Edmondson Ware White (1906-1958)

From the 1953-54 Georgia Official Register.

   A city attorney, municipal judge, and one-term state representative, Edmondson Ware White lived to the age of just fifty-two but still managed to carve out an impressive career in the political life of Gwinnett County, Georgia. The son of Clarence and Rintie (Edmondson) White, Edmondson Ware White was born in  Buford, Georgia on February 19, 1906. A student in the public schools of Buford, White would graduate from the Georgia Military College in the class of 1926 and, after deciding upon a career in law, enrolled at the University of Georgia. Following his graduation with his bachelor of laws degree in 1929, White entered into practice in Buford, Georgia. In 1934 he won election to his first political office, that of city solicitor for Buford, and after serving four years in that post returned to private practice. 

  After several years away from politics, White was elected as judge of the city court of Buford in 1951 for a four-year term, and beginning in November 1952 pulled political "double-duty", as it were, due to his election as Gwinnett County's representative to the Georgia State Assembly. Taking his seat at the start of the 1953-54 session, White sat on the committees on Amendments to the Constitution No. 1; Appropriations; Banks and Banking; Conservation; General Agriculture No. 2; Hygiene and Sanitation; Invalid Pensions and the Soldiers Home; Privileges and Elections; Public Highways No. 2; and Public Property. 

  Following his legislative term White again served as Buford city court judge beginning in June 1956 and later was re-elected to that office for a term ending in 1963. White died in office on November 19, 1958, at just 52 years old. A lifelong bachelor, he was later interred at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Buford.

Edmondson W. White, from the 1929 Pandora Yearbook.

Cosmo Richardson Davis (1845-1904)

Portrait from the Atlanta Constitution, July 19, 1891.

   We continue our trek through Georgia to spotlight the life and political doings of a man named Cosmo--Cosmo Richardson Davis of Bulloch County! A Confederate veteran and farmer, this obscure man represented his home county in the Georgia State Assembly for one term and held no other political offices other than his service as a state representative. Born in Savannah, Georgia on March 10, 1845, Cosmo Richardson Davis spent the majority of his early life in the city of his birth and during the Civil War served with both the 47th and 57th Georgia Infantries.

   Following his removal to Bulloch County, Georgia, Davis resided in Statesboro and briefly practiced law before concentrating his efforts on farming. He would serve as president of the Bulloch County Alliance (an agricultural organization) and in the early 1880s married to Sarah Catherine Porter (1858-1926), with whom he had three children, Cosmo Patrick (1885-1946), Porter (1888-1890) and Emma (1890-1975).

   Elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1890, Davis served during the 1890-92 session and was named to the committees on Enrollment, Special Agriculture, and Temperance. Little else could be found on Davis' life after leaving the legislature, excepting notice of his attending a Confederate veterans reunion and parade in Statesboro in August 1902. Cosmo R. Davis died shortly after his 59th birthday on March 24, 1904, and was survived by his wife Sarah, who, following her death in 1926, was interred alongside her husband at the Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery in Statesboro.

Argin Artemas Boggus Sr. (1896-1955)

Portrait from the Georgia Official and Statistical Register, 1951-52.

   Georgia state assemblyman Argin Artemas "Double A" Boggus Sr. was for many years a leading figure in the civic and business life of Ben Hill County, being an auto supply store owner, chamber of commerce director and church leader. Elected to a third term in 1954, Boggus would die in office the following year of a heart attack, being just 58 years old. The son of Robert Lee and Lolah Anna (Bass) Boggus, Argin Artemas Boggus was born in Franklin, Georgia on October 26, 1896. He would attend schools local to the area of his birth and graduated from the Glenn High School in Heard County.

  Boggus married in October 1916 to Avie Lee Allen (1892-1982), and later adopted her two children from a previous marriage, Homer Cleveland (1911-1998) and Judson T. (born 1912). Boggus and his wife would also have five children of their own, Lola Belle (1918-2011), Myrtle Lee (1919-2015), Sarah Evelyn (1926-2018), Argin Artemas Jr. (1928-1999) and Everette Delano (1933-2012).

   Following his marriage, Argin Boggus removed with his family to Fitzgerald, Georgia, and later resided in Savannah, Georgia in the early 1930s, where he is recorded as working with the ACL Railroad and as a dairy farmer. In 1936 he and his family removed back to Fitzgerald, and after his return Boggus owned and operated the Western Auto Associate Store, dealing in auto accessories, tires, bicycles, fishing tackle, and other pieces of merchandise. 

  Through the succeeding years, Boggus achieved success in a number of other endeavors in the city, including being a director of the Fitzgerald Chamber of Commerce, vice president of the Fitzgerald Civic Corporation, president of the Fitzgerald Business Men's Club, and was president of the Fitzgerald Baseball Club. A longstanding member and deacon in the Zion's Rest Primitive Baptist Church, Boggus was also a Mason and Lions Club member active in drives for the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross.

From the 1953-54 Georgia Register. 

  Argin A. Boggus made his first move into local politics with his service as a member of the Fitzgerald city council and would serve as mayor pro-tem of Fitzgerald for a time. In 1950 he was elected as Ben Hill County's representative to the Georgia State Assembly and would serve a total of three consecutive terms, last being elected in November 1954. Boggus' last year in the legislature saw him come out as a firm foe against the raising of taxes, and in the spring of 1955 took to the floor of the assembly with a pair of wool-clipping shears and a skinning knife. Having gained the right to speak on the floor, Boggus remarked that "I want to teach you something...If you can clip a sheep this year, you can clip him again next year." His colorful actions warranted write-ups in several Georgia newspapers, and just a few weeks after making the above speech, died on July 8, 1955, succumbing to a heart attack he'd suffered at his store in Fitzgerald.

  Boggus' funeral was attended by an honorary escort of his fellow representatives and he was survived by his wife Avie and all of his children. A burial location for him remains unknown at this time and is believed to be in the Fitzgerald area.

Boggus' obituary from the July 9, 1955 Atlanta Constitution.

Broadus Brown Zellars (1898-1961)

Portrait from the 1917 Cauldron Yearbook.

  The Strangest Names In American Political History begins a monthlong stay in Georgia with a peek at the life of Broadus Brown Zellars, a native of Hart County who served terms in his state's house of representatives and senate. Elected to the former office at the age of just 25, Zellars continued prominence in state government in the late 1930s when he was appointed as assistant attorney general for the state. The son of Albert L. and Texie (Brown) Zellars, Broadus Brown Zellars was born in Bowman, Georgia on January 27, 1898.

  A student in the public schools of Hartwell, Georgia, Zellars graduated from that city's high school and would go on to attend Mercer University, where he edited the law portion of the Cauldron yearbook and took part in university debates. He received his bachelor of laws degree in 1917 at age 19, being remarked as the youngest member of that class.

  In June 1917 Zellars established his law practice in Hartwell, and although still in his teens, success at the bar came quickly to the young man, with Howell's History of Georgia noting that:

"He is well qualified to handle important litigation and has been accorded a liberal clientele. He possesses keen analytical powers and wins a large percentage of his cases, convincing by his concise statement of the law and the facts, rather than by word painting."

  Broadus B. Zellars married in March 1920 to Ora Lake Gaines (1898-1991), and the couple's four-decade marriage saw the births of three children, Mary Kate (1922-2011) and John Broadus (1924-2002), and Martha (1928-2007). Four years following his marriage Zellars entered into the race for the Georgia State Assembly, and in November 1924 won the election. As Hart County's representative in the legislature, Zellars held seats on the committees on Agriculture, Appropriations, Education, the Judiciary, and Public Highways. 
  In 1926 Zellars began his second term in the house and in 1928 was elected to the state Senate from Georgia's  30th senatorial district. During the 1929-31 session he chaired the committee on Education and Public Schools and was also named to the committees on Amendments to the Constitution; Banks and Banking; Commerce and Labor; Finance; Game and Fish; General Judiciary No. 1; Highways; Hygiene and Sanitation; Public Library; Public Printing; and Rules. 
  After several years away from government service, Broadus Zellars returned to public life in 1938 when he was appointed as assistant attorney general for Georgia, an office he served in until taking on the post of attorney for the War Labor Board and War Assets Administration in the mid-1940s. In 1947 Zellars became assistant solicitor for the Fulton County Criminal Court and remained in office until his death from a heart attack on January 19, 1961, shortly before his 63rd birthday. He was later interred at the Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.

Cunard Jackson Broome (1923-1999)

From the 1957-58 Georgia Official and Statistical Register.

    A newspaper publisher and one-term representative in the Georgia state assembly, Cunard Jackson "C.J." Broome hailed from Alma, Georgia, a city that also produced two other oddly named political figures featured here, Braswell Drue Deen Sr. and his son, Judge Braswell D. Deen Jr. A lifelong Georgia resident, "C.J." Broome was born in Jeffersonville, Georgia on December 5, 1923, being the son of Carl Jackson (a newspaper owner and former mayor of Nahunta, Georgia) and Exie Lurline (Cunard) Broome. A student in schools local to Brantley County, Georgia, Broome graduated from the local high school in 1940 and in 1949 received his BCS degree from the University of Georgia. 

  While still in his teens Broome followed in his father's stead and entered into newspaper publishing, joining the staff of the Alma Times. By 1942 he had succeeded to the post of editor and at age 21 was serving as that paper's publisher. Cunard Broome married in Coweta County Georgia in December 1947 to Myrtle Inez Tanner (1912-2004). The couple was wed for over five decades and their union would see the births of two children, Lynda Sue (born 1949) and Lou Jena (born 1951).

    A well-known civic leader in Alma, C.J. Broome was a prominent figure in a number of civic groups prior to his election to the state assembly, serving as director of the Alma Board of Trade and president of the Georgia Press Association. Broome also held the presidency of the Alma Lions Club, the presidency of the Georgia Junior Chamber of Commerce's 8th district, and was a former director of the Housing Authority of the city of Alma. 

  Elected to the state assembly in November 1956, Cunard Broome succeeded Braswell Drue Deen Jr. as Bacon County's representative in the legislature. Shortly before the expiration of his term Broome entered the Democratic primary race for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, and in September 1958 placed third in a field of five candidates, garnering 49, 686 votes. Following his term, Broome retired from the newspaper business and operated the Great Earth Properties real estate agency, as well as serving as chairman of a "multi-county Transportation task force working to improve road rail and port infrastructure in southeast Georgia." 

   Cunard Jackson Broome died at age 76 on October 20, 1999. He was survived by his wife Myrtle, who, following her passing in 2004 was interred alongside him at the Oakland Cemetery in Waycross, Georgia.

Piamus (Primus) Walter Jones (1844-1890)

  Hailing from the county of Baker in Georgia, the obscure Piamus Walter Jones is profiled today, and his rather odd first name is worth mentioning, as there are a total of three variations in its spelling floating around online! While the rare portrait of him above (located in the 1882 work entitled Georgia's General Assembly of 1880-81) has his first name listed as "Primus", his gravestone in Baker County denotes it as "Piamus". The spelling is further complicated by a listing for a "Priamus Walter Jones" on Rootsweb genealogical-related websites. Despite all of these spelling variations floating around, I usually consider a person's gravestone to be the final arbiter in such matters, hence why Jones is listed as "Piamus (Primus) Walter Jones in the title of his article here. 

   A lifelong resident of the Peach State, Piamus/Primus W. Jones was born in Meriwether County on May 10, 1844, the thirteenth of fifteen children born to John Jones (1802-1874) and his wife Elizabeth Strozier (1807-1892). The Jones siblings are listed as follows in order of their birth: Anne V. (1826-1920), John W. (1828-1849), Reuben (1829-1874), Franklin Chandler (1830-1891), Willis (1831-1843), Louisa (1832-1916), Orrie (1832-unknown), Emily (1833-1861), Chandler (1834-1899), Enoch Callaway (1837-1916), Desdemona (1838-1841), Morgiana (1840-1915), Piamus (1844-1890), Otis Smith (1845-1880) and Montgomery (born 1848). John Jones was a prominent planter, and was "in his time the leading cotton planter of Georgia." Piamus/Primus is remarked by Georgia's General Assembly as "enjoying a happy boyhood, mixing hunting, fishing and outdoor sports with work and study" but no mention is given as to where he received his schooling.

  Engaged in farm work while still a young man, Jones learned the cotton planting trade from his father and became very successful, eventually becoming the owner of a 2,500-acre cotton plantation in Baker County. Jones is remarked by more than one source as being a veritable king of the cotton industry, and was noted as having "carried his name into every cotton mart in the world by yearly bringing in for sale the first new bale of cotton for the season."  In addition to cotton, Jones is mentioned as raising a large vegetable crop at his residence. Because he was the producer of the first new bale of cotton every year, Jones was labeled in his death notice as the "first bale man", a fitting tribute for a man so involved with the cotton industry.  

   A lifelong bachelor, Jones is recorded as "growing more cotton to the plow than any other man in Georgia" and with his statewide reputation as a farmer and grower, came calls for him to run for public office. In 1880 he won election to the Georgia State House of Representatives from Baker County and served in the legislative sessions of 1880-1881, 1886-1887, 1888-1889. During the 1886 session Jones introduced legislation advocating the construction of an experimental agricultural station in Georgia, and his advocacy of this idea received a write-up in the January 1886 edition of the Southern Cultivator, Volume 44, posted below.

  Jones's tenure in the state legislature was marked as one of "zeal and faithfulness unbiased by partisan feeling", and was well respected by his Baker County constituency. Jones died at the age of 45 on February 9, 1890, in Atlanta and was memorialized in his Calhoun Times death notice as "being one of the most advanced farmers in the state." He was interred in the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta and his stone (shown below) bears the inscription "First Bag Man" which this author found quite perplexing. Not knowing of his cotton-planting activities at the time I wondered if Jones was indeed a "bag-man" (a collector/distributor for racketeers). While this proved not to be the case, the "bag-man" inscription is actually a lasting testament to his bringing in the first cotton bale at the beginning of the season. A portrait of his gravestone (found via the billiongraves.com website) is shown below.

Jones' death notice from the February 13, 1890 edition of the Calhoun Times.

Courtesy of the Billiongraves.com website.

Brick Stonewall Miller (1868-1957)

Portrait from Georgia's Public Men of 1902-04.

  A lifelong resident of the Peach State, Brick Stonewall Miller served terms in both houses of the Georgia State Assembly. He was born in the town of Buena Vista on February 14, 1868, one of six children born to Eralbert Wiley and Sallie Jones Miller. At the time of his son's birth in 1868, Eralbert W. Miller was already an established figure in Georgia public life, having been the editor and owner of the Buena Vista Advertiser. He would go on to further distinction as a member of the state assembly from Marion County and later served as a judge. 

   Brick S. Miller attended schools local to his native town of Buena Vista and went on to enroll at the University of Georgia at Athens, graduating from that institution's law school in 1888. Soon after his graduation, Miller began a year-long travel around the United States, returning to Georgia in 1890. In that year he formed a law practice with his brother Thomas Talmadge Miller in the city of Columbus, and this firm was remarked by the Memoirs of Georgia, Volume II as doing "an extensive practice and its members are regularly retained attorneys of some of the most important corporations and wholesale houses in Columbus."

  In addition to his lucrative law practice in Columbus, Miller was also a successful cotton planter and is noted by the 1904 work Georgia's Public Men as being the owner of a "2500 acre plantation near Columbus, Georgia, whereon he runs as many as thirty plows, making three hundred bales of cotton per year." Brick S. Miller married on November 6, 1896, to fellow Buena Vista native Mary Elizabeth Wooten (1875-1954), who gave birth to one son, William Wooten Miller, on June 5, 1903. William survived for only three days, and following his death, the couple remained childless throughout their nearly sixty-year marriage.

   Miller began involvement in Georgia political affairs in 1894 when he served as president of the Young Men's Democratic League of Muscogee County. Also in that year, Miller was named as a delegate to the Georgia Congressional Convention in the town of Warm Springs. In November 1899 he was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives, and during his first term (1900-1902) served as the chairman of the House Pensions Committee and the House Re-Apportionment Committee. While quite busy as a first-term legislator, Miller was named to a number of other House committees, including the General Judiciary, Appropriations, Ways and Means, and the Committee on the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

From the Georgia Official and Statistical Register.

   Miller was re-elected to the House in the election of 1901 and during his second term served alongside another oddly named Muscogee County legislator, Germanicus Young Tigner (profiled here in December 2011.) From 1905-07 Miller served in the Georgia State Senate from the 24th senatorial district and was reelected to this office in 1912 for another two-year term.

  Brick S. Miller's later years continued to be one of marked success, albeit outside the political field. He served for twenty years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Georgia (including several years as Board President) and would later be named to similar positions on the boards of the Old State Normal School and the Georgia Agricultural College. Miller was honored by the University of Georgia in 1917 by having Miller Hall named in his honor. Active in many fraternal organizations, Miller maintained memberships in the Georgia State Bar Association, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Freemasons.

   In November 1954 Miller's wife Mary died after fifty-nine years of marriage, and he survived her by nearly three years, dying at age 89 on July 17, 1957. Both were interred at the Buena Vista City Cemetery following their deaths. 

From the Macon News, July 18, 1957.

Geronimo Way King (1886-1964)

From the Georgia Official and Statistical Register, 1951-52.

     Presumably named in honor of the famed leader of the Apache Indian tribe, Geronimo Way King served terms in both houses of the Georgia Legislature in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His story begins with his birth in Cusseta, Georgia on October 24, 1886, the son of Gary Wood and Catherine Alice King. Sources mentioning King have proven to be few and far between, and it is unknown at this time what exactly prompted King's parents to bestow the highly unusual name of "Geronimo" upon him.
  King is listed by the 1951-52 Georgia Official and Statistical Register as attending schools local to the Cusseta area and he eventually graduated from the local high school. He continued his education at the University of Georgia and graduated from this institution in 1908 with a Bachelor of Science degree. A decade after his college graduation, King married Chattahoochee County native Martha "Mattie" Virginia Foster (1895-1984) and this union eventually produced three children: Virginia Way King Robertson (1919-2011), Hal Foster (born 1922), and Helen Hasseltine (born 1925).
  Five years following his marriage, Geronimo King was elected to his first public office, that of Chattahoochee County Superintendent of Schools. He served in this post for thirteen years (1923-1936) and is also listed by the Georgia Register as serving a term on the county board of education. King was later elected as the Mayor of his hometown of Cusseta, but no available source mentions when he was elected or how long he served.

                                              Portrait from the Columbus Ledger, September 23, 1964.

   Geronimo King was elected to the State House of Representatives from Chattahoochee County in 1948 and took his seat at the beginning of the following year. His term in the House concluded in 1951 and later that year he began a term in the State Senate, where he also served for one term.
   Little else could be found on King's life after his service in the legislature. King died shortly before his 78th birthday on September 23, 1964, in his hometown of Cusseta. His wife Martha survived him by twenty years, dying in December 1984 at age 89. Both were subsequently buried in the Mount Olive Cemetery in Cusseta. 

Memory King Tucker (1897-1985)

  This outstandingly named politician is Memory King Tucker, a Georgia resident who served three terms in his state's legislature. With a name like "Memory King" (which sort of brings to mind a trivia-related television show) Tucker's name is unique in the annals of politics and like most of the men who have preceded him here, obscurity again prevails. Aside from a small biographical blurb in the Georgia Official and Statistical Register, 1963-1964, little else could be found on this intriguingly named Georgian. 
  Memory King Tucker was born in Statham, Barrow County, Georgia on September 19, 1897, the son of Memory James and Eudora Lanier Tucker. Memory J. Tucker served as the first Mayor of Statham, Georgia, so it can certainly be said that politics and odd names ran in the Tucker family! Memory K. Tucker attended schools local to the Barrow County area and later removed to Burke County, where he married Mildred Hill in February 1916. The couple was married for over 40 years before divorcing in November 1956, and this union produced four children: Mamie (died aged one in 1919), Susie (born 1920), Margaret (born 1924), and Mary Elizabeth (born 1927).
  Tucker first became active in Georgia political affairs in 1935, when he was elected to the Waynesboro, Georgia City Council. He served in this post until 1936 and two years later was elected as the Mayor of Waynesboro. Tucker served four years in office and in the years following his mayoral term became active in civic affairs in Burke County. From 1944-1952 Tucker served as a member of the Burke County Board of Commissioners as well as the chairman of the Hospital and Housing Authorities. Further honors were accorded to him when was appointed as the president of the Bank of Waynesboro in the 1950s.
  Tucker's political profile received a significant boost in 1958 when he was elected to the first of three terms in the Georgia State House of Representatives, representing Burke County. Tucker was re-elected to the legislature in 1961 and 1963, and a roster from the 1964 session (bearing Tucker's full name) is posted below.

  Very little is known of Memory K. Tucker's life after his service in the state legislature. His wife Margaret died in 1984 at age 88 and Tucker himself died on February 27, 1985, at age 87. He was subsequently buried in the Magnolia Cemetery in Waynesboro, Georgia alongside his wife and infant daughter. The portrait of him featured above was discovered in the earlier mentioned Georgia Official and Statistical Register, published in 1964.