From: Cen-Silver Celebration The 125th Anniversary of the Founding of Hazlehurst, GA: A Town at the Crossroads - Volume II Compiled and Presented by the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis Historical Society 1998 Edited by Mary Ann Anderson ---------------------------------------------------------- Page 107 "The Byrd Family" by Sue Byrd "In the 1800's, one of the large landowners of Jeff Davis and Coffee Counties was Wiley Byrd. He owned land from Snipesville to Coffee County. The house shown in the following photograph still stands today. This is where Wiley Byrd reared his large family of twenty-one children. One of the Byrd's great-granddaughters presently lives in the house. Before Mr. Byrd died, he gave each of his children a lot of land (the lot was four hundred acres) to be their start in life. Only the land where the house stands and some surrounding acerage are still owned by family members. Not far from Mr. Byrd's house, he donated land to establish "Byrd Church", which is now known as Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. This is one of the oldest churches in the county, and there are a large number of the Byrd family members buried in its cemetery." Page 108 "In the photograph, Wiley Byrd is with his second wife, Sempee, and five of the youngest children. The oldest son shown here was my grandfather, A. Warren Byrd. In 1903, at a young age, he was deputy sheriff of Broxton, Georgia for a short time. Broxton is where he and his wife Nona and two children lived. After the birth of their third child, Nona died. A year later, Warren married my grandmother, Vera Andrews. They had fourteen children. Grandpa was one of the first members of Union Springs Baptist Church. Later he became a deacon and he reared his children in the church. Fifteen of these children became members of Union Springs Baptist Church. After they married, all but two moved to other churches. Sons Homer and Benny were the only two lifetime members. My father, Homer, became a deacon at Union Springs Baptist Church in 1905. Now my mother and I are the only ones still attending the church. Union Springs does hold a very rich heritage for me." Page 109 (caption at the bottom of photograph) "EARLY DEPUTY -- This photograph was taken in 1903, two years before Jeff Davis County was formed in what was then Coffee County. In it are Warren Byrd, his wife Nona (both are deceased), and two of their children, Mrs. Lillie Mae Bailey (left) of Darien and Legrande Byrd, deceased. The ribbon on Byrd's lapel was his "badge" as deputy sherriff of Broxton. Byrd had 17 children including Mrs. R. N. Kerns of Hazlehurst, Mrs. C. C. Kerns who owns this photograph of Tampa, FL, and Jesse, Homer, and Bennie Byrd all of Jeff Davis County."

A year later, Warren married my grandmother, Vera Andrews. They had fourteen children. vera Andrews daughter of William Henry Andrews and Mary Ella Wood Andrews. Brother of James Taylor Andrews (who is my grandfather). If so cousin...we have some talkin to do! Diana Andrews Sjoberg in Las Vegas

Luann-- My father talks of a Harper girl he knew in Polk Co. FL with the last name of Harper. I think that she went north (Indiana or Ohio) to become a teacher. I guess she would be in her 70s. Ring any bells. Diana ----- Original Message ----- From: Luan Harper <lyh@gate.net> To: <GACOFFEE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 8:55 PM Subject: [GACOFFEE] The Byrd family article > From: > Cen-Silver Celebration > The 125th Anniversary of the Founding of Hazlehurst, GA: > A Town at the Crossroads - Volume II > Compiled and Presented by the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis Historical Society > 1998 > Edited by Mary Ann Anderson > ---------------------------------------------------------- > Page 107 > > "The Byrd Family" by Sue Byrd > > "In the 1800's, one of the large landowners of Jeff Davis and Coffee Counties was Wiley Byrd. He owned land from Snipesville to Coffee County. The house shown in the following photograph still stands today. This is where Wiley Byrd reared his large family of twenty-one children. One of the Byrd's great-granddaughters presently lives in the house. Before Mr. Byrd died, he gave each of his children a lot of land (the lot was four hundred acres) to be their start in life. Only the land where the house stands and some surrounding acerage are still owned by family members. Not far from Mr. Byrd's house, he donated land to establish "Byrd Church", which is now known as Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. This is one of the oldest churches in the county, and there are a large number of the Byrd family members buried in its cemetery." > > Page 108 > > "In the photograph, Wiley Byrd is with his second wife, Sempee, and five of the youngest children. The oldest son shown here was my grandfather, A. Warren Byrd. In 1903, at a young age, he was deputy sheriff of Broxton, Georgia for a short time. Broxton is where he and his wife Nona and two children lived. After the birth of their third child, Nona died. A year later, Warren married my grandmother, Vera Andrews. They had fourteen children. Grandpa was one of the first members of Union Springs Baptist Church. Later he became a deacon and he reared his children in the church. Fifteen of these children became members of Union Springs Baptist Church. After they married, all but two moved to other churches. Sons Homer and Benny were the only two lifetime members. My father, Homer, became a deacon at Union Springs Baptist Church in 1905. Now my mother and I are the only ones still attending the church. Union Springs does hold a very rich heritage for me." > > Page 109 (caption at the bottom of photograph) > > "EARLY DEPUTY -- This photograph was taken in 1903, two years before Jeff Davis County was formed in what was then Coffee County. In it are Warren Byrd, his wife Nona (both are deceased), and two of their children, Mrs. Lillie Mae Bailey (left) of Darien and Legrande Byrd, deceased. The ribbon on Byrd's lapel was his "badge" as deputy sherriff of Broxton. Byrd had 17 children including Mrs. R. N. Kerns of Hazlehurst, Mrs. C. C. Kerns who owns this photograph of Tampa, FL, and Jesse, Homer, and Bennie Byrd all of Jeff Davis County." > > > ==== GACOFFEE Mailing List ==== > The Coffee County mailing list is a flame free list. Rudeness will NOT be tolerated. If you are having a problem with someone on the list, please contact either Karen or Melody. > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! >

Hello, does anyone know where I might buy a copy of Cen-Silver? Looking for info about my Hayes family. Thank you. Julie Munn "D. Sjoberg" wrote: > Luann-- > My father talks of a Harper girl he knew in Polk Co. FL with the last name > of Harper. I think that she went north (Indiana or Ohio) to become a > teacher. I guess she would be in her 70s. Ring any bells. > > Diana > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Luan Harper <lyh@gate.net> > To: <GACOFFEE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 8:55 PM > Subject: [GACOFFEE] The Byrd family article > > > From: > > Cen-Silver Celebration > > The 125th Anniversary of the Founding of Hazlehurst, GA: > > A Town at the Crossroads - Volume II > > Compiled and Presented by the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis Historical Society > > 1998 > > Edited by Mary Ann Anderson > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > Page 107 > > > > "The Byrd Family" by Sue Byrd > > > > "In the 1800's, one of the large landowners of Jeff Davis and Coffee > Counties was Wiley Byrd. He owned land from Snipesville to Coffee County. > The house shown in the following photograph still stands today. This is > where Wiley Byrd reared his large family of twenty-one children. One of the > Byrd's great-granddaughters presently lives in the house. Before Mr. Byrd > died, he gave each of his children a lot of land (the lot was four hundred > acres) to be their start in life. Only the land where the house stands and > some surrounding acerage are still owned by family members. Not far from > Mr. Byrd's house, he donated land to establish "Byrd Church", which is now > known as Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. This is one of the oldest churches > in the county, and there are a large number of the Byrd family members > buried in its cemetery." > > > > Page 108 > > > > "In the photograph, Wiley Byrd is with his second wife, Sempee, and five > of the youngest children. The oldest son shown here was my grandfather, A. > Warren Byrd. In 1903, at a young age, he was deputy sheriff of Broxton, > Georgia for a short time. Broxton is where he and his wife Nona and two > children lived. After the birth of their third child, Nona died. A year > later, Warren married my grandmother, Vera Andrews. They had fourteen > children. Grandpa was one of the first members of Union Springs Baptist > Church. Later he became a deacon and he reared his children in the church. > Fifteen of these children became members of Union Springs Baptist Church. > After they married, all but two moved to other churches. Sons Homer and > Benny were the only two lifetime members. My father, Homer, became a deacon > at Union Springs Baptist Church in 1905. Now my mother and I are the only > ones still attending the church. Union Springs does hold a very rich > heritage for me." > > > > Page 109 (caption at the bottom of photograph) > > > > "EARLY DEPUTY -- This photograph was taken in 1903, two years before Jeff > Davis County was formed in what was then Coffee County. In it are Warren > Byrd, his wife Nona (both are deceased), and two of their children, Mrs. > Lillie Mae Bailey (left) of Darien and Legrande Byrd, deceased. The ribbon > on Byrd's lapel was his "badge" as deputy sherriff of Broxton. Byrd had 17 > children including Mrs. R. N. Kerns of Hazlehurst, Mrs. C. C. Kerns who owns > this photograph of Tampa, FL, and Jesse, Homer, and Bennie Byrd all of Jeff > Davis County." > > > > > > ==== GACOFFEE Mailing List ==== > > The Coffee County mailing list is a flame free list. Rudeness will NOT be > tolerated. If you are having a problem with someone on the list, please > contact either Karen or Melody. > > > > ============================== > > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! > > > > ==== GACOFFEE Mailing List ==== > If you would be interested in adopting a GaGenWeb county, please contact Melody at mmccook@bellsouth.net to see which counties are > available for adoption. All counties can beneift from extra volunteers! > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com