David W. Hill,...................Bibb co., GA.
William S. Howell,...............Greene co., GA.
Henry H. Kilpatrick,.............Richmond co., GA.
Hugh H. Kilpatrick,..............Greene co., GA.
Edmund T. May,...................Washington co., GA.
Arthur H. McBryde,...............Bibb co., GA.
Rufus E. Murrow,.................Burke co., GA.
Lewis B. Paullin,................Bibb co., GA.
Micajah B. Pickett,..............Sumter co.,GA.
Schiller B. Poland,..............Laurens co.,GA.
Sylvester S. Powell,.............Liberty co.,GA.
James T. Ross,...................Houston co.,GA.
John P. Ross,....................Houston co.,GA.
Walter M. Ryals,.................Bartow co.,GA.
James A. Smith,..................Houston co.,GA.
Clem P. Steed,...................Bibb co.,GA.
J. Berrien Walker,...............Bibb co.,GA.
Jed. Daniel Walker,..............Coweta co.,GA.
Broadus E. Willingham,...........Bibb co.,GA.

Quotes From The Past

2009-05-29T16:22:00.005-05:00

" This country with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can excercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." ABRAHAM LINCOLN, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.

Memorial Day Message

2009-05-24T02:19:00.015-05:00

Paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vietnam, 1965-1966

In Memory of Those That Didn't Come Back

"FREEDOM IS NEVER MORE THAN ONE GENERATION AWAY FROM EXTINCTION.WE DIDN'T PASS IT TO OUR CHILDREN IN THE BLOODSTREAM.IT MUST BE FOUGHT FOR, PROTECTED AND HANDED ON FOR THEM TO DO THE SAME,OR ONE DAY WE WILL SPEND OUR SUNSET YEARS TELLING OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN WHAT IT WAS ONCE LIKE IN THE UNITED STATES WHERE MEN WERE FREE."

President Ronald Reagan

As we approach MEMORIAL DAY, this Monday, May 25th, 2009, we again are called to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Its been many years since I retired from the United States Army but
several verses from the Code of Conduct and the Army Oath of Enlistment ,which I stll hold sacred, still reverberate in my conciousness:

"I am an American fighting man, I serve in the forces which guard my
country and protect our way of life ...I will never forget that I am an
American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free... I will trust in God and the United States of America" (from the "Code of Conduct)

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of
the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic...that I
will bear true faith an allegiance to the same...So help me God." (Oath of Enlistment)

All US Armed Forces men and women are familiar with the content of these two affirmations, the principles of which, are embodied in our American "Declaration of Independence," and "US Constitution."

The principles defined and implied in these documents are what our armed forces men and women, past and present, fought and died for in order to bequeath to us and our posterity, the blessings of liberty.

Let us remember them and their sacrifice as we remain true to the fundamental principles and ideals upon which our country was founded, and teach our children reverence for the same!

Woody Coleman
Command Sergeant Major, US Army, Retired

50th Georgia Infantry Regiment

2009-05-20T20:03:00.010-05:00

The 50th Georgia Infantry Regiment was formed in March, 1862, in Savannah, Georgia. It served with the Army of Northern Virginia from July, 1862 until it's surrender at Appomattox Court House, except during Longstreet's 1863 expedition to Georgia and Tennessee. Upon reaching Virginia, it was assigned to Drayton's Brigade. During the Battle of Antietam, the regiment was assigned to Toomb's Brigade. After the battle, the 50th Regiment was permanently assigned to Paul Jones Semmes's Brigade. The subsequent brigade commanders were Goode Bryant and James P. Simms.

Organization: The regiment was organized as follows:
Field staff and band

Colonel William R. Manning (March 22, 1862 thru July 31, 1863, Resigned)
Colonel Peter Alexander Selkirk McGlashan (July 31, 1863 thru end of war [captured at Sailor's Creek, Virginia, April 6, 1865, Released from Johnson's Island, Ohio, July 25, 1865])
Lieut. Colonel Francis Kearse (March 22, 1862 thru July 2, 1863, Killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Lieut. Colonel William O. Fleming (July 31, 1863 thru December 22, 1863, Resigned)
Lieut. Colonel Pliny Sheffield (December 21, 1863 thru November 28, 1864, Resigned [Wounded in right arm necessitating amputation at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864])
Major Phillip Coleman Pendleton (March 22, 1862 thru October 8, 1862, Resigned)
Major Duncan Curry (October 8, 1862 thru February 24, 1863, Resigned)
Major William O. Fleming (February 24, 1863 thru July31, 1863, Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel)
Major Pliny Sheffield (July 31, 1863 thru December 21, 1863, Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel)
Major John M. Spence (December 21, 1863 thru February 14, 1865 when granted a leave of absence)

Adjutants:
James M. Fleming (March 22, 1862 thru March 23, 1863, Died)
James P. Graves (March 23, 1863 thru September 17, 1863, Resigned)
R. T. Roberds/Roberts (September 17, 1863 (?) thru November, 1863, Killed at Knoxville, Tennessee)
A. McGlashan (April 12, 1864 thru October 19, 1864, captured at Cedar Creek, Virginia [Released at Fort Delaware, Delaware in June or July, 1865])

Companies:
Company A - Satilla Rangers (Pierce County)
Company B - Ware Volunteers (Ware County)
Company C - Coffee County Guards (Coffee County)
Company D - Valdosta Guards (Lowndes County)
Company E - Thomas County Rangers (Thomas County)
Company F - Decatur Infantry (Decatur County)
Company G - Clinch Volunteers (Clinch and Echols Counties)
Company H - Colquitt Marksmen (Colquitt County)
Company I - Berrien Light Infantry (Berrien County)
Company K - Brooks Volunteers (Brooks County)

Assignments:
Mercer's Brigade, Military District of Georgia, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (April-June 1862) Military District of Georgia, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (June-July 1862) Drayton's Brigade, Drayton's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (July 1862) Drayton's Brigade, D. R. Jones' Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (August-October 1862) Drayton's Brigade, McLaws' Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (October-November 1862) Semmes'-Bryan's Brigade, McLaw's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (November 1862-September 1863) Bryan's Brigade, McLaw's Division, Longstreet's Corps, Army of Tennessee (September-November 1863) Bryan's Brigade, McLaw's-Kershaw's Division, Department of East Tennessee (November 1863-April 1864) Bryan's Brigade, Kershaw's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (April-August 1864) Bryan's Brigade, Kershaw's Division, Valley District (August-November 1864) Bryan's-Simms' Brigade, Kershaw's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (November 1864-April 1865)

Campaign and Battle Participation:
Second Bull Run (Manasses),(August 28-30, 1862)
South Mountain (September 14, 1862)
Antietam (September 17, 1862)
Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862)
Chancellorsville (May 1-4, 1863)
Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)
Chickamauga [not engaged] (September 19-20, 1863)
Chattanooga Siege (September-November 1863)
Knoxville Siege (November-December 1863)
The Wilderness (May 5-6, 1864)
Spotsylvania Court House (May 8-21, 1864)
North Anna (May 23-26, 1864)
Cold Harbor (June 1-3, 1864)
Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
Cedar Creek (October 19, 1864)
Sayler's Creek (April 6, 1865)
Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Ancestors and Kin:
The following ancestors and kin of the Coleman-Young family served in the 50th Georgia Infantry:
Private Samuel W. Register , Clinch co. GA., Company G.
(Wounded at Battle of Manasses Aug. 30th, 1862.)
Private John Taylor Register, Clinch co., GA., Company G.
Private Guilford A. Register, Clinch co., GA., Company G.
Private Oliver Perry Register, Clinch co., GA., Company G.

Source: (Extract: From the Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia, by Stewart Sifakis, Copyright 1995.

Abednego Greene Malcolm

2009-05-11T03:33:00.009-05:00

Major Abednego Greene Malcolm, 1st Battalion, (McNairy's), Tennessee Cavalry:

Abednego Greene Malcolm, known also as Greene Malcolm and in some records as Greenbury Malcolm, was born September 18, 1821 near Frankfurt, Kentucky. Orphaned at nine years of age, he was the son of a Veteran of the War of 1812 and grandson of Revolutionary War Veteran, Nathanial Greene, of Revolutionary War fame. By profession, Greene Malcolm was a Physician, having graduated from the School of Medicine at Edinburg, Scotland. He traveled extensively over Europe, parts of Asia and the Fiji Islands and once declined an offer from Commodore Perry to accompany him to Japan.
On June 9th, 1846 he enlisted for service in the Mexican War at Louisville, Kentucky serving with the 1st Regiment (Marshall’s) Kentucky Cavalry. Stationed initially at Camp Patterson, Texas on October 31st, his unit was ordered to Monterey, Mexico in December 1846. During his Mexican War service he saw action in the Battle of Agua Nacoa and was with General Taylor at the Battle of Buena Vista. He carried a scar from that battle where he received a wound inflicted by a Mexican Cavalryman. He was afterwards with General Scot at the fall of Mexico City and was the second man over the wall at the fall of that fortress city. He was discharged from service following the war on June 1st 1847 at New Orleans. During the war he contracted chronic dysentery which he never got over.
In 1848, he went to California where he amassed a fortune and lost it all by the causes of fire , flooding and Indian raids and spent the next two years on the Texas frontier fighting Indians.
On June 15th, 1861, at the opening of the War Between The States, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion, (McNairy’s), Tennessee Cavalry serving in the rank of Major. His campaign participation included operations in Kentucky and Tennessee and he carried the last train out of Atlanta, Georgia just before its fall into the hands of Federal troops.
Following the War Between The States and the South’s defeat, rather than endure the persecution and humiliation of “Reconstruction,” he traveled to Mexico, where with other like-minded Confederate soldiers, he helped to plant a Confederate colony. Following the plantation of his colony in Mexico, he returned to Atlanta, Georgia where he planed and organized another colony of ex-Confederate soldiers and their families. Setting out in the Spring of 1867, his colony of thirty families made their way to New Orleans where they booked passage for Spanish Honduras (The Republic of Honduras). Despite their difficulties, upon arrival at Fortress Omoa, near Puerto Cortes, Major Malcolm led his colony of Southern refugees into the interior of Honduras where at Comayagua, Honduras he met with representatives of the Republic and presented a letter for President Medina of the Republic of Honduras explaining their reasons for emigration and an offer of services in exchange for citizenship, certain considerations and concessions:

“GENTLEMEN: The undersigned respectfully submits to your consideration that on the 10th of April, after a passage of ten days, I arrived in the city of Omoa with seventy souls, emigrants to your beautiful land. These persons consist of men, women and children who are what might be termed the forerunners of perhaps thousands of the best citizens of the Southern States, of the United States. We wish to make this our home.
To find in this that which we have lost in our own native land, liberty.
To make this what our country was before it was destroyed by our enemies.
Our desire is to become citizens of the Republic at once, to be a part of your people, to claim your protection, to defend you with our lives from foreign invasion, and to do our whole duty to our adopted country.
In coming among you we would state that on account of our recent great misfortunes, many of us are greatly impoverished, and without going into further preliminary remarks, would give this as our reason for asking you to grant the following privileges and donations. ...With the highest consideration, I am gentlemen, your obedient servant.(Signed) G. MALCOLM.Comayagua, Honduras, C.A., May 3, 1867.”

Soon after establishing their colony near San Pedro Sula, and naming it the colony of “Medina”, in honor of the President of the Republic of Honduras, it was decided to place the government of their local interests under the control of a council, in order to avoid the necessity of assembling the entire colony when any question of interest or expediency should arise likely to affect their welfare. At a public meeting, an election was held of the following representatives:

Major Malcolm as their presiding officer, L. G. Pirkle, H.H. Briers, George W. WaltersJ.H. Wade, and P. Goldsmith, Secy.

Major Malcolm was later appointed Minister of Immigration by the government of the Republic of Honduras in order to facilitate their transition of new arrivals to the colony.

About 1870, Major Malcolm removed to Texas where he remained till his death on December 11th, 1906 in Malakoff, Henderson county, Texas. Major Malcolm was twice married, first to Nannie Roark and second to Susan Francis Lee, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Strong) Lee of San Jacinto county, Texas. From these two marriages spring many descendants. Major Malcolm is buried in the Post Oak Memorial Cemetery in Malakoff, Henderson county, Texas.

William Forrest Coleman

2009-05-07T04:51:00.009-05:00

Notes for William Forrest Coleman

BIRTH: William Forrest Coleman was born March 17, 1864 in Carrollton, Carroll county, Georgia. His parents were William Allen Coleman and Cynthia Florence Riggs of Carroll County, Georgia. His paternal grandparents were Major Henry Allen Coleman and Sarah Ann Barnes of the 6th District in Carroll county, Georgia. His maternal grandparents were the Reverend John and Jane (Florence) Riggs also of the 6th District, in Carroll county, Georgia. (Ref. Bio of W.A. Coleman, Memoirs of Georgia,Vol 1, 1895)

NAME: William's middle name "FORREST," was given him in honor of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former Commander of his father, William Allen Coleman. Family lore has it that Nathan Bedford
Forrest was William Forrest Coleman's godfather. Ref. Interview of John Forrest Coleman, 1996.

EVENT: In 1866, W.F. Coleman's father, William .A. Coleman of the 1st Georgia Cavalry, joins a group of like-minded friends and ex-confederates who decide to immigrate to Spanish Honduras. Ref. Laura Kolb Coleman, Letters and Interview -1963.

EDUCATION: Attended Mercer University

OCCUPATION: W.F. Coleman was a PLANTER and INDUSTRIALIST. He was the Proprieter of LA W.F. COLEMAN INDUSTRIAL,SA, and the director of LA C.J. WARREN INDUSTRIAL,SA. in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. In addition, he served as the AMERICAN CONSULAR AGENT to San Pedro Sula from May
1927 til that post closed in December 1930. Ref. (1) Bio of W.A. Coleman, Memoirs of Georgia, 1895. (2) Department of State Records for San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Ref. (1) Department of State Records,
National Archives. (2) Biografia De San Pedro Sula: 1536-1954" by Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle,1989, CENTRAL IMPRESORA, S.A.

MARRIAGE to Yndalecia Paredes, d/o Juan Angel Paredes and Dominga Paz , a prominent family of Santa Barbara and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. CHILDREN:

i. John Allen Coleman, b. 10 Oct 1888, m. Maria Antonia Perez-Follin;

ii. William Edgar Coleman, b. 8 Dec 1890, m. Manuela Mana Madrid;

iii. James Clarence Coleman, b. 15 Dec 1892 , m. Teresita Mitchell;

iv. Vera Coleman, b. 15 Dec 1894 ,m. Jesse Ivey Beall;

v. Arthur Bailey Coleman, b. 1896

vi. Maria Coleman, b. 10 Oct 1898 , m. William Adolf Bahr.

NEWS ARTICLE: February 7, 1896, CARROLL COUNTY FREE PRESS, Newspaper, Carrollton, GA." Mr. W. F. Coleman, of Spanish Honduras, son of Mr. W. A. Coleman of this place, is on a visit to his father here. He came in on last Tuesday night. He is accompanied by his little boy about seven years of ge. He will remain over a month or two. He was last in the states in 1892. He comes for the benefit of his health."

NEWS ARTICLE: February 21, 1896, CARROLL COUNTY FREE PRESS, Newspaper, Carrollton, GA."Mr. Will Coleman, a son of Capt. W.A. Coleman, who is here on a visit from Honduras, has his little six year old boy with him, and he can't speak a word of English, and our little boys consider him quite a curiosity, and they in passing him to talk "furrin talk. " (Note: The child was William Edgar Coleman)

EVENT: In 1907, W.F. Coleman introduced the first automobile, a Ford Coup imported from New Orleans, LA., to the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Ref. La Prensa Newspaper, June 29, 1976, page 16, San Pedro
Sula, Honduras.

EVENT: February 7, 1916. ARREST & DETENTION W.F. COLEMAN.

Following his arrest and detention in a Honduran jail. W.F. Coleman wrote explaining the circumstances of his arrest to the American Consular Agent who was then James M. Mitchell, Jr., a close friend of the family:

From W.F. Coleman to Dr. J.M. Mitchell,Jr., American Consular Agent, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, dated February 8, 1916:

Dear Sir: I beg to hand you the following account of mal-treatment at the hands ofauthorities here, not for the purpose of obtaining monetary remuneration, but that it may serve to put an end to the many petty
annoyances to which we have been subjected during the past few years, and which have become remarkably more frequent and more annoying due to the fact that they have been allowed to pass by without any attention on the part of the American Goverment. If your instance will serve to fix the attention of the American Goverment on the abuses to which we are being subjected, and obtain a disavowel of the tyrannical and arbitrary acts of high officials, the extremely unpleasant and dangerous experience through which I passed will not have been in vain. About 2:30 p.m. of the 7th instant I was "cited" by a policeman to
appear at the police station. As I have always made it a point, no matter how inconvenient, to obey these "citations" on the instant, I went immediately tothe police station and presented myself to the officer at the desk whom I supposed to be the chief of police. I was asked if my name was William Coleman. I replied that it was. I was then informed that I was fined one peso for nothaving my dwelling decorated on the first of February. I answered that I had not done so because I had considered that it was a voluntary act
and not obligatory, but that it had not been my intention to do so in deference to thecustom of the country, but not finding suitable material (with) which to do so, it had not been done. I based my action to a great extent on the fact that my dwelling house is in the suburbs of the town, and in fact, not within the city limits. Also on the fact that none of my neighbors had decorated and there noticed that none of these had been
fined. I reiterated my belief that such act was not obligatory and refused to pay the fine. Fortunately the amount involved was so insignificant, being only 35 cents U.S. currency, that this did not enter into the matter in so far as determined to the action I took. I was then informed that I had to pay. On my reiteration that I would not pay, the chief called up (telephoned) the Governor, (an act entirely irregular, as such matters pertain exclusively to the Alcalde Politico) and informed him that that I, calling my name, had refused to pay.
While I could not catch all of the conversation, I inferred from their succeeding actions that drastic measures were to be taken. I was then ordered into the section set for the barracks, and in a few minutes was
called into a cell set apart for drunks--I foundmyself in a small room without any ventilation except what could come through a hole in the door about six inches square, with the floor partly boarded and partly bare ground, covered with the litter of its recent occupants for whom it had served as a water-closet as well as
sleeping apartment, without light and without anything to sit upon except the ground, which was running with vermin and uncleanness. I was informed that I was "incomunicado" and was not allowed to send word
to anyone. In this place, in a standing position, without light, water or nourishment of any kind, I was kept until about 6 p.m. Then as I had become faint from the position I was compelled to keep and from the lack of water and ventilation I requested the attention of a physician. No attention was paid to my request though informed that I was suffering. About one hour later, however, I was informed that Doctor Paz had been called. I believe that this concession on their part was actuated only by the activity of yourself and other friends. The Doctor came to see me and went away to prepare the medicine that I required. He returned shortly with some, telling me to take it with water. I asked the guard for water and was informed that there was water inthe cell. I groped around in the dark and found an earthen vessel with some kind of fluid in it which appeared to me rather the vomitings of some late occupant of the cell, consequently entirely undrinkable. In the meantime, theDoctor having heard my request for water, begged them to give me some
that I could take the medicine. At his request it was brought to me. Shortly after this, Mr. F.P. Blas, my partner, after a great deal of trouble as you are aware, was allowed to see me. He wished to bring me
something to (eat), but in the condition I was in and with my surroundings it would have been impossible for me to have taken even a mouthful. I requested a cup of coffee and prepared to spend the night as best I could, as no provision had been made for a seat, much less a board to lie upon. At eight o'clock the door was opened and I was informed that I was at liberty. After resting a few minutes in the station I requested to be informed on what ground my release had been ordered. I could get no satisfaction whatever from the Chief excepting
that it was by order of his Superior. This is the true relation of the incidents as they occurred and are in no way exaggerated for the occasion. The condition of the cell can be verified at anytime and the hours that I was confined in a standing position are known to all my friends. At my age, and being actually under treatment for
stomach trouble, as you are aware, it is remarkable that I was able to retain sensibility for so long a time. I beg to repeat my desire for this to be carried as far as you can get the American goverment to listen to you, not for my benefit that (may) accrue to me directly, but that such action may be taken as will prevent a like experience for another. Yours very sincerely, W.F. Coleman
NOTE: Enclosure # 6; a follow up letter to Dr. J.M. Mitchell,Jr., American Consular Agent for San Pedro Sula, from W.F. Coleman, dated February 10, 1916.

Dear Sir: Referring to the subject matter of my communication to you of the 8th instant, I have brought to mind an incident that happened some two days previous to my imprisonment which might have some bearing on the irregularity of the proceedings taken with me. In conversing with the Alcalde Policia who exercises the same functionas the Police Commissioner with us, regarding the orders given for the cleaning up
the town, he remarked that he had been compelled to place some fines, but that the work as a whole had been well done. He said further, "I was sent a list of those who had not decorated their houses on February
1st, but I refused to collect the fines indicated as I did not consider it in keeping with the spirit that should make it a voluntary act, and that, furthermore, it would be bitterly opposed as not in accordance
with previous customs and traditions." He indicated that, very probably, the fines would be collected through other channels by order of the Governor. I also wish to inform you that I have consulted my lawyer on the legal facts, and am informed that the proceedings were entirely irregular. Begging that you will addition this to my above referred to communication of the 8th, I am very respectfully, W.F. Coleman

EVENT: Co-Founder in 1921 of the Casino Sampedrano, a distinguished social club in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

MEMBERSHIP: Augsust 2, 1923; William F. Coleman, MASTER MASON of Lodge No. 69 under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and Grand Lodge of Georgia, Member of Lodge Cortes. Puerto Cortes, Honduras, No. 1315.

EVENT: Application of W.F. Coleman as Consular Agent at San Pedro Sula Honduras to the Secretary of State, Washington, dated January 15, 1926.( An American colony existed in San Pedro Sula for which it was
considered necessary to have the post of an American Consular Agent in that city). Extract of Letter from Honorable Ray Fox, American Consul:Sir: I have the honor to forward, for the favorable consideration of
the Department, the application of Mr. W. F. Coleman, an American citizen and registered as such under the Department's Serial No. 5,332 of August 16, 1917,for appointment as American Consular Agent at San Pedro Sula, Honduras, under the jurisdiction of this office. Mr. Coleman is quite familiar with the duties of the Agent having usually acted as such when the former Consular Agent, Dr. J.M. Mitchell Jr., was absent. He is also one of the oldest residents in this section of Honduras, inpoint of years, and is very familiar with past and present conditions, political and economic. On numerous occasions he has demonstrated his zeal in guarding the
rights and security of American citizens resident within his jurisdiction, and has at all times endeavored to maintain the dignity and authority of his office. As proprietor of the La W.F. Coleman Industrial S.A., and Director of La C.J. Warren Industrial S.A., together with interests in other
important enterprises, marks him as one of the leading Americans, industrially, in this Department. I do not hesitate to recommend that the Department grant to this application its favorable consideration.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, Ray Fox American Consul. Ref. Department of State Records, National Archives.

EVENT: Letter dated July 12, 1927 from Herscel V. Johnson, Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the Legation of the United States of America contained the following biographical information: COLEMAN, William
Forrest--Born in Carroll county, Georgia, March 17, 1864; attended Mercer University; engaged in business in Honduras; appointed Consular Agent at San Pedro Sula May 24, 1927. Ref. Department of State Records,
National Archives.

EVENT: Extract-- Sir: I have the honor to inform the Department that leave of absence, with permission to visit the United States, was granted to the American Consular Agent, William Forrest Coleman, at San
Pedro Sula, Honduras, and that he departed from his post on October 15, 1927. I have appointed James Henry Coleman as Acting Consular Agent
during the interim, and am enclosing a specimin of his signature under the seal of theAgency. I have the honor to be,Sir, our obedient servant, Ray Fox .. American Consul.

NOTE: In 1927, W.F. Coleman took a four month leave of absence from his post as American Consular Agent. During that time his brother, James Henry Coleman, acted as consular agent. Ref. Records of the US
State Department. Note: This was the same year that W.F. Coleman's son, Arthur B. Coleman, died in Carrollton, GA.Leave of Absence Granted to the Consular Agent... dated October 25,1927 at Puerto Cortes, Honduras.Ref. Department of State Records, national Archives.

EVENT: American Consulate, Puerto Cortes, Honduras; February 9, 1916.
describing the political outlook as ripe for revolution. ------ Legation of the United States, Tegucigalpa, dated September 1, 1928:
Reporting information that William Coleman, son of William Forrest Coleman, is actively engaged on the north coast, in a campaign of propaganda in favor of General Tosta, which is incendiary and inciting
to revolution. Ref. Department of State Records, National Archives.

DEATH/BURIAL: W.F. Coleman died Februaury 10, 1944 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is buried in the Coleman Family Mauseleum located in the Old Central City cemetery, San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

EPITAPH: "In Memory Of Our Beloved Father; William Forrest Coleman; March 17, 1864 to February 10, 1944".