We will begin History, Chapter XI with the sixth son of Nicholas Baggett, Sr. His son Thomas Baggett, Sr., born ca. 1720, seemed to have lived a prosperous life. He inherited his father's plantation, but if Benjamin had been of reasonable health, no doubt he would have inherited it. The last Will and Testament of Thomas Baggett will be shown later in this chapter. It is not known if the plantation he left his son is as great as his father's plantation.

Thomas Baggett, Sr. had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son was Thomas Baggett, Jr. Uzziel was his second son and Allen was the youngest son. His daughters were Thaney and Sarah. Thaney's married name was Thaney Purvis.

At the time Thomas Baggett, Sr.'s will was written in 1792 Sarah was not yet married, but the will of Thomas Baggett, Jr., made in 1797, named his brothers and sisters and gave her name as Sarah Jackson. Thomas Baggett, Sr.'s will is presented below.

In the name of God, Amen. On this the 14th day of June, 1792, I, Thomas Baggett, Sr., of the Province of North Carolina, Martin County, being very sick and weak of body, but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be to God. Therefore calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appropriate for all men once to die, I do make and declare this my last Will and Testament. That is to say principally that I do therefore commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it, and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried.

The worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to help me in this life I give, demise, and dispose of the same in the following manner and form:

I lend to my well beloved wife Mary Baggett the Mannor Plantation whereon I now live during her life. Also I lend all the remainder of my estate to her during her life, and after her decease I give and bequeath unto my son Thomas Baggett the plantation whereon I now live, to him and his heirs forever. But if he should decest without a lawful begotten heir of his body, I give the said plantation to my son Uzziel Baggett and his heirs. I give unto my son Uzziel one saurel horse by the name of Rock.

I give unto my son Allen Baggett five shillings currency of this State. I give unto my daughter Sarah Baggett one bed and furniture and one hunting saddle, one linnen wheel and one pair smoothing irons, to her and her heirs forever.

After the decest of my wife Mary Baggett I demise the household furniture and perishable parts of my estate should be equally divided between my two sons and two daughters: Thomas and Uzziel Baggett, Thaney Purvis and Sarah Baggett.

I constitute and appoint my son Thomas Baggett and Jonathan Cherry executors to this my last Will and Testament. I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first written.
Signed and sealed in the presence of us the subscribers.

Martin County, NC, March Court, 1793, the aforegoing instrument of writing was proved in open court.

Thomas is named as a son and executor in the will of Nicholas Baggett, Sr. (II). Nicholas Baggett, Sr. (I), planter, is found in records of Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1673, and (according to Joe Baggett, deceased, of Douglasville, GA) is found in the 1690s there in Isle of Wight. If the old Nicholas left a will, no one, as far as I know, has found it.

Thomas lived in that part of Bertie County that became Martin County, but because of the location it is apparent that the plantation Thomas left to his son is not the same plantation he inherited from his father Nicholas. Nicholas lived near Uraha Creek. Martin is below Ahoskie (which is now in Hertford County). The old Ahotskey was situated at present Ahoskie, just above the present Bertie County.

Thomas Baggett, Sr.'s last Will and Testament is the last recorded document of the sons of Nicholas Baggett II. The last Will and Testament of Joseph Baggett was made in 1789. There are documents that prove that Barnaby Baggett died in the early 1780s. It appears that all the first family was dead by the turn of the century, unless Benjamin, Hardy, or John was still alive at that time.

Thomas, Jr. apparently did not live long after his father died in 1793. His will was written in 1797 and he appears to have died shortly thereafter. Thomas, Sr. stated in his will that if Thomas died without heirs, his plantation was to go to his son Uzziel. There is not much doubt that Uzziel inherited the plantation of his father, because Thomas, Sr.'s wife Mary was alive in 1797 when Thomas, Jr. wrote his will. Mary was to receive the plantation along with all the remainder of his estate during her lifetime.

The descendants of Thomas Baggett, Sr. are scattered all over the southern United States. Evidently Thomas, Jr. did not have any children. Uzziel's family may have migrated to Georgia and to Florida. Allen's family migrated to Georgia first, and then from Florida to Texas.

Allen Baggett (son of Thomas), at the time of the death of his father, lived a great distance from his mother and father. He had lived in Anson County, but Anson may not have been very far from Edgecombe at that time. At the time of his death in 1793, Thomas, Sr. lived in Martin County.

Allen Baggett, son of Thomas Baggett, Sr., was born in 1762 in North Carolina (this is according to genealogist, Mrs. Kate Roper) and married Elizabeth Allen. At age seventeen he enlisted as a private in the North Carolina Militia on 5 June 1779. During this same period John Bagget and Drew Baggett enlisted as privates and Drew is shown as a musician. Allen served in Captain Quinn's Company, Colonel Shepard's Regiment of the North Carolina Militia. His name is spelled Baggot on the 1779 rolls.

Allen is shown on the 1787 census of Martin County, NC and the 1790 census of Wayne County, but from 1790 to 1820 he is shown living in Anson County in a section which is now part of Union County, NC.

Allen only received five shillings from his father's estate, but it is apparent that he prospered during his lifetime. He had reared thirteen children and seemed to have plenty to put on the table at the time of his death. It appears, though, that he did not have his own plantation as his father did at his death.

Before 1820 several of his sons had migrated to Walton County, GA. Apparently Allen followed his family. There in Walton County on 19 February 1825 was recorded the inventory of the sale of the estate of Allen Baggett, deceased. The distribution of the proceeds from the sale of the estate was recorded in Walton County on 7 November 1827.  A widow's share (one-third) went to his wife Elizabeth and legatees' receipts of $16.50 going to: James Brombelow, Wiley Baggett, Asa Baggett, William H. Davis, Stephen Baggett, Bennett Baggett, Charles Sikes, James M. Holley, Burton Baggett, Bethena Baggett, Elizabeth Baggett, Allen Roberts, and Usial Baggett.

THE ESTATE OF ALLEN BAGGETT
AS RECORDED IN WALTON COUNTY, GA

Bay mare $40, bay filly $25, wagon & harness $40, bed & furniture $30, 2 lots of furniture at $30 and $28, chest $1.50, side saddle $8, man's saddle $4, one lot of castings $6, 2 sets wooden vessels $2, 7 hogs for $17.50, 7 hogs for $8.75, 1 sow & 4 pigs $4, black cow & yearling $12, red cow and yearling $13, white cow & calf $12, black cow & calf $12, white heifer & yearling $3, 3 axes $3, 1 auger $.75, pair of plow shares $1.50, 2 plows $1, 4 hoes $2, 1 flax wheel $3, 1 cotton wheel $1, 6 chairs $3, 1 jug $1, lot of crockery & side board $5, 2 flatirons $1, lot of pewter and four crocks $4.50, shotgun $2.50, and 3 stools, 1 table, 1 set of knives and forks, 1 ram hide, shear mound?, and coffee mill for $2. All this came to a grand total of $341.75.

One of the purchaser's of the estate of Allen Baggett was William B. Willingham. An early marriage in Campbell County, GA shows an Elizabeth Baggett who married Thomas Willingham 13 December 1829. Thomas Willingham may have been related to the William above.

In the 1700s, North Carolina changed so much it is difficult to determine precisely where the sons of Nicholas II settled at different periods. One gets the impression that they moved about quite a bit, but this is clearly not the case. Counties in North Carolina changed constantly from the 1720s to the turn of the century. At the time Abraham distributed land to his sons in the 1760s, Edgecombe County itself contained several counties now shown on the map. Wayne County may have contained several counties, and there were Bladen, Pitt, Granville and Anson, which contained most of the south and southwestern portions of the North Carolina territory.

Until his death in 1797-8, Thomas Baggett, Jr. lived in Martin County. Apparently Thomas stayed and took care of his parents. We find him on the plantation with his mother at the time he had his last Will and Testament written in 1797. Thomas, Jr.'s will (shown below) stated that if his wife was with child that it was to heir to one-third of his whole estate, but if not, his wife was only to have the whole estate that came by hand to her. But he divided the rest of his estate with his mother and his brothers and sisters.

In the name of God, Amen. I, Thomas Baggett, of the County of Martin and State of North Carolina, being weak of body, but of sound and perfect mind and memory, pleased be God. Calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing it is appointed unto all men once to die, I do make and ordain this and no other to be my last Will and Testament.

First and principally I recommend my soul into the hand of Almighty God who gave it me, and as touching those worldly goods and estates wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with, I give and dispose of them in the manner and form following:

It is my will and desire that if my wife be with child that it heirs to one-third of my sole estate, and if not, it is my will and desire that my wife have all the whole estate that came by hand to her, and to her heirs forever.

It is my will and desire that my corn and meat be equally divided between my mother and my wife.

It is my will and desire that my sister Sarry have my S----? and Shu----? Buckles and Naseing Hath.

It is my will and desire that my brother Allen Baggett have my Blue Cot and Stricked Vesket? Finthes.

It is my will and desire after paying my debts and funeral charges that all my estate that is not already given away be equally divided between my mother and wife and Allen Bagett and Seall Bagett and Thaney Purvis and Sarry Jackson.

And I do further nominate, constitute, and appoint John Wimbray and Silas Ballard executors of this my last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal on this the eighth day of April in the year 1797.

I suppose the Baggett family is very fortunate that these wills were recorded in this century. It is very hard to trace a family if there are not wills, deeds, or other sources of information. We would have been able to connect our family in the 1600s, I believe, if the old Nicholas Baggett I and his supposed father, John Baggott, had made a will. There seems to be several members of the family living here in the seventeenth century, but there is no way that I have found to establish a true lineage.

Uzziel (second son of Thomas, Sr.) was born in ca. 1759 and lived in Anson County, NC from 1800 to 1820 with his two sons and three daughters. An Irwin Baggett (who is believed to be a son of Uzziel) was born in North Carolina in the 1790s and lived in Walton County, GA in 1819 and 1820. He is found in Fayette County, GA from 1827 to the 1830s. He was Captain of the Georgia Militia in Henry County, GA in 1822 and 1823. He was the original surveyor of Coweta County, GA, commissioned there on 25 May 1827.

Uzziel Baggett's children may have migrated to Georgia with the family of their uncle, Allen Baggett. Allen Baggett's family came to Walton County, GA in about 1818, and we find the above Irwin Baggett in 1819 in Walton County. All of Uzziel's family may have been in Georgia by the 1820s. It may be that Uzziel died some place there in Georgia some time after 1820.

An Erwin (shown on marriage license issued in Carroll County, GA 6 September 1849 as Irwin) married Jane R. Pike and resided in Carroll County in 1850 with Jane (born ca. 1827) and a son, William A. Baggett, born in August of 1850. This Irwin was born ca. 1825, and may be the son of Irwin from North Carolina.

Stephen Baggett, son of Allen Baggett, was born in North Carolina and married Sarah Sikes, who was also born in North Carolina (compare LDS Genealogical Library, Salt Lake City, UT). Stephen lived to be 92 years old and Sarah lived to age 90. They are buried in the Baggett Cemetery at Winston, GA on Baggett Road, just outside of Douglasville, GA (see Baggett Cemetery records).

Uzziel Baggett (son of Allen) was born in 1797 and lived in Campbell County, GA. His first wife, Sally Collins, died in the early 1840s. He later married Emily Munden and in 1844 lived in Dallas County, TX. They eventually moved to Ellis County where he was one of its first settlers. Uzziel died in 1873. He is buried in Waxahachie City Cemetery in Waxahachie, TX.

Jackson, the eldest son of Stephen (son of Allen), was married to a woman named Nancy (we didn't find her maiden name). Both are buried in the Sweetwater Baptist Church Cemetery near Douglasville. Their daughter Harriet Letitia married James Monroe Gray. They are buried in New Harmony Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery at Hiram, GA. Their daughter Hettie A. Gray married John Harris. Hettie was a sister of Rev. Tilden J. Gray. Hettie and John had a son, James Young Harris, who supplied information.

Wiley C. Baggett (son of Stephen) married in 1855 Louisa Scoggin (daughter of Wiley Scoggin). They are both buried in County Line Church Cemetery at Lithia Springs, GA. Wiley was a veteran of Co. D, 1st Georgia Guards and Co. F, 30th Georgia C.S.A. Pension papers of his widow state that he was captured by Union troops somewhere along the Chattahoochee River, but escaped. The 1900 census shows that Wiley C. Baggett was a carpenter.

Charles B. Baggett (son of Stephen) is buried in New Hope Church Cemetery at Chapel Hill with [first] wife Mary E. Arnold. He married Mary A. Hood, a widow in 1889. His son William A. Baggett, born in 1859, married in 1884 Lou Ida Davis. William operated Baggett & Company, a fish market on Peters Street in Atlanta, GA in 1897.

William's son Robert J. Baggett, married Hattie E. McTyre of Powder Springs, GA. Their grandson, Oscar Jack Baggett, was in the United States Navy, a builder and developer, a wholesaler and an auctioneer.

Wiley Baggett (son of Allen), born 1791, married Nancy Collins and lived in Gwinnett County, GA. His son Alfred Baggett, born 1819, married Nancy M. Jacobs. His daughter Bell Virginia married William O. Furr in 1879. They had a daughter Nannie Furr who married Miles Henslee. Descendant, W. O. Furr, lived on Ridge Road near Douglasville. W. O. Furr operated a grocery store there.

Wiley Jackson Baggett (son of Wiley), born 1835, married in 1866 Malinda Jane Brand. They lived in Gwinnett County. Jesse Jackson, son of Wiley Jackson, was a prominent citizen of Gwinnett County. A biographical sketch of Jesse Jackson Baggett is shown below.

GWINNETT COUNTY FAMILIES
JESSE JACKSON BAGGETT
by Babye Jewel Baggett

Jesse Jackson Baggett was born 26 March 1886 near Haynes Creek Church, died 19 January 1965. He was one of nine children of Wylie Jackson Baggett, a Civil War veteran, and Vilinda Jane Brand. The other children were: Allec, Frank, Cash, Emory (twin of Emma), Leora, Margie, and Vinny Baggett.

Jesse Jackson married in 1915 Eve Emmiline O'Kelley, daughter of Hilman Septern O'Kelley and Ludie Lee Gruthrie. They moved to Lawrenceville from Conyers, GA in 1917 to start a Buick auto agency. In 1925 he formed the J. J. Baggett Oil Company in which he was active until the time of his death. He was also a Chevrolet dealer in Lawrenceville from 1926-1955.
Active in local and state politics he was Georgia State Senator in 1932, Lawrenceville City Councilman for two terms in the 1920s, and again in the 1930s and 1940s. He was Mayor of Lawrenceville from 1937-38. In 1936 he was a delegate to two Democratic National conventions in Philadelphia and again a delegate in 1944 to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Jesse was appointed by Governor Ellis Arnold to serve on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Commission at Warm Springs, GA and was instrumental in preserving FDR's cottage there and opening the museum in his memory. He was on the commission that was responsible for the purchase of Jekyll Island for the State of Georgia.

He was on the board of directors of the First National Bank of Lawrenceville and also served as vice-president and chairman of the board. He was one of the original founders, first president and chairman of the board of the Gwinnett Federal Savings and Loan Association.
He was a Mason, a Shriner, and elder in the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church. He is buried in Gwinnett Memorial Gardens.

Jesse Jackson's two sons, Jack O'Kelley Baggett and Joe Max Baggett, are well known businessmen there in Lawrenceville. Jack attended University of Georgia and Georgia State University. He is a charter member and chairman of the board of Gwinnett Commercial Bank and president of J. J. Baggett Oil Company, Inc. Joe graduated from Georgia Military College and attended West Georgia College and University of Georgia. He is president of Baggett Enterprises, Inc., and of Bagco, Inc., and secretary and treasurer of J. J. Baggett Oil Company, Inc. He is a director and vice-president of Gwinnett Federal Savings and Loan Association, and he is on the board of directors of First National Bank of Gwinnett County. Both Jack and Joe are now deceased.

Allen R. Baggett (another son of Wiley), born 1818, married [first] Lucinda Jacobs (sister of Nancy who married Alfred Baggett). Allen R. married [second] in 1863 widow Annie Harris Duren. The family moved from Gwinnett County, GA to Douglasville in the 1870s. His son, William Alfred Baggett (Singing Billie), married [2nd] widow Missouria Dorsett Selman.

A music teacher at Daniel's Mills in the 1880s, William Baggett migrated to Seabreeze (now Daytona Beach), FL at the turn of the century and was a music teacher, notary, and real estate dealer there. His son, Billie Byington Baggett, was very prominent in this section of Florida. He was once mayor of Daytona Beach. A biographical sketch of Billie Byington Baggett is being presented on page eighty-nine. Billie Baggett's son Wilmans Byington is president of Baggett and Summers Funeral Homes at Daytona Beach. The name of the funeral home has been changed. This was the name in the 1970s.

This family of Baggetts was pioneers in the middle section of Florida. Florida was in a continuous state of turmoil during its first settlements. It suffered great losses in the early sixteenth century when Ponce de Leon attempted to colonize the region.  After the withdrawal of the Spanish, the French attempted to colonize the region and later the English got involved, but in 1783 the English returned Florida to Spain.

The Spanish sold west Florida to the French in 1795. Following the Louisiana Purchase, the United States laid claim to the Florida region west of the Perdido River. The Spanish ceded Florida to the United States in exchange for five million dollars after the War of 1812. The region was established as a territory the next year.

It did not really prosper until years after the Civil War, when it began drainage of the Everglades. When the timber resources and rich deposits of phosphate emerged, an expansion of railway facilities were demanded and by the late 1920s a nation-wide demand for Florida real estate had developed, resulting in industrial activity and population growth.

William Alfred apparently migrated to Florida at the ideal time, arriving there in 1895, about the time the development of the territory began. It later began to be established as a recreational region. Singing Billie Baggett opened great opportunities for his children and their descendants there in Florida as Uzziel (brother of William's grandfather Wiley) did in the State of Texas in 1844. Uzziel (son of Allen) was one of the first settlers in Ellis County, Texas.

Bennett Baggett (son of Allen) was born ca. 1795 and married Mary Sikes, born ca. 1802 in North Carolina. Bennett moved from Walton to Campbell County and finally settled in Powder Springs, GA. His son, Garrett J. Baggett, married Lucinda Rakestraw. Bennett Baggett's younger son, Joshua A. Baggett, married Margaret Jane Lindley and had lived at Powder Springs, GA before the beginning of the Civil War. (He and his family had moved to Texas and lived there for a brief period before the Civil War began.) Joshua's daughter Fannie married Warren Bell, a brother of William Fletcher Bell. Susan Baggett (Stephen's granddaughter) married William Fletcher Bell.

Records show that Joshua Baggett died with complications of measles on 6 July 1862 at Lauderdale Springs, MS in Company B, 41st GA, C.S.A., from Cobb County. On the Cobb County file at the Georgia State Archives--it states: "Joshua Baggett, was a private in Captain George N. Lester's Company B, of the 41st Regiment of Georgia Volunteers. He was born in Walton County, GA, was aged thirty seven years, six feet-two inches tall, blue eyes, light hair, and by occupation a farmer. He was enlisted by George N. Lester at Marietta, GA on 4 March 1862 to serve in the army of the Confederate States for three years and died in the service at Lauderdale Springs, MS on the 6 July 1862." (The document was signed 9 February 1863.)

Alfred Seawright Baggett, a descendant of Bennett Baggett, born 1875, died 1959, was Sheriff of Douglas County, GA for over twenty years, from 1910 to 1933. Seawright married [first] in 1901, Lila Abercrombie, born 1880, died 1902; married [2nd] in 1904, Coburn Carrie Morris, born 1885, died 1960. He was chairman of the Douglas County Democratic Executive Committee prior to World War I.

Burton Baggett (fifth son of Allen) married Rachael (Polly) Moon in Columbia County, GA. He made his will in Cobb County, GA. The family moved from Campbell County to Powder Springs, GA in about the year 1837.

His son Hiram Baggett, born in 1846, married Miss Julia Ward, and died in 1915 while in Atlanta at a Streetcar Station. After receiving his education in the public schools, he entered the Powder Springs Guards. Hiram was a Civil War veteran. He served in the Cobb County, GA division of the 2nd Company F, 1st Confederate Regiment of the Volunteer Infantry Army of Tennessee, C.S.A. He moved to Paulding County, GA shortly after the Civil War and settled in the District that later became the City of Hiram.

Allen Baggett (son of Wiley Baggett), born 1818, married [second] widow Annie Harris Duren. The family had lived in Gwinnett County, but later moved to Douglas County, GA. His son William Baggett and his family migrated to Seabreeze (now Daytona Beach), FL at the turn of the century. His son, Billie Byington Baggett, was very prominent in this section of Florida. A biographical sketch of Billie Byington Baggett found in the Atlanta Archives is shown below.

THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA
BILLIE BYINGTON BAGGETT

The former Mayor-Commissioner and a prominent pioneer resident of Daytona Beach, the late Billie Baggett is remembered by the older citizens of that community for his strong civic and political leadership and constructive administration of city affairs.

He was born in Douglasville, GA 13 September 1886, son of William Alfred Baggett and Missouri Ann Dorsett Selman. His father was born in Georgia in 1848 and died 3 July 1915 at Holly Hill. His mother was born in Georgia on 4 November 1846 and died 21 November 1935 in Daytona Beach, FL.

Billie came to Daytona Beach with his parents in 1895, when he was about nine years old. His father and Charles Cyril Post had the first real estate office at Seabreeze, now a part of Daytona Beach, between the river and the ocean. Billie Baggett graduated from Daytona High School in 1906 as president of his class. In 1907, Billie joined the Florida National Guard and remained in the Guard for four years, resigning in 1911 with the rank of First Lieutenant.

Mr. Baggett's first business enterprise was the furniture business. In 1917 he, along with Mr. Jerome L. Wetherby, founded the Baggett-Wetherby Funeral Home on Magnolia Avenue and was president of this firm, but by 1935 it was Baggett-Wetherby-McIntosh Company and in 1946 he sold it to his son, Wilmans Byington Baggett and Charles S. McIntosh, now known as Baggett-McIntosh.

Billie was Chairman of the Red Cross Drive of the Halifax area in 1929 and again in 1942. He also served a number of years as Chairman of Board of Trustees at Calvary Baptist Church.

On 12 June 1912, in Seabreeze, Billie Baggett married Helen Wilmans Burgman, who was born in San Francisco, CA on 23 September 1887, the daughter of Charles Frederick Burgman, a native of Germany, and Florence Nightingale Baker.

Billie and Helen Baggett, which had been their custom, were spending the summer at Grandview Guesthouse at Waynesville in North Carolina when he was stricken with a heart attack. He died 10 August 1957. His widow has compiled a record of his public work “for the grandchildren whom he so dearly loved, that they, too, might know, ‘to serve is to live’.” She says in a foreword: “His real life's work, his ultimate purpose for being, was hidden from the world. No one will ever know the committees on which he served; the number of persons to whom, through the years, he extended a lifting, helping hand. The latter he regarded as a sacred trust between himself and his Maker, to be shared with no one else.”

This family of Baggetts was pioneers in the middle section of Florida. Florida was in a continuous state of turmoil during its first settlements. It suffered great losses in the early sixteenth century when Ponce de Leon attempted to colonize the region.  After the withdrawal of the Spanish, the French attempted to colonize the region and later the English got involved, but in 1783 the English returned Florida to Spain. Florida did not really prosper until years after the Civil War, when it began drainage of the Everglades. When the timber resources and rich deposits of phosphate emerged, an expansion of railway facilities were demanded and by the late 1920s a nation-wide demand for Florida real estate had developed, resulting in industrial activity and population growth.

William Baggett apparently migrated to Florida at the ideal time, arriving there in 1895, about the time the development of the territory began. It later began to be established as a recreational region. He opened great opportunities for his children and their descendants there in Florida as Uzziel (brother of William's grandfather Wiley) did in the State of Texas in 1844. Uzziel (son of Allen) was one of the first settlers in Ellis County, Texas.

Stephen and Sarah lost two sons within two days of each other. Jackson died 27 June 1863 and Allen Jacob died in the Civil War 29 June 1863 (see Civil War records). According to the 1860 census of Paulding County, GA, Stephen and Sarah had three of their children living with them: Mary, born 1824 in North Carolina; Susan, born in 1826 in North Carolina; and Sarah, born in 1837 in Georgia. The family was in Campbell County, GA in 1828. Stephen moved with part of his family to Paulding County before the Civil War, but after the war he is found living in Campbell County. Only his son Allen Jacob and his family remained in the Paulding area. Allen Jacob was the progenitor of most of the Baggetts in Paulding County.

Allen Jacob Baggett was a soldier in the Confederate Armed Services. Jacob was a member of the Campbell Sharpshooters, Confederate States of America. He enlisted and took his position in Company C, 30th Regiment of Georgia Volunteers on 20 March 1863. He died with complications from measles 29 June 1863. His company and regiment were camped at Savannah, GA and regrettably their command was ordered to Jackson, MS before he had time enough to completely recover from the disease. Jacob died while they camped at Newton's Station in Mississippi and was buried in the Confederate Cemetery at Vicksburg, MS.

AFFIDAVIT OF THREE WITNESSES
STATE OF GEORGIA, COUNTY OF DOUGLAS

In person came before me, the undersigned, C. P. Bowen, A. G. Weddington, and C. W. Weddington–each known to said Attesting Officer as truthful, reliable, and reputabel citizens–who severally say under oath, that, from their own personal knowledge, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Baggett of the County of Paulding, State of Georgia, is the widow of Allen J. Baggett, who was a soldier in Company C" of the 30th Regiment of Georgia Volunteers. That said soldier enlisted in the service of the Confederate States on or about the 20th day of March, 1863. That while in said service, or by reason of said service in the Army, he lost his life as follows:

He took measles while the above named Company and Regiment was camped at Savannah in the State of Georgia, and his command was ordered to Jackson, Mississippi before Allen J. Baggett fully recovered from said disease. He relasped and was sent to Newton Station, Mississippi and died at said place from the relapse and Chronic Diarrhea on or about the first of July, 1863.

I, C. P. Bowen, further swear that I was in command of said Company at the time and received notice of his death. We and each of us further swear that we belonged to the same Company and Regiment with Allen J. Baggett and personally knew him and he had the measles and was sent to Newton Station as above stated.

We further swear that Mrs. Elizabeth A. Baggett was the wife of said soldier during the service, and that she has not intermarried since his death, and that she resides in Paulding County of the State of Georgia.
 

Allen Jacob's wife,Elizabeth Ann James , settled in the Union Community in Paulding County, GA and reared her five children. Elizabeth was born in 1830 in North Carolina, but her family came to Georgia when she was a small child. They settled in Campbell County in the Chestnut Log District, where her father, John James, 1808-1881, born in NC, is buried in the James Cemetery on James Road near Mt. Carmel Cemetery with wife Mary Willis, 1810-1888. The James family came from North Carolina to Walton County, GA. John and Mary married in Walton County. Apparently John was a son of Charles James (born in the 1770s), was an inferior court judge for Campbell County, who lived in Campbell County, GA. Charles James may have been a brother of Stephen James, Sr., who also moved from NC to Walton County, GA.

Elizabeth James Baggett is buried in Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery off Highway 101 in Paulding County, GA among four of her children. The rest of the James family is buried in the James Cemetery on James Road in Douglas County near Douglasville, GA. The Baggett family, along with the James family, were prominent citizens of Douglasville, Campbell (now Douglas) County, GA.

Robert Lee James, born 1865, died 1949, married Eugenia Baggett, one of the daughters of Charles B. Baggett (a son of Stephen Baggett). Robert E. Lee James was Clerk of Superior Court in Douglas County (created from Campbell County). Robert and Eugenia's children: Joseph, Stephen, Glen, and Thelma James. They were all born in Douglas County, GA.

The Baggett family, along with the James family and the McGouirk family, were prominent citizens of Douglasville, Campbell County, GA. Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen Baggett, married William McGouirk, who was Sheriff of Campbell County for eight years before the outbreak of the Civil War. He became Captain of Company C, 30th Georgia Confederate States of America, Campbell Sharpshooters. He served as State Representative of Douglas County, and he was also the original commissioner of Douglas County. He was a Baptist deacon.

After the death of Allen Jacob Baggett in 1863, Elizabeth moved from the 942nd District to the 19th District of Paulding County in the Union community. The 1870 census shows her with her five children. John, the youngest, was only eight years old. These children grew up to be fine citizens in the county. None of them left Paulding except John, who moved to Alabama. His descendants are found in Alabama and Mississippi. In 1890 John sold his land in Paulding County back to his mother, married Martha Cole and settled near Tuscaloosa, AL, where they reared a large family. John is buried in Sardis Church Cemetery at Youngs Chapel, AL.

Mary, called (Aunt Sis), the eldest child of Jacob and Elizabeth Baggett, married Jasper Rainey and left six children. Most of them settled in Carroll County, GA near Carrollton and Newnan, GA. Mary's son, Rufus Rainey, settled in the Union community. He was married twice and left four sons and two daughters. Descendants of Rufus are still living in Paulding County.

Sarah Elizabeth Baggett, the youngest daughter, married Britton Hughes and left six children. Most of Elizabeth's descendants settled in Georgia and Alabama. Elizabeth's youngest daughter Auda married John Pitford Thompson, born in Alabama, and lived in the Union community. She left two sons and two daughters in Paulding County.

Auda came to live with her uncle, Joe Baggett, two years after her mother's death in 1905 at age sixteen. She lived in the home of Uncle Joe for ten years, until her marriage in 1917. She provided just about all the information on her mother's family, along with a great deal of the information on the rest of the Hughes family.

Auda was living with Uncle Joe when he had the cotton gin constructed on his property. She told how she and others operated the local switchboard installed in Joseph Baggett's home for the Paris Telephone Company.

Stephen Baggett, eldest son of Allen Jacob, became a large landowner and farmer. Stephen Baggett married Ellen Little, a granddaughter of John Little, who migrated to Paulding County, GA in the late 1840s from Stanley County, NC. Ellen's father, Zebulon B. Little, became the first clerk of the Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery there in Paulding County, GA. Both these families of Baggetts and Littles were Primitive Baptists, along with several of their descendants.

The children of Allen Jacob Baggett prospered in Paulding and Haralson counties. His daughters seemed to do well financially at the time they lived. At that time, very few people experienced the prosperity they enjoy at the present time. Most of the people living in this section of Georgia lived on the farm. Apparently the daughters' husbands, Jasper Rainey and E. Britton Hughes, were farmers who operated large plantations somewhere in Haralson County, GA.

Several deeds are found in Paulding County showing land belonging to Elizabeth Baggett, Allen Jacob's widow. She probably inherited enough from her father to purchase several hundred acres of land, and she also received a pension from her husband Jacob's service during the War Between the States. She owned several hundred acres of land in the county around where Zion Baptist Church now stands. Her home place was east of Zion Church down around the old Roberts place. All her land lay between Jim Bullock and what is known as the McClure plantations. The McClures were Negro families that lived about a mile west of Zion Baptist Church. Elizabeth James Baggett was reared in Campbell County, GA. She is buried in the Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery.

John, Joseph, and Stephen Baggett eventually purchased all of their mother’s land. As already stated, the youngest son, John Baggett, let his mother have his land and moved to Alabama. He apparently owned a farm near Tuscaloosa, AL. Both Steve and Joseph, elder brothers of John, were large farmers. Joe and Steve purchased the land John owned and owned around 1,000 acres in the Hay community. Joe gave the land where Zion Baptist Church was built. The church was established 3 September 1903. Stephen and Ellen had five sons, all of which were successful.

Allen Jacob Baggett's son Joseph was prominent there in Paulding County. He was a large landowner and farmer, merchant, sawmiller, miller, cotton ginner, notary, postmaster, and Justice of the Peace. Joseph Baggett married Lucy Capitola Beall, a daughter of Hon. Noble N. Beall, a judge. Judge Beall was once a state representative of Paulding County. Joseph had no children.

Some of the history of Joseph Baggett is very interesting. In about 1908 he had a cotton gin constructed on his farm and had a large business ginning cotton. It was about the turn of the century that a request for a post office to be located in the vicinity was granted. Joe Baggett was appointed the second postmaster of Hay, located one mile from Hay School.

The first request had been granted to James (Jim) Bullock to be operated near his home in the Hay community. Jim had moved to Villa Rica for a short period for some reason and the position of Postmaster was granted to Joseph Baggett. The Hay Post Office was located in a part of Joe's General Merchandise Store. The Atlanta Constitution, an Atlanta newspaper, was sent three times per week on horseback to the post office at Hay and farther down the road to the post office at Draketown, GA. Draketown is now only a small community about six miles west of Hay, GA. The Hay community included Hay Post Office and Hay Elementary School, which stood on what was called Pea Ridge.

This was about the time that the Paris Telephone Company was built in the county, and the system's switchboard was installed in Joseph Baggett's home. His family, whoever was available at the time of the call, operated the switchboard. There are probably many people who remember the type of telephones used in this period. The caller picked up the receiver and turned a handle on the side of the phone and produced a ring. The operator of the switchboard then answered and was instructed to connect with the number of the party he or she desired to be connected to.

Joe Baggett provided a large amount of the lumber used in surrounding communities at his sawmill. His shingle mill provided much of the roofing in these communities. Besides this, Joe owned a gristmill and ground meal for families living several miles in the surrounding area.

Many people came to Joseph Baggett for small loans during the depression and many years before. He kept an old steel safe in his home where he kept all his records and large amounts of money. Many people came to him rather than go to a bank to borrow money. I heard that once a man who already owed him money borrowed more money and used that money to bankrupt against him.

During the depression in the 1930s, Joseph Baggett may have been considered by some to be a relatively rich man, by owning so much property and being involved in so many trades and businesses. Close relatives stated that they believed that Joseph intended to eventually make a will, but was stricken suddenly by an illness and was hospitalized in an Atlanta hospital where he died a short time thereafter; so the entire Joe Baggett estate was administered by the legal system. Everything that he owned was sold and the proceeds of the estate were divided among his living relatives according to the laws of the State, after the cost of the administration was deducted from his estate.

The biographical sketch of Joseph B. Baggett maintains that his ancestors settled in America in 1775. Obviously Joseph had done no extensive research on the family and was quoting word of mouth from someone else. His ancestors were here as early as the 1720s. His is buried with wife Cappie Beall in Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery.

Hiram Baggett, a grandson of Allen and Elizabeth Baggett, born 1846, married Julia Ward. Hiram was a Civil War veteran. He is shown in 2nd Company F, 1st Confederate Regiment of the Volunteer Infantry Army of Tennessee, C.S.A. of Cobb County, GA. He moved to Paulding County, GA shortly after the Civil War and settled in the District that later became the City of Hiram.

Old Hiram began to be established as a small settlement in 1849, apparently with no particular name. It was made up of a few old wooden-frame buildings. A United States Post Office was permitted to be located in the settlement with their appointment of Hiram Baggett as Postmaster on 16 December 1881. There appears to be no record of a name for the community, but it was apparently called by some name after obtaining a post office.

Ten years later, on 6 October 1891, Hiram became an incorporated town by an act of the Georgia Legislature. The assembly named the new town HIRAM in honor of its postmaster, Hiram Baggett. The 1900 census shows 105 people living in the new town. It has grown rapidly in the past few years with promotion of businesses and shopping centers and is now the fasting growing city (and the second largest city) in Paulding County, GA.

It was on 1 March 1909 that the Paris Telephone Company was given permission to build and maintain phone lines in the city. About three years later, Dr. E. W. Dean was allowed to install and operate an electric plant to provide electricity for lights for the city. There was no need for a major electric plant at the time for the town of Hiram. The Paris Telephone Company was the same that provided service to the Hay community in Paulding County where Joseph B. Baggett had the switchboard in his home. The Phone Company served most of Paulding County.

Paulding County was organized out of a part of Cherokee lands and was named in honor of John Paulding, one of the captors of Major John André during the American Revolution. After the Major's capture, the treachery of Benedict Arnold was exposed.

One of the other two men in the capture of André was Van Wert. The town of Van Wert (now in Polk County in the city limits of Rockmart) was originally situated in the northwest section of Paulding County.

The descendants of Nicholas Baggett carried the names of their ancestors all the way down to the present time. Apparently the Nicholas Baggett middle name was Allen, because Nicholas, Jr. signed his name in his will as Nicholas A. Baggot. The rest of the James family is buried in the James Cemetery on James Road in Douglas County near Douglasville, GA. The name Allen was carried on in every other generation in the line from Nicholas, Sr.'s son Thomas. Nicholas Allen Baggett II had a grandson Allen. He had a grandson Allen Jacob, and he had several grandsons named Allen. One grandson was Arthur Allen, and Arthur Allen had a grandson Richard Allen Baggett.

There were several Baggetts who bore the name Nicholas, whose names probably were carried on from our ancestor, Nicholas Baggett I, from the 1670s. Some believe that the name Nicholas came from way back in the beginning of the English Bagots from the line of Hervey Bagod, who had married Millicent Toesni. This Millicent had two brothers–Nicholas, who was the eldest–and Robert, the younger. The name is carried even further back in this family.

As we analyze the last Will and Testament of Thomas, Jr. we see that he did not live to inherit the plantation of his father. What he apparently did was move into his father's house and operate the plantation after his death. He probably did this to take care of his mother. His father had died in 1793, aged with infirmity, his mother aged also, but his father, apparently, was middle-aged when the children were born.

One can see by the way Thomas, Jr. distributed his goods that he did not own his own farm. He distributed his goods equally to his father's family and his wife, which signifies that his mother had an equal share in the proceeds from the plantation.

In his father's last Will and Testament, his father stated that if Thomas dies without heirs, Uzziel was to inherit the plantation. It's very likely that after the death of his mother, Uzziel inherited the plantation. There is a doubt whether there was a child involved, since no later records are found. There may be records showing when Thomas, Jr.'s mother died and how the proceeds from the estate of Thomas Baggett, Sr. were distributed. If there are records, they may possibly be in Georgia.

It appears that Thomas Baggett and his family migrated from the old home place in Bertie to Martin County, NC some time after 1761. In the first part of the next century, his son Allen and his wife Elizabeth, along with their children's families migrated to the northern part of Georgia. They then migrated to other counties. Thomas Baggett's descendants are well documented in the State of Georgia.

Some of Thomas Baggett's descendants migrated to Texas, but most are found living in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Many are found in Georgia in several counties surrounding Atlanta. The family is also found in several of the western counties west of Atlanta, including Haralson County, which is a westerly county near the Alabama line. A majority of this family who are located in Georgia live in a line some fifty miles wide from Carroll, Paulding east to Fulton, Gwinnett counties–continuing to Athens, GA, and are heavily populated around the City of Atlanta.

(Parts of the above data was researched by Joe Baggett, deceased. Others researched other portions.)

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