The Clopton Chronicles
A Project of the Clopton Family Genealogical Society
A TEMPEST IN THE BRIAR PATCH
Regarding
Marianne Clopton & Her Daughter
Sarah Elizabeth Reid
By Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr. &
Suellen Clopton Blanton,[1]
[email protected]
Peculiar Clowns
If you will take a map of
Georgia, pick out
Putnam County … you will have under
your thumb the seat of
Southern humor.[2]
Marianne Clopton Reid
Much has been made of the
influence of professional writers on Joel Chandler Harris[3],
the creator of Uncle Remus. However, seldom is more than a nod directed towards
the kith and ken who undoubtedly made the greatest impression on him from his
birth through young adulthood.
… it
would be more specific to say that humor flourished to a greater extent in the
Putnam County area of middle Georgia than in any other locality of the old
South. “By-the-by,” Harris wrote to William M. Baskerville in
1895, “if you will take a map of Georgia,
pick out Putnam County, and then put your finger on the counties surrounding it
- Morgan, Greene, Hancock, Baldwin, Jones, and Jasper - you will have under
your thumb the seat of Southern humor.”
Harris once described the character and individuality of the area as
astonishing even to those who were familiar with the strange shapes in which
these intangibles might appear. “Every settlement had its peculiarities, and
every neighborhood boasted of its humorists - its clowns, whose pranks and
jests were limited by no license.
Out of this has grown a literature which, in some of its
characteristics, is not matched elsewhere on the globe.” …After he had
attained international fame through the first and second volumes of his Uncle Remus folklore legends of the old
plantation, he declared that the inherent qualities of life which characterized
the people of his native county had been a force sufficiently strong to
regulate men’s lives. “I know,” he confessed, “it was so in my own case. I have never attempted or accomplished
anything that I did not ask
myself, ‘What will the people of Putnam think of this?[4]’
His mother, Miss Mary, was
unmarried[5]. Fleeing to Putnam County she found
refuge with wife, Marianne Clopton[6]
and her husband, Andrew Reid[7].
Possibly no family in Putnam County held any greater fascination than the
Cloptons and the Reids.
Harris was certainly not the
first writer the Clopton family had patronized or influenced artistically. This ancient family which can prove its
lineage back to the days of William the Conqueror, rubbed shoulders with
William Shakespeare. It was Sir
Hugh Clopton[8], Lord Mayor
of London, who befriended Shakespeare, and it is among the Clopton family he
shares his final resting place. A.
L. Rowse[9],
a leading historian of the Elizabethan Age, points out in his tome devoted to
The Bard, Shakespeare’s themes of seafaring and shipwrecks, coincided with the
growing interest and exploratory trips to the New World by the Cloptons and
other acquaintances.
Sidney Clopton Lanier, the famous Georgia poet, was
named in honor of his father’s law partner, Marianne’s brother, David Clopton,
Sr. Sidney’s poem, Wilhelmina, was inspired by David’s
daughter, Wilhelmina, [10] who married
Sidney’s brother, Clifford Lanier, in 1868. Harris and the poet corresponded from time to time.[11]
In Harris’ novella, Gabriel Tolliver, a Story of Reconstruction[12]. A character by the name of Clopton
plays a small but significant part.
The book draws heavily on the people and places Harris knew in middle
Georgia’s Putnam County around the time of the Civil War. The setting is Shady Dale, Harris’
fictionalized version of his hometown of Eatonton. Meriwether Clopton lived on a large plantation outside of
town. He was the son of Shady
Dale’s founder, Raleigh Clopton, a Virginian who had crossed Georgia’s Oconee
River and settled on land of the Creek Indians shortly after the Revolutionary
War. On the plantation, he lived
with his daughter Sarah Clopton, and her son, Francis Bethune. The fictional Clopton served in
Congress before the Civil War. On
page 338, one reads “[that Robert Toombs] declared Sarah Clopton to be one of
the finest conversationalists of her time when she chose to exert her powers.”
Massa Andrews Watch
Five
hundred dollars in gold coins,
payment for the instrument,
was distributed
throughout the lining of the
clothing.
Marianne’s husband, Andrew,
was a member of one of the wealthiest Putnam County land and slave owning
families[13]. Miss Mary and Joel lived in a small
cottage at the rear of the “Big House,[14]”
giving the shy[15] young boy a
front row seat to quietly observe the wealthy Reids and the aristocratic
Cloptons. They lived in antebellum
splendor complete with slaves, mansions, and gracious living. The families were well educated,
wealthy, and received in the social circles of Georgia’s most prominent
families. As a teenager, Harris
watched their world fall apart.
Andrew Reid
The
Reid’s magnificent Greek Revival mansions was home to a bustling family of
seven children. Reigning supreme
was Sarah Elizabeth Reid[16],
the only daughter. According the
family tradition[17], in 1839, a
music teach from Boston, on the advice of her physician, moved to Eatonton and
made arrangements to live with the Reids until her health improved. The teach arrived by stagecoach and a
few days later, her piano was delivered.
The piano[18] was
unpacked and positioned in the parlor.
As the teacher began to play, little five year old Sarah was
captivated. Although exposed to
string instruments she had never heard anything to compare with the beautiful
sounds coming from that piano.
The Antebellum mansion of Marianne Clopton and her husband, Andrew Reid. John Linley, in his Architecture of Middle Georgia, The Oconee
Area (University of Georgia Press, Athens, 1972, p. 77-78) states the home
is “possibly the most successful method, both esthetically, and functionally,
of handling the tremendous porches of Greek Revival mansions is to carry them
all the way around as was done at the Reid-Stubbs house. Not only is the simple repetition of
heroic scaled columns invariable magnificent, but the problem of relating and
joining the colonnade to the house is eliminated. In addition, windows can be left open at all decent, a
pleasant area can always be found on the hospitable porch. Such porches are and were expensive to
build. The Reid-Stubbs house is a
good example of the type, and appears to be in a good state of repair; even the
attractive brick lattice under the porch is still in place.”
When the home was donated to the Eatonton-Putnam County Historical
Society in the last half of the twentieth century, it was stipulated by the
last owner, Mrs. F. M. Stubbs, daughter of the former owner, E. F. Bronson, that
the house would be called the “Bronson House,” The Society has continued efforts to preserve this historic
landmark. Located at 114 North
Madison Avenue, it serves as the headquarters of the Society and features a
small museum. It is one of several
beautiful Reid mansions in Putnam County that survive into the twenty-first
century.
The
teacher observed Sarah’s eyes light up when she heard the music and realized
this charming child had stolen her heart.
She promptly took Sarah as her first pupil. With the capable
instruction of the teacher, Sarah’s innate musical talent soon became
apparent. With patience remarkable
for one so young, Sarah quickly became her prized student.
In
1841, her health much improved, Sarah’s beloved teacher packed her piano and
returned to Boston, leaving behind a heartbroken child. Devastated by the loss of her friend
and the piano, the child could not be consoled. Her parents contacted the teacher and asked her to arrange
construction of a piano exactly like hers from the Chickering & MacKay
Company of Boston.
Andrew
made arrangements for a young household slave named Bob[19]
to take possession of the piano at the Boston factory. A suit of leather was tailored for the
journey. Five hundred dollars in
gold coins, payment for the instrument, was distributed throughout the lining
of the clothing.
Needless
to say, the little town buzzed with excitement. If there is one thing small town folk do well, it’s
gossip. And gossip they did. This was not a store bought, right off
the showroom floor, piano. No
Sir! This was special made, and
for a child. That child was just
spoiled rotten. Bob was seen
approaching the town, his wagon burdened with the piano, and word spread like
wild fire through the little town.
By the time he reached home just about everyone in the community had
gathered to watch the proceedings.
Asked what reward he would like to have for a job well done, Bob,
without hesitation replied he had always wanted a watch just like “Massa
Andrews.” Andrew promptly took his
gold watch from his pocket and gave it to him.
Sleeping In The Arms of
Innocence
Heaven bless my own,
My
darling Sallie
Sarah was fourteen when Joel
Chandler Harris was born. He was
often underfoot. Sarah pampered
the chubby infant. He was one of
her most avid fans. It is possible
she served as the model for the fictionalized Sarah Clopton in Gabriel Tolliver. But in 1854 the little boy lost his
musician. On her graduation from
the Female College in Madison, Georgia[20],
she was handed her diploma by a young attorney who would later gain the
reputation as a brilliant lawyer[21],
Thomas Peter Saffold[22],
one of the trustees of the college.
From a prestigious Morgan County family, the widower[23]
courted and won her. On July 4, 1854,
he married her in the parlor of the newly remodeled mansion.[24]
One
week before their marriage, Thomas wrote[25]
to his betrothed:
Madison June 28th 54
My dear Sallie,
Dr Talmage has
been absent. I received his letter
yesterday. He compliments you,
exhorts me to take especial care of such a treasure, and promises to officiate
as high preist at our marriage. I
did not see you as I left, a pleasure I was willing to forego, when I remembered
you were sleeping in the arms of innocence, hope, and love. Nothing can exceed the depth and
fulnefs of your devotion to me. It
will ever be the great sun, the animating centre of my life. I shall look for your letter
tonight. Mrs Thomas and Bob will
be with me this evening. This is
the reason I write now. Otherwise
you might not hear from me until Friday.
Marion[26] is
perfectly well, the swelling thought to be mumps, having wholly subsided. I have been looking this morning at the
partially improved lot opposite Mr Burneys. Mr Norton asks too much for it. It is a beautiful place, and I had rather improve it than
any location I know. But I will
have the benefit of your views about it after a while, I think I shall buy it[27],
if a wise and masterly inactivity by which I mean a manefestation of
indifference as to owning it can abate the price. You shall hear from me on saturday. Be sure to write by Fridays mail. Heaven bless my own, my darling Sallie.
Ever Yours
T. P. Saffold
God Have Mercy Upon Us
Oh! How my soul yearns after them in
Their
contracting characters;
Willie
in his manly surety and self reliance.
Seaborn
so lovely in his winning gentleness
And
trustfulness.
After her marriage, Sarah
moved into Thomas’ plantation located in Buckhead, a few miles east of Madison,
and like her mother, became the mistress of
one of the finest antebellum homes[28]
in the region. The first years of
her marriage were filled with laughter and they frequently threw lavish
parties,.[29] But in less
than a decade the merrymaking would end.
In
1861, the threat of war between the North and South became a reality. Thomas was one of the Morgan County,
Georgia Delegates to the secession convention. A majority of the delegates, including Thomas, voted for
Georgia to secede from the union.
Georgia was at war.
Sarah
Elizabeth Reid Saffold
On
January 6, 1862, while death was stalking the armies, Sarah gave birth to her
fourth child, Sidney Reid Saffold.
The year of 1863 was to be the most tragic year in 29 year old Sarah’s
life. The tide of war turned
against the South at the battle of Gettysburg. The Union Navy blockade of the South’s seaports had cut its
supply line. Medical supplies were
non-existent. Two of her children,
eight year old William Reid Saffold and four year old Seaborn Goudelock Saffold
became gravely ill, as did her fourteen year old step son, Marion. Thomas was away from home on government
business, and Sarah, left alone, had to nurse her sick children and manage a
large plantation with slaves[30]
who were becoming restless and an Overseer who was in no mood to cooperate with
a female.
The
children’s condition worsened, and Sarah, heartbroken and helpless, had to
watch all three die. She buried
her eldest, Willie, in the Reid family cemetery at Eatonton in January, and in
August, laid her little Seaborn to rest, even as she carried a fifth babe[31]
in her womb. Her life had changed
from one of happiness and wealth to a life of sadness.
Buckhead,
Georgia[32]
Nov. 5th, 1863
Your kind letter of Monday
was received last night my dear Husband.
I feel much relieved to learn that you are feeling better than when you
wrote the day before, and hope that you will continue to improve. It is certainly a great blessing to
have you keep your health since you must be army. It makes the discomforts and duties of camp life -?-. You wished to know in one of your last
letters what Mr. Johnson[33]
was doing, he has been here ever since last Thursday filling the crib in the
lot. Warren says they will finish
hauling by Weds. Mr Johnson leaves
every thing with Warren and Uncle Miles.
He has not stayed here a single night to see the cows pent up. Mr Johnson never tells any thing unless
specially questioned with inference to each matter. He has taken dinner here each day since I returned from
Eatonton, and yet I know no more about matters in general than if I had not
seen him in a month. I will give
your instructions about the hay at dinner. I think I shall go in and spend the day with Mother
tomorrow. Jenny is still with
her. By the way, you inquired
after Ben[34], he has
been walking out doors for the last few days. I had a great deal of trouble with him, to make him either
get up or sit up. When he was once
he was unwilling to exert himself in the least. I had to threaten to have him dragged out of the bed feet
foremost or head foremost right on the floor before I could bring him to his
senses. I have never written you
of Mrs Wright's letter. My letter
did not reach her until she had engaged to open a select school. She assures me she will come as soon as
she is at liberty. She is very sad
at the loss of her husband, she tells me that he was her earthly all, you know
I have often spoken of her attachment to him. Sidney improves every day and has
more and more of our darling Willie's ways. When I go down to Eatonton[35]
again I shall plant out their burial place, the least attention I can pay their
memory's, a sad yet *****pleasure.
Oh! how my soul yearns after them in their contrasting characters;
Willie in his manly surety and self reliance. Seaborn so lovely in his winning gentleness and
trustfulness. May their memory
ever be with us to turn us away from sin, and stimulate us in our efforts to
win a home with them in Heaven.
God have mercy upon us.
With love
Your Wife S. Sal__
Rain Everyday and Sickness in the
Camp
It is not much better than robbery,
But that is only the
beginning.
Although
some Southerners never lost their zeal for The Glorious Cause, as early as 1863
Thomas was growing disenchanted[36]. The following letters reveal his
discontent had become full blown.[37] As if things were bad enough, the
Confederate Government, desperate for supplies, began to confiscate the
civilian’s livestock, food and cloth, which further soured his mood. He is with the Mill’s Regiment, Georgia
State Guard at a camp at Rome, Georgia.
Rome Oct 26th
63
Your
letter of Saturday has just been received. I am surprised you have not received the letters I wrote
last week. As to the Wheat I will
give directions about it in a few days, and in the mean time let Thompson be
cosy. I rode out yesterday to see
Mrs. Oliver. Oliver has been at
home for some time on a sick furlough.
They own a small place in this county, two young negroes that are able
to work and are doing very well.
They have but two children and the little girl she asked me to name is
as full of herself as any little Mifs of four years you ever saw. I enjoyed the ride and upon the whole
had a pleasent day. There is no
chance now to get her to work after I invited them when they went down the
country to see their relatives to give us a call. She is a woman of good sense and very capable at all kinds
of various work. We are doing
nothing here and I feel more and more disgusted with the War and every thing
connected with it. We had a great
deal of bad weather last week but I find that no matter whether it rains or
shines I am restlefs, difsatisfied and unhappy. How long we will stay here I cannot tell. I have but little idea that we will be
discharged before Christmas if then.
I am not surprised at the article you enclosed. It breathes the spirit
of most if not all the men who are exempt. The truth is as I have said a hundred times the country is
ruined and it may be your lot yet to have rations weighted out for yourself and
children by some military official.
Already the government is the master of the People and not the People
the masters of the government. I
will write again in a day or two.
How does Ben[38]
get on? How many hogs has he put
up to fatten? What is Johnson[39]
doing? Send me some butter, some
biscuit and crackers, pickles, a bottle of molasses, and the loin part of a
middling. Put them in a good Box
and be sure to have it well nailed up.
I hope your Mother[40]
is with you. My love to her and
the children.
Your devoted Husband
T. P. Saffold
Thomas Peter Saffold, Sr. and his son,
Marion, by his first wife, Mary Elizabeth Thomas
Rome Dec 14th 63
My dear Wife
Yours of the 12th came to hand this morning. As to the imprefsment of the cattle it
is no more than I expected. It is
not much better than robbery, but that is only the beginning. It will not be long before they take
all a man has. I will not trust
myself to write upon this subject.
As to the mare for the horse I am willing to make the exchange provided
your Pa as any man in whose judgement I have confidence will say I will not
lose any thing. No thing of the
least importance is transpiring here.
We have rain every day and there is considerable sicknefs in the
Camp. Ask your Pa if he still
desires me not to hire out the Tanner Daniel. I am not disposed to let the man have him another year for
whom he is now working and would prefer to make an arrangement to work him
ourselves if we can get the hides.
By the time you get home I will try and write you a letter directing certain
things. My regards to the Family
and say to "Lady" that with all my heart I shall live my lot and wish
her a pleasent Sail. Kifs the
children.
Yours devotedly
T. P. Saffold
60,000 Devils
Sarah was a little tiny woman
But
her red hair made up for it.
Like so many Southern women, Sarah faced the horrors of the last days of the war without her husband, the sole defender of the very old and the very old in her care. One endless night and day would remain vivid in her memory for the rest of her life, and she would tell of those terrifying hours again and again[41].
Sherman begun his infamous
march to the sea, dividing his army into three parts, 20,000 troops each. Sarah’s plantation was directly in the
path of these “Devil’s dressed in blue.[42]” She would lay awake at night and sob
quietly, her tears unseen by the servants and children. She had not heard from her husband in
weeks. Was he safe? She worried about her elderly parents
in Eatonton, twenty miles away.
She remembered shivering with fright. In early November a rider passing her home told her, “The
Yankees are only a day’s march away.”
She buried as many small valuable items as time allowed, swearing the
household servants to secrecy. The
field hands hide the livestock in a secluded place on the plantation.
The next day arrived, and
the minutes and hours ticked slowly away.
With the sun dropping behind the tree line in the west, Sarah, thinking
the army would not be coming that day, seated herself at her beloved piano to
try soothing her nerves. Just as
she started to play, a shot was fired from the road in front of the house, a
window glass in the dining room shattered and something or someone fell to the
floor with a thud. Screaming and
running into the room, she found broken glass scattered across the table and a
brass candle stick on the floor with a bullet hole through it[43]. Numb, she peeked out the window and saw
two men in faded blue uniforms gallop away.
That night the children were
placed in makeshift beds on the floor.
Sarah placed a chair in front of a window facing the road. She could see the western skyline above
the trees aglow with the flickering light of Yankee camp fires. Exhausted, she fell into a fitful
sleep.
The young Yankee Lieutenant
rode confidently into the yard, his orders clear: burn the home of the Secessionist to the ground[44]. But he hadn’t counted on Sara Elizabeth
Reid Saffold. She was a little
tiny woman but her red hair made up for it. Sarah had been running the plantation pretty much by herself
for years despite an obstinate overseer and sullen field hands. She had buried two sons and one step
son, and had spent countless hours in prayer for her husband and four of her
brothers who fought for the confederacy.
Good manners were no longer a part of Sarah’s belief system.
She met him on the porch and
let him have it. The men backed up
as Sarah vented her frustration and outrage at men in general and Yankees in
particular. She was mad as hell
and she wasn’t going to take it any more.
If they dared to burn her house they would have to burn her and her
babies with it. Clutching her
infant, Andrew, with little Annie Laurie by her side, she sat down in a rocking
chair on the porch, the loyal house servants standing firm behind her.
There simply was no
contest. The Yankees didn’t touch
the house. . . didn’t even come through the door. With the help of the field hands, they located some of the buried
treasures[45] and all of
the livestock, which they took, but left the little family in peace.
Sarah
continued to play the piano throughout the remainder of her life, but the sweet
comfort once so easily found in the music was elusive, and a wisp of sadness
could be heard in all that she played.
Because
he voted for Georgia to leave the Union, her husband was branded a criminal and
a traitor. Because it would not
have been practical to throw every Southern officer and politician into prison,
President Andrew Johnson issued pardons right and left. The forms were printed with the name of
each individual handwritten by a clerk.
Fortunately for us, the pardon of Thomas Saffold has survived.[46] Note the clerk misspelled his last name
part way through the document.
ANDREW JOHNSON
PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO
ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING:
Whereas, Thomas P. Saffold of Georgia, by taking part in the
late
rebellion against the Government of the United States has
made
himself liable to heavy pains and penalties;
And
whereas, the circumstances of
his case render him a
proper
object of Executive clemency;
Now,
therefore, be it known, that P. ANDREW
JOHNSON,
President of the United States of
America, in consideration of
the premises,
divers
other good and sufficient reasons we thereunto moving, do
hereby
grant to the said Thomas P. Saffold,
a
full pardon and amnesty for all offences by him committed,
arising
from participation, direct or implied, in the said rebellion;
conditioned
as follows:
1st. This pardon to be of no effect until
the said
Thomas P. Saffold shall
take the oath prescribed
in
the Proclamation of the President, dated May 29th, 1865.
2d. To be void and of no effect if the said
Thomas
P. Saffold shall
hereafter, at any time, acquire any
Property
whatever in slaves, or make use of slave labor.
3d. That the said Thomas P. Safford first
\pay
all costs which may have accrued in any proceedings instituted
or
pending against his person or property, before the date of the
acceptance
of this warrant.
4th. That the said Thomas P. Safford shall
not
by virtue of this warrant, claim any property or the proceeds
of
any property that has been sold by the order, judgment, or
decree
of a court under the confiscation laws of the United States.
5th. That the said Thomas P. Safford shall
notify
the Secretary of State, in writing, that he has received and
accepted
the foregoing pardon.
In testimony whereof, I
have hereunto signed my name and caused
The
Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done
at the City of Washington, this
[SEAL] Ninth day of September
A.D. 1865, and of the
Independence of the
United State the Ninetieth
Andrew
Johnson
By the President:
A. Hunter,
Acting Secretary
of State.
1. Marianne21 Clopton (Alford20, David19,
Waldegrave18, William17, William16, William15,
Walter14, William13, Richard12, William11,
John10, William9, Thomas8, Walter7,
William6, Walter5, William4, Walter3,
William2, Guillaume1 Peche, Lord Of Cloptunna and Dalham)1
was born May 13, 1813 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia2,
and died April 20, 1886 in Eatonton, Georgia and buried Pine Grove Cemetery,
Eatonton. She married Andrew
Reid3,4 October 20, 1829 in Eatonton, Putnam County,
Georgia5, son of Alexander Reid and Elizabeth Brewer. He was born June 26, 1806 in Eatonton,
Putnam County, Georgia6, and died July 17, 1865 in Eatonton,
Putnam County, Georgia and buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Eatonton7.
Children of Marianne Clopton
and Andrew Reid are:
2 i. Samuel Armstrong Bailey22
Reid, born September 30, 1830 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia8;
died August 8, 1831 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia8.
3 ii. William Andrew Reid, Esq.,
1st Lt, C.S.A., born January 23, 1832 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia8;
died November 18, 1878 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia9. He married Ophelia E. Nisbet, of
Eatonton November 18, 1856; born 1836.
William A. Reid, Member of
General Assembly of Georgia from Putnam County,
1857, 1858. He was a successful attorney and served
in the Civil War. He enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant, April 26, 1861, 3rd
Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Brown Rifles, Company B. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant May
10, 1861. He resigned April 30,
1862.
4 iii. Sarah Elizabeth Reid, born
March 24, 1834 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia10; died
October 18, 1906 in Buckhead, Madison County, Georgia and buried City Cemetery,
Madison11. She
married Thomas Peter Saffold, Sr.12 July 4, 1854 in Sarah's
home in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia13; born May 16, 1821
in Morgan, Greene County, Georgia14; died January 18, 1891 in
Buckhead, Madison County, Georgia and buried City Cemetery, Madison14.
5 iv. Sidney Alexander Reid,
C.S.A., born November 8, 1839 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia15;
died December 2, 1909 in Eatonton, Georgia and buried Pine Grove Cemetery,
Eatonton16. He
married Mary Elizabeth Grimes November 8, 1865; born August 23, 1846; died
March 21, 1916 in Eatonton, Georgia and buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Eatonton.
Captain Reid was the
Quartermaster for Company G, 12th Georgia Infantry Regiment. He was wounded at Front Royal,
Virginia, and returned to duty and remained with Robert E Lee's Army of
Northern Virginia until the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia,
April 9, 1865. He was an attorney
in Eatonton for many years.
6 v. David Henry Reid, C.S.A.,
born June 16, 1842 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia17;
died February 3, 1915 in Confederate Soldier Home, Atlanta, Fulton County,
Georgia18.
David Henry Reid, enlisted
in the Confederate Army with the 12th Georgia Vol.
Infantry Regiment, Co. A. on
April 4th, 1862. He was wounded at
Front Royal,
Va., on May 30, 1862. He was a staff officer, Captain, when
his command
surrendered at Appomattox
Court House, with General Lee's army.
He was in the
Battle of McDowell, VA where
his 1st cousin Edward Reid, was killed.
Also in
Battle at Front Royal, where
he was wounded. He recovered and
served all
through the Valley
Campaign. He was a member of
Company G.
7 vi. Edwin Clopton Reid, C.S.A.,
born August 14, 1847 in Eatonton, Georgia19; died December 9,
1915 in Confederate Soldier's Home, Atlanta. He married unknown
Edwin's record shows he was
"in ditches around Atlanta" left Atlanta with his
command, "Tolverts Scouts". He was captured in Gordon County, near
Calhoune, GA. in Dec 1864. He was taken to Point Lookout Prison, Maryland.
He was in such poor health
he was paroled and was at home sick when the war
came to a close.
8 vii. John Caldwell Calhoun Reid,
born May 5, 1850 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia19; died
May 28, 1917 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia and buried Pine Grove
Cemetery, Eatonton20.
He married Martha Manly Adams, of Eatonton December 8, 1870; born July
30, 1851; died June 7, 1929 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia and buried Pine
Grove Cemetery, Eatonton21.
Endnotes
1. Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr., provided this information unless
otherwise noted.
2. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible, (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County
Historical Society), She spells her name Mary Ann in the Bible, but later
documents with her signature have changed the spelling to Marianne. To further
add to the confusion, an undated article from the "Eatonton
Messenger," written by Julia Adams, gives her name as Maryan in one spot
and Marian in another. "It is
Mrs. Gardner who bears her grandmother's name, however, Marian. This lovely name is found in the family
handed down from generation to generation.
3. Wood, Faith of Our Fathers, (Courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 92, He
is one of the founders of Eatonton First United Methodist Church.
4. Hull, Early Records of Putnam County, Georgia, 1807-1860, (Courtesy of Michael Flanagan), p. 40,
Named in his mother's will.
5. Putnam County, Georgia, Bride Index, p. 00006.
6. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible, (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County
Historical Society), The Bible was in the possession of Louise de Jarnette
Taylor in 1980. In a letter dated
Thursday, February 28, 1980, from the Reid Collection at the Eatonton-Putnam
County Historical Society, she writes in part, "The Bible itself is about
to fall apart. I really do hate to
have it rebound because it will destroy its originality but I'm afraid not
to. The paper is also quite brittle. But then it is 153 years old. It is interesting that a piece of paper
is glued over the name of Joseph A. Reid, b Aug 8, 1828 d. June 15, 1829. Evidently he was a twin of Alexander J.
Reid and their mother was Andrew Reids first wife Mariah who died shortly after
the birth of the twins."
There are four pages of records.
The entries were made over time by several hands. The earliest date is 1787, the latest,
1917. Special thanks to James
Penick Marshall, Jr., President, Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society for
assisting in the preparation of this family page.
7. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible, (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County
Historical Society), Both are buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Eatonton, Section 1,
Division A., Lot 110. Mysteriously,
there was no tombstone on their graves until, in 1997, descendant Ottis Edwin
Guinn placed a stone after raising money from Clopton and Reid family members.
8. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible, (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County
Historical Society).
9. Tombstone
10. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid
Holy Bible, (Courtesy
Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society).
11. Tombstone.
12. Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr., provided this
information unless otherwise noted.
13. Saffold Family Bible. In 1998, the Bible was in the
possession of Albert Terrell Saffold of Madison, Georgia.
14. Family Bible. Tombstone.
15. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid
Holy Bible, (Courtesy
Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society).
16. Both are buried at Pine Grove Cemetery,
Eatonton, Section 1, Division B., Lot 187.
17. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid
Holy Bible, (Courtesy
Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society).
18. Tombstone
19. Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid
Holy Bible, (Courtesy
Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society).
20. Tombstone, loc. cit, Section 1,
Division A, Lot 110, and Family Bible.
21. Tombstone, loc. cit, Section 1,
Division A, Lot 110.
See a genealogy
of the Descendants of
Samuel Reid and Agnes Kay, The First Five Generations
An extensive
genealogy of the Reid Family may be found at
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/v/a/n/Kaye--G-Van-fleet/GENE16-0001.html
Also visit the
Saffold Family Society at
http://home.earthlink.net/~msaffold/sfshmpg.htm
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