Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

3096 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANSup a farmer and also followed business lines for a number of years, but sinceMs wife's death in 1906 has lived in Lakeland, Florida, where he enjoys themanagement and the fruits of a fine orange grove. He is now sixty-five yearsof age. His family came from North Carolina and there have been a numberof people of distinction in the lineage. Judge George's mother was born inWebster County, Georgia, and died at Cordele, September 26, 1906, at theage of fifty-five. She was a devout member of the Baptist Church. Her ancestors were among the pioneers of Georgia and of English extraction. Hergreat-grandfather, on the Stapleton side, was one of the men who assisted inadvancing the frontiers of civilization in Georgia, and was killed by the Indiansnear the line of Randolph and Terrell counties. Judge George has an oldersister, Wilna, wife of J. W. King, of Cordele.The early environments and advantages of Judge George were not out ofthe ordinary. He himself was possessed of those ambitions and powers whichenable a man to climb above circumstance and reach the most enviable prizesof life. He grew up in the home and attended country schools, also the highschool at Arabe and Cordele, and after leaving high school he taught in acountry district for two years in Dooly County. In 1897 he entered MercerUniversity, where he completed the scientific course in 1900, and in the following year was given his degree upon graduating from the law school. InJune, 1901, Judge George and a classmate, Mark Bolding, came to Vienna andbegan practice together. Judge George has since had a number of partners 'in practice, including Zack W. Copeland, Judge W. H. Lasseter, M. P. Halland L. L. Woodward. He was elected solicitor general of the Cordele Circuitin 1906 and was again re-elected to this office in 1910. He was successful inthe building up of a large and profitable clientage and it was not without somepersonal sacrifice that in 1911 he accepted an appointment to fill an unexpiredterm on the district bench. In 1912 he was elected a judge of the CordeleCircuit, and re-elected in 1914.Judge George was married in 1903 to Miss Lucy Heard, daughter of JosephP. Heard, a banker and merchant, of Vienna. They have two children,Heard F. and Joseph M.Judge George is a democrat, a Knight Templar Mason, a Knight of Pythiasand an Elk. He is a member of the Baptist Church and in 1914 was electeda trustee of Mercer University, his alma mater.J. E. TURNER. One of the best known bankers in Ben Hill County isJ. E. Turner, vice president of the Exchange Bank of Fitzgerald. Mr. Turneris a practical financier and has been identified with banking affairs andmanagement for nearly fifteen years.He was born in Elbert County, Georgia, November 4, 1872, the youngestof the ten children of J. W. and Mary Jane (Hall) Turner, His father wasborn in Wilkes County and his mother in Elbert County, Georgia, and hisfather spent his active career as a planter in Elbert County, where he diedOctober 1, 1904, at the age of eighty-one. The mother died on August 4,1904, at about the same age. During the Civil war J. W. Turner had chargeof the ordnance department of the Confederate army.J. E. Turner attended the public schools of Elberton, and also took acourse in the University of Georgia. After leaving school he entered therailroad business as a clerk, and followed that work for several years. In1902 he became connected with the First National Bank of Fitzgerald asassistant cashier, and a year later was promoted to cashier, an office he filledfor two years. In 1905 he became active vice president of the ExchangeBank of Fitzgerald, and has had the chief responsibilities of this institutionnow for seven or eight years.He also fills an important place in local affairs, is president of the Chamberof Commerce of Fitzgerald, and served three terms as alderman at large,