William Harden, Lewis Publishing Co.
1913 Ancestry.com Family & Local Histories
Dr. Seaborn A. RODDENBERY attained his early education in the rural school of Thomas county (GA). …entered Oglethorpe Medical College at Savannah, where he graduated M.D. in 1858. He then began practice in Decatur County, and engaged board and lodging in the home of Samuel BRASWELL, a planter living four miles northwest of the recent site of Cairo. He soon afterwards bought a tract of land at the "cross-roads," two miles from the present site of Cairo, and there built a log house. Into that humble shelter, he brought his bride, and it was in that home that Walter Blair Roddenberry and other of the children were born. Dr. Roddenbery built up a very large and successful practice in his vicinity and like all pioneer doctors he had to undergo the hardships of almost constant riding and driving across the country with few roads and with very inadequate accommodations for man or beast. This exposure and hard work undermined his health so that in 1870 he moved into Cairo and engaged in the merchandise business. … until his death in 1896. During the last year of the war, Dr. RODDENBERY was called out with the Georgia Militia.
Dr. RODDENBERY married Miss Martha America BRASWELL. She was born on the south side of Thomas county in 1837 and now (1913) resides at the old homestead with her son, Charles D. Her father was Samuel BRASWELL, who came North Carolina to Georgia, being one of the early settlers in Thomas county. In about 1845, he moved to Decatur county and bought land about four miles northwest of the present site of Cairo. In that locality, he spent the rest of his day. Dr. RODDENBERY and wife (Martha America BRASWELL) reared five sons and two daughters named Walter Blair, Bertha, Robert S., Seaborn A., (Jr.), John W., Charles D., and Kate. Bertha, now deceased, was first married to Dr. A. B. Coffman, and second to Charles W. Beale. Charles D. is a cigar manufacturer in Cairo. Robert S. is engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Moultrie, Georgia. Seaborn A. Roddenberry, Jr., an attorney at Thomasville, is one of the prominent men in public life of Georgia, and is now representing his district in Congress for the third term.
Walter Blair Roddenbery as a boy attended school in Cairo, and was then sent to Prof. O. D. Scott's school in Thomasville, where he prepared for college. He entered the University of Virginia, and was a student there for two years. It was his intention to enter the law, but his father's ill health turned him aside from professional life, and he returned home to take charge of the store, a business to which he later succeeded. ...
Mr. (Walter) Roddenbery was married June 1, 1887 to Miss Maude Bostwick. She was born in Homer, Louisiana, a daughter of Elijah and Rebecca Scaife Bostwick. Her maternal grandfather was Rev. Jimison Scaife, a pioneer of the Methodist ministry in Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. Roddenbery have four sons named Albert C., Julien B., Walter Blair Jr., and Frederick W. Mr. Roddenbery is a member of the Baptist church and his wife of the Methodist.
*****
SEABORN A. RODDENBERY, M.D.
, is one of the most important personages in the thriving village of Cairo,
in the western part of Thomas County, Georgia., being a physician, merchant,
planter, and since President Grant's administration, postmaster. George
Roddenbury, his grandfather, came from North Carolina to Bulloch county,
Georgia., many years ago. The Dr's parents, Robert and Vicey (Anderson)
Roddenbery, came to Thomas county and settled in the northern part early in
the 20's, where they raised ten children to maturity, of whom the following
are living: Margaret, Mrs. Robert Tuggle, Thomas county; Nancy, Mrs.
Nathaniel E. Turner, Thomas county; Georgia Ann, Mrs. W. B. Hamilton,
Thomasville; and Seaborn A.., physician. The deceased are: Louisa, John K.,
Mary Ann, Elizabeth Jane and Sarah. Mr. Roddenbery was a planter and quite
wealthy; he died in 1879 and Mrs. Roddenbery died in 1886. Seaborn
A.Roddenbery was born in THOMAS county Feb 18, 1836. He studied medicine
under Dr. Robert Bruce, Thomasville, and then attended lectures at Savannah,
GA., paying his own expenses, graduating in 1860. Dr. Roddenbery then
located near Cairo, but removed to the village in 1872, which has since been
his home. July 31, 1862, the doctor was married in Decatur county, GA., to
MARTHA A. BRASWELL,
whose parents formerly lived in THOMAS county, where she was born and
raised. To them were born ten children: Walter B., manager of his father's
business in Cairo; Bertha, deceased; Cora L.., deceased; Robert S., Eufaula,
ALA; Seaborn A.., teacher, Thomasville, GA; John W., deceased; Katie and
Charles D. at home; and McIntyre and Blanche, twins, deceased. Dr.
Roddenbery is a progressive citizen and is regarded as as important factor
in all movements to promote the development of this section. He is a
democrat, a member of the Baptist church, and a master Mason.
Vol. 1,pp. 323-325) (1879) gs 975.822 H2f
James Bracewell,
who was one of the first settlers of Gwinnett County, descended from a long line
of ancestors who immigrated to this country from Ireland in the early part of
the eighteenth century. The name of the immigrant father is unknown. He settled
on Tar River near Tarbrough, N.C.,and reared only two children, both sons,
Richard and Robert. Richard was the great-grandfather of
James. He reared eight children, all sons one of whom was Richard,
the grandfather of James. This Richard had two wives. By the first
he had only one child, a son, Robert, who served through the
Revolutionary War, during which he made a powder horn upon which he carved his
initials and that horn is still in the family.
In the year 1764 or '65, Richard married Agnes Proctor and reared
a large family, all boys except one daughter and her name was Elizabeth.
She is said to be the last daughter to be born in the Bracewell family in
this country. His family was nearly all born and reared to be nearly grown in
North Carolina. Soon after the war he sold out and moved to Georgia and settled
on Briar Creek in Burke County. The climate proved to be deleterious to the
health of the family and several died. He then moved to Washington County, now
Laurens, and settled on the Oconee River when it was the dividing line between
the whites and the Indians. In a few years all his children die but three,
Richard, Sampson, and Elizabeth.
Richard, the father of James, in the year 1793 married Charity
Scarborough and their first child, James, was born June 5, 1794, in
Allen's Fort, for the people then had to live in forts to protect themselves
from the Indians. Richard had three other sons, Wiley, Richard,
and William. His wife died in 1804. After many years he married a Miss
Carlisle by whom he had two sons, Kindred and Allen. He died
in the year 1816, of consumption at about the age of fifty years, leaving his
son, James, as executor of his estate. After closing up the estate,
James went to Morgan County in the year 1817 on a visit to his relatives and
decided to make it his home. He began merchandising in that county in 1818. He
did well in his business for a time and his credit was perfectly good. He
indorsed for a neighbor by the name of Richardson in the Darien bank for a large
sum and had it to pay. This broke him financially and he had to satisfy said
debt which left him penniless with a wife and two children looking to him for
support. He had married Elizabeth Butler, the daughter of Jesse and Mary
Butler, on May 10, 1820, in Morgan County. Soon after his financial trouble he
determined to return to the county of his birth, which he did in the early part
of the year 1822, and settled at the mouth of Little Rocky Creek on the Oconee
River. There his wife and children soon took chills and fever and remained sick
until the latter part of the summer of 1823 when he determined to carry them up
to his mother-in-law in Morgan County to see if they would improve in health.
While there he heard of Gwinnett County,which was beginning to be settled, was
highly spoken of, and he decided to go up and see it. He and his brother-in-law,
William Butler, came up and looked at the lands on Yellow River. They were well
please and Butler bought the half lot of land upon which Affanicious Massey now
lives.
One of his old Morgan County friends, Thomas Robinson, the old wagoner,had
already moved and then was living on Yellow River. He returned to Laurens
County, wound up his little business and went to Morgan County, got his wife and
children, and in a one-horse wagon landed upon the lot of land bought by Butler,
in the early part of December, 1823. He remained there some three years, then he
and Butler divided the tract of land and he built and settled on his part in the
year 1827 or '28, where Mr. Massey now resides. He embraced religion at Boring's
campground, now Bethusda, in the year 1824 or '25. He remained on that half lot
of land until 1835, when he sold out and bought out Joseph Couey, moved to that
place and remained there until 1858, when he sold that and bought land one mile
south of Lawrenceville and moved to it in 1862.
Soon after this his wife died and he broke up housekeeping and moved to the home
of his son, J. R. Bracewell, four miles north of Stone Mountain. After
the death of his wife he lost energy and in a few years showed signs of failing
health. In the year 1875 he complained of shortness of breath and it was soon
found out that he had dropsy of the chest which gradually grew worse until death
ended his suffering on December 12, 1875.
His mind was good to the last. He straightened himself out and closed his eyes.
The fact of his having a good memory was universally admitted. He was
politically a Henry Clay Whig, and lived and died opposed to the Democratic
party. He never had any political aspirations, but always voted for his party
friends. He was strongly opposed to secession and the Southern Confederacy. In
religion he was Methodist to the core. From the best information we have, his
ancestors were members of the Episcopal Church, but joined the Methodist
Episcopal Church soon after its organization in this country. So the family is
almost universally Methodist by instinct.
The removal of the grandfather from North Carolina to Brier Creek gave the
family a shock from which it never recovered.
I am indebted to W. B. Bracewell, the oldest living son, for the
elaborate history of the ancestors of James Bracewell, the subject of the
present sketch. It is complimentary to them that they have kept a history of
their family for nearly two centuries. In my task of trying to chronicle the
history of the early settlers of Gwinnett County, I found that their descendants
generally were lamentably ignorant of their genealogy.
Mr. Bracewell reared eleven children, five sons and six daughters. The
oldest son, Richard W., died in Texas at about forty years of age.
Samuel T. was a member of the Independent Blues, a company recruited in this
county at the beginning of the War Between the States. He was a good soldier and
died during the war. William B., James R. and Henry, the
surviving sons, still are worthy, respected citizens of this county. I would
speak of his daughters, but all of them, except four, have gone from memory...
Contributed by Carey
Bracewell
J.P. Rockmore, merchant-farmer, Loganville, Walton Co., GA, son of E. M. and Nancy A. (Thompson) Rockmore, was born in Newton county, GA., in 1845. His grandparents on his fathers side, John and Mary (Barnes) Rockmore, were native Georgians. He was the son of an emigrant from France who came to this country when young and settled in GA; was a planter all his life, accumulated quite a large property, and was a member of the Missionary Baptist church. Mr. Rockmore's father was born in what is now Newton county in 1814, followed farming all his life, was a soldier in the Seminole war, acquired large estate, and died in 1858. He was a deacon in the Missionary Baptist church. His grandparents on his mother's side were Joe and Elizabeth (Lemsford) Thompson. He was born in Wilkes county, GA in 1797, was a planter and quite rich, and moved to Mississippi, where he died. Mr. Rockmore was raised on the farm and received but a limited education. In 1863 he enlisted in a company commanded by Capt. Carroll, but being seriously injured by the running away of a mule, was compelled to return home. After the war he found himself the possessor of a horse, so he bought a small farm and began life, worked hard and saved some money. In 1873 he embarked in a general merchandising business at Loganville, in which he has been succesful, does a large and satisfactory business, and has, besides, large and profitable milling and cotton-ginning interests. Mr. Rockmore was married in 1867 to MISS ELIZABETH BRASWELL, born in Gwinnett county, GA., in 1848, daughter of EPHRIAM and DOLLIE A. (Moore?) BRASWELL. He was born in SC, whence he moved to GA in 1828 and settled in Walton county. He was a farmer and merchant and served in the Seminole war. Himself and wife lived to be 70 yrs old. Of the children which blessed this union seven survive: Marshall L., Ephriam, Maude, Estella, Claude, Dollie A. and Henry Grady. Mr. Rockmore and his wife are active members of the Methodist church.
Posted to the Braswell Blog by Ann Braswell