W. H. Spurlin (Georgia pioneer)
W. H. Spurlin was a Confederate veteran born in Shelby, North Carolina, who settled in Pulaski County, Georgia. His descendants spread through Worth County, Sylvester and Valdosta.
Sourcing: mixed 2 genealogy · 1 book
Biography
A county-history biography reprinted by Access Genealogy says W. H. Spurlin was born in Shelby, North Carolina, served as a Confederate soldier, and moved afterwards to Pulaski County, Georgia[1]. There he married Nancy Bateman, the daughter of G. W. Bateman[1].
Family
His first marriage produced J. G., W. C. and Sallie Spurlin. Sallie married D. Boland and had a son, Denton[1]. His second marriage, to Mary Frances Dewitte, produced Thomas Augustus, R. L., J. D. and G. Clarence Spurlin, and daughters Ella and Edna[1]. The 1934 Worth County history tells this differently (see below). Several of the children lived in Sylvester, Georgia. T. A. Spurlin stayed in Worth County, Ella Spurlin and Edna (Spurlin) Webster moved to Florida, and Col. G. Clarence Spurlin became solicitor at Valdosta[1].
Significance
W. H. Spurlin's move from Shelby, the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, to south Georgia is one route by which the western North Carolina Spurlins reached the Deep South[1][2].
Worth County history (1934)
Lillie Martin Grubbs's History of Worth County, Georgia, for the First Eighty Years, 1854–1934 (Macon: J. W. Burke, 1934) has a "Spurlin Family" section on pages 448–451. HathiTrust holds a full-view, public-domain copy.[3] Much of its wording matches the Access Genealogy text, beginning "The father of the Spurlins of Worth County was W. H. Spurlin, born in Shelby, N. C." The two versions differ on his marriages. Grubbs says he "married Mary Catherine Dewitt" and lists the children as Thomas Augustus ("Gus"), J. G., W. C., R. L., J. D. and G. Clarence Spurlin and daughters Ella and Edna. She does not mention Nancy Bateman or a daughter Sallie.[3] The Access Genealogy version, which the site credits to Rev. J. L. Baggott's 1935 Biographies of Pulaski County Georgia, describes two marriages instead.[1] Grubbs calls Col. G. Clarence Spurlin "Solicitor General of Valdosta Circuit."[3]
Both versions go on to describe the career of T. A. Spurlin. He came to Sumner in 1891, then worked for six years in Tifton as a bookkeeper and salesman for H. H. and W. O. Tift. On 10 June 1896 he married Josephine Fogler at Tifton; she had been born in Brazos County, Texas.[3] The couple moved to Sylvester on 13 September 1897. There he ran a grocery, and later a dry goods, millinery and furniture store, and he took up the undertaking business in 1900.[3] In December 1899 he leased, and later bought, the Worth Telephone Company. He organized the Sylvester Telephone and Telegraph Company, which he sold to the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company on 1 November 1909.[3] As of 1934 he had been a deacon of Sylvester Baptist Church for 35 years.[1][3] A photograph in Grubbs's book shows him among Sylvester businessmen, captioned "T. A. Spurlin, Undertaker."[3]
See also
- John E. Spurlin (Confederate soldier) · History strong
John E. Spurlin (1841–1861) was a Rutherford County, North Carolina, farmer. He enlisted in the 16th North Carolina Infantry in 1861 and, according to the regimental roster, died of typhoid fever at Warrenton, Virginia, that December; a 1937 county history gives a different date and place. - Howell-Spurlin Cemetery (Shelby, North Carolina) · Places weak
Howell-Spurlin Cemetery is a small 19th-century family burial ground in Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina. Find a Grave records 16 memorials, among them John Howell (1744–1828) and five Spurlins who died between 1850 and 1890. - Spurlins of Old Hebron Cemetery, Pike County, Georgia · Genealogy weak
Old Hebron Cemetery near Concord, Pike County, Georgia, holds the family of William Spurlin or Spurling (1769–1835), whom genealogists describe as a son of "Big" John Spurling of North Carolina, together with his son James Spurlin (1802–1887) and later descendants. - Spurlins in the American Civil War · History strong
Spurlins served on both sides of the Civil War. They included Confederates from North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee and Union soldiers from New Hampshire, Iowa, Indiana and Tennessee. This roundup collects service-index records, rosters, pension, pardon and soldiers' home records, and county-history accounts. - Spurlins of Cleveland and Rutherford Counties, North Carolina · Genealogy mixed
The Spurlin line of Cleveland and Rutherford counties, North Carolina, descends from Isaac Spurlin Sr. (c. 1770–c. 1854), son of John ("Big John") and Myally Spurlin. It is traced through deeds, censuses, an 1826 North Carolina Supreme Court case, Confederate rosters and family graves around Shelby and Ellenboro. - Spurlins of early Georgia · Genealogy mixed
Spurlins were in Georgia from the late 18th century, around Warrenton, Greene County and Macon, and several were children or grandchildren of "Big John" Spurlin of North Carolina. From there branches moved into Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and Texas. - W. H. Spurlin (Tipton County, Indiana, preacher) · History mixed
Rev. Wilford H. Spurlin (1833–1919) was an Ohio-born farmer and Separate Baptist preacher who cleared a homestead in Tipton County, Indiana, after 1872. He is profiled in an 1898 county biographical history, and 1915 and 1919 obituaries tie him to the Spurlins of Shelby County, where his brother Ithamar was sheriff.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Biography of W. H. Spurlin — Access Genealogy — transcription posted 2012 by Dennis N. Partridge; the site files it under Rev. J. L. Baggott, Biographies of Pulaski County Georgia (DAR, 1935); the text itself is dated 1934 Genealogy
- ↑ Howell-Spurlin Cemetery in Shelby, North Carolina — Find a Grave Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Lillie Martin Grubbs, History of Worth County, Georgia, for the First Eighty Years, 1854–1934 (Macon: J. W. Burke, 1934) — HathiTrust Digital Library — full view, public domain; "Spurlin Family," pp. 448–451 (scans 470–473), read in the text-only view; the Internet Archive's copy is a restricted lending item Book
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.