Col. Benjamin Black Dunagan

Benjamin Black Dunagan was born March 22 or 28, 1795, and he is my 4th great uncle, a brother to Joseph Ellis Dunagan, and was the 2nd child born to Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan. Not much is known about Benjamin other than he had a distinguished military career rising to the rank of Colonel in the Georgia Militia. My dad would tell stories about Benjamin Dunagan and the many military campaigns he fought in around the state of Georgia and northern Florida mostly putting down Indian uprisings and various skirmishes with the Indians around the state. He was elected sheriff of Hall County, Georgia in 1838 and served two terms, 1838-1839 and 1842-1843. In 1868 Benjamin Dunnegan of Hall County was appointed notary public, nominated and recommended by the Freedman's Bureau representative in the area because he was a trusted unionist. He later formed the first Republican Party of Hall County in 1870, at age 75, and was elected Vice-President of the local GOP chapter at the organization meeting. As a side note, General James Longstreet, General Lee's second in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, CSA, and Georgia's most famous Republican, moved to Gainesville in 1875, not too long after after the GOP chapter was formed. Below are the minutes recorded when the organization meeting took place on September 23, 1870, in Gainesville, Georgia:

At a meeting of the Republican party of Hall county, held in the Court House in Gainesville, on the 23d September, for the purpose of organizing a Republican Club, G. W. Johnson, Esq., was elected President, Col. Benj. Dunagan, Vice President, and M. P. Caldwell, Sec'y.

It was resolved that every true Republican in the county be respectfully invited and urged to co-operate with the State and National Republican organizations in the coming campaign, and that we pledge ourselves to use due diligence to disseminate the great principles of said organizations and secure the election of our candidates, and earnestly and respectfully ask conservative voters of all parties to unite with us. Col. Benj. Dunagan and Maj. M.P. Caldwell were appointed delegates to the Congressional Convention at Gainesville, on the 12th of October, and G. W. Johnson Esq., and A. P. Prater alternates.

The Club adjoined, earnestly asking every Republican in the county to meet at the court house in Gainesville, on the 12th Oct., to agree upon a candidate to represent the county in the Legislature. We hope every district in the county will be represented.

signed: M. P. Caldwell, Sec'y42

Below is a copy of an original letter signed by Col. Benjamin Dunagan, 44th Regiment of the Georgia Militia, which ordered the muster of the militia in 1838 to aid the Federal Government in the removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia. This was known as the "Trail of Tears." The march west began October, 1838, and ended March, 1839. Many Cherokee died on the trip west. Dad told me that Benjamin did not participate in the actual rounding up and the forced march to the Indian territories out west due to his local responsibilities as sheriff of Hall County at the time but he did organize the militia for the task.

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Benjamin Dunagan was a bachelor most of his life but I remember my dad telling me that he married later in life after he fathered a child with a local woman he had known for many years but never gave the child his name. If any of you know anymore about this Benjamin Black Dunagan please leave me a post.