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.

Dongan Baronets of Ireland

King James I created the hereditary Order of Baronets in England on 22 May 1611, for the settlement of Ireland and ostensibly for support of troops in Ulster. He offered the dignity to 200 gentlemen of good birth, with a clear estate of £1,000 a year, on condition that each one should pay a sum equivalent to three years' pay to 30 soldiers at 8d per day per man into the King's Exchequer. A baronet ranked below a baron but above a knight and the title could only be inherited by male members of the baronetcy.

The Dungan Baronetcy, of Castletown in the County of Kildare, was created in the Baronetage of Ireland in 1623 for Walter Dungan. Land holdings consisted of over 21,000 acres.


Sir Walter Dongan, 1st Baronet (d. 1626)

Sir John Dongan, 2nd Baronet (d. 1650)

Sir Walter Dongan, 3rd Baronet (d. 1686)

Sir William Dongan, 4th Baronet (d. 1698) (created Earl of Limerick in 1686)


William Dongan, 1st Earl of Limerick (d. 1698) His only son Walter Dungan, Viscount Dungan, was killed at the Battle of the Boyne and Lord Limerick was succeeded according to the special remainders (and normally in the baronetcy) by his brother Thomas Dongan, the second Earl.


Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634–1715) Thomas followed his brother William as the 2nd Earl of Limerick after serving as Governor of New York from 1683 to 1688 and was known for writing the Dongan Charter. All three titles became extinct on his death in 1715.


Thomas Dongan had been appointed colonial governor of New York in 1682 by King James II. Dongan called a legislative assembly in 1683 which produced a measure, known as the Charter of Liberties and Privileges. The Charter was passed granting popular rights and religious toleration. These and subsequent enactments (1684, 1685) were not approved by James II, but were continued by virtue of a permanent charter for New York City secured by Dongan in 1686.

Dunagan Cousins

submitted by Frankie Dunagan Kinsey - posted by Willi B. Dunagan

Frankie it does look like we are cousins! Your 3rd great grandfather "Abner Dunagan" and my 3rd great grandfather "Joseph Ellis" were brothers. Everything matches what cousin Jimmy Dunagan gave you to help with your documentation of the family history. Here is information about your 3rd great grandfather Abner Dunagan.

Abner Dunagan married Amanda Rowe

Children:
James Madison (1838-1925)
Abner Benson (1840-)

Children with Mozilda Welborn(never married)
Iassus Welborn
Amanda Welborn

2nd great grandfather James Madison (1838-1925) married Sarah Askew


Children:
Nora Amanda 1865-?
Masildia G 1868-?
Augusta Ann 1870-?
Infant- not named
Abner Madison 1872-1919 (My great grandfather)
John Monroe 1875-?
Fannie Russel 1878-1901
Sallie Gray 1880-?
James Ezekiel 1882-?
Joseph Edward 1889-?
Benijman Luther 1884-1885

After Sarah died James Madison married Velonia E Smith Bass, they had no children.

Below are two photos of James Madison Dunagan, one as a young man and the second one as an elderly gentleman.

Abner Madison, your great grandfather, married Mary Simmons. Mary Simmons is pictured below standing on the left and Abner is shown in picture by himself.





(Close up)

children:
Nora Vienna (1898-1976)
Benjiman Morgon (1900-1933)
Richard Jay (1902-1972) My grandfather

Mary Simmons dies and Abner Madison marries Mary Jane Martin (1882-1963)
Child: James William (1913-

Richard Jay marries Estalla Mae Darby
children:
James Hulan (1926-
John Thomas ? dies as an infant
Richard Monroe (? -1975) Frankie's Dad
Sara Louse (1941-
Connie Dale (1947-

Richard Monroe marries E. Marie Whittington
Mary Jean (1950-
Richard "Pete" (1951-
Patrica Luanne (1952-
Lawanna Marie (1953-
Cathy Gail (1954-
Frankie Lee (1955- ME!
Phillip L (1954-
Vicki Lynn (1960-

Ezekiel And Moonshine

When you start looking into your family history you should not be surprised at what you may discover. The human drama that unfolds through the generations can reveal some very colorful characters. In my own research into the Dunagan family history I have yet to discover any real scoundrels, horse thiefs, bank robbers, serial killers, or mass murderers. However, my father, George Jeter Dunagan, often told me the story about a particular Ezekiel Dunagan who was his great uncle and was known to make moonshine. Ezekiel Dunagan was the son of Joseph Ellis Dunagan, my 3rd great grandfather, and Lucinda Beall. He was the grandson of Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan. He was born 15 January 1829 in Hall County, three miles north of Gainesville, Georgia. Ezekiel was born on a large farm, approximately 1000 acres, that Joseph Ellis owned along the Chattahoochee River, which is now called Holly Park and covered by the waters of Lake Lanier. The old home place was a nice two story colonial home. On February 26, 1850 he married Delilah Trotter born 1830, the daughter of Robert and Delilah Trotter of Habersham County, Georgia. He and Delia, as she was called, first lived with his bachelor uncle, Benjamin Dunagan. In the fall of 1850 they moved to Habersham County, Georgia and lived there until 1861 when Delilah died. She was probably buried in a family cemetery in Habersham County. They had five boys as follows: 1. Joseph Daniel Dunagan born 14 December 1850, died 23 June 1933 in Sherman, Texas. 2. Benjamin Dunagan born ca 1854 in Habersham County, Georgia. 3. Edwin Dunagan born ca 1856 in Habersham County, Georgia. 4. Malcolm Dunagan born ca 1860 in Habersham County, Georgia. 5. Ezekiel died when he was a baby. After Delilah died in 1861 Ezekiel moved back to Hall County, Georgia. The four sons all went west after 1870. On April 13, 1862, Ezekiel married Sarah Bryant, born ca 1834, the daughter of Jeter and Sarah Frost Bryant. She was the sister of Frances Samanthra Bryant Dunagan, the wife of John Franklin(John F.)Dunagan, Ezekiel's brother and my second great grandfather. As a side note here, Sarah, Frances Samanthra's sister gave a deposition in 1908 stating that her mother's grandmother was full blooded Eastern Cherokee Indian but during the time of the removal of the Cherokees from North Georgia (1835 - 1850)her mother would not allow her children to tell anyone of the relationship. After Ezekiel and Sarah married they had the following children: 1. Mecilla Dunagan born ca 1864 and died shortly after birth. 2. Ella Dunagan born ca 1865, married John A. Martin 9 April 1882. She died in 1958. 3. Sophronia Dunagan born ca 1867, married Jasper Carter 10 October 1897. 4. Chester Dunagan born March 1871, married Jessie Farr 14 July 1895. 5. Charlie U. Dunagan born 8 May 1873, married Oma Skinner 12 October 1902, and died September 1954. 6. Ezekiel(Zeke)Dunagan born June 1876, married Mattie Jane Bales 13 December 1896. 7. Alexander Dunagan born September 1878, married Ida Jenkins 20 February 1902. 8. Octavia Dunagan born August 1882, married James J. Satterfield 5 August 1900. Ezekiel Dunagan died in February 1906 at his home, one and one-fourth miles north from Antioch Methodist Church, on the Sardis Bark Camp Road. He was buried at Sardis Baptist Church Cemetery. Sarah died July 1911 and is buried along side of Ezekiel in the same cemetery. After Ezekiel and Sarah married he acquired property on the Sardis-Bark Camp Road in Murrayville Georgia and began to farm. He planted an apple orchard, the type of tree he planted being good for making apple cider. His family was large enough to help him farm and grow a lot of corn and grain. He started a distillery operation and began manufacturing whiskey and brandy. He was licensed by the Federal Government and sold his whiskey and brandy wholesale, never retail. After a few years had passed he was denied a license to manufacture whiskey. However, this did not deter "Uncle Ezekiel", according to my dad telling the story. There was a bold spring at the bottom of the hill about one hundred yards from his house. He dug out a very large pit and covered it with huge logs and dirt. Then he planted sprouts on top of it. He dug and covered an underground passage to the spring from his house. He then built a flint rock flue underground from the distillery to the top of the hill and fixed it where the smoke would come out of his chimney where his wife, Sarah, kept a fire all the time to do cooking. She cooked on the fire because there were no cook stoves at that time. Ezekiel had taken his operation underground law officers searched his farm many times but could never find anything. He made whiskey for thirty years. The last twenty years he made whiskey he had a man hired to help him. His last name was Cotton. At the end of twenty years Cotton quit him and told the Revenue Officers where to find the distillery, so they came and destroyed it. Sarah's brother John Bryant did not like it because Cotton had told on his brother-in-law, so one day John and Cotton went down behind High Hill School House, a one teacher school, to a distillery and got a gallon of whiskey. He and Cotton were coming up through the woods, Cotton carrying the whiskey, when John picked up a pine knot and hit Cotton in the back of the head and killed him. He dragged his body and laid him by the side of a log, then covered him with leaves. He then picked up the whiskey and went home. People wondered, but never knew what happened to Cotton. when John was on his death bed he told it. They checked and found Cotton's skeleton at the place John told them he left him. When my dad was a teenage boy John A. Martin, Ezekiel's son-in-law told him that Ezekiel at one time considered running for Congress. He said Ezekiel would get up on a stump in the woods and practice his speeches as if he was running at that time. He said that his oratory was such that it would stir the emotions and make you feel like the hair was standing up on the back of your head. Ezekiel was my great great grandfather's brother. He would be my great great great Uncle. Uncle Ezekiel was a very capable and a very smart man. He just got into the wrong occupation, according to my dad. All who knew him, considered him a good man. My dad's father William Andrew Dunagan went to see Uncle Ezekiel when he was on his death bed. He told William Andrew, my grandfather, never to fool with whiskey. He said, "I could have been worth a great deal to my God and my country, but I have wasted my opportunities fooling with whiskey." He also stated, "I am going to heaven when I die, but as by fire, because I have not been a Christian long enough to lay up any treasures in heaven."

Justin Lawhon, Deborah Dunagan's son, found this article below concerning Ezekiel Dunagan, the distiller, and James Bryant his brother-in-law. This article was published in The Daily Constitution (Atlanta) on June 4, 1879. Here is a link to the paper as found on ancestry.com (thanks to Darline Dunagan Scruggs) and the article is on the sixth column from the left towards the middle of the page.

http://search.ancestry.com/browse/view.aspx?dbid=6389&pid=461049860&iid=news-ga-atlanta-thedlyconst.1879_06_04_0004

I have transcribed the text of the article below:

Inquesting a Skeleton

Greenville [sic] (should read Gainesville?), June 3--

During the summer of 1877, Benton Whitecotton, a revenue spy employed by the deputy United States marshals, operating in this section, "got lost." Nobody ever knew how, when or where. Information says he had only a short time prior to his demise piloted John C. Hendricks, and other revenue officials, to a secret distillery run by Ezekiel Dunegan [sic], at his residence in Hall county, underground and almost under the front gate, the flue from the same running into the kitchen chimney. Report has it that Whitecotton had engaged himself to Dunegan as a distiller; found out all the "ropes," and then betrayed his employer. A few months ago a man well known about Gainesville named James Bryant, "while in his cups," told certain parties that he had murdered Whitecotton, shortly after his exploit at Dunegan's. He told enough to induce James A. Findley, Harrison Martin and James B. Gaston, present deputy U.S. marshal for this division, to proceed, on April 25th, to a place six miles south of Gainesville, near the Lawrenceville road, in quest of the body. They found a dark dismal ravine in two hundred yards of the road, and in it an old distillery place where James Tumlin manufactured the "buckeye" in all its purity immediately after the late war. Here Bryant had also extracted the juice from thousands of bushels of corn at a late, evading all the attempt of the authorities to find his hiding place. People who habitually travel the road near what is known as the Blackshire place, would be surprised to know how near they were to so deep, dark and dangerous a place as the one where this distillery was situated. Here Bryant stated he had decoyed his man, telling him that they could find a distillery in full blast. He said further that he had with him a bottle of poisoned whisky that he endeavored to induce Whitecotton to drink. Failing in this and thinking he had his victim at the proper place, he took a stick and deliberately struck him, mashing in his skull bone. In the search by Findley, Martin and Gaston, the bones of the unfortunate man were found with the skull mashed as his murderer had stated, and this bottle of poisoned whisky was found where he said it was, in the old furnace of the distillery. The parties who made the discovery kept their counsel to themselves, watching the condition of Bryant, who was in the last stages of consumption.

But a few days ago the facts "leaked out," and Marshal Hanie, of Gainesville, D.M. Stringer, and W.G. Henderson on Friday last visited the "dark grounds" and found the bones that were being closely watched by the parties above named. They were covered up with bark and trash, some sixty yards below the old site of the distillery in the branch, just as they were left no doubt, by James Bryant. A hat and pieces of old garments were found by these gentlemen in the old furnace, that had been placed there by the parties who first discovered the skeleton. They are identified as being Whitecotton's, indeed everything goes to show the truth of Bryant's statement. Since he made the confession, however, death has removed him from the scene of his dark deed and clue has yet been discovered implicating other parties in the crime, although it is surmised that Bryant had accomplices. Bryant was a brother-in-law to Dunegan, and rumor has it that a connecting link might be forged implicating him, but the coroner's jury which investigated the case to-day failed to find anything of the kind. The case has created considerable excitement, and many wild rumors are afloat.

Bryant has been suspicioned of crime before. Bullock offered a large reward for him during his reign as governor, when was charged with horse-stealing. Last winter he served a term in the city chain-gang, and while he was not suspicioned as the murderer of Whitcotton, still no one is surprised at his confession and the discovery that has resulted from it.

Conde Sully Dunagan

By Martha G. Gujda
Eighteen Sixty-one was the year the Civil War began and Military forces were everywhere in Montevallo Township, Missouri. The State of Missouri was very divided in its loyalties. Many people who settled there came from northern states and sided with the Union. However, both Conde and his wife Margaret’s families had come from Southern States and their sympathy was with the confederacy. Conde made his decision to join the Confederate Army. Both Conde and Jesse N. Bellew, Margaret’s brother, enlisted in Col. Sidney D. Jackman’s Missouri Cavalry, and they were assigned to Company A.

Conde did not want to leave his wife and child in Missouri as it was a very dangerous place to be. And so, before reporting to the company to which he was assigned, Conde took Margaret and his young son, James Thomas south to Independence County, Arkansas to live with his Aunt Susan, who had married Col. Morgan Magness. Aunt Susan Dunnigan was the sister of Matilda, Conde’s mother. The Magness family lived on a large plantation on the White River near Magness Arkansas. When Conde was sure of the safety of Margaret and James Thomas, he returned to Missouri and joined Col Jackman and Company A.

During the Civil War, “every acre of ground in Montevallo Township was the scene of some incident worthy of record. Every crossroad was the locality of a skirmish; every school house and prairie field was the mustering place or a drill ground. Someone kept count and at the close of the war it was reported that no fewer than 36 men had been killed in the vicinity of old Montevallo” (The History of Vernon Co. MO)


Wile Margaret was living with Conde’s Aunt Susan in Arkansas, she would meet Conde from time to time. They had a meeting place beside the White River, and when it was safe they would rendezvous. On one of these occasions, Margaret conceived her third daughter, who was born on the 3rd of Dec. 1864 and was named Missouri Cassandra Magness Dunagan. Missouri was named for the entire occasion. However, she was called Zuda. How she got this nickname remains a mystery.

Conde served as a private under Col. Jackman. His military service record did not list the battles he was in. We do know however, that near the end of the war on the 1st day of May, 1865, Conde was captured as was Jesse N. Bellew, his brother-in-law. They were sent to a prison camp in Arkansas together with the Confederate Army of Brigadier Gen. M. Jeff. Thompson CSA. General Thompson surrendered to Major Gen. G. M. Dodge, USA. Conde was released from Jacksonport, Arkansas on the 5th of June 1865 so he was only a prisoner for about one month. On Conde’s “muster and descriptive roll” he is described as: Age 37 yrs. Eyes-blue, Hair-black, Complexion-fair, Height 6 feet 0 inches. Where born—Tennessee, Remarks-none.”

At the end of the Civil War, Conde went to the Magness Plantation in Independence County, Arkansas and got his wife, son, and new-born daughter and returned to Vernon Co. Missouri. There was still much division among the people about the Civil War. Any confederate sympathizer or person who had served with the Confederacy was disenfranchised and generally discriminated against. In fact, it was not until the 1872 general election that anyone who had been in the Confederate Army could vote without taking a test of oath or a proof of loyalty to the Union. In the general election of 1870, B. Gratz Brown, a liberal Republican was elected Governor of Missouri. Ex-confederates were not allowed to vote in this election. In the year 1872 Conde S. Dunnagan filed to run for the office of the House of Representatives of the State Government. “The principal ground on which he based his appeal for votes was on the promise that if elected he would go to Jefferson City with a wagon and ox team, take his provisions and bring back his salary and spend it at home.” (History of Vernon Co. MO. P. 627) Conde was an honest, no nonsense man. The area was going through a post war recession and Conde wanted to “prop-up” the economy. He lost the election to H.P. Gray, the Democratic front-runner.

Later that same year, Conde sold his land in Vernon Co. MO and moved his family to Tarrant Co. Texas, where he stayed and became a Teamster. He hauled supplies into Indian Territory. While there he sighted his land where he eventually would live. When the “Run” of 1889 was allowed by the United States Government, Conde made the run and obtained his land in Pontitoc County Indian Territory which became Oklahoma. Conde began to farm the land he obtained in the “Run of 1889”, but he had great difficulty with it. You see, this black stuff kept coming up out of the ground and it was next to impossible to raise a good crop there. He traded the land for another more fertile 160 acres and raised cattle, and corn. Today there are oil wells on the land that Conde traded away. He lived there in Oklahoma the rest of his life and in 1913 died at the age of 85 years.

Conde Sully Dunagan was born 28 Oct 1828 in TN to Samuel Dunagan and Matilda Dunagan. Matilda's father was James Dunnigan born 1770 which meant that Matilda and Samuel were probably cousins.

Lillie Belle Dunagan

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

Lillie Belle Dunagan was the first born child of Georgia Ann Smith Dunagan and Joseph Alexander Dunagan. She came to this life with limitations but she didn't let that stop her. She was physically and mentally impaired but spiritually she was an angel. Belle liked handiwork and loved spending her time piecing quilts.
Belle met with some unfortunate abuse as a young woman and gave birth to a baby. This child lived until the age of two or three before it died from unknown circumstances. I have not at this point discovered when the child was born or what gender it was.
Belle and her sister Nellie were very close. Nellie married and moved to Abbeville, Georgia and later to south Georgia. Sometime after her marriage she returned to Winder, Georgia and took her sister, Belle, to live with her. It is not known when or how Belle died. It is important to know that she lived and that she was a joy to those who knew and loved her.

The Rest of Lillie Belle's Story

Since writing this I have learned that Lillie Belle gave birth to a son on 6 August 1914 whom she named "Aren Clatin Dunagan". Belle's son died on 6 November 1916 at the age of two, still of unknown circumstances. In her little hand Bible, Belle wrote and erased his name over and over again. She must have loved him very deeply and missed him greatly.
I now know that Belle was born on the 11th day of August 1885 in Hall County Georgia. She died from breast cancer on the 13th day of December 1938 in Moultrie, Georgia. Belle is buried there in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
I would like to thank my cousin Brenda Maxwell Godley, the granddaughter of Nellie Dunagan Maxwell, for reading my story about our Aunt Belle. The story prompted Brenda to pull out an old box, that had long since been tucked away, containing Belle's personal belongings'. There she discovered the missing pieces of Belle's story. Together we both learned a little more about Lille Belle Dunagan and we learned that we can meet cousins that we have never known and establish a loving bond. Family brought us together and we are grateful to Belle for helping us to find each other. Rest in Peace Sweet Belle.

Memories Of Papa

by Darline Dunagan

I never had the chance to know Papa Joe but I grew up hearing stories about him, most of which I can't remember. He was one of eight children born to John Franklin Dunagan and Francis Samanthra Bryant. His father John fought in the Civil War even though he was opposed to slavery. I know that this caused John much unrest because it is said that he deserted as a result of his beliefs but then returned to war and was captured by the Union in Alabama and held prisoner. Papa Joe was born while his father was away in the war and his father did not lay eyes on his son until he was 6 months old. How hard all that must have been on Frances!

Papa Joe's grandfather was Joseph Ellis Dunagan, son of Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan. Joseph Ellis was a Georgia State Senator for 23 years and a judge in Hall County. "Old Constitution", as he was nicknamed, was quite a character. He was a strong and respected politician and was very devout in his Christian beliefs. It is said that he couldn't carry a tune but loved singing in church. He would sing loudly and get the whole congregation off key. They oft times would cease to sing and Old Constitution would proudly finish the song alone.

Papa Joe married Georgia Ann Smith and had six children. Georgia Ann died sometime after giving birth to my grandfather Lester Commie Dunagan pictured below.

Papa Joe then married Tinie Patterson. Together they had 14 children with 12 living to adulthood. Tinie had the responsibility of being mother to all 20 of the children. Can you imagine dinner time at the Dunagan house? Elizabeth laughingly said "I think he would have been tired of kids" after so many. But it is said by his children and grandchildren that he was "a very good father." I know that my father always spoke of him with great fondness.

According to his daughter, Elizabeth, Papa Joe was a tall man with curly black hair and beautiful blue eyes. He was quite fond of wearing a black hat and seldom went out without one on his head. I have never seen a picture of Papa Joe that he wasn't sporting a big moustache. "Papa was a quite man" said Elizabeth. Often times when Papa would be deep in thought, he would sit unknowingly shuffling his feet back and forth. I would give a golden penny with diamonds to know those thoughts today.

Papa Joe as a younger man pictured below with his brothers sporting that black hat and big moustache. (top row l-r) Alfred Benton Dunagan, Joseph Alexander Dunagan(Papa Joe) (bottom row l-r) Jeter Andrew Dunagan, John Marion Dunagan.

Tiney's Last Party

by Darline Dunagan

Tiney Patterson Dunagan was the second wife of Joseph Alexander Dunagan. She was very young when she married Joe, a man 20 years her senior, and became the step mother of his six children. Elizabeth said that her mother would never tell her children her marriage age. She ask me if I knew her mother's age. Now Elizabeth is eighty-one years old and she never knew her mother's marriage age. I decided Elizabeth was old enough to handle this information so I told her. Her response was, " Now I know why mama didn't tell us!". I think Tiney was a very wise mother to keep that secret. In her honor I too will keep her secret for now.
Tiney and Joe had 14 children with 12 of those living to adulthood. Tiney lost her daughter Little Mae when Mae was just a toddler, later she lost another baby girl that died the day after her birth . These losses were very hard on her but Tiney still had to suffer the loss on another child. In May of 1943 Jeter Austell Dunagan, her second oldest child, was hit by a drunk driver and killed. Jeter was only forty-two years old. This loss proved to be too much for Tiney because she died that following November at the age of fifty-eight. Below is a photo of Jeter Austell Dunagan:

It was November 16, 1943 and Tiney was planning a large quilting party and had invited seventeen of her friends to her home. When her friends began arriving they discovered that things were not so festive in the Dunagan home. Tiney was not zooming around the house and welcoming her guest as she usually did. But where was Tiney? They were soon to discover that their dear little friend had suffered a stroke and was on her death bed. Tiney was an "industrious and well liked" woman according to her daughter Elizabeth, and many of her friends were unable to cope with what they discovered on their arrival and in turn had to leave while others remained with their dear friend until her end.
This sweet little woman had lived a very selfless life and had raised twenty children. She was loved by them all. She was the only mother that my grandfather ever knew and the only grandmother that my dad ever knew and to them she was the real deal. Her memory is still with us today because of the stories that are shared and passed on by those who knew and loved "Mama".

Little Mae

by Darline Dunagan 

Little Mae didn't linger on this earth for very long but the memory of her is still with us. The following was told to me by Elizabeth Dunagan who was the youngest of Papa Joe and Tinie's children. Papa made her a swing under the mulberry tree. Papa said she liked to play there and eat mulberries. She became ill around the time Jeter was born because Papa said he had to take her to the doctor himself. Papa put little Mae in the wagon on the seat beside him and drove her to the doctor. He said she was so cute sitting there. We don't know what caused her to die but we think she might have eaten something that poisoned her. Elizabeth said Mama had knitted her a pair of mittens and that she still has those in her possession. She also has a little wooden Bible that was a favorite play toy of Little Mae. It is the memories of the living that keeps those that are no longer with us real. For me it is the stories that make the people more than just names and dates. So I hope that this memory of little Mae helps you to know that she was real and that she was loved and hopefully she will never be forgotten.

(Mae was born 14 May 1900 and died when she was around 18 months old)

Unforgetable Uncle Joe

The Rev. J. D. Anthony was pastor of the First Methodist Church in Gainesville, GA, in the 1850s. In 1896 he wrote and published his memoirs and this publication includes some interesting information about some of the members of the First Methodist Church in Gainesville, as well as revealing much insight into the pioneer way of life in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.

The Honorable Joseph Dunagan as referred to by the Rev. Anthony in his book was a man he well remembered. Joseph Ellis Dunagan was a Hall Countian and a Methodist, a member of the First Methodist Church of Gainesville, GA, and was my 3rd great grandfather.

"Hon. Joseph Dunagan (also spelled Dunnagan), 'The Walking Constitution', Methodist exhorter, etc., lived within a few miles of Gainesville, and held his church membership at that place," Rev. Anthony wrote, "No one who ever met the Hon. Joseph could forget him. There never was but one Joe Dunnagan. He was raised in the humble walks of life, was favored with but a meager schooling, and had to labor for his daily bread; yet he mastered the difficulties that stood in the way of acquiring a useful education. He read men of his day, had the Constitutions of the State of Georgia and the United States at his tongue's end, was elected to any office to which he aspired, frequently represented his county in the legislature, and was repeatly elected from the three counties forming his senatorial district. No man was willing to oppose 'Uncle Joe' in a race for any office."

This was the same Joseph Dunagan who went to California for the gold rush and returned and buried the gold some where on his property, a large farm along the Chattahoochee River just outside of the city of Gainesville. Of course, his property and probably some of the buried gold is today covered by waters of Lake Lanier. The reason why it is believed that all the buried gold was not recovered was because in later years Uncle Joe returned to the west in search of more gold and on his way home took sick and died and was buried where he died.(Illinois)

"Uncle Joe was a very peculiar man. He could not carry a tune--so singers declared--yet the 'Psalm hoister' had to be in a very great hurry or Uncle Joe would get ahead of him in starting the music! He had a way of throwing his right hand to his right ear--holding it so as to form a semicircle around the auricular orifice--I suppose to convey to his own sense of hearing the different intonations of his voice. He would sing, and, if he raised the tune, was apt before going very far to find himself singing a solo. That is to say, all others would cease trying, and he would sing on to the end. Many amusing anecdotes were told at his expense.

I remember my father telling stories about Joseph Dunagan. He was known to walk every where and would talk to himself as he walked. One day someone asked him why he talked to himself so much and he replied, "Well everyone likes to talk to a smart man."

"When he was first elected to represent his county in the Georgia State Legislature he went to Milledgeville, then the capital of the state, clad in a homespun suit. He had even tanned the leather of which his shoes were made, and cut, sewed and pegged them. They were brown in collor." Dunagan arrived and was assigned to a room by a landlord and then retired for the night. When Dunagan did not come to the breakfast table the next morning the landlord sent a boy to inquire as to the cause for the absence and Dunagan asked that the landlord come to his room. As soon as the proprietor appeared Mr. Dunagan said: "..Sir, my shoes are missing. I fear one of your servants has stolen them!"

The servants and waiters were summoned and informed that Mr. Dunagan's shoes were missing. The boot-black picked up a pair of shoes and remarked, "Dese am his shoes." Uncle Joe then replied that the boy was lying that the shoes he held were black but the shoes that belonged to him were a "beautiful yeller!" It was then explained to Uncle Joe that the boy had blacked the shoes in accordance with a rule of the house. Dunagan then said, "Well, sir, I don't want my shoes blacked any more. I shall never feel right until they become 'yaller' again.

Anthony then wrote that Uncle Joe finally quit politics and went to California, where he dug gold for a time. It was said that he made a considerable amount of money. Later he went to Pike's Peak on a similar errand. "I have been informed that, long since his death, a considerable amount of money, which he had probably buried, was unearthed on some part of his old farm. The honorable Joseph Dunagan was a man of wonderful endowments, honest, high-toned and a true Christian gentleman. Hall County Georgia will long cherish his memory."

Source: The Unforgetable Uncle Joe, by Sybil McRay, The Times, Gainesville, GA, Tuesday edition, February 26, 1980.

The Home Guard of Pickens County

This story was told by Ewel Dunagan of Cullman, Alabama to Karen Dunagan-Smith of Kankakee, Illinois, and what follows is the story as told by my father, George Jeter Dunagan. He referred to this story as a civil war tragedy of Pickens County, Georgia.Ira Dunagan was the son of Abner Dunagan, Sr. of Habersham County, Georgia. Abner, Sr. was the brother of Ezekiel Dunagan of Hall County, Georgia, a veteran of the War of 1812. Both these brothers came into Georgia with their father, Rev. Joseph Dunagan, in 1796 from Pendleton, South Carolina.Ira was born in 1805 in Franklin County. He was married and living with his wife Elizabeth and three children in 1830 in Lumpkin County, Georgia. The other two children were born in Gilmer County. In 1850 Ira and his family lived on the Fairmount Road leading out of Jasper in Pickens County.May 15, 1854, Ira served on the Superior Court Grand Jury, which was held under a huge oak tree before Jasper was a town. Ira was a farmer and a miller and people came from many miles around to his mill to get their corn ground into meal.Ira and Elizabeth had two sons and three daughters. Their son's Abner, Jr., and Benjamin joined the Army of the CSA soon after the Civil War began.Abner, Jr. was a farmer and was married to Lucinda Swofford of Union County. They had one son whose name was Andrew Jackson Dunagan who was about six years old when his father went to war. Benjamin was single and ran a grocery store when he had to enlist.During the Civil War in the south there were men in every community assigned as "Home Guards." One night seven of these Home Guards went to Ira's house. They thought Ira had some money and wanted it. He had over three hundred dollars in gold and silver which he had placed in a gourd and hid in a hollow stump. He covered the stump with rocks like many people did in those days when there were a lot of rocks in their fields. They would pile these rocks in a pile and plow around it.Ira would not admit to the men that he had any money. They were sure he had some money and they planned to make him tell them where it was hidden. He was close to sixty years old. They tied his feet with a rope and threw the end of the rope over the ceiling joist and had him swinging back and forth with his head down near the floor. Each man would knock Ira from one side of the room to the other, while two other men were pulling Elizabeth by her hair trying to get her to tell them where the money was hidden.Andrew Jackson Dunagan, Abner, Jr.'s son, was staying with his grandparents. He had gone to bed and was asleep when he was suddenly awaken by the noise. He ran into the room and was knocked over into a corner and told if he moved or said a word they would kill him. He was about eight years old.The war had been going on for over two years when Abner decided he needed to go home to check on his family. He had been stationed in Memphis, TN, and was able to get a leave of absence for fifteen days. When Abner arrived home his parents told him about the incident and who the men were, because they knew each one of them by name. Abner stayed around for a few days, but abruptly left one day never to return taking his fathers only horse. Both Abner and his brother Benjamin were killed in the war.After the war was over one of Ira's neighbors who had served in the same Confederate unit with Abner, told Abner's parents what had happened that eventful day when Abner had left so suddenly. He had killed all seven of the "Home Guard" who had violated his parents and son that fateful night.When Abner had left that day he had gone to the home of the last man he was to kill and asked the wife where he was and called for him by name. She said he was in the corn crib shucking corn. This is where Abner killed the man.After Abner returned to his unit it was later told that he had become very bitter and extremely hardened. He killed many men before he met with his own death.Soon after the war came to an end, Ira and his family including Lucinda, Abner's widow and son Andrew Jackson Dunagan, moved to Winston County, Alabama. This is where Ira lived when he and Elizabeth died. They are buried in the Liberty Church Cemetery, in Winston County.

Dunagan Chapel

In eastern Hall County, Georgia, sits a church whose origin dates back to 1889, and earlier. Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, my 4th great grandfather, settled in this area around 1796 and later through his son, James Reid Dunagan, and his grandson, Ezekiel Parks Dunagan, helped to establish what is now the Dunagan Chapel Church. In the beginning the people met in a brush arbor and then later held their services in a Masonic Temple which was about a quarter of a mile from where the church was later built and stands today. That's me, above, with my lovely sisters presenting the original deed and portrait of Ezekiel Parks Dunagan to the current pastor of the church(2007).

James Reid Dunagan, who is actually credited with building the church, was the son of Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan and brother of my 3rd great grandfather, Joseph Ellis Dunagan. James Reid was born March 2, 1821, and around 1850 staked out a large farm on the banks of the Oconee River about eight miles east of Gainesville, GA. He married Mary Aveline Buffington on January 27, 1848. They had twelve children -- Margaret, Ezekiel Parks, Jack, John, Benjamin, Parilee, Sarah, Andrew, Mary, Doster, Joseph, and Lydia.

In the mid-1800's a dark cloud appeared on the religious sky of the Methodist Church. In 1844 the question of slavery split the national church and a Plan was adopted which established the Methodist Episcopal Church, North and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The whole nation and the church suffered through the war, which followed. James Reid Dunagan did not believe in slavery. His strong religious convictions would not let him fight on the side of the South to hold people as slaves. He did not want to fight against the South, because it was his home, so he went into the woods and dug a cave for himself and covered it with leaves and went into hiding for the duration of the war, avoiding being conscripted into the Confederate army. When the Civil War ended with Lee's surrender and Georgia was invited back into the United States, James Reid Dunagan walked to Atlanta to rejoin the Union. He was harshly criticized for his actions, but he was not harmed physically, to my knowledge.

When James Reid Dunagan married Mary Aveline Buffington, he received three slaves from her father as part of her dowry. He could not hold them in slavery because of his religious convictions, so he set them free. They chose to stay with his family and to live on his property as freed men. With their help he cleared the land to plant corn on the rich bottom land along the Oconee river, repaired the farm buildings, and began re-establishing the Methodist Church. His first act was to invite people from far and near and preachers from all areas to attend summer revivals in front of the old home place under the oak trees which still stand on Dunagan Road. These old trees served as canopies from the sun by day and cover as they slept at night. When there was no more room under the trees, people slept in the barn and on the porches--they were anxious to hear the Word of God proclaimed and to see the conversions of the participants.

In September 1889, Ezekiel Parks Dunagan, James Reid's son, donated a tract of land where Dunagan School was and where the present church stands today. They established the church as Dunagan Methodist Episcopal Church, North. The first trustees were: Ezekiel Parks Dunagan, James Reid Dunagan, W. W. Thomas, James Jackson Dunagan, and M. C. Cranford. The deed was recorded in the Hall County Courthouse in January, 1890. The name Dunagan was used because the original leaders were of that name. The congregation remained a northern church until unification of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South on November 23, 1939 when they both reunited and became the United Methodist Church.

My Family Tree

(L-R) Tyler Grant Dunagan, William Bradley Dunagan, Mary Grant Dunagan, Lindsey Dunagan McDowell, Leah Maeve Dunagan Hulsey

by William Bradley Dunagan

The name Dunagan is both a royal and noble surname. Recorded in several spelling forms including O'Donegan, Donegan, Dunican, Dungan, and Doonican, this small Irish clan, divided into four branches or sept, originates from the 10th century kings of a region called Fernmhagh, in what is now County Westmeath in Ireland. As befits a "royal" family, their numbers, are quite small. In the 20th century only some two hundred families are recorded in the whole of Ireland. This was not so in the seventeenth century and earlier, when the O'Donegans held the manor of Kildrought.

Thomas Donegan, from this family being earl of Limerick, and creator of the 1686 Don(e)gan Charter, whereby the city of New York was passed by the Dutch to Britain. In the barony of Rathconrath, County Westmeath, over forty families called O'Donegan were recorded in the 1659 "Petty's" census of Ireland and there was also an appreciable number of nameholders in both County Cork and County Sligo.I found close DNA matches in four major areas: Cork County, Limerick, Dublin and Donegal. The County Cork sept were once a powerful clan in their own right, the area around the baronies of Orrery and Duhallow in North West Cork being known as "O'Donegans country". The Donegans were firm supporters of the Stewart monarchs. In 1691 the earl of Limerick supported the exiled James 11, the last king of Ireland, and paid for his support with the loss of his lands. Thereafter the clan seems to have gone into decline, and many holders of this name left for America, France and other destinations.This is where my family tree begins, or at least as far as I have been able to trace my roots back to this time in history.

William Dunagan was born in 1670 in Limerick, Ireland, and we believe that this is the beginning of our American connection to Ireland and the family branch by which my family today descended from.William Dunagan is my 7th great grandfather. He was born in Limerick, Ireland, and would have been a young man about the time of the siege of Limerick in 1691. After the Irish defeat in Limerick, the Dunagan family lost everything and many left for the colonies in America soon thereafter.

We do not know William Dunagan’s wife’s name but we know that he had the following children:

William Dunagan born 10 January 1702 in Limerick, Ireland
Thomas Dunagan born 16 June 1706 in Limerick, Ireland, died AFT 1782 in Surry County, NC
Timothy Dunagan born 1715 in Essex County, VA, died 1752 in NC

William Dunagan’s son Thomas is my 6th great grandfather and so begins our Dunagan family line in America.Two theories exist pertaining to Thomas Dunagan’s immigration to America. One source states he immigrated to VA in 1738, while another suggests he came to GA in 1732. However, the latter is obviously incorrect, in as much as GA was not settled until 1733, and at that time only by British subjects. He is believed to have moved to Orange County, NC, after 1740 or 1750, and then to Surry County, NC before 1767. He may have died as late as 1782.

Thomas married an Irish girl from Limerick named Sarah around 1726 and unfortunately this is all we know of Sarah. Thomas and Sarah had the following children:

Charles Dunagan born ? , died ABT 1813 in Orange County, NC
Thomas Dunagan born ABT 1727 in Ireland, died 1810 in Surry County, NC
John Dunagan born BEF 1730 in ? , died AFT 1780 in Surry County, NC
Joshua Dunagan born ABT 1737 in VA or NC, died ABT 1798 in GA
William Dunagan born 1738 in VA, died 15 Nov 1798 in Orange County, NC
Joseph Dunagan born 1740 in VA or NC, died 1810

My 5th great grandfather is Joseph Dunagan, (Sr)who married also a girl named Sarah. That is all we know about his spouse. They had the following children:

Joseph Dunagan born ABT 1760 in NC
Isaiah Dunagan born ABT 1770 in NC, died ABT 1813 in Madison County, IL
Ezekiel Dunagan born 16 May 1771 in Pendleton, SC, died 10 Mar 1836 in Gainesville, Hall County, GA
Abner Dunagan born 1773 in Orange County, NC, died 22 Sept 1852 in Habersham County, GA
Andrew Dunagan born 7 Aug 1775 in NC, died 21 Aug 1848 in Greene, IL
Patrick Dunagan born ABT 1783 in NC, died 1 Oct 1819 in GA
Tyre Dunagan born 1787 in Surry County, NC, died 4 Dec 1864 in Surry County, NC
Joshua Dunagan born ABT 1798 in Franklin County, GA, died 2 Dec 1844 in Lumpkin County, GA

My 4th great grandfather is Ezekiel Dunagan and he married Lydia Ann Brown in 1792.

Ezekiel had 19 children.*13 WITH LYDIA BROWN*

Joseph Ellis Dunagan (1793-1861)

Benjamin Dunagan (1795-1884)

Susannah Dunagan (1797- )

John D. Dunagan (1799-1857)

Abner Dunagan (1802-1851)

Anna Dunagan (1804-1857)

Delilah B. Dunagan (1806-1888)

Isaiah Dunagan (1808- )

Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan (1811-1881)

Andrew Foster Dunagan (1813- )

Elizabeth Caroline (Betsy) Dunagan (1816-1881)

Louisa B. Dunagan (1818- )

James Reid Dunagan (1821-1900)

*SIX WITH MARGARET WALLACE*

Sophie Elizabeth Dunagan

Stephen Reid Dunagan

Daniel C. Dunagan (1829- )

Levi Jefferson Dunagan

George Washington Dunagan

Mary Jane 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 frontier of Georgia and the Cherokee Nation. The settlement was known as Joshua Darnigan's original settlers and Darnigan's new settlers. Listed in the group were: Joshua Darnigan, deceased; Joseph Dunagon, Ezekial Dunagan and Isiah Dunagan - more than likely father and sons.As a soldier in the War of 1812, Ezekiel Dunegin 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 Dunningham, Joseph Dunagin (Spy) and Joseph Dunagin. William Stewart wrote in Gone to Georgia that Andrew, Ezekiel, Joseph and Isaiah Dunnigan (or those listed by the various spellings) were probably located in Orange County, North Carolina.

I also found this petition filed by Joseph Dunagan(probably Ezekiel's father but could be Ezekiel's brother, also named Joseph), Andrew Dunagan & Ezekiel Dunagan, spelled Dunnegane:

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."

Joseph Ellis Dunagan is my 3rd great grandfather, a veteran of the War of 1812, and was the first child born to Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan. He married Lucinda “Lucy” Beall 15 Feb 1820 in Gainesville, Hall County, GA. Lucinda Beall's grandfather was Thadeus Beall, veteran of the American Revolution having served with George Washington and the Continental Army from the Colony of Maryland. Joseph and Lucy had the following children:

Fredrick Dunagan born 2 Nov 1824 in Hall County, GA, married Lanesa Kirbow, 22 Oct 1846.

Lydia Dunagan born 17 Feb 1826 in Hall County, GA, died 7 Apr 1891, married James Miller.

Ezekiel Dunagan born 15 Jan 1829 in Hall County, GA, died Feb 1906 in Hall County, GA, married Delilah Trotter, 26 Feb 1850. 2nd wife was Sarah Bryant(sister to F. Samanthra Bryant)

Martha Dunagan born 12 Dec 1830 in Hall County, GA, married John Highfield.
John Franklin Dunagan born 15 Oct 1832 in Hall County, GA, died 13 Aug 1890 in Hall County, GA, married Frances Samanthra Bryant.

Alphus Benton Dunagan born 17 Feb 1835 in Hall County, GA, married Nancy Beall on 29 Oct 1876

Mary Dunagan born 2 Jun 1837 in Hall County, GA, married John Short.

Elizabeth Dunagan born 1 Apr 1845 in Hall County, GA.

Usually listed as Dunagan, the 1850 Census shows Joseph Ellis as Dunegan. He was a wealthy farmer, his assets totaling over $10,000 in 1850.A HISTORY OF THE HIGHLY VENERATED JOSEPH ELLIS DUNAGUN, PROVIDED BY MS. SYBIL WOOD McRAE:"Joseph Dunagan, the first born of Ezekiel Dunagan, represented Hall County in the Georgia state senate for 23 years. An unknown friend of Joseph's penned the following tribute:March 16, 1888. THE LATE JOSEPH DUNNEGAN: "There are few men living in Hall County today that were here 60 years ago. Many who were here then have died, while others have moved away and have left their places to be filled by others. Among those who have gone, none were more highly respected than Joseph Dunnegan, an honorable, high-minded Christian gentleman who enjoyed the love and confidence of the people of his county to the day of his death. Mr. Dunnegan served his county in the State Senate for 23 years in succession; and was known by the members of both branches of the general assembly for all parts of the state, and was called by his friends the 'Old Constitution' from the vigilance with which he guarded the sacredness of the fundamental law of the state. He was a class eader and Exhorter in the Methodist Church, and when at the close of the sermon he rose to deliver an exhortation, he was sure to command the strictest attention. Mr. Dunnegan had a bright and pleasant smile, and everyone had a good word for him. When not engaged on his farm, Mr. Dunnegan would spend a portion of his time in mining. He would conduct his mining operations through the week, but on the Sabbath hold religious meetings among miners. Sometime after the opening up of the mines in California Mr. Dunnegan went to that land of gold. After some three years absence, he returned to his home with a snug sum in gold dust which he then had coined at the mint at Dahlonega. After remaining at home for a year or two he went to the Rocky Mountain gold region in quest of more gold. After the breaking out of the war in 1861 Mr. Dunnegan started for his home in Georgia, which he was destined never to reach for he was taken sick on the way and stopped some place in the state of Illinois. He died away from home among strangers who cared well for him and there they buried him. Thus lived and died one of Hall County's great and good men whose greatness consisted of his goodness."

John Franklin Dunagan is my 2nd great grandfather and married Frances Samantha Bryant on 22 Jan 1854 in Hall County, GA. Frances Samantha Bryant's grandmother was believed to be full blooded Cherokee Native American. They had the following children:

Alfred Benton Dunagan born Oct 1855, died 7 Sep 1931 in Jackson County, GA
Jeter Andrew Dunagan born 26 Aug 1856, died 3 May 1923 in Barrow County, GA
Joseph Alexander Dunagan born 8 Apr 1862, died 25 Dec 1949 in Barrow County, GA
John Marion Dunagan born 22 Mar 1869, died 14 Nov 1920 in Hall County, GA
Eveline Dunagan born ABT 1871, died ?
Amanda Dunagan born 22 Aug 1871, died 6 Dec 1943 in Hall County, GA
Lucinda “Lady” Dunagan born ABT 1874, died ?
Sarah Jane Dunagan born ABT 1867, died ?

John Franklin Dunagan enlisted as a private on 4 September 1862 in Company F, 43rd Infantry Regiment of Georgia. The Georgia 43rd Infantry Regiment, organized at Big Shanty, Georgia, in April, 1862, contained men from Cherokee, Pickens, Cobb, Hall, Forsyth, Jefferson, and Jackson counties. The unit moved to Tennessee, then Mississippi where they were placed under the command of General Barton in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. It took an active part in the conflicts at Chickasaw Bayou and Champion's Hill, and was captured when Vicksburg fell. After being exchanged, the 43rd was assigned to General Stovall's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. It was prominent in the numerous campaigns of the army from Missionary Ridge to Nashville, and ended the war in North Carolina. In December, 1863, it totaled 283 men and 251 arms, and in November, 1864, there were 130 fit for duty. On April 26, 1865, the unit surrendered. 

 

 

The sons of John Franklin: (top l-r) Alfred Benton, Joseph Alexander

 and (bottom row l-r) Jeter Andrew and John Marion

My great grandfather is Jeter Andrew Dunagan and he married 

Mary Jane Yancey 26 Aug 1876 in Hall County, GA. 

They had the following children:

Elizabeth Anna “Lizbeth” Dunagan born 16 Nov 1879, died April 1882 in Hall County, GA
William Andrew Dunagan born Jun 1880, died 22 May 1939 in Gainesville, GA
Mary Jane Dunagan born 28 Oct 1881, died April 1882 in Gainesville, GA

After Mary Jane Yancy died, Jeter Andrew Dunagan married Mary Elizabeth Smith (1857 – 1911) and they had the following children:

Lee Castleberry Dunagan
1883 –
Eula Jane Dunagan
1884 – 1958
Samantha Ola "Mattie' Dunagan
1886 – 1974
John Talmedge Dunagan
1889 –
Thursa Lavenica "Thursey" Dunagan
1892 – 1967
Gordon Richard "Dutch" Dunagan
1894 – 1969
Estha E "Estie" Dunagan
1896 – 1946
Charles Henry "Charlie" Dunagan
1898 – 1964

My father’s father, my grandfather, is William Andrew Dunagan and for whom I was named after. His mother, Mary Yancey died during child birth when he was only 2 years old and my grandfather was raised by his grandfather, John Franklin Dunagan, who liked to call him Willie. William Andrew Dunagan married Martha Meldonia "Mellie" Cochran AFT 1900 in Gainesville, GA. They had four children:

George Jeter Dunagan born 2 July 1913, died 10 Jun 2006 in Gainesville, GA
William Melvin Dunagan born 21 Sep 1915, died 21 Nov 1996 in Tifton, GA
Lucille Dunagan born 5 Feb 1918, died 9 Jan 2003 in Gainesville, GA
John Dempsey Dunagan born 30 Nov 1925, died in 2012 in Gainesville, GA

My father is George J. Dunagan and he married Emily Ida Lou Waldrep in June 1939, in Hall County, GA. 

They had the following children:

Emilie Sandra Dunagan born 1 Feb 1942

Brenda Dianne Dunagan born 18 Oct 1944
George Olin Michael Dunagan born 17 Mar 1951
William Bradley Dunagan born 30 Apr 1953

(L-R) Michael Dunagan, Sandra Dunagan Deal, Willi Bradley Dunagan, Brenda Dunagan Rakes (2011)

Emilie Sandra Dunagan married J. Nathan Deal on 12 June 1967. Nathan Deal was born 25 Aug 1942 in Sandersville, GA. Nathan served as a State Senator and a U. S. Congressman from Georgia and was elected Governor of Georgia in 2010. They had the following children:

Jonathan Jason Deal born 30 Jan 1968. Married Denise Fallin (three children: Fallin, Noah & Dawson)

Mary Emily Deal born 11 Jun 1969. Married Greg O'Bradovich (two children: Rosemily & Cordelia)

Carrie Elizabeth Deal born 14 Dec 1976. Married Clint Wilder (one child: Ethan)

Katie Rebecca Deal born 9 Nov 1978. Married Chris Wright

Brenda Diane Dunagan married Roy O. Bonnell, Jr., of Sandersville, GA, in 1968 and they had the following children:

Lori Renee Bonnell born 15 May 1970, Germany. Married Paul Jackson Kern 26 May 1990.

(Six children: Daniel, Zachery, Emily, Andrew, Sarah, Elizabeth)

Benjamin Miguel Bonnell born 14 Feb 1976, Sparta, SC. Married Allison Erato on 1 Sep 2008.

George Olin Michael Dunagan married Sonia Hemphill 9 Sep 1976 in Gainesville, GA. She died 11 Dec 1976 from injuries received in an auto accident. He married Lori Sorsdahl 10 Dec 1982 in Gainesville, GA, and they had the following children:

Derek Dunagan born 11 Nov 1983. Married Tiffany Davis.

David Oliver Dunagan born 24 Apr 1986. Married Catherine Bankhead born 2 May 1985.
They have two chidren: 

Ellis Anne Dunagan born 20 Jan 2012.
Sloane Elizabeth Dunagan born 15 Aug 2015.

I am William Bradley Dunagan and I am the youngest son of George Jeter and Ida Lou Dunagan. I married Mary Arlene Grant on 10 June 1978, in Roswell, Fulton County, GA.

We have three children:

Leah Maeve Dunagan born 13 Aug 1981, in Houston, TX

Lindsey Marie Dunagan born 31 Aug 1983, in Athens, GA

Tyler Grant Dunagan born 19 Mar 1986, in Gainesville, GA

Leah Maeve Dunagan married Brittain "Bull" Stephen Hulsey on 3 Apr 2004 in Gainesville, GA. They have two children:

Maeve Perry Hulsey born 15 Jun 2007 in Gainesville, GA

Martin Grant Hulsey born 26 Feb 2010 in Gainesville, GA

Lindsey Marie Dunagan married Steven Wayne McDowell, Jr., of Columbus, GA, on 9 May 2009 in Cleveland, GA. They have five children:

Lucy Pearl McDowell born 11March 2011 in Rome, GA
Lulah Grey McDowell born 18 March 2013 in Rome GA (at home)

Ida Ruth McDowell born 26 Nov 2015 in Rome GA (at home)

Opal June McDowell born 16 Aug 2019 in Rome GA (at home)

Wendell George McDowell 01 Sep 2021 in Rome GA (at home)

Tyler Grant Dunagan married Amanda Susan Beekman of Oakdale, Long Island, NY, on 3 October 2009 at Sunken Meadows(Long Island), NY. They have three children:

Nathan Bradley Dunagan born 13 October 2014 in Jacksonville Beach, FL

Troy Robert Dunagan born 22 Dec 2016 in Jacksonville Beach FL

Wes Franklin Dunagan born 23 Sep 2019 in Jacksonville Beach FL