Walter Floy Farr

Floy Farr was born May 20, 1912 at home in Stop, an unincorporated community near Tyrone. He graduated from Fayette County High School in 1930. He got a job at Redwine Brothers. In 1935 he helped bring phone service to Tyrone from the Fayetteville exchange. In 1945 he helped form the Coweta-Fayette Electric Membership Corp. Farr was one of Peachtree City’s founding fathers. Farr meet with and guided Earl Denny and Golden Pickett in their quest to buy 15,000 acres and start a new city in Fayette County. This city became Peachtree City. Farr was active in banking in Tyrone and later in the Peachtree City. He was a charter member of the Fayette County Kiwanis Club and was a member of the Fayette County Board of Education for 10 years. He died at age 94 on September 26, 2006

By Tony Parrott

Source: Gravestone Westminster Memorial Gardens, Peachtree City, Georgia

Undated Atlanta-Journal-Constitution article Fayette County Historical Society Family Files

Obituary, The Citizen Oct 3, 2006

The post Walter Floy Farr appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

Sally Kate Graham

May 29, 1883 Sally Kate Graham was born. Sally had seven siblings. The family lived in the old Bennett home on Beauregard Road built by Cam Bennett. Sally and her siblings had attended their classes at the Fayette Academy then in the evening as they prepared for the evening meal. January 5th, 1892 Sally asked her father what the noise was and little did the family know that their home was in the path of the “cyclone”. Poor young Sally Kate was crushed to death as the chimney collapsed.

Deborah Riddle

The post Sally Kate Graham appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

Roxie Ann Jones McEachern

Roxie Ann Jones McEachern was born in Fayette County on May 26, 1859, the daughter of Josiah Jones and Emily Davis. Her father died in the Civil War and is buried in Virginia. The 1870 census Fayette County Georgia states “Roxie is 11 and living with her Uncle Nimrod Davis along with her brothers and sister following the death of her father and her mother.”

On January 7, 1879 Roxie Ann Jones married Sanford McEachern. Their son Walter, my grandfather, was born December 11, 1879 and followed by Clara, Paul and Elizabeth.

Roxie McEachern was my great grandmother. The 1900 Census reads “Roxie A. McEachern is widowed. She has four children all living. Children at home are Paul and Elizabeth and her older son, Walter, lives with her along with his wife Hattie and their daughter, Stella, born June 18, 1900”.

Stella McEachern was my mother. She married John W. Tate in July 1928 and I was born May 23, 1929.

Grandma Roxie wanted to have a big birthday celebration on her 75^th birthday. Thus, began the tradition of the McEachern Family Reunion which continues until today. Grandma Roxie died in 1946 at 87. Each year on the fourth Sunday of May the descendants of Roxie and Walter and Hattie and Annie McEachern gather at the Ebenezer Methodist Church and remember past celebrations with new generations each year. After Hattie died in 1901, Walter married Annie Estelle Tedder in 1905 and they had ten children. So, there are many cousins meeting and eating, along with friends and neighbors on the fourth Sunday of May every year.

Sources: 1870 Census, 1900 Census, Joyce Bannister

By Joyce Bannister

The post Roxie Ann Jones McEachern appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

Resignation of Sheriff Marshbourne

On May 6, 1862 Fayette County Sheriff Sam Marshbourne went to the Fayette County courthouse and resigned as sheriff. Caught up in the patriotic Fervor of the South, he had these words recorded in the official minutes of the Inferior Court:

“To the honorable Inferior Court of Fayette County, Ga. greetings: I do hereby tender to you may resignation as sheriff of Fayette County for reasons known to you all; as a volunteer to assist driving back the Northern vandals from our young but noble Confederacy.”

By John Lynch

Sources: Minutes of the Inferior Court of Fayette County Georgia May 6, 1862

The Dorman-Marshbourne Letter

Scarlett’s Neighbors

The post Resignation of Sheriff Marshbourne appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

Murray Earl Murphy

Murray Earl Murphy was born May 12, 1888 one-mile northeast of Gilbert’s schoolhouse and was the fourth child of Joseph Robert Murphy and Alice Samantha Moor. Murray’s grandfather, John Murphy, and his brother came to Fayette County in 1836 and settled about three miles east of Fayetteville. Murray’s father was one of the organizers of the Fayetteville Baptist Church and ran a nursery which Murray would take over later in his life.

Murray started school in Fayetteville in 1894 and after finishing began his teaching career at Gilbert’s Schoolhouse. He married Mamie Davis the oldest daughter of John James Davis, a long time ordinary of Fayette County, on December 18, 1912 and began teaching in Tyrone January 1913. Between teachings, he operated a store on the square for about three years. He was a mail carrier on Route Two for a year and on January 1919 he came back to teach in Fayetteville when George Cleveland Looney returned for his third time.

In early 1920s Murray taught an intermediate group of boys and girls at the Baptist Church in Fayette. When he stopped teaching in public schools, he began to devote full time to the nursey business, growing and selling all types of fruit trees and shrubbery. He left Fayetteville December 1933 to go to Albany, Georgia with the Georgia Forestry Commission, to develop and aid in the reforesting programs. He returned in December 1957, after being away for 24 years following his retirement.

Murray Earl Murphy, May 12, 1988 – December 21, 1978

Sources: Information taken for Murphy file in Fayette County Historical Society Family Files

By: Angela Pendleton

The post Murray Earl Murphy appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

McIntosh’s Widow Plea for Assistance

After the assassination of General William McIntosh in Whitesburg, Georgia on May 1, 1825, some of the family of the slain Creek Chief fled to the plantation of General Alexander Ware on Line Creek in Fayette County. On May 3, 1825, from Ware’s home, two of McIntosh’s wives, Peggy a d Susannah McIntosh addressed a letter to Colonel Duncan G. Campbell and Major James Meriwether, both U. S. Commissioners of Indian Affairs. In the letter they asked for immediate aid and protection for themselves and their “poor little hungry naked children”, as well as “150 to 200” of their people who had also fled their homes. They added: Our country is now in a most ruined state … and if You and Your people do not assist us, God help us 0 we must die either by the Sword or famine – this moment General Ware has come in and will in a few minutes start with a few men and a few friendly Indians, to try and get a little something for us to eat”

Sources: University of Georgia, Telamon Cuyler Collection

By John Lynch

The post McIntosh’s Widow Plea for Assistance appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

Joe Lynn Brown

Joe Lynn Brown, the youngest of 8 children of Luther Virgil Brown and Dannie Mary Jones Brown is born May 9, 1920. Joe lived a fairly uneventful life as the child of a farming family in Fayette County. When he was 18, he overheard his uncle Rome Stinchcomb whispering to his parents on the front porch. Soon after he left, a neighbor came to tell them that Uncle Rome had been found dead in the road not far away. The memories gave him bad dreams 60 years later.

Joe registered for the draft July 1, 1941, he was working as a machinist in Atlanta, and enlisted at Ft McPherson 11 Jun 1942. Joe spent his time in the Army in the 79th Infantry Division and fought in 9 major battles. He was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery, heroism and meritorious service. He kept a record of his military service and created a “Hall of Fame” in his home in his later years, with details, letters and his medals proudly displayed.

After he was discharged, Joe went straight to Stonewall Georgia, and married his sweetheart, Helen Cochran and took her home with him to Fayetteville. He and Helen had 4 children, Terry, Mike, Cheryl and Ted.

Joe and his brother Erroll worked hard, saved their money, and bought into the Johnson and Brown Machine Works, eventually buying out the other partner. Joe did not enroll at Georgia Tech, but attended classes to enhance his business knowledge. He and brother Erroll farmed and raised cattle on hundreds of acres they bought in the Brooks area of Fayette County.

In 1966 Joe was named Man of the Year in Soil Conservation by the Towaliga Soil and Water Conservation District. In 1974 Joe and Helen moved from their home in College Park to the home they built on a knoll on their farm in Brooks. After retirement, Joe and Helen traveled the world, and he proudly kept a map of their travels in his Hall of Fame.

Life went on, Joe maintained his cheerful spirit when he lost the love of his life and a daughter. His mind and sense of humor remained sharp until he passed on June 13, 2019

By Jane Strickland

Source: Joe Lynn Brown and his Obituary

The post Joe Lynn Brown appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

Jasper Calhoun Jones

Jasper Calhoun Jones, a cook, son of James Lawson Jones, RFD #4, Fayetteville, GA departed France on the ship Canadaigua, coming home from WW I. He would soon marry Lillian Moore and move to College Park. They would have William Eugene, Jasper Calhoun Jr, and Charlotte. The grandchildren of Jasper and Lillian still live in Fayette County.

Sources: (US Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists 1910-1939)

By Jane Strickland

The post Jasper Calhoun Jones appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

May 16, 1822

Henry Waldrop Simpson

The first child born of a permanent record in Fayette County, Georgia was Henry Waldrop Simpson. He was born on May 16, 1822 the son of Cain Simpson and Belena Waldrop. His great grandfather was James Waldrop, a Revolutionary War soldier buried in Fayette County. Henry W, Simpson married Kezzie Wallis in March of 1849 and they had nine children. During the War Between the States he fought in Company “D”, 44^th Georgia Regiment from Clayton County, Ga. He was also a Mason. G. W. Wood wrote an obituary of him in the Fayetteville News, March 10, 1910: … “as a father, he was tender and considerate, ‘not provoking his children to wrath.’ As a citizen, was loyal to all the political traditions of his country, state, and section. He was orthodox in everything. He followed no strange gods, political or otherwise. As a neighbor, he was obliging, never refusing to assist or bear his part in anything for public welfare. To his friends, he was loyal and true. Everyone had a generous, cordial welcome to his company, his home and board.” Henry W. Simpson is buried in the Wallis Cemetery in Clayton County, Ga.

By: John Lynch

Source: The History of Fayette County 1821 – 1971

The post Henry Waldrop Simpson appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.

On May 27,1861 the first company of infantry for the War between the States was organized in Fayette County, Georgia. The company was known as the Fayette Rifle Grays and was officially designated as Company “I”, of the 10^th Georgia regiment. Young L. Wooten was captain. A review of the company was held at the courthouse grounds with Colonel Mail M. Tidwell delivering the complimentary Speech. At that time, a flag that had been made in the Holliday House by several prominent ladies of Fayetteville was resented to Captain Woodson, who then passed it to John M. Dorsey the company’s flag-bearer. When the company later boarded a train at the car shed in Atlanta a Bible was presented to all the members by John D. Favor a wealthy planter of the county. Az band played patriotic music as they were boarding the train. They arrived in Virginia on June 7, 1861 and subsequently became members of General Robert E. Lee’s famed Army of North Virginia

Sources: Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Georgia,

The Dorman-Marshbourne Letters

By John Lynch

Source: The History of Fayette County 1821 – 1971 Carolyn Cary, Ed. 1977 Fayette County Historical Society

The post The Fayette Rifle Grays appeared first on Fayette Historical Society.