USA > Georgia > Floyd County > Rome > A history of Rome and Floyd County, State of Georgia, United States of America; including numerous incidents of more than local interest, 1540-1922, Volume I > Part 43
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Rome Absolutely Cut Off .- The Constitution made every endeavor to reach Rome yesterday by wire, but without success. The Rome and Carrollton Railway is almost washed away, and the Rome and King- ston road is in almost as bad a fix. The East Tennessee does not know when it can again reach Rome. This absolutely cuts the city off from the world. At last accounts it was ten feet under water in some places, and the water was still rising. The coun- ty is water-bound by the flooded creeks and the bridges of its public roads are gone. It is possible that something will be heard from the city today.
There have been filed at the West- ern Union office in Atlanta over 200 messages from individuals in this city to those in Rome, and all still hang on the hook of the telegraph office in this city, or have been returned. As it is, The Constitution's message of Tues- day night is the last from Rome .- Thursday, April 1, 1886.
An Olive Leaf From the Flooded Hill City .- Rome has been heard from
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ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES
ROME SUBMERGED BY THE FRESHET OF 1886.
This picture was taken Apr. 1, and is presented here through the courtesy of Mrs. Henry J. Hine. It shows Broad Street and Nevin's Opera House; at the right a paddle wheel boat propelled by man-power, the property of Col. C. N. Featherston. The water was 10 feet deep here, and the Steamer Mitchell, in command of Luke C. Mitchell, steamed by. In spite of the hardships, the Romans maintained a cheerful demeanor.
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
at last, but the news is only that
up to Wednesday night. What is known of the condition of the city comes from an extra edition of the Rome Bulletin, printed yesterday and brought to The Constitution by Capt. Sanford Bell, of the Western & Atlantic Road. It was printed yes- terday (Friday) on a little 8x12-inch hand press, and a copy was carried from Rome to Kingston by somebody who succeeded in getting through the country. Here it fell into Capt. Bell's hands. Extracts from it follow :
"On Tuesday morning a bulletin board was placed in front of The Bul- letin office. We put up a bulletin : 'Move your goods 12 inches higher than the mark of 1881.'
"We moved everything up except our heavy presses, and took out a large sized Liberty press to Dr. P. L. Turn- ley's drug store, where this issue was printed. The editor tried long to get a boat, and finally procured one half full of water. He managed to reach the office door about 12 noon, where there was three feet of water. The boat was then nearly full of water, and it was a desperate effort to get it to land before it would sink. With wet clothing and wet feet he caught cramp and had to beat a retreat. By 10 the next morning there was eight feet of water in The Bulletin office.
"It was appalling to go down Broad Street. The water was five feet high- er than the flood of 1881.
"Losses and damage:
"Thos. Fahy's, silks, laces, etc., $15,- 000; Hardy & Co., $5,000; Rounsaville & Bro., $15,000. J. A. Rounsaville got in at the second story and cut a hole through the floor and got out books and papers.
"In nine or ten feet of water a cow and a calf were swimming on Broad Street. Connor O'Rear's stern-wheel boat came along and several men call- ed to the animals to follow. The cow was about to give up when Mr. O'Rear caught her by the horns and towed her to land. The calf swam out. Mules swam after boats past the First Pres- byterian Church.
"The young ladies of the Rome Fe- male College came to the Central Hotel in charge of Prof. Sam C. Caldwell and Prof. McLean, and went out rid- ing in two boats.
"Dr. J. B. S. Holmes had to swim his horses out of his stable on How- ard Street (Second Avenue) .
"Ten homes between the Rome Rail-
road and the Etowah River floated away. Samuel Lusk, Pink Turner, Will Curr, I. S. Davis, Dr. E. P. Love- lace, Charlie Ansley, Capt. W. T. Smith, Dan Ramsey, M. F. Govan, W. P. O'Neill, Mr. Jones, J. M. Lovelace, Chas. Gammon and C. O. Stillwell lost their houses and most of the contents. John Eve's house floated to the mid- dle of Howard Street and finally went on down.
"A party of gentlemen were watch- ing the Etowah River near Howard Street and saw a house float down. On its roof was a man who was ges- ticulating and calling for help. An- other report said a whole family was on the house.
"A good deal of anxiety was felt for Capt. J. N. Perkins, who was calmly looking out of a second-story window. He and his family were rescued and taken to Broad Street.
"A gentleman said to a Bulletin man: 'I have lost everything. I said to my wife at breakfast time, "When you married me I was worth $3,000 to $3,500. Now, it is all gone!" "Well," said she, "we have four boys and good health; that is all we need!"
"A box car floated away from the railroad into South Street (First Ave- nue) and was turned upside down.
"The Steamer Mitchell spent some time relieving people in DeSoto and taking them away from their homes.
"A. W. Walton estimates the dam- age to cotton at $10,000 to $15,000. B. I. Hughes thinks $25,000 will cover the damage to the town.
"The trestle approaching the Rome and Carrollton bridge is gone, as well as the bridge.
"The people in East Rome held a meeting to establish a ferry at the site of the late bridge (over the Etowah at Howard Street).
"It was reported that Mr. Woodruff counted fifteen houses floating by. J. L. Johnson's stable and Mr. Belcher's house in East Rome have gone.
"At 1:15 a. m. a tremendous crash was heard in the lower part of the city, and it was known that the bridge at the lower end of Broad Street was gone. A gentleman at the Rome Hotel said he saw a light on the bridge and it went out just as the crash came, and he heard a man cry, 'Ain't you coming to help me? Are you going to let me drown?' It was rumored that there was a special watchman on the bridge.
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"When morning came there was not a bridge on the Etowah but the E. T. V. & G. near Forrestville. The only bridge remaining to Rome is the one across the Oostanaula River at Bridge Street (Fifth Avenue) .
"We learn from Capt. E. J. Ma- gruder that there was no watchman on the Broad Street bridge, but there was one at Patton's, who called out to peo- ple at the E. T. V. & G. Railroad depot just before the bridge went."- Saturday, April 3, 1886.
Waters Receding .- Rome, Ga., April 2 .- (Special.) -The waters which have been raging in Rome since Tuesday last are receding, and the Hill City people are beginning to smile again. One who has not seen the des- titution and desolation caused by the flood can have no idea of the situa- tion. The city is full of water, the streets are hidden from view, and the houses for a quarter of a mile away from the river are surrounded by the yellow, muddy stuff that no more de- serves the name of water than does the water from the Atlanta water- works.
Rome was finally reached by your correspondent after a perilous train trip across the Etowah River bridge, thence by way of Kingston in a buggy. The spectacle that greeted me as I reached the city was one never to be flood can have an idea of the sieua- forgotten. Broad Street from the Cen- tral Hotel to the rivers is one sheet of muddy water, while every street running parallel with Broad is cover- ed too. The Central Hotel is the point nearest the stream, and here every- body congregates. A hundred skiffs are moored nearby. Men who have built these water riders are reaping a small fortune by conveying people around to look at the roofs of their houses, or to hunt a house that has floated away. A ride down Broad Street in one of these Venetian gon- dolas made of Georgia pine makes a cold shiver run down one's back. Stores with closed doors, and goods and boxes floating about greet the eye. Thurs- day night the flood was seven feet higher than the flood of 1881. Not less than 20 dwellings have been swept away. Late Tuesday night, March 30, the Broad Street bridge, the Howard Street bridge and the East Tennessee Railroad bridge were swept out of ex- istence. Conservative men in Rome place the damage at $300,000, and as much more in the country.
It is reported that a negro woman and her boy have been drowned.
There has been no mail since Tues- day.
A boat with four negroes capsized on Howard Street. They were saved by a party of gentlemen.
The Baptists are determined that the state convention shall be held here as planned. The people will provide generously for the delegates, despite their misfortune.
Fourth Ward is completely under water. Thirty cases of measles had to be moved. One store with a stock of merchandise floated away. Many poor families lost all. The suffering is in- tense, but for once it is among the rich as well as among the poor.
Howard Street, the Peachtree of Rome, is a sheet of water from end to end, and Brussels carpets, parlor furniture, lace curtains, pianos and bric-a-brac are ruined by the carloads.
John Lovelace was driven from his house and carried nothing out. J. L. McGhee got away no better. Judge Joel Branham has deserted his lower floor and is living on the top floor. One of the finest pianos in Rome was saved here. H. H. Smith was driven out of his handsome residence. Mrs. W. L. Whitely escaped with her life only. William Ramey surrendered his house to the water. Major Fouche and Capt. Stillwell are living away from home.
Bales of cotton, box cars and hogs on rafts are floating about the streets. A bale of hay came down one of the rivers with a crowing rooster on it. The people are cheerful .- Edward C. Bruffey, Saturday, April 3, 1886.
A Perilous Trip to Rome .- King- ston Ga., April 2 .- (Special.)- Tuesday morning, after all trains had stopped running on the Rome Rail- road, and the Etowah overflow had covered most of its track, Capt. John J. Seay came up from Atlanta to Kingston on the morning passenger, saying he must get to Rome, where his family and his property were. He and John H. Harris started on this perilous trip in a buggy, while the rain came down in blinding sheets. They drove through water some three or four feet deep for four miles. Reaching what is usually small stream, near the Barnsley place, and being advised by a farmer that it was fordable, they drove in. The horse had gone only a few steps when he be-
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY.
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VARIOUS WAYS EMPLOYED TO GET AROUND.
Batteaux are in heavy demand when the water rises. In addition to serving for trans- portation purposes, they are often used by hunting parties who find many rabbits caught in queer places. An automobile is shown splashing its way along Second Avenue, and others are plowing across a low place in West Fifth. The pictures were taken in the spring of 1921.
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gan to swim. The current was so swift it washed horse and buggy down the creek.
Capt. Seay cried out, "Mr. Harris, can you swim?"
"Like a duck," returned Mr. Harris.
"I can't; not a stroke," declared Capt. Seay.
At this moment the horse and buggy stopped against a log. Mr. Harris made a flying leap for a sawmill slab he espied protruding from the water, which he caught and clung to until he could unhitch the horse. Jumping on the animal, he swam to the rear of the buggy, which by that time had again started down stream. Catching on to the wheel, still holding to the horse, Mr. Harris started for the shore.
All this time Capt Seay was sitting in the buggy, wet and shivering with cold, amazement depicted on his coun- tenance at the coolness and daring of his companion.
After the wheels had hit bottom, Mr. Harris made fast the lines and pulled the buggy safely on the bank, Capt. Seay exclaiming, "We are safe! We are safe!"
Messrs. Foots Roode, Judge Sanford, Prof. Agostino, and Mr. Drewry left Rome the same day and came near drowning in a stream. They had to cut their horses loose and swim out, leaving their carriage to float down- stream .- Edward C. Buffey, Saturday, April 3, 1886.
Spirit of the Romans .- Rome, Ga., April 3 .- (Special.)-The people are remarkably buoyant in spirit, and as the waters recede their buoyancy ascends little by little.
The flood is the most wonderful and remarkable in the South, but decided- ly more wonderful and remarkable are the courage, nerve and equipoise of the people who have suffered.
No city in the world has more ener- getic, conservative and safe business men than Rome, and every factor in her trade, commerce and society is loyal to his city and devoted to her interests None of them think of de- serting her now in the hour of adver- sity, but on the contrary, the bad luck seems to weld tighter and harder the bond between them and their home. The men are not alone in their de- termination to stick by the Hill City. The ladies, young and old, married and single, love the town, and with tongue and pen they boast of her advantages.
They burden each mail with letters to their friends telling them that Rome is still sitting on her hills, from whence she will continue to rule the commerce of the Coosa Valley.
On the banks of the Etowah stand the warerooms of Battey & Hamiltons. These gentlemen conduct a large wholesale and retail grocery business, and handle many bales of cotton. They probably had 1,500 bales of cotton in the warehouse. Mr. Battey is one of the most energetic men in the Hill City; he has push and pluck enough for half a dozen men, and when he re- alized the danger he hired a colony of negroes and went to work. He packed his cotton above high water mark, and when the water still came up, he chop- ped holes through the roof of the ware- house and lifted the cotton out. A great many bales floated out, and steamers gathered them in. The task was a hard one, but nearly all the cot- ton was saved. The firm's stock of groceries was quite low, but was con- siderably damaged. Probably Battey & Hamiltons can come nearer telling their loss than any one in Rome, and it is put down by them at $8,000 to $10,000.
Across the street is the new Rome Hotel. The water reached the second story of this building, and as the water went up, the people in the hotel also went up. They have since been living upstairs. Boats ride up to the second-story porch and take on or dis- charge their cargo of human freight. -Edward C. Bruffey, Sunday, April 4, 1886.
The water rose to 40.3 feet above normal water level. Judge Joel Bran- ham's law office and residence at the northeast corner of Second Avenue and East First Street is 33 feet above normal, and the water reached his ground floor mantels. Judge Bran- ham hired a negro to help him move upstairs; his fine piano was hitched to the lower stairway. He was due to celebrate on April 24 his silver wed- ding anniversary with his wife, who was Miss Georgia Cuyler, but the con- fusion arising from the freshet caused the event to be postponed. The con- vention of Georgia Baptists was held as planned, a few days after the water went down, and the judge, be- ing a staunch Baptist and favorable to immersion (if necessary) on such an occasion, bought up all the frying-size chickens in the neighborhood and had them cooked for the visitors.
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The determination of Romans was aptly expressed by a delegate: "You folks can dispense more genuine hos- pitality in a sea of mud than anybody I ever knew!"
The mayor of Rome at that time was Samuel M. Knox. He wanted to appeal to sister cities for help. "I can have $5,000 here in 24 hours," he declared. "Don't do any such thing," urged Judge Branham; "it would cost us more than $5,000. We have a lot of Baptists coming, and they won't make the trip if they get scared of a little water. We can take care of our- selves."
The appeal was not sent, and Rome pulled herself together handsomely.
It was an event never to be for- gotten. Citizens went looking for their houses and certain straying members of their families. A "freshet scout" came in with the report that a house had just floated by with the owner, an Irishman, on the roof, and com- placently smoking a corn-cob pipe. It was stated that the marooner said ev- erything he possessed had been swept down, and his only hope lay in going in the same direction.
Luke C. Mitchell, of the Fourth Ward, is authority for the statement that it was his steamboat, the Mitch- ell, with himself at the wheel, that steamed up Broad Street, which was about ten feet deep in water. The Mitchell had been tied up at the old wharf on the town side of the Etowah near the junction of the rivers. Capt. Mitchell had just received word that Adolphus Harbour's fine mare was swimming in Mr. Harbour's barnyard in the Fourth Ward, so he determined to rescue her. With Jep Camp as en- gineer and Hutch Moore along as "able-bodied seaman," he cut up the Etowah to Broad, turned wheel hard left and set his course northward up Rome's main business thoroughfare. Broad was under water as far as Fifth Avenue, so Capt. Mitchell turn- ed to the left at Fourth Avenue, steamed past the City Hall and across the Oostanaula into the Fourth Ward. At Fourth and Broad Virgil A. Stew- art and Jas. O. Winfrey tied their battcaux alongside and clambered aboard. The course lay along Fifth Avenue, and close to the Fifth Ave- nue Baptist Church .*
Cries for help being heard, Capt. Mitchell stopped and took Barnum El- ders out of a second story window. On reaching the Harbour place, they found the mare half frozen from the
cold, and nearly exhausted. They broke the fence and led her by a halter to a high point near the home of Mrs. Hiram D. Hill, on Avenue C. The mare was shivering, and so weak she could scarcely stand. Mr. Harbour, the owner, now lives at Wimpee's Ferry, Oostanaula River.
Shortly prior to this incident, Capt. Mitchell had manned the Steamer Joel Marable and set out in pursuit of the Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad wooden bridge down the Coosa River. He ran a line from his pilot house to a bridge stay and reversed his en- gines; but the Marable was too light and of insufficient power. After play- ing with the bridge all the way to Coosa (about 16 miles), he cast off and returned to his base. He had less trouble saving a freight loaded with cotton and provisions .**
B. I. Hughes, cashier of the First National Bank, reported the water over the doors of the vault, and per- haps $100,000 in bills flooded.
He took out the packages, heavily covered with river mud, and spread the bills before a grate fire, and in time had them all dry. The bank did not lose a dollar except in a small lot of new stationery. Mr. Hughes re- ported further that very few failures resulted from flood losses, and that the balance of the year was full of building activity.
It is worthy of note that two other pranks of nature were played on Ro- mans about this time. A distinct earthquake shock was felt, and two feet of snow, the heaviest Rome has ever had, blocked the horse cars and seriously interfered with other traffic for two or three days."
Less than a year after the freshet, Judge Branham, Jack King and Wes' Rounsaville were appointed by the city council to go to Washington and bring a government engineer to figure on a levee to keep the water out. They brought Oberlin M. Carter, a brilliant young government employee, and two assistants, whom Judge Branham quar- tered over his office on Second Ave- nue. Judge Branham wanted to ask what the survey was going to cost, but
*Frank Holbrook, skipper of the "Annie H." and former city councilman, saw the steamer pass this point.
** Capt. Mitchell states that it is not true that his steamer's waves broke glasses out of Broad Street windows, and that the owners sued him for damages.
*** According to the best recollection of Nick Ayer, the well-known weather prophet, the earthquake came Aug. 30 and the snow either Dec. 1 or 25.
ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES
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DAME NATURE MAKES ROMANS STEP LIVELY.
Like practically all river towns, Rome experiences an occasional freshet, and lucky are those who are perched on the hills. However, the damage is usually small and the incon -, venience trifling. Prominent in the pictures are a street car on Second Avenue and the Howel Cotton Co.'s compress on First; an automobile and a cow on Fifth. Two ponies are marooned on an island on West Seventh Avenue.
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Mr. King and Mr. Rounsaville thought that might offend the tender sensibil- ities of Rome's guests, and requested them to render a bill. The bill was $1,500, which the city council thought excessive. The price was finally beat- en down to $1,250; council paid $700 of it and let the three committeemen pay the $550.
There were two plans. One was to build a high bank from the edge of the water between the two rivers, and the other to follow the W. & A. rail- road down the Etowah and around to the Broad Street station, putting the railroad tracks on the top of the bank. The first was considered too expen- sive and the point was raised that crawfish would gnaw through the bank and cause it to crumble. The rail- road, it is said, failed to concur in the second plan, so nothing was done ex- cept to pay the engineering bill and take two interesting maps which the gentlemen from Washington had drawn.
The freshet damage suggests Stan- ton's lines :
"Dis ole world we're livin' in, Am mighty hard to beat; You get a thorn with every rose, But ain't the roses sweet?"
Not only were the people awaken- ed to the necessity of curbing the high waters, but they declared, "It is time Rome was going out and getting more people, more industries, more prosper- ity. Let us form an association which will herald to the world the glories and advantages of Rome and Floyd County !"
The idea spread like the measles. Everybody took it up, especially the financial leaders. Result: The Rome Land Co., which dealt in land and a hundred other things. In February, 1887, this company was formed with J. W. Rounsaville as president, Jos. L. Bass, general manager, and Jno. H. Reynolds treasurer. Judge Bran- ham and numerous other Romans join- ed in, until the $1,000,000 capital stock was well gobbled up in a short time. It was the biggest boom Rome had ever experienced.
In an anniversary book issued Octo- ber 2, 1888, by the Tribune-of-Rome un- der the direction of John Temple Graves, editor, and Jno. G. Taylor, business manager, we find the follow- ing description of the company's ac- tivities :
"The company purchased nearly 2,500 acres of the city's best subur-
ban land, and vigorously began the work of development. The property of the Rome Street Railroad Company was at once acquired, and its lines ex- tended through the lands of the com- pany. Steam motors were installed, and this was the first dummy line ever started in Georgia. Only Bald- win's best motors and Brill's best cars were used, and the equipment was of the finest. These steam trains have been in use here more than twelve months-a part of the time in opera- tion on the main thoroughfares of the city-and they have given eminent sat- isfaction. Nothing does more to ad- vertise a city of enterprise than the operation of well-equipped dummy trains on its principal streets, and the company, realizing this, will extend its lines into every portion of the city wherever practicable.
"The company bought 2,000 acres of land in a body on the south side of the city, adjoining East Rome, its northern boundary being about a mile from the business center of Rome, and traversed by Silver Creek. The pop- ularity of this land has been estab- lished in the sale of more than $50,000 in lots and the erection of a number of handsome homes. Nature has shaped a goodly area on this land for a park. There is a natural basin of several acres in which a lake has been constructed which is fed by five large springs. This park is the present terminus of the dummy line on this side of the city. (Author's Note- Reference is to DeSoto Park, former- ly Mobley Park) .
"The company owns 500 acres of land in one body west of Rome, three- eighths of a mile from the center of the city, and to make this accessible has recently opened to the public an elegant iron draw bridge across the Oostanaula River at the foot of How- ard Street (Second Avenue), jat a cost of $20,000, and has also graded and macadamized at its own expense a splendid road to its own railroad depot in the heart of this property. The dummy line will run to this depot before the ides of March have come and gone. The erection of and open- ing of this bridge is but one of the many valuable works which this com- pany has done for the public.
"A year ago, when the great Pied- mont Exposition at Atlanta invited the exhibit of the products and resources of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, Floyd County, for herself, was silent. It was known that to enter so large a field of competition with a shadow
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of a hope of championship would re- quire the outlay of large sums of money, supplemented with a vast deal of systematic and laborious work. In the absence of any answer from the county, the Rome Land Co., in the name of and for the county, undertook the task, knowing that should the un- dertaking prove a success, its credit would go to the county, while a fail- ure would be set down against the company.
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