He lived in Augusta, Georgia, as well as Charleston, South Carolina and Macon. He served with Stonewall Jackson in Virginia and with Beauregard in Tennessee. Captured in Huntsville in 1862, he was exchanged for a Union prisoner, but was recaptured at Kennesaw Mountain two years later and held prisoner until war's end. After the war he became a distinguished professor of language at Wesleyan College and taught Woodrow Wilson as a student in Augusta. He was a teacher, historian and poet. He was a member of Mulberry Street United Methodist Church. He was the author of at least three books: Derry's History of the United States, the Story of the Confederate States, and The Industrial Strife of Brothers.
PROFESSOR JOSEPH TYRONE DERRY is one of those men whose lives are marked by the many valuable
services which they have given for the benefit of mankind. He is a Georgian, born in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, December 13, 1841, in which county and Putnam he resided until nine years of age, when the family removed to Charleston, South Carolina, and then after two years to Augusta, Georgia.
Educated in the best schools whose advantages he seized with ardent appreciation, chiefly in the private schools of Augusta and the venerable Academy of Richmond county, he then passed through Emory College, Oxford, graduating in 1800. His father, William Cowan Derry, possessed the qualities of
gentleness, kindness, intelligence, and courtesy which endeared him to all his people. For years a merchant in Augusta, and then as the superintendent of the Augusta Orphan Asylum, he manifested his characteristic benevolent spirit. His mother, Mary Alma Bunell, was his father's true mate in all the qualities for which he was distinguished. In his father's line Professor Derry is descended from an immigrant who came from the north of Ireland and settled in New York about 1810; on the mother's
line his ancestors came from England into Massachusetts and New York. These maternal ancestors rendered patriotic service in the American Armies of the Revolution and in the War of 1812.
With all the above mentioned advantages, Mr. Derry grew up in good health with fondness for the best outdoor sports and with a particular liking for literature, especially history and poetry. He had great admiration for the Greek and Latin classics, while among English poets his preference was for Milton
and Scott. His tastes and training moved him into a successful professional life as teacher, educator and author. His patriotic devotion to his native State and his firm conviction of duty to the Confederate cause led him to enlist as a private of the Confederate Army in April, 1861. He left Augusta with the Oglethorpe Infantry, which became Company D of the First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers , serving six weeks at Pensacola, Florida, then in West Virginia under Robert S. Garnett at Laurel Hill and Carrick's Ford , and was with the main column of the retreating army in the march to Monterey, Virginia. From this point was in the advance under Henry R. Jackson to Greenbrier River, and up Cheat Mountain during Lee's movement against the Federal stronghold upon its summit in September, 1861. In this rugged region he was engaged with his command in the battle of Greenbrier River, and in scouting and skirmishing on Cheat Mountain and in the little valley between the Greenbrier and Cheat rivers. Being sent under Loring to Winchester in December, 1861, he participated with his command in Jackson's winter campaign to the upper Potomac in 1862. The First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers being disbanded at the expiration of its term of service, Mr. Derry re-enlisted with his company and three other companies of the First Georgia in the
Twelfth Georgia Battalion of Artillery. After serving in East Tennessee under Kirby Smith during the summer and early fall of 1862, the Oglethorpes were sent to General Beauregard and, being made Company A of the Sixty-third Georgia Regiment, was sent to the Army of Tennessee, in all of which campaigns it participated until the surrender in North Carolina. Mr. Derry's service in the field was ended by his capture on the skirmish line at Kennesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864. Being taken to Camp Douglas, near Chicago, he remained a prisoner until June 11, 1865. Being then paroled, he reached his home at Augusta, Georgia, July 5, 1865. In the midst of war he was married to Miss Elizabeth D. Os-
borne, of Augusta, Georgia, in that city, August 5, 1862. Of their seven children these are living: Dr. Henry P. Derry of Macon, Georgia ; Mrs. T. C. Parker, residing near Macon ; Susie, and George S. Derry, who is in the employ of the Southern Railway. The four years of war was a period of suspension in the civic life upon which he had hoped to enter, and occupied, during its continuance, his most patriotic attention. With a consciousness of having discharged a great duty, proud of the memories of the
patriotic campaigns with other young men of his time, and without regrets except for the defeat his side had suffered, he took up the line of life for which he was well qualified. As a teacher, educator, author, historian, and poet, he has made a reputation from November, 1865, to the date of this writing, which cannot be taken from him. He was principal of Houghton Institute, Augusta, GA., l866 to 1868 ; principal of a select classical school, 1868 to 1870, and in this year the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Emory College; from 1870 to 1879 he was associate principal of Richmond Academy, and from 1879 to 1896 he was professor of languages in Wesleyan Female College, Macón,
Georgia. From this time he was engaged in Atlanta in conducting a select school until the year 1900. Thus for thirty-five years he was continuously employed in some of the best educational institutions of Georgia. His prominent literary activities began amidst his professional duties soon after the Civil War closed. First from his pen came, in 1876, Derry's History of the United States , adapted to young students, but in fairness, clearness, and completeness gave great satisfaction to all readers. He was called on to write "A Guide to Georgia" in 1878, which proved to be highly valuable to all who desired at that date to know all about his State. This was followed, in 1880, by a larger, improved
history of the United States in narrative form which was then and still is authority in the history of our country. Those works were all published by J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia. His best historical work appeared from the B. F. Johnson Publishing Company, Richmond, Va., as the story of the Confederate States. This superb portrayal of Confederate times obtained a large circulation, and fully established the reputation of the author as a writer. Meantime, Prof. Derry wrote special articles for the Century Magazine, the Encyclopedia Americana, and the Confederate History of Georgia as one of the twelve
volumes of the extensive work entitled Confederate Military History, 1898, of which General Clement A. Evans was author and editor. In 1900, Mr. Derry, in connection with Hon. R. F. Wright, prepared for Hon. O. B. Stevens, Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Georgia, a large work entitled "Georgia Historical and Industrial," and in 1904: another and smaller work, "Georgia's Resources and Advantages." Mr. Derry's latest work is an historic poem, "The Strife of Brothers," celebrating the heroism of the Southern soldiers and people during the stormy war period and the days of reconstruction. ''The story which the author tells in admirable fraternal spirit has the martial measure, rhythm and swing of moving armies where battles follow battles and incident succeeds incident
in quick succession, each illustrating the courage of the world's best soldiers while the whole elevated epic celebrates the spirit and the lofty principles of the Confederate armies and Southern people." This work was first published by the Franklin Publishing Company, of Atlanta, and later by the Neale
Publishing Company, of New York and Washington, and will be appreciated as a poem of high rank and as a timely message of good will to all the people of our country. Mr. Derry is yet young enough for further valuable services in work for which he is well qualified.
CLEMENT A. EVANS

Men of Mark in Georgia: A Complete and Elaborate History of the State
By William J. Northen
Published 1908
A. B. Caldwell
Georgia