COL Elijah Webb Chastain (1813-1874)

U.S. Congressman. Born near Pickens, South Carolina, he moved with his parents to Habersham, Georgia, in 1821 where he received his early education. He enlisted for the Seminole War, becoming a Captain in the militia and advancing to Colonel. Chastain then settled on a farm near Blairsville, Georgia. He served in the Georgia Senate from 1840 to 1850, studied law, and established a practice in Blairsville after his 1849 admission to the bar. In 1850 he was elected to the US House of Representatives and he won reelection as a Democrat, serving two terms, 1851 to 1855. In his second term Chastain was Chairman of the Committee on Militia. He did not run for reelection in 1854 and returned to his law practice. He was a Delegate to Georgia's 1860 secession convention in Milledgeville, voted for secession, and afterwards joined the Confederate Army as Lieutenant Colonel of the First Georgia Regiment. In 1862 he was appointed Colonel and commander of the Eighth Regiment of Georgia State Troops, a militia organization formed for local defense. After the Civil War Chastain resumed his law practice, remaining active until his death. He died near Ellijay, Georgia, when the horse he rode as he attempted to ford the swollen Holly Creek was thrown off balance and went down, crushing him against a large rock. The two friends with whom he rode tried to save him, but he was swept downstream, and his body was recovered the next day about a half mile from where he fell.

Bio by: Bill McKern