Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 2877who served with distinction as attorney-general of the State of New York.The progenitors of the Florence family in America were three brothers, WilbWThomas and William, who came from Ireland and settled in Virginia in1798 the lineage being traced back to sterling Scotch-Irish origin. Thebrothers first settled* near Spottsylvania Court House, and early in the nineteenth century all came to Georgia, Thomas and William establishing theirhome in Lincoln county, and their descendants being now found in Wilkes,Jasper, Cobb, Fulton and Muscogee counties.Rev. William A. Florence was a man of strong intellectuality and hislife was one of earnest consecration and devoted zeal in the work of theChristian ministry.' He was for many years a successful and influentialclergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, serving many churchesthroughout the State of Georgia. He was a man of powerful convictions,uncompromising integrity, earnest zeal,, untiring energy and deep piety,all of which characteristics he transmitted to his son, Adial S., the subject ofthis memoir. He gained wonderful self-control and was a man who ruled hisown spirit, though he must needs have struggled mightily with himself attimes, as a family characteristic in the various generations has been quick andsomewhat choleric temper and a readiness to rise in arms at a moment'snotice when called upon to fight in a just cause or to maintain well fortifiedand honest convictions. Rev. William A. Florence and his noble wife, whowas his devoted companion- and helpmate, continued their residence in Georgiauntil the time of their death, both having attained to advanced age and thenames of both meriting enduring place on the pages of Georgia history.They became the parents of six children, concerning whom brief record ishere entered:Adial Sherwood Florence, to whom this memoir is dedicated, was the firstborn. William A., Jr., and Frank were born in Elbert County, and the latterwas a gallant soldier of the Confederacy, in the cause of which he sacrificedhis life, he having1 been killed in the Battle of Gettysburg. Ebenezer Stockbridge,the next son was born in Henry County, where his father held atthe time a pastoral charge, and he likewise made the supreme sacrifice inbehalf of the Confederacy, for he died shortly after his return home from thewar, after having proved a loyal and intrepid soldier in a Georgia regiment,which he was compelled to leave at Savannah, after becoming incapacitated.He saved the life of his colonel after the latter had been severely woundedin a skirmish in which all of his men had been killed except Mr. Florence,who placed his beloved commander on a railroad handcar, which rude vehiclehe pushed a distance of ten miles along the track and succeeded in takingthe colonel to a place of safety. Lindsey, the next younger son, likewise waskilled in the Battle of Gettysburg, and thus Judge Florence of this memorialwas the only one of the four sons who survived the war, in which he himselffurthered honored the family name. Louise, the only daughter, was graduated in the old Georgia Methodist College and in earlier years achieved distinction as a successful and popular teacher. Her first husband, Weaver A.Jones, was a valiant soldier of the Confederacy, was captured by the enemyand died in the Federal military prison at Fort Delaware. The widow laterbecame the wife of John P. Harris and they now reside in Morgan County.Judge Adial S. Florence was endowed with a mind of wonderful vigorand alertness and thus in his youth he made good use of the educational advantages afforded to him, the while his whole life found him an appreciativestudent and reader, so that his mental ken was broadened to wide boundariesand his intellectual powers matured to the fullest extent. In his early careerhe was a successful teacher in the schools of Georgia and he prepared himself for the legal profession with characteristic zeal and punctiliousness, sothat he was admirably fortified in the science of jurisprudence and had theelements and training that are the basis of worthy success.Vol. VI 7