THROUGH MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of Union County, Georgia
Their Descendants...Their
Stories...Their
Achievements
Lifting the Mists of History on
Their Way
of Life
By:
Ethelene Dyer Jones
Virgil
Marion Waldroop, lawyer and merchant
A citizen who was wellrespected
in Union
County during the last quarter of the 19th and the early part of the
20th
century was Virgil Marion Waldroop, lawyer and merchant. His tombstone
at the
Shady Grove Methodist Church Cemetery shows his birth date as October
28, 1849
and his death date as October 31, 1933. He lived to be 84 years of age.
The surname Waldroop (spelled in
various
ways-Waldroup, Waldrop, Waldrip) is said to have originated in England
and was
given to "the keeper of the Royal Wardrobe." The earliest indication
of the name was in 1210 in England. There Thomas De La Wardrobe was in
charge
of the royal dress for the court, but also kept watch over furniture
not in use
and saw to proper storage of imported confections such as spices and
sugar. In
Scotland, as well, the keeper of the King's Wardrobe was a royal trade
name.
The name evolved from Wardrobe to Waldroop and other spellings of the
surname.
Virgil Marion Waldroop was a son
of Thomas
and Mary White Waldroop. At age 16, he joined the North Carolina 69th
Infantry,
a unit of the Army of Northern Virginia. His father, Thomas, also
served in the
Civil War.
Virgil learned the trade of
tintype
photography, and left North Carolina (Macon County) in 1880, following
the
Cherokee Trail from Asheville to Augusta, Ga., and then to Cleveland,
Ga.,
where he married his first wife, Harriet West. They moved on across the
mountain and settled in Union County. To Virgil and Mary were born four
children, Arlie Knox, Vasco, Naomi and Nell.
Virgil and Harriet Waldroop made
their home
in North Choestoe about where "Booger Holler" road leads off from
Highway 129. There Virgil established one of several stores, building
his
reputation as a merchant. Other general stores owned and operated by
him were
at Coosa near the gold mines, in Gum Log, at Blairsville, the county
seat, and
at Young Harris (in the Jacksonville community). Harriet died, leaving
her
husband and four young children.
Virgil Marion Waldroop married,
second,
Mary Jackson, daughter of Richard LaFayette and Sarah J. Prater
Jackson. Mary
was born December 22, 1869 and died December 6, 1946. To Virgil and
Mary were
born five children, Edgar, Ulma, Rouss, Brabson and Jura. Mary was a
young
bride, being only 13 when she married Virgil Waldroop who was 33 at the
time, 20
years her senior.
In addition to his five general
stores,
Virgil Marion Waldroop found time to study law. He read law under the
tutelage
of Judge Carl J. Wellborn Sr. and passed the Georgia Bar. Twice he was
elected
representative from Union County to the Georgia Legislature, first in
1882 and
again in 1931. His terms were 50 years apart. Many changes had come in
state
government between his first and second times at the state capitol.
He was able to get a $60,000
bond issue
passed to build a road from Blairsville to Neal Gap. However, the
amount was
not enough to complete the road the whole distance. Money ran out when
road
building reached the Waldroop Store at Choestoe. That stretch of road
was
called "Waldroop's Road." He did live long enough to see the road
completed over Neal Gap in 1925. He served for several terms as
ordinary of
Union County.
One of the famous trials on
which Virgil
Marion Waldroop served as a lawyer was the murder trial of the Rev.
John H.
Lance in May 1890. Joined with Lawyer William E. "Buck" Candler, they
represented the Lance family against the two Swain brothers, Frank and
Newt,
indicted for the crime of murdering Rev. Lance on February 17, 1890 and
leaving
his almost-decapitated body on the bank of Wolf Creek. Frank Swain was
found
guilty and spent 19 years incarcerated in the Georgia Penitentiary
before an
appeal gained his release and he went West never to return to Choestoe.
Charles
E. Hill, author of "Blood Mountain Covenant," (2003, Ivy House
Publishers) captures the spirit and compassion of Virgil Waldroop as he
traces
Jim Lance's determination to gain justice for his father's murderers.
Entrepreneur, lawyer, civil
servant,
philanthropist, Virgil Marion Waldroop left behind a legacy of good
works in
Union County and beyond.
c2006 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published May 25, 2006 in The Sentinel, Blairsville, GA.
Reprinted
by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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