USA > Georgia > Tift County > History of Tift County > Part 5
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In 1884 the Baptists of this section became active again and organized the New River Baptist Church. The Reverend W. W. Webb and the Revertnd W. F. Cox took a prominent part in the organization. About this time the Tifton Baptists organized a church called Mt. Hermon. This church, the name of which later changed to the First Baptist Church of Tifton, originally had five members. J. K. Graydon was the first clerk. The members of Mt. Hermon met on alternating Sundays in the Methodist Building. There was no regular Baptist preacher until 1890.
Besides the churches, school, and citizens already mentioned, several new people added interest to the town during the eighties. In 1880 John Burwell Greene and his family came from Taylor County to Tifton. Traveling in a covered wagon, drawn by oxen, the Greenes stopped at an
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
old mill in Coffee County and camped one night. Miss Leola Greene, one of Greene's children, though just five years old at that time, remembers the trip. Thomas Mitchell, who was postmaster part of this period had preceded his brother John B., to Tifton. In 1883 J. M. Williford, of Ma- con County, came to a farm four miles from Tifton and lived here until his death in 1924.
Jack Golden came in 1885; prior to this date he had lived a while at Riverside, a small settlement three miles west of Tifton. When twelve years old he attended school in Tifton, and later when sixteen years old came to work at H. H. Tift's sawmill. After working here a while, Gold- en owned a drug store with Jake Paulk and Dr. N. Peterson, then with Mr. Pete Strozier. Mr. Golden's work was later in Love and Buck's General Store, then in a machine shop. He entered the hardware business in 1902.
The late Enoch Bowen moved from Brookfield to Tifton in 1887 and bought the store that W. W. Pace had operated. The stock varied from pins and matches to coffins. Bowen was also railroad and express agent. One Christmas during this period one hundred twenty-two jugs of liquor were unloaded at the express office. He began the undertaking business in 1888 and was a licensed embalmer in 1895. This business is the oldest one in Tift County and the only one to bear the Bowen name.
C. C. Guest, who came to Tifton in 1889, clerked in Bowen's store. He boarded with J. I. Clements until the latter became manager of the Sadie Hotel. Guest remembers his first meals at this hotel.
C. W. Fulwood in 1888 moved from Alapaha to Tifton, where he opened the first law office in the town.
In addition to the churches, the building contributions to Tifton were Captain Tift's home in 1885 and the Sadie Hotel in 1889. These buildings allured sightseers far and near. The Tift residence at that time was pala- tial to the natives of the wire grass and other sections. J. L. Phillips built the Sadie Hotel in 1889; containing fifty rooms it was rare then. This hotel was headquarters for many "drummers," who if in this section would arrange to spend the night in Tifton.
The climax of the eighties for Southwest Georgia was an event on No- vember 25, 1888. The little town in the wildwoods was the gayest it had ever been. Whites, blacks, storekeepers, clerks, sawmill men, turpentine men, "bosses," women, and children feeling the spirit of the day had gath- ered for the celebration. Since August when the laying of the rails north and south of Tifton had begun, the town had longed to see that engine and hear a new whistle. At last, this engine was puffing an announcement of an introduction of a new era-the arrival of the first passenger train on the Georgia Southern and Florida !
CHAPTER VI "THE GAY NINETIES"
It was the day of crinoline, leg o'mutton sleeves, psyche knots, tableaux, hops, shadow parties, the first Tifton tobacco, exhibits at the midsummer fair in the Garden Empire City, and chautauquas. It was a day of prog- ress-the "gay nineties." The Georgia-Southern and Florida Railway and the Sadie hotel had significant roles in this drama of social and business progress. In Tift County now are people who remember the first Georgia- Southern and Florida engine that puffed down Tifton rails and the gay events at the Sadie Hotel.
The men who supported the G. S. and F. were primarily interested in the land along their right of way. Knowing the value of the lumber, they advertised that the best pine timber in Georgia was in their territory. Then they said to the sawmill men and manufacturers, "If you will buy the machinery, we will haul it free and will furnish without rental such side- tracks as you need." This liberal policy brought results. "By 1890 Geor- gia exported 7,251,000 gallons of turpentine and 841,000 barrels of resin and pitch and by 1900, 14,600 gallons of turpentine and 1.409,000 bar- rels of resin and pitch, completely eclipsing North Carolina and becom- ing the foremost naval stores state in the union." (Rosewell Earle Smith, op. cit.) The Georgia-Southern and Florida Railroad was partly respon- sible for the vast increase.
Tifton had a vital reaction to the new railroad ; new business men moved to the wiregrass town and a period of building began. E. Gibson, M. W. Gaskins, I. S. Bowen, O. M. Tift, and the Padrick brothers built general stores in Tifton. Dr. J. C. Goodman built the Tifton Drug Store in 1889. In 1890 C. A. Williams erected the town's first brick building for his livery stables. Soon there was a brick drug store, occupied by Peterson and Paulk. With W. A. Henderson's furniture store and H. H. Tift's addition of hardware to his stock, Tifton was becoming versatile.
By 1890 a number of business men had built homes in Tifton and had brought their families here to live. On December 29, 1890, the town was incorporated by act of the legislature. The Tift property lying within the incorporated limits was laid off in blocks, and lots were placed for sale. WV. H. Love, claim agent for the Brunswick and Western was elected first mayor. Aldermen H. H. Tift, E. P. Bowen, B. T. Allen, J. C. Goodman, J. A. Alexander, and J. A. McCrea completed the personnel of the first city council.
There appeared in the "Albany Herald" during 1892 an article about Tifton by a correspondent who signed himself Jay Ell Aitch. John L. Herring. Excerpts from the article are: "This little city, which five years
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CAMP FIRE GIRLS OF THE NINETIES
Mrs. W. W. Banks, who organized the Camp Fire Girls, is in the center of second row
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
ago consisted of a still, sawmill, and depot, now has 1,200 inhabitants, eleven business houses, two restaurants, a good market, one of the best hotels in Southwest Georgia, an academy building, costing $3,200, which has about ninety pupils in attendance, a Methodist Church costing $2,200. Added to this it has a mayor and council who are working like beavers to improve their town, and a host of citizens who are ably seconding their ef- forts ... When the city was laid out, no real estate was sold unless the purchaser agreed to erect a first class building thereon, and no land in the city is sold to negroes."
The business houses of Tifton depended mainly upon the lumber and naval stores industries for trade during the nineties. There were in or near Tifton seven large mills: Cecil Lumber Company, Oglesby Brothers, Adel Investment Company, Beckwith and Rogers. H. H. Tift, Weston and Gunn, and S. R. Weston and Son. These mills running at full time gave employment to about one hundred hands each, seven hundred in all. Besides, there were a number of smaller mills employing about twenty-five hands each. There were nineteen turpentine farms, employing an average of sixty hands each or a total of one thousand one hundred-forty.
No lumber town exceeded Tifton in progress; this rank was due to the prominence and intelligence of H. H. Tift. Soon after the formation of the Georgia Lumber Exchange, Captain Tift was elected president of the organization, and Tifton made temporary headquarters. "The Northwest Lumberman," a magazine of national prominence, recognized H. H. Tift's ability: "Captain Tift will soon complete a large shingle mill and will ship Georgia yellow pine shingles into Connecticut and other eastern states. Once introduced, they will hold their own against all others." Cap- tain Tift was referred to as "the moving and controlling genius of this region."
Besides the new railroad, the Sadie Hotel was a vital factor in the prog- ress of Tifton. "Drummers" when traveling anywhere near the "gate city to South Georgia and Florida" would arrange to spend a while at this hotel. The train crew and passengers on the Georgia-Southern and Flor- ida train ate lunch every day at the "Sadie."
This hotel was built by Captain J. L. Phillips and named for his daugh- ter, who, according to comments in the Gazette, must have been a lovely character. During the nineties Tifton was very cosmopolitan : people from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Tennessee, and Missis- sippi lived in the little city. These people with other Tiftonites entertained frequently with whist parties, teas, dances, kimono parties, and suppers. One lady, who lived in the country, would kill two birds with one shot : in evening attire she would bring a load of potatoes in a wagon to sell before attending a party.
The elaborateness of the various entertainments was in harmony with
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
the gay spirit of the charming little town. The Tifton Gazette of 1892 referred to a complimentary hop given by W. H. Love, first mayor of Tif- ton. Shadow parties were also among the styles of entertainment: gentle- men chose their partners as ladies appeared behind sheet screens. Often the Sadie Hotel parlor vibrated with laughter when belles and beaux learned the various choices.
"The Sadie," although commodious for that time, had only one bath- room, and hotel guests had to pay a quarter for a bath. One time a care- less gentleman had allowed his bill to accumulate so much that the pro- prietor of the hotel after several warnings locked the man in the bath room as security for the debt. The water prisoner was released when a collec- tion was taken for the amount owed.
No phase of life was neglected at "The Sadie," which was not only a social rendezvous, but the scene of literary events. The first history club in Tifton, organized by Mrs. W. W. Banks, met sometimes in the hotel par- lor.
The designer for the fashionable gowns worn on these occasions and later was Mrs. Annie Bennet, a needle artist. Many nights the whirr of her machine announced tucks-tucks-ruffles for sunbursts shirtwaists and dresses. Light from her lamps often streamed from her windows at mid- night.
Speaking of styles, the Tifton Gazette of 1892 quoted invecties against crinoline and hoopskirts as strong as the protests later against short skirts. A bill was introduced into the legislature prohibiting manufacture and sale of hoopskirts. In the Kentucky legislature there was a bill to prohibit "the manufacture, loan, and wearing of the monstrosities. Fair ones will not be allowed to make balloons of themselves without protests." One of the "hairdos," the psyche, was criticized then as much as bobbed hair later.
The Tifton Gazette of 1892 also gave a quaint description of a leap- year party: "Last night was a conspicuous evening with fair ladies of Tif- ton, who essayed to give a leap-year party worthy of their rushing little city.
"The events transpired at Park's Hall, and by 9 o'clock the hall was crowded with the youth, beauty, and chivalry of the little city and a num- ber of ladies and gentlemen from abroad. A colored string band from Cor- dele furnished music. Dancing was indulged in to a late hour, when a re- cess was taken and dainty refreshments served at the Suwannee Restau- rant. After which dancing continued until wee small hours."
The church grounds were often the scene of ice cream festivals-genuine ice cream made of eggs and milk. Churns of custard were frozen and sold with genuine pound cake. Little girls in gay, frilled dresses, carried waiters filled with bouquets for sale. Beaux would buy bouquets for ten cents or a quarter and present to their sweethearts. Expensive corsages were un-
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
known then, and girls enjoyed home-made nosegays as much as girls now enjoy their orchids. Money collected for ice cream and flowers was added to the building fund.
This fund, too, was increased by box suppers, where boxes of delicious food were auctioned with the gusto of modern tobacco auctioneers.
Another attraction, social and educational, was the chautauquas, where there appeared pianists, violinists, singers, and lecturers. The Bowen Opera House, where the artists presented their programs, was the scene of fash- ionable displays also; for ladies attending wore their best clothes, even decollete gowns.
Bowen's Opera House, which was over what is now Rowe's store had a conspicuous place in the nineties and later. Many celebrities spoke or performed inside those walls: Sam Jones, General John B. Gordon, and Dewey Heywood's New York Stars were among the number.
A crude type of the movie was introduced at the opera house during this period. Two incidents are associated with this movie. One night several boys were watching the picture of a train moving down the track. Sud- denly it flashed larger and seemed to be moving toward the audience. The boys reeled back and fell out of their seats. On another occasion a villain was playing the leading part in a picture. A negro sat there watching the fiendish acts, growing more angry every minute, until he shot the villain on the screen.
Besides these programs, Tifton often presented its own talent on the stage. A typical program was given on November 4, 1892 :
Vocal quartette-Come Where My Love Lies
Tableau-On the Fence
Vocal solo-Miss Jackson
Tableau-The Stitch of Love
Vocal solo-Mr. Julian Cole
Tableau-The Five Foolish Virgins
Instrumental solo-Mr. H. J. Brinson
Tableau-Coming Through the Rye
Vocal solo-Mrs. H. H. Tift
Tableau-At the Shrine of St. Agnes
Vocal solo-Mr. E. H. Tift
The entire program was concluded with a laughable cantata of the grasshopper.
A good example of the literary club programs of the day was given in February 1895: Reading from Tennyson-Miss Williams; Song-Harriet Goodman; Recitation-J. G. Padrick ; Reading. "Essay on Man"-F. G. Boatright; Song-Misses Katie and Harriet Goodman and Catherine Tift ; Duet-Misses Baynard ; Recitation-Miss Florrie Smith.
Among the favorite sports of the period were bicycle and surrey riding.
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
Bicycle races were even a feature of the fair. The Tifton Gazette referred to Dr. N. Peterson, J. J. Golden, and F. G. Boatright's bicycle races. Gold- en took first prize for two minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Peterson came second with a score of three minutes and eleven seconds. Ladies and girls rode bicycles. Mr. J. A. Sibley was very generous with his surrey; he fre- quently took his friends for a ride.
Tobacco cultivation, destined to reach the throne in Tift County, be- gan in the nineties. In 1892, however, the editor of the Gazette warned farmers not to be too much excited about tobacco. During this year one thousand pounds of tobacco were made to the acre in Tift. The Mid- summer Fair exhibited tobacco, vegetables, and fruits.
Although farming was a subordinate industry and in an early state, this section had promoters of agriculture. In 1892 a temporary land associa- tion headed by H. H. Tift as president and J. F. Wilson as secretary was formed with 150,000 acres represented. The purpose of the organization was to "Thoroughly and intelligently advertise this section of the state throughout the west and northwest, inviting farmers of that less favored section to come, abide in lower Georgia, and be happy." Real estate agents from other states for example, C. C. S. Baldridge, located in South Geor- gia and tried to get their friends at home to move to the wiregrass.
Various farmers surrounding Tifton were the scenes of valuable ex- periments in raising fruit trees and grape vines. At one time it seemed that this section might be recognized as a peach center, for the Tift- Snow farm had developed one of the best small orchards in the state. In 1894 there were in the vicinity of Tifton the following peach orchards : Tift and Snow, 60,000 trees; W. O. Tift, 12,000; H. Holdane, 5,000; A. F. Hoffman, 3,000; W. S. Louther, 3,000; E. H. Tift, 3,000; W. H. Mallory, 10,000; and C. H. Goodman, 2,000. There were 60,000 grape vines on the Tift Brothers' farm. In 1896 Tifton was given recognition as a fruit town when J. A. Sibley and W. O. Tift were elected secretary. and treasurer-respectively of the Georgia Fruit Growers' Association. In 1894 Tifton's peach market exceeded that of Fort Valley.
One of the biggest factors in encouraging an interest in farming during the nineties was the Cycloneta farm, established by Willie B. Sparks, in connection with the Georgia, Southern and Florida Railroad. The land, which was donated by H. H. Tift, was used as an experiment station to show the possibilities of the soil. The officials of the G. S. & F. went to the trouble and expense to attract farmers to this section and to improve those who were already here with the importance of diversification. Large parties of Pennsylvanians, Ohioans, and others came to South Georgia to inspect the Cycloneta (now Sunsweet) farm, and it was largely through the efforts of Willis B. Sparks that many outsiders located in Wire Grass Georgia. The settlement known as Little Pennsylvania, located two miles
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
north of Tifton was different; it was the result of the success of two Pennsylvanians in this section, U. S. Louther and A. F. Hoffman.
Four miles southeast of Tifton there was also a Swedish settlement, which included twelve frugal and industrious families of the best class of Swedes. A hundred acres of land were cultivated here by Andy Lund- quist, for whom the settlement was named Lumville.
After a trip into South Georgia in 1892, Harry Stillwell Edwards, later a writer of international renown, wrote a letter to the Atlanta Con- stitution. Excerpt from letter follows: "All admit that the competition of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas will eventually destroy the cotton busi- ness of Georgia; overproduction has already crippled it. And some day the magnificent pine forests will all be gone and with them the lumber busi- ness. If tobacco as a profitable crop and the manufacture of tobacco as a business can take the place of these, the state will grow rich, instead of poorer."
Southwest Georgia did give great promise in tobacco during the nine- ties. The experiments in the growing and curing of tobacco on the Cyclo- neta farm-Cycloneta was named for a cyclone that swept that spot- and the donation of tobacco seed by G. S. and F. influenced many farmers to experiment with the bright leaf variety. The only problem was the lack of a suitable market. John Haralson in 1896 introduced home-consumption by establishing a small cigar factory, but his enthusiasm was short lived. Difficulties in marketing caused interest to wane and finally stopped the cultivation.
Despite the Gazette and the Cycloneta farmers' attempts to make the farmers of this section diversify their crops, despite the fact that the Tifton Canning and Manufacturing Company stood in constant need of truck products, King Cotton ruled the farming industry in this section with even a firmer hand than in the present day. Of course, there is much more cot- ton produced now than there was at that time, for farming has replaced the lumber and naval stores business as the most important industry.
From the beginning, the Tifton Gazette sponsored worthy campaigns ; the diversification of farming was only one of them. In April 1891, B. T. Allen established in Sparks a weekly newspaper called the Berrien County Pioneer. In October of that year he moved his paper to Tifton, changing its name to the Tifton Gazette. The earliest copy of the Gazette now available is the issue of January 22, 1892.
For several years after the founding of Tifton, the schools here were very poor-cold and bare log cabins where teachers, not well trained, at- tempted to drill the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic into the heads of indifferent "scholars," who learned to the tune of the hickory stick. Teachers received six or seven cents a day for each student.
About 1898 the little building that served as school house and Masonic
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
hall was burned by some enemy of education. After this fire Tifton parents were left without a school. Not many of them could afford to send their children to a boarding school, and most of the town people were eager to give their children the advantages of an education. Fortunately there were two schools near Tifton : one was on the old Union Road where Abraham- Baldwin now stands; the other, on the site of the present County Alms House.
The parents in this growing lumber town, however, were not satis- fied until there was a school building near their homes. True to the progressive spirit, the citizens in 1891 came together to form a stock company for the purpose of establishing and supporting a school. The Tif- ton Institute, a $3,800 building, was the result. The work of the first school began in the early fall of 1891, under direction of Professor L. A. Murphey, with the following monthly tuition rates: primary $2.00; inter- mediate $2.50; high school, $3.00. H. H. Tift, W. O. Tift, W. W. Timmons, E. P. Bowen, and W. H. Love composed the first board of education.
When J. J. Huggins was principal of the Tifton Institute in 1892, there were just 75 pupils attending. During the summer of 1893, the Tifton Educational Company, through its board of directors, deciding to put their school on a new basis, placed it in the hands of Professor E. J. Williams. Referring to the situation, the Gazette on August 4 said : "He will conduct the school upon its merits under the supervision of a board of trustees to be chosen by the patrons of the school. Really, the building is turned over to the community free of rent, provided the citizens will maintain a first class school in it." The lowering of the tui- tion that followed probably accounted in a large part for the increase in the size of the student body. Anyway under "Zeke" Williams, the in- crease from 75 to 150 students made necessary the employment of an as- sistant, Miss Martha Williams, and a music teacher, Miss Ella C. Bacon.
In 1896 when John O'Quinn became principal an even larger faculty was necessary. Miss Ina Coleman had charge of intermediate work; Miss Edna McQueen, of the primary department; Miss Myrtle Pound taught music; and Miss Sally Perry, art. Among the Tifton Institute pupils at that time were Mrs. Harriet Goodman Harman, Mrs. Edna Cox Shaw, Mrs. Lena Gordon Williams, Mrs. Ella Youmans Coleman, Mrs. Ellie Millie Cox, Mrs. Blanche McLeod Harrell, Guy A. Cox, Lester You- mans, Elbert Youmans, and J. A. Walker.
Fortunately the early teachers in the Tifton Institute were comparatively superior men and women. Even then the school was weak enough.
Like the school and the newspaper, the Tifton churches flourished dur- ing the nineties. The growth of the Methodists and Baptist Churches cor- responded to the growth of the town.
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
Early in 1895 the Baptists decided to erect a brick church. This plan could not have been effected had it not been for the enthusiasm of B. T. Allen, the determination of numerous women, and the benevolence of H. H. Tift. The April 8, 1895 issue of the Tifton Gazette was edited by ladies in honor of the laying of the corner stone of the new church. The staff was as follows: editor-in-chief, Mrs. Geo H. Padrick; associate editors, Mrs. B. T. Cole, and Mrs. W. T. Hargrett; local and society editors, Mrs. J. W. Greene and Mrs. W. N. Cole; business managers, Mrs. F. T. Snell, Mrs. J. K. Carswell, Mrs. W. W. Timmons, and the Reverend F. T. Snell, an Englishman, who succeeded the Reverend O. M. Irwin, the first regular pastor.
The Methodists were progressing too. The first notable growth was in the fall of 1885, when a revival conducted by the regular pastor, G. R. Parker, assisted by the Reverend E. M. Whiting, brought in nearly thirty members.
In 1895 Southwest Georgia was enjoying prosperity and Tifton was in the center of it all. A statement written by the editor of the Worth County Local after a visit to Tifton follows :
"There is not another section of the state that is receiving the same amount of voluntary advertising, which, within itself, speaks volumes for Tifton and adjacent country for twenty miles around.
"It is true, Tifton enjoys advantages, by virtue of her neighboring little towns, and will hold her place as a central point around which fruit and truck growers will gather, but as time comes on apace, all of her nearby territory will be taken up and the ever increasing stream of newcomers will be compelled to reach out into the inviting and almost inexhaustible territory that is to be found reaching far into the surrounding country."
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