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JOHN CLELAND, South Georgia Patriarch
Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, on
February 19, 1839; died in Ware Co. on December 27, 1910; buried at Ben
James Church Cemetery, with a Confederate (CSA) grave site marker,
Blackshear, Ga.!
HELP! $50.00 Reward for proof of parents name, and
birth circumstances.
NOTE ERROR IN RANK ON TOMB STONE: Should be 3rd Sergeant, a higher rank |
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| JOHN CLELAND,
born on 19 Feb 1839, in the Beaufort District of South Carolina and moved
to Pierce County, Georgia as a young lad during the mid-1800 (one source
says 1847). We can not identify his parents.
We have not been unable to identify John with parents
in either the 1850 Census for Georgia or South Carolina. His pension
records say he came to Georgia about 1847. The Pierce County
(Georgia) 1860 Census shows John Cleland with a wife named "Elender".
Neither have we been able to identify the parents of Elender, but her
surname is believed to be "SMITH". She has also been referred to as "Ellie
and Nellie." In Pierce County, John was closely associated with
the John Lugg family; Mary Lugg, is shown in the 1860 census married to
William Jasper Riggins; in the 1900 Pierce County census, Mary is shown as
a grandmother living with Allen Jackson Cleland, the son of our John
Cleland. John is listed as Allen's father. |
JOHN CLELAND, a "raw boned" farm boy,
born in South Carolina, moved to Georgia, too proud to let Union Solders
invade his southern homeland without a fight; relinquished his pride after
3 1/2 years of hard fierce battle under the command of General Robert E.
Lee, in Northern Virginia and suffered humiliation along with General John
B. Gordon (of Georgia) at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April
9, 1865.
TOO PROUD, TOO BRAVE, TOO TOUGH, TOO MUCH A CONFEDERATE
REBEL, TO BE LOST IN THE ARCHIVES OF HISTORY! John resided in
Pierce and Ware County, Georgia, for about 65 year, less the 3 1/2 Years
he spent in in Northern Virginia. |
The south Georgia "Cleland family" originated with John
Cleland in Pierce County, Georgia. John was born in Beaufort County, South
Carolina, on February 19, 1839 (History of Pierce Co. (HPC)/South Georgia Rebels
(SGR)). While there is no exact record of his arrival in Pierce County, it is
believed to have been in 1847 (shown on John's application for Confederate
pension). John Cleland and his wife Elender (Ellie), appeared in Pierce County's
first Census in 1860. John was 21 years old at that time. He was also found in
the 1880 Census with his wife and eight children.
Note: . John's wife's name is listed as Elender
in the 1860 Pierce Co. census; 1880 census shows, NELLIE; the death certificate
of William Alfred (son) shows his mother's name to be "Ellie". We assume her
name to be Elender, as shown in the 1860 census.
CHILDREN |
1. HANSFORD (Hance),
born March 01, 1862, Pierce Co., Ga., and died Nov. 18, 1922, in Appling
Co., Georgia. He married Mary Jane Baxley, dob May, 1867, daughter
of Mitchel Baxley and Cecilda Sellers. Mary Jane died about 1951.
Evidence points to Appling Co., Ga. as place of death. . |
2. MARY,
born April 06, 1865 in Pierce Co., Ga., and died September
25, 1913 in Appling County, Ga, and was buried at Johnson Memorial (Corinth)
Cemetery. She married Duncan Malcom Johnson. He was born October
1852, and died October 15, 1914. |
3. JAMES IRWIN,
born Est 1868 Married Carolina Bowen on 1/25/1888.
D. Est May, 1900, and was buried at Hudson, Florida. EXTRACTED FROM THE
BLACKSHEAR TIMES: MAY 17, 1900: The shooting and instant killing of Mr. J.
Irwin Cleland last week near Hudson, Fla., was a severe shock to his aged
father (John Cleland) and relatives in this (Pierce) county. He was shot
from ambush by negroes, of whom three has been lynched. Circumstances
prevented the body from being brought home for burial and today it sleeps
in Florida soil. |
4. ADELINE
(Addie), born 11/22/1869 in Brooks
County, Ga., and died September 03, 1937 in Savannah, Ga. On Jan. 28,1886,
she married Charles Nathaniel Lanier, born June 16, 1862 in Bullock Co.
Georgia, and died January 30, 1937. Both are buried at Ben James Cem., in
Pierce County, Georgia. |
5. JOHN EDWARD,
born 12/31/1871, and married Hattie Youmans D. 3/18/1941 B. 4/18/1879 D.
8/8/1962. Both are buried at Oakland Cem. Ware Co.
NOTES FROM BLACKSHEAR TIMES (Provided by Mrs. Helen -Mrs. Don - Rowell):
1. JANUARY 20, 1898: John E. Cleland has tendered his resignation as
Marshal and the same has been accepted. Rufus Henderson has been appointed
in his stead. 2. JULY 21, 1898: A telegram from Captain Hopkins was
received here Monday stating that John E. Cleland was quite ill and could
not live. We understand that his father went down Monday night to see him.
3. JULY 28, 1898: A. Tampa, Fla., July 26, 1898, to Blackshear Times: The
Second Georgia is now in camp on Tampa Heights, having removed from
Palmetto Beach last Saturday. We were under orders to go to Fernandina,
and was loaded for the trip, but at the last moment the order was
countermanded and we are now booked for Santiago. There has been
considerable sickness in camp but as the present camp is higher and dryer
than the former, hopes are entertained that the sick list will be reduced
in a short time. ... The boys are not pleased at all at the prospect of a
trip to Santiago on account of the yellow fever now raging there, but from
what I can ascertain every one would be delighted with a trip to Porto
Rico. However, there is no certainty as to our movements and we are just
as liable to go to Porto Rico, North Carolina, or Georgia, as we are to
Santiago; all those places are prominently mentioned as probable points
where we are to spend the balance of the warm months, then too, the is a
vague fear that we may remain where we are until winter, as one regiment
will be left here to guard the city and government property, and the
citizens of Tampa have petitioned Mr. McKinleh to allow the Second Georgia
to remain here, but none of us care to remain... Signed Leon Phillips. P.
S. Mr. John Cleland has been down here several days in attendance upon his
sick son, John E. We extend to Mr. Cleland every courtesy possible, also
to his son, who was a point better Sunday afternoon. Signed as LP. B. John
E. Cleland, who enlisted in Captain Hopkins' company, returned home
Tuesday in a critical condition. He has typhoid fever and may not recover.
He was accompanied by his father who went to Tampa the first of last week.
4. AUGUST 4, 1898: Mr. John E. Cleland, who was brought home from Tampa
last week quite sick, is improving. Note: John Cleland, the father of John
Edward had suffered a similar attack of TYPHOID while serving with the
Confederate Army in Northern Virginia in the 1860s! |
6. WILLIAM ALFRED, born 2/08/1873 Married
Mina Ellen Hogarth on 10/16/1897. D. 8/11/1945 B. 3/11/1881 D. 9/4/1959
Both are buried at Ben James Cem., Pierce Co. |
7. SARAH ELIZABETH
(Lizzie) Married James L. Tuten on 2/22/1893. B. 4/1878, born 7/1875. died
1/20/1946. Burial location unknown. |
8. ALLEN JACKSON,
born 1/10/1879, married, #1 Martha J. Peacock on 02/25/1897, and died in
April 1898. Married, #2 Martha A. Tuten on 02/25/1900. She was born on
2/22/1882 in Ware Co., and died 6/8/1943. Allen died 1/31/1963 in Ware
County Ga. Both he and Martha Ann are buried at Oakland Cemetery in
Waycross. |
EVENTS IN LIFE OF
JOHN CLELAND |
| After moving to Pierce County as a child from South
Carolina, John Cleland worked most
of his life as a farmer, except for three years and eight months he served
in the Army of the Confederate States of America (CSA), obtaining the rank
of Third Sergeant. |
| He volunteered into a Cavalry Company known as the
Atlantic and Gulf Guards in early 1861. He has been identified as a Charter
Member of that organization which was founded in Pierce County to defend the
Georgia coast (HPC). |
| Later, on September 5th, 1861, John was sworn into the
CSA Army as a Private before Captain Donald J. McDonald of Company H, 13th
Regiment Georgia Infantry. This company was successively re-designated to
Company D, 13th Regiment Georgia Infantry, and then to Company F, 26th
Regiment Georgia Infantry (Ware Guards). After it's organization in August
1861 Company F was stationed at Camp Styles, St. Simons Island, and later at
at Camp Hazlehurst at Waynesville. In the spring of 1862, orders were
received to debark for Virginia to support the Confederate cause against
aggressing federal troops. |
| Dean Broome's History of Pierce County noted that many
Pierce County soldiers were granted leave from service to visit their family
before departing for Virginia, and we believe that John Cleland had the
occasion to see his first son, Hansford, before departing into battle.
Hansford was born in April 1862. Subsequent additions to John Cleland's
family occurred after the Civil War. |
| After volunteering as a Private, John Cleland was
promoted to 1st Corporal. On March 1, 1864, he was appointed to fill the
vacancy of 5th Sergeant John J. Henderson who was discharged in February
1864. Records dated November 6, 1864, indicated that John was later advanced
to the rank of 3rd Sergeant of Company F, 26th Regiment. |
| Upon arriving in Virginia in early June 1962, the 26th
Regiment including John's Company "F", was assigned to the "Confederate Army
of Northern Virginia" under the command of General Robert E. Lee. The
Georgia Brigade, also known as "Lawton's Brigade" and "Gordon's Brigade",
was commanded by Generals Alexander R. Lawton, John B. Gordon, and Clement
A. Evans. General John B. Gordon, eventually assumed command of the Second
Corp which included General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's old command and
the 26th Regiment. |
| Under these leaders the 26th Georgia Regiment was
involved in many of the great civil war battles of Northern Virginia during
the period of June 1982 and April 1865, a time when Sherman was marching
through Georgia. They won many laurels for actions on the battle field
(HPC). |
| On November 8, 1864, John was admitted to the CSA
General Hospital at Charlottesville, Virginia, with a diagnosis of typhoid
fever. He was hospitalized for approximately six weeks, released on December
18, 1864, and returned to his unit. |
| At the climax of the Civil War, Georgia's 26th
Regiment as part of the Second Corp was surrendered by General Robert E. Lee
to Lieutenant General U.S. Grant. 3rd
Sergeant John Cleland's name appears on the register of Prisoners of
War belonging to the CSA Army of Northern Virginia. The formal surrender was
made at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865 (Register is
dated Headquarters, 26th Georgia Regiment, April 10, 1865). With General
Robert E. Lee being excused from the surrender ceremony held on April 12,
1865, General John B. Gordon led in presentation the Confederate compatriots
consisting Stonewall Jackson Ole Brigade and the remnants of the "Fight'in
Georgia Brigade" before the conquering Union Army. |
| Out of more than 5,000 South Georgians who went to
Virginia three years earlier, only 841 were on hand to witness in the
surrender ceremony. John Cleland was identified among the remaining 78
Georgians from the original 1000 assigned to Georgia's 26th Regiment, and
was the ranking Sergeant of Company F (Ware Guards) (SRG). He was one
of eight to remain alive of Company F (A company is normally composed of 100
men - 8 out of 100 men were present at the surrender ceremony at Appomattox,
Va.) Would you say,
HERO?, FAST RUNNER?, OR TALENTED AT HIDING? We wanted to know? |
| In the surrender negotiations between Generals Lee and
Grant, the 26th Georgia Regiment was awarded a parole with authorization to
return home. Sergeant John Cleland returned to Pierce County, as evidenced
by the 1880 Census. In the latter years of his life John lived with his
youngest son Allen Jackson Cleland in Pierce Co. (1900 Pierce Co Census-
Listed as Father). Mary (believed to be Lugg) Riggins was also living with
Allen, listed as a grandmother. |
| John Cleland died on December
27, 1910, while living with his son, Allen in Ware County, and was buried at
Ben James Cemetery in Pierce County, Georgia. The death date and burial
place of Elender (Ellie) Smith has not been determined. Ellie apparently
died before the 1900 Census. |
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DESCENDENT SKETCHES
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