Isham H. Pittard

Isham H. Pittard, farmer, Winterville, was born in Clark county, Ga., in 1837, and is the son of Humphrey and Sarah (Hart) Pittard. His paternal grandparents, Samuel and Rebecca (Meridy) Pittard, were natives of Scotland, who came to America and first settled in Virginia, afterward removing to North Carolina, where they died. He was a man of education and taught school about forty years in Virginia and North Carolina.

Mr. Pittard's father was born in Virginia in 1780, came to Georgia in 1796, when he started out for himself, his experiences being those of all self-made men. He encountered privations and hardships, but with an indomitable will he pushed on to success and competence. He married Sarah, a daughter of Archibald and Mary (Berry) Hart, her father being a relative of Nancy Hart of revolutionary fame.

Isham Pittard was brought up on the farm, and his mother being a widow and his brothers gone to homes of their own, he early felt the responsibilities of domestic cares; and so much was dependent upon him that it was not until after he was twenty-two years old that he found time to school himself.

In 1861 he enlisted in Company H, Capt. J. E. Ritch (T.R.R.) Cobb's Legion cavalry. He was first lieutenant and had charge of the company for two years, while the captain was in prison, giving four years of his young manhood to the cause. He was captured and held sixteen months, but never was wounded.

After the war he returned to Clarke county and remained there until 1869, when he came to Winterville and began a merchandising business. This was continued until about two years ago, when Mr. Pittard retired from business and is looking after his extensive farming interests.

He was married in 1877 to Susan R. Pittard -- born and reared in Coweta county, Ga. -- daughter of Davis Pittard, and they have one living child, Myrick B. Mr. and Mrs. Pittard are members of the M. E. Church, south, and he has been a Mason for nearly a quarter of a century.

He has served as justice of the peace, and in 1894 was elected to the legislature from Oglethorpe county, and is now the incumbent. He was nominated without his consent or knowledge -- and received 900 out of 1,600 votes.

After the war he commenced life as a laborer on a salary of $6 a month; but he soon found employment in a store as a clerk, and his quick mind and industrious habits won him promotion from the start. He has been successful, and his position in life has been reached without putting anybody down. He is a man of strict integrity, whose word is as good as his bond.

Containing Historical Accounts of the State's Civil, Military,
Industrial and Professional Interests,
and Personal Sketches of Many of its People
Vol. II
Atlanta, GA.
The Southern Historical Association
1895
Oglethorpe County Sketches
Page 657

Contributed by Jeanne Arguelles