John Wimpy Brownlow (1849-1939)

John Wimpy (Wimp) Brownlow, son of James A. H. and Jane Austin Brownlow, was born in Forsyth County, Georgia, on May 31, 1849. In the late 1850's he moved, with his family, to Polk County, Georgia, and then to Bartow County, Georgia, in about 1866. Shortly after moving there he married Sarah Elizabeth Collins on November 10, 1870. John and Sarah where the paretns of several: Perry, Lillie, Lemuel, Elbert, Albert, and Sanford Brownlow. Sarah died from complications of childbirth on July 7, 1884. She is buried at Connesena Church Cemetery in Kingston, Bartow County, Georgia. He then married Sarah "Sally" Smith on September 17, 1885. They only had one child, Walter, who died in WWI. Sometime before 1910 John Wimpy Brownlow and his children moved to Alpine, Alabama. My Aunt recalled how he would take the train up to around Summerville, Georgia, and ride the line down to Cartersville, Georgia, and visit all of his siblings along the way. He would hire a box car to bring his buggy and horse. It was a beautiful black buggy pulled by a big black horse. This was a sight for the children to behold in the days when most folks just had a wagon and a mule. Sometime he would come up to Bud Brownlow's house in Aragon, Georgia, and go hunting. In his later years he always brought his son Perry. Though Perry was a cousin all the children  in the family called him "Uncle" Perry. To this day my grandmother will not even think about eating squirrel because one time in the 30's Uncle Wimp and Uncle Perry came up and went squirrel hunting. They didn't get home till after dark and they had to clean the squirrels by lamplight on the back porch. When she went to eating the squirrels were still covered with hair. (If you have ever cleaned a squirrel you will know what I am talking about) Even the present generation have heard the older folks speak lovingly of "Uncle Wimp". He died on August 9, 1939, and in buried in Alpine Cemetery, in Talladega County, Alabama.