Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 80

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

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*Acts, 1837, p. 8.

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General Gideon J. Pillow, and two detached columns of Confederate troops, a battle was here fought on June 24, 1864, known as the battle of La Fayette. The town has of late enjoyed a substantial growth. Its milling in- terests are quite large, besides which it supplies an ex- tensive mountain trade, and is a wide-awake commercial center, with a good banking capital, an excellent public- school system, and a fine body of citizens.

Georgia's Monument On the historic battle-field of Chick- at Chickamauga. amauga, near the famous La Fay- ette road, in what is now Chicka- mauga National Park, stands the superb Georgia monu- ment, a shaft of granite, colossal in proportions, orna- mented with bronze figures and entablatures. In the pre- ceding volume of this work a description of the monu- ment is given more in detail. It is perhaps the most ex- quisite work of art and the most impressive memorial structure on the entire field-an object of universal ad- miration. But equally admired by every one is the felici- tous inscription from the pen of Major Joseph B. Cum- ming, of Augusta, himself a gallant survivor of the six- ties. It reads as follows :

"To the lasting Memory of all her Sons who fought on this Field-those who fought and lived and those who fought and died, those who gave Much and those who gave All-Georgia ereets this monument."

To accomplish the ends of brevity, the Chickamauga Park Commission, as then constituted, used only a part of the inscription composed by Major Cumming, and perhaps it loses nothing in effect for this conciseness. But the inscription as written by Major Cumming is a literary unit, a model of condensed expression. It came to him on a summer evening, with the suddenness of an inspiration ; and it then and there received a form whichi

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was never afterwards altered or amended. As originally penned, the inscription is a gem worthy of preservation as a whole; and, with the author's permission, it is here- with reproduced in full :

To the lasting Memory and perpetual Glory Of all her Sons, who fought on this Field, Those who fought and lived and those who fought and died, Those who gave Much and those who gave All GEORGIA

Erects this Monument. Around it sleep Slayer and Slain All brave, all sinking to rest

Convinced of Duty done.

Glorious Battle! Blessed Peace !

This Monument stands for both of these-Glory and Peace; For this Memorial of her soldiers' valor

Georgia places on a foundation, laid for it,

In this day of Reconciliation, By those 'gainst whom they fought.

Glory and Peace encamp about this stately Shaft! Glory perennial as Chickamauga's flow, Peace everlasting as yon Lookout Mountain.

Rossville: The Historic Home of an Indian Chief. Rossville, a present-day village, near the Tennes- see line, was the old home of the famous chief of the Cherokee nation, John Ross. He was the leader of his people at the time of the removal of the tribe, in 1837, and for more than twenty-five years thereafter he continued to be the recognized head of the government in the Far West. Opposed to the treaty of removal, he headed a faction of the Cherokees known as the Ross party, in opposition to the one headed by Ridge; but he was acquitted of complicity in the murder of the treaty-makers. John Ross was an eloquent public speaker and one of the foremost orators of the Cherokee nation. The home in which the old chief lived at Ross- ville is still standing, though today a weather-beaten and spectral old ruin. It was built by John McDonald, a Scotch trader among the Cherokees, who married an Indian maiden of the full blood. Mollie, a daughter of this union, on flowering into womanhood, became the wife of Daniel Ross, a native of Inverness. There is quite a bit of forest romance con- nected with this affair. The elder Ross, soon after the Revolution, was dispatched from Baltimore to trade with the Indians; and while passing down the Tennessee River he was captured by the Cherokees, who, for

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some reason, were not friendly to his enterprise; and it was only through the strenuous intercession of John McDonald, a fellow-countryman, that his life was spared. The other members of the party met death in the wil- derness. Daniel Ross became an inmate of the MeDonald home, and falling in love with the dark-cyed Mollie he eventually married her. John Mc- Donald gave his son-in-law a good start in business by purchasing a fine stock of merchandise for him, and the foundations of the little building of hewn logs in which he kept store are still to be seen near the gate of the old Ross home. Here, on October 3, 1790, the future chief of the Cherokee nation was born. In after years, he enlarged the house built by his grandfather, adding thereto a council chamber, 23 feet in length. At first there was only one door to the council chamber, but subsequently, by way of precaution, two others were added, one of which opened into his bed-room. There was a post office established at Rossville as early as 1819, to which the mails were brought by stage-coach lines, connecting on the south with Augusta, Ga., and on the north with Nashville, Tenn. Elsewhere will be found a brief account of the removal of the Cherokee Indians, one of the most pathetic chapters' in the history of the State. John Ross died in Washington, D. C., August 1, 1866, while on a visit to the national seat of government, at the ripe age of seventy-six years. The site of the present city of Chattanooga was formerly called by the name of Ross's Landing.

WALTON

Cowpens. Under the Lottery Act of 1818, Walton County was formed out of lands then recently acquired from the Indians and named for Governor George Walton, Signer of the Declaration, and one of Georgia's most illustrious sons. In the same year a strip of land was acquired from Jackson, and three years later there was an exchange of certain parcels with Henry and a portion set off to Newton, while in 1914 a part was taken to form Barrow. The original county-seat of Walton was Cowpens, a village named for the scene of a famous Rev- olutionary battle in South Carolina. Judge John M. Dooly, the cele- brated wit, presided over the first session of the Superior Court in Walton. It was held at Cowpens, in a log house, which, according to an old account, contained cracks "large enough to throw a small shoat through," while the clerk of the court carried his most important papers in the crown of his hat.

But Cowpens is illustrious in its memories. It ceased to be the county- seat after two years, but as a suburb of Monroe it long continued to enjoy aristocratie honors. Colonel Jolin Addison Cobb, two of whose sons, Howell and Tom, became illustrious in the annals of Georgia, was one of the first settlers at Cowpens. Here, too, lived Colonel William H.

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Jackson, a son of the fiery old Governor who fought the Yazoo fraud. He married a sister of Colonel John A. Cobb; and of this union came the future Chief Justice of Georgia, Judge James Jackson. Professor Williams Rutherford lived here at one time. He married a daughter of Colonel John A. Cobb; and of this union sprang one of Georgia's brainiest. women, the gifted edneator and historian, Miss Mildred Rutherford, a native of Cowpens. Here also at one time lived Judge Junius Hillyer and his son, Judge George Hillyer. On what afterwards became the Grant place, in the present environs of Monroe, lived the great Wilson Lumpkin, after- wards United States Senator and Governor; but the pioneer's cabin in which he then resided gave way in after years to the elegant home of Colonel John T. Grant.

Monroe. It was during the era of good feeling, under President Monroe, that the permanent county- seat of Walton began to blossom amid the wilderness. Hence the name Monroe. Its charter of incorporation was granted on November 30, 1821, with the following- named commissioners, to-wit .: Elisha Betts, Vincent Har- alson, James West, James Moody and George W. Hum- phreys.1 Two of these, Elisha Betts and Vincent Haral- son, were also trustees of the Walton County Academy, along with William Johnson, Timothy C. Word and Wilson Whatley.2 On the site now occupied by Mr. John Arnold's residence stood the Female Seminary of Mon- roe. Miss Martha Printup was the first teacher. After the war Miss Jennie Johnson was for a time in charge. Miss Johnson subsequently married Judge John P. Ed- wards, clerk of the court for nearly forty years. The Male Academy stood in the McDaniel grove. Here, for a number of years the afterwards noted Dr. G. A. Nun- nally, a prince of educators, taught the youth of Monroe. Later he became the first principal of Johnston Insti- tute, a school endowed by Nehemiah Johnston, a wealthy citizen of the town. Mr. Johnston was a man of Northern birth, who came to Monroe some time before the Civil War and amassed a fine property, but died without heirs, bequeathing a large part of his estate to education.

1 Acts, 1821, p. 125.

2 Acts, 1821, p. 3.

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On the site of Mr. C. T. Mobley's home, Prof. A. J. Burruss, for a long time, taught a school for boys. Prof. Burruss was a splendidly equipped teacher, whose mem- ory is still green in the hearts of his old pupils. Johnston Institute at a later period was destroyed by fire, to be replaced by the present handsome public school building of Monroe. Only a small part of the original sum be- queathed by Mr. Johnston still remained, but this rem- hant has been invested in a school near the cotton mills, to which the generous donor's name has been given. Only a short distance out from Monroe stands the Fifth Dis- triet Agricultural School, a prosperous State institution. In 1882, a line of railway running from Monroe to Social Circle was completed, and later a line to Gainesville, each giving the town a renewed commercial impetus. With up-to-date public utilities, Monroe is fully abreast of the times, boasting two cotton factories, an oil mill, several strong banks, and scores of wide-awake business estab- lishments. Monroe has been the home of many distin- guished Georgians, including the Colquitts-Walter T. and Alfred H. It is still the home of Governor Henry D. McDaniel, the town's foremost citizen, and one of the most beloved of Georgians. In the neighborhood of Mon- roe was fought the famous battle of Jack's Creek, in 1787 .*

Isaac Smith, a soldier of the Revolution, sleeps near Monroe, in a grave unmarked.

Social Circle. Located at the junction of the Georgia Railway with the Georgia Midland, Social Circle is a town of wide-awake industrial and commercial activities, owning one of the largest fertilizer plants in

*Two articles on Walton County, one by Judge Ben J. Edwards, and one by Mrs. G. A. Lewis, constitute the sources from which much of this information has been derived.

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the State, besides a cotton mill, two banks, and numerous mercantile establishments. It is said that the town de- rived its name from an incident in pioneer times, when a party of convivial spirits were here seated around a camp fire, freely imbibing the ardent. One of the number, in a moment of hilarity, made the remark, to which the others readily gave assent, that here was a "social circle," and from this circumstance arose the name of the present town. The Social Circle Academy was granted a charter on December 22, 1828, with the follow- ing board of trustees, to-wit .: Wilson Whatley, Joseph Peeples, Weldon Jones, James Philips, and Elisha Hen- derson.1 But the town itself was not incorporated until December 22, 1832, when the following commissioners were named: Wilson Whatley, Samuel Catley, Lewis Maine, George W. Walker and S. J. T. Whatley.2

WARREN

Warrenton. In 1793, Warren County was organized out of Richmond, Columbia and Wilkes Coun- ties, with Warrenton as the county-seat. Both the town and the county were named for General Joseph Warren, who fell mortally wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill. The town was incorporated on December 10, 1810, with the following-named commissioners, to-wit. : David Bush, George Cotton, Chappel Heath, Jeremiah Butt and Ham- ilton Goss.3 Six years later, on December 18, 1816, the old Warrenton Academy was granted a charter of in- corporation, with trustees named as follows: Samuel Lowther, Peyton Baker, Arthur Moncrief, Edward Don- oho, Rufus Broom, Archelaus Flewellyn, Turner Per- sons, George W. Hardwick and Dennis. L. Ryan.+ In 1838 the town limits were fixed at a distance of one mile

1 Acts, 1828, p. 15.

2 Acts, 1832, p. 98.

3 Clayton's Compendium, p. 607.

4 Lamar's Digest, p. 12.

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from the court-house. As a community, Warrenton has always been noted for its conservatism, and while it has not grown as rapidly as some other towns of the State, it has always maintained a high standard of public morals and a reputation for strict integrity in matters of business. It is today a wide-awake town, with up-to- date public utilities, a number of good banks, several handsome mercantile establishments, and many beautiful homes. The present public school system of Warrenton was established in 1893.

Bird's Iron Works. Probably the first iron works estab- lished in Georgia were built at Ogee- chee Falls, in Warren County, by William Bird, an en- terprising pioneer, who prior to his removal to Georgia founded the town of Birdsboro, Pa. Mr. Bird was the grandfather of two noted Southern orators: Hon. Will- iam L. Yancey, of Alabama, and Colonel Benjamin C. Yancey, of Georgia. The iron works established at this place in the early part of the last century are described at some length in William Bird's will, recorded in the Or- dinary's office at Warrenton. He bequeathed this prop- erty to three sons.

WASHINGTON

Sandersville: Early When the County of Washington Days Recalled .* was created, in 1784, the Oconee River formed the western boundary of the State of Georgia. Indian depredations were of al- most daily occurrence, and because of conditions on the frontier twelve years elapsed before a county-site was selected. In 1796 a Mr. Sanders donated the land se- lected for this purpose, which then formed a part of his

*Much of this information has been obtained from residents of Sanders- ville, including Mrs. D. C. Harris, Mrs. S. J. Bayne, and others.

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plantation, and in honor of this liberal pioneer the town was called Sandersville. His store at the cross-roads furnished a nucleus for the new county-seat, which was destined to a slow but steady growth.

On November 27, 1812, the town was incorporated with the following-named commissioners: David Mar- tin, Samuel Richmond, Simeon Rogers, John Matthews and Isham H. Saffold.1 At a very early period the State chartered an academy, the support of which was for years maintained by a lottery authorized for this pur- pose, and among the original trustees were: Benjamin Skrine, Henry Crowell, Tillman Dixon, Morgan Brown, Frederick Cullens, John Irwin, James Kendrick, Nathan- iel G. Rutherford and John Williams.2 On December 26, 1851, the famous Washington County Female Insti- tute was chartered, with the following board of trustees : William Smith, Green Brantley, Joseph Banks, James R. Smith, Augustus A. Cullens, William Hodges, Nathan- iel W. Haines, Isham H. Saffold and James S. Hook.3 Three of these failed to serve, whereupon Benjamin Tar- button, E. S. Langdale and Heywood Brookins were added to the list. Some few years later a school for boys, taught by Colonel John W. Rudisill, was merged with the institute, despite the opposition of many who did not believe in co-education. Prof. A. C. Thompson was afterwards, for years, principal.

As a seat of culture, Sandersville looked with dis- trust upon railroads, and it was not until 1876 that a short line was built connecting Sandersville with the Central of Georgia. Even then there were citizens who refused to patronize the line, preferring to haul their goods by wagon. In 1886 a road was built connecting Sandersville with Augusta. For several years before the war there was a stage line running to Sparta; also one leading to Dublin, on which a semi-weekly service

1 Acts, 1851-1852, p. 332.

2 Georgia Laws, 1819, p. 50.

3 Lamar's Digest, p. 948.

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was maintained. Besides, Sandersville was on the mail route between Savannah and Milledgeville, and when the stage reached the suburbs the carrier always blew a bugle to announce his arrival. The first postmaster of the town was Major Heywood Brookins.

Sandersville is today a progressive and wide-awake community, with up-to-date public utilities. Its schools are among the best in the State of Georgia. But the special pride of Sandersville is the Rawlings Sanitarium, an institute whose fame las traveled abroad. The pres- ent staff is composed of Dr. William Rawlings, Dr. O. L. Rogers, Dr. T. B. King and Mr. O. L. Herndon, with a corps of twenty-five efficient nurses. The town is built on a ridge occupying the highest point between Savannah and Macon; and is surrounded by an agricultural section second to none in Georgia. Says a well-known gentle- man :* "The town is not of mushroom growth, but every- thing has been planned and operated upon sound busi- ness principles, and as a result we have no failing mer- chants and broken banks, but all kinds of business mov- ing along as systematically and as gently as the deep current of a mighty river. From the ashes have sprung magnificent dwellings, and the sweet aroma of prosperity like a pavilion overshadows our town."

The Fire of 1855. On March 24, 1855, occurred what is locally known as the great fire. It broke out in Mr. Nathan Renfroe's carriage shop, on the western side of the town, and, driven by a strong wind, it swept across the town, burning court-house, jail, hotel and dwellings. In less than two hours only five struc- tures remained standing. Major Brookins, the Ordi- nary, left his own house in flames, in order to secure the public records. It was on Saturday afternoon, and at the hotel great preparations were in progress for the

*Capt. P. R. Taliaferro, a former resident of Sandersville.

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Sabbath, which was to usher in court week. Mrs. Brant- ley was baking cake in her old-fashioned iron oven. The wooden house burned down, but when the ashes cooled and the lid was lifted from the oven the cakes were found beautifully baked.

From an old copy of the Central Georgian on file in the court-house, it seems that the editor of this paper, Mr. P. C. Pendleton, lost office, press, type and every- thing else, but in less than five weeks the paper was again afloat. At great expense, Mr. Pendleton purchased the printing office of the Eatonton Independent Press, re- moved the outfit to Sandersville and began work in his kitchen. For several months Eatonton maintained a column of news in this paper, the name of which was changed to the Georgian and Press, but J. E. Turner, Esq., because of some political disagreement, gave up this column, after which the former name was resumed.

So great was the suffering caused by the fire that contributions for relief poured into Sandersville from every part of the State. Savannah gave $500, a sum duplicated by the Central of Georgia, and, in the aggre- gate, $3,439 was raised. But, while fire consumes dross, it only refines pure gold, and in time handsomer buildings replaced the ones destroyed. Mr. R. L. Warthen intro- duced a bill in the Legislature authorizing a tax levy to build a handsome new court-house. This building was erected, but was burned by Sherman in 1864.

Gen. Sherman's Visit. Sandersville lay in the path of Sher- man's fiery march to the sea, but the town was saved from complete destruction through the importunities of Rev. J. D. Anthony, who, as a Mason, appealed to General Sherman on behalf of the citizens. However, there was much loss of property incident to the passage through Sandersville of so large a body of troops, and most of the public buildings were fired by the torch. The monument to Governor Irwin on the

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court-house square bears the mark of a ball which de- faced it in 1864. Dr. M. R. Freeman, a young physician, who came to Sandersville from Macon, organized the first military company in the town, known as the Washington Rifles. Afterwards, under Captain S. A. H. Jones, it was one of the first companies to enlist for the war, forming a part of the First Georgia Regiment. Wash- ington County furnished quite a number of companies to the Southern army during the war. Colonel Thomas J. Warthen, who commanded the gallant Twenty-eighth Georgia, laid down his life at Malvern Hill, and there were few homes in Sandersville which were not bereaved by the tragic losses of this period; but, when the war was over, the town began to awake to her possibilities and to reach out for greater things. In the cemetery at San- dersville stands a handsome monument to the Confeder- ate dead, reared by the patriotic women.

Some of the Pioneers.

Governor Jared Irwin was one of the earliest pioneers of the County of Washington. He located in the

neighborhood of Sandersville soon after the Revolu- tion, and with the prestige of his career as a soldier became at once the foremost citizen: a distinction which he never ceased to retain un- til the hour of his death. It was the privilege of Governor Irwin, who twice occupied the executive chair, to sign the famous rescinding act, by which the iniquitous' Yazoo Fraud was wiped from the statute books of Georgia. His home near Sandersville was known as Union Hill.

With a party of engineers under Moses Wadley, who surveyed the line of the Central of Georgia, came Major Joseph Bangs from Spring- field, Mass. He located at Sandersville, in 1838, where he established a prosperous mercantile business and became an influential citizen. Mark Newman, a Hebrew, came from Poland in 1842, when only a lad, and made for himself a large place in the service of the county and in the hearts of the people. He went to the war from Sandersville and became a major in the Forty-ninth Georgia. For upwards of thirty years until his death he was Ordinary of Washington. In 1853, Colonel Beverly D. Evans, of Marion, S. C., formed a partnership with Colonel Ed. Langmade for the practice of law. One of his sons, bearing the same name, is today an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Four other sons, George, Willis, Louis and Julian, have likewise become men of mark, the last named a physician.

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WASHINGTON

Dr. H. N. Hollifield came from Philadelphia in 1855. He afterwards edited a magazine in Sandersville called the Georgia Medical and Surgical Encyclopaedia. In 1858 came three other men who were destined to leave a lasting impress upon the community : Dr. W. H. H. Whitaker, of Phila- delphia ; William Gallaher, of Maryland, and Captain P. R. Taliaferro, of Virginia. In 1860, Drs. J. R. Smith and E. B. Hook opened the Sanders- ville Infirmary, but the institution was forced to suspend on the call to arms.

One of the wealthiest families of the county in pioneer days were the Skrines, including four brothers: William, Quintillian, Virgil and Ben- jamin. William built the first modern house in the County of Washington. It stood a mile from Sandersville and was known as the White House, on account of its novel coat of white paint. Later it was owned and occupied as a summer home by Noble A. Hardee, of Savannah.

Samuel O. Franklin and James U. Floyd were pioneer merchants, at one time partners, in the dry-goods business.

Colonel Thomas J. Warthen was a wealthy pioneer planter and man of affairs, whose prominence in the State militia before the war gave him the title of "General." He lost his life at Malvern Hill, while commanding the Twenty-eighth Georgia Regiment. Colonel Warthen reared a family of girls, who added much to the culture and social life of San- dersville. Nathan Renfroe was a substantial carriage-maker, whose son, Hon. J. W. Renfroe, was Treasurer of Georgia after the war.

Major Heywood Brookins was the first mayor of the town, and after- wards for more than a generation was Ordinary of the County of Washing- ton. Pinkus Happ, a Jew, became a prosperous merchant, who devoted his large means to the alleviation of distress during the war and en- deared himself to every one by his manifold acts of kindness. David Solomon, likewise a Jew, accumulated a snug fortune, married one of the county girls, and became a good Methodist.

Dr. Nathaniel Harris, quite a noted ante-bellnm physician, came from Massachusetts and built the first handsome honse within the town limits. Dr. William P. Haynes, a local Methodist preacher and a high degree Mason, was complimented by having the first local Masonic lodge named in his honor. Captain S. A. H. Jones commanded a company in one of the Indian campaigns, and was also made captain of the Washington Rifles, one of the first companies to enlist in 1861. Captain Ike Nerrman, a native of France, made Sandersville his home in the late fifties. At the outbreak of the war he organized a company, at the head of which he proved himself a gallant soldier. Harris Brantley was a wealthy pioneer planter, whose only daughter married Hon. Coleman R. Pringle, known as the father of Prohibition in Georgia.

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Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 80

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