USA > Georgia > Tift County > History of Tift County > Part 29
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of the promise and the invitation; of the wonderful brotherhood of Man and the certainty of immortality through Him who went down into the grave and rose again to live and conquer, giving life everlasting through death of agony.
When the sermon was over, the Boy was waiting outside. She came hesitatingly, laughing with girl companions, and pretending not to see. But, although he blushed and stammered, he was resolute, and when the direct question came she could not ignore. So they walked to her home through the springtime and the sunshine; the life of one, and the warmth of the other in their hearts.
JAMES LUTHER WILLIAMS Who Started the Florida Boom by Elizabeth Pickard Karsten
James Luther Willliams was born in what formerly was called the Talokas District, in Brooks County, Georgia, February 1, 1880, son of Dr. Greene Berry Williams (born Wilkinson County, Georgia, April 19, 1836) and Martha Brice Williams (born Brooks County, Talokas Dis- trict, April 21, 1843).
Almost from infancy Luther Williams loved horses. Early he learned to ride. His uncle, Mitchell Brice, of Brooks County, owned large farms and Mitchell and his son had a long string of race horses. They raised them and young Luther rode them, at the smaller towns in Georgia, and in Savannah and at Orlando, Florida. Among the most famous animals owned by Mitchell were Jennie B., Maude, Baltic, Little · Baltic. Jennie B. equaled the world's record for a quarter of a mile, at Rome, Georgia, in 1890. One vacation Luther had an unusually happy holiday period ; then came his bitterest disappointment: he could ride in the races no more, because he had grown too big to be a jockey.
Luther remained at home until he was twelve. Thereafter he attend- ed school a year and worked a year. For several years this was his wont. He went to the Quitman public schools.
When not yet sixteen Williams went into the telephone business, first at Quitman, then in Valdosta, then in Quitman again, and, in 1898, in Tifton, where he came to overhaul the telephone exchange. He remained here from January to July, 1989. From Tifton he went to Newbern, North Carolina. where he was manager of the telephone company of which Nathan Strauss, of New York, was president. He was at Newbern until December, 1898. Thence he went to Waycross. Thence he returned to Tifton, in March 1899.
October 2, 1900, James Luther Williams was married to Lelia Linton
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
Goff, of Cochran, daughter of Charles Gordon Goff and Missouri Salome Thompson, of Houston County. Dr. Charles Dilworth performed the ceremony at the Tifton Baptist parsonage, later the B. B. Grantham home.
At Valdosta in 1898 Mr. Williams experienced his first wireless achieve- ment. He was talking in broken conversation from Valdosta to Waycross with a quarter of a mile of line out. Next day he told of the extraordinary experience and people were skeptical. Since no one believed him he stopped telling the incident. The line was a high powered cable and the atmos- pheric conditions were excellent for reception.
During World War I when the United States was experiencing a sugar shortage Mr. Williams invented a new kind of plow which revolutionized the method of cultivation of sugar cane in the vast cane growing fields of Cuba.
Cuban cane fields had been oxen-plowed. Tractor cultivation had failed. Williams, then with a large harvester company, designed and had built at Chattanooga a model which successfully did the difficult work. He narrow- ed the furrow from ten to five inches, doubled the weight of the plow, and made the frame twice as high. This was used successfully in Egypt and elsewhere. At that time Williams had succeeded better than any other known man, perhaps, in designing, building, and operating tractor plows.
A horse could not work in the Everglades. In 1916 Mr. Williams traveled through the Everglades with the idea of plowing them with a tractor plow. Traveling, he did not plow until 1918, when he made a tractor plowing demonstration before 238 people, gathered fifteen miles up the Miami Canal. Most of those present were real estate men. Wil- liams was asked to make a speech. He did, and told what it would mean to Florida if the five million acre Everglades were brought under cultiva- tion. He was requested to make the same speech before the Miami real estate firm of Tatem Brothers, next morning at 9:00 o'clock. He did. He spoke to a large gathering of Miami real estate men. After the talk Tatem Brothers raised the price of land ten dollars per acre. They owned 190,000 acres. Other realtors followed. Two-thirds of the Everglades were brought under cultivation. Land prices rose. The speech was carried in the Miami paper, Savannah, Tampa, Atlanta, Baltimore papers, and elsewhere. Flor- ida land prices rose. The boom was on.
Mr. Williams put in telephone exchanges at Ashburn, Adel, Boston, Marianna, Florida, and remodelled many elsewhere.
In his wide travels Williams saw many interesting things. Of some of these he wrote and his articles were printed in the Tifton Gazette, whose editor, Mr. J. L. Herring, was a close friend of Mr. Williams. Williams never at any time had a position with the Gazette either as writer or as printer.
· About 1930 Mr. Williams decided to have a printing shop of his own.
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In 1936 he began printing the Tifton Free Press, for which he wrote the articles. It appeared occasionally. In 1940 he began printing the paper regu- larly as a weekly and this he continues to do.
After going out of the telephone business Mr. Williams for a time manufactured cross arms, the first manufactured in Georgia. Prior to this, manufacture had been in Chattanooga.
James Luther Williams and Lelia Goff Williams have five children : Ralph James, Frederick Claude, Martha Blanch (Mrs. Ashley McLeod), J. L. Williams, Jr., Lena Gordon Williams.
Mrs. Elizabeth Pickard Karsten, author of the pioneers' biographies in this volume, has made distinct contributions to the journalism of this sec- tion and other places. Her feature stories have appeared in New Rochelle News (New York), the New York Herald, New Haven Register, Boston Transcript, and several Georgia papers. While staff correspondent for the Macon Telegraph, she rendered valuable services to Tift County. Her work on the pioneers' chapters of the History of Tift County is another contribution to the county and Tifton.
Mrs. Karsten did her first historical writing for the Macon Centennial Pageant. She has written a biography of Mrs. H. H. Tift and many his- torical sketches of different places in the United States. She is the author of genealogical publications, dramatization, and miscellaneous articles.
Her advanced training includes courses at Wesleyan College, Abraham Baldwin College, Mercer University, and Yale University. She is a member of the Macon Writers' Club (of which she was secretary, treas- urer, historian, vice-president, and president), and Gun Lake Country Club, New Haven Point and Clay, and New Haven Brush and Palette. Mrs. Karsten is also a member of the R.A.R. and Phi Mu.
The daughter of William Lowndes Pickard (clergyman and former president of Mercer University) and Florence Willingham Pickard (artist and painter) Elizabeth Pickard Karsten was born in Louisville, Ken- tucky. In 1914 she married Paul Daggett Karsten of Macon, Georgia. Their children are Paul Daggett, Jr., (married Elizabeth La Field) . Florence Willingham Karsten (married Robert Clements Carson), and Mikell Baynard Karsten. Their son, Billy Karsten died in 1941.
"Who's Who in Georgia" and "The Standard Biographical Dictionary of Notable Women" have sketches of Mrs. Elizabeth Karsten.
CHAPTER XXIII
TIFT COUNTY AGRICULTURE by George Harris King
Different counties are prosperous for various reasons. Tift County is prosperous because of its agricultural interests. A progressive group of some 1,600 farmers produce a number of varied farm products. Within the towns of the county are markets and processing plants for these products. The industry of Tift County, to a large extent, is based on its agriculture. The result is an agricultural market reaching beyond the borders of the county and bringing in the products of a large area. The farm products sold in Tift County yearly amounts to twice or three times the value of the products produced within Tift County.
The history of agriculture in Tift County is a story of change and progress. Originally the area now known as Tift County was settled for its wealth of lumber and naval stores, and until about 1910 those indus- tries absorbed the attention of the inhabitants. The change from a timber economy to one of agriculture occurred about the same time as the forma- tion of Tift County in 1905.
Fortunately for the inhabitants of Tift County the removal of the tim- ber disclosed a responsive agricultural soil adapted to a number of agricul- tural enterprises. As the adaptability of the soil became known, there was a migration of farmers from other sections of Georgia seeking fresh agricul- tural lands. This brief history must of necessity deal with trends rather than personalities. Few names and few concerns will be mentioned. It is sufficient to emphasize the fact that the progress of Tift County was due not only to the adaptability of its soil, but also to the initiative and courage of its pioneer farmers.
A Bureau of Soils bulletin written in 1909 saw at this early period the possibilities of the Tifton Sandy Loam Soil which makes up the greater part of the county "Cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, peanuts, sugar cane, tree and small fruits, pecans, vegetables, and, in fact, all of the crops grown in the county do well on this soil."
Changes which have taken place over the years may be noted by quoting from this report made in 1909:
"Good farming land 5 miles from town selling for $15.00 to $30.00 per acre."
"Corn and cotton are the principal crops."
"The favorable soil and climate, the splendid markets and the ease with
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which pests and diseases can be controlled ... are abundant reasons why the peach growing industry should be given a thorough trial."
"Livestock raising in this area is profitable and should be given more attention. At present, practically all of the livestock run loose in the swamps and pine woods and get their living as best they can."
"The use of improved machinery is strongly advised. The character of the soils and the smooth topography are both suited to it."
Some changes not even predicted in 1909 have taken place over the years. Flue-cured tobacco was first grown on a commercial scale in Tift by Irvine Myers in 1917 although Captain H. H. Tift had tried some to- bacco along with his other agricultural experiments at an earlier date. By 1919 there were 615 acres of tobacco grown in the county. Twenty years later the golden weed was being grown on 4,696 acres. Tifton had de- veloped into one of the leading markets of the State and held first place for a number of years.
The first vegetable plants grown for commercial shipment were produced by Myers Brothers about 1907 when they shipped small amounts of cab- bage and sweet potato plants. P. D. Fulwood, Sr., started growing cabbage plants in 1909 and tomato plants in 1912. He is regarded as the first to grow plants on a real commercial scale in this area. From this beginning has grown an industry involving thousands of acres and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In 1909 the peanut was looked upon as good hog feed although "one concern is preparing to grow peanuts on a commercial scale." In 1923, only 670 acres were dug. In 1940 peanuts were harvested from 8,000 acres. During World War II, the Government stimulated the production of peanuts and in 1946 peanuts were dug from 18,000 acres.
The preceding three enterprises (tobacco, plants, and peanuts), have possibly brought the greatest changes in land use in Tift County, and, yet, these crops were hardly recognized 40 years ago. With these new enter- prises in mind, let us contrast the agriculture of 1947 with that pictured in 1909.
Where good farm land 5 miles from town sold for $15.00 to $30.00, today it sells from $75.00 to $150.00 per acre.
In 1909 corn and cotton were the principal crops. In 1940 only 9,629 acres of cotton were grown and by 1944 this dropped to a low of 3,000 acres which had increased some by 1947. This may be contrasted with an acreage of 27,000 acres in 1923. This change to a large measure was brought about by the advent of the boll weevil which hit Tift County in the middle teens and reached the climax of its damage in 1923, when only 3,753 bales of cotton were produced on the 27,000 acres planted. This forced the producers of cotton to other enterprises, mainly peanuts, tobacco and livestock.
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ARST AM SMPMEIN
OF TOMATO PLANTS FROM TIFT COUNTY GEORGIA PLANT
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TIFT COUNTY'S DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE
Top row-Interior of one of several meat curing and storage plants at Tif- ton. The chant of the auctioneer in one of Tifton's tobacco sales warehouses. Center-Grading and sorting peanuts at a Tifton mill
Bottom row-Preparing honey for shipment in Tift County piney woods. The modern in agriculture-Tift County's first shipment of vegetable plants by air.
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There has been little change in corn acreage. The smaller amount need- ed for diminishing numbers of workstock is offset by the needs of in- creased numbers of hogs and cattle. - In 1909 peaches were looked upon as a promising crop but the prevalence of the rootknot nematode in the soil brought the realization that this sec- tion was not an ideal one for this susceptible fruit. At present, there is hope that peaches may again be grown on a commercial scale due to newly developed chemicals and rotations which check the ravages of the nema- tode.
When the 1909 report cited the inferior livestock and the lack of fenc- ing, we find that by 1940 the livestock situation has shown marked im- provement. The no-fence law was passed in 1921. Better breeds of live- stock have been introduced, better managerial practices are followed, pas- tures have been improved, and feed crops have increased in acreage. So promising was the livestock industry that Armour and Company took over the packing plant in Tifton in 1919. This plant had been constructed in 1917. This was closed in about a year on account of lack of livestock, but reopened in November, 1935, and has been in constant operation since that time.
The number of beef cattle on the farms at the first of the year more than doubled from 1920 to 1940. The number of swine on the farms at the same time has increased by 30 per cent. The total value of all livestock and livestock products sold in Tift County in 1945 was $549,249.00.
The increased use of machinery has been almost phenomenal. In 1910 the value of machinery and implements on Tift County farms was $93,735.00. In 1920 this value had risen to $368,819.00, while in 1945 the farm implements and machinery of Tift County farmers were valued at $988,690.00. 266 Tift County farmers operated 315 tractors in 1945 and 368 farmers were operating 453 trucks. Less than 100 tractors were in operation as recently as 1940.
A glance at the 1945 farm income figures tells the story of farm pros- perity :
Crop Sales
$3,075,832
Fruits and Nuts Sales
79,899
Vegetable Sales
44,270
Horticultural Specialties
303,461
All Livestock & Livestock Products
I 1 549,294
Forest Products
42,439
Farm Products Used on Farm
701,632
Total
$4,796,827
Average value per farm
1
1
$ 2,872
1
1
1
1
1 1 1
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
I
1
1
1
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
The above figures are taken from the 1945 census and possibly do not include the full value received from the sale of vegetable plants.
The farm population of Tift County is stable. For the most part, the farming is done by white farmers. Of the 1,683 farms in the County, 1,345- are operated by white families. The number of farms in the County has varied some with the economic conditions. The following table shows the number of farms for census years :
Year
1910
1920
Number of Farms 1142 1360 1398
1930
1940
I344
1945
1683
Over half of the farm operators are tenants. The following table shows the percentage of tenants for census years :
Year
1910
1920
1930
Per Cent of Tenants 57% 60% 70%
1940 1945
56% 59%
The work of professionals in agriculture has always been sponsored by Tift County. Two years after its organization, Tift County secured the Second District A. and M. School by donation of land and public sub- scription. This school, after some changes, is now Abraham Baldwin Agri- cultural College. In 1919, through the same method, Tift County was selected as the site of the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station. The Smith-Lever Bill providing for county agents was passed, and Tift Coun- ty secured its first county agent and its first home demonstration agent shortly after this time. Tifton High School has a teacher of Vocational Agriculture and two teachers of Home Economics under the Smith- Hughes Law. These are agencies requiring expense on the part of the County. Those agencies, purely Federal, have received the support of the farmers of the County and the County has benefited through its coopera- tion with the Soil Conservation Service, Farm Home Administration and the Production Marketing Administration.
Tift County, because of its soil and climate, is agriculturally blessed. From a land of timber it has developed into an agricultural section, grow- ing enterprises of enough diversity to insure a prosperous agriculture. Its people have proved themselves progressive by adapting themselves to a changing agriculture. Its agricultural history is something of which we may all be proud ; its agricultural future is something to which we may look with confidence.
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
TOBACCO IN TIFT COUNTY
by E. Pickard
Georgia's earliest tobacco-growing project was during her colonial days. Near the coast a small town built around the culture and sale of tobacco became a flourishing little trade center. Tobacco was its life; but the town, which had little other than tobacco, died and became one of Geor- gia's ghost towns. Few people know that it ever existed.
It appears that after the above mentioned project, what is now Tift County was the next place where tobacco was grown for market, though many old gardens contained a few plants for the personal supply of their owners. In 1892, H. H. Tift grew tobacco in what was then Berrien but is now Tift County. He was interested in seeing what crops could be suc- cessfully grown in this section of the state, and he grew the tobacco experi- mentally. The Tifton Gazette in 1892 carried in one of its issues the fol- lowing item: "Growing tobacco bids to become an important industry in this section."
The Tifton Gazette of February 12, 1892 stated: "The officers of the Snow Modern Tobacco Company, President D. A. Walters, of Philadel- ph'a, Secretary, D. G. Bevenish, of Oxford, North Carolina, and W. H. Snow, general manager, spent several days in Tifton prospecting for a location for a Georgia branch of their company. All expressed themselves as delighted with the possibilities of tobacco growing here."
Burwell Greene was in charge of H. H. Tift's several farms and was in charge of that early tobacco experiment. Men came down from North Carolina to do the curing. It was flue-cured and the old tobacco barns used at that time stood on the Experiment Station land, then owned by H. H. Tift, until a few years ago. Satisfied that tobacco could be success- fully grown here, Captain Tift abandoned the project in favor of others in which he was more interested.
In 1893 Tift City Council placed a high tax on the sale of cigarettes in Tifton, but repealed the ordinance on February 5, 1894.
A preacher came from North Carolina to Douglas and there began cul- tivating tobacco.
About 1915 the A. B. and A. railroad began promoting the culture of tobacco. W. W. Croxton, general passenger agent for the road, was in charge of the movement, and the tobacco was sold at Timmonsville, South Carolina.
About the same time, the Central of Georgia hired Jim Winslow to pro- mote the tobacco growing industry in Alabama and Georgia. The South- ern also had a similar program.
The production of bright leaf in Georgia in 1917 was less than half a million pounds. It was not until the boll weevil infested the Sea Island
Scenes in Tift County
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
cotton area of this section that Tift County again turned to the growing of tobacco. Tobacco production in Georgia exceeded three million pounds, in 1918. Tobacco was grown in Tift County in 1918. That year I. W. Myers had fourteen acres in tobacco which brought him about $5,000.00. Others grew it here that year, also. In 1918 there was only a part time tobacco market in Tifton. In December, 1918 J. J. Taylor and N. C. Taylor, brothers, tobacco experts were in this vicinity promoting tobacco growing.
In 1918 tobacco was sold at Ashburn in the morning and at Tifton in the afternoon, or it was sold at Ashburn one day and at Tifton the next. At Tifton it was marketed at the old Cotton compress, by Fenner. In 1919 the warehouse was renovated to become a regular tobacco warehouse and to 1922 it continued to be operated as Fenner's Warehouse. In 1922 it was operated by W. E. Fenner.
In 1922 the first brick warehouse was built, the south building of what is now Twin Brick. In 1923 Fenner's name changed to Banner Warehouse and operated under its present management. In 1925 the New Brick Warehouse-the north half of what is now Twin Brick-was built. In 1928 the Banner and New Brick's names were changed to Twin Brick, which was built by the Tifton Investment Company.
In 1920 the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain began opera- tion in Tifton, where Sam Lassiter was in charge of the company. He has been its only resident manager from then until now. Not only has he handled the affairs of the company capably but he has also taken a promi- nent part in other affairs of the community. For a number of years he headed the Tifton City Council; he was head of the Tifton Board of Trade; was president of the Tifton Rotary Club; is a steward of the Tif- ton Methodist Church; during World War II he was Tift County Chair- man of the American Red Cross.
In 1921, Dr. Silas Starr, head of the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station, announced that the Station had been chosen as the location of the United States office of tobacco investigation.
On Thursday, August 2, 1923, Tifton and Tift County Tobacco Boost- ers, 140 strong, in 30 cars, toured the tobacco growing section making an 190-mile trip to boost Tifton as a tobacco market. First stop was Lenox. Thence the motorcade went to Adel, Cecil, Hahira, and to Valdosta.
At the Experiment Station the most complete experiments made were in tobacco. Work in this began just about the time the crop began to be grown in this section and the work of the station was of inestimable value to the growers. J. C. Hart was in charge of tobacco work at the station until 1925, when he went to Brazil. Next came J. M. Carr, from Vir- ginia. R. C. Thomas experimented at the Station with diseases of tobacco.
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J. G. Gaines later made valuable discoveries for control of blue mold and root knot.
Tifton-sold tobacco is not tied. Once there was a great stir about the necessity of tying. It was tied for a few days. The practice was not popular with the growers, and the matter was dropped. It continues to be sold untied.
In 1926 Tifton ranked fourth in the state in tobacco sales. First place was held by Douglas; Blackshear was second; Nashville was third. That year Tifton's first hand sales were 3,987,598 pounds, at $22.66 average, for $903,759.75.
That year was organized the Tifton Tobacco Board of Trade, on Mon- day night, August 2. Sam Lassiter was chosen president, J. L. Bowen (treasurer of the Tifton Investment Company), was chosen vice-president ; J. P. Culpepper was secretary and treasurer.
The September 3, 1926 issue of the Tifton Gazette was a Tobacco Edi- tion. In it appeared an article on tobacco by H. H. Tift, Jr.
In 1927 Tifton leaped into rank of a million dollar sales market.
In 1928 Farmer's Warehouse was built.
In 1931 Tifton sold 8,280,076 pounds. Valdosta came next with 7.114,- 453. Moultrie had third place. However, that year the leaf brought the lowest price brought by Georgia tobacco since the establishment of the Georgia market. Nevertheless that year Tifton took the lead among the markets of the state, and with brief exception has continued to hold first place
In 1932 Tifton headed the state with 2,168,386 pounds sold. Valdosta was second; Moultrie third. However, Tifton's average that year was in third place, at $11.23. Nevertheless, the state average that year was even lower : $10.41. Adel led in average.
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