Rev. John Bolton Chapel Quillian
Rev. J.B.C. Quillian, born in Habersham County, GA in 1824, was a circuit riding Methodist minister. He was one of the first pastors of the First Methodist Church of Douglasville. He authored 2 books. His home is still standing on Cambellton Street in Douglasville (across the street from the high school). More information can be found on Rev. JBC Quillian in Fannie Mae Davis's book.[1]
(Douglas County Library)
James Quillian Dorris, the great-grandson of Rev. John M. McKenzie and Elizabeth Dorris, appears to have been named after the Quillian family.
Some interesting tidbits and associations regarding the Quillian family:
*Rev. Quillian was listed as the adjacent household to Thomas (Merriman) Hollis on the 1870 census for Smyrna, Georgia (Cobb County). Rev. Quillian was the pastor for Causey's Chapel (now the Austell Methodist Church) which was located near present day Lithia Springs. It is not known what relation Thomas M. Hollis has, if any, to my own Hollis ancestors.
*Rev. Quillian's wife's maiden name was Causey. He was the pastor for Causey's Chapel in Lithia Springs. Causey's Chapel is now an African-American Church. The original membership however formed Austell Methodist Church.
*Rev. Quillian's daughter (Annie) married Dr. Christoper Columbus Garrett. Dr. Garrett was a longtime Mayor of Lithia Springs and he was the resident doctor for the Sweetwater Park Hotel. He and two other men formed the Lithia Springs Sanitarium using water from the nearby spring. The water was said to have medicinal value.
(newspapers.com)
*The Quillian family is interestingly associated with Allens Methodist Church in Franklin County, Georgia and Rev. Quillian may have even been a minister at Allens. The church history lists a " J.B. Chappel" as a minister. My maternal ancestors are deeply tied to Allens Methodist Church: My maternal 3rd great grandparents, John Ledbetter and Mary Verner, were members and are buried in the church cemetery. John Ledbetter was said to be from Orange County, North Carolina - where my paternal 4th great grandfather, Prosser Horton, was from and Mary Verner was from Abbeville, SC where my Dorris ancestors are from. John Ledbetter is said to be the son of Joel Ledbetter and Catherine Braselton. Catherine Braselton may be the sister of Jacob Braselton who settled in Jackson County, Georgia and the man for whom the present day town of Braselton is named. There is some credence to the theory that Joel and Catherine are the parents of John: On the 1800 census for Pendleton District SC, Jacob and John Braselton are listed on pages 101 and 102 and George Verner (George is the uncle of Mary Verner Ledbetter) is listed on page 102. Also, one of Jacob Braselton's sons (Henry) was said to have married Lydia Ledbetter, a daughter of Joel and Catherine. If true, this would have been a marriage between 1st cousins which was not entirely uncommon back then due to limited marriage choices. Prosser Horton lived very close to Jacob Braselton in Jackson County Georgia (near present day Braselton) and Jacob's name can be found listed in the Will of Prosser Horton (1823). I will be adding Prosser's information to this blog shortly - keep checking back or add your email to the update page.
Rev. Robert Lewis Edwards
The obituary for Rev. John M. Dorris was written by Rev. JBC Quillian and Quillian noted that Dorris lived with Rev. Edwards in his youth. It is assumed that it is from Rev. Edwards that Dorris learned his skills as a Methodist minister.
Rev. Edwards was from Newberry, South Carolina. He was a zealous "eccentric, bold pioneer preacher of Georgia" and he was known as the "Holy Ghost Preacher" of the South Carolina Conference. He is buried in the Old Salem Methodist Church cemetery near Dawsonville, Georgia.
Rev. Edwards is said to be a descendant of the Puritan divine, Jonathan Edwards (I find no evidence of any of Jonathan's children moving south - they appear to have remained in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Rev. Edwards may be descended from a brother or other close relative however).
The daughter of Rev. Robert Lewis Edwards (Elizabeth) married Rev. Samuel Gamble Jones (1805-1895, born in Abbeville, SC) and they were the grandparents of the noted Evangelist Rev. Sam Porter Jones (1847-1906). Over 30,000 people visited the body of Sam P. Jones when he laid in state at the Capital in Atlanta. Rev. Sam Porter Jones was the Rev. Billy Graham of his day.
The McClung Family and Sweetwater Baptist Church
In the early 1800s Reuben McClung (1777-1860) was affiliated with the Walnut Fork Baptist Church in Jackson County, Georgia near Braselton. His wife's name was Mary "Polly" Early Williamson. She appears to be the daughter of Jacob Early and she was married to Micajah Williamson before marrying Reuben McClung. There are several Williamsons listed on the Walnut Fork Baptist Church minutes. The Williamsons are possibly the descendants of General Andrew Williamson that made their way to Georgia; However, there was a Micajah Williamson in Wilkes County Georgia that quite possibly is the same man or the father of Micajah of Jackson County.
Like William Clements (the father-in-law of Rev. John M. Dorris), Reuben was a soldier in Jackson County Georgia during the War of 1812 where he served as an Ensign.
Reuben moved from Jackson County to Gwinnett where he was enumerated in 1827. While in Gwinnett, he was appointed as a road commissioner. He was also an overseer of the poor school (as was Elisha Winn) and he was on the board of trustees for the establishment of free schools in Gwinnett. He was a Justice of the Inferior Court and a Justice of the Peace of Gwinnett. In 1832, he was one of the founding trustees of the Lawrenceville Academy (Elisha Winn was another founding trustee) in Gwinnett County.
By 1837 he was living in Campbell County in 1840 (now Paulding/Douglas). See Sweetwater Baptist Church history.
In 1852 Reuben donated land for the Sweetwater Baptist Church (located NW of Douglasville, Georgia). Reuben McClung and Rev. John M. Dorris along with many of John's descendants are buried in the cemetery across the street from the church. Some of the church and cemetery property were owned at one time by the descendants of John Dorris. In 1900, William Dorris (probably William Clements Dorris, the son of Rev. John M. Dorris) sold 2.77 acres to the church. The land included part of the present day cemetery and part of the present day church. The Dorrises also operated a mill in the area. Nearby Dorris road is named for the family.
Permelie Mallie Dorris, the daughter of Rev. John M. Dorris and Elizabeth Clements, married General Taylor McClung, the grandson of Reuben McClung.
Reuben McClung and Mary "Polly" Early Williamson Memorial Marker
Walnut Fork Baptist church information
Click here for Sweetwater Baptist Church history
Click here for 1852 land record
Reuben McClung Family History from ROOTSWEB (undocumented)
Winn Family
(Winn family research in progress - will be added later.)
The Coca-Cola Candler Family
(Courtesy Coca-Colacompany.com)
If one examines the 1850 census for Carroll County, Georgia one will find two interesting neighbors of Rev. John M. Dorris: Asa Griggs and S. C. Candler. (John Dorris is on page 19, Asa Griggs in on page 18 and S.C. Candler is on page 17.)
S.C. (Samuel Charles) Candler is the father of Asa Griggs Candler, the man who bought the Coca-Cola formula and made the company into a viable business that today is a household name. Asa Candler moved to Atlanta where he made his home and where he is buried. The Asa Griggs listed on the census is likely Dr. Asa Wesley Griggs, a medical doctor and educator. One might presume that he is the namesake for Asa Griggs Candler. The later home of Dr. Griggs is still standing near the Chattahoochee River in Lanett, Alabama. The house was "in the line of fire" at the end of the Civil War.
The brother of Asa Griggs Candler, Milton Anthony Candler, was a prominent lawyer in Decatur Georgia. He was a neighbor of my paternal Lemon ancestors in downtown Decatur. Milton is buried in the Decatur City Cemetery. His descendants are still prominent residents of Decatur.
>>Click here for a pdf file on the Candler family from the Carroll County Historical Society<<
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Notes:
Rev. Edwards notes from The Methodist Quarterly Review, Volume 69, Laughter in the Amen Corner: The Life of Evangelist Sam Jones, and Find A Grave.
My paternal 3rd great grandmother Jane Lemon married James Davis. Their son Milton, married Sarah Elizabeth Dorris, the daughter of Rev. John M. Dorris and Elizabeth Clements. Please see my book for more information.
The latest generation of my Dorris ancestors that is buried at the Sweetwater Cemetery is Sarah Elizabeth Dorris, the daughter of Rev. John M. Dorris. Sarah Elizabeth Dorris is my 2nd great grandmother. She died at a very young age during the Civil War as did her husband (Milton Davis) and one of her two children.
Sweetwater Church History and land record courtesy Loren Emery and Sweetwater Baptist Church.
Walnut Fork Baptist Church information courtesy the Jackson County Historical Society.
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[1] Fannie Mae Davis, Douglas County, Georgia, From Indian Trail to Interstate 20, (Wolfe Associates, 1987)
(This page was updated on 1/30/2021)