John Williford

• Birth Notes
  • 8/24/1814

• General Notes
  •   The Willifords came to Stewart County from Elbert County, Ga., just as soon as it was open to settlement. John Williford married Elizabeth Allen Burk, Jan. 17, 1837.  They settled on the place that became known as the Williford place near what is now Brooklyn.  John Williford was a very successful farmer and an outstanding man of his time. He was in the Legislature in 1850.  His oldest daughter graduated from LaGrange College and then taught in Stewart County. John Williford died in 1860, leaving his wife with a large family to rear. The older boys joined the Confederate Army, and the slaves left; but with the courage inherent in southern women, she rose to the occasion, took stock of her resources, and bravely faced the situation.
    William and Henry Williford were killed in the War, and John B. died soon after from the wounds he had received. The other children were; Priscilla A., Sarah J., Mary Frances, Lorenza C., Luther, Josiah J., James L., Preston B., and Elizabeth.
    As these children grew up some of them went to live in Texas; others moved to different sections of Georgia.
    Mary Frances Williford, who married Elnathan Pratt Pearson. was the only one who remained in Stewart County. She was one of the most beloved women of that day, truly fulfilling her aim, “To serve my time and generation.”
    Data contributed by Mrs. Weyman Hickey of Charlotte, North Carolina.
    
    †  From “Biographical Sketches” of History of Stewart County, Georgia,
    pp 564 - 566.  Found at Ft. Worth Library, May 1986, by Mrs. Wayne (Ginny) Pearson.
    
    A native of Madison county, Georgia, John Williford was there brought up on a farm, and while young was well drilled in the various branches of agriculture. Removing to Stewart county in early manhood, he purchased a tract of land, the greater part of which was covered with a heavy growth of pine, ash, and hickory timber. Putting up a small log cabin for himself and wife, he began the pioneer task of hewing a farm from the wilderness. Laboring with indomitable energy and perseverance, he met with very satisfactory success in his operations, being enabled in the course of a few years to erect a substantial set of frame buildings in place of the log structures that for a time answered the purpose of sheltering the family and the stock. He had cleared a goodly part of the land when his earthly labors were brought to an end, his death occuring in 1860, when he was but forty-four years of age.
    
    From: "A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA", By William Harden, VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED. THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1913.  p. 925-926.

Click here for details of John's family with Elizabeth Allen Burke

¹ http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm

---

This page is within a frameset. View the entire genealogy report of Williford families, or surname index of Williford pedigrees or report summary of Williford heritage from "Pearson Family Genealogy".
Ancestry Research Software.

---

© 2006 GenoPro Inc. All Rights Reserved.