William Drayton Cowdrey



On the night of Wednesday, March 18th, 1864, near Blakely,
Georgia, Rev. William Drayton Cowdry at the age of 61 without
a groan or a gasping spirit yielded up his spirit to God.  For
many years Brother Cowdry was a pious, laborious, and successful
preacher and educator in Georgia, having moved here from
South Carolina just after his graduation of the State University
of Columbia.

He was born April 1, 1803 in Edgefield, South Carolina.
His parents were John and Anne Cowdry. His father was a
Revolutionary soldier and was shot down in his own yard
by Tories, when on a visit home from the army.  His
grandfather, Savage B. Cowdry, came over from the British
Isles with an older brother in Colonial times.  He participated
in the act of casting the Tea overboard in the Boston Harbor.  
William Drayton Cowdry was only two years old when his father
was killed.  His mother married John Mason but continued to
reside at the same place, bringing up two families of children
and educating them at the village school.  At seventeen he
entered the State University and was graduated with honors, 
receiving two diplomas, one for a general course, and one for
excellence of languages.  After graduation he selected teaching
as his profession and choosing Georgia for his field of labor
opened a male school in Greene County, and remained there for
two years, marrying Miss Selah G. Janes, daughter of William 
and Selah Janes of that County in April 1832.  He joined the
church and was baptized at Edgefield prior to 1820.

He became convinced that it was his duty to preach the Gospel
and he took a Theological course at Mercer University, and on
completing this course, he was licensed and duly ordained in
1834 or 1835. He then spent two years at Crawfordville preaching
at two churches.  From there he went to Cedar Town for two years;
then settled at Cave Spring and remained there for sixteen or
eighteen years.  Thirteen children were born to them, seven of
whom died in infancy, while one fell at Gettysburg.  He taught 
during his stay there at Female High School and occupied several
responsible positions, preaching in the meantime to two or more churches.

About this time he became alarmed over his wife's health and
spent a winter in Early County, Georgia with his brother-in-law,
Mr. James Shackelford.  This led to his settlement in Early County,
nine miles southwest of Blakely, in 1856.  He united with the
Macedonia Church at Blakely and soon organized a church 
near by of which he remained pastor until his death.

He continued to preach at various churches in Early County and
towards the end of 1863 his health began to fail rapidly.
Still he continued to preach, sometimes taking long rides
in the week to do so, and returning to fill his own pulpit
at Zion on the Sabbath, although so feeble as to require
assistance to and from his carriage.

COWDRY, BERRY			MULLIGAN, HOLLY			29-Dec	1869	GA Early
COWDRY, JOHN W.			JAMES, REBECCA E.		1-May	1866	GA Early
COWDRY, W. D.			CALHOUN, M. E.			25-Sep	1889	GA Early
COWDRY, L. M.			TAYLOR, ROBERT B.		4-Nov	1869	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, ELIZABETH		COTHERN, ELIJAH			14-Dec	1876	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, ELLEN A.		GIFT, GEORGE W.			10-Apr	1864	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, GEORGIA E.		HINES, RICHARD K.		1-Dec	1864	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, HANNAH C.		COLLIER, C. MILES		10-Sep	1863	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, JANE		SMITH, EPHRAM			1-Jan	1884	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, REBECCA		ALEXANDER, JOE			21-Feb	1869	GA Early
SHACKLEFORD, MARIAH A.		BEST, ARCHIBALD			9-Mar	1851	GA Early
SHACKLEFORD, MARY E.		HAMILTON, JAMES			29-May	1856	GA Early
SHACKELFORD, BENJAMIN		BROWN, HENRIETTA		16-Jan	1879	GA Early

SC Marriages 
SHACKLEFORD, JAMES           COWDRY, HARRIET             Dec 15 1814 Abbeville District.

Virginia Marriages, 1740-1850     
SAVAGE COWDRY MARY BARLOW 15 June 1758 Northampton 

1840 Floyd County Georgia page255 district 829
W. D. Cowdry
1 male under 5
1 male 5/10
1 male 20/30
1 male 30/40
1 female 5/10
2 females 20/30


1850 Early County Georgia page 309a 
23  212  212 Shackelford    James          60   M         Farmer         18,000    SC
             Shackelford    Harriett       55   F                                  Ga
             Shackelford    Hannah         9    F                                  Ga
             Shackelford    Georgianna     9    F                                  Ga
             Shackelford    Julia          5    F                                  Ga

1860 Georgia Federal Census Index
COWDRY, WILLIAM DRAYTON 
County: Early County  
Township: Octavia P. O. 28th Dist Page: 625