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About the Founder, Jupiter Gilliard |
The State of Georgia required all male qualified voters to swear
an oath of allegiance to United States government under the
provision of the 1867 Reconstruction Act. The State applied
this voting requirement to all adult-male Georgians who had been
citizens of the Confederacy, Euro-descended and freedmen, alike.
The post-Civil War migration of freedmen was rare before of the
chaotic and devastating conditions of Georgia at the war’s end
in 1865. Therefore, freedmen who swore allegiance in 1867 in
Glynn County were, in all probability, freed in Glynn County.
Jupiter Gigliyer swore his allegiance in Militia District 27 of
Glynn County, Georgia. In 1870, the census enumerator for the
US Population Census listed Jupiter Gilliard, born about 1812 in
South Carolina, in the Brunswick District where he lived with
his wife Riner, born about 1820 in Florida. The Glynn County
Tax Digest for the years 1874-1880 lists Jupiter Gilliard as a
landowner in the 27th Militia District. Glynn County taxed
Jupiter for 457 acres valued at $9.00 in 1875, 456 acres in
1876, 330 acres 1877, 25 acres in 1878, and 40 acres in 1880.
While the Tax Digest lists the 1877; and in the 26th Militia
District of Glynn County, this change in militia district and
purchase of land in another. Georgia’s county militia district
boundaries were not set at their contemporary positions until
1956.
Jupiter probably sold land during the years 1874-1877, as the
Glynn County Tax Digest did not list him as having defaulted on
the payment of taxes. In 1878, the Tax Digest listed a
significant decrease in taxed acreage owned by Jupiter Gilliard.
While it is possible that Jupiter Gilliard, who was
approximately sixty-six years of age, sold land to decrease his
work load, such an action would have been usually in the 1870s
and 1880s. The elderly of a family usually held land and passed
it on at death as an inheritance for their children. Both the
decrease in taxed 1877 and 1878 and the change in Militia
District shown in the Tax Digest may reflect the ownership of
land by more than one Glynn County resident named Jupiter
Gilliard.
Jupiter Gilliard, born about 1812, was listed on the 1870 US
Population census with his wife, Riner. In 1880, the census
enumerator did not list Jupiter, about 1812, in all probability,
died between 1870 and 1880 and the Tax Digest lists seems to
suggest that his death occurred around 1877 or 1878. The census
enumerator for the 1880 US Population Census listed Jubiter
Guillard, born about 1853 in Georgia, and his wife Silla
Guillard, born about 1856 in Georgia, in the Glynn County
27th Militia District. Jupiter Gilliard married Cella Frazier
on 3/10/1870 in Glynn County. In 1880, this Jubiter’s mother
Rina Guilliard, born circa 1820 in Florida, and his brother
“Lonon,” born circa 1861 were living in his household.
It is significant to note that in 1878, the Glynn County Tax
Digests listed tow new names of men whose surnames closely
resemble Gilliard. London Gillins and Sam Gaillard began to pay
tax on land in the 26th Militia District of Glynn County. Glynn
County taxed London for 6 acres of land while Sam paid tax on 10
acres. London Gillins may have also have used the name “Lundy”.
The Glynn County Tax Digest appears to show that Jupiter
Gilliard, born in 1812, died in 1877 or 1878 and left acreage to
his sons, Jupiter, born in 1853, and London, born in 1861.
While he may have left land to Sam or Sippio, Sam or Sippio was
not the son of Jupiter Gilliard, born in 1812. The 1870 census
enumerator listed Sippio Gilliard, born about 1855, in the
household of his mother, Anna Gilliard, born about 1853, by
Jupiter, born about 1812. Although census records do not
directly link London, born circa 1861 in Georgia, to Jubiter,
born circa 1812 in South Carolina, in a father/son relationship,
the 1880 US Population Census does link London and his older
brother, Jupiter Guillard, born about 1853, directly to Rina
Guillard, born about 1820 in Florida.
London Gilliard married Affie Short on 12/24/1881 in Glynn
County. In 1900, London Gilliard, born about 1857, was living
in Militia District 27 of Glynn County, Georgia with his wife
Affie, born 1857 and three children: Thomas, born circa 1885;
Arabella, born about 1890; and Flensina, born 1896. While the
1900 census enumerator misspelled Florine Gilliard’s name
Flensina, this Flensina, born about 1896, married Horace
Johnson, born about 1895, on May 1, 1914. In 1920, the census
enumerator listed Horace and Florine Johnson as living in the
27th Militia District of Glynn County. Florine’s elderly
father, London Gilliard, born about 1860, lived with the couple
at Gillyard Terrace. The census enumerator did not list
children in the household although the couple did have children,
Affie Belle, born about 1915, James W., born 1918, Ophelia, born
in 1919, and Horace Johnson, Jr.
Surviving documents has showed that the genealogy of Ophelia
Johnson Killens on her maternal side could be traced from
Ophelia’s great-grandfather Jubiter Gilliard, born about 1812 in
south Carolina, and his wife Rina, born about 1820 in Florida.
Jubiter and Rina began their marital union before the Civil War
and were enslaved in Glynn County, Georgia as evidenced by the
births of two sons, Jupiter Gilliard, born about 1853 in
Georgia, and London Gilliard, born about 1861 in Georgia and by
Jubiter’s 1867 oath of allegiance to the United States. Ophelia
Johnson’s grandfather, London Gilliard, the son of Jubiter and
Rina Gilliard, married Affie Short. London and Affie were the
parents of Florine Gilliard. Florine Gilliard married Horace
Johnson and their union produced four children, Affie Belle,
James W., Ophelia, and Horace Johnson, Jr. |
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