Volume 1 of Pioneers of the Wiregrass begins a new series of books and is an expansion of Judge Huxford’s original seven volumes of Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia and the Huxford Genealogical Society’s publication of volumes eight through twelve.  The original twelve volumes cover the wiregrass area of Georgia and the adjacent counties in Florida.  They also include the ancestors of pioneer settlers of the coverage area who lived in other regions of the country.

Over the years, there have been many requests to expand the geographical area covered in the books.  After twelve volumes, the board of directors of the Huxford Genealogical Society felt that the time had come to respond to these requests and include the Wiregrass counties of South Alabama and Northwest Florida.  This volume has some pioneers who lived in the expansion areas and later volumes will include even more.  There are a few sketches that are re-prints of ones printed in Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, usually with substantial additional information.

Scores of people are responsible for the contents of this book, far too many to mention here.  Dozens are acknowledged via the pioneer sketches they submitted. We give special thanks to our library staff, Delain Bennett and Sharon Keith for their hard work and interest.  Their efforts go way beyond "just a job." Board members, Cathy Wells, Dolores Carpenter, Carrie Clark and President Donald Davis contributed their time and efforts, especially on "work days" which are held each month.  Special thanks are also extended to board member, Jessie Paulk, for indexing the book. Our Library Director, Spence Davis, deserves special praise for the long hours and dedicated service that he has spent over the last few years. As stated before, there are many others.  Truly, this book is the result of Society members working as a team for a common goal.

Volume 1 of Pioneers of the Wiregrass continues the amazing legacy of our founder, the late Judge Folks Huxford.  He was a brilliant and remarkable man in many areas and professions. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade, (he said they had something called "algebra"), and yet was one of the most educated men in his generation in Clinch County, Georgia. He began working in the courthouse in Homerville as a teenager where he developed a thorough knowledge of the Clinch County Courthouse records. In his old age, his fantastic memory enabled him to recall the book and page number of many of the early deeds.  He read law, passed the bar and became a successful lawyer and was a very popular political leader and public servant.  He was a Superior Court Judge and was County Judge at his death, though blind by then. He was Judge of the Court of Ordinary, (Probate Judge), long time Clerk of Court, and was on the County School Board. When he was a young man, he represented his district in the State Legislature.  He chose not to run for re-election because, due to lack of money, he had to sleep on a park bench in Atlanta when the Legislature was in session.

He was also a very respected Baptist Evangelist and in this capacity resurrected several extinct Baptist Churches that are still functioning and helped other churches that were faltering.  He also was an accomplished pianist and vocalist.  His beautiful and emotional rendition of Amazing Grace while accompanying himself on the piano would make grown men cry.  For many years, he owned, edited and published the Clinch County News, with the able assistance of his wife, Orrie Kirkland Huxford.

His careers as a public servant, lawyer, preacher, newspaper editor and musician would have been enough for most anyone, but his lasting legacy and his greatest accomplishments, came from his avid interest in history, particularly family history.  When just a boy, he began compiling his acclaimed History of Clinch County, which became a standard for county histories. He completed this work at age nineteen, but had to wait several years to accumulate enough money to have it published.  He later published the History of Brooks County Georgia and the History of Upson County Georgia. He founded the Georgia Genealogical Magazine, which he published until his eyesight began to fail.  He was instrumental in setting up the Georgia State Archives in Atlanta and was a Fellow in the very prestigious American Society of Genealogists.

He considered the seven volumes of Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia his greatest achievement. This almost unbelievable work has been a boon to genealogists with ties to North Florida and South Georgia and has no equal in any other section of the United States.

As great an achievement as the seven volumes of Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia is, without a doubt his foresight in creating the Huxford Genealogical Society was even more momentous, because without it his work would have come to an end with his death.  As the years passed and he began to lose his eyesight, he realized that he had to do something to preserve his genealogical collection. He felt that he needed to devise a means by which his work would continue after he was gone.  He put his great mind to work and after several months of intense planning, he called together a group of interested friends in 1972 and outlined his plans for an organization to continue his work. Out of this came the Huxford Genealogical Society.  He stoutly resisted naming the organization after him, saying "never name something after someone while they are still alive, because you never know what they’ll do before they die." This was one time his opinion was ignored, as it should have been.

Over the years the Society has grown and flourished.  The contents of the library always astounds a genealogist on their first visit. Judge Huxford’s card files on over 5,000 families are the centerpiece of the library.  The voluminous family folders accumulated over the years have to be seen to be believed and are extremely valuable. The contents of the library, that even contains over 100 volumes of the Pennsylvania Archives, are now insured for $1,000,000 and is growing every day.

The success of the Society has given Judge Huxford a form of immortality. It has exceeded even his optimistic hopes and dreams and he would be very proud.  We feel that he would be pleased with Volume 1, Pioneers of the Wiregrass.

E. L. "Boe" Williams, Co-Editor, Chairman of the Board

Helen Rowell, Co-Editor, Vice President