Thomas Canaday and Sarah Jane Delegal, the parents of William E. Canady, began their life together on June 23, 1832 in Savannah, Georgia. They had each grown up during a time of rebuilding following the American Revolution when life was hard and families were regrouping after being separated by the war. There were no organized schools in rural Georgia and poverty was the rule rather than the exception.

Thomas was the son of Stephen and Mary Canaday who had acquired land and moved to Bryan County, Georgia from the Barnwell District of South Carolina in 1801. He was born shortly after his parents' arrival in Georgia. Sarah Jane was the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Bacon Delegal who were born on the Georgia coast but fled the state as young children during the American Revolution. Henry and Elizabeth had each returned to Liberty County, Georgia around 1804, and were married on September 8, 1806. Sarah Jane was born in February 1810 in a community at the mouth of the Little Ogeechee River.

While Thomas grew up on his parents' farm in Bryan County, working along side his father from an early age, learning the skills of farming and good business management, Sarah Jane's early life was fragmented with moves between places and families. By the age of four she had moved from Liberty County to the Spring Hill District of Savannah where her older half-brother died of a fever in 1814. Then, following the death of her father, Henry, in 1818, she moved with her mother, older sister, Mary Ann, and brothers to Tattnall County where her Uncle Jonathan Bacon owned a large plantation and school house. She attended school and helped with household chores while living on the plantation. In the 1820 census Sarah Jane and her mother were still living in Tattnall County but now were in the home of her other half-brother, Nathaniel Bacon. In 1825 Nathaniel moved the family to Bryan County where Elizabeth Delegal had won a land draw in the Georgia Land Lottery. By 1830 her older brother had died leaving two small daughters, Ann Rebecca and Lavinia, in Sarah Jane's care. When she and Thomas married two years later they continued to raise the girls as their own.

In 1835 the first of their nine children, Jane, was born. By the time of the 1850 census they had 7 children between the ages of 1 and 15. Daughters, Nancy and Alice were born in 1852 and 1859 respectively. Sarah Jane not only took good care of her own family but helped other families in Bryan County by delivering their babies and treating their ailments. Stories have been told by her grandchildren that she was a midwife and nurse and made medicines from the plants and trees she found in the woods. No one really knew the secrets of her "cures" except that they were effective and many people owed their lives to her. Her grandson, Paul, said that she took care of everyone in the county, often being gone for several days at a time. She was described as a short, feisty, Irish Grandmother who always wore a bonnet. She possessed a sense of humor and could make them laugh, even in her advanced years.

Sarah Jane was an avid seamstress and enjoyed quilting bees with other ladies where they would stretch a quilt on a rack and sew it together as the small children would run and play under the quilt they were sewing. She always enjoyed having family and children around her but made the children behave. Her grandchildren called her "Granny" and everyone else called her "Aunt Sally". She also had a good voice and often in church the preacher would call on her to "raise a tune", at which time she responded by singing "Amazing Grace".

Thomas and Sarah Jane continued to purchase land and expand their holdings. They were awarded land grants in 1838, 1851 and 1854. By the 1860 census, Thomas and Sarah Jane owned real estate valued at $1,500.00 and personal property valued at $3,892.00.

The following year, 1861, their lives changed dramatically, as the winds of civil unrest and talks of secession from the Union became the reality of The War Between the States. Two of their three sons, John and William, and son-in-law, Andrew Love, joined the army of the Confederate States of America and went off to war. Henry who had always walked with a limp was not able to join the army but stayed home to help his parents and his sisters run the farm. In the days before radio, telephone and television letters would be the only means of communication between families and soldiers and then only sporadically at best. The only other news came by word of mouth and the rural country areas were probably last to hear anything. Tragically, they would never see their son John again as he died with dysentery in Savannah December 1862. Andrew was missing in action and never heard from again. William was wounded in the Battle of Chickamaugua and later captured by Union soldiers in Nashville, Tennessee in December 1864. He spent the remaining months in the harsh and unsanitary environment of Camp Chase Ohio as a prisoner of war until he was finally released on June 12, 1865. He returned home to Bryan County, married Susan Bacon, and lived near the farm of his parents.

While their sons were off at war, Thomas, Sarah Jane and the remainder of their family pulled together to protect their property, their food, livestock and indeed, their very lives. Food had to be hidden in the woods so the yankee scavengers would not take their only food supply. Neighboring lands were burned as General Sherman marched through Georgia on his way to the coast. Although Thomas and Sarah Jane's house was not burned, they faced the constant threat of destruction watching and helping their neighbors who were being burned out.

After the war most of the South was once more in disarray and the reconstruction era did little to improve it. Thomas and Sarah Jane were among the many who had to take what they had left and rebuild their lives. As if war and recovery had not been enough, a deadly smallpox epidemic was taking the lives of many who
had survived the ravages of war. Many of the soldiers who had been released from yankee prisons died of smallpox after finally reaching home.

Life on the farm faced new hardships without the slaves. Now, what money they had left had to be spent on labor as well as seed and supplies. By the time the reconstruction period was in effect several of the nine children were married and had begun families of their own with their own homes to care for. Sons William and Henry lived nearby and shared some of the workload. Thomas and Sarah Jane gave some of their land to their children and sold other parts of their land. They continued to farm the remaining acres. Sarah Jane continued to quilt and take care of the sick and delivered some of her own grandchildren.

Thomas and Sarah Jane had many grandchildren and took an active part in their lives. To her grandchildren Sarah Jane was legendary. They had been married 52 years when Thomas passed away in 1884. Sarah Jane lived into the 20th century and was living by herself at the time of the 1900 census. She died of a stroke at the age of 102. Thomas and Sarah Jane are buried in Hopeful Cemetery under the shade of a large moss-covered cedar tree, an evergreen, having a strong trunk, rooted deeply in the earth, with many branches reaching upward and outward with twigs and leaves too numerous to count, just like the family they started 169 years ago.