The Rev. Alfred Corn, Son of Elder Rev. Adam Corn

The Rev. Elder Adam Corn and his wife, Hannah Heatherly Corn, had at least nine known children, all of whom grew up to be solid citizens.  When Union County gave up a section of its land to form Towns County in 1856, the Corn families were in a new county without having to move from the farms on which they had settled.

As we saw in last week’s article about Elder Rev. Adam Corn, he was a Baptist preacher and a church planter.  He helped to organize several churches within the Union and Towns Counties areas.  One was the Macedonia Baptist Church southeast of Hiawassee.  Into the membership of that church, the Elder Rev. Corn baptized his two older sons, John and Alfred in the year 1841.  Both of these men became outstanding leaders in church, associational and missions work, and both became ordained ministers and denominational leaders. The story is told that one of the favorite pastimes of these brothers when they were young was to find a stump to use as a pulpit and to “preach away” to anyone who would take the time to listen, perhaps their younger siblings or neighbor children.  But even with this early practice as pulpiteers, it was not until John was twenty-eight and Alfred was twenty-four that they were baptized by their father in the Hiawassee River and accepted into the membership of Macedonia Baptist Church.

We will trace first some of the work of Alfred E. Corn, the second child of Adam and Hannah Corn.  He was born January 19, 1817 before the Corn family left Buncombe County, NC to begin their travels to other points where they settled.  He married Nancy T. Cook on January 16, 1842.  I thought I might find their marriage record in Union County, Georgia marriages, since the Corn family moved from North Carolina to Georgia about 1839.  I found that Rev. Alfred Corn performed marriage ceremonies for several in Union, but his marriage record to Nancy was not listed in Union.  Rev. Alfred and Nancy Cook Corn had children Arminta Jane (1843-1932) who married Mangum Bryson; John Adam (1845-1864) who died in the Civil War but had married Ivy Ann Loudermilk on May 13, 1862.  John Adam and Ivy Ann had a son, John Alfred, born in 1863.  After his father’s death, his grandfather reared him.  This young man became a prosperous property owner and served as both a state legislator and a Senator from the Towns County area.  Rev. Alfred Corn’s first wife Nancy died in 1884 and he married, second, to Amanda Matthewson on May 22, 1885.  

Alfred Corn was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Antioch Baptist Church of Union County on October 19, 1850.  Little did those who sat in on his presbytery realize what a stalwart leader he would become in denominational work.  He served for a number of years as an appointee of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board (known then as the Baptist Board of Domestic Missions) to the Indians in North Carolina.  He had to preach through an interpreter to be understood by the Cherokee.  He was pastor of the Old Union Baptist Church at Young Harris for about 20 years.  He was recognized as an outstanding leader in the Hiawassee Baptist Association and the Georgia Baptist Convention.  He and Alphaeus Swanson led in organizing the West Union Baptist Church in Hiawassee Association.

He kept journals which tell of hardships during the Civil War.  In one, he told how glad he was to see his son, John Adam, home for a brief leave from the Civil War.  But later he lamented that, because of his son’s death, his family could never be together again as they once were on this earth.  In 1864 his journal shows that he could not get to some of his church appointments because of unrest and “invasion of Yankee troops” that pillaged and robbed.  Those same “snipers” stole his faithful steed that had taken him thousands of miles on his journeys to preach and do his missionary service.

He was also noted as an itinerant preacher and was invited to preach at summer camp meetings such as that at Fightingtown, a summer gathering held on a former Cherokee Indian Council Ground in Epworth, Fannin County, Georgia.  He was one of the early invited guests after the camp meetings were reinstated following the Civil War. Known for his level-headedness and attention to duty, he left his mark in several North Georgia and North Carolina counties as he labored to build stronger churches.  He and his first wife Nancy Cook Corn were buried in the Old Union Baptist Church Cemetery, Young Harris, Georgia.  She died December 26, 1884 and Alfred died July 16, 1905.

©2012 by Ethelene Dyer Jones.  Published March 22, 2012 online with permission of the author at the GaGenWebProject.  All rights reserved.

[Ethelene Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian.  She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@windstream.net; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411.]

More descendants of early settlers

Continuing the saga of the Cathey settlers in early Union County, today's article will feature a son of theirs, James Cathey, a grandson Julius Young Cathey, and a great grandson, John Lucius Cathey. These did not remain in Union County, partly because the section where James's parents lived became a part of Towns County in 1856, and then because of outward migration of some to find better economic conditions elsewhere.

James Cathey (March 11, 1812 - February 3, 1887) was born to William Cathey (April 15, 1782 - abt. 1860) and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey (April 3, 1787 - abt. 1872). His birth occurred in North Carolina prior to his parents' move to Union County, Georgia in the 1830s. As listed in a previous article, the Cathey children of this first generation to live in Union (later Towns) County were Andrew Dever, James, William H., Samuel B. and Rebecca. Of these children, the last, Rebecca, was the only one born in Georgia (Nov. 17, 1820 - Feb. 21, 1871).

James married Emmeline (known as Emily) Brown in Union County, Georgia on May 28, 1846. Their children numbered six, and were Julius Young (1847- 1929) who married Rebecca Louvenia Wood; Jane Elizabeth (1850 - ?); Lucious (1854 - ?); William C. (1859 - ?) who married Josephine Crow; Nancy Marinda (called "Rendy," 1863- 1919) who married Noah Ellis; John A. (1866- ? ) and Andrew Dever. Noting the names, one easily sees that children in the third generation in Towns/Union were given some of the same names as those of children of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey, first settlers here.

Firstborn of James and Emmeline Brown Cathey, Julius Young Cathey (Sept. 17, 1847 - March 22, 1929) lived in the Woods Grove section of Towns County. He married Rebecca Louvenia Wood in April of 1870. Her parents were John, Jr. and Nancy McClure Wood. This Wood family, early settlers in what became Towns County, gave the community of Woods Grove its name. James and Emily were buried in the Brasstown Baptist Church Cemetery, Towns County.

Julius Young and Rebecca Louvenia Woods Cathey (Jan. 12, 1846 - Dec. 28, 1928) reared their family of either nine or seven children in the Woods Grove Community. It is interesting to note that the Towns County census of 1900 lists nine children in their household. However, only seven can be traced with any degree of authentication. Perhaps two died young. Known children and their spouses were: James Melvin (b. 1871) married Georgia Ann Martin and Roxie Ann Elliott. Mary Elizabeth (1873-1953) married William H. Dotson. John Lucious (1876-1960) married Hattie Ann Dyer. Elmira M. (1878-?) never married. Andrew Judson (1881 - ?) married Bessie (maiden name unknown). Sarah (known as Sally, 1883 - ?) married Charles Crawford. Nancy (1885 - ?) married Lon Gribble.

Julius Young and Rebecca Louvenia Wood Cathey's third child, John Lucius Cathey (Jan. 15, 1876- April 4, 1960) married Hattie Ann Dyer (April 9, 1876 - July 31, 1959) of Union County, Georgia on January 13, 1898. Her parents were Bluford Elisha Dyer (Feb. 13, 1855 - Nov. 21, 1926) and Sarah Evaline Souther Dyer (May 17, 1857 - March 4, 1959). Hattie Ann was the firstborn of fifteen children born to "Bud" and Sarah Souther Dyer.

When she and John Lucius Cathey married January 15, 1898, they lived near her parents in the Choestoe District of Union County. He was a farmer. Then, about 1920, they moved their family to White County, Georgia, and eventually on to Habersham County near Cornelia, Georgia. At their deaths, they were interred in the Level Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Habersham County, GA.

John and Hattie Dyer Cathey had four children, three of whom lived to adulthood. Their firstborn, a daughter, Avie Cathey (born April 17, 1900 in Union County, GA, died May 4, 1962, and was buried at Level Grove Cemetery, Cornelia, GA). Avie was a teacher. She married Etna Beck (1904-1961). Their children were Johnny Lawrence Beck and Jimmy Nathaniel Beck.

The second child born to John and Hattie Dyer Cathey was a daughter named Beulah, born October 12, 1906. She died as an infant and was buried in New Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery, Choestoe, Union County.

Their third child, a son, was named Conley Lucian Cathey, born October 18, 1908. He married Louise Wiggins on March 22, 1935 in Habersham County, Georgia. Four children were born to Conley and Louise: Dorothy Gail, Conley Lucian, Jr., William Norman and James Michael. Conley worked for Southern Bell Telephone Company in Macon, Columbus and Cornelia. He had to take early retirement due to poor health. Sadly, his date and place of death are unknown because, under great duress, he left a hospital where he was a patient in the cold wintertime and (to this writer's knowledge) was never located again.

The fourth child of John and Hattie Dyer Cathey was Norman Dester Cathey, born Sept. 26, 1914, died September 3, 1964. He married Mary Faye Wiggins on June 20, 1942 in Phoenix City, AL. She was a daughter of J. A. Wiggins of Cornelia, GA. Dester and Mary Faye had six children: Susan Elaine, Steven Norman, David Neil, Sharon Elizabeth, Donna Faye, and Richard Alan. Norman Dester Cathey had a career in the U. S. Army, joining young and remaining in service until his retirement. He and Mary Faye made Jacksonville, Florida their home. He was buried there, and his widow remains there near their children.

At best, these articles about the Cathey families of early Union (and Towns) Counties are sketchy. For those interested in the Scots-Irish roots, the migration of some west, the "Cathey Settlement" in North Carolina, and the Woods Grove section of Towns County that became a sort of "Cathey Settlement" in Georgia, there is much information online on this pioneer family. I have pleasant memories of visiting Uncle John and Aunt Hattie Cathey near Cornelia, Georgia when I was a child and of their coming from Cornelia to family reunions and to visit "Grandma Sarah" Dyer.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published February 19, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Dispersion from 'Cathey Settlement'

From past columns, we have seen that the first Cathey (of Scots-Irish descent) to be registered in Union County, Georgia in 1840 was the family of William Cathey (1782-about 1860) and his wife, Elizabeth Bryson Cathey (1787-about 1872). They lived in the vicinity of Young Harris, a portion of Union County incorporated into Towns when that county was lined out and organized in 1856. This family was the first Cathey family to disperse from North Carolina to our section of North Georgia.

This William Cathey was the son of Andrew D. Cathey who died in North Carolina in 1808. Andrew was a common name, passed down through many generations in the Cathey family. Up in North Carolina, about ten miles west of Salisbury, fourteen families made up what was known in the late 1700's as the "Cathey Settlement." There the patriarch of the Cathey settlement, James, operated a mill and had a land grant of 3,752 acres. It is hard for us to imagine the oversight of such a broad span of land. An interesting story comes out of this settlement of how the westward pull hit the Cathey Settlement. Not only had one of them named William migrated to North Georgia, but one named Andrew "went west" in his young manhood.

One of the Cathey men, descendant of James Cathey, not to be confused with a son of William and Elizabeth Cathey by the very same name, decided to go west. Andrew Dever Cathey, this one born in 1804 in Buncombe County, NC, died in California (date unknown to this writer). When the California Gold Rush occurred in 1849, this Andrew Cathey, his son Daniel and son-in-law, Benjamin Wills left Fort Smith Arkansas, where the family had moved earlier from North Carolina, and made an exploratory trip. They went by river boat from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to New Orleans. They got ship's passage to Panama, and boarded another ship there to go to San Francisco. Once on the west coast, they took a stage to Indian Gulch in Mariposa County, California. Andrew mined for gold for two years in California. He must have been rather successful, for he returned to Ft. Smith, Arkansas in 1851 to load up his family on a wagon train bound for California overland.

It took about two years for the wagon train of twenty families to make the long trek from Arkansas to California. A diary of the journey tells of the route they took, the hardships they faced, and the challenges to find food and especially water through much desert terrain. They took along a large number of cattle, which they kept intact by riding herd on them with horses. The cows provided milk for families in the wagon train. They also sold milk to others they met along the way and thus earned some "traveling" money. The entourage arrived at their destination on October 27, 1852.

They named the place they settled in Mariposa County, California "Cathey's Valley" after the leader of the wagon train that had brought them safely from Fort Smith, Arkansas, their hero, Andrew D. Cathey.

In that California valley, Andrew purchased a ranch for $1,500 from a Mr. Evans. Andrew and his wife, Mary, helped to establish a church, a school and a cemetery on land they donated for those purposes. Their sons, too, purchased land and settled their families in that vicinity. In Cathey's Valley, even in this era, a celebration is held at Christmas time in the restored little one-room schoolhouse. At other times during the year, the pioneer settlers of Cathey's Valley are honored for their hard work, civic responsibility, and entrepreneurship.

A large stone monument in the little town records the history of the Andrew D. Cathey family and their settlement there in 1852. Some of the trees and vineyards set out by Andrew Cathey long ago are still intact. The little schoolhouse has been restored by the Cathey's Valley Historical Society.

Whether this Andrew Dever Cathey who went to California is a brother to the William Cathey who settled near Blairsville prior to 1840 is unknown by this writer. However, since William and Elizabeth named one of their sons William Dever Cathy (1809-1882), we can believe the westward-moving Andrew Dever Cathey was indeed related to William Cathey of Union County.

The California Catheys have a monument to the family's civic contributions in a valley named for them in Mariposa County. On Island Colonsay, Scotland, the Standing Stone marks the place where the clan leader of MacFie (anglicized to Cathey) was killed in a battle in 1623. There certainly are not monuments on historical spots in every place the Cathey Clan members dispersed. But the more accounts we hear about them, the more we can see that they were solid, hard-working citizens wherever they settled.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published February 5, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Some descendants of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey

Two weeks ago I began a series on the William Cathey Family, citizens of Union County, Georgia in the 1840 and 1850 census records. They lived in the section of the county (near Young Harris) that was taken into Towns County when it was formed out of parts of Union and Rabun Counties in 1856. Then I wrote for two weeks about the inauguration and the peaceful transfer of leadership to our current president, Barack Obama.

Returning to the account of the Cathey family, we will look in this article at some of the descendants of William Cathey (April 15, 1782-1860) and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey (April 3, 1787-1872).

I mentioned two weeks ago that the Catheys originated in Colonsay, Scotland, an island off the coast of that country. An interesting story I did not include then was about the famed MacFie Standing Stone at Colonsay. The historic stone marks the spot where, in 1623, Malcolm, the last chief of the Clan MacFie was murdered in a clash against the MacDonald Clan. Scotland was in great unrest in the early seventeenth century, and clan wars were prevalent. Over the years, the marker fell into disrepair. MacFie descendants started a drive to restore the standing stone. On May 10, 1977, the restored marker was dedicated. Ulf MacFie Hagman of Sweden, Charles MacPhee of Australia, and Duncan MacPhee of Scotland headed the work of repair. Many others with MacFie ties assisted with the work and dedication. The Standing Stone can be seen today by any clan members who visit Colonsay. Betty Cathey McRee, a MacFie clan person, reminds us that there are many spellings of the old Scots-Irish family name, but in America, Cathey is one of the preferred Anglicized spellings.

Andrew Dever Cathey was the eldest child of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey. He was born April 16, 1809 in North Carolina before his parents migrated to Union County, Georgia prior to 1840. He also married in North Carolina before moving to Georgia to Mary Jefferson Allison, born December 18, 1808 to Benjamin and Margaret Wood Allison. We have no explanation as to why her middle name was Jefferson, for it seems that she had not been married prior to her marriage to Andrew on December 31, 1833. Mary's death date was November 29, 1878.

This couple had a large family of eleven children. Seven of their sons served in the Civil War. Imagine the concern the parents had with that many of their able-bodied sons, much needed to work on the farm, being away serving in the war. Their children and spouses (if known) were:

(1) William Hillman Cathey (1834-1880) married Nancy Morris in 1867.
(2) Benjamin Hamilton Cathey (Jan. 4, 1836-June 12, 1907?) married Mariah Conley.
(3) James D. Cathey (1837- 1862; evidently died in the Civil War)
(4) Francis Marion Cathey (1838-1912) married Mattie McDade.
(5) Sarah Elizabeth Cathey (1840-?) married Mann Raby.
(6) Margaret Rebecca Cathey (March 21, 1842-1934, evidently never married).
(7) Wilson Harrison Cathey (1844-1910; no record of his marriage).
(8) John G. Cathey (1846- 1901) married Catherine Wike in 1877.
(9) Samuel Taylor Cathey (1848-1888; no record of marriage).
(10) Montreville Cathey (1853 - ?; no record of marriage).
(11) Marquis Lafayette Cathy (1853-1937) married Florence Kendall in 1883.

The second child of William Cathey and Elizabeth Bryson Cathy was James Cathey, born March 11, 1813 in North Carolina. He lived in the Brasstown Section of Union County. In 1856 his land was included in Towns County. He married Emmeline (called "Emily") Brown on May 28, 1846 in Union County. They had seven children.

(1) Julius Young Cathey (Sept. 17, 1847-March 22, 1929) married Rebecca Louvenia Wood in April 1870.
(2) Jane Elizabeth Cathey (born 1850) - evidently never married.
(3) Lucious Cathey (born 1854) - evidently never married.
(4) William C. Cathey (born 1859) married Josephine Crow on March 21, 1880.
(5) Nancy Marinda (called "Rendy") Cathey (1863-Sept. 7, 1919) married Noah F. Ellis on July 24, 1881 in Towns County.
(6) John A. Cathey (b. 1866) - no record of his marriage.
(7) Andrew Dever Cathy, named for his uncle by the same name; no record of his marriage.

William H. Cathey, named for his father, was the third child of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey. William was born August 22, 1815. At age 22, he married Nancy M. Carter, a daughter of Jesse Carter and Lavinah Sams Carter. They lived in Union County (later Towns) where they had six children: Rebecca (1839), Josiah (1841), Elizabeth Lavina (1843), Jesse (1846), Lucinda (1850), and Louisa whom they nicknamed "Lassie" (1859).

In a subsequent article we will trace what we can find about William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey's other three children and some of their descendants to the third and fourth generations. With ancestral ties back to the MacFie Clan of Scots-Irish immigrants, these north Georgia farm families were hardy and hard-working.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published January 29, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Cathey family in Union by 1840

By preliminary greeting, I hope all you readers had a good Christmas, 2008, and that the New Year, 2009, despite its challenges on the economic front, has dawned with hope and health for you and your family. In a New Year's greeting from dear friends, they wrote: "Expect peace, love, joy, harmony, forgiveness, understanding and ask the Lord for wisdom." That is good advice for 2009 or any year.

Now to the family name we will pursue for awhile. Looking in the 1840 (second) census of Union County, I found the first reference to a Cathey family living here. No family by that name was recorded in the first census of the county taken in 1834.

William Cathey's household in 1840 consisted of four males between the ages of 20 and 30, one male (the head of household, William) between the ages of 50 and 60. And females in the house included one female child (0 to 5—who may have been a grandchild), one female age 15 to 20, one female, age 20-30, and one female, age 50 to 60, which was William's wife, Elizabeth Bryson Cathey.

From other records of the Cathey family, we learn that William Cathey was born April 15, 1782 in Burke County, NC and died in 1860 in Towns County, Georgia. His wife, Elizabeth Bryson was born April 3, 1787 and died in 1872. She was a daughter of Andrew and Agnes Nail Bryson. Her grandparents were William and Isabella Holmes Bryson.

Next door neighbors to the William Cathey family in Union County in 1840 were the John Bryson family (he may have been a brother of Elizabeth Bryson Cathey) and David McClure.

Known children of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey, all born in North Carolina before they migrated to Georgia, were Andrew Dever Cathey (04-16-1809) who married Mary Jefferson Allison; James Cathey (03-11-1812) who married Emmeline (called Emily) Brown; William H. Cathey (08-22-1815) who married Nancy M. Carter; Samuel B. Cathey (09-13-1818) who married Mary Melissa "Polly" Parker; and Rebecca Cathey (11-17-1820) who married John B. Parker.

In researching the Cathey surname, we find an interesting history. The first Cathey immigrants to America in the seventeenth century were four brothers (whose names seem to be James, John, David, and Alexander). They had lived in Monaghan County, Ireland. Before that, the Cathey family had migrated from the Island of Colonsay, Scotland. About 1720 the Catheys who came to America were settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Gradually, some of them migrated to lands in Virginia and North Carolina.

The Catheys were of the McFie or MacPhie Clan in Scotland (some spell it McAfie). The Gaelic spelling is far different from either McFie or Cathey and was Macdhubhshith, which meant "Son of the Dark Fairy or Elf." Legend holds that the chief of the MacPhie Clan was killed in 1623, and the clan had to gradually leave the wonderful island of Colonsay in Scotland. The clan had owned two islands off the coast of Scotland. On one they buried their dead and on the other they lived and farmed. For about 100 years, the Catheys survived in and around Ulster, Ireland. They held closely to their Presbyterian beliefs. They wanted a good education for their children, and had a strong work ethic. Religious persecution in Ireland caused migration to America. The Cathey brothers were among those who came to America seeking freedom.

James Cathey, one of the four brothers who came to America, was a millwright. He followed the occupation of milling wherever he settled—first in Pennsylvania, then in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. In Virginia, James was deeded 1,350 acres of land by King George II for which Mr. Cathey paid sixteen pounds and fifteen shillings.

The next move was across the Yadkin River where the "Cathey Settlement" was formed at Mills Bridge in Salisbury, NC. It is said the Catheys were the first English-speaking settlement at this location in North Carolina. James owned 3,752 acres there which he received in a grant. His wife was named Ann, but her maiden name is not found in any extant records. Upon James's death, he willed half his plantation to his wife Ann and one-half to a nephew John Branden.

Later, two of James Cathey's nephews owned the land, were operating his mill, and grinding the grains produced around Salisbury.

The lineage of William Cathey who settled in Union County, Georgia before 1840 has not been traced by this writer back to the large land holder James Cathey, the miller of Salisbury, NC. However, we do know that William came to Union from Burke County, NC, and that his father was Andrew D. Cathey. So he definitely stems back to the "Cathey Settlement" in the Yadkin Valley. It is interesting to note that the names of the first Cathey brothers to settle in America have been passed on to descendants in almost every generation of Catheys—a tradition to those who hold to the importance of family ties.

Julius Young Cathey was a son of James and Emily Brown Cathy, a grandson of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathy. One of Julius's sons was John Lucius Cathey (b. 01-15-1876) who married Hattie Ann Dyer. And so comes my kinship to the Clan McFie for John Cathey married my Aunt Hattie, sister of my father, Jewel Marion Dyer. Little did my Cathey cousins and I know when we were growing up that the Cathey name had such a long and illustrious history.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published January 8, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Echoes of camp meetings and evangelist Rev. Elijah Kimsey

The Rev. Elijah Kimsey was a great uncle of the noted Dr. George W. Truett who became one of the outstanding Baptist pastors and denominational leaders of the 20th century. Rev. Kimsey did not travel far from the mountain area where he was born, but his evangelistic zeal and fiery preaching had such an effect on summer camp meetings in the mountains of Western North Carolina, North Georgia and East Tennessee that echoes of his influence still linger on in lives he touched and in legends told about him.

In a biography about Dr. George W. Truett written by that great preacher's son-in-law, Powhattan W. James, Dr. Truett recounts how his "Uncle Lije" Kimsey waked up a floundering Methodist Camp Meeting being held one summer near Hayesville, N.C.

The fact that Rev. Elijah Kimsey was a Baptist minister ordained November 20, 1847 did not deter him from going to the Methodist overseers of the Camp Meeting at Hayesville. He told them that he had prayed all night and the Lord had told him to seek out the arbor meeting gathering and preach there. Rev. Kimsey had a thick lisp to his speech. The Methodist ministers conferred and told the itinerant preacher their services were at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. "When do you want to preach?" they asked Rev. Kimsey.

"Brethren, my thoul ith on fire. I want to preach to these people. The thooner, the better, brethren," Rev. Kimsey replied. "The fire is burning in my thoul," he reiterated.

The ministers told him he could preach at the 8 a.m. service. They rang the bell to gather the people from their wagons and tents, and soon a crowd was under the brush arbor tabernacle. After an introduction by one of the Methodist elders, Rev. Kimsey was given the pulpit.

The story has been passed on for generations about that camp meeting and how the evangelist with a speech impediment began to preach and seemed not to be able to stop. His lisp only added to the interest, because everyone listened carefully to understand every word as Rev. Kimsey expounded the Scriptures and poured out his heart in zealous preaching.

As he preached, and as the services went on, sometimes not even stopping for the usual meals and fellowship, people in the surrounding area heard about the revival. The crowd increased as the Camp Meeting went on with exhorting, testimonies, singing, and preaching. As much as the people enjoyed eating around their campfires, fasting was a natural outgrowth of the spiritual climate and praying. Campers preferred hearing the preacher with a lisp and anointed with the Word of the Lord than to cook and eat.

It has been said that particular meeting marked the beginning of a moral and spiritual awakening of that section of North Carolina, Western Tennessee and North Georgia. Word of the meeting lept over the mountains and sped through the valleys. Hundreds were converted and the people who gathered there went home at the end of the series of meetings with renewed hope and inspired zeal.

Who was this preacher with the gift to move people to spiritual commitment? Elijah Kimsey was born February 4, 1812, a son of Thomas and Nancy McClure Kimsey. His birthplace was old Buncombe County, N.C. His family moved from Buncombe to Haywood County (now Macon) when Elijah was a boy. He and Sallie Bryson married there, but by 1837 the new couple had moved to what was then Union County, Georgia, a county five years into organization. They settled in the Friendship Community which would later be taken in as part of Towns County in 1856.

Elijah Kimsey, despite his pronounced lisp, had a desire to serve through both teaching school and being a preacher. He pastored churches and taught in one-teacher schools in the area of North Carolina and Georgia near where he lived.

Rev. Elijah Kimsey and Rev. John Corn were chosen as representatives of Towns County to go to the secession convention held at the Georgia capitol then at Milledgeville. Both the ministers were pro-union. It is said that they did not protest the right of Georgia to secede from the Union but questioned the wisdom of such a move in their general opposition to war and division in the country. When a large majority voted in favor of secession, the Revs. Kimsey and Corn went on record as accepting the decision to secede.

Rev. Kimsey was too elderly by the time of the War Between the States to serve in the army. However, three of his sons enlisted and fought for the Confederacy.

Rev. Kimsey's beloved companion, Sarah Bryson Kimsey, mother of their nine children (William, Thomas, David, Nancy, Amanda, Josiah, Araminta, Elisha, and Sarah) died September 1, 1886 and was buried in the Burch Cemetery in Towns County. Following Sarah's death, Rev. Kimsey moved to Habersham County. There he married his second wife, Ella, on April 3, 1887. Rev. Elijah Kimsey died May 7, 1896 at age 84 and was buried in the Kimsey Cemetery, Mt. Airy, Ga.

The epitaph on Rev. Kimsey's tombstone is typical of his life: "He went and done what the Lord commanded."

c2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 4, 2006 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.