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.