More About the Bomars (and Rices)

In that last post, "First Mention of the Bomars," I included a link to a Douglas County, Georgia history column in a local newspaper (http://douglasville.patch.com/articles/yankees-sing-dixie-in-douglas). The author of that article is Lisa Cooper. I sent an email to her through the "Email the Author" link on the article page.

Here is what I wrote to her:

I am a genealogist researching my husband's family. Following up on some information I found about Armstead Bomar, my husband's 4th great grandfather, sent me on a search for the Bullard-Henley house that he once owned (before it was the Bullard-Henley house). A Google search led me to your April 25, 2011, article "Yankees Sing 'Dixie' in Douglas." I enjoyed reading it very much and was elated with the comment at the end written by Jeff Champion. What he wrote about A. R. Bomar and the Rices confirmed the information I have about the house and family. Parker Merimoth Rice bought the home from the estate of Armstead Bomar. According to my information, Parker Rice sold it four years later (perhaps to Mr. Bullard?). Armstead Bomar's daughter, Leah Armstead Bomar Rice, my husband's 3rd great grandmother, owned the ferry until her death in 1906. She lived in Douglas County at the time of her death. I am wondering if you have any information on the Bomars or can guide me to other resources. Also, do you have any other photos of the Bullard-Henley house besides the one in your article? Do you know Jeff Champion who wrote the second comment? If you have a way to contact him, I would appreciate you giving him my email address as I would like to find out other information he might have about the Bomars. Could you give me the name of the Organic Farm on the north side of Hwy 166 that is connected to the Rice Family. Queen Victoria Rice Parker, daughter of Leah Bomar Rice, is my husband's 2nd great grandmother. Thank you for taking time to read my email. I look forward to hearing from you. Karen Howard, Murphy, NC

I was very excited to receive an answer from her. Here is her reply:

Hi Karen.....-

Thanks for contacting me.  I love writing about history and your email is one of the reason why I enjoy doing it so much....being able to connect people to the missing pieces they need.  :)

I will contact Champ1964 aka Jeff Champion and let him know you need to reach him. 

The Bomar-Bullard-Henley home is a fascinating bit of history.   I believe I have some images of the home I actually took from a book.....I'm bad about using my iphone to snap pictures of pages and then cropping the picture down.   :)   I'll look for the pictures I have and send them under separate cover. 

A Henley family member was very good at documenting some of the family lore concerning the home.  It can be found at the Douglas County Library.....I'm right before typing it up for my own personal use with my Douglas County history site, and when I have it done I can forward it to you. 

Also I've written about the Rice family connection a little bit in a new article.    In January, I stopped posting my columns at Douglas Patch and went to a stand-alone site you can find at this link:

http://douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com

The particular article that mentions the Rice family connection is found here:

http://douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-rice-mill-on-anneewakee-creek.html

The above article mentions Zechariah A. Rice or A.Z. Rice...he was a grandchild of A.R. Bomar and took over the Green Mill along Anneewakee Creek close to the Bomar-Henley-Sprayberry home.   He was a Major in Cobb's Legion and during the siege of Atlanta he was in charge of the home guard in Atlanta.  Prior to the war I found a reference that said he was a slave dealer as well.

The Glover family.....owns what is left of the property from what I understand.   I think there is a website for their family farm....I'll see if I can find it. 

The person referenced above, Jeff Champion, contacted me. Here is what he wrote (edited):


Hello, There is not much I can tell you but Skip Gxxxxx 770-920-xxxx, lives at the Farm. His Grandmother was a Rice and he owns the last bit of where the Rices lived, including the old Mill property. The Bomars still live in the area, too. AR Bomar died in 1840 and I assumed that the Rices inherited the place from them. AR had run the Ferry and owned the properties. Then it became the Rices'. There is an old Parker Wilson cemetery close by, too. May be of relation. A friend of mine has all the old family photos of the Bomars and Henleys at his home. They grew up near the old house.

Here is the link to see the house now http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.665531,-84.673101&hl=en&ll=33.665546,-84.672891&spn=0.002737,0.004823&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=42.495706,79.013672&t=h&z=18

You can do a street view, etc.

Here is the Ferry location. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10941816
You can zoom and see back in time to 1938.

Sorry, I don't have more to offer. Attached a few photos From AR Bomar Cemetery. There are only 3 scribed stones. The rest 80 or more are just rocks. The stones are broken up due to pulp wooding and trees falling, etc.

Armstead Bomar SR. Departed this life Jan 15 1840 in the 72nd year of his age

Elisha P Bomar Departed this life July 29 1839 in the 23rd year of his age

Fielding B Rice - Son of Parker M and Mary Rice Oct 22 1825 - Nov 30 1833.

Armstead Bomar, Sr. Burial Place, Austell Plantation Cemetery, Campbellton, Georgia

Here are the comments Jeff Champion wrote about this photo (above):

champ1964, on May 7, 2009, said:
Franklin Garrett Surveyed this Cemetery January 13, 1934. His notes listed the Location as: "On Old Austell Plantation. Campbellton Road between Camp Creek and Deep Creek, About 2 miles from old Campbellton" The Cemetery is situated on what at the time was the Austell Plantation (1870 - 1945). Previously this had been the Gorman Plantation since 1837 until Gorman's Death in 1869. It is likely that Armstead Bomar was the previous owner of this Property prior to his death in 1840. There are dozens of graves here, Some marked with stones, some not. There are three scribed markers and one base without the rest. The scribed stones are: Fielding B. Rice - Son of Parker M. & Mary Rice - Born: Oct 22, 1825 - Died: Nov 30 1833. Elisha P. Bomar - Died: July 29, 1839 at age 23. Armstead Bomar SR - Died: Jan 15, 1840 at age 72

champ1964, on May 11, 2009, said:

Armstead Bomar Sr. owned the first Ferry (1835) from Old Campbellton Georgia across the Chattahoochee River to What is now the Douglas County side.

Street View, Armstead Bomar, Sr. Burial Place, Austell Plantation Cemetery, Campbellton, Georgia

Here are the comments Jeff Chamption wrote about the above photo:


 champ1964, on May 7, 2009, said:

Old Austell Plantation Cemetery rest beneath the canopy of trees you see here. Marked by a Man Hole Culvert and a 25 mph street sign. From Old Campbellton Square it is a 2.5 mile drive. Leaving the Square, you are following a dirt road, you will cross a wood bridge over Deep Creek then the road will become paved. Cross a open area and look to the right where the trees start back, you are there.

champ1964, on May 7, 2009, said:

For those that remember this Cemetery being on the River side of the road, well that is because it was the old road bed which rests just east of the Cemetery. No travel on it for a long time now.

champ1964, on May 11, 2009, said:

There is a well defined pre civil war road bed that lies on the east side of the cemetary. The road is slightly visible in 1938 aerial photos but hasn't been a main ford for over a century.

If you're wanting to read/see more, check out the links above and also this one that has many more photos of the area:  http://www.panoramio.com/user/570043?comment_page=1&photo_page=1


I am very appreciative to receive information on Jim's family from Lisa and Jeff. I've found history buffs and genealogists to be generous in sharing their information. These two have opened up new horizons in my research.

First Mention of the Bomars

Last week, March 15 to be exact, I started entering Bomar family members into my Legacy genealogy program data base. The closest Bomar in Jim's family is his 3rd great grandmother, Leah Bomar Rice, mother of Queen Victoria Rice Parker, his 2nd great grandmother. I was using information Jim's distant cousin, Gail, sent me. Leah Bomar and her sister Mary (Polly) Bomar married brothers. Leah married Rev. Thomas Sherod Rice and Mary (Polly) married Rev. Parker Merimoth (Merimuth) Rice. As I was putting in the names I read some of the information from Gail for Leah Bomar Rice that looked interesting. Here it it:

Leah Armstead Bomar was born 17 July 1804, Spartanburg, SC and died 2 September 1884, Douglas County, GA. She married Rev. Thomas Sherod Rice, who died in 1843. At the time of her death, she owned the ferry at the town of Campbellton, which had formerly been owned by her father, Armstead Bomar, Senr., and apparently lived nearby.

So I stopped entering names and started looking on the internet for the Campbellton, GA ferry. Please understand these findings didn't happen within a short time span. It took several hours looking at all kinds of web pages and records. But the payoff was HUGE!

Campbellton is no longer a town. There's not much there now. Below are some photos of what's there currently. Campbellton was founded as the county seat of Campbell County around 1830. It's now part of Fulton County (Atlanta). The Chattahoochee River is nearby, which is why there was a need for a ferry back in the 1800's. I didn't find the ferry landing, stay with me 'cause this isn't the most interesting part of the post.

Campbellton Lodge (not a hotel!)

The Campbellton Baptist Church is on the right. The Campbellton Lodge is behind the church sign.

Site of the Campbellton County Court House

Where the Baptist Church used to be.

I looked further for more information on the Bomars and found something in Douglas County, GA, just across the Chattahoochee River from Campbellton. In the 1800's this part of Douglas County was part of old Campbell County. This is where Leah Bomar Rice's father owned property.

Home owned by Armstead Rice

The home pictured above (which I think is still standing) was once owned by Armstead Bomar, Jim's 4th great grandfather. It was built in 1835 and he bought it in 1838, living in it about two years until his death in 1840. It was then bought from his estate by his daughter, Mary (Polly) Bomar Rice and her husband, Rev. Parker Merimoth Rice. They sold it four years later to a Mr. Bullard and later the home was known as the Bullard-Henley House.

I found out some of this information from a comment to a history column in the Douglasville, GA newspaper in April, 2011. The gentleman who wrote the comment also confirmed Armstead Bomar running a ferry.  Here is the comment that made me jump for joy:

The old Henley House is quite a treasure. I forgot the name of the man who built it in 1935 [should be 1835] but A.R. Bomar Sr. bought it in 1838 and only lived in it only 2 years as he Died in 1840. He had Operated the Campbellton ferry and owned properties on both sides of the River. His descendents the Rice's inherited the property and later sold the home and the main plantation for a huge sum $4500 Quoted from the book "Indian Trails to I20" The Rice's retained several hundred acres and ran the Ferry and a farm and mill all along the East side of Anneewakee creek. Descendents still run the Organic Farm on the north side of hwy 166. Bullard's became Henley after Dr. Henley married Sarah Bullard's Daughter and Moved into the home and remained after Her Death. I think the Henley's lived there for 125 years. Should be on the Protected list for sure.
                                                                                       Jeff Champion

The history column that generated the comment above is very interesting. It tells the story of the Bullard-Henley House during the Civil War. This incident happened, of course, after Polly and Parker Rice sold the home to the Bullards. It's a very interesting column. Here is the link:

http://douglasville.patch.com/articles/yankees-sing-dixie-in-douglas

Enjoy!