(This is one of the families included in the new book, Early Hamilton Settlers, by John Wilson)
Samuel Fitzgerald was one of Chattanooga's “first 53 citizens.” His father, the pioneer William Fitzgerald, is buried in a graveyard at the Honors Golf Course in Ooltewah.
William and Samuel Fitzgerald were apparently descended from George Fitzgerald, who was living in Virginia in July of 1779 when he enlisted to fight in the Revolution. He was in the company of Capt. Selden in the regiment of Col. Samuel Haws. George Fitzgerald fought against the British and Tories at Ninety Six and Eutaw and was discharged at Salisbury, N.C., on Feb. 1, 1781. George Fitzgerald, who was born in 1739, made his way after the war to Franklin County, Ga. In 1823, when he was 84, he was given an $8 per month war pension. He was then occupied as “a farmer, but totally unable from age and infirmity to pursue it.”
William Fitzgerald and some of his kinsmen left Franklin County and settled near the Tennessee River in Rhea County. William, Anderson and Andrew Fitzgerald had tracts near Tavenor Masoner. Margaret Fitzgerald, daughter of William Fitzgerald, became Masoner's second wife. Anderson Fitzgerald married Charity Bailey. He was born in Georgia about 1795 and was a millright. A veteran of the War of 1812, he lived in Franklin County, Tenn., then in Rhea County and afterwards Bradley County. Anderson Fitzgerald moved to Cass County, Tex., about 1846.
William Fitzgerald about 1840 settled at Ooltewah in the section that later was taken off as James County. He was living there near where a lake is now located at Hiawatha Estates when he died of dropsy on March 5, 1850. His widow, Edith Dobbs Fitzgerald, was living at the time of the 1870 census with her son, William, at Ooltewah. She was originally from Maryland.
Samuel Fitzgerald, who was born about 1804, married Nancy Blankenship in 1828 in Franklin County, Ga. He was one of the early investors in Chattanooga as well as the village of Cottonport near Washington in Rhea County. Just before the Civil War, the Samuel Fitzgerald family was living at Ooltewah and he was working as a blacksmith. His children included Rounse, Eglatine, Clementine, William, John F. and George. Another daughter, Mary Tennessee, married David Stewart Stokes and their son,
Will Stokes, was a leading Chattanooga photographer for many years. William and John F. Fitzgerald served with Co. B of the Union's First Tennessee Light Artillery during the Civil War. They enlisted in 1863 and were sent to Somerset, Ky. John F. Fitzgerald rose to the rank of corporal on Sept. 30, 1864. His first wife was Clarissa Cleveland, daughter of Eli M. Cleveland. She died in 1879 and was buried at the Chestnutt Cemetery. A later wife was Nannie C., who died in 1923. John F. Fitzgerald was buried at the Ooltewah Cemetery. John F. and Clarissa had a daughter, Mary M. Nancy Blankenship Fitzgerald was living with her son, John F., at the time of the 1870 census.
Another son of Samuel Fitzgerald was named Hiram Douglas after a well-known preacher at Ooltewah. Hiram D. Fitzgerald stayed in Chattanooga and was a lieutenant on the police department at the time of the cholera and yellow fever epidemics. Then he was chief of the fire department. He married Maggie Vineyard, a daughter of Noah and Caroline Vineyard. Noah Vineyard had been taken prisoner during the Civil War and was not heard from for many years. It was finally learned that he had died and was buried in New York state. When Hiram D. Fitzgerald died in 1918, he was termed “the last member of a large family. His parents were pioneers who lived among the Indians.” He was buried alongside other firemen at Forest Hills Cemetery. His daughter, Carlia May, married W.A. Degler and they lived on Central Avenue.
Other children of William Fitzgerald included Mary, Nasa, William Jr. and Woodson. Mary Fitzgerald had a son, Nasa A. Fitzgerald, who was killed on March 26, 1907, when he was hit by a train. William Fitzgerald Jr. occupied his parents' old home at Ooltewah. He married Angeline Denny, whose sister, Nancy, married Woodson Fitzgerald. William Fitzgerald Jr. lived until 1890 and his wife, Angeline, until 1884. The children of William Jr. included Elijah, Woodson, Emily, Angeline who married a Jones, Savannah who married a Hixson, and Robert Henry. Another daughter, Emily, married Anderson Taylor Roy. Elijah was a depty sheriff for two years after the Civil War. Elijah and his wife, Cecile Miller, had a son, Frank, and daughter, Dorothy, who was a schoolteacher. Robert H. Fitzgerald also taught school and was chairman of the deacon board at the Shepherd Baptist Church. He died in 1933 after collapsing while in the procession for the funeral of his cousin, William A. Fitzgerald.
The children of Nasa Fitzgerald and his wife, Mary, included William, Coleman, Nasa, Monroe, Mary. A., Albert, Martha, Columbus and A.J. Nasa Fitzgerald, who was born about 1818, was a soldier in the Cherokee removal. Mary Fitzgerald was born in Georgia about 1821. William Fitzgerald was with the Confederacy’s Co. F. of the 35th Tennessee Infantry and Coleman Fitzgerald fought for the Confederacy’s Co. B of the 1st Tennessee Cavalry.
Woodson Fitzgerald was featured in one James County publication as “a progressive citizen, a strong believer in education, and a member of the Baptist church.” He had 137 acres on the Georgetown and Ringgold Road two miles south of Ooltewah and was a farmer and stock raiser. During the Civil War Woodson Fitzgerald fought for the South with Co. F of the 35th Tennessee Infantry. He enlisted at Chattanooga on Jan. 7, 1863. He was wounded during the second day of the fighting at Chickamauga with a minie ball passing through the upper part of his right leg, shattering two bones. His wife was able to reach him at Green's Lake and take him home in an ox cart. Woodson Fitzgerald was captured while he was recuperating, and he took the oath of allegiance to the Union on Dec. 11, 1863. He had a dark complexion, black hair, black eyes and was 5'11'' tall. His children included William Augustus, Robert A., Eli B., Jane, Thomas, Mary, Hiram Douglas and Margaret M. William A. Fitzgerald married Sarah Catherine Long, and their children included Elbert Lawrence, Robert L., Tavner Herbert, Addie, Inester, William Garrett and Nancy A.
Some of the descendants of the Baptist minister Archibald Fitzgerald also lived in the vicinity of Ooltewah. Archibald was born about 1774 in Virginia. He married Caroline Carris. His sons are said to include Alfred, Asa, Jesse, Abraham who married Sally H. Looney, Anderson who married Charity Bailey, Aaron who married Lucinda, Archibald, Elijah, Mary who married Isaac Newton, and Tabitha. Elijah married Nancy McCully. Their son, George Washington Fitzgerald, married Sarah Elizabeth Caruthers. Nancy McCully Fitzgerald was living with the G.W. Fitzgerald family at the time of the 1880 census. Other children of Elijah Fitzgerald included Caroline, Elizabeth, Martha, William H. and Sarah. Elijah Fitzgerald died in 1873, and Nancy McCully Fitzgerald died in 1885.
Asa, Archibald Jr. and Aaron were also “influential country preachers in Southeastern Tennessee and North Georgia.” Archibald Sr. was from South Carolina, but he was living on the Duck River in West Tennessee when Asa was born in 1809. The family moved to Indiana, but later returned to Tennessee. Asa Fitzgerald went in the Baptist pulpit in 1851. He married Judith Warren of Indiana, but she died in 1873. The next year he married Margaret Whittle, a native of Sevier County, Tenn. She was 26 years younger than Asa. Asa Fitzgerald was buried at the Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery by both his wives at his death in 1898. The second wife died in 1896. The children of Asa Fitzgerald by his first wife were Jane, Eli B., Archibald, Jesse, Cora, Esquire, John F., Nancy and Margaret. Several of Asa's sons fought on the Union side. Archibald, Eli B. and Squire joined William Clift's outfit at Huntsville, Ala. John F., who was later county jailkeeper, was with Co. B of the First Tennessee Light Artillery. Asa had a daughter, Nancy, by the second wife. William H. Fitzgerald, the only son of Asa by his second wife, became a prominent minister and at one time pastored the First Baptist Church of Asheville, N.C. Later Dr. Fitzgerald was a missionary to Indians at Cherokee, N.C. He was “a sweet-spirited, scholarly, lovable preacher, one of our very best pastors.”
Archibald Fitzgerald was born in 1834 in Indiana. He married Susan Mary Melvina Baker and they lived at the railroad stop at Howardsville near Apison. Their children were Eli A. “Dump” who married Susan Garner, Mary Jane who died of typhoid fever in 1880, Squier, Henry Harrison who married Ida Kelley, Evadil who died as an infant, and Callie who was a popular music teacher. Another son, William Luther, married Kate Alexander. Their daughter, Evadil, married Claude Howell and lives in Chattanooga. Elijah, another son of Archibald and Susan Fitzgerald, married Annie McGee. Their
daughter, Mabel, married Jack Cornutt. The children of his son, Otto, still living are Lou, Archie and Ruth Buckner. Lou Fitzgerald was a longtime major league baseball scout. Archie Fitzgerald, who was named for his great-grandfather, was vice chairman of Cleveland Bank and Trust Company.
The Fitzgerald Cemetery, when Judge Charles Lusk visited it in 1938, was “in the woods with very bad roads leading to it, and the cemetery itself is much neglected and overgrown.” The cemetery is now beside the splendidly manicured 17th green of the Honors Course.