PIECES OF OUR PAST
Sketches of the History of Dublin and Laurens County, Georgia
and The East Central Georgia Area
2007
Written by
Scott B. Thompson, Sr.
Copyright 2008
The Emerald City History Company, Inc. and Courier Herald Publishing Company, Inc.
07-01
DR. ROBERT E. SHURNEY
Better Than Anyone Thought He Could Be
The wood paneled walls of Bob Shurney's home office are nearly covered
with an eclectic array of plaques, presentations and proclamations, all in a testament of his thirty-six years of public service to his country. Overcoming the tragedy of his mother dying at a young age, this Dublin native served his country admirably both on the ground and in the air. This is a story of a man who was given an equal opportunity to show his abilities and became one of the most important men in the
history of manned space flight.
Robert Ellerston Shurney was born in Dublin, Georgia on December 29,
1921. His parents, Vance Shurney, Sr. and St. Clair Weston, were also the parents of Vance Jr., Green Weston and Edna Louise. Vance Shurney, a native of Cochran, Georgia, lived at various places while he in lived in Dublin. After World War I, he moved from his home at 302 N. Washington Street to another home on Cooper Street. Vance, Sr. worked as a fireman for the Dublin Lumber Company during World War I while St. Clair was a teacher. St. Clair Shurney died when Robert was only ten years old. Robert was devastated and reportedly never knew how his mother died. Robert and his siblings moved to San Bernadino, California to live with their grandparents. It would be another quarter of a century before Robert would see his father again. Vance Shurney returned to Dublin, where he died on January 16, 1991 at the age of one hundred years.
Robert Shurney always had a talent for building and designing things. He worked as an auto mechanic as a teenager. Economics forced Robert to withdraw from school to help support the family during the Great Depression. His grandparents wanted Robert to be a minister, but he wanted to be an engineer. Robert was able to fulfill his parent's dream of his receiving a Christian education. He was sent to Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, where Shurney still lives today.
Robert Shurney moved to Washington, D.C. and was drafted into the service in World War II. Shurney seemed to have a natural born aptitude for medicine and helping others and became a medic in the United States Army at Camp Meade, Virginia. He served in the army during the invasion of France and endured the horrors of war on a first hand basis as the Allied forces moved across France and Germany. After his three-year hitch in the Army, Shurney retired to civilian life.
He returned to California after he married the former Miss Susie Flynt. Robert and Susie were blessed with three children twins, Glenn and Glendon Patricia "Peggy," and Darrell. Afterwards the Shurneys moved to Nashville, Tennessee where the course of Bob Shurney's life would change forever. It was in Nashville where their last child, Ronald "Ronnie," was born.
Robert returned to the medical field when he took a job as an engineer in the Riverside Hospital. It was at the hospital where Shurney's life's mission was steered in another direction by Dr. Carl Dent, the hospital administrator. Shurney wanted to help others and to become a success to support his family in the process. Dr. Dent and some of Shurney's other colleagues and friends urged him to attend college. One friend told him it was impossible, a statement which spurred Robert to enter college. In the 1950s, it was nearly impossible for a man of thirty-five years of age with four children to attend college, much less a black man in the South. But Shurney persevered. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering from Tennessee State A & I University in Nashville in 1962.
The most exciting field of engineering in the late 1950s and early 1960s was the space program, which was begun in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Shurney applied for a job at NASA, but was turned down. The only jobs at NASA on those days were for only menial tasks. Shurney called upon his sister-in-law who waked with Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Kings contacted U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who along with the powerful African American Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, convinced the Space Administration to hire Robert. Shurney returned to Huntsville, where he was hired after a favorable interview in the latter months of 1962. The faces of engineering labs and test facilities was about to change for ever. No longer would every engineer be a white male with a buzz cut, black framed glasses and a slide rule in his hand. Many times the white workers believed he was the janitor. On many occasions, he was the only African-American in the briefing rooms.
In an interview with John G. Radilowicz of the Buhl Planetarium and Observatory, Shurney recalled his first meeting with the Mercury astronauts. "They said they were looking for the one in charge of weightlessness training, and they went to every white person in the room asking if they were the person who ran the program," he said. "And when they finished asking all the whites, the whites pointed to me. It was my program," Shurney recalled. In his career at NASA, Shurney trained 90 percent of the program's early astronauts. Shurney worked in the Apollo
program coordinating aircraft and hardware schedules and testing systems and components.
Gemini and Apollo astronaut James Lovell in writing of his experiences with African-American in the space program lauded the roles that people of color played in the early days of the space program. Lovell said, "many people I meet think the space program was the exclusive domain of white, middle-aged men with crew cuts. But the reality is that African-Americans have played an active and important part in space exploration since the very beginnings of the program." In his essay written for NASA Quest, Lovell first cited Shurney for his contributions to the Apollo Program.
Another of Robert Shurney's first major assignments at NASA was to work with the weight distribution of the Saturn V rocket. The precise flight of the gigantic rocket, the most powerful ever designed by the United States, was absolutely critical to the agency's accomplishment of the goals set by President John F. Kennedy of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of the 1960s.
All of Shurney's hard work on the Saturn V rocket culminated on November 9, 1967 with the successful launch of the first rocket on November 9, 1967, for which he received a personal citation from Dr. Werner Von Braun, Director of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. Shurney participated in all of the Apollo flights including man's first moon circumnavigation on the Apollo 8 mission on Christmas Eve in 1969 and man's first landing on the moon on July 20, 1969.
Perhaps Shurney's most well known and most heralded contribution to the space program came during the Apollo 15 mission. Mission planners were charged with the design of missions which would require the moonwalkers to seek out and retrieve the greatest variety of moon rocks as possible. Though the moon's low gravity allowed the astronauts to move easily across the lunar surface, it became imperative that the astronauts be able to move long distances without arduous and dangerous hikes across alien surfaces. Though three successful moon landings yielded a tremendous amount of data about the lunar surfaces, engineers were still uncertain as to the stability and composition of the moon's soil under the weight of the vehicle, its cargo of moon rocks and the two astronauts.
NASA assigned Shurney to design a tire for the vehicle which would allow the rover to move across the moon's surface free of bogging down in the thin soil. Shurney studied all of the available data and came up with a design with metal chevrons giving the rover the greatest traction possible, all the time keeping the vehicle within the weight restrictions during the launch. "There were a lot of things we didn't know about the lunar surface. We didn't know the dust profile. And so we took from the information that we were able to obtain and eventually came up with the idea of the chevrons that are on the lunar rover wheel. We designed it in such a way that it would keep the dust off the crewmen and they could see where they were going. The wheels left a trail like a rooster's tail. That's where we got the idea," Shurney said.
Shurney's design proved to be a success on July 31, 1971 when astronauts David Scott and James Irwin became the first men to drive a vehicle on the Moon. The Apollo 15 astronauts traveled slightly more than twenty-seven kilometers during their three-day visit to the Moon. The rover was used on the final two Apollo missions, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 contributing greatly to the success of the missions and the entire Apollo program as well.
As a part of his studies of the moon's surface, Shurney also developed a device to measure the depth of and any vibrations emanating from the lunar surface. Until future visitors return to the moon and retrieve the lunar rovers, they will remain on the surface, along with their tracks.
After rebounding from the devastating premature end to the Apollo program, Shurney and other NASA scientists went to work on the Skylab program, which utilized the hardware left over from the cut Apollo missions. Perhaps the most important part of the missions, aside from their technical aspects, was the strain on the human body during extended periods of weightlessness. Once again, Shurney was called upon to design systems and devices to allow the astronauts to function in a gravity free environment.
Early astronauts trained in pools of water to simulate weightlessness. NASA converted a KC-135 airplane into a flying laboratory to provide astronauts with twenty to thirty seconds of actual weightless conditions by flying upward at a forty-five-degree angle and then rapidly descending. The plane would fly "roller coaster" style for hours leading to its nickname of "The Weightless Wonder," or more affectionately, "The Vomit Comet." Shurney reportedly flew more than six hundred hours in the training aircraft, more than any other NASA employee, primarily during the Skylab flights and early flights of the Space Shuttle.
Basic human functions had to be addressed in a zero gravity environment. Just going to the bathroom in a toilet could become a messy and difficult process. Shurney designed and successfully tested toilets aboard the KC-135 for the Skylab missions, which lasted until the latter years of the 1970s. Just eating could also be an arduous task. Without gravity, some foods would simply fly apart before they could be eaten. Some sort of binding agent was necessary to keep the foodstuffs together. Once again, Shurney analyzed the problem and devised a solution to keep the astronaut's meals together. He even designed a special container to store the food in and utensils to eat the food with.
Spacecraft orbiting the Earth face the problem of intense heat on the sunny side of the craft and intense cold on the dark side. Shurney, along with others, designed a solar shield and solar panel. The shield insulated the spacecraft from the heat, while the panel helped provide a constant source of energy to power the orbital station's batteries and equipment. Many of Shurney's designs like the commode and food utensils have been utilized on the shuttle missions.
Shurney continued his education while working at NASA. In 1986, at the age of sixty-five years, Dr. Shurney received his PhD degree in physics from Columbia Pacific University in San Rafael, California. Shurney wrote, "During my time as an aerospace engineer, I kept abreast of new innovations in space by attending many colleges and universities, including Meharry Medical College, Howard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Alabama and the University of Oklahoma." He wrote many technical manuals and scientific journal articles. In 1990, after thirty six years of government service, twenty-eight of them with NASA, Dr. Robert E. Shurney retired. During his years in the space program, Dr. Shurney was awarded the First Lunar Apollo Flight Award, the Apollo Achievement Award and the Skylab Achievement Award along with a myriad of certificates of appreciation and letters of commendation.
After retiring, Dr. Shurney's service to his community did not stop. The doctor has lectured on college campuses around the country and as a judge at numerous science fairs. He has volunteered whenever and wherever he could. He is an ardent fund raiser for his alma mater, Oakwood Junior College.
Nearly a half century ago, Robert Shurney must have felt the whole world was against him. Today, he is just now receiving the recognition he so richly deserves for leading men into space and to the surface of the moon. He battled the obstacles in his way with dignity, perseverance and natural intelligence. Shurney believes that other underprivileged kids like him can still succeed with the right motivation and determination. " You don't have to do drugs. You don't have to stay out all night long. You don't have to prove anything to anybody but yourself. Have some plan for your life. Strive to be better than what people might expect you to be," Dr. Shurney contends. He ought to know. He's been there and done that more than anyone could have ever imagined that cold December day when he entered this world in Dublin, Georgia nearly eighty-five years ago.
07-02
GENERAL DAVID BLACKSHEAR
The Early Years
If you were asked to list the ten most influential persons in the history of Laurens County, you would have to include the name of General David Blackshear. In many lists, he would be near the top, certainly first in chronological order. This is the story of a remarkable man, who as a child fought to defend his state from British invaders, as a young man braved the wilderness of the Georgia frontier, as a middle-aged adult, he led armies to protect the fledgling state of Georgia from the British and hostile Indians in the War of 1812 and as a wise old sage, the old general guided the state through some its greatest turmoils.
David Blackshear was born on January 31, 1764 in Craven County, later Jones County, North Carolina. The third of eight children of James and Catherine Franck Blackshear, young David was reared in a home, seven miles above Newton on the banks of Chinquapin Creek near Trenton. David's grandfather Alexander Blackshear came to North Carolina as early as 1732. Blackshear arrived in the colony in the company of John Martin Franck and Phillip Miller. They landed in New Haven. As soon as they were able to secure sufficient transportation, the families traveled up the Trent River about twenty miles before coming ashore. There they found a wilderness west of New Bern, which had been settled in 1710. They carried their sole possessions with them since there was no stock for food and no horses for transportation. These stalwart German immigrants immediately went to work building their homes. Blackshear applied for and was granted a patent to obtain his land from the Crown.
The Blackshears and their related matriarchal relatives were of German ancestry. Alexander Blackshear made out his last will and testament on October 3, 1785. In it, he named his wife Agnes and children, James, Eleanor Bailey, Elisha, Abraham, Sarah Clifton and a granddaughter Susanna Fordham, who apparently was a daughter of another daughter. Agnes Blackshear died sometime in or shortly after 1793. John Franck and his wife Civel had two daughters, Barbara and Catherine. Catherine first married a Mr. Bush and had two sons, John and William. Bush died in the late 1750s and his widow married James Blackshear. James and Catherine had James, Edward, David, Elizabeth, Susannah, Elijah, Penelope and Joseph. Barbara Franck married Daniel Shine. The Shines lived ten miles above Trenton. Mrs. Shine was given the honor of entertaining General George Washington on his tour of the South in 1791.
David and his siblings had a meager education at best. Periodically a traveling teacher might be hired to teach the children the fundamentals of writing and reading. Most days of spring and summer were spent learning the science and art of agriculture.
Edward, born on January 20, 1762, married Emily Mitchell. He lived for a time in Montgomery County before joining the mass migration to Thomas County, where he died in 1829. Elizabeth, born on September 16, 1765, married Blake Bryan. The daughter Mary, married the legendary Maj. Gen. Ezekiel Wimberly of Twiggs County, Georgia. Susannah, born on May 27, 1769, married Edward Bryan. Following his death in 1813, Susannah and her sons moved to Twiggs County to be closer to their family. Elijah, born on July 17, 1771, never married. He died in Laurens County in1821 and is buried in the old yard at Vallambrosa. Penelope, born on April 13, 1773, married Edward Bryan, and joined her sisters and their Bryan husbands in Twiggs County. Joseph, the youngest child, was born on September 7, 1775. He married Winifred, sister of Col. William A. Tennille, Secretary of State of Georgia. He died in Laurens County in 1830.
In the late spring of 1775, reports of the encounter between Massachusetts minute men and British Army regulars at Concord and Lexington reverberated throughout the backwoods of Jones County. Militia units in the area forced the British to abandon New Bern, then the capital of North Carolina. The British army under the command of General McDonald rendezvoused at Cross Creek on February 15, 1776. Present were a force of 1600 men composed of Highlanders, loyalists and eleven dozen ex-Regulators. The Blackshears and their neighbors did not take this threat lightly. Guns, tools and any weapon capable of inflicting deadly harm were grabbed up by men of fighting age.
On the morning of February 27, 1776, the loyalists were moving north across Moore's Creek some twenty miles north of Wilmington. There as they crossed a bridge, partially disassembled to retard their progress. They were met by a force of a thousand patriots who pounced upon them in utter surprise. Expecting only light opposition as their column moved through the countryside, the Scottish Highlanders were dazed and confused as the North Carolinians assaulted them with deadly effect. As the enemy chaotically left the field in retreat, they left valuable wagons, weapons and huge sums of silver coins. Thirty enemy soldiers were dead. Some 850 more were captured. The defeat at Moore's Creek effectively ended Tory activities in the area for years to come. Present that day, probably somewhere in the rear of the fighting, was a twelve-year-old David Blackshear, along with his older brothers James and Edward. The young warrior was also present at the Battle of Buford's (Beauford's) Bridge.
After the battle, David returned home and for three months of school before being tutored by James Alexander Campbell Hunter Peter Douglass, an eccentric Scotsman. In his latter years Blackshear related a tale about a time when the professor instructed the class to spell the word "corn," which his pronounced "korrun." Each student spelled the word just as they had heard it. Upon an examination of their papers, the Scotsman became so infuriated that he flogged every single member of the class and sent them home.
David's oldest brother, James Blackshear, Jr., and his cousin, Martin Franck were appointed to raise a company of militia to defend their local area. A scouting party composed of James, Edward and David, along with Martin Franck, Peter Callaway and several others, was sent out under the command of Captain Yates to locate, capture and kill, if necessary, a band of Tories. The party stopped to rest for the night at the home of Col. White. James, Martin and Peter continued on to James's home some five or six miles further away.
Just as the men were sitting down for a well-desired supper, the house was surrounded by Tories. James and Martin were taken out of the house, carried to the end of the lane, tied to stakes and executed without mercy. Somehow Peter Callaway escaped. A Negro man ran as fast as he could to Col. White's house. Following closely on his trail, a band of Tories set out to destroy the remaining Whigs. With only seven horses for fourteen men, Yates set out toward the Blackshear home. Just as they left the gate outside the White house, they were ambushed by the Tories, hidden on both sides of the road, killing one patriot and wounding several others, including Edward Blackshear, who was shot in both hands as he was riding double with another man. The Whigs scrambled for the nearest cover. Captain Yates, his collar bone broken, fired and killed the Tory captain. After the skirmish ended, the Loyalist leader was promptly, and without a moment's hesitation, tied to a stake. A flurry of gunshots inflicted sweet revenge on the murder of their compatriots.
Those who have not studied the history of the American Revolution in the South do not realize the barbarous acts inflicted by Tories on the Patriots and vice versa. It was the country's first Civil War, and unlike the conflict which would follow nine decades later, neighbors killed neighbors.
With the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the State of Georgia signed the treaty of Washington. The agreement with the Indian tribes who owned the lands provided a cession of all the lands from present day Athens down the Oconee and Altamaha Rivers to present day Tattnall County. The new county was named Washington in honor of the most prominent founding father of the country.
David Blackshear, though lacking in any substantial mathematical training, developed an interest in surveying. He taught himself how to use a transit, compass and protractor to survey land. Services of trained surveyors were at a premium and the mapping and division of the new county of Washington drew the young man to Georgia. He made several trips to Georgia, first in Wilkes County and then into Washington County. Life for a 18th Century surveyor wasn't easy. With no comforts of home, surveyors trampled through swamps, creeks, briar patches and were constantly in fear of attack by Indians, who still possessed lands west of the Oconee River.
David Blackshear settled along the banks of the Oconee River about the year 1790. He chose the perfect spot for a home, one just above the point where the ancient Lower Uchee Indian Trail crossed the Oconee River at Carr's Bluff. Then in Washington County, Blackshear chose a tract of land with fine river bottom lands and a prime spot for his home on an elevated ridge. The only trouble was that he chose a place which was subject to numerous depredations by some Creek Indian hunters who had been displaced from the lands some seven years prior. Blackshear's grants of land totaled more than twenty one hundred acres, the largest being 1084 acres in 1793. Grants of the latter's size usually indicated that the grantee had performed some public service to the state beyond the standard 287.5 acre grants given to soldiers of the Continental Line.
Many of the conflicts along the lower Oconee River centered around Carr's Bluff on the eastern banks of the Oconee River in north central Laurens County. Carr's Bluff is relatively small in comparison with higher bluffs up river. Its importance was derived from its location. The bluff is located at the point where the Lower Uchee Trail crossed the Oconee River. The trail was used by Indians in their travels between the Augusta area and lower portions of Georgia and Alabama. The trail seems to have been used throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and may have been in use long before then. According to some early Georgia historians, it was the path taken by the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, while on his expedition in May of 1540.
In 1792, the clouds of war once again came into this area. While negotiations were pending at Rock Landing, attacks continued along the eastern banks of the Oconee. Indian agent Seagrove went from village to village asking for the return of stolen animals. In July, Captain Benjamin Harrison had six horses stolen from him by Uchee Indians. Harrison lived at Carr's Bluff, across from the present day Country Club. Settlers in what would become eastern Laurens County stepped up their defenses. An old Indian trail leading along the eastern edge of the river was used for border patrols. This may have been the Milledgeville-Darien Road. The settlers petitioned the Georgia governor for ammunition and forts. The State built an outpost called Fort Telfair at Carr's Bluff on the Oconee River in 1793. The people built their own forts arming their families and even their slaves. On April 18, 1793, the Indians raided the home of William Pugh near Carr's Bluff. Pugh was the son of Col. Francis Pugh for whom Pugh's Creek in eastern Laurens County is named. Pugh was killed and scalped in the attack. Four horses were taken and one slave was captured. The situation eased when the Oconee's waters rose, creating a natural barrier to an attack.
In the summer of 1793, armies were being raised all over Georgia to protect against further raids. Benjamin Harrison, a resident of the Carr's Bluff area, bore the brunt of these constant attacks of horse taking and killing of livestock. Captain Benjamin Harrison simply hated Indians. Harrison once said "that there should never be a peace with the Indians whilst his name was Ben Harrison for he was able to raise men enough to kill half the Indians that might come to any treaty." Benjamin Harrison is said to have been a frontier character with a patch over an eye and piece of his nose missing. Harrison, a captain of the local militia, called his men together for a mission to retrieve some of his stolen horses. The company moved along the Lower Uchee Trail until they reached the home of the Uchee King who promised him that the horses would be returned. At another time, Harrison's men overtook a group of Indians taking three of their guns. Timothy Barnard, the husband of a Uchee woman, convinced Harrison to return the guns and the matter was temporarily resolved.
By October of 1793, Harrison's ire had once again been raised by the Indians. Captain Harrison's company and other companies under the command of Major Brenton set out from Carr's Bluff in defiance of General Jared Irwin. Their destination was a Chehaw village on the Flint River. Their objective was to capture any runaway slaves and stolen property. They found the village defended by sixteen males and four slaves. The rest of the men were in Florida hunting for game. A battle ensued with two Georgians and three Indians being killed.
In early May of 1794, Indian agent Seagrove invited the Lower Creeks and Uchees to return to their hunting grounds along the Oconee River while treaty negotiations continued. That same month Georgia's war hero, General Elijah Clarke, was about to embark upon an attack on the Spanish at St. Augustine. Clarke and his men were supported by the French government. The expedition left from the upper Oconee area down an old Indian trail along the western side of the Oconee River. The men camped at Carr's Bluff on their route to Florida. Before he could invade, Clarke was convinced by the federal government to call off the attack.
On October 28, 1795, Georgia and the United States were drawn into an incident which nearly precipitated a war with the Creek Nation. A small group of Indians had crossed the Oconee River and were visiting friends in a home near Carr's Bluff. Benjamin Harrison, along with Mr. Vessels and their men, attacked the Indians, killing seventeen of them. The dead, which included five Creek and twelve Uchee, were thrown into the river. The next morning the Uchee rode along the Uchee Trail leading to the bluff. They planned a retaliatory strike at dawn. The Uchee surrounded Harrison's home. To their dismay Capt. Harrison was gone. They moved east attacking Bush's Fort with all haste. Bush was a stepbrother of future General David Blackshear and lived in the area south of Ben Hall Lake along the newly created Washington/ Montgomery County line. They captured the fort and killed one man. The horses were taken and the cattle were killed. The Creek chiefs protested the killings to the Georgia government. The legislature passed a resolution regretting the incident. Harrison and his men were arrested for murder, but were never tried.
In February of 1796, John Watts and his company of 17 men were at Hickory Bluff, two miles above Carr's Bluff on the Oconee. The men received information on the 6th that Indians had been committing depredations along the frontier. Some of the men started down the river in two canoes. The first canoe was fired upon. Joseph Blackshear, George Muse, and James Leonard in the second canoe heard the gunfire and quickly moved ashore. The firing continued for fifteen minutes. The next day Watts led a party to the scene of the incident. There he found a decapitated William Foster who had his intestines and private parts cut out. Israel Smith's bullet-riddled body was found skinned like an animal. Isham Carr testified that he was a member of the party sent to investigate the theft of horses and sundry articles on February 8th. He stated that the men on the land ran to the crossing point on the river. The militia fired on the forty to fifty Indians, who retreated and fired from the high ground. After a short time, the militia retreated when they feared they might be surrounded. He went with Major Blackshear, Captain Blackshear, and others on the 10th to look for the missing men. The men found a small cache of three guns, a pistol, powder, and some clothing which they believed to belong to the Indians. Carr found one dead man on the east bank of the river. His scalp had been taken and it was presumed he had tried to swim to the east side of the river to safety. Two men, Sparks and Leonard, were missing after the action and were presumed to have drowned in the attack.
While the negotiations for the Treaty of Colerain were pending, many of the hostilities ceased. By the spring of 1797, the Indians were becoming impatient with the failure to bring Harrison and his men to trial. They attacked Long Bluff a few miles above Carr's Bluff. Isaac Brown (Vansant?) had his brains blown away and was scalped at Bush's Fort in present day Laurens County in 1797. Jeremiah Oates of Washington County testified that the dozen or so Indians carried off most of Brown’s belongings. Brown’s wife was shot. The Indians set the Brown’s house on fire. Mrs. Brown managed to fire a shot which scared the Indians. Despite her wound, Mrs. Brown was able to extinguish the fire. The Indian leading the party had a son killed by Harrison at the massacre at Carr's Bluff. In one of the last attacks in this area in February of 1798, William Allen was killed near Long Bluff.
As early as the fall of 1797, David Blackshear was serving as a major of a brigade of militia. By the end of the century, most of the hostilities had ceased. Gen. David Blackshear complained of the small thefts being committed by Indians in the late spring of 1799. No harm was done, but he thought the Indians were too insulant and mischievous. He found the remains of a bar-be-qued pig at a camp site. Blackshear was aggravated that the Indians were killing any animal they could find on his side of the river and that he had done all in his power to stop them without laying his hands upon them. In one of the final clashes with the Indian people, two white citizens of Montgomery County crossed the Oconee River and took two horses belonging to Indians. Gov. James Jackson wrote to Gen. David Blackshear who had command of this area. One of these may have been ol' Benjamin Harrison. Jackson gave orders to Blackshear directing him to arrest the offenders and not to resort to violence in the absence of any provocation. Jackson reiterated the law against any Indians remaining on Georgia soil without permission. The governor promised to back General Blackshear in any actions he might take.
Pursuant to the approval of the Georgia Legislature on February 22, 1796, Jared Irwin, a fellow Washington Countian and Governor of Georgia, appointed Blackshear as Justice of the Peace for Blackshear’s Militia District on June 4, 1796. Militia districts were formed primarily as a means of local defense against Indian attacks. Each district was named for its captain, presumably either David Blackshear or his brothers Joseph or Elijah. Three years later the Justices of the Inferior Court of Washington County renominated Blackshear to the position, which he served at least until 1808 and presumably until the boundaries of Laurens County were expanded to encompass all of his holdings in 1811.
Blackshear represented Washington County in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1797 to 1798 and again in 1804. Nearly all of the records of General David Blackshear’s activities while he was residing in Washington County went up in flames in a disastrous fire which destroyed the county courthouse in the 1850s. The early years of the 19th Century were relatively quiet in the number of so called Indian depredations. This lull was not so much caused by a cessation of hostilities but primarily because the state of Georgia acquired all of the land east of the Ocmulgee River in the early years of the century. Blackshear remained active in local affairs. With the creation of Laurens County in 1807, new lands were opened across the Oconee River from his plantation. Blackshear and his brothers, though not land lottery winners, promptly expanded their family’s holdings by purchasing fractional land lots along the river at a public sale held in the capital in Milledgeville. In 1811, the Georgia legislature authorized the ceding of portions of Washington and Montgomery counties to Laurens County. This simple act to compensate Laurens County for its loss of lands to Pulaski County was directly responsible for David Blackshear becoming a resident of Laurens County. David Blackshear’s early years as a local patriot and warrior was soon to change. In his last twenty five years of life, Blackshear would make outstanding contributions to his state that would make him one of the county’s most influential and important citizens in the 200-year history of Laurens County.
07-03
THE NATION'S FIRST FEMALE MEDICAL DEAN
The Story of Dr. Eleanor Ison-Franklin
Eleanor Ison-Franklin grew up in a home where education was paramount. From the day she was born until the day she died, this Dublin native dedicated her life to studying and teaching others in the science of medical research in an effort to heal the sick and keep the living alive a little longer. This is the story of one Dublin native who overcame the odds against her to rise to the pinnacle of her profession as a dean of the department of one the nation's most prestigious university medical schools.
Eleanor Lutia Ison-Franklin was born in Dublin, Georgia on Christmas Eve in 1929. Her father Professor L.L. Ison was a well-known educator in South Georgia. While I do not know what brought the Ison family to Dublin, I surmise that Professor Ison was involved in the school system or the vocational/agricultural education system. Professor Ison was a frequent lecturer and was chosen by the Works Progress Administration to supervise a program of Negro Education in Georgia.
Eleanor graduated as the valedictorian of Carver High School in 1944 at the age of fourteen. Four years later, the superlative student graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in biology from Spelman College, just six months after her eighteenth birthday. Miss Ison continued her studies by obtaining a Master of Science degree in 1951. In 1957, Miss Ison became Dr. Franklin when she was awarded a Ph. D degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. While working on furthering her college education, Dr. Franklin followed in her father's footsteps by teaching biology at Spelman and the University of Wisconsin. For her efforts, she was awarded a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Dr. Ison was hired as an assistant professor in Tuskegee Institute's Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in the School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1963, she transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she worked in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. In the late summer of 1965, Dr. Ison took the hand of George W. Franklin in marriage. While at Howard, Dr. Ison-Franklin excelled in her administrative duties. In 1971, she was elevated to the position of professor a year after she had been named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Her appointment marked the first time a woman had been appointed a dean in one of the nation's oldest and most highly respected black universities. According to one Internet source, Dr. Ison-Franklin was the first woman, black or white, to serve as the head of a university medical department in America.
The doctor's success continued in 1980 when she was chosen to serve as director of the Edward Hawthorne Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research. After serving for five years in that position, Dr. Ison-Franklin was selected to head the school's Department of Continuing Education. She retired in 1997. A year later, Dr. Ison-Franklin was honored with the title of "Magnificent Professor."
Dr. Ison-Franklin dedicated the last two decades of her life to the improvement of cardiovascular medicine to combat heart disease, the nation's number one cause of death. She concentrated on the relationship between hypertension and the nervous system. In 1991, she published many of her findings in a symposium entitled Myocardial Hypertrophy. The doctor also worked diligently to improve the technical facilities at Howard.
Dr. Ison-Franklin's list of awards and grants are too voluminous to list, but among the most prestigious of these were grants from N.A.S.A., the National Institutes of Health and the Washington Heart Association. Eleanor Ison-Franklin served on the Spelman College and Howard University Board of Trustees and as president of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College. She was an organizing director of the Women's National Bank of Washington as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1986, Dr. Ison-Franklin was selected as the third recipient of the Hall of Fame Award by the National Alumnae Association of Spelman. She was a member and frequent presenter of programs for The National Institute of Health, The National Academy of Sciences, The American Physiological Society, The American Society of Hypertension, The American Heart Association, The Congress of International Union of Physiological Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, Sigma Delta Epsilon, Phi Sigma Honorary Biological Society, and The National Science Foundation.
Spelman College honored one of their most illustrious graduates for her extra ordinary contributions to the development and strengthening of the Alumnae Association. Howard University honored this pioneering woman with citations for Outstanding and Dedicated Service in 1980 and for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education. While at Howard, Dr. Ison Franklin served for thirty years as Porter Lecturer from 1967 to 1997.
Dr. Eleanor Ison-Franklin died at her home on October 2, 1998 after suffering a heart attack. She survived her husband by two years and was the mother of Dr. Reginald K. Franklin of Atlanta and Clita R. Anderson of Muskegon Heights, Michigan.
In a 1979 interview, Dr. Franklin said that a black woman seeking a place in science and medicine must be "one whose identity of self is strong, whose coping mechanisms have been nurtured within a supportive ethnic environment, whose career choice is incidental to the more important need to achieve academically, and who entered an institution which traditionally accepted the fact that women have a role in the medical profession." At the same time, Dr. Ison-Franklin's leadership in administration made it easier for the black woman to succeed in the medical field.
In her obituary published in The Physiologist, Dr. Ison-Franklin was remembered mostly for her great love of teaching and her devotion to helping hundreds of minority students to achieve their goals and realize their dreams of practicing medicine. She was committed to excellence in all things with an attitude of respect toward all people. In summing up the rewards of her career in education, Dr. Ison-Franklin said, "It is axiomatic that the only true rewards of an academic career are the successes of one's students. Therefore, I am a witness to my rewards as I look around. They sit in chairs of departments, directors of programs, chiefs of divisions, deans, vice-presidents, and researchers. I hope that in some small way, I have stimulated their development and have imparted to them a modicum of their knowledge. I hope that through all of the many engagements with my students that I have succeeded in imparting time-honored values . . . among these that I hold most high are integrity and continuous learning."
07-04
DIRTY DANCING, GHOST AND MEN IN BLACK
No, this is not a move review. Despite the headline, I am not going to write about Patrick Swayze, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. I am going to tell you a few stories about our forgotten past. I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed putting them together.
It was one hundred and five years ago when the editors of a newspaper saluted "one of the most pleasant social events the young people of the city have enjoyed in some time." Fifteen couples danced in the dance hall of the Henry Building until their self-imposed curfew sent them home after their Friday evening fete. But, times change.
It was in the months following the end of World War I, called by victorious politicians and generals as "the war to end all wars." Young men were jubilant and wanted to celebrate, especially in the company of the city's most attractive young women. These men formed a club and called themselves "The Stags." No, it wasn't the first instance of a gang in the Emerald City, but it was an association of young men seeking to have a good time by ignoring their inhibitions and dancing until, well until their dates had to go home.
The Stags did not just want to have a dance once a month. They wanted to dance with the young ladies on every Friday evening. They even had the audacity to stage a street dance as the finale of "Dollar Days," a downtown wide mercantile event. The leader of the Stags secured permission to stage a dance in front of the courthouse on a Wednesday night. It didn't take long for word to reach the pastors of the local churches.
Dr. R.L. Baker, pastor of First Baptist Church, warned his congregation that any member caught dancing in public would be subject to banishment from the church. Rev. L.A. Hill of First Methodist Church was more blunt on the subject. Rev. Hill called the event a "public hugging game, which would be a blot on the fair name of the city." He asked the men if they would allow their wives or daughters to dance with hoodlums, ragtags, and bobtails from all over the county. He denounced the houses of ill fame located just across the river in East Dublin. Rev. Hill believed that the women of Dublin would enter into a public dance with all innocence. However, according to statistics in his possession, nine out of ten fallen women began their fall by dancing in public. Rev. Hill was not directly opposed to dancing in public, as long as the men danced with men and women danced with women. It's funny how things change.
John A. Harvill and his wife had just sat down by the fire on a cold December evening in 1882. The newly wed couple were distracted when they heard a noise which sounded like a squeaking old wagon. They ignored the discord as a mere passerby. After a moment, Harvill thinking the continuing commotion to be strange, sprang to his feet and opened his front door.
To his utter dismay Harvill observed what appeared to be a very large dog with a torch or lamp attached to the top of its head. He called out thinking that he must have been the brunt of some of a candid camera joke, of course, television cameras wouldn't be around for more than five decades. When no reply was received, Harvill did what most terrified men of his day would do, he picked up his gun and shot at it. He shot. He shot again. The dog didn't move. In the words of a writer of the Dublin Gazette, "there stood the specter as steadfast as the rock of Gibraltar." Harvill couldn't believe his eyes. Was he seeing things?
It didn't take long for the neighbors to come rushing to the scene of the skirmish. Harvill pointed out the apparition to friends, hoping that they would see it as well. Reportedly, they did. The brave generals in the crowd consulted each other and devised a plan of attack. Everyone who could, grabbed a torch and began their advance. As the first wave of the assault reached the ghostly canine, the pooch resumed his squeaking stride into the oblivion of the night. While the reporter for the Gazette was covering the calamity, a neighbor came up to him and confirmed that he had also seen the dog, without the squeak.
Minnie Howell and Charles Jones were deeply in love. They couldn't wait to get married. They rode into Dublin on a Sunday morning in February 1914. As they drove their buggy through the streets of Dublin, they desperately looked around for a "man in black," either a minister or judge, both of whom traditionally were donned in a black suit or wearing a black robe. They wanted someone to marry them and quickly. It was then when they spotted the newly elected Judge K.H. Hawkins, judge of the superior court of the Dublin circuit, walking to the First Methodist Church for its morning service. The startled judge honored the anxious couple's request and legally joined their hands in marriage as they sat on the seat of their buggy. Had Minnie and Charles been able to wait until January of the following year, they may have spotted one W.H. Brunson on his way to church. Brunson, who had only been practicing law for three months, easily outpaced a field of older and more well known candidates to win an election to fill the vacancy in the office of Justice of the Peace of the Dublin militia district following the death of Judge Chapman. Brunson, a twenty-two-year-old attorney, was the youngest Justice of the Peace in the State of Georgia.
It was a quiet day at the Park-N-Shop in the Shamrock Shopping Center on the last day of January 1974. City Alderman Glen Harden was manning the cash register at his store as he usually did. A trio of customers came through the door. Harden didn't pay too much attention. He thought he recognized them, or at least one of them. But that wasn't unusual because Harden knew a lot of folks.
But there was something strangely familiar about the man. Glen knew he recognized him. He asked the man if he was who he thought he was. He had seen the tall dark stranger on television before. He had listened to his voice on records. The man acknowledged his identity and introduced his wife and mother-in-law to Harden. The trio were on their way to Savannah for a concert that night. In today's day of interstate highways, we tend to forget that most people traveling to Savannah from anywhere west of the port city had to come through Dublin to get there.
The customers purchased some groceries and had a good time talking with Harden, so much so that they promised to stop back by on their return to their home in Nashville. Oh, they also bought a pair of scissors, a pack of needles and a few spools of thread, possibly black thread. For you see the trio who stopped in one of the city's first modern convenience stores was June and her mother Maybelle. The man, of course, was the world's most famous "man in black," the iconic legend, Johnny Cash.
07-05
MAJOR HERNDON CUMMINGS
A Fighter For Freedoms
This is a story of a Laurens County man who fought for the freedom of his country
and the freedom of his people. Herndon Cummings was a member of what has collectively been called the "Tuskegee Airmen." Though he was not a part of the highly acclaimed circle of fighter pilots, Cummings served as a pilot in a bomber group which trained in the United States during World War II. In the waning moths of the war, Cummings found himself embroiled in one of the war's most controversial, yet unpublicized, instances, the first major attempt to integrate an all-white officer's club.
Herndon M. Cummings was born on April 25, 1919. The son of Joseph and Mollie
Hill Cummings, Don grew up in the Burgamy District in the Old Macon Road area of northwestern Laurens County. Don was a grandson of Rev. Daniel D. Cummings, who saw to it that all of his children were educated. Many of his children excelled beyond their high school training to become professionals in a day when few blacks did.
Cummings said his interest in aviation was sparked on Christmas Day in 1928 when his father gave him a toy German zeppelin. His interest in flying was forever sealed in 1936 when Don and his brother took a five-dollar ride in a Ford Tri-Motor plane. As the plane soared in the skies west of Dublin, Don underwent a life-altering experience. "By the time the plane landed, I knew what I wanted to do," he recalled.
Like many other teenagers of his day, Don Cummings wanted to fly. The problem
was that there were only a scant number of black pilots who had the means or were given a chance to fly. The United States Army Air Force instituted what was deemed "The Tuskegee Experiment." It was a program, thought by many to be designed to fail, to train black pilots to serve in Europe during World War II. Don Cummings enlisted in the Air Corps on June 25, 1942. He listed his occupation as a carpenter.
For nearly two years, Lt. Cummings trained in the B-25 bomber at Tuskegee and
later at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio, where he would later make his home. Of the nine hundred to a thousand men who successfully completed their training at Tuskegee, most trained as fighter pilots in the P-51 fighter and other fighters. These men, who have been immortalized in books and films, were assigned to the 332nd Fighter Squadron and saw action in the skies of Europe during the last months of the war escorting long range bombers. These brave young men were credited with losing none, or only a very few, of the fighters they escorted.
Lt. Cummings was assigned to the 477th Bomber Group. The 477th was organized at Selfridge Army Air Field, Michigan in 1944. Many of the members of the group were commanded by white officers, who according to some, favored white officers over the black officers. Concerns over racial troubles in Detroit forced the group to move to Godman Field near Fort Knox, Kentucky. By March 1945, the 477th was uprooted again and moved to Freemen Army Field at Seymour, Indiana.
In 1940, the Army published a regulation that any officer's club must be open to any officer, three years before the Tuskegee Airmen received their commission and long before the government officially ended segregation in the armed forces. The field at Freeman maintained two clubs, one for supervisors and one for trainees, but were defacto separated between blacks and whites. In the early days of April 1945, the relationships between the commanding officers and the black pilots began to deteriorate rapidly. Some five dozen were placed under house arrest. The men were released, but field commander Selway determined that all of the black pilots were to be designated as "trainees" and were assigned to their own club building. It so happened that all of the trainees were black and the white officers had their own building.
On April 9th, all pilots were asked to sign a pledge to comply with Selway's directive. Lt. Cummings joined one hundred of his fellow pilots and refused to sign. They were arrested on the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. "The regulations said we could go in but the commanding officer said we couldn't," Cummings said. He added, "we just wanted a beer, why else would we go there?" The men, known as the Freeman Field 101, were taken back to a jail at Godman Field. They remained in jail for twelve days. Cummings gave new president Harry S. Truman credit for their release. "We thought it was the end of the line, but President Truman did the right thing," Cummings said.
"We fought on both sides of the ocean. We fought on this side for civil rights,"
Cummings told an interviewer. "I am sure we did the right thing. To me and a lot of other people, it was the beginning of the civil rights movement," Cummings said. He also credited Eleanor Roosevelt and Thurgood Marshall, lead counsel for the NAACP and a future Supreme Court justice, for the effort to drop the charges of mutiny. It would be five decades later when the official letters of reprimand were purged from the personnel files of the Freeman Field 101.
Just weeks after they were freed, General Hap Arnold replaced all of the white officers in the 477th with black officers. Lt. Cummings was promoted to captain to command a bomber. The unit was temporarily assigned to Godman under the command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the former commander at Tuskegee and a graduate of West Point. Col. Davis was given the task of preparing the 477th for deployment to the Pacific theater where it would participate in the impending invasion of Japan. The dropping of the atomic bomb ended the war and the 477th never saw combat outside of the United States. After completing his four-year stint in the Army Air Corps, Cummings served in the Air Force Reserve and attained the rank of major before retiring after twenty years of service.
Cummings earned a commercial pilot's license, but never utilized it because there
were virtually no opportunities for employment of black pilots. He went to work laying bricks in order to support his family and send his two daughters to college. Cummings and his second wife Mildred lived in their South Wayne Street home in Columbus until she died in 1988.
When he is able, Major Cummings appears at reunions and programs to honor the
Tuskegee Airmen or to support aviation in general. He has never been bitter about his experiences in the military, stating instead that it wasn't too bad and nothing could keep a good man down.
07-06
JIMMY BIVINS
The Best Boxer You Never Heard Of
Time and even his own daughter almost erased the memory of Jimmy Bivins from the minds of boxing fans. Though you have probably never heard of him, Bivins, a native of Twiggs County, is regarded as one of the best boxers of his era. While he never won a championship, Jimmy Bivins, is regarded by experts as one of the best Light Heavyweight Fighters of the 20th Century.
James Louis “Jimmy” Bivins was born in Dry Branch, Georgia on December 6, 1919. His parents, Allen and Fleta, lived on their farm on the Old Griswoldville Road in the Smith District of northwestern Twiggs County. The Bivins joined many other African American families who migrated to work in the industrial complexes of the Northeast and Midwest, leaving their boll weevil infested red clay farm behind.
The Bivins moved to East 53rd Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Allen worked as a fireman for the Ohio Cleaning Company. James and his sisters Viola, Maria and Fanny May attended the neighborhood school. It was in when he was in his teens when Jimmy learned how to box. In his first celebrated match, Jimmy lost to Storace Cozy in the third round of the 147-pound class in the AAU Championship in San Francisco.
Bivins entered the world of professional boxing as middleweight. His first professional fight came in Cleveland on January 15, 1940 with a one round TKO over Emory Morgan. His sixth straight professional victory came in April in Chicago in an eight-round decision over Nate Bolden. Bivin’s remarkable streak of 19 consecutive wins, highlighted by ten-round victory over Charley Burley, ended in his last match of the year, when he lost a rematch with Anton Christoforidis.
Jimmy picked up right where he left off in 1941. As a light heavyweight, he won six of eight bouts. In his fourth and probably the most important match of his early career, Bivins beat Joey Maxim in a ten-round decision in a match fought at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Maxim won the world light heavyweight championship in 1950. In defense of his title in 1952, Maxim, a native of Cleveland, beat challenger Sugar Ray Robinson in the only one of his 201 matches where he failed to answer the bell. Bivins ended 1942 with a record of seven wins and one loss. Ring magazine named him the number one contender in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classifications.
In his opening bout of 1943, Bivins defeated Ezzard Charles, a fellow Georgian and regarded as the third greatest light heavyweight of the 20th Century, in ten rounds. Bivins continued his meteoric career completing the year with eight victories and no defeats. His win over Ami Mauriello earned Jimmy the Duration Heavyweight Title. Bivins won his only match in 1944, a year which saw few matches while he served in the United States Army. During that last full year of the war, Jimmy Bivins was known as the interim or unofficial Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Jimmy’s greatest victory came on August 22, 1945 in his adopted hometown of Cleveland. In a six round technical knockout, he defeated Archie Moore, selected by the Associated Press as the best light heavyweight of the 20th Century. He ended the war years with an astonishing record of 48 victories, two defeats and a draw.
Bivins ran his win total to fifty-two before a devastating loss to Jersey Joe Walcott in the winter of 1946. Until that point, Bivins had not lost a boxing match since June 22, 1942. Jimmy lost again in June and didn’t fight until two weeks before Thanksgiving when he was defeated by Ezzard Charles in the tenth round for his third consecutive loss.
In 1947, Jimmy Bivins regained his winning style and won ten matches and only losing one. He carried a five match winning streak into a rematch with Archie Moore, which he lost in the 10th round. Just sixteen days later, he lost another ten round bout with Ezzard Charles. After a six round exhibition match with the great Joe Louis on November 17, 1948, Jimmy lost his third match of the year, a defeat by fellow Clevelander Joey Maxim.
Jimmy Bivins continued to win, garnering six wins in eight matches in 1949. By 1949, his competition was becoming less noteworthy. After winning one of only two bouts in 1950, once again Bivins put together seven match winning streak, which came to a screeching halt on August 15, 1951, when he lost a heavyweight match to Joe Louis. His only consolation was his winnings. Though he lost the match to one of the greatest fights ever, Bivins was paid $40,000.00 his largest cash prize ever. His last great fight came in Chicago on November 26, 1952 when he lost to Ezzard Charles. For the rest of his career, Jimmy could only manage to fight small time fighters. He won his last four bouts, his final victory coming at home in Cleveland on October 28, 1955.
After his retirement, Jimmy drove a bread truck for his day job. But boxing was in his blood. He trained amateur boxers in the Cleveland area for many years.
One of the darkest moments in Jimmy Bivins’ life came not on the mat of a boxing room, but in the home of his own daughter. Forced to live with his daughter after the death of his wife, Bivins was horribly mistreated by his daughter and her husband. When Bivins failed to show up at the local gym, concerned friends went out to look for him. Bivins was found in the attic of his daughter’s home, bundled in a urine-stained blanket, missing a portion of his finger, blind in one eye and emaciated down to 110 pounds. It was the athlete in him that guided him through one of the toughest battles of his life. Just like he did in the 1940s, Jimmy battled and won, regaining his old fighting weight. His former pupil Gary Hovrath helped to bring his mentor back to the gym.
In his 112 fight career, the 175-pound 5-foot 9 inch tall Bivins posted an illustrious record of 86 victories (thirty one by knockouts,) twenty-five losses, and one draw. He fought seven members of the Boxing Hall of Fame, defeating four of them. He squared off against eleven world champions, defeated eight of them, including Joey Maxim, Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles.
Though he never won a boxing title, the voters of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999 recognized the remarkable achievements of Jimmy Bivins during the 1940s. A five-man panel appointed by the Associated Press named Jimmy as the fifth greatest light heavyweight boxer of the 20th Century. In commenting on his induction, the quiet Bivins remarked, “I knew one of these days they would recognize me. I did the best I could. I’m glad it was appreciated.”
07-07
EMILY WHITEHURST STONE
Friend and Foe of An American Literary Legend
Emily Whitehurst married the love of her life. Her husband's best friend was a man she deeply admired. When her idol slighted her husband's influence on his celebrated writings, her admiration turned to scorn. But in her own right, she was a woman ahead of her time, a time in the South when her stands on social rights were scorned by many and admired by the very few.
Emily Whitehurst was born in 1909 in Dublin, Georgia. Her father, Zollicoffer, or just plain "Z." Whitehurst was a pharmacist, who later became the Superintendent of Laurens County schools. Her mother was the former Miss Minnie Edge. Emily graduated from Dublin High School in 1926. After her graduation, Emily studied at Georgia State Teacher's College and Tulane University, where she obtained a degree in education.
Emily loved literature, especially classical Greek literature. She began to read "The Sound and the Fury," by Mississippi novelist William Faulkner. She took a friend and set out for Oxford, Mississippi to meet her new favorite author. She said, "here is a real live writer. I had never seen one. He was short, but had a great presence." Emily stayed in Oxford, where she taught school. She began to write her own novel. The new single, blond, blue-eyed school teacher was the object of the town's matchmakers. Emily's friends were all talking about a young man, a Yale-educated handsome lawyer named Phil Stone. "He was the most romantic person, all the girls in town were in love with him," Emily remembered. After all, Phil Stone was the best friend of William Faulkner, the man who's writing "set her on fire."
A mutual friend took Emily's unfinished manuscript to Phil for his review. There was something in her words that peeked the young lawyer's attention, or maybe there was something in her smile. Phil sent a letter to Emily inviting her to come by his office. Emily was flattered. "I just primped myself to pieces," said Emily, who married Phil Stone in a New Orleans church, despite the fact that she had disavowed her staunch Methodist upbringing and was generally regarded as somewhat of an atheist.
It was about this time when Emily's admiration for Faulkner evolved into disdain. Faulkner would come by the Stone home and sit in their parlor while he read his new stories to the Stones, who acted as critics and counselors as well. Mrs. Stone was intimidated by Faulkner. Particularly disturbing was his opinion about women. Emily believed Faulkner saw women as good for housework only and as parasites, who live off the men they marry. Many times Emily bit her tongue when it came to Faulkner's faults. She realized the importance of her husband's friendship with Faulkner and learned to respect it.
Faulkner's reputation among his critics and multitude of readers began to soar. Many people in Oxford thought the highly respected author's work were in reality, written or at least inspired by Phil Stone. It was generally known and accepted by almost everyone, except Emily, that Gavin Stevens, the southern lawyer protagonist of Faulkner's widely acclaimed mystery novels, was based on Faulkner's best friend Phil. Emily hated the comparison. "I got mad. Phil was not," Emily remembered. "Gavin was so garrulous and Phil was not," she said as she remembered her fury when everyone thought the lawyer in Faulkner's novels was actually her real life husband. Emily did admit the similarity between Gavin Stevens and her husband's propensity for telling stories.
Phil never took any credit, except for giving Faulkner a sense of humor and keeping him in Mississippi and away from New York. When William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, he took all of the credit and gave his best friend Phil absolutely no praise for his friendship and inspiration. This was the last straw. Emily believed with all of her heart that it was Phil Stone who transformed William Faulkner into a writer, or at least into the writer he became. Phil and William, a high school dropout, were inseparable. The highly educated Stone exposed William to a diverse group of classic literary works. Stone purchased a thousand copies of Faulkner's first book, a volume of poetry, to boost his friend's ego and fatten his wallet. After tolerating his faults for too many years, Emily Stone no longer had any use for the once beloved icon and forever demigod Faulkner.
Emily simply adored and idolized Phil. She and "Mr. God," as she referred to him had two children, Phillip, Jr. and Araminta. Early in their marriage, the Stones suffered an irreparable loss. Their elegant home was destroyed by fire. Most devastating was Phil's vast library, which included a fifty- foot long, more than a head tall, line of literary works. Among the treasures lost or severely damaged were some of Faulkner's earliest works, many of which were personally inscribed by the author. The loss of her and her husband's priceless possessions was compounded by the loss of her most prized possession, her husband. First he lost his mind and then he died, leaving her to face a new world alone. Emily turned back to her childhood faith and found solace in her new life. She moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then to Montgomery, Alabama and then to Charlotte, North Carolina.
During the violent racial upheavals of the 1950s and 1960s, Emily Stone saw the absurdity of the cataclysms erupting in Mississippi and throughout the office. When James Meredith became the first black student to integrate Ole Miss, Emily refused to join in the effort to deny him his rights, but instead took the offensive. With the courage of a literary hero, Mrs. Stone chastised and condemned their barbaric behavior. Her pleas went ignored.
Ralph Wood, a professor of religion at Wake Forest, said of Emily, "she was a woman ahead of her time. She could have been content being a perfect Southern lady - keeping her china sparkling, her silver polished and belonging to book clubs where people didn't read books. But she wasn't." Emily did write, but none of her short stories and essays ever garnered any fame, except among her inner circle of friends and colleagues. As Professor Stone, Emily was a highly respected teacher of English literature at Huntingdon College.
Emily Whitehurst Stone died on June 24, 1992 at Wesley Nursing Center in Charlotte. In his eulogy of Emily Stone, Professor Wood described her an oxymoron, "she was a saint without a halo. She may have thought herself an unbeliever but to paraphrase Tennyson, there lived more faith in her honest doubt than in half our creeds."
07-08
OUR ALTER EGOS
Dublins Around the Country
What do a soft drink, a hamburger and an almanac have in common? They all come from the city of Dublin, not Dublin, Georgia, but from other Dublins around the country. During this St. Patrick’s Festival, the nation’s longest celebration of Irish heritage, let’s take a look at three Dublins and what they are famous for.
All Dublins in the world derive their name from the ancient capital city of Ireland. Dublin, Georgia holds the distinction of being the second Dublin in the United States. It was named by Jonathan Sawyer, the town’s first postmaster. Sawyer named the post office in the summer of 1811 in honor of the ancestral home of his wife, the former Miss Elizabeth McCormick.
Dublin, Texas, with it’s population of 3,250, lies near the geographic center of the Lone Star State. Of all of the Dublins in this country, its history is most like that of Dublin, Georgia. James Tucker opened a store there one year before the southern states declared their independence from the North. J.M. Miller laid out his cotton field and began selling lots in 1881. By the end of the 1880s, Dublin was home to two railroads, a bank and a newspaper. Like Dublin, Georgia, Dublin, Texas owed its life to cotton and the railroads, which kept the money flowing and people coming.
For all of the 1940s and 1950s, Dublin, Texas was the home to the World Championship Rodeo, made famous by Gene Autry. The nearby “Lightning C” ranch covered a dozen thousand acres, making it the largest rodeo ranch in the world. Dublin is the home of Ben Hogan, one the greatest legends of golf.
But by far, Dublin, Texas is known as the home of Dr. Pepper, which was first bottled in Dublin in 1891 by Sam Houston Prim. Every June the citizens of Dublin and surrounding areas turn out by the thousands to honor the soft drink and its plant, which is the only plant which still uses the original pure cane sugar recipe. There is a circus with shows at “10, 2 and 4" in keeping with the slogan of Dr. Pepper.
Dublin, Texas also holds a St. Patrick’s festival. The three-day affair features a carnival, food festival, softball tournament, art & quilt show, parade, Little Miss Dublin contest and tours of the town museum and bottling plant. Dublin, which is located 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, is known for its dairy farming, peanuts and cattle farms.
Dublin, Ohio, the second largest of all Dublins in America, lies among the northwestern suburbs of Columbus. During the 1970s, Dublin was engulfed by the urban sprawl of Columbians, the completion of I-270 and the development of Muirfield Village Golf Club, a course designed by Jack Nichalaus. This Dublin’s origin dates back to a 400 acre village on the banks of the Scioto River in the second decade of the 19th Century. On every Memorial Day weekend, Dublin hosts a golf tournament which draws the best players on the PGA tour. Dublin, Ohio is also the home of Wendy’s Hamburgers, founded by Dave Thomas.
Dubliners from Ohio love festivals. There is the requisite St. Patrick’s Festival, where the Lion’s Club hosts a pancake breakfast followed by a 5K Leprechaun run and a parade. Sound familiar? Dubliner’s let it all hang out at the Rockin’ Barney Blash. But the celebration of Irish heritage doesn’t end there. In early August, there is the Dublin Irish festival, an event which began in 1988. There are Irish goods of all kinds, as well as exhibits which feature the cultural heritage of Ireland. Of course, there is a feast of Irish food and drink. What kind of festival would it be without stew, breads and beer? On the first weekend of each December, known as Holly Days, everything that glitters is green. The lighting of the city’s official Christmas tree opens the festival before the city’s merchants throw open their doors where nearly everything is on sale.
The first Dublin in the United States was founded as one of the highest villages in New Hampshire in 1771. In 1792, another Thomas, Robert Thomas, began publishing the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The annual almanac is the country’s oldest continuously published periodical. Despite also being the home of The Yankee Magazine, which publishes a variety of travel magazines, Dublin, New Hampshire’s population is around 1500 people.
Dublin, North Carolina, located in Bladen County, is located between Fayetteville and Wilmington in the southeastern part of the Tar Heel State. About a quarter of a thousand people live in Dublin. The big festival in the community comes during the third week of September, when everyone celebrates the harvesting of the peanut crop.
A few hundred miles to the northwest is Dublin, Virginia. Founded by the Henry Trollinger family in 1776, the community was first known as Newburn Depot and later Dublin Depot. On May 9, 1864, southwestern Virginia’s most vicious battle of the Civil War took place in and around the depot. Confederate troops under the command of Gen. J.C. Breckenridge foiled Union attempts to capture the vital railroad depot.
The area around Dublin, California was first settled in 1822 by Jose Maria Amador. In 1877, a church, two hotels, a blacksmith shop and a shoe maker’s shop was built. The community, first known as Doughtery’s Station, is located in the Armador Livermore Valley. Dublin, California was incorporated in February, 1982 and is located 35 miles east of San Francisco. It’s population, now the largest of any Dublin, is buoyed by the fact that Dublin lies at the intersection of two major interstate highways. The country’s westernmost Dublin is driven by rapidly growing technological and medical businesses.
Dublin, Indiana, a small town of less than a thousand people, is located along the Ohio line in the middle of the state. It was the site of the first women’s rights convention in Indiana in 1851. The annual highlight of the year is the volunteer fire department’s fish fry on Memorial Day weekend.
Once there were or still are Dublins, post offices or just places along the road named Dublin in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York and Pennsylvania. What you may not know is that there have been two other Dublins in Georgia. There was once a Dublin community in Butts County, which changed its name to Cork. The third Dublin, Georgia is now known as Resaca.
07-09
BILL NORRIS
From Lovett Park to Wimbledon
He has been called "The Wizard of Gauze." Others call him "Billy the Banger" or "Bangers and Mash." He has spent most of his life in and around many of the most exclusive and glamorous tennis courts of the world. In his career, Bill Norris had mended scrapes, soothed strained muscles and counseled many of the world's greatest tennis players Of all of the places in the world, his career began right here in Dublin, Georgia at Lovett Park. From such a humble beginning, Bill Norris moved on to a career in professional basketball and found his life's calling as the world's most highly regarded tennis trainer.
William L. Myers was born on August 5, 1942 in Fort Myers, Florida. He grew up a baseball fan. As a perennial ritual of spring, major league baseball players invaded his homeland to prepare for the rigors of the upcoming seasons. At the age of 12, Billy Myers knew he wanted to be an athletic trainer. As a spring training bat boy for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Myers began to learn the scientific method of treating sports injuries. During his high school years, he worked as an assistant trainer for the Pirates while they were in town. Though he wasn't much of an athlete, Bill loved sports and wanted to be a part of them.
Bill began his studies in earnest in 1960 when he enrolled at Manatee Junior College. After two years of school, he was invited to join the Class D team of the Milwaukee Braves in the Georgia-Florida League. And so, for Bill, it was off to Dublin, Georgia and his first real job as a trainer. The Dublin Braves were a pretty fair minor league team that year. Four players, including Bill Robinson, made it to "the show" before their playing days were over. Bill learned the game under the guidance of veteran minor league manager Bill Steinecke.
After attending a training school, Bill was hired to work with the New York Mets, the worst team in baseball history. The Mets assigned Bill to train their minor league teams first in Columbus, Georgia and then in Auburn, New York. Bill's natural skills as a trainer didn't go unnoticed. Coach Eddie Donovan of the cross town New York Knicks saw something special in the young Floridian. When the last out was made, Bill began his conversion to basketball with a promise of returning to baseball when the grass began to turn green again. During his six seasons with the Knicks, Norris saw to the needs of some of the game's greatest players, including Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Walt Frazier. While he worked with the Knicks, Bill also worked as a trainer for all performers in Madison Square Garden, including boxers, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.
In 1969, Bill again took another cross town job, this time with the New York Nets of the ABA. In the early years of the franchise, Norris worked with future NBA legend Rick Barry, leaving the team just before it signed the all time great Julius Erving. Bill continued to work for the Mets during baseball season during the off season. But after twelve seasons of professional basketball and several more in baseball, it was time for a career change.
In 1973, Bill was approached by the Association of Tennis Professionals. They needed a trainer for their members and Bill was a prime choice. The association wanted one trainer for all of their male tennis players. They needed a familiar face run out on the court to tend to an injury, one person who could know the players and their particular bodies and one who could get into their minds and relieve their aches and pains. Rarely does Bill see an injury. He has to rely upon spectator's accounts and those made by anguished players.
The highlights of Bill Norris's thirty three years in professional tennis come from his association with the United States Davis Cup teams. He has worked with four winners of the cup, led by a quartet of the greatest legends of the game, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. He has also worked with Pete Sampras, Stan Smith and Ken Rosewall among hundreds of others.Norris also worked with international icons Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase and Guillermo Vilas. At all times, Bill's job is to remain neutral and treat each competitor the same. Bill did become a close friend and drinking buddy of Bob Lutz. Of all of the players he trained, Norris most admires the tenacity and determination of Jimmy Connors, despite his obnoxious behavior on the court. Some have compared bill to the incomparable fictional teacher Mr. Chips, who now after forty-five years of training looks back with fondness for the thousands of young men he has worked with and gotten to know and to admire.
Bill's job calls for up close and deeply personal contact with his athletes. Many of the game's greatest players would and could confide in him their deepest thoughts, triumphs and fears. Bill had to become a part time psychologist. As a trainer, Bill knew what to do to physically prepare his players for their next match, but he learned to observe their mental attitudes as an indicator of how they were going to perform after they left the locker room. From his position, Norris knows the players better than anyone, maybe even the players themselves. The players grew to admire and respect Norris, who once with his long hair and strong round glasses, bore an uncanny resemblance to the late singer John Denver. Their similarities were so indistinct that Bill used to sign Denver's name for autograph seekers and adoring fans who couldn't tell the difference. His likeness helped him to get free drinks and quite a few laughs. Jimmy Connors once got in on the joke when he traveled to meet Denver to ask for his advice, pretending that Denver was Bill Norris. All of that ended after Denver's untimely death in an airplane crash.
Bill's expertise on tennis injuries drew the attention of amateurs as well. President Ronald Reagan called on Bill to work on is bad back. Princess Grace Kelly sought out Bill's comforting hands to cure her sore elbow.
Today, Bill's schedule has trimmed down dramatically. He now spends more time with his wife and family, a task which was once difficult to manage. Bill Norris loves the game of tennis and loves helping its players make it up off the court. Over his forty-five years in sports medicine, Bill looks forward to every new day. "No two days are the same," said Bill, who thrives on his relationships with every new generation that comes along. His favorite tournament is at Wimbledon. "It is like a big reunion," Bill said.
Bill Norris believes the soul of tennis lies within the amateur players across the country and the world, who have not been exposed to fame and adulation. He never plans to retire, telling a reporter for the BBC, "I want to die running out to the court trying to help somebody."
07-10
REMEMBERING DUBLIN
Reminiscences of Red Cowart
Red Cowart loved Dublin. Red did what we all should do and that is to write down what meant the most to us during our lives. You don't need any special skills, just write what you remember. If you do so, the remotest of your descendants and the most avid of future historians will forever be indebted to you.
D. T. "Red" Cowart grew up in Dublin on the edge of the city's first industrial complex. His parents, Andrew A. Cowart and Ida Williams Cowart, lived in a home on the northeast corner of East Madison and South Washington Streets on the corner occupied for many years by Rawls Welding Shop. Red's father operated a lumber mill further down South Washington Street. Andrew Cowart dug the first artesian well in Laurens County. Cowart dug his well in the rear of his home and later constructed an indoor swimming pool, also the first in the county, to capitalize on the abundant supply of fresh and virtually pure water. Mr. Cowart came up with a brilliant idea. The spring water was cold and not ideal for swimming. Across the street at the ice plant, the plant needed cold water to condense steam into pure water for ice making. So they struck a deal. Cowart pumped cold artesian water to the plant and in turn the plant piped steam across the street to his pool and presto, a heated indoor swimming pool. The Cowarts enjoyed the pool all during the year. Their friends, both old and new and invited and uninvited, enjoyed visiting the Cowart home.
Red prefaced his memories by saying, "The good old days were just that. They were good to everyone. Everyone was friendly and neighborly. Living conditions, while a bit uncomfortable at times, were never excessively cruel. All had just about everything they needed and lived well without being forced, against their wills, to live, act and struggle as they are being forced to today?"
The railroads were the most important aspect of our history around the turn of the 20th Century. The first trains had to stop on the eastern bank of the river. Passengers and freight were then hauled to town by buggy, wagon or hack. Judson Jackson and his family were among the first spectators to witness the arrival of the first passenger train into Dublin. Jackson's son took the wagon and tied the mules under a tree. The alarming bells and whistle blows so startled the youngster that he began to flee with the wagon shafts in his hands. His flight ended in disaster when the he lost control of the wagon, which was a total loss.
Red remembered how much fun everyone had on the excursions to Tybee Island on the Central of Georgia railroad. As many as eight to nine railcars full of passengers boarded the trains early in the morning to enjoy an afternoon frolic in the surf and sun, which ended as nightfall came. There were Saturdays when passengers disembarked from the train to shop in the many stores of downtown Dublin. One of his most fond memories was the day the legendary passenger train, "The Nancy Hanks," detoured from its normal route. Hundreds of persons gathered along the tracks to see "the last passenger train to pass through Dublin."
Despite the large numbers of shoppers and visitors in the downtown area, there were no parking problems. There was a large parking lot in the first block of North Jefferson street on the site of the old Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Situated throughout the town were stables where a farmer could park his wagon. While he and his family shopped and tended to their business, the horses were fed and watered. Some persons brought their purchases back to the wagon for safekeeping, while others picked them up on their way out of town. In the "good old days," there were never any parking meters and no parking tickets," Red remembered.
One of Red's most favorite stories actually had to deal with Laurens County and World War II. Cowart was a close friend of Judge Jim Hicks. One day Jim Hicks took Red out to his farm in the Buckeye District. The judge showed Red a grove of huge pine trees growing along the banks of the Oconee River. Red asked Judge Hicks why he didn't cut them down and not take a chance on losing them to fire or disease. The judge said, "Red, I am saving these trees to help the United States whip Japan." About eight or so years later, Red noticed a small convoy of trucks passing through town. Each truck carried a single humongous log, there being not enough room to throw another on the truck bed. Red asked around and found out that the trees were some of the same trees that the judge had shown him in 1935. The year was then 1943 and the United States and Japan were in the midst of a horrific war in the Pacific Ocean. The trees, well they were on their way to the planing mill and then bound for transport to the shipyards where they were fashioned into landing craft for invasion of the islands of the South Pacific.
Red wrote of fond memories of river boats, which were the sole means of transportation of freight before the coming of the railroads and automobiles. He vividly recalled the names of the boats, the Rover, the Katy C, the City of Dublin and the Clyde S. Many a kid would spend hours watching the boats as they pulled up to the docks and unloaded their freight into elevators which took bales of cotton, lumber and other valuable goods up to the level of the river bank. Especially exciting were the times when new boats were launched into the mighty Oconee. All of this came to an end when the Clyde S. was beached on the end of a sandbar about eight hundred to nine hundred yards above the river bridge on the East Dublin side of the river, left there to be washed piece by piece back into the river she served so well.
Dubliners were most proud of the only brick yards in this section. Located between the old Georgia Plywood Company (Riverwalk Park and Roche Farm and Garden Center) and the mouth of Hunger and Hardship was L.A. Chapman's brick yard, which supplied Dublin and cities around the southeast with fine bricks. Once the yard's supply of clay was exhausted, the city of Dublin took over the property and filled the pits with trash and garbage, much to the delight of bottle hunters for many decades. A second brickyard was located about a mile and a half down river. Those who remember the hexagonal stones which once lined the sidewalks of Dublin and other cities of the state, might not remember that they were fashioned from sand pits of the Georgia Hydraulic Stone Company in East Dublin along Nathaniel Drive.
Finally, Red remembered the time that a group of sailors were gathered in a pub in a Mediterranean port. One man got up and dared anyone to name a city he hadn't visited. Wooten Cowart stood and said, "ever hear of Dublin, Georgia?" The man laughed loudly and said he formerly lived in Dublin and worked at the Carter Iron Foundry. "I was once arrested for drunkenness," he boasted. The man who arrested him was Police Chief Cowart, father of Wooten Cowart. As they say, it is indeed a "small world."
07-11
HUGH FRANK RADCLIFFE
King of the K's
Most of you who are baseball fans know that Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood hold the record for the most strikeouts in a regulation 9-inning major league game with 2o. You would have to be a baseball purist to know that Tom Cheney set the game record with 21 strikeouts in a 16-inning game. Cristen Vitek of Baylor and Eileen Canney of Northwestern hold the NCAA record for 28 strikeouts in a game in sixteen and eighteen innings respectively. But how many of you know that a former Dexter kid struck out 28 batters in a 9-inning high school game for a world record. Millard Whittle of Dexter remembers. Mr. Whittle remembers a lot about a lot of things. After all, he has been around these parts for more than ninety years. Mr. Whittle called me and related the story of Hugh Frank Radcliffe. I was hooked and logged onto the Internet as fast as I could to see what I could find.
Hugh Frank Radcliffe was born in 1929. He spent his early years in the Dexter community. Sometime during the end of the Great Depression, the Radcliffes moved to Thomaston, Georgia. Hugh attended Robert E. Lee Institute in Thomaston. Hugh, or Frank, or "Redbone," as his friends called him, was a four-sport star at R.E. Lee. Radcliffe was an all state and all South end and the best kicker in Georgia. He was an all state guard in basketball and a state champion in the pole vault. But his main sport was baseball. Now you will see why.
Hugh was considered big for his day standing six feet one and one half inches tall without his cleats on and tipping the scale at 185 pounds. He was as clean cut as any teenager could be. His coach described him as unimpressed with accolades and one who disdained alcohol, tobacco and even ice cream sodas.
It was the year 1948. Hugh was just about half way through his senior year in high school. As a sophomore, Hugh led his team to the Georgia and Regional American Legion titles. The game was to be played in Macon, Georgia. The Rebels' opponents that day were the Poets from Lanier High School in Macon. The Poets were no slouches. The team had a winning tradition for many years. The Poets no longer had Billy Henderson, a former Dublinite and a high school All-American baseball player. Sporting a five-game winning streak, Lanier was always a strong team. The date was April 19th. The place was Silvertown Ballpark.
Hugh struck out three batters to end the first inning. The fans and coaches all must have said, "well, Frank's on today." Then he struck out three batters in the second. Somewhere during the game he struck out four batters in one inning. Some of you might say, "how can that be?" Well, the reason is simple. Under baseball rules, when a catcher drops a third strike and first base is not occupied and there is less than two outs, the runner can advance to first base. The catcher, or another fielder, must retrieve the ball and throw it to first base. If the runner beats the throw, he is awarded first base, but the pitcher is given credit for a strikeout. Usually an error is given to the catcher or the pitcher for allowing the runner to advance. But, enough of the rules, back to the game.
Radcliffe struck out at least three batters in every inning for the rest of game. High school boys played the old-fashioned game with nine innings. They play only seven today to give the boys more time to study, as if they were going home after a long ball game and crack open a chemistry text book.
But before you think that every Poet batter struck out, you would be wrong. In all, only ten balls were touched by a Poet bat. Seven were fouled off. One Lanier batter managed to get a hit. Rebel Coach J.E. Richards commented on the single safety by charging it to an inattentive fielder "who was too accustomed to watching Radcliffe playing the game by himself." Two other balls were mishandled by Hugh's teammates. The Rebels plated ten runners and won the game 10-0. The Macon Telegraph's very brief account of the game credited the Poets with two hits and two dropped third strikes by Rebel catcher Whitten.
Word of "the one in a million feat" got out and scouts from colleges and professional ball clubs descended upon Thomaston like flies at a church picnic. When these old baseball veterans saw Hugh pitch, they drooled. They had plenty of opportunities to drool. Not since School Boy Rowe and Bob Feller came into the limelight in the early 1930s had such a young pitcher drawn so much attention. Scouts from the Tigers, Indians, Reds, Senators, Yankees, Pirates, Athletics and Crackers came to watch the sizzling sensation.
At the end of R.E. Lee's eighth game of the season, Radcliffe posted a record of six wins and no losses. On May 19th, Radcliffe took the mound to face nearby Griffin High School. Two thousand people showed up for the game, a high school game! The right-handed hurler didn't disappoint the crowd. Twenty-five Griffin batters were sent back to the dugout with a "K" by their name in the scorekeeper's book. Radcliffe had an off day, giving up three, but his offensive gave him eighteen runs, so the outcome of the game was never in doubt. Radcliffe boosted his season totals to 210 strikeouts in 81.67 innings, or 2.57 strikeouts per inning an astonishing 23.13 per game. During his senior season, he threw three no-hitters, allowing only 18 hits and giving up three unearned runs for a mind-boggling ERA of 0.37. During that magical season, Radcliffe struck out 50 consecutive batters and 97 in four nine-inning games. By the way, Hugh hit .450 that season.
With all of the praise and accolades piled on him, Radcliffe's high school career game to a disappointing end. He lost in front of 4,000 fans in the first game of the playoffs, 8-6. Many of them came to the game on the twenty-six buses parked out in the parking lots and down the streets. The scouts blamed it on the team and their nine errors, not due to their highly sought after prize, who struck out twenty-four.
The Philadelphia Phillies won the bidding war between 14 teams, satisfying Hugh and especially his mother. The young fireballer was assigned to the Phillies' Wilmington, Delaware club with a forty thousand-dollar check in the bank. Radcliffe pitched well and was moved up to Toronto. Soon Frank became the property of the New York Yankees and enjoyed a brief stint with the big club before returning to the minor league with the Syracuse Chiefs, Kansas City Blues and the Birmingham Barons in addition to assignments in Binghamton and Beaumont.
Hugh Radcliffe didn't make it to the current National High School record book. I guess they don't go back that far, or they just don't have folks like Millard Whittle to remind them of that spring day nearly sixty years ago when a Dexter boy became the "King of Ks," the "Wizard of Whiffs" and the "Sultan of Strikeouts."
07-12
THOMAS MCCALL
A Pomological Polymath
Thomas McCall, one of Laurens County's most successful early settlers, was known
as having many of many talents, or a "polymath," if you know the obscure synonym for the term. McCall, a talented mathematician and surveyor, was known far and wide across theyoung nation of the United States of America as a celebrated vineyardist.
Thomas McCall, son of James McCall and Janet Harris McCall, was born on March
30, 1765 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. At the age of six, Thomas and his family moved to South Carolina. McCall served as a private in the Colonial army as a member of Capt. Greene's Troup of Horses in Gen. Marion's Brigade. His service to the new nation entitled him to a grant of land, which he took in Washington County in 1784.
Thomas, who possessed a great talent for mathematics and surveying, was appointed by the governor of Georgia as Assistant Surveyor General before his 20th birthday. His first known survey was recorded in 1784. For his services to the state, McCall received grants of lands along the eastern side of the Oconee River totaling more than 130,000 acres and eleven town lots in Brunswick. The largest of his grants totaled 11,875 acres in Franklin County, which originally stretched from present day Oconee County to the South Carolina line. McCall served as Surveyor General of Georgia from 1786-1795. As Surveyor General, he found himself nearly embroiled in a controversy known as "The Pine Barren's Fraud," where unsuspecting northerners were granted, for a fee, thousands of acres of land in Montgomery County, which didn't even exist.
Included in his land holdings was a 500 acre tract opposite Dublin in the area known as Sandbar. For years the strip of bottom land was known as the "Corral." McCall acquired the land in 1794 and the property was subsequently purchased by his son-in-law Jeremiah H. Yopp. George Gaines, the husband of his daughter Louisa, established the first ferry at Sandbar. Once the town of Dublin was established, Gaines moved to the west side of the river and built a home in Dublin. He lived on the street named in his honor.
Thomas McCall took the hand of Miss Henrietta Fall in marriage on April 17, 1787.
He continued to receive large grants of land in Augusta and Franklin counties, which he turned into cash. The McCalls lived in Savannah during the latter decade of the 18th Century. Henrietta McCall died at the age of thirty in 1797. One year and one week later, Thomas married Elizabeth Mary Anne Smith, daughter of James Lawrence Smith and great-great-granddaughter of James Moore, one of South Carolina's early governors.
The McCall's moved to Camden County in the southeastern corner of the state. They lived for a short time in McIntosh County, where McCall designed the layout of the town of Darien in 1806. Apparently McCall stayed out of politics and left very few records of his existence in the coastal counties.
It appears that McCall suffered some sort of devastating business loss about the year 1815. It was about the year 1816 when Thomas and Elizabeth McCall left the secure and glamorous life of the low country and moved to Dublin. Curtis Bolton and Company recovered a multi thousand dollar judgment against McCall in the Superior Court of Laurens County in 1816. Practically all of his personal possessions were subjected to a levy by the sheriff. His brother, Capt. Hugh McCall, who wrote the first comprehensive history of Georgia, purchased the lien and saved his brothers precious library of two hundred volumes, as well as his slaves
No one for sure can tell where Thomas and Elizabeth McCall lived. Their home
"Retreat," was located somewhere between Fish Trap Cut and the Glenwood Road (Capt. Bobbie Brown Highway.) Though there is no deed on record, McCall appears as an adjoining land owner in the area and did buy an island in the Oconee River, possibly the island just above Fish Trap Cut.
McCall aptly named his plantation, for during the last quarter century of his life, he
seemed to retreat from the public eye. He was a regular member of the Laurens County grand jury from 1819 to 1830 as well as sitting on a few trial juries, but that was the extent of his recorded public service. But, McCall wasn't a total loner. He often opened his home to distinguished visitors, including U.S. Senator and Attorney General John M. Berrien and Rev. Patrick Calhoun, father of Vice President John C. Calhoun, who baptized his oldest three girls.
It has been said that McCall's closest friend in Laurens County was Governor George Troup. Both men moved to the county at approximately the same time. Both were highly educated. Both loved to fish. It was well known that each man kept a skiff tied up on the their respective sides of the river, so they could quickly cross to visit one another. George Troup liked to drink fine wine and in Thomas McCall, Troup had the ideal neighbor.
Perhaps McCall's greatest fame, not only locally, but on a regional scale, came from
his remarkable ability to cultivate the natural grapes of the area, as well as imported ones, and to create new varieties which could withstand the sweltering summer temperatures of 101 and frigid ones at ten degrees . By some accounts, Thomas McCall was regarded as the best vineyardist in the South.
Among McCall's most successful varieties was the Warren/Warrenton. The grape
was first grown in Warren County and ably adapted by McCall, much to the delight of Prof. J. Jackson of Athens, who spent a day with the celebrated wine maker in 1820 sampling his Madeira made from the same grape Jackson had tasted fifteen years earlier. McCall had success with a similar grape, known as the vilis sylvestris. Of the native grapes, the Wild Muscadine, or Bullus, made a tart with a fine claret wine with a slight yellowish tint.
After reaching Laurens County, McCall began to keep detailed records of his vineyard and his wine making processes. In 1825, McCall summarized his nine-year study in a highly respected essay published in magazines and newspapers throughout the country. One Pennsylvania news editor wrote, " No effort in the United States to raise or improve the grape, has been more successful than that of Thomas McCall, Esq. of Laurens County. His wine from the native grape is superior to any wine the writer of this article ever drank, excepting the first quality of foreign wine." Wine from his grapes was served at the Jubilee celebration in the summer of 1826 in Miledgeville.
McCall maintained hundreds of vines in his vineyard. In 1828, he made nearly 500
gallons, which he sold at a premium price of two dollars per gallon. McCall was cited by experts as the first person in Georgia to successfully cultivate grapes and make them into wine. His success came from adding sugar to the wine before it fermented.
Elizabeth McCall died on June 20, 1831. Her body lies in a grave near the center of
the old City Cemetery. Her grave marker is reminiscent of the those found in ancient
American cities like Savannah, Charleston and Williamsburg. Thomas McCall died on April 4, 1840 and lies beside his wife. His marker was placed there many years after his death by his descendants.
07-13
PETER EARLY LOVE
Doctor, Lawyer and Judicial Chief
Peter Early Love was a man of many accomplishments. His life, albeit too short, was one of public service to his community and state. This is the story of a Laurens County man and how he became a leading citizen of antebellum Georgia. During his two decades of public service, Love was a lawyer, solicitor, doctor, senator, representative, editor, mayor, judge and Congressman.
Peter Early Love was born on July 7, 1818 in Laurens County, Georgia. His merchant father Amos Love, Clerk of the Superior Court of Laurens County, named him for Governor Peter Early of Georgia, who was the first judge of Laurens County Superior Court. His mother was the former Margaret James. Peter had two sisters, Jane, who married General Eli Warren, and Mary Ann, who married Moses Guyton. Educational opportunities in the area were virtually nonexistent. So, Peter was home schooled by his parents and possibly by a live-in teacher. At the age of eight, Peter had to face the first crisis of his life, the death of his father. Margaret Love married Samuel Caldwell and the family moved from Laurens County. Peter lived with his guardian and older brother-in-law General Eli Warren in Houston County. Under the guidance of General Warren, Peter began to plan a career as a lawyer.
Love matriculated at Franklin College at the University of Georgia in 1834. He left Athens in 1837 to pursue a career as a doctor. After attending the Philadelphia College of Medicine, Dr. Love entered the medical field. He first married Martha Stroud, who died shortly after their marriage. He then married Mary Bracewell of Hawkinsville. Dr. Love decided that the practice of medicine was not in his future.
After a short stay in Houston County, Love moved to Thomasville in Thomas County. Thomas County became the nucleus of legal and political activities of South Georgia. In 1840, he served as a delegate to the Electoral College, voting in favor of William Henry Harrison. Dr. Love was admitted to the practice of law by the Superior Court of Thomas County, Georgia. Among Love's fellow attorneys were James L. Seward, Archibald T. McIntyre and Augustin H. Hansell, all of whom moved from Middle Georgia to Thomasville.
Peter Love made his first venture into elective office in 1843 when he was elected Solicitor General of the Southern Circuit, which stretched from Laurens County to Charlton County in the southeastern corner of the state to Decatur County in the southwestern corner. As Solicitor General, Love was charged with the responsibility of prosecuting criminal cases. The large dimensions of the circuit required Love to be constantly on the road, appearing at least twice a year in each of the counties within the circuit. He took office on November 11, 1843, replacing Augstin Hansell and served for four years.
After a year out of office, Love won the election as the Senator from the 12th District of Georgia in 1849. It was a time of immense political upheaval across the state and the nation. Each southern state was faced with the question of secession or reaching a compromise by allowing new states to enter the Union free of slavery. Love took the position of leaving the Union, a position not shared by the populace of Thomas County. Though he was pro slavery, Love owned a small family of slaves in 1840. By 1860, he had disposed of all of the 19 slaves which he had owned a decade before.
During the decade of the 1850s, Love rose to the pinnacle of his life. In 1852, he replaced Judge Hansell as Judge of the Southern Circuit which meant another return to the road. He was elected in 1853 and again two and four years later. Despite the rigors of his trial schedules, Judge Love was a leading citizen of Thomas County. In 1856, he helped to organize a college for women, which eventually became known as Young's Female College. Along with William H. Hail, he owned and edited the Wiregrass Reporter. When it became apparent that the South was headed toward a military crisis with the North over the issue of state rights and slavery, many communities organized their own military companies. As Captain Love, Peter was given the command of the Thomas Guards. As if they were kindred spirits and going through parallel lives, Augstin Hansell was right there with Judge Love, serving as his first lieutenant.
Judge Love, a popular judge throughout the state, sought higher inspirations. In 1858, he resigned from the bench to conduct a successful campaign for a seat as a Congressman for the 1st Congressional District of Georgia replacing Congressman James L. Seward, a native of Dublin and his former law partner. Judge Love returned to the bench for a brief time and remained there until he was scheduled to take office in the winter of 1859. Near the end of his first term, Congressman Love addressed the Congress on the issue of slavery. Love challenged his fellow congressmen to find a single sentence in the Bible which condemned slavery. In fact, he cited several passages which distinguished master and slave and proclaimed that the Bible provided guidelines for the regulation of slavery and therefore justified its existence.
Differences between the North and South continued to diverge. Congressman Love traveled to Charleston, South Carolina to attend a convention on the issue of secession from the Union. He won reelection to Congress that fall. But more importantly to Love and the nation as a whole, Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated a split ticket of three Democratic candidates. The Southern states held true to their promise and voted to secede from the United States to form the Confederate States of America. On January 23, 1861, Congressman Love and his fellow Georgia congressional delegates resigned their seats and left Washington, D.C. As one southern state after another adopted resolutions to leave the Union, war seemed imminent.
Congressman Love still had a burning desire to serve the people of Thomas County. In the summer of 1861, his fellow citizens elected him to represent them in the state legislature. He served for two years during the early years of the War Between the States and was honored by his fellow colleagues, who named him Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives. In 1863, he returned to Thomasville, where he was elected mayor.
On November 8, 1866, at the relatively young age of forty-eight, Peter Early Love died. He was buried in a family plot in the Old City Cemetery. Peter had four children. His sons Amos J. Love, a Confederate cavalry captain, and Peter Early Love, Jr., both died never having married. He had two daughters, Mattie, who married Rev. Robert Harris and Margaret "Maggy," who married O.C. Hall. The city of Thomasville permanently honored the memory of Congressman, Judge, Solicitor, Senator, Representative and Mayor Peter Early Love by naming one of the city's busiest thoroughfares "Love Street."
07-14
WILLIAM JOSHUA BUSH
The End of the Long Gray Line
William Joshua Bush was the last of his kind, or perhaps one of the last of his kind. As a teenager, he fought for his country, the Confederate States of America. As a centenarian, Bush was celebrated as one of the last Confederate veterans of the Civil War, or the War Between the States, which ended one hundred and forty-one years ago this week. When he died, Bush was the last Georgian to have worn the gray, or butternut, uniform of the Confederacy.
William Joshua Bush was born in Wilkinson County, Georgia on July 10, 1845 or by some accounts in1846. That is his recorded date of birth, but the 1850 Census indicated that he was one year old and therefore was born in 1848 and not in 1845. His father Francis Marion Bush and his mother Elizabeth Pattisaul Bush lived in the western regions of the county, possibly near Gordon.
In July of 1861, just before the war began in reality, William enlisted in the Ramah Guards, designated as Company B of the 14th Georgia infantry. He lied about his age. He wasn't about to turn sixteen the next day. He was about to celebrate his first full day in the Confederate Army as a thirteen-year-old. The 14th Georgia saw action that month in the Battle of First Manassas, or Bull Run. When the fighting ceased for the fall and winter months, William was discharged and sent home to Wilkinson County.
A few months after his real 16th birthday, William enlisted in the Georgia Militia in October 1864. Only a few enrolling officers asked questions about age in those days. The Confederacy, and Georgia in particular, needed bodies who could fire a gun. General Sherman was in Atlanta, ready and poised to begin his climatic "March to the Sea."
Right in the line of his march was Wilkinson County. William's company first saw action in the area of East Macon near Cross Key's. He may have participated in the attack on the rear of the Union line near Griswoldville, Georgia, an attack which resulted in a devastating defeat for the militia, composed primarily of older men, wounded regulars and boys. According to Bush, he fought in the Battle of Atlanta. After viewing Gone With The Wind, he pronounced the depiction of Atlanta to be accurate. When he visited the Cyclorama in Atlanta, the circular painting brought back old memories of the climactic battle. It is said that he even pointed out the tree he hid behind, though the painting is merely an artist's conception. There is even a story that when he saw Union General William T. Sherman depicted on horseback, Bush, vowing "let me at him," had to be restrained by his wife.
Bush remained with his company until it surrendered at Stephen's Station on the Central of Georgia Railroad in 1865. Like many veterans, Bush loved to tell stories about his experiences in the war. He related the often told tale about the ransacking of the family home and how it was stopped when a Union officer discovered that the owner was a Mason. Masons, their homes and personal possessions, were considered off limits to looters and souvenir hunters. He told one interviewer, "when I got into the war we wore overalls, and when we surrendered in 1865, I didn't even have a pair of shoes."
After the war, Joshua, as he was most well known, married Mary Adeline Steeley. They had six children and were married until her death in 1915. In 1922, at the age of 54 or so, Bush married Effie T. Sharpe, a widowed mother of two small children.
For seventy-five years, Bush lived the normal life of an aging Confederate veteran. Bush ran a store on the Levi Harrell place and moved from Rhine in Dodge County to Fitzgerald the early 1870s. He received a pension check to help pay his bills. He was a regular church goer, serving as a senior deacon in the Baptist Church. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a member of a Masonic Lodge. He worked as long he could, taking jobs with the railroad, turpentine companies and even a short stint as a butcher in a grocery store.
It was in 1938 when Bush and the few surviving veterans of the war began to acquire celebrity status. That year marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Those veterans who could, gathered in the Pennsylvania town for one final reunion to commemorate the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy." As a souvenir of the event, Bush brought home a large rebel flag.
Joshua Bush spent his last years in Fitzgerald, which had been founded as a colony by former Union soldiers. For many years, Bush and Henry Brunner, the last surviving Union veteran in town, would meet at the city cemetery and place flowers on the graves of their deceased comrades. When Brunner died, Bush sent a flower from "the last of the gray to the last of the blue." As his status grew, the Judge of the Ordinary Court would personally deliver his pension check and bring the requisite amount of cash to cash the check and eliminate the need for Bush to go to the bank. He was often given an escort home by police officers when he stayed out late. He liked to stay out late.
Bush became somewhat of a celebrity. Admirers addressed the one-blue eyed centenarian (he lost an eye in a sawmill accident) as "General Bush." The owners of 20th Century Fox presented the general with a new uniform befitting his newfound stature. The aged rebel commented, "when I got into it we were in overalls. In 1865, when the army surrendered, I didn't even have a pair of shoes." In gratitude Bush vowed to be buried in the only uniform he ever owned. The uniform was donated to the Cyclorama Museum in Atlanta and later transferred to the Atlanta Historical Society. The producers of I'll Climb the Highest Mountain invited him to attend the movie's premiere in Atlanta.
As the decade of the 1950s came, the number of living veterans of the war began to dwindle rapidly. For the first time in his life, Joshua Bush boarded an airplane for Norfolk, Virginia. Bush joined John Sailing of Virginia and William Townsend of Louisiana for the 1951 Confederate Veteran's Reunion. It would turn out to be the last reunion of the Long Gray Line. By the spring of 1952, the remaining Confederate veterans outnumbered their Union counterparts - a stark contrast to the superior Northern armies during the war. In 1952, the Sons of the Confederate Veterans held their annual meeting in Jackson, Mississippi, with only Joshua Bush and William Townsend of Louisiana in attendance. The delegates sadly voted to end the reunions.
On November 11, 1952, Joshua Bush, Georgia's last Confederate veteran died. His body was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald with Masonic and military honors. For the last time in history, Confederate flags were flown all over the state at half mast in his honor. It was a time that brought a great sorrow to those who still remembered the tales of their fathers and grandfathers of days of long ago.
07-15
JAMES VELMA KEEN
Paying it Forward
Lawyers are supposed to serve their communities, at least that's what my Daddy taught me. On this Law Day, let us take a glance back at one lawyer, who was a native of Dublin, but left his home here and left a lasting legacy to the State of Florida and northern Florida in particular. Born with a God given talent, Keen paid it forward and lent his skills to promote the enforcement of the law, the improvement of education and the establishment of nuclear energy facilities.
James Velma Keen was born in Dublin, Georgia on August 23, 1899. His parents, James Henry and Ida Keen lived on a farm in Smith's District on the eastern side of the river. Since his father was known as James, James Velma Keen was known by his friends as "Velma." When Velma was an infant, the Keens moved to River Junction in Gadsden County, Florida. James Henry Keen followed the course of his Holmes cousins and moved south to open a Coca Cola bottling plant in 1907. Keen operated the plant until 1913, when it merged with another plant in Marianna. After James Henry's death in 1942, his son Charlton took over as president and manager of the plant. When Charlton died in 1957, Velma found himself in control of his father's business, the Purity Bottling Works.
Velma Keen returned to Georgia where he entered Georgia Tech and later Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. After a brief period of study at the University of Pittsburgh, Keen returned to North Florida and entered Law School at Florida State University. After obtaining a law degree in 1922, Keen was admitted to the bar in 1923 and began the practice of law with the firm of Sawyer, Surrency, Carter and Keen.
From his new home in Sarasota, Keen launched his public service career. He served as the State's Attorney for the 27th Judicial District. In 1930, Keen was chosen as the State Attorney for Sarasota County. After failing in an attempt to become the mayor of Sarasota in 1927, Keen returned to politics and was elected to represent his county in the Florida legislature in 1931. Following his two-years in the state house, Keen once again climbed the ladder to become the Assistant Attorney General of Florida in 1933.
In 1936, Velma Keen returned to private practice in Tallahassee in a general civil practice with the firm of Keen, O'Kelly and Spitz. Keen was often called upon to write articles for the Florida Law Journal and remained active in the State Bar Association, serving as a committee chairman and the organization's president. In 1959, Keen was honored with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Florida State University for nearly four decades of outstanding legal services to the State of Florida.
In 1947, Keen represented the estate of circus magnate John Ringling, who bequeathed his estimable art museum, luxurious mansion and its grand gardens to the people of Florida. Velma Keen's passion was the furtherance and improvement of educational opportunities in his state. He served as a trustee of Florida Southern College. He was president of the Southern Scholarship and Research Foundation and chairman of the Continuing Education Council of Florida.
Velma Keen and his wife helped to found the Southern Scholarship and Research Foundation. The program continues today to provide free housing scholarships. In the early 1960s, Keen was appointed to the State Advisory Committee on Libraries. He was a member of the National Citizens Council for Better Schools, The Advisory Council on Education and a member of the Education Committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce, from 1948 to 1963.
Perhaps Velma Keen's most enduring legacies came in the field of nuclear energy. Just ten years after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb, Keen led his state in the establishment of the atom as a peaceful implement of man. In 1955, Keen was elected to chair the Florida Nuclear Development Commission. The board of citizens was charged with the responsibility of implementation of policies and advisement of nuclear development in the state. Keen and his fellow board members began to recruit math and science teachers who would encourage their students to excel in their studies and remain at home to further the interests of Florida. Eventually the commission promoted the studies of nuclear energy at the Florida State and the University of Florida. His personal goal was to make the state's top two universities among the best
in the nation. As a member of the Southeastern Regional Council on nuclear energy, Keen helped to develop policies for the establishment of nuclear power plants and the storage of radioactive waste products.
In 1966, James Velma Keen was honored for his work in the development of nuclear energy. Florida State University named its new physics building the James Velma Keen Physics Research Building in honor of one of the founders of the Southern Interstate Nuclear Compact in 1959. An excellent public speaker, Keen was frequently asked to speak to scientific, business and education groups.
Keen was an astute businessman as well. He was the founding president of the Leon Federal Savings and Loan Association in Tallahassee. The Commonwealth Corporation, a large financial institution, was founded under his leadership. Always asked to serve on many boards, Keen served three terms as President of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce in the late 1940s and as a director of the Florida Chamber of Commerce in 1950s. Velma Keen was also active in historical affairs. He
served as vice president of the Florida Historical Society in the mid 1950s.
James Velma Keen died on March 4, 1963. His life was one of untiring public service. Keen represents the qualities of what an ideal attorney at law should be. Those of us who are blessed with a talent to represent others in times of tribulations and triumphs are obligated to share our blessings with others. Of course, everyone else should aspire to those same goals of selflessness and service to others.
07-16
J. RANDOLPH EVANS
A Paradigm of Ethics
Randy Evans always knows the right thing to do. He was raised that way. This native of Dublin is a mixture of two of Laurens County's oldest families, the Thigpens from the east side of the river and the Evans family from the west side. In a world when all too many lawyers are looked upon with distrust of their true motives, J. Randolph Evans is regarded by his peers as one of the best attorneys in the nation. His clients have included several of the nation's most prominent politicians and erudite corporations, but his roots to Laurens County still run deep.
Randy Evans was born in Dublin, Georgia on September 24, 1958. His father James C. Evans is a son of Elton Evans and Martha Hilliard Evans of Dexter. His mother Betty Evans is a daughter of Malcolm Thigpen and Marie Clements Thigpen of Rockledge. Randy grew up in Warner Robins, where in 1976 he graduated from Northside High School. Randy and his brother Greg spent most of their summers on their grandparents' farms.
"I decided to become an attorney before I started school and never wavered," Evans recalled. Randy was awarded a scholarship on the debating team at West Georgia College, which he entered in 1976. Evans was elected Judiciary Chairman of the Student Government Association and in 1979 was chosen by his fellow students to serve as President of the association. Randy was a member of the debate team, one of the top three teams in the nation. A Summa Cum Laude graduate, Evans majored in Political Science and minored in Mathematics and Speech.
While at West Georgia, he met a professor who would shape and mold his life forever. Law and politics are often inseparable. Evans met Newt Gingrich and volunteered on his campaign staff in 1976 and again in 1978, when Gingrich was first elected to Congress. During the summer of 1979, Randy lived in the basement of Gingrich's Virginia home while he interned for the freshman congressman.
In 1980, Randy Evans began his study of the law at the University of Georgia. While in law school, he was a member of the Editorial and Managing Boards of the Georgia Law Review. His Moot Court team was one of the top four in the nation. In 1983, Randy was awarded a Juris Doctor Degree Magna Cum Laude along with citations of honor from the Order of the Coif and the Order of the Barristers.
Randy was asked by the firm of Boundurant, Miller, Hishon & Stephenson to join the firm as an associate. Inspired by the wave of conservatism and old-fashioned values espoused by Ronald Reagan, Randy entered the world of politics and was elected chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party in 1985. Later that same year, Evans was asked to join Arnall, Golden and Gregory, one of Atlanta's most prestigious firms, in their legal malpractice section.
Before the age of thirty, Evans assisted Newt Gingrich by taking an integral role in drafting the ethics complaint against the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Wright, which eventually led to his resignation and Gingrich's rise to the speakership. In 1991, Randy was elevated to partner and was appointed chairman of the Professional Liability Group of the firm. Now recognized nationwide as an expert on professional liability insurance, Evans is the author of Practical Guide to Legal Malpractice Prevention. In 1996, Randy Evans was chosen by his colleagues to head the bar's second largest section, the Torts and Insurance section.
When Speaker Newt Gingrich found himself on the hot seat in 1996 after an ethics complaint was filed against him, he called upon Randy to defend him in the Congress. Evans became the speaker's personal attorney representing him in his divorce, in book deals and in contracts as a news analyst for Fox television news.
As his star began to rise, Gingrich's successor as speaker, Dennis Hastert, retained Randy to act as his outside counsel in 1999. That same year, Evans was appointed by Georgia Chief Justice Norman Fletcher as a Special Master for the State of Georgia for a five-year term which ended in 2004. With Speakers Gingrich and Hastert on his client list, Evans became the logical choice to represent the Republican party in Georgia. His stock in the law firm was also on the rise. In 2001, he was named co-chairman of the Litigation Department at Arnall, Golden & Gregory.
One of the busiest attorneys in the nation, Randy Evans was named in 2001 to head the business companies owned by former speaker Gingrich. In 2002, he began to represent J.C. Watts, the former and always popular congressman from Oklahoma. After one year, Watts named Evans to head his business interests as well. That same year he accepted employment as the outside counsel of house majority whip Roy Blunt.
When the Republican party took over control of Georgia politics in 2002, Evans became more active in state politics, serving on the Georgia State Board of Elections and as general counsel for the Georgia Republican party. Evans continued to represent his clients in book deals, negotiating Speaker, by Dennis Hastert and National Party No More for Zell Miller. Though most of his known clients are well-known Republicans, Evans also represents many members of Congress and the Senate from both sides of the aisle.
In 2003, Evans became chairman of the Financial Services practice group at McKenna, Long & Aldridge in Atlanta. He continues to try cases as well as author hundreds of law articles as well as being a coveted speaker at seminars and legal programs. He finds that by writing and lecturing on legal issues, he is forced to keep up with the rapid changes in the law. In his spare time, Evans is a member of the Roswell Baptist Church, the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Historical Society. His wife Linda is a former Wall Street lawyer. He has a twenty-year-old son, Jake. His hobbies include chess and collecting lapel pins. He also enjoys following his beloved Georgia Bulldogs. He once told a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "I bleed red and black."
The editors of Best Lawyers in America have cited Randy in the practice areas of Commercial and Legal Malpractice in 2004, 2006 and 2007. He has been recognized as one of Georgia's Super Lawyers by Atlanta Magazine. James Magazine has named him one of the most influential persons in the state in the last two years.
Like all good lawyers Evans describes himself as a solution-driven lawyer. As it relates to a main area of expertise, Randy Evans defines discipline as "doing that which you don't want to do when you most don't want to do it."
07-17
SHEWMAKE, GEORGIA
A New Beginning
Do you know where Shewmake, Georgia is? Most of you would not unless you live near there. Here's a hint. It is on the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad. Do you know now? Here's another hint. Nearly twenty thousand cars pass through it on a daily basis. Give up? Shewmake, a tiny village with an ephemeric life, is located at the most southern end of Walke Dairy Road as it approaches Interstate 16. It is named for the family who owned thousands of acres of land in the area. Shewmake, the plantation, was one of the county's ten largest post bellum plantations, containing nearly seven thousand acres, stretching from the Turkey Creek Bridge on Hwy. 257 nearly to the city limits of Dudley.
In 1848, Henry P. Jones, one of the wealthiest men in Burke County and in the state of Georgia for that matter, purchased 950 acres from Josiah Horne. The land is located along the western side of the present Georgia Highway 257 south of the Interstate and north of Turkey Creek. The following year he paid James D. Hampton $2500.00 for 3100 acres. Jones acquired 2500 acres from William Hampton and various other tracts to form one of the county's largest plantations, which he called "the Sumpterville Plantation." He derived the name from the traditionally accepted first county seat of Laurens County. Jones called the lands he purchased from Horne "the Telfair Place."
Jones, from time to time, lived in a home on the place he called the Sumpertville Plantation, which in 1850 was tended to by seventy slaves. Henry Jones, born in 1809, was an orphan. Described as "the architect of his own fortunes," Jones was a member of the wealthy, prominent and powerful Jones family of Burke County, Georgia. It was in October of 1853 when the forty-three-year old Jones was suddenly struck with severe inflammation of his intestines, possibly a ruptured appendix. He died on October 2nd. His massive estate passed to his wife Elizabeth and his children, who continued to manage it for more than a quarter of a century, before dividing it among all of the heirs. Jones was eulogized as "bland and modest in his manners and in his heart benevolent and kind."
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Penelope Jones, a beautiful daughter of Henry Jones, married a rising young lawyer from Burke County by the name of John Troup Shewmake. Shewmake was born on January 22, 1826. Educated at home, Shewmake enrolled in Princeton University at the age of eighteen. After one year of intense studies, Shewmake returned home and enrolled in William Gould's Law School in Augusta. He was admitted to the bar in 1846 and entered the practice of law, briefly in Waynesboro and then in Augusta, where he practiced until his retirement.
In the same year he married, John T. Shewmake was named the Attorney General of Georgia during the administrations of Governors Howell Cobb and Herschel V. Johnson, who would become eminently involved in the secession of Georgia from the Union. As Attorney General, Shewmake, who was only twenty-five years old, was responsible for representing the State of Georgia during one of it's most critical eras, as well as being in overall supervision of the prosecution of criminal cases.
Shewmake was elected to represent Burke County in the Georgia Senate in 1861. In his two years in the capital in Milledgeville, Burke and his fellow senators debated the issues of secession and how to manage its tumultuous consequences. In November 1863, John T. Shewmake was elected as one of ten men to represent Georgia in the Second Confederate Congress. The first session of the Congress began on May 2, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. Just some fifty crow-fly miles to the north, newly installed Union commander Ulysses S. Grant was poised to launch his final throat-strangling advance on the Confederate capital.
When the fighting around Petersburg and Richmond intensified in June, the congress adjourned and returned in November when the dueling armies went into bivouac for the winter. On March 18, 1865, when the fall of Richmond was eminent, the Congress adjourned forever and Congressman Shewmake returned to Augusta, where he resumed his law practice.
The beneficiary of a fine education, John Shewmake paid it forward by accepting the presidency of the Augusta Board of Education in 1874. After a four year term, Shewmake returned to the Georgia Senate, once again to represent Burke County.
Nearly forty years after the death of Henry P. Jones, his heirs agreed to a division of the lands. John and Lizzie Shewmake and their children Annie Whitehead, Lena Johnson, Burke Shewmake, William J. Shewmake, Hal P. Shewmake, Marshall A. Shewmake and Claud Shewmake agreed to accept the Sumpterville Plantation as their share of the Jones estate.
John T. Shewmake, his son Burke, and his son-in-law James Whitehead joined together in incorporating "The Sumpertville Factory" in 1881. The factory was formed to conduct a manufacturing, merchandising and milling business at Shewmake's Mill on Turkey Creek near New Bethel Baptist Church. Primarily the business was established to make cotton and wool cloth, mill grains and saw lumber into timber. After his retirement from politics, John T. Shewmake was a frequent visitor to Laurens County overseeing the farming operations here and frequently attending sessions of the Superior Court.
In the mid 1880s, John M. Stubbs, of Dublin, Joshua Walker, of Laurens Hill, and Dudley M. Hughes, of Twiggs County, began their plans to construct a railroad from Dublin to Macon. In 1891 their dreams became a reality when the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad ran its first train into Dublin. Along the way at the point where the railroad intersects Walke Dairy Road, the railroad established a small railroad depot and stop, which was named "Shewmake" in honor of Congressman Shewmake. George A. McKay was appointed the first postmaster of Shewmake, Georgia on April 27, 1900. The post office was closed on February 15, 1903 with all mail ordered to be sent to Dublin.
John Troup Shewmake's wonderful life ended on December 1, 1898 at his home in Augusta. He was buried in Magnolia Cemetery. His son Burke had just died an untimely death. The old man's surviving sons formed the Orchard Canning Company in an attempt to profit from the rapidly thriving orchard business centered at Kewanee a few miles to the west and around Montrose, several miles to the northwest. In 1907, the Shewmake Brothers changed their corporate name to simply "the Shewmake Brothers Co." The company continued to do business well into the 1920s.
Marshall A. Shewmake moved to Dublin in 1907 and lived on Bellevue Avenue. About 1910, Shewmake went into business with S.T. Hall to form the Shewmake Hall Company. Marshall and his brother Hal, along with Hall, O.H.P. Rawls and G.M. Fomby formed the Southern Buggy Whip Company in 1911. Shewmake, a long time director of the Commercial Bank, and his partner S.T. Hall enlisted C.D. Hilbun and B.D. Kent in reorganizing the business into the Laurens Hardware Company, which continued to do business into the 1970s.
Today, Shewmake is home to hundreds of families. Nearly a century after it's hey day, the community you might not have attached the name to, is one of county's most desirable residential areas.
07-18
TO THE CLASS OF 2007
Challenges and Opportunities
The four short years you have just completed will prepare you for the world you now enter. The lessons you have learned in this school will help to get you through the bad times and only make the good times that much better.
I have a passion for writing about heroes. Each week I write stories about those who have gone before us. You are the heroes of our future. It is now up to you to carry the torch that others have carried before you. You are our legacy, our opus, our dreams.
Think kids, just like you;
Have helped men to travel to the moon and have helped an old woman up a mountainous flight of stairs. Have danced on Broadway and taken their daughters to hundreds and hundreds of dance lessons.
We have played in the Super Bowl and we have coached our son's midget league football teams. We have played in the Masters Golf Tournament and toiled in the factory to make the Green Jackets of the Masters Champions.
There were two of us who gave their lives on the rocky shores of Iwo Jima and thousands of us who held our children all night when they were sick. We have painted magnificent works of art and painted our neighbor's house for free.
We have been champions of our state and country and championed the causes of those who can't fight for themselves. Several of us have written the news for the country's greatest newspapers and too many of us have been the one to tell parents the news that their child was killed in a car wreck.
One of us became the youngest female lawyer in the history of Georgia and the first woman to be certified as a surgeon in the Northeast. We have been All Americans in football, baseball, basketball and wrestling and we have given our all for America on the jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of the Middle East.
One of us has been saluted as one of the greatest African-American inventors of the 20th Century and a lot of us have stayed up half of the night helping our kids finish their science projects which were due the next day. We have won silver star medals for heroism and have done heroic acts with no recognition sought or given.
Several of us have been at the top of university classes and hundreds of us have taught thousands small children how to read. We have been admirals and generals, and we have marched through the mud and snow of the bitter winters of World War II.
One of us has been a Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and many have defended those who couldn't defend themselves. We have been prisoners of war and many of us have kept the bad guys off the street so we can sleep at night and play on the playgrounds.
We have been among the top musicians in the country and have sung in the church choir for fifty years. One of our teachers and our mothers has been among the first women to be drafted in the first National Women's Basketball League and many of our mothers have cooked hundreds and even thousands of cupcakes to raise money for the PTA.
We have been the marshal of the District of Columbia and gathered on the National Mall to seek the freedoms of all Americans. One of us has pitched in the major leagues and the luckiest of us have pitched a wiffle ball to our kids in the back yard.
We have built beds and sat by those same beds where our parents died. Several of us have been honored in Halls of Fame and many of us have walked the halls of hospitals in anticipation of the birth of our first born.
We have been the first African-American woman vice president of CBS radio and transmitted radio messages in times of civil disasters. We have jumped out of an airplane in the pre dawn hours of the invasion of Normandy and we have jumped for joy when our child got their first hit in tee ball.
We have been Speaker pro tem of the Georgia legislature and have spoken to thousands of the principles of faith, hope and love. We have served on some of the state's and nations most important boards and we have served food to the hungry when no one else would.
These are just some of the things you can do. Your parents and your teachers have given you all the opportunities. Now, it's up to you.
"We are all put on the Earth for a purpose, and that purpose is to build and not to destroy," the comedian Red Skelton always said. The great baseball player Roberto Clemente said, "''Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth."
If I could, I would like to leave you with a simple message. It comes in the form of one of the world's greatest commencement addresses. Sir Winston Churchill, the legendary Prime Minister of Great Britain was invited back to his boyhood school to speak to its newest graduating class. After a long, hot, humid and arduous day, the portly old gentleman rose to speak. All of those in attendance expected a litany of maxims and guiding principles from the one of the world's greatest philosophers. In a one sentence speech he told the class, "Gentlemen, life is tough, but never, ever give up."
I am a child of what has been called the "Greatest Generation." My challenge to you for the rest of your lives is to make us, your parents, the parents of the true "Greatest Generation" and before you leave this world make yourselves the parents of an even greater generation."
Congratulations to the Class of 2007! Thank you for allowing me to be your baseball coach, your school board member, your band booster president and most of all, thank you for letting me be your friend.
07-19
WILLIAM WALLACE
“A True Survivor”
For the last fifteen years, millions of persons all over the world have tuned their television sets to watch the popular television show Survivor. The king of reality of shows features everyday people who endure the elements and undergo a variety of contests. Sixty five years ago, William Wallace and thousands of other American soldiers and civilians faced the same challenge. However, this challenge was real. It was constantly brutal, frequently deadly and unfathomably heinous.
William Wallace, son of Lase and Frances Wallace, was born on April 1, 1922 and grew up in Millen, Georgia. After his graduation from High School, William enlisted in the Army Air Corps and began his training at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. Private Wallace was assigned to the 27th Bombardment Group (L)as a tail gunner. The group was assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands in November 1941. Wallace was at his station when the Japanese attacked the island chain on December 7.
The invaders launched a ferocious siege upon the American and Filipino forces, who had little food and an ever dwindling supply of ammunition. After the three months of constant fighting, the American forces surrendered. William was taken prisoner and along with thousands of other prisoners, was forced to endure the infamous “Bataan Death March.” The weakened men were force-marched sixty miles in intense heat. The only drinking water was found in mud puddles along the way. Rest periods were rare. Slow walkers were beaten. Stragglers were bayoneted. Six or seven hundred men were left dead on the side of the road.
After three months and fifteen hundred deaths at Camp O’Donnell, the prisoners were transported to the nefarious prison at Cabanatuan. William remained there until September 1943. It was in the latter months of 1943 that the Japanese government began to transport American prisoners back to the mainland to work in the coal mines. Wallace and six hundred other prisoners were crammed into the hold a cargo ship, which set a course for Osaka.
Along the way, the ship detoured to Formosa in China. The men were sent to a coal mine and were worked more than a half day, every day. William was forced to push a heavy coal car up hill. Any slip might result in a beating. A prisoner’s daily diet consisted of three cups of rice. If they were lucky, the men were given a prize morsel of meat, a pickled grasshopper, known to its consumer as a “Georgia Thumper.”
By 1944, William was assigned to a coal mine of the Rinko Coal Company in Japan. Conditions in the mine were unbearable. The men were placed in an open building, left to face the brutal winters with virtually no shelter. Each man was given old clothes to wear and a single blanket to keep them warm. On the coldest of nights, six men would lie on one blanket and lie together, three with their heads on one end and three at the other end, with the five blankets on top. At least the meals were better. Stewed fish and boiled soybeans were added to the customary, but highly treasured, three daily cups of rice. Once a week, the men got a bath.
Wallace described the winter of 1945 as the worst. Snow falls ranged from three feet and more. In order to avoid work and gain a stay in the hospital, Wallace would hold his breath and fall flat into the snow to make it appear that he had lost consciousness on six or seven occasions. His captors never realized his ruse. Had they done so, he would have been immediately executed on the spot. “Getting out the snow, the freezing rain and still being allowed to eat was worth the risk,” said Wallace. During that winter, William suffered from dysentery and double pneumonia and spent Easter Sunday, his 23rd birthday, in the hospital.
Conditions in the camp began to deteriorate rapidly. The men began to steal food and cigarettes from each other, but were strongly disciplined if caught. Distribution of food was scrutinized down to the pro rata bean and crumb of rice.
William was not released until the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When he left the coal mine, he weighed 87 pounds. Constant hunger and debilitating malaria and beriberi nearly killed William. Thousands of others who weren’t so lucky.
In August 1945, William returned to the United States and entered a hospital in California. When he arrived home, he possessed six stitches in his head, a result of an unprovoked attack by a Japanese civilian with a large chunk of coal. After a period of recuperation, William returned to Georgia. Among the first to greet him was his high school sweetheart Mary Dickey. The couple married in 1946, but William believed his obligation to his country was not yet completed. He returned to the Army Air Corps for a three-year hitch. Though he tried to live a normal life, the haunting memories of his incarceration prevented William from sleeping with a light off for more than eight years. Talking about his experiences was difficult, if not impossible. It wasn’t until the survivors held their first reunion when William began to relate the horrors of his internment. Wallace’s remembrances are featured in Donald Knox’s “Death March,” the story of the Bataan Death March and its survivors.
Wallace told Knox, “the further we went into captivity, the worse it became.” He began to doubt whether or not he could ever survive, but came to realize “that the human body can suffer nearly everything and still survive.”
William Wallace graduated from Mercer University with a double major in religion and history. For forty-one years, he served small rural Baptist churches in our area and worked at Warner Robins AFB until poor health forced his retirement in 1943. His last sermon was delivered in 1991.
In January 1992, nearly fifty years after his capture, William Wallace was presented the Congressional Prisoner of War Medal in his hospital bed by Congressman J. Roy Rowland. Never bitter toward his captors, Wallace was disappointed that Japanese Americans interned in camps in our country were given a reparation of twenty thousand dollars, while he and the four thousand survivors and the families of the five thousand who died never received a cent of compensation.
The Rev. William Wallace died on February 27, 1995. The lung disease he contracted in the camps eventually killed him. Wallace survived one of the most brutal prison camps in the history of the world. He endured to serve his fellow man and to espouse the word of the Gospel and spread the message of peace and love toward all mankind. On this Memorial Day, take a moment to remember William Wallace and the millions of brave Americans who sacrificed their lives, their homes and families to preserve our freedoms.
07-20
GENERAL JOHN TWIGGS
Revolutionary Hero
John Twiggs was born in the state of Maryland on June 5, 1750. Very little is known of his early life, other than he came to Burke County, Georgia with his family shortly thereafter. A child of a poor family, John took up the trade of being a carpenter. Twiggs caught the eye of Miss Ruth Emanuel, a firm lady of character and sister of the Hon. David Emanuel. Following their marriage John and Ruth moved to Richmond County, where they established a modest plantation.
As tensions began to mount between the American colonies and the King of England, more local difficulties began to arise. Twiggs joined the army as a lieutenant and as a captain, a position to which he was appointed on June 1, 1774, led a company of men of St. George's Parish in a successful operation against a band of Cherokee Indians who had been making raids along the settlements along the Georgia frontier. In 1779, Twiggs, in support of Col. William Few, defeated a contingent of British troops seeking to attack the jail in Burke County. In the months which followed the epic battle at nearby Kettle Creek, Twiggs kept British regulars at bay by skirmishing them at every opportunity and attacking their supply lines in the rear of their lines. John Twiggs found himself and thirty men under attack at Butler's plantation on the Ogeechee River in June, 1779. Outnumbered by more than two to one, Twiggs inspired his men to rout the British force causing a bit of consternation among the British officers in Savannah.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Twiggs encountered and conquered a band of British marauders at Buckhead Creek. On September 12, 1779, Twiggs and his company of soldiers joined General Benjamin Lincoln in preparation for an all out siege upon the British held Savannah. In one valiant and eventually futile attempt after another, the Continental army and local militia failed to liberate Georgia's ancient capital and most important city. In the retreat under cover of a flag signifying mutual respect for his status as an officer, Twiggs and his family were fired upon by British riflemen.
Following the fall of Charleston, the southeast's most important port, in May, 1780, Twigg's force joined General Horatio Gates' army in an attack at Camden, South Carolina. The colonial army, composed primarily of untested local militia, were trounced by Lord Cornwallis' battle-hardened veterans. Twiggs was nearly impaled by a saber, and left for dead on the battlefield. With the fire of freedom still in his soul, Twiggs returned to the Georgia backwoods to thwart his old enemies as they continued to pillage and terrorize the western regions of the colony.
Twiggs led American victories at Fish Dam ford and at Blackstock's house, where he personally led the attack against the fierce charge of the calvary of the villainous Banastre Tarleton. Though not given adequate credit for his actions by contemporary historians, it was indeed Col. Twiggs, who at the end of the day, was in command of the victorious colonists. During what was truly America's first civil war, a plot by an infamous Tory by the name of Gunn was uncovered and circumvented. When it was insisted that the poltroon be hung by the neck, Twiggs, in his usual forbearance, vetoed the execution of his assassin.
For his gallantry in action, the Georgia legislature, in its meeting in Augusta on August 18, 1781, named John Twiggs a brigadier general in the Georgia militia. Though the Revolutionary War was technically about to come to close in the early fall, British loyalists and discontented Indians were rumored to be mustering along the western frontiers in preparation for an attack on Augusta. For the remainder of the conflict, Twiggs organized for the impending attack, which never materialized.
After the close of the war, Twiggs retired to the solitude and enjoyment of his home, which he dubbed "Good Hope." He served a term as Justice of the Peace of Burke County in 1782. But the contentment was fleeting. On May 31, 1783, Twiggs along Georgia's most illustrious statesmen Lyman Hall, Elijah Clarke, William Few, Edward Telfair and Samuel Elbert met with a council of Cherokee chiefs in Augusta. The result of the negotiations was the purchase of a large tract of land in northeast Georgia. Nearly six months later, Twiggs helped to negotiate a treaty with the Creek Indians. Under the agreement the State of Georgia acquired all of the lands between the Ogechee and the Oconee rivers under a treaty, which precipitated a new war, a conflict which would evolve into a fifteen-year series of skirmishes and raids along both sides of the Oconee.
Treaty negotiations continued at Galphinton in 1785 and at Shoulderbone Creek. On September 8, 1791, Twiggs was again promoted by the Georgia legislature, this time to the position of Major General. It was during that year when Twiggs made his only engagement into politics by being elected to represent Richmond County in the Georgia legislature.
One of his most difficult assignments came in 1794, when Major General Twiggs was ordered to assemble a force of six hundred men to eject Twiggs' old comrade, General Elijah Clarke, who had, in the eyes of President George Washington and Georgia authorities, usurped his authority by establishing his own country along the western banks of the Oconee River in what would become Wilkinson, Baldwin and Laurens counties. Before the attack was launched, Clarke conceded and violence was averted.
In 1800, the State of Georgia honored General Twiggs by appointing him to the initial Board of Trustees of Franklin College, which evolved into the University of Georgia. Throughout his final years, this five-foot ten-inch stout man, with his florid complexion and gray eyes, remained active in civic affairs.
John Twiggs rarely sought any glory for his actions, only the satisfaction that he was serving his fellow man and protecting them from harm. In compliance with his wishes, no extravagant memorial would be placed on his grave. He died on March 29, 1816 at the relatively old age of sixty five. His body was laid to rest in the Twiggs family cemetery ten miles south of Augusta, off Georgia Hwy 56, on Goshen Industrial Blvd.
John and Ruth Twiggs had six children. One of them, David Emanuel Twiggs, served in the War of 1812, the various Indian conflicts of the era, and because of his heroic actions during the Mexican wars, was breveted a major general in command of the Department of Texas. When the Civil War erupted, Gen. David Twiggs surrendered his command to the Confederate army. For the act of treason and his acceptance of an appointment in the army of his homeland, Twiggs was dismissed from the Federal army. Another son, Levi Twiggs, was a field officer of the Marine Corps from the War of 1812 until his death during an assault on Mexico City in 1847. Two U.S. naval ships were named in his honor. A great grandson, Lt. Gen. John Twiggs Myers, earned high recognition in Marine Corps history for his valiant actions as commander of the American Legation guard in China during the Boxer Rebellion. His wife's brother, David Emanuel, served under Twiggs during the American Revolution and in 1801 was elected Governor of Georgia. On November 14, 1809, the State of Georgia immortalized the name of Twiggs by naming its newest county, Twiggs County, in his honor.
07-21
BELIEVE OR NOT
The Fascinating and the Strange
I never tire of finding the strange, the bizarre and the unusual stories of our past. They are all true, or at least I think they are. You decide. The recent record rainfall on June 2-3, 2007 poses some interesting questions. Though the daily record was officially set on January 19, 1943 at 7.13 inches of rain, the official rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry was 6.90 inches measured in the rain gauge at the 911 Center. Radar instruments measured 8 inches or more along a stretch of eastern Laurens County. Along the Savannah Road area, the instruments estimated that more than 10 inches fell to the scorched Earth. The total rainfall measured more than all of the rain from February through May and erased a 7-inch deficit in a matter of a day. Did you ever think how much that rain weighs or how much volume such a rainfall would fill? A seven-inch rainfall evenly spread over the entire 813 square miles of Laurens County would weigh 4,776,470,300 pounds or the equivalent weight of 310,156 average African male elephants or 25,165,805 average American male adults. The water would fill a swimming pool with the area of a football field to a depth of 1645 feet or nearly one-third of a mile, more than 5000 average size homes or a canal, seven feet deep and forty feet wide, for a distance of 621.04 miles. It would fill the Empire State Building twenty times or both of the felled World Trade Center Towers six times. If you want to know how many gallons that is, it is 57,271,820.
A more mysterious rainfall began to occur in 1918. Every day for nearly two years from 11:00 a.m. and mid afternoon, a light rainfall could be seen on the sidewalk of Columbia Street, between Franklin and Washington Streets, rain or shine. The mist appeared to emanate from a nearby tree, perhaps it was a "weeping willow" or maybe a "rainbow shower tree." There really is one. Look it up.
The odds that Henry Jones' cow would give birth to triplets were one in one hundred and five thousand. But it happened. The first calf was born on the afternoon of March 30, 1913. The other two were born the next morning. Two were female and one was a male and all were born healthy. Emory Whittle was concerned that his usually reliant cow wasn't delivering her share of milk. She seemed healthy, so Whittle suspected somebody was stealing her milk. Whittle wrote to the Washington Post about the solving of the mystery. "Imagine my surprise when I found the cow was mothering ten baby pigs." Whittle continued, "It was the pigs idea to start, but the cow didn't mind, and they took to one another naturally." Whittle wondered if he would ever be able to take the piglets away from their surrogate mother, so that he could have milk for himself and his family. In 1889, it was reported that where was a nanny goat in Dublin which had lost both of her kids. Longing for something to nurture, the goat adopted two of her owner's new born hound dog pups. Every day the goat would come to front gate and bleat. Soon the pups would be seen running toward her for their daily serving of goats' milk.
During the year 1882 all of the children born in Dublin were males. The trend reversed itself when in 1883 all of the babies were girls. Mrs. Felton Lowery of Dublin gave birth to triplets on September 11, 1930. She named her three sons George Carswell Lowery, Ed Rivers Lowery and Dick Russell Lowery in honor of three of the leading Democratic candidates in the primary held on that very same day.
Col. Phil Howard had rheumatism which caused much pain and consternation. Howard had traveled to Flat Rock, Georgia for a January 1896 session of the Justice of the Peace Court. The courthouse was a somewhat shabby structure, with a rickety table and dilapidated benches. As Col. Howard began his closing argument, two dogs commenced to have a vicious fight. Howard, forgetting the limitations of his ailing body, leaped onto the top of the shaky table, figuring that he was safer there than in between the fighting fidos. Howard brandished his cane and braced for an attack. Col. Hightower attempted to join him on the pedestal but had to make arrangements of his own. Justices Thigpen and Drew grabbed as many volumes of the Georgia Code as they could hold, just in case they needed a protective projectile. After five rounds of fighting, the dogs went their separate ways. It was said that the laughter could be heard for a half mile, but I seriously doubt it. Howard did report that the symptoms of his rheumatism were gone.
Following the untimely death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841 just weeks after his inauguration, the ladies of Dublin decided to honor their fallen president by placing flowers on a small hillock in the old City Cemetery. The tradition continued for many years, but with the Civil War and other distractions to occupy their thoughts, the practice was abandoned. When William Henry Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was elected President, the old tradition was revived.
In the category of fantastic fruits and vegetables, consider these produce. J.M. Butler was proud of his sweet potatoes. He showed four of his prize spuds with a combined weight of fifteen pounds. He was also proud that he dug four to five thousand bushels of sweet potatoes from his ten-acre field. Not one to be outdone, Judge J.E. Page, of Orianna, brought a twenty-one-inch long ten-pound sweet potato into the newspaper office five days later in November 1917. The big tater was seven inches in diameter at its thickest point. Unless you were a cotton farmer, 1917 was a good year. J.H. Taylor of Dudley set out tomato plants in July and carefully cultivated them, protecting them from the summer's scorching heat and the fall's chilly nights. In early December, Taylor delightfully took a couple of beauties into Dublin to show them off. Have you ever seen a double watermelon? Well in July of 1900, J.W. Weaver brought in his unnatural oddity for believers and nonbelievers to see. J.N. Mullis, of Laurens County, may hold the record for the most odd clump of fruit. In 1891, Mullis brought a four-inch long twig from his prolific apple tree. To the amazement of the editors of the Eastman paper who saw it with their own eyes, the short branch had twenty-two well-developed apples attached to it.
07-22
MATTIE GET YOUR GUN
The Story of Mattie Hester
Mattie Hester was a combination of Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane and a pony express rider. A headstrong woman in a male dominated world, Hester could hold her own with the strongest of brutes. This is a tale of one remarkable woman and her brief moments of fame. Martha "Mattie" Hester was born about the year 1868. Her parents, John and Mary Hester, lived in the southeastern part of Laurens County on the east side of the river in what is still known as Smith's District.
Mattie grew up in an era when mail delivery was intermittent and slow. Condor was established as a post office in 1878. Two years later, an office was established further south along the River Road at Tweed. Most of the mail coming into Laurens County first came into Dublin for distribution to other places throughout the county. It was about 1890 when Mattie was given the job of carrying the mail from Dublin to Condor where she began her route. From Condor, she traveled south three days a week along the Old River Road to Lothair in what was then Montgomery, but which now lies in Treutlen County.
Female mail carriers were rare. The forty-five-mile route was often isolated. Any miscreant looking to steal cash or a valuable document could easily rob a carrier along the road. But Mattie would not be deterred. She hitched a Texas broncho to her small road cart to allow her to outrun any thieves. Her horse, faster than a hemidemisemiquaver in a John Phillip Sousa march, never failed Mattie.
She always got the mail to its destination on time or well ahead of its scheduled arrival. If she was accosted, Mattie was as fearless as anyone. To insure her safety, she carried a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver in her side pocket. Mattie was considered a crack shot, and no one who knew her would ever contemplate trying to take any mail or in anyway impede her delivery schedule. Lacking no doubt about her ability to defend herself against any highwayman or tramp in her path, Mattie Hester held little respect for members of her own sex who feared to venture out into public without an escort.
A prime example of Mattie's determination occurred during a winter rainy spell. After nearly a week of constant rainfall in the summer of 1890, the creeks and streams along the mail route had swollen beyond their banks. Messer's (Mercer's) Creek, which serves as the boundary line between Laurens and Montgomery (now Treutlen) counties had become a raging torrent. The long bridge, usually dependable for most crossings, was in danger of being swept away at any moment. Its abutments were already gone. Upon her arrival at the bridge, Mattie surveyed the perilous situation. Recognizing the danger ahead, but acknowledging the necessity of the mail being delivered, Mattie decided to plunge ahead. "If there is any possible chance to cross, I intended to cross, even if I have to swim," said Mattie. Mattie whipped the hind of her trusty bronco and plunged into the turbulence. Her horse found itself tangled in a patch of vines in five feet of water. Instinctively Mattie cut the helpless horse from its harness. Battling shoulder deep raging currents Mattie persevered, all the time dragging the cart until she could reach the bridge which by then was cover with water itself, but still standing. She managed to make it across and did her pony. After a moment or two of rest, Mattie hitched the drenched horse to the wagon and resumed her journey, albeit she excusably took nearly an hour to travel the remaining seven miles to Lothair.
Mattie's duties at home and the pittance of a salary she received from the Postal Service led to her resignation as a postal carrier. One might think that this fiercely independent, pistol packing and hard charging woman might have a manly image. To the contrary, Mattie was described a reporter for the Atlanta Constitution as "a beauty of a real southern type, wavy black hair, deep blue eyes, beautiful figure and complexion with the whitest teeth imaginable." "Her jaunty air and pretty face never failed to attract the attention of strangers, as she rattled swiftly by in her cart, never looking to the right or to the left, but attending strictly to business," the reporter continued. I
n addition to her admirable qualities of dedication to her work and striking beauty, Mattie was considered to be an astute businesswoman. Following her father's death at a relatively young age in 1890, Mattie took over the management of the family farm. Mattie took part in all phases of the farming operation, from cultivation to planting and from harvesting to marketing to the highest bidder, the latter of which were among her greatest talents. Always looking for a way to improve the income from her home place, Mattie ventured into the woods behind her house and saw money in the trees. She cut some of the trees and personally assembled them into a raft. In the process she had to wade throughout the swamp, sometimes with water up to her waist. Mattie's brother took over at that point and piloted the timber raft down the treacherous waters of the Oconee and Altamaha rivers to the port city of Darien, where the logs were sold at a handsome profit. The venture became so lucrative that Mattie saved a few of the trees and invested some of the income into constructing a split rail fence around the Hester farm. By the best count available, Mattie cut about five thousand rails during her first five years of managing the farm. Mattie spent her spare time teaching young people how to shoot. She also a talent for penmanship and drawing.
Mattie's marksmanship came in handy when someone needed defending. On an early December evening in 18906, a Mr. Palmer was giving a dance party in his home in the Martha community near Tweed. Mattie's entrepreneurial abilities included the sale of spiritous liquors. It was said she sold her stock freely among the male party goers, many of whom found themselves under the influence of Mattie's liquor. As more and more whiskey was consumed, tempers began to flare. Mattie found herself engaged in a heated argument with Henry McLendon. Maggie drew her pistol and shot her antagonist. Mattie's brother rose to her defense, but was brutally beaten about the face with a pair of brass knuckles. Alfred Shell, a steam mill owner, was also shot and seriously wounded.
Mattie seemed to disappear after that. Was she forced to leave the community? If so, where did she go? Did this beautiful and fiercely independent woman ever marry? Maybe one day we will know.
07-23
BUILDING A BETTER MOUSETRAP
Our Early Inventors
According to the records of the United States Patent Office, no one from Laurens County ever invented a mousetrap or even submitted a patent to improve one. But our early inventors have designed useful implements ranging from a coffee roaster to an automatic mail delivery device to a hunter safety device. Though this article will concentrate on our county's inventors before the Great Depression, at this very moment there are people in this county, including Dr. Forrest Marshall, the county's most prolific inventor, thinking, drawing, figuring and pondering about a new device which can make life easier or, in some cases, save lives.
John N. Smith, one of Dublin's earliest photographers, was the first to be awarded a patent in 1880. His patent was not for a skylight, but for improvements in the ease and cost of construction as well as its maintenance. Two more decades would pass before a Dublin inventor would come up with a patentable idea.
William F. Colley came up with a new way to improve a roaster for roasting coffee beans and peanuts in 1902. Colley designed his roaster to be placed on the top of a wood burning stove, electric stoves were still years away from general use. Among the features of Colley's hand turned roaster were a series of agitators to stirs the beans and peanuts to prevent scorching and a novel lid designed to keep the heat from escaping.
At the turn of the century, cotton became King in Laurens County. James R. Robinson registered his patent for a baling press to provide for a more durable press, while maximizing the amount of power which could be applied to the plunger, while minimizing the draft.
Since the discovery of the principles of the lever and the fulcrum, man has sought to find a better way to lift a heavy load. Irvin C. Huffman designed a lifting jack to provide a simple and efficient construction which could be applied to either old or new lifting jacks so as to provide a ball bearing or antifriction head or cap upon the jack.
Later in the year 1906, Inman H. Fisher's thoughts for arriving at a method of being able to lock his bicycle were finalized and approved by the patent office. Fisher believed that the public would be served by having a lock of a portable type which could be carried on the person and then applied to lock the frame of the bicycle to the wheel to prevent or deter the unauthorized use of his bike. The new feature of Fisher's invention was its design which prevented displacement of the shackle from the body of the lock.
Horace Geffcken sought to improve the ratchet wrench by providing a plurality of interchangeable nut caps and adapt the ratchet to be used as a solid wrench. Geffcken believed his 1908 patent would enable others skilled in the art of using wrenches to achieve better results.
As the delivery of mail expanded in the first decade of the 20th Century, Shelton H. Roby believed his apparatus for delivering mail and parcels would be of widespread public benefit. Roby's device was designed in a way so that it could be propelled along a track and take mail from a cart and place it in receptacles along its path.
On cold winter nights, Henry J. Corrigan's conception of a revolving grate promised to become very comforting. In order to obtain maximum efficiency of radiating heat from the fire place, Corrigan designed a simple and inexpensive fire place grate which could be placed in the center of a wall separating two adjoining rooms. The homeowner could warm the living room in the evening and before retiring to bed, spin the grate around to heat his bedroom. Or if desired, both rooms could be heated at the same time.
Sumpter Lea Harwood patented a device in 1910 which would improve the shearing of animals. Most existing models of shears did not contain a reversible blade. Harwood's design provided such a blade which could be removed and reversed once one side of the blade had been dulled.
Until 1912, most building scaffolds were of a stationary nature. In order to raise the level of the work space, workers would have to manually raise the platform upon which they stood. David J. Muns conceived of an adjustable scaffold, one which could be mechanically raised or lowered by the use of chains wrapped around a revolving drum device.
W.B. Pattillo, one of the town's leading printers, desired to invent a type of cabinet to hold printing implements and one which could be revolved so that multiple printers could work simultaneously from the same cabinet.
In 1913, James C. Williamson of Dudley was awarded a patent for a new and improved stump puller. That same year, Sumpter Lea Harwood became the first Laurens Countian to patent multiple devices. Harwood claimed his improved fire extinguisher would reliably operate under the most roughest of handling. Two months later, Harwood received a patent for an extinguisher which could be attached to an automobile. His fourth patent came in 1914 with Harwood's design of a machine which would improve the mixing of fertilizer and deliver a uniform mixture into sacks, with the finest granules on the top.
Edward M. Harp's 1917 patent was designed to make it easier for the homemaker to can fruits and vegetables and then take the gadget apart for easy cleaning. Harp's intention was to produce a light and durable device, which could be economically manufactured and easily used.
Sam Bashinski's family made their living from cotton. In 1917, Bashinski patented a cotton harvester, which would funnel cotton stalks into a relatively large basket from which they could be easily retrieved and taken to a shelter for storage until the cotton could be conveniently removed. The patentee constructed his machine so that the stalks would be cut as close to the ground as possible by installing an adjustable cutting blade.
Robert Chapman's 1924 patent promised to lead to improvement of drying sand used in the manufacture of concrete and other products. Chapman also contrived a device to quickly dry clay as well in his family's brick business. As the height of Dublin's buildings began to rise, Leon M. Little conceived of improvements to fire escapes. Little designed improvements to the traditional fire escape by providing an endless chain, one which would not tangle in times of peril and one which was automatic.
The last invention before the Great Depression came from R.W. Miller, a local bicycle maker and gunsmith. Miller designed a detachable choke, which could be easily attached and removed to protect a hunter from an accidental misfire while traveling the brush, briars and brambles of the woods of Laurens County and the rest of the world for that matter.
07-24
GENERAL BELINDA HIGDON PINCKNEY
Making a Difference
On this 4th of July, we once again celebrate our independence, our patriotism and the overabundance of blessings which have been bestowed upon us by those who have gone before us. Belinda "Brenda" Higdon Pinckney is not your archetypical general. Missing is the gruff exterior we see on television and the movies. She is not a fifty- plus- year- old white male soldier. There is no "gung ho" in her heart, except for the causes she believes so strongly in. When she dons her dress blue uniform, there is a heart of gold behind the mass of commendations, ribbons and stars. Though her shoulders are not broad, thousands and thousands of the family members of the soldiers of the Army know that when they need to lay their head on them, General Pinckney will be there to comfort them. Belinda Higdon Pinckney, one of only a few African-American female general officers in the United States Army, acknowledges the blessings she has. Her mission is to share those blessings and to make life better for those coming behind.
Belinda "Brenda" Higdon Pinckney was born in Dublin, Georgia in 1954. Her parents, Homer and Lucy Higdon, cared about their children and did their best to provide all they could for their six children, even if it meant working two jobs. Though they had little education themselves, the Higdons were determined that their children would receive the best education they could. Belinda attended kindergarten at Howard Chapel Methodist Church not too far from her home in Katie Dudley Village neighborhood of the Dublin Housing Authority. As she looks back to the days she spent in Katie Dudley, she fondly remembered that if she or any other of her siblings and playmates did something they weren't supposed to be doing, they would first get a whipping by a concerned neighbor and then return home for a second stern, but loving, whipping. She applauds those in her community who helped keep the kids "on the straight and narrow."
General Pinckney credits her success in the military to the foundations of her education she received in Dublin. She attended Washington Street Elementary School. "We were challenged to do our best," Pinckney said. "Mrs. Brinson was one of my favorite teachers. She was like a mother to many of us. We were put into groups, A,B,C and D. You didn't want to be in the D group," she continued. She was in the A group and remained in the same classes with a core group of classmates for nearly ten years. Among the teachers General Pinckney remembered the most were Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Crews, Bonnese Brower, Ernest Wade, Martha Myers and her principal, Charles W. Manning, Sr.
A member of the Finance Corps, the General credits Mrs. Myers for giving her the basic foundations of understanding, and actually loving math. It was that love of math that led her into the Finance Corps. Today, she is the only minority Finance Corps Officer in the history of the United States Army to be commissioned as a general officer. Brenda's life changed dramatically in the summer of 1970. In an effort to promote harmony between the races, Federal courts ordered that Dublin High School and Oconee High School be merged. Brenda and hundreds of her classmates and friends were ripped away from their beloved Oconee High School. It was the only school they had ever known. Bused or transported all the way across town, Brenda and the other students at Oconee had a difficult time in the transition. There were scared and naturally, just angry. As I look back on those days from the other side of the tracks, these students were the trailblazers of their day.
It was these students who entered a new world and made it easier for those who came from behind. It was one of the darkest days in the history of Dublin High School. An early morning pep rally was going on in the front of the school. Suddenly a rock, reported a chunk of concrete left lying by a forgetful contractor, appeared to come from where the black students were standing. It struck a white cheerleader and then as they say, "all Hell broke loose." All students in the school were sent home. The football game went on that night, but without the band. Many of the black students were put on buses and sent back home. As Belinda boarded the bus, a bee crawled under her bright yellow clothes and stung her, prompting her to say "even the insects are against us." When I talked to the General for the first time, I told her that I was there that dark day and that we have overcome most of those differences which so bitterly divided us thirty seven years ago. She smiled.
Brenda transferred to East Laurens High School where she graduated with honors in 1972. Belinda attended Clark College in Atlanta and studied medical technology. She failed to realize that in her senior year she would have to transfer to Emory University to complete her degree. Her tuition costs were going to double. She did transfer to the Medical College of Georgia, but when she was only twelve credit hours shy of a degree, circumstances led to her quitting college. "It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me," reasoned General Pinckney. Frustrated and disappointed at how she was forced out of school, Belinda promised herself that she would never quit anything ever again.
A career in the military was an early apparent option. Her oldest brother was an Army paratrooper and Vietnam veteran and her next brother, a Marine and also a Vietnam veteran. Her older sister joined the Navy. So Brenda, looking for something more out of life, enlisted as a private first class in the Army in 1976. Older than most other members of her rank, Private Higdon was quickly put into leadership positions. "The Army exposed me to reality early in my life and made me feel good," said Pinckney who believed she could make the army a career. It wasn't long before Private Higdon looked around at the non-commissioned officers and how they handled soldiers. She said to herself, " I can do that."
So she enlisted in Officer Candidate School in 1978 and graduated the following year. It was then, more than two decades ago, that she began her goal to look after soldiers, the regular men and women of the Army. The transition from an enlisted soldier to an officer was a daunting task. Pinckney relied on the lessons she learned in school to guide her through the difficult tasks ahead. She sought out role models to learn from, much like she had at Washington Street and Oconee High schools. The army placed her in a position to advance, but like her parents, the young officer wasn't looking for any handouts. Determined and highly independent, Pinckney took advantage of every opportunity to advance up the chain of command.
"Initially, it was hard for me to transition from being an enlisted soldier to an officer because, first of all, I only had two-plus years in the military as a PFC and specialist. Secondly, other than my training in OCS, no one had really sat me down and talked to me about 'officer ship.' The expectations are much greater. I was no longer only responsible for my actions, but for the welfare of my subordinates, too," Pinckney said. General Pinckney has demonstrated her ability to succeed at all levels. Early in her life, Bonnese Thomas McLain, one of her favorite teachers, noticed something special in Brenda. "Brenda and a small group of kids would meet me around 7:00 a.m. nearly every morning wanting to make the extra effort to learn more math," Mrs. McLain said.
After she entered the army, Belinda Pinckney continued to strive toward educational excellence. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at the University of Maryland, a Master of Public Administration degree in Financial Management at Golden State University, and a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
During her long and successful military career, General Pinckney has served as a Congressional Appropriations Officer, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); Principal Deputy Director/Army Element Commander, Defense Finance and Accounting Service; Brigade Commander, 266th Finance Command and US Army Europe Staff Finance and Accounting Officer, Heidelberg, Germany; Battalion Commander, Training Support Battalion; Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller); Budget Analyst, Technology Management Office, Office of the Chief of Staff; and Company Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 266th Finance Command.
In September 2004, Colonel Belinda Pinckney was nominated by the Army to become a general. She was the first woman in the history of the Army Finance Corps to be promoted to a general officer and the first ever person to be nominated from the comptroller field. Her first major assignment was as the Deputy Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which is the largest finance and accounting operation in the world, paying more than 5. 9 million people, processing 12.3 million invoices and disbursing more than four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in congressional appropriations.
General Pinckney's military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merit medals, six Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Staff Badge and the General Staff Identification Badge. As the general begins her thirty second year in the military, she is as committed as ever to set the bar for all military women to come.
In 2001, Pinckney was the first African-American woman to be inducted in the Officer Candidate School's Hall of Fame. She is one of only two African American generals and one of only a dozen or so female generals in the United States Army. "We need to continue to tell the stories, so that every generation will know and learn from these stories because we as a country are not particularly proud of some of this history,"she noted; "We do not want to repeat the bad history, and we want to tell the stories of the good history."
An advocate of women's rights, General Pinckney acknowledges the outstanding accomplishments of women in the military saying "Many contributions of women have gone unrecognized, the stories of their struggles and triumphs remain untold" General Pinckney recognizes the importance of their accomplishments but also realizes the tendency to take them for granted. She believes it is important to pass along the stories so that succeeding generations will know and grow from them.
As the first woman to head the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command, General Pinckney has many sleepless nights. She sees no soon end to the war and worries constantly about the families of the soldiers serving in the Middle East and around the world. She often visits with wounded soldiers and their families in Washington's Walter Reed Hospital. The General seeks to make life easier for the families with the limited resources she has at her disposal.
Just thirty-six hours after she addressed a reunion of her fellow alumni of Oconee High School, General Pinckney boarded a plane bound for Houston, Texas and another funeral, another day of comforting the anguished with dignity and honor, all the time knowing that she is serving her nation proudly and setting an example for women and minority officers in the future. With a legacy of education, leadership and old-fashioned values she learned in the schools, churches and homes of Dublin and Laurens County, General Belinda "Brenda" Higdon Pinckney is bound for greater things to come in her Army career. It is with great honor that I, on behalf of all of the people of Laurens County and the United States of America, salute our very own hometown hero for a job well done as she seeks to better the lives of her soldiers and their families.
07-25
KILLER KILDEE
Or Just Another Tall Tale Teller
John West could tell a tale or two. He claimed he was the Confederacy's best rifleman having killed generals and scores of officers and privates as well. Is the story of John West, alias "Kildee," an accurate story of a sharpshooting soldier or just an inflated fable of early yellow journalism to sell books, or merely the boastful reminiscences of an aging veteran of a horrible war?
West was born in Twiggs County, Georgia. When the Civil War broke out, West enlisted in the Confederate Army in Louisiana, but decided that it was best for him to transfer back his native land to fight the Yankees. On July 9, 1861, John West enlisted as a private in the Twiggs Volunteers, officially known as Company C of the 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry. Also known as "the "Jorees" because of the resemblance of their uniform coats with their three black stripes on the tails to a beautiful bird of the era, the Twiggs Volunteers were assigned to the brigade commanded by A.R. Wright of Georgia. Their first taste of battle and blood began in the last week of June 1862. In a series of engagements along the peninsula of Virginia east of Richmond, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac slugged it out in a prelude of the deadly battles to come. The battles, known as the Seven Days' Battles, culminated on July 1, 1862 at a small prominence known as Malvern Hill. In the fighting, West suffered his first substantial wound.
Many of the rifles which were used by Confederate soldiers had a limited range. It was in 1862 when General Robert E. Lee received a shipment of thirteen English Whitworth rifles, guaranteed to kill a man at a range of 1,800 yards and arguably the finest rifle that a soldier could possess. West was selected among an elite group of marksmen to train for three months on how to handle the coveted weapon. As the training came to end, West was ahead of the other dozen sharpshooters. In the final test a white board with a two-foot square diamond in the center was placed 1500 yards away. Shooting through a stiff wind, West scored three bulls' eyes, with the remaining shots striking the board. As the winner of the contest, West was given the choice of a horse, a rifle, a saber, a revolver and all of the finest accouterments.
Sharpshooters were an integral part of military operations. The men were often placed at strategic points to kill officers, silencing batteries, and especially picking off the sharpshooters on the other side. Artillerymen were easy targets, but when riled, would turn their canon on a sharpshooter and blow him a way. On one occasion, West and a associate killed the entire compliment of soldiers in a battery, allowing the infantry to take command of that part of the field.
West told the editors of Camp Fire Sketches and Battlefield Echoes, "I soon became indifferent to anger and inured to hardships and privations. I have killed men from ten paces to a mile. I have no idea of how many I killed, but I made a good many bite the dust." The sharpshooter's greatest fear was another sharpshooter. In the days before the advent of camouflage material, a sharpshooter would climb a tree and pin leaves to disguise his uniform. When two sharpshooters encountered an enemy sharpshooter, one would raise a hat on a stick or his ramrod to draw his antagonist's fire. Once the opponent revealed his position, the second marksman would point his sight directly at his head and fire.
"I've shot 'em out of trees and seem 'em fall like coons," West boasted. Occasionally West would be called upon to pick off targets while lying in a bed of tall grasses. Sparks from the discharge of his rifle frequently ignited the dry grasses and alerted the enemy of his whereabouts. West would then roll his body rapidly while Union riflemen poured round after round into the smoke. West claimed that he killed two Union Generals, General James Shields and Nathaniel P. Banks. The crack shot was sure he got General Shields as he was the only sharpshooter on the line that day and only a round from his rifle could have killed a man at that range. Shields was in command of a Union division near Winchester, Virginia in the late summer of 1864. He was wounded, but he was not killed. He went on to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate and died fifteen years after his wound at Winchester. No record exists of any wounds suffered by General Nathaniel P. Banks, though his division was thwarted by Stonewall Jackson's Army at the Battle of Cedar Mountain in August 1862. Banks served ten terms in the U.S. Congress and lived for nearly three decades after the close of the war.
At Cold Harbor, Virginia, West found himself and a Colonel Brown on the wrong side of the Union lines. West and Brown, wearing blue coats, attempted to fool a Union officer into believing that they were officers and needed to pass in front of the Federal wagon train. When the ruse was revealed, Col. Brown fired his revolver striking the Yankee officer. A hail of bullets was heaped upon Brown and West, who were attempting to flee for their lives. Brown's horse went down and both men tumbled to the ground. Thought to be spies, Brown and West were put under a close guard during the night by four Union soldiers. Deciding that trying to dodge four bullets in the dark was preferable to twenty bullets of a firing squad at dawn, the captives crawled on their bellies evading the inattentive sentinels and made their way to freedom.
During the fighting at the second battle of Cold Harbor, West was positioned at the front of the Confederate lines. For hours, West futilely tried to pick off a Union sharpshooter who had been killing his comrades all day. " I was behind a large rock. Several times he shot at me. He was out there about 1,400 yards in the woods, but I couldn't see his smoke for the treetops," West lamented. After two hours of silence, General George Doles, of Milledgeville, Georgia, appeared on the scene and asked West to silence that devilish tormentor of his men. "He asked me to do my best, and I told him that had been trying to do that all day," John remembered. It was then that Doles stepped in front of West and exposed himself. West warned the general to look out and take cover. At that instant a mini ball struck the general in the right side and passed through his body killing him instantly. West carried General Doles from the field and escorted his body home for burial in Milledgeville.
Though he may have never killed a general, John West believed it was his gun which fired the fatal shot which killed Major General John Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864. While some doubted the story, West lent his gun to Charley Grace while he was in the hospital and it was true that Grace fired the fatal shot.
John West surrendered with his company at Appomattox C.H. on April 9, 1865. He tried to conceal his prized rifle in a blanket, but it was discovered and confiscated. He spent the rest of his life trying to get his gun back. After the war, West returned to Twiggs County to farm. West enjoyed attending Confederate reunions and telling stories of his days as one of the best sharpshooters in the army. He died in 1912 and is buried in the family cemetery on Fountain Road, 2.3 miles west of the intersection of Highway 18 and Fountain Road.
07-26
DUBLIN IN THE 1870S
THE CALM AFTER THE STORM
Life in Dublin in the 1980s was stridently harsh and partially austere, at best. The four years of the American Civil War had taken its devastating toll on the city and the surrounding countryside. It was called "Reconstruction" by the politicos of the northern states, an attempt to shape the devastated South into a mirror image of themselves. The brave young rebel lads, broken, battered and bruised, had returned home to Dublin and Laurens County only to find their homes, though still standing, surrounded by protracted gloom, abject poverty, incessant hunger and unequivocal chaos. Dublin's prewar charter had expired or lapsed out of existence.
There were no options. Dublin, Georgia and the South had to rebuild. No Northern bureaucrat had the slightest of solutions to the problem. To bring the South up from the bowels of the economic, as well as social, abyss, drastic, but steady advances were necessary. Labor was crucial. Despite the end of physical and legal slavery, economic slavery remained. Former slaves were almost virtually dependent on meager wages doled out to them by their former masters who had seen their fortunes dwindle during the war and its aftermath.
While extant evidence of racial relations are extremely scant, those records which do exist suggest a picture of racial harmony. Rev. George Linder, a former slave and Methodist minister, had served the county with great honor in the latter years of the 1860s. It was said that he was respected by the people of both races. A.C. Duggan agreed to continue to feed, clothe and house his slaves from the end of the war until the following Christmas. Others were turned out to fact the world alone. Education of black children could only be found within the confines of the churches. No money was appropriated for public schools for black children. Many of the adults and school age children were illiterate and gainful employment was an impossibility. Low wages and harsh living conditions on tenant farms were the norm. Throughout the state, but not in Laurens County, racial violence erupted. In the mid 1870s, one attempted insurrection directed toward Laurens and surrounding counties emanated out of Sandersville, but was interrupted before it began.
Optimistic thinkers knew that there was one key solution to the problem, and that problem was transportation, or the lack thereof. With virtually no monetary assets on hand, farmers were forced to sell their goods in local markets to citizens who were barely managing to stay alive. Dublin and Laurens County had never had a railroad. Efforts to establish the Central of Georgia Railroad through the heart of the county had failed previously some three decades before the end of the war. Jonathan Weaver, foreman of the 1872 Laurens County Grand Jury, summarized the beliefs of his fellow grand jurymen in calling for a conference between the county's legislators and officials of the Central of Georgia in exploring the desire for the location of a railroad into the city. Fourteen years elapsed and untold fortunes and life sustaining pittances were lost before the completion of the railroad to the banks of the Oconee River in 1886.
The same grand jury recommended an appropriation of five hundred dollars be made to clear the Oconee River of obstacles northward from Dublin to a railroad bridge above Ball's Ferry at Rauol's Station near the hamlet of Oconee. Two individuals, Col. John M. Stubbs and Captain R. C. Henry moved to Dublin, just in the nick of time. Stubbs, a former Confederate officer, a highly skilled lawyer and a scientific farmer supplied the capital investment in the project. R.C. Henry, a seasoned and savvy North Carolina river boat captain, supplied the expertise in hauling freight upriver to Rauol Station and down river to the railroad depot at Doctortown and the seaport docks of Dairen, Georgia. The new fleet of river boats replaced the former armada of pole boats and timber rafts which were the only means of transportation available to merchants and farmers. By the end of the decade, crops were exported and cash was imported into the city.
The town of Dublin was decrepit, dingy and neglected. Theretofore the vital economic areas had been scattered throughout the northern regions of the county in the major plantations. Dublin was merely a place for court business, supported by a few stores and several barrooms for sustenance of its scant populous. The town's first comprehensive charter in 1873 led to the last times when county officials governed the town.
At the beginning of the decade, there were only a few stores in operation. Dr. Harris Fisher established the town's first drug store in 1872. Peter Sarchett, the popular tavern keeper, established his saloon just southeast of the courthouse square on South Jefferson (Law office of Charles Butler, 2007). A cooling shade of a mammoth oak tree attracted drinkers and non-drinkers alike. Little boys and big boys as well were entranced by Sarchett's pet parrot, who swore like a drunk sailor and could speak the name of his celebrated owner. Dr. Robert Hightower constructed his new office on West Jackson Street (Peppercorn Restaurant 2007) making it the second brick building in the city, which saved it from the cataclysmic fire of 1889. On the site of the new Laurens County courthouse annex was the post office, which sat below a photography studio.
George Currell occupied one of the town's two prime commercial locations with his store at 101 West Jackson Street. Judge John B. Wolfe occupied the other top spot across the street. Judge Freeman H. Rowe's old stand on the southwest corner of the courthouse square was taken over in the latter years of the decade by Peacock's drug store. Only one other business, Newman's harness shop, occupied the southern half of the square. The rear area of these buildings all the way down to Marion Street, upon which the railroad would be built in 1891, were fields of cotton and corn. William B. Jones, a veteran of the war, operated his store on the corner, where the Brantley-Lovett & Tharpe building now stands on the northwest corner of West Jackson and Lawrence Streets. Louis Perry and J. M. Reinhardt were two of the town's more successful entrepreneurs. John Keen's house, later known as the Troup House (124 S. Jefferson St.), provided a night's lodging for the traveler and those attending quarterly sessions of court.
A shabby well worn two-story courthouse, which had served the county for nearly three decades, occupied the nucleus of the town. The courthouse was enclosed by a square of scraggly, and often unsightly, china berry trees. The town's first brick building, the Laurens County jail, was located where Lawrence Street now begins between the old Lovett and Tharpe Building and the old location of the Farmers and Merchants Bank.
At the western end of the downtown area were the Baptist Church, which is still located on the same site, and the academy, which occupied the apex of the triangle where the current city hall now stands. Captain Rollin A. Stanley initiated and carried out his plan to beautify the city's most well known thoroughfare, Bellevue Avenue, which in those days was named "The Hawkinsville Wagon Road." Stanley planted hardy oak trees from the Baptist Church along both margins of the avenue to his home, which was located near Coney Street.
Dubliners survived the 1870s and began a four decade long growth spurt before the economic depressions of the 1920s and 1930s brought the new found posterity to a screeching halt. But, it was in the 1870s when the city came out of its cocoon and became the wonderful place it is today.
07-27
POPLAR SPRINGS NORTH BAPTIST CHURCH
The Early Years of One of Georgia's Oldest Churches
Tomorrow, August 1, 2007, the members of Poplar Springs North Baptist Church will celebrate their 200th anniversary as a church. The church appears to be the oldest active Georgia church congregation west of the Oconee River. Poplar Springs Church was actually consecrated four months before the land upon which it stood changed from Wilkinson County to Laurens County. The members of the community chose a site centered among the most well populated regions of the southern tip of Wilkinson County. A small meeting house was constructed half way between the Oconee River and Turkey Creek near the Lower Uchee Indian Path. Today the church sits near the original site on Highway 338, a little over a mile from U.S. 441 North.
The founding presbytery consisted of the Rev. Charles Culpepper, Rev. Isiah Shirey, and Charnick Allen Tharp. Rev. John Albritton is thought to have opened the services. Amos Love was chosen as the first church clerk - he also served as the first clerk of Laurens County Superior Court.
The charter members of the Poplar Springs Church were Ann, John, Margaret and Richard Albritton; George Blair; Mr. and Mrs. John Bowen; Mary Culpepper; John, Edith, Sarah and Elizabeth Gilbert; Elizabeth and John Kent and their daughter Elizabeth; Amos Love; John and Mary Manning; Eleanor O'Neal; Richard Painter; Jessey Pollock; Jessey Stevens; Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Thompson; Josiah and Nancy Warren; Nancy, David and Sarah Watson; and Elizabeth and Joseph Yarborough.
Mary, probably a slave belonging to the Albrittons, was the first African-American church member in Laurens County history. Among the first slaves to worship in the church were Jeff, Dublin, Clarissa, Phebe, Silvy, Ephram, Fanny and Tabitha. After the end of the Civil War, black members formed their own churches, primarily at Spring Hill and Mt. Tilla.
Several early members were prominent in the first century of Georgia's history. Amos Love, was the first clerk of the church and the county's first clerk. His son, Peter Early Love, became a leading statesman of Georgia, serving as a solicitor general, superior court judge and U.S. Congressman. Love was one of the delegation of Georgia congressman who walked out of the Congress when Georgia seceded from the Union. The first man to pastor an organized church in Laurens County was the Rev. William Hawthorn. Rev. Hawthorn, a soldier of the American Revolution and a native of North Carolina, moved to the Allentown (Wilkinson County) area about the year 1806. In August of 1808, Rev. Hawthorn was called to Poplar Springs Baptist Church. Rev. Hawthorn served the church for 10 months. His home became a part of Twiggs County in 1810. Rev. Hawthorn also served his community in state government. In 1814, the Reverend was elected by Twiggs Countians to the State Senate. From 1819 to 1821, Rev. Hawthorn represented Pulaski County in the Senate. Rev. Hawthorn moved to Decatur County, where he represented that county in the Senate in 1827 and again in 1829. Rev. Hawthorn may have been the only person in the history of Georgia to represent three different counties in the Georgia Senate. During his lifetime, Rev. Hawthorn also served in the local governments of four counties. Rev. Hawthorn died on May 15, 1846. His lasting legacy is the Hawthorn Trail, which follows the modern highway from Albany to Tallahassee to the Gulf of Mexico.
Lott Warren was born in Burke County, Georgia on Oct. 30, 1797. The Warrens moved in 1804 to what later became Laurens County. Lott, an orphan at the age of 12, went to live with his uncle, the Rev. Charles Culpepper. While working as a clerk in a Dublin store, Warren was drafted into the Georgia Militia. The young man was elected Second Lieutenant of the Laurens County company. Lt. Warren was then appointed Adjutant of the detachment. Lt. Warren returned home and studied law under Daniel McNeel before being admitted to the bar in 1821. In 1824 Col. Warren represented Laurens County in the Legislature. In 1826 Warren served as the Solicitor General of the Southern Circuit from 1826 to 1828. Warren moved to Twiggs County, representing that county in the Senate in 1830. In 1831 Col. Warren began a three year term as Judge of the Southern Circuit. Judge Warren moved to Americus. In 1838 he was elected to the United States Congress. After serving two terms in Congress, Lott Warren returned to private practice. Judge Warren returned to the bench serving as Judge of the Southwestern Circuit from 1844 until his resignation in August of 1852. Lott Warren was a faithful member of the Baptist Church and followed the teachings of Christ in his legal and political career. Judge Warren fell dead while making a speech at the courthouse in Albany on June 17, 1861.
Eli Warren, son of revolutionary war soldier Josiah Warren and Nancy Doty, was a native of Laurens. Eli Warren represented Laurens County in both houses of the Georgia Legislature. He was a member of two constitutional conventions and a brigadier general in the Georgia militia. At the height of his legal career, Gen. Warren was said to have had one of the largest practices in the state. Gen. Warren had many notable descendants. His grandson, Kittrell J. Warren founded "The Macon News". One of his daughters married James W. Lathrop, founder and first president of the Savannah Cotton Exchange. Warren Grice, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, was also a descendant. Eli Warren's brother-in-law was Peter Early Love. Love was a Solicitor General and Judge of the Southern Circuit. Love was also one of the members of the Georgia Congressional delegation when the Civil War broke out in 1861.
Rev. Charles Culpepper, a leading pioneer Georgia Baptist minister, served as pastor at Poplar Springs from 1809 to 1830. Whiteford S. Ramsay, founder of the Dublin and Laurens County School systems, served as pastor for 30 years from 1870 until his death in 1900. Rev. Ramsay served as a minister longer than anyone else at Poplar Springs. Ramsay, at 21 years of age, was one of the youngest Colonels in the Confederate Army.
Deacons Joseph Yarborough and Matthew Albritton were appointed to lay out a lot of land to build the first church on in 1809. The first church, a small log building, served the members of the church until 1830. The second building was constructed on the site in 1830 and lasted until 1889. A third and more substantial church building was erected in 1889 and lasted until a Sunday morning in December 1943, when it caught on fire shortly after morning church services had begun. The present building, built in 1945, has been modified and enlarged several times to meet the needs of the growing church membership.
Congratulations to the members of Poplar Springs North Church on their bicentennial celebration, which also coincides with our county's 200th anniversary. We are all fortunate the minutes of the church have survived for 200 years. The church has such a rich history that a full account can not be given in this column. I refer you to The History of Poplar Springs North Baptist Church by R.M. Johnson. It is an outstanding history of Laurens County's and one of Georgia's oldest churches.
07-28
BILL ROBINSON
A Baseball Survivor
Bill Robinson died on the last Sunday in July. Unless you are an "old school" baseball fan, you probably wouldn't even know his name. Robinson, the biggest star of the 1962 Dublin Braves team, was revered by those who knew him as a decent man, one who was a well-respected hitting instructor and coach. His pupils won two world championships. A sixteen-year veteran of the big leagues, Robinson won a World Series ring of his own with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979. This is the story of a man who was once billed as "the black Mickey Mantle" and survived the intense pressures of major league baseball for a successful 47-year career in "America's pastime."
William Henry "Bill" Robinson was born on June 26, 1943 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. After high school, Bill was signed by the Milwaukee Braves and assigned to their farm team in Wellsville. At the age of 18, Bill Robinson was ranked by scouts as one of the best rookie outfielders ever, better than Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. At first, his future in baseball seemed dim. After a poor season in Eau Claire, Robinson was assigned to the Dublin Braves in the Georgia Florida League. In his first game with Dublin, Robinson impressed the fans with a single and a double to drive in four runs. Under the tutelage of the wily veteran manager Bill Steinecke, Robinson reversed his downward spiral and posted a highly respectable .304 average with 21 extra-base hits in 207 at bats.
Following a system wide reorganization of the minor league farm systems, Robinson was assigned to the Waycross Braves in 1963. Bill's star continued to rise with a .316 average at Waycross and a .348 average with Yakima in 1964. Facing stiffer competition, Robinson's stats tailed off with the Atlanta Crackers the following year. An International League all-star with the Richmond Braves in '66, Robinson excited the big league team in Atlanta and scouts around the country with an outstanding .312 average, 20 home runs and 79 runs batted in. After five years of bus riding and hectic living, Robinson finally made it to the majors during a late season call up in the Braves' first season in Atlanta on September 20, 1966. In 11 at bats, he garnered three hits.
With Roger Maris being traded to the Cardinals and the future of an aging and aching Mickey Mantle in doubt, New York Yankee manager Ralph Houk salivated at the thought of Robinson in his outfield. "He has the best arm I have ever seen," Houk told a reporter for the Washington Post. On November 29, 1966, the Yankees traded the veteran third sacker Clete Boyer to the Braves for the young Robinson, who carried with him a .298 average, a rocket arm and the possessed the power to become what the Yankees hoped would be "the black Mickey Mantle."
An early indicator of Robinson's throwing ability was his skill in throwing rocks at his antagonists. Somewhat of a runt in comparison to the bullies of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, Robinson compensated for his scrawniness. "When I was about 10 years old, there was one boy who used to beat me up all the time. One day I waited at the top of a hill and split his head open with a rock from 20 yards. I guess I could hit a guy with a rock at a hundred yards. I was pretty accurate," Robinson chuckled.
After developing a soreness in his right throwing arm in the Venezuelan winter ball league, Robinson underwent elbow surgery in the winter of 1967. Robinson struggled in his rookie season. With manager Houk's unfaltering patience and encouragement, Bill Robinson once again reversed his slump and surged to bat .260 in the second half of the 1967 campaign.
Robinson's sophomore season with the Yankees mirrored his rookie season. Mired in a horrific slump at the all-star break, Bill silenced his doubters with a .282 second half, and solidified a starting position for the 1969 season. Robinson returned his blessings to the community by actively participating in youth programs in New York. After a dismal season in '69, Robinson feared his baseball career was over. At the age of twenty-six, Bill appeared to be headed for the verge of obscurity. Yankee fans, instinctively and unmercifully, booed Bill. The pressure to replace "the Mick" was unbearable. After three average seasons in the minors with Syracuse, Tuscon and Eugene, Robinson finally returned to the major leagues toward the end of the 1972 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, who hoped to capitalize on his resurgent power hitting.
Robinson, who could play all three outfield positions, led the Pacific Coast League in rbi at the time of his call up to the Phillies. With the pressure of being expected to perform with the legendary Yankees gone, Robinson returned to his youthful form. He hated to go to the ball park (in New York) where he tried too hard to perform up to the impossible standards set for him by management and fans alike. Frustration led to more frustration. The White Sox had assigned Bill to their Tuscon team in 1971. Robinson felt he was lied to by the Chicago team and actually quit baseball, only to be traded to the Phillies, a move which rejuvenated his career.
Robinson shed his demons and began to enjoy baseball again. Wally Moses, a native of Montgomery County, Georgia and the Phil's hitting instructor, resurrected Robinson's natural hitting style. Bill entered the 1973 season, hoping just to remain on the team for 52 days to qualify for a pension. Little did "Robby" know he would still be around a decade later. 1973 was Bill's best season so far. He batted .288 and hit 25 home runs. Seventh in at bats per home run, ninth in slugging percentage and tenth in extra base hits in the National League, Robinson appeared headed for stardom at the age of thirty. But Robinson's roller coaster career took another dip in 1974 and he was traded to the cross state rival Pittsburgh Pirates in the off season.
A valuable substitute outfielder, Robinson played well for the Pirates and played for the Bucs in the 1975 post season playoffs against the Cincinnati Reds. Though Bill accepted his job as utility outfielder, he wanted to play full time. When Pirate outfielder Dave Parker went down in May 1975, Robinson got his shot at starting in Pirate outfield. Robby was asked to play third base when Richie Hebner went on the disabled list. Bill enjoyed playing on the hot corner as it kept him more involved in the game. Bill Robinson responded to the challenge both eagerly and favorably, since the Pirates had a trio of outfield stars. Though he ended the 1976 season with a .303 batting average, Robinson went into August batting at an amazing clip of.340. With 64 rbi and 21 home runs, Bill Robinson was chosen as the team's most valuable player and finished 21st in the balloting for the National League's Most Valuable Player. Robinson had reached the prime of his career. Suddenly, at the age of 33, he was on the verge of becoming a superstar.
Bill Robinson entered the 1977 season, his 10th full year in the majors, with high expectations. A series of ham string injuries, a bad shoulder and an aching leg couldn't hinder his determination to show his 1976 season was no fluke. Though he wasn't considered for the 1976 all star team with a .335 average, Robinson thought he might have a chance in 1977. Robinson was devastated when his name didn't appear on the 1977 ballot. Thoroughly disgusted at what he termed as a farce of a voting system, Robinson vowed not to play, even if was selected as a substitute.
Robinson continued to excel. He got his first ever on screen interview with the venerable Howard Cosell on Monday Night Baseball. Bill told the bumptious Cosell that he had alleviated the pressure and went up to the plate without any worries. When called upon after first baseman Willie Stargell was scratched from the lineup due to an injury, Robinson moved across the diamond for the good of the team.
1977 was Robinson's career year. Eleventh in the balloting for the NL Most Valuable Player, Robinson finished eighth in the league in slugging percentage and runs batted in, and sixth in doubles posted career highs in home runs (26), runs batted in (104) and batting average (.304.)
Bill Robinson returned to the outfield in 1978, replacing Al Oliver, who had been traded to Texas. With a contract extension in hand removing him from the bottom of the pay list for regular players, Robinson looked to improve on his totals of the '77 season. After getting off to a hot start, a nagging thumb injury altered his outstanding swing. After six seasons of virtual serenity, the pressure began to nag at Bill once again. His hitting had gone from consistently torrid to woefully inconsistent.
The Pirates began acquiring new players to step in, just in case Robinson faltered in 1979. His average dropped to .246, the third worst of his career. Just when it looked like he would once again fail, Robinson turned it up and moved to the top of the team's offensive statistical categories. Robinson's return to brilliance helped the Pirates to win the National League's Eastern Division pennant.
The Pirates adopted the song We Are Family as their theme song for 1979. The Pirates easily swept the powerful Reds to face the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. In a rematch of the '71 series, the Pirates won in the seventh and deciding game. Hitless in three at bats in the league championship series, Robinson got five hits in the series to win his first World Series championship ring.
Still considered a good utility player, the Pirates held onto the aging Robinson after his home run total fell to 12 in the 1980 season, though he did hit .287. Nagging injuries to Willie Stargell and Dave Parker kept Robinson in the lineup despite the fact that he was 37 and was beginning to slow down. Robinson didn't disappoint Pirate manger Chuck Tanner and played another solid season for the Pirates.
The end of Robinson's career began in the spring of 1981 when he underwent surgery for the repair of his right Achilles tendon. Bill never regained his quick bat and posted the lowest average of his National League career. After 31 games with the Pirates, Robinson returned to Philadelphia for the remainder of the 1982 season. At the end of the season, Robinson, approaching his 40th birthday, filed for free agency. He was resigned by the Phillies and played only in ten games before being released on June 9, 1983, seventeen days after his final game on May 23, 1983. The Phillies respected Robinson's knowledge of him and retained him as a minor league hitting instructor.
In his sixteen seasons in the major leagues, Robinson had 1127 hits, 166 home runs and drove in 641 runs. He hit 104 round trippers in the minors along with 514 runs batted in. His career batting average of .258 in 1472 games was not a true reflection of his outstanding career in the 1970s when he was a better than average hitter.
At the end of the '83 season, Robinson was wooed by the Mets as their new batting coach. With the likes of Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez and George Foster in the Met's lineup, Robinson wasn't about to begin making changes in his slugger's swings. "I don't have any complicated ideas about hitting,"Robinson said. "Mine is a very simple approach, mostly mental," said Robinson, who was manager Dave Johnson's first choice because of his ability as a teacher of hitting.
Facing the brink of elimination in the 6th game of the 1986 World Series, the Mets rallied and took advantage of one of the greatest blunders in World Series history to send the series into the seventh and deciding game, which the Mets won. Robinson had once again returned to the top of his form, this time as the man who taught the world champions the art of hitting. Robinson remained with the Mets until the end of the 1989 season when the team made wholesale changes in their coaching staff.
In 1990, the producers of Baseball Tonight hired Robinson for his insightful commentary on major league baseball. After a two-year stint with ESPN, Robinson returned full time to baseball. Robinson worked for the Phillies minor league organization as a manager and coach from 1994 though 1999. Bill returned to the Yankees organization as a minor league hitting instructor for its Columbus team from 1999 to 2001. He accepted the offer of the Florida Marlins to serve as their hitting coach for the 2002 season.
Once again in 2003, Robinson's pupils, the surprising Florida Marlins, shocked the baseball world by capturing the World Series title, earning Robinson his third and final World Series ring. After four seasons with the Marlins, Robinson was hired as the hitting instructor for the Dodger's minor league system.
On July 29, 2007, Robinson failed to show up for an appointment in Las Vegas to discuss hitting. He had complained about his heart after throwing batting practice and went back to his hotel room to rest. A friend found him dead. Apparently his heart simply gave out. His Bible was lying open in front of him.
Jeff Wilpon, the CEO of the Mets described Robinson as "a devoted family man, a consummate professional and one of the classiest men in our sport." "Bill was a wonderful family man and a great player, manager and coach. He was a friend to everyone he met," said Dodger general manager Ned Colletti.
07-29
HUBERT MIZELL
A Legend That Never Ends
In a world where cliches are never cliche, Hubert Mizell has seen it all. For the last fifty years, he has written about courage, loyalty and self-sacrifice. Hubert has told stories of leadership, teamwork and the triumph of the human spirit. He loves sports and loves to write about the events which keep on taking us out to the old ball game. For this Dublin native, his dream to become a sportswriter has come true, more than he could ever imagine.
Hubert Coleman Mizell was born in Dublin, Georgia in 1939. His parents, Leon Mozart Mizell and Annie Mae Williams Mizell, named him for Dr. Alfred Coleman, the doctor who delivered him. Hubert grew up in the days of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Joe Louis. As a child of a poor family, Hubert lived in eleven towns and in twenty-seven buildings. His father left school after the end of the 5th grade. A saw mill accident left the elder Mizell with a severely mangled arm, relegating him work at strenuous jobs, often enduring eighty-four-hour work weeks. Hubert's mother worked whenever and wherever she could to help make ends meet to support the family, which included Hubert's baby sister Linda.
When Hubert was seven, the Mizells moved to Jacksonville, Florida. A trip to the Georgia-Florida game, long before it became the wild spectacle it is today, sparked young country boy's love of sports. At the age of fourteen, Hubert took a job as an usher and later as a scorekeeper at Wolfson Park, home of the Jacksonville Tars. Playing for the Tars that year was a young kid by the name of Henry Louis. You know him better has Henry "Hank" Aaron.
Before he completed high school, Mizell developed a relationship with the Times-Union, Jacksonville's leading newspaper. At first he worked as a sport's copy editor. During his spare time, Hubert studied and carefully analyzed the writings of the nation's greatest sportswriters. After his college days at the University of Florida were over, Hubert returned to the Times-Union as the High School Sports Editor. In 1964, he took a job in the public relations department of the Gator Bowl.
In 1967, Hubert came of retirement as a sportswriter for the first time. He returned to the Times-Union as its Florida Sports Editor. In addition to his duties in the sports department, Mizell covered hurricanes and even the 1972 Republican National Convention. Later in the 1970s, Hubert became the state sports editor of the Times-Union.
Hubert Mizell's first major sports assignment came in the late summer of 1972. Hubert witnessed swimmer Mark Spitz's world record seven gold medal performance and the emergence of one of the world's greatest gymnasts, Olga Korbut. He was there when the zebras gave the Russian team three unwarranted chances to defeat the US basketball team in one of the most controversial games in Olympic history. Hubert was an eye witness to one of the darkest moments, not only in Olympic history, but in the history of sports. Working closely with a young Peter Jenkins of ABC News, Hubert saw the hooded gunmen who killed eleven Israeli athletes. He was stationed at the airport when their corpses were sent back home. "It was like a punch in the stomach," Mizell remembered. Hubert still lists the '72 Olympics as the highlight of his career.
Being based in the subtropical climate of Florida, Hubert normally didn't cover hockey games. But in the winter of 1980, Hubert was in Lake Placid, New York, covering the first of his four Winter Olympic games. Mizell and the corps of sportswriters, normally trained to be neutral in their coverage of sports, shivered in emotion as they witnessed, in Mizell's words, "the most colossal upset in the history of sports." Mizell still rates the game in which the upstart US team defeated the heavily favored Russians as the No. 1 game he has ever covered. In 1986, he moved to Atlanta and took a job as a feature writer and television critic for the Atlanta Constitution. It wasn't long before Hubert decided to return to Florida and the love of his life.
Mizell was present at one of baseball's most memorable games, not because of the score or the events which transpired on the field. It was late in the afternoon on October 17, 1989. The Giants and Athletics were preparing to play their 3rd World Series game when the stadium began to shake violently. Hubert hit the floor and then the lights went out. He managed to make it out of the stadium safely, writing his column on the hood of an ABC -TV truck. The calamitous earthquake was the most frightening thing Hubert ever witnessed in sports.
During his fifty years in journalism and sports, Hubert has attended nearly fifty college football bowl games, forty Masters golf tournaments and more than thirty college basketball final fours and Super Bowls. He has been in attendance at more than a dozen U.S. Golf Opens and Kentucky Derbies. Hubert has crossed the Atlantic to witness a half dozen or more British Open golf tournaments and even more Wimbledon tennis tournaments. Mizell has covered six summer Olympic games and four of the winter games. The number of the other sports events he has seen is virtually incalculable.
College football and golf are Hubert's favorite sports. He loves going to Notre Dame to watch a football game the best, though he does rank Grant Field as number nine and between the hedges at Sanford Stadium as his sixth most favorite college football venue. He lists Arnold Palmer, Steve Young, Pete Maravich, Jack Nicklaus, Magic Johnson and Richard Petty as his favorite athletes. Interestingly, he list former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Lee Roy Selmon as the most honorable athlete he has known. Nancy Lopez is a close second in his mind. Among the most mesmerizing interviewees, Mizell lists Muhammad Ali, Bobby Jones, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Red Grange, Charles Atlas and Jesse Owens. His favorite sportscasters include Pat Summerall, Jim McKay, Bob Costas, Jack Whitaker and Howard Cossell.
Frequently honored by his colleagues, Hubert has served on the ESPY committee of ESPN Sports, which annually honors the best of the best in sports. Mizell was a charter inductee into the United States Basketball Writers Hall of Fame. In 1980, his fellow sportswriters elected him as president of the Associated Press Sports Writers Association. Chris Berman of ESPN remembered Hubert for being kind in helping him out when he first got into broadcasting. Veteran St. Louis announcer Jack Buck said, "Everybody loves Hubert, especially the athletes - they trusted him." Jack Nicklaus said "Hubert tried to do the right thing and be in the right place at the right time." Fellow golfer Gary Player echoed Nicklaus, "He's been a tremendous contributor to golf, but he's been a great gentleman. Really a nice man and you can't say much more about a person than that."
Hubert retired from sports writing, at least partially, in 2001. He and his wife moved to Virginia and the promise of peace and quiet. Hubert did continue to write a weekly column for the St. Petersburg Times until the end of 2004. He planned to retire, but Hubert couldn't leave sports. He returned to the sports room last year and writes today for the Gainesville Sun. This past April Hubert Mizell was honored by the Augusta National Golf Club, which awarded him and thirteen other writers and broadcasters with the first "Masters Major Achievement Award." According to the editors of Sports Cliches dot com., a sportswriter must be around for at least thirty years to qualify as a legend. Hubert Mizell is twenty years beyond that level and still going strong, watching and writing about the greatest legends in the games we play.
As a point of personal privilege, I dedicate this column to my son Scotty as he begins his study of journalism at GCSU tomorrow. Hubert Mizell's career shows that a love of sports and the triumph of the human spirit, a fundamental appreciation of our heritage and a passionate talent for writing can make the dreams of a little boy from Dublin come true.
07-30
CADWELL
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
Today August 21, 2007 marks the end of the first one hundred years of the town of Cadwell, Georgia. Tomorrow, a new century will begin on the anniversary of the incorporation of the town on August 22, 1907. Over the last century, Cadwell has risen from a tiny village to a bustling farm town and railroad depot, settling in as a quiet place to raise a family and spend the waning years of retirement.
The origin of Cadwell actually goes back more than a mere 100 years. The area was formerly known as Reedy Springs. The name comes from a nearby spring, which undoubtedly had a lot of reed plants around it. The Reedy Springs Militia District was created on October 5, 1883. After the Civil and Indian Wars, the necessity of each militia district was no longer necessary. The militia districts then began to function as voting districts and Justice of the Peace Court districts.
The Reedy Springs community was also known by the name of Bluewater. That name was derived from a nearby creek to the north and west. In 1883, the Reedy Springs District had four churches (all Baptist), a common school, a steam gin, a grist and saw mill. Farmers produced 800 bales of cotton, 800,000 board feet of lumber, and 8,000 pounds of wool. The farmers of the area, which extended down to the current day Cadwell area and over to Dexter were: E.F. Alligood, H. Alligood, I. Alligood, A.J. Barron, H.D. Barron, J.H. Barron, W. Barron, W.T. Barron, J.D. Bates, A. Bedingfield, J. Bedingfield, R.A. Bedingfield, W. Bedingfield, W.A. Bedingfield, G.W. Belcher, Eliza Clarke, H.C. Coleman, W. Coney, J.E. Crumpton,R.H. Crumpton, C.C. Gay, Hardy Gay, Mrs. M. Gay, Stephen Green, D.Y. Grinstead, E. Grinstead, P.E. Grinstead, Robert Grinstead, J. Hobbs, A.B. Holliday, W.F. Holliday, L.H. Hudson, S.B. Johnson, W.D. Joiner, A. Jones, W.J. Kinchen, W.F. Kinchen, G.B. Knight, J.T. Knight, R.G.B. Knight, B. Lewis, S. Lewis, T.J. Lewis, J.R. Locke, J. Lowery, W.A.N. Lowery, G.W. McDaniel, H.R. McDaniel, J.R. McDaniel, R.F. Mathis, C. Mullis, J. Mullis, W.H. Mullis, R.F. Register, and A. Rountree.
The local businessmen were A.J. Adams, machinist; H. Alligood, sawmiller; J.M. Bass, miller; W.B.F. Daniels, general store; J.T. Rogers, general store; R.L. Faircloth, machinist; James Lovett, wheelright; J.R. Sheperd, general store; and Wynn Brothers, general store. Local ministers in 1883 were N.F. Gay, D.E. Green, J.W. Green, T.J. Hobbs, J.T. Kinchen, J.T. Kinchen, Jr., J.I.D. Miller, J.T. Rogers, C.B. Smith, and C.R. Winham. L.A. Bracwewell was Justice of the Peace and A.B. Clark was the Notary Public and ex-officio Justice of the Peace.
Situated along the rail line of the Dublin & Southwestern Railroad was the defunct town of Mullis, or "Mullis Town." Mullis, which was incorporated as a town in 1906, was located just north of the northern city limits of Cadwell. An intense rivalry began between the citizens of Mullis and Rebecca Lowery Cadwell Burch, who had plans of her own to develop a town of her own. Shortly after Cadwell began to flourish, Mullis Town, at least in its official status, faded away.
Rebecca Burch had intended to name her new town "Burch" in memory of her late husband. Mrs. Burch knew that the town would have to have a post office, so after making an application for one, she discovered that the name of "Burch, Georgia" had already been taken. As an alternative choice, Cadwell's founding mother submitted the last name of her first husband, Matthew Cadwell. When Matthew Cadwell was buried in Lowery Cemetery, he was buried with his horse, the same horse that he was riding when he was struck by lightning.
The owner of a fine tract of land, Mrs. Burch hired Zollicoffer Whitehurst to survey and lay out a design for a new town to be named in honor of her late husband, Charlton O. Burch. Whitehurst's original design, completed in 1905 - two years before the incorporation of Cadwell, contained 52 commercial lots and four larger lots on the northeastern side of the just completed rail line. Initially, Whitehurst placed five streets in his design. Snow Hill, Burch and Coleman streets paralleled each other running in a northwest to southeast direction. Dexter (Georgia Highway 117) and Dublin (Railroad) streets intersected these streets at right angles.
The original limits of the town included all of Land Lots 11 and 20 of the 17th Land District of Laurens County and encompassed an area of 405 acres. Two years after Cadwell was incorporated, the town actually shrunk in size, down to 1000 square yards in a square shape centered around the intersection of Dexter and Burch streets. It would be another forty-six years before the the size of the town was doubled in 1955 to encompass 2000 square yards.
The town of Cadwell's first mayor was J.W. Warren. Warren was appointed to lead the first town government by the Georgia legislature with the wise counsel and guidance of the initial slate of councilmen, James Burch, Joe Ethridge, C.C. Cadwell and Ed Walden for a period of two years until a new election could be held.
According to the first census of Cadwell, one hundred and fifty four persons lived in Cadwell in 1910. Among the heads of families that year were: Uriah Woodard (telegraph operator,) Arthur Mullis (salesman,) Daniel Harrell (house carpenter,) John Weaver (barber,) William Mullis (farmer,) Hershall Jones, James Fason, Henry Smith, Willie Powell, Robert Pullen, Robert Pannell, William Curry, Leon Joiner (turpentine laborers,) Thomas Wood, Allan Carter, Thomas Bird, James Gallimore, Josiah Griffin (railroad laborers,) Murl Coleman, Isaac Coleman (telephone operators,) James Mullis (farmer,) Simeon Bland (physician,) Henry Bedingfield (farmer,) James Burch (bank cashier,) Robert Burch (drug salesman,) Henry Coleman (farmer,) H.C. Stonecypher (merchant,) Hiram Mullis (merchant,) Horace Mullis (telegraph operator,) Robert Ridley (hotel keeper,) John Ridley (laborer,) Bennett Bedingfield (farmer,) William Colter (salesman,) C.C. Cadwell, and Victoria Cadwell.
Cadwell's charter was repealed and a new one put in place on August 19, 1912. H.C. Burch was named Mayor by the new act. A.T. Coleman, A. McCook, H.R. Bedingfield and J.A. Burch were appointed councilmen. The new law gave the town government the right to establish it's own public school system, a novel power not given to other Laurens County towns. In 1925, the Cadwell Public School system was abolished and the town's school became part of the county public school system.
Yet another charter was issued in 1914. H.C. Burch remained in the position of mayor, but A.M. Johnson, L.T. Harrell, H.R. Bedingfield and E.E. Hicks were named as new members of the council.
The first post office in Cadwell was established on August 17, 1908 after being moved from Mullis. Arthur Mullis served until September 21, 1910, when Bennett J. Bedingfield assumed the duties as postmaster. Other Cadwell postmasters were Joseph A. Warren (1912-1914), Homer Mullis (1914-1918), Hiram Mullis (1918-1935), John B. Bedingfield (1935-1936), Belie B. Hicks (1936-1943), and Katherine F. Underwood (1943-).
Laurens County's third bank, the Cadwell Banking Company, was granted a charter on January 5, 1910 with an initial capital of $25,000.00. The original incorporators were L.B. Holt and G.C. Wood of Sandersville, H.C. Coleman, Jr., W.H. Mullis, Sr., J.A. Burch, H.C. Burch, H.R. Bedingfield, A. McCook, H.C. Stonecypher, and W.B. Coleman of Cadwell. A brick building was constructed on the southwest corner of Dexter and Burch Streets. L.B. Holt served as the first president. The bank acquired the assets of the Citizens Bank of Cadwell in 1916. The new board of directors chose H.R. Bedingfield as president, H.C. Burch as vice president, J.A. Burch as cashier, and H.H. Burch as assistant cashier. The bank failed to open on fall day in 1928 and Cadwell was without a bank.
C.R. Williams led a group of local citizens in forming the Citizens Bank of Cadwell which was granted a charter on November 5, 1913. Many of the incorporators were listed among the shareholders of the Cadwell Banking Company. They included A. McCook, Mrs. R.E. Burch, B.K. Smith, S.F. Scarborough, C.J. Barrs, L.P. Lavender, C.C. Cadwell, T.R. Taylor, Victoria Cadwell, J.M. Gay, J.B. Bedingfield, H.R. Bedingfield, J.L. Watson, D.W. Alligood, L.W. Lavender, O.S. Duggan, A.H. Duggan, A.J. McCook, W.W. Warren, B.J. Bedingfield, J.H. Barron, W.J. Mullis, J.F. Graham, A.F. McCook, J.A. Warren, H.B. Warnock, J.B. Colter, Mutual Telephone Exchange, H.C. Stonecypher, A.M. Johnson, J.W. Bass, Sr., J.W. Bass, J.E. Rogers, J.F. Etheridge, C.C. Hutto, and A.B. Daniel.
The citizens of Cadwell regathered and formed a new bank in the early months of 1929. The bank was a private bank owned by J.B. Bedingfield, J.F. Graham, W.D. Parkerson, and L.K. Smith, who served as cashier. The bank underwent a series of name changes from the Graham, Sikes, and Company Bank to the Graham, Smith, and Bedingfield Bank, and finally to the Farmers Clearing Bank. W.A. Bedingfield joined the firm after J.B. Bedingfield was elected Clerk of the Superior Court. W.D. Parkerson left the firm and the bank reorganized with L.K. Smith as president and W.A. Bedingfield as cashier.
In 1966 the directors received a state charter and became the Farmers State Bank. Early officers of the bank included L.K. Smith, W.A. Bedingfield, W.B. Coleman, and Kennon Smith. The bank moved to the former post office location on Burch Street, the site which it still occupies today. In 1980 the bank was purchased by Farmers Bancshares of Douglas. Edward E. Morris took over as president of the bank, a position which he still holds today. Dan Rowe was elected cashier. The bank opened its branch office in Dublin on Veterans Boulevard in October of 1984.
The single most important factor in the establishment and growth of Cadwell into an economic center of southwestern Laurens County was the establishment of the Dublin & Southwestern Railroad. E.P. Rentz, a Dublin banker, owned a saw mill in Rentz and took a keen interest in the project, becoming the main owner of the railroad.
Grading began on March 2, 1904 in western Dublin along Marion Street near the Dublin Cotton Mills in Dublin under the supervision of E.P. Rentz and superintendent, Frank S. Battle. The organizational meeting of the railroad was held in the Citizens Bank on April 6, 1904. E. P. Rentz was elected president. J.J. Simpson and W.D. Harper were elected as vice president and traffic manager/treasurer respectively. William Pritchett, J.M. Stubbs, and David S. Blackshear of Dublin were elected to the board of directors. The first spikes were driven and the workers raced to complete the road to Rentz by mid May.
From its intersection with the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad, the D & S RR ran southwesterly and crossed the present day Industrial Boulevard on the site of Flex Steel. The line ran in a southerly direction as straight as possible crossing Turkey Creek at Tingle, later known as Garretta. From that point the road turned in back to the southwest through a small station known as Mayberry (at the site of Southwest Laurens Elementary School) and thence to the lumber mill in Rentz. From that point on, the old tram road bed allowed the owners to cheaply, and fairly rapidly, complete the railroad into Eastman.
Engineer J.P. Pughesly immediately began laying out the road along the old tram road. Col. Stubbs traveled to Eastman on June 27th to solicit monetary and moral support from the businessmen and farmers of Eastman and Dodge County. In return for their subscription of shares for the twenty to twenty-five thousand dollar project, the investors would be given a share of the company. Eastman investors were reluctant to get involved. However, when the city of McRae invited the directors of the D&S RR to turn the course of the railroad in a southerly direction, the men of Dodge County put their names on the dotted lines. S. Herman, W.H. Cotter and W.H. Lee of Dodge County were added to the railroad's board of directors.
The first scheduled train from Rentz to Dublin ran on June 29, 1904 with two daily trips to follow in July. Battle's crews began laying rails in mid-August. The old tram road bed was in fairly decent shape, two years growth of weeds and saplings excepted. Next along the line was the town of Mullis.
From Cadwell, the railroad turned again toward Eastman, running first through the community of Plainfield. Construction was delayed by legal actions by some Eastman citizens along the route of the railroad and the City of Eastman as well. General Manager W.J. Kessler, a highly successful former manager of the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad, moved the headquarters of the railroad to Eastman in May of 1905, with the ultimate intention of extending the road on the Ocmulgee River.
Any town needs a church, or two or three churches. John Burch was the first to put that belief into motion. He organized a Sunday School for children in one of the Frierson Company houses. The adults became interested and Mrs. Rebecca Burch came through with an ideal spot on the corner of Snow Hill and Walnut streets. On September 10, 1909, the first organizational meeting was held and the Cadwell Baptist Church was born. John Burch and A. S. Jones were elected as deacons. Jim Burch took on the duties of church clerk. The founding members of the church included John Burch, H.C. Burch, J.A. burch, C.C. Hutto, A.B. Daniel, A.S. Jones, A.F. McDaniel, Mrs. M.A. Burch, Mrs. A.B. Daniel, Mrs. Leo Lewis, Mrs. Neily Cadwell, Miss Lola Burch, Miss Ellis Lewis, Mrs. Flora Graham and Mrs. J.F. Ridley. Those present at the initial organizational stages elected the Rev. E.W. Evans as the church's first pastor.
The original church, a fairly large wooden structure, was completed in 1910, though the building was not painted on the outside until 1913. In 1919, the members of the church finished their new and current building on the corner of Dexter and Snow Hill Streets. An annex building was erected in 1957.
Despite the large contingent of Baptists in Cadwell, there were a few of the Methodist persuasion. Again Rebecca Burch stepped up and deeded a tract on Walnut Street to J.E. Perry, Beulah Burch and Mack John as trustees of the of Methodist Church. The first pastor of the Methodist Church at Cadwell was the Rev. Silas Johnson, who in 1943 became the president of Wesleyan College in Macon. The church's first stewards were Mrs. R.E. Burch, Mack Johnson and W.J. Ballard. The Methodists built their first and current building, a modest wooden structure, in 1913 on a lot which adjoins the old Cadwell school site.
A second and more important essential element of a new town is the establishment of a school. In yet another public spirited donation from Rebecca Burch, H.C. Burch, B.J. Bedingfield, J.E. Faulk, A.W. Mullis and D.W. Alligood, appointed by the Laurens County school board, took title to a two-acre tract at the corner of Snow Hill and Dexter Streets in 1911. The first school was a large wooden building with a tall belfry on the southern end. It suffered the usual fate of all too many wooden buildings when the school burned in 1928.
Jim Smith was the community's first school teacher and principal. He was followed by Mr. Marsh and H.L. Lawson. An additional school was built in 1916 on the present school site. It was two-room brick building with an adjoining auditorium. After giving up it's charter as a separate system in 1925, a newly created school district was formed under the leadership of H.C Burch, J.B. Bedingfield, J.F. Rivers, J.T. Jones and D.W. Alligood. Cadwell students excelled in a wide variety of subjects, particularly in the fields of agriculture, home economics and as the Cadwell Bulldogs in the sport of basketball. Children attended school in Cadwell until the 1960s when the students were transferred to Laurens High, which later became a part of West Laurens High School.
The following is a tribute written to Cadwell, which at one time was being promoted as the county seat of Northern County, to be named in honor of Gov. William J. Northern (1893-1894.) The movement, like several others of its kind, to crop off an extremity of Laurens County never materialized.
A TRIBUTE TO CADWELL
Cadwell is a beautiful city,
Capital of Northen County,
Contains one thousand people,
and pretty girls in bounties.
When a good place to board is wanted,
Stop with Mrs. Ridley on the hill,
Three young ladies to entertain you,
You will never regret the bill.
Miss Fannie B. plays the piano,
Miss Della B is in love, I am aware.
Miss Arbelle is so good and quiet,
You would hardly know she's there.
But they are all fine, I tell you,
I love them all you bet.
But Buren and Swanson have got me beat,
To my sorrow and great regret.
But I must soon leave you all,
And bid you all good bye.
It make me feel so lonesome,
and I feel like I could cry.
I have enjoyed my stay immensely.
You have been so nice and kind.
I thank you all ever so much
and this is all my little rhyme.
For a more detailed history of Cadwell see 70 Years, A History of Cadwell, Georgia by Fannie Jo Bedingfield Holt. It is with great honor and respect I dedicate my capsuled history of Cadwell to Mrs. Holt and to all the fine people who have ever called Cadwell their home.
07-31
WHITEHALL
An Antebellum Treasure
Any old house, especially one of the wooden clapboard variety, has a tale to tell, or many tales to tell. But, since walls can't really talk, we will just have to use our imaginations. There are stories of life and death, laughter and despair, and triumph and tragedy. Though many of the accounts of life in an old house were never preserved, a few have been documented. Architects design homes and carpenters build them, but a home is shaped and molded by those who live in it. This is the story of Whitehall, the seat of the White family of Laurens County for many a decade and one of the county's oldest surviving homes.
Joseph McKee White migrated to Laurens County, Georgia about the year 1846. White, a native of South Carolina and son of John and Dovey White, grew up on a plantation in the Sumter District of South Carolina on the Black River. His close friend Daniel G. Hughes believed that Joseph actually came from York County. Before moving on, White completed his higher educational studies at the University of Georgia.
Members of the White family were always told that White came through central Georgia on his way toward Mississippi, where he hoped to establish a thriving plantation in the lush delta regions of that state. According to the family lore, White was so impressed with the fertility of the soils of Laurens and Pulaski counties that he ended his search and settled along the line dividing the two counties.
Joseph White, a man with a fine physique, was described by Dan Hughes to be " a man of marked intelligence and sense of logic." White's first recorded purchase of land came in 1847 while he was still considered a resident of Sumter County. He purchased 900 acres from Mary Wilkinson for the not so paltry sum of $ 1700.00. This land would form the nucleus of his plantation which he would call "Whitehall." Though his real estate holdings would eventually encompass ten thousand acres or more, most of his purchases were recorded. Located on the waters of Crooked Creek on the Old Uchee Trail, Whitehall was considered to be a part of the community known as Laurens Hill, which was centered a few miles to the northwest.
White used his higher educational skills in an attempt to master the science of agriculture. A frequent contributor of letters and articles in local papers, White wrote of the problems facing the state and nation on political issues as well as the problems which faced the farmers of the state. His writings showed his readers that he was no ordinary man, but one of superior intellect and one whose opinions were weighty and valuable.
Just down the road on an adjoining plantation lived one of the most beautiful young ladies Joseph White had ever met. Cherry Coley, a daughter of Cain Coley, accepted Joseph White's proposal of marriage. The couple were married in 1850 and moved into White's new home.
Large plantations were communities within themselves. Though White's land holdings were large, he surprisingly owned relatively few slaves. In 1850, White is shown as the owner of 39 slaves, 29 of whom were under the age of 14. In 1860, the number of slaves rose to 50, with only forty percent of them being under the age of 14. Many of the larger plantations were served by a local physician. One such physician, Dr. J.W. Woods, a relative of Joseph White and recent salutatorian of his medical class, was invited to remove himself from his home in South Carolina in hopes of establishing a lucrative practice in the Laurens Hill Community. Woods, an avid hunter, returned from a hunting trip, only to find himself somewhat ill. As his own physician, Woods administered a dosage of what he thought was quinine. A momentary lapse in vision resulted in his consumption of a fatal quantity of morphine. For three agonizing days, the comatose doctor was beaten with wet towels and walked through the walls and around the porches of Whitehall in a futile attempt to revive him. Dr. Woods once breathing body was laid to rest in the corner of a large field about a mile northeast of the main house at Whitehall.
Another short term resident of Whitehall was W. H. Mobley. Mobley, a nephew of Georgia congressman Charles Crisp, married a daughter of Sen. John H. Reagan of Texas. It will be remembered that is was Sen. Reagan, who as the Postmaster of the Confederate States of America, led the caravan of Confederate President Jefferson Davis as he made his way through Laurens County in an attempt to escape capture by Union forces in 1865. Mobley served as his uncle's secretary in Washington and moved to Palestine, Texas to practice law. He removed to Cochran in 1892 and lived with the White family until his return to Texas two years later. Mobley, like his father actor who was killed in an Atlanta theater, died a tragic death when he consumed a fatal dose of morphine in 1901.
During the Civil War, Joseph White served as a major in the Confederate Provisional Army. Too old to engage in combat, Major White was commissioned to help raise food and gather war materials for the cause of the Confederacy. White may have commanded a small Confederate commissary, which was located just beyond Laurens Hill next to the Harvard family cemetery. Several years after the end of the hostilities, Major White was granted a full pardon by President Andrew Johnson for his acts of war against the United States.
Architectural experts have likened Whitehall's straightforwardly simple design of well proportioned square columns as representative of the best of a number of similar houses and buildings of the period, among them the cottage behind the President's House at the University of Georgia and the Davis-Edwards House in Monroe. The house has been defined as hybrid mixture of indigenous architecture with the dignity and clarity of Greek designs, which Thomas Jefferson so ideally sought in his classical designs.
Students of architecture will recognize the details of the frame clapboarded t-shaped rectangular house with a five-bay front, a hipped roof, two interior chimneys and three end chimneys. Surrounded by a grove of ancient cedars, Whitehall features a porch on three sides. Guests entered the home through a double door entrance into a central hall. Grand houses like Whitehall often attracted the most prominent and highly erudite visitors. Reportedly, thirteen governors of Georgia have slept in the guest bedroom, located in the northwest corner of the house.
During the the late 1950s and early 1960s, the home was occupied by John Richard Staley, major renovations were put in place including transoms with radiating muntins, all new plaster and woodwork. Staley, the president of Quaker Oats Company, purchased Whitehall as a birthday present for his wife, the former Miss Carolyn Flemming, who had always admired the stately old home. A car port was added and a breezeway between the house and kitchen was so enlarged to merge into the house itself. Modern wiring, heating and plumbing were installed under the direction of the chief engineer of Quaker Oats Company.
Architect Jackson Lamb, a native of Montrose, purchased the house in 1966 and undertook a major and complete restoration of the home, where he married his wife Nancy Ragsdale. Lamb sold the house to Henry and Martha Cannon in 1970. Henry, a long time executive with the Georgia Forestry Commission, and Martha, sister of Marion Folsom, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the Eisenhower administration, continued to make improvements on the inside and outside.
In the mid 1980s, Bill Holmes, a great-great grandson of Major White, purchased Whitehall and much of the original plantation lands. Holmes made improvements to the property, especially on the grounds. Today, the property is owned by an investment firm and is not open to the public.
07-32
TRAVELS IN TIME
A River Cruise
I often think if I had a time machine, the dial would be set first to the mid 1890s, location Dublin, Georgia, at the wharves along the banks of the Oconee River. The intention of my adventure would be a ride down the Oconee and Altamaha Rivers to Darien on the Atlantic coast. A warm winter's day, or perhaps a crisp autumn one when the crimson and gold leaves of the sweet gum and the oak would adorn my prolonged trek to the sea, would be my first choices.
I stepped inside the strange contraption and set the dial for November 13, 1893. All of a sudden, the cylindrical sphere began to wildly rotate. The centrifugal force flung me against the wall. When the spinning subsided, the time dial indicated May 15, 1894. It was a typical mid spring day, kind of warm, but at least it wasn't raining. Though the number of houses and buildings were scant, I did manage to recognize the lay of the land. Toward the east, I spotted what appeared to be the heart of the town, glowing in the rays of the setting sun. A place to sleep and a good meal were the first order of my itinerary.
Upon the crest of a small hill I saw what I believed to be "Liberty Hall," the residence of Col. John M. Stubbs. Stubbs was a well known and highly skilled attorney, but was also known as one of the men who brought river boating and the railroads to Dublin some dozen or fifteen years prior. Col. Stubbs, as I surmised he would be, was in his study going over plans for his gardens and orchards, another of the things he was most famous for. I introduced myself as a fellow Maconite, who was looking to chronicle a ride on a river boat down to Darien. He smiled and said, "son, you are in luck. There's a boat leaving before sunup in the morning. I am supposed to be aboard, but I have a trial in Eastman in two days and the judge refuses to grant me a continuance. Go up to the hotel across from the courthouse and Mr. Hooks will take care of you."
All around me were new residences going up. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I could see the main business district. Off to my left was a new brick church for the Methodists coming up from the sandy ground. As the sun sank behind the trees, Jackson Street fell into near complete darkness. I forgot, the electric light bulb hadn't come to Dublin yet. Everyone I met was friendly, overly friendly. It seemed as if they were having a contest to see who could be the friendliest to the new stranger in town.
As I approached the center of town, I could make out the outline of a two-story wooden structure on what I knew to have been on the courthouse square. Though I had seen photographs of it after it had been removed to another location, it seemed smaller than I thought it was. Across the street was a handsome hotel building, not the typical home modified to accommodate itinerant travelers, but a substantial two-story brick structure with towers on each side of its front edifice. I walked in and found Mr. Gabriel S. Hooks, the innkeeper, behind the desk, just where the Colonel told me he would be. I told the affable young gentleman that Col. Stubbs had sent me to his establishment. Mr. Hooks replied, "yes, I know, Mr. Stubbs sent his servant the back way and your accommodations are ready for you."
At Mr. Hooks insistence, I sat down at a large table in a much brighter adjoining room. Before I knew it, Mrs. Hooks was bringing out a large blue plate. More like a platter, there were several meats and a half-dozen servings of vegetables heaped on it. The charming lady brought out a tray with a large piping hot loaf of bread wrapped inside a red and white checkered cloth. I ate what I could and just a bite or two more.
Not wanting to miss a chance on getting in on a little history research, I began to interrogate Mr. Hooks on the doings in Dublin. He told me that there were plans to build a new courthouse, a large brick one, sometime next year. Hooks and all of Dublin were extremely proud of the new artesian well on the courthouse square.
We discussed river boats. He said, "young man, Dublin's got three boats in service now and we're going to have two fine new ones very soon." "We've got three railroads in town and more on the way," the innkeeper added. Hooks told me that I would be riding with members of the Forest and Stream Club. This group of forty-five men formed a club to hunt and fish along the shores and swamps of the Oconee, Ocmulgee and Altamaha Rivers.
The group hired Capt. J.W. Miller of Dublin to supervise the construction of the Gypsy, a river boat with forty state rooms and pilot the boat down the river from the club's headquarters in Dublin to Darien on the Georgia coast. Each of the Gypsy's state rooms were outfitted with all of the necessary appurtenances and accouterments for the hunter and the fisherman. Among the club's charter members from Dublin were Col. John M. Stubbs, Blanton Nance, J.T. Wright and E.M. Whitehead. Judge Emory Speer of Macon, Dudley Hughes of Danville and E.L. Dennard of Houston County were among the most erudite members of the club. The group's membership extended to members as far away as Birmingham, Chicago, Kansas City and Topeka.
The Gypsy was constructed in Savannah under the careful scrutinizing eye of Capt. Miller. The captain hired his old friend W.T. Walton to serve as the boat's engineer. J.W. Grantham, the Gypsy's master machinist, was the best of his kind in the state. Norman McCall, an experienced river pilot and an African Baptist minister, took the helm. McCall, a man of enormous proportions, once saved his cargo by swimming with fifty-pound sacks of fertilizer under his arms and carrying them to the river banks.
The hour was late and I was desperately trying to memorize every utterance I could remember. "You better go on to bed. You'll need to be down at the river by four o'clock in the morning," Mr. Hooks warned me. Despite the comfortable bed, solemn slumber was not in order that night. Just in case I did fall asleep, I asked for a early morning "wake up knock" on my door.
And though my room was more like a Pullman railroad compartment, I didn't mind it all. The brilliance of a waxing gibbous moon illuminated my room through a small, yet well placed, window overlooking the quiescent courthouse square. I thought I saw an army of apparitions drifting across the lawn. “Old Bill, a kind black man who came in earlier to clean up my room, told me the place was haunted. “Yas, sir!. This place is got ghosts. There’s folks buried under the north tower of this here hotel,” he said as he shook and studdered to get out his words. I questioned Bill if he seen any ghosts. “I’s afraid of ghosts sir. I once saw two of them in front of Mr. Maddox’s hardware store over yonder. It must be old man Sam Coleman’s grand daddy. He’s buried right under the store,” the old servant added. I scanned the landscape and saw no ghosts that night, but I did see nine gaping holes in the ground where “Old Bill” said some important rich folks was buried.
Beside my somewhat comfortable bed, I found the most recent issue of the "Dublin Post," edited by Lucien Quincy Stubbs, a brilliant man of many talents and a credit to his father, and my new friend, Col. J.M. Stubbs. I tried to read the news of the town with the additional aid of an oil burning lamp, but decided to pack it away to analyze every word during the quiet moments of the ride down the river.
Right on schedule at four o'clock on the dot, "Big Norman" tugged the whistle of the "Gypsy" and interrupted a most tranquil morning. Fireman Hardy Perry stoked the boiler. I purchased my ticket for a three quarters of a dollar and walked timidly along a wobbling plank to the safety of the floor of the river steamer. Despite the early hour, the boat was filled with passengers, all seeking a pleasureful cruise down the river.
Around daylight we reached Berryhill's Bluff in what we know now as Treutlen County. That's when it happened again. Dutiful black servants began to bring out the bounty of the land, the best that farms, forests and streams could render. I met Capt. Isaac Hardeman and Joseph Miller, who was headed toward his home in Montgomery County. Sam Yopp, E.J. Willingham and E.J. Dupree boarded the boat after a more than successful hunting trip. The morning air was delightfully cool and made the breakfast one of the most satisfactory I have ever experienced. Some of the passengers expressed a desire to have delayed their feast until the fresh game could be added to the serving table.
The day passed pleasantly, but all too quickly. The few women on the boat congregated in the stern area as far away from the bow, where the men were comparing their marksmanship skills. Any bird, whether perched or airborne, was marked for instant death. All eyes scanned the banks for a the glimpse of the prize victim of the day, the villainous alligator.
The crew dropped the Gypsy's anchor at the Devil's Elbow, a bend in the river which was hailed as the best resort for hunting and fishing anywhere on the Oconee River and situated just three miles above the confluence of the Oconee and the Ocmulgee and a mere ten crow-fly miles from Lumber City. The lakes there were the most beautiful I had ever seen. My yells echoed throughout the lush forest. The bream and trout jumped so freely and often, I thought they were going to jump into my hands.
After a fulfilling feast of the hunter's bounty, we enjoyed an convivial evening of vocal entertainment and several games of whist and euchre. Around 11:00 o'clock, the sound of a small gong reverberated throughout the boat. It was time to retire to our staterooms.
The enticing aroma of coffee and biscuits holding real cow butter inside them brought me springing out of my bed. While the men alighted from the boat for more hunting thrills, I remained behind and partook of another half dozen or so of the best biscuits I ever ate. Remember, I am still unborn and calories don't count yet. The hunters returned around nine for the real breakfast of the morning replete with fish and game. They had to eat their meats alone, because the biscuits were gone. I did manage to part with a few of them, dividing them among seven starving servants. I also shared a couple of them and a day- long delightful conversation with Mrs. Mary and Miss Hennilu Hughes, the wife and daughter of Dudley M Hughes. He doesn't know it yet, but in twenty years, Col. Hughes will become one of Georgia's leading congressmen and co-author a bill to establish vocational education in public schools of the United States.
Some time later, Capt. Miller hoisted a forty-four star flag and ordered the anchor raised. As pilot McCall began to guide the boat downstream, some of the hunters appeared to be missing. But, the Gypsy kept on gliding through the smooth as silk waters. Coming to a stop in a grove of willows, the Captain patiently waited for the exasperated malingerers to catch up in their rowboats. Everyone laughed at the men, tired and exhausted from their trip, everyone except me. If there hadn't been any biscuits left, I would have gone along on the hunt, just to see what the fuss was all about.
On the 18th of May at high noon, the Gypsy reached it first milestone destination, the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers, which is the beginning of the Altamaha River. Though we had heard the boasts before, "The Forks" had boundless numbers of turkey and deer, just waiting for the hunters to come and place them on their dinner tables. The boat headed to Bell's Ferry, one of the first ferries ever established in that part of Georgia. William Chambers, who was about to enter his twenty fourth year as the ferryman, kindled a fire and began to fry a fine mess of fish. I took a small bream and a bowl full of hushpuppies over by a cool spring shaded by a virescent canopy of virgin pines. I sat there and soaked in the aura of the ancient landmark. By seven o'clock in the evening, we had arrived at White Bluff near the confluence of the Altamaha and the Great Ohoopee River, some one hundred miles distant from our departure point in Dublin.
After a brief pause, the Gypsy moved down river to the Seven Sisters, a series of bluffs crowned by large magnolia trees in full bloom. With nothing alive to shoot, the itchy trigger fingered riflemen began firing at the fragrant blossoms, which exploded upon contact with their bullets. The evening cruise continued until we reached Gypsy Lake. Named by the club members in honor of their club boat, the six-mile-long lake was teeming with wild game. Some of the men managed to capture two broods of young turkeys, but decided to release them hoping that soon they would be hefty toms and hens. Here we spent three days of feasting and more feasting, interspersed with hunting and merrymaking. The camp ground was enveloped by a rim of oak, ash and elm carpeted with a blanket of snowy white sand.
We traveled a half day until we reached London Bluff, where Col. Dudley M. Hughes, his wife and his daughter, along with Messers Dupree, Oliphant, Budd, Yopp and Shannon left our company for a rail trip back to their homes. A trip of five more miles down the rapidly rising river found us at Doctor Town. For the first time I observed the magnificent 800 yard long iron bridge, one of a few of its kind over the Altamaha. Fifteen miles from Darien, we found another one where the Florida Central trains crossed the mighty river on their route from Florida to the land where the Yankees used to live nearly year round. Once again the Winchesters were pulled from their cases, much to the dismay of the gators along the banks.
Captain Miller slowed the pace as the water was wide, but way too shallow to allow rapid passage. On the 29th of May, some thirteen days after we left the docks in Dublin, the Gypsy pulled into Darien. One of Georgia's most ancient towns, Darien was populated by some four thousand people; three-fourths of them were black, descendants of an honorable people who farmed the coastal granges for more than a quarter of a millennium. I saw one large live oak which, I was told, shaded an entire acre of the sandy ground.
After all the passengers debarked, Capt. Miller and his crew turned the boat around for the return trip to Dublin. Many of the party lingered along the coast for a few more weeks of relaxation and revelry. Captain Miller invited me to return the following October for another trip. Hospitably acknowledging my thanks for a wonderful trip, but owing to the fact that I had other places to visit, I politely declined his offer. T.C. Keenan, Isaac Hardeman, E.J. Willingham and I were driven through the countryside to Barington, where we boarded a Florida Central northbound train. On the last day of the month in the mid afternoon I returned to Macon, ready for another adventure. While there I decided I might as well hang around for a year or so to see my great grandparents meet, fall in love and get married.
Note: This is the first column written in a new style. The story which you have just read is nearly all true. Of course, I didn't really get in a time machine, but I certainly would if I could. In future columns I hope to inform and entertain you with first person eyewitness accounts of more pieces of our past.
07-33
MOUNT CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH
Celebrating 150 Years
During this year of 2007, the members of Mount Carmel Baptist Church are celebrating the church's Sesquicentennial anniversary. The history of Mt. Carmel, the seventh oldest Baptist Church in Laurens County, is like all other churches, the history of a people, and not just a history of buildings. An attempt to chronicle the entire 150-year history of Mt. Carmel within the confines of this column would result in an entire book, a project which is nearing completion as you read these words. So, instead of compiling a litany of one fact after another, I will attempt to tell you some of the more interesting pieces of the early years of the church's history.
Mt. Carmel Baptist Church was constituted on March 15, 1857. The church was named for Mount Carmel, a small mountain range located in northern Israel and the West Bank and a sacred location in the ancient culture of the Canaanite.
One might wonder why would a church be founded far away from any town. At the time of its founding, the closest town was in Dublin, some 15 miles away. Even the current nearby counties of Dodge and Bleckley did not exist and were actually a part of Pulaski County, even more distant from Dublin. Despite its remote location, the land around Dexter was highly sought after by farmers. Much of the area was owned by the non-resident timber companies and northern investors and availability of squattable land was too much to resist for the rightful occupants of the fertile farms which surround Mt. Carmel.
Ironically it took a war between the states over the issue of state rights and slavery to desegregate our local churches. Before the Civil War, white and black churchgoers attended services together. Although slaves were not treated to the same status as their fellow white members, they were accepted into the church as children of God. On the very first day of church, the members of Mt. Carmel took turns in subscribing their names to a covenant to give themselves to one another and receive one another in the Lord. Joining the Alligoods, Hobbs, Hills, Witheringtons, Shepards, Fountains and Grimsleys was Sealy, a woman of color, who was the property of Hardy Alligood, the first deacon of Mt. Carmel.
On the 1st day of August, 1857, Gilbert, a black brother belonging to Francis Clark, was received by experience into the church. According to the minutes of the church, no new black members joined the church until April 1862, when Patty, another slave of Francis Clark, was received into the church. By the fall of 1864 when six colored sisters joined the church on one day, seventeen of the worshipers at Mt. Carmel were slaves. After they received their official freedom, the former slaves established their own churches. Calvin Hoover was the last former slave to leave the church in November 1866.
The Civil War also had a profound impact on the life of the church and its members. On the first Sunday in November in the fall of 1861, the members resolved to excuse the absences of John Hobbs, William A. Witherington and Mathew L. Alligood, who three months earlier had enlisted in Co. C of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the Georgia State Troops, later the 57th Georgia Infantry Regiment. The following spring, the church's two Davids, Alligood and Hobbs, joined local companies of the 49th and 57th Georgia regiments. Only 5th Corporal Witherington, who lived to the ripe old age of eighty, would return to the sanctuary of Mt. Carmel. Although church clerk Berry Hobbs was reported to have "gone to war," he may not have been involved in combat. Private Mathew Alligood died of disease in Lexington, Kentucky in 1862. 2nd Sergeant John Hobbs was wounded in the shoulder at Baker's Creek in 1863 and was killed at Jonesboro on the last day in August 1864, during the Confederate army's retreat out of Atlanta. David Alligood was severely wounded in his breast and captured at Gettysburg. He was released two months later, only to be killed by an enrolling officer on November 18, 1864. David Hobbs may have been wounded at Baker's Creek or during the siege of Vicksburg. He died at Point Clear, Alabama in July 1863. After the end of the hostilities, Hardy Blankenship, George W. McDaniel and James Robert Shepard left the ranks of the army and joined the ranks of the church.
With many of the male members serving their newly created country, church services took on a more somber tone. A special Thanksgiving service was held on the 4th Thursday in November 1861 to "fast and pray for the peace and prosperity of our nation." The state of Georgia began assembling even more companies of young men and boys in an all determined effort to win the war in 1862. In compliance with a proclamation issued by the governing body of Laurens County, it was agreed that the members of Mt. Carmel would join their fellow Christians on March 7 for a day of "humiliation, fasting and prayer which was set apart by us that God divert his judgment from our land and nation, that he would aid us in the present strife of Union that is upon us." When the war began for real in May, the members resolved to write the soldiers once a month and to gather together on the 4th Sunday of each month to emplore upon the mercies of God for their protection and the comfort of their loved ones. Before the members of the 49th and 57th left to live out their destiny in hills of Virginia and the fields of Mississippi, Rev. Larry Hobbs prayed for the safety of their souls.
It may have only stood for twelve and one half years, but the story of the third church building at Mt. Carmel may have been one for the record books. On December 3, 1916, the proud members of the church held a dedicatory service for their new house of worship. Erected out of green lumber fashioned from trees from the area and kiln dried at the mill in Dublin, the $2500.00 church was completed in a record seven weeks. Deacons W.A. Witherington, F.R. Faircloth and F.R. Witherington saw to the needs of the church including in their design ten Sunday school rooms and a 30 foot by 50 foot auditorium, a facility unparalleled in any country church in the county.
On April 25, 1929 a horrific tornado came up from the direction of Cochran. Turning more to the north than northeast, the storm headed straight for the Mt. Carmel community. Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, one of the most modern and best equipped church buildings in the county, was totally destroyed. The Mt. Carmel School and the teacherage, located across the road from the church, were amazingly untouched. Several homes in the community were destroyed. The J.D. McClelland home and that of Mrs. W.A. Witherington were destroyed. No one in the McLelland family was harmed, but Mrs. Witherington, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Milton Witherington, and infant grandchild were seriously injured. Jim Dawkins lost his house and most of its contents. Thankfully and most mercifully, his wife and five children only suffered minor injuries. Calvin Patisaul's house was destroyed. Almost all of his large family suffered some type of injury, though none too serious. Lee Floyd's wife was badly injured when their house was destroyed. One vacant tenant house and the vacant old Dave Fountain home were torn to pieces. Tornados don't distinguish between occupied and unoccupied houses.
In the aftermath of the storm, two children, a nine-year old daughter of W.J. Southerland and a baby daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Knight, lay dead among the rubble of the cyclone, most likely the only known fatalities from a tornado in Laurens County.
These are only a few of the thousands of stories which make up the heritage of Mt. Carmel Church. This Sunday, October 6th, the church and its members, guests and friends will belatedly celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of one of the county's oldest and most historic churches.
07-34
ALL ABOARD!
The Return of the SAM Railroad
Once they wove a web across the land, running north to south, east to west and all directions in between. The wails of "choo-choo" and the rings of "clang clang" are few now. The great "Iron Horse" no longer dominates the landscape of the Georgia countryside, but down in South Georgia, you can step back in time more than a half century and climb aboard a real life - sure enough choo-choo train. It is the SAM Shortline and its tri-city ride will propel you backwards in time to a day when life was a little slower and travel a little less comfortable, but oh so much more exciting.
The origin of the SAM railroad grew out ouf Samuel Hawkins disdain for monopolistic railroad rates of the South Western Railroad in the years following the Civil War. Hawkins, an Americus lawyer and financier, suggested statewide regulation of railroads, a position which resulted in the name of Americus being removed from regulation railroad maps. First known as the AP & L (Americus, Preston and Lumpkin) Railroad, the line was expanded after two years in 1886 to Abbeville on the western banks of the Ocmulgee River. The railroad established an inland port at Abbeville, shipping goods downstream to Darien on the Atlantic coast. When the railroad was extended to Savannah as its eastern terminus and Montgomery, Alabama at its western most point, the railroad changed its name to reflect the main cities along its line to Savannah, Americus and Montgomery, and the name of its founder, or SAM for short. From Abbeville, the SAM Railroad ran through Rhine, Milan, Helena, Alamo, Mt. Vernon, Vidalia and Lyons, giving the shippers and passengers from the lower end of the Oconee & Ocmulgee regions their first direct route to the port city of Savannah.
The coming of the 21st Century saw the rebirth of the SAM Railroad. Now known as the S.A.M. Shortline, the state owned railroad is actually a rolling state park. The Georgia Legislature created the Southwest Georgia Railroad Excursion Authority to operate a passenger train from Cordele to Plains, where the rail line got very influential support from President Jimmy Carter.
A few weekends ago, I got the opportunity to ride the SAM with a group of Dubliners. We were there to explore the possibility of bringing the train and its entire crew to Dublin next winter for a train excursion to Macon. We arrived more than the requisite 15 minutes early, only to find long lines of passengers anxious to get aboard. After a brief stop at the ticket booth in the visitor's center in Cordele, we boarded the train. Boarding from the front of the train, we got to see nearly the entire train. Each car is dedicated to stops along the route. Especially attractive was the Georgia Veteran's State Park car, which was decorated in a style reminiscent of a train during the years of World War II.
Near the end of the regular passenger cars is the commissary car. It is a place where you can get something highly sweet or highly fattening, but oh so good, to eat. Plenty of candy, pop corn, drinks and an assortment of goodies are served by a friendly crew. Behind the commissary car are the premium seating cars. The first car, a more modern vintage of rail car has tables and chairs for eating, sitting or a game of cards. If you don't bring your own deck, there are cards available in the commissary.
The most gorgeous of all of the cars in the "Samuel H. Hawkins." Located in the rear of the train on the first leg of the trip and at the front on the return trip, this 1939 vintage car was built as a tavern-observation car for the Florida East Coast Railroad. Known formerly as "The Bay Biscyane," the wood paneled car features Art Deco sconce lights between the windows and wooden tables and chairs. There are plans to restore the car to its original state during this fall and winter. If you are lucky enough, it is best place on the train, when the train's second engine is not attached, giving the passenger a panoramic view of the countryside.
Once we left Cordele, the train ran along tracks surrounded by kudzu, morning glory and a wide variety of wild flowers, interrupted by groves of pines, oaky swamps, and fields of sorghum, peanuts and cotton. One cotton field seemed to radiate a mile or more in every direction from the train track. As we passed through intersections, the occupants of the cars waved and smiled, knowing that we were spending our dollars in the community and that every day hence there would be more of us coming.
Our first stop was at Georgia Veteran's State Park, where the train sleeps at night. The Park on the shores of Lake Blackshear features a museum saluting the men and women of Georgia who have served in the military. After crossing the picturesque lake where cypress trees grow right out of the edge of the water, we came to the town of Leslie. We didn't stop on this day and missed the world's largest rural telephone museum.
Our first layover came in Americus. We had to take a side track to get closer to the downtown area. We hopped aboard a shuttle and road through the downtown area. You can eat at a variety of fine restaurants or chose to eat in the luxurious Windsor Hotel, a national historic site and a certified haunted hotel. The 1892 hotel features a three story atrium adorned by beautiful wooden columns, rails and beams. In the grand dining room, we feasted on a diet of roast beef, fried and baked chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens, banana pudding, apple cobbler, coconut and chocolate cake. For the dieters in the crowd, there is a fine salad bar.
We hurried back to the train for the ride to the second stop of the day, the town of Plains, Georgia. The site of the home of former President Jimmy Carter, Plains still retains a touch of the atmosphere of those days in the 1970s when the sleepy little town became the focus of the presidential campaign. While in town, you can visit antique shops, a caf‚ and a department store, where you can treat your self to fried peanuts, peanut ice cream, peanut brittle and all sorts of peanut butter, including that ever popular Cajun peanut butter. If you hustle or just stay over for a while, you can walk to Plains High School, where the President attended in the late 1930s.
The last leg of the trip took us to Archery, the boyhood home of President Carter. There you can see and walk through the president's former home. The outbuildings and grounds have been re-created to give the visitor some idea of how the farm may have looked during the twenty one years it was occupied by the Carter family. Of special interest is the restored commissary store, which the Carter's operated to make extra money. There's even a piece of half shucked corn and unpicked peanuts hanging on the fence, just to show the Yankee's how they look before they are cooked.
I highly recommend the trip and hope we can bring the train to Dublin very soon. I especially want to thank the volunteers who gave their time to make the trip a pleasant one. If you are lucky, you might get the knowledgeable and affable Tom Nicholson, a native of Dodge County and hotel manager, to be your car host. Then there's Bill Byrd, an Americus hospital administrator, who serves as the trainman. Byrd insures that everything on the train operates smoothly and efficiently. And finally, you'll get your ticket punched by Al Mills, a friendly and witty guy whose uniform makes him look he was born to be a ticket taker.
07-35
REMEMBERING RAY PROSPERI
Memories of a Former Player
I was sitting next to Loran Smith at the Rotary Club on the day that Ray Prosperi died. As the members of the club stood up to announce the personal tragedies of our community, some one announced that Prosperi, a former Georgia Bulldog quarterback, had passed away. I saw Smith wince in a moment of disbelief. Smith, a writer and field reporter for the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network, has known nearly every Georgia Bulldog player in the last fifty years or more. On his last visit to Dublin, Smith visited Prosperi. Perhaps he was thinking about visiting him that day. My mind immediately went back forty one years ago to the outfield of Big Hilburn Park, where I played for his Midget League football team. Of all of those people who knew him as Ray Prosperi, I count myself as one of the lucky ones who knew him as "Coach Prosperi."
Raymond Anthony Prosperi was born in 1929 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a major rail center in the western fringes of the central region of the Keystone State. His father Archie, a native born Italian, married Rose Alamprese, a first generation American and daughter of Italian immigrants, Antonio and Marrie Alamprese. As a young child, Ray lived in the 5th Avenue home of the Alampreses. His grandfather Alamprese worked as a janitor in the Altoona station of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Archie Prosperi, who immigrated to the United States shortly after his birth, was the son of Filomena and Henry Prosperi, who worked along side his son as a weaver in the local silk mill.
As a forward for the Altoona Mountaineers, Ray helped his team to a sixteen game winning streak and an undefeated season before losing to Westmont in the Sixth District basketball finals in 1947. Considered the best athlete ever to come out of Altoona, Prosperi was named to Pennsylvania all-state teams in three sports - basketball, baseball and football. In his final basketball season of 1947, Ray was named as a forward on the five man all state team. Teammate Stu Duncan said of Ray, "Ray was a great athlete and a super guy." Ray's team was the first to play in the Hoffa Mosque before a crowded house of 5000 screaming fans.
Georgia Bulldog coach Wally Butts salivated at the sight of Ray Prosperi, who turned down a strong recruiting effort by the Army to play football for the Cadets. Butts, a native Southerner, knew the importance of having more Yankees on his team. The 1949 team was evenly divided between boys from the South and the North. Butts had great success with other Pennsylvanian backs Frank Sinkwich, Charlie Trippi and Johnny Rauch. At six feet two inches tall and carrying a massive body weighing 205 pounds, Butts knew that Ray would became another superstar quarterback. Coach Butts was able to lure Ray away from basketball. Actually he forbade him to play on the court and get on the gridiron. From 1948 to 1950, Ray played sparingly at quarterback. He was on the team that played in the 1947 Sugar Bowl, 1948 Gator Bowl, 1949 Orange Bowl and the 195o Presidential Cup.
Perhaps his greatest game came on October 15, 1949. With LSU and Georgia knotted at 0-0 at Sanford Stadium, Prosperi quit throwing long bombs and slipped in a screen pass to Bob Walston who carried it down to the LSU seventeen yard line, setting up the winning touchdown. Ray had to sit out a good part of the 1950 season after getting hurt in the Florida game in '49. During his years at Georgia, Ray became close to Coach Butts. He credited his success to Johnny Rauch, who tutored him as a freshman. In 1996, Ray was elected to the Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame and earlier this year, he was inducted into the Georgia chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame for his post graduate achievements.
Ray Prosperi met and married Faye Cochran, a Dublin girl. After a short stint at coaching, Ray and Faye moved to Dublin and had four children, Patti, Tony, Laura and Mike. He worked with Cochran Brothers and Southeast Newsprint. In 1957, Ray was the organizing president of Dublin's first Kiwanis Club. When the City of Dublin began to organize a recreational football league, Ray Prosperi was right there, lending a hand and volunteering as a coach.
To the lucky ones, Ray Prosperi was "Coach Prosperi." In one of my most favorite years of 1966, I had the honor of playing for Coach Prosperi. Just think of it. We were running the same offensive and defensive schemes that Coach Prosperi ran at the University of Georgia. We learned that each back in the "T-formation" and each receiver had a number. Every gap between the linemen also had a number. My favorite plays were the reverses - single ones, doubles and the always thrilling triple reverses. Coach Prosperi, with the aid of assistant coaches Bill Roberts and Bob Potts, threw in other plays including the rarely used "statue of liberty" play.
Our Vikings team shut out every opponent that year earning us the right to play a team made up of all-stars from the Cowboys, Lions and Packers. We beat the all-stars 12 to 0 in the last Cranberry Bowl. Ray's son Tony caught a touch down pass from Ed Griffith, who scored on a two- yard plunge for final score. Also playing for the Vikings were Jeff Canady, Herschel White, Reese Stanley, Ricky Anderson, Brad Roberts, Patrick Roche, Lee Whitaker, Jim Wynn, Nelson Carswell, Bo-J Claxton, Kelly Canady, Bill Adams, Jeffrey Johnson, Stan Stanley, David Smith, Bruce Wynn, Pat Hodges, Randy Graham, Eddie Smith, Malcolm Gore, and Wayne Bridges
During the first half of the game, I experienced some of the greatest pain of my life, more than the time I took a kick off and got five yards before Carl Joiner and Stacy Harbin and a host of other players nearly decapitated and dismembered me after I managed to run five yards and break my right collar bone in the process. Playing opposite me at left defensive end was Billy Repko, my good friend. Actually he later became my good friend. That night, Billy was my hated enemy. In those days, an offensive tackle had to lock his arms, fists touching with his elbows out and parallel to the ground. Any deviation from this stance and the referee might throw his yellow holding flag. From the very first offensive play, Billy, somewhat heavier than my bean pole body and much stronger than me, would charge the line with his head down. On play after play, Billy's helmet slammed into my forearms. By the end of two series, I came off the field trying to hide my tears. I was met on the sidelines by Coach Prosperi. He saw my pain and asked me what was wrong. I told him how much that helmet was hurting me. In an instant, Ray Prosperi saved my life, or it seemed that way. He told me that after the snap that I should step around to my left and let Billy keep going head long into the backfield. When he got beside me, I was supposed to push into his side as hard as I could. My assignment was to push and drive him away from the ball. It worked. The pain went away. And, we won the championship!
Ray Prosperi was no Frank Sinkwich. Nor was he a Charlie Tripp or a Johnny Rauch. He never played as well Coach Wally Butts hoped that he would. He didn't have to. To his family, friends and former players it didn't matter. To me, he was a hero. He was the man who kept Billy Repko from breaking my arm and the man who, along with my father, gave me a life long love of sports and more importantly, sportsmanship. Ray was famous for requiring his players to responded to him with a hearty "yes, sir!" His son Mike said that his dad gave up a lot financially to coach football for more than a decade and often had to work extra hours to make up for it. So the next time you think about recreation football in Dublin, think about Ray Prosperi and thank him for his dedication to the boys of Dublin and the game he loved so dearly.
07-36
CHAPPELL'S MILL
Ye Ancient Landmark
There is no more ancient local landmark, at least of the man-made variety, than Chappell's Mill situated at the northern extremity of Laurens County. This grist mill, once a part of a widespread network of dozens of such mills, is the last of a once thriving commercial operations which served to convert the farmer's grains into the daily bread of life.
No one can tell exactly when the mill first was constructed. The old story goes that it was a Mr. Gilbert that built the first mill on a branch of Big Sandy Creek, known as South Sandy Creek, about the year 1811. It is likely that the builder of the original mill was either John or Thomas Gilbert, who owned land in the area in the early years of Laurens County.
Though the exact date is not known, James Stanley II purchased the mill and more than two thousand acres surrounding it. The hilly regions of northern Laurens County provided an ideal location for a mill. Grist mills were often the commercial centers of the rural areas of the county. They were similar to today's convenience stores and often sold other products in addition to ground corn and wheat. Stanley formed a mercantile concern named for two of his sons, H.B. and Ira Stanley, to capitalize on the rich resources of the area.
James Stanley died in 1841 and ownership of the mill passed to his sons. Ira Stanley was a man of high education. He married Janet McCall, daughter of Thomas McCall and Elizabeth Smith. Though he owned in excess of sixty slaves, Stanley refused to sell his excess slaves and kept families intact on his large plantations. A starch opponent of the liquor trade, Stanley served as sheriff of Laurens County (1825-26) and state representative (1834-35.) Stanley was a close friend of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America. Family members relate the story of the time when Stephens stopped in for a visit with Stanley, who informed him that he was contemplating building a new home. Stephens requested a pen and drew a sketch of his home, which Stanley duplicated as nearly as possible.
During the War Between the States, the mill became a purported target of Sherman's cavalry soldiers as they patrolled the flanks of the right wing of the Union army as it approached the Oconee River at Ball's Ferry. Major James B. Duggan, a Confederate officer at home on leave, learned of the plot. With no comrades available, Duggan dashed off to the nearby bridge over Big Sandy Creek, known as the "Lightwood Knot Bridge." The legendary story tells that Duggan enlisted the aid of an elderly slave woman to deceive a Union cavalry patrol into believing that they were a squad of Confederate general Joseph's Wheeler's cavalry coming up to block their crossing. It has been told for decades that Duggan and the woman set the bridge afire and caused the Yankees to scurry off in mortal fear.
After the war, the local economy was in a shambles. Nearly all of the men in the family had been actively involved in the war. Rollin and Benjamin Stanley were officers, as well as James Chappell and Peyton Douglas. The continued operation of the mill was important, perhaps more important than ever before. The sons and sons in law of Ira Stanley entered into an agreement in September of 1868 to settle Stanley's estate. James W. Chappell (husband 0f Harriett Stanley) , Peyton W. Douglas (husband of Georgia Stanley) and Ira E. Stanley purchased the interest of John F. Burney (husband of Margaret Stanley), Rollin A. Stanley and Benjamin F. Stanley for the sum of $4000.00. The purchase included all mill rights and the rights to flood the pond to a sufficient level to operate the mill. Also included in the conveyance of "Stanley Mills" included "all lumber on hand," possibly indicating that a saw mill was located on the premises.
From that point on, the mill became known as Chappell's Mill. Ira Stanley Chappell, the eldest son of James T. and Harriet S. Chappell, died in 1931. He was the last member of the Chappell family to own the mill. Before his death, Chappell sold the property to Allen J. Dixon, who operated it for a quarter of a century. Dixon advertised an auction for the sale of the mill, including the 50-acre pond, seven acres of land and three dwellings. Dixon also offered more land at the set price of $10.00 per acre. Don't we all wish had been there on December 18, 1942 with a pocket full of money?. Dr. T. J. Blackshear was the high bidder. He maintained the property until it was purchased by James and Forrest Townsend, grandsons of Allen Dixon.
Charles Fordham, Alton Carr, George Fordham, Carl Robinson and many others kept the mill going for many years. Production often went above 15,000 bushels a year and grossed more than $100.000.00 annually. Once the grains of corn were ground, the meal was carefully sifted and poured in paper bags bearing the name of the mill and a generic conception of a southern grist mill. The fine meal was sold to grocery stores around the state. The mill was operated on water power until about 1950, when the more dependable electric power motors were installed. Despite the dependability of electric turbines, the Townsends always wanted to restore the water power because it was free. James Townsend always proclaimed that the slow grinding process was superior to the rapid factory processes.
In 1997, after one hundred and eighty six years of continuous operation, the last batch of corn was ground. The closure was not the result of the dastardly Yankees, a disastrous fire or an untimely death of the operators. The death of our county's most ancient landmark came at the hands of indifferent government bureaucrats, who insisted that the Townsends install modern and prohibitively expensive equipment to keep the mill in operation.
The first mill house was located on the northern side of the pond, but was washed in a flood and moved to the other side of the dam to protect it against floods. The 1840s mill house still stands as a vivid reminder of the distant past. Over the years, it has been modified to accommodate modern conveniences, but when you see it, you will be transported back in time to an era when life was a little slower and a lot gentler.
07-37
WILLIAM B. KENT
The Savior of Georgia Football
You may have never heard of Richard Von Gammon. But, when he died one hundred and ten years ago today, football in Georgia was nearly forced out of existence by the bereaved legislature of this state. Throughout Georgia and across the nation, a congregation of ministers cried out for the abolition of this most violent and vicious game. Without the aid of Von Gammon's mother and Bulldog captain William B. Kent, football in Georgia may have ended, if only for a little while.
It was a typical fall day on the 30th day of October 1897. The bleachers and sidelines of Atlanta's Brisbine Park were crammed with spectators to see if the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs, inspired by a trouncing of Georgia Tech the week before, could defeat the powerful Cavaliers of Virginia in a contest for superiority of southern football. Georgia had just completed the team's first perfect season, albeit they only played four games and won them all.
Richard Van Gammon, a well-liked fraternity fellow and outstanding quarterback from Rome, Georgia, kicked off to Virginia to open the contest. In the second half with Virginia in command of the game, Van Gammon, playing defensive back, sprinted toward a Virginia runner. Before he could make the tackle, the helmetless Bulldog was overrun by a wall of blockers, said to have been joined in a flying wedge formation with arms locked and bearing down upon him with all the force of an equine stampede.
Van Gammon dove to tackle the Cavalier runner and struck the ground headfirst. The Virginians trampled over his motionless body. For several excruciating minutes, players and coaches vainly attempted to revive the fallen star. At first it appeared as if Von Gammon was completely paralyzed, his eyes gazing blindly into the autumn sky. Eventually he was revived and helped to the sidelines, where he was examined by physicians who were attending the game. The doctors decided to transport Von Gammon to Grady Hospital for further examination and diagnosis. After he arrived at the hospital, Richard's temperature soared up toward 109 degrees. With his brain swollen to intolerable limits, Von Gammon never regained consciousness and died.
Just days after the fallen footballer's funeral, mass hysteria swept throughout the Georgia legislature. Fueled by intense lobbying by a host of ministers and a nationwide cry against the barbaric deaths that football had caused across the country, the lawmakers adopted a near unanimous ban on football in the state. The bill was sent to Georgia governor W.Y. Atkinson for his signature.
It was then when Van Gammon's mother and Bulldog captain William Kent issued an appeal for the governor not to sign the ban. The people of Athens, most of the university's faculty and even some Georgia players thought it was best to put an end to football at Georgia forever. Mrs. Von Gammon wrote a letter to Governor Atkinson pleading to him not to allow her son's death to end the game he so dearly loved. Aided by a poignant and stern letter from renowned Georgia professor and the team's first coach, Dr. Charles Herty, who advocated the necessity of sports to promote physical health, and the persistence of Captain Kent, the governor never signed the bill. Though football ended for the 1897 season after three games - they only played four or five games anyway - the games would resume the following year.
William B. Kent was born in Montgomery County, Georgia on January 30, 1870. This son of William Kent and Martha Beckwith Kent entered Mercer University as a freshman at the ripe old age of twenty-three in 1893. After playing football at the Baptist college for a single season, Kent transferred to Athens for the 1894 season, where he played guard. In 1896, William was moved to right tackle by Georgia coach Pop Warner, who went on to iconic status as the coach of Jim Thorpe of the Carlisle Indians, as well as successful stints at Pittsburgh and Stanford. Kent, at five feet eleven inches in height and weighing in at 185 pounds, was one of the strongest men at the college. In his junior season at Georgia in 1896, Kent was named president of the Athletic Association and captain of the football team for his senior year. As president of the Athletic Association, Kent led the organization out of its bankrupt position onto solid financial ground.
Off the field Kent excelled as an editor of the Pandora, the university's yearbook, as well as serving with highest honor of the Demosthenian Literary Society and as a commissioned officer in the military department. Considered one of the most popular men on campus - there were very few, if any, women enrolled as students in those days - William was known to have been a man of high moral character and a leader in the Young Men's Christian Association and his Sunday school class at the Baptist Church in Athens. During his semesters at Georgia, Kent served as president of eight organizations.
Kent, a self-made man, studied law, literature and bookkeeping. To pay for his studies, he taught school and even sold lightning rods one summer.
While he was in Athens, William met and married Miss Senie Griffith, daughter of Clarke County state representative F.P. Griffeth. Following her death, Kent married Lallie Calhoun, a member of one of Montgomery County's oldest and most prominent families.
After his graduation from Georgia, Kent was admitted to the bar, beginning his practice in that portion of Montgomery County, which would later become Wheeler County in 1912. In addition to his duties as an attorney, Kent served as both solicitor and judge of the City Court of Mt. Vernon, a state court assigned to handle misdemeanor offenses and minor civil claims.
In 1910, Kent, the former football hero, was elected to represent Montgomery County in the Georgia legislature. While in the House of Representatives, Kent introduced a bill to carve out that portion of his county lying on the western side of the Oconee to form a new county, purportedly to be named Kent County, not in his own honor, but in honor of his father, an early settler of the area. The name of the new county was Wheeler instead, named in honor of Confederate cavalry general Joseph Wheeler. Kent was chosen to serve as the first judge of the Wheeler County Court of Ordinary, or as it is today known, the Probate Court.
William B. Kent died on November 21, 1949. He is buried in Oconee Cemetery in Athens, Georgia in a town where football is king on autumn Saturdays. Perhaps the epitaph on his tombstone should read, "here lies William B. Kent, the Savior of Georgia football."
07-38
SARAH:
A TALE OF AN UNLIKELY VETERAN
Sarah was an average girl, one who grew up in the Great Depression and one who knew the value of hard work and a good education. Like many young women of her generation who were lucky enough to obtain a post secondary education, Sarah decided she wanted to teach. One of her first assignments found her in Pine Hall, North Carolina, a small community, not large enough to be called a town, and situated a good half hour or so north of Winston - Salem in those days of slower cars and dirt highways.
Returning from a trip back home to Monroe, Sarah was standing in the bus station on a Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem. School was about to be out for Christmas holidays. A nervous voice came out of the loud speaker. The passengers paused. "All service personnel report to their bases immediately! The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor," the announcer quivered. Sarah and other stunned civilians were diverted to other buses while the soldiers and sailors boarded the first available buses back to their posts.
Following the dramatic attack on the United States, men across the country began signing up for volunteer service or selective service through the draft. The officials of the Stokes County draft board figured that teachers were good at taking names and putting them on lists, so Sarah and the other teachers were assigned to register the men of the county for the draft.
The young teacher had heard that a new organization was being formed to aid the war effort. The Marine Corps Women's Reserve was established in February 1943. These women were given hundreds of tasks to perform, serving as radio operators, cooks, truck drivers, map makers and hundreds more. By D-day, five of six enlisted personnel serving in the Marine Corps Headquarters were women. Two of three Marines manning major posts in the United States and Hawaii were female in the last years of the war.
It was time to serve her country Sarah decided. She traveled down the road to Camp Lejeune, a bustling military installation, which two years earlier had been nothing but a sandy forest of natural pines along the Atlantic Seaboard Railroad. The First Marine Division had come there two years prior to train for the eminent war.
The camp would be Sarah's home for six weeks. Though it looked like a college campus with beautiful buildings, the Marine post was specifically designed to train men and women to go to war, which meant that some would kill and some would be killed. Her fellow Marine reservists were an assortment of women from all walks of life. Sarah and the other women were subjected to a battery of tests. When they weren't testing and being taught in some facet of military science, they marched.
They marched to eat. They marched to classes. They even practiced marching just to learn how to march with no destination. They stopped marching when the drill instructor was too tired to watch the women march any more. Sarah was taught how to walk, talk, run, eat, sleep, drink, dress and think like a Marine. After boot camp, Sarah wanted an assignment somewhere at an air base. To get there, she first had to go to Cherry Point, just across the river. Much to Sarah's astonishment when she arrived at Cherry Point, she was assigned duty in the kitchen. Turkeys for Thanksgiving, turkeys for Christmas, and leftover turkeys for New Year's Day are still ingrained in Sarah's memory of her first real days in the Marine Corps. She did get New Year's Eve off to celebrate the coming of the year 1944, a year in which the war, both in Europe and Pacific, would soon turn in favor of the Allies.
Just a few days later, Sarah rode a troop train to Oxford, Ohio, where she began taking courses in the operation of radios, learning how to type and send messages in Morse code. Sarah trained alongside her counterparts, the WAVES of the United States Navy. She had hoped that her marching days were behind her, but on nearly every Saturday the Marine women joined the WAVES and practically every sailor and marine on an old athletic field for a weekly parade. The marching subsided after that, although Sarah does remember a blistering hot day when she marched in her wool uniform, a disastrous result because the military too frequently goes by the calendar and not the thermometer when assigning uniforms for the day.
On May 27, 1944, Sarah was promoted to corporal and assigned to the Radio Material School in Omaha, Nebraska. She learned how to put radios together, take them apart and fix them when they were broken. Sarah delighted in the fact that she had two friends who accompanied her through both Camp Lejeune and Oxford. One was an English teacher. Sarah taught math before she enlisted.
In October 1944, Sarah traveled across the country to report for duty in Santa Barbara, California. During her 14-month stay in the Golden State, Sarah earned a third stripe on her sleeves. She continued to repair radios at naval and coast guard stations, enjoying the latter the best because of the great food they served. Southern California is, and was then, a great place to visit. Sarah and her friends often hitch hiked, with absolutely no fear of harm, to Los Angeles and San Francisco for a weekend of entertainment.
Just a dozen days before Christmas, with their discharges in their hands, Sarah, her friends Avis and Ann, Avis' nephew and his dog piled into a '39 Plymouth set out for their homes along the route. They drove through glamorous Los Angeles, the frozen deserts of Arizona and the snowy plains of Nebraska. They slept in their cars and $3 a night dingy cabins, though they did spend one warm night at Ann's house in Nebraska.
As Avis and Sarah got closer to North Carolina, they began to notice snow on the ground. But Sarah couldn't make herself believe there was any chance of a snowball at her home in Monroe. There was snow in Asheville. Sarah's hopes of a white Christmas swelled. As Sarah and Ann pulled into the Austin home in Monroe, it was snowing. It snowed so much that Ann had to spend a couple of days with the Austins, a delay she minded very little with all of the southern holiday hospitality which was heaped upon her. Sarah said goodbye to the last of her trio as she began the last leg of her cross country trip back home to Boston. The girls were home. The war was over. All was good in Nebraska, Boston and especially in Monroe, North Carolina where this young school teacher turned Marine was home for Christmas.
Sarah taught school in Winston-Salem for 17 years. She married Bill and moved to Dublin. I was lucky enough to have been her student for two of the twenty-one years she taught math in Dublin.
Sarah had a passion for geometry and geometric shapes. At Dublin High she was legendary for her assignments of geometric art. While we struggled to construct our 3-D stellated polyhedron stars, we would have sworn such an arduous task would only have come from a demanding Marine Corps sergeant. Little did we know that our teacher was actually a Marine sergeant in World War II three decades before.
Like most members of "the greatest generation" whose greatest feats came after they left the service, Sarah's greatest contribution to our country came not in radio repair rooms, but in the classrooms of Dublin High School, where this meek, gentle, kind and caring teacher shaped our young minds and taught us the theorems of life. So on this Veteran's Day, please join me in saluting Mrs. Sarah Austin Frost, the most unlikely Marine sergeant I ever knew. And for the rest of you men and women who have served our country in the Armed Forces, I thank you on behalf of a grateful nation for a job well done.
(Compiled from an interview of Sarah Frost by Mac Fowler for the Laurens County Historical Society)
07-39
CHILLY McINTOSH
A Most Unusual School Student
When the son of William McIntosh attended school in Dublin, he didn’t have to study about Indians, he was one. In the days before Thanksgiving nearly every elementary school student learns about the Pilgrims and the Indians. Most historians, usually the ones raised in the north, conveniently forget about the first settlers in Jamestown, Virginia and the Indians who feasted together when the first Puritans were not even dreaming of coming to America. This is a story of a true Indian who attended local schools while his father was visiting his cousin, George M. Troup of Laurens County. His life spanned the greater part of the 19th century and involved him in many of the historic events of early history of our nation.
Chilly McIntosh was born more than two centuries ago about fifty miles west of Whitesburg, Georgia. His parents, William McIntosh and Eliza Grierson, were children of Scottish men and Creek Indian women. William McIntosh rose to the rank of chief of the Lower Creek Confederacy. Chief McIntosh served first as a major and later as a brigadier general in the United States Army during the War of 1812 and the Seminole Indian War of 1818.
Chilly was educated in the ways of the white man and the Creek. While maintaining the importance of his Indian heritage, Chief McIntosh encouraged his children to learn the ways of the white man. Chilly would often tag along with the Chief as he came to Dublin to visit George M. Troup, who was a son of his father’s sister. One of Chilly’s playmates was a son of Jonathan Sawyer, the founder of Dublin.
While he wanted to go with his father to serve in the War of 1812, Chilly was asked by the chief to remain at home to look after the family. During the war, Chilly was sent to some of the finest schools in the state, including the academy at the capital in Louisville. Like his father, Chilly dressed in typical frontier clothing. His skin was lighter than his parents and could easily pass as a darker skinned white man. Just when he thought he would be able to join his father’s forces in the war against the Seminoles in 1818, the Chief was mustered out of military service.
Chilly McIntosh built a home at Broken Arrow. He worked with his father in establishing a trading post at Fort Mitchell. Soon a dispute arose between Indian Agent John Crowell and the McIntoshes. Crowell seized goods from the McIntosh store. In retaliation, Chilly organized a band of warriors and forcibly reclaimed what he claimed was rightfully his. The younger McIntosh followed in his father’s footsteps by serving at the highest levels of the Creek Nation.
In 1825, Chief McIntosh and other Lower Creek leaders signed a treaty at Indian Springs ceding all of the remaining Indian lands in Georgia. As Clerk of the Creeks, Chilly joined his father in signing a treaty with the State of Georgia, headed by Gov. George M. Troup. Their signatures on the controversial document led to the father and son being marked for instant death by factions of the northern Creeks. The Upper Creeks were not a party to the agreement. The chiefs of the Upper Creek towns were absolutely livid. They issued a death warrant for Chief McIntosh, his son Chilly, and all others who signed the treaty.
An assassination squad was dispatched to the McIntosh home near Alcorn Bluff on the Chattahoochee. On May 30, 1825, the party hid out in the woods waiting to pounce on McIntosh. They passed on one chance to kill the chief on the road leading to his home. The marauders set fire to the McIntosh home. Chilly was awakened by two of the attackers. He managed to escape. McIntosh, in a final act of desperation, fought off the killers, but only for a few minutes. The smoke was overwhelming. The assassins moved in. They shot the Chief fifty times, dragged him out into the yard, and took his scalp in front of his terrified family.
The Creek nation pardoned Chilly and the surviving members of his family after the massacre. Chilly, then Chief of the Coweta, was commissioned a major in the United States Army. During the visit of the Marquis de la Fayette to Georgia in 1825, the French officer who aided the Continental Army was welcomed to Georgia by none other than Major McIntosh and a detachment of fifty Indian warriors, whose bodies were stripped and finely painted. The major’s men escorted the French hero across the Chattahoochee River to the loud yells as he met Georgia’s official delegation.
In 1828, Chilly rounded up the surviving members and loyal supporters of the Chief and headed for Three Forks, near present day Muscogee, Oklahoma. Chilly, like his father, became the leader of the Creek Nation, then in exile in Oklahoma. He is credited with being the first School Superintendent of the Territory of Oklahoma. Chilly came under the influence of missionary Baptist ministers and joined the ministry himself, devoting much of his time to rid the Indian nation of illegal liquor.
During the 1850s, tensions between the northern and southern states turned from simmering to boiling. The same was true among the former southeastern Indian tribes, the Cherokee and the Creek. The wounds resulting from the treaty of cession in 1825 still kept the two tribes on different ends of the political spectrum. As slaveowners, Chilly and his younger brother Daniel Newman Mcintosh, who was named in honor of a fellow officer of their father, sided with Stand Waite, a Cherokee sympathetic to the South.
On the very day that Union and Confederate forces first clashed in Manassas, Virginia, the Creeks loyal to the Confederacy organized under the command of the McIntoshes, Molty Kennard and Echo Harjo. Daniel McIntosh was given command of 900 Creek cavalrymen as the 1st Creek Cavalry. Lt. Colonel Chilly McIntosh, leading 400 Creeks, commanded the 1st Creek Cavalry Battalion.
When the Confederate armies won early victories, the Cherokee were forced to reevaluate their neutral position. On Christmas Day 1861, Chilly McIntosh and his men were trapped in an ambush at Chustenanlah near the Big Bend of the Arkansas River. With the aid of a regiment from Texas, the Confederate Creeks broke through the enemy line and escaped. The Cherokee, led by John Ross, joined the South in the fall of 1861. Tensions erupted the following winter between the two rival Creek factions. Following a reorganization of Creek Confederate troops, McIntosh was promoted to Colonel and placed in command of the 2nd Regiment, Creek Mounted Volunteers. He combined his regiment with Brig. Gen. Stand Waite. During the war, McIntosh took part in the battles of Round Mountain, Pea Ridge, Fort Wayne and Honey Springs.
Ten years after the end of the war, Chilly McIntosh died on October 5, 1875 in his home near Fame in the Oklahoma County, which bears his family name. And though the life of Dublin’s most unusual school student ended far from where it began, the traditions of a family who shared a deep heritage between the white man and the Indian still live on.
07-40
STILLMORE
Why do they call it Stillmore? Was it because turpentine baron and town founder George Brinson thought that his prolific still would run forevermore? Or was it because when you got there, you had still more to go? Or was it the simply a sarcastic response to the office of the Postmaster General when the list of names for a new town were already taken? Whether you believe one or more of these legends, believe that this Emanuel County town with a most unusual name was once one of the most bustling railroad towns in East Central Georgia. This is the story of the early years of Stillmore, Georgia.
In the mid 1880s timber and turpentine man George Brinson and his cousin B.L. Brinson constructed a turpentine mill in the middle of nowhere in a piney forest covering rich and fertile sand. The Brinson kinsmen expanded their operation to include a large saw mill. In order to more economically get his sawed timber to markets in Swainsboro and Savannah, George Brinson knew that he needed a railroad. Without the aid of profit seeking and demanding Northern capitalists, Brinson began construction of a railroad known as the Brunswick, Athens and Northwestern Railroad.
Brinson’s enterprises brought in employees by the droves. With such a large population concentrated in a small place someone thought why not incorporate the new town and allow the residents to govern themselves. On November 13, 1889, the town of Stillmore was officially created by the Georgia legislature.
Following a devastating fire which destroyed his mill, Brinson began construction on a thirty-four-mile railroad from Swainsboro to Collins, a depot town on the Georgia-Alabama Railroad. In 1891, when railroads began to rapidly spread across the state, work was commenced on the Atlantic Shortline, a railroad designed to run from Macon, through Laurens County and eastward to Savannah. The bold venture died for lack of financial support. The owners of the Brewton and Pineora Railroad laid their tracks along the mostly intact grading and gave Stillmore it second rail line and a fairly direct route to Savannah at the end of the 19th Century making Stillmore a junction town. More fortune seekers moved in search of work and success.
Stillmore remained virtually stagnant until 1892 when the town was laid out into lots. By 1900, Stillmore was home to a college, four churches, two lodges, a newspaper, a public library and a large number of mercantile establishments.
But by far, Stillmore owed it’s entire existence to the railroads and the opportunities they brought. The Rogers and Summit railroad became the Millen and Southwestern, which eventually became part of the Georgia-Florida Railroad. The Brunswick, Athens and Northwestern later became known as the Stillmore Air Line and eventually a branch of the Wadley-Southern Railroad. The Central Railroad of Georgia, the state’s largest rail company, took control of the Brewton and Pineora. These three railroads, all intersecting in the town of Stillmore, provided the spark which catapulted Stillmore into a position as the leading city in Emanuel County. At least that’s what they said outside the county seat of Swainsboro.
Stillmore’s greatest pride outside of its railroads and Mr. Brinson’s mills was the Stillmore Military College. The college was under the leadership of Professor Y.E. Bargeron, who also worked as a city official, editor of the town newspaper (The Budget,) and finally as a lawyer. Mrs. Bargeron taught courses too. Capt. M.W. Bargeron took over the duties of drill master when the military program was added to the curriculum. Florence Moore, a sweet lady and a graduate of an outstanding music conservatory, taught music to both boys and girls. With the wave of patriotism which swept across America during the conflicts with the Spanish, the ranks of the military students swelled to more than seventy young men. George Brinson donated the funds to provide nearly three dozen Springfield rifles to the school. School officials and other townsfolk saw to it that every student soon had a real rifle to train with. Crowds often gathered in the late afternoon to watch the students demonstrate their military skills on the lawn of the college. Adult males also wanted in on the action and patriotism. Joseph Phillips, along with M.W. Bargeron and Dr. R.Y. Yeomans, led the formation of the Stillmore Guards, which trained in case their services were needed across the state or against the nation’s enemies. In addition to military and music courses, students studied bookkeeping, pedagogy, chemistry, literature, oratory.
A fine public library, free to the town residents, was affiliated with the college. Capt. Joseph Phillips, the auditor of the Stillmore Air Line, kept the library filled with the latest new books and periodicals to educate and entertain the students, townspeople and even visitors who walked over from the hotels.
When visitors came to town, they roomed in relative luxury. Mr. and Mrs. Nat Hughes ran the three story Victorian hotel where people from all over gather from as far away as fifty miles to enjoy the food and fellowship. If the Canoochee was full, then you could spend the night and get a good meal in the Brown House or the Edenfield House.
Some of the earliest merchants and businessmen of Stillmore included George Brinson, attorneys Frank R. Durden, Y.E. Bargeron, merchants John R. Hargrove, J.A. Woodward, John H. Edenfield, Sallie Kennedy, E.A. Miller, J.F. Tanner, Wyatt and Frierson, Stillmore Mercantile Co., W.B. Heath, E. H. Heath, Bessie Nichols, J.L. Martin, J.M. Duberry, Canoochee Pharmacy and many others . The professional men included attorneys Frank R. Durden, Dr. L.P. Lane, Dr. J.M. Emmitt and Dr. S.E. Brinson. Dr. J.R. pulled teeth when necessary. There were at least two banks in town, the Bank of Stillmore and the Planter’s Bank.
In 1913, a movement began to create a new county of Candler with Metter as the county seat. The people of southeastern Emanuel County wanted to be a part of it. They wanted their own county with Stillmore as its capital. Stillmorians hoped that portions of Emanuel, Tattnall and Bulloch counties could be joined with Stillmore in the center. They proposed to honor one of the Confederacy’s greatest heroes by naming their county “Stonewall Jackson County.”
The failure to become a county seat, coupled with the loss of the cotton crop during the second decade of the 20th Century, led to the end of Stillmore’s prosperity. But don’t call the coroner yet. Stillmore is still there. The trains don’t come like they used to. The college is now in Swainsboro along with the all of the county’s motels. But the fine folks are still there and will still be there as long as there is a Stillmore.
07-41
THE MARCH TO THE SEA
Travels in Time
My time machine came to a stop in a less than hospitable place. All around me was a massive line of soldiers, all dressed in blue. The countryside seemed familiar. By the colors of the trees and the chill in the air, I knew it was autumn. Much to my horror, I surmised that this endless column of blue uniformed infantrymen must have belonged to that dastardly eternal enemy of the South, General William T. Sherman. I found myself in step with the right wing of Sherman's sixty-thousand man army as it blitzed through Middle Georgia, taking what they wanted and burning everything of value they could carry, eat or steal.
An officer walked up to me to ask for my identity. Not wanting to reveal my southern heritage, I introduced myself as Sgt. Jedediah Bartlett and explained that I found my way back to the main line after being separated from cavalry unit. When the lieutenant asked me if I could write, my response was "yes, sir!" He gave me a satchel filled with writing papers, a couple of inkwells and a supply of quill pens, and ordered me to shadow him every where he went.
The handsome young officer told me that he was Lt. Cornelious C. Platter of the 81st Ohio Infantry Volunteers. I noticed that Lt. Platter carried a diary in his knapsack. Every evening the lieutenant pulled out his diary and wrote of the day's activities. I wrote down everything else which went on during the day. Lt. Platter began to dictate a letter to the regimental commander. Not knowing the exact date, I tricked the Ohioan into telling me it was November 22, 1864. I knew we must be somewhere near Macon, but what puzzled me was that there was snow on the ground that morning. Could it really be November? It never snows in Middle Georgia in November, but on that very day it did.
Passage along the roads was slow. The pontoon bridge trains were in our way. Some even got stuck in the frozen mud and kept us from reaching our destination of Clinton, the county seat of Jones County. It was cold, very cold, and no one was happy. The early blast of winter and the fear of attack by General Wheeler and his ever circling Confederate cavalry kept nearly every one awake all night long. The foragers brought in a tasty feast of fresh pork and sweet potatoes.
We set out at 10:00 a.m. for Clinton, a muddy, dirty and dilapidated town. It's inhabitants having fled for the hills and the swamps, the town seemed abandoned. A courier came up and told us that the Rebs had given up Milledgeville to the 20th Division without a fight. We marched until dark through pitifully infertile sandy woods.
Arriving in Gordon the following morning, the column rested in defensive works, which had been put up by advance troops. While the locals were virtually starving, these "blue bellies" took time to clean their clothes and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast of pork, swee potatoes, corn bread, honey and cobbler.
Irwinton, the seat of Wilkinson County, was next on our itinerary. Leaving a dawn, we found the main town buildings in heaps of ashes. Friday night was spent sitting around the camp fire and reading the Macon paper and listening to the braggadocios exploits of the conquering army.
We marched through miles of swamps before reaching the Oconee River at noon on Saturday. On the opposite side of the river at Ball's Ferry, the head of the division found a small resistance on the bank. After a short delay and the defenders were routed, we crossed the river on pontoons and made it up the arduous road to the high ground. We took the road to the left and turned in the direction of Tennille and the Central of Georgia Railroad.
Lt. Platter was fascinated by palm leaf plants and Spanish moss growing along the route. As we passed through the countryside, detachments of men broke off and headed toward every farm house along the way, returning with new food stuffs and all sorts of souvenirs. As we paused near Piney Mount Church, I noticed one officer berating a group of privates celebrating their bounty as they came out of a long house. The officer, upon the recognition that the house was the former home of Lt. Asa Gordon Braswell, but more importantly a member of the Masonic brotherhood, ordered all of the stolen goods to be returned immediately. We halted and for 90 minutes tried to decide what to do. The column halted at Peacock's Crossing. Wandering around the area, I found the grave of Lt. Braswell on the far side of a cotton field. He died just weeks before the fighting began in earnest in Virginia in May 1862.
The column turned south at dawn the next morning. Just a few miles down the road we came upon a farmstead with a fair number of livestock in the fields. I decided to go along with a foraging party. We were met by a tiny, black-haired, olive-skinned young woman and her siblings. As she approached us, I glanced over in the woods and saw the head of man peeking out of a hollowed out log. The defiant headstrong woman stepped forward and said, "Sir, my name is Elmina Smith Brantley. My husband was killed and taken from me by you Yankees in Maryland. You aren't going to be taking anything else of mine and my family, so get off my land."
I suggested that we let the little woman have all she could carry back to her house. Her little brothers ran back to the house and fetched a bread tray and a couple of water buckets. I helped her fill them with still bloody scraps of meat. The prime cuts were already snapped up by the greedy butchers. After all this little woman was my great great grandmother.
We got to a town which the town's folks called Wrightsville. I heard Lt. Platter remark, "this is the most miserable town I ever saw." Somehow we found ourselves on the wrong road, some six miles distant from the rest of the Federals. We intended to go to Johnsonville, not the county seat of Johnson County. We camped that afternoon about a mile and a half east of town. That night reports came in of a clash between local militia southeast of town along the Ohoopee River. Shots were fired and a Mr. Flanders was captured and taken as a prisoner.
The regiment turned north and joined the rest of the army as it made its way down the Central of Georgia Railroad to Sherman's prize, the City of Savannah. Sherman's March to the Sea was the single most devastating destruction of civilian property ever intentionally committed by a United States Army. Today, one hundred and forty three years later, the people of Georgia still feel the affects of the senseless acts of vengeance and greed.
Note: Asa Gordon Braswell was my great-great-great grandfather. The lady who defied the Yankees was his daughter in law Elmina Eliza Jane Rebecca Ann Smith Brantley Braswell. At the time of Sherman’s march, she was an 18 year old Confederate widow.
07-42
LAURENS COUNTY TURNS 200
Reflections of Two Centuries
Out of towners often ask, "What's the greatest thing about Laurens County?" They ask, " Do you have anyone famous from here?" I say, "It depends on what you mean by famous." I also say "We are the home of the parents of several famous people." Then they say, "Did you ever have a Civil War battle fought here?" I respond by saying, "No but if the Union cavalry had been here one day earlier, Confederate President Jefferson Davis would have been captured here and there would be a monument and museum to commemorate the event. Then I go back to the first question and say, "Well, the greatest thing about Laurens County are her people." I tell them about the life long friendships we have, fellowships which transcend race, religion and social status. Then I tell them how when ever something really needs to get done, there are usually a group of people here that will get it done, though there is always a corps of doubters and apathetic "do nothings" here and for that matter everywhere.
But when my mind really concentrates, I think about the heroes and those who excel in their triumphs of the human spirit. I think about the heroes of the armed services. From the last great war of World War I, to the big war of World War II, to the so called "police action" in Korea, to the misunderstood and maligned war in the jungles of Vietnam, visions of heroes flash through my mind. From Congressional Medals of Honor, to Navy Crosses, to Silver Stars and bronze ones as well, Laurens Countians are unparalleled in their devotion to do their duty for their country. They do it well, with honor, with bravery and they do it in unrivaled numbers. Even in today's mix of regular army and national guard soldiers, more of the citizen soldiers come from this part of Georgia than any other section of the state. We have served our countries from Gettysburg to San Juan to Marne, to Normandy to Hue. No county, and I mean, no Georgia county can match the heroism, gallantry and bravery of Laurens.
Donning a uniform is not the only form of public service. We have served as governors, senators and representatives, both at state and federal levels. Laurens Countians have led the departments of Justice and Agriculture at the capital. Laurens Countians have served on both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Georgia. Service is not left only to the politicians and the lawyers. Think of the thousands of us who have worked for decades as school teachers, most of the them for a mere pittance. Then there are the public safety employees who work, train and risk their lives while the rest of us sleep, eat and play. The next time you see one of these underappreciated and woefully underpaid public servants, shake their hand, buy their supper or simply say "thank you."
Do the math. If every one of the forty five thousand plus residents of this county performed only one hundred hours of volunteer service that would mean that there would be 4.5 million hours of helping each other. Anyone can do it. Everyone should do it. Don't just think about it. Do it!
Throw adversity at many Laurens Countians and you'll find a champion when the dust clears. Time after time, especially in recent years, the young men and women of Laurens County have shown the entire state that they are champions, not only in athletics, but champion kids as well. We have won world championships in baseball, football and basketball. We have played in the Masters Golf tournament, raced at Daytona and repaired the race cars of Grand Prix champions. Many have been named to All American teams across a broad spectrum of sports. One Dublin teacher was once billed as the fastest man in the world.
Champions of the business world can call Laurens County home. Georgia Power Company, the Atlanta Constitution, the Federal Reserve Board and the Coca Cola Company were led by folks from here. Two of us have served as Imperial Potentates of the Shrine of North America, who make it their mission to help needy children.
When all doubts are out of the shadows, the women of our county shine as brightly as anywhere else. For more than eight decades, the fairer sex have shown they can remarkable things. They were the first woman to be a Georgia judge, the first woman deputy attorney general, the first woman to head a medical department of a major black university and the first woman in Georgia to be a licensed dentist. One Laurens County girl founded the first sorority in the world. Another, Gen. Belinda "Brenda Higdon" Pinckney may retire from the United States Army as one of the highest ranking generals, either black or white, in the history of the Army. Heck, one Laurens County man, as governor of Georgia, appointed the first woman to serve in the United States Senate. Our women have been here from day one, garnering few headlines. If you look at IT, they are the reason the headlines were here in the first place. Hug your mom, kiss your wife and encourage your daughter, "You go girl, there's nothing you can't do."
Then there are the thinkers and those who excel when thinking outside the box is a good place to think. In the 1920s and 1930s alone, ten Laurens Countians were writing for major newspapers and magazines around the country. Dr. Reece Coleman helped to develop the first color camera to film the inside of a living human being. Capt. Joseph Logue, former director of the Naval Hospital, reacted to the complaints of the U.S. Marine Corps and ordered the first use of DDT to combat insect bites during World War II.
And last but not least, there are those who refuse tot believe "it can't be done." Take Claude Harvard for example. Harvard, a poor black kid, sold salve to buy a radio, likely the first one in the county. His desire to learn took him to the highest levels of inventions for Ford Motor Company in the 1930s. Major Herndon Cummings and his fellow pilots stood up to the entire U.S. Army and led to President Truman's decision to integrate the armed forces. For the younger crowd, one Laurens Countian convinced networks to air MTV, Nicklelodeon, ESPN 2 and the Movie Channel. Dr. Robert Shurney, who grew up in the care of his grandparents and served his country in war time, went to back to college in his thirties and became, according to many experts, the leading black scientist of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, all without the benefit of a high school diploma.
The list goes on and on, but no matter how many plaques, awards, citations, hall of fame elections and newspaper headlines we garner, Laurens Countians do what they do because it needs to be done or simply it is the right, or the only thing, they can do. What do all of these people and thousands of others have in common? They are all natives or at one time residents of Laurens County just like you. Ask yourself, can you be champion or a hero? Sure you can and it doesn't take anything special; just serve others in your community and your community will serve you. Don't seek recognition. Just do it, do it well and do it with a passion. The rewards will flow back to you beyond all imagination. As we end the first two hundred years of our county's history, I challenge all of you to remember that our most important history is not in our past, but it lies in our future.
07-43
THE FOUNDING OF LAURENS COUNTY
Laurens County was created on December 10, 1807 by an act of the Georgia Legislature. The enacting law, in taking the middle portion of Wilkinson County, defined its boundaries as " all that part of Wilkinson County lying between the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers, beginning at the mouth of Big Sandy Creek on the Oconee River running thence sixty degrees west to the Ocmulgee River, thence down the course of the same to the upper corner of the Fourteenth Land District on said river, thence along the upper line of the Fourteenth District to the Oconee River, thence up the same to the point of beginning. The original Laurens County, stretching from the old frontier line of Georgia to the new frontier line on the Ocmulgee, was bounded on the south by the new county of Telfair - created on the same day as Laurens County was formed - and included all of present day Wheeler, Dodge, and Bleckley Counties and a portion of Pulaski County. Georgia honored Col. John Laurens of South Carolina by naming its newest county, Laurens County, in his honor.
The first order of business for the new county was to form a county government. Under the laws prevailing at the time, counties were governed by five justices of the Inferior Court, who were elected by the male citizenry. There was no tri parte form of government as we know today. The Justices of the Court acted as a legislative, executive, and judicial body, sharing jurisdiction of civil and criminal cases with the Superior Court and retaining sole jurisdiction of decedent's estates, guardianships, and marriages, now handled by the Probate Court. The court was given the authority by the Georgia legislature in 1810 to oversee the drawing of petit or trial juries and grand juries for matters pending in the Superior Court, this being due to the fact that the judge of the Superior Court was usually unavailable for the process. The first justices chosen to sit on the Inferior Court of Laurens County were: Thomas Davis, Thomas Gilbert, Edmund Hogan, William O'Neal, and Peter Thomas. William O'Neal had served in that capacity in Wilkinson County from the inception of that county.
Peter Thomas, owing to the fact that as he was a member of the court and that as there had been no county government formed until that time with the authority to build a courthouse, graciously offered the court the use of an outbuilding near his home for holding its sessions until a courthouse could be built. It is reasonable to assume that Thomas had moved to that location prior to the formation of the county. While it is impossible to determine the exact location of Thomas's home, deed records seem to indicate that it may have been near the east side of Turkey Creek in Land Lot 21 of the 2nd Land District, just above the Lower Uchee Trail. The area, although not centrally located geographically, was located near the intersection of the Uchee Trail and an Indian trail leading from Indian Springs through Macon toward Savannah and in the most populated area of the county in the first and second land districts, which had been granted to citizens two and one half years earlier.
The intersection is still known today as Thomas's Crossroads. Major Peter Thomas came to Laurens County in 1808 from Montgomery County where he had been a State Representative and Tax Receiver in 1806. Peter Thomas assembled a large plantation in the area. Maj. Thomas bought Land Lot 21 from Frederick G. Thomas of Hancock County in 1806 and Land Lot 28 from Clement Lanier for $500.00 on October 15, 1808. The sale price of the second land lot, located south of the crossroads seems to indicate improvements to the land, which may have been a small house. On August 10, 1809, Maj. Thomas paid $800.00 for the fractional Land Lot 6, which he bought in partnership with Abner Davis. Again the high price suggests some type of improvements, possibly a grist mill. It appeared that Maj. Thomas had disposed of his land by 1809 and moved away from the area. Then again, he is shown as living in Laurens County as late as February 17, 1819.
The first session of the Inferior Court was held on the fourth day of January, in 1808. The first order of the business, presumably after an opening prayer and preliminary remarks, was an adjournment until ten o'clock the next morning. The first matter heard by the justices was a petition by Andrew Hampton and David McDaniel, who held temporary letters of administration of the estate of William Darsey, who may have died while living in what was then Wilkinson County.
On the 2nd of February, the justices took up the division of Laurens County into districts. Laurens, like all other Georgia counties, were divided into militia districts. The use of militia districts dates back to the earliest decades of Georgia's existence as a colony. Each militia district was numbered beginning in 1804 and was known for many years primarily by the name of the district's captain - a practice which is exceedingly confusing to researchers since the captain was elected on an annual basis by the members of the district company. Every man in the district between the ages of sixteen and fifty were automatically enlisted in the militia. Each district's militia company was the lowest part of a chain of command under the overall command of the Governor of Georgia. In addition to their use for military defense, districts were also used for determining jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace Courts, boundaries of election districts, values of property subject to taxation, identifying locations of lands in head right counties, and any other purpose provided by law.
The Justice of the Peace or Magistrate Courts were the third level of courts in Georgia. The Justice of the Peace had the power to try minor criminal offenses and civil cases, along with the power to marry individuals. The first Justices of the Peace, appointed by the Justices of the Inferior Court during the their February session, were James Bracewell and Alexander Blackshear in the first district, John Fullwood and Andrew Hampton in the second district, Elisha Farnall and Joseph Denson, Sr. in the third district, Needham Stevens and Samuel Jones in the fourth district, and William Hall and Robert Duett in the fifth district. Each militia district had two constables, whose main duty was to aid the sheriff in keeping the peace in the district and during court sessions as well. The first Laurens County constables were John McBane and John Pollock in the first district, Gideon Mayo and John Williams in the second district, James Moore and Joseph Denson in the third district, John Jion and Henry Duett in the fourth district, and John Grinstead and William Morris in the fifth district. James Yarborough, selected by a majority of the justices, was named Clerk of the Court of Ordinary.
The cutting of new roads and the widening and improvement of old Indian trails were a top priority for the justices. On February 2, 1808 the justices ordered that a road, the first of three converging at the home of a Peter Thomas and the first seat of the county government, be established from Blackshear's Ferry on the Oconee River to Fishing Bluff on the Ocmulgee River. This road followed the Uchee Trail for the most part, crossing Turkey Creek at the home of Peter Thomas, Rocky Creek at the Indian camp above where the path crosses, Little Ocmulgee River at the path, and ending at Fishing Bluff near the future site of Hartford on the Ocmulgee River. Peter Thomas, Samuel Sparks, Charles Higdon, and William Morris were appointed overseers of the road while Amos Love, Edmond Hogan, and Thomas Davis were appointed as commissioners of the road. The second road ran from Jeremiah Loftin's home to the home of Maj. Peter Thomas. During that first session of the court, the third road opened ran from Green's Ferry on the Oconee River to the home of Peter Thomas. This road ran from the ferry located in Land Lot 292 of the 2nd District in a westerly direction, possibly along Evergreen Road and turning southwest toward the home of Major Thomas.
More roads were ordered to be opened during the second session of the court in August of 1808. A short road from Beatty's Ferry to Trammel's Ferry was cut along the western banks of the Oconee. A major road running from the Oconee River at the future site of Dublin and opposite the community of Sandbar, to the Uchee Trail was cut under the supervision of George Gaines, Benjamin Darsey, and Charles Higdon. This road ran from Gaines's Ferry along or near East Jackson Street through present downtown Dublin and thence along Bellevue Avenue to the point where it turns into Bellevue Road. From that point the road, continuing in a southwesterly direction, ran to the beginning of Moore's Station Road. From that point the road ran across Turkey Creek through the lower edge of Palmetto Lakes Subdivision and striking Little Rocky Creek and then Rocky Creek just below the Kewanee community. From that point the road ran in a southwesterly direction along a road which is now called the Chicken Road through the current day communities of Rowland and Empire where, upon reaching the latter, it followed Highway 257 to the Uchee Trail crossing at the Ocmulgee. This road, known as the Chicken Road, is said to have followed an Indian trail. An examination of the surveys of area along the road from 1805 to 1807 failed to reveal the presence of any road or trail. During the August 1809 session of the Inferior Court, Jesse Green, Jesse Stephens, Terrel Higdon, Elijah Thompson, and John Underwood were appointed commissioners of a road running the length of the county "from the upper line down the river or the nearest and best way" crossing Turkey Creek at Whitehead's Mill. Thomas Fulghum and Reuben Harrelson were appointed commissioners of the road from Flat Creek to the lower county line. This road appears to have followed the Old Toombsoro Road through present day Dublin and down the Glenwood Road crossing Turkey Creek at what is today still called "Robinson's Bridges." The road may have turned more to the east or continued down the Glenwood Road to the lower county line.
The sale of spiritous liquor, regulated by the Inferior Court, was authorized during the August, 1809 session. Peter Thomas was granted a license to sell liquor at his store on the Uchee Trail near Turkey Creek, while Jonathan Sawyer, who would found the town of Dublin twenty two months later, was granted permission to sell spiritous liquor at the Sandbar. The court then authorized the clerk to approve any liquor license applications, without further order of the court.
Laurens County's white male voters selected Peter Thomas to represent the county in the Georgia House of Representatives in the first state election held in 1808. Thomas was re-elected the following year. Edmund Hogan, another of the first five justices of the Inferior Court, was elected as the county's first state senator. Jethro B. Spivey replaced Hogan in 1809, coinciding with Hogan's move to Pulaski County. Charles Stringer and Elisha Farnell succeeded Peter Thomas in the House in 1810 and 1811, while Henry Sheppard followed Spivey in the Senate.
Laurens County was assigned to the Ocmulgee Superior Court Circuit of Georgia, both created the same day. The first court session was held in an outbuilding near the home of Peter Thomas, presumably the same building in which sessions of the Inferior Court were held. Presiding over the session was Judge Peter Early of Greene County. John Clarke, the circuit's Solicitor General, known today as the District Attorney, tried the first case in the Superior Court. At the first session no case were tried, only six true bills of indictment were found. Charles Higdon, a member of that first grand jury, was himself indicted for bigamy by that same grand jury. Other members of the jury were Benjamin Adams, Benjamin Brown, William Boykin, Robert Daniel, Joseph Denson, Benjamin Dorsey (Darsey), Simon Fowler, Henry Fulgham, John Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, Leonard Green, Edward Hagan, Andrew Hampton, Mark Mayo, Gideon Mayo, George Martin, William McCall, Charles Stringer, John Speight, James Sartin, Jesse Stephens, Samuel Stanley, Samuel Sparks, George Tarvin, Joseph Vickers, Jesse Wiggins, Nathan Weaver, David Watson, Joseph Yarborough, and William Yarborough. Unfortunately only one of the major court record books of Laurens County is missing, that one being Minute Book A, the first one kept by Amos Love, Clerk of the Superior Court. There is some evidence to indicate that the book was used in the compilation of "History of Laurens County, Georgia, 1807-1841." However, diligent searches of the vaults of the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Laurens County have revealed no evidence of its presence.
Court sessions seemed to bring out the fighting spirit in several Laurens Countians. One of the first indictments was made against Amos Forehand, who in the presence of Alexander Blackshear, a member of the grand jury, wished "that Hell might be his Heaven, if he did not kill the Judge at the flash of a gun if the prisoner then in jail was a brother or relative of his. While this statement was by a legal technicality an assault, the judge, Peter Early, wasn't too pleased. Following the Forehand indictment, the grand jury indicted Samuel Riggins for insulting Clerk Amos Love by kicking him as he was leaving the home of Maj. Thomas. The third indictment handed down by the the October, 1808 grand jury was made against Michael Horne and the same Samuel Riggins for fighting in the courthouse yard, while the court was in session. Four years later William Monroe made the mistake of cursing the grand jury while standing in the door of the jury room and failing to leave when ordered to do so. Christopher Edwards mocked the baliff and cursed in the presence of the jury. James Drake made the same mistake as William Monroe and found himself indicted. Drury Roberts and Benjamin Faircloth were indicted for fighting in the courthouse yard during a session of the Ordinary Court.
The Georgia Legislature of Georgia enacted a law on December 1, 1809, fixing the site of the public buildings of Laurens County in the town of Sumpterville on a lot of land to be purchased by the justices of the Inferior Court. The justices were empowered to be the commissioners of the courthouse and jail with all the powers necessary to maintain them. The legislature directed the justices to set aside at least four acres of land for the seat of public buildings and other county purposes and gave them the right to sell any of the county's land adjoining the public lands. During the February session of the Inferior Court, the justices appointed Amos Love, Alexander Blackshear, Andrew Hampton, John Fullwood, Jethro B. Spivey, Simon Smith, Elisha Farnall, William Yarborough, Leonard Stringer and Stephen Vickers to assist the justices in the location of the county courthouse. The lands were evidently laid out or at least some plans were made to lay out the town. For some unknown reason the Georgia Legislature passed laws in 1812, and again in 1813, authorizing the Justices of the Inferior Court to reimburse purchasers of lots in Sumpterville. The act of 1812 mentions that lots were purchased and that the town of Sumpterville was square in shape.
Contrary to what is found in Laurens County History, 1807-1941, the town of Sumpterville was not located where the home of Peter Thomas was situated, or was it? The town of Sumpterville, according to tradition, was located on the site of the John Fullwood Place in Land Lot 39 of the First Land District, just west of the old Josiah Stringer Place. Fullwood purchased the 202.5 acre land lot on November 24, 1808. The one thousand dollar purchase price indicates that some type of building, or buildings, was located on the land. During the August session of the court in 1811, the justices ordered that Fullwood be paid the sum of thirty six dollars for building the courthouse at Sumpterville. Since there is no evidence of any purchase of any land by the Justices of the Inferior Court either in the deed records or in the minutes of the court, it is virtually impossible to determine exactly where the town of Sumpterville was located. One might determine that Sumpterville was indeed located near the home of Major Peter Thomas at the intersection of Turkey Creek and the Uchee Trail - also at the point where the first three Laurens County roads converged. The Uchee Trail was the best and most traveled road in Laurens County. Thomas's home was located in the 2nd Land District, the most heavily populated in the county. On August 6, 1811 the justices of the Inferior Court ordered that a road be cut from the intersection of the Sumpterville Road and the Gallimore Trail to run in an easterly direction. A year later the court ordered all hands above the Uchee Trail between Turkey Creek and the ridge which divides the tributaries of Turkey and Rocky Creeks to work on the road. This Sumpterville Road may have been the current day Wayne Road or a road which takes a similar path to the Old Macon Road, running parallel to the western bank of Turkey Creek.
The first census of Laurens County was taken in 1810 by Hugh Thomas, who was appointed by the Justices of the Inferior Court. While no names were enumerated, the total population of the county was 2,210. Laurens was third in population among the newest counties in Georgia, behind Baldwin County, the seat of the state government, and Twiggs County, which was rapidly becoming an economic and judicial center in Central Georgia.
With the loss of lands to Pulaski County a year earlier, county residents clamored for more land on the east side of the river. When it became apparent that the legislature would cut off a portion of Montgomery and Washington Counties east of the Oconee and place it in Laurens, local officials began to look for a new county seat. On December 13, 1810, the Legislature appointed John G. Underwood, Jethro Spivey, Benjamin Adams, John Thomas, and William H. Mathers as commissioners to purchase or acquire by donation any quantity of land, not to exceed one full land lot of two hundred two and one-half acres, at or within two miles of the place known by the name of Sandbar on the Oconee River as a site for the public buildings of Laurens County. The commissioners were directed to lay out the town into lots and sell the lots at a public sale, following an advertisement in "The Georgia Journal" and one Augusta newspaper. The commissioners were authorized to use the proceeds of the lot sales to erect a courthouse and jail, with any excess being used for county purposes. As a consequence of the removal of the county seat from Sumpterville, the justices were directed to issue refunds to any purchasers of lots at the old county seat, to cancel any contracts to purchase the same, and to sell all remaining lands at Sumpterville "as they think most expedient," with any proceeds being applied to the building of a new courthouse and jail. It is difficult to determine exactly when the decision was reached. It was most likely the commissioners who made their decision in short order.
The commissioners chose a site in Land Lot 232 of the First Land District about one half mile west of the Oconee River at a point directly opposite the Sandbar, the site of George Gaines's ferry and the traditional crossing of an old road leading from Macon to Savannah. Jonathan Sawyer, a former resident of the capital city of Louisville in Jefferson County, was appointed as Postmaster of Dublin on or before July 1, 1811. The origin of the name of the new town had nothing to do with the ethnic origin of Sawyer, who is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Peter Sawyer. Sawyer's wife, Elizabeth McCormick, died circa 1809 while bearing a child. Sawyer, being the postmaster, made an application to the Post Office Department in Washington for the name of his choosing. He chose the name Dublin, in honor of Dublin, Ireland, the hometown of his wife. Mrs. Sawyer's sister, Ann St. Clair McCormick Troup, was the first wife of George M. Troup, the up and coming Congressman from Coastal Georgia. Mrs. Troup, like her sister, Mrs. Sawyer, met an untimely death early in her young life.
Before there was a post office and before the town was officially incorporated, Jethro B. Spivey, John G. Underwood, Benjamin Adams, and W.H. Mathers conducted the first sale of town lots on May 23, 1811. Purchasers were expected to pay for the lots in four equal installments with the first payment coming due on January 1, 1812. On December 13, 1811, the legislature appointed Jonathan Sawyer, Jethro B. Spivey, John G. Underwood, Benjamin Adams, and Henry Shepherd to act as commissioners of the courthouse and other public buildings granting unto them the power "to lay out and sell such a number of lots as may be sufficient to defray the expenses of such public buildings as they may think necessary."
The choice of a county seat on the eastern edge of the county was predicated on the accession of new lands on the east side of the Oconee River. Three days before the town of Dublin was authorized as the county seat, the legislature approved an act to incorporate a part of Washington and Montgomery counties into Laurens County. The new lands, which had been already been inhabited for more than twenty five years, was described as beginning on the east side of the Oconee River, opposite the Laurens County line, and thence in a direct line to the mouth of Forts Creek; thence up the meanders of the same to the limestone rocks; thence in a direct line to Wood's Bridge on the Big Ohoopee River; thence down the Ohoopee River to Pugh's Trail at the Mt. Pleasant Ford; thence in a direct line to the head of Mercer's (sic Messer's) Creek; thence down said creek to the Oconee River.
With the accession of the land on the east side of the Oconee River in 1811, three new districts were added to Laurens County. They were the 52nd, today known as Smith's District, the 86th, today known as the Buckeye District, and the 87th, which is no longer in existence. The 52nd District included all that portion of the county which was formerly Montgomery County and which was south and east of the Uchee Trail leading northeast from Carr's Bluff and today includes all of Smith's, Carter's, Oconee, Jackson, and Rockledge Districts. The 86th G.M. District included all of the land above the Uchee Trail in what was Washington County until 1811. The 87th District, probably abolished with the cession of the lands along the western banks of the Ohoopee River in 1857 to Johnson County, may have included portions of both the 52nd and 86th districts in northeastern Laurens County.
The practice of naming militia districts ended in the 19th century when permanent names were given to each of the districts. From that point on the 52nd District was known as "Smith's" District, named in honor of the Smith family in general or Hardy Smith, Jr. in particular. The 86th was named the "Buckeye" District for the main community in the district, which was located on the new Buckeye Road, which was formerly the old Buckeye Road, about a mile north of its intersection with the Ben Hall Lake Road. The 341st District became known as the "Burgamy" District, in honor of John Burgamy, who may have been a captain of the district. The 342nd became known as the "Dublin" District for the county seat which lay within its bounds. The 343rd district was dubbed "Pinetucky," probably in recognition of the thousands of pine trees covering this district, the largest district of original Laurens County. The 344th was known as the Hampton Mills District in honor of Andrew Hampton, a prominent resident of the district. The 345th District was named in honor of David Harvard, a prominent resident of the district. The 391st Bailey District was named for Henry Bailey, a large landowner who lived on the Old Toomsboro Road.
07-44
RETURN TO OZ
For nearly seventy years, Karl Slover has been following the Yellow Brick Road to the land of Oz. Though he and his fellow midget actors were on screen for less than ten minutes in the epic film “The Wizard of Oz,” the Munchkins have become icons of American cinematic history. Finally, and most fittingly, seven of the nine surviving members of the Munchkin cast returned to Hollywood, California, where their legend began in 1939. During the week of Thanksgiving, on a boulevard lined with golden stars, Karl Slover, Mickey Carroll, Ruth Duccini, Margaret Pelligrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Clarence Swensen and Jerry Maren accepted a well deserved and long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on behalf of the 124 actors, who welcomed Dorothy Gale over the rainbow.
Many people thought that the Munchkins were already honored with their own stars. Chicago restauranteur Ted Bulthaup led the effort to have the Munchkins awarded their own star. His dream was aided by such Hollywood icons as Steven Speilberg, George Lucas, Ted Turner and dozens more. Actually they are the only group of characters to be so honored for their memorable, albeit brief, appearance on the big screen.
Karl Slover, a resident of the Sheridan Place in Dublin, received the news this past summer. The 89-year- old Slover frequently travels throughout the country to Oz festivals and autograph sessions. Upon the receipt of the news, Sheridan director Gina Ensley Drown and her staff began the preparations for the trip to Hollywood during the week of Thanksgiving. A dozen Dubliners traveled to Hollywood to accompany Karl. Ten travelers stayed up all night following a Dublin football game to catch an early morning flight. The celebration began on Sunday night with a delicious meal hosted by Mayor Phil Best and his wife Cile at the L.A. Prime, some three hundred feet above downtown Los Angeles. Mayor Best presented an honorary award to Karl, who was accompanied by his niece Gay Griffit.
The festivities began in earnest on November 19 at Graumann’s Chinese Theater. The Hollywood Preservation Society sponsored a showing of “The Wizard of Oz.” It would be the last time that this legendary film, specially enhanced just for this showing, would ever be shown in its technicolor format on the big screen. The entrance to the theater, one of the country’s most historic movie houses, was lined with yellow brick road carpet, a battalion of cameramen, and a few hundred adoring fans and passers by. My son Scotty and I, along with Pam Green of WDIG-TV got our crowded guard rail spots two hours early. The official media stood in relative comfort across the aisle in their reserved places. While the rented spotlights beamed into the unusually foggy L.A. sky, the honored guests began to arrive.
As the Munchkins began to walk down the yellow carpet, a hoard of media, more voracious than the wicked witch’s monkeys, swarmed over Karl and the other midget actors. They don’t mind being called midgets, because that’s what they are. After the honorees had their pictures taken with the sponsors and in clips for the national networks, the ceremony opened with a humorous introduction by Gary Owens, of “Laugh In” and “The Gong Show” fame. Stan Taffel, a comedian and Hollywood historian interviewed the Munchkins. When it came Karl’s turn, he began to sing “We’re off to see the Wizard,” a charming tune which drew a loud round of applause and quite a few tears.
The feature of the night was the showing of the Wizard of Oz in the same theater it premiered in August 1939. The picture was so clear you really could see the freckles on Dorothy’s face. If you have never seen the movie on a big screen, you missed a wonderful treat. And though most of the audience had seen the movie before - some dozens of times - there was reciting of the lines, applause, laughter, and cheers throughout the showing. Some in the Dublin delegation drew the attention of several photographers and a documentary cinematographer as we were all dressed in emerald city green attire, each of us wearing specially designed “Karl Slover Fan Club” buttons. Also present that night were actresses Tippi Hedren, of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” Margaret O’Brien of “Meet Me in St. Louis” and a childhood friend of Judy Garland, and Anne Rutherford, who played a sister of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind.” The granddaughter of Frank Morgan, who portrayed the Wizard and several other Emerald City residents, was in attendance along with the great grandson of L. Frank Baum, the writer and creator of the story. There were also several actors who portrayed Munchkins present, but because they were children and not midgets, they were inexplicably - to me anyway - not included in the festivities.
The highlight of the week came on Tuesday morning with the star presentation ceremony. Hosted by Johnny Grant, the “Mayor of Hollywood,” and Joe Luft, son of Judy Garland, and a squad of politicos, the ceremony began right on time. Covering the entrance to the theater was a tall arch of balloons simulating a rainbow. The Munchkins arrived from their hotel rooms in a carriage, pulled by a horse of a different color. This particular steed was a pale purple one. The crowd swelled. The Hollywood High School band played. Cameras went high into the air to catch a glimpse of the little people as they approached the podium. We had been at our station near the star site for two hours, long before any of the crowd arrived.
The Munchkins walked down a wider and much longer yellow carpet strip to the site of their star, located at the far eastern end of the theater. In front of a battery of television and still photographers and barely within our view, the star was finally unveiled. After thousands of photographs and hours of film were taken, Karl and his comrades were given another carriage ride back to the Roosevelt Hotel.
Following the presentation ceremony, a luncheon was held in honor of the Munchkins in the Blossom Room of the hotel. In the very room where the first Academy Awards were held in 1929, the tables were decorated with green table cloths and illuminated underneath to give the room a virescent glow, reminiscent of the chamber of the Wizard of Oz. Behind the dais was a striking rendition of the Emerald City. The tables were decorated with baskets filled with red poppies and a stuffed toy version of Toto. The luncheon passed all too quickly before the actors were once again whisked off to face the media for one final time and much to the chagrin of autograph seekers who had politely waited until they finished eating.
Karl’s final night in Hollywood was spent with his niece and the folks from Dublin in a quiet restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. Following a long day and puny luncheon food, Karl enjoyed the largest hamburger he ever saw. Still hungry, Karl downed a big bowl of chocolate ice cream.
Karl enjoyed the visit and appreciated the honor that he and his fellow Munchkins had finally received. Though he was honored to be there, he found nothing very exciting in Hollywood like he did seventy years ago. Feeling smothered by the media sticking microphones in his face and blinding his eyes with spot lights, the little man with the big smile was glad to be back in the “Emerald City” of Dublin. “Heck yeah, I am glad to be home,” Karl said, “after all, there’s no place like home.”
07-01
DR. ROBERT E. SHURNEY
Better Than Anyone Thought He Could Be
The wood paneled walls of Bob Shurney's home office are nearly covered
with an eclectic array of plaques, presentations and proclamations, all in a testament of his thirty-six years of public service to his country. Overcoming the tragedy of his mother dying at a young age, this Dublin native served his country admirably both on the ground and in the air. This is a story of a man who was given an equal opportunity to show his abilities and became one of the most important men in the
history of manned space flight.
Robert Ellerston Shurney was born in Dublin, Georgia on December 29,
1921. His parents, Vance Shurney, Sr. and St. Clair Weston, were also the parents of Vance Jr., Green Weston and Edna Louise. Vance Shurney, a native of Cochran, Georgia, lived at various places while he in lived in Dublin. After World War I, he moved from his home at 302 N. Washington Street to another home on Cooper Street. Vance, Sr. worked as a fireman for the Dublin Lumber Company during World War I while St. Clair was a teacher. St. Clair Shurney died when Robert was only ten years old. Robert was devastated and reportedly never knew how his mother died. Robert and his siblings moved to San Bernadino, California to live with their grandparents. It would be another quarter of a century before Robert would see his father again. Vance Shurney returned to Dublin, where he died on January 16, 1991 at the age of one hundred years.
Robert Shurney always had a talent for building and designing things. He worked as an auto mechanic as a teenager. Economics forced Robert to withdraw from school to help support the family during the Great Depression. His grandparents wanted Robert to be a minister, but he wanted to be an engineer. Robert was able to fulfill his parent's dream of his receiving a Christian education. He was sent to Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, where Shurney still lives today.
Robert Shurney moved to Washington, D.C. and was drafted into the service in World War II. Shurney seemed to have a natural born aptitude for medicine and helping others and became a medic in the United States Army at Camp Meade, Virginia. He served in the army during the invasion of France and endured the horrors of war on a first hand basis as the Allied forces moved across France and Germany. After his three-year hitch in the Army, Shurney retired to civilian life.
He returned to California after he married the former Miss Susie Flynt. Robert and Susie were blessed with three children twins, Glenn and Glendon Patricia "Peggy," and Darrell. Afterwards the Shurneys moved to Nashville, Tennessee where the course of Bob Shurney's life would change forever. It was in Nashville where their last child, Ronald "Ronnie," was born.
Robert returned to the medical field when he took a job as an engineer in the Riverside Hospital. It was at the hospital where Shurney's life's mission was steered in another direction by Dr. Carl Dent, the hospital administrator. Shurney wanted to help others and to become a success to support his family in the process. Dr. Dent and some of Shurney's other colleagues and friends urged him to attend college. One friend told him it was impossible, a statement which spurred Robert to enter college. In the 1950s, it was nearly impossible for a man of thirty-five years of age with four children to attend college, much less a black man in the South. But Shurney persevered. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering from Tennessee State A & I University in Nashville in 1962.
The most exciting field of engineering in the late 1950s and early 1960s was the space program, which was begun in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Shurney applied for a job at NASA, but was turned down. The only jobs at NASA on those days were for only menial tasks. Shurney called upon his sister-in-law who waked with Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Kings contacted U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who along with the powerful African American Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, convinced the Space Administration to hire Robert. Shurney returned to Huntsville, where he was hired after a favorable interview in the latter months of 1962. The faces of engineering labs and test facilities was about to change for ever. No longer would every engineer be a white male with a buzz cut, black framed glasses and a slide rule in his hand. Many times the white workers believed he was the janitor. On many occasions, he was the only African-American in the briefing rooms.
In an interview with John G. Radilowicz of the Buhl Planetarium and Observatory, Shurney recalled his first meeting with the Mercury astronauts. "They said they were looking for the one in charge of weightlessness training, and they went to every white person in the room asking if they were the person who ran the program," he said. "And when they finished asking all the whites, the whites pointed to me. It was my program," Shurney recalled. In his career at NASA, Shurney trained 90 percent of the program's early astronauts. Shurney worked in the Apollo
program coordinating aircraft and hardware schedules and testing systems and components.
Gemini and Apollo astronaut James Lovell in writing of his experiences with African-American in the space program lauded the roles that people of color played in the early days of the space program. Lovell said, "many people I meet think the space program was the exclusive domain of white, middle-aged men with crew cuts. But the reality is that African-Americans have played an active and important part in space exploration since the very beginnings of the program." In his essay written for NASA Quest, Lovell first cited Shurney for his contributions to the Apollo Program.
Another of Robert Shurney's first major assignments at NASA was to work with the weight distribution of the Saturn V rocket. The precise flight of the gigantic rocket, the most powerful ever designed by the United States, was absolutely critical to the agency's accomplishment of the goals set by President John F. Kennedy of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of the 1960s.
All of Shurney's hard work on the Saturn V rocket culminated on November 9, 1967 with the successful launch of the first rocket on November 9, 1967, for which he received a personal citation from Dr. Werner Von Braun, Director of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. Shurney participated in all of the Apollo flights including man's first moon circumnavigation on the Apollo 8 mission on Christmas Eve in 1969 and man's first landing on the moon on July 20, 1969.
Perhaps Shurney's most well known and most heralded contribution to the space program came during the Apollo 15 mission. Mission planners were charged with the design of missions which would require the moonwalkers to seek out and retrieve the greatest variety of moon rocks as possible. Though the moon's low gravity allowed the astronauts to move easily across the lunar surface, it became imperative that the astronauts be able to move long distances without arduous and dangerous hikes across alien surfaces. Though three successful moon landings yielded a tremendous amount of data about the lunar surfaces, engineers were still uncertain as to the stability and composition of the moon's soil under the weight of the vehicle, its cargo of moon rocks and the two astronauts.
NASA assigned Shurney to design a tire for the vehicle which would allow the rover to move across the moon's surface free of bogging down in the thin soil. Shurney studied all of the available data and came up with a design with metal chevrons giving the rover the greatest traction possible, all the time keeping the vehicle within the weight restrictions during the launch. "There were a lot of things we didn't know about the lunar surface. We didn't know the dust profile. And so we took from the information that we were able to obtain and eventually came up with the idea of the chevrons that are on the lunar rover wheel. We designed it in such a way that it would keep the dust off the crewmen and they could see where they were going. The wheels left a trail like a rooster's tail. That's where we got the idea," Shurney said.
Shurney's design proved to be a success on July 31, 1971 when astronauts David Scott and James Irwin became the first men to drive a vehicle on the Moon. The Apollo 15 astronauts traveled slightly more than twenty-seven kilometers during their three-day visit to the Moon. The rover was used on the final two Apollo missions, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 contributing greatly to the success of the missions and the entire Apollo program as well.
As a part of his studies of the moon's surface, Shurney also developed a device to measure the depth of and any vibrations emanating from the lunar surface. Until future visitors return to the moon and retrieve the lunar rovers, they will remain on the surface, along with their tracks.
After rebounding from the devastating premature end to the Apollo program, Shurney and other NASA scientists went to work on the Skylab program, which utilized the hardware left over from the cut Apollo missions. Perhaps the most important part of the missions, aside from their technical aspects, was the strain on the human body during extended periods of weightlessness. Once again, Shurney was called upon to design systems and devices to allow the astronauts to function in a gravity free environment.
Early astronauts trained in pools of water to simulate weightlessness. NASA converted a KC-135 airplane into a flying laboratory to provide astronauts with twenty to thirty seconds of actual weightless conditions by flying upward at a forty-five-degree angle and then rapidly descending. The plane would fly "roller coaster" style for hours leading to its nickname of "The Weightless Wonder," or more affectionately, "The Vomit Comet." Shurney reportedly flew more than six hundred hours in the training aircraft, more than any other NASA employee, primarily during the Skylab flights and early flights of the Space Shuttle.
Basic human functions had to be addressed in a zero gravity environment. Just going to the bathroom in a toilet could become a messy and difficult process. Shurney designed and successfully tested toilets aboard the KC-135 for the Skylab missions, which lasted until the latter years of the 1970s. Just eating could also be an arduous task. Without gravity, some foods would simply fly apart before they could be eaten. Some sort of binding agent was necessary to keep the foodstuffs together. Once again, Shurney analyzed the problem and devised a solution to keep the astronaut's meals together. He even designed a special container to store the food in and utensils to eat the food with.
Spacecraft orbiting the Earth face the problem of intense heat on the sunny side of the craft and intense cold on the dark side. Shurney, along with others, designed a solar shield and solar panel. The shield insulated the spacecraft from the heat, while the panel helped provide a constant source of energy to power the orbital station's batteries and equipment. Many of Shurney's designs like the commode and food utensils have been utilized on the shuttle missions.
Shurney continued his education while working at NASA. In 1986, at the age of sixty-five years, Dr. Shurney received his PhD degree in physics from Columbia Pacific University in San Rafael, California. Shurney wrote, "During my time as an aerospace engineer, I kept abreast of new innovations in space by attending many colleges and universities, including Meharry Medical College, Howard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Alabama and the University of Oklahoma." He wrote many technical manuals and scientific journal articles. In 1990, after thirty six years of government service, twenty-eight of them with NASA, Dr. Robert E. Shurney retired. During his years in the space program, Dr. Shurney was awarded the First Lunar Apollo Flight Award, the Apollo Achievement Award and the Skylab Achievement Award along with a myriad of certificates of appreciation and letters of commendation.
After retiring, Dr. Shurney's service to his community did not stop. The doctor has lectured on college campuses around the country and as a judge at numerous science fairs. He has volunteered whenever and wherever he could. He is an ardent fund raiser for his alma mater, Oakwood Junior College.
Nearly a half century ago, Robert Shurney must have felt the whole world was against him. Today, he is just now receiving the recognition he so richly deserves for leading men into space and to the surface of the moon. He battled the obstacles in his way with dignity, perseverance and natural intelligence. Shurney believes that other underprivileged kids like him can still succeed with the right motivation and determination. " You don't have to do drugs. You don't have to stay out all night long. You don't have to prove anything to anybody but yourself. Have some plan for your life. Strive to be better than what people might expect you to be," Dr. Shurney contends. He ought to know. He's been there and done that more than anyone could have ever imagined that cold December day when he entered this world in Dublin, Georgia nearly eighty-five years ago.
07-02
GENERAL DAVID BLACKSHEAR
The Early Years
If you were asked to list the ten most influential persons in the history of Laurens County, you would have to include the name of General David Blackshear. In many lists, he would be near the top, certainly first in chronological order. This is the story of a remarkable man, who as a child fought to defend his state from British invaders, as a young man braved the wilderness of the Georgia frontier, as a middle-aged adult, he led armies to protect the fledgling state of Georgia from the British and hostile Indians in the War of 1812 and as a wise old sage, the old general guided the state through some its greatest turmoils.
David Blackshear was born on January 31, 1764 in Craven County, later Jones County, North Carolina. The third of eight children of James and Catherine Franck Blackshear, young David was reared in a home, seven miles above Newton on the banks of Chinquapin Creek near Trenton. David's grandfather Alexander Blackshear came to North Carolina as early as 1732. Blackshear arrived in the colony in the company of John Martin Franck and Phillip Miller. They landed in New Haven. As soon as they were able to secure sufficient transportation, the families traveled up the Trent River about twenty miles before coming ashore. There they found a wilderness west of New Bern, which had been settled in 1710. They carried their sole possessions with them since there was no stock for food and no horses for transportation. These stalwart German immigrants immediately went to work building their homes. Blackshear applied for and was granted a patent to obtain his land from the Crown.
The Blackshears and their related matriarchal relatives were of German ancestry. Alexander Blackshear made out his last will and testament on October 3, 1785. In it, he named his wife Agnes and children, James, Eleanor Bailey, Elisha, Abraham, Sarah Clifton and a granddaughter Susanna Fordham, who apparently was a daughter of another daughter. Agnes Blackshear died sometime in or shortly after 1793. John Franck and his wife Civel had two daughters, Barbara and Catherine. Catherine first married a Mr. Bush and had two sons, John and William. Bush died in the late 1750s and his widow married James Blackshear. James and Catherine had James, Edward, David, Elizabeth, Susannah, Elijah, Penelope and Joseph. Barbara Franck married Daniel Shine. The Shines lived ten miles above Trenton. Mrs. Shine was given the honor of entertaining General George Washington on his tour of the South in 1791.
David and his siblings had a meager education at best. Periodically a traveling teacher might be hired to teach the children the fundamentals of writing and reading. Most days of spring and summer were spent learning the science and art of agriculture.
Edward, born on January 20, 1762, married Emily Mitchell. He lived for a time in Montgomery County before joining the mass migration to Thomas County, where he died in 1829. Elizabeth, born on September 16, 1765, married Blake Bryan. The daughter Mary, married the legendary Maj. Gen. Ezekiel Wimberly of Twiggs County, Georgia. Susannah, born on May 27, 1769, married Edward Bryan. Following his death in 1813, Susannah and her sons moved to Twiggs County to be closer to their family. Elijah, born on July 17, 1771, never married. He died in Laurens County in1821 and is buried in the old yard at Vallambrosa. Penelope, born on April 13, 1773, married Edward Bryan, and joined her sisters and their Bryan husbands in Twiggs County. Joseph, the youngest child, was born on September 7, 1775. He married Winifred, sister of Col. William A. Tennille, Secretary of State of Georgia. He died in Laurens County in 1830.
In the late spring of 1775, reports of the encounter between Massachusetts minute men and British Army regulars at Concord and Lexington reverberated throughout the backwoods of Jones County. Militia units in the area forced the British to abandon New Bern, then the capital of North Carolina. The British army under the command of General McDonald rendezvoused at Cross Creek on February 15, 1776. Present were a force of 1600 men composed of Highlanders, loyalists and eleven dozen ex-Regulators. The Blackshears and their neighbors did not take this threat lightly. Guns, tools and any weapon capable of inflicting deadly harm were grabbed up by men of fighting age.
On the morning of February 27, 1776, the loyalists were moving north across Moore's Creek some twenty miles north of Wilmington. There as they crossed a bridge, partially disassembled to retard their progress. They were met by a force of a thousand patriots who pounced upon them in utter surprise. Expecting only light opposition as their column moved through the countryside, the Scottish Highlanders were dazed and confused as the North Carolinians assaulted them with deadly effect. As the enemy chaotically left the field in retreat, they left valuable wagons, weapons and huge sums of silver coins. Thirty enemy soldiers were dead. Some 850 more were captured. The defeat at Moore's Creek effectively ended Tory activities in the area for years to come. Present that day, probably somewhere in the rear of the fighting, was a twelve-year-old David Blackshear, along with his older brothers James and Edward. The young warrior was also present at the Battle of Buford's (Beauford's) Bridge.
After the battle, David returned home and for three months of school before being tutored by James Alexander Campbell Hunter Peter Douglass, an eccentric Scotsman. In his latter years Blackshear related a tale about a time when the professor instructed the class to spell the word "corn," which his pronounced "korrun." Each student spelled the word just as they had heard it. Upon an examination of their papers, the Scotsman became so infuriated that he flogged every single member of the class and sent them home.
David's oldest brother, James Blackshear, Jr., and his cousin, Martin Franck were appointed to raise a company of militia to defend their local area. A scouting party composed of James, Edward and David, along with Martin Franck, Peter Callaway and several others, was sent out under the command of Captain Yates to locate, capture and kill, if necessary, a band of Tories. The party stopped to rest for the night at the home of Col. White. James, Martin and Peter continued on to James's home some five or six miles further away.
Just as the men were sitting down for a well-desired supper, the house was surrounded by Tories. James and Martin were taken out of the house, carried to the end of the lane, tied to stakes and executed without mercy. Somehow Peter Callaway escaped. A Negro man ran as fast as he could to Col. White's house. Following closely on his trail, a band of Tories set out to destroy the remaining Whigs. With only seven horses for fourteen men, Yates set out toward the Blackshear home. Just as they left the gate outside the White house, they were ambushed by the Tories, hidden on both sides of the road, killing one patriot and wounding several others, including Edward Blackshear, who was shot in both hands as he was riding double with another man. The Whigs scrambled for the nearest cover. Captain Yates, his collar bone broken, fired and killed the Tory captain. After the skirmish ended, the Loyalist leader was promptly, and without a moment's hesitation, tied to a stake. A flurry of gunshots inflicted sweet revenge on the murder of their compatriots.
Those who have not studied the history of the American Revolution in the South do not realize the barbarous acts inflicted by Tories on the Patriots and vice versa. It was the country's first Civil War, and unlike the conflict which would follow nine decades later, neighbors killed neighbors.
With the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the State of Georgia signed the treaty of Washington. The agreement with the Indian tribes who owned the lands provided a cession of all the lands from present day Athens down the Oconee and Altamaha Rivers to present day Tattnall County. The new county was named Washington in honor of the most prominent founding father of the country.
David Blackshear, though lacking in any substantial mathematical training, developed an interest in surveying. He taught himself how to use a transit, compass and protractor to survey land. Services of trained surveyors were at a premium and the mapping and division of the new county of Washington drew the young man to Georgia. He made several trips to Georgia, first in Wilkes County and then into Washington County. Life for a 18th Century surveyor wasn't easy. With no comforts of home, surveyors trampled through swamps, creeks, briar patches and were constantly in fear of attack by Indians, who still possessed lands west of the Oconee River.
David Blackshear settled along the banks of the Oconee River about the year 1790. He chose the perfect spot for a home, one just above the point where the ancient Lower Uchee Indian Trail crossed the Oconee River at Carr's Bluff. Then in Washington County, Blackshear chose a tract of land with fine river bottom lands and a prime spot for his home on an elevated ridge. The only trouble was that he chose a place which was subject to numerous depredations by some Creek Indian hunters who had been displaced from the lands some seven years prior. Blackshear's grants of land totaled more than twenty one hundred acres, the largest being 1084 acres in 1793. Grants of the latter's size usually indicated that the grantee had performed some public service to the state beyond the standard 287.5 acre grants given to soldiers of the Continental Line.
Many of the conflicts along the lower Oconee River centered around Carr's Bluff on the eastern banks of the Oconee River in north central Laurens County. Carr's Bluff is relatively small in comparison with higher bluffs up river. Its importance was derived from its location. The bluff is located at the point where the Lower Uchee Trail crossed the Oconee River. The trail was used by Indians in their travels between the Augusta area and lower portions of Georgia and Alabama. The trail seems to have been used throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and may have been in use long before then. According to some early Georgia historians, it was the path taken by the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, while on his expedition in May of 1540.
In 1792, the clouds of war once again came into this area. While negotiations were pending at Rock Landing, attacks continued along the eastern banks of the Oconee. Indian agent Seagrove went from village to village asking for the return of stolen animals. In July, Captain Benjamin Harrison had six horses stolen from him by Uchee Indians. Harrison lived at Carr's Bluff, across from the present day Country Club. Settlers in what would become eastern Laurens County stepped up their defenses. An old Indian trail leading along the eastern edge of the river was used for border patrols. This may have been the Milledgeville-Darien Road. The settlers petitioned the Georgia governor for ammunition and forts. The State built an outpost called Fort Telfair at Carr's Bluff on the Oconee River in 1793. The people built their own forts arming their families and even their slaves. On April 18, 1793, the Indians raided the home of William Pugh near Carr's Bluff. Pugh was the son of Col. Francis Pugh for whom Pugh's Creek in eastern Laurens County is named. Pugh was killed and scalped in the attack. Four horses were taken and one slave was captured. The situation eased when the Oconee's waters rose, creating a natural barrier to an attack.
In the summer of 1793, armies were being raised all over Georgia to protect against further raids. Benjamin Harrison, a resident of the Carr's Bluff area, bore the brunt of these constant attacks of horse taking and killing of livestock. Captain Benjamin Harrison simply hated Indians. Harrison once said "that there should never be a peace with the Indians whilst his name was Ben Harrison for he was able to raise men enough to kill half the Indians that might come to any treaty." Benjamin Harrison is said to have been a frontier character with a patch over an eye and piece of his nose missing. Harrison, a captain of the local militia, called his men together for a mission to retrieve some of his stolen horses. The company moved along the Lower Uchee Trail until they reached the home of the Uchee King who promised him that the horses would be returned. At another time, Harrison's men overtook a group of Indians taking three of their guns. Timothy Barnard, the husband of a Uchee woman, convinced Harrison to return the guns and the matter was temporarily resolved.
By October of 1793, Harrison's ire had once again been raised by the Indians. Captain Harrison's company and other companies under the command of Major Brenton set out from Carr's Bluff in defiance of General Jared Irwin. Their destination was a Chehaw village on the Flint River. Their objective was to capture any runaway slaves and stolen property. They found the village defended by sixteen males and four slaves. The rest of the men were in Florida hunting for game. A battle ensued with two Georgians and three Indians being killed.
In early May of 1794, Indian agent Seagrove invited the Lower Creeks and Uchees to return to their hunting grounds along the Oconee River while treaty negotiations continued. That same month Georgia's war hero, General Elijah Clarke, was about to embark upon an attack on the Spanish at St. Augustine. Clarke and his men were supported by the French government. The expedition left from the upper Oconee area down an old Indian trail along the western side of the Oconee River. The men camped at Carr's Bluff on their route to Florida. Before he could invade, Clarke was convinced by the federal government to call off the attack.
On October 28, 1795, Georgia and the United States were drawn into an incident which nearly precipitated a war with the Creek Nation. A small group of Indians had crossed the Oconee River and were visiting friends in a home near Carr's Bluff. Benjamin Harrison, along with Mr. Vessels and their men, attacked the Indians, killing seventeen of them. The dead, which included five Creek and twelve Uchee, were thrown into the river. The next morning the Uchee rode along the Uchee Trail leading to the bluff. They planned a retaliatory strike at dawn. The Uchee surrounded Harrison's home. To their dismay Capt. Harrison was gone. They moved east attacking Bush's Fort with all haste. Bush was a stepbrother of future General David Blackshear and lived in the area south of Ben Hall Lake along the newly created Washington/ Montgomery County line. They captured the fort and killed one man. The horses were taken and the cattle were killed. The Creek chiefs protested the killings to the Georgia government. The legislature passed a resolution regretting the incident. Harrison and his men were arrested for murder, but were never tried.
In February of 1796, John Watts and his company of 17 men were at Hickory Bluff, two miles above Carr's Bluff on the Oconee. The men received information on the 6th that Indians had been committing depredations along the frontier. Some of the men started down the river in two canoes. The first canoe was fired upon. Joseph Blackshear, George Muse, and James Leonard in the second canoe heard the gunfire and quickly moved ashore. The firing continued for fifteen minutes. The next day Watts led a party to the scene of the incident. There he found a decapitated William Foster who had his intestines and private parts cut out. Israel Smith's bullet-riddled body was found skinned like an animal. Isham Carr testified that he was a member of the party sent to investigate the theft of horses and sundry articles on February 8th. He stated that the men on the land ran to the crossing point on the river. The militia fired on the forty to fifty Indians, who retreated and fired from the high ground. After a short time, the militia retreated when they feared they might be surrounded. He went with Major Blackshear, Captain Blackshear, and others on the 10th to look for the missing men. The men found a small cache of three guns, a pistol, powder, and some clothing which they believed to belong to the Indians. Carr found one dead man on the east bank of the river. His scalp had been taken and it was presumed he had tried to swim to the east side of the river to safety. Two men, Sparks and Leonard, were missing after the action and were presumed to have drowned in the attack.
While the negotiations for the Treaty of Colerain were pending, many of the hostilities ceased. By the spring of 1797, the Indians were becoming impatient with the failure to bring Harrison and his men to trial. They attacked Long Bluff a few miles above Carr's Bluff. Isaac Brown (Vansant?) had his brains blown away and was scalped at Bush's Fort in present day Laurens County in 1797. Jeremiah Oates of Washington County testified that the dozen or so Indians carried off most of Brown’s belongings. Brown’s wife was shot. The Indians set the Brown’s house on fire. Mrs. Brown managed to fire a shot which scared the Indians. Despite her wound, Mrs. Brown was able to extinguish the fire. The Indian leading the party had a son killed by Harrison at the massacre at Carr's Bluff. In one of the last attacks in this area in February of 1798, William Allen was killed near Long Bluff.
As early as the fall of 1797, David Blackshear was serving as a major of a brigade of militia. By the end of the century, most of the hostilities had ceased. Gen. David Blackshear complained of the small thefts being committed by Indians in the late spring of 1799. No harm was done, but he thought the Indians were too insulant and mischievous. He found the remains of a bar-be-qued pig at a camp site. Blackshear was aggravated that the Indians were killing any animal they could find on his side of the river and that he had done all in his power to stop them without laying his hands upon them. In one of the final clashes with the Indian people, two white citizens of Montgomery County crossed the Oconee River and took two horses belonging to Indians. Gov. James Jackson wrote to Gen. David Blackshear who had command of this area. One of these may have been ol' Benjamin Harrison. Jackson gave orders to Blackshear directing him to arrest the offenders and not to resort to violence in the absence of any provocation. Jackson reiterated the law against any Indians remaining on Georgia soil without permission. The governor promised to back General Blackshear in any actions he might take.
Pursuant to the approval of the Georgia Legislature on February 22, 1796, Jared Irwin, a fellow Washington Countian and Governor of Georgia, appointed Blackshear as Justice of the Peace for Blackshear’s Militia District on June 4, 1796. Militia districts were formed primarily as a means of local defense against Indian attacks. Each district was named for its captain, presumably either David Blackshear or his brothers Joseph or Elijah. Three years later the Justices of the Inferior Court of Washington County renominated Blackshear to the position, which he served at least until 1808 and presumably until the boundaries of Laurens County were expanded to encompass all of his holdings in 1811.
Blackshear represented Washington County in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1797 to 1798 and again in 1804. Nearly all of the records of General David Blackshear’s activities while he was residing in Washington County went up in flames in a disastrous fire which destroyed the county courthouse in the 1850s. The early years of the 19th Century were relatively quiet in the number of so called Indian depredations. This lull was not so much caused by a cessation of hostilities but primarily because the state of Georgia acquired all of the land east of the Ocmulgee River in the early years of the century. Blackshear remained active in local affairs. With the creation of Laurens County in 1807, new lands were opened across the Oconee River from his plantation. Blackshear and his brothers, though not land lottery winners, promptly expanded their family’s holdings by purchasing fractional land lots along the river at a public sale held in the capital in Milledgeville. In 1811, the Georgia legislature authorized the ceding of portions of Washington and Montgomery counties to Laurens County. This simple act to compensate Laurens County for its loss of lands to Pulaski County was directly responsible for David Blackshear becoming a resident of Laurens County. David Blackshear’s early years as a local patriot and warrior was soon to change. In his last twenty five years of life, Blackshear would make outstanding contributions to his state that would make him one of the county’s most influential and important citizens in the 200-year history of Laurens County.
07-03
THE NATION'S FIRST FEMALE MEDICAL DEAN
The Story of Dr. Eleanor Ison-Franklin
Eleanor Ison-Franklin grew up in a home where education was paramount. From the day she was born until the day she died, this Dublin native dedicated her life to studying and teaching others in the science of medical research in an effort to heal the sick and keep the living alive a little longer. This is the story of one Dublin native who overcame the odds against her to rise to the pinnacle of her profession as a dean of the department of one the nation's most prestigious university medical schools.
Eleanor Lutia Ison-Franklin was born in Dublin, Georgia on Christmas Eve in 1929. Her father Professor L.L. Ison was a well-known educator in South Georgia. While I do not know what brought the Ison family to Dublin, I surmise that Professor Ison was involved in the school system or the vocational/agricultural education system. Professor Ison was a frequent lecturer and was chosen by the Works Progress Administration to supervise a program of Negro Education in Georgia.
Eleanor graduated as the valedictorian of Carver High School in 1944 at the age of fourteen. Four years later, the superlative student graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in biology from Spelman College, just six months after her eighteenth birthday. Miss Ison continued her studies by obtaining a Master of Science degree in 1951. In 1957, Miss Ison became Dr. Franklin when she was awarded a Ph. D degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. While working on furthering her college education, Dr. Franklin followed in her father's footsteps by teaching biology at Spelman and the University of Wisconsin. For her efforts, she was awarded a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Dr. Ison was hired as an assistant professor in Tuskegee Institute's Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in the School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1963, she transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she worked in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. In the late summer of 1965, Dr. Ison took the hand of George W. Franklin in marriage. While at Howard, Dr. Ison-Franklin excelled in her administrative duties. In 1971, she was elevated to the position of professor a year after she had been named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Her appointment marked the first time a woman had been appointed a dean in one of the nation's oldest and most highly respected black universities. According to one Internet source, Dr. Ison-Franklin was the first woman, black or white, to serve as the head of a university medical department in America.
The doctor's success continued in 1980 when she was chosen to serve as director of the Edward Hawthorne Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research. After serving for five years in that position, Dr. Ison-Franklin was selected to head the school's Department of Continuing Education. She retired in 1997. A year later, Dr. Ison-Franklin was honored with the title of "Magnificent Professor."
Dr. Ison-Franklin dedicated the last two decades of her life to the improvement of cardiovascular medicine to combat heart disease, the nation's number one cause of death. She concentrated on the relationship between hypertension and the nervous system. In 1991, she published many of her findings in a symposium entitled Myocardial Hypertrophy. The doctor also worked diligently to improve the technical facilities at Howard.
Dr. Ison-Franklin's list of awards and grants are too voluminous to list, but among the most prestigious of these were grants from N.A.S.A., the National Institutes of Health and the Washington Heart Association. Eleanor Ison-Franklin served on the Spelman College and Howard University Board of Trustees and as president of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College. She was an organizing director of the Women's National Bank of Washington as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1986, Dr. Ison-Franklin was selected as the third recipient of the Hall of Fame Award by the National Alumnae Association of Spelman. She was a member and frequent presenter of programs for The National Institute of Health, The National Academy of Sciences, The American Physiological Society, The American Society of Hypertension, The American Heart Association, The Congress of International Union of Physiological Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, Sigma Delta Epsilon, Phi Sigma Honorary Biological Society, and The National Science Foundation.
Spelman College honored one of their most illustrious graduates for her extra ordinary contributions to the development and strengthening of the Alumnae Association. Howard University honored this pioneering woman with citations for Outstanding and Dedicated Service in 1980 and for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education. While at Howard, Dr. Ison Franklin served for thirty years as Porter Lecturer from 1967 to 1997.
Dr. Eleanor Ison-Franklin died at her home on October 2, 1998 after suffering a heart attack. She survived her husband by two years and was the mother of Dr. Reginald K. Franklin of Atlanta and Clita R. Anderson of Muskegon Heights, Michigan.
In a 1979 interview, Dr. Franklin said that a black woman seeking a place in science and medicine must be "one whose identity of self is strong, whose coping mechanisms have been nurtured within a supportive ethnic environment, whose career choice is incidental to the more important need to achieve academically, and who entered an institution which traditionally accepted the fact that women have a role in the medical profession." At the same time, Dr. Ison-Franklin's leadership in administration made it easier for the black woman to succeed in the medical field.
In her obituary published in The Physiologist, Dr. Ison-Franklin was remembered mostly for her great love of teaching and her devotion to helping hundreds of minority students to achieve their goals and realize their dreams of practicing medicine. She was committed to excellence in all things with an attitude of respect toward all people. In summing up the rewards of her career in education, Dr. Ison-Franklin said, "It is axiomatic that the only true rewards of an academic career are the successes of one's students. Therefore, I am a witness to my rewards as I look around. They sit in chairs of departments, directors of programs, chiefs of divisions, deans, vice-presidents, and researchers. I hope that in some small way, I have stimulated their development and have imparted to them a modicum of their knowledge. I hope that through all of the many engagements with my students that I have succeeded in imparting time-honored values . . . among these that I hold most high are integrity and continuous learning."
07-04
DIRTY DANCING, GHOST AND MEN IN BLACK
No, this is not a move review. Despite the headline, I am not going to write about Patrick Swayze, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. I am going to tell you a few stories about our forgotten past. I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed putting them together.
It was one hundred and five years ago when the editors of a newspaper saluted "one of the most pleasant social events the young people of the city have enjoyed in some time." Fifteen couples danced in the dance hall of the Henry Building until their self-imposed curfew sent them home after their Friday evening fete. But, times change.
It was in the months following the end of World War I, called by victorious politicians and generals as "the war to end all wars." Young men were jubilant and wanted to celebrate, especially in the company of the city's most attractive young women. These men formed a club and called themselves "The Stags." No, it wasn't the first instance of a gang in the Emerald City, but it was an association of young men seeking to have a good time by ignoring their inhibitions and dancing until, well until their dates had to go home.
The Stags did not just want to have a dance once a month. They wanted to dance with the young ladies on every Friday evening. They even had the audacity to stage a street dance as the finale of "Dollar Days," a downtown wide mercantile event. The leader of the Stags secured permission to stage a dance in front of the courthouse on a Wednesday night. It didn't take long for word to reach the pastors of the local churches.
Dr. R.L. Baker, pastor of First Baptist Church, warned his congregation that any member caught dancing in public would be subject to banishment from the church. Rev. L.A. Hill of First Methodist Church was more blunt on the subject. Rev. Hill called the event a "public hugging game, which would be a blot on the fair name of the city." He asked the men if they would allow their wives or daughters to dance with hoodlums, ragtags, and bobtails from all over the county. He denounced the houses of ill fame located just across the river in East Dublin. Rev. Hill believed that the women of Dublin would enter into a public dance with all innocence. However, according to statistics in his possession, nine out of ten fallen women began their fall by dancing in public. Rev. Hill was not directly opposed to dancing in public, as long as the men danced with men and women danced with women. It's funny how things change.
John A. Harvill and his wife had just sat down by the fire on a cold December evening in 1882. The newly wed couple were distracted when they heard a noise which sounded like a squeaking old wagon. They ignored the discord as a mere passerby. After a moment, Harvill thinking the continuing commotion to be strange, sprang to his feet and opened his front door.
To his utter dismay Harvill observed what appeared to be a very large dog with a torch or lamp attached to the top of its head. He called out thinking that he must have been the brunt of some of a candid camera joke, of course, television cameras wouldn't be around for more than five decades. When no reply was received, Harvill did what most terrified men of his day would do, he picked up his gun and shot at it. He shot. He shot again. The dog didn't move. In the words of a writer of the Dublin Gazette, "there stood the specter as steadfast as the rock of Gibraltar." Harvill couldn't believe his eyes. Was he seeing things?
It didn't take long for the neighbors to come rushing to the scene of the skirmish. Harvill pointed out the apparition to friends, hoping that they would see it as well. Reportedly, they did. The brave generals in the crowd consulted each other and devised a plan of attack. Everyone who could, grabbed a torch and began their advance. As the first wave of the assault reached the ghostly canine, the pooch resumed his squeaking stride into the oblivion of the night. While the reporter for the Gazette was covering the calamity, a neighbor came up to him and confirmed that he had also seen the dog, without the squeak.
Minnie Howell and Charles Jones were deeply in love. They couldn't wait to get married. They rode into Dublin on a Sunday morning in February 1914. As they drove their buggy through the streets of Dublin, they desperately looked around for a "man in black," either a minister or judge, both of whom traditionally were donned in a black suit or wearing a black robe. They wanted someone to marry them and quickly. It was then when they spotted the newly elected Judge K.H. Hawkins, judge of the superior court of the Dublin circuit, walking to the First Methodist Church for its morning service. The startled judge honored the anxious couple's request and legally joined their hands in marriage as they sat on the seat of their buggy. Had Minnie and Charles been able to wait until January of the following year, they may have spotted one W.H. Brunson on his way to church. Brunson, who had only been practicing law for three months, easily outpaced a field of older and more well known candidates to win an election to fill the vacancy in the office of Justice of the Peace of the Dublin militia district following the death of Judge Chapman. Brunson, a twenty-two-year-old attorney, was the youngest Justice of the Peace in the State of Georgia.
It was a quiet day at the Park-N-Shop in the Shamrock Shopping Center on the last day of January 1974. City Alderman Glen Harden was manning the cash register at his store as he usually did. A trio of customers came through the door. Harden didn't pay too much attention. He thought he recognized them, or at least one of them. But that wasn't unusual because Harden knew a lot of folks.
But there was something strangely familiar about the man. Glen knew he recognized him. He asked the man if he was who he thought he was. He had seen the tall dark stranger on television before. He had listened to his voice on records. The man acknowledged his identity and introduced his wife and mother-in-law to Harden. The trio were on their way to Savannah for a concert that night. In today's day of interstate highways, we tend to forget that most people traveling to Savannah from anywhere west of the port city had to come through Dublin to get there.
The customers purchased some groceries and had a good time talking with Harden, so much so that they promised to stop back by on their return to their home in Nashville. Oh, they also bought a pair of scissors, a pack of needles and a few spools of thread, possibly black thread. For you see the trio who stopped in one of the city's first modern convenience stores was June and her mother Maybelle. The man, of course, was the world's most famous "man in black," the iconic legend, Johnny Cash.
07-05
MAJOR HERNDON CUMMINGS
A Fighter For Freedoms
This is a story of a Laurens County man who fought for the freedom of his country
and the freedom of his people. Herndon Cummings was a member of what has collectively been called the "Tuskegee Airmen." Though he was not a part of the highly acclaimed circle of fighter pilots, Cummings served as a pilot in a bomber group which trained in the United States during World War II. In the waning moths of the war, Cummings found himself embroiled in one of the war's most controversial, yet unpublicized, instances, the first major attempt to integrate an all-white officer's club.
Herndon M. Cummings was born on April 25, 1919. The son of Joseph and Mollie
Hill Cummings, Don grew up in the Burgamy District in the Old Macon Road area of northwestern Laurens County. Don was a grandson of Rev. Daniel D. Cummings, who saw to it that all of his children were educated. Many of his children excelled beyond their high school training to become professionals in a day when few blacks did.
Cummings said his interest in aviation was sparked on Christmas Day in 1928 when his father gave him a toy German zeppelin. His interest in flying was forever sealed in 1936 when Don and his brother took a five-dollar ride in a Ford Tri-Motor plane. As the plane soared in the skies west of Dublin, Don underwent a life-altering experience. "By the time the plane landed, I knew what I wanted to do," he recalled.
Like many other teenagers of his day, Don Cummings wanted to fly. The problem
was that there were only a scant number of black pilots who had the means or were given a chance to fly. The United States Army Air Force instituted what was deemed "The Tuskegee Experiment." It was a program, thought by many to be designed to fail, to train black pilots to serve in Europe during World War II. Don Cummings enlisted in the Air Corps on June 25, 1942. He listed his occupation as a carpenter.
For nearly two years, Lt. Cummings trained in the B-25 bomber at Tuskegee and
later at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio, where he would later make his home. Of the nine hundred to a thousand men who successfully completed their training at Tuskegee, most trained as fighter pilots in the P-51 fighter and other fighters. These men, who have been immortalized in books and films, were assigned to the 332nd Fighter Squadron and saw action in the skies of Europe during the last months of the war escorting long range bombers. These brave young men were credited with losing none, or only a very few, of the fighters they escorted.
Lt. Cummings was assigned to the 477th Bomber Group. The 477th was organized at Selfridge Army Air Field, Michigan in 1944. Many of the members of the group were commanded by white officers, who according to some, favored white officers over the black officers. Concerns over racial troubles in Detroit forced the group to move to Godman Field near Fort Knox, Kentucky. By March 1945, the 477th was uprooted again and moved to Freemen Army Field at Seymour, Indiana.
In 1940, the Army published a regulation that any officer's club must be open to any officer, three years before the Tuskegee Airmen received their commission and long before the government officially ended segregation in the armed forces. The field at Freeman maintained two clubs, one for supervisors and one for trainees, but were defacto separated between blacks and whites. In the early days of April 1945, the relationships between the commanding officers and the black pilots began to deteriorate rapidly. Some five dozen were placed under house arrest. The men were released, but field commander Selway determined that all of the black pilots were to be designated as "trainees" and were assigned to their own club building. It so happened that all of the trainees were black and the white officers had their own building.
On April 9th, all pilots were asked to sign a pledge to comply with Selway's directive. Lt. Cummings joined one hundred of his fellow pilots and refused to sign. They were arrested on the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. "The regulations said we could go in but the commanding officer said we couldn't," Cummings said. He added, "we just wanted a beer, why else would we go there?" The men, known as the Freeman Field 101, were taken back to a jail at Godman Field. They remained in jail for twelve days. Cummings gave new president Harry S. Truman credit for their release. "We thought it was the end of the line, but President Truman did the right thing," Cummings said.
"We fought on both sides of the ocean. We fought on this side for civil rights,"
Cummings told an interviewer. "I am sure we did the right thing. To me and a lot of other people, it was the beginning of the civil rights movement," Cummings said. He also credited Eleanor Roosevelt and Thurgood Marshall, lead counsel for the NAACP and a future Supreme Court justice, for the effort to drop the charges of mutiny. It would be five decades later when the official letters of reprimand were purged from the personnel files of the Freeman Field 101.
Just weeks after they were freed, General Hap Arnold replaced all of the white officers in the 477th with black officers. Lt. Cummings was promoted to captain to command a bomber. The unit was temporarily assigned to Godman under the command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the former commander at Tuskegee and a graduate of West Point. Col. Davis was given the task of preparing the 477th for deployment to the Pacific theater where it would participate in the impending invasion of Japan. The dropping of the atomic bomb ended the war and the 477th never saw combat outside of the United States. After completing his four-year stint in the Army Air Corps, Cummings served in the Air Force Reserve and attained the rank of major before retiring after twenty years of service.
Cummings earned a commercial pilot's license, but never utilized it because there
were virtually no opportunities for employment of black pilots. He went to work laying bricks in order to support his family and send his two daughters to college. Cummings and his second wife Mildred lived in their South Wayne Street home in Columbus until she died in 1988.
When he is able, Major Cummings appears at reunions and programs to honor the
Tuskegee Airmen or to support aviation in general. He has never been bitter about his experiences in the military, stating instead that it wasn't too bad and nothing could keep a good man down.
07-06
JIMMY BIVINS
The Best Boxer You Never Heard Of
Time and even his own daughter almost erased the memory of Jimmy Bivins from the minds of boxing fans. Though you have probably never heard of him, Bivins, a native of Twiggs County, is regarded as one of the best boxers of his era. While he never won a championship, Jimmy Bivins, is regarded by experts as one of the best Light Heavyweight Fighters of the 20th Century.
James Louis “Jimmy” Bivins was born in Dry Branch, Georgia on December 6, 1919. His parents, Allen and Fleta, lived on their farm on the Old Griswoldville Road in the Smith District of northwestern Twiggs County. The Bivins joined many other African American families who migrated to work in the industrial complexes of the Northeast and Midwest, leaving their boll weevil infested red clay farm behind.
The Bivins moved to East 53rd Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Allen worked as a fireman for the Ohio Cleaning Company. James and his sisters Viola, Maria and Fanny May attended the neighborhood school. It was in when he was in his teens when Jimmy learned how to box. In his first celebrated match, Jimmy lost to Storace Cozy in the third round of the 147-pound class in the AAU Championship in San Francisco.
Bivins entered the world of professional boxing as middleweight. His first professional fight came in Cleveland on January 15, 1940 with a one round TKO over Emory Morgan. His sixth straight professional victory came in April in Chicago in an eight-round decision over Nate Bolden. Bivin’s remarkable streak of 19 consecutive wins, highlighted by ten-round victory over Charley Burley, ended in his last match of the year, when he lost a rematch with Anton Christoforidis.
Jimmy picked up right where he left off in 1941. As a light heavyweight, he won six of eight bouts. In his fourth and probably the most important match of his early career, Bivins beat Joey Maxim in a ten-round decision in a match fought at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Maxim won the world light heavyweight championship in 1950. In defense of his title in 1952, Maxim, a native of Cleveland, beat challenger Sugar Ray Robinson in the only one of his 201 matches where he failed to answer the bell. Bivins ended 1942 with a record of seven wins and one loss. Ring magazine named him the number one contender in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classifications.
In his opening bout of 1943, Bivins defeated Ezzard Charles, a fellow Georgian and regarded as the third greatest light heavyweight of the 20th Century, in ten rounds. Bivins continued his meteoric career completing the year with eight victories and no defeats. His win over Ami Mauriello earned Jimmy the Duration Heavyweight Title. Bivins won his only match in 1944, a year which saw few matches while he served in the United States Army. During that last full year of the war, Jimmy Bivins was known as the interim or unofficial Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Jimmy’s greatest victory came on August 22, 1945 in his adopted hometown of Cleveland. In a six round technical knockout, he defeated Archie Moore, selected by the Associated Press as the best light heavyweight of the 20th Century. He ended the war years with an astonishing record of 48 victories, two defeats and a draw.
Bivins ran his win total to fifty-two before a devastating loss to Jersey Joe Walcott in the winter of 1946. Until that point, Bivins had not lost a boxing match since June 22, 1942. Jimmy lost again in June and didn’t fight until two weeks before Thanksgiving when he was defeated by Ezzard Charles in the tenth round for his third consecutive loss.
In 1947, Jimmy Bivins regained his winning style and won ten matches and only losing one. He carried a five match winning streak into a rematch with Archie Moore, which he lost in the 10th round. Just sixteen days later, he lost another ten round bout with Ezzard Charles. After a six round exhibition match with the great Joe Louis on November 17, 1948, Jimmy lost his third match of the year, a defeat by fellow Clevelander Joey Maxim.
Jimmy Bivins continued to win, garnering six wins in eight matches in 1949. By 1949, his competition was becoming less noteworthy. After winning one of only two bouts in 1950, once again Bivins put together seven match winning streak, which came to a screeching halt on August 15, 1951, when he lost a heavyweight match to Joe Louis. His only consolation was his winnings. Though he lost the match to one of the greatest fights ever, Bivins was paid $40,000.00 his largest cash prize ever. His last great fight came in Chicago on November 26, 1952 when he lost to Ezzard Charles. For the rest of his career, Jimmy could only manage to fight small time fighters. He won his last four bouts, his final victory coming at home in Cleveland on October 28, 1955.
After his retirement, Jimmy drove a bread truck for his day job. But boxing was in his blood. He trained amateur boxers in the Cleveland area for many years.
One of the darkest moments in Jimmy Bivins’ life came not on the mat of a boxing room, but in the home of his own daughter. Forced to live with his daughter after the death of his wife, Bivins was horribly mistreated by his daughter and her husband. When Bivins failed to show up at the local gym, concerned friends went out to look for him. Bivins was found in the attic of his daughter’s home, bundled in a urine-stained blanket, missing a portion of his finger, blind in one eye and emaciated down to 110 pounds. It was the athlete in him that guided him through one of the toughest battles of his life. Just like he did in the 1940s, Jimmy battled and won, regaining his old fighting weight. His former pupil Gary Hovrath helped to bring his mentor back to the gym.
In his 112 fight career, the 175-pound 5-foot 9 inch tall Bivins posted an illustrious record of 86 victories (thirty one by knockouts,) twenty-five losses, and one draw. He fought seven members of the Boxing Hall of Fame, defeating four of them. He squared off against eleven world champions, defeated eight of them, including Joey Maxim, Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles.
Though he never won a boxing title, the voters of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999 recognized the remarkable achievements of Jimmy Bivins during the 1940s. A five-man panel appointed by the Associated Press named Jimmy as the fifth greatest light heavyweight boxer of the 20th Century. In commenting on his induction, the quiet Bivins remarked, “I knew one of these days they would recognize me. I did the best I could. I’m glad it was appreciated.”
07-07
EMILY WHITEHURST STONE
Friend and Foe of An American Literary Legend
Emily Whitehurst married the love of her life. Her husband's best friend was a man she deeply admired. When her idol slighted her husband's influence on his celebrated writings, her admiration turned to scorn. But in her own right, she was a woman ahead of her time, a time in the South when her stands on social rights were scorned by many and admired by the very few.
Emily Whitehurst was born in 1909 in Dublin, Georgia. Her father, Zollicoffer, or just plain "Z." Whitehurst was a pharmacist, who later became the Superintendent of Laurens County schools. Her mother was the former Miss Minnie Edge. Emily graduated from Dublin High School in 1926. After her graduation, Emily studied at Georgia State Teacher's College and Tulane University, where she obtained a degree in education.
Emily loved literature, especially classical Greek literature. She began to read "The Sound and the Fury," by Mississippi novelist William Faulkner. She took a friend and set out for Oxford, Mississippi to meet her new favorite author. She said, "here is a real live writer. I had never seen one. He was short, but had a great presence." Emily stayed in Oxford, where she taught school. She began to write her own novel. The new single, blond, blue-eyed school teacher was the object of the town's matchmakers. Emily's friends were all talking about a young man, a Yale-educated handsome lawyer named Phil Stone. "He was the most romantic person, all the girls in town were in love with him," Emily remembered. After all, Phil Stone was the best friend of William Faulkner, the man who's writing "set her on fire."
A mutual friend took Emily's unfinished manuscript to Phil for his review. There was something in her words that peeked the young lawyer's attention, or maybe there was something in her smile. Phil sent a letter to Emily inviting her to come by his office. Emily was flattered. "I just primped myself to pieces," said Emily, who married Phil Stone in a New Orleans church, despite the fact that she had disavowed her staunch Methodist upbringing and was generally regarded as somewhat of an atheist.
It was about this time when Emily's admiration for Faulkner evolved into disdain. Faulkner would come by the Stone home and sit in their parlor while he read his new stories to the Stones, who acted as critics and counselors as well. Mrs. Stone was intimidated by Faulkner. Particularly disturbing was his opinion about women. Emily believed Faulkner saw women as good for housework only and as parasites, who live off the men they marry. Many times Emily bit her tongue when it came to Faulkner's faults. She realized the importance of her husband's friendship with Faulkner and learned to respect it.
Faulkner's reputation among his critics and multitude of readers began to soar. Many people in Oxford thought the highly respected author's work were in reality, written or at least inspired by Phil Stone. It was generally known and accepted by almost everyone, except Emily, that Gavin Stevens, the southern lawyer protagonist of Faulkner's widely acclaimed mystery novels, was based on Faulkner's best friend Phil. Emily hated the comparison. "I got mad. Phil was not," Emily remembered. "Gavin was so garrulous and Phil was not," she said as she remembered her fury when everyone thought the lawyer in Faulkner's novels was actually her real life husband. Emily did admit the similarity between Gavin Stevens and her husband's propensity for telling stories.
Phil never took any credit, except for giving Faulkner a sense of humor and keeping him in Mississippi and away from New York. When William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, he took all of the credit and gave his best friend Phil absolutely no praise for his friendship and inspiration. This was the last straw. Emily believed with all of her heart that it was Phil Stone who transformed William Faulkner into a writer, or at least into the writer he became. Phil and William, a high school dropout, were inseparable. The highly educated Stone exposed William to a diverse group of classic literary works. Stone purchased a thousand copies of Faulkner's first book, a volume of poetry, to boost his friend's ego and fatten his wallet. After tolerating his faults for too many years, Emily Stone no longer had any use for the once beloved icon and forever demigod Faulkner.
Emily simply adored and idolized Phil. She and "Mr. God," as she referred to him had two children, Phillip, Jr. and Araminta. Early in their marriage, the Stones suffered an irreparable loss. Their elegant home was destroyed by fire. Most devastating was Phil's vast library, which included a fifty- foot long, more than a head tall, line of literary works. Among the treasures lost or severely damaged were some of Faulkner's earliest works, many of which were personally inscribed by the author. The loss of her and her husband's priceless possessions was compounded by the loss of her most prized possession, her husband. First he lost his mind and then he died, leaving her to face a new world alone. Emily turned back to her childhood faith and found solace in her new life. She moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then to Montgomery, Alabama and then to Charlotte, North Carolina.
During the violent racial upheavals of the 1950s and 1960s, Emily Stone saw the absurdity of the cataclysms erupting in Mississippi and throughout the office. When James Meredith became the first black student to integrate Ole Miss, Emily refused to join in the effort to deny him his rights, but instead took the offensive. With the courage of a literary hero, Mrs. Stone chastised and condemned their barbaric behavior. Her pleas went ignored.
Ralph Wood, a professor of religion at Wake Forest, said of Emily, "she was a woman ahead of her time. She could have been content being a perfect Southern lady - keeping her china sparkling, her silver polished and belonging to book clubs where people didn't read books. But she wasn't." Emily did write, but none of her short stories and essays ever garnered any fame, except among her inner circle of friends and colleagues. As Professor Stone, Emily was a highly respected teacher of English literature at Huntingdon College.
Emily Whitehurst Stone died on June 24, 1992 at Wesley Nursing Center in Charlotte. In his eulogy of Emily Stone, Professor Wood described her an oxymoron, "she was a saint without a halo. She may have thought herself an unbeliever but to paraphrase Tennyson, there lived more faith in her honest doubt than in half our creeds."
07-08
OUR ALTER EGOS
Dublins Around the Country
What do a soft drink, a hamburger and an almanac have in common? They all come from the city of Dublin, not Dublin, Georgia, but from other Dublins around the country. During this St. Patrick’s Festival, the nation’s longest celebration of Irish heritage, let’s take a look at three Dublins and what they are famous for.
All Dublins in the world derive their name from the ancient capital city of Ireland. Dublin, Georgia holds the distinction of being the second Dublin in the United States. It was named by Jonathan Sawyer, the town’s first postmaster. Sawyer named the post office in the summer of 1811 in honor of the ancestral home of his wife, the former Miss Elizabeth McCormick.
Dublin, Texas, with it’s population of 3,250, lies near the geographic center of the Lone Star State. Of all of the Dublins in this country, its history is most like that of Dublin, Georgia. James Tucker opened a store there one year before the southern states declared their independence from the North. J.M. Miller laid out his cotton field and began selling lots in 1881. By the end of the 1880s, Dublin was home to two railroads, a bank and a newspaper. Like Dublin, Georgia, Dublin, Texas owed its life to cotton and the railroads, which kept the money flowing and people coming.
For all of the 1940s and 1950s, Dublin, Texas was the home to the World Championship Rodeo, made famous by Gene Autry. The nearby “Lightning C” ranch covered a dozen thousand acres, making it the largest rodeo ranch in the world. Dublin is the home of Ben Hogan, one the greatest legends of golf.
But by far, Dublin, Texas is known as the home of Dr. Pepper, which was first bottled in Dublin in 1891 by Sam Houston Prim. Every June the citizens of Dublin and surrounding areas turn out by the thousands to honor the soft drink and its plant, which is the only plant which still uses the original pure cane sugar recipe. There is a circus with shows at “10, 2 and 4" in keeping with the slogan of Dr. Pepper.
Dublin, Texas also holds a St. Patrick’s festival. The three-day affair features a carnival, food festival, softball tournament, art & quilt show, parade, Little Miss Dublin contest and tours of the town museum and bottling plant. Dublin, which is located 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, is known for its dairy farming, peanuts and cattle farms.
Dublin, Ohio, the second largest of all Dublins in America, lies among the northwestern suburbs of Columbus. During the 1970s, Dublin was engulfed by the urban sprawl of Columbians, the completion of I-270 and the development of Muirfield Village Golf Club, a course designed by Jack Nichalaus. This Dublin’s origin dates back to a 400 acre village on the banks of the Scioto River in the second decade of the 19th Century. On every Memorial Day weekend, Dublin hosts a golf tournament which draws the best players on the PGA tour. Dublin, Ohio is also the home of Wendy’s Hamburgers, founded by Dave Thomas.
Dubliners from Ohio love festivals. There is the requisite St. Patrick’s Festival, where the Lion’s Club hosts a pancake breakfast followed by a 5K Leprechaun run and a parade. Sound familiar? Dubliner’s let it all hang out at the Rockin’ Barney Blash. But the celebration of Irish heritage doesn’t end there. In early August, there is the Dublin Irish festival, an event which began in 1988. There are Irish goods of all kinds, as well as exhibits which feature the cultural heritage of Ireland. Of course, there is a feast of Irish food and drink. What kind of festival would it be without stew, breads and beer? On the first weekend of each December, known as Holly Days, everything that glitters is green. The lighting of the city’s official Christmas tree opens the festival before the city’s merchants throw open their doors where nearly everything is on sale.
The first Dublin in the United States was founded as one of the highest villages in New Hampshire in 1771. In 1792, another Thomas, Robert Thomas, began publishing the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The annual almanac is the country’s oldest continuously published periodical. Despite also being the home of The Yankee Magazine, which publishes a variety of travel magazines, Dublin, New Hampshire’s population is around 1500 people.
Dublin, North Carolina, located in Bladen County, is located between Fayetteville and Wilmington in the southeastern part of the Tar Heel State. About a quarter of a thousand people live in Dublin. The big festival in the community comes during the third week of September, when everyone celebrates the harvesting of the peanut crop.
A few hundred miles to the northwest is Dublin, Virginia. Founded by the Henry Trollinger family in 1776, the community was first known as Newburn Depot and later Dublin Depot. On May 9, 1864, southwestern Virginia’s most vicious battle of the Civil War took place in and around the depot. Confederate troops under the command of Gen. J.C. Breckenridge foiled Union attempts to capture the vital railroad depot.
The area around Dublin, California was first settled in 1822 by Jose Maria Amador. In 1877, a church, two hotels, a blacksmith shop and a shoe maker’s shop was built. The community, first known as Doughtery’s Station, is located in the Armador Livermore Valley. Dublin, California was incorporated in February, 1982 and is located 35 miles east of San Francisco. It’s population, now the largest of any Dublin, is buoyed by the fact that Dublin lies at the intersection of two major interstate highways. The country’s westernmost Dublin is driven by rapidly growing technological and medical businesses.
Dublin, Indiana, a small town of less than a thousand people, is located along the Ohio line in the middle of the state. It was the site of the first women’s rights convention in Indiana in 1851. The annual highlight of the year is the volunteer fire department’s fish fry on Memorial Day weekend.
Once there were or still are Dublins, post offices or just places along the road named Dublin in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York and Pennsylvania. What you may not know is that there have been two other Dublins in Georgia. There was once a Dublin community in Butts County, which changed its name to Cork. The third Dublin, Georgia is now known as Resaca.
07-09
BILL NORRIS
From Lovett Park to Wimbledon
He has been called "The Wizard of Gauze." Others call him "Billy the Banger" or "Bangers and Mash." He has spent most of his life in and around many of the most exclusive and glamorous tennis courts of the world. In his career, Bill Norris had mended scrapes, soothed strained muscles and counseled many of the world's greatest tennis players Of all of the places in the world, his career began right here in Dublin, Georgia at Lovett Park. From such a humble beginning, Bill Norris moved on to a career in professional basketball and found his life's calling as the world's most highly regarded tennis trainer.
William L. Myers was born on August 5, 1942 in Fort Myers, Florida. He grew up a baseball fan. As a perennial ritual of spring, major league baseball players invaded his homeland to prepare for the rigors of the upcoming seasons. At the age of 12, Billy Myers knew he wanted to be an athletic trainer. As a spring training bat boy for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Myers began to learn the scientific method of treating sports injuries. During his high school years, he worked as an assistant trainer for the Pirates while they were in town. Though he wasn't much of an athlete, Bill loved sports and wanted to be a part of them.
Bill began his studies in earnest in 1960 when he enrolled at Manatee Junior College. After two years of school, he was invited to join the Class D team of the Milwaukee Braves in the Georgia-Florida League. And so, for Bill, it was off to Dublin, Georgia and his first real job as a trainer. The Dublin Braves were a pretty fair minor league team that year. Four players, including Bill Robinson, made it to "the show" before their playing days were over. Bill learned the game under the guidance of veteran minor league manager Bill Steinecke.
After attending a training school, Bill was hired to work with the New York Mets, the worst team in baseball history. The Mets assigned Bill to train their minor league teams first in Columbus, Georgia and then in Auburn, New York. Bill's natural skills as a trainer didn't go unnoticed. Coach Eddie Donovan of the cross town New York Knicks saw something special in the young Floridian. When the last out was made, Bill began his conversion to basketball with a promise of returning to baseball when the grass began to turn green again. During his six seasons with the Knicks, Norris saw to the needs of some of the game's greatest players, including Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Walt Frazier. While he worked with the Knicks, Bill also worked as a trainer for all performers in Madison Square Garden, including boxers, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.
In 1969, Bill again took another cross town job, this time with the New York Nets of the ABA. In the early years of the franchise, Norris worked with future NBA legend Rick Barry, leaving the team just before it signed the all time great Julius Erving. Bill continued to work for the Mets during baseball season during the off season. But after twelve seasons of professional basketball and several more in baseball, it was time for a career change.
In 1973, Bill was approached by the Association of Tennis Professionals. They needed a trainer for their members and Bill was a prime choice. The association wanted one trainer for all of their male tennis players. They needed a familiar face run out on the court to tend to an injury, one person who could know the players and their particular bodies and one who could get into their minds and relieve their aches and pains. Rarely does Bill see an injury. He has to rely upon spectator's accounts and those made by anguished players.
The highlights of Bill Norris's thirty three years in professional tennis come from his association with the United States Davis Cup teams. He has worked with four winners of the cup, led by a quartet of the greatest legends of the game, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. He has also worked with Pete Sampras, Stan Smith and Ken Rosewall among hundreds of others.Norris also worked with international icons Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase and Guillermo Vilas. At all times, Bill's job is to remain neutral and treat each competitor the same. Bill did become a close friend and drinking buddy of Bob Lutz. Of all of the players he trained, Norris most admires the tenacity and determination of Jimmy Connors, despite his obnoxious behavior on the court. Some have compared bill to the incomparable fictional teacher Mr. Chips, who now after forty-five years of training looks back with fondness for the thousands of young men he has worked with and gotten to know and to admire.
Bill's job calls for up close and deeply personal contact with his athletes. Many of the game's greatest players would and could confide in him their deepest thoughts, triumphs and fears. Bill had to become a part time psychologist. As a trainer, Bill knew what to do to physically prepare his players for their next match, but he learned to observe their mental attitudes as an indicator of how they were going to perform after they left the locker room. From his position, Norris knows the players better than anyone, maybe even the players themselves. The players grew to admire and respect Norris, who once with his long hair and strong round glasses, bore an uncanny resemblance to the late singer John Denver. Their similarities were so indistinct that Bill used to sign Denver's name for autograph seekers and adoring fans who couldn't tell the difference. His likeness helped him to get free drinks and quite a few laughs. Jimmy Connors once got in on the joke when he traveled to meet Denver to ask for his advice, pretending that Denver was Bill Norris. All of that ended after Denver's untimely death in an airplane crash.
Bill's expertise on tennis injuries drew the attention of amateurs as well. President Ronald Reagan called on Bill to work on is bad back. Princess Grace Kelly sought out Bill's comforting hands to cure her sore elbow.
Today, Bill's schedule has trimmed down dramatically. He now spends more time with his wife and family, a task which was once difficult to manage. Bill Norris loves the game of tennis and loves helping its players make it up off the court. Over his forty-five years in sports medicine, Bill looks forward to every new day. "No two days are the same," said Bill, who thrives on his relationships with every new generation that comes along. His favorite tournament is at Wimbledon. "It is like a big reunion," Bill said.
Bill Norris believes the soul of tennis lies within the amateur players across the country and the world, who have not been exposed to fame and adulation. He never plans to retire, telling a reporter for the BBC, "I want to die running out to the court trying to help somebody."
07-10
REMEMBERING DUBLIN
Reminiscences of Red Cowart
Red Cowart loved Dublin. Red did what we all should do and that is to write down what meant the most to us during our lives. You don't need any special skills, just write what you remember. If you do so, the remotest of your descendants and the most avid of future historians will forever be indebted to you.
D. T. "Red" Cowart grew up in Dublin on the edge of the city's first industrial complex. His parents, Andrew A. Cowart and Ida Williams Cowart, lived in a home on the northeast corner of East Madison and South Washington Streets on the corner occupied for many years by Rawls Welding Shop. Red's father operated a lumber mill further down South Washington Street. Andrew Cowart dug the first artesian well in Laurens County. Cowart dug his well in the rear of his home and later constructed an indoor swimming pool, also the first in the county, to capitalize on the abundant supply of fresh and virtually pure water. Mr. Cowart came up with a brilliant idea. The spring water was cold and not ideal for swimming. Across the street at the ice plant, the plant needed cold water to condense steam into pure water for ice making. So they struck a deal. Cowart pumped cold artesian water to the plant and in turn the plant piped steam across the street to his pool and presto, a heated indoor swimming pool. The Cowarts enjoyed the pool all during the year. Their friends, both old and new and invited and uninvited, enjoyed visiting the Cowart home.
Red prefaced his memories by saying, "The good old days were just that. They were good to everyone. Everyone was friendly and neighborly. Living conditions, while a bit uncomfortable at times, were never excessively cruel. All had just about everything they needed and lived well without being forced, against their wills, to live, act and struggle as they are being forced to today?"
The railroads were the most important aspect of our history around the turn of the 20th Century. The first trains had to stop on the eastern bank of the river. Passengers and freight were then hauled to town by buggy, wagon or hack. Judson Jackson and his family were among the first spectators to witness the arrival of the first passenger train into Dublin. Jackson's son took the wagon and tied the mules under a tree. The alarming bells and whistle blows so startled the youngster that he began to flee with the wagon shafts in his hands. His flight ended in disaster when the he lost control of the wagon, which was a total loss.
Red remembered how much fun everyone had on the excursions to Tybee Island on the Central of Georgia railroad. As many as eight to nine railcars full of passengers boarded the trains early in the morning to enjoy an afternoon frolic in the surf and sun, which ended as nightfall came. There were Saturdays when passengers disembarked from the train to shop in the many stores of downtown Dublin. One of his most fond memories was the day the legendary passenger train, "The Nancy Hanks," detoured from its normal route. Hundreds of persons gathered along the tracks to see "the last passenger train to pass through Dublin."
Despite the large numbers of shoppers and visitors in the downtown area, there were no parking problems. There was a large parking lot in the first block of North Jefferson street on the site of the old Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Situated throughout the town were stables where a farmer could park his wagon. While he and his family shopped and tended to their business, the horses were fed and watered. Some persons brought their purchases back to the wagon for safekeeping, while others picked them up on their way out of town. In the "good old days," there were never any parking meters and no parking tickets," Red remembered.
One of Red's most favorite stories actually had to deal with Laurens County and World War II. Cowart was a close friend of Judge Jim Hicks. One day Jim Hicks took Red out to his farm in the Buckeye District. The judge showed Red a grove of huge pine trees growing along the banks of the Oconee River. Red asked Judge Hicks why he didn't cut them down and not take a chance on losing them to fire or disease. The judge said, "Red, I am saving these trees to help the United States whip Japan." About eight or so years later, Red noticed a small convoy of trucks passing through town. Each truck carried a single humongous log, there being not enough room to throw another on the truck bed. Red asked around and found out that the trees were some of the same trees that the judge had shown him in 1935. The year was then 1943 and the United States and Japan were in the midst of a horrific war in the Pacific Ocean. The trees, well they were on their way to the planing mill and then bound for transport to the shipyards where they were fashioned into landing craft for invasion of the islands of the South Pacific.
Red wrote of fond memories of river boats, which were the sole means of transportation of freight before the coming of the railroads and automobiles. He vividly recalled the names of the boats, the Rover, the Katy C, the City of Dublin and the Clyde S. Many a kid would spend hours watching the boats as they pulled up to the docks and unloaded their freight into elevators which took bales of cotton, lumber and other valuable goods up to the level of the river bank. Especially exciting were the times when new boats were launched into the mighty Oconee. All of this came to an end when the Clyde S. was beached on the end of a sandbar about eight hundred to nine hundred yards above the river bridge on the East Dublin side of the river, left there to be washed piece by piece back into the river she served so well.
Dubliners were most proud of the only brick yards in this section. Located between the old Georgia Plywood Company (Riverwalk Park and Roche Farm and Garden Center) and the mouth of Hunger and Hardship was L.A. Chapman's brick yard, which supplied Dublin and cities around the southeast with fine bricks. Once the yard's supply of clay was exhausted, the city of Dublin took over the property and filled the pits with trash and garbage, much to the delight of bottle hunters for many decades. A second brickyard was located about a mile and a half down river. Those who remember the hexagonal stones which once lined the sidewalks of Dublin and other cities of the state, might not remember that they were fashioned from sand pits of the Georgia Hydraulic Stone Company in East Dublin along Nathaniel Drive.
Finally, Red remembered the time that a group of sailors were gathered in a pub in a Mediterranean port. One man got up and dared anyone to name a city he hadn't visited. Wooten Cowart stood and said, "ever hear of Dublin, Georgia?" The man laughed loudly and said he formerly lived in Dublin and worked at the Carter Iron Foundry. "I was once arrested for drunkenness," he boasted. The man who arrested him was Police Chief Cowart, father of Wooten Cowart. As they say, it is indeed a "small world."
07-11
HUGH FRANK RADCLIFFE
King of the K's
Most of you who are baseball fans know that Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood hold the record for the most strikeouts in a regulation 9-inning major league game with 2o. You would have to be a baseball purist to know that Tom Cheney set the game record with 21 strikeouts in a 16-inning game. Cristen Vitek of Baylor and Eileen Canney of Northwestern hold the NCAA record for 28 strikeouts in a game in sixteen and eighteen innings respectively. But how many of you know that a former Dexter kid struck out 28 batters in a 9-inning high school game for a world record. Millard Whittle of Dexter remembers. Mr. Whittle remembers a lot about a lot of things. After all, he has been around these parts for more than ninety years. Mr. Whittle called me and related the story of Hugh Frank Radcliffe. I was hooked and logged onto the Internet as fast as I could to see what I could find.
Hugh Frank Radcliffe was born in 1929. He spent his early years in the Dexter community. Sometime during the end of the Great Depression, the Radcliffes moved to Thomaston, Georgia. Hugh attended Robert E. Lee Institute in Thomaston. Hugh, or Frank, or "Redbone," as his friends called him, was a four-sport star at R.E. Lee. Radcliffe was an all state and all South end and the best kicker in Georgia. He was an all state guard in basketball and a state champion in the pole vault. But his main sport was baseball. Now you will see why.
Hugh was considered big for his day standing six feet one and one half inches tall without his cleats on and tipping the scale at 185 pounds. He was as clean cut as any teenager could be. His coach described him as unimpressed with accolades and one who disdained alcohol, tobacco and even ice cream sodas.
It was the year 1948. Hugh was just about half way through his senior year in high school. As a sophomore, Hugh led his team to the Georgia and Regional American Legion titles. The game was to be played in Macon, Georgia. The Rebels' opponents that day were the Poets from Lanier High School in Macon. The Poets were no slouches. The team had a winning tradition for many years. The Poets no longer had Billy Henderson, a former Dublinite and a high school All-American baseball player. Sporting a five-game winning streak, Lanier was always a strong team. The date was April 19th. The place was Silvertown Ballpark.
Hugh struck out three batters to end the first inning. The fans and coaches all must have said, "well, Frank's on today." Then he struck out three batters in the second. Somewhere during the game he struck out four batters in one inning. Some of you might say, "how can that be?" Well, the reason is simple. Under baseball rules, when a catcher drops a third strike and first base is not occupied and there is less than two outs, the runner can advance to first base. The catcher, or another fielder, must retrieve the ball and throw it to first base. If the runner beats the throw, he is awarded first base, but the pitcher is given credit for a strikeout. Usually an error is given to the catcher or the pitcher for allowing the runner to advance. But, enough of the rules, back to the game.
Radcliffe struck out at least three batters in every inning for the rest of game. High school boys played the old-fashioned game with nine innings. They play only seven today to give the boys more time to study, as if they were going home after a long ball game and crack open a chemistry text book.
But before you think that every Poet batter struck out, you would be wrong. In all, only ten balls were touched by a Poet bat. Seven were fouled off. One Lanier batter managed to get a hit. Rebel Coach J.E. Richards commented on the single safety by charging it to an inattentive fielder "who was too accustomed to watching Radcliffe playing the game by himself." Two other balls were mishandled by Hugh's teammates. The Rebels plated ten runners and won the game 10-0. The Macon Telegraph's very brief account of the game credited the Poets with two hits and two dropped third strikes by Rebel catcher Whitten.
Word of "the one in a million feat" got out and scouts from colleges and professional ball clubs descended upon Thomaston like flies at a church picnic. When these old baseball veterans saw Hugh pitch, they drooled. They had plenty of opportunities to drool. Not since School Boy Rowe and Bob Feller came into the limelight in the early 1930s had such a young pitcher drawn so much attention. Scouts from the Tigers, Indians, Reds, Senators, Yankees, Pirates, Athletics and Crackers came to watch the sizzling sensation.
At the end of R.E. Lee's eighth game of the season, Radcliffe posted a record of six wins and no losses. On May 19th, Radcliffe took the mound to face nearby Griffin High School. Two thousand people showed up for the game, a high school game! The right-handed hurler didn't disappoint the crowd. Twenty-five Griffin batters were sent back to the dugout with a "K" by their name in the scorekeeper's book. Radcliffe had an off day, giving up three, but his offensive gave him eighteen runs, so the outcome of the game was never in doubt. Radcliffe boosted his season totals to 210 strikeouts in 81.67 innings, or 2.57 strikeouts per inning an astonishing 23.13 per game. During his senior season, he threw three no-hitters, allowing only 18 hits and giving up three unearned runs for a mind-boggling ERA of 0.37. During that magical season, Radcliffe struck out 50 consecutive batters and 97 in four nine-inning games. By the way, Hugh hit .450 that season.
With all of the praise and accolades piled on him, Radcliffe's high school career game to a disappointing end. He lost in front of 4,000 fans in the first game of the playoffs, 8-6. Many of them came to the game on the twenty-six buses parked out in the parking lots and down the streets. The scouts blamed it on the team and their nine errors, not due to their highly sought after prize, who struck out twenty-four.
The Philadelphia Phillies won the bidding war between 14 teams, satisfying Hugh and especially his mother. The young fireballer was assigned to the Phillies' Wilmington, Delaware club with a forty thousand-dollar check in the bank. Radcliffe pitched well and was moved up to Toronto. Soon Frank became the property of the New York Yankees and enjoyed a brief stint with the big club before returning to the minor league with the Syracuse Chiefs, Kansas City Blues and the Birmingham Barons in addition to assignments in Binghamton and Beaumont.
Hugh Radcliffe didn't make it to the current National High School record book. I guess they don't go back that far, or they just don't have folks like Millard Whittle to remind them of that spring day nearly sixty years ago when a Dexter boy became the "King of Ks," the "Wizard of Whiffs" and the "Sultan of Strikeouts."
07-12
THOMAS MCCALL
A Pomological Polymath
Thomas McCall, one of Laurens County's most successful early settlers, was known
as having many of many talents, or a "polymath," if you know the obscure synonym for the term. McCall, a talented mathematician and surveyor, was known far and wide across theyoung nation of the United States of America as a celebrated vineyardist.
Thomas McCall, son of James McCall and Janet Harris McCall, was born on March
30, 1765 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. At the age of six, Thomas and his family moved to South Carolina. McCall served as a private in the Colonial army as a member of Capt. Greene's Troup of Horses in Gen. Marion's Brigade. His service to the new nation entitled him to a grant of land, which he took in Washington County in 1784.
Thomas, who possessed a great talent for mathematics and surveying, was appointed by the governor of Georgia as Assistant Surveyor General before his 20th birthday. His first known survey was recorded in 1784. For his services to the state, McCall received grants of lands along the eastern side of the Oconee River totaling more than 130,000 acres and eleven town lots in Brunswick. The largest of his grants totaled 11,875 acres in Franklin County, which originally stretched from present day Oconee County to the South Carolina line. McCall served as Surveyor General of Georgia from 1786-1795. As Surveyor General, he found himself nearly embroiled in a controversy known as "The Pine Barren's Fraud," where unsuspecting northerners were granted, for a fee, thousands of acres of land in Montgomery County, which didn't even exist.
Included in his land holdings was a 500 acre tract opposite Dublin in the area known as Sandbar. For years the strip of bottom land was known as the "Corral." McCall acquired the land in 1794 and the property was subsequently purchased by his son-in-law Jeremiah H. Yopp. George Gaines, the husband of his daughter Louisa, established the first ferry at Sandbar. Once the town of Dublin was established, Gaines moved to the west side of the river and built a home in Dublin. He lived on the street named in his honor.
Thomas McCall took the hand of Miss Henrietta Fall in marriage on April 17, 1787.
He continued to receive large grants of land in Augusta and Franklin counties, which he turned into cash. The McCalls lived in Savannah during the latter decade of the 18th Century. Henrietta McCall died at the age of thirty in 1797. One year and one week later, Thomas married Elizabeth Mary Anne Smith, daughter of James Lawrence Smith and great-great-granddaughter of James Moore, one of South Carolina's early governors.
The McCall's moved to Camden County in the southeastern corner of the state. They lived for a short time in McIntosh County, where McCall designed the layout of the town of Darien in 1806. Apparently McCall stayed out of politics and left very few records of his existence in the coastal counties.
It appears that McCall suffered some sort of devastating business loss about the year 1815. It was about the year 1816 when Thomas and Elizabeth McCall left the secure and glamorous life of the low country and moved to Dublin. Curtis Bolton and Company recovered a multi thousand dollar judgment against McCall in the Superior Court of Laurens County in 1816. Practically all of his personal possessions were subjected to a levy by the sheriff. His brother, Capt. Hugh McCall, who wrote the first comprehensive history of Georgia, purchased the lien and saved his brothers precious library of two hundred volumes, as well as his slaves
No one for sure can tell where Thomas and Elizabeth McCall lived. Their home
"Retreat," was located somewhere between Fish Trap Cut and the Glenwood Road (Capt. Bobbie Brown Highway.) Though there is no deed on record, McCall appears as an adjoining land owner in the area and did buy an island in the Oconee River, possibly the island just above Fish Trap Cut.
McCall aptly named his plantation, for during the last quarter century of his life, he
seemed to retreat from the public eye. He was a regular member of the Laurens County grand jury from 1819 to 1830 as well as sitting on a few trial juries, but that was the extent of his recorded public service. But, McCall wasn't a total loner. He often opened his home to distinguished visitors, including U.S. Senator and Attorney General John M. Berrien and Rev. Patrick Calhoun, father of Vice President John C. Calhoun, who baptized his oldest three girls.
It has been said that McCall's closest friend in Laurens County was Governor George Troup. Both men moved to the county at approximately the same time. Both were highly educated. Both loved to fish. It was well known that each man kept a skiff tied up on the their respective sides of the river, so they could quickly cross to visit one another. George Troup liked to drink fine wine and in Thomas McCall, Troup had the ideal neighbor.
Perhaps McCall's greatest fame, not only locally, but on a regional scale, came from
his remarkable ability to cultivate the natural grapes of the area, as well as imported ones, and to create new varieties which could withstand the sweltering summer temperatures of 101 and frigid ones at ten degrees . By some accounts, Thomas McCall was regarded as the best vineyardist in the South.
Among McCall's most successful varieties was the Warren/Warrenton. The grape
was first grown in Warren County and ably adapted by McCall, much to the delight of Prof. J. Jackson of Athens, who spent a day with the celebrated wine maker in 1820 sampling his Madeira made from the same grape Jackson had tasted fifteen years earlier. McCall had success with a similar grape, known as the vilis sylvestris. Of the native grapes, the Wild Muscadine, or Bullus, made a tart with a fine claret wine with a slight yellowish tint.
After reaching Laurens County, McCall began to keep detailed records of his vineyard and his wine making processes. In 1825, McCall summarized his nine-year study in a highly respected essay published in magazines and newspapers throughout the country. One Pennsylvania news editor wrote, " No effort in the United States to raise or improve the grape, has been more successful than that of Thomas McCall, Esq. of Laurens County. His wine from the native grape is superior to any wine the writer of this article ever drank, excepting the first quality of foreign wine." Wine from his grapes was served at the Jubilee celebration in the summer of 1826 in Miledgeville.
McCall maintained hundreds of vines in his vineyard. In 1828, he made nearly 500
gallons, which he sold at a premium price of two dollars per gallon. McCall was cited by experts as the first person in Georgia to successfully cultivate grapes and make them into wine. His success came from adding sugar to the wine before it fermented.
Elizabeth McCall died on June 20, 1831. Her body lies in a grave near the center of
the old City Cemetery. Her grave marker is reminiscent of the those found in ancient
American cities like Savannah, Charleston and Williamsburg. Thomas McCall died on April 4, 1840 and lies beside his wife. His marker was placed there many years after his death by his descendants.
07-13
PETER EARLY LOVE
Doctor, Lawyer and Judicial Chief
Peter Early Love was a man of many accomplishments. His life, albeit too short, was one of public service to his community and state. This is the story of a Laurens County man and how he became a leading citizen of antebellum Georgia. During his two decades of public service, Love was a lawyer, solicitor, doctor, senator, representative, editor, mayor, judge and Congressman.
Peter Early Love was born on July 7, 1818 in Laurens County, Georgia. His merchant father Amos Love, Clerk of the Superior Court of Laurens County, named him for Governor Peter Early of Georgia, who was the first judge of Laurens County Superior Court. His mother was the former Margaret James. Peter had two sisters, Jane, who married General Eli Warren, and Mary Ann, who married Moses Guyton. Educational opportunities in the area were virtually nonexistent. So, Peter was home schooled by his parents and possibly by a live-in teacher. At the age of eight, Peter had to face the first crisis of his life, the death of his father. Margaret Love married Samuel Caldwell and the family moved from Laurens County. Peter lived with his guardian and older brother-in-law General Eli Warren in Houston County. Under the guidance of General Warren, Peter began to plan a career as a lawyer.
Love matriculated at Franklin College at the University of Georgia in 1834. He left Athens in 1837 to pursue a career as a doctor. After attending the Philadelphia College of Medicine, Dr. Love entered the medical field. He first married Martha Stroud, who died shortly after their marriage. He then married Mary Bracewell of Hawkinsville. Dr. Love decided that the practice of medicine was not in his future.
After a short stay in Houston County, Love moved to Thomasville in Thomas County. Thomas County became the nucleus of legal and political activities of South Georgia. In 1840, he served as a delegate to the Electoral College, voting in favor of William Henry Harrison. Dr. Love was admitted to the practice of law by the Superior Court of Thomas County, Georgia. Among Love's fellow attorneys were James L. Seward, Archibald T. McIntyre and Augustin H. Hansell, all of whom moved from Middle Georgia to Thomasville.
Peter Love made his first venture into elective office in 1843 when he was elected Solicitor General of the Southern Circuit, which stretched from Laurens County to Charlton County in the southeastern corner of the state to Decatur County in the southwestern corner. As Solicitor General, Love was charged with the responsibility of prosecuting criminal cases. The large dimensions of the circuit required Love to be constantly on the road, appearing at least twice a year in each of the counties within the circuit. He took office on November 11, 1843, replacing Augstin Hansell and served for four years.
After a year out of office, Love won the election as the Senator from the 12th District of Georgia in 1849. It was a time of immense political upheaval across the state and the nation. Each southern state was faced with the question of secession or reaching a compromise by allowing new states to enter the Union free of slavery. Love took the position of leaving the Union, a position not shared by the populace of Thomas County. Though he was pro slavery, Love owned a small family of slaves in 1840. By 1860, he had disposed of all of the 19 slaves which he had owned a decade before.
During the decade of the 1850s, Love rose to the pinnacle of his life. In 1852, he replaced Judge Hansell as Judge of the Southern Circuit which meant another return to the road. He was elected in 1853 and again two and four years later. Despite the rigors of his trial schedules, Judge Love was a leading citizen of Thomas County. In 1856, he helped to organize a college for women, which eventually became known as Young's Female College. Along with William H. Hail, he owned and edited the Wiregrass Reporter. When it became apparent that the South was headed toward a military crisis with the North over the issue of state rights and slavery, many communities organized their own military companies. As Captain Love, Peter was given the command of the Thomas Guards. As if they were kindred spirits and going through parallel lives, Augstin Hansell was right there with Judge Love, serving as his first lieutenant.
Judge Love, a popular judge throughout the state, sought higher inspirations. In 1858, he resigned from the bench to conduct a successful campaign for a seat as a Congressman for the 1st Congressional District of Georgia replacing Congressman James L. Seward, a native of Dublin and his former law partner. Judge Love returned to the bench for a brief time and remained there until he was scheduled to take office in the winter of 1859. Near the end of his first term, Congressman Love addressed the Congress on the issue of slavery. Love challenged his fellow congressmen to find a single sentence in the Bible which condemned slavery. In fact, he cited several passages which distinguished master and slave and proclaimed that the Bible provided guidelines for the regulation of slavery and therefore justified its existence.
Differences between the North and South continued to diverge. Congressman Love traveled to Charleston, South Carolina to attend a convention on the issue of secession from the Union. He won reelection to Congress that fall. But more importantly to Love and the nation as a whole, Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated a split ticket of three Democratic candidates. The Southern states held true to their promise and voted to secede from the United States to form the Confederate States of America. On January 23, 1861, Congressman Love and his fellow Georgia congressional delegates resigned their seats and left Washington, D.C. As one southern state after another adopted resolutions to leave the Union, war seemed imminent.
Congressman Love still had a burning desire to serve the people of Thomas County. In the summer of 1861, his fellow citizens elected him to represent them in the state legislature. He served for two years during the early years of the War Between the States and was honored by his fellow colleagues, who named him Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives. In 1863, he returned to Thomasville, where he was elected mayor.
On November 8, 1866, at the relatively young age of forty-eight, Peter Early Love died. He was buried in a family plot in the Old City Cemetery. Peter had four children. His sons Amos J. Love, a Confederate cavalry captain, and Peter Early Love, Jr., both died never having married. He had two daughters, Mattie, who married Rev. Robert Harris and Margaret "Maggy," who married O.C. Hall. The city of Thomasville permanently honored the memory of Congressman, Judge, Solicitor, Senator, Representative and Mayor Peter Early Love by naming one of the city's busiest thoroughfares "Love Street."
07-14
WILLIAM JOSHUA BUSH
The End of the Long Gray Line
William Joshua Bush was the last of his kind, or perhaps one of the last of his kind. As a teenager, he fought for his country, the Confederate States of America. As a centenarian, Bush was celebrated as one of the last Confederate veterans of the Civil War, or the War Between the States, which ended one hundred and forty-one years ago this week. When he died, Bush was the last Georgian to have worn the gray, or butternut, uniform of the Confederacy.
William Joshua Bush was born in Wilkinson County, Georgia on July 10, 1845 or by some accounts in1846. That is his recorded date of birth, but the 1850 Census indicated that he was one year old and therefore was born in 1848 and not in 1845. His father Francis Marion Bush and his mother Elizabeth Pattisaul Bush lived in the western regions of the county, possibly near Gordon.
In July of 1861, just before the war began in reality, William enlisted in the Ramah Guards, designated as Company B of the 14th Georgia infantry. He lied about his age. He wasn't about to turn sixteen the next day. He was about to celebrate his first full day in the Confederate Army as a thirteen-year-old. The 14th Georgia saw action that month in the Battle of First Manassas, or Bull Run. When the fighting ceased for the fall and winter months, William was discharged and sent home to Wilkinson County.
A few months after his real 16th birthday, William enlisted in the Georgia Militia in October 1864. Only a few enrolling officers asked questions about age in those days. The Confederacy, and Georgia in particular, needed bodies who could fire a gun. General Sherman was in Atlanta, ready and poised to begin his climatic "March to the Sea."
Right in the line of his march was Wilkinson County. William's company first saw action in the area of East Macon near Cross Key's. He may have participated in the attack on the rear of the Union line near Griswoldville, Georgia, an attack which resulted in a devastating defeat for the militia, composed primarily of older men, wounded regulars and boys. According to Bush, he fought in the Battle of Atlanta. After viewing Gone With The Wind, he pronounced the depiction of Atlanta to be accurate. When he visited the Cyclorama in Atlanta, the circular painting brought back old memories of the climactic battle. It is said that he even pointed out the tree he hid behind, though the painting is merely an artist's conception. There is even a story that when he saw Union General William T. Sherman depicted on horseback, Bush, vowing "let me at him," had to be restrained by his wife.
Bush remained with his company until it surrendered at Stephen's Station on the Central of Georgia Railroad in 1865. Like many veterans, Bush loved to tell stories about his experiences in the war. He related the often told tale about the ransacking of the family home and how it was stopped when a Union officer discovered that the owner was a Mason. Masons, their homes and personal possessions, were considered off limits to looters and souvenir hunters. He told one interviewer, "when I got into the war we wore overalls, and when we surrendered in 1865, I didn't even have a pair of shoes."
After the war, Joshua, as he was most well known, married Mary Adeline Steeley. They had six children and were married until her death in 1915. In 1922, at the age of 54 or so, Bush married Effie T. Sharpe, a widowed mother of two small children.
For seventy-five years, Bush lived the normal life of an aging Confederate veteran. Bush ran a store on the Levi Harrell place and moved from Rhine in Dodge County to Fitzgerald the early 1870s. He received a pension check to help pay his bills. He was a regular church goer, serving as a senior deacon in the Baptist Church. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a member of a Masonic Lodge. He worked as long he could, taking jobs with the railroad, turpentine companies and even a short stint as a butcher in a grocery store.
It was in 1938 when Bush and the few surviving veterans of the war began to acquire celebrity status. That year marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Those veterans who could, gathered in the Pennsylvania town for one final reunion to commemorate the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy." As a souvenir of the event, Bush brought home a large rebel flag.
Joshua Bush spent his last years in Fitzgerald, which had been founded as a colony by former Union soldiers. For many years, Bush and Henry Brunner, the last surviving Union veteran in town, would meet at the city cemetery and place flowers on the graves of their deceased comrades. When Brunner died, Bush sent a flower from "the last of the gray to the last of the blue." As his status grew, the Judge of the Ordinary Court would personally deliver his pension check and bring the requisite amount of cash to cash the check and eliminate the need for Bush to go to the bank. He was often given an escort home by police officers when he stayed out late. He liked to stay out late.
Bush became somewhat of a celebrity. Admirers addressed the one-blue eyed centenarian (he lost an eye in a sawmill accident) as "General Bush." The owners of 20th Century Fox presented the general with a new uniform befitting his newfound stature. The aged rebel commented, "when I got into it we were in overalls. In 1865, when the army surrendered, I didn't even have a pair of shoes." In gratitude Bush vowed to be buried in the only uniform he ever owned. The uniform was donated to the Cyclorama Museum in Atlanta and later transferred to the Atlanta Historical Society. The producers of I'll Climb the Highest Mountain invited him to attend the movie's premiere in Atlanta.
As the decade of the 1950s came, the number of living veterans of the war began to dwindle rapidly. For the first time in his life, Joshua Bush boarded an airplane for Norfolk, Virginia. Bush joined John Sailing of Virginia and William Townsend of Louisiana for the 1951 Confederate Veteran's Reunion. It would turn out to be the last reunion of the Long Gray Line. By the spring of 1952, the remaining Confederate veterans outnumbered their Union counterparts - a stark contrast to the superior Northern armies during the war. In 1952, the Sons of the Confederate Veterans held their annual meeting in Jackson, Mississippi, with only Joshua Bush and William Townsend of Louisiana in attendance. The delegates sadly voted to end the reunions.
On November 11, 1952, Joshua Bush, Georgia's last Confederate veteran died. His body was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald with Masonic and military honors. For the last time in history, Confederate flags were flown all over the state at half mast in his honor. It was a time that brought a great sorrow to those who still remembered the tales of their fathers and grandfathers of days of long ago.
07-15
JAMES VELMA KEEN
Paying it Forward
Lawyers are supposed to serve their communities, at least that's what my Daddy taught me. On this Law Day, let us take a glance back at one lawyer, who was a native of Dublin, but left his home here and left a lasting legacy to the State of Florida and northern Florida in particular. Born with a God given talent, Keen paid it forward and lent his skills to promote the enforcement of the law, the improvement of education and the establishment of nuclear energy facilities.
James Velma Keen was born in Dublin, Georgia on August 23, 1899. His parents, James Henry and Ida Keen lived on a farm in Smith's District on the eastern side of the river. Since his father was known as James, James Velma Keen was known by his friends as "Velma." When Velma was an infant, the Keens moved to River Junction in Gadsden County, Florida. James Henry Keen followed the course of his Holmes cousins and moved south to open a Coca Cola bottling plant in 1907. Keen operated the plant until 1913, when it merged with another plant in Marianna. After James Henry's death in 1942, his son Charlton took over as president and manager of the plant. When Charlton died in 1957, Velma found himself in control of his father's business, the Purity Bottling Works.
Velma Keen returned to Georgia where he entered Georgia Tech and later Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. After a brief period of study at the University of Pittsburgh, Keen returned to North Florida and entered Law School at Florida State University. After obtaining a law degree in 1922, Keen was admitted to the bar in 1923 and began the practice of law with the firm of Sawyer, Surrency, Carter and Keen.
From his new home in Sarasota, Keen launched his public service career. He served as the State's Attorney for the 27th Judicial District. In 1930, Keen was chosen as the State Attorney for Sarasota County. After failing in an attempt to become the mayor of Sarasota in 1927, Keen returned to politics and was elected to represent his county in the Florida legislature in 1931. Following his two-years in the state house, Keen once again climbed the ladder to become the Assistant Attorney General of Florida in 1933.
In 1936, Velma Keen returned to private practice in Tallahassee in a general civil practice with the firm of Keen, O'Kelly and Spitz. Keen was often called upon to write articles for the Florida Law Journal and remained active in the State Bar Association, serving as a committee chairman and the organization's president. In 1959, Keen was honored with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Florida State University for nearly four decades of outstanding legal services to the State of Florida.
In 1947, Keen represented the estate of circus magnate John Ringling, who bequeathed his estimable art museum, luxurious mansion and its grand gardens to the people of Florida. Velma Keen's passion was the furtherance and improvement of educational opportunities in his state. He served as a trustee of Florida Southern College. He was president of the Southern Scholarship and Research Foundation and chairman of the Continuing Education Council of Florida.
Velma Keen and his wife helped to found the Southern Scholarship and Research Foundation. The program continues today to provide free housing scholarships. In the early 1960s, Keen was appointed to the State Advisory Committee on Libraries. He was a member of the National Citizens Council for Better Schools, The Advisory Council on Education and a member of the Education Committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce, from 1948 to 1963.
Perhaps Velma Keen's most enduring legacies came in the field of nuclear energy. Just ten years after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb, Keen led his state in the establishment of the atom as a peaceful implement of man. In 1955, Keen was elected to chair the Florida Nuclear Development Commission. The board of citizens was charged with the responsibility of implementation of policies and advisement of nuclear development in the state. Keen and his fellow board members began to recruit math and science teachers who would encourage their students to excel in their studies and remain at home to further the interests of Florida. Eventually the commission promoted the studies of nuclear energy at the Florida State and the University of Florida. His personal goal was to make the state's top two universities among the best
in the nation. As a member of the Southeastern Regional Council on nuclear energy, Keen helped to develop policies for the establishment of nuclear power plants and the storage of radioactive waste products.
In 1966, James Velma Keen was honored for his work in the development of nuclear energy. Florida State University named its new physics building the James Velma Keen Physics Research Building in honor of one of the founders of the Southern Interstate Nuclear Compact in 1959. An excellent public speaker, Keen was frequently asked to speak to scientific, business and education groups.
Keen was an astute businessman as well. He was the founding president of the Leon Federal Savings and Loan Association in Tallahassee. The Commonwealth Corporation, a large financial institution, was founded under his leadership. Always asked to serve on many boards, Keen served three terms as President of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce in the late 1940s and as a director of the Florida Chamber of Commerce in 1950s. Velma Keen was also active in historical affairs. He
served as vice president of the Florida Historical Society in the mid 1950s.
James Velma Keen died on March 4, 1963. His life was one of untiring public service. Keen represents the qualities of what an ideal attorney at law should be. Those of us who are blessed with a talent to represent others in times of tribulations and triumphs are obligated to share our blessings with others. Of course, everyone else should aspire to those same goals of selflessness and service to others.
07-16
J. RANDOLPH EVANS
A Paradigm of Ethics
Randy Evans always knows the right thing to do. He was raised that way. This native of Dublin is a mixture of two of Laurens County's oldest families, the Thigpens from the east side of the river and the Evans family from the west side. In a world when all too many lawyers are looked upon with distrust of their true motives, J. Randolph Evans is regarded by his peers as one of the best attorneys in the nation. His clients have included several of the nation's most prominent politicians and erudite corporations, but his roots to Laurens County still run deep.
Randy Evans was born in Dublin, Georgia on September 24, 1958. His father James C. Evans is a son of Elton Evans and Martha Hilliard Evans of Dexter. His mother Betty Evans is a daughter of Malcolm Thigpen and Marie Clements Thigpen of Rockledge. Randy grew up in Warner Robins, where in 1976 he graduated from Northside High School. Randy and his brother Greg spent most of their summers on their grandparents' farms.
"I decided to become an attorney before I started school and never wavered," Evans recalled. Randy was awarded a scholarship on the debating team at West Georgia College, which he entered in 1976. Evans was elected Judiciary Chairman of the Student Government Association and in 1979 was chosen by his fellow students to serve as President of the association. Randy was a member of the debate team, one of the top three teams in the nation. A Summa Cum Laude graduate, Evans majored in Political Science and minored in Mathematics and Speech.
While at West Georgia, he met a professor who would shape and mold his life forever. Law and politics are often inseparable. Evans met Newt Gingrich and volunteered on his campaign staff in 1976 and again in 1978, when Gingrich was first elected to Congress. During the summer of 1979, Randy lived in the basement of Gingrich's Virginia home while he interned for the freshman congressman.
In 1980, Randy Evans began his study of the law at the University of Georgia. While in law school, he was a member of the Editorial and Managing Boards of the Georgia Law Review. His Moot Court team was one of the top four in the nation. In 1983, Randy was awarded a Juris Doctor Degree Magna Cum Laude along with citations of honor from the Order of the Coif and the Order of the Barristers.
Randy was asked by the firm of Boundurant, Miller, Hishon & Stephenson to join the firm as an associate. Inspired by the wave of conservatism and old-fashioned values espoused by Ronald Reagan, Randy entered the world of politics and was elected chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party in 1985. Later that same year, Evans was asked to join Arnall, Golden and Gregory, one of Atlanta's most prestigious firms, in their legal malpractice section.
Before the age of thirty, Evans assisted Newt Gingrich by taking an integral role in drafting the ethics complaint against the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Wright, which eventually led to his resignation and Gingrich's rise to the speakership. In 1991, Randy was elevated to partner and was appointed chairman of the Professional Liability Group of the firm. Now recognized nationwide as an expert on professional liability insurance, Evans is the author of Practical Guide to Legal Malpractice Prevention. In 1996, Randy Evans was chosen by his colleagues to head the bar's second largest section, the Torts and Insurance section.
When Speaker Newt Gingrich found himself on the hot seat in 1996 after an ethics complaint was filed against him, he called upon Randy to defend him in the Congress. Evans became the speaker's personal attorney representing him in his divorce, in book deals and in contracts as a news analyst for Fox television news.
As his star began to rise, Gingrich's successor as speaker, Dennis Hastert, retained Randy to act as his outside counsel in 1999. That same year, Evans was appointed by Georgia Chief Justice Norman Fletcher as a Special Master for the State of Georgia for a five-year term which ended in 2004. With Speakers Gingrich and Hastert on his client list, Evans became the logical choice to represent the Republican party in Georgia. His stock in the law firm was also on the rise. In 2001, he was named co-chairman of the Litigation Department at Arnall, Golden & Gregory.
One of the busiest attorneys in the nation, Randy Evans was named in 2001 to head the business companies owned by former speaker Gingrich. In 2002, he began to represent J.C. Watts, the former and always popular congressman from Oklahoma. After one year, Watts named Evans to head his business interests as well. That same year he accepted employment as the outside counsel of house majority whip Roy Blunt.
When the Republican party took over control of Georgia politics in 2002, Evans became more active in state politics, serving on the Georgia State Board of Elections and as general counsel for the Georgia Republican party. Evans continued to represent his clients in book deals, negotiating Speaker, by Dennis Hastert and National Party No More for Zell Miller. Though most of his known clients are well-known Republicans, Evans also represents many members of Congress and the Senate from both sides of the aisle.
In 2003, Evans became chairman of the Financial Services practice group at McKenna, Long & Aldridge in Atlanta. He continues to try cases as well as author hundreds of law articles as well as being a coveted speaker at seminars and legal programs. He finds that by writing and lecturing on legal issues, he is forced to keep up with the rapid changes in the law. In his spare time, Evans is a member of the Roswell Baptist Church, the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Historical Society. His wife Linda is a former Wall Street lawyer. He has a twenty-year-old son, Jake. His hobbies include chess and collecting lapel pins. He also enjoys following his beloved Georgia Bulldogs. He once told a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "I bleed red and black."
The editors of Best Lawyers in America have cited Randy in the practice areas of Commercial and Legal Malpractice in 2004, 2006 and 2007. He has been recognized as one of Georgia's Super Lawyers by Atlanta Magazine. James Magazine has named him one of the most influential persons in the state in the last two years.
Like all good lawyers Evans describes himself as a solution-driven lawyer. As it relates to a main area of expertise, Randy Evans defines discipline as "doing that which you don't want to do when you most don't want to do it."
07-17
SHEWMAKE, GEORGIA
A New Beginning
Do you know where Shewmake, Georgia is? Most of you would not unless you live near there. Here's a hint. It is on the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad. Do you know now? Here's another hint. Nearly twenty thousand cars pass through it on a daily basis. Give up? Shewmake, a tiny village with an ephemeric life, is located at the most southern end of Walke Dairy Road as it approaches Interstate 16. It is named for the family who owned thousands of acres of land in the area. Shewmake, the plantation, was one of the county's ten largest post bellum plantations, containing nearly seven thousand acres, stretching from the Turkey Creek Bridge on Hwy. 257 nearly to the city limits of Dudley.
In 1848, Henry P. Jones, one of the wealthiest men in Burke County and in the state of Georgia for that matter, purchased 950 acres from Josiah Horne. The land is located along the western side of the present Georgia Highway 257 south of the Interstate and north of Turkey Creek. The following year he paid James D. Hampton $2500.00 for 3100 acres. Jones acquired 2500 acres from William Hampton and various other tracts to form one of the county's largest plantations, which he called "the Sumpterville Plantation." He derived the name from the traditionally accepted first county seat of Laurens County. Jones called the lands he purchased from Horne "the Telfair Place."
Jones, from time to time, lived in a home on the place he called the Sumpertville Plantation, which in 1850 was tended to by seventy slaves. Henry Jones, born in 1809, was an orphan. Described as "the architect of his own fortunes," Jones was a member of the wealthy, prominent and powerful Jones family of Burke County, Georgia. It was in October of 1853 when the forty-three-year old Jones was suddenly struck with severe inflammation of his intestines, possibly a ruptured appendix. He died on October 2nd. His massive estate passed to his wife Elizabeth and his children, who continued to manage it for more than a quarter of a century, before dividing it among all of the heirs. Jones was eulogized as "bland and modest in his manners and in his heart benevolent and kind."
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Penelope Jones, a beautiful daughter of Henry Jones, married a rising young lawyer from Burke County by the name of John Troup Shewmake. Shewmake was born on January 22, 1826. Educated at home, Shewmake enrolled in Princeton University at the age of eighteen. After one year of intense studies, Shewmake returned home and enrolled in William Gould's Law School in Augusta. He was admitted to the bar in 1846 and entered the practice of law, briefly in Waynesboro and then in Augusta, where he practiced until his retirement.
In the same year he married, John T. Shewmake was named the Attorney General of Georgia during the administrations of Governors Howell Cobb and Herschel V. Johnson, who would become eminently involved in the secession of Georgia from the Union. As Attorney General, Shewmake, who was only twenty-five years old, was responsible for representing the State of Georgia during one of it's most critical eras, as well as being in overall supervision of the prosecution of criminal cases.
Shewmake was elected to represent Burke County in the Georgia Senate in 1861. In his two years in the capital in Milledgeville, Burke and his fellow senators debated the issues of secession and how to manage its tumultuous consequences. In November 1863, John T. Shewmake was elected as one of ten men to represent Georgia in the Second Confederate Congress. The first session of the Congress began on May 2, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. Just some fifty crow-fly miles to the north, newly installed Union commander Ulysses S. Grant was poised to launch his final throat-strangling advance on the Confederate capital.
When the fighting around Petersburg and Richmond intensified in June, the congress adjourned and returned in November when the dueling armies went into bivouac for the winter. On March 18, 1865, when the fall of Richmond was eminent, the Congress adjourned forever and Congressman Shewmake returned to Augusta, where he resumed his law practice.
The beneficiary of a fine education, John Shewmake paid it forward by accepting the presidency of the Augusta Board of Education in 1874. After a four year term, Shewmake returned to the Georgia Senate, once again to represent Burke County.
Nearly forty years after the death of Henry P. Jones, his heirs agreed to a division of the lands. John and Lizzie Shewmake and their children Annie Whitehead, Lena Johnson, Burke Shewmake, William J. Shewmake, Hal P. Shewmake, Marshall A. Shewmake and Claud Shewmake agreed to accept the Sumpterville Plantation as their share of the Jones estate.
John T. Shewmake, his son Burke, and his son-in-law James Whitehead joined together in incorporating "The Sumpertville Factory" in 1881. The factory was formed to conduct a manufacturing, merchandising and milling business at Shewmake's Mill on Turkey Creek near New Bethel Baptist Church. Primarily the business was established to make cotton and wool cloth, mill grains and saw lumber into timber. After his retirement from politics, John T. Shewmake was a frequent visitor to Laurens County overseeing the farming operations here and frequently attending sessions of the Superior Court.
In the mid 1880s, John M. Stubbs, of Dublin, Joshua Walker, of Laurens Hill, and Dudley M. Hughes, of Twiggs County, began their plans to construct a railroad from Dublin to Macon. In 1891 their dreams became a reality when the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad ran its first train into Dublin. Along the way at the point where the railroad intersects Walke Dairy Road, the railroad established a small railroad depot and stop, which was named "Shewmake" in honor of Congressman Shewmake. George A. McKay was appointed the first postmaster of Shewmake, Georgia on April 27, 1900. The post office was closed on February 15, 1903 with all mail ordered to be sent to Dublin.
John Troup Shewmake's wonderful life ended on December 1, 1898 at his home in Augusta. He was buried in Magnolia Cemetery. His son Burke had just died an untimely death. The old man's surviving sons formed the Orchard Canning Company in an attempt to profit from the rapidly thriving orchard business centered at Kewanee a few miles to the west and around Montrose, several miles to the northwest. In 1907, the Shewmake Brothers changed their corporate name to simply "the Shewmake Brothers Co." The company continued to do business well into the 1920s.
Marshall A. Shewmake moved to Dublin in 1907 and lived on Bellevue Avenue. About 1910, Shewmake went into business with S.T. Hall to form the Shewmake Hall Company. Marshall and his brother Hal, along with Hall, O.H.P. Rawls and G.M. Fomby formed the Southern Buggy Whip Company in 1911. Shewmake, a long time director of the Commercial Bank, and his partner S.T. Hall enlisted C.D. Hilbun and B.D. Kent in reorganizing the business into the Laurens Hardware Company, which continued to do business into the 1970s.
Today, Shewmake is home to hundreds of families. Nearly a century after it's hey day, the community you might not have attached the name to, is one of county's most desirable residential areas.
07-18
TO THE CLASS OF 2007
Challenges and Opportunities
The four short years you have just completed will prepare you for the world you now enter. The lessons you have learned in this school will help to get you through the bad times and only make the good times that much better.
I have a passion for writing about heroes. Each week I write stories about those who have gone before us. You are the heroes of our future. It is now up to you to carry the torch that others have carried before you. You are our legacy, our opus, our dreams.
Think kids, just like you;
Have helped men to travel to the moon and have helped an old woman up a mountainous flight of stairs. Have danced on Broadway and taken their daughters to hundreds and hundreds of dance lessons.
We have played in the Super Bowl and we have coached our son's midget league football teams. We have played in the Masters Golf Tournament and toiled in the factory to make the Green Jackets of the Masters Champions.
There were two of us who gave their lives on the rocky shores of Iwo Jima and thousands of us who held our children all night when they were sick. We have painted magnificent works of art and painted our neighbor's house for free.
We have been champions of our state and country and championed the causes of those who can't fight for themselves. Several of us have written the news for the country's greatest newspapers and too many of us have been the one to tell parents the news that their child was killed in a car wreck.
One of us became the youngest female lawyer in the history of Georgia and the first woman to be certified as a surgeon in the Northeast. We have been All Americans in football, baseball, basketball and wrestling and we have given our all for America on the jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of the Middle East.
One of us has been saluted as one of the greatest African-American inventors of the 20th Century and a lot of us have stayed up half of the night helping our kids finish their science projects which were due the next day. We have won silver star medals for heroism and have done heroic acts with no recognition sought or given.
Several of us have been at the top of university classes and hundreds of us have taught thousands small children how to read. We have been admirals and generals, and we have marched through the mud and snow of the bitter winters of World War II.
One of us has been a Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and many have defended those who couldn't defend themselves. We have been prisoners of war and many of us have kept the bad guys off the street so we can sleep at night and play on the playgrounds.
We have been among the top musicians in the country and have sung in the church choir for fifty years. One of our teachers and our mothers has been among the first women to be drafted in the first National Women's Basketball League and many of our mothers have cooked hundreds and even thousands of cupcakes to raise money for the PTA.
We have been the marshal of the District of Columbia and gathered on the National Mall to seek the freedoms of all Americans. One of us has pitched in the major leagues and the luckiest of us have pitched a wiffle ball to our kids in the back yard.
We have built beds and sat by those same beds where our parents died. Several of us have been honored in Halls of Fame and many of us have walked the halls of hospitals in anticipation of the birth of our first born.
We have been the first African-American woman vice president of CBS radio and transmitted radio messages in times of civil disasters. We have jumped out of an airplane in the pre dawn hours of the invasion of Normandy and we have jumped for joy when our child got their first hit in tee ball.
We have been Speaker pro tem of the Georgia legislature and have spoken to thousands of the principles of faith, hope and love. We have served on some of the state's and nations most important boards and we have served food to the hungry when no one else would.
These are just some of the things you can do. Your parents and your teachers have given you all the opportunities. Now, it's up to you.
"We are all put on the Earth for a purpose, and that purpose is to build and not to destroy," the comedian Red Skelton always said. The great baseball player Roberto Clemente said, "''Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth."
If I could, I would like to leave you with a simple message. It comes in the form of one of the world's greatest commencement addresses. Sir Winston Churchill, the legendary Prime Minister of Great Britain was invited back to his boyhood school to speak to its newest graduating class. After a long, hot, humid and arduous day, the portly old gentleman rose to speak. All of those in attendance expected a litany of maxims and guiding principles from the one of the world's greatest philosophers. In a one sentence speech he told the class, "Gentlemen, life is tough, but never, ever give up."
I am a child of what has been called the "Greatest Generation." My challenge to you for the rest of your lives is to make us, your parents, the parents of the true "Greatest Generation" and before you leave this world make yourselves the parents of an even greater generation."
Congratulations to the Class of 2007! Thank you for allowing me to be your baseball coach, your school board member, your band booster president and most of all, thank you for letting me be your friend.
07-19
WILLIAM WALLACE
“A True Survivor”
For the last fifteen years, millions of persons all over the world have tuned their television sets to watch the popular television show Survivor. The king of reality of shows features everyday people who endure the elements and undergo a variety of contests. Sixty five years ago, William Wallace and thousands of other American soldiers and civilians faced the same challenge. However, this challenge was real. It was constantly brutal, frequently deadly and unfathomably heinous.
William Wallace, son of Lase and Frances Wallace, was born on April 1, 1922 and grew up in Millen, Georgia. After his graduation from High School, William enlisted in the Army Air Corps and began his training at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. Private Wallace was assigned to the 27th Bombardment Group (L)as a tail gunner. The group was assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands in November 1941. Wallace was at his station when the Japanese attacked the island chain on December 7.
The invaders launched a ferocious siege upon the American and Filipino forces, who had little food and an ever dwindling supply of ammunition. After the three months of constant fighting, the American forces surrendered. William was taken prisoner and along with thousands of other prisoners, was forced to endure the infamous “Bataan Death March.” The weakened men were force-marched sixty miles in intense heat. The only drinking water was found in mud puddles along the way. Rest periods were rare. Slow walkers were beaten. Stragglers were bayoneted. Six or seven hundred men were left dead on the side of the road.
After three months and fifteen hundred deaths at Camp O’Donnell, the prisoners were transported to the nefarious prison at Cabanatuan. William remained there until September 1943. It was in the latter months of 1943 that the Japanese government began to transport American prisoners back to the mainland to work in the coal mines. Wallace and six hundred other prisoners were crammed into the hold a cargo ship, which set a course for Osaka.
Along the way, the ship detoured to Formosa in China. The men were sent to a coal mine and were worked more than a half day, every day. William was forced to push a heavy coal car up hill. Any slip might result in a beating. A prisoner’s daily diet consisted of three cups of rice. If they were lucky, the men were given a prize morsel of meat, a pickled grasshopper, known to its consumer as a “Georgia Thumper.”
By 1944, William was assigned to a coal mine of the Rinko Coal Company in Japan. Conditions in the mine were unbearable. The men were placed in an open building, left to face the brutal winters with virtually no shelter. Each man was given old clothes to wear and a single blanket to keep them warm. On the coldest of nights, six men would lie on one blanket and lie together, three with their heads on one end and three at the other end, with the five blankets on top. At least the meals were better. Stewed fish and boiled soybeans were added to the customary, but highly treasured, three daily cups of rice. Once a week, the men got a bath.
Wallace described the winter of 1945 as the worst. Snow falls ranged from three feet and more. In order to avoid work and gain a stay in the hospital, Wallace would hold his breath and fall flat into the snow to make it appear that he had lost consciousness on six or seven occasions. His captors never realized his ruse. Had they done so, he would have been immediately executed on the spot. “Getting out the snow, the freezing rain and still being allowed to eat was worth the risk,” said Wallace. During that winter, William suffered from dysentery and double pneumonia and spent Easter Sunday, his 23rd birthday, in the hospital.
Conditions in the camp began to deteriorate rapidly. The men began to steal food and cigarettes from each other, but were strongly disciplined if caught. Distribution of food was scrutinized down to the pro rata bean and crumb of rice.
William was not released until the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When he left the coal mine, he weighed 87 pounds. Constant hunger and debilitating malaria and beriberi nearly killed William. Thousands of others who weren’t so lucky.
In August 1945, William returned to the United States and entered a hospital in California. When he arrived home, he possessed six stitches in his head, a result of an unprovoked attack by a Japanese civilian with a large chunk of coal. After a period of recuperation, William returned to Georgia. Among the first to greet him was his high school sweetheart Mary Dickey. The couple married in 1946, but William believed his obligation to his country was not yet completed. He returned to the Army Air Corps for a three-year hitch. Though he tried to live a normal life, the haunting memories of his incarceration prevented William from sleeping with a light off for more than eight years. Talking about his experiences was difficult, if not impossible. It wasn’t until the survivors held their first reunion when William began to relate the horrors of his internment. Wallace’s remembrances are featured in Donald Knox’s “Death March,” the story of the Bataan Death March and its survivors.
Wallace told Knox, “the further we went into captivity, the worse it became.” He began to doubt whether or not he could ever survive, but came to realize “that the human body can suffer nearly everything and still survive.”
William Wallace graduated from Mercer University with a double major in religion and history. For forty-one years, he served small rural Baptist churches in our area and worked at Warner Robins AFB until poor health forced his retirement in 1943. His last sermon was delivered in 1991.
In January 1992, nearly fifty years after his capture, William Wallace was presented the Congressional Prisoner of War Medal in his hospital bed by Congressman J. Roy Rowland. Never bitter toward his captors, Wallace was disappointed that Japanese Americans interned in camps in our country were given a reparation of twenty thousand dollars, while he and the four thousand survivors and the families of the five thousand who died never received a cent of compensation.
The Rev. William Wallace died on February 27, 1995. The lung disease he contracted in the camps eventually killed him. Wallace survived one of the most brutal prison camps in the history of the world. He endured to serve his fellow man and to espouse the word of the Gospel and spread the message of peace and love toward all mankind. On this Memorial Day, take a moment to remember William Wallace and the millions of brave Americans who sacrificed their lives, their homes and families to preserve our freedoms.
07-20
GENERAL JOHN TWIGGS
Revolutionary Hero
John Twiggs was born in the state of Maryland on June 5, 1750. Very little is known of his early life, other than he came to Burke County, Georgia with his family shortly thereafter. A child of a poor family, John took up the trade of being a carpenter. Twiggs caught the eye of Miss Ruth Emanuel, a firm lady of character and sister of the Hon. David Emanuel. Following their marriage John and Ruth moved to Richmond County, where they established a modest plantation.
As tensions began to mount between the American colonies and the King of England, more local difficulties began to arise. Twiggs joined the army as a lieutenant and as a captain, a position to which he was appointed on June 1, 1774, led a company of men of St. George's Parish in a successful operation against a band of Cherokee Indians who had been making raids along the settlements along the Georgia frontier. In 1779, Twiggs, in support of Col. William Few, defeated a contingent of British troops seeking to attack the jail in Burke County. In the months which followed the epic battle at nearby Kettle Creek, Twiggs kept British regulars at bay by skirmishing them at every opportunity and attacking their supply lines in the rear of their lines. John Twiggs found himself and thirty men under attack at Butler's plantation on the Ogeechee River in June, 1779. Outnumbered by more than two to one, Twiggs inspired his men to rout the British force causing a bit of consternation among the British officers in Savannah.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Twiggs encountered and conquered a band of British marauders at Buckhead Creek. On September 12, 1779, Twiggs and his company of soldiers joined General Benjamin Lincoln in preparation for an all out siege upon the British held Savannah. In one valiant and eventually futile attempt after another, the Continental army and local militia failed to liberate Georgia's ancient capital and most important city. In the retreat under cover of a flag signifying mutual respect for his status as an officer, Twiggs and his family were fired upon by British riflemen.
Following the fall of Charleston, the southeast's most important port, in May, 1780, Twigg's force joined General Horatio Gates' army in an attack at Camden, South Carolina. The colonial army, composed primarily of untested local militia, were trounced by Lord Cornwallis' battle-hardened veterans. Twiggs was nearly impaled by a saber, and left for dead on the battlefield. With the fire of freedom still in his soul, Twiggs returned to the Georgia backwoods to thwart his old enemies as they continued to pillage and terrorize the western regions of the colony.
Twiggs led American victories at Fish Dam ford and at Blackstock's house, where he personally led the attack against the fierce charge of the calvary of the villainous Banastre Tarleton. Though not given adequate credit for his actions by contemporary historians, it was indeed Col. Twiggs, who at the end of the day, was in command of the victorious colonists. During what was truly America's first civil war, a plot by an infamous Tory by the name of Gunn was uncovered and circumvented. When it was insisted that the poltroon be hung by the neck, Twiggs, in his usual forbearance, vetoed the execution of his assassin.
For his gallantry in action, the Georgia legislature, in its meeting in Augusta on August 18, 1781, named John Twiggs a brigadier general in the Georgia militia. Though the Revolutionary War was technically about to come to close in the early fall, British loyalists and discontented Indians were rumored to be mustering along the western frontiers in preparation for an attack on Augusta. For the remainder of the conflict, Twiggs organized for the impending attack, which never materialized.
After the close of the war, Twiggs retired to the solitude and enjoyment of his home, which he dubbed "Good Hope." He served a term as Justice of the Peace of Burke County in 1782. But the contentment was fleeting. On May 31, 1783, Twiggs along Georgia's most illustrious statesmen Lyman Hall, Elijah Clarke, William Few, Edward Telfair and Samuel Elbert met with a council of Cherokee chiefs in Augusta. The result of the negotiations was the purchase of a large tract of land in northeast Georgia. Nearly six months later, Twiggs helped to negotiate a treaty with the Creek Indians. Under the agreement the State of Georgia acquired all of the lands between the Ogechee and the Oconee rivers under a treaty, which precipitated a new war, a conflict which would evolve into a fifteen-year series of skirmishes and raids along both sides of the Oconee.
Treaty negotiations continued at Galphinton in 1785 and at Shoulderbone Creek. On September 8, 1791, Twiggs was again promoted by the Georgia legislature, this time to the position of Major General. It was during that year when Twiggs made his only engagement into politics by being elected to represent Richmond County in the Georgia legislature.
One of his most difficult assignments came in 1794, when Major General Twiggs was ordered to assemble a force of six hundred men to eject Twiggs' old comrade, General Elijah Clarke, who had, in the eyes of President George Washington and Georgia authorities, usurped his authority by establishing his own country along the western banks of the Oconee River in what would become Wilkinson, Baldwin and Laurens counties. Before the attack was launched, Clarke conceded and violence was averted.
In 1800, the State of Georgia honored General Twiggs by appointing him to the initial Board of Trustees of Franklin College, which evolved into the University of Georgia. Throughout his final years, this five-foot ten-inch stout man, with his florid complexion and gray eyes, remained active in civic affairs.
John Twiggs rarely sought any glory for his actions, only the satisfaction that he was serving his fellow man and protecting them from harm. In compliance with his wishes, no extravagant memorial would be placed on his grave. He died on March 29, 1816 at the relatively old age of sixty five. His body was laid to rest in the Twiggs family cemetery ten miles south of Augusta, off Georgia Hwy 56, on Goshen Industrial Blvd.
John and Ruth Twiggs had six children. One of them, David Emanuel Twiggs, served in the War of 1812, the various Indian conflicts of the era, and because of his heroic actions during the Mexican wars, was breveted a major general in command of the Department of Texas. When the Civil War erupted, Gen. David Twiggs surrendered his command to the Confederate army. For the act of treason and his acceptance of an appointment in the army of his homeland, Twiggs was dismissed from the Federal army. Another son, Levi Twiggs, was a field officer of the Marine Corps from the War of 1812 until his death during an assault on Mexico City in 1847. Two U.S. naval ships were named in his honor. A great grandson, Lt. Gen. John Twiggs Myers, earned high recognition in Marine Corps history for his valiant actions as commander of the American Legation guard in China during the Boxer Rebellion. His wife's brother, David Emanuel, served under Twiggs during the American Revolution and in 1801 was elected Governor of Georgia. On November 14, 1809, the State of Georgia immortalized the name of Twiggs by naming its newest county, Twiggs County, in his honor.
07-21
BELIEVE OR NOT
The Fascinating and the Strange
I never tire of finding the strange, the bizarre and the unusual stories of our past. They are all true, or at least I think they are. You decide. The recent record rainfall on June 2-3, 2007 poses some interesting questions. Though the daily record was officially set on January 19, 1943 at 7.13 inches of rain, the official rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry was 6.90 inches measured in the rain gauge at the 911 Center. Radar instruments measured 8 inches or more along a stretch of eastern Laurens County. Along the Savannah Road area, the instruments estimated that more than 10 inches fell to the scorched Earth. The total rainfall measured more than all of the rain from February through May and erased a 7-inch deficit in a matter of a day. Did you ever think how much that rain weighs or how much volume such a rainfall would fill? A seven-inch rainfall evenly spread over the entire 813 square miles of Laurens County would weigh 4,776,470,300 pounds or the equivalent weight of 310,156 average African male elephants or 25,165,805 average American male adults. The water would fill a swimming pool with the area of a football field to a depth of 1645 feet or nearly one-third of a mile, more than 5000 average size homes or a canal, seven feet deep and forty feet wide, for a distance of 621.04 miles. It would fill the Empire State Building twenty times or both of the felled World Trade Center Towers six times. If you want to know how many gallons that is, it is 57,271,820.
A more mysterious rainfall began to occur in 1918. Every day for nearly two years from 11:00 a.m. and mid afternoon, a light rainfall could be seen on the sidewalk of Columbia Street, between Franklin and Washington Streets, rain or shine. The mist appeared to emanate from a nearby tree, perhaps it was a "weeping willow" or maybe a "rainbow shower tree." There really is one. Look it up.
The odds that Henry Jones' cow would give birth to triplets were one in one hundred and five thousand. But it happened. The first calf was born on the afternoon of March 30, 1913. The other two were born the next morning. Two were female and one was a male and all were born healthy. Emory Whittle was concerned that his usually reliant cow wasn't delivering her share of milk. She seemed healthy, so Whittle suspected somebody was stealing her milk. Whittle wrote to the Washington Post about the solving of the mystery. "Imagine my surprise when I found the cow was mothering ten baby pigs." Whittle continued, "It was the pigs idea to start, but the cow didn't mind, and they took to one another naturally." Whittle wondered if he would ever be able to take the piglets away from their surrogate mother, so that he could have milk for himself and his family. In 1889, it was reported that where was a nanny goat in Dublin which had lost both of her kids. Longing for something to nurture, the goat adopted two of her owner's new born hound dog pups. Every day the goat would come to front gate and bleat. Soon the pups would be seen running toward her for their daily serving of goats' milk.
During the year 1882 all of the children born in Dublin were males. The trend reversed itself when in 1883 all of the babies were girls. Mrs. Felton Lowery of Dublin gave birth to triplets on September 11, 1930. She named her three sons George Carswell Lowery, Ed Rivers Lowery and Dick Russell Lowery in honor of three of the leading Democratic candidates in the primary held on that very same day.
Col. Phil Howard had rheumatism which caused much pain and consternation. Howard had traveled to Flat Rock, Georgia for a January 1896 session of the Justice of the Peace Court. The courthouse was a somewhat shabby structure, with a rickety table and dilapidated benches. As Col. Howard began his closing argument, two dogs commenced to have a vicious fight. Howard, forgetting the limitations of his ailing body, leaped onto the top of the shaky table, figuring that he was safer there than in between the fighting fidos. Howard brandished his cane and braced for an attack. Col. Hightower attempted to join him on the pedestal but had to make arrangements of his own. Justices Thigpen and Drew grabbed as many volumes of the Georgia Code as they could hold, just in case they needed a protective projectile. After five rounds of fighting, the dogs went their separate ways. It was said that the laughter could be heard for a half mile, but I seriously doubt it. Howard did report that the symptoms of his rheumatism were gone.
Following the untimely death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841 just weeks after his inauguration, the ladies of Dublin decided to honor their fallen president by placing flowers on a small hillock in the old City Cemetery. The tradition continued for many years, but with the Civil War and other distractions to occupy their thoughts, the practice was abandoned. When William Henry Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was elected President, the old tradition was revived.
In the category of fantastic fruits and vegetables, consider these produce. J.M. Butler was proud of his sweet potatoes. He showed four of his prize spuds with a combined weight of fifteen pounds. He was also proud that he dug four to five thousand bushels of sweet potatoes from his ten-acre field. Not one to be outdone, Judge J.E. Page, of Orianna, brought a twenty-one-inch long ten-pound sweet potato into the newspaper office five days later in November 1917. The big tater was seven inches in diameter at its thickest point. Unless you were a cotton farmer, 1917 was a good year. J.H. Taylor of Dudley set out tomato plants in July and carefully cultivated them, protecting them from the summer's scorching heat and the fall's chilly nights. In early December, Taylor delightfully took a couple of beauties into Dublin to show them off. Have you ever seen a double watermelon? Well in July of 1900, J.W. Weaver brought in his unnatural oddity for believers and nonbelievers to see. J.N. Mullis, of Laurens County, may hold the record for the most odd clump of fruit. In 1891, Mullis brought a four-inch long twig from his prolific apple tree. To the amazement of the editors of the Eastman paper who saw it with their own eyes, the short branch had twenty-two well-developed apples attached to it.
07-22
MATTIE GET YOUR GUN
The Story of Mattie Hester
Mattie Hester was a combination of Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane and a pony express rider. A headstrong woman in a male dominated world, Hester could hold her own with the strongest of brutes. This is a tale of one remarkable woman and her brief moments of fame. Martha "Mattie" Hester was born about the year 1868. Her parents, John and Mary Hester, lived in the southeastern part of Laurens County on the east side of the river in what is still known as Smith's District.
Mattie grew up in an era when mail delivery was intermittent and slow. Condor was established as a post office in 1878. Two years later, an office was established further south along the River Road at Tweed. Most of the mail coming into Laurens County first came into Dublin for distribution to other places throughout the county. It was about 1890 when Mattie was given the job of carrying the mail from Dublin to Condor where she began her route. From Condor, she traveled south three days a week along the Old River Road to Lothair in what was then Montgomery, but which now lies in Treutlen County.
Female mail carriers were rare. The forty-five-mile route was often isolated. Any miscreant looking to steal cash or a valuable document could easily rob a carrier along the road. But Mattie would not be deterred. She hitched a Texas broncho to her small road cart to allow her to outrun any thieves. Her horse, faster than a hemidemisemiquaver in a John Phillip Sousa march, never failed Mattie.
She always got the mail to its destination on time or well ahead of its scheduled arrival. If she was accosted, Mattie was as fearless as anyone. To insure her safety, she carried a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver in her side pocket. Mattie was considered a crack shot, and no one who knew her would ever contemplate trying to take any mail or in anyway impede her delivery schedule. Lacking no doubt about her ability to defend herself against any highwayman or tramp in her path, Mattie Hester held little respect for members of her own sex who feared to venture out into public without an escort.
A prime example of Mattie's determination occurred during a winter rainy spell. After nearly a week of constant rainfall in the summer of 1890, the creeks and streams along the mail route had swollen beyond their banks. Messer's (Mercer's) Creek, which serves as the boundary line between Laurens and Montgomery (now Treutlen) counties had become a raging torrent. The long bridge, usually dependable for most crossings, was in danger of being swept away at any moment. Its abutments were already gone. Upon her arrival at the bridge, Mattie surveyed the perilous situation. Recognizing the danger ahead, but acknowledging the necessity of the mail being delivered, Mattie decided to plunge ahead. "If there is any possible chance to cross, I intended to cross, even if I have to swim," said Mattie. Mattie whipped the hind of her trusty bronco and plunged into the turbulence. Her horse found itself tangled in a patch of vines in five feet of water. Instinctively Mattie cut the helpless horse from its harness. Battling shoulder deep raging currents Mattie persevered, all the time dragging the cart until she could reach the bridge which by then was cover with water itself, but still standing. She managed to make it across and did her pony. After a moment or two of rest, Mattie hitched the drenched horse to the wagon and resumed her journey, albeit she excusably took nearly an hour to travel the remaining seven miles to Lothair.
Mattie's duties at home and the pittance of a salary she received from the Postal Service led to her resignation as a postal carrier. One might think that this fiercely independent, pistol packing and hard charging woman might have a manly image. To the contrary, Mattie was described a reporter for the Atlanta Constitution as "a beauty of a real southern type, wavy black hair, deep blue eyes, beautiful figure and complexion with the whitest teeth imaginable." "Her jaunty air and pretty face never failed to attract the attention of strangers, as she rattled swiftly by in her cart, never looking to the right or to the left, but attending strictly to business," the reporter continued. I
n addition to her admirable qualities of dedication to her work and striking beauty, Mattie was considered to be an astute businesswoman. Following her father's death at a relatively young age in 1890, Mattie took over the management of the family farm. Mattie took part in all phases of the farming operation, from cultivation to planting and from harvesting to marketing to the highest bidder, the latter of which were among her greatest talents. Always looking for a way to improve the income from her home place, Mattie ventured into the woods behind her house and saw money in the trees. She cut some of the trees and personally assembled them into a raft. In the process she had to wade throughout the swamp, sometimes with water up to her waist. Mattie's brother took over at that point and piloted the timber raft down the treacherous waters of the Oconee and Altamaha rivers to the port city of Darien, where the logs were sold at a handsome profit. The venture became so lucrative that Mattie saved a few of the trees and invested some of the income into constructing a split rail fence around the Hester farm. By the best count available, Mattie cut about five thousand rails during her first five years of managing the farm. Mattie spent her spare time teaching young people how to shoot. She also a talent for penmanship and drawing.
Mattie's marksmanship came in handy when someone needed defending. On an early December evening in 18906, a Mr. Palmer was giving a dance party in his home in the Martha community near Tweed. Mattie's entrepreneurial abilities included the sale of spiritous liquors. It was said she sold her stock freely among the male party goers, many of whom found themselves under the influence of Mattie's liquor. As more and more whiskey was consumed, tempers began to flare. Mattie found herself engaged in a heated argument with Henry McLendon. Maggie drew her pistol and shot her antagonist. Mattie's brother rose to her defense, but was brutally beaten about the face with a pair of brass knuckles. Alfred Shell, a steam mill owner, was also shot and seriously wounded.
Mattie seemed to disappear after that. Was she forced to leave the community? If so, where did she go? Did this beautiful and fiercely independent woman ever marry? Maybe one day we will know.
07-23
BUILDING A BETTER MOUSETRAP
Our Early Inventors
According to the records of the United States Patent Office, no one from Laurens County ever invented a mousetrap or even submitted a patent to improve one. But our early inventors have designed useful implements ranging from a coffee roaster to an automatic mail delivery device to a hunter safety device. Though this article will concentrate on our county's inventors before the Great Depression, at this very moment there are people in this county, including Dr. Forrest Marshall, the county's most prolific inventor, thinking, drawing, figuring and pondering about a new device which can make life easier or, in some cases, save lives.
John N. Smith, one of Dublin's earliest photographers, was the first to be awarded a patent in 1880. His patent was not for a skylight, but for improvements in the ease and cost of construction as well as its maintenance. Two more decades would pass before a Dublin inventor would come up with a patentable idea.
William F. Colley came up with a new way to improve a roaster for roasting coffee beans and peanuts in 1902. Colley designed his roaster to be placed on the top of a wood burning stove, electric stoves were still years away from general use. Among the features of Colley's hand turned roaster were a series of agitators to stirs the beans and peanuts to prevent scorching and a novel lid designed to keep the heat from escaping.
At the turn of the century, cotton became King in Laurens County. James R. Robinson registered his patent for a baling press to provide for a more durable press, while maximizing the amount of power which could be applied to the plunger, while minimizing the draft.
Since the discovery of the principles of the lever and the fulcrum, man has sought to find a better way to lift a heavy load. Irvin C. Huffman designed a lifting jack to provide a simple and efficient construction which could be applied to either old or new lifting jacks so as to provide a ball bearing or antifriction head or cap upon the jack.
Later in the year 1906, Inman H. Fisher's thoughts for arriving at a method of being able to lock his bicycle were finalized and approved by the patent office. Fisher believed that the public would be served by having a lock of a portable type which could be carried on the person and then applied to lock the frame of the bicycle to the wheel to prevent or deter the unauthorized use of his bike. The new feature of Fisher's invention was its design which prevented displacement of the shackle from the body of the lock.
Horace Geffcken sought to improve the ratchet wrench by providing a plurality of interchangeable nut caps and adapt the ratchet to be used as a solid wrench. Geffcken believed his 1908 patent would enable others skilled in the art of using wrenches to achieve better results.
As the delivery of mail expanded in the first decade of the 20th Century, Shelton H. Roby believed his apparatus for delivering mail and parcels would be of widespread public benefit. Roby's device was designed in a way so that it could be propelled along a track and take mail from a cart and place it in receptacles along its path.
On cold winter nights, Henry J. Corrigan's conception of a revolving grate promised to become very comforting. In order to obtain maximum efficiency of radiating heat from the fire place, Corrigan designed a simple and inexpensive fire place grate which could be placed in the center of a wall separating two adjoining rooms. The homeowner could warm the living room in the evening and before retiring to bed, spin the grate around to heat his bedroom. Or if desired, both rooms could be heated at the same time.
Sumpter Lea Harwood patented a device in 1910 which would improve the shearing of animals. Most existing models of shears did not contain a reversible blade. Harwood's design provided such a blade which could be removed and reversed once one side of the blade had been dulled.
Until 1912, most building scaffolds were of a stationary nature. In order to raise the level of the work space, workers would have to manually raise the platform upon which they stood. David J. Muns conceived of an adjustable scaffold, one which could be mechanically raised or lowered by the use of chains wrapped around a revolving drum device.
W.B. Pattillo, one of the town's leading printers, desired to invent a type of cabinet to hold printing implements and one which could be revolved so that multiple printers could work simultaneously from the same cabinet.
In 1913, James C. Williamson of Dudley was awarded a patent for a new and improved stump puller. That same year, Sumpter Lea Harwood became the first Laurens Countian to patent multiple devices. Harwood claimed his improved fire extinguisher would reliably operate under the most roughest of handling. Two months later, Harwood received a patent for an extinguisher which could be attached to an automobile. His fourth patent came in 1914 with Harwood's design of a machine which would improve the mixing of fertilizer and deliver a uniform mixture into sacks, with the finest granules on the top.
Edward M. Harp's 1917 patent was designed to make it easier for the homemaker to can fruits and vegetables and then take the gadget apart for easy cleaning. Harp's intention was to produce a light and durable device, which could be economically manufactured and easily used.
Sam Bashinski's family made their living from cotton. In 1917, Bashinski patented a cotton harvester, which would funnel cotton stalks into a relatively large basket from which they could be easily retrieved and taken to a shelter for storage until the cotton could be conveniently removed. The patentee constructed his machine so that the stalks would be cut as close to the ground as possible by installing an adjustable cutting blade.
Robert Chapman's 1924 patent promised to lead to improvement of drying sand used in the manufacture of concrete and other products. Chapman also contrived a device to quickly dry clay as well in his family's brick business. As the height of Dublin's buildings began to rise, Leon M. Little conceived of improvements to fire escapes. Little designed improvements to the traditional fire escape by providing an endless chain, one which would not tangle in times of peril and one which was automatic.
The last invention before the Great Depression came from R.W. Miller, a local bicycle maker and gunsmith. Miller designed a detachable choke, which could be easily attached and removed to protect a hunter from an accidental misfire while traveling the brush, briars and brambles of the woods of Laurens County and the rest of the world for that matter.
07-24
GENERAL BELINDA HIGDON PINCKNEY
Making a Difference
On this 4th of July, we once again celebrate our independence, our patriotism and the overabundance of blessings which have been bestowed upon us by those who have gone before us. Belinda "Brenda" Higdon Pinckney is not your archetypical general. Missing is the gruff exterior we see on television and the movies. She is not a fifty- plus- year- old white male soldier. There is no "gung ho" in her heart, except for the causes she believes so strongly in. When she dons her dress blue uniform, there is a heart of gold behind the mass of commendations, ribbons and stars. Though her shoulders are not broad, thousands and thousands of the family members of the soldiers of the Army know that when they need to lay their head on them, General Pinckney will be there to comfort them. Belinda Higdon Pinckney, one of only a few African-American female general officers in the United States Army, acknowledges the blessings she has. Her mission is to share those blessings and to make life better for those coming behind.
Belinda "Brenda" Higdon Pinckney was born in Dublin, Georgia in 1954. Her parents, Homer and Lucy Higdon, cared about their children and did their best to provide all they could for their six children, even if it meant working two jobs. Though they had little education themselves, the Higdons were determined that their children would receive the best education they could. Belinda attended kindergarten at Howard Chapel Methodist Church not too far from her home in Katie Dudley Village neighborhood of the Dublin Housing Authority. As she looks back to the days she spent in Katie Dudley, she fondly remembered that if she or any other of her siblings and playmates did something they weren't supposed to be doing, they would first get a whipping by a concerned neighbor and then return home for a second stern, but loving, whipping. She applauds those in her community who helped keep the kids "on the straight and narrow."
General Pinckney credits her success in the military to the foundations of her education she received in Dublin. She attended Washington Street Elementary School. "We were challenged to do our best," Pinckney said. "Mrs. Brinson was one of my favorite teachers. She was like a mother to many of us. We were put into groups, A,B,C and D. You didn't want to be in the D group," she continued. She was in the A group and remained in the same classes with a core group of classmates for nearly ten years. Among the teachers General Pinckney remembered the most were Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Crews, Bonnese Brower, Ernest Wade, Martha Myers and her principal, Charles W. Manning, Sr.
A member of the Finance Corps, the General credits Mrs. Myers for giving her the basic foundations of understanding, and actually loving math. It was that love of math that led her into the Finance Corps. Today, she is the only minority Finance Corps Officer in the history of the United States Army to be commissioned as a general officer. Brenda's life changed dramatically in the summer of 1970. In an effort to promote harmony between the races, Federal courts ordered that Dublin High School and Oconee High School be merged. Brenda and hundreds of her classmates and friends were ripped away from their beloved Oconee High School. It was the only school they had ever known. Bused or transported all the way across town, Brenda and the other students at Oconee had a difficult time in the transition. There were scared and naturally, just angry. As I look back on those days from the other side of the tracks, these students were the trailblazers of their day.
It was these students who entered a new world and made it easier for those who came from behind. It was one of the darkest days in the history of Dublin High School. An early morning pep rally was going on in the front of the school. Suddenly a rock, reported a chunk of concrete left lying by a forgetful contractor, appeared to come from where the black students were standing. It struck a white cheerleader and then as they say, "all Hell broke loose." All students in the school were sent home. The football game went on that night, but without the band. Many of the black students were put on buses and sent back home. As Belinda boarded the bus, a bee crawled under her bright yellow clothes and stung her, prompting her to say "even the insects are against us." When I talked to the General for the first time, I told her that I was there that dark day and that we have overcome most of those differences which so bitterly divided us thirty seven years ago. She smiled.
Brenda transferred to East Laurens High School where she graduated with honors in 1972. Belinda attended Clark College in Atlanta and studied medical technology. She failed to realize that in her senior year she would have to transfer to Emory University to complete her degree. Her tuition costs were going to double. She did transfer to the Medical College of Georgia, but when she was only twelve credit hours shy of a degree, circumstances led to her quitting college. "It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me," reasoned General Pinckney. Frustrated and disappointed at how she was forced out of school, Belinda promised herself that she would never quit anything ever again.
A career in the military was an early apparent option. Her oldest brother was an Army paratrooper and Vietnam veteran and her next brother, a Marine and also a Vietnam veteran. Her older sister joined the Navy. So Brenda, looking for something more out of life, enlisted as a private first class in the Army in 1976. Older than most other members of her rank, Private Higdon was quickly put into leadership positions. "The Army exposed me to reality early in my life and made me feel good," said Pinckney who believed she could make the army a career. It wasn't long before Private Higdon looked around at the non-commissioned officers and how they handled soldiers. She said to herself, " I can do that."
So she enlisted in Officer Candidate School in 1978 and graduated the following year. It was then, more than two decades ago, that she began her goal to look after soldiers, the regular men and women of the Army. The transition from an enlisted soldier to an officer was a daunting task. Pinckney relied on the lessons she learned in school to guide her through the difficult tasks ahead. She sought out role models to learn from, much like she had at Washington Street and Oconee High schools. The army placed her in a position to advance, but like her parents, the young officer wasn't looking for any handouts. Determined and highly independent, Pinckney took advantage of every opportunity to advance up the chain of command.
"Initially, it was hard for me to transition from being an enlisted soldier to an officer because, first of all, I only had two-plus years in the military as a PFC and specialist. Secondly, other than my training in OCS, no one had really sat me down and talked to me about 'officer ship.' The expectations are much greater. I was no longer only responsible for my actions, but for the welfare of my subordinates, too," Pinckney said. General Pinckney has demonstrated her ability to succeed at all levels. Early in her life, Bonnese Thomas McLain, one of her favorite teachers, noticed something special in Brenda. "Brenda and a small group of kids would meet me around 7:00 a.m. nearly every morning wanting to make the extra effort to learn more math," Mrs. McLain said.
After she entered the army, Belinda Pinckney continued to strive toward educational excellence. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at the University of Maryland, a Master of Public Administration degree in Financial Management at Golden State University, and a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
During her long and successful military career, General Pinckney has served as a Congressional Appropriations Officer, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); Principal Deputy Director/Army Element Commander, Defense Finance and Accounting Service; Brigade Commander, 266th Finance Command and US Army Europe Staff Finance and Accounting Officer, Heidelberg, Germany; Battalion Commander, Training Support Battalion; Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller); Budget Analyst, Technology Management Office, Office of the Chief of Staff; and Company Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 266th Finance Command.
In September 2004, Colonel Belinda Pinckney was nominated by the Army to become a general. She was the first woman in the history of the Army Finance Corps to be promoted to a general officer and the first ever person to be nominated from the comptroller field. Her first major assignment was as the Deputy Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which is the largest finance and accounting operation in the world, paying more than 5. 9 million people, processing 12.3 million invoices and disbursing more than four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in congressional appropriations.
General Pinckney's military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merit medals, six Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Staff Badge and the General Staff Identification Badge. As the general begins her thirty second year in the military, she is as committed as ever to set the bar for all military women to come.
In 2001, Pinckney was the first African-American woman to be inducted in the Officer Candidate School's Hall of Fame. She is one of only two African American generals and one of only a dozen or so female generals in the United States Army. "We need to continue to tell the stories, so that every generation will know and learn from these stories because we as a country are not particularly proud of some of this history,"she noted; "We do not want to repeat the bad history, and we want to tell the stories of the good history."
An advocate of women's rights, General Pinckney acknowledges the outstanding accomplishments of women in the military saying "Many contributions of women have gone unrecognized, the stories of their struggles and triumphs remain untold" General Pinckney recognizes the importance of their accomplishments but also realizes the tendency to take them for granted. She believes it is important to pass along the stories so that succeeding generations will know and grow from them.
As the first woman to head the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command, General Pinckney has many sleepless nights. She sees no soon end to the war and worries constantly about the families of the soldiers serving in the Middle East and around the world. She often visits with wounded soldiers and their families in Washington's Walter Reed Hospital. The General seeks to make life easier for the families with the limited resources she has at her disposal.
Just thirty-six hours after she addressed a reunion of her fellow alumni of Oconee High School, General Pinckney boarded a plane bound for Houston, Texas and another funeral, another day of comforting the anguished with dignity and honor, all the time knowing that she is serving her nation proudly and setting an example for women and minority officers in the future. With a legacy of education, leadership and old-fashioned values she learned in the schools, churches and homes of Dublin and Laurens County, General Belinda "Brenda" Higdon Pinckney is bound for greater things to come in her Army career. It is with great honor that I, on behalf of all of the people of Laurens County and the United States of America, salute our very own hometown hero for a job well done as she seeks to better the lives of her soldiers and their families.
07-25
KILLER KILDEE
Or Just Another Tall Tale Teller
John West could tell a tale or two. He claimed he was the Confederacy's best rifleman having killed generals and scores of officers and privates as well. Is the story of John West, alias "Kildee," an accurate story of a sharpshooting soldier or just an inflated fable of early yellow journalism to sell books, or merely the boastful reminiscences of an aging veteran of a horrible war?
West was born in Twiggs County, Georgia. When the Civil War broke out, West enlisted in the Confederate Army in Louisiana, but decided that it was best for him to transfer back his native land to fight the Yankees. On July 9, 1861, John West enlisted as a private in the Twiggs Volunteers, officially known as Company C of the 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry. Also known as "the "Jorees" because of the resemblance of their uniform coats with their three black stripes on the tails to a beautiful bird of the era, the Twiggs Volunteers were assigned to the brigade commanded by A.R. Wright of Georgia. Their first taste of battle and blood began in the last week of June 1862. In a series of engagements along the peninsula of Virginia east of Richmond, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac slugged it out in a prelude of the deadly battles to come. The battles, known as the Seven Days' Battles, culminated on July 1, 1862 at a small prominence known as Malvern Hill. In the fighting, West suffered his first substantial wound.
Many of the rifles which were used by Confederate soldiers had a limited range. It was in 1862 when General Robert E. Lee received a shipment of thirteen English Whitworth rifles, guaranteed to kill a man at a range of 1,800 yards and arguably the finest rifle that a soldier could possess. West was selected among an elite group of marksmen to train for three months on how to handle the coveted weapon. As the training came to end, West was ahead of the other dozen sharpshooters. In the final test a white board with a two-foot square diamond in the center was placed 1500 yards away. Shooting through a stiff wind, West scored three bulls' eyes, with the remaining shots striking the board. As the winner of the contest, West was given the choice of a horse, a rifle, a saber, a revolver and all of the finest accouterments.
Sharpshooters were an integral part of military operations. The men were often placed at strategic points to kill officers, silencing batteries, and especially picking off the sharpshooters on the other side. Artillerymen were easy targets, but when riled, would turn their canon on a sharpshooter and blow him a way. On one occasion, West and a associate killed the entire compliment of soldiers in a battery, allowing the infantry to take command of that part of the field.
West told the editors of Camp Fire Sketches and Battlefield Echoes, "I soon became indifferent to anger and inured to hardships and privations. I have killed men from ten paces to a mile. I have no idea of how many I killed, but I made a good many bite the dust." The sharpshooter's greatest fear was another sharpshooter. In the days before the advent of camouflage material, a sharpshooter would climb a tree and pin leaves to disguise his uniform. When two sharpshooters encountered an enemy sharpshooter, one would raise a hat on a stick or his ramrod to draw his antagonist's fire. Once the opponent revealed his position, the second marksman would point his sight directly at his head and fire.
"I've shot 'em out of trees and seem 'em fall like coons," West boasted. Occasionally West would be called upon to pick off targets while lying in a bed of tall grasses. Sparks from the discharge of his rifle frequently ignited the dry grasses and alerted the enemy of his whereabouts. West would then roll his body rapidly while Union riflemen poured round after round into the smoke. West claimed that he killed two Union Generals, General James Shields and Nathaniel P. Banks. The crack shot was sure he got General Shields as he was the only sharpshooter on the line that day and only a round from his rifle could have killed a man at that range. Shields was in command of a Union division near Winchester, Virginia in the late summer of 1864. He was wounded, but he was not killed. He went on to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate and died fifteen years after his wound at Winchester. No record exists of any wounds suffered by General Nathaniel P. Banks, though his division was thwarted by Stonewall Jackson's Army at the Battle of Cedar Mountain in August 1862. Banks served ten terms in the U.S. Congress and lived for nearly three decades after the close of the war.
At Cold Harbor, Virginia, West found himself and a Colonel Brown on the wrong side of the Union lines. West and Brown, wearing blue coats, attempted to fool a Union officer into believing that they were officers and needed to pass in front of the Federal wagon train. When the ruse was revealed, Col. Brown fired his revolver striking the Yankee officer. A hail of bullets was heaped upon Brown and West, who were attempting to flee for their lives. Brown's horse went down and both men tumbled to the ground. Thought to be spies, Brown and West were put under a close guard during the night by four Union soldiers. Deciding that trying to dodge four bullets in the dark was preferable to twenty bullets of a firing squad at dawn, the captives crawled on their bellies evading the inattentive sentinels and made their way to freedom.
During the fighting at the second battle of Cold Harbor, West was positioned at the front of the Confederate lines. For hours, West futilely tried to pick off a Union sharpshooter who had been killing his comrades all day. " I was behind a large rock. Several times he shot at me. He was out there about 1,400 yards in the woods, but I couldn't see his smoke for the treetops," West lamented. After two hours of silence, General George Doles, of Milledgeville, Georgia, appeared on the scene and asked West to silence that devilish tormentor of his men. "He asked me to do my best, and I told him that had been trying to do that all day," John remembered. It was then that Doles stepped in front of West and exposed himself. West warned the general to look out and take cover. At that instant a mini ball struck the general in the right side and passed through his body killing him instantly. West carried General Doles from the field and escorted his body home for burial in Milledgeville.
Though he may have never killed a general, John West believed it was his gun which fired the fatal shot which killed Major General John Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864. While some doubted the story, West lent his gun to Charley Grace while he was in the hospital and it was true that Grace fired the fatal shot.
John West surrendered with his company at Appomattox C.H. on April 9, 1865. He tried to conceal his prized rifle in a blanket, but it was discovered and confiscated. He spent the rest of his life trying to get his gun back. After the war, West returned to Twiggs County to farm. West enjoyed attending Confederate reunions and telling stories of his days as one of the best sharpshooters in the army. He died in 1912 and is buried in the family cemetery on Fountain Road, 2.3 miles west of the intersection of Highway 18 and Fountain Road.
07-26
DUBLIN IN THE 1870S
THE CALM AFTER THE STORM
Life in Dublin in the 1980s was stridently harsh and partially austere, at best. The four years of the American Civil War had taken its devastating toll on the city and the surrounding countryside. It was called "Reconstruction" by the politicos of the northern states, an attempt to shape the devastated South into a mirror image of themselves. The brave young rebel lads, broken, battered and bruised, had returned home to Dublin and Laurens County only to find their homes, though still standing, surrounded by protracted gloom, abject poverty, incessant hunger and unequivocal chaos. Dublin's prewar charter had expired or lapsed out of existence.
There were no options. Dublin, Georgia and the South had to rebuild. No Northern bureaucrat had the slightest of solutions to the problem. To bring the South up from the bowels of the economic, as well as social, abyss, drastic, but steady advances were necessary. Labor was crucial. Despite the end of physical and legal slavery, economic slavery remained. Former slaves were almost virtually dependent on meager wages doled out to them by their former masters who had seen their fortunes dwindle during the war and its aftermath.
While extant evidence of racial relations are extremely scant, those records which do exist suggest a picture of racial harmony. Rev. George Linder, a former slave and Methodist minister, had served the county with great honor in the latter years of the 1860s. It was said that he was respected by the people of both races. A.C. Duggan agreed to continue to feed, clothe and house his slaves from the end of the war until the following Christmas. Others were turned out to fact the world alone. Education of black children could only be found within the confines of the churches. No money was appropriated for public schools for black children. Many of the adults and school age children were illiterate and gainful employment was an impossibility. Low wages and harsh living conditions on tenant farms were the norm. Throughout the state, but not in Laurens County, racial violence erupted. In the mid 1870s, one attempted insurrection directed toward Laurens and surrounding counties emanated out of Sandersville, but was interrupted before it began.
Optimistic thinkers knew that there was one key solution to the problem, and that problem was transportation, or the lack thereof. With virtually no monetary assets on hand, farmers were forced to sell their goods in local markets to citizens who were barely managing to stay alive. Dublin and Laurens County had never had a railroad. Efforts to establish the Central of Georgia Railroad through the heart of the county had failed previously some three decades before the end of the war. Jonathan Weaver, foreman of the 1872 Laurens County Grand Jury, summarized the beliefs of his fellow grand jurymen in calling for a conference between the county's legislators and officials of the Central of Georgia in exploring the desire for the location of a railroad into the city. Fourteen years elapsed and untold fortunes and life sustaining pittances were lost before the completion of the railroad to the banks of the Oconee River in 1886.
The same grand jury recommended an appropriation of five hundred dollars be made to clear the Oconee River of obstacles northward from Dublin to a railroad bridge above Ball's Ferry at Rauol's Station near the hamlet of Oconee. Two individuals, Col. John M. Stubbs and Captain R. C. Henry moved to Dublin, just in the nick of time. Stubbs, a former Confederate officer, a highly skilled lawyer and a scientific farmer supplied the capital investment in the project. R.C. Henry, a seasoned and savvy North Carolina river boat captain, supplied the expertise in hauling freight upriver to Rauol Station and down river to the railroad depot at Doctortown and the seaport docks of Dairen, Georgia. The new fleet of river boats replaced the former armada of pole boats and timber rafts which were the only means of transportation available to merchants and farmers. By the end of the decade, crops were exported and cash was imported into the city.
The town of Dublin was decrepit, dingy and neglected. Theretofore the vital economic areas had been scattered throughout the northern regions of the county in the major plantations. Dublin was merely a place for court business, supported by a few stores and several barrooms for sustenance of its scant populous. The town's first comprehensive charter in 1873 led to the last times when county officials governed the town.
At the beginning of the decade, there were only a few stores in operation. Dr. Harris Fisher established the town's first drug store in 1872. Peter Sarchett, the popular tavern keeper, established his saloon just southeast of the courthouse square on South Jefferson (Law office of Charles Butler, 2007). A cooling shade of a mammoth oak tree attracted drinkers and non-drinkers alike. Little boys and big boys as well were entranced by Sarchett's pet parrot, who swore like a drunk sailor and could speak the name of his celebrated owner. Dr. Robert Hightower constructed his new office on West Jackson Street (Peppercorn Restaurant 2007) making it the second brick building in the city, which saved it from the cataclysmic fire of 1889. On the site of the new Laurens County courthouse annex was the post office, which sat below a photography studio.
George Currell occupied one of the town's two prime commercial locations with his store at 101 West Jackson Street. Judge John B. Wolfe occupied the other top spot across the street. Judge Freeman H. Rowe's old stand on the southwest corner of the courthouse square was taken over in the latter years of the decade by Peacock's drug store. Only one other business, Newman's harness shop, occupied the southern half of the square. The rear area of these buildings all the way down to Marion Street, upon which the railroad would be built in 1891, were fields of cotton and corn. William B. Jones, a veteran of the war, operated his store on the corner, where the Brantley-Lovett & Tharpe building now stands on the northwest corner of West Jackson and Lawrence Streets. Louis Perry and J. M. Reinhardt were two of the town's more successful entrepreneurs. John Keen's house, later known as the Troup House (124 S. Jefferson St.), provided a night's lodging for the traveler and those attending quarterly sessions of court.
A shabby well worn two-story courthouse, which had served the county for nearly three decades, occupied the nucleus of the town. The courthouse was enclosed by a square of scraggly, and often unsightly, china berry trees. The town's first brick building, the Laurens County jail, was located where Lawrence Street now begins between the old Lovett and Tharpe Building and the old location of the Farmers and Merchants Bank.
At the western end of the downtown area were the Baptist Church, which is still located on the same site, and the academy, which occupied the apex of the triangle where the current city hall now stands. Captain Rollin A. Stanley initiated and carried out his plan to beautify the city's most well known thoroughfare, Bellevue Avenue, which in those days was named "The Hawkinsville Wagon Road." Stanley planted hardy oak trees from the Baptist Church along both margins of the avenue to his home, which was located near Coney Street.
Dubliners survived the 1870s and began a four decade long growth spurt before the economic depressions of the 1920s and 1930s brought the new found posterity to a screeching halt. But, it was in the 1870s when the city came out of its cocoon and became the wonderful place it is today.
07-27
POPLAR SPRINGS NORTH BAPTIST CHURCH
The Early Years of One of Georgia's Oldest Churches
Tomorrow, August 1, 2007, the members of Poplar Springs North Baptist Church will celebrate their 200th anniversary as a church. The church appears to be the oldest active Georgia church congregation west of the Oconee River. Poplar Springs Church was actually consecrated four months before the land upon which it stood changed from Wilkinson County to Laurens County. The members of the community chose a site centered among the most well populated regions of the southern tip of Wilkinson County. A small meeting house was constructed half way between the Oconee River and Turkey Creek near the Lower Uchee Indian Path. Today the church sits near the original site on Highway 338, a little over a mile from U.S. 441 North.
The founding presbytery consisted of the Rev. Charles Culpepper, Rev. Isiah Shirey, and Charnick Allen Tharp. Rev. John Albritton is thought to have opened the services. Amos Love was chosen as the first church clerk - he also served as the first clerk of Laurens County Superior Court.
The charter members of the Poplar Springs Church were Ann, John, Margaret and Richard Albritton; George Blair; Mr. and Mrs. John Bowen; Mary Culpepper; John, Edith, Sarah and Elizabeth Gilbert; Elizabeth and John Kent and their daughter Elizabeth; Amos Love; John and Mary Manning; Eleanor O'Neal; Richard Painter; Jessey Pollock; Jessey Stevens; Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Thompson; Josiah and Nancy Warren; Nancy, David and Sarah Watson; and Elizabeth and Joseph Yarborough.
Mary, probably a slave belonging to the Albrittons, was the first African-American church member in Laurens County history. Among the first slaves to worship in the church were Jeff, Dublin, Clarissa, Phebe, Silvy, Ephram, Fanny and Tabitha. After the end of the Civil War, black members formed their own churches, primarily at Spring Hill and Mt. Tilla.
Several early members were prominent in the first century of Georgia's history. Amos Love, was the first clerk of the church and the county's first clerk. His son, Peter Early Love, became a leading statesman of Georgia, serving as a solicitor general, superior court judge and U.S. Congressman. Love was one of the delegation of Georgia congressman who walked out of the Congress when Georgia seceded from the Union. The first man to pastor an organized church in Laurens County was the Rev. William Hawthorn. Rev. Hawthorn, a soldier of the American Revolution and a native of North Carolina, moved to the Allentown (Wilkinson County) area about the year 1806. In August of 1808, Rev. Hawthorn was called to Poplar Springs Baptist Church. Rev. Hawthorn served the church for 10 months. His home became a part of Twiggs County in 1810. Rev. Hawthorn also served his community in state government. In 1814, the Reverend was elected by Twiggs Countians to the State Senate. From 1819 to 1821, Rev. Hawthorn represented Pulaski County in the Senate. Rev. Hawthorn moved to Decatur County, where he represented that county in the Senate in 1827 and again in 1829. Rev. Hawthorn may have been the only person in the history of Georgia to represent three different counties in the Georgia Senate. During his lifetime, Rev. Hawthorn also served in the local governments of four counties. Rev. Hawthorn died on May 15, 1846. His lasting legacy is the Hawthorn Trail, which follows the modern highway from Albany to Tallahassee to the Gulf of Mexico.
Lott Warren was born in Burke County, Georgia on Oct. 30, 1797. The Warrens moved in 1804 to what later became Laurens County. Lott, an orphan at the age of 12, went to live with his uncle, the Rev. Charles Culpepper. While working as a clerk in a Dublin store, Warren was drafted into the Georgia Militia. The young man was elected Second Lieutenant of the Laurens County company. Lt. Warren was then appointed Adjutant of the detachment. Lt. Warren returned home and studied law under Daniel McNeel before being admitted to the bar in 1821. In 1824 Col. Warren represented Laurens County in the Legislature. In 1826 Warren served as the Solicitor General of the Southern Circuit from 1826 to 1828. Warren moved to Twiggs County, representing that county in the Senate in 1830. In 1831 Col. Warren began a three year term as Judge of the Southern Circuit. Judge Warren moved to Americus. In 1838 he was elected to the United States Congress. After serving two terms in Congress, Lott Warren returned to private practice. Judge Warren returned to the bench serving as Judge of the Southwestern Circuit from 1844 until his resignation in August of 1852. Lott Warren was a faithful member of the Baptist Church and followed the teachings of Christ in his legal and political career. Judge Warren fell dead while making a speech at the courthouse in Albany on June 17, 1861.
Eli Warren, son of revolutionary war soldier Josiah Warren and Nancy Doty, was a native of Laurens. Eli Warren represented Laurens County in both houses of the Georgia Legislature. He was a member of two constitutional conventions and a brigadier general in the Georgia militia. At the height of his legal career, Gen. Warren was said to have had one of the largest practices in the state. Gen. Warren had many notable descendants. His grandson, Kittrell J. Warren founded "The Macon News". One of his daughters married James W. Lathrop, founder and first president of the Savannah Cotton Exchange. Warren Grice, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, was also a descendant. Eli Warren's brother-in-law was Peter Early Love. Love was a Solicitor General and Judge of the Southern Circuit. Love was also one of the members of the Georgia Congressional delegation when the Civil War broke out in 1861.
Rev. Charles Culpepper, a leading pioneer Georgia Baptist minister, served as pastor at Poplar Springs from 1809 to 1830. Whiteford S. Ramsay, founder of the Dublin and Laurens County School systems, served as pastor for 30 years from 1870 until his death in 1900. Rev. Ramsay served as a minister longer than anyone else at Poplar Springs. Ramsay, at 21 years of age, was one of the youngest Colonels in the Confederate Army.
Deacons Joseph Yarborough and Matthew Albritton were appointed to lay out a lot of land to build the first church on in 1809. The first church, a small log building, served the members of the church until 1830. The second building was constructed on the site in 1830 and lasted until 1889. A third and more substantial church building was erected in 1889 and lasted until a Sunday morning in December 1943, when it caught on fire shortly after morning church services had begun. The present building, built in 1945, has been modified and enlarged several times to meet the needs of the growing church membership.
Congratulations to the members of Poplar Springs North Church on their bicentennial celebration, which also coincides with our county's 200th anniversary. We are all fortunate the minutes of the church have survived for 200 years. The church has such a rich history that a full account can not be given in this column. I refer you to The History of Poplar Springs North Baptist Church by R.M. Johnson. It is an outstanding history of Laurens County's and one of Georgia's oldest churches.
07-28
BILL ROBINSON
A Baseball Survivor
Bill Robinson died on the last Sunday in July. Unless you are an "old school" baseball fan, you probably wouldn't even know his name. Robinson, the biggest star of the 1962 Dublin Braves team, was revered by those who knew him as a decent man, one who was a well-respected hitting instructor and coach. His pupils won two world championships. A sixteen-year veteran of the big leagues, Robinson won a World Series ring of his own with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979. This is the story of a man who was once billed as "the black Mickey Mantle" and survived the intense pressures of major league baseball for a successful 47-year career in "America's pastime."
William Henry "Bill" Robinson was born on June 26, 1943 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. After high school, Bill was signed by the Milwaukee Braves and assigned to their farm team in Wellsville. At the age of 18, Bill Robinson was ranked by scouts as one of the best rookie outfielders ever, better than Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. At first, his future in baseball seemed dim. After a poor season in Eau Claire, Robinson was assigned to the Dublin Braves in the Georgia Florida League. In his first game with Dublin, Robinson impressed the fans with a single and a double to drive in four runs. Under the tutelage of the wily veteran manager Bill Steinecke, Robinson reversed his downward spiral and posted a highly respectable .304 average with 21 extra-base hits in 207 at bats.
Following a system wide reorganization of the minor league farm systems, Robinson was assigned to the Waycross Braves in 1963. Bill's star continued to rise with a .316 average at Waycross and a .348 average with Yakima in 1964. Facing stiffer competition, Robinson's stats tailed off with the Atlanta Crackers the following year. An International League all-star with the Richmond Braves in '66, Robinson excited the big league team in Atlanta and scouts around the country with an outstanding .312 average, 20 home runs and 79 runs batted in. After five years of bus riding and hectic living, Robinson finally made it to the majors during a late season call up in the Braves' first season in Atlanta on September 20, 1966. In 11 at bats, he garnered three hits.
With Roger Maris being traded to the Cardinals and the future of an aging and aching Mickey Mantle in doubt, New York Yankee manager Ralph Houk salivated at the thought of Robinson in his outfield. "He has the best arm I have ever seen," Houk told a reporter for the Washington Post. On November 29, 1966, the Yankees traded the veteran third sacker Clete Boyer to the Braves for the young Robinson, who carried with him a .298 average, a rocket arm and the possessed the power to become what the Yankees hoped would be "the black Mickey Mantle."
An early indicator of Robinson's throwing ability was his skill in throwing rocks at his antagonists. Somewhat of a runt in comparison to the bullies of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, Robinson compensated for his scrawniness. "When I was about 10 years old, there was one boy who used to beat me up all the time. One day I waited at the top of a hill and split his head open with a rock from 20 yards. I guess I could hit a guy with a rock at a hundred yards. I was pretty accurate," Robinson chuckled.
After developing a soreness in his right throwing arm in the Venezuelan winter ball league, Robinson underwent elbow surgery in the winter of 1967. Robinson struggled in his rookie season. With manager Houk's unfaltering patience and encouragement, Bill Robinson once again reversed his slump and surged to bat .260 in the second half of the 1967 campaign.
Robinson's sophomore season with the Yankees mirrored his rookie season. Mired in a horrific slump at the all-star break, Bill silenced his doubters with a .282 second half, and solidified a starting position for the 1969 season. Robinson returned his blessings to the community by actively participating in youth programs in New York. After a dismal season in '69, Robinson feared his baseball career was over. At the age of twenty-six, Bill appeared to be headed for the verge of obscurity. Yankee fans, instinctively and unmercifully, booed Bill. The pressure to replace "the Mick" was unbearable. After three average seasons in the minors with Syracuse, Tuscon and Eugene, Robinson finally returned to the major leagues toward the end of the 1972 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, who hoped to capitalize on his resurgent power hitting.
Robinson, who could play all three outfield positions, led the Pacific Coast League in rbi at the time of his call up to the Phillies. With the pressure of being expected to perform with the legendary Yankees gone, Robinson returned to his youthful form. He hated to go to the ball park (in New York) where he tried too hard to perform up to the impossible standards set for him by management and fans alike. Frustration led to more frustration. The White Sox had assigned Bill to their Tuscon team in 1971. Robinson felt he was lied to by the Chicago team and actually quit baseball, only to be traded to the Phillies, a move which rejuvenated his career.
Robinson shed his demons and began to enjoy baseball again. Wally Moses, a native of Montgomery County, Georgia and the Phil's hitting instructor, resurrected Robinson's natural hitting style. Bill entered the 1973 season, hoping just to remain on the team for 52 days to qualify for a pension. Little did "Robby" know he would still be around a decade later. 1973 was Bill's best season so far. He batted .288 and hit 25 home runs. Seventh in at bats per home run, ninth in slugging percentage and tenth in extra base hits in the National League, Robinson appeared headed for stardom at the age of thirty. But Robinson's roller coaster career took another dip in 1974 and he was traded to the cross state rival Pittsburgh Pirates in the off season.
A valuable substitute outfielder, Robinson played well for the Pirates and played for the Bucs in the 1975 post season playoffs against the Cincinnati Reds. Though Bill accepted his job as utility outfielder, he wanted to play full time. When Pirate outfielder Dave Parker went down in May 1975, Robinson got his shot at starting in Pirate outfield. Robby was asked to play third base when Richie Hebner went on the disabled list. Bill enjoyed playing on the hot corner as it kept him more involved in the game. Bill Robinson responded to the challenge both eagerly and favorably, since the Pirates had a trio of outfield stars. Though he ended the 1976 season with a .303 batting average, Robinson went into August batting at an amazing clip of.340. With 64 rbi and 21 home runs, Bill Robinson was chosen as the team's most valuable player and finished 21st in the balloting for the National League's Most Valuable Player. Robinson had reached the prime of his career. Suddenly, at the age of 33, he was on the verge of becoming a superstar.
Bill Robinson entered the 1977 season, his 10th full year in the majors, with high expectations. A series of ham string injuries, a bad shoulder and an aching leg couldn't hinder his determination to show his 1976 season was no fluke. Though he wasn't considered for the 1976 all star team with a .335 average, Robinson thought he might have a chance in 1977. Robinson was devastated when his name didn't appear on the 1977 ballot. Thoroughly disgusted at what he termed as a farce of a voting system, Robinson vowed not to play, even if was selected as a substitute.
Robinson continued to excel. He got his first ever on screen interview with the venerable Howard Cosell on Monday Night Baseball. Bill told the bumptious Cosell that he had alleviated the pressure and went up to the plate without any worries. When called upon after first baseman Willie Stargell was scratched from the lineup due to an injury, Robinson moved across the diamond for the good of the team.
1977 was Robinson's career year. Eleventh in the balloting for the NL Most Valuable Player, Robinson finished eighth in the league in slugging percentage and runs batted in, and sixth in doubles posted career highs in home runs (26), runs batted in (104) and batting average (.304.)
Bill Robinson returned to the outfield in 1978, replacing Al Oliver, who had been traded to Texas. With a contract extension in hand removing him from the bottom of the pay list for regular players, Robinson looked to improve on his totals of the '77 season. After getting off to a hot start, a nagging thumb injury altered his outstanding swing. After six seasons of virtual serenity, the pressure began to nag at Bill once again. His hitting had gone from consistently torrid to woefully inconsistent.
The Pirates began acquiring new players to step in, just in case Robinson faltered in 1979. His average dropped to .246, the third worst of his career. Just when it looked like he would once again fail, Robinson turned it up and moved to the top of the team's offensive statistical categories. Robinson's return to brilliance helped the Pirates to win the National League's Eastern Division pennant.
The Pirates adopted the song We Are Family as their theme song for 1979. The Pirates easily swept the powerful Reds to face the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. In a rematch of the '71 series, the Pirates won in the seventh and deciding game. Hitless in three at bats in the league championship series, Robinson got five hits in the series to win his first World Series championship ring.
Still considered a good utility player, the Pirates held onto the aging Robinson after his home run total fell to 12 in the 1980 season, though he did hit .287. Nagging injuries to Willie Stargell and Dave Parker kept Robinson in the lineup despite the fact that he was 37 and was beginning to slow down. Robinson didn't disappoint Pirate manger Chuck Tanner and played another solid season for the Pirates.
The end of Robinson's career began in the spring of 1981 when he underwent surgery for the repair of his right Achilles tendon. Bill never regained his quick bat and posted the lowest average of his National League career. After 31 games with the Pirates, Robinson returned to Philadelphia for the remainder of the 1982 season. At the end of the season, Robinson, approaching his 40th birthday, filed for free agency. He was resigned by the Phillies and played only in ten games before being released on June 9, 1983, seventeen days after his final game on May 23, 1983. The Phillies respected Robinson's knowledge of him and retained him as a minor league hitting instructor.
In his sixteen seasons in the major leagues, Robinson had 1127 hits, 166 home runs and drove in 641 runs. He hit 104 round trippers in the minors along with 514 runs batted in. His career batting average of .258 in 1472 games was not a true reflection of his outstanding career in the 1970s when he was a better than average hitter.
At the end of the '83 season, Robinson was wooed by the Mets as their new batting coach. With the likes of Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez and George Foster in the Met's lineup, Robinson wasn't about to begin making changes in his slugger's swings. "I don't have any complicated ideas about hitting,"Robinson said. "Mine is a very simple approach, mostly mental," said Robinson, who was manager Dave Johnson's first choice because of his ability as a teacher of hitting.
Facing the brink of elimination in the 6th game of the 1986 World Series, the Mets rallied and took advantage of one of the greatest blunders in World Series history to send the series into the seventh and deciding game, which the Mets won. Robinson had once again returned to the top of his form, this time as the man who taught the world champions the art of hitting. Robinson remained with the Mets until the end of the 1989 season when the team made wholesale changes in their coaching staff.
In 1990, the producers of Baseball Tonight hired Robinson for his insightful commentary on major league baseball. After a two-year stint with ESPN, Robinson returned full time to baseball. Robinson worked for the Phillies minor league organization as a manager and coach from 1994 though 1999. Bill returned to the Yankees organization as a minor league hitting instructor for its Columbus team from 1999 to 2001. He accepted the offer of the Florida Marlins to serve as their hitting coach for the 2002 season.
Once again in 2003, Robinson's pupils, the surprising Florida Marlins, shocked the baseball world by capturing the World Series title, earning Robinson his third and final World Series ring. After four seasons with the Marlins, Robinson was hired as the hitting instructor for the Dodger's minor league system.
On July 29, 2007, Robinson failed to show up for an appointment in Las Vegas to discuss hitting. He had complained about his heart after throwing batting practice and went back to his hotel room to rest. A friend found him dead. Apparently his heart simply gave out. His Bible was lying open in front of him.
Jeff Wilpon, the CEO of the Mets described Robinson as "a devoted family man, a consummate professional and one of the classiest men in our sport." "Bill was a wonderful family man and a great player, manager and coach. He was a friend to everyone he met," said Dodger general manager Ned Colletti.
07-29
HUBERT MIZELL
A Legend That Never Ends
In a world where cliches are never cliche, Hubert Mizell has seen it all. For the last fifty years, he has written about courage, loyalty and self-sacrifice. Hubert has told stories of leadership, teamwork and the triumph of the human spirit. He loves sports and loves to write about the events which keep on taking us out to the old ball game. For this Dublin native, his dream to become a sportswriter has come true, more than he could ever imagine.
Hubert Coleman Mizell was born in Dublin, Georgia in 1939. His parents, Leon Mozart Mizell and Annie Mae Williams Mizell, named him for Dr. Alfred Coleman, the doctor who delivered him. Hubert grew up in the days of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Joe Louis. As a child of a poor family, Hubert lived in eleven towns and in twenty-seven buildings. His father left school after the end of the 5th grade. A saw mill accident left the elder Mizell with a severely mangled arm, relegating him work at strenuous jobs, often enduring eighty-four-hour work weeks. Hubert's mother worked whenever and wherever she could to help make ends meet to support the family, which included Hubert's baby sister Linda.
When Hubert was seven, the Mizells moved to Jacksonville, Florida. A trip to the Georgia-Florida game, long before it became the wild spectacle it is today, sparked young country boy's love of sports. At the age of fourteen, Hubert took a job as an usher and later as a scorekeeper at Wolfson Park, home of the Jacksonville Tars. Playing for the Tars that year was a young kid by the name of Henry Louis. You know him better has Henry "Hank" Aaron.
Before he completed high school, Mizell developed a relationship with the Times-Union, Jacksonville's leading newspaper. At first he worked as a sport's copy editor. During his spare time, Hubert studied and carefully analyzed the writings of the nation's greatest sportswriters. After his college days at the University of Florida were over, Hubert returned to the Times-Union as the High School Sports Editor. In 1964, he took a job in the public relations department of the Gator Bowl.
In 1967, Hubert came of retirement as a sportswriter for the first time. He returned to the Times-Union as its Florida Sports Editor. In addition to his duties in the sports department, Mizell covered hurricanes and even the 1972 Republican National Convention. Later in the 1970s, Hubert became the state sports editor of the Times-Union.
Hubert Mizell's first major sports assignment came in the late summer of 1972. Hubert witnessed swimmer Mark Spitz's world record seven gold medal performance and the emergence of one of the world's greatest gymnasts, Olga Korbut. He was there when the zebras gave the Russian team three unwarranted chances to defeat the US basketball team in one of the most controversial games in Olympic history. Hubert was an eye witness to one of the darkest moments, not only in Olympic history, but in the history of sports. Working closely with a young Peter Jenkins of ABC News, Hubert saw the hooded gunmen who killed eleven Israeli athletes. He was stationed at the airport when their corpses were sent back home. "It was like a punch in the stomach," Mizell remembered. Hubert still lists the '72 Olympics as the highlight of his career.
Being based in the subtropical climate of Florida, Hubert normally didn't cover hockey games. But in the winter of 1980, Hubert was in Lake Placid, New York, covering the first of his four Winter Olympic games. Mizell and the corps of sportswriters, normally trained to be neutral in their coverage of sports, shivered in emotion as they witnessed, in Mizell's words, "the most colossal upset in the history of sports." Mizell still rates the game in which the upstart US team defeated the heavily favored Russians as the No. 1 game he has ever covered. In 1986, he moved to Atlanta and took a job as a feature writer and television critic for the Atlanta Constitution. It wasn't long before Hubert decided to return to Florida and the love of his life.
Mizell was present at one of baseball's most memorable games, not because of the score or the events which transpired on the field. It was late in the afternoon on October 17, 1989. The Giants and Athletics were preparing to play their 3rd World Series game when the stadium began to shake violently. Hubert hit the floor and then the lights went out. He managed to make it out of the stadium safely, writing his column on the hood of an ABC -TV truck. The calamitous earthquake was the most frightening thing Hubert ever witnessed in sports.
During his fifty years in journalism and sports, Hubert has attended nearly fifty college football bowl games, forty Masters golf tournaments and more than thirty college basketball final fours and Super Bowls. He has been in attendance at more than a dozen U.S. Golf Opens and Kentucky Derbies. Hubert has crossed the Atlantic to witness a half dozen or more British Open golf tournaments and even more Wimbledon tennis tournaments. Mizell has covered six summer Olympic games and four of the winter games. The number of the other sports events he has seen is virtually incalculable.
College football and golf are Hubert's favorite sports. He loves going to Notre Dame to watch a football game the best, though he does rank Grant Field as number nine and between the hedges at Sanford Stadium as his sixth most favorite college football venue. He lists Arnold Palmer, Steve Young, Pete Maravich, Jack Nicklaus, Magic Johnson and Richard Petty as his favorite athletes. Interestingly, he list former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Lee Roy Selmon as the most honorable athlete he has known. Nancy Lopez is a close second in his mind. Among the most mesmerizing interviewees, Mizell lists Muhammad Ali, Bobby Jones, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Red Grange, Charles Atlas and Jesse Owens. His favorite sportscasters include Pat Summerall, Jim McKay, Bob Costas, Jack Whitaker and Howard Cossell.
Frequently honored by his colleagues, Hubert has served on the ESPY committee of ESPN Sports, which annually honors the best of the best in sports. Mizell was a charter inductee into the United States Basketball Writers Hall of Fame. In 1980, his fellow sportswriters elected him as president of the Associated Press Sports Writers Association. Chris Berman of ESPN remembered Hubert for being kind in helping him out when he first got into broadcasting. Veteran St. Louis announcer Jack Buck said, "Everybody loves Hubert, especially the athletes - they trusted him." Jack Nicklaus said "Hubert tried to do the right thing and be in the right place at the right time." Fellow golfer Gary Player echoed Nicklaus, "He's been a tremendous contributor to golf, but he's been a great gentleman. Really a nice man and you can't say much more about a person than that."
Hubert retired from sports writing, at least partially, in 2001. He and his wife moved to Virginia and the promise of peace and quiet. Hubert did continue to write a weekly column for the St. Petersburg Times until the end of 2004. He planned to retire, but Hubert couldn't leave sports. He returned to the sports room last year and writes today for the Gainesville Sun. This past April Hubert Mizell was honored by the Augusta National Golf Club, which awarded him and thirteen other writers and broadcasters with the first "Masters Major Achievement Award." According to the editors of Sports Cliches dot com., a sportswriter must be around for at least thirty years to qualify as a legend. Hubert Mizell is twenty years beyond that level and still going strong, watching and writing about the greatest legends in the games we play.
As a point of personal privilege, I dedicate this column to my son Scotty as he begins his study of journalism at GCSU tomorrow. Hubert Mizell's career shows that a love of sports and the triumph of the human spirit, a fundamental appreciation of our heritage and a passionate talent for writing can make the dreams of a little boy from Dublin come true.
07-30
CADWELL
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
Today August 21, 2007 marks the end of the first one hundred years of the town of Cadwell, Georgia. Tomorrow, a new century will begin on the anniversary of the incorporation of the town on August 22, 1907. Over the last century, Cadwell has risen from a tiny village to a bustling farm town and railroad depot, settling in as a quiet place to raise a family and spend the waning years of retirement.
The origin of Cadwell actually goes back more than a mere 100 years. The area was formerly known as Reedy Springs. The name comes from a nearby spring, which undoubtedly had a lot of reed plants around it. The Reedy Springs Militia District was created on October 5, 1883. After the Civil and Indian Wars, the necessity of each militia district was no longer necessary. The militia districts then began to function as voting districts and Justice of the Peace Court districts.
The Reedy Springs community was also known by the name of Bluewater. That name was derived from a nearby creek to the north and west. In 1883, the Reedy Springs District had four churches (all Baptist), a common school, a steam gin, a grist and saw mill. Farmers produced 800 bales of cotton, 800,000 board feet of lumber, and 8,000 pounds of wool. The farmers of the area, which extended down to the current day Cadwell area and over to Dexter were: E.F. Alligood, H. Alligood, I. Alligood, A.J. Barron, H.D. Barron, J.H. Barron, W. Barron, W.T. Barron, J.D. Bates, A. Bedingfield, J. Bedingfield, R.A. Bedingfield, W. Bedingfield, W.A. Bedingfield, G.W. Belcher, Eliza Clarke, H.C. Coleman, W. Coney, J.E. Crumpton,R.H. Crumpton, C.C. Gay, Hardy Gay, Mrs. M. Gay, Stephen Green, D.Y. Grinstead, E. Grinstead, P.E. Grinstead, Robert Grinstead, J. Hobbs, A.B. Holliday, W.F. Holliday, L.H. Hudson, S.B. Johnson, W.D. Joiner, A. Jones, W.J. Kinchen, W.F. Kinchen, G.B. Knight, J.T. Knight, R.G.B. Knight, B. Lewis, S. Lewis, T.J. Lewis, J.R. Locke, J. Lowery, W.A.N. Lowery, G.W. McDaniel, H.R. McDaniel, J.R. McDaniel, R.F. Mathis, C. Mullis, J. Mullis, W.H. Mullis, R.F. Register, and A. Rountree.
The local businessmen were A.J. Adams, machinist; H. Alligood, sawmiller; J.M. Bass, miller; W.B.F. Daniels, general store; J.T. Rogers, general store; R.L. Faircloth, machinist; James Lovett, wheelright; J.R. Sheperd, general store; and Wynn Brothers, general store. Local ministers in 1883 were N.F. Gay, D.E. Green, J.W. Green, T.J. Hobbs, J.T. Kinchen, J.T. Kinchen, Jr., J.I.D. Miller, J.T. Rogers, C.B. Smith, and C.R. Winham. L.A. Bracwewell was Justice of the Peace and A.B. Clark was the Notary Public and ex-officio Justice of the Peace.
Situated along the rail line of the Dublin & Southwestern Railroad was the defunct town of Mullis, or "Mullis Town." Mullis, which was incorporated as a town in 1906, was located just north of the northern city limits of Cadwell. An intense rivalry began between the citizens of Mullis and Rebecca Lowery Cadwell Burch, who had plans of her own to develop a town of her own. Shortly after Cadwell began to flourish, Mullis Town, at least in its official status, faded away.
Rebecca Burch had intended to name her new town "Burch" in memory of her late husband. Mrs. Burch knew that the town would have to have a post office, so after making an application for one, she discovered that the name of "Burch, Georgia" had already been taken. As an alternative choice, Cadwell's founding mother submitted the last name of her first husband, Matthew Cadwell. When Matthew Cadwell was buried in Lowery Cemetery, he was buried with his horse, the same horse that he was riding when he was struck by lightning.
The owner of a fine tract of land, Mrs. Burch hired Zollicoffer Whitehurst to survey and lay out a design for a new town to be named in honor of her late husband, Charlton O. Burch. Whitehurst's original design, completed in 1905 - two years before the incorporation of Cadwell, contained 52 commercial lots and four larger lots on the northeastern side of the just completed rail line. Initially, Whitehurst placed five streets in his design. Snow Hill, Burch and Coleman streets paralleled each other running in a northwest to southeast direction. Dexter (Georgia Highway 117) and Dublin (Railroad) streets intersected these streets at right angles.
The original limits of the town included all of Land Lots 11 and 20 of the 17th Land District of Laurens County and encompassed an area of 405 acres. Two years after Cadwell was incorporated, the town actually shrunk in size, down to 1000 square yards in a square shape centered around the intersection of Dexter and Burch streets. It would be another forty-six years before the the size of the town was doubled in 1955 to encompass 2000 square yards.
The town of Cadwell's first mayor was J.W. Warren. Warren was appointed to lead the first town government by the Georgia legislature with the wise counsel and guidance of the initial slate of councilmen, James Burch, Joe Ethridge, C.C. Cadwell and Ed Walden for a period of two years until a new election could be held.
According to the first census of Cadwell, one hundred and fifty four persons lived in Cadwell in 1910. Among the heads of families that year were: Uriah Woodard (telegraph operator,) Arthur Mullis (salesman,) Daniel Harrell (house carpenter,) John Weaver (barber,) William Mullis (farmer,) Hershall Jones, James Fason, Henry Smith, Willie Powell, Robert Pullen, Robert Pannell, William Curry, Leon Joiner (turpentine laborers,) Thomas Wood, Allan Carter, Thomas Bird, James Gallimore, Josiah Griffin (railroad laborers,) Murl Coleman, Isaac Coleman (telephone operators,) James Mullis (farmer,) Simeon Bland (physician,) Henry Bedingfield (farmer,) James Burch (bank cashier,) Robert Burch (drug salesman,) Henry Coleman (farmer,) H.C. Stonecypher (merchant,) Hiram Mullis (merchant,) Horace Mullis (telegraph operator,) Robert Ridley (hotel keeper,) John Ridley (laborer,) Bennett Bedingfield (farmer,) William Colter (salesman,) C.C. Cadwell, and Victoria Cadwell.
Cadwell's charter was repealed and a new one put in place on August 19, 1912. H.C. Burch was named Mayor by the new act. A.T. Coleman, A. McCook, H.R. Bedingfield and J.A. Burch were appointed councilmen. The new law gave the town government the right to establish it's own public school system, a novel power not given to other Laurens County towns. In 1925, the Cadwell Public School system was abolished and the town's school became part of the county public school system.
Yet another charter was issued in 1914. H.C. Burch remained in the position of mayor, but A.M. Johnson, L.T. Harrell, H.R. Bedingfield and E.E. Hicks were named as new members of the council.
The first post office in Cadwell was established on August 17, 1908 after being moved from Mullis. Arthur Mullis served until September 21, 1910, when Bennett J. Bedingfield assumed the duties as postmaster. Other Cadwell postmasters were Joseph A. Warren (1912-1914), Homer Mullis (1914-1918), Hiram Mullis (1918-1935), John B. Bedingfield (1935-1936), Belie B. Hicks (1936-1943), and Katherine F. Underwood (1943-).
Laurens County's third bank, the Cadwell Banking Company, was granted a charter on January 5, 1910 with an initial capital of $25,000.00. The original incorporators were L.B. Holt and G.C. Wood of Sandersville, H.C. Coleman, Jr., W.H. Mullis, Sr., J.A. Burch, H.C. Burch, H.R. Bedingfield, A. McCook, H.C. Stonecypher, and W.B. Coleman of Cadwell. A brick building was constructed on the southwest corner of Dexter and Burch Streets. L.B. Holt served as the first president. The bank acquired the assets of the Citizens Bank of Cadwell in 1916. The new board of directors chose H.R. Bedingfield as president, H.C. Burch as vice president, J.A. Burch as cashier, and H.H. Burch as assistant cashier. The bank failed to open on fall day in 1928 and Cadwell was without a bank.
C.R. Williams led a group of local citizens in forming the Citizens Bank of Cadwell which was granted a charter on November 5, 1913. Many of the incorporators were listed among the shareholders of the Cadwell Banking Company. They included A. McCook, Mrs. R.E. Burch, B.K. Smith, S.F. Scarborough, C.J. Barrs, L.P. Lavender, C.C. Cadwell, T.R. Taylor, Victoria Cadwell, J.M. Gay, J.B. Bedingfield, H.R. Bedingfield, J.L. Watson, D.W. Alligood, L.W. Lavender, O.S. Duggan, A.H. Duggan, A.J. McCook, W.W. Warren, B.J. Bedingfield, J.H. Barron, W.J. Mullis, J.F. Graham, A.F. McCook, J.A. Warren, H.B. Warnock, J.B. Colter, Mutual Telephone Exchange, H.C. Stonecypher, A.M. Johnson, J.W. Bass, Sr., J.W. Bass, J.E. Rogers, J.F. Etheridge, C.C. Hutto, and A.B. Daniel.
The citizens of Cadwell regathered and formed a new bank in the early months of 1929. The bank was a private bank owned by J.B. Bedingfield, J.F. Graham, W.D. Parkerson, and L.K. Smith, who served as cashier. The bank underwent a series of name changes from the Graham, Sikes, and Company Bank to the Graham, Smith, and Bedingfield Bank, and finally to the Farmers Clearing Bank. W.A. Bedingfield joined the firm after J.B. Bedingfield was elected Clerk of the Superior Court. W.D. Parkerson left the firm and the bank reorganized with L.K. Smith as president and W.A. Bedingfield as cashier.
In 1966 the directors received a state charter and became the Farmers State Bank. Early officers of the bank included L.K. Smith, W.A. Bedingfield, W.B. Coleman, and Kennon Smith. The bank moved to the former post office location on Burch Street, the site which it still occupies today. In 1980 the bank was purchased by Farmers Bancshares of Douglas. Edward E. Morris took over as president of the bank, a position which he still holds today. Dan Rowe was elected cashier. The bank opened its branch office in Dublin on Veterans Boulevard in October of 1984.
The single most important factor in the establishment and growth of Cadwell into an economic center of southwestern Laurens County was the establishment of the Dublin & Southwestern Railroad. E.P. Rentz, a Dublin banker, owned a saw mill in Rentz and took a keen interest in the project, becoming the main owner of the railroad.
Grading began on March 2, 1904 in western Dublin along Marion Street near the Dublin Cotton Mills in Dublin under the supervision of E.P. Rentz and superintendent, Frank S. Battle. The organizational meeting of the railroad was held in the Citizens Bank on April 6, 1904. E. P. Rentz was elected president. J.J. Simpson and W.D. Harper were elected as vice president and traffic manager/treasurer respectively. William Pritchett, J.M. Stubbs, and David S. Blackshear of Dublin were elected to the board of directors. The first spikes were driven and the workers raced to complete the road to Rentz by mid May.
From its intersection with the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad, the D & S RR ran southwesterly and crossed the present day Industrial Boulevard on the site of Flex Steel. The line ran in a southerly direction as straight as possible crossing Turkey Creek at Tingle, later known as Garretta. From that point the road turned in back to the southwest through a small station known as Mayberry (at the site of Southwest Laurens Elementary School) and thence to the lumber mill in Rentz. From that point on, the old tram road bed allowed the owners to cheaply, and fairly rapidly, complete the railroad into Eastman.
Engineer J.P. Pughesly immediately began laying out the road along the old tram road. Col. Stubbs traveled to Eastman on June 27th to solicit monetary and moral support from the businessmen and farmers of Eastman and Dodge County. In return for their subscription of shares for the twenty to twenty-five thousand dollar project, the investors would be given a share of the company. Eastman investors were reluctant to get involved. However, when the city of McRae invited the directors of the D&S RR to turn the course of the railroad in a southerly direction, the men of Dodge County put their names on the dotted lines. S. Herman, W.H. Cotter and W.H. Lee of Dodge County were added to the railroad's board of directors.
The first scheduled train from Rentz to Dublin ran on June 29, 1904 with two daily trips to follow in July. Battle's crews began laying rails in mid-August. The old tram road bed was in fairly decent shape, two years growth of weeds and saplings excepted. Next along the line was the town of Mullis.
From Cadwell, the railroad turned again toward Eastman, running first through the community of Plainfield. Construction was delayed by legal actions by some Eastman citizens along the route of the railroad and the City of Eastman as well. General Manager W.J. Kessler, a highly successful former manager of the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad, moved the headquarters of the railroad to Eastman in May of 1905, with the ultimate intention of extending the road on the Ocmulgee River.
Any town needs a church, or two or three churches. John Burch was the first to put that belief into motion. He organized a Sunday School for children in one of the Frierson Company houses. The adults became interested and Mrs. Rebecca Burch came through with an ideal spot on the corner of Snow Hill and Walnut streets. On September 10, 1909, the first organizational meeting was held and the Cadwell Baptist Church was born. John Burch and A. S. Jones were elected as deacons. Jim Burch took on the duties of church clerk. The founding members of the church included John Burch, H.C. Burch, J.A. burch, C.C. Hutto, A.B. Daniel, A.S. Jones, A.F. McDaniel, Mrs. M.A. Burch, Mrs. A.B. Daniel, Mrs. Leo Lewis, Mrs. Neily Cadwell, Miss Lola Burch, Miss Ellis Lewis, Mrs. Flora Graham and Mrs. J.F. Ridley. Those present at the initial organizational stages elected the Rev. E.W. Evans as the church's first pastor.
The original church, a fairly large wooden structure, was completed in 1910, though the building was not painted on the outside until 1913. In 1919, the members of the church finished their new and current building on the corner of Dexter and Snow Hill Streets. An annex building was erected in 1957.
Despite the large contingent of Baptists in Cadwell, there were a few of the Methodist persuasion. Again Rebecca Burch stepped up and deeded a tract on Walnut Street to J.E. Perry, Beulah Burch and Mack John as trustees of the of Methodist Church. The first pastor of the Methodist Church at Cadwell was the Rev. Silas Johnson, who in 1943 became the president of Wesleyan College in Macon. The church's first stewards were Mrs. R.E. Burch, Mack Johnson and W.J. Ballard. The Methodists built their first and current building, a modest wooden structure, in 1913 on a lot which adjoins the old Cadwell school site.
A second and more important essential element of a new town is the establishment of a school. In yet another public spirited donation from Rebecca Burch, H.C. Burch, B.J. Bedingfield, J.E. Faulk, A.W. Mullis and D.W. Alligood, appointed by the Laurens County school board, took title to a two-acre tract at the corner of Snow Hill and Dexter Streets in 1911. The first school was a large wooden building with a tall belfry on the southern end. It suffered the usual fate of all too many wooden buildings when the school burned in 1928.
Jim Smith was the community's first school teacher and principal. He was followed by Mr. Marsh and H.L. Lawson. An additional school was built in 1916 on the present school site. It was two-room brick building with an adjoining auditorium. After giving up it's charter as a separate system in 1925, a newly created school district was formed under the leadership of H.C Burch, J.B. Bedingfield, J.F. Rivers, J.T. Jones and D.W. Alligood. Cadwell students excelled in a wide variety of subjects, particularly in the fields of agriculture, home economics and as the Cadwell Bulldogs in the sport of basketball. Children attended school in Cadwell until the 1960s when the students were transferred to Laurens High, which later became a part of West Laurens High School.
The following is a tribute written to Cadwell, which at one time was being promoted as the county seat of Northern County, to be named in honor of Gov. William J. Northern (1893-1894.) The movement, like several others of its kind, to crop off an extremity of Laurens County never materialized.
A TRIBUTE TO CADWELL
Cadwell is a beautiful city,
Capital of Northen County,
Contains one thousand people,
and pretty girls in bounties.
When a good place to board is wanted,
Stop with Mrs. Ridley on the hill,
Three young ladies to entertain you,
You will never regret the bill.
Miss Fannie B. plays the piano,
Miss Della B is in love, I am aware.
Miss Arbelle is so good and quiet,
You would hardly know she's there.
But they are all fine, I tell you,
I love them all you bet.
But Buren and Swanson have got me beat,
To my sorrow and great regret.
But I must soon leave you all,
And bid you all good bye.
It make me feel so lonesome,
and I feel like I could cry.
I have enjoyed my stay immensely.
You have been so nice and kind.
I thank you all ever so much
and this is all my little rhyme.
For a more detailed history of Cadwell see 70 Years, A History of Cadwell, Georgia by Fannie Jo Bedingfield Holt. It is with great honor and respect I dedicate my capsuled history of Cadwell to Mrs. Holt and to all the fine people who have ever called Cadwell their home.
07-31
WHITEHALL
An Antebellum Treasure
Any old house, especially one of the wooden clapboard variety, has a tale to tell, or many tales to tell. But, since walls can't really talk, we will just have to use our imaginations. There are stories of life and death, laughter and despair, and triumph and tragedy. Though many of the accounts of life in an old house were never preserved, a few have been documented. Architects design homes and carpenters build them, but a home is shaped and molded by those who live in it. This is the story of Whitehall, the seat of the White family of Laurens County for many a decade and one of the county's oldest surviving homes.
Joseph McKee White migrated to Laurens County, Georgia about the year 1846. White, a native of South Carolina and son of John and Dovey White, grew up on a plantation in the Sumter District of South Carolina on the Black River. His close friend Daniel G. Hughes believed that Joseph actually came from York County. Before moving on, White completed his higher educational studies at the University of Georgia.
Members of the White family were always told that White came through central Georgia on his way toward Mississippi, where he hoped to establish a thriving plantation in the lush delta regions of that state. According to the family lore, White was so impressed with the fertility of the soils of Laurens and Pulaski counties that he ended his search and settled along the line dividing the two counties.
Joseph White, a man with a fine physique, was described by Dan Hughes to be " a man of marked intelligence and sense of logic." White's first recorded purchase of land came in 1847 while he was still considered a resident of Sumter County. He purchased 900 acres from Mary Wilkinson for the not so paltry sum of $ 1700.00. This land would form the nucleus of his plantation which he would call "Whitehall." Though his real estate holdings would eventually encompass ten thousand acres or more, most of his purchases were recorded. Located on the waters of Crooked Creek on the Old Uchee Trail, Whitehall was considered to be a part of the community known as Laurens Hill, which was centered a few miles to the northwest.
White used his higher educational skills in an attempt to master the science of agriculture. A frequent contributor of letters and articles in local papers, White wrote of the problems facing the state and nation on political issues as well as the problems which faced the farmers of the state. His writings showed his readers that he was no ordinary man, but one of superior intellect and one whose opinions were weighty and valuable.
Just down the road on an adjoining plantation lived one of the most beautiful young ladies Joseph White had ever met. Cherry Coley, a daughter of Cain Coley, accepted Joseph White's proposal of marriage. The couple were married in 1850 and moved into White's new home.
Large plantations were communities within themselves. Though White's land holdings were large, he surprisingly owned relatively few slaves. In 1850, White is shown as the owner of 39 slaves, 29 of whom were under the age of 14. In 1860, the number of slaves rose to 50, with only forty percent of them being under the age of 14. Many of the larger plantations were served by a local physician. One such physician, Dr. J.W. Woods, a relative of Joseph White and recent salutatorian of his medical class, was invited to remove himself from his home in South Carolina in hopes of establishing a lucrative practice in the Laurens Hill Community. Woods, an avid hunter, returned from a hunting trip, only to find himself somewhat ill. As his own physician, Woods administered a dosage of what he thought was quinine. A momentary lapse in vision resulted in his consumption of a fatal quantity of morphine. For three agonizing days, the comatose doctor was beaten with wet towels and walked through the walls and around the porches of Whitehall in a futile attempt to revive him. Dr. Woods once breathing body was laid to rest in the corner of a large field about a mile northeast of the main house at Whitehall.
Another short term resident of Whitehall was W. H. Mobley. Mobley, a nephew of Georgia congressman Charles Crisp, married a daughter of Sen. John H. Reagan of Texas. It will be remembered that is was Sen. Reagan, who as the Postmaster of the Confederate States of America, led the caravan of Confederate President Jefferson Davis as he made his way through Laurens County in an attempt to escape capture by Union forces in 1865. Mobley served as his uncle's secretary in Washington and moved to Palestine, Texas to practice law. He removed to Cochran in 1892 and lived with the White family until his return to Texas two years later. Mobley, like his father actor who was killed in an Atlanta theater, died a tragic death when he consumed a fatal dose of morphine in 1901.
During the Civil War, Joseph White served as a major in the Confederate Provisional Army. Too old to engage in combat, Major White was commissioned to help raise food and gather war materials for the cause of the Confederacy. White may have commanded a small Confederate commissary, which was located just beyond Laurens Hill next to the Harvard family cemetery. Several years after the end of the hostilities, Major White was granted a full pardon by President Andrew Johnson for his acts of war against the United States.
Architectural experts have likened Whitehall's straightforwardly simple design of well proportioned square columns as representative of the best of a number of similar houses and buildings of the period, among them the cottage behind the President's House at the University of Georgia and the Davis-Edwards House in Monroe. The house has been defined as hybrid mixture of indigenous architecture with the dignity and clarity of Greek designs, which Thomas Jefferson so ideally sought in his classical designs.
Students of architecture will recognize the details of the frame clapboarded t-shaped rectangular house with a five-bay front, a hipped roof, two interior chimneys and three end chimneys. Surrounded by a grove of ancient cedars, Whitehall features a porch on three sides. Guests entered the home through a double door entrance into a central hall. Grand houses like Whitehall often attracted the most prominent and highly erudite visitors. Reportedly, thirteen governors of Georgia have slept in the guest bedroom, located in the northwest corner of the house.
During the the late 1950s and early 1960s, the home was occupied by John Richard Staley, major renovations were put in place including transoms with radiating muntins, all new plaster and woodwork. Staley, the president of Quaker Oats Company, purchased Whitehall as a birthday present for his wife, the former Miss Carolyn Flemming, who had always admired the stately old home. A car port was added and a breezeway between the house and kitchen was so enlarged to merge into the house itself. Modern wiring, heating and plumbing were installed under the direction of the chief engineer of Quaker Oats Company.
Architect Jackson Lamb, a native of Montrose, purchased the house in 1966 and undertook a major and complete restoration of the home, where he married his wife Nancy Ragsdale. Lamb sold the house to Henry and Martha Cannon in 1970. Henry, a long time executive with the Georgia Forestry Commission, and Martha, sister of Marion Folsom, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the Eisenhower administration, continued to make improvements on the inside and outside.
In the mid 1980s, Bill Holmes, a great-great grandson of Major White, purchased Whitehall and much of the original plantation lands. Holmes made improvements to the property, especially on the grounds. Today, the property is owned by an investment firm and is not open to the public.
07-32
TRAVELS IN TIME
A River Cruise
I often think if I had a time machine, the dial would be set first to the mid 1890s, location Dublin, Georgia, at the wharves along the banks of the Oconee River. The intention of my adventure would be a ride down the Oconee and Altamaha Rivers to Darien on the Atlantic coast. A warm winter's day, or perhaps a crisp autumn one when the crimson and gold leaves of the sweet gum and the oak would adorn my prolonged trek to the sea, would be my first choices.
I stepped inside the strange contraption and set the dial for November 13, 1893. All of a sudden, the cylindrical sphere began to wildly rotate. The centrifugal force flung me against the wall. When the spinning subsided, the time dial indicated May 15, 1894. It was a typical mid spring day, kind of warm, but at least it wasn't raining. Though the number of houses and buildings were scant, I did manage to recognize the lay of the land. Toward the east, I spotted what appeared to be the heart of the town, glowing in the rays of the setting sun. A place to sleep and a good meal were the first order of my itinerary.
Upon the crest of a small hill I saw what I believed to be "Liberty Hall," the residence of Col. John M. Stubbs. Stubbs was a well known and highly skilled attorney, but was also known as one of the men who brought river boating and the railroads to Dublin some dozen or fifteen years prior. Col. Stubbs, as I surmised he would be, was in his study going over plans for his gardens and orchards, another of the things he was most famous for. I introduced myself as a fellow Maconite, who was looking to chronicle a ride on a river boat down to Darien. He smiled and said, "son, you are in luck. There's a boat leaving before sunup in the morning. I am supposed to be aboard, but I have a trial in Eastman in two days and the judge refuses to grant me a continuance. Go up to the hotel across from the courthouse and Mr. Hooks will take care of you."
All around me were new residences going up. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I could see the main business district. Off to my left was a new brick church for the Methodists coming up from the sandy ground. As the sun sank behind the trees, Jackson Street fell into near complete darkness. I forgot, the electric light bulb hadn't come to Dublin yet. Everyone I met was friendly, overly friendly. It seemed as if they were having a contest to see who could be the friendliest to the new stranger in town.
As I approached the center of town, I could make out the outline of a two-story wooden structure on what I knew to have been on the courthouse square. Though I had seen photographs of it after it had been removed to another location, it seemed smaller than I thought it was. Across the street was a handsome hotel building, not the typical home modified to accommodate itinerant travelers, but a substantial two-story brick structure with towers on each side of its front edifice. I walked in and found Mr. Gabriel S. Hooks, the innkeeper, behind the desk, just where the Colonel told me he would be. I told the affable young gentleman that Col. Stubbs had sent me to his establishment. Mr. Hooks replied, "yes, I know, Mr. Stubbs sent his servant the back way and your accommodations are ready for you."
At Mr. Hooks insistence, I sat down at a large table in a much brighter adjoining room. Before I knew it, Mrs. Hooks was bringing out a large blue plate. More like a platter, there were several meats and a half-dozen servings of vegetables heaped on it. The charming lady brought out a tray with a large piping hot loaf of bread wrapped inside a red and white checkered cloth. I ate what I could and just a bite or two more.
Not wanting to miss a chance on getting in on a little history research, I began to interrogate Mr. Hooks on the doings in Dublin. He told me that there were plans to build a new courthouse, a large brick one, sometime next year. Hooks and all of Dublin were extremely proud of the new artesian well on the courthouse square.
We discussed river boats. He said, "young man, Dublin's got three boats in service now and we're going to have two fine new ones very soon." "We've got three railroads in town and more on the way," the innkeeper added. Hooks told me that I would be riding with members of the Forest and Stream Club. This group of forty-five men formed a club to hunt and fish along the shores and swamps of the Oconee, Ocmulgee and Altamaha Rivers.
The group hired Capt. J.W. Miller of Dublin to supervise the construction of the Gypsy, a river boat with forty state rooms and pilot the boat down the river from the club's headquarters in Dublin to Darien on the Georgia coast. Each of the Gypsy's state rooms were outfitted with all of the necessary appurtenances and accouterments for the hunter and the fisherman. Among the club's charter members from Dublin were Col. John M. Stubbs, Blanton Nance, J.T. Wright and E.M. Whitehead. Judge Emory Speer of Macon, Dudley Hughes of Danville and E.L. Dennard of Houston County were among the most erudite members of the club. The group's membership extended to members as far away as Birmingham, Chicago, Kansas City and Topeka.
The Gypsy was constructed in Savannah under the careful scrutinizing eye of Capt. Miller. The captain hired his old friend W.T. Walton to serve as the boat's engineer. J.W. Grantham, the Gypsy's master machinist, was the best of his kind in the state. Norman McCall, an experienced river pilot and an African Baptist minister, took the helm. McCall, a man of enormous proportions, once saved his cargo by swimming with fifty-pound sacks of fertilizer under his arms and carrying them to the river banks.
The hour was late and I was desperately trying to memorize every utterance I could remember. "You better go on to bed. You'll need to be down at the river by four o'clock in the morning," Mr. Hooks warned me. Despite the comfortable bed, solemn slumber was not in order that night. Just in case I did fall asleep, I asked for a early morning "wake up knock" on my door.
And though my room was more like a Pullman railroad compartment, I didn't mind it all. The brilliance of a waxing gibbous moon illuminated my room through a small, yet well placed, window overlooking the quiescent courthouse square. I thought I saw an army of apparitions drifting across the lawn. “Old Bill, a kind black man who came in earlier to clean up my room, told me the place was haunted. “Yas, sir!. This place is got ghosts. There’s folks buried under the north tower of this here hotel,” he said as he shook and studdered to get out his words. I questioned Bill if he seen any ghosts. “I’s afraid of ghosts sir. I once saw two of them in front of Mr. Maddox’s hardware store over yonder. It must be old man Sam Coleman’s grand daddy. He’s buried right under the store,” the old servant added. I scanned the landscape and saw no ghosts that night, but I did see nine gaping holes in the ground where “Old Bill” said some important rich folks was buried.
Beside my somewhat comfortable bed, I found the most recent issue of the "Dublin Post," edited by Lucien Quincy Stubbs, a brilliant man of many talents and a credit to his father, and my new friend, Col. J.M. Stubbs. I tried to read the news of the town with the additional aid of an oil burning lamp, but decided to pack it away to analyze every word during the quiet moments of the ride down the river.
Right on schedule at four o'clock on the dot, "Big Norman" tugged the whistle of the "Gypsy" and interrupted a most tranquil morning. Fireman Hardy Perry stoked the boiler. I purchased my ticket for a three quarters of a dollar and walked timidly along a wobbling plank to the safety of the floor of the river steamer. Despite the early hour, the boat was filled with passengers, all seeking a pleasureful cruise down the river.
Around daylight we reached Berryhill's Bluff in what we know now as Treutlen County. That's when it happened again. Dutiful black servants began to bring out the bounty of the land, the best that farms, forests and streams could render. I met Capt. Isaac Hardeman and Joseph Miller, who was headed toward his home in Montgomery County. Sam Yopp, E.J. Willingham and E.J. Dupree boarded the boat after a more than successful hunting trip. The morning air was delightfully cool and made the breakfast one of the most satisfactory I have ever experienced. Some of the passengers expressed a desire to have delayed their feast until the fresh game could be added to the serving table.
The day passed pleasantly, but all too quickly. The few women on the boat congregated in the stern area as far away from the bow, where the men were comparing their marksmanship skills. Any bird, whether perched or airborne, was marked for instant death. All eyes scanned the banks for a the glimpse of the prize victim of the day, the villainous alligator.
The crew dropped the Gypsy's anchor at the Devil's Elbow, a bend in the river which was hailed as the best resort for hunting and fishing anywhere on the Oconee River and situated just three miles above the confluence of the Oconee and the Ocmulgee and a mere ten crow-fly miles from Lumber City. The lakes there were the most beautiful I had ever seen. My yells echoed throughout the lush forest. The bream and trout jumped so freely and often, I thought they were going to jump into my hands.
After a fulfilling feast of the hunter's bounty, we enjoyed an convivial evening of vocal entertainment and several games of whist and euchre. Around 11:00 o'clock, the sound of a small gong reverberated throughout the boat. It was time to retire to our staterooms.
The enticing aroma of coffee and biscuits holding real cow butter inside them brought me springing out of my bed. While the men alighted from the boat for more hunting thrills, I remained behind and partook of another half dozen or so of the best biscuits I ever ate. Remember, I am still unborn and calories don't count yet. The hunters returned around nine for the real breakfast of the morning replete with fish and game. They had to eat their meats alone, because the biscuits were gone. I did manage to part with a few of them, dividing them among seven starving servants. I also shared a couple of them and a day- long delightful conversation with Mrs. Mary and Miss Hennilu Hughes, the wife and daughter of Dudley M Hughes. He doesn't know it yet, but in twenty years, Col. Hughes will become one of Georgia's leading congressmen and co-author a bill to establish vocational education in public schools of the United States.
Some time later, Capt. Miller hoisted a forty-four star flag and ordered the anchor raised. As pilot McCall began to guide the boat downstream, some of the hunters appeared to be missing. But, the Gypsy kept on gliding through the smooth as silk waters. Coming to a stop in a grove of willows, the Captain patiently waited for the exasperated malingerers to catch up in their rowboats. Everyone laughed at the men, tired and exhausted from their trip, everyone except me. If there hadn't been any biscuits left, I would have gone along on the hunt, just to see what the fuss was all about.
On the 18th of May at high noon, the Gypsy reached it first milestone destination, the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers, which is the beginning of the Altamaha River. Though we had heard the boasts before, "The Forks" had boundless numbers of turkey and deer, just waiting for the hunters to come and place them on their dinner tables. The boat headed to Bell's Ferry, one of the first ferries ever established in that part of Georgia. William Chambers, who was about to enter his twenty fourth year as the ferryman, kindled a fire and began to fry a fine mess of fish. I took a small bream and a bowl full of hushpuppies over by a cool spring shaded by a virescent canopy of virgin pines. I sat there and soaked in the aura of the ancient landmark. By seven o'clock in the evening, we had arrived at White Bluff near the confluence of the Altamaha and the Great Ohoopee River, some one hundred miles distant from our departure point in Dublin.
After a brief pause, the Gypsy moved down river to the Seven Sisters, a series of bluffs crowned by large magnolia trees in full bloom. With nothing alive to shoot, the itchy trigger fingered riflemen began firing at the fragrant blossoms, which exploded upon contact with their bullets. The evening cruise continued until we reached Gypsy Lake. Named by the club members in honor of their club boat, the six-mile-long lake was teeming with wild game. Some of the men managed to capture two broods of young turkeys, but decided to release them hoping that soon they would be hefty toms and hens. Here we spent three days of feasting and more feasting, interspersed with hunting and merrymaking. The camp ground was enveloped by a rim of oak, ash and elm carpeted with a blanket of snowy white sand.
We traveled a half day until we reached London Bluff, where Col. Dudley M. Hughes, his wife and his daughter, along with Messers Dupree, Oliphant, Budd, Yopp and Shannon left our company for a rail trip back to their homes. A trip of five more miles down the rapidly rising river found us at Doctor Town. For the first time I observed the magnificent 800 yard long iron bridge, one of a few of its kind over the Altamaha. Fifteen miles from Darien, we found another one where the Florida Central trains crossed the mighty river on their route from Florida to the land where the Yankees used to live nearly year round. Once again the Winchesters were pulled from their cases, much to the dismay of the gators along the banks.
Captain Miller slowed the pace as the water was wide, but way too shallow to allow rapid passage. On the 29th of May, some thirteen days after we left the docks in Dublin, the Gypsy pulled into Darien. One of Georgia's most ancient towns, Darien was populated by some four thousand people; three-fourths of them were black, descendants of an honorable people who farmed the coastal granges for more than a quarter of a millennium. I saw one large live oak which, I was told, shaded an entire acre of the sandy ground.
After all the passengers debarked, Capt. Miller and his crew turned the boat around for the return trip to Dublin. Many of the party lingered along the coast for a few more weeks of relaxation and revelry. Captain Miller invited me to return the following October for another trip. Hospitably acknowledging my thanks for a wonderful trip, but owing to the fact that I had other places to visit, I politely declined his offer. T.C. Keenan, Isaac Hardeman, E.J. Willingham and I were driven through the countryside to Barington, where we boarded a Florida Central northbound train. On the last day of the month in the mid afternoon I returned to Macon, ready for another adventure. While there I decided I might as well hang around for a year or so to see my great grandparents meet, fall in love and get married.
Note: This is the first column written in a new style. The story which you have just read is nearly all true. Of course, I didn't really get in a time machine, but I certainly would if I could. In future columns I hope to inform and entertain you with first person eyewitness accounts of more pieces of our past.
07-33
MOUNT CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH
Celebrating 150 Years
During this year of 2007, the members of Mount Carmel Baptist Church are celebrating the church's Sesquicentennial anniversary. The history of Mt. Carmel, the seventh oldest Baptist Church in Laurens County, is like all other churches, the history of a people, and not just a history of buildings. An attempt to chronicle the entire 150-year history of Mt. Carmel within the confines of this column would result in an entire book, a project which is nearing completion as you read these words. So, instead of compiling a litany of one fact after another, I will attempt to tell you some of the more interesting pieces of the early years of the church's history.
Mt. Carmel Baptist Church was constituted on March 15, 1857. The church was named for Mount Carmel, a small mountain range located in northern Israel and the West Bank and a sacred location in the ancient culture of the Canaanite.
One might wonder why would a church be founded far away from any town. At the time of its founding, the closest town was in Dublin, some 15 miles away. Even the current nearby counties of Dodge and Bleckley did not exist and were actually a part of Pulaski County, even more distant from Dublin. Despite its remote location, the land around Dexter was highly sought after by farmers. Much of the area was owned by the non-resident timber companies and northern investors and availability of squattable land was too much to resist for the rightful occupants of the fertile farms which surround Mt. Carmel.
Ironically it took a war between the states over the issue of state rights and slavery to desegregate our local churches. Before the Civil War, white and black churchgoers attended services together. Although slaves were not treated to the same status as their fellow white members, they were accepted into the church as children of God. On the very first day of church, the members of Mt. Carmel took turns in subscribing their names to a covenant to give themselves to one another and receive one another in the Lord. Joining the Alligoods, Hobbs, Hills, Witheringtons, Shepards, Fountains and Grimsleys was Sealy, a woman of color, who was the property of Hardy Alligood, the first deacon of Mt. Carmel.
On the 1st day of August, 1857, Gilbert, a black brother belonging to Francis Clark, was received by experience into the church. According to the minutes of the church, no new black members joined the church until April 1862, when Patty, another slave of Francis Clark, was received into the church. By the fall of 1864 when six colored sisters joined the church on one day, seventeen of the worshipers at Mt. Carmel were slaves. After they received their official freedom, the former slaves established their own churches. Calvin Hoover was the last former slave to leave the church in November 1866.
The Civil War also had a profound impact on the life of the church and its members. On the first Sunday in November in the fall of 1861, the members resolved to excuse the absences of John Hobbs, William A. Witherington and Mathew L. Alligood, who three months earlier had enlisted in Co. C of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the Georgia State Troops, later the 57th Georgia Infantry Regiment. The following spring, the church's two Davids, Alligood and Hobbs, joined local companies of the 49th and 57th Georgia regiments. Only 5th Corporal Witherington, who lived to the ripe old age of eighty, would return to the sanctuary of Mt. Carmel. Although church clerk Berry Hobbs was reported to have "gone to war," he may not have been involved in combat. Private Mathew Alligood died of disease in Lexington, Kentucky in 1862. 2nd Sergeant John Hobbs was wounded in the shoulder at Baker's Creek in 1863 and was killed at Jonesboro on the last day in August 1864, during the Confederate army's retreat out of Atlanta. David Alligood was severely wounded in his breast and captured at Gettysburg. He was released two months later, only to be killed by an enrolling officer on November 18, 1864. David Hobbs may have been wounded at Baker's Creek or during the siege of Vicksburg. He died at Point Clear, Alabama in July 1863. After the end of the hostilities, Hardy Blankenship, George W. McDaniel and James Robert Shepard left the ranks of the army and joined the ranks of the church.
With many of the male members serving their newly created country, church services took on a more somber tone. A special Thanksgiving service was held on the 4th Thursday in November 1861 to "fast and pray for the peace and prosperity of our nation." The state of Georgia began assembling even more companies of young men and boys in an all determined effort to win the war in 1862. In compliance with a proclamation issued by the governing body of Laurens County, it was agreed that the members of Mt. Carmel would join their fellow Christians on March 7 for a day of "humiliation, fasting and prayer which was set apart by us that God divert his judgment from our land and nation, that he would aid us in the present strife of Union that is upon us." When the war began for real in May, the members resolved to write the soldiers once a month and to gather together on the 4th Sunday of each month to emplore upon the mercies of God for their protection and the comfort of their loved ones. Before the members of the 49th and 57th left to live out their destiny in hills of Virginia and the fields of Mississippi, Rev. Larry Hobbs prayed for the safety of their souls.
It may have only stood for twelve and one half years, but the story of the third church building at Mt. Carmel may have been one for the record books. On December 3, 1916, the proud members of the church held a dedicatory service for their new house of worship. Erected out of green lumber fashioned from trees from the area and kiln dried at the mill in Dublin, the $2500.00 church was completed in a record seven weeks. Deacons W.A. Witherington, F.R. Faircloth and F.R. Witherington saw to the needs of the church including in their design ten Sunday school rooms and a 30 foot by 50 foot auditorium, a facility unparalleled in any country church in the county.
On April 25, 1929 a horrific tornado came up from the direction of Cochran. Turning more to the north than northeast, the storm headed straight for the Mt. Carmel community. Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, one of the most modern and best equipped church buildings in the county, was totally destroyed. The Mt. Carmel School and the teacherage, located across the road from the church, were amazingly untouched. Several homes in the community were destroyed. The J.D. McClelland home and that of Mrs. W.A. Witherington were destroyed. No one in the McLelland family was harmed, but Mrs. Witherington, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Milton Witherington, and infant grandchild were seriously injured. Jim Dawkins lost his house and most of its contents. Thankfully and most mercifully, his wife and five children only suffered minor injuries. Calvin Patisaul's house was destroyed. Almost all of his large family suffered some type of injury, though none too serious. Lee Floyd's wife was badly injured when their house was destroyed. One vacant tenant house and the vacant old Dave Fountain home were torn to pieces. Tornados don't distinguish between occupied and unoccupied houses.
In the aftermath of the storm, two children, a nine-year old daughter of W.J. Southerland and a baby daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Knight, lay dead among the rubble of the cyclone, most likely the only known fatalities from a tornado in Laurens County.
These are only a few of the thousands of stories which make up the heritage of Mt. Carmel Church. This Sunday, October 6th, the church and its members, guests and friends will belatedly celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of one of the county's oldest and most historic churches.
07-34
ALL ABOARD!
The Return of the SAM Railroad
Once they wove a web across the land, running north to south, east to west and all directions in between. The wails of "choo-choo" and the rings of "clang clang" are few now. The great "Iron Horse" no longer dominates the landscape of the Georgia countryside, but down in South Georgia, you can step back in time more than a half century and climb aboard a real life - sure enough choo-choo train. It is the SAM Shortline and its tri-city ride will propel you backwards in time to a day when life was a little slower and travel a little less comfortable, but oh so much more exciting.
The origin of the SAM railroad grew out ouf Samuel Hawkins disdain for monopolistic railroad rates of the South Western Railroad in the years following the Civil War. Hawkins, an Americus lawyer and financier, suggested statewide regulation of railroads, a position which resulted in the name of Americus being removed from regulation railroad maps. First known as the AP & L (Americus, Preston and Lumpkin) Railroad, the line was expanded after two years in 1886 to Abbeville on the western banks of the Ocmulgee River. The railroad established an inland port at Abbeville, shipping goods downstream to Darien on the Atlantic coast. When the railroad was extended to Savannah as its eastern terminus and Montgomery, Alabama at its western most point, the railroad changed its name to reflect the main cities along its line to Savannah, Americus and Montgomery, and the name of its founder, or SAM for short. From Abbeville, the SAM Railroad ran through Rhine, Milan, Helena, Alamo, Mt. Vernon, Vidalia and Lyons, giving the shippers and passengers from the lower end of the Oconee & Ocmulgee regions their first direct route to the port city of Savannah.
The coming of the 21st Century saw the rebirth of the SAM Railroad. Now known as the S.A.M. Shortline, the state owned railroad is actually a rolling state park. The Georgia Legislature created the Southwest Georgia Railroad Excursion Authority to operate a passenger train from Cordele to Plains, where the rail line got very influential support from President Jimmy Carter.
A few weekends ago, I got the opportunity to ride the SAM with a group of Dubliners. We were there to explore the possibility of bringing the train and its entire crew to Dublin next winter for a train excursion to Macon. We arrived more than the requisite 15 minutes early, only to find long lines of passengers anxious to get aboard. After a brief stop at the ticket booth in the visitor's center in Cordele, we boarded the train. Boarding from the front of the train, we got to see nearly the entire train. Each car is dedicated to stops along the route. Especially attractive was the Georgia Veteran's State Park car, which was decorated in a style reminiscent of a train during the years of World War II.
Near the end of the regular passenger cars is the commissary car. It is a place where you can get something highly sweet or highly fattening, but oh so good, to eat. Plenty of candy, pop corn, drinks and an assortment of goodies are served by a friendly crew. Behind the commissary car are the premium seating cars. The first car, a more modern vintage of rail car has tables and chairs for eating, sitting or a game of cards. If you don't bring your own deck, there are cards available in the commissary.
The most gorgeous of all of the cars in the "Samuel H. Hawkins." Located in the rear of the train on the first leg of the trip and at the front on the return trip, this 1939 vintage car was built as a tavern-observation car for the Florida East Coast Railroad. Known formerly as "The Bay Biscyane," the wood paneled car features Art Deco sconce lights between the windows and wooden tables and chairs. There are plans to restore the car to its original state during this fall and winter. If you are lucky enough, it is best place on the train, when the train's second engine is not attached, giving the passenger a panoramic view of the countryside.
Once we left Cordele, the train ran along tracks surrounded by kudzu, morning glory and a wide variety of wild flowers, interrupted by groves of pines, oaky swamps, and fields of sorghum, peanuts and cotton. One cotton field seemed to radiate a mile or more in every direction from the train track. As we passed through intersections, the occupants of the cars waved and smiled, knowing that we were spending our dollars in the community and that every day hence there would be more of us coming.
Our first stop was at Georgia Veteran's State Park, where the train sleeps at night. The Park on the shores of Lake Blackshear features a museum saluting the men and women of Georgia who have served in the military. After crossing the picturesque lake where cypress trees grow right out of the edge of the water, we came to the town of Leslie. We didn't stop on this day and missed the world's largest rural telephone museum.
Our first layover came in Americus. We had to take a side track to get closer to the downtown area. We hopped aboard a shuttle and road through the downtown area. You can eat at a variety of fine restaurants or chose to eat in the luxurious Windsor Hotel, a national historic site and a certified haunted hotel. The 1892 hotel features a three story atrium adorned by beautiful wooden columns, rails and beams. In the grand dining room, we feasted on a diet of roast beef, fried and baked chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens, banana pudding, apple cobbler, coconut and chocolate cake. For the dieters in the crowd, there is a fine salad bar.
We hurried back to the train for the ride to the second stop of the day, the town of Plains, Georgia. The site of the home of former President Jimmy Carter, Plains still retains a touch of the atmosphere of those days in the 1970s when the sleepy little town became the focus of the presidential campaign. While in town, you can visit antique shops, a caf‚ and a department store, where you can treat your self to fried peanuts, peanut ice cream, peanut brittle and all sorts of peanut butter, including that ever popular Cajun peanut butter. If you hustle or just stay over for a while, you can walk to Plains High School, where the President attended in the late 1930s.
The last leg of the trip took us to Archery, the boyhood home of President Carter. There you can see and walk through the president's former home. The outbuildings and grounds have been re-created to give the visitor some idea of how the farm may have looked during the twenty one years it was occupied by the Carter family. Of special interest is the restored commissary store, which the Carter's operated to make extra money. There's even a piece of half shucked corn and unpicked peanuts hanging on the fence, just to show the Yankee's how they look before they are cooked.
I highly recommend the trip and hope we can bring the train to Dublin very soon. I especially want to thank the volunteers who gave their time to make the trip a pleasant one. If you are lucky, you might get the knowledgeable and affable Tom Nicholson, a native of Dodge County and hotel manager, to be your car host. Then there's Bill Byrd, an Americus hospital administrator, who serves as the trainman. Byrd insures that everything on the train operates smoothly and efficiently. And finally, you'll get your ticket punched by Al Mills, a friendly and witty guy whose uniform makes him look he was born to be a ticket taker.
07-35
REMEMBERING RAY PROSPERI
Memories of a Former Player
I was sitting next to Loran Smith at the Rotary Club on the day that Ray Prosperi died. As the members of the club stood up to announce the personal tragedies of our community, some one announced that Prosperi, a former Georgia Bulldog quarterback, had passed away. I saw Smith wince in a moment of disbelief. Smith, a writer and field reporter for the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network, has known nearly every Georgia Bulldog player in the last fifty years or more. On his last visit to Dublin, Smith visited Prosperi. Perhaps he was thinking about visiting him that day. My mind immediately went back forty one years ago to the outfield of Big Hilburn Park, where I played for his Midget League football team. Of all of those people who knew him as Ray Prosperi, I count myself as one of the lucky ones who knew him as "Coach Prosperi."
Raymond Anthony Prosperi was born in 1929 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a major rail center in the western fringes of the central region of the Keystone State. His father Archie, a native born Italian, married Rose Alamprese, a first generation American and daughter of Italian immigrants, Antonio and Marrie Alamprese. As a young child, Ray lived in the 5th Avenue home of the Alampreses. His grandfather Alamprese worked as a janitor in the Altoona station of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Archie Prosperi, who immigrated to the United States shortly after his birth, was the son of Filomena and Henry Prosperi, who worked along side his son as a weaver in the local silk mill.
As a forward for the Altoona Mountaineers, Ray helped his team to a sixteen game winning streak and an undefeated season before losing to Westmont in the Sixth District basketball finals in 1947. Considered the best athlete ever to come out of Altoona, Prosperi was named to Pennsylvania all-state teams in three sports - basketball, baseball and football. In his final basketball season of 1947, Ray was named as a forward on the five man all state team. Teammate Stu Duncan said of Ray, "Ray was a great athlete and a super guy." Ray's team was the first to play in the Hoffa Mosque before a crowded house of 5000 screaming fans.
Georgia Bulldog coach Wally Butts salivated at the sight of Ray Prosperi, who turned down a strong recruiting effort by the Army to play football for the Cadets. Butts, a native Southerner, knew the importance of having more Yankees on his team. The 1949 team was evenly divided between boys from the South and the North. Butts had great success with other Pennsylvanian backs Frank Sinkwich, Charlie Trippi and Johnny Rauch. At six feet two inches tall and carrying a massive body weighing 205 pounds, Butts knew that Ray would became another superstar quarterback. Coach Butts was able to lure Ray away from basketball. Actually he forbade him to play on the court and get on the gridiron. From 1948 to 1950, Ray played sparingly at quarterback. He was on the team that played in the 1947 Sugar Bowl, 1948 Gator Bowl, 1949 Orange Bowl and the 195o Presidential Cup.
Perhaps his greatest game came on October 15, 1949. With LSU and Georgia knotted at 0-0 at Sanford Stadium, Prosperi quit throwing long bombs and slipped in a screen pass to Bob Walston who carried it down to the LSU seventeen yard line, setting up the winning touchdown. Ray had to sit out a good part of the 1950 season after getting hurt in the Florida game in '49. During his years at Georgia, Ray became close to Coach Butts. He credited his success to Johnny Rauch, who tutored him as a freshman. In 1996, Ray was elected to the Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame and earlier this year, he was inducted into the Georgia chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame for his post graduate achievements.
Ray Prosperi met and married Faye Cochran, a Dublin girl. After a short stint at coaching, Ray and Faye moved to Dublin and had four children, Patti, Tony, Laura and Mike. He worked with Cochran Brothers and Southeast Newsprint. In 1957, Ray was the organizing president of Dublin's first Kiwanis Club. When the City of Dublin began to organize a recreational football league, Ray Prosperi was right there, lending a hand and volunteering as a coach.
To the lucky ones, Ray Prosperi was "Coach Prosperi." In one of my most favorite years of 1966, I had the honor of playing for Coach Prosperi. Just think of it. We were running the same offensive and defensive schemes that Coach Prosperi ran at the University of Georgia. We learned that each back in the "T-formation" and each receiver had a number. Every gap between the linemen also had a number. My favorite plays were the reverses - single ones, doubles and the always thrilling triple reverses. Coach Prosperi, with the aid of assistant coaches Bill Roberts and Bob Potts, threw in other plays including the rarely used "statue of liberty" play.
Our Vikings team shut out every opponent that year earning us the right to play a team made up of all-stars from the Cowboys, Lions and Packers. We beat the all-stars 12 to 0 in the last Cranberry Bowl. Ray's son Tony caught a touch down pass from Ed Griffith, who scored on a two- yard plunge for final score. Also playing for the Vikings were Jeff Canady, Herschel White, Reese Stanley, Ricky Anderson, Brad Roberts, Patrick Roche, Lee Whitaker, Jim Wynn, Nelson Carswell, Bo-J Claxton, Kelly Canady, Bill Adams, Jeffrey Johnson, Stan Stanley, David Smith, Bruce Wynn, Pat Hodges, Randy Graham, Eddie Smith, Malcolm Gore, and Wayne Bridges
During the first half of the game, I experienced some of the greatest pain of my life, more than the time I took a kick off and got five yards before Carl Joiner and Stacy Harbin and a host of other players nearly decapitated and dismembered me after I managed to run five yards and break my right collar bone in the process. Playing opposite me at left defensive end was Billy Repko, my good friend. Actually he later became my good friend. That night, Billy was my hated enemy. In those days, an offensive tackle had to lock his arms, fists touching with his elbows out and parallel to the ground. Any deviation from this stance and the referee might throw his yellow holding flag. From the very first offensive play, Billy, somewhat heavier than my bean pole body and much stronger than me, would charge the line with his head down. On play after play, Billy's helmet slammed into my forearms. By the end of two series, I came off the field trying to hide my tears. I was met on the sidelines by Coach Prosperi. He saw my pain and asked me what was wrong. I told him how much that helmet was hurting me. In an instant, Ray Prosperi saved my life, or it seemed that way. He told me that after the snap that I should step around to my left and let Billy keep going head long into the backfield. When he got beside me, I was supposed to push into his side as hard as I could. My assignment was to push and drive him away from the ball. It worked. The pain went away. And, we won the championship!
Ray Prosperi was no Frank Sinkwich. Nor was he a Charlie Tripp or a Johnny Rauch. He never played as well Coach Wally Butts hoped that he would. He didn't have to. To his family, friends and former players it didn't matter. To me, he was a hero. He was the man who kept Billy Repko from breaking my arm and the man who, along with my father, gave me a life long love of sports and more importantly, sportsmanship. Ray was famous for requiring his players to responded to him with a hearty "yes, sir!" His son Mike said that his dad gave up a lot financially to coach football for more than a decade and often had to work extra hours to make up for it. So the next time you think about recreation football in Dublin, think about Ray Prosperi and thank him for his dedication to the boys of Dublin and the game he loved so dearly.
07-36
CHAPPELL'S MILL
Ye Ancient Landmark
There is no more ancient local landmark, at least of the man-made variety, than Chappell's Mill situated at the northern extremity of Laurens County. This grist mill, once a part of a widespread network of dozens of such mills, is the last of a once thriving commercial operations which served to convert the farmer's grains into the daily bread of life.
No one can tell exactly when the mill first was constructed. The old story goes that it was a Mr. Gilbert that built the first mill on a branch of Big Sandy Creek, known as South Sandy Creek, about the year 1811. It is likely that the builder of the original mill was either John or Thomas Gilbert, who owned land in the area in the early years of Laurens County.
Though the exact date is not known, James Stanley II purchased the mill and more than two thousand acres surrounding it. The hilly regions of northern Laurens County provided an ideal location for a mill. Grist mills were often the commercial centers of the rural areas of the county. They were similar to today's convenience stores and often sold other products in addition to ground corn and wheat. Stanley formed a mercantile concern named for two of his sons, H.B. and Ira Stanley, to capitalize on the rich resources of the area.
James Stanley died in 1841 and ownership of the mill passed to his sons. Ira Stanley was a man of high education. He married Janet McCall, daughter of Thomas McCall and Elizabeth Smith. Though he owned in excess of sixty slaves, Stanley refused to sell his excess slaves and kept families intact on his large plantations. A starch opponent of the liquor trade, Stanley served as sheriff of Laurens County (1825-26) and state representative (1834-35.) Stanley was a close friend of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America. Family members relate the story of the time when Stephens stopped in for a visit with Stanley, who informed him that he was contemplating building a new home. Stephens requested a pen and drew a sketch of his home, which Stanley duplicated as nearly as possible.
During the War Between the States, the mill became a purported target of Sherman's cavalry soldiers as they patrolled the flanks of the right wing of the Union army as it approached the Oconee River at Ball's Ferry. Major James B. Duggan, a Confederate officer at home on leave, learned of the plot. With no comrades available, Duggan dashed off to the nearby bridge over Big Sandy Creek, known as the "Lightwood Knot Bridge." The legendary story tells that Duggan enlisted the aid of an elderly slave woman to deceive a Union cavalry patrol into believing that they were a squad of Confederate general Joseph's Wheeler's cavalry coming up to block their crossing. It has been told for decades that Duggan and the woman set the bridge afire and caused the Yankees to scurry off in mortal fear.
After the war, the local economy was in a shambles. Nearly all of the men in the family had been actively involved in the war. Rollin and Benjamin Stanley were officers, as well as James Chappell and Peyton Douglas. The continued operation of the mill was important, perhaps more important than ever before. The sons and sons in law of Ira Stanley entered into an agreement in September of 1868 to settle Stanley's estate. James W. Chappell (husband 0f Harriett Stanley) , Peyton W. Douglas (husband of Georgia Stanley) and Ira E. Stanley purchased the interest of John F. Burney (husband of Margaret Stanley), Rollin A. Stanley and Benjamin F. Stanley for the sum of $4000.00. The purchase included all mill rights and the rights to flood the pond to a sufficient level to operate the mill. Also included in the conveyance of "Stanley Mills" included "all lumber on hand," possibly indicating that a saw mill was located on the premises.
From that point on, the mill became known as Chappell's Mill. Ira Stanley Chappell, the eldest son of James T. and Harriet S. Chappell, died in 1931. He was the last member of the Chappell family to own the mill. Before his death, Chappell sold the property to Allen J. Dixon, who operated it for a quarter of a century. Dixon advertised an auction for the sale of the mill, including the 50-acre pond, seven acres of land and three dwellings. Dixon also offered more land at the set price of $10.00 per acre. Don't we all wish had been there on December 18, 1942 with a pocket full of money?. Dr. T. J. Blackshear was the high bidder. He maintained the property until it was purchased by James and Forrest Townsend, grandsons of Allen Dixon.
Charles Fordham, Alton Carr, George Fordham, Carl Robinson and many others kept the mill going for many years. Production often went above 15,000 bushels a year and grossed more than $100.000.00 annually. Once the grains of corn were ground, the meal was carefully sifted and poured in paper bags bearing the name of the mill and a generic conception of a southern grist mill. The fine meal was sold to grocery stores around the state. The mill was operated on water power until about 1950, when the more dependable electric power motors were installed. Despite the dependability of electric turbines, the Townsends always wanted to restore the water power because it was free. James Townsend always proclaimed that the slow grinding process was superior to the rapid factory processes.
In 1997, after one hundred and eighty six years of continuous operation, the last batch of corn was ground. The closure was not the result of the dastardly Yankees, a disastrous fire or an untimely death of the operators. The death of our county's most ancient landmark came at the hands of indifferent government bureaucrats, who insisted that the Townsends install modern and prohibitively expensive equipment to keep the mill in operation.
The first mill house was located on the northern side of the pond, but was washed in a flood and moved to the other side of the dam to protect it against floods. The 1840s mill house still stands as a vivid reminder of the distant past. Over the years, it has been modified to accommodate modern conveniences, but when you see it, you will be transported back in time to an era when life was a little slower and a lot gentler.
07-37
WILLIAM B. KENT
The Savior of Georgia Football
You may have never heard of Richard Von Gammon. But, when he died one hundred and ten years ago today, football in Georgia was nearly forced out of existence by the bereaved legislature of this state. Throughout Georgia and across the nation, a congregation of ministers cried out for the abolition of this most violent and vicious game. Without the aid of Von Gammon's mother and Bulldog captain William B. Kent, football in Georgia may have ended, if only for a little while.
It was a typical fall day on the 30th day of October 1897. The bleachers and sidelines of Atlanta's Brisbine Park were crammed with spectators to see if the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs, inspired by a trouncing of Georgia Tech the week before, could defeat the powerful Cavaliers of Virginia in a contest for superiority of southern football. Georgia had just completed the team's first perfect season, albeit they only played four games and won them all.
Richard Van Gammon, a well-liked fraternity fellow and outstanding quarterback from Rome, Georgia, kicked off to Virginia to open the contest. In the second half with Virginia in command of the game, Van Gammon, playing defensive back, sprinted toward a Virginia runner. Before he could make the tackle, the helmetless Bulldog was overrun by a wall of blockers, said to have been joined in a flying wedge formation with arms locked and bearing down upon him with all the force of an equine stampede.
Van Gammon dove to tackle the Cavalier runner and struck the ground headfirst. The Virginians trampled over his motionless body. For several excruciating minutes, players and coaches vainly attempted to revive the fallen star. At first it appeared as if Von Gammon was completely paralyzed, his eyes gazing blindly into the autumn sky. Eventually he was revived and helped to the sidelines, where he was examined by physicians who were attending the game. The doctors decided to transport Von Gammon to Grady Hospital for further examination and diagnosis. After he arrived at the hospital, Richard's temperature soared up toward 109 degrees. With his brain swollen to intolerable limits, Von Gammon never regained consciousness and died.
Just days after the fallen footballer's funeral, mass hysteria swept throughout the Georgia legislature. Fueled by intense lobbying by a host of ministers and a nationwide cry against the barbaric deaths that football had caused across the country, the lawmakers adopted a near unanimous ban on football in the state. The bill was sent to Georgia governor W.Y. Atkinson for his signature.
It was then when Van Gammon's mother and Bulldog captain William Kent issued an appeal for the governor not to sign the ban. The people of Athens, most of the university's faculty and even some Georgia players thought it was best to put an end to football at Georgia forever. Mrs. Von Gammon wrote a letter to Governor Atkinson pleading to him not to allow her son's death to end the game he so dearly loved. Aided by a poignant and stern letter from renowned Georgia professor and the team's first coach, Dr. Charles Herty, who advocated the necessity of sports to promote physical health, and the persistence of Captain Kent, the governor never signed the bill. Though football ended for the 1897 season after three games - they only played four or five games anyway - the games would resume the following year.
William B. Kent was born in Montgomery County, Georgia on January 30, 1870. This son of William Kent and Martha Beckwith Kent entered Mercer University as a freshman at the ripe old age of twenty-three in 1893. After playing football at the Baptist college for a single season, Kent transferred to Athens for the 1894 season, where he played guard. In 1896, William was moved to right tackle by Georgia coach Pop Warner, who went on to iconic status as the coach of Jim Thorpe of the Carlisle Indians, as well as successful stints at Pittsburgh and Stanford. Kent, at five feet eleven inches in height and weighing in at 185 pounds, was one of the strongest men at the college. In his junior season at Georgia in 1896, Kent was named president of the Athletic Association and captain of the football team for his senior year. As president of the Athletic Association, Kent led the organization out of its bankrupt position onto solid financial ground.
Off the field Kent excelled as an editor of the Pandora, the university's yearbook, as well as serving with highest honor of the Demosthenian Literary Society and as a commissioned officer in the military department. Considered one of the most popular men on campus - there were very few, if any, women enrolled as students in those days - William was known to have been a man of high moral character and a leader in the Young Men's Christian Association and his Sunday school class at the Baptist Church in Athens. During his semesters at Georgia, Kent served as president of eight organizations.
Kent, a self-made man, studied law, literature and bookkeeping. To pay for his studies, he taught school and even sold lightning rods one summer.
While he was in Athens, William met and married Miss Senie Griffith, daughter of Clarke County state representative F.P. Griffeth. Following her death, Kent married Lallie Calhoun, a member of one of Montgomery County's oldest and most prominent families.
After his graduation from Georgia, Kent was admitted to the bar, beginning his practice in that portion of Montgomery County, which would later become Wheeler County in 1912. In addition to his duties as an attorney, Kent served as both solicitor and judge of the City Court of Mt. Vernon, a state court assigned to handle misdemeanor offenses and minor civil claims.
In 1910, Kent, the former football hero, was elected to represent Montgomery County in the Georgia legislature. While in the House of Representatives, Kent introduced a bill to carve out that portion of his county lying on the western side of the Oconee to form a new county, purportedly to be named Kent County, not in his own honor, but in honor of his father, an early settler of the area. The name of the new county was Wheeler instead, named in honor of Confederate cavalry general Joseph Wheeler. Kent was chosen to serve as the first judge of the Wheeler County Court of Ordinary, or as it is today known, the Probate Court.
William B. Kent died on November 21, 1949. He is buried in Oconee Cemetery in Athens, Georgia in a town where football is king on autumn Saturdays. Perhaps the epitaph on his tombstone should read, "here lies William B. Kent, the Savior of Georgia football."
07-38
SARAH:
A TALE OF AN UNLIKELY VETERAN
Sarah was an average girl, one who grew up in the Great Depression and one who knew the value of hard work and a good education. Like many young women of her generation who were lucky enough to obtain a post secondary education, Sarah decided she wanted to teach. One of her first assignments found her in Pine Hall, North Carolina, a small community, not large enough to be called a town, and situated a good half hour or so north of Winston - Salem in those days of slower cars and dirt highways.
Returning from a trip back home to Monroe, Sarah was standing in the bus station on a Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem. School was about to be out for Christmas holidays. A nervous voice came out of the loud speaker. The passengers paused. "All service personnel report to their bases immediately! The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor," the announcer quivered. Sarah and other stunned civilians were diverted to other buses while the soldiers and sailors boarded the first available buses back to their posts.
Following the dramatic attack on the United States, men across the country began signing up for volunteer service or selective service through the draft. The officials of the Stokes County draft board figured that teachers were good at taking names and putting them on lists, so Sarah and the other teachers were assigned to register the men of the county for the draft.
The young teacher had heard that a new organization was being formed to aid the war effort. The Marine Corps Women's Reserve was established in February 1943. These women were given hundreds of tasks to perform, serving as radio operators, cooks, truck drivers, map makers and hundreds more. By D-day, five of six enlisted personnel serving in the Marine Corps Headquarters were women. Two of three Marines manning major posts in the United States and Hawaii were female in the last years of the war.
It was time to serve her country Sarah decided. She traveled down the road to Camp Lejeune, a bustling military installation, which two years earlier had been nothing but a sandy forest of natural pines along the Atlantic Seaboard Railroad. The First Marine Division had come there two years prior to train for the eminent war.
The camp would be Sarah's home for six weeks. Though it looked like a college campus with beautiful buildings, the Marine post was specifically designed to train men and women to go to war, which meant that some would kill and some would be killed. Her fellow Marine reservists were an assortment of women from all walks of life. Sarah and the other women were subjected to a battery of tests. When they weren't testing and being taught in some facet of military science, they marched.
They marched to eat. They marched to classes. They even practiced marching just to learn how to march with no destination. They stopped marching when the drill instructor was too tired to watch the women march any more. Sarah was taught how to walk, talk, run, eat, sleep, drink, dress and think like a Marine. After boot camp, Sarah wanted an assignment somewhere at an air base. To get there, she first had to go to Cherry Point, just across the river. Much to Sarah's astonishment when she arrived at Cherry Point, she was assigned duty in the kitchen. Turkeys for Thanksgiving, turkeys for Christmas, and leftover turkeys for New Year's Day are still ingrained in Sarah's memory of her first real days in the Marine Corps. She did get New Year's Eve off to celebrate the coming of the year 1944, a year in which the war, both in Europe and Pacific, would soon turn in favor of the Allies.
Just a few days later, Sarah rode a troop train to Oxford, Ohio, where she began taking courses in the operation of radios, learning how to type and send messages in Morse code. Sarah trained alongside her counterparts, the WAVES of the United States Navy. She had hoped that her marching days were behind her, but on nearly every Saturday the Marine women joined the WAVES and practically every sailor and marine on an old athletic field for a weekly parade. The marching subsided after that, although Sarah does remember a blistering hot day when she marched in her wool uniform, a disastrous result because the military too frequently goes by the calendar and not the thermometer when assigning uniforms for the day.
On May 27, 1944, Sarah was promoted to corporal and assigned to the Radio Material School in Omaha, Nebraska. She learned how to put radios together, take them apart and fix them when they were broken. Sarah delighted in the fact that she had two friends who accompanied her through both Camp Lejeune and Oxford. One was an English teacher. Sarah taught math before she enlisted.
In October 1944, Sarah traveled across the country to report for duty in Santa Barbara, California. During her 14-month stay in the Golden State, Sarah earned a third stripe on her sleeves. She continued to repair radios at naval and coast guard stations, enjoying the latter the best because of the great food they served. Southern California is, and was then, a great place to visit. Sarah and her friends often hitch hiked, with absolutely no fear of harm, to Los Angeles and San Francisco for a weekend of entertainment.
Just a dozen days before Christmas, with their discharges in their hands, Sarah, her friends Avis and Ann, Avis' nephew and his dog piled into a '39 Plymouth set out for their homes along the route. They drove through glamorous Los Angeles, the frozen deserts of Arizona and the snowy plains of Nebraska. They slept in their cars and $3 a night dingy cabins, though they did spend one warm night at Ann's house in Nebraska.
As Avis and Sarah got closer to North Carolina, they began to notice snow on the ground. But Sarah couldn't make herself believe there was any chance of a snowball at her home in Monroe. There was snow in Asheville. Sarah's hopes of a white Christmas swelled. As Sarah and Ann pulled into the Austin home in Monroe, it was snowing. It snowed so much that Ann had to spend a couple of days with the Austins, a delay she minded very little with all of the southern holiday hospitality which was heaped upon her. Sarah said goodbye to the last of her trio as she began the last leg of her cross country trip back home to Boston. The girls were home. The war was over. All was good in Nebraska, Boston and especially in Monroe, North Carolina where this young school teacher turned Marine was home for Christmas.
Sarah taught school in Winston-Salem for 17 years. She married Bill and moved to Dublin. I was lucky enough to have been her student for two of the twenty-one years she taught math in Dublin.
Sarah had a passion for geometry and geometric shapes. At Dublin High she was legendary for her assignments of geometric art. While we struggled to construct our 3-D stellated polyhedron stars, we would have sworn such an arduous task would only have come from a demanding Marine Corps sergeant. Little did we know that our teacher was actually a Marine sergeant in World War II three decades before.
Like most members of "the greatest generation" whose greatest feats came after they left the service, Sarah's greatest contribution to our country came not in radio repair rooms, but in the classrooms of Dublin High School, where this meek, gentle, kind and caring teacher shaped our young minds and taught us the theorems of life. So on this Veteran's Day, please join me in saluting Mrs. Sarah Austin Frost, the most unlikely Marine sergeant I ever knew. And for the rest of you men and women who have served our country in the Armed Forces, I thank you on behalf of a grateful nation for a job well done.
(Compiled from an interview of Sarah Frost by Mac Fowler for the Laurens County Historical Society)
07-39
CHILLY McINTOSH
A Most Unusual School Student
When the son of William McIntosh attended school in Dublin, he didn’t have to study about Indians, he was one. In the days before Thanksgiving nearly every elementary school student learns about the Pilgrims and the Indians. Most historians, usually the ones raised in the north, conveniently forget about the first settlers in Jamestown, Virginia and the Indians who feasted together when the first Puritans were not even dreaming of coming to America. This is a story of a true Indian who attended local schools while his father was visiting his cousin, George M. Troup of Laurens County. His life spanned the greater part of the 19th century and involved him in many of the historic events of early history of our nation.
Chilly McIntosh was born more than two centuries ago about fifty miles west of Whitesburg, Georgia. His parents, William McIntosh and Eliza Grierson, were children of Scottish men and Creek Indian women. William McIntosh rose to the rank of chief of the Lower Creek Confederacy. Chief McIntosh served first as a major and later as a brigadier general in the United States Army during the War of 1812 and the Seminole Indian War of 1818.
Chilly was educated in the ways of the white man and the Creek. While maintaining the importance of his Indian heritage, Chief McIntosh encouraged his children to learn the ways of the white man. Chilly would often tag along with the Chief as he came to Dublin to visit George M. Troup, who was a son of his father’s sister. One of Chilly’s playmates was a son of Jonathan Sawyer, the founder of Dublin.
While he wanted to go with his father to serve in the War of 1812, Chilly was asked by the chief to remain at home to look after the family. During the war, Chilly was sent to some of the finest schools in the state, including the academy at the capital in Louisville. Like his father, Chilly dressed in typical frontier clothing. His skin was lighter than his parents and could easily pass as a darker skinned white man. Just when he thought he would be able to join his father’s forces in the war against the Seminoles in 1818, the Chief was mustered out of military service.
Chilly McIntosh built a home at Broken Arrow. He worked with his father in establishing a trading post at Fort Mitchell. Soon a dispute arose between Indian Agent John Crowell and the McIntoshes. Crowell seized goods from the McIntosh store. In retaliation, Chilly organized a band of warriors and forcibly reclaimed what he claimed was rightfully his. The younger McIntosh followed in his father’s footsteps by serving at the highest levels of the Creek Nation.
In 1825, Chief McIntosh and other Lower Creek leaders signed a treaty at Indian Springs ceding all of the remaining Indian lands in Georgia. As Clerk of the Creeks, Chilly joined his father in signing a treaty with the State of Georgia, headed by Gov. George M. Troup. Their signatures on the controversial document led to the father and son being marked for instant death by factions of the northern Creeks. The Upper Creeks were not a party to the agreement. The chiefs of the Upper Creek towns were absolutely livid. They issued a death warrant for Chief McIntosh, his son Chilly, and all others who signed the treaty.
An assassination squad was dispatched to the McIntosh home near Alcorn Bluff on the Chattahoochee. On May 30, 1825, the party hid out in the woods waiting to pounce on McIntosh. They passed on one chance to kill the chief on the road leading to his home. The marauders set fire to the McIntosh home. Chilly was awakened by two of the attackers. He managed to escape. McIntosh, in a final act of desperation, fought off the killers, but only for a few minutes. The smoke was overwhelming. The assassins moved in. They shot the Chief fifty times, dragged him out into the yard, and took his scalp in front of his terrified family.
The Creek nation pardoned Chilly and the surviving members of his family after the massacre. Chilly, then Chief of the Coweta, was commissioned a major in the United States Army. During the visit of the Marquis de la Fayette to Georgia in 1825, the French officer who aided the Continental Army was welcomed to Georgia by none other than Major McIntosh and a detachment of fifty Indian warriors, whose bodies were stripped and finely painted. The major’s men escorted the French hero across the Chattahoochee River to the loud yells as he met Georgia’s official delegation.
In 1828, Chilly rounded up the surviving members and loyal supporters of the Chief and headed for Three Forks, near present day Muscogee, Oklahoma. Chilly, like his father, became the leader of the Creek Nation, then in exile in Oklahoma. He is credited with being the first School Superintendent of the Territory of Oklahoma. Chilly came under the influence of missionary Baptist ministers and joined the ministry himself, devoting much of his time to rid the Indian nation of illegal liquor.
During the 1850s, tensions between the northern and southern states turned from simmering to boiling. The same was true among the former southeastern Indian tribes, the Cherokee and the Creek. The wounds resulting from the treaty of cession in 1825 still kept the two tribes on different ends of the political spectrum. As slaveowners, Chilly and his younger brother Daniel Newman Mcintosh, who was named in honor of a fellow officer of their father, sided with Stand Waite, a Cherokee sympathetic to the South.
On the very day that Union and Confederate forces first clashed in Manassas, Virginia, the Creeks loyal to the Confederacy organized under the command of the McIntoshes, Molty Kennard and Echo Harjo. Daniel McIntosh was given command of 900 Creek cavalrymen as the 1st Creek Cavalry. Lt. Colonel Chilly McIntosh, leading 400 Creeks, commanded the 1st Creek Cavalry Battalion.
When the Confederate armies won early victories, the Cherokee were forced to reevaluate their neutral position. On Christmas Day 1861, Chilly McIntosh and his men were trapped in an ambush at Chustenanlah near the Big Bend of the Arkansas River. With the aid of a regiment from Texas, the Confederate Creeks broke through the enemy line and escaped. The Cherokee, led by John Ross, joined the South in the fall of 1861. Tensions erupted the following winter between the two rival Creek factions. Following a reorganization of Creek Confederate troops, McIntosh was promoted to Colonel and placed in command of the 2nd Regiment, Creek Mounted Volunteers. He combined his regiment with Brig. Gen. Stand Waite. During the war, McIntosh took part in the battles of Round Mountain, Pea Ridge, Fort Wayne and Honey Springs.
Ten years after the end of the war, Chilly McIntosh died on October 5, 1875 in his home near Fame in the Oklahoma County, which bears his family name. And though the life of Dublin’s most unusual school student ended far from where it began, the traditions of a family who shared a deep heritage between the white man and the Indian still live on.
07-40
STILLMORE
Why do they call it Stillmore? Was it because turpentine baron and town founder George Brinson thought that his prolific still would run forevermore? Or was it because when you got there, you had still more to go? Or was it the simply a sarcastic response to the office of the Postmaster General when the list of names for a new town were already taken? Whether you believe one or more of these legends, believe that this Emanuel County town with a most unusual name was once one of the most bustling railroad towns in East Central Georgia. This is the story of the early years of Stillmore, Georgia.
In the mid 1880s timber and turpentine man George Brinson and his cousin B.L. Brinson constructed a turpentine mill in the middle of nowhere in a piney forest covering rich and fertile sand. The Brinson kinsmen expanded their operation to include a large saw mill. In order to more economically get his sawed timber to markets in Swainsboro and Savannah, George Brinson knew that he needed a railroad. Without the aid of profit seeking and demanding Northern capitalists, Brinson began construction of a railroad known as the Brunswick, Athens and Northwestern Railroad.
Brinson’s enterprises brought in employees by the droves. With such a large population concentrated in a small place someone thought why not incorporate the new town and allow the residents to govern themselves. On November 13, 1889, the town of Stillmore was officially created by the Georgia legislature.
Following a devastating fire which destroyed his mill, Brinson began construction on a thirty-four-mile railroad from Swainsboro to Collins, a depot town on the Georgia-Alabama Railroad. In 1891, when railroads began to rapidly spread across the state, work was commenced on the Atlantic Shortline, a railroad designed to run from Macon, through Laurens County and eastward to Savannah. The bold venture died for lack of financial support. The owners of the Brewton and Pineora Railroad laid their tracks along the mostly intact grading and gave Stillmore it second rail line and a fairly direct route to Savannah at the end of the 19th Century making Stillmore a junction town. More fortune seekers moved in search of work and success.
Stillmore remained virtually stagnant until 1892 when the town was laid out into lots. By 1900, Stillmore was home to a college, four churches, two lodges, a newspaper, a public library and a large number of mercantile establishments.
But by far, Stillmore owed it’s entire existence to the railroads and the opportunities they brought. The Rogers and Summit railroad became the Millen and Southwestern, which eventually became part of the Georgia-Florida Railroad. The Brunswick, Athens and Northwestern later became known as the Stillmore Air Line and eventually a branch of the Wadley-Southern Railroad. The Central Railroad of Georgia, the state’s largest rail company, took control of the Brewton and Pineora. These three railroads, all intersecting in the town of Stillmore, provided the spark which catapulted Stillmore into a position as the leading city in Emanuel County. At least that’s what they said outside the county seat of Swainsboro.
Stillmore’s greatest pride outside of its railroads and Mr. Brinson’s mills was the Stillmore Military College. The college was under the leadership of Professor Y.E. Bargeron, who also worked as a city official, editor of the town newspaper (The Budget,) and finally as a lawyer. Mrs. Bargeron taught courses too. Capt. M.W. Bargeron took over the duties of drill master when the military program was added to the curriculum. Florence Moore, a sweet lady and a graduate of an outstanding music conservatory, taught music to both boys and girls. With the wave of patriotism which swept across America during the conflicts with the Spanish, the ranks of the military students swelled to more than seventy young men. George Brinson donated the funds to provide nearly three dozen Springfield rifles to the school. School officials and other townsfolk saw to it that every student soon had a real rifle to train with. Crowds often gathered in the late afternoon to watch the students demonstrate their military skills on the lawn of the college. Adult males also wanted in on the action and patriotism. Joseph Phillips, along with M.W. Bargeron and Dr. R.Y. Yeomans, led the formation of the Stillmore Guards, which trained in case their services were needed across the state or against the nation’s enemies. In addition to military and music courses, students studied bookkeeping, pedagogy, chemistry, literature, oratory.
A fine public library, free to the town residents, was affiliated with the college. Capt. Joseph Phillips, the auditor of the Stillmore Air Line, kept the library filled with the latest new books and periodicals to educate and entertain the students, townspeople and even visitors who walked over from the hotels.
When visitors came to town, they roomed in relative luxury. Mr. and Mrs. Nat Hughes ran the three story Victorian hotel where people from all over gather from as far away as fifty miles to enjoy the food and fellowship. If the Canoochee was full, then you could spend the night and get a good meal in the Brown House or the Edenfield House.
Some of the earliest merchants and businessmen of Stillmore included George Brinson, attorneys Frank R. Durden, Y.E. Bargeron, merchants John R. Hargrove, J.A. Woodward, John H. Edenfield, Sallie Kennedy, E.A. Miller, J.F. Tanner, Wyatt and Frierson, Stillmore Mercantile Co., W.B. Heath, E. H. Heath, Bessie Nichols, J.L. Martin, J.M. Duberry, Canoochee Pharmacy and many others . The professional men included attorneys Frank R. Durden, Dr. L.P. Lane, Dr. J.M. Emmitt and Dr. S.E. Brinson. Dr. J.R. pulled teeth when necessary. There were at least two banks in town, the Bank of Stillmore and the Planter’s Bank.
In 1913, a movement began to create a new county of Candler with Metter as the county seat. The people of southeastern Emanuel County wanted to be a part of it. They wanted their own county with Stillmore as its capital. Stillmorians hoped that portions of Emanuel, Tattnall and Bulloch counties could be joined with Stillmore in the center. They proposed to honor one of the Confederacy’s greatest heroes by naming their county “Stonewall Jackson County.”
The failure to become a county seat, coupled with the loss of the cotton crop during the second decade of the 20th Century, led to the end of Stillmore’s prosperity. But don’t call the coroner yet. Stillmore is still there. The trains don’t come like they used to. The college is now in Swainsboro along with the all of the county’s motels. But the fine folks are still there and will still be there as long as there is a Stillmore.
07-41
THE MARCH TO THE SEA
Travels in Time
My time machine came to a stop in a less than hospitable place. All around me was a massive line of soldiers, all dressed in blue. The countryside seemed familiar. By the colors of the trees and the chill in the air, I knew it was autumn. Much to my horror, I surmised that this endless column of blue uniformed infantrymen must have belonged to that dastardly eternal enemy of the South, General William T. Sherman. I found myself in step with the right wing of Sherman's sixty-thousand man army as it blitzed through Middle Georgia, taking what they wanted and burning everything of value they could carry, eat or steal.
An officer walked up to me to ask for my identity. Not wanting to reveal my southern heritage, I introduced myself as Sgt. Jedediah Bartlett and explained that I found my way back to the main line after being separated from cavalry unit. When the lieutenant asked me if I could write, my response was "yes, sir!" He gave me a satchel filled with writing papers, a couple of inkwells and a supply of quill pens, and ordered me to shadow him every where he went.
The handsome young officer told me that he was Lt. Cornelious C. Platter of the 81st Ohio Infantry Volunteers. I noticed that Lt. Platter carried a diary in his knapsack. Every evening the lieutenant pulled out his diary and wrote of the day's activities. I wrote down everything else which went on during the day. Lt. Platter began to dictate a letter to the regimental commander. Not knowing the exact date, I tricked the Ohioan into telling me it was November 22, 1864. I knew we must be somewhere near Macon, but what puzzled me was that there was snow on the ground that morning. Could it really be November? It never snows in Middle Georgia in November, but on that very day it did.
Passage along the roads was slow. The pontoon bridge trains were in our way. Some even got stuck in the frozen mud and kept us from reaching our destination of Clinton, the county seat of Jones County. It was cold, very cold, and no one was happy. The early blast of winter and the fear of attack by General Wheeler and his ever circling Confederate cavalry kept nearly every one awake all night long. The foragers brought in a tasty feast of fresh pork and sweet potatoes.
We set out at 10:00 a.m. for Clinton, a muddy, dirty and dilapidated town. It's inhabitants having fled for the hills and the swamps, the town seemed abandoned. A courier came up and told us that the Rebs had given up Milledgeville to the 20th Division without a fight. We marched until dark through pitifully infertile sandy woods.
Arriving in Gordon the following morning, the column rested in defensive works, which had been put up by advance troops. While the locals were virtually starving, these "blue bellies" took time to clean their clothes and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast of pork, swee potatoes, corn bread, honey and cobbler.
Irwinton, the seat of Wilkinson County, was next on our itinerary. Leaving a dawn, we found the main town buildings in heaps of ashes. Friday night was spent sitting around the camp fire and reading the Macon paper and listening to the braggadocios exploits of the conquering army.
We marched through miles of swamps before reaching the Oconee River at noon on Saturday. On the opposite side of the river at Ball's Ferry, the head of the division found a small resistance on the bank. After a short delay and the defenders were routed, we crossed the river on pontoons and made it up the arduous road to the high ground. We took the road to the left and turned in the direction of Tennille and the Central of Georgia Railroad.
Lt. Platter was fascinated by palm leaf plants and Spanish moss growing along the route. As we passed through the countryside, detachments of men broke off and headed toward every farm house along the way, returning with new food stuffs and all sorts of souvenirs. As we paused near Piney Mount Church, I noticed one officer berating a group of privates celebrating their bounty as they came out of a long house. The officer, upon the recognition that the house was the former home of Lt. Asa Gordon Braswell, but more importantly a member of the Masonic brotherhood, ordered all of the stolen goods to be returned immediately. We halted and for 90 minutes tried to decide what to do. The column halted at Peacock's Crossing. Wandering around the area, I found the grave of Lt. Braswell on the far side of a cotton field. He died just weeks before the fighting began in earnest in Virginia in May 1862.
The column turned south at dawn the next morning. Just a few miles down the road we came upon a farmstead with a fair number of livestock in the fields. I decided to go along with a foraging party. We were met by a tiny, black-haired, olive-skinned young woman and her siblings. As she approached us, I glanced over in the woods and saw the head of man peeking out of a hollowed out log. The defiant headstrong woman stepped forward and said, "Sir, my name is Elmina Smith Brantley. My husband was killed and taken from me by you Yankees in Maryland. You aren't going to be taking anything else of mine and my family, so get off my land."
I suggested that we let the little woman have all she could carry back to her house. Her little brothers ran back to the house and fetched a bread tray and a couple of water buckets. I helped her fill them with still bloody scraps of meat. The prime cuts were already snapped up by the greedy butchers. After all this little woman was my great great grandmother.
We got to a town which the town's folks called Wrightsville. I heard Lt. Platter remark, "this is the most miserable town I ever saw." Somehow we found ourselves on the wrong road, some six miles distant from the rest of the Federals. We intended to go to Johnsonville, not the county seat of Johnson County. We camped that afternoon about a mile and a half east of town. That night reports came in of a clash between local militia southeast of town along the Ohoopee River. Shots were fired and a Mr. Flanders was captured and taken as a prisoner.
The regiment turned north and joined the rest of the army as it made its way down the Central of Georgia Railroad to Sherman's prize, the City of Savannah. Sherman's March to the Sea was the single most devastating destruction of civilian property ever intentionally committed by a United States Army. Today, one hundred and forty three years later, the people of Georgia still feel the affects of the senseless acts of vengeance and greed.
Note: Asa Gordon Braswell was my great-great-great grandfather. The lady who defied the Yankees was his daughter in law Elmina Eliza Jane Rebecca Ann Smith Brantley Braswell. At the time of Sherman’s march, she was an 18 year old Confederate widow.
07-42
LAURENS COUNTY TURNS 200
Reflections of Two Centuries
Out of towners often ask, "What's the greatest thing about Laurens County?" They ask, " Do you have anyone famous from here?" I say, "It depends on what you mean by famous." I also say "We are the home of the parents of several famous people." Then they say, "Did you ever have a Civil War battle fought here?" I respond by saying, "No but if the Union cavalry had been here one day earlier, Confederate President Jefferson Davis would have been captured here and there would be a monument and museum to commemorate the event. Then I go back to the first question and say, "Well, the greatest thing about Laurens County are her people." I tell them about the life long friendships we have, fellowships which transcend race, religion and social status. Then I tell them how when ever something really needs to get done, there are usually a group of people here that will get it done, though there is always a corps of doubters and apathetic "do nothings" here and for that matter everywhere.
But when my mind really concentrates, I think about the heroes and those who excel in their triumphs of the human spirit. I think about the heroes of the armed services. From the last great war of World War I, to the big war of World War II, to the so called "police action" in Korea, to the misunderstood and maligned war in the jungles of Vietnam, visions of heroes flash through my mind. From Congressional Medals of Honor, to Navy Crosses, to Silver Stars and bronze ones as well, Laurens Countians are unparalleled in their devotion to do their duty for their country. They do it well, with honor, with bravery and they do it in unrivaled numbers. Even in today's mix of regular army and national guard soldiers, more of the citizen soldiers come from this part of Georgia than any other section of the state. We have served our countries from Gettysburg to San Juan to Marne, to Normandy to Hue. No county, and I mean, no Georgia county can match the heroism, gallantry and bravery of Laurens.
Donning a uniform is not the only form of public service. We have served as governors, senators and representatives, both at state and federal levels. Laurens Countians have led the departments of Justice and Agriculture at the capital. Laurens Countians have served on both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Georgia. Service is not left only to the politicians and the lawyers. Think of the thousands of us who have worked for decades as school teachers, most of the them for a mere pittance. Then there are the public safety employees who work, train and risk their lives while the rest of us sleep, eat and play. The next time you see one of these underappreciated and woefully underpaid public servants, shake their hand, buy their supper or simply say "thank you."
Do the math. If every one of the forty five thousand plus residents of this county performed only one hundred hours of volunteer service that would mean that there would be 4.5 million hours of helping each other. Anyone can do it. Everyone should do it. Don't just think about it. Do it!
Throw adversity at many Laurens Countians and you'll find a champion when the dust clears. Time after time, especially in recent years, the young men and women of Laurens County have shown the entire state that they are champions, not only in athletics, but champion kids as well. We have won world championships in baseball, football and basketball. We have played in the Masters Golf tournament, raced at Daytona and repaired the race cars of Grand Prix champions. Many have been named to All American teams across a broad spectrum of sports. One Dublin teacher was once billed as the fastest man in the world.
Champions of the business world can call Laurens County home. Georgia Power Company, the Atlanta Constitution, the Federal Reserve Board and the Coca Cola Company were led by folks from here. Two of us have served as Imperial Potentates of the Shrine of North America, who make it their mission to help needy children.
When all doubts are out of the shadows, the women of our county shine as brightly as anywhere else. For more than eight decades, the fairer sex have shown they can remarkable things. They were the first woman to be a Georgia judge, the first woman deputy attorney general, the first woman to head a medical department of a major black university and the first woman in Georgia to be a licensed dentist. One Laurens County girl founded the first sorority in the world. Another, Gen. Belinda "Brenda Higdon" Pinckney may retire from the United States Army as one of the highest ranking generals, either black or white, in the history of the Army. Heck, one Laurens County man, as governor of Georgia, appointed the first woman to serve in the United States Senate. Our women have been here from day one, garnering few headlines. If you look at IT, they are the reason the headlines were here in the first place. Hug your mom, kiss your wife and encourage your daughter, "You go girl, there's nothing you can't do."
Then there are the thinkers and those who excel when thinking outside the box is a good place to think. In the 1920s and 1930s alone, ten Laurens Countians were writing for major newspapers and magazines around the country. Dr. Reece Coleman helped to develop the first color camera to film the inside of a living human being. Capt. Joseph Logue, former director of the Naval Hospital, reacted to the complaints of the U.S. Marine Corps and ordered the first use of DDT to combat insect bites during World War II.
And last but not least, there are those who refuse tot believe "it can't be done." Take Claude Harvard for example. Harvard, a poor black kid, sold salve to buy a radio, likely the first one in the county. His desire to learn took him to the highest levels of inventions for Ford Motor Company in the 1930s. Major Herndon Cummings and his fellow pilots stood up to the entire U.S. Army and led to President Truman's decision to integrate the armed forces. For the younger crowd, one Laurens Countian convinced networks to air MTV, Nicklelodeon, ESPN 2 and the Movie Channel. Dr. Robert Shurney, who grew up in the care of his grandparents and served his country in war time, went to back to college in his thirties and became, according to many experts, the leading black scientist of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, all without the benefit of a high school diploma.
The list goes on and on, but no matter how many plaques, awards, citations, hall of fame elections and newspaper headlines we garner, Laurens Countians do what they do because it needs to be done or simply it is the right, or the only thing, they can do. What do all of these people and thousands of others have in common? They are all natives or at one time residents of Laurens County just like you. Ask yourself, can you be champion or a hero? Sure you can and it doesn't take anything special; just serve others in your community and your community will serve you. Don't seek recognition. Just do it, do it well and do it with a passion. The rewards will flow back to you beyond all imagination. As we end the first two hundred years of our county's history, I challenge all of you to remember that our most important history is not in our past, but it lies in our future.
07-43
THE FOUNDING OF LAURENS COUNTY
Laurens County was created on December 10, 1807 by an act of the Georgia Legislature. The enacting law, in taking the middle portion of Wilkinson County, defined its boundaries as " all that part of Wilkinson County lying between the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers, beginning at the mouth of Big Sandy Creek on the Oconee River running thence sixty degrees west to the Ocmulgee River, thence down the course of the same to the upper corner of the Fourteenth Land District on said river, thence along the upper line of the Fourteenth District to the Oconee River, thence up the same to the point of beginning. The original Laurens County, stretching from the old frontier line of Georgia to the new frontier line on the Ocmulgee, was bounded on the south by the new county of Telfair - created on the same day as Laurens County was formed - and included all of present day Wheeler, Dodge, and Bleckley Counties and a portion of Pulaski County. Georgia honored Col. John Laurens of South Carolina by naming its newest county, Laurens County, in his honor.
The first order of business for the new county was to form a county government. Under the laws prevailing at the time, counties were governed by five justices of the Inferior Court, who were elected by the male citizenry. There was no tri parte form of government as we know today. The Justices of the Court acted as a legislative, executive, and judicial body, sharing jurisdiction of civil and criminal cases with the Superior Court and retaining sole jurisdiction of decedent's estates, guardianships, and marriages, now handled by the Probate Court. The court was given the authority by the Georgia legislature in 1810 to oversee the drawing of petit or trial juries and grand juries for matters pending in the Superior Court, this being due to the fact that the judge of the Superior Court was usually unavailable for the process. The first justices chosen to sit on the Inferior Court of Laurens County were: Thomas Davis, Thomas Gilbert, Edmund Hogan, William O'Neal, and Peter Thomas. William O'Neal had served in that capacity in Wilkinson County from the inception of that county.
Peter Thomas, owing to the fact that as he was a member of the court and that as there had been no county government formed until that time with the authority to build a courthouse, graciously offered the court the use of an outbuilding near his home for holding its sessions until a courthouse could be built. It is reasonable to assume that Thomas had moved to that location prior to the formation of the county. While it is impossible to determine the exact location of Thomas's home, deed records seem to indicate that it may have been near the east side of Turkey Creek in Land Lot 21 of the 2nd Land District, just above the Lower Uchee Trail. The area, although not centrally located geographically, was located near the intersection of the Uchee Trail and an Indian trail leading from Indian Springs through Macon toward Savannah and in the most populated area of the county in the first and second land districts, which had been granted to citizens two and one half years earlier.
The intersection is still known today as Thomas's Crossroads. Major Peter Thomas came to Laurens County in 1808 from Montgomery County where he had been a State Representative and Tax Receiver in 1806. Peter Thomas assembled a large plantation in the area. Maj. Thomas bought Land Lot 21 from Frederick G. Thomas of Hancock County in 1806 and Land Lot 28 from Clement Lanier for $500.00 on October 15, 1808. The sale price of the second land lot, located south of the crossroads seems to indicate improvements to the land, which may have been a small house. On August 10, 1809, Maj. Thomas paid $800.00 for the fractional Land Lot 6, which he bought in partnership with Abner Davis. Again the high price suggests some type of improvements, possibly a grist mill. It appeared that Maj. Thomas had disposed of his land by 1809 and moved away from the area. Then again, he is shown as living in Laurens County as late as February 17, 1819.
The first session of the Inferior Court was held on the fourth day of January, in 1808. The first order of the business, presumably after an opening prayer and preliminary remarks, was an adjournment until ten o'clock the next morning. The first matter heard by the justices was a petition by Andrew Hampton and David McDaniel, who held temporary letters of administration of the estate of William Darsey, who may have died while living in what was then Wilkinson County.
On the 2nd of February, the justices took up the division of Laurens County into districts. Laurens, like all other Georgia counties, were divided into militia districts. The use of militia districts dates back to the earliest decades of Georgia's existence as a colony. Each militia district was numbered beginning in 1804 and was known for many years primarily by the name of the district's captain - a practice which is exceedingly confusing to researchers since the captain was elected on an annual basis by the members of the district company. Every man in the district between the ages of sixteen and fifty were automatically enlisted in the militia. Each district's militia company was the lowest part of a chain of command under the overall command of the Governor of Georgia. In addition to their use for military defense, districts were also used for determining jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace Courts, boundaries of election districts, values of property subject to taxation, identifying locations of lands in head right counties, and any other purpose provided by law.
The Justice of the Peace or Magistrate Courts were the third level of courts in Georgia. The Justice of the Peace had the power to try minor criminal offenses and civil cases, along with the power to marry individuals. The first Justices of the Peace, appointed by the Justices of the Inferior Court during the their February session, were James Bracewell and Alexander Blackshear in the first district, John Fullwood and Andrew Hampton in the second district, Elisha Farnall and Joseph Denson, Sr. in the third district, Needham Stevens and Samuel Jones in the fourth district, and William Hall and Robert Duett in the fifth district. Each militia district had two constables, whose main duty was to aid the sheriff in keeping the peace in the district and during court sessions as well. The first Laurens County constables were John McBane and John Pollock in the first district, Gideon Mayo and John Williams in the second district, James Moore and Joseph Denson in the third district, John Jion and Henry Duett in the fourth district, and John Grinstead and William Morris in the fifth district. James Yarborough, selected by a majority of the justices, was named Clerk of the Court of Ordinary.
The cutting of new roads and the widening and improvement of old Indian trails were a top priority for the justices. On February 2, 1808 the justices ordered that a road, the first of three converging at the home of a Peter Thomas and the first seat of the county government, be established from Blackshear's Ferry on the Oconee River to Fishing Bluff on the Ocmulgee River. This road followed the Uchee Trail for the most part, crossing Turkey Creek at the home of Peter Thomas, Rocky Creek at the Indian camp above where the path crosses, Little Ocmulgee River at the path, and ending at Fishing Bluff near the future site of Hartford on the Ocmulgee River. Peter Thomas, Samuel Sparks, Charles Higdon, and William Morris were appointed overseers of the road while Amos Love, Edmond Hogan, and Thomas Davis were appointed as commissioners of the road. The second road ran from Jeremiah Loftin's home to the home of Maj. Peter Thomas. During that first session of the court, the third road opened ran from Green's Ferry on the Oconee River to the home of Peter Thomas. This road ran from the ferry located in Land Lot 292 of the 2nd District in a westerly direction, possibly along Evergreen Road and turning southwest toward the home of Major Thomas.
More roads were ordered to be opened during the second session of the court in August of 1808. A short road from Beatty's Ferry to Trammel's Ferry was cut along the western banks of the Oconee. A major road running from the Oconee River at the future site of Dublin and opposite the community of Sandbar, to the Uchee Trail was cut under the supervision of George Gaines, Benjamin Darsey, and Charles Higdon. This road ran from Gaines's Ferry along or near East Jackson Street through present downtown Dublin and thence along Bellevue Avenue to the point where it turns into Bellevue Road. From that point the road, continuing in a southwesterly direction, ran to the beginning of Moore's Station Road. From that point the road ran across Turkey Creek through the lower edge of Palmetto Lakes Subdivision and striking Little Rocky Creek and then Rocky Creek just below the Kewanee community. From that point the road ran in a southwesterly direction along a road which is now called the Chicken Road through the current day communities of Rowland and Empire where, upon reaching the latter, it followed Highway 257 to the Uchee Trail crossing at the Ocmulgee. This road, known as the Chicken Road, is said to have followed an Indian trail. An examination of the surveys of area along the road from 1805 to 1807 failed to reveal the presence of any road or trail. During the August 1809 session of the Inferior Court, Jesse Green, Jesse Stephens, Terrel Higdon, Elijah Thompson, and John Underwood were appointed commissioners of a road running the length of the county "from the upper line down the river or the nearest and best way" crossing Turkey Creek at Whitehead's Mill. Thomas Fulghum and Reuben Harrelson were appointed commissioners of the road from Flat Creek to the lower county line. This road appears to have followed the Old Toombsoro Road through present day Dublin and down the Glenwood Road crossing Turkey Creek at what is today still called "Robinson's Bridges." The road may have turned more to the east or continued down the Glenwood Road to the lower county line.
The sale of spiritous liquor, regulated by the Inferior Court, was authorized during the August, 1809 session. Peter Thomas was granted a license to sell liquor at his store on the Uchee Trail near Turkey Creek, while Jonathan Sawyer, who would found the town of Dublin twenty two months later, was granted permission to sell spiritous liquor at the Sandbar. The court then authorized the clerk to approve any liquor license applications, without further order of the court.
Laurens County's white male voters selected Peter Thomas to represent the county in the Georgia House of Representatives in the first state election held in 1808. Thomas was re-elected the following year. Edmund Hogan, another of the first five justices of the Inferior Court, was elected as the county's first state senator. Jethro B. Spivey replaced Hogan in 1809, coinciding with Hogan's move to Pulaski County. Charles Stringer and Elisha Farnell succeeded Peter Thomas in the House in 1810 and 1811, while Henry Sheppard followed Spivey in the Senate.
Laurens County was assigned to the Ocmulgee Superior Court Circuit of Georgia, both created the same day. The first court session was held in an outbuilding near the home of Peter Thomas, presumably the same building in which sessions of the Inferior Court were held. Presiding over the session was Judge Peter Early of Greene County. John Clarke, the circuit's Solicitor General, known today as the District Attorney, tried the first case in the Superior Court. At the first session no case were tried, only six true bills of indictment were found. Charles Higdon, a member of that first grand jury, was himself indicted for bigamy by that same grand jury. Other members of the jury were Benjamin Adams, Benjamin Brown, William Boykin, Robert Daniel, Joseph Denson, Benjamin Dorsey (Darsey), Simon Fowler, Henry Fulgham, John Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, Leonard Green, Edward Hagan, Andrew Hampton, Mark Mayo, Gideon Mayo, George Martin, William McCall, Charles Stringer, John Speight, James Sartin, Jesse Stephens, Samuel Stanley, Samuel Sparks, George Tarvin, Joseph Vickers, Jesse Wiggins, Nathan Weaver, David Watson, Joseph Yarborough, and William Yarborough. Unfortunately only one of the major court record books of Laurens County is missing, that one being Minute Book A, the first one kept by Amos Love, Clerk of the Superior Court. There is some evidence to indicate that the book was used in the compilation of "History of Laurens County, Georgia, 1807-1841." However, diligent searches of the vaults of the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Laurens County have revealed no evidence of its presence.
Court sessions seemed to bring out the fighting spirit in several Laurens Countians. One of the first indictments was made against Amos Forehand, who in the presence of Alexander Blackshear, a member of the grand jury, wished "that Hell might be his Heaven, if he did not kill the Judge at the flash of a gun if the prisoner then in jail was a brother or relative of his. While this statement was by a legal technicality an assault, the judge, Peter Early, wasn't too pleased. Following the Forehand indictment, the grand jury indicted Samuel Riggins for insulting Clerk Amos Love by kicking him as he was leaving the home of Maj. Thomas. The third indictment handed down by the the October, 1808 grand jury was made against Michael Horne and the same Samuel Riggins for fighting in the courthouse yard, while the court was in session. Four years later William Monroe made the mistake of cursing the grand jury while standing in the door of the jury room and failing to leave when ordered to do so. Christopher Edwards mocked the baliff and cursed in the presence of the jury. James Drake made the same mistake as William Monroe and found himself indicted. Drury Roberts and Benjamin Faircloth were indicted for fighting in the courthouse yard during a session of the Ordinary Court.
The Georgia Legislature of Georgia enacted a law on December 1, 1809, fixing the site of the public buildings of Laurens County in the town of Sumpterville on a lot of land to be purchased by the justices of the Inferior Court. The justices were empowered to be the commissioners of the courthouse and jail with all the powers necessary to maintain them. The legislature directed the justices to set aside at least four acres of land for the seat of public buildings and other county purposes and gave them the right to sell any of the county's land adjoining the public lands. During the February session of the Inferior Court, the justices appointed Amos Love, Alexander Blackshear, Andrew Hampton, John Fullwood, Jethro B. Spivey, Simon Smith, Elisha Farnall, William Yarborough, Leonard Stringer and Stephen Vickers to assist the justices in the location of the county courthouse. The lands were evidently laid out or at least some plans were made to lay out the town. For some unknown reason the Georgia Legislature passed laws in 1812, and again in 1813, authorizing the Justices of the Inferior Court to reimburse purchasers of lots in Sumpterville. The act of 1812 mentions that lots were purchased and that the town of Sumpterville was square in shape.
Contrary to what is found in Laurens County History, 1807-1941, the town of Sumpterville was not located where the home of Peter Thomas was situated, or was it? The town of Sumpterville, according to tradition, was located on the site of the John Fullwood Place in Land Lot 39 of the First Land District, just west of the old Josiah Stringer Place. Fullwood purchased the 202.5 acre land lot on November 24, 1808. The one thousand dollar purchase price indicates that some type of building, or buildings, was located on the land. During the August session of the court in 1811, the justices ordered that Fullwood be paid the sum of thirty six dollars for building the courthouse at Sumpterville. Since there is no evidence of any purchase of any land by the Justices of the Inferior Court either in the deed records or in the minutes of the court, it is virtually impossible to determine exactly where the town of Sumpterville was located. One might determine that Sumpterville was indeed located near the home of Major Peter Thomas at the intersection of Turkey Creek and the Uchee Trail - also at the point where the first three Laurens County roads converged. The Uchee Trail was the best and most traveled road in Laurens County. Thomas's home was located in the 2nd Land District, the most heavily populated in the county. On August 6, 1811 the justices of the Inferior Court ordered that a road be cut from the intersection of the Sumpterville Road and the Gallimore Trail to run in an easterly direction. A year later the court ordered all hands above the Uchee Trail between Turkey Creek and the ridge which divides the tributaries of Turkey and Rocky Creeks to work on the road. This Sumpterville Road may have been the current day Wayne Road or a road which takes a similar path to the Old Macon Road, running parallel to the western bank of Turkey Creek.
The first census of Laurens County was taken in 1810 by Hugh Thomas, who was appointed by the Justices of the Inferior Court. While no names were enumerated, the total population of the county was 2,210. Laurens was third in population among the newest counties in Georgia, behind Baldwin County, the seat of the state government, and Twiggs County, which was rapidly becoming an economic and judicial center in Central Georgia.
With the loss of lands to Pulaski County a year earlier, county residents clamored for more land on the east side of the river. When it became apparent that the legislature would cut off a portion of Montgomery and Washington Counties east of the Oconee and place it in Laurens, local officials began to look for a new county seat. On December 13, 1810, the Legislature appointed John G. Underwood, Jethro Spivey, Benjamin Adams, John Thomas, and William H. Mathers as commissioners to purchase or acquire by donation any quantity of land, not to exceed one full land lot of two hundred two and one-half acres, at or within two miles of the place known by the name of Sandbar on the Oconee River as a site for the public buildings of Laurens County. The commissioners were directed to lay out the town into lots and sell the lots at a public sale, following an advertisement in "The Georgia Journal" and one Augusta newspaper. The commissioners were authorized to use the proceeds of the lot sales to erect a courthouse and jail, with any excess being used for county purposes. As a consequence of the removal of the county seat from Sumpterville, the justices were directed to issue refunds to any purchasers of lots at the old county seat, to cancel any contracts to purchase the same, and to sell all remaining lands at Sumpterville "as they think most expedient," with any proceeds being applied to the building of a new courthouse and jail. It is difficult to determine exactly when the decision was reached. It was most likely the commissioners who made their decision in short order.
The commissioners chose a site in Land Lot 232 of the First Land District about one half mile west of the Oconee River at a point directly opposite the Sandbar, the site of George Gaines's ferry and the traditional crossing of an old road leading from Macon to Savannah. Jonathan Sawyer, a former resident of the capital city of Louisville in Jefferson County, was appointed as Postmaster of Dublin on or before July 1, 1811. The origin of the name of the new town had nothing to do with the ethnic origin of Sawyer, who is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Peter Sawyer. Sawyer's wife, Elizabeth McCormick, died circa 1809 while bearing a child. Sawyer, being the postmaster, made an application to the Post Office Department in Washington for the name of his choosing. He chose the name Dublin, in honor of Dublin, Ireland, the hometown of his wife. Mrs. Sawyer's sister, Ann St. Clair McCormick Troup, was the first wife of George M. Troup, the up and coming Congressman from Coastal Georgia. Mrs. Troup, like her sister, Mrs. Sawyer, met an untimely death early in her young life.
Before there was a post office and before the town was officially incorporated, Jethro B. Spivey, John G. Underwood, Benjamin Adams, and W.H. Mathers conducted the first sale of town lots on May 23, 1811. Purchasers were expected to pay for the lots in four equal installments with the first payment coming due on January 1, 1812. On December 13, 1811, the legislature appointed Jonathan Sawyer, Jethro B. Spivey, John G. Underwood, Benjamin Adams, and Henry Shepherd to act as commissioners of the courthouse and other public buildings granting unto them the power "to lay out and sell such a number of lots as may be sufficient to defray the expenses of such public buildings as they may think necessary."
The choice of a county seat on the eastern edge of the county was predicated on the accession of new lands on the east side of the Oconee River. Three days before the town of Dublin was authorized as the county seat, the legislature approved an act to incorporate a part of Washington and Montgomery counties into Laurens County. The new lands, which had been already been inhabited for more than twenty five years, was described as beginning on the east side of the Oconee River, opposite the Laurens County line, and thence in a direct line to the mouth of Forts Creek; thence up the meanders of the same to the limestone rocks; thence in a direct line to Wood's Bridge on the Big Ohoopee River; thence down the Ohoopee River to Pugh's Trail at the Mt. Pleasant Ford; thence in a direct line to the head of Mercer's (sic Messer's) Creek; thence down said creek to the Oconee River.
With the accession of the land on the east side of the Oconee River in 1811, three new districts were added to Laurens County. They were the 52nd, today known as Smith's District, the 86th, today known as the Buckeye District, and the 87th, which is no longer in existence. The 52nd District included all that portion of the county which was formerly Montgomery County and which was south and east of the Uchee Trail leading northeast from Carr's Bluff and today includes all of Smith's, Carter's, Oconee, Jackson, and Rockledge Districts. The 86th G.M. District included all of the land above the Uchee Trail in what was Washington County until 1811. The 87th District, probably abolished with the cession of the lands along the western banks of the Ohoopee River in 1857 to Johnson County, may have included portions of both the 52nd and 86th districts in northeastern Laurens County.
The practice of naming militia districts ended in the 19th century when permanent names were given to each of the districts. From that point on the 52nd District was known as "Smith's" District, named in honor of the Smith family in general or Hardy Smith, Jr. in particular. The 86th was named the "Buckeye" District for the main community in the district, which was located on the new Buckeye Road, which was formerly the old Buckeye Road, about a mile north of its intersection with the Ben Hall Lake Road. The 341st District became known as the "Burgamy" District, in honor of John Burgamy, who may have been a captain of the district. The 342nd became known as the "Dublin" District for the county seat which lay within its bounds. The 343rd district was dubbed "Pinetucky," probably in recognition of the thousands of pine trees covering this district, the largest district of original Laurens County. The 344th was known as the Hampton Mills District in honor of Andrew Hampton, a prominent resident of the district. The 345th District was named in honor of David Harvard, a prominent resident of the district. The 391st Bailey District was named for Henry Bailey, a large landowner who lived on the Old Toomsboro Road.
07-44
RETURN TO OZ
For nearly seventy years, Karl Slover has been following the Yellow Brick Road to the land of Oz. Though he and his fellow midget actors were on screen for less than ten minutes in the epic film “The Wizard of Oz,” the Munchkins have become icons of American cinematic history. Finally, and most fittingly, seven of the nine surviving members of the Munchkin cast returned to Hollywood, California, where their legend began in 1939. During the week of Thanksgiving, on a boulevard lined with golden stars, Karl Slover, Mickey Carroll, Ruth Duccini, Margaret Pelligrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Clarence Swensen and Jerry Maren accepted a well deserved and long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on behalf of the 124 actors, who welcomed Dorothy Gale over the rainbow.
Many people thought that the Munchkins were already honored with their own stars. Chicago restauranteur Ted Bulthaup led the effort to have the Munchkins awarded their own star. His dream was aided by such Hollywood icons as Steven Speilberg, George Lucas, Ted Turner and dozens more. Actually they are the only group of characters to be so honored for their memorable, albeit brief, appearance on the big screen.
Karl Slover, a resident of the Sheridan Place in Dublin, received the news this past summer. The 89-year- old Slover frequently travels throughout the country to Oz festivals and autograph sessions. Upon the receipt of the news, Sheridan director Gina Ensley Drown and her staff began the preparations for the trip to Hollywood during the week of Thanksgiving. A dozen Dubliners traveled to Hollywood to accompany Karl. Ten travelers stayed up all night following a Dublin football game to catch an early morning flight. The celebration began on Sunday night with a delicious meal hosted by Mayor Phil Best and his wife Cile at the L.A. Prime, some three hundred feet above downtown Los Angeles. Mayor Best presented an honorary award to Karl, who was accompanied by his niece Gay Griffit.
The festivities began in earnest on November 19 at Graumann’s Chinese Theater. The Hollywood Preservation Society sponsored a showing of “The Wizard of Oz.” It would be the last time that this legendary film, specially enhanced just for this showing, would ever be shown in its technicolor format on the big screen. The entrance to the theater, one of the country’s most historic movie houses, was lined with yellow brick road carpet, a battalion of cameramen, and a few hundred adoring fans and passers by. My son Scotty and I, along with Pam Green of WDIG-TV got our crowded guard rail spots two hours early. The official media stood in relative comfort across the aisle in their reserved places. While the rented spotlights beamed into the unusually foggy L.A. sky, the honored guests began to arrive.
As the Munchkins began to walk down the yellow carpet, a hoard of media, more voracious than the wicked witch’s monkeys, swarmed over Karl and the other midget actors. They don’t mind being called midgets, because that’s what they are. After the honorees had their pictures taken with the sponsors and in clips for the national networks, the ceremony opened with a humorous introduction by Gary Owens, of “Laugh In” and “The Gong Show” fame. Stan Taffel, a comedian and Hollywood historian interviewed the Munchkins. When it came Karl’s turn, he began to sing “We’re off to see the Wizard,” a charming tune which drew a loud round of applause and quite a few tears.
The feature of the night was the showing of the Wizard of Oz in the same theater it premiered in August 1939. The picture was so clear you really could see the freckles on Dorothy’s face. If you have never seen the movie on a big screen, you missed a wonderful treat. And though most of the audience had seen the movie before - some dozens of times - there was reciting of the lines, applause, laughter, and cheers throughout the showing. Some in the Dublin delegation drew the attention of several photographers and a documentary cinematographer as we were all dressed in emerald city green attire, each of us wearing specially designed “Karl Slover Fan Club” buttons. Also present that night were actresses Tippi Hedren, of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” Margaret O’Brien of “Meet Me in St. Louis” and a childhood friend of Judy Garland, and Anne Rutherford, who played a sister of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind.” The granddaughter of Frank Morgan, who portrayed the Wizard and several other Emerald City residents, was in attendance along with the great grandson of L. Frank Baum, the writer and creator of the story. There were also several actors who portrayed Munchkins present, but because they were children and not midgets, they were inexplicably - to me anyway - not included in the festivities.
The highlight of the week came on Tuesday morning with the star presentation ceremony. Hosted by Johnny Grant, the “Mayor of Hollywood,” and Joe Luft, son of Judy Garland, and a squad of politicos, the ceremony began right on time. Covering the entrance to the theater was a tall arch of balloons simulating a rainbow. The Munchkins arrived from their hotel rooms in a carriage, pulled by a horse of a different color. This particular steed was a pale purple one. The crowd swelled. The Hollywood High School band played. Cameras went high into the air to catch a glimpse of the little people as they approached the podium. We had been at our station near the star site for two hours, long before any of the crowd arrived.
The Munchkins walked down a wider and much longer yellow carpet strip to the site of their star, located at the far eastern end of the theater. In front of a battery of television and still photographers and barely within our view, the star was finally unveiled. After thousands of photographs and hours of film were taken, Karl and his comrades were given another carriage ride back to the Roosevelt Hotel.
Following the presentation ceremony, a luncheon was held in honor of the Munchkins in the Blossom Room of the hotel. In the very room where the first Academy Awards were held in 1929, the tables were decorated with green table cloths and illuminated underneath to give the room a virescent glow, reminiscent of the chamber of the Wizard of Oz. Behind the dais was a striking rendition of the Emerald City. The tables were decorated with baskets filled with red poppies and a stuffed toy version of Toto. The luncheon passed all too quickly before the actors were once again whisked off to face the media for one final time and much to the chagrin of autograph seekers who had politely waited until they finished eating.
Karl’s final night in Hollywood was spent with his niece and the folks from Dublin in a quiet restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. Following a long day and puny luncheon food, Karl enjoyed the largest hamburger he ever saw. Still hungry, Karl downed a big bowl of chocolate ice cream.
Karl enjoyed the visit and appreciated the honor that he and his fellow Munchkins had finally received. Though he was honored to be there, he found nothing very exciting in Hollywood like he did seventy years ago. Feeling smothered by the media sticking microphones in his face and blinding his eyes with spot lights, the little man with the big smile was glad to be back in the “Emerald City” of Dublin. “Heck yeah, I am glad to be home,” Karl said, “after all, there’s no place like home.”
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