Joel Hiers
Georgia County Heritage Books
Colquitt County
THE JOEL HIERS FAMILY
Joel Hiers 1882-1952 was the ninth child born to
Mikel J. and Sarah Ann McKinny Hiers. He was the grandson of South Georgia pioneers Philip and Kaziah
Hunter Hiers who moved from South Carolina in 1833 and settled on Indian Creek in Lowndes County later
Colquitt County. Joel Hiers inherited from his father, Mikel, some 136 acres of the original 1000-acre Philip
Hiers estate, located on what is now known as the Cannon Road. It was on this land he farmed and
raised his family.
Although Joel had a fourth grade formal education, he was a self-educated man and a man of many talents. He was a farmer by trade but also had talents in blacksmithing and carpentry. He was also experienced in rudimentary dentistry, veterinary medicine and mending wounds.
Joel first married Della Mathis, the daughter of George and Martha Mathis, on March 10, 1901, in Hemstead, Ga., and they had eleven children. Six of these children lived to be adults and five died at birth or shortly thereafter and are buried next to their mother in the Sardis Baptist Church Cemetery. The living children in order of their birth were Nora, Grady, Mary, Ollie, Joe and Katie. Joel and Della were very active in Sardis Church.
Joel Hiers
Della died Jan. 10, 1918 at the age of 33 from what
is thought to be complications of childbirth. Her obituary states, “She had a smile and kind word for all and one
of the strongest and clearest voices to be found anywhere. Mrs. Hiers was a devoted mother, kind and
affectionate wife and true and faithful member of her church.” At her death this left Joel Hiers a widower of
34 years old with six children ranging in age from 3 years to 15 years old.
After a courtship (they met while picking cotton) Joel married Emma Lou Croft 1899-1994, the daughter of Mack and Mollie Croft of Berlin, Ga. on October 6, 1918. Emma married a man 17 years older with 6 children, the oldest of which was only three years younger than she. Rubye was the only child of this marriage. This made Joel the father of seven children and later thirteen grandchildren. Emma Hiers was a good mother to all of their children. Each child and grandchild loved her as their only mother and grandmother. She was a strong Christian woman following her husband in the Primitive Baptist faith.
Joel lived the last ten to twelve years of his life in failing health, succumbing to heart disease at the age of 69 on June 12, 1952. Emma lived on in the home on the farm in which she had a life estate willed to her by her husband. She chose never to marry again but became the beloved matriarch of the seven children and their families. She outlived four of those seven children and died at the age of 94. In Sardis Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery there is a triple headstone, Joel in the middle and each of his beloved wives on either side.
(511 words)
Submitted by: Phyllis Clark Wright, 102 Bull Creek Rd., Moultrie, Ga. 31768.
Sources: The Hiers Genealogy, family reminiscences.
