Western Dunagan Family Reunion

Brad here is a picture of some of the Western Dunagans taken in Silver City, New Mexico this summer, 2012. Direct descendants of Stephan Reid Dunagan, son of Ezekiel Dunagan and Margaret "Peggy" Wallace Dunagan.  The white haired gentleman with the mustache is the grandson of Alvin Dungan and Elizabeth (Bessie) Spaw.  My grandmother was Callie Kate Spaw, married to Stephen Wallace Dunagan.  The lady in the middle is Carol Smith she has written a book about life in Animas, N.M. and being rasied there and she has offered to take my sister Maudie to the Dunagan ranch and show us around as soon as the weather cools off some, I can't wait!

 

Peggy Dunagan Mcbride

photo by Bill Marlowe

Martha Louise Dunagan Ferguson, 96

From Darryl Dunagan:


Brad,she was the last of my fathers siblings. She was born in Gainesville and
lived there until her late teens. The daughter of Hubert O'Neal Dunagan and Martha Jane Apple
Dunagan/Ezekiel Parks Dunagan/James Reid Dunagan/Ezekiel Dunagan and Lydia Ann Brown.


Name:
Martha Dunagan Ferguson

Dates:
Birth date: October 1, 1915
Death date: July 18, 2012 

Obituary:

Reidsville, NC – Martha Dunagan Ferguson, 96, of Brian Center of Eden, went home to be with her Heavenly Father, Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at Rockingham County Hospice Home.

Funeral services will be held 10:00 A.M., Saturday, July 22, 2012, at Wilkerson Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Clay Spivey officiating. Interment will follow in Greenview Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Keith Chapman, Jason Chapman, Donny Childress, Brian Mabe, Brian Loye and Michael McFadden.

Mrs. Ferguson was born in Gainsville, Ga. to the late Hubert O’Neal and Martha Jane Apple Dunagan. She was a retiree of Chase Bag Company with over 30 years service and a member of College Park Baptist Church. She had lived the longest of any of her family members and was known by her grandchildren as Maw Maw or Mo Mo. Martha loved to quote scripture to family and friends, was an avid shopper and enjoyed eating at Reid’s House Restaurant. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husbands, Houston Barham, Leonard Barker and Harry Ferguson; daughters, Betty Lou Chapman and Marie Knowles; grandson, Eddie Knowles; brothers, O’Neal and Parks Dunagan; sisters, Edith Barham ,Elsie Dunagan , Mildred Donati and Thelma McCoy.

Survivors include her grandchildren, Terri Childress and husband, Wayne, Cindy Everett and husband, Philip, LuAnne Loye and husband, Gary, Keith Chapman and wife, Susan and Ricky Knowles who gave her so much joy and comfort in her last days; 8 great grandchildren; 12 great great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

John Dempsey Dunagan, 86

L-R Dunagan brothers, George J. Dunagan and J. Dempsey Dunagan

Obituary Date

July 12, 2012

Location

Memorial Park, Gainesville, GA

Obituary

July 12, 2012

John Dempsey Dunagan, age 86 of Gainesville, passed away on Thursday Morning, July 12, 2012 at Northeast Georgia Medical Center following an extended illness.

            

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 2:30 pm in the Chapel of Memorial Park Funeral Home with interment to follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.  Reverend Drewery Loggins will officiate.  The family will receive friends on Friday, July 13, 2012 from 7 – 9 pm at the funeral home.

            

Mr. Dunagan was born November 30, 1925 in Gainesville, Georgia to the late Andrew Dunagan and Mellie Cochran Dunagan.  He was retired from Gilford Mill as a Textile Mechanic.  Dempsey was a member of Corinth Baptist Church and a member of Murrayville Masonic Lodge. 

            

Mr. Dunagan is survived by his wife of 62 years, Bonnie Dunagan of Gainesville, son, Randall Dunagan of Gainesville, daughter, Elaine Archer of Gainesville, daughters & sons-in-laws, Marilyn & Randy Steadman of Kingsport, Tennessee and Patricia & Ricky Moore of Belton, South Carolina, grandchildren, Jamie & Casey Dyer, Shane Free, John Armour and Leeza Summers, great-grandchildren, Savanna Dyer, Hanna Dyer, Braden Armour, Mason Free and Luke Free. 

(John Dempsey Dunagan is the youngest brother of my father, George J. Dunagan and the last of the siblings to pass, descended from William Andrew Dunagan/Jeter Andrew Dunagan/John Franklin Dunagan/Joseph Ellis Dunagan/Ezekiel Dunagan and Lydia Ann Brown.)

Two Governors From One Family

Nathan Deal was elected Governor of the great state of Georgia in 2010. Nathan is married to Sandra Dunagan Deal, daughter of George Jeter Dunagan, descended from William Andrew Dunagan/Jeter Andrew Dunagan/John Franklin Dunagan/Joseph Ellis Dunagan/Ezekiel Dunagan and Lydia Ann Brown. Nathan has had a long distinguished career, serving in the Georgia State Senate for many years, as did Joseph Ellis Dunagan,from 1825 to 1848. Nathan also served in the U. S. Congress, House of Representatives, from 1992 to 2010, resigning to run for governor.

L-R Mary Dunagan, Governor Nathan Deal, First Lady Sandra Dunagan Deal, Brad Dunagan

It turns out that there is one other Governor of Georgia from the Ezekiel Dunagan family lineage, former Governor Zell Miller. He is the great grandson of Lydia Dunagan Miller and James Miller. Lydia Dunagan was the daughter of Joseph Ellis Dunagan, the oldest son of Ezekiel Dunagan and Lydia Ann Brown. Zell is the author of several books and also served in the U. S. Senate before retiring to his home town of Young Harris, GA.

James Miller b. 10 Dec 1816, Hall County, GA, d. 27 Apr 1896, buried in Mossy Creek, White Co., GA.He married Lydia Dunagan b. 17 Feb 1827, Hall County, GA, d. 7 Apr 1891, also buried at Mossy Creek, White County, GA. I am not certain of who the parents of James Miller were but Lydia Dunagan was the oldest daughter of my 3rd. great grandparents, Joseph Ellis Dunagan and Lucinda Beall. Lucinda Beall was the daughter of Frederick Beall, a Brig General in the War of 1812. Lydia was named after her grandmother, Lydia Ann (Brown)Dunagan.

James and Lydia had several children but Zell Miller is descended from their child, William Jasper "Bud" Miller b. 7 Feb 1847, White County, GA. He married Jane Malinda Collins and they had a son, Stephen Grady Miller, the father of Zell Bryan Miller.

Stephen Grady Miller was married to Birdie Bryan. Zell Miller was born 24 Feb 1932, the same year his father died. Birdie never remarried and raised Zell and his siblings as a single mother.

Zell Miller

Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005. As Governor, he established the Hope Scholarship Program.

Family Bible Notes - Ezekiel Dunagan

Below are Family Bible notes found in a Bible owned by Mrs. Mary Dunagan Sheats of Winder, GA. (The youngest child of James Reed Dunagan), Nora Dunagan 

Ezekiel was born on Toms Creek, near what is now Augusta GA. Toms Creek was named after his grandfather, Thomas. In the 1820's, Ezekial drew a land allotment. He was a resident in Pendledon Dist, SC.,in 1794 and 1795, when he was witness to two land transactions. He had settled in GA. by September 13, 1798, when he and Joseph Dunagin, signed a petition to the Governor. He is reported in 'DUNAGAN'S OF DIXIE' as being born May 16, 1774/5

In 1804, a report of Colonel Wofford to the Cherokee agent, Jonathan Meigs, included the number of settlers living in and near Wofford Settlement on the frontier of Georgia and the Cherokees - lying between the Currahee Mountain and the headwaters of the Ocone(?) River. The Indians had complained that the white man was intruding on their property which was found to be true; therefore, Georgia bought a ten-mile strip from the Indians so these white men could continue to live in their homes.

Darnigan's New Settlers included Ezekiel Dunagan, (the name is spelled Darnigan and Dunagan) Joseph Wilson, Isiah Dunagan, John Peak, and Solomon Peak (Tenant) The Dunagans came to Hall County, or were settled there in the strip purchased from the Cherokees. Ezekiel Dunagan is buried in Hall County.

Ezekiel Dunagan was a Justice of the Peace, District 251, Jackson GA in 1807. - Hist Notes Jackson Co GA, Frary Elrod, pg 72 - J Robison copy

Ezekiel Dunnegin is listed on the Jackson Co., GA Tax digest of 1809, page 21.

During the 1820 Hall Co., GA. Census, pg 128:

Ezekiel, and his family, were residents and listed as follows; two male children under age 10 (Ezekiel Jackson and Andrew F.), one male child between age 10 and 16 (Isiah), three male children between age 16 and 26 (Abner, Benjamin and John) with Ezekiel being over age 45, along with his wife, Lydia Ann, being between age 26 and 45, two female children under age 10 (Louisa B. and Elizabeth), two female children between age 10 and 16 (Delilahand Anna) and 4 slaves.

In 1830, they were residents in Hall Co., GA., Census, pg 73:

Two males under age 5 (Stephen Ray and unidentified son), one male child between age 5 and 10 (James Reid), two male children between age 15 and 20 (Andrew F. and Ezekiel Jackson) with Ezekeil listed as between age 60 and 70 years, along with one female under age 5 (Sophis), two females between age 10 and 15 (Louisa B. and Elizabeth C.), with wife Margaret 'Peggy' Wallace being listed as being between age 30 and 40, and four slaves.

Ezekial passed away in 1837.

The 1840 Hall County, GA Census, pg 182:

Margaret Dunagan, Head of family; 2 males 5-10, 2 males 10-15, 4 males 20-30, 1 female 5-10, 1 female 15=20, 1 female 20-30, 1 female 40-50, 3 slaves.

Sources:

Dunagan Bible; National Pub Co; In poss of Mrs. Sheats, Winder GA, acc to book citation; record deposited GA State Archives.

This 'n' That: History of Hall co GA, vol 1; Sybil Wood McRay, 1973; pp 40-41; Chattanooga-Hamilton co TN Library.