Richard Augustus Peeples
Richard Augustus Peeples (1829-1891)
Richard Augustus Peeples was the seventh son of Henry Peeples. He was born in Hall county, Georgia, September 24th, 1829.
His father “Henry Peeples (1786-1854), a descendant of pure Scotch stock, was a native of South Carolina. Henry Peeples, born in Camden District, South Carolina, January 14, 1786, was possessed of a princely fortune which, by an unfortunate fire and by an equally unfortunate speculation in cotton, he lost soon after the war of 1812. Gathering up the wreck of his large estate, Henry Peoples moved to Hall county, Georgia, about the year 1821 or 1822, and settled where Gillsville, on the Northeastern railroad, now stands. Henry Peeples’ household and one enslaved person were enumerated in Hall County, GA in the 1830 census. There Peeples engaged in merchandising and farming, but failed again. By 1840, Henry Peeples moved his residence some 20 or 30 miles to the south. With his own wagons and teams he then brought his family and household goods… to Jackson county, Georgia [where he was enumerated in the 1840 census].
Richard Augustus Peeples had seven siblings, six brothers and one sister. His oldest brother was W. Jasper Peeples, for years a prominent lawyer in the Western Circuit of Georgia, and Solicitor-General for four years. Cincinnatus Peeples, a lawyer of prominence, at one time Clerk of the House of Representatives and afterwards State Senator from Clark county and Judge of the Superior Court of the Atlanta Circuit, was his second oldest brother. Henry Thompson Peeples, the third brother, married Melissa Camp on January 14, 1843, in Jackson County; he later became a lawyer, relocated to Berrien county, became a planter, served as Judge of the Inferior Court of Berrien County, and for several terms a member of the Georgia Legislature. Two brothers became substantial farmers in Florida. One died young. His sister Josephine Peeples Carroll died July 9, 1854, at Alapaha, GA.
…Owing to the financial embarrassments of his father, Richard A. Peeples obtained but a limited country school education. He made the best of his school opportunities and eventually became a well-educated man and one of the prominent men of South Georgia. In 1842, when quite a boy, he joined the Methodists, but the following year united with the Baptist church at Cabin Creek.
Before the 1840s were out, Henry Peeples moved his family yet again to the south, apparently leaving behind some debts. He acquired all 490 acres of Lot #8 in the 10th land district of Lowndes County, but an 1847 legal announcement shows that this land and an enslaved man, “one negro man by the name of Denis, about 45 years of age,” were sold at auction on the steps of the Troupville courthouse to satisfy debts owed to Fennel Hendrix, E.D. Cook and Nelson Carter of Jackson County, GA. But in early 1848, Henry Peeples managed to force collection on a debt owed to him by Dennis Duncan, said Duncan forfeiting all 490 acres of Lot #34, 16th District of Lowndes County for auction to satisfy the debt.
In 1848 he [Henry Peeples] came to Lowndes county, settling on Flat creek about two and a half miles from where Allapaha now stands, and there established a store, the locality hence taking the name of “Peeple’s Store.” He continued in active business until his death at the age of sixty years. – A History of Savannah and South Georgia
Richard A. Peeples at age 20, came with his father to Alapaha. In addition to Peeples’ Store, his father acquired some 1530 acres of land and was enumerated as the owner of three enslaved people in the Census of 1850.
Richard clerked in the store until, upon his father’s death October 30, 1854, he assumed management of the mercantile affairs. His brothers, W. Jasper Peeples and Cincinnatus Peeples, were by this time practicing law together in Athens, GA. His brother Henry and sister-in-law Melissa Camp Peeples had by this time relocated to Atlanta where they also operated a mercantile store.
In 1850, Richard A. Peeples returned to north Georgia, but not to visit his brothers in Athens or Atlanta. Instead, he went back to Jackson County, GA to take a wife. She was Sarah J. K. Camp, born July 30, 1830, the younger sister of his brother’s wife. Richard and Sarah were married November 7, 1850, in Jackson County in a ceremony performed by John Pendergrass, Justice of the Peace. The bride’s father, Berryman Camp, was born in Jackson county in 1800, followed farming there many years, and later settled near Cedartown in Polk county, where he died. Sarah’s mother was Elizabeth Lyle Camp.
Marriage of Richard Augustus Peeples and Sarah Jane Camp, November 7, 1850.
After marriage Richard A. and Sarah Jane Peeples located at Milltown, GA (now Lakeland) where he was engaged in saw-milling for a time.
In the summer of 1853, discussion arose among the people of northern Lowndes County and southern Irwin county who were remote from their respective sites of county government. There was a general feeling of need for a more convenient and satisfactory location for the people to conduct their business and governmental affairs. A meeting on this subject was convened June 18, 1853, at the Flat Creek Post Office, Richard A. Peeples served as secretary:
Richard A. Peeples worked on creation of Berrien County, GA. Albany Patriot, July 1, 1853
The Albany Patriot
July 1, 1853
Flat Creek, June 18, 1853
Agreeable to previous notice, a portion of the citizens of Lowndes and Irwin Counties, met this day at Flat Creek P. O., for the purpose of taking preliminary measures in regard to the formation of a new county out of a portion of the above counties.
On motion of Jordan Tucker, Esq., Mr. Jas. Griffin, Sen., was called to the Chair and R. A. Peeples, requested to act as secretary. The object of the meeting being explained, the Chairman appointed a committee of twelve to report through their Chairman, Wm. D. Griffin, which was unanimously adopted:
Whereas, a portion of the citizens of the counties of Lowndes and Irwin labor under manifest inconvenience on account of the distance of their respective county sites:
Resolved, therefore, That we, a portion of citizens of the 5th and 6th districts of Irwin, and the 9th and 10th districts of Lowndes counties, will use all the means in our power to secure the formation of a new county out of a part of said districts.
Resolved, further, That we earnestly solicit the aid of our fellow citizens of the two counties, to assist us in choosing Representatives to the next Legislature, who will use their influence to have an act passed organizing and laying out said county.
Resolved, further, That the citizens of Irwin and Lowndes be notified of these proceedings by publication of the same in the Albany Patriot and Georgia Watchman.
On motion the meeting adjourned.
JAS GRIFFIN, Sr., Pres’t
R. A. Peeples, Sec’y.
Upon the organization of Berrien County in 1856 Richard A. Peeples was elected to serve as the first Clerk of the Inferior and Superior courts of Berrien County. He promptly moved his residence to Nashville, the county-site of Berrien county which was then but a mere hamlet far from railroads. According to William Green Avera, “the first session of the Superior Court held in Berrien County, was held November, 1856, at the residence of Mrs. Amy Kirby, on the Coffee Road, one mile northeast of the present site of Nashville. Judge P. E. Love was the judge and R. A. Peeples was the clerk.“
Peeples then served on the county committee to draw plans and specifications for the construction of the first Courthouse in Berrien County.
Richard A. Peeples was a Mason and had served as Entered Apprentice at St. John the Baptist Lodge No. 184, constituted at Troupville on November 2, 1854. According to the History of Lowndes County, GA, the lodge met on the first and third Tuesday nights upstairs in Swains Hotel, situated on the banks of Little River and owned by Morgan G. Swain. Among other members of this lodge were Reverend John Slade, Norman Campbell, William C. Newbern, William T. Roberts, James H. Carroll, Andrew J. Liles, and J. J. Goldwire. Later, the St. John the Baptist Lodge No. 184 was moved from Troupville to Valdosta, GA.
Another of Peeples’ fellow lodge members was William J. Mabry, who in 1856 moved to Nashville, GA, to build the first Berrien courthouse in 1857.
The first schoolhouse in Nashville was built through the personal efforts of Richard A. Peeples in 1857, a large part of the funds coming from his own purse. William G. Avera described the building, constructed with the cooperative effort of local citizens and the Masons, Richard A. Peeples being a Master Mason in the fraternal order. “They constructed an up-to-date two-story edifice, the upper chamber of which, they named the Duncan Masonic Lodge in honor of the venerable Duncan O’Quin…The lower chamber was named the McPherson Academy in honor of John McPherson Berrien for whom Berrien County was named. The street running north and south in front of the building was named McPherson Street. William J. Mabry became the first Worshipful Master of Duncan Lodge No. 3.
McPherson Academy, Nashville, GA which was also home of Duncan Masonic Lodge; it was at intersection of W. McPherson Avenue and S. Berrien Street, and faced eastwardly. Image courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com
Two years later, Richard A. Peeples furnished half the money for the construction of a Baptist church in Nashville. This church was across the street from McPherson Academy.
C. W. “Shine” Anderson, facing McPherson Academy, with Nashville First Baptist Church building in background. Image courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com
While serving as Clerk of the Berrien courts, R. A. Peeples undertook the study of law. In 1860, he moved to the new town of Valdosta.
Continued….Judge Richard Augustus Peeples
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