THE FOUNDER OF DUBLIN
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Some History of Jonathan Sawyer Given
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Was the Husband of Eliza McCormick
in Honor of Whose Birthplace Dublin was Named.
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The following letter was recently received by the Courier Dispatch from Mr. T. F. Sawyer of Hutchinson, Kansas, a grandson of the founder of Dublin, which will prove interesting reading:
HUTCHINSON, KAN. MAY 1, 1901
Editors Courier Dispatch:
After many days, I get down to business to try to give you some ideas and description of the family and father of your town.
He was a Massachusetts, Yankee, born in Westminster, Mass, and died at Anderson Court House, S.C. February, 1847. He went south and started Dublin about 1804. He had one son, born in Dublin, and died there before my father was born in Dublin, December 22, 1808. My father died in Michigan April 9th, 1884.
Grandfather married one of three sisters named McCormick, from Dublin, Ireland. They had one brother who lived there and I think died there. His son, Pollard McCormick, went to Pittsburgh, Penn. and became a millionaire in the iron business. His sons are still there, I think. Grandmother's name was Eliza, and she had one sister Hessie, who married a James Jackson. They moved from Athens, Ga. to Gainesville, Ala and Mr. Jackson was president of the college there for a good many years. Another sister named Millie, married Governor Troup, but like my grandmother, soon died. Grandmother died in child birth with a little daughter when by father was two years old. This broke up the family and my father seemed to have been farmed out with his uncle and aunts. Later he attended school at Macon and Milledgeville, and came north when he was 18 years old; hence, I have only my recollection of some of his accounts and experiences in these different families. It seems the he and his stepmother, later on did not get along well together, though he was much at Dublin.
He used to relate how his father would send a darkey after him on Saturdays or at the end of each month, riding one horse and leading another, and some times during vacations how he would run away from his home, or from his uncles, with the young darkies and spend weeks at neighboring plantation. Then a darkey would come and capture him and take him on the horse behind him and he would pull the darkeys wool and scratch his face; thence when he got home, I remember he said Uncle Jackson made him trash the young colored boys who had been with him telling him to put it on harder, what he did not give, then he (Jackson) would have to give him (father) and usually gave him more than he gave his companions. And one time my father and grandfather were out for a pleasure ride on horseback and met the rival merchant from up or down the river, who was desirous of settling a little matter with grandfather, and told him to get off his horse and would take it out of his hide. This caused my father to begin crying, but his father just simply dismounted, handing the lines to father and commenced business. He first had to take the man's pistols away from him and then the other fellow found that he had a great big six foot two fisted New Englander to deal with and must have gotten full satisfaction as they left him lying by the side of the road and went to the nearest plantation and requested the neighbors to go and gather him up and revive him, my father crying all the time.
Of course, there is lots of description of their early life which could be related, which I can remember, and which makes me familiar with the topography of the country, but it could not be of interest to you.
As for the location of your new courthouse, I cannot say, only I know my father tried to get grandfather to come north and invest at Rochester, New York, where we lived, complaining of the slow ways of the south as compared with western New York. I remember his telling of how the old log courthouse grandfather built or helped to build stood there fifty years and was still standing at that time. This may locate the donation.
I enclose herewith a photo of a painting likeness of grandfather. This was painted on ivory and nicely set in gold and was painted before grandfather went south, hence some time in the 1700's. My brother found it with some of Baltimore relatives in California just before my father died. He pronounced it a perfect likeness. but never knew of any such picture being in existence until this turned up. We have the gold set ivory now in the family. It's fine.
So much for our southern relatives, now to the north. Grandfather Sawyer was one of four brothers and had at least five sisters, two of whom I have seen and talked with. He must have been born about the beginning of the Revolution . The sisters I saw were older and told me much of their trials and experiences, how they sojourned in the mountains with the cattle while the men folks entertained the British around Boston during the war, hence I have from word of mouth from an eye witness things that happened one hundred and twenty five years ago. This should be going back far enough for you. One of Grandfather's sisters married a Mr. Jackson here in the north. Their daughter was the mother of J.J. and Charles Farwell of Chicago, who are now millionaires.
The Sawyers from Westminster, Mass. would populate a whole county and the family a good sized state, as I do not think many of them were killed in the war.
I enclose a letter (not for publication) written by Jonathan Sawyer sixty years ago, that you may compare the handwriting with any old documents and see his name was really Jonathan and why he gave the Flint edge to my name. I have two sisters, one Mrs. Frank L. Fales, Bay City, Michigan, and Mrs. A.L. Oakley, Washington D.C. My brother, Dr. Jonathan James Sawyer, died in San Francisco, California.
I shall always take a live interest in Dublin and as you are now "born again", you may realize the heaven my ancestor pictured for you when he first embraced the faith.
Truly yours,
T.F. Sawyer
P.S. - The above may read like a small boy's threshing his grandfather's straw over again, but you may sift out a grain or two of news therefrom.
T.F.S.
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