Key Facts

Snapshot:	farmer; charged with encouraging prostitution
Parents:	40Jackson Geiger 41Piety Davis
Born:	conflicting information, but circa 1891 Soperton, Montgomery (now Treutlen) County, Georgia
Died:	9 August 1953 at 2:00 AM Treutlen County, Georgia
Buried:	Red Bluff Missionary Baptist Church cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia Approximate coordinates: N32.39225 W82.68741

20Joseph Preston "Buck" Geiger may have been born 5 October 18921 or thereabouts,2-5 (although his death certificate states that he was born 18 October 1889,6 and 1889 is the year carved on his tombstone7). In any case, he was born in Soperton, Georgia to parents 40Jackson Geiger and 41Piety Davis.6

I've been unable to find 20Buck's family in the 1900 U.S. census; perhaps the census worker accidentally skipped their house. The next year (1901)—when 20Buck was still a boy—his father died under suspicious circumstances. 20Buck first appears in the 1910 U.S. census, which shows him living with his mother (who hadn't yet remarried) and siblings.2

1910: 20Buck's family in militia district 1221 (map), Montgomery County, Georgia. Full page.2

On 15 July 1914, 20Buck married 21Mattie Copeland,8 the widow of Floyd Lockhart, who had died young (around age 28) from unknown causes. 21Mattie had three daughters from her previous marriage.9

1914: 20Buck's and 21Mattie Copeland's marriage certificate8

On 5 June 1917, 20Buck signed his World War I draft registration card. It shows he had a wife and four children (presumably the three children from 21Mattie's previous marriage, plus 10Bub), and it describes him as a tall, slender, blue-eyed farmer.1

20Buck's WWI draft registration card. Bigger copy.1

The 1920 census shows his family around Rockledge.3

1920: 20Buck's family in/near Rockledge, militia district 1720 (map), Laurens County, Georgia. Full pages: sheets 9A, 9B.3

By 1930 they'd moved to Lothair, near where 20Buck grew up.4

1930: 20Buck's family in/near Lothair, militia district 1221 (map), Treutlen County, Georgia. Full page.4

The 1940 census shows that 20Buck had completed the third grade, and 21Mattie the sixth. 20Buck and his eldest son were working full-time.5

1940: 20Buck's family in Lothair, Treutlen County, Georgia. Full page.5

By 1950 their children had all moved away.10

1950: 20Buck and 21Mattie still in Lothair. Full page.10

In 2011 I interviewed 20Buck's niece Retha (Geiger) Bennett, whose statements suggest that 20Buck was well-liked by his family.11

1Bryant: You say, ah, Buck had a farm, though, near Soperton?

Retha: Buck was a big farmer.

[...]

Retha: My Mama thought he was just the greatest ___, you know, ___ greatest member of the family. She just said now Buck made something out of hisself.

[In a later part of the interview,] Retha: ___ did a good job on the farm. He was prosperous. Wasn't no millionaire or nothing but had, he never wanted for anyth, anything. All that he wanted he could get. He had a good name, a credit, you know, wise.

She also depicted 20Buck as a sociable man.

Retha: So we stopped at Soperton, sure enough, that's the first one that he saw, Uncle Buck. They always found him in a group of men, you know, laughing and talking. And uh, so he came to the car with us, and then uh after a while his sons came looking for him, and they all began to gather up, and I, I think there were about three boys there for just a few minutes, and it was like a reunion almost right there on the street.

When asked to describe his appearance, she responded:

Well, he was handsome, but he was not... a snob nose or nothing, you know. Just... a friendly person. You could see friendliness in him. Uh. ___. And my momma always said he, he and his sister Maggie looked good, so much alike, and uh, and I know she was pretty, now she, 'cause she lived with us a while.

She also described his alcohol abuse:

Retha: Now he drank, you know, but he ... [The conversation gets interrupted.]

1Bryant: But so, uh, you said, Buck was kind of a drinker?

Retha: Yeah. Yeah, he was. He was a, but not, he never went off and lost the farm and the ba--in a poker game or nothing. He was a strict farmer, and when he drank, it was his own business. He didn't meddle or anything, Ma said. She re-, she respected him highly. She didn't usually for anybody that drank. But he didn't throw away what he had, that's what she called, wasting it. And he took care of his family, ___ she really had a lot of admiration for him. And, uh, good, good pattern, she said, for his neighbors.10

Despite his good reputation, records also show that in 1951 20Buck was formally charged with encouraging a woman to become a prostitute. Due to poor penmanship, I don't understand the outcome of the case. Sadly, the Treutlen County Superior Court clerk stated on 14 July 2015 that any court records that may have existed pertaining to the case are no longer on file; their fate is unknown. The left- and right-side pages of the index record are copied below.12 Note that 20Buck's son 10Bub was charged with incest; the relationship between these two criminal charges, if any, is unknown.

20Buck died of a heart attack in his home on 9 August 1953.6

20Buck is buried in the Red Bluff Missionary Baptist Church cemetery in Treutlen County, Georgia, approximately at coordinates N32.39225 W82.68741. Below is a picture of his tombstone.7

Sources Cited:

1: World War One Draft Registration Cards. Joseph Preston Geiger, born 5 October 1892, Montgomery County, Georgia. NARA microfilm publication 1509. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYX-S6LC?i=859&cc=1968530>, accessed 2 July 2015.

2: 1910 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, Montgomery County, Georgia. Enumeration district 138, sheet 19A, dwelling 211, family 211, Piety Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 201. Internet Archive, <http://archive.org/stream/13thcensus1910po201unit#page/n309/mode/1up>, accessed 4 May 2013.

3: 1920 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Rockledge, militia district 1720, Laurens County, Georgia. Enumeration district 89, sheets 9A and 9B, dwelling 113, family 113, Preston Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 266. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu266unit#page/n534/mode/1up> (sheet 9A) and <https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu266unit#page/n535/mode/1up> (sheet 9B), accessed 2 July 2015.

4: 1930 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, militia district 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 142-1, sheet 10B, dwelling 171, family 171, Joseph P. Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 388. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/georgiacensus00reel388#page/n586/mode/1up>, accessed 2 July 2015.

5: 1940 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 140-1, sheet 1A, family 4, J. P. Geiger household. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89M1-HJ5F?cc=2000219>, accessed 26 September 2017.

6: Treutlen County, Georgia death certificate 19607 for Joseph P Geiger

7: Tombstone of J. P. Geiger, Red Bluff Baptist Church Cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia at approximate coordinates N32.39225 W82.68741. Photograph taken by 1Bryant Knight, 18 May 2009.

8: Montgomery County, Georgia. White Marriages Book 1 (1893-1916), page 541, marriage of Preston Geiger and Mattie Lockhart. Copied from microfilm 4955, Genealogical & Historical Room, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Georgia.

9: Tad Evans. Montgomery County, Georgia, Newspaper Clippings, Volume II (1906-1919) (published by the author, 1994), page 177. The relevant portion, for the date Thursday 20 April 1911, reads, "DIED NEAR ROSEMONT Mr. Floyd Lockhard died on the 10th instant, at his home near here, being about 29 years of age. He was a native of McDuffie County, but was married to Miss Mattie Copeland, daughter of Mr. A. J. Copeland, in 1904. Besides his wife he leaves three small children to mourn the departure of a husband and father. He is a son of Mr. J. S. Lockhart of this county."

10: 1950 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 140-1, sheet 20, dwelling 152, J. P. Geiger household. National Archives, <https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Treutlen&ed=140-1&name=vinnon&page=1&state=GA>, accessed 11 November 2022.

11: Interview with Retha Mae Bennett (daughter of Oscar Geiger, brother of 20Buck), 5 November 2011

12: Treutlen County, Georgia. Superior Court Records Office. Criminal Docket 1 (index book), page 108. Page 108 is actually two pages (a left- and right-side).

13: The Macon News (Macon, Georgia), Wednesday 12 August 1953, page 5