History of Hancock County Georgia United States of America

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Biographies:

Gideon Lincecum, naturalist, was born in Hancock county, Ga., April 22, 1793. He acquired an education through home study, served in the Georgia militia in the war of 1812 and became a practising physician in Lowndes county, Miss., in 1815. In 1856 he removed to Texas and spent 1868-72 in Tuxpan, Mexico. He became the friend and correspondent of Darwin, Humboldt, Agassiz and other eminent naturalists. He published papers through the Smithsonian Institution, the Franklin Institute and the Essex Institute, among them being a monograph on the red ant, the result of fourteen years' study. The Jardin des Plantes in Paris contains his collection of Texan flora and the Essex Institute, at Salem, Mass., his collection of forty-eight families of ants and butterflies. He is the author of several unpublished works, including an autobiography; The Medical History of the Southern United States and The Traditions of the Choctaw Indians. He died in Brenham, Texas, Nov. 28, 1874.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Mark Antony Cooper, representative, was born in Hancock county, Ga., April 20, 1800. He was graduated at the South Carolina college in 1819, admitted to the Georgia bar in 1821 and practised in Eatonton and Columbus, Ga. He served as an officer in both the wars against the Seminole Indians in Georgia and Florida, 1825 and 1836, gaining the rank of major. He was a representative in the 26th and 27th congresses 1839-43. In 1843 he was nominated for governor of Georgia but was defeated in the election by George W. Crawford. He founded the Georgia state agricultural society and was largely instrumental in promoting the agricultural and industrial interests of the state after the civil war. He died in Columbus, Ga., March 17, 1885.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Richard Malcolm Johnston, author, was born in Hancock county, Ga., March 8, 1822; son of Malcolm and Catharine (Davenport) Johnston; grandson of William Johnston; great grandson of the Rev. Thomas Johnston who emigrated from Dumfriesshire, Scotland, to America and settled finally in Charlotte county, Va. He was a descendant on his mother's side from the Davenports of Connecticut. He was brought up on his father's plantation, was graduated from Mercer university in 1841, and taught school for one year. He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and entered into partnership with Judge Linton Stephens at Sparta, Ga. He declined the judgeship of the northern circuit court and the presidency of Mercer university in 1857. He relinquished his practice in 1858 to accept the chair of belles-lettres in the University of Georgia, which he held, 1858-62. During the civil war he served as aide of the staff of Governor Brown of Georgia and was very active in the organization of the militia of that state. He established a select classical school at Rockby, near Sparta, Ga., of which he was principal, 1862-68. He then removed his school to Chestnut Hill, a suburb of Baltimore, Md., the school being known as the Pen Lucy institute, which he conducted until 1882, when he retired to devote his time to literature. He was one of the regular staff of lecturers at the Catholic summer school, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 1895-98, having served in the same capacity at St. Mary's university, Baltimore, Md., for several years; and was also a popular lyceum lecturer. He was married in 1844 to Frances Mansfield, of Hancock county, Ga., and their son Lucien became a priest in the Roman CatItalic church. He received the degree of LL.D. from St Mary's uuiversity, Baltimore, in 1895. He is the author of: Georgia Sketches (1864); Dukes-borough Tales (1871); Historical Sketch of English Literature (1872); Life of Alexander H. Stephens (1878); with William Hand Browne: Old Mark Lungstong (1884); Two Gray Tourists (1885); Mr. Absalom Billingslea and Other Georgia Folk (1888); Ogeechee Cross-Firings (1889); The Widow Guthrie (1890); The Primes and Their Neighbors (1891); Studies, Literary and Social (2 vols., 1891-92): Dukesborough Tales: Chronicles of Mr. Bill Williams (1892) ;Mr. Billy Downs and His Likes (1892); Mr. Fortner's Marital Claims, and other Stories (1892); Little lke Templin, and other Stories (1894); Old Times in Middle Georgia (1897); Pierce Amerson's Will (1898). He died in Baltimore, Md., Sept. 23, 1898.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Hancock County Georgia

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