Washington Hatfield was my 3rd Great Grandfather born in South Carolina c 1796. According to Felix Hargrett: "The name (Hatfield) is an ancient one borne by many families in England and Scotland and is found more than once as a place name in England. It is uncertain when the first Hatfields arrived in America but records reveal that there were a number of them New England and the Middle Colonies in the 17^th Century and in Virginia from the early eighteenth century forward."

My research has failed to prove conclusively who Washington Hatfield’s father was. Family researchers are divided between Samuel Hatfield and Frances Parker of Sumter District, South Carolina or Richard Hatfield of South Carolina and Wilkinson Co, Georgia. There is the Washington Hatfield/Hartfield who won Lot 41/ section 14 of Houston County, in the 1821 Land Lottery. He was living in Oglethorpe County, Georgia at the time of the 4^th land lottery. We are trying to determine if this is our ‘Wash’ Hatfield.

Washington is first seen with wife Mary in Houston County, Georgia in the 1830 Census, they have 3 sons and 3 daughters, the eldest child is between the ages of 10-15 years old. He was a farmer and miller and member of the Baptist Church, including Indian Creek and Macedonia Baptist Churches in nearby Crawford County. They moved by 1840 to Crawford County and later to Bibb County, GA before their final move to Carroll County, Georgia where they are last noted in the 1880 census.

Their children include James G Hatfield married Sarah Wilder, William married Elizabeth Richardson, John Richard married Charity Schofield, Samuel, Grace M married Winder H. Whittington, Drucilla, Betsy, Mary E. married Wylie W. Skinner, Sarah and Washington.

Several of Washington and Mary’s sons were involved in the War Between the States. Two of Wash’s sons were in Company B, Cobb’s Legion Infantry. Washington, nicknamed ‘General’, was killed in action in Sharpsburg (Antietam) and William died in Elmira Prison, NY after being captured at Front Royal, Virginia on Aug 16, 1864. Ezekiel was captured twice, first at Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 and again at Nashville, TN near Murfreesboro on December 16, 1864. ‘Zeke’ was imprisoned at Camp Douglas and released in 1865.

My research finds John Richard first at Camp Talledega, a ‘boot camp’ in Alabama where he had moved his family early in 1860. We find records of JR Hatfield, a Private, in Co A 3 Regiment Georgia Reserves in 1864 serving under Capt, J. A. Akens. We are trying to prove this is our John Richard, and we lose track of him and his wife, Charity after the war. Their children are taken in by their maternal grandparents, Phillip & Charity (Busbee) Schofield, and raised in Crawford County.

The children of John Richard and Charity (Schofield) Hatfield were Frances Elizabeth Hatfield (b 1850 – d 1925) married Needham Johnson of Houston County, GA; Charity (b 1855 – d 1917) married Arthur Reese Johnson of Houston County, GA; Philip Andrew (b 1858) married Nancy E Thompson of Carroll County, GA; Mary N married John F. Hudson of Crawford County, GA; Sarah Ann ( b 1863 – d 1928) married Thaddeus Bryant of Crawford County, GA)

My great grandmother was their oldest child, Frances Elizabeth Hatfield, who married Needham Franklin Johnson, who family were also early Bibb and Houston County settlers. They raised their five sons in Houston County, except for a few years they lived in Ocala, Florida. They were Richard Franklin, Edgar Morris, Wesley Needham, Raymond A and Otis Alvin. Their children were born in Houston County and like many of the Houston County Pioneers, their descendants are scattered around the world.