James Madison Brownlow

James Madison (Bud) Brownlow , son of James A. H. Brownlow and Jane Anne Austin, was born June 1, 1852 in Forsyth County, Georgia. In about 1858 he moved with his family to Van Wert in Polk County, Georgia. After his father returned home from war they moved to Bartow County, Georgia. On May 1, 1879 he married Sarah Elizabeth (Lizzie) Phillips, daughter of James Phillips and Rhoda Martha Collins. She was born Nov. 13, 1861 in Bartow County, Georgia. James and Sarah started out married life with a one eye stove, a table and crates for chairs. They would tie sacks in the corners of their one roomed house for beds. This is how they were living in 1880 when their first son, George, was born. They had a small farm on what is now Hall Station Road. All of their children were born in the house on Hall Station Road. It is no longer standing. While they were in Kingston they were members of Connesena Baptist Church. An interesting note is that Lizzie's sister, Emily, was married to Bud's brother, Jack.

Before 1900 Bud and Lizzie moved their family to Taylorsville, Bartow County When Lizzie's mother, who had been living with them, passed away in 1906 the family moved to Van Wert. Then in about 1915 they bought an old white house in Aragon. They were living there in 1920 and 1930. James and his family grew what they needed to eat and any thing they couldn't grow they bought. During the World Wars train loads of soldiers would stop in Aragon and the family would take flowers to them. Many of those men went over to Europe and never returned. Every year for Sarah's birthday her children would throw her a big party which would be attended by sometimes over two hundred people. It was not uncommon for Governor Talmadge to stop by as well. They would take the furniture out of the house and line the walls with tables of every kind of food imaginable. They would hire local women to do some of the cooking. The main food was a huge pot of stew that was cooked over a fire. James and Sarah were a members of Prospect Baptist church. After hearing of his sister Emma's death, on December 12, 1930, he was walking down to the creek with his mule and was overheard by his granddaughter, Mattie, telling the mule that he would be dead before long. He died on January 3, 1931, and is buried in the church cemetery next to Sarah who passed away on April 15, 1951, of pneumonia.

James and Sarah had the following children:

George Lester Brownlow b. March 14, 1880

Annie Lee Brownlow b. September 12, 1881, married Hicks Carter December 28, 1907

Rhoda Judson Brownlow b. August 27, 1883

Willie Estelle Brownlow b. April 26, 1886, married Bartow Carter February 25, 1917

Virgil Ephraim Brownlow b. March 1, 1888

Oliver Johnson Brownlow b. July 8, 1895, married Ethel Briton February 10, 1924