USA > Georgia > Jones County > History of Jones County, Georgia, for one hundred years, specifically 1807-1907 > Part 6
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Many of the people lived on small farms and were the salt of the earth. Their houses were simple and were built on the rivers and at the crossroads; and the people did their own work. The women carded the wool and cotton into small rolls with hand
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HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
carders and wove the cloth at home, which took much time and patience. Many families in Jones still have these old spinning wheels used by their grandmothers. The girls' dresses were starched with starch made from whole wheat flour or wheat bran. The men wore plain jeans and shoes made from hides tanned in the dug-out troughs at Morgan's tan-yard near Clin- ton. These leathers were stretched and dried and dressed by hand. One pair of shoes a year was about all an adult had. Chil- dren went bare-foot most of the time. The traveling shoemaker would make periodic visits. He would take a piece of white pine board, and stand the person flat-footed on the board, mark a line in front of the toes and one behind the heels with his big coarse horn-handled knife, and in due time the shoes would be delivered.
Stumped toes and cracked heels in winter were always in evi- dence in country children as they walked long distances to the log cabin schools. They wore coarse clothes spun and woven at home. Towels, tablecloths and shirts were made the same way. There was a shelf for the wash basin outside for young and old, with soft home made soap in a gourd. Overcoats were unknown, and the few capes and cloaks there were, made truly a family heirloom. Usually there was a woolen shawl for mother. These home made clothes were warm and enduring, if not beautiful.
The generation of the 1830's to the 1860's was lived more leisurely than now. There were fewer distractions; the telephone, the radio, the newspapers with screaming headlines, and TV were all unknown. News traveled slowly; people had the time and leisure to cultivate friendships, to pay visits to relatives and friends. The evenings were spent in conversation, and the art of being entertaining was esteemed and cultivated. Hospitality was a cardinal virtue, and though it was sometimes barbaric in its lavishness, nevertheless, it indicates the interest people had in social gatherings.
The life of the southern planter in the golden 1850's could not be equaled anywhere. Perhaps the life of the English gentry was as near it as anything else. There were horses and horse racing; people went to Milledgeville to concerts, there were balls, hunting, spend the day, week or month parties. The car-
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riages with outriders and silver trimmings went to resorts. If cotton sold well, some planters would go to New York. Some would lose what they had in poker games in the old New York Hotel. If the planter hit it lucky, he would come home loaded with dresses for his wife and daughters and bring a fine piece of furniture for the house on the plantation.
The planters' houses were large with many well-trained serv- ants ; cooks were only changed when decreptitude made it neces- sary ; and one or two understudies were available who had been in training for years. The social system of the planter class was in terms of "we." They were gregarious in their tastes and dearly loved picnics, barbecues, dances or any excuse to get to- gether, and nothing was easier.
At the dances every man present was expected to share his attentions among the ladies, paying special attention to a guest from a distance. He would ask the host for an introduction if that had not been attended to, and invite her to dance. To have danced more than twice in an evening with one girl, even if en- gaged to her, was considered rudeness to others, and it subjected the offenders to criticism. It was the duty of everyone to enhance the pleasure of others present in every way possible. Any dis- position to monopolize the company of one, or for couples to leave the room except during intermission was considered bad taste. At barbecues and picnics it was equally expected of every man to circulate among the group, to say at least a few words of greeting to everyone he knew, giving particularly courteous attention to the dowagers and matrons, and to be introduced to the newcomers. This obligation having been fulfilled, the young man was free to spend the time with the people of his own age.
"Friendship and courtesy and a sincere desire to make himself agreeable to others was the spirit which animated every youth, it having been instilled into him by precept and example of his elders.
"Events of the day were not crowded out of mind by those of tomorrow but discussed and related for a long time. When family groups met around the fireside for an evening, the con- versation naturally drifted to subjects of common interest. After the news of the day had been related, the newest fashions criti-
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cized by the ladies, even as now, and the men had talked of horses, politics, crops and the price of cotton, anecdotes con- cerning earlier days and of their fathers and grandfathers were often related and kept alive. Past practical jokes were told again and laughed over. Traditions followed the actual memory of the events as the witnesses passed away, but none of the interest was lost.
"The older members took pains to tell the young men the history of the family and adjured them to marry well and main- tain the name from extinction and to carry on the worthy tradi- tions of the past.
"These folks were hard working, self-reliant people who car- ried not only their own burdens, but also helped those who couldn't carry theirs and contributed to the welfare of their country. They lived at home and with their neighbors, and when the end came, they died respected and esteemed. One could ask no better heritage.
"Heredity is an opportunity, not a blind fate. Each individual of good family stock is endowed with many potentialities for
Georgia
Jones County Thewind of Jesse'n Sunt Sixteen hundred dollars. For a Negro Troman Peggy actof The in Three years of age which I warrant to be found in Muld and. Addend of the little of said negro againstions Weird Administrator on Executor for ever It is 1. 1. 11th.1863
Slave receipt from Jesse Hunt to C. L. Goolsby for $1600.
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good, for mediocrity and for evil; far more than in a lifetime can be developed or even cultivated. Which of them he exploits and which are permitted to lie dormant is his own responsibility and that of his parents. From a piece of good steel may be made a fine and delicate instrument of precision or just a common tool ; but unlike the passive steel, an individual may determine, within the range of his talents, what his future shall be and what sort of man or woman that one will become."
(Dr. R. H. Hutchings "An Intimate Family History.")
Hospitality abounded, there were always relatives visiting, as well as beaux, friends and travelers. My grandfather had built a granite wall around a substantial area for his family cemetery, but so many relatives and in-laws came to visit and died there, that he had to make it a rule to bury them on the outside of the wall, else the enclosure reserved for his own family would have been filled.
Every woman rode horseback, and had a riding skirt made of strong cloth with a belt, but open to the hem. This skirt pro- tected the dress underneath. In the early days the women rode sidesaddles and mounted from horseblocks found at every home, church, store and school.
Grandmother must have had a hard time getting feather beds, bed linens, china, silver spoons, and quilts for the newlyweds as their lawful marriage portion. She remembered how her parents had given her these things and also a horse, bridle and saddle, a suit of furniture and a woman servant to help her and to nurse the children who came later.
Often we find a Southern planter's family in the ante-bellum times where the mother with as many as eleven children, could manage the house, the servants, and spin, sew and weave very skillfully. Her husband had the plantation, the grain mill, the sawmill, the cotton gin and was busy as a provider for his family and slaves. The mother went from house to garden, to the milk dairy, the poultry house, the looms in the spinning house, and to the smoke house. She had to see that the geese were plucked at the right time to have feathers for beds and pillows. There were pigs in the pens fattening. "Cover lids" were woven at home
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and rugs and quilts worked on in summer and in winter. Life indeed was busy and she showed great managerial ability.
For illumination there was at first the pine knots as torches, then candles, then tallow oil lamps. Cooking over the fireplace was a tiresome affair and backbreaking. The oven, often made of brick was a clumsy affair. There were three-legged spiders for bread too. Sweet potatoes and green corn were roasted in the ashes. Turkeys and venison were roasted on spits before the glowing hickory coals. The pit for barbecues was dug out of doors with hickory sticks laid across it to hold the pig, which was slowly cooked over the coals for fifteen to twenty-four hours. Beef, kid and lamb were also barbecued this way. Season- ings made from apple vinegar, home-grown pepper, butter, cat- sup, and sugar cane syrup made a sauce fit for a king.
The daughters were taught to sew and cook, spin, weave, make butter, and to do fancy work such as knitting, embroider- ing and crocheting. It was not unusual for girls to marry at fourteen and fifteen and at thirty, one was an old maid. There was no work outside of the home for a woman to do. When northern women began to come south to tutor and teach in the schools, it was indeed a new era.
People who go to Europe now are not nearly so excited as peo- ple were then, who went across the state to visit relatives, and on arriving see the kinnery swarming out on the porch to greet them. The smell of the good supper with the beaten biscuits, country ham with red gravy, a dish of chicken and dumplings, and a peach pot pie smothered in cream and sugar, was some- thing never to be forgotten.
In summer, wagon loads of ripe red watermelons and musk melons were put into the cool dark cellar where black and white alike had the liberty to eat them as long as they lasted. There were large families, and visiting was the rule and constant, espe- cially in the times of festivities and bereavement. There were always plenty to laugh with the happy, and plenty to weep with the bereaved.
The old time country meeting house had preaching once a month and everybody was anxious to go. The preacher got little pay and expected little, but he preached just as long. The people
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brought him supplies from their farms, hams, cloth for his clothes, and leather for his shoes. The children and their negro nurses went supplied with teacakes and biscuits, a glass and a pitcher to bring water from the spring. A big soft quilt was spread in the shade for the babies. The men and boys sat on one side of the church and the girls and ladies on the other. The children were brought up to reverence the aged and wait on the older folks and one rarely ever heard of the old being neglected.
Augusta was the great market place for Jones Countians. Cotton and wheat were hauled by wagon teams. It took five or six days driving from four to six mules to make the round trip. The men camped out, taking food and cover. After the cotton and wheat were sold, they loaded the wagons with sugar, salt, iron, black molasses, calico, nutmegs and spices, a piece of silk or velvet or kid slippers for the girls and mother, and some- times a real doll bought in Charleston, S. C. was brought home and carefully hidden until Christmas.
This Christmas celebration of 1840 written for the Jones County news in 1908 by S. H. Griswold tell us of those early days.
"Christmas is almost here, and it brings to mind how it was celebrated in Clinton during the days of prosperity, when it had stores, hotels and as fine a citizenship as was in Georgia. Old John, the serving man around the lot, had his toddy and egg- nog, as did old Betsy, the cook. With a smack of the lips and a pulling of the forelock and a bow by the former and a courtsey by the latter, accompanied by a, "Thanke Sir," made the old Negroes feel good and it put Christmas in their bones. On one Christmas Eve about 1840, the young men of the town sat up for a good time. Old Jim was a free negro who did odd jobs among them. He was hired to haul a good load of hickory wood and put it in the street in front of the courthouse. This the boys had set on fire and they sat in chairs around it. Some were Dick Hutchings, R. W. Bonner, Real Gibson, Jeff Williams, George Cook, Tom Bowen, Abb Barron, Greeb Tye, Tom Morris, Perry Finney, one or two of the Barrons and others whom I cannot recall. They sat there singing songs, telling tales, playing
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pranks on each other, shooting firecrackers and an occasional gun.
"Of course, the 'Oh be joyful,' was among them, in the form of a big pot of whiskey stew, the concoction of which was at- tended to by Dick Hutchings. It was a stew right - - - composed of many spices, the best of whiskey and other things. Over on the hill by the old schoolhouse, were Sam Johnson, Frank Tye and others of the younger set, driving holes in the ground, plac- ing powder therein, tamping it in tight and at intervals touching them off, producing cannon-like explosions. Occasionally as the night went on, and the fun waxed hot, calls were made for the stew and merry got the boys. Around the fire they sat and let the fun go round. Bill Whidby would sing 'Liza Jane' and Greeb Tye with his deep bass voice would join in the chorus, 'Oh, Eliza, little Liza Jane, Oh, little Liza, little Liza Jane.'
"After each song the stew was passed around; each one took a drink and gave a toast or told a story. It went from song to story and everybody was happy and in a good humor. None meant to do any harm. This was just among the boys. Old Jim stood by the boys and drank when they did but with less restraint until the early hours of the morning. He was drunk and leaning against the courthouse fence. Dick Hutchings asked, 'Jim how about the stew and spice, is it good?' 'Yes, Boss,' was the reply, 'it's mighty good but its got the best of me,' as he took a firmer grip on the fence to steady himself. At daylight they went home to get some sleep.
"But what of Christmas Day and the big dinners ? Such feasts were never equalled in city hotels or restaurants. They had tur- key, duck, opossum, ham, pork, nearly all of the meat and the game to be had in the country, with salads and vegetables, mince pies, puddings, fruit cakes, sillabub, wines, nuts and raisins. The dinner was cooked by old time negro women, directed or taught by their mistresses. The food was not cooked in stoves but in old fashioned ovens, pots in big broad fireplaces, where hickory or oak wood had burned to coals which were heaped upon the oven lids. Madame Parrish's Christmas dinners were among the most noted. They were elegant and toothsome beyond description. Each family in the county had its Christmas dinner.
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The children and negroes had their presents, the elder ones their eggnog, and then came the dinner and social pleasures. It was truly a land of plenty, peace and happiness, where neighbors loved neighbors and all were prosperous. The minister and his family were always with them, and they were remembered with a full share of everything good, and many gave thanks to the Great Giver, with him, in his blessing before the meal."
As a whole the people were well off and prospered, and a man's mere word was his bond. There was no going to the banks for money. Neighbors lent it to each other and often never took a note. You, who have been born since the war, cannot realize what a prosperous and glorious community Jones County was under the old reign. It was then that catching folks, Christmas Gif' was used by the negroes, and they usually received the gift.
Never should the mammies of the slavery days be forgotten. She usually prided herself on coming from Virginia and she always fixed her head dress turban-shaped, and wore a big white apron covering her ample body. She ruled the children of the house as much or more than their mother and she could express herself by looks and gestures when displeased. She taught her wards table manners, courtesies and what to wear and when. She sang to the smaller children, bathed them and tucked them in bed at night, loved them and helped bring up the large family until all were about grown. She it was who tied a cord about the children's necks with a little bag of assafoetida to keep diseases away, and she also knew how to make warts disappear. To these faithful mammies of the old South, I pay tribute to their pa- tience and fidelity and to their appetizing cooking. When she grew old, the family looked after her and saw that she was cared for.
Weddings were big affairs with the well-to-do. There were usually three days of festivities, and one had a different dress for each day. In this account of a wedding which took place in Jones County in 1858 there was a caterer named Horn who was in charge. He came on Friday night to begin baking for the reception on Tuesday night. The mother's bedroom was the meat room. At the ends of the arms of a cross of tables were a
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ham, turkey, a roast pig with a red apple in his mouth and a leg of lamb. Along the tables were plates of sliced meats, pickles, beaten biscuits, salads and condiments. But the dining room, "the sweets room," was the crowning glory. Over the table was hung a large wreath full of candles. On the center of the table was the four-tiered wedding cake, surmounted by figures of the bride and groom, and embossed all over with pairs of doves. All down the sides of the table were servings of syllabub, pound cake, compotes of red gelatine and mounds of whipped cream and nuts. On each side of the bridal cake was a fountain of spun candy, the wonder of all. On the sideboard were gin, brandy peaches, rum and loaf sugar brought from Charleston or Au- gusta, and the toddy stick. The white sugar was encased in a beautiful snowy cone wrapped in thick bluish-white papers.
The bride wore an underskirt woven of grass to make her skirt stand out properly. The back room was locked while the guests assembled and was opened only as the guests came down the stairs. The house was lighted by large swinging lamps. Flow- ers and candles were everywhere. The house was crowded with guests and the house of Madame Parrish and Gibson's tavern were reserved for the overflow of out-of-town guests.
Neighbors and relatives assisted in carrying out the plans. The lovely old brocade wedding gown which had been worn by the bride's mother was used by the daughter, and her maids wore brocaded satin and carried nosegays of flowers. The happy pair left on the stagecoach for Augusta.
Women wore hats or bonnets out in the sun, as a pretty white skin was the fashion. Any girl who went bareheaded or got tanned was called a "Tomboy," not a belle. The women laced very tightly and it is no wonder that it was fashionable to faint on occasions.
The planters had peach orchards, beehives, cane patches, pea- nuts, and everything was grown at home. Fortunes of many people were promoted by such thrift, economy and conservation of resources. Enough fruit was dried and canned in summer to supply the family and extras enough for every negro cabin to have some for winter. Except for salt, white sugar and coffee the family was self-sustaining. In the forties, coffee was a luxury
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only used on Sunday mornings. Brown sugar or honey was used for "sweetnings." Grandmother didn't know what a cookstove was. Her cranes hung in the wide chimney for the pots and kettles. The mistress was just as busy as her servants and she had all of the responsibility. She saw that the spinning wheels and looms went full blast all week and on Saturday afternoons the dogwood brush brooms were used to brush the yards clean. Every cabin had a clean yard and gay little flower beds of snow- on-the-mountain, coxcomb, phlox, rosemary, sage and heliotrope.
The row of slaves' houses back from the big house were filled with children. After the day's work they had their sports such as dancing, wrestling, playing the banjo and singing their spirituals. The white children liked to play at the quarters and loved to hear tales of 'Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby as told by Aunt Dinah and Uncle Bill.
The country doctor was a part of the scene and a subject on which reams could be written. He was truly a circulating pharm- acy. He mixed his own medicines, rolled his own pills, and inside of the old worn leather saddlebags would be found mustard, sedatives, blue mass, morphine, quinine, bandages, catnip, boneset, lobelia, laudanum, bayberry and gentian for making tinctures and many other concoctions. In his office would be the stern looking amputation kit carrying small, medium and large saws for the bones, and its tourniquet with the brass screw, the scalpels and probers. Here were jars of syrup for the hives, pep- permint, powdered rhubarb, syrup of squill, the small scales, the tile and spatula, the mortar and pestle for rolling pills wherever and whenever needed. There was the medicine glass with its measurements of teaspoons and tablespoons for taking castor oil and the downing of salts. Since sterilization by boiling was unheard of, all these instruments had wooden handles and were probably made ready for use by wiping with a carbolic solution. For colds there was the cloth soaked in tallow and turpentine and camphor to put on the unwilling chest.
The doctor rode long lonesome trails on horseback in all kinds of weather; he delivered babies by candlelight; he made huge mustard plasters for pneumonia; he often sat until dawn to see the spark of life ebb out with the coming of the day. He
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wore leather leggings, leather jackets, handknitted gloves and socks. He usually took along his gun for protection. He was a friend and a counselor and the old country doctor was a very prominent figure of the ante-bellum days.
There were no railroads here then and the stage coach drivers would blow on their horns to give notice of their approach. They also brought the mail and people hailed them with delight. At Clinton, Blountsville, Fortville, Graball, were stops where tav- erns accommodated the passengers and the horses could be rested and fed. It took at least a week to cross the state. It cost $3.00 to ride the coach from Clinton to Milledgeville, it cost $10.00 to go from Milledgeville to Columbus via Macon and took 22 hours. Some coaches ran daily and some only twice weekly. It cost 17 cents to mail a letter to Savannah, ten cents to Milledge- ville and 5 cents to Macon. The roads were rough and any bus- iness in Savannah or Augusta meant a long and tedious journey.
The name "Georgia Cracker" probably originated from the fact that as the teams were driven to markets in Augusta and Savannah the drivers had a way of popping and cracking the long whips back and forth from side to side until it sounded like the rapid firing of a pistol.
There is another theory adhered to by others, that is, that in the 18th century English the word "Cracker," meant a noisy boastful fellow. (Dictionary of the English Language by Sam'l Johnson, 1755.)
There were few newspapers and people learned about their politics at large gatherings, where under a huge tree on a built up platform the leading men would talk. In this way men were instructed in public affairs, and they developed oratory and a capacity of statesmanship which made the South famous in the history of the country. It was the custom at these political meet- ings to cook whole pigs, lamb and beef over the barbecue pits glowing with red coals from the slow-burning hickory fire. The up-stretched pigs on the cross-wise hickory sticks were slowly cooking as the juices dripped into the coals underneath sending forth an aroma that could be smelled for a half mile. The stick with a mop of white cotton cloth was dipped in a sauce of pepper, vinegar, butter, honey and brown drippings and the
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pig was basted every few minutes. The old black iron pot of savory Brunswick stew was stirred constantly as it bubbled and simmered slowly. Thus the South became famous for its bar- becue and to this day there are still those in Jones County who prepare barbecue in the same manner.
Plantation days are gone with their pleasures, recreations, their toils and labors but "the good old days" will live on in the memories of the folks of the South.
A Jones County Fox Hunt
Fox hunting on horses goes a long way back in British and American tradition. English colonists brought this sport to this country. George Washington was a hard-riding American fox- hunter of Virginia.
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