My great-great-great grandfather is a man of mystery to me in many ways despite copious research on my part and the occasional glimpse at other family trees in which he is included.
Let me introduce you to John F. Poole, born about 1810, in Washington, D.C. On every census record where place of birth was mentioned, John says that he was born in the District of Columbia, his mother as well and his father born in Maryland. He never changes this, and so I believe it is accurate due to his consistency.
I foolishly followed the word of a rather well known local amateur genealogist who said that the District of Columbia did not exist in 1810. Another source cited that all records for the city of Washington were burned in the War of 1811. Wrong. It did indeed exist and there are some city census records remaining. I cannot identify John by his father or mother, nor do I know who his brothers and sisters were. I can tell you that in 1810 and 1820 a Lewis Poole is shown in Washington D.C., listed as a shoemaker. John earned his living as a shoemaker and blacksmith among other things. It seems to me he learned his vocation somewhere and so I ask: Is John a son? Or even a nephew or kinsman? Did he learn his trade from Lewis Pool? He would have been about 10 years old in 1820, an age when children were often apprenticed to learn a skill and if Lewis were his father or a relative he'd have learned his trade with him. At present that is not an established fact but it is not an unreasonable question to ask.
I cannot tell you where John lived between 1810 and 1839 which is a fairly big gap of time, almost thirty years of his life. However, I can tell you that John was not only a blacksmith and shoemaker by trade, he was also a Methodist circuit rider (an itinerant preacher who went from church to church on a set route) and according to a history of the Culloden Methodist Church, John was one of four circuit riding preachers who first served the church which was rebuilt in 1832. The church history does not say what year John served that church but they had four circuit riders who came in and they had four meetings every Sunday. Was John in Georgia by 1832? I do not know for sure but he would have been 22 years old about then. And this was a time frame when there had been a great revival in the Methodist Episcopal church. A young man might well be caught up and had a life changing experience that led him to feel the call to preach.
Marriage records found in Henry County, Georgia, show a John F. Poole marrying Annie Galloway on May 31, 1839. Because I do know that his wife's name was Ann and I am certain of his name, and because this county is not far from Monroe County where I know that John was a circuit preacher, I feel it is reasonable to believe this record belongs to my family member. Family history records by Lisa Windham stated his wife's name as Callaway Annie Johnson. I do not know the source of her information and since she is deceased I cannot inquire about it. John would have been 29 in 1839 and Ann was about 19.
(Henry County marriage records, page 77(?))
John Pool(e) is shown on three census records for Cullodenville, Monroe County. In an extended questionnaire on a June 27 ,1867 questionnaire, John stated he'd been a resident of Monroe county for 27 years, and in Monroe County 23 years. This belies his 1839 marriage date in Henry County, Georgia.
(June 27, 1867. "Return of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books)
John and Ann and 1 child, Lovick Pierce Pool show up on a Cullodenville, Monroe County, Georgia census in 1850. I find it odd that this is the only child Ann and John have after 11 years of marriage. Were there other children who had died? It seems likely, but who knows?
1850 Cullodenville, Monroe County, Georgia census
John F. Pool, age
Ann age 29
Lovett age 2
In 1860 Monroe County, Georgia U.S. census lists John Pool (note the 'e' was not used by the census taker when he spelled Poole), Ann, Lovick P., Harriett J., Elizabeth J, John B., Orrin Woodard, Wesley G., Edmond J. are shown on the census for Cullodenville, Monroe County, Georgia. To the best of our knowledge these were all the living children of the family and all apparently grew to adulthood.
John and Ann did not follow conventional Scottish naming patterns. Having no knowledge of John nor Ann's family life prior to their marriage I cannot tell you who the girls were named for, but Lovick Pierce was named for a much revered Bishop of the Methodist church. John B. was possibly named for a man who worked in the tannery with John, John Branford. Orrin Woodard was named for a very well to do man who resided in Cullodenville. Edmund Jackson was named for another well to do citizen and Wesley George as well...I cannot tell you exactly why I think Ann was the one who named these boys born after Lovick but it is something I strongly suspect, based on like personalities which have come down through the generations.
1860 Cullodenville, Monroe County, Georgia census
John F. Pool, age 49 merchant b. District of Columbia
Ann, 40 b. Georgia
Lovick P., 12 student b. Georgia
Elizabeth J., 10 student, b. Georgia
John B., 8, student, b. Georgia
Harriett J., 6 b. Georgia
Wesley G., 4 b. Georgia
Orrin W., 2, b. Georgia
Edmond J., 1, b. Georgia
During the Confederate War, according to a speech printed in 1890 given in Culloden by Senator Thomas Norwood, John Pool was a tax collector for the Confederacy. I do not show any record of John's enlisting for war service. Norwood relates in this speech that John was a 'peacemaker'. Norwood shared that John had often sharpened quills for school children with such skill that children sought him out. He also shares that John apparently was sometimes tempted in drink. According to Norwood, whose father had employed John in both the Blacksmith shop and Tannery and later in the shoe factory, John was inebriated when he married Ann and had much to regret in that union. He claims he found John drunk in Milledgeville in a hotel after delivering Confederate state tax monies to the capitol in the company of his young son, John B., whom Norwood erroneously says was named for John F. The younger son John would have been between 9 and 13 years of age. Norwood does not relate what year this was, only that it was 'during the war'. While his portrayal of John is not a flattering picture he is almost scathing about Ann herself referring to her as an illiterate Xanthippe.
I would suppose that Norwood's portrayal of John F. and Ann, unflattering though it might be, would be accurate enough. After all they lived in the same village for 30 odd years and though it was a thriving place at the time, it was still small and certainly Senator Norwood would have been more than familiar with John since he did work for his father, Caleb Norwood.
In 1862, I find Mrs. John F. Poole listed on a roster of women in Cullodenville who contribute to a fund to fit out a boat for the Confederate Navy, later christened as the CSS Georgia in 1863-1854. It is the last record of Ann. I have never found a grave site for her and have no clues as to who her parents were or if she had siblings.
(Georgia Telegraph, April 4, 1862)
In 1870, the household consists of John, his son John, Harriett, Elizabeth, Orrin and a servant. Wesley is listed with another family (the Van Horns) in the county as a student.
1870 Monroe County, Georgia Culloden District 5575
Dwelling #2866 Family #2855
John T., 59 occupation shoemaker
John D., 18
Elizabeth J., 20
Harriett J., 16
Orrin Woodard 10
In 1871, John apparently spoke with a local Monroe county reporter who published his note in the Macon Telegraph, refuting the truth of a newspaper article which appeared in many state papers in which Thomas Norwood asserted he'd worn a pair of boots made by his own hands to college. John firmly denies this as fact, stating that indeed Mr. Norwood had never exhibited any ambition in that area and the shoes were made by John's hands. In that letter John refers to himself as a preacher.
(Published in Georgia Weekly Telegraph and Georgia Journal and Messenger, dated Dec. 5, 1871 on page 8)
Sometime around 1875, daughter Harriett married a young man from Macon County, Georgia in Taylor County (a neighboring county), and a portion of the family had moved to Taylor County. While Harriett and George Windham move on to a farm in Macon county, John F. continued to minister. He was chaplain of the Prison Camp near Reynolds and newspaper accounts show him officiating in his ministerial capacity at Palace Mills picnics. I've only recently come across the mention of Palace Mills, and have no real clue as to what type of mill it was but it most likely was a cotton mill.
Butler Herald July 20, 1877
mentions the Palace Mills July 4th Barbecue. Ice water served by Messrs. Holbrook and Pool, a prayer by Rev. John Poole.
(It is my assumption this is Wesley with whom John appears to have been residing)
Butler Herald July 2, 1878
John. F. Poole listed among delegates to the Methodist Church Columbus District meeting. (I am sure he was pleased to attend this as the speaker was to be Bishop Lovick Pierce, Sr.)
Butler Herald, July 15, 1879 Palace Mills (for July 4 celebration)
Rev. Mr. Poole read an appropriate psalm followed by prayer and introduced Dr. Hicks.
A history of Taylor County printed by the Women's Club, lists John as a Mason in the Reynolds' Fickling Lodge.
He is on record in 1880 as being in the household of Wesley G.
1880 Taylor County Georgia census, Reynolds
Wesley Poole, 24 cotton mill
Frances Adams 38 keeps house
John F, 69 Chaplain to convict camp/clerk
John died February 5, 1881 of 'apoplexy'. He was living with his son Wesley G. at the time. He is buried in the Little Vine/New Hope cemetery in the Windham plot in Reynolds, Georgia.
His obituary appeared in the Butler Herald. He was listed as I.F. Poole.
Lovick Pierce Poole was married 3 or 4 times, moving as far south as Attapulgus, Ga and as far west as Russellville, Phenix City, AL. My last record of him is in an Alabama census stating he was a mill worker. How many of his children survived or what happened to them is a work in progress at present. His last wife, Sallie Thompson Poole, was living in Alabama with her two sons on the census following his death. See a further post on Lovick Pierce Poole and his descendants.
Elizabeth J. apparently lived in Macon, Georgia. I assume she worked in some capacity. She married in 1885 at Christ Episcopal Church in Macon. I have a copy of her marriage record from the church. She married Arthur Kender and I do have a source showing that they had a daughter a little later. Her name was Francis Maria born June 5, 1886. This daughter was christened in 1886, the year following her marriage and the last name is then spelled "Kinder." I do not know anything further about Elizabeth nor her husband or child.
John B. is shown on an 1880 Macon, Bibb County, Georgia census living in a boarding house with his wife, Laura and a child, Annie age 5. No further record of him. I am not entirely positive that this is my family member but suspect it may be due to his name and initial and the name of his daughter, as he seems to have been following a common naming pattern of the time. I also am suspecting it might be him because Elizabeth J. was also located in Macon, though I've not yet found her on the available online censuses for Bibb County.
I am descended from Harriet and George Windham's line through their daughter, my great grandmother, Annie Clyde Windham. I will share more about this line later.
Edmond Jackson Poole, moved to Taylor County with his father. He eventually became Sheriff of Reynolds, Georgia and served many years in that capacity. He raised two families, his first wife dying in her 30s.
Wesley George worked in Reynolds at a General Store and is listed as a Mason in Reynolds' Fickling Lodge. He lived in Potterville, Georgia. I don't have his record in front of me at present, but I believe he was married just once. His wife was a little older than he. They raised two nieces who were apparently orphaned. He is buried in Potterville, Ga.
