Zillah Haynie, daughter of John Haynie and Abigail Guthrie, married Francis Brandon on 24 Dec 1822 in Gwinnett Co, GA. Zillah was born on 28 Apr 1801 in Old Pendleton Dist, SC. She died on 26 Sep 1872 in Gaylesville, AL and was buried in Randle Cemetery Gaylesville, AL.

Zillah Haynie was born in the old Pendleton District, South Carolina, on 28th of April 1801, the daughter of John Haynie, Jr. and his wife Abigail Guthrie. Zillah Haynie's father was killed in an accident on August 7, 1802. Her mother died early in September the following year. Zillah's foster parents moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia about 1818, and it was here that she met Francis Lawson Brandon. They were married in that county December 24, 1822. Thirteen years later they moved to Cass County (now Bartow County). After another twelve years they moved to Chattooga County, Georgia. They settled in Cherokee County, Alabama, January 1, 1851, where they lived out their lives and were buried in the Randle Cemetery just outside of Gaylesville. Zillah H. Brandon began writing a story of her life in 1855. She recorded her memoirs in various ledgers and notebooks, apparently whatever she could obtain. By the latter part of 1856, she had set forth most of what she saw fit to record concerning her earlier life and her journal became a diary in which she wrote from time to time. The intervals between her writings sometimes extended over a period of several years. She wrote about the Civil War and about the parts her five sons had in it and she wrote about the home front, including Sherman's encampment at Gaylesville. Zillah's story indicates she had less than one year of formal schooling, but she was an avid reader, "reading everything I could get my hands on." If anyone was self-educated, I think we would have to say she was. Some time after Zillah Brandon's death, her Journal came into the possession of Miss Haynie Shuford Smyer, her granddaughter who, incidentally, was a teacher at Gaylesville Academy during the 1890s. The existence of the journal was not generally known until after the death of our great-aunt Haynie in 1966. Mr. Shuford Smyer, a nephew with whom Miss Haynie lived after the death of her brother, Ed, found the journal among her belongings. He had a few photo copies made of the 387 pages and had them bound into huge books two and one-half inches thick and measuring 9" x 14-1/2". Actually the book contains more than that number because for some reason, Zillah only numbered alternate pages in several places.
The journals are kept at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama.

Zillah wrote in her journal:
May 8, 1862. Four of my five sons are now Confederate soldiers. James and Hines, from exposure and hardships endured during the battle of Shiloh are now, if alive, suffering intensely; James from a spinal affliction from overexertion, and Hines from bronchitis, which has caused the loss of his voice.