Riverside
Toccoa, Georgia

          This Greek Revival house was built by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jeremiah Prather about 1854. It is a classic example of perhaps the most favored architectural style of the antebellum era, and notable exteriorly for its boxed columns, low wrap-around porch, and small veranda with decorative balustrade overhanging the approach to the main doors.
          Riverside had a brief, but noteworthy, role in Confederate history. In April of 1865 General (and first Confederate Secretary of State) Robert Toombs sought refuge at Riverside when pursued by the Union Army. His arrest had been ordered after the assassination of Lincoln, as had that of other high-ranking Confederate officials,

including Judah Benjamin, Alexander Stephens, and President Jefferson Davis.
          Gen. Toombs had been at Riverside between one and two weeks when awakened from a nap on the upstairs veranda one afternoon by the sound of hoofbeats on the wooden bridge leading up to the house. It was already too late to reach the stables, saddle Alice Grey, and ride away. Thinking quickly, the General donned nightdress and cap belonging to Sarah Jarratt Prather (Mrs. Joseph J.) and hid in a bedroom closet. Most unusually for the time, and most fortuitously for the General, Riverside actually did have closets. (They were considered a room, and property taxes were often based upon the number of rooms in a dwelling.)
          Toombs waited in the closet, pistols ready, determined to take out as many yankees as possible before he was captured or killed. He was never discovered, most likely because the closet door was mistaken for a connecting door to the next room.
          General Toombs left Riverside shortly thereafter, and made his way out of the country, remaining in exile for two years. He returned in 1867, and was eventually asked by Senator Oliver Morton why he had not asked for a pardon. In response Toombs exploded with one of his most famous statements: "Pardon for what? I have not pardoned you all yet!"

          The War interrupted life at Riverside only temporarily, and Joseph J. and Sarah Prather finished raising their family there. Miss Toccoa Prather (daughter of Joseph J. and Sarah, named for Toccoa Falls or Toccoa Creek), is said to have died on the eve of her wedding and to have been buried wearing her wedding dress in the family cemetery on the grounds at Riverside. The estate is still in the hands of descendants of her brother, and remains a private residence, but is occasionally opened for special events. In 1990, because of its historic significance, Riverside was selected as the site of ceremonies reactivating the Currahee Rangers Camp #935, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

(Photos and information courtesy of Mrs. Karen Thompson Ledford, Toccoa Chapter #1294 UDC)

These Men Wore Grey, A Confederate Research Series consisting of genealogical, military and interment records of Confederate Soldiers that will be of interest to those researching Confederate Soldiers in Georgia

In 1885, Joseph J. Prather wrote the following letter to a cousin in Columbus, GA.

Toccoa, Georgia
June 19, 1885

Mr. A.C. Prather
Columbus, Georgia

My Dear Sir
          Yours of the 16th just received. I am pleased to answer your letter. I am a son of James W. Prather. My father had four brothers; namely Richard, Thomas, William, and Benjamin. My father was the eldest of them all. My father and your great-grandfather moved from near Bladensburg, Maryland to Wilkes County, Ga., eight miles south of Washington, Wilkes Co. about the year 1792. I have been in their old home many times. I was once at your grandfather's home with my father. My uncle Richard had two sons, Clark and Andrew. I suppose that you are a son of Andrew.

          My father died in 1869 nearly 88 years old, and I am his only living son. My brother died in the Army at Georgetown, Kentucky. I have one sister living older than myself, Mrs. Martin. Her husband died this year. She has no children.

         My name is Joseph J. Prather, named for my grandfather Prather. I am sixty one years old, have a wife and two children, son and daughter James and Toccoa, neither married, both grown up.

         My son is in business on the Elberton R.R. and has a store in Toccoa. The editor made a mistake in the newpaper and put James in place of Joseph. Your letter was handed to me by my son. My office is in Toccoa, a very pretty little town on the Airline R.R., 93 miles east of Atlanta. We would be delighted to have you make us a visit this summer or at any time it would suit you.

Yours Very Truly
J.J. Prather




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