Algerine Justin Trapnell (1882-1954)

Portrait from the 1952 Georgia Official Register.

   The town of Metter, Georgia received extensive mention in the February 20th write up on former Metter Mayor and judge Weylud Hudson Lanier. In addition to Mr. Lanier, Metter also produced another oddly named political figure, Algerine Justin Trapnell, a three-term state representative and farmer. While ample information was located for Mr. Lanier, the same cannot be said for his political counterpart. With just a brief write-up in the Georgia Official and Statistical Register, very little exists online in regards to Algerine Trapnell, hence why his profile here will be on the short side!  

   Born in Metter, Georgia on June 14, 1882, Algerine Justin "Algie" Trapnell was the son of George Robert (1854-1927 and Margaret Ann (Atwood) Trapnell (1859-1907). A descendant of a family prominent in Bulloch County, Georgia, Trapnell's grandfather and namesake, Algerine Trapnell (1828-1906), served as the first acting mayor of Metter, Georgia in the early 1900s. One should also note that Trapnell's first name is spelled in several different ways, including Algerine, Aljarine, and Aljerine. While Trapnell's gravestone in Statesboro records the spelling as "Aljarine", the Georgia State Register lists it as "Algerine"--all in all very confusing!

   A student in the public schools of Metter, Algerine J. Trapnell also attended the agricultural school at the University of Georgia, taking a one-year course in 1904. He married in Bulloch County in February 1908 to Maggie Lou Allen (1890-1979), with whom he had the following children: Solomon Ray (1910-1988), Algerine Francis (1914-1968), Allen Hamilton (1917-1999) Arthur Lamar (1923-2012) and Joann (born 1927).
   For a good majority of his life, Algie Trapnell worked at farming in Statesboro, Georgia, and in 1949 was elected to represent Bulloch County in the Georgia House of Representatives. He would serve three terms in that body from 1949-54 and died in office on January 25, 1954. He was survived by his wife Maggie and was later interred at the Lower Lotts Creek Chruch Cemetery in Statesboro, Georgia.