Camp Stephens

John Henry "Doc" Holliday's father Henry owned and sold more than 40 properties in Spalding County. Before the Civil War started, he was already in his forties, a respected landowner, former county clerk, and veteran of the Cherokee Indian War and Mexican-American War. He purchased this site in 1855, and it later became a Confederate training ground named Camp Stephen. During the Civil War, Henry Holliday attained the rank of Major and served as Quartermaster to the 27th Battalion of the Georgia Volunteer Infantry before resigning his commission in 1862 because of poor health. Over the next two years, he sold many of his properties to raise funds to move the family south to Valdosta in Lowndes County and away from the conflict. When he died in 1893, his obituary said, "No man was readier to respond to the call for help. His memory will be cherished by many of whom he has been a friend in need."

Experiment, Georgia · United States