Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 52

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274

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Mr. Spillers was at this time quite an old man, as nearly forty years had elapsed since the Goliad massacre ; and he was probably also in reduced circumstances. The old soldier states in this affidavit that he is entitled to a

*Documents in the possession of Mrs. E. T. Nottingham, of Thomaston, Georgia.

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CRAWFORD

pension "by reason of his having served as a volunteer in the army of Texas, under Colonel Fannin, in the Texas revolutions, in the years 1835 and 1836, having escaped the massacre of Fannin's command by reason of being kept a prisoner and laborer by the Mexicans."* Mr. Wal- ker believed implicitly in the justice of the old soldier's claim, to secure which he made a special trip to Texas, bearing a letter of introduction from Governor James M. Smith.

Anecdote of Joseph Beckham Cobb narrates the fol- lowing incident of Mr. Crawford's

Mr. Crawford's

School-Days. school-days at Mount Carmel :

"It was determined by himself and some of the elder school boys to enliven the annual public examinations by representing a play. They se- lected Addison's Cato; and, in forming the cast of characters, that of the Roman Senator was of course, assigned to the usher. Crawford was a man of extraordinary height and large limbs, and was always ungraceful and awkward, besides being constitutionally unfitted, in every way, to act any character but his own. However, he cheerfully consented to play Cato. It was a matter of great sport, even during rehearsal as his com- panions beheld the huge, unsightly usher, with giant strides and stentorian tones, go through with the representation of the stern, precise old Roman. But, on the night of the exhibition, an accident, eminently characteristic of the counterfeit Cato, occurred, which effectually broke up the denou- ment of the tragedy. Crawford had conducted the Senate scene with tolerable success, thoughi rather boisterously for so solemn an occasion, and had even managed to struggle through with the apostrophe to the soul; but, when the dying scene behind the curtain came to be acted, Cato's groan of agony was bellowed out with such hearty good earnest as totally to scare away the tragic muse, and set prompter, players and audience in a general, unrestrained fit of laughter. This was, we believe, the future statesman's first and last theatrical attempt."*

Knoxville. Four counties of Georgia were organized by an act approved December 23, 1822, viz., DeKalb, Bibb, Pike and Crawford; and, for the last

*Joseph Beckham Cobb, in Leisure Hours.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

named of these counties, the site of public buildings was fixed at a convenient place called Knoxville, in honor of Gen. Henry Knox, of the Revolution. The town was in- corporated on December 24, 1825, with the following pio- neer residents named as commissioners : John Harvey, John Vance, Frank Williamson, Jesse Stone, Martin T. Ellis.1 At the same time a charter was granted to the Knoxville Academy, with Messrs. James Lloyd, Cole- man M. Roberts, Edward Barker, Levi Stanford, and Wm. Lockett as trustees.2 Miss Joanna E. Troutman, who designed the Lone Star flag of Texas, was a resident of Knoxville, where she was living when the war for Texan independence began in 1836.

COWETA.

Bullsboro.

Volume 1. pp. 484-486.

Newnan. Newnan, the county-seat of Coweta County, has already been treated at some length in the former volume of this work, as the successor of old Bulls- boro, a town out of which it grew, and the site of which is today marked by an old pecan tree which stands some two miles to the north-east of the present court-house. During the past few years the growth of Newnan has been marked. Its cotton mills employ an army of operatives and produce annually an enormous output of the best fab- rics. As a commercial center, with fine railway facilities, the town supplies an extensive trade, while the sur- rounding country is rich in agricultural products. There is a briskness, a vim, and a stir about the city of Newnan, an evidence of thrift on its streets and in its market- places, the like of which can be found in few communities of its size; and with the impetus acquired from its re-

1 Acts, 1825, p. 183.

2 Acts, 1825, p. 9.

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COWETA

cent growth, it will eventually become one of the largest towns of the State. Its per capita of wealth is already considerably above the average. Many of its homes are palatial; its schools afford the very best educational ad- vantages; and its local affairs are controlled by men of intelligence, of character, and of enthusiasm for the pub- lic weal. Long before the war it was widely known as a seat of learning on account of the prestige of its noted Temple College. Some of Georgia's best families have

long been identified with Newnan, such as the Dents, the Berrys, the Bigbys, the Norths, the Pinsons, the Kirbys, the Halls, the Wrights, the Thompsons, the Mclendons, the Mckinleys, the Calhouns, the Hills, the Rays, the Caldwells, the Coles, the Hardaways, the Nimmonses, the Orrs, the Robinsons, and the Powells. From its profes- sional and business ranks have come some of the most distinguished men of Georgia, such as Hon. W. B. W. Dent, Judge Hugh Buchanan and Judge John S. Bigby, all of whom were members of Congress; Gov. Wm. Y. Atkinson, former Attorney-General, Hewlette A. Hall, Dr. A. B. Calhoun, whose son, the renowned specialist, lately deceased, Dr. A. W. Calhoun, spent his boyhood days in Newnan ; Hon. Peter Francisco Smith, a distinguished le- gal scholar, writer, and man of affairs; Judge Dennis F. Hammond, Judge L. H. Featherstone, Judge Owen H. Kenan, Judge John D. Berry, Judge R. W. Freeman, Dr. James Stacy, for more than forty years pastor of the Presbyterian church, a scholar and a historian; Prof. M. P. Kellogg, a noted educator ; Carlisle Mckinley, a gifted poet and journalist; Hon. Ezekiel Mckinley; Hon. J. J. Mcclendon, and a host of others.

Oak Hill. Historie Church-yards and Burial-Grounds.

College Temple. One of the most noted institutions of learning in Georgia during the last half of the Nineteenth Cen- tury was "College Temple." at Newnan, a college for women, and the first

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

to grant the higher degree, for in a printed address by the president, Prof. Kellogg, given on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the school he refers to "that maiden commencement (in 1855). when the degree-Magistra in Artibus (M. A.)-was conferred the first time by a female college in America. "

The college was the life work of Prof. Moses Payson Kellogg, the sole proprietor and president. Prof. Kellogg was born in Richford, Vt., on May 19th, 1823. He graduated at the University of Vermont, at Bur- lington, and came to Georgia about 1843. His first school was at Rock Springs Academy, in Coweta County; and his snecess there attracted the attention of the trustees of the Newnan Academy, who invited him to take charge of that institution. This he did in 1849.

Prof. Kellogg was a very scholarly man, splendidly educated, with a wonderful amount of executive ability. He kept fully abreast of the times and introduced into his school many useful aids for imparting knowledge. When teaching at the academy he had a telegraph instrument with wires encircling the building, and brought to the town a daguerreotype artist with his newly invented instrument.

In December, 1851, Miss Harriet Robie Baker came from Weare, N. H., where she was born, August 14th, 1825, to teach at the Academy under Prof. Kellogg. They were married the following August 4th. Throughont, his wife was his counsellor and chief assistant, always at his side.

Prof. Kellogg believed thoroughly in the higher education of girls as an important factor toward improving the men of the future, and he con- ceived the idea of founding in Newnan, a college for women only. This he located on a plot of ground on the east side of the present Temple Av- enue between Clark and College Streets. The corner stone of the first building of "College Temple" was laid on May 19th, 1852, and the first term of the school was opened on Sept. 7th, 1853. The college was chartered by an act of the State Legislature on Feb. 11th, 1854, and the first grad- uating class of eight girls received their M. A. degree in June, 1855.

The school buildings were three in number, all of attractive architecture, designed by Prof. Kellogg. These were located on extensive grounds laid out in artistic style with long hedges and walks, and groups of trees and shrubs. The dormitory was a large square three-story building, entirely surrounded by an upper and lower veranda. The main building, known as Areade Hall, contained a large anditorium, school assembly hall, class rooms and library. This library was one of the interesting features of the school and held several hundred volumes of reference books, classics and high class fiction, besides numerons globes, charts, astronomical and geo- metrical maps and maps on physical geography. Many specimens of gold and other minerals were used in the study of mineralogy. The third build- ing, the Laboratory, was well equipped with instruments for experiments in chemistry, electricity and physics.

The "Fly Leaf," the school paper, made its first appearance in 1855, and continued many years. It was edited by the senior class, and after the

699

CRISP

first few years, set up and printed by them at the college. The school con- tained a primary and a collegiate department, with a large corps of teachers. In the collegiate department besides Greek and Latin, the Ger- man, French and Italian languages were taught.

Important to note is the fact that this was the first school for girls in the state to teach industrial work, typography and telegraphy having been taught almost from the beginning. Cooking and sewing were taught also at this period, but left to the choice of the pupil. The students came from Georgia and the surrounding states, and a few from New England and the West. No pupil was turned away for lack of money, and hundreds of girls were educated free by this good man. In these Prof. Kellogg took great pride. The annual commencements lasted several days, and attracted large crowds.

In 1864 the school session was discontinued for several months, and the 7 buildings occupied by hospitals for wounded and sick Confederate sol- diers. The senior class was, however, graduated that year as usual. The school continued without other interruption until the last class received its diplomas in June, 1889.

Owing to Prof. Kellogg's advanced age and the establishment of the public school system in Newnan in 1888, the college was discontinued. All the buildings were destroyed in 1904, except the Laboratory, which was made into a dwelling. There is a large marble shaft in the Newnan cem- etery erected to Prof. Kellogg by his loving pupils, which recalls the past of this noble institution, and the work of this good man .*

CRISP.

Fort Early. Some twelve miles to the south of the pres- ent town of Cordele was located a strong- hold which, in pioneer days, played an important part in defending our exposed frontier: Fort Early. It was named for a distinguished Governor of this State who oc- cupied the executive chair when the fort was built during the war of 1812. It was constructed by Gen. David Black- shear, a noted Indian fighter, and afterwards used by Gen. E. P. Gaines and Gen. Andrew Jackson. As to the character of the fort, little is known, but it was probably a stockade fort like Fort Hawkins, designed especially for Indian warfare on the border. Between Fort Early

*Authority: Miss Ruby Felder Ray, State Editor, D. A. R. Atlanta, Ga.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

and Cordele runs a little branch known as Cedar Creek, where the last attack made by the Creek Indians upon the whites in this section of Georgia was successfully repelled, on January 22, 1818. Two gallant American soldiers, Capt. Leigh, and a private, Samuel Loftis, per- ished at this place while trying to find a safe passage across the swollen stream for a portion of Jackson's army. They were shot by the savages from ambush.

Cordele.

Vol. I. pp. 499-501.

DADE.

Trenton. On December 25, 1837, an Act was approved by Gov. George R. Gilmer, creating the county of Dade out of lands formerly included in Walker. The place chosen as a county-site was first called Salem. But there were a number of localities throughout the State, including not a few old churches and camp-grounds, which bore this name. Consequently, in 1840, it was changed to Trenton.1 On February 18, 1854, the town was incorpor- ated with the following named commissioners : James M. Hill, Robert L. Hawkins, Horace Lindsay, Wm. C. Shan- ock, and Manoes Morgan.2

1 Acts, 1840, p. 36.

2 Acts, 1854, p. 251.

701

DAWSON

Dawsonville. Dawson County was formed from Lumpkin, in 1858, and named for the distinguished Wm. C. Dawson, a United States Senator from Georgia, then lately deceased. The site chosen for public buildings was called Dawsonville; and, on Dec. 10, 1859, the town was incorporated with the following named commis- sioners : Dr. John Hockinhull, J. M. Bishop, Lawson Hope, Samuel C. Johnson, and Wm. Barrett .*

Recollections of In a letter to Major Stephen F. Mil- William C. Dawson. ler, Judge Dawson's son, Edgar G. Dawson, writes thus concerning the distinguished statesman and jurist :

"I see that the Masonic Fraternity is preparing to raise a monument to his memory and to establish a 'Dawson Professorship' in the Masonic Fe- male College.

"My father was very liberal in his donations to such institutions. He was always active in the cause of education. As you are aware, he was eminently social-remarkably fond of the chase-always kept a fine pack of fox-hounds, the fleetest in the country, for he spared no expense in procuring them. He was the best horseman I ever saw, surpassing all his companions in his exploits upon the field. I have frequently seen him from day-break until night in the chase of the red fox, and then return home and work in his office until twelve or one o'clock. I think he was one of the most industrious men I ever knew.

"He made companions of his children, and never failed to have them with him, when not inconvenient to do so-upon the circuit, at Washington, in his travels, on the plantation. He seemed delighted in the chase to see his sons' well mounted, contesting with him the palm of horsemanship, in leaping fences and ditches, and in keeping nearest the hounds in full pur- suit through woods and fields. * * * * ** * *

· "Just a few months prior to his death he wrote me: 'I shall return to the practice in the spring, and, having naught to draw my attention from it. I shall expect to be pointed at by the people and to hear them say: 'There is a rising and promising young man who will soon make his mark

*Acts. 1859, p. 152.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

at the bar.' He always contended that he was never over thirty years of age, and in fact, he was as able and active at fifty-eight as he was at thirty-eight. ''

DECATUR

Bainbridge. Under an Act, approved December 19, 1823, organizing the county of Decatur, the follow- ing named commissioners were chosen to select a county- seat to superintend the erection of public buildings there- on, to-wit : Duncan Ray, Wm. Hawthorn, Philip Pittman, John Sanders, and Martin Hardin1 The site chosen was a point of land overlooking the Flint River, within a mile of Fort Hughes. It was called Bainbridge, in honor of the gallant naval officer, William Bainbridge, who com- manded the celebrated frigate "Constitution." The coun- ty itself was named for the illustrious American Com- modore Stephen Decatur. On December 22, 1829, the town was chartered with the following named commis- sioners : Peter Cohen, Daniel Belcher, Jethro W. Kieth, Matthew R. Moore, and Jeremiah H. Taylor.2 The old Decatur Academy was chartered on December 19, 1829, with Messrs. Alexander McGowan, Wm. Whiddon, John DeGraffenreid, Wm. Williams, Wm. Powell, and Thomas King as trustees.3 In 1840 a female seminary was char- tered. Bainbridge is today one of the most important commercial centers of the State, with extensive railway and steamboat connections. It is also the center of a territory rich in agricultural resources. See Vol. 1. for additional facts in regard to Bainbridge.

1Acts, 1823, p. 58.

2 Acts, 1829, p. 186.

3 Acts, 1829, p. 10.

703

DECATUR

Fort Hughes (Bainbridge).

Volume 1. Page 504.

Fort Scott. This stronghold was built during one of the campaigns against the Seminole Indians in Florida. It was located on the west bank of the Flint River, a stream then called by the Indians "Throna- teeska." The Fort was named for Gen. Winfield Scott, a distinguished officer of the United States Army, under whose leadership the campaign was conducted. Nothing is known at this time concerning the character of the fort, which was probably little more than an earthwork, en- closed by a stockade.

Distinguished Res- idents of Decatur.

Volume I. Pages 506-507.

Attapulgus. Attapulgus, a town on the Southern & Florida line, in the lower part of the county, is one of the oldest com- munities in Decatur, founded some time in the eighteen-thirties. The Pleasant Grove Academy, located at this place, was chartered in 1836, but three years later the name of the school was changed to the Attapulgus Academy, and at this time the following trustees were chosen. to-wit .: Thomas, Hines, William Williams, Daniel T. Lane, John Durham, Asa Hutchings and Hiram King.1 Five new trustees were added in 1841, as follows: James E. Martin, Edmond Smart, William Martin, Joshna Grant and Isaac M. Griffin.2 In 1849, John H. Gibson, Daniel MeKinnis and Robert J. Smallwood were added to the board.3 On January 22, 1852, a charter was granted for a female school, with the following named trus- tees, to-wit .: James Gibson, Andrew McElroy, Emery Lassiter, William Smith, Thomas R. Smith, Charles J. Munnerlyn and John P. Dickinson, to be styled "Trustees of the Female Amademy of AttapnIgus."" The town was incorporated December 21, 1866, with Messrs. Emery Lasseter, George W. Donalson, Thomas R. Smith, W. A. B. Lasseter and L. H. Peacock named as commissioners.

1 Acts, 1839, p. 6.

2 Acts, 1841, p. 10.

3 Acts, 1849-1850, p. 22.

4 Acts, 1851-1852, p. 329.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

DEKALB

Decatur. DeKalb County was organized in 1822 from Henry and Fayette counties and was named for the celebrated Baron DeKalb, of Revolutionary dis- tinction. The county-site was called Decatur, for the famous American Commodore, Stephen Decatur, whose brilliant naval exploits were then still fresh in the public mind. Decatur was formally incorporated as a town, on December 10, 1823, with the following named commis- sioners : Reuben Cone, Wm. Morris, Wm. Gresham, James White, and Thos. A. Dobbs.1 The DeKalb County Acad- emy was chartered on December 18, 1825, but the charter was amended one year later, at which time the following trustees were named: Samuel T. Bailey, Zachariah Hol- loway, Wm. Ezzard, Joseph Morris, Joseph D. Shoemate, Reuben Cone, James Blackstocks, Wm. Towns, Merrill Collier, Samuel Prewett, and James M. C. Montgomery.2 Decatur is one of the strongest Presbyterian communi- ties of the State, outside of the large cities. The church of this denomination here is the mother church of this section of Georgia.

Agnes Scott College, one of the most noted schools of the country for the education of young ladies, is lo- cated here, under Presbyterian control. Decatur was the home of the famous poet and painter, Dr. Thomas Holley Chivers. Hon. Charles Murphey and Hon. Mil- ton A. Candler, both members of Congress, also lived in Decatur. This wideawake community has recently or- ganized a Chamber of Commerce, whose enterprising ac- tivities have been the wonder of the State resulting lo- cally in a rapid increase in the town's volume of business, besides arousing the emulation of other communities.

1 Acts, 1823, p. 169.

2 Acts, 1825, p. 5.

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DODGE

Stone Mountain.

Distinguished Res- idents of DeKalb.

Pages 245-252.

Vol. 1. pp. 512-514.

DODGE

Eastman. On October 26, 1870, an Act was approved cre- ating the new county of Dodge out of lands formerly included in three large counties of this section : Montgomery, Telfair and Pulaski. Under the terms of this same Act, the county seat was fixed at Eastman, oth- erwise known as station number 13, on what was then the Macon and Brunswick Railroad.1 The town was chartered in a separate Act approved on the day fol- lowing, at which time Messrs. John L. Parker, David M. Buchan, J. J. Rozar, E. E. Lee, and John F. Livingston were named commissioners.2 The county was named for William E. Dodge, of New York, a wealthy merchant, whose lumber interests in this immediate section were extensive, in addition to large holdings on St. Simon's Island. The town was named for Mr. W. P. Eastman, a native of New England, who organized the Dodge Land Company, a syndicate largely instrumental in develop- ing this part of Georgia. The present public school sys- tem of the town was established in 1894. Eastman is the center of a rich agricultural section and is one of the most progressive trade centers in Georgia, possessing several strong banks, a number of solid business estab- lishments, and m .. ny elegant homes.

The Eastman Riot. Eastman, the capital of Dodge County, in what is known as Middle South Georgia, has an un- usual record. Here a hanging occurred in 1882, in which four men and a woman suffered the penalty of death. This is believed to be the largest

1 Acts, 1870, p. 18.

2 Acts, 1870, p. 186.

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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

number of people ever legally executed at the same time in any place in the United States. The hanging was the culmination of what was known as the Eastman Riot, and to the eredit of the town, although it was only in its teens, the law was allowed to take its course, and Judge Lynch was kept in the background. It is an interesting story and deserves to go down in history as one of the bloody chapters of the Black Belt.

On Sunday, August 6, 1882 a big negro camp meeting began in East- man. The town at that time was only a small village. Fully three thou- sand negroes from the surrounding country came in on several special ex- eursion trains. Provisions were made for a few white people, and among them was Jim Harwood, a boy about eighteen years old from Cochran, who came to visit relatives. In Eastman at that time there were nine drug stores, most of them being places opened for the sale of whiskey and calling themselves drug stores to keep within the law. Into these places many of the negroes, both men and women, went to fill up on fire-water, and soon they had reached the danger line.

One negro stole a watel of another and was detected. He was arrested and taken in charge by two town marshals, A. P. Harrell and B. A. Buchan. They started with him toward the calaboose. but he had been drinking enough to make him obstreperous, and he began an attack on the officers. He succeeded in freeing himself and ran. Buchan, thinking to frighten him, fired at him. The ball hit him just where his suspenders were erossed in the back, and he fell dead.

Great excitement followed among the negroes, most of whom were half drunk, and they gathered themselves into a howling mob not less than a thousand strong, and pursued the officers, both of whom managed to escape. As the mob turned a corner, young Harwood saw them coming, and ran. Thinking he was one of the officers, the negroes, like a pack of wolves, followed. He ran to the home of Mr. Wright Harrell and crawled under the house. The family was at dinner, and young Harwood ran into the back room and hid under the bed. The negroes stormed the house, and Mr. Harrell begged them to leave, assuring them that their man was not there. Brushing him aside, they broke into the house and soon found the unfortunate youth. They dragged him out. beating him with clubs and pistols. As they came out with him an old negro, who had been a slave of his father, foreed his way through the crowd, and throw- ing his arms about the young man's neck, begged that his life be spared. He was beaten into insensibility, and then the boy was shot and beaten to death with pickets snatched from the fence by the members of the blood- thirsty mob. As Harwood was being dragged into the house, Ella Moore, a negro woman, ran up and made several desperate efforts to cut his throat.

The death of the boy seemed to arouse the negroes to a sense of their danger, and rushing to the trains they compelled the trainmen, at the point of revolvers, to pull out of town. Many of the negroes were left, and soon they were fleeing in all directions.

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DOOLY

In about an hour fifty or more farmers, armed to the teeth, rode into Eastman. They were organized and began a systematic search for the rioters. The jail was soon filled with prisoners, and there was a strong sentiment to lynch the whole crowd. This was strengthened when it was learned that three people who had been sick had died from the shock they had sustained when they had heard of the riot. There were conservative men enough in the town to let the law take its course, and soon there were twenty-two prisoners in the jail, with evidenee enough against them to convict.

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Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 52

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co. Number of Pages: 1274

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274