Boliver Hopkins Gee was born on February 13, 1824, in South Carolina to Henry Gee and Martha Elizabeth Forrester. His father was a farmer who owned at least $30,000 of real estate. His parents moved to Gadsden County, Florida, by 1850, but Gee settled instead in Decatur County, Georgia. He married Margaret Susan McElveen around 1856, and they had at least nine children: Martha, born around 1858; Nancy, born around 1860; Susan, born around 1862; Mary, born around 1864; Ruth, born around 1866; Lawrence, born around 1868; Henry, born around 1870; John, born around 1872; and Charles, born around 1878. Gee worked as a farmer in Decatur County, and by 1860, he owned $6,000 of real estate and $17,000 of personal property.

 

On October 8, 1861, Gee received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in the 7^th Georgia State Troops, and he was promoted to captain soon afterward. In May 1862, the Confederate army reorganized the unit as Company A of the 59^th Georgia Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battles of Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor as well as the Siege of Petersburg. He eventually earned promotions to major and then lieutenant colonel. He surrendered as part of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

 

After the war, Gee and his family settled in Mitchell County, Georgia. Gee resumed his work as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,385 of personal property. He remained in Mitchell County for the rest of his life, passing away there on July 30, 1888.

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