Key Facts

Snapshot:	Baptist preacher in mid-1800's southeast Georgia
Parents:	160Jeremiah Geiger 161Elizabeth Evers
Born:	17 November 1835 Effingham County, Georgia
Died:	5 July 1908 At home near Glenville, Tattnall County, Georgia
Buried:	Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery, Candler County, Georgia Coordinates: N32.31621 W81.96452

80Washington Leonard Geiger was born 17 November 18351,2 in Effingham County, Georgia1,3 to parents 160Jeremiah Geiger4-6 and 161Elizabeth Evers.6

I have found five depictions of 80Washington. Each is shown below in chronological order of publication: 1881, 1888, 1904, 1907, and two undated/unknown.1,7-11

In the 1850 census we find 15 year-old 80Washington living with his parents in Effingham County.5 Both his parents were active Baptists, and "[i]n early life their son [80]Washington was taught to reverence God and study his Word, which made deep impressions on him." 1

1850: 80Washington's family in Effingham County, Georgia. Full pages: 1, 2.5

Influenced by the preaching of J. H. Corley,1 on 4 June 1854 80Washington joined the First Baptist Church in Forsyth12 (marked on the master map). The church licensed him to preach on 5 May 1855.1,13 Preaching didn't come naturally for him, however. "Being only about eighteen years of age and naturally timid, with other embarrassing circumstances, some of his earliest efforts did not reach the standard he had set before himself, and he became so depressed that he almost resolved never to make another. But the kind treatment of the brethren and the wise and judicious counsels of Elder Corley encouraged him to go on [...]." 80Washington spent much of 1854 at Corley's house studying theology and occasionally preaching.1

In 1855 he enrolled at Middle Ground School in Screven County, studying under H. E. Cassidy, with hopes of preparing himself to continue his education at Mercer University, but unspecified health problems would prevent his advancement.1

Middle Ground School, Screven County
The photograph has no date but was published in 1916.14

80Washington next taught school for a year or two in Liberty County, then became the pastor at Salem Church in Liberty County.1 (I've been unable to find additional information about this church.) He married 81Catherine Tillman in Bulloch County on 17 November 1858,15 then resigned his position as pastor two months later.1

80Washington's and 81Catherine Tillman's marriage certificate. Full page.15

The newlyweds moved and started a farm in militia district 35116 (map), Tattnall County.3 You may be interested in his 1860 farm schedule listing: 1, 2, template.17 I haven't found 80Washington listed in the 1860 slave schedule. An 1862 tax digest shows him still in militia district 351,18 and an 1866 tax assessment shows him still in Tattnall County.19

1860: 80Washington's family in Tattnall County, Georgia. Full page.3

In 1867 the U.S. Congress passed several Reconstruction Acts. These Acts divided the former Confederacy into several military occupation zones, which were ruled by Union military commanders. The Acts also directed the commanding officers to register Southerners who wanted to vote in upcoming elections. One registration requirement was to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States; the obvious intent was to disfranchise any lingering Confederate resistance. 80Washington signed his oath on 10 August 1867.20

80Washington's Reconstruction-era voter registration oath.20

80Washington was "soon called to a school and church in Montgomery county, and in a little while was invited to the care of the church in Dublin, Laurens county," 1 i.e. the First Baptist Church of Dublin, where he took over as pastor circa 1869.21 The church was (and still is) at the northwest corner of North Church Street and Bellevue Avenue (marked on the master map), although the building was replaced in the early 1900's. Below is a photograph of the building that was used when 80Washington was pastor.22

A photo of the First Baptist Church of Dublin as it looked when 80Washington was pastor there.22

As expected, 80Washington was living in Laurens County in 1870.23 An 1871 tax digest specifies that he lived in militia district 34224 (map).

1870: 80Washington's family in Laurens County, Georgia. Full page.23

After his father's death circa 1871,6 80Washington moved to Effingham County to help to take care of his elderly mother1 until her death in September 18736 (although he was still listed in Laurens County's 1872 tax digest25).

In May 1875 he became the pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bulloch County and around that time also founded Excelsior Academy. Two photos of the Academy are below.26,27 The building no longer exists, but I've marked its location (more or less) on the master map.

In August 1877 he began publishing The Excelsior News, a local newspaper.1 The only known, extant, complete edition is that of 30 May 1879, of which the top of the front page is copied below.28 There are also transcribed excerpts from the 26 July 1878 and 18 July 1879 editions featured in an article in Bulloch Times and Statesboro News, 13 November 1930, page 2. Furthermore, the front page of the 16 May 1879 edition is reprinted in Statesboro: A Century of Progress, 1866-1966, page 65, but it contains no additional interesting information, so I haven't copied/linked it here.

The front page of The Excelsior News, the newspaper created by 80Washington Geiger. Full page.28

The building that housed The Excelsior News.29

On 28 May 1879 he was appointed to be Excelsior's postmaster. He held the position until 27 September 1880, when he was succeeded by his eldest son John.30

80Washington was Excelsior's postmaster from May 1879 to September 1880.30

His wife 81Catherine died in late May 1879. The above-linked 30 May 1879 edition of The Excelsior News describes her death very dramatically. Interestingly, on the exact same page 80Washington published an ad for a "housekeeper" "to take charge of a house. She will be expected to do household work, such as cooking, milking, ironing[,] sewing, attending to children in a general way."

About seven months later, he married his second (and final) wife, Julia Pevey, on 7 January 1880.31

After the death of his first wife 81Catherine, 80Washington married Julia Pevey. Full page.31

As expected, the 1880 census shows 80Washington, his new wife, and several children living in Bulloch County, Georgia.32 You may also be interested in his 1880 agriculture schedule listing, or an abstract is included with the source citation below.33

1880: 80Washington's family in militia district 45 (map), Bulloch County, Georgia. Full pages: 1, 2.32

On 15 November 1882 his son James celebrated his 21st birthday, and 80Washington wrote him a letter with lots of advice on health, money, possessions, family, choosing a wife, etc. Although the disposition of the original letter is unknown, a transcription has been passed down through several generations of James' descendants, one of whom provided me with a copy.34

In December 1884 he signed a record pertaining to his guardianship of his still-minor children, viz: Judson B., 40Jackson L., Joseph J., W. T. R., and Catharine B. Geiger.35

1884: 80Washington's original signature on a record that names his children who were still minors.35

In 1880 80Washington released Laws of Sacramental Communion, the first of several religious works.36 In 1888 he released Seven Baptist Pillars, a book with a series of sermons that teach that the Baptist denomination is the only legitimate form of Christianity.7 In 1890 he established The Baptist Watchman, a weekly newspaper.37 In 1907 he released his last book, Jewish Passover and Feet-Washing.38

From Thursday 12 to Sunday 15 November 1891 80Washington attended a Baptist convention in Abbeville. He was described as one of the "distinguished visitors," along with Georgia Governor William J. Northern and Mercer University President Gustavus Alonzo Nunnally.39

An 1890 tax digest lists him as a taxpayer in militia district 1367 (map), Laurens County,40 but the 1900 census shows him as a resident of militia district 1432 (map), Tattnall County.41

1900: 80Washington's family in militia district 1432 (map), Tattnall County. Full page.41

In 1891 he signed an oath to become a member of Laurens County's Board of Education.42

1891: 80Washington signs an oath as a member of the Board of Education42

80Washington spent his final years as the pastor of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Glennville. He's mentioned frequently in church meeting minutes from this period (See starting here, for example). The photo below shows the church circa 1895, around the time 80Washington became pastor there. The church was later demolished and replaced with the present-day First Baptist Glennville.

circa 1895: Philadelphia Baptist Church, Glennville, Georgia, where 80Washington was pastor for the last ~12 years of his life.43

80Washington died at his home near Glenville, Tattnall County on 5 July 1908. His death was reported in obituaries in several newspapers, two of which are copied below. The first is from Bulloch Times44 and the second is from The Montgomery Monitor.45

Philadelphia Baptist Church, where 80Washington had been pastor up until his death, had the following memorial read and recorded in its church meeting minutes:

Bro. W. L. Geiger was born Nov. 17, 1835, joined the Baptist church at Forsyth in 1853, and early the next year was licensed to preach. On the first Sunday in June, 1857, he was set apart to the full work of the ministry, by an action of Salem church, Liberty County. Since that time until July 5th, on which day the Lord called him to sleep with the fathers, he was a very tireless worker, teaching school, preaching as missionary, serving churches as pastor, and not least to be mentioned as part of his work, instructing young preachers.

During this time he never took a vacation, always meeting his appointments unless providentially hindered; often times going through rain and cold in order not to disappoint the people. This is noteworthy from the fact that all his labors were in the country, his churches often being scattered many miles apart.

He was pastor of Philadelphia nearly twelve years, being called to the care of the church in August, 1896.

Now, whereas the Giver of every perfect gift has seen fit in his wisdom to call our pastor brother up higher, that he may rest from his laors and his works follow him;

And whereas our loss will be greater than we can now conceive of, both in his daily life and in his pulpit teaching.

Therefore be it resolved that we meekly submit to Him that doeth all things well

That our pulpit be suitably draped for mourning for sixty days;

That we extend our sympathy to the bereaved family and to friends;

That a copy of this be spread on the church book, and copy be sent for publication."

80Washington is buried in Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery, Candler County, Georgia at coordinates N32.31621 W81.96452. Below are photos of his tombstone. The text on the back reads, "A light from our household is gone. A voice we loved is stilled. A place is vacant in our home That never can be filled." 2

Sources Cited:

1: Samuel Boykin, History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia, Volume II (Jas. P. Harrison & Co., Atlanta, GA, 1881), pages 222-223.

2: Tombstone of Washington L. Geiger, Excelsior Baptist Church Cemetery, Candler County, Georgia at coordinates N32.31621 W81.96452. Photograph taken by 1Bryant Knight, 12 May 2009.

3: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Tattnall County, Georgia. Page 56, dwelling 383, family 383, Washington L. Giger household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 137. Ancestry.com, accessed 2009. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBT-6NW?i=54&cc=1473181>.

4: Lucian Lamar Knight, A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume VI (Lewis Publishing Company, 1917), pages 2902-3. Although it lacks source citations, this profile of 80Washington's son Judson Beach Geiger was published while Judson was still alive, and Judson almost certainly contributed much of the information. The profile explains that Judson was a "son of Rev. Washington Leonard and Katherine C. (Tillman) Geiger. His grandfather, Jeremiah Geiger [...]."

5: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). District 26, Effingham County, Georgia. Page 356 [There are two pages not numbered separately.], dwelling 251, family 251, Jeremiah Gigger household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 68. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/7thcensus0056unit/page/n238/mode/1up> (page 356a) and <https://archive.org/details/7thcensus0056unit/page/n239/mode/1up> (page 356b), accessed 11 September 2023.

6: "OBITUARIES," The Christian Index (Atlanta, Georgia), 13 November 1873, page 8, columns 1-2. The obituary describes 161Elizabeth as a "relict of [160]Jeremiah Geiger of Effingham county, Georgia," and on her deathbed "she called her son, [80]Rev. W. L. Geiger."

7: W. L. Geiger, The Seven Baptist Pillars (C. R. Barns Publishing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, 1888). WorldCat shows only one library that has a copy of the book: the James P. Boyce Centennial Library at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky; the book's call number there is BX6333 .G45 1888. Unfortunately their copy is in poor condition (Among other problems, many pages have detached from the binding.), so the library doesn't loan the book out. Using photographs of every page, I have mostly "reconstructed" the book: Download a PDF. My reconstruction is as close as reasonably possible to the original: Page and line breaks occur at the same positions. Misspellings, grammatical errors, and formatting oddities have been left uncorrected. I even reproduced some stray marks and scribbles I found in the book. There are some differences, however: (1) The font is slightly different. (2) Because many pages have detached from the binding, sometimes words that were printed near the page margins are impossible to read. In my reconstruction, I've used a special symbol ( ▓ ) in place of letters/words that I couldn't read or deduce. (3) I've added a few editorial notes at the back of the book; these are well-identified as such.

8: J. A. Scarboro, The Bible, The Baptists, and the Board System (published by the author, Fulton, Kansas, 1904). I do not know the page number; a scanned copy of the page was provided to me by Francesca Henle-Taylor.

9: W. L. Geiger, Jewish Passover and Feet-Washing (Bullock Times, 1907), the page before the dedication page.

10: I don't know the original source of the photograph. I found it within a blog post: Scott Thompson, "First Century for First Baptist," Pieces of Our Past, 2 May 2014, <http://dublinlaurenscountygeorgia.blogspot.com/2014/05/first-century-for-first-baptist.html>. Attempts to reach Mr. Thompson to ask about the source of the image have proven unsuccessful.

11: Photograph uploaded to Ancestry.com by user ThurmondKnight on 18 May 2016; <https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/86308140/person/30534440558/media/c50ea334-abb2-4a5b-8155-33912c858c28?_phsrc=mHS52&_phstart=successSource>. The image is titled "Four Generations of Geigers" and captioned "Four generations: left to right, Reverend Washington Leonard Geiger, his great-granddaughter, his grandson Joseph Jeremiah Geiger, and his son Judson Beach Geiger."

12: Record of the Harmony Baptist Church (First Baptist Church of Forsyth), Volume I, 1838-1878 (First Baptist Church of Forsyth, Forsyth, Georgia), page 84.

13: ibid., page 90.

14: M. L. Duggan, Educational Survey of Screven County, Georgia (1916), page 35. The book does not contain a separate citation for the photographs themselves.

15: Bulloch County, Georgia. Marriages book 19A (1857-1867), page 28, marriage of W. L. Geiger of Effingham County and Cathrine C. Tillman of Tattnall County. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93G-F9Q2-4?i=292&cc=1999178&cat=335052>, accessed 23 October 2021.

16: Tattnall County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1860, militia district 351, the second set of pages for militia district 351 [The pages aren't numbered.], entry for W. L. Geiger. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893" / Tattnall / 1860 / images 31 and 32 of 66), accessed 14 August 2013. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-WJ7L?i=120&cat=306952>.

17: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Agriculture Schedule). Tattnall County, Georgia. Pages 15 and 16, entry #34, W. L. Geiger farm. NARA microfilm publication T1137, roll 6. Copied from microfilm 2657, Genealogical & Historical Room, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Georgia. As you can see, his farm consisted of 24 acres of improved land, $40 of farming tools, 2 horses, 6 milk cows, 8 other cattle, 10[?] sheep, and 14 pigs, and had produced 25 bushels of peas and beans, 30 bushels of sweet potatoes, and had slaughtered $100 worth of animals in the past year.

18: Tattnall County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1862, militia district 351, the third set of pages for militia district 351 [The pages aren't numbered.], entry for Washington L. Giger. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893" / Tattnall / 1862 / images 63 and 64 of 96), accessed 14 August 2013. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-WN1L?i=177&cat=306952>.

19: 1866 IRS Tax Assessment. Tattnall County, Georgia. Division 8, collection district 2, page 2, line 15, entry for W. L. Geiger. Ancestry.com, ("U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918" / Georgia / District 1 Annual Lists 1865-1866), accessed 28 March 2011. To see the relevant portion of the record, see this page. The record describes him as a "Physician" but is presumably erroneous since this description is inconsistent with the large amount of other evidence I've found about 80Washington.

20: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 16 (Book 3 for Tattnall, Liberty, and McIntosh counties), page 184, entry 56, W L Geiger. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, U.S., Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869" / Oath Book / Tattnall / 2 / image 182 of 403), accessed May 2012. The corresponding microfilm at the Georgia Archives is microfilm 296/18.

21: Bertha Sheppard Hart, The Official History of Laurens County Georgia, 1807-1941 (Agee Publishers, Inc., Dublin, Georgia, 1987), page 151.

22: I don't know the original source of the photograph. I found it within a book: Scott Thompson, Dublin: The Emerald City (Arcadia Publishing, 2000), page 70.

23: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia District 391, Laurens County, Georgia. Page 334, dwelling 393, family 393, Washington Gigger household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 161. Ancestry.com, accessed 2009. I used Ancestry.com, but the image is also available on Familysearch.org: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-65R5-XJ?i=10&cc=1438024>.

24: Laurens County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1871, the third set of pages for militia district 342 [The pages aren't numbered.], entry for W. L. Gieger. Ancestry.com, "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893" / Laurens / 1871 / images 6 and 7 of 120), accessed 14 August 2013. To see the relevant portions of the record, see the left-side page and right-side page.

25: Laurens County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1872, the third set of pages for militia district 342 [The pages aren't numbered.], entry for W. L. Gieger. Ancestry.com, "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893" / Laurens / 1872 / images 6 and 7 of 113), accessed 14 August 2013. To see the relevant portions of the record, see the left-side page and right-side page.

26: "Excelsior, ca. 1882. Excelsior Academy. Near Metter, now in Candler County. Prominent school of the area." Georgia Archives Virtual Vault, <http://vault.georgiaarchives.org/cdm/ref/collection/vg2/id/1068>, accessed 12 January 2018.

27: I don't know the original source of the photograph. I found it within a book: Dorothy Brannen, Life in Old Bulloch: The Story of a Wiregrass County in Georgia (Magnolia Press, 1987), page 125.

28: The Excelsior News (Excelsior, Georgia), 30 May 1879. Georgia Historic Newspapers, <https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/2016227608/1879-05-30/ed-1/seq-1/>, accessed 2 November 2021.

29: I don't know the original source of the photograph. I found it within a book: Statesboro: A Century of Progress, 1866-1966 (Bulloch Herald Publishing Company, 1969), page 65.

30: Record of Appointment of Postmasters (1832-1971), volume 42 (1876-1889), Bulloch County, Georgia, page 298. NARA microfilm publication M841, roll 22. Copied from Ancestry.com ("U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971").

31: Bulloch County, Georgia. Marriage book 4A (1877-1890), page 43, marriage of Elder W. L. Geiger and Miss Julia Pevey. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893G-F93G-2?i=475&cc=1999178&cat=335052>, accessed 23 October 2021.

32: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 45, Bulloch County, Georgia. Enumeration district 11, pages 519C and 519D, dwelling 15, family 16, Washington Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 135. Ancestry.com, accessed 21 November 2010. I used Ancestry.com, but the census images are also available on Familysearch.org: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB7-9MSD?i=2&cc=1417683 (page 519C) and <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB7-1VY?i=3&cc=1417683> (page 519D).

33: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Agriculture Schedule). Bulloch County, Georgia. Section for militia district 45, page 1, entry 8, Washington Geiger farm. NARA microfilm publication T1137, roll 10. Image. As you can see, the farm consisted of 50 acres of tilled land (plus 800 acres of woods), $50 of machinery, 1 horse, 1 mule, 3 milk cows, 5 other unspecified cattle, 15 pigs, and 100 barnyard chickens. In 1879 they slaughtered no cattle, but one had died or escaped. Their chickens had produced 50 eggs. They had grown 12 acres of Indian corn to yield 200 bushels, 20 acres of oats to yield 200 bushels, 5 acres of cotton to yield 2 bales, 0.25 acres of sugarcane to yield 60 gallons of molasses, 1 acre of sweet potatoes to yield 100 bushels, and had produced 100 bushels of cowpeas.

34: Typed transcript owned by Annette Smith (self-professed granddaughter of James Tillman Geiger, son of 80Washington Geiger), who mailed me a copy on 9 October 2012. I don't know the disposition of the original letter itself. The text of the letter.

35: Heritage Center, Laurens County Library, Dublin, Georgia. Mr. Allen Thomas' collection of original Laurens County, Georgia 19th-century documents / folder for W. L. Geiger / file #2. The library's index entry for this record reads, "Oath of office of W. L. Geiger as guardian of his children Judson B. Geiger, Jackson L. Geiger, Joseph J. Geiger, W. T. R. Geiger, and Catherine B. Geiger. Signatures of W. L. Geiger and John T. Duncan."

36: George William Lasher, ed., "GEIGER, W. L.," The Ministerial Directory of the Baptist Churches in the United States of America (Ministerial Directory Company, 1899), page 281.

37: George Batten Company, George Batten's Directory of the Religious Press of the United States: 1892 (published by the author, 1892), page 20.

38: W. L. Geiger, Jewish Passover and Feet-Washing (Bullock Times, 1907). I have digitized the book: Download a PDF.

39: The Weekly Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), Wednesday morning 18 November 1891, page 8, column 4. Image.

40: Laurens County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1890, militia district 1367 (Lowery's), pages 3 and 4, Washington L. Gieger. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893" / Laurens / 1890 / images 3 and 4 of 111), accessed 14 August 2013.

41: 1900 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Glenville, militia district 1432, Tattnall County, Georgia. Enumeration district 133, sheet 3, dwelling 44, family 47, W. L. Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 222. Ancestry.com, accessed 5 September 2010. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DY6X-2?i=4&cc=1325221>.

42: Heritage Center, Laurens County Library, Dublin, Georgia. Mr. Allen Thomas' collection of original Laurens County, Georgia 19th-century documents / folder for W. L. Geiger / file #4. The library's index entry for this record reads, "W. L. Geiger oath as member of the board of education. Signatures of W. L. Geiger,and John T. Duncan."

43: "Glennville, ca. 1895. Philadelphia Baptist Church built 1883" (online image). Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, Virtual Vault, <https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/vg2/id/14679/rec/1>, accessed 2 April 2024.

44: "W. L. Geiger Dead," Bulloch Times (Statesboro, Georgia), Wednesday 8 July 1908, page 1.

45: "The Close of a Well Spent Life," The Montgomery Monitor (Mt. Vernon, Georgia), Thursday 9 July 1908, page 1, rightmost column.

46: Saturday 25 July 1908 meeting minutes, Philadelphia Baptist Church, Glennville, Georgia. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C34J-WSML-7?i=110&cat=149494>.