Andrew J. Rountree

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Identity confidence: Verified. Andrew J. Rountree of Quitman was the South Georgia Railroad subscription committeeman, charter incorporator, and founding director. Four federal censuses, his recorded will, contemporary newspapers, and his cemetery monument distinguish him from the Emanuel County officeholder and younger twentieth-century namesakes.

Edgefield years

Andrew was born in South Carolina about 1818. Huxford gives August 3, 1818 and names Daniel Rountree and Fannie Nelson as his parents, but no inspected birth, Bible, probate, or church record proves those details. They remain secondary-supported.

The 1850 Edgefield District census lists Andrew as a thirty-one-year-old trader. In 1860 he was a farmer with $8,000 in real estate and $40,000 in personal property. The associated slave schedule names A. J. Roundtree as the owner of nine enslaved people, ranging in age from six to forty. Name, place, and the population schedule's wealth make that identification strong probable. The record does not name the nine people.[1-4]

Huxford says Andrew first married Mary Zimmerman in 1847 and married Sarilla Stevens in 1852. Neither original marriage return was found. Sarilla's identity as his wife is verified by the 1860-1880 censuses, Andrew's will, and her widow-pension records.[1][3-6]

An Indian Wars pension card identifies Andrew as a private in Captain Robinson's company of Alabama Volunteers during the Creek War. Sarilla's widow card repeats the service and records her death on May 11, 1920. A Confederate abstract for an Andrew J. Rountree, age forty-five, who entered the South Carolina Fifth Reserves in November 1862 probably concerns him, but the complete file has not been consolidated. Creek War service is verified; Confederate service is probable.[7][8]

Merchant, property owner, and hotel builder

A June 1866 Edgefield Advertiser notice said Samuel Stevens, A. J. Rountree, and W. D. Rountree had removed from South Carolina and left notes and accounts for collection. Huxford dates Andrew's move to Quitman to 1865 and says he traded first as Stevens & Rountree, then under his own name, and later with his son Samuel. The contemporary notice proves removal by June 1866; the exact year and partnership sequence rest on Huxford.[1][9]

In 1870 Andrew was a retired dry-goods merchant in Quitman, with $5,000 in real estate and $13,000 in personal property. In 1880 he was again listed as a merchant on Screven Street. The same wife and children join the Edgefield and Quitman households despite severe index misspellings.[3-6]

Andrew built the Rountree House at Screven and South Court streets in 1877-1878. Contemporary descriptions show a three-story brick hotel and commercial building with a full cellar, two large stores, and a one-hundred-foot hall. A May 1878 visitor called it a credit to Quitman and identified Andrew as its owner.[1][10][11]

His recorded 1893 will left Sarilla the Quitman homeplace, described as Lot 10 in the town's northwest section, with the household furnishings, silver, books, and pictures. It divided the residue into equal shares for Sarilla and six children: Fannie R. Hunter, Samuel S. Rountree, Daniel M. Rountree, Mattie E. Dukes, J. B. Rountree, and Edward N. Rountree. Andrew named Samuel and Daniel executors, authorized them to sell property and operate plantations, and allowed Rountree & Co. to continue for as long as five years if a majority of the children agreed. A codicil changed the trustee for Mattie's share. The will proves heirs and business arrangements, but it does not establish the estate's value.[12]

Civic work

The surviving record places Andrew in Quitman's business and civic life for three decades. He served on the local Bible Society executive committee in 1873, a county political committee in 1876, and the first Library Association's board in 1877. Huxford lists him as mayor in 1880. In 1885 he joined a committee seeking a Quitman-Monticello railroad branch, and in 1895 he became a director of Merchants and Farmers Bank. His 1898 obituary said he had belonged to the Baptist church for fifty years.[1][13-17]

Sarilla's role should not be folded into Andrew's. She was vice president of the 1873 cemetery-fund organization, hosted the 1880 meeting that organized the Brooks County Public Library Association, and led the library for decades.[1][18]

South Georgia Railroad

When the Oglesby brothers proposed a railroad between Adel and Quitman, the January 29, 1896 meeting appointed Andrew, F. J. Spain, R. C. McIntosh, and John W. Hopson to raise Quitman's share. Huxford lists Andrew among the charter incorporators. The first stockholders elected him to the nine-member board in March, and the Savannah Morning News printed the board on March 24.[1][19]

Andrew's three roles are therefore verified: subscription committeeman, incorporator, and founding director. No stock ledger states his subscription amount, and no complete board minutes were located.

Family, death, and burial

The censuses and will establish seven children: Fannie C. Hunter, Samuel Stevens, Daniel W., Mattie Eliza Dukes, Jackson Bartow, Walter J., and Edward N. The recorded will calls Daniel "Daniel M. Rountree", while the census and contemporary newspaper record identify him as Daniel W.; the middle-initial conflict remains unresolved. Walter died in 1882 and was identified in contemporary coverage as Andrew's son; the other six survived to be named in the will. A ten-year-old Lillie appears in the 1880 household without a stated relationship and cannot yet be called an eighth daughter.[3-6][12][20]

Andrew died of kidney trouble at his Seventh Street home on January 21, 1898. The next day's Atlanta Constitution named his children, property and bank interests, church work, and military service. Find a Grave gives January 20, but the contemporary report controls. A photographed West End Cemetery monument reads "Andrew J. Rountree 1818-1898"; it does not show a month or day.[21][22]

Confidence summary

Sources

1. Folks Huxford, The History of Brooks County, Georgia, 1858-1948 (1948), pp. 139, 180-198, 212, 541-542.
2. 1850 U.S. census, Edgefield District, South Carolina, Ancestry 8054:5752789; FamilySearch M8QF-H72.
3. 1860 U.S. census, Edgefield District, Ancestry 7667:18730663; FamilySearch MZTC-SHD.
4. 1860 slave schedule, Edgefield District, A. J. Roundtree, FamilySearch WKTX-LT6Z.
5. 1870 U.S. census, Quitman, Ancestry 7163:3691383; FamilySearch MCSN-1K7.
6. 1880 U.S. census, Quitman, Ancestry 6742:8268019; FamilySearch M8LC-5KN.
7. Indian Wars pension cards, FamilySearch KDRB-GQ6, 33S7-91W5-2K7, 2M21-C5P, and 939K-FHQ5-3K.
8. Confederate service abstract, Ancestry 2322:75168066; FamilySearch XG5J-DZH.
9. Edgefield Advertiser, June 27, 1866, p. 3, Newspapers.com image 76750456.
10. Quitman Reporter, July 12, 1877, p. 3, GHN page.
11. Valdosta Times, May 11, 1878, p. 2, Newspapers.com image 889743976.
12. Andrew J. Rountree will and codicil, Brooks County Will Book, pp. 240-244, November-December 1893; admitted February 1898.
13. Quitman Banner, April 17, 1873, p. 3, GHN page.
14. Quitman Reporter, July 20, 1876, p. 3, GHN page.
15. Quitman Reporter, April 5, 1877, p. 3, GHN page.
16. Macon Telegraph, February 27, 1885, p. 3, Newspapers.com image 823554803.
17. Atlanta Constitution, January 22, 1898, p. 3, Newspapers.com image 34093091.
18. Quitman Banner, February 7, 1873, p. 3, GHN page.
19. Savannah Morning News, March 24, 1896, p. 2, GHN page.
20. Weekly News and Advertiser, April 8, 1882, p. 3, GHN page.
21. Atlanta Constitution, January 22, 1898, p. 3, Newspapers.com image 34093091; Valdosta Times, January 25, 1898, p. 3, image 889781482.
22. Find a Grave memorial 36072396, monument photograph inspected.