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.