Judge John G. Polhill

John Goldwire Polhill
Editor of the Federal Union, State Representative, Judge of Superior Court, Ocmulgee Circuit        Judge John Goldwire Polhill was born Oct 16, in Newington, Screven, Georgia. He was the son of Thomas Polhill, a Baptist Minister and trustee of Second Baptist Church in Savannah. Thomas Polhill also owned land in Baldwin County, land lot number 295, that had been granted by the state. Judge James Polhill of the Southern Circuit was Thomas Polhill's son also.
      A graduate of Rhode Island College, he studied law in Augusta. Judge Polhill practiced law in Macon with Charleton B. Cole in 1827. He was practicing in Milledgeville by 1830. He was one of the founders of the Baptist Church in Milledgeville and acting deacon of the church at the time of his death. First appointed Judge of Superior Court of Georgia to fill the vacancy of Judge L.Q.C. Lamar July 7, 1834, he served until the time of his death in April 1838. He was a stockholder on the Great Western Railroad Company which formed in 1835 and a trustee of the Southern Baptist College in Washington, Ga. incorporated in 1836. Judge Polhill became sick in 1837, went to Cherokee County for his health, and died there in 1838.
     Judge and Mrs. Harriet A. Polhill lived in Scottsboro on the Gordon Rd. The house still stands and is kept up beautifully by the Baugh Family. Although Union troops set fire to the house during Sherman's March through Georgia, the family came out of hiding and put the fire out. Little damage was done but marks were still visible in 1968.   Four of their children were Caroline Clitheall Polhll who died in Macon August 27, 1827 at the age of 20 months and 16 days; Benjamin M. Polhill; John M. Polhill of Macon who died from an accident while surveying the Macon and Brunswick Railroad in 1859; and Louisa Mary Polhill Butts, wife of James R. Butts of Milledgeville. There is a Mr. and Mrs. Polhill buried in unmarked graves at Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville which could possibly be the graves of Judge and Harriett Polhill.

Sources:1830 Federal Census; 1840 Federal Census; Milledgeville, Georgia's Antebellum Capital, James C. Bonner; ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA. PASSED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1835; ACTS of the General Assembly of the STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1836; ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1837; ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1838; ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 1965;
Macon Telegraph August 7, 1827, Macon Telegraph July 19, 1859; Georgia Baptists : historical and biographical , by J. H. Campbell; Architecture of Middle Georgia, The Oconee Area, by John Linley.