Agnes Ellen Harris (Brief Biography)

Agnes Ellen Harris, a native of Cedartown, Georgia, became a pioneer in the field of women's education. Harris graduated from Georgia Women's College, obtained her teaching certificate, and then attended Oread Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. From there, she returned to her home state of Georgia, where she taught Home Economics for five years. She was a Charter Member of the American Home Economics Association, organized in 1908. She would later serve as national vice-president of that organization. She continued to further her own education, obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree at Columbia University in 1910. She later moved to Florida, where she continued to work in forefront of home-economics education. In a 1917 report, she was mentioned as President of the Florida Educational Association and as Dean of the School of Home Economics in Tallahassee. She was also a State Agent for Home Demonstration Work, teaching rural women about nutrition, canning, and selling produce. As part of her state work, she organized "Tomato Clubs," which later grew into Florida's 4-H club for girls. In 1919 she moved to Texas for a year, but returned in 1920, settling in Washington, D.C. There, she worked as a Field Agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while completing her Master of Arts Degree at Columbia. Upon accepting a new position as Dean of Women at Auburn University in 1922, she moved to Alabama. She remained at Auburn until 1927, when she became Dean of Women at the University of Alabama. During her tenure there, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alabama, and became head of the Home Economics Department. Harris died in Tuscaloosa in 1952. She was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1972.

Anna Lydia "Birdie" Quillian: Brief Biography

Biography of Anna Lydia "Birdie" Quillian

Anna Lydia Quillian, called "Birdie," was the daughter of Lewis Wagner and Eliza (Hutchinson) Quillian. Birdie was born in Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia, on September 1, 1865. She and her family moved to Dalton, Georgia, early on. Birdie never married. She belonged to the Methodist Church and was a faithful servant of Christ. In mid life, she cared for an orphan child, Ruth, from the Decatur Orphan's Home. She remained in Whitfield County for the rest of her life, dying at the age of forty-nine, after suffering from a long illness. Her obituary refers to the cemetery of burial as "Forest Hill," which may be a historic name for the Quillian Cemetery. Her obituary, written by a friend and entitled "In Memoriam," appears in The Dalton Citizen, on page 9 of the September 24th edition, 1914. May she rest in peace.

Written by: D. K. Pritchett, from various sources. Also submitted to Find A Grave for the memorial page of Anna Lydia Quillian.

The Dalton Citizen is indexed as North Georgia Citizen, and is currently available on-line through Galileo (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online).

Obituary of Anna L. Quillian

Extract of Obituary of Anna L. Quillian

William Stephen Pritchett (Bill Pritchett), of Crandall, Georgia - Biography

William Stephen "Bill" Pritchett was born April 13, 1930, in Crandall, Murray, Georgia. His parents were Arvil Henry Pritchett (son of Stephen T. and Alice Murray Pritchett) and Sudie Headrick (daughter of William "Bill" and Sarah Quincy Davis Headrick). Bill was an only child. His mother died of tuberculosis on December 17, 1913, when Bill was just a baby. Sudie's sister, Leona, married Arvil Pritchett's brother, James Walter, so she was Bill's aunt twice over. Leona was also to die of tuberculosis, just three years after her sister died. Like many men in Murray County, Bill's father was a farmer, and saw hard times during the Great Depression. At times, the family share-cropped, moving from farm to farm as the crops came in. Arvil Pritchett died in 1941, when Bill was ten years old, going on eleven. Bill lived with his grandparents, Stephen and Alice (Murray) Pritchett, for a time. Steve and Alice were kind-hearted people, and took in several of their grandchildren. Steve was a Kansas-born man, whose parents had moved from the North Georgia mountains to the midwest after the Civil War, but soon moved back to the mountains. In spite of the tragedy in his childhood, Bill had a positive outlook on life. He was a good story teller with a wonderful, hearty laugh. He was a truck driver. On days off, he liked to go fishing. He married Louise Harris, daughter of Thomas Rufus Harris and Sybil Frances Pullen (a Murray County couple, who had married there on May 25, 1931). Louise was born April 18, 1933, in the Temple Grove community of Murray County, Georgia, where she and her husband settled, raised a family, and lived until her death on May 24, 2009. The couple had three children, Sudie, Judy, and Timothy Pritchett. Bill was a good friend to his older cousin, Fred Thomas Pritchett, of Crandall, whose father, Willie Lee Pritchett, was a brother of Bill's father, Arvil. Fred and Bill were first cousins on the Pritchett side, and were third cousins on the Headrick side. Fred's father died when Fred was fifteen. Fred's mother was Esther (Headrick) Pritchett, daughter of William Abraham Lincoln Headrick. W.A.L. Headrick's father, William Matthew Headrick, was the brother of John Scott Headrick, Bill's great-grandfather. Bill Pritchett died in Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia, on Friday, February 10, 2017.