Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 3275knowledge of the law soon were manifested and he was able to discharge adebt to his father and begin the accumulation of a quiet fortune of his ownthat is largely represented by Ms magnificent country estate, Harraek Hall.Undoubtedly Ilarraek Hall is one of the finest homes in the state. It wasbuilt and the grounds laid out by Judge Norwood for his own country home.The mansion is surrounded by a.n extensive lawn with native oak. mulberryand other trees, and there is a salt-water frontage with a very fine graveledautomobile road running along the east side of the place. Mr. Chapmanowns three automobiles and this fine speedway is a great advantage. Thereis an immense fresh-water fish pond, supplied by an artesian well, along theborder of which bloom lilies of many hues. There are also opportunities forsalt-water fishing on the place and also private oyster, shrimp and crab bedsand an ideal private bathing beach. There are 320 acres in the estate, aboutsixty of these being under cultivation. Under the supervision of capableemployes Mr. Chapman raises fine hogs, a few eows and chickens and pigeons.As Mr. Chapman is essentially a lover of home, his happiest hours are spentwith his family on this beautiful place. Genial and hospitable, there aremany occasions when hosts of friends arc invited to Harraek Hall, Savannahsociety eagerly accepting such invitation.In Liberty County, Georgia, January 1, 1902, Mr. Chapman was unitedin marriage with Miss Mary Reppard, who is a daughter of H. C. and Rosalie(Norman) Reppard, the former of whom is deceased. Five children havebeen born to Mr. and Mrs. Chapman: John T. Chapman, Jr., born in 1903;Rosalie, born in 1906; Christina, born in 1910; and Thomas and Harry,twins, born in 1915.Mr. Chapman has not been particularly active in. politics, although everalive to those movements which mean something for the general welfare. Forten years while maintaining his private office in Savannah, he served as countysolitiitor of Liberty County. Fraternally he is a Chapter Mason. For manyyears he has been a member of the Baptist Church, in which he is. a deacon,and is moderator of the new Sunbury Association and is also a member ofthe Baptist State Mission Board of Georgia.COL. ARCHIBALD BLACKSHEAK. To attain a high place in one of thelearned professions, like that of law, requires strong mentality and force ofcharacter not possessed by the average individual. That these qualities arethe heritage of the subject of this raemior, Col. Archibald Blackshear, issufficiently indicated by his career as one of the leading members of the barin the City of Augusta. ' In Knight's "Georgia Landmarks, Memorials andLegends," volume 2, it is shown that the Blackshear family, and the Floyd family, with which it is closely connected by intermarriage, were closely associatedwith the early history of the state, Andrew Blackshear coming here in 1878from South Carolina. He had acquired fame as a soldier in the Revolutionaryarmy and was a noted Indian fighter and frontiersman, taking a brave anduseful part in the defense of the early settlements. It was he who divided andseparated the Indian reservations in the southern part of Georgia from thepart occupied by the whites, and a county was named Blackshear in his honor.Another county, Floyd, was named in honor of his brother-in-law, who was aman of no less renown as a pioneer.The father of the subject, of this sketch, James Everett Blackshear, wasbom in Lawrence County, Georgia, whence he later removed to Savannah,where for many years he was engaged in the naval stores business. Duringthe war period he enlisted from Dublin, Georgia, in Company 62 of GeorgiaVolunteers, being then only sixteen years old, arid served till the close of thewar, as a non-commissioned officer. He was one of three survivors, of anentire regiment after a battle in which all the rest of the command werekilled. His death took place in Effmgham County, February, 1896, when hewas forty-nine years old. Ilis wife, a native of South Carolina, is living at