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William Ellis Hiers

William Ellis Hiers (October 4, 1889–March 15, 1966) is the strong-probable identity of the W. E. Hiers elected mayor of Barney on December 15, 1911. The election report gives only the mayor's initials, but the combined census, newspaper, draft-registration, and family evidence points to William Ellis Hiers. No competing adult W. E. Hiers has been found in the relevant Barney records.

Identity and family

The 1900 census records ten-year-old Ellis Hiers in the Brooks County household of William T. and Fannie Hiers. His siblings included Hubert, Thomas, Stanley, and Susie. The census gives his birth as October 1889. A World War I draft card later expands his name to William Ellis Hires and gives his birth date as October 4, 1889. The spellings Hiers and Hires were both used in records for this family.

William T. Hiers farmed in the Morven district and was among the petitioners for the Barney Supply Company charter in 1909. That record connects the family to Barney's mercantile economy before the 1911 election.

The wider Hiers family

The census record places William T. Hiers with his parents, William and Susan Hiers, in 1870 and explicitly identifies him as their son in 1880. The elder William appears in 1850 in the Lowndes County household of Daniel and Nancy Hiers. Separate records place David Hiers, husband of Rebecca Yates, in the same larger family. David and Rebecca were the parents of Sim or Simeon Hires and Nancy Jane Hires Rogers.

These records support William Ellis Hiers as a first cousin once removed of both Sim Hires and Nancy Jane Hires Rogers. The relationship is strong probable rather than verified because the inspected records do not directly name both the elder William and David as sons of Daniel and Nancy. The 1850 households, later census continuity, Daniel Hiers estate activity, and compiled family records support that sibling relationship.

Other Barney Hiers households belong to a second collateral branch. The 1860 and 1870 censuses place John A. Hiers in Phillip Hiers's household, and the 1880 census calls John a nephew of the elder William Hiers. Those records support Phillip and William as brothers. On that evidence, William Ellis Hiers was a first cousin once removed of John A. Hiers and Jacob Hunter Hiers. Mitchell Hiers also appears to belong to Phillip's branch, although his parentage remains less firmly documented; if that placement is correct, William Ellis was Mitchell's first cousin once removed and Gordon Hiers's second cousin. These extended relationships remain strong probable rather than verified.

Barney and the 1911 election

The 1910 census records “Ellis Hires,” age twenty, boarding with James H. Culpepper on Main Street in Barney. He worked as a dry-goods salesman. On December 19, 1911, the Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal reported that Barney voters had elected W. E. Hiers mayor four days earlier. The same report named five councilmen and Marshal A. T. Moody.

Barney's charter provided for annual municipal elections, so the 1911 result ordinarily describes a one-year office. It does not prove that Hiers remained mayor through 1913. By September 1913, a newspaper described Ellis Hiers as living in Jacksonville and visiting relatives near Barney. An October notice named W. E. Hiers among those attending the opening of Barney High School. The second notice shows that he maintained local ties after moving away; it does not establish that he was still mayor or had moved back to Barney.

The 1913 notices, together with the 1910 census, make William Ellis Hiers the only documented local candidate who fits the mayor's initials, age, residence, and chronology. The identification remains strong probable, not verified. No located election return, oath, or contemporary personal notice explicitly expands “Mayor W. E. Hiers” to “William Ellis Hiers.” See The next documented administration.

Later life

By the World War I registration period, Hiers lived in Atlanta and was married. The 1920 census records William E. Hiers and wife Ophelia as boarders there; he worked as a postal clerk. The 1930 and 1940 censuses describe him as a mail clerk, and the 1950 census records him as a hotel clerk.

An obituary published March 16, 1966, identifies William Ellis Hiers as a Brooks County native and the husband of Ophelia Hollingsworth. It names brothers whose names agree with the earlier Hiers household. He died March 15, 1966, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta.

Sources

  1. 1900 United States census, Brooks County, Georgia, William Hiers household, including Ellis Hiers.
  2. 1870 United States census, Brooks County, Georgia, William Hiers household, including William Hiers, age seven.
  3. 1880 United States census, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia, William Hiers household, identifying William T. Hiers as a son.
  4. 1850 United States census, Division 53, Lowndes County, Georgia, Daniel and Nancy Hiers household, including William Hiers.
  5. 1870 and 1880 United States censuses, Brooks County, Georgia, David and Rebecca Hiers household chain for Simon or Simeon Hiers; Georgia death certificate 32-13280 for Nancy J. Rogers, naming David Hires and Rebecca Yates as her parents.
  6. 1860 and 1870 United States censuses, Brooks County, Georgia, Phillip Hiers household, including John A. Hiers.
  7. 1880 United States census, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia, William Hiers household, identifying John Hiers as a nephew.
  8. 1925 Georgia death certificate for Jacob Hunter Hiers, identifying Phillip Hiers as his father.
  9. 1910 United States census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, James H. Culpepper household, including Ellis Hires.
  10. “Hiers Named Mayor by Barney Voters,” Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal, December 19, 1911, page 8, Newspapers.com image 887728277.
  11. Valdosta Daily Times, September 15, 1913, page 5, Barney social report naming Ellis Hiers of Jacksonville, Newspapers.com image 889661887.
  12. Valdosta Daily Times, October 6, 1913, page 8, Barney school-opening report naming W. E. Hiers, Newspapers.com image 889304530.
  13. World War I draft registration card for William Ellis Hires, recording an October 4, 1889 birth date.
  14. 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950 United States censuses, Atlanta, Georgia, William E. Hiers household.
  15. Atlanta Constitution, March 16, 1966, obituary for William Ellis Hiers, Newspapers.com image 398797816.
  16. Find a Grave memorial 181498983, Greenwood Cemetery, Atlanta. This is derivative burial evidence.

Research status: William Ellis Hiers's identity, family, 1910 Barney residence, occupation, later Atlanta household, death, and burial are supported. The identification of him as Mayor W. E. Hiers is strong probable because the surviving election article does not expand the initials. His relationships to the Sim Hires, Nancy Jane Hires Rogers, John A. Hiers, and Jacob Hunter Hiers branches are also strong probable because the common-ancestor links are not stated in one inspected original record. The proposed Mitchell and Gordon Hiers relationship depends on Mitchell's less-settled parentage.