PIECES OF OUR PAST - PEOPLE LIKE US - August 2019.

PEOPLE LIKE US 

Matthew Cadwell was just an ordinary citizens of Laurens County.  He was born on December 14, 1858 and grew up during the turbulent years of the Civil War and Reconstruction.  Tragically at the age of 27, Cadwell was out riding on his horse.  On August 8, 1886, a bolt of lighting killed both Cadwell and his horse.  In the days that followed, both Cadwell and his horse were buried in the same grave in the Lowery Cemetery.  Cadwell’s wife, Rebecca Lowery remarried to Charlton O. Burch.  When he died in 1902, his widow set out to establish a new town just north of the border between Laurens County and Dodge County.  Mrs. Burch submitted the name of “Burch” for the town and its new post office.  When she received a notification from the post office that the name “Burch” was already in use, she decided to name her town, “Cadwell” after her first husband, Matthew Cadwell. 

During the 1960s, the Dublin Fighting Irish staged hard fought, close rivalry games with the Perry High School Panthers.  Many of you may know the names of the Irish Coaches, Minton Williams and Don Denning.  But how many of you knew the name of the coach from Perry.  His name was Herb St. John.  Old Georgia Bulldog football fans will know his name.  

Raised in Jacksonville, Fla., St. John was a four-time All-SEC selection from 1944-47 as a guard on both offense and defense for the Georgia football team. He earned All-America honors as a junior in 1946 in leading the Bulldogs to an 11-0 record and the Williamson poll's national championship. Georgia was 34-9-1 overall and 16-7 in the SEC, including a combined 8-0 against Florida and Auburn, during St. John's career.

St. John played pro football for two seasons, suiting up for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Charlotte Hornets. He retired from playing in 1950. He was inducted into the UGA Circle of Honor in 2004 and the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

When his pro career ended, St. John began a career in education that spanned nearly 40 years. From 1950-69, St. John was a teacher and coach at Manchester and Perry High Schools. He taught such subjects as physical education, health, bookkeeping and mechanical drawing. St. John was Manchester's head football coach from 1950-54, then launched the football program at Perry and served as head coach for football and track from 1954-69.

William Lowe Sheftall, was born in Macon, Georgia, on April 6, 1922, and grew up there as well as in Dublin, Georgia, and Miami, Florida. He was the only child of Anna LaFae Fargason and William Lowe Sheftall, both of whom died during his teenage years. After graduating from Lanier High School in Macon, he volunteered for service in the Army Air Corps. As a fighter pilot stationed in Italy for 17 months during World War II, he flew 74 missions and was awarded among other honors, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. He was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of first lieutenant. After returning home, Mr. Sheftall entered Vanderbilt University and subsequently attended Vanderbilt University School of Law, from which he received his J.D. degree in 1950. He married the former Josephine Banks McKay, a Columbus native, in Macon on April 3, 1951, and the Sheftalls made their home first in Panama City, Florida, and then, for almost forty years, in Macon. There Mr. Sheftall was active in the business community, retiring in 1992 as vice-president of Murphey, Taylor and Ellis and manager of its insurance department. The Sheftalls moved to Columbus in 1996 and have since made their home near their son John and his family in the former guest cottage of The Cedars, Mrs. Sheftall's ancestral home. -Mr. Sheftall's paternal ancestors participated in the founding of Georgia in 1733, and he held membership in the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Georgia as the representative of Col. Mordecai Sheftall. 

Barbara E. Greene was born September 5, 1936 in Gray, Georgia to Herbert and Kathryn (Patterson) Greene. She attended Jones County School and kept in touch with her second grade teacher, Mrs. Berta Morton of Gray, Georgia. She graduated from Dublin High School in Dublin, Georgia and also attended and graduated from Stetson University in Florida. She served with the Air Force and retired from the Army as a nurse. She also played golf for a short time for the Ladies Professional Gold Association. Barbara was the 1960 Georgia State Women's Champion and the 1959 Florida State Women's Runner up.   Known for her strong power, Barbara was likened to the great Babe Zaharias. Like her brother, Bert, she was taught to play golf by her father, Herb Greene, who served as a golf pro for the Dublin Country Club and Green Acres Golf Course. Bert was a touring PGA member in the late 1960s and early 1970s and played in a couple of Masters Tournaments.  Barbara died in 2010. 

George O’Neal was born in Laurens County. On June 22, 1951, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division bestowed the third highest award for heroism, the Silver Star. On 26 April 1951, in the vicinity of Ilbisang-ni, Korea, the 2d Battalion and attached units were attacked by an enemy force of approximately two regiments. The barrage of small arms fire, hand grenades, and mortar shells falling in the area indicated that the enemy was preparing to close in for what they intended to be a final assault. Major O’Neal. realizing the need for an immediate counter attack, organized several squads from the battalion command post personnel and personally led them in their thrust against the hostile force. This action coupled with his relocation of the machine gun positions to more effective fields of fire turned the tide of battle, causing the enemy to retreat in confusion. Major O’Neal contributions to his units defense were given under the most hazardous conditions and at great risk to his own safety. The outstanding leadership and gallant courage displayed by Major O'Neal reflect the highest credit upon himself and the military service.

Bernard Cleveland Holland, Jr. M.D., was born October 16, 1916, in Dublin, GA.  Dr. was Holland, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, a graduate of  Gordon Military School in 1935, Emory University in 1939, and Emory University School of Medicine in 1943. During WWII he served in the Army Medical Corps.  Holland underwent postgraduate training at Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, Grady Hospital in Atlanta, and Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., State Psychiatric Institute, and Columbia University Psychoanalytic Clinic.

 In 1958, after briefly holding a position as Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, at Columbia, Dr. Holland returned to Emory in Atlanta as Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, to rebuild the then almost defunct department of psychiatry there to become a nationally recognized leader in the field.  Dr. Holland opened an in-patient psychiatry service at Grady Hospital, when no such services had been available to Atlanta before. He established a strong psychiatry service at the VA.  Holland helped to  create the Georgia Mental Health Institute in Atlanta in 1965. Dr. Holland was always an optimistic and tireless innovator and leader, and his impact was felt both locally, at Emory and in Atlanta, and through his participation in the American Psychiatric Association and the other national organizations of psychiatry, including the National Institute of Health. Although he retired from the chairmanship at Emory in 1983, he still had energy to devote to helping with the establishment of Skyland Trail, a community based residential and day treatment facility for severe mental illness, in Atlanta.  Dr. Holland died on December 4, 2008.  He is buried in Northview Cemetery in Dublin, Georgia.