A Brief History of Wester Joshua Hartage and Manerva Butts-Mathis Hartage.

The Civil War of 1861 to 1865, fought primarily over the issue of slavery, brought freedom to Webster Joshua Howze Hartage while he was still a youth. However after being officially freed by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, Webster, like many other freed slaves, chose to remain on the Hogg Ridge Plantation in Marion County, Georgia.

Later, he would marry Minervia Butts-Mathis,accepting her son Bris as his own. In September 1873, their first child, George Washington, was born. It was the Reconstruction period when black freedmen made considerable progress, including learning toread and write.

Webster Hartage died when George was fourteen.The responsibility of helping the family to survive demanded so much of George's time that he eventually had to stop his schooling. Work was hard and the winters were sometimes very cold. George had to wash clothes in the spring that ran near his home, but sometimes his hands got so cold that he was forced to go back to the house and warm them on the chimney bricks. George was a self-taught man for the most part.Even though he only attended school six weeks out of his life, he was considered to be a well-educated man. He taught himself by buying books and studying at home. While teaching himself, he also taught his brothers, sisters and many of his friends. He was active in church and of course he taught Sunday school. He often said jokingly that he attended Hoggs College, (referring to the plantation where he was born).

The exact year of birth of Laura Jane Ginnie Ann Fic-lockie Virginia Battle is unknown, but it was around 1878. She was born in Marion County and was the sixth child of Henry and Tymy Battle. Her mother died when she was twelve and she never had the chance to learn to read and write.Upon her mother's death, she went to live with her older sister Martha.At about eighteen, she became the bride of George Washington Hartage. Their union was blessed with twelve children, of which two died in infancy. Late in his life, George Hartage was ordained as a minister in the AME church.