USA > Georgia > Troup County > History of Troup county > Part 6
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HISTORY OF TROUP COUNTY
These early pioneers began building sturdy log houses, cutting the logs from the forest and hewing them with a broad axe. Some of these early houses were built with lofts reached by ladders in order that the women and children could escape from wolves while the men were working in the fields and forests. These early settlers were soon joined by other pioneers, many from Virginia and the Carolinas, for after the Revolution many pioneers were seeking land grants, wherever they could be obtained.
From September of 1824 to December of 1825, LaFayette was a guest of the American nation, and during this time for two weeks he was the guest of our Governor Troup of Georgia. So great was the appreciation of his services to the nation and the admiration of his ideals, that when this small settlement decided to incorporate the community, in a town meeting called for the purpose of naming the town on motion of Julius C. Alford, it was named by a unanimous vote LaGrange, in honor of the estate of LaFayette in France.
The selection of the site for the county town, or county seat, devolved upon the five judges of the Inferior Court: James Culberson, Samuel Reid, James Maddux, John E. Gage, and Whitfield H. Sledge. Samuel Reid, who lived near Whitfield Crossing, favored a site near Mountville; John E. Gage, who was interested in the promotion of the town of Vernon on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, favored Vernon as the county town. The In- ferior Court being unable to agree on either site finally agreed to place the county town about half way between the two contesting communities, and the final selection was land lot 109 in the 6th land district. This lot was drawn in the state lottery at Milledgeville by Bailey Reed, a citizen of Ogle- thorpe County, on May 21, 1827, who sold the lot to Buckner Beasley for $300.00 on February 15, 1828, and Beasley in turn sold it to John Pinckard for $500.00 on February 28, 1828, and Pinckard sold it to the Inferior Court of Troup County for $1,350.00 on March 5, 1828.
LaGrange was incorporated on December 16, 1828, and in the same Act of the legislature was created the county seat of Troup County. R. A. Lane, James Simmons, John Herring, Dow Perry, and Howell Jenkins were ap- pointed as commissioners of the town. In 1852 the addition of an Intend- ant, or mayor, was made, and the number of commissioners reduced to four besides the Intendant. The duties of this body were to enact laws for the town government, and they were empowered to restrict, prohibit, or regu- late the sale and distribution of all distilled spiritous and intoxicating liquors within the corporate limits of LaGrange; they were also to prescribe the penalties for the disobedience of any laws of the town.
LaGrange, being the county town, was the scene of the first Superior Court, which was held in a log house on the site of what is now known as
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the Graves Swanson place. Judge Walter T. Colquitt presided over the court, Noah Johnson was the clerk, and Daniel S. Robertson was the sheriff.
In 1829-30 the court house was built in the center of the present Court Square, and the business part of the town was built on the four sides of the square. Among the early citizens, who carried on their business in small wooden stores and offices, are found the following names: John E. Morgan, James and William Redd, Sampson Duggar, Rufus Broome, Fears and Saffold, James M. Beall, Amos J. Persons, Joseph Poythress, Bennett M. Ware, Samuel A. Bailey, Evans and Thompson, Wood and Harvey, Bogart and Forbes, Walker and Smith, Collin Rogers, Lewis Hines, John B. Strong, W. C. Thomas, and many others whose names have vanished. The first blacksmith shop was owned and operated by John (Jack) B. Strong, a great uncle of Mrs. R. H. Park, and his family lived in one of the first frame houses of the town, situated where the present Colonial Hotel now stands. Another of the early frame houses was that of James Turner, the grand- father of Mrs. John D. Faver, and the same old house is now used as the home of the nurses of Dunson Hospital.
From the Indians who lived across the Chattahoochee, these earliest set- tlers bought corn, peas, chickens and eggs. The Indians usually were friendly and would often come into the homes of the settlers and ask for food, offering baskets and moccasins for sale. However, sometimes they were rude and had to be driven from the homes. While the cession of the territory by the Creeks included the provision for transportation of the Indians to some place beyond the Mississippi, many of the dissatisfied and rebellious braves gathered beyond the Chattahoochee, and lived by pillaging from the nearest settlers. This pillaging and the stealing of cattle by the Indians became so intolerable, that the settlers after one particularly vicious raid, pursued them across the river and burned their village. In the chap- ter on Troup County Military will be found the story of the "Burnt Vil- lage," taken from White's Historical Recollections.
According to John T. Rutledge, who spent his boyhood days in this com- munity, one of the interesting divertisements of the time was that of deer hunting. The hunters started the dogs in the Tanyard branch swamp (junc- tion of Hill and Greenville streets to the south), and the dogs pursued the deer across the present Court Square towards the McLendon branch north of town and then on towards Yellow Jacket Creek, the hunters shooting them from the various stands. One of these stands was situated at the southwest corner of Court Square, where the A. & P. store is located. Mr. Rutledge related that he had often seen as many as sixteen deer passing this point.
Many of the pioneers from the earlier settlements were people of education and property, and they brought with them into this wilderness, tools, cattle,
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slaves and household furnishings. Almost immediately they began to plan for schools and churches.
The title to real estate in land lot 109, or the original LaGrange, was vested in the Inferior Court of Troup County on March 5, 1828, and before any property was conveyed by them, a sub-division was made by the county surveyor, Samuel Reid, the grandfather of Mrs. J. B. Strong. While the property may have been bought some time prior to the date of the deeds, the first recorded deed given by the Inferior Court was to Rufus Broome on November 16, 1830, for a portion of the block on the south side of Court Square; the second to James Herring on May 15, 1831, for a portion of the Baptist church block; the first residence deed was issued to William A. Redd, for a part of the middle block north of Haralson Street and on the same day a deed was given to the Baptist and Presbyterian churches for a lot on the west side of Bull Street.
On the west side of the present city in land lot 110, the first sale of the private sub-division made by James S. Park was made to Julius C. Alford on March 13, 1830, for the property of LaGrange College hill, and the second to Gen. Hugh A. Haralson for the present Mclendon place on April 1, 1830. In land lot 116, which is south of Broome Street, the property was sub-divided by John E. Gage, and his first recorded sale was to Joseph Poythress on February 5, 1830, for the present post-office lot, and the second to James and William Daniel for another portion of the same block on February 25, 1830. Most of the lots in the residence section of the town were deeded in 1831 and in 1832, and later.
The lot where Hillview Cemetery is now situated, the eastern half of number 21 Commons, and the lot now occupied by John D. Faver at 406 Broad Street, which was the southwest corner of number 11 Commons, were both reserved for school purposes by the Inferior Court in the sub- division, the first named lot for Troup County Academy, and the second for LaGrange Female Academy. The central square was reserved for a court house, and the lot whereon the present city hall stands, number 24 Commons, was reserved for a jail lot by the same officials.
Mrs. M. J. Morgan, who attended the LaGrange Female Academy, then called the Stanley School, related many years ago an occurrence that took place while she was a student there: "There was an Indian alarm, and such a panic, I have never seen before or since. The school was dispersed in all directions; the town in an uproar, horror-stricken, expecting to be massacred by the Indians who were reported to be swooping down upon us. What a merciful providence that arrested the calamity."
Mrs. William H. Cooper, a woman of great culture and piety, taught a small school at her home which was located in a grove in the rear of the
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Lewis J. Render home. Afterwards she built a small schoolhouse near by. Mrs. Cooper was a Miss Fall and her father was an eminent physician and author of several medical books.
Mrs. Thomas A. Boddie, who was a student of LaGrange College when it was known as Montgomery School, gives us some interesting sidelights on these early times in Miss Belle Boddie's ably edited notes published in the LaGrange Graphic in 1928. The campus on Broad Street was large, and many magnificent forest trees flourished there. The school building was built of wood and was large and rambling. She spoke of the children who accompanied her to school, she and her sister, Anne Elizabeth Smith, and her step-sister, Sarah Stembridge, were joined a little further down the street by Joe and Mary Eliza Colquitt, Achsah Turner, Mary Cade Alford and her sister Margaret, or Pony, Anna Morgan, Ophelia and Elmira Wilkes, and Martha Beall. The Morgan and Wilkes girls had an understanding that when one party went ahead of the other, that party was to place a pebble on General Edward's gate-post. O mores, O tempora. Time passes and the beautiful gates disappear, but the same little human episodes appear through- out history.
The original limits of LaGrange were the bounds of the land lot on which it was located. In 1856 the limits were extended, and were the circle of one mile radius from the center of Court Square. The next change was made on January 1, 1920, and the limits were extended to a two-mile radius and to include all of Southwest LaGrange limits, wherever exceeding the two-mile radius. This added all of the Callaway Mills in the southwestern part of the city, and the Dunson Mills on the eastern side of the city to the corporate limits of LaGrange.
The earliest record of any fire protection was in 1857, when Waters B. Jones, Robert F. Maddox, Friend O. Rogers, Burrell B. Cook, John C. Curt- right, Thomas Scott, Albert E. Cox, J. B. Morgan, Morris Berringer, Daniel McMillan, C. D. Burks, and Divany A. Kidd, were chartered by the General Assembly of Georgia, and organized under the name of "The Diligent Fire- men" with the usual exemptions from street tax and the like. In 1890 a volunteer fire department was organized under the leadership of Robert J. Guinn, Sr., as chief, and this volunteer organization served the city for several years.
In 1908 a paid fire department was organized with C. W. Corless as the fire chief and a total personnel of three; but the present department con- sists of fourteen men with modern appliances for fire-fighting, including two 750-gallon pumping engines, one hose and ladder truck, and one chemi- cal engine for oil and gas fires.
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HISTORY OF TROUP COUNTY
In 1887 a street railway was incorporated by F. M. Ridley, J. P. Thornton, F. M. Longley, and G. E. Dallis. The railway was laid from the railroad station to Main Street and to Court Square, thence down Broad Street to the junction of Ben Hill Street. The vehicle of locomotion was a mule- drawn car, which was a great pleasure and convenience to the college girls. On one occasion one of the students entered the car while the driver was absent, probably in a flirtation with some girl. The sagacious mule, decid- ing that it was time for the return trip, started towards town with the one passenger and no driver. The college hill had not been graded at that time, and as there was no one to apply the brakes, that student had a most thrilling ride, until she and the mule were rescued on Court Square. The street railway was originally intended to extend some distance on the Vernon Road, and make a circuit of the city, but the plan was never completed, and the railroad was later removed to make way for paved streets.
In 1845 the population of LaGrange was about 1500, of which about 500 were whites and about 1000 colored. In 1933 the population has increased to about 21,000. This increase is largely due to the wide expan- sion of the textile industry. The railroads, the banks, and the newspapers have contributed much to the commercial development of the community.
The steady growth of LaGrange is indicated by the large sums of money spent for building operations. The sum spent for private enterprises, resi- dences, and business buildings, totaled $3,498,000.00 within the last decade. The city of LaGrange has spent more than a million dollars in the improve- ment of city properties, more than doubling in value the school buildings, and adding to the gas, electric lighting, waterworks system, and the erec- tion of a city hall. LaGrange now has sixteen miles of paving on streets, and one hundred miles of paved sidewalks.
The earliest hostelry of LaGrange, of which there is any record, was the Howard Tavern, which once stood on the site of the First Baptist Church. It was the stage coach stop in LaGrange until 1855, when the church was built. It was operated by Greenberg G. Howard. The LaGrange Hotel was a wooden structure on the east side of Main Street, that was finally razed to make room for brick structures. The New LaGrange Hotel, at one time called Hotel Andrews, was destroyed by fire in 1931, and occupied a place in the same block. It was the principal hotel for many years.
The Park Hotel is the oldest of the present hotels. The interior has been remodeled several times to keep it up to date. The Terrace Hotel, built by R. O. Pharr, and the Colonial Hotel, built by the Misses Young, are all that can be desired in comfort and convenience.
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The building trades were ably represented in the early days by Cullen Rogers, James Culberson, Edward Broughton, and Benjamin Cameron; at a later date by H. C. Butler, Pike Brothers, H. W. Caldwell, and the colored contractor, John King; and at the present by Daniel Lumber Company, and Newman Construction Company, and a host of private builders and contractors.
The wholesale grocery business is a more modern development of the LaGrange territory. The Dixie Grocery Company, afterwards Jones-Knight, and the Daniel Grocery Company made ventures in this line. The LaGrange Grocery Company, under the management of Max Hagedorn, and Culpepper and Clark, a firm composed of W. T. Culpepper and Hardy Clark, are the principal factors in this trade at the present.
The Swift Company, which succeeded the Troup Company, are manu- facturers of fertilizers, and have a wide field of patronage.
The textile industry is a vital commercial factor of the commerce of LaGrange, and includes the total of 150,000 spindles within the city limits, representing an original investment of more than $15,000,000.00 in addition to their working capital. These plants are the LaGrange Calumet, Dixie, Unity, Elm City, Dunson, Unity Spinning, Hillside, and Oakleaf, and the Valway Rug Mills. With this industry are associated the names of Barnard, Murphy, Truitt, Edmondson, Dunson, and the financial genius Fuller E. Callaway, and many other citizens.
The financial interests of LaGrange were cared for by the First National Bank, afterwards the Bank of LaGrange, and the LaGrange Banking and Trust Company. The present institutions are the LaGrange National Bank, the Industrial Loan and Investment Company, the Home Building and Loan Company, the Franklin Savings and Loan Company, and the Family Finance Company.
The fraternal and social organizations of LaGrange are represented by the Masonic fraternity, the Odd Fellows, the Elks, the Red Men, the Junior Order, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Woman's Club, the Highland Country Club, and a host of smaller organizations.
LaGrange has ever been noted for its sound business interests, its cultural institutions, its shaded streets, its beautiful homes, and its hospitable people. The legacy of its pioneers for probity in every day living, for valor and courage in times of distress, and for the enjoyment of the arts and sciences, is one that is carefully guarded by their descendants. The records prior to 1874 cannot be found, and there is no authentic roster that can be given for officers prior to that time, except the ones mentioned in the text above. The rosters follow:
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HISTORY OF TROUP COUNTY
MAYORS OF LAGRANGE
1874-75 William C. Yancey
1898
Thomas S. Bradfield
1876 Francis M. Longley
1899-00
Thomas J. Harwell
1877-79 John N. Cooper
1901-03
John D. Edmundson
1880-81 John Edward Toole
1903-04 Orville G. Cox
1882-84 Thomas J. Harwell
1905-15
John D. Edmundson
1885 Robert S. McFarlin
1916-17
Henry Reeves
1886-87
Frank M. Ridley
1918
C. N. Pike
1888
Henry E. Ware
1919-23
S. H. Dunson
1889-90
Elisha D. Pitman
1924-27 Grover C. Hunter
1891-92
James F. Park
1928-31
Herman C. Fincher
1893-95
Davis J. Gaffney
1932 --
R. S. O'Neal
1895-97
Enoch Callaway
CITY CLERKS OF LAGRANGE
1874-78
Egbert Beall
1899-00
James T. Johnson
1879-87 John G. Whitfield
1901-03 James B. Ridley
1888-90 S. A. Reid
1904-19
Thomas J. Harwell
1891-92
Orville A. Bull
1920-23
D. A. Leman
1893
Frank P. Longley
1924 ---
J. H. Moss
1894-98 W. W. Randall
WEST POINT. The city of West Point was originally an early and im- portant trading post on the east bank of the Chattahoochee and was called Franklin by the early settlers. Some of the earliest settlers were John H. Broadnax, Thomas Coker, William Coker, Joseph and John Williams, John Phipps and A. Cox. In 1829 Phipps, Williams and Cox built the first store at the top of a hill, but moved in 1830 and built a log store on lower ground nearer the river. The principal business at that time was with the Indians, who were thickly settled on the western side of the river. During 1830 and 1831 Littleberry Gresham, John C. Webb, Robert and E. G. Richards, Benjamin Rhodes, H. F. and Thomas Erwin, opened business houses on the east side of the river. Peter Dudley built and kept the first tavern near the old toll bridge. William Coker built the second tavern, and after his time Mrs. Reid kept an excellent tavern on the Schaefer corner.
In 1831 the population of the settlement of Franklin numbered one hun- dred, and the amount of business was estimated to be from $40,000.00 to $50,000.00, showing a thriving trading center even in those early days. The surrounding country soon became settled with sturdy farmers, who felled forests, built substantial homes, and raised splendid crops from the virgin soil.
The city of West Point was incorporated originally as the town of Frank- lin on December 26, 1831. Dr. G. W. Hill went to Milledgeville, the capital of the state at that time, for the purpose of furthering the incor-
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poration, and it is believed that he suggested the name of Franklin. The charter of Franklin Academy was granted at the same session of legislature. Under the act of incorporation the following persons were appointed com- missioners of the town: Charles R. Pearson, William Atkins, Robert M. Richards, Thomas B. Erwin, and John C. Webb. On December 24, 1832, the name of the town was changed by legislative enactment to the town of West Point. The cause of this sudden change of name of the town was that the adjacent county of Heard had named their county seat "Franklin," and there was much confusion in the transmission of mails.
Captain J. W. F. Little, in an article which appeared in the LaGrange Reporter in 1878, said: "No positive facts can now be obtained as to why the name of 'West Point' was chosen. It is said that this is the most western point of the Chattahoochee River and possibly that was the reason. It was certainly not because it was the western terminus of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad, for the town was named sixteen years before the enter- prise was projected."
The original limits of the town of West Point included land lot 283 and the fraction 318 in the 5th district. These limits were extended by legis- lative enactment on December 26, 1835, to the present size of the city: that is to include land lots 283, 284, and the southern half and the north- western quarter of 285, and the fractions 316, 317, and 318 in the 5th district east of the river; the fractions, 57, 58, and 59, in the 16th district west of the river. In the same act of extension of limits, the following commissioners were appointed: Charles R. Pearson, Beaman Martin, Law- rence Gahagan, Green W. Hill, and Hutchinson Burnham. These commis- sioners were to hold office for one year and chose one of their number as Intendant. Also in the same enactment, Abner McGee, George Whitman, Edward Hancock, John Scott, Sr., Francis M. Gilmer, Nimrod C. Benson, John C. Webb, and Charles R. Pearson, were authorized to build a bridge across the Chattahoochee at any point within the limits of incorporation.
In 1836, the Montgomery and West Point Railroad was chartered, and many citizens subscribed to the stock. The trains of this road entered West Point in 1851. In 1838 the West Point Land Company was chartered, and Thomas Winston was chosen president. A period of inflation followed, subdivisions were laid off, lots were improved and sold at large profits, but unfortunately this dream of West Point as a future metropolis vanished and many investors lost money. During this period of development in 1838, the authorized toll bridge was built at the foot of Jackson Street. The bridge was built by Horace King, at that time a slave of Mr. Godwin of Columbus, the contractor of the project. The bridge was 652 feet in length and cost $22,000.00. The lumber for the project was sawed in
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HISTORY OF TROUP COUNTY
Heard County by Nick Tompkins, and rafted down the river. This bridge was burned by Colonel LaGrange of the Federal Army on April 17, 1865, just after the battle of Fort Tyler, and was rebuilt in 1866.
The completion of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad into West Point in 1854 was the last necessary factor in the development of the city as a real cotton market. As early as 1851, 28,000 bales were brought from the surrounding country, hauled in wagons, some as much as seventy miles.
After the Montgomery and West Point Railroad entered the city in 1851, business began to increase on the west side of the river, and when 1856 had arrived, nearly all the business section was removed to that side. In the decade from 1850 to 1860, the West Point market was supplied with wheat, corn, and bacon, and it was not until 1861 that any corn was bought and shipped from other markets to the city.
On February 10, 1854, the town of West Point was chartered as the City of West Point, and one of the first enterprises of the new city was a plan for a good hotel, and during 1856-57 Tim and Terry Collins built the Chattahoochee Hotel, which still maintains its excellent standard of hostelry under the name of Charles Hotel.
At the outbreak of the War Between the States, West Point gallantly espoused the cause of the Confederacy, and the West Point Guards tendered their services on April 2, 1861. The close of the war found West Point sacked and burned, the people without money or credit, but with indomi- table energy and industry and perseverance, which has always characterized her citizens, they began to rebuild what had been destroyed. The toll bridge built in 1838 and the railroad bridge finished in 1854 were uselessly destroyed by the Federal vandals. West Point was the first city in Georgia to be relieved from military control after the war.
West Point is situated in the midst of splendid manufacturing interests. Within a seven-mile radius are to be found Lanett, Langdale, Shawmut, Fairfax, Riverdale, and the Utilization Plant. While all these plants are in the state of Alabama, they are owned by the West Point Manufacturing Company with their central offices in the city of West Point. This chain of mills was organized and in a large measure financed by West Point citi- zens, among whom may be found the names of Huguley, Atkinson, Lanier, Trammell, Scott, Johnson, Lovelace, Walker, Miller, and many others.
The sewerage system, water supply, fire and police protection, and the public schools, are unsurpassed. There are churches of every denomination, Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Woman's Club, and near by a country club. The boy and girl scout councils are nationally known, and they have one of the best equipped camps in the country.
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Among the handsome public buildings of the city may be mentioned the spacious auditorium, the city hall, the Magnolia Club, the Hawkes Library, the handsome new High School, several new churches of outstanding capacity and beauty, and a number of well-equipped business structures. The West Point Iron Works and the Batson-Cook Lumber Company are numbered among the successful contractors of the city. The annals of the city and the surrounding territory are well edited in the West Point News by Tipton Coffee and his sons.
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