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LOFTIS Family: Before the invasion of Atlanta, General Hood’s army urged civilian non-combatants to flee the war zone. James Powell Loftis' wife Artemicia Leake took her infant Rosina (born 6 June 1864) and boarded a refugee train out of the city. The remaining elder children, and their father buried silver and other items of value in sheets, and gathered what few essential items they could physically carry. They departed from Atlanta with a horse and wagon in company with an Irish Catholic family named Kane. On September 2nd General Hood retreated from Atlanta, giving General Sherman cause to declare "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won." As they fled from Atlanta to the east, they arrived in a small town called Lithonia where they took up residence in an abandoned farmhouse. Lithonia is located slightly below Stone Mountain. There, they were overtaken by Sherman’s troops who attempted to field-requisition their provisions and livestock. The women and children were mortified by the encounter.
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