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- Col. Edwin Nash Broyles was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, November 14, 1829, a son of Maj. Cain Broyles, an able legal practitioner and an officer of some prominence during the War of 1812, and Lucinda (Nash) Broyles. a descendant of John Nash, the famous Revolutionary hero for whom the City of Nashville, Tennessee, was named. He was still a lad when he moved to Greene County, Tennessee, and for some time lived at Greeneville, where he secured his elementary education. Subsequently Colonel Broyles attended Washington College [near Jonesborough, TN], at that time under the management of Prof. A. A. Doke, a. Presbyterian clergyman of note and a graduate of Princeton, and at college the youth distinguished himself for his proficiency in logic and mental philosophy. When he was admitted to the bar, he began practice at Greeneville, with such contemporaries as Gen. Thomas D. Arnold and Judge Samuel Milligan of Greeneville, William H. Sneed, of Knoxville, and Thomas R. Nelson, of Jonesborough.
In 1853 Colonel Broyles came to Georgia and first located at Cedartown, where he remained in practice for some time. He was fortunate in making the acquaintance of Governor Brown, who, impressed with the abilities of the young legist, made him compiler of the statutes of the preceding Legislature, in 1857. During the war between the states, Colonel Broyles, although an ardent lover of the Union, loyally endorsed the cause of the Confederacy, and rendered the government important and valuable service in various capacities. During the war he was private secretary and military aide to Governor Brown. At the close of hostilities he took up his residence at Atlanta, and there continued in active practice during the remainder of his life. On all questions touching the interests of the general public, Colonel Broyles was one of the best posted men in Georgia, but he was bound heart and soul to his profession, and political offers could not attract him from his devotion thereto. It was his honest belief that he could best serve the public and his community by confining his work to the courts and leaving the political tasks to those whose inclinations ran in that direction. Ever a close student, he continued his studies to the last, even when extended ill health had enfeebled his activities and dimmed his faculties. He passed away February 13, 1897.
Colonel Broyles was twice married, first in 1861 to Miss Elizabeth D. Arnold, the accomplished and cultured daughter of Gen. Thomas D. Arnold, and one of the most brilliant women of the South, and second in 1883, to Miss Sallie Trippe Hardy, daughter of Dr. Weston Hardy, of Cartersville, Georgia. Four 'surviving children were born to the first union. Hon. Arnold Broyles, clerk of the Fulton County Superior Court ; Hon. Nash R. Broyles; Mrs. Pearl Broyles Parks, the wife of Lloyd Parks ; and Bernard C. Broyles, a prominent citizen a Atlanta. To the second union there was born one son, Harold Hardy.
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SOURCE: Knight, Lucien Lamar. A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians. Chicago & New York. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1917. pp 1850-1851
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