The Sibley, Jennings, and Erwin families are all related by marriage and resided in Milledgeville and Atlanta, Georgia. John Adams Sibley (1888-1986) was born 4 January 1888 in Milledgeville, Georgia and was the second of ten children born to Mattie Erwin and James Longstreet Sibley, a farmer. He graduated from the Georgia Military College in 1904 and the University of Georgia in 1911 with a law degree. Following the completion of his education, he returned to Milledgeville where he began to practice law with his brother Erwin Sibley (1890-1979) until 1918 when he was invited to join the law firm of King and Spalding in Atlanta, Georgia and later became the attorney for the Coca-Cola Company from 1933 to 1942. In 1946, he left his law firm to become the chairman of the board and president of the Trust Company of Georgia. Sibley worked at the bank until his retirement in 1959 and later became an Honorary Chairman in 1963, a position he held until his death. Besides his successful career, Sibley was credited with keeping Georgia's public schools open during the desegregation crisis of the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1960, he was appointed Chairman of the General Assembly Committee on Schools, a committee that became known as the Sibley Commission. The committee was assigned the task of gathering state resident's feelings regarding desegregation and report back to the governor. The resulting report laid the foundation for the end of massive resistance to desegregation in Georgia. Sibley married Jeanette Nettie Whitaker Cone (1886-1934) on 25 November 1914 and they had the following four children: John Adams Sibley, Jr. (1916-1916), James Malcolm Sibley (1919- ), Jeanette Sibley Yow (1919-1982). And Martha Erwin Sibley George (1929-1953). After his first wife's death in 1934, he married Barbara Sanford Thayer (1906- ) on 29 March 1937 and had the following children: Barbary Thayer Sibley (1937- ), Horace Holden Sibley (1939- ), John Adams Sibley, III (1945- ), and Stephen Thayer Sibley (1948 - ). John Adams Sibley died on 26 October 1986 at the age of ninety eight. James Longstreet Sibley Jennings (1920-2003) was born on 7 July 1920 in Union, South Carolina. He was the son of Josephine Sibley (1914-1997) and Henry Burritt Jennnings (1883-1927). Upon the death of his father in 1927, the family moved to Milledgeville, Georgia, the former home of his mother. He graduated from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1960 and engaged in the insurance and construction business. Jennings was elected twice to the General Assembly as Representative of Baldwin County from 1947 to 1951. In 1947, he joined the National Guard and upon the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 he finished his term in the legislature and volunteered for active duty. Jennings was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry and volunteered for active duty. He served twice in Korea, once in Vietnam, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. Jennings remained on active duty until he retired from the Army in 1972. He was also an avid photographer, historian, author of Georgia history, and member of numerous historical and hereditary organizations. He died in 2003.
From the description of Sibley, Jennings, and Erwin family papers, 1839-1986. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 436221173
