History of Wilkes County Georgia United States of America

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Wesley John Gaines, A.M.E. bishop, was born in Wilkes county, Ga., Oct. 4, 1840. His parents, William and Louisa Gaines, were slaves, and he was himself brought up a slave. He was licensed to preach in 1865, was admitted to the South Carolina conference in 1866, was ordained a deacon and then elder in 1867, and was assigned to the Florence Mission, Ga. He was stationed at various places in Georgia, and on May 19, 1888, was elected bishop, being ordained May 24, at Indianapolis, Ind. He was book steward of the North Georgia conference; a member of the A.M.E. financial board for which he raised over $500,000; the founder, a trustee, superintendent and treasurer of Morris Brown college, Atlanta, Ga.; and vice president of the board of trustees of Payne theological seminary. Augusta, Ga., and of Wilberforce university. Wilberforce conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D. in 1883. He publisbed: African Methodism in the South (1890), and The Negro and the White Man (1897).

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

Junius Hillyer, representative, was born in Wilkes county, Ga., April 23, 1807; son of Shelet and Rebecca (Freeman) Hillyer. He was graduated at the University of Georgia in 1878, and was admitted to the bar in the same year, practising at Athens, Ga. He was solicitor-general for the western district of the state, 1834-41; judge of the same circuit, 1841-45, and a representative in the 32d and 33d congresses, 1851- 55. In 1857 he was appointed by President Buchanan, solicitor of the U.S. treasury, which office be resigned, Feb. 13, 1861, on the secession of Georgia from the union. He was a trustee of the University of Georgia, 1844-58. He was distinguished at the bar as a jury orator. He died in Decatur, Ga., June 21, 1886.

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

Shaler Granby Hillyer, educator, was born in Wilkes county, Ga., June 20, 1809; son of Shaler and Rebecca (Freeman) Hillyer. He was taken with his brothers, John Freeman and Junius, to Athens, Ga., in 1821, by his mother, and was graduated at Franklin college (University of Georgia) in 1829. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but did not practise. He was tutor in a private family in Florida for one year; principal of Sunbury academy for one year, and preached his first sermon in Sunbury, Ga., in 1832. He was tutor in Franklin college, Athens, Ga., 1834; professor of rhetoric and belles lettres at Mercer university, Penfield, Ga., 1847-55, and of church history, homiletics and the Greek Testament, 1859-61; and president of Monroe Female college, Forsyth, Ga., 1867-72, and again, 1880-81. He was regularly ordained a minister in the Baptist church in 1835, and was pastor at Milledgeville, Ga., 1838-45, and later at various churches in Georgia. After resigning the presidency of Monroe Female college he was pastor at Washington, Ga., 1881-87, and at Decatur and Clarkston, Ga., 1887-92. He then retired from active work on account of the infirmities of age, preaching only occasionally by invitation. He received the degree of D.D. from Mercer university in 1850, and was a trustee of that institution in 1838. He was a regular contributor to the Christian Index up to the time of his death. He died in Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 19, 1900.

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

Lucius J. Gartrell, representative, was born in Wilkes county, Ga., Jan. 7, 1821. He attended Randolph-Macon college, Va., and Franklin college, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga., and in 1842 was admitted to the bar, practising in Washington, Ga. He was solicitor-general of the northern judicial circuit of Georgia, 1843-47, and a representative in the state legislature, 1847-51. He removed to Atlanta, Ga., in 1854, was a presidential elector in 1856, and was a representative in the 35th and 36th congresses, 1857-61, resigning his seat on the secession of his state. He was a regent of the Smithsonian institution. In 1861 he organized the 7th Georgia regiment and became its colonel. He withdrew from the Confederate army in 1862 to become a representative in the 1st Confederate congress, and after the expiration of his term of service returned to the field with the rank of brigadier-general, He raised Gartrell's brigade and commanded it until the end of the war, when he returned to the practice of law. He died in Atlanta, Ga., April 7, 1891.

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

History of Wilkes County Georgia

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