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.