THROUGH MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of Union County, Georgia
Their Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones

originally printed June 15, 2006

Philip Humphries:
an itinerant preacher

The story of Phillip Humphries, itinerant preacher of another century, sprang out at me like dewey mists on a spring morning. The story was told as a childhood memory by my cousin, the late Watson Benjamin Dyer, who did much research into family history. Sometimes his five books of genealogy yield rich little stories that leave the reader wanting more.
Such was his story about one Phillip Humphries, itinerant preacher, who came by Watson's father's home in Choestoe. The appearance and message of the old preacher man left a lasting impression on Watson who was about 10 (1911) when he first saw the old preacher.
Watson's story went something like this:
He and his father were working in the cornfield along the road that led by their house (this road is now named Collins Road). They looked up from their work and saw an old man with a long white beard approaching. Albert, Watson's father, was not surprised to see him, for he knew Phillip Humphries. But to Watson, the stranger with a pack on his back, disheveled clothes, and his long white beard looked as Watson imagined Moses, the biblical patriarch, in appearance.
In the spring and again in the fall they would look up and suddenly Old Phil Humphries would be there, ready to talk, ready to give an account of his travels through many states and as far away from Choestoe as Texas. Watson called the old man "Uncle Phil" out of deference to his age and stature as a man of God. Actually, he was a "first cousin, thrice removed."
First, "Uncle Phil" warned people of their sins. This was his God-given message, one that he carried with him unabashedly in all of his travels. "If people did not repent and turn from their wicked ways," Uncle Phil stated, "God would visit them in his anger and cause devastation to come upon their homes, their crops, their families." From Georgia to Texas, this was his mission, to give the burning message God had put upon his heart.
It being about noontime, my Uncle Albert (Watson's father) invited the preacher to remain for the noon meal. He accepted gracefully, and at table the men talked of crops, people, politics, the weather, and what God expected of believers. The young boy Watson listened with open ears as his father and the preacher talked.
From reports on his journeys, the old preacher had really been to Texas. He talked knowledgeably about things he saw in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.
In Spring, as he stopped by the Dyer farm, he was coming from Texas. In Fall, as he again stopped for his talk and a noon meal, he was on his way back to Texas, proclaiming his message along the way, the themes of which were repentance and the coming catastrophe. He did not want money for the Word he delivered from the Lord, but he welcomed food, clothing and a place to lay his head at night. He also caught a free ride in buggies or wagons going in the direction of his mission trip. Watson said that Phillip had a sister who lived in adjacent Arkaquah District named Lottie Humphries, or Granny, as she was known because of her age.
Were Watson's 10-year old memories of Old Preacher Phillip Humphries a figment of his imagination? No. A little research revealed that his family did live in Arkaquah and he was a son of John and Kizziah Souther Humphries. Kizziah Souther was Albert Dyer's great aunt, a sister of his great grandfather, John Jesse Souther.
Kizziah Souther married John Humphries in Burke County, N.C., on December 27, 1831.
They moved to Georgia, along with others of Kizziah's siblings (for her mother and father were already settled in Choestoe) in the mid to late 1830's. Phillip Humphries was the sixth of 13 children born to John and Kizziah. The first four of their 13 children were born before they left North Carolina. The last nine were born in Arkaquah District where they settled in Georgia. These 13 children, by name and order of birth were Jesse, Jane, Catherine, Willis, James, Phillip, John, Noah, Sarah, Mary, Nancy Ann, Joseph F. and David.
Phillip Humphries was born about 1841. He was listed as 9 years of age in the 1850 Union County census. He married Cordie Parker. He served in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States. Family legend holds that an injury, or the terrible experiences of war, left his mind "deranged"-hence his wanderings between Texas and Georgia and his unusual way of delivering the gospel message. Texas had a pull for Phillip Humphries, where he took his wife and family, because his older brother, Willis, and his wife, Mary Johnson Humphries, had migrated there. Known names of Phillip and Cordie Parker Humphries are Joseph, James, Louise and Maggie, and possibly others whose names are not known.
The Lottie Humphries who Preacher Phillip Humphries visited at the "old Humphries place" in Arkaquah was actually Phillip's sister-in-law, Charlotte Duckworth who married Jesse Humphries on March 11, 1855. Charlotte, called Lottie, was the sixth child of David and Mary Duckworth. Lottie's husband Jesse also served in the Confederate Army. Jesse and Lottie moved their family to Walker County, Ga., where Jesse died. However, it seems that Lottie moved back to the "old Humphries" place at Arkaquah, because she is listed in the Union County Cemetery Book as buried in Bethel Cemetery, with her tombstone reading "Granny Lottie Humphrey - died 1923." Having been listed as 13 in the 1850 census, Lottie was born about 1837.
Preacher Phillip Humphries made his last visit to Georgia when an old man and became so ill that he could not return to Texas. Both the message and the desire to journey had left him. He was so ill that relatives placed him in a facility for Old Soldiers somewhere in North Carolina where he died and was buried.

c2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published June 15, 2006 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.


[Ethelene Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel.net; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411.]

The last column looked at the life and work of the Rev. Thomas M. Hughes (1809-1882), an early Union County settler who was associated with the noted Methodist minister, the Rev. William Jasper Cotter, who became the official Methodist Conference appointee to the Blairsville Mountain Mission Charge in 1846.
Rev. Thomas M. Hughes and his wife, Nancy Bird (1818-1881) daughter of the Rev Francis Bird and Frances Abernathy Bird, had thirteen children. The eighth of these children was Thomas Coke Hughes who himself became a Methodist Minister and worked as a circuit-riding preacher in Union, Towns and Fannin counties.
Thomas Coke Hughes was born June 22, 1844. He was eighteen years of age when he joined the Confederate Army on September 27, 1862, enlisting in Company G of the 65th Regiment of the Georgia Infantry. One of his good friends, Eugene Butt, joined at the same time. His particular unit was known as the Infantry Battalion of Smith’s Legion and also as the “Georgia Partisan Rangers.” The roll for August 31, 1864 shows that Hughes was present. He and his friend Eugene Butt came through the fighting without injury. Hughes was an officer, a 2nd Lieutenant of his Battalion. Records show that he surrendered with his command at the close of the war. In 1911 he received a pension for his service in the Confederate Army.
Rev. Hughes was a self-educated man. After the Civil War, he read avidly, choosing as his theological and Biblical guides Clarke’s Commentaries of the Holy Bible and the Theological Encyclopedia. It is said that he studied the grammatical structures and spellings in the Blue Back Speller so that he could become literate in good English usage for his writings and speaking.
Rev. Thomas Coke Hughes married twice. On September 23, 1868 he married Rhoda (also called Rady) P. Butt. Rev. Milfred G. Hamby, performed the ceremony. He was a brother in-law to Rev. Hughes, married to his sister Eleanor (Nellie) Hughes Hamby. To Thomas Coke and Rhoda Butt Hughes were born six children.
Rhoda died and the minister married, second, Sallie Daniel on April 13, 1884. Again, the Rev. Milford G. Hamby, brother-in-law, performed the ceremony. Four children were born to Thomas C. and Sallie Daniel Hughes. This writer did not find the names of all the ten children born to Rev. Hughes. However, two sons of Sallie were William Coke Hughes (b. 1890) and Claude Cofer Hughes (b. 1893). Both of these sons attended the Blairsville Collegiate Institute and served in the U. S. Army during World War I. Both sons also worked for the Georgia State Highway Department. William Coke (Bill) worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority during the time when TVA dams for generating electric power were being built. Claude owned and operated the first Farmers’ Cooperative Exchange in Union County.
Rev. Thomas Coke Hughes owned a good horse that would take him to the Methodist Churches in his circuit throughout Towns, Union and Fannin Counties. He was known as a preacher of power, plain spoken and dynamic. He was often in demand as a revival preacher and for the Methodist Camp Meetings held throughout the mountains in the summertime.
He was especially beloved by the black Methodist Church members in Union County. When he preached at the black church, it was reported that the members became so filled with the Spirit that someone always accompanied Rev. Hughes to help him safely through the crowd when the congregation was caught up in spiritual enthusiasm. Rev. Hughes was often referred to as “The Bishop of the Mountains.”


c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 22, 2005 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.


[Ethelene Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel.net; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411.]

For several weeks now we’ve explored aspects of the Eli Townsend family and its branches. That subject still has many avenues to explore, but for now I change directions and focus on the Rev. Thomas M. Hughes family. His legacy in Union and other north Georgia counties was as an early minister of the Methodist Church.
In 1846 the Rev. William Jasper Cotter, a noted Methodist minister in his own right, was sent by the Conference to his new charge at Blairsville, Ga. In writing his autobiography published in 1917 when he was an old man, Rev. Cotter made several references to Rev. Thomas M. Hughes. He wrote of arriving at the Blairsville Mission.
“The next evening (after five days on the road from Murray County) we reached Blairsville and were kindly received at the home of Rev. Thomas M. Hughes, a local preacher.” The Rev. Hughes helped the Cotters to find a cabin to live in and helped them get settled. The Hughes family and the Cotters became steadfast friends. While Rev. Cotter was on preaching missions to Tennessee, North Carolina and throughout North Georgia, he wrote in his autobiography: “Our good friends, the Hugheses…never allowed Rachel to spend a night alone while I was gone.”
The Rev. Thomas M. Hughes was born in Buncombe County, N.C., on January 31, 1809. He was a son of Goodman Hughes and Eleanor Payne Hughes. In Habersham County, Ga., on January 1, 1828, he married Nancy Bird. She was a daughter of the Rev. Francis Bird and Frankie (Frances) Abernathy Bird. Nancy was born in Rutherford County, N.C. Both the Hughes and the Bird families had come to north Georgia to live when Cherokee lands were opened up for settlement.
Rev. and Mrs. Thomas M. Hughes had a family of thirteen children. Martha (1828-1881) married Joab Addington and William R. Logan; William Chapel (1830-1906); Francis Goodman (1833-1908) married Amanda F. Goodrum and became a Methodist minister; Louisa (1834-?); Eleanor C. called “Nellie” (1834-1902) married the Rev. M. G. Hamby; Frances Jane (1840-1904) married W. R. Duncan; Rosetta (1841-1912) married James Calvin Erwin; Thomas Coke (1844-1932) married Rhoda Butt and Sallie Daniel and became a Methodist minister; Sarah Elizabeth (1847-1885) married the Rev. John Wesley Twiggs; John Wesley; Andrew Paxton; Calley; and Samuel.
Rev. and Mrs. Thomas M. Hughes, through his ministry and through their family, contributed much toward the upbuilding of the Methodist Church in the 19th century. Rev. Cotter in an article in “The Wesleyan Advocate” following Rev. Thomas M. Hughes and Nancy Bird Hughes’ deaths wrote: “Brother Hughes was a worthy local preacher, gifted in song, popular in his county, filling offices of trust…Sister Hughes was Miss Nancy Bird before her marriage, and like her husband, a sweet singer, amenable, and one of the best of women. Her father, Rev. Francis Bird, joined the S. C. Conference in 1805 with Lovick Pierce and Reddick Pierce. Rev. Bird baptized me in 1842. He was the son of Rev. Thomas Bird who lived to be quite old. This places brothers Francis Goodman Hughes (son of Thomas and Nancy) and W. T. Hamby (grandson of William and Nancy) in a long sacerdotal line.”
In an obituary in “The Wesleyan Advocate” written by Weir Boyd following Rev. Thomas M. Hughes’ death, these outstanding achievements were noted about his life: He was licensed to preach in 1839, ordained a deacon in 1847, and ordained as an elder in 1867 by Bishop Pierce. He was a local preacher, in labors abundant, regular and prompt in appointments, impressive in his preaching. He was stable of character, uniform in deportment, the patriarch of a large family several of whom are ministers of the gospel. He served as Clerk of the Superior Court of Union County for sixteen consecutive years. In addition to his duties as a local pastor and as Clerk of Court, he also was a merchant. He died August 22, 1882 in the 74th year of his life.
A lofty obituary to Nancy Bird Hughes was written for The Wesleyan Christian Advocate by J. B. Allen. In it he praised Mrs. Hughes as one who sought first and foremost “the will of God,” was faithful in “the great congregation, in the Sunday School, in her family circle.” Three of her sons became ministers of the gospel. She died March 9, 1881 and her slipping the earthly vale was described as follows: “Her face beamed with divine light, and her whole appearance presented anything but that of fear and sorrow... We have seen many die but none so triumphantly.”
Rev. and Mrs. Hughes were interred in the Old Blairsville Cemetery.

c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 15, 2005 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.


[Ethelene Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel.net; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411.]

Although Rich was his surname, riches as the world knows them were never in abundance for the Rev. Charles Edward Rich, better known as Brother Charlie Rich. He was an humble country preacher, plying his work mainly in Union County, Georgia.
This mountain preacher, Charlie Rich, was born on October 25, 1868 the only son of Solomon Hill Rich, Sr. (1806-1889) and his second wife, Nancy M. Conner (1827-1868). Charlie had seven half-brothers and two half-sisters, children of his father’s first wife. Solomon Rich and Nancy Connor were married October 22, 1865. Nancy was helping to rear the children by his first wife, and hoped to rear her own child, Charlie. But the baby’s mother died in childbirth the day he was born.
Educated in the county schools of Union County, Charlie Rich desired education at a higher level and attended Hiawassee Baptist Institute, graduating from its program of studies. This school was founded by the Rev. George W. Truett and his cousin, the Rev. Fernando Coello McConnell. It was possible for young men to board in the homes of the people or rent a small cabin with two or three neighbor boys sharing expenses and doing their own cooking while they “batched” and went to school. The school was noted for its strong academic program and its emphasis on Bible study, theology, speech and classical studies. It was no doubt while a student there that Charlie Rich felt a strong calling to become a minister of the gospel.
Charlie Rich was ordained to the gospel ministry about 1898 (exact date not known by this writer). His first pastorate was the Choestoe Baptist Church, the first-organized church in Union County (about 1832 with minutes extant from 1834). Rev. Charlie Rich met this congregation for two years during 1898 and 1899. Other churches in the county that experienced his spiritual leadership were Harmony Grove Baptist, Union Baptist and Mt. Zion Baptist (in Dooly District). He returned for the second time to pastor Choestoe for a longer period, from 1903 through February of 1915. When a new church building was erected there, Rev. Rich preached the dedicatory sermon in June 1918.
The Rev. Rich’s first wife was Nannie Epps (May 27, 1869-July 13, 1906) whom he married February 27, 1890. To them were born six children. These children and their spouses were: Minnie Beulah (1891) married Tom Jarrard and had one child, Bonnell; Francis Marion (1893-1962) married Ella May Welchel and had one son, Francis Marion Jr; Clarence Edward (1895-1947) married Nancy Louise Dyer (1893-1985) and had three children, Ellene Epps, Clarence Edward Jr. and Bill Bluford; Nellie Alma (1897-1918) married Tom Boling. They had no children. Estelle Bessie (1901-1992) married Ralph Conley. Their six children were Charles, Sarah Nell, John, Buddy, Francis and Jim. Irene Stephens (1904) married Benjamin Jefferson Hulsey and had six children: Amanda, Sarah, Mariben, Joyce, Benjamin Jefferson Jr. and Julius.
After the Rev. Rich’s first wife Nannie died July 13, 1906, he married, second, to Rebecca J. Cavender on January 31, 1907. His children were ages 3, 6, 10, 12, 14 and 16 when their mother died. Rebecca helped to rear her husband’s children by his first wife, Nannie.
Rev. Rich had a deep love for the people in the mountains. He encouraged young people to seek education beyond the one-teacher rural schools, where he sometimes taught in addition to his preaching duties. He helped students to get enrolled and settled into studies at the Blairsville Collegiate Institute and the Hiawassee Collegiate Institute where he himself had graduated.
It is said that he preached with vigor and evangelistic zeal. He was often sought out as the summer revival preacher in weeks of protracted meetings after crops were “laid by.” A tribute, written several years after his death and published in the Notla River Baptist Association Minutes of August, 1950, cited his work as a pastor, an evangelist and a promoter of Christian education and missions.
A stained glass window in the present Choestoe Baptist Church building recognizes him as a former pastor of the church. As the sun streams through the window it is a reflection of the influence and outreach of this minister whose life was dedicated to the service of God and to leading people in a Christian walk.
The Rev. Charles Edward Rich died April 25, 1919 at the young age of 50. He and his first wife, Nannie Epps Rich, who died in 1906 when she was only 37, were both interred in the Old Choestoe Church Cemetery.

c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published July 7, 2005 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

[Ethelene Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel.net; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411.]