Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 76

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

USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II > Part 76

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

967

RICHMOND

without hostilities. Walker, a comrade of Elzey in the Federal service, seized the latter's hand and assured him that he had done all that could be required of a brave man. Elzey, overcome by the situation which pre- saged the breaking up of the old army and the deadly conflict of former friends, could only reply by throwing his arm around his comrade silently, while tears filled the eyes of those who witnessed the scene. Walker be- came a Major-General in the Confederat Army, was distinguishd for his reckless daring, and finally gave his life in the great batttle on the hills around Atlanta. Elzey also entered the Confederate service as soon as circumstances permitted, and was one of the most distinguished represen- tatives of Maryland in the Army of Northern Virginia. His cool and in- trepid action on the field of First Manassas won for him the rank of brig- adier-general and the title of "the Blucher of the day" from the lips of President Davis. Under Jackson he achieved additional renown and was promoted to the rank of major-general, but wounds received before Richmond in 1862 deprived the cause of his further active service in the field. After a salute of thirty-three guns, the Stars and Stripes fluttered down the garrison staff."

Origin of the Chil- dren of the Con- federacy: Augusta the Birthplace. This patriotic society originated at the Third Annual Convention of the Georgia Division of the U. D. C., which met at Augusta, on October 14, 1897. The following story contains an all- thoritative account of how it arose: "In the afternoon of the 14th, Miss Bunnie Love, of Atlanta, read a strong paper advocating the organizing of children's chap- ters of Daughters of the Confederacy, but Mrs. McDowell Wolff had before this organized a band of children in Savannah and called them Children of the Confederacy. A committee was appointed by Mrs. Eve, the president, as follows: Miss Bunnie Love, chairman; Mrs. W. F. Eve, Miss Rosa Woodberry, Mrs. R. E. Park, Mrs. B. O. Miller.

"This committee was given authority to draw up the plans for organ- izing these chapters as branches of the main division.

"The committee was afterwards changed to the following personnel: Mrs. Charles Rice, chairman; Mrs. McDowell Wolff, Mrs. William M. Nixon, Miss Susie Gerdine, Miss Sallie Jones, Miss Bunnie Love.

"The report of this committee was read at the Rome Convention October, 1898, and adopted, after which a letter was read from Mrs. McDowell Wolff, on the importance of teaching the children true history. Mrs. Charles Rice, of Atlanta, offered the following resolution :

" ¥ Whereas, Mrs. E. P. McDowell Wolff originated the Order of Chil- dren of the Confederacy in Georgia, be it

"' 'Resolved, That in recognition of this act of patriotism she be known as the Founder of the order, and her name be thus inscribed upon docu-

968

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

ments wherein the names of the officers appear.' This resolution was unanimously adopted."

Georgia's Georgia's oldest bank was chartered by Oldest Bank. the Legislature, on December 6, 1810, and was styled the "Bank of Augusta." Its capital stock was $300,000, divided into shares of $100 each; and of this sum $50,000 was reserved for the State of Georgia, subject to the approval of the law-making authorities. In the event the State became a stockholder in the bank, it was stipulated that the Governor, Treas- urer, and Comptroller-General, should be entitled, at each succeeding election, to name two members of the board of directors. As given in the bank's charter, the original board of directors consisted of the following stockholders : Thomas Cumming, its first president ; John Howard, Richard C. Tubman, John McKinne, James Gardner, Hugh Nesbit, David Reid, John Moore, John Campbell, John Willson, Anderson Watkins, John Car- michael, and Ferdinand Phinzy. The charter was signed by Gov. David B. Mitchell, as Governor, and by the pre- siding officers of the two law-making bodies : Hon. Jared Irwin, President of the Senate, and Hon. Benjamin Whit- aker, Speaker of the House of Representatives .*

Whitney's " Whitney 's plan of getting his gins into use was unpop- Cotton Gin. ular among the farmers. He would either buy the cotton himself, or charge one-third of it for ginning. He did not at first sell his gins. The farmers generally thought Whitney was trying to keep the use of his gins too much within his own control. Much began to be said about the 'gin monopoly.' All of this was unfortunate for Whitney, because, although others claimed it, the honor of having invented the cotton gin clearly belongs to Eli Whitney. After the gin was invented, Whitney established his machines in various places in Georgia for the purpose of buying and ginning cotton. One of these was near Augusta, about. two miles south of the city. The dam is still seen which held the water to furnish the power. Whitney's machines were

969

ROCKDALE-SCHLEY-SCREVEN

at first called cotton engines, but this name was soon contracted into cotton gins. "*

ROCKDALE

Conyers. In 1870, Rockdale County was organized from Newton and Henry, with Conyers as the county- seat; but Conyers was at this time a town of some im- portance, on the line of the Georgia Railroad. Its char- ter of incorporation was granted on February 16, 1854, with the following-named commissioners, to-wit .: A. C. Hulsey, Daniel Zachery, Stephen Mayfield, A. R. Rich- ardson and James J. Poole.1 In Volume I of this work will be found an extended sketch of the town of Conyers.

SCHLEY

Ellaville. In December 22, 1857, an Act was approved creating the new County of Schley out of lands formerly including in Sumter and Marion and the judges of the Inferior Court were authorized to choose a site for public buildings. Ellaville, the county-seat, was in- corporated as a town on November 23, 1859, at which time the following pioneer residents were named as com- missioners : J. Stephens, H. Davis, R. Burton, H. L. French and Mr. Strange.2 The town was reincorporated in 1883.

SCREVEN

Volume I. Jacksonboro.

Sylvania. In 1793, Screven County was formed out of Burke and Effingham, with the old town of Jacksonboro as the county-seat, and for nearly fifty years there was no change in the seat of government. But

1 Acts, 1853-1854, p. 259.

2 Acts, 1859, p. 154.

970

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

in 1847 a new town rose in the wilderness. On a fifty- acre tract of land purchased from Charles Church and Azerialı Ennis at this time was founded the present town of Sylvania. The commissioners who made this purchase and who located the new county-seat were: John R. Kit- tles, Willis Young, William Lovett, John Roberts, Moses N. McCall, Solomon Zeigler and John A. Gross.1 Syl- vania was incorporated as a town on February 20, 1854, with the following commissioners: Dominick J. Dillon, Winsley Hobbey, Daniel E. Roberts, William Williams and Charles Church.2 With solid banks, wide-awake business establishments, good schools and attractive homes, Sylvania is today one of the most progressive towns of Georgia. Hon. George R. Black, a former member of Congress, lived at Sylvania. His father, Hon. Edward J. Black, was also at one time a resident of Screven.

Historic Traditions : A Tragedy of the Swamp.

Pages 474-478.

Recollections of Major Stephen F. Miller has sketched

Edward J. Black. for us the following portrait of Ed- ward J. Black, a distinguished resi- dent of Screven. Says he:

"Mr. Black was for six years a member of Congress-from 1839 to 1845. He made several speeches, which gave him a high rank in debate and for elegant scholarship. His diction partook of the purity of Wilde, with much of his elevation of sentiment; and it also possessed some of the causticity of Randolph when impaling an adversary. The comparison is not intended to be perfect, but merely to denote qualities more or less developed. Mr. Black was unquestionably a man of genius. His nature was impulsive, his organization acute. He felt a passion for excellence and took proper models in history for his guide. Enjoying wealth and position, he lived to see much of the world. His imagination was too pro- lific and his 'taste too severely disciplined to be content with the attainable;

1 Acts, 1847, p. 75.

2 Acts, 1853-1854, p. 270.

971

SPALDING

and he looked for something which is not permitted to man-the sublime in both the intellect and the affections. Like other men of genius, he possessed a constitutional malady which preyed upon his spirits. He was often sad, perhaps murmured unwisely, demanding why he was smitten. But . .

. in the dying hour he saw that all was right; the gloom vanished and the darkness of this world gave way to the light of another. The author was acquainted with Mr. Black. They spent an evening to- gether, more than twenty years ago [1855] at the mansion of a well-known citizen [General Blackshear, of Laurens]. He was fully what he claimed to be, both in the vivacity of his' wit and in the art of making others happy by his conversation. He was then in the zenith of his manhood, apparently free from disease, and bade fair to survive the humble invalid who now dictates this greateful offering to his memory. ''1

SPALDING

Griffin. Griffin, the county-seat of Spalding, was named for General L. L. Griffin, the first president of the old Monroe Railroad, now a part of the Central of Georgia. It was granted a charter of incorporation in 1843, at which time it was one of the flourishing railway towns of Pike. Later on, in 1851, when Spalding County was organized out of Pike and Henry, Griffin became the county-seat of Spalding. But, to go back a few years, the old Griffin Male and Female Academy was chartered on December 4, 1841, with the following named trustees, to-wit .: Pitt S. Milner, William M. Leak, James L. Long, James Butler and Wesley Leak.2 From a list of trustees named in the charter of Marshall College, an institution founded in 1853, the names of some of the prominent citizens of Griffin for the decade just before the Civil War have been obtained. These trustees are named as follows: Jesse H. Campbell, Augustus L. Brodus, Alfred Buckner, J. Q. A. Alford, Parker Eason, Hendley Varner, Andrew W. Walker, James H. Stark, all of the Flint River Baptist Association; William R. Phillips, representing the City Council of Griffin ; Ware- ham W. Woodruff, from the Presbyterian Church; Will- iam Freeman, from the Methodist Church; William West-

1 Stephen F. Miller, in Bench and Bar of Georgia, Vol. 1.

2 Acts, 1841, p. 6.

972

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

moreland, from the Christian Church; Charles H. John- son, from the Odd Fellows, and Jason Burr, from the Methodists .* During this same year, the old Griffin Collegiate Seminary was rechartered as the Griffin Fe- male College and entered upon what promised to be a career of great usefulness; but, like the ambitious en- terprise launched by the Baptists, it went down before the oncoming storm of the Civil War. The first monu- ment erected in Georgia to the Confederate dead stands in Griffin, a town whose homes were converted into hos- pitals for the sick and wounded, whose devoted women became ministering angels at the couches of the suffering, and whose loyalty to a Lost Cause, manifested in a thou- sand tender ways, has made its very name forever fra- grant with the sweetest of Confederate memories. Some of the State's most noted men have lived in Griffin, but since a list of these residents has been given in Volume I of this work, it is needless to repeat them here. Today Griffin is one of the chief manufacturing towns of Geor- gia, a city whose pulsing arteries of commerce bespeak the vigorous young blood of a new Dixie ; but one needs only to enter the stately old homes of Griffin to find that in everything worth while the ideals of a gentler time are still preserved.

Some of Griffin's Attractive Homes. Griffin is a city of beautiful homes. Some of these were built in the spacious days of the old regime, and have come down to the present time rich in the lore of a former generation. Judge Robert T. (Daniel's home is one of the fine old landmarks. It was built by his grandfather, General E. P. Daniel, in the early days of Griffin. The old Bailey home, built by Colonel David J. Bailey, a former member of Congress, is today owned by his daughter, Mrs. C. H. Tebeault, of New Orleans. The old Female College, built in the eighteen-fifties, and used as a hospital during the Civil War, one of the oldest structures in Griffin, is now owned and occu- pied by Mr. Thomas R. Mills. The old Reid house, built by Judge John B. Reid, was subsequently occupied for a number of years by Hon. James C. Freeman, a former member of Congress. Today it is owned and occupied

*Acts, 1853-1854, p. 127.

973

STEPHENS

by Mr. Thomas Nall. The Chapman house, built by one of Griffin's wealthy pioneer citizens, is today the home of Captain W. J. Kincaid, perhaps the most important factor in the modern industrial life of Griffin, a man who built the first cotton mills and whose vast energies have been devoted without reserve to the growth of his adopted town. The Stark house, built by Judge William A. Stark, is now owned and occupied by Mr. Robert F. Strickland. The home of Mrs. John B. Mills was formerly owned by Mr. Obadiah Gibson, afterwards by Mrs. Emily Lewis, and now by her granddaughter, the present occupant. The Henry P. Hill home is today occupied by his widow, who here resides with her daugli- ter, Mrs. Fleming G. Bailey. The Ben Milner place is now the property of Mr. Henry Walker, of Monroe. The handsome old Sims house became in after years the home of Mr. Joseph D. Boyd. Mary Villa, built by Colonel L. T. Doyal, is now' owned by Dr. M. F. Carson. Other beautiful homes in and around Griffin are owned by the following substantial citi- zens : Judge J. J. Flint, Mr. Seaton Grantland, Mr. James M. Brawner, Hon. W. E. H. Searcy, Jr., Hon. W. E. H. Searcy, Sr., Judge T. E. Pat- terson, Mr. Douglas Boyd, Mr. Junius Gresham, Mr. W. H. Powell, Dr. J. C., Owen, Judge Lloyd Cleveland, Mr. B. R. Blakely, Mr. W. H. Newton, Mr. C. E. Newton, Mr. J. P. Nichols, Mrs. Edward C. Smith, Mrs. B. C. Faircloth, Mr. W. B. Matthews, Mr. B. B. Brown, Mr. David Johnson, Mr. Lee Manley and others. Overshadowed by ancestral oaks, not a few of the fine old mansions of Griffin picture to the mind 's eye what Mrs. Heamans has portrayed in one of her most exquisite poems as the "stately homes of England."

STEPHENS

Toccoa. On August 18, 1895, an Act was approved cre- ating the new County of Stephens, out of lands formerly embraced within Habersham and Franklin, and bestowing upon said county the name of the Great Com- moner, Alexander H. Stephens. Toccoa was designated as the new county-seat. This town sprang into exist- ence during the early seventies, when the old Charlotte Air Line, now the Southern Railway, was completed to this point. In 1875, a charter of incorporation granted to the town by the Superior Court of Habersham was confirmed by the General Assembly of Georgia. At this time the corporate limits were fixed at three-quarters of a mile from the public square in every direction. The town was named for a small stream, which at a distance

974

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

of some two miles from the town center makes a gigantic leap forming one of the most magnificent cascades in America. It was called by the Indians "Toccoa," a term signifying "the beautiful." The present public school system was established in 1892. With the building of a branch line from Toccoa to Elberton the growth of the town received a decided impetus. Today there is not a more progressive or wide-awake town in the State than Toccoa. Its high altitude gives it an unsurpassed health, record, while the rich valley lands in this neighborhood bring an abundant tribute to its markets, making it the center of a constantly growing trade. 1

STEWART

Lumpkin. Lumpkin was the county-seat of Randolph from 1828 to 1831, when it became the county- seat of Stewart, a county organized out of lands formerly included in Randolph. The town was named for Hon. Wilson Lumpkin, one of Georgia's most distinguished sons. It was settled by a fine class of people, but has never grown to any extent, for the reason that more than any other community of equal size in Georgia it has helped to build other towns and cities. Some of the most successful business men of Atlanta were trained for mercantile life in the country stores of Lumpkin- merchants like the Boyntons and the Rawsons. General Clement A. Evans, Captain William H. Harrison, Judge Marshall J. Clarke and Major Sidney Root were also at one time residents of this same town, whose virile elements of strength have galvanized the whole State. From an old list of stockholders of the famous Lumpkin Independent Academy, the names of quite a number of early pioneers have been obtained, to-wit .: James Clarke, Willard Boynton, James Redingfield, Loverd Bryan, Matthew McCullar, Hollis Boynton, Marmaduke Gresham, Benjamin May, Nathan Clifton, Nicholas E.

975

SUMTER

Morris, William A. Rawson, Charles S. Gaulden, Joseph J. Boynton, John G. Singer, John Singer, Jr., John Rich- ardson, Mary A. West, John Talbot, William H. Hard- wick, Matthew Wright, Daniel Matheson, M. D. Doney, E. W. Randle, James M. Mitchell, Francis Douglas, Joseph Glenn, Charles W. Snow, William Foster, A. H. Dickerson, Thomas H. Everett, David Harrell, William Shields, Robert A. Hardwick, Moses Parker, E. A. Mitchell, William A. Fort, George B. Perry, Bedford S. Worrell, Edward E. Rawson, Blanton Streetman, Ran- dolph Pearson, Jacob Ramser, John Crocker, Tomlin- son Fort, Miles K. Harman, Isham Watkins, Peter Adley, Artimus Lewis, Daniel A. Garrett, Madison Hill, Eras- mus T. Beall, Harris Dennard and John M. Simpson .*

SUMTER

Americus. When the first immigrants reached this local- ity some of the aborigines still remained. Settlers were attracted to this point by the fact that the spot where the town is now located was the center of the granary of the Creek Nation. There was a tradition among the Creeks that this section of the country had never failed, in all the annals of time, to produce a good crop of maize. After the Indians left they would, from time to time, return, loath to leave the spot where they had been most contented. It was the custom of the red men, in the cultivation of their special products, to bore a hole in the ground with a stick about fifteen inches deep and to place therein a fish as fertilizer, then drop- ping upon the fish a grain of corn.

Americus is located on the banks of "Au Muckalee" Creek. This beautiful Indian name was corrupted by the whites into "Muckalee." The meaning of the word is "pour upon me," the creek taking its name from a

*Acts, 1842, pp. 9-10.

976

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

spring about ten miles distant from Americus. The town was incorporated in 1832, and one of the first things the citizens did was to erect an academy and make pro- vision for educating the poor. There was an Act provid- ing that no teacher should receive funds out of the poor- school fund "unless examined and found qualified by the justices of the Inferior Court, or a majority of them."

In the following year, 1833, "Sumter County Acad- emy" was incorporated, with the following-named gen- tlemen as trustees : John J. Britt, Joseph Mims, Robert Savage, James Glass, William S. Horton, Thomas John- ston and Daniel M. Little. The new trustees appointed in 1835 were as follows: William Pegg, Mark M. Brown, John T. McCrary, Jesse Harris and Thomas Gardner.

Elections were held at the house of Sydney Smith, and Horton and Harris, instead of as formerly, at D. W. Mann's. Americus camp-ground was incorporated in 1840, with the following named as trustees: William L. McKee, William P. Hames, John W. Lommy, Quinny Bass, William Pegg and Joseph M. Wyatt. Farmer's Academy was chartered by an Act of 1842, and the ap- appointed trustees were : Frederick J. Greene, Wyatt R. Singleton, William M. Wimbush, Joseph A. S. Turner and Thomas J. Baisden. Names aforesaid are given principally, as showing a list of those among the earliest settlers.

In building the Southwestern Railroad, now the Cen- tral of Georgia, and the first railroad through this sec- tion of country, the prime mover in this undertaking was the Hon. T. M. Furlow, who was a most active spirit. By a liberal contribution he procured a deflection of the proposed road from Lumpkin to this point. Also, in the building of the Americus, Preston and Lumpkin Railroad, which is now a part of the Seaboard Air Line system. Colonel S. H. Hawkins contributed more of means and energy, to this vast enterprise, than any one else. He was president of the company, and gave to Americus what was so greatly needed, a competitive line. Since

977

SUMTER

then the little city, from a population of 3,800, has grown to its present proportions.

In 1910 the United States census gave to Americus a population of 8,200, but the town has steadily grown since then, and now, in 1914, it is estimated at over 10,000 souls. The area of the little city is five miles square. The streets are paved with wood blocks, and there are forty miles of paved sidewalks. The fine water- works are owned by the city. There are two electric light plants, and 20 miles of sanitary sewerage, 4 State banks, and 2 savings banks. An excellent climate-with a supplement of pure artesian water, six public schools, three colleges, including the Third District Agricultural College-these are among the attractions of Americus. Here also is the source of the largest musical conserva- tory in the State, "the Bell Piano Schools." The town also boasts a fine tourist and commercial hotel and a $30,000 Carnegie Library, and best of railroad facilities, with twenty-four passenger trains daily. Division head- quarters for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad are here located, and Sumter County is the "banner good roads county" of the State. Americus is on the Atlanta-An- dersonville highway, located 175 miles southwest of At- lanta, and last, but not least, there are eighteen churches of all denominations .*

Andersonville: The Some few miles to the north of Americus, on Monument to Ma- jor Henry Whirz. the line of the Central of Georgia, is Ander- sonville, a small town made famous during the Civil War by the establishment here of a noted Confederate prison and, later by the execution of Major Wirz, the officer in charge, at the hands of the Federal authorities. Soon after the close of hostilities, a cemetery was opened at Andersonville by the United States government. Most of the Federal soldiers who fell in the various engage- ments in this section of the State toward the close of the struggle are here buried. The area is well kept and is beautified by a number of attractive monuments.

*Information kindly furnished by Mrs. C. A. Fricker, Regent, Council of Safety Chapter, D. A. R., of Americus, Ga.

978

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

During the Presidential campaign of 1876, the charges against Major Wirz were revived in the most sensational manner by James G. Blaine, in the national House of Representatives. His purpose was to arouse the spirit of sectional strife in order to compass the defcat of the national Democratic ticket. There was an evident drift at the North toward Democracy; and the shrewd political orator sought, by waving the bloody shirt and by coupling the alleged prison horrors at Andersonville with the name of Democracy, to make the latter odious to the people of the Northern States. He first declared that the author of the gigantic murder and crime at Andersonville was Mr. Davis; and he next proceeded to observe that neither the deeds of the Duke of Alva in the Low Countries, nor the mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew, nor the thumb-screws and engines of torture of the Spanish inquisition, could compare in atrocity with the hideous out- rages perpetrated upon Federal soldiers in the Georgia prison. The speech was well calculated to inflame the popular mind. It was virtually an indictment of the Southern people, and was also an artful bid for votes at the North, with which to suppress the Bourbon Democracy at the South.

But the effect of the speech was neutralized in the most unexpected manner by Benjamin H. Hill, of Georgia. The latter had been the spokes- man of Mr. Davis in the Confederate Senate. He was well acquainted with the facts in the case, and the reply which he made to Mr. Blaine on this occasion was overwhelming. He not only exonerated Mr. Davis, but he put the responsibility for loss of life at Andersonville upon the United States government, in consequence of the policy which made medicines contraband of war. Such a thing, declared Mr. Hill, not even the Duke of Alva had dared to do. He also pictured the destitution at the South during the last years of the struggle, and the insufficiency of our meagre resources to; provide food and clothing for our own soldiers; whereupon he again taxed the Federal government with the blame for having deliber- ately and wilfully refused to agree to an exchange of prisoners, when such conditions were known to exist. He furthermore quoted official reports to show that there were more Confederate soldiers who died in Northern prisons than there were Federal soldiers who died in Southern prisons. The speech of Mr. Hill gave an altogether different aspect to the bill of indictment. It turned the tables upon the wily statesman from Maine, and when the popular vote was cast in the ensuing election it was found to be decidedly in favor of the Democratic ticket. Not until three States were disfranchised by the returning boards was Mr. Hayes finally seated. Thus were the tactics employed by the great Republican leader to discredit the South distinctly repudiated by the American people at the polls.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 76

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