Jonathan Pressley Dyar

Great-grandfather of Cliff Dyar also known as J.P. Dyar and "Press" Dyar.

According to Cliff Dyar, "J.P. Dyar was born in Hart County, Georgia and orphaned at age eleven in 1856. During the Civil War, he was a "tender" or assistant fireman on "The General," of "Great Locomotive Chase" fame.

After the war, he settled in Adairsville, Georgia where he met and married Margaret Frances Burnett. They raised seven surviving children.
J.P. became a successful merchant and farmer, and was very active in the Republican Party, attending three national conventions. He literally started out with nothing and his estate was estimated to be worth well over a million dollars in today's money.

The group photo is of him, in the center, and President William Howard Taft (on the left). I don't know the identity of the third man on the right, but suspect he is the other Georgia convention delegate from their congressional district.

Group photo

DYA-01 jpd1351