Hall County, Georgia 1895

John Park Dunagan

JOHN D. DUNAGAN was born August 06, 1799 in Hall County, Georgia, the 4^th child of Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan and was John Park Dunagan's grandfather. He died Abt. 1856 in Whitfield, Georgia. He married MARTHA HARLAN Abt. 1828 in Jackson County, Georgia, daughter of VALENTINE HARLAN and MILDRED SNOW. She was born March 12, 1811 in Jackson County, Georgia, and died August 16, 1860 in Whitfield, Georgia.

Children of JOHN DUNAGAN and MARTHA HARLAN are:

ADELINE DUNAGAN, b. January 11, 1829.

BENJAMIN SANFORD DUNAGAN, b. March 24, 1830.

HARLAN DUNAGAN, b. July 07, 1831.

ELIZABETH DUNAGAN, b. February 12, 1832.

JOHN BRICE DUNAGAN, b. July 14, 1833, Whitfield County, Georgia; d. March 01, 1900, Catoosa County, Georgia.

GEORGE WASHINGTON DUNAGAN, b. June 27, 1835.

MARTHA DUNAGAN, b. Abt. 1837, Whitfield County, Georgia.

LOUISA JANE DUNAGAN, b. February 22, 1837.

JACKSON DUNAGAN, b. June 23, 1840, Whitfield County, Georgia.

JOSHUA DUNAGAN, b. Abt. 1842.

JOSEPHINE DUNAGAN, b. November 15, 1844, Whitfield County, Georgia.

MARY PALESTINE DUNAGAN, b. Abt. 1848.

SAMUEL DUNAGAN, b. Abt. 1850, Jackson County, Georgia.

LENORA DUNAGAN, b. Abt. 1852, Whitfield County, Georgia.

JOHN BRICE DUNAGAN was born July 14, 1833 in Whitfield County, Georgia, and died March 01, 1900 in Catoosa County, Georgia. He married first wife SARAH JARRETT ALEXANDER. She was born Abt. 1833. He married second wife MARYETTA BABB. She was born Abt. 1833.

Children of JOHN DUNAGAN and SARAH ALEXANDER are:

JOSEPH DUNAGAN, b. Abt. 1866, Catoosa County, Georgia.

CHARLES DUNAGAN.

JOHN PARK DUNAGAN

ROBERT LEE DUNAGAN.

MATTIE LEE DUNAGAN.

MARY DUNAGAN.

Children of JOHN BRICE DUNAGAN and MARYETTA BABB are:

THOMAS DUNAGAN.

LEWIS DUNAGAN.

John Park Dunagan was born July 30, 1868, in Chickamauga, Georgia. His parents were John Brice Dunagan and Sara Alexander (daughter of John P. Alexander and Elizabeth Caldwell Tate).

John Park Dunagan attended Coosawatte Seminary, Cheyne, Georgia. On the completion of his education, he left Georgia for Texas and settled at Veal Station in Parker County, near Weatherford, Texas. He farmed and taught math at a college there where he met Louvenia Ann Campbell. They were married on November 13, 1892, and lived in Veal Station until 1903 before moving to Olney in Young County, Texas. They traveled by covered wagon when they moved their young family to Olney. They already had 6 children, had lost one child at 8 months old and Louvenia Ann was pregnant with their 7th. child.

John Park and Louvenia Ann Dunagan had 11 children before John Park died July 3, 1948. Below is a photo of the surviving children circa 1950s taken in Olney, Texas. From left to right in order of age Roy, Joe, Bess, Ruby, Johnnie, Bert, Erma Lucille, Pearl and Leta.

Sources: Various/Dunagans Of All Spellings Issue #20/May 2002. Dick Dunagan

Dunagan Family Indian Heritage

Submitted by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

My second great grandmother was Frances Samanthra Bryant who married John Franklin Dunagan in 1854. She was born in 1835 in Hall county, GA, died 3 Jun 1933 in Jackson County, GA.

Frances Samanthra Bryant Dunagan was the daughter of Jeter Bryant and Sarah Frost. According to a deposition recorded July 7, 1908, in Gainesville, GA, by two of her sisters, Sarah Bryant Dunagan and Sofronia Bryant Latham, both Bryant sisters testified that their maternal great grandmother was a full blooded Eastern Cherokee Indian. Incidentally, Sarah Bryant had also married a Dunagan man, Ezekiel Dunagan, brother to John Franklin Dunagan, sons of Joseph Ellis Dunagan, State Senator from Hall County, GA, for 23 consecutive years.

The two sisters were applying for compensation from the Federal Government based on documented blood lines of Eastern Cherokee Indians who had been promised compensation for the lands taken in the treaty of 1835 which of course resulted in the removal of the Cherokees from Georgia.

Below is a copy of the depositions made by Sofronia and Sarah:

(click on to enlarge)

James Reid Dunagan Family

James Reid Dunagan was born in 1821 and was the youngest child born to Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan and Lydia Ann Brown. James Reid was my 4th Great Uncle. The post below was written by Ramelle Dunagan Whilhite, granddaughter to James Reid Dunagan, daughter to his son John Brewer Dunagan and Harriet Elizabeth Bramlett.

(As told by Ramelle Dunagan Wilhite to her grandchildren)

(Dunagan Chapel UMC Cemetery, Gainesville, GA)

My grandfather, James Reid Dunagan, (called Jim) came to Hall County, Georgia from White County (around Cleveland) sometime before 1850, where he staked out a large farm on the Oconee River, eight miles east of Gainesville. There was rich bottom land on which to raise corn.

(James Reid Dunagan and Mary Aveline Buffington) He married the beautiful Aveline Buffington while she was young (about sixteen). I don’t know how he cleared that land by himself. He didn’t believe in slavery. Aveline’s father sent three servants as a dowry for her. My grandfather told them that they were not in bondage and could go free anytime they wanted to, but could make their home there if they chose, so they stayed and were loyal to my Grandmother all during the War. Grandpa was very religious and said that he would not fight to help hold the negroes in slavery. He didn’t want to fight against the South, so he hid in the woods as much as possible, and when cold weather came, he dug a deep “dug-out”. He covered it over with leaves and stayed in it, but couldn’t have a fire because the home guards would see the smoke.

Papa told us that he was only 4 years old, but he could remember going with his Mother after dark and taking food to him. They had hot coals, covered with a lid over an iron skillet to warm his food. They had to be very careful and not break a twig or make a sound, because the home guards were all around watching the house. I think they called them patrols. Many men were caught and forced to fight against their will. The home guards were men who were sent home from the army to recruit every person they could find, because the Confederacy was losing so many men and was out-numbered by the Yankees. After the surrender of Lee, when Georgia was invited to rejoin the Union, Grandpa walked all the way from his home to Atlanta to sign up. He was highly criticized by many of his neighbors, but was not harmed. Surely the Lord took care of Him, and that is how the Dunagans became Republicans. With the help of his sons and the three negroes, he went about the task of clearing more land and repairing his farm buildings, and trying to re-establish the Methodist Church. You have seen the big oak trees in front of his home, close to Dunagan’s Chapel. My father told me that his father invited people from far and near, and preachers from different sections, to come and hold revivals during the summer months. They sat under these trees and slept in barns and cabins and porches, and many people were helped and encouraged.

Then he donated the land to build Dunagan’s Chapel and Dunagan’s School. The community around there built up quickly, with a country store, cotton gin, saw mill, etc. A few years later, Elizabeth Bramlett came into the picture, as a teacher at Dunagan’s School, and John Dunagan lost his heart to her. That is one thing that happened for the best or I wouldn’t be here---and you wouldn’t be who you are. While my Mother was teaching at Dunagan’s School, she boarded in the home of your Great Aunt Susie O’Neal, who had married Uncle Zeik Dunagan. He was Papa’ oldest brother. That reminds me that I haven’t given you the names of Papa’s brothers and sisters. The oldest was Margaret, called “Mag”; the next was Ezekiel, called “Zeik”; the next was Jack; the next was John, who became my father; then followed Benjamin, called, “Ben”; then came Parilee, who married Ansel Davis---I will tell you more about him later. Next was Sarah, called Aunt Sally by us, who married Ben Brock. Next was Andrew, called Uncle Andy by us. He married Aunt Carrie. You remember her. Next was Aunt Mary, who married Woot Sheats from Winder, Ga. Next was Uncle Doster, who married Ethel Carter and they were the parents of May and Laura Lee Dunagan.

Back to Aunt Parilee and Ansel Davis. We always called him Uncle Davis. He is Mima’s father. He ran away from Germany to escape Army Service at the age of 16. All males at that age were forced into Military Service. Somehow, he reached the Dunagan settlement and hired out to my grandfather to work on the farm. He had an accordion and played to entertain the young people, and he soon learned to speak English. They all welcomed him---especially Aunt Parilee---so they were married a few years before Mother married into the family. When Mother started to housekeeping, Uncle Davis made the kitchen safe that is out here in my hall. It is made by hand, with wooden pegs for nails. That is where my Mother kept the cookies, cakes, pies, baked potatoes, etc., during my childhood. Do you understand why I want to keep it?

(Alfred Doster Dunagan and Ethel Ellen Carter) Uncle Doster married Ethel Carter when she was 16 and he was 19. I remember going to the wedding reception. They called it “The Infair” in those days. I remember the pound cake and fiddle playing, with Uncle Andy beating straws on the strings. Of course, there was no dancing and the strawbeating was unusual, because “Grandpa didn’t allow no strawbeating around here”. Aunt Ethel was a doll. She had long, wavy, auburn hair and a cheerful, musical voice and was very witty. After the wedding, they lived about ½ mile up the road from us in what is now called the Davis House but then belonged to Uncle Ben. One night Uncle Doster had to be away from home, so Omie and I spent the night with Aunt Ethel, and the next morning the cows got out of the pasture and were eating the wheat. I was about 3 ½ years old, so they told me to sit still and eat my breakfast and not to go out of the house. Then I heard dogs barking all around the house. They were barking at the cows, but I didn’t know it, and was frightened to death, so I struck out home as hard as I could run. When they came in and found me gone, they became frightened, and looked everywhere for me---even went down in the woods. When they couldn’t find me they came on down to the house, and I got a scolding for not minding. I can remember every detail of this. Aunt Ethel had always made a big-to-do over me, and called me “Rose-bud”, and I felt like she would never love me any more. (to be continued)

James Reid Dunagan was the youngest son born to Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) and Lydia Ann Brown of Hall County, Georgia.

Descendants of James Reid Dunagan (1821-1900) and Mary E. Aveline Buffington (1821 – 1898)

Ezekiel Parks Dunagan

1850 – 1913

Joseph Ellis Dunagan

1852 – 1852

Lydia Ann Dunagan

1852 – 1852

Margaret Jane Dunagan

1854 – 1906

James Jackson Dunagan

1856 – 1922

John Brewer Dunagan

1858 – 1917

Benjamin Franklin Dunagan

1861 – 1914

Georgia Anne Parilee Dunagan

1864 – 1929

Andrew Newton Dunagan

1866 – 1935

Sarah Adaline Dunagan

1868 – 1924

Mary Evelyn Dunagan

1871 – 1953

Alfred Doster Dunagan

1873 – 1934

Descendants of Ezekiel Parks Dunagan (1850-1913), James Reid Dunagan’s oldest son. E.P married Susan O'Neal (1858 – 1947) They had the following children:

Hubert O'Neal Dunagan

1879 –

James B. Dunagan

1880 –

Jennie Florene Dunagan

1882 –

Mary Lou Dunagan

1884 –

Frances Margaret "Fannie" Dunagan

1884 – 1922

Jesse R Dunagan

1894 –

Descendants of Hubert O’Neal Dunagan (1879 - ) eldest son, and Mattie A. Dunagan (1888 - ) had the following children:

Edith Dunagan

1909 –

Elsie Dunagan

1909 –

Eva Dunagan

1909 –

Mildred Dunagan

1911 –

Thelma Dunagan

1913 –

Louise Dunagan

1915 –

Hubert C Dunagan

1919 –

Louisa B. Dunagan's Oldest Son

An 1889 publication titled “souvenir Sketches of Georgia and Florida”  has write-ups on several Hall Countians and descendants of Hall  Countians.  These personality sketches tell about the migration of  families from this area and the accomplishments of their offspring.  

Ezekiel D. Graham was born in Jackson County Sept.4, 1840.  His father,  William Graham, was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1814, and a  grandson of William Graham, of Charlotte, N. C., one of the signers of  the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.  William, father of  Ezekiel Graham, moved to Jackson County when a boy, and for several  years was engaged in the mercantile business in that county.

On Dec. 10, 1839, William Graham was married in Hall County to Louisa  B. Dunnagan, daughter of Ezekiel Jackson and Lydia Ann Brown Dunnagan, a  well known family of Hall [County].  In 1858, William and Louisa moved  to Arkansas where William turned his attention to agricultural  pursuits.  At the outbreak of the War Between the States, he joined the  Confederate Army and died while in the service in 1862. William and  Louisa Dunagan Graham were parents of eight children: Ezekiel D.,  Samuel A., Liddia L., Susan, William A., Margaret, Julia, and Augustus.  

Ezekiel D. Graham, subject of the personality sketch, was brought up  principally in Chattooga County Georgia and was educated in Lafayette.  In 1858  he was licensed to practice law and was admitted to the bar in Trenton.   He practiced his profession at Trenton until the commencement of the  war and he joined the Confederate Army as a private in Company C, of  the 6th Georgia Infantry.  He was soon promoted to first Lieutenant of  his company and from that to Captain of the company, in which capacity  he served until the close of the war.  He then returned to Trenton and  resumed the practice of law.  In 1865, he was elected from Dade County to the constitutional convention, and in 1870 was elected from Dade  County to the legislature.  In 1872, he was elector for president and  vice president on the Georgia state ticket, and in 1874 was again  elected to the legislature from Dade County and served one term.  In  1877, he moved to Cartersville and engaged in the legal profession.  Ezekiel Graham was married June 19, 1866, to Laura Mann, daughter of  Emanuel and Jane Taylor Mann who moved from Georgia to Knoxville, Tenn.   The couple became parents of five children: William M., Lou, Kate,  Laura, and Cora Graham.  In 1888, Ezekiel Graham was a delegate from Georgia to the National  Democratic Convention which met in St. Louis, MO.  

Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, grandfather to Ezekiel Graham, is buried in Hall  County.

Personality sketches in Hall during 1869 The Times of Gainesville, September 15, 1974 - Sybil McRay, Special to The Times 

Ezekiel Dunagan

The progenitor of most Hall County, Georgia residents with this surname was Ezekiel Dunagan, who in 1804 was living in and near the Wofford Settlement on the wilderness frontier of Georgia on land that was over 4 miles into the Cherokee Nation. The settlement was known as Joshua Dunagan's(spelled Darnigan's) original settlers and Dunagan's new settlers. Listed in the group were: Joshua Dunagan, deceased; Joseph Dunagan, Ezekial Dunagan and Isiah Dunagan - more than likely father and sons. As an American soldier in the War of 1812, Ezekiel Dunagan was listed in 1814 on the muster role as a spy for Fort Early, located in Jackson County, GA. The 1796 payroll of a detachment of militia infantry and US spies garrisoned at Fort Irwin at War Hill gives Andrew Dunagan (spelled Dunningham), Joseph Dunagan (Spy) and Joseph Dunagan. William Stewart wrote in Gone to Georgia that Andrew, Ezekiel, Joseph and Isaiah Dunagan (spelled Dunnigan or those listed by the various spellings) were probably from Orange County, North Carolina prior to moving to Georgia.

DISPUTE IN INDIAN TERRITORY:

A PETITION FROM JOSEPH DUNAGAN, ET AL., TO GA GOV. JAMES JACKSON:Joseph, Ande and E. Dunnegane [sic] signed a letter addressed to "His Excellency James Jackson Govr., of Georgia, 13th September 1798," as follows: "We are induced from the peculiarity of our situation as Frontier citizens of Jackson and Franklin Counties to address your Excellency and implore your interposition in our favor. We beg leave to represent that we hold titles derived from Grants issued by the State of Georgia for lands which have proven to lie beyond the temporary boundary line, lately extended under the Superintendent of Col. Hawkins, Agent of Indian affairs for the United States - the lands we hold were granted between the years of 1783 and 1788. If your Excellency has the power of affording us relief we count with great confidence on receiving it."

The Joseph Dunagan listed in the above petition would have been Ezekiel's father.

My 4th great grandfather was Ezekiel Dunagan and in 1792 he married Lydia Ann Brown and had the following children. Ezekiel lived the remainder of his life in Georgia and is buried on the old home place in east Hall county, near Gainesville, GA. Ezekiel Dunagan had a total of 19 children, 13 with Lydia Ann Brown

Joseph Ellis Dunagan (1793-1861), married Lucinda (Lucy) Beall (My 3rd great grandfather, Joseph Ellis served as state senator from Hall county, GA, for 23 consecutive years. Member of the Unionist/Whig Party. He believed in a strict interpretation of the U. S. and state Constitution and was known to recite the Constitution word for word at political rallies and public gatherings and was often referred to locally and in the Georgia Legislature as "Ole Constitution Joe" or the "Walking Constitution.")

Col. Benjamin Black Dunagan (1795-1884) (rose to the rank of Colonel in the Georgia Militia, also two term sheriff of Hall County, GA. Benjamin was involved in numerous military campaigns throughout Georgia and Florida mostly involving Indian uprisings and skirmishes.)

Susannah Dunagan (1797- ), married John Gilmer

John D. Dunagan (1799-1857), married Martha Harlan

Abner Dunagan (1802-1851), married an ? Underwood

Anna Dunagan (1804-1857), married James Jarrett McCleskey

Delilah B. Dunagan (1806-1888), married Alexander John Gordon

Isaiah Dunagan (1808- ), married Susannah Eberhardt

Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan Jr (1811-1881), married Lucinda Thompson

Andrew Foster Dunagan (1813- ), married Martha Watkins

Elizabeth Caroline (Betsy) Dunagan (1816-1881), married David Griffith Eberhardt

Louisa B. Dunagan (1818- ), married William Graham

James Reid Dunagan (1821-1900), married Mary Aveline Buffington

After Lydia Ann Brown died in 1822, Ezekiel Dunagan had six more children with 2nd wife Margaret (Peggy) Wallace

Sophie Elizabeth Dunagan (1826-1886), married William Alexander Thompson

Capt. Stephen Reed Dunagan (1827-1894), married Eliza Ann Tuck Wood (Captain Stephen Reed Dunagan was a calvary officer with the CSA, Company G, 4th. AL Calvary also known as Russell's Rangers He is buried in Lordsburg, NM, Shakespeare Cemetery.)

Daniel C. Dunagan (1829- )

Levi Jefferson Dunagan (1831-1906), married Sophia Esther Langford

George Washington Dunagan (1833-1871), married Martha Elizabeth Wood. (G. W. was a private in Whitfield’s Legion Cavalry, CSA, and fought in as many as 160 different engagements, half of them around Atlanta, Georgia. He was a schoolteacher and died of pneumonia at age 38 after returning from a hunting trip. He is buried in Hood county, TX.)

Mary Jane Dunagan (1835-1916), married James Rhea McCleskey

My Old War Horse

"Error lives but a day, truth is eternal."--Lt. General James Longstreet, CSA.

As the evening hours draw near, the bugle calls of the eternal years sound clearer to my understanding than when drowned in the hiss of musketry and the roar of cannon. By memory of battlefields and prophecy of coming events, I declare the hope that the present generation may witness the disbandment of standing armies, the reign of natural justice, the ushering in of the brotherhood of man. If I could recall one hour of my distant but glorious command, I would say, on the eve of battle with a foreign foe, little children, love one another.--Lt. General James Longstreet, CSA. (On the eve of the Spanish-American War, the old General wrote this simple prayer which defined his post-war years.)

Lt. General James Longstreet served with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from Manassas to Appomattox. James Longstreet served with great distinction as the army's senior corps commander and as friend, confidante and second in command to General Lee, who referred to him affectionately as "my old war horse" and "the staff of my right hand." The battlefield command combination of Lee, Longstreet, Jackson and Stuart is often referred to as the finest ever assembled on the field of battle.

After the war, General Longstreet moved to New Orleans where he went into business and began a long political career. He joined the Republican party reasoning that being the party in power, they controlled the destiny of the former Confederate states. He further reasoned that Southerners could hasten the end of reconstruction by joining the Republican party in great numbers and seize some degree of control of the South's future. To that end, he advised Southerners to cooperate with Reconstruction efforts and voluntarily grant former slaves full citizenship rights. Of course, many Southerners were appalled at these suggestions, many seeing them as treasonous, and the General's wartime reputation suffered greatly for it.

On the advise of his brother William, Longstreet moved to Gainesville, Georgia in 1875 seeking a friendlier environment than New Orleans and other places around the south. About this time is when many Dunagans in the Gainesville, Hall county area befriended the General and many of them joined the Republican party. I found a copy of minutes of the Hall County Republican Party chapter showing election of officers in 1878. Benjamin Black Dunagan, brother of my 3rd. great grandfather, Joseph Ellis Dunagan, was elected Vice-President.

I have seen written reference to this period of history in the deep south, and the only people joining the Republican party back then in Georgia were freed black men and a few crazy, bullheaded white men like my relatives must have been. Benjamin and Joseph Ellis's brother, James Reid Dunagan, was so opposed to slavery and to Georgia's secession from the union that he insisted that his Methodist Church affiliate with the United Methodist of the North versus the Southern State Association. I'm sure this really ticked off a lot of local people. Today the church, Dunagan Chapel UMC, still stands and is an active fellowship apart of the United Methodist Churches. James Reid Dunagan is buried in the church cemetery.

I have always admired that kind of stubbornness in people, making them unafraid to stand up for what they believe, to be willing to break away from the herd, swim against the strong currents or stand against popular sentiment and the demagoguery of the day. James Longstreet was this type of man and apparently so were many of my relatives of that generation. Longstreet, during his declining years became a champion for peace and reconciliation, but being the pragmatic bulldog that he was, he stubbornly held to his political beliefs until the day he died in January of 1904. He was the last of the Confederate high command to pass away and is buried in Alta Vista Cemetery, Gainesville, Georgia.