Col. John Daniel Munnerlyn,
Sr.
(27 Jul 1842 - 22 Mar 1895)
The following is a biography taken from "Biographical Souvenir of the State of Georgia and Florida", Chicago, F. A. Battey & Company, 1889, Page, 604-605.
Note: Errors were found in this bio. and marked in red, corrections are in the addendum.
Col. JOHN D. MUNNERLYN
The European extraction of the Munnerlyns is not definitely settled; but family tradition says it is Welsh, and probably it is. The first of the name to make his appearance in this country was Samuel Munnerlyn1, who sought his fortune in the new world many years ago, locating in Georgetown, S. C., where he seems to have prospered reasonably well and in time became high constable of his bailiwick with whatever dignity and importance that office then carried with it. His sons became planters and prospered also. As to what their names were the family record does not say, but at any rate one of them had a son named James K. Munnerlyn, who was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Georgetown, S. C., married a daughter of John Daniel of that place, who was a descendant of Gov. Daniel of colonial times, began life there as a rice planter and moved in 1850 to Georgia, where he continued planting first in Chatham then in Burke County until 1866, when he located in Savannah. There he became the inspector of dry culture for the city, was for several years an important factor in the sanitary matters of that place, but finally yielded up his life, though at his post, in the yellow fever scourge of 1876, his good wife falling by his side a victim of the same plague. He left five children: Major B. A. Munnerlyn of Georgetown, S. C.; Maj. James K. Munnerlyn of Clear Water Harbor, Fla.; John D. Munnerlyn, of Waynesborough, Ga.; Mrs. E. S. Stocking of Portland, Conn., and Mrs. S. W. Roquie, of Georgetown, S. C., since deceased.
John D. Munnerlyn was born at the old Munnerlyn family site in Georgetown, S. C., July 27, 1842. He was consequently eight years old when his parents moved to Georgia. He was educated at private schools and at Chatham County, Savannah, and at Goldthwaite High School, Lougmeadow, Mass. He began business in Savannah, but quit on the breaking out of the war and enlisted in the Confederate service as member of the Georgia Hussars. He served awhile in the army of Virginia, and was discharged on account of rheumatic trouble. He was afterwards put in the Quartermaster’s department and served there until the surrender. Soon after the close of the war, through the assistance of his brother-in-law, D. S. Stocking, he was appointed assistant agent of the United States treasury department at Augusta, and was placed in charge of all the captured and abandoned property at that place to be disposed for the benefit of the general government. He was subsequently assistant agent of the internal revenue department; giving in all about fourteen months of his services to the government, for which he received nothing, as when he presented his bill for pay he was confronted with the iron-clad oath, to which he could not subscribe, and therefore quit the service empty-handed. He began planting in Burke County, and in 1869 a vacancy having occurred in the office of clerk of the superior court he was appointed to fill the unexpired term. He was elected for a full term at the following general election, and after filling that term he read law, was admitted to the bar and began practice. He has been interested in any number of schemes at which he has been more or less successful, all looking to the building up of his town and county, and to the realization of the dramatist’s advice: “Put money in the purse,” December 14, 1865, he married Miss Anna R. Mandell, a daughter of George A. Mandell, of Waynesborough, who was killed during the war while serving as captain in the Seventh Kentucky cavalry. Miss. Mandell was adopted and reared by Maj. John C. Poythress, a descendant of two of the most respectable families of Burke County and himself one of the wealthiest and most enterprising men in the county. The fruit of this union is John D. Munnerlyn, Jr., a young man now just entering life.
Col. John D. Munnerlyn is the founder of the town of the same name on the Augusta & Savannah Railroad, soon, possibly, to be a place of some note, as the new railroad from Atlanta to Savannah will also pass through it. Munnerlyn Ga., has about 175 inhabitants, railroad depot, express office, post office, and schools and churches.
Addendum:
1). There is a definite error in this story. There are no records that have been found to this date that show that a Samual Munnerlyn was the first Munnerlyn to come to the American Colonies. The oldest records found at this time indicate that a James Munnerlyn may have been the first to come to the Americas, some time around 1735. A State of South Carolina Land Grant was granted to a Samuel Munnerlyn, 5 April 1790 and surveyed on 21 September 1789. This grant also has John Munnerlyn on it. It just so happens that there is another identical land grant dated 5 April 1790 that replaces the name Samuel Munnerlyn with John Munnerlyn. This John Munnerlyn was John Daniel Munnerlyn's Great Grandfather. Samuel may have been that John's secondary name, so this may be where the name Samuel Munnerlyn come from. There are several write-ups that say that John Munnerlyn, a captain in the Revolutionary war, was the first to come to America. All indications show that this John was a son of James that came to America in about 1735.
Descendant Relation:
James Sr.>Capt. John>William>James K. Sr.>John
Daniel MUNNERLYN, Sr.
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