Mill Worker Photographs
Roswell Mill Workers Photographs
Olney & Judson Eldredge
Mary Eldredge
Martha Eldredge
- Olney and Judson Eldredge
Olney was the supervisor of the
Roswell cotton mills, and one of the favored few to be rehired after the
war. Judson was only 8 when his family was loaded onto to a mule wagon
and sent to Marietta.
- Mary Eldredge
The oldest daughter of Olney
Eldredge, Mary was only 19 when forced from her home in Roswell.
- Martha Eldredge
Martha was 17 when Union soldiers
arrested her father. Martha Later married Thomas J. Minhinett, whose
father had been employed by the Roswell factories for many years.
Martha's picture appears on the book cover of The Women Will Howl.
Mary Kendley
Thomas Hugh Kendley
John Kendley
- Mary Kendley
Sent to Indiana with her brothers and sisters, Mary married
Albert May and settled in Perry County. She visited Georgia on a couple
of occasions, but Indiana remained her home.
- Thomas Hugh Kendley
Roswell mill worker Thomas Kendley was sent north with his
sister and brother. He found work at the Indiana Cotton Mill in Perry
County, Indiana. He never returned to Georgia.
- John Robert Kendley
John was serving in the Roswell Battalion when his brothers and sisters were arrested and sent to Indiana.
Walter & Charlotte Stewart
Synthia Stewart
- Walter Washington Stewart and Charlotte Elizabeth Stewart
Formerly a mill boss at the
New Manchester mill, Walter joined the Confederate Army, but was
captured and sent north as a prisoner of war. After his release, he
found his wife and children in Louisville, Kentucky and worked in a
local tannery until he could earn enough money to return to Georgia.
- Synthia Stewart
From a tintype made when she
was about 17 years of age. Synthia’s father, Walter Stewart, was serving
in the Confederate army when the rest of the family was sent to
Louisville. Synthia recorded her version of the events when she was 92.
Nelson Tucker
Berdine & Sarah Tucker
Elizabeth Tucker
James Carroll
- Nelson Tucker
Avowed Unionist and New
Manchester farmer, Nelson Tucker told his wife he was “trying to make
crops for the Yankees to subsist on while they whipped the rebels."
Nelson took his wife, Eliza, and their younger children to Louisville
after the Yankee army helped themselves to Nelson's crops. Nelson died
in Louisville in 1865, but the rest of the family returned to Georgia.
- Berdine Tucker
Having sustained a back injury
from a falling tree at Vicksburg, Berdine Tucker was sent home and
detailed to work in the Sweetwater factory. Berdine (son of Nelson
Tucker) was arrested as a political prisoner and sent north with the New
Manchester mill workers.
- Elizabeth Tucker
Daughter of Nelson and Eliza
Tucker, Elizabeth Tucker, a New Manchester mill worker, met a Union
soldier, probably while he was hospitalized in Marietta, and married him
1865. She and her new husband settled in North Georgia after the war.
- James Carroll
Union soldier James Carroll
married Elizabeth Tucker in Atlanta in August 1865.
Seated left to right: Elizabeth Bell,
William Bell, Elizabeth Bell (his wife)
Standing: James Bell, Raford Bell and Sarah Bell
Back row left to right
John Humphries, Sarah Humphries,
and John B. Humphries
Elizabeth Jennings (left)
- Bell Family
Thomas Bell and his oldest son William were both
employed by the New Manchester cotton mill when Union soldiers arrived
in New Manchester. Thomas and William were both arrested as "political
prisoners", and sent north along with Thomas's wife Mariah and eight
younger children. The family was back in Georgia by August 1865, but
Mariah died a short time later after giving birth to her tenth child,
Raford Bell.
- John Humphries
John Humphries operated a shoemaking business, which was
probably part of the leather-making operation at the New Manchester
mill. John and his oldest son Merrell were arrested as “political
prisoners” and sent north along with John’s wife and several young
children.
- John B. Humphries
John Benjamin Humphries, second oldest son of John
Humphries, was arrested in October of 1864 while serving in the 41st
GA. Sent to a Federal Prison at Camp Douglas, John Benjamin was paroled
seven months later. He managed to locate his parents and siblings in
Jeffersonville, Indiana, and worked in a government stable until he
earned enough money to bring them all home.
- Elizabeth Jennings
Elizabeth was the daughter of Gideon and Jane Jennings of
New Manchester. Gideon was employed the New Manchester mill and his name
appears on the list of "political prisoners" arrested in New
Manchester. Elizabeth, who was only five at the time of the arrest, was
sent north with her parents and six brothers. It is believed that
Elizabeth's mother died in Evanston, Indiana before the family could
return to Georgia. Her burial place remains unknown.
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