USA > Georgia > Coffee County > Ward's History of Coffee County > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19
The Primitive Baptist Church was organized by Elder Richard Bennett, a pioneer preacher of his faith. It is situated about two miles northwest of Nicholls. And Elim Church is now one of the strongest Primitive Baptist Churches in Coffee County.
The telephone system was installed about the year 1904. The first brick building built in Nicholls was constructed in the year 1908 and was occupied by W. M. Robinowitz as a general store.
308
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
The tobacco business in Coffee County had its origin on a farm two miles south of Nicholls which was oc- cupied and cultivated by S. J. Brown. The farm is now known as the McGee farm. Nicholls also had one of the first tobacco warehouses in Coffee County. It is said that the territory adjacent to Nicholls pro- duces the best grade of tobacco in Coffee County.
While the Southern Pine Company operated a saw mill in Nicholls, all sorts of people from everywhere lived in Nicholls. But when the mill moved, the town was then occupied by the pioneer families of Coffee County. The pioneer families are: Meeks, Halls, Waters, Bagleys, Vinsons, Cannons, Kirklands, Powers, Davis, Testons, Lewis, Tanners, and Taylors.
The population of the town is about a thousand people.
Nicholls is lighted by the Georgia Power Company.
West Green
About the year 1900 The Southern Pine Lumber Company extended its tramroad south from Hazle- hurst twenty miles. One branch extending toward Nicholls, the other leading west to Broxton. And the junction was known to the earlier settlers as "The Twenty." "The Twenty" at that time boasted of one residence, a shanty occupied by an old slavery darky known as "Mammy." In a short time the J. P. Courthouse, as it now stands, was erected with B. T. Burkett presiding J. P.
The first enterprise of "The Twenty" was "The Boyd Bird Cross Tie Company," who operated a com- missary, which was the first store.
309
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
About six or seven years later the railroad changed hands and the name was known as the D. A. and G. "The Twenty" becoming Garrant. J. J. Ward built a house with living quarters on one side and a room on the other side was used as the first depot. In the center room the first general store was operated by J. J. Ward. T. W. Thompson was the first agent and operator at the railroad. About a year later the rail- road became the Georgia and Florida. A new depot was built, with section houses.
After this the people became optimistic, and G. W. and W. L. Lott formed a real estate company, build- ing several houses and laying off streets. They also built a modern gin and grist mill which was operated by J. L. Denton, who was one of the pioneer citizens.
The second mercantile business was that of W. B. Courson and son, W. R. Courson.
The next enterprise of importance was a saw mill owned and operated by N. S. Boyd, which later became "The Garrant Lumber Co." T. J. Dickey, Lon Dickey of Fitzgerald, and N. S. Boyd formed the company. About the same time L. D. Long and J. C. Brewer of Douglas operated a saw mill.
The first organization to erect a building here was the K. of P., who built a two-story building. The upper story of which was used for "Castle Hall" by the organization. It was also used for schools and church purposes. The lower floor was used for a drug store, which was operated by R. E. Darnell, who later sold out to Dr. W. L. Hall and was the first physician the village had.
310
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
G. W. Lott gave ten acres of land for school pur- poses and upon this site a two-story building was erected.
A short time later G. W. Lott sold practically his entire real estate possessions to The South Georgia Farm Company, who are the present owners. It was through their influence a number of citizens were brought here from South Carolina, Tennessee, and other states. About this time the town was incor- porated, and the name was changed to West Green, honoring a member of the company whose name was Westbrook. Mr. John A. Cromartie of Hazlehurst was employed by the above company to look after their interests. He moved his family here and they meant a great deal to the social, civic and religious life of the town.
In 1915 the Baptist and Methodist churches were erected, with Rev. S. G. Taylor pastor of the Baptist Church. In 1921 the Free Will Baptist Church was built, through the influence of Rev. C. C. Coursey of Baxley, who became its first pastor.
As time passed and the people progressed and be- came more aggressive they realized their institute of learning was inadequate to the needs of the time, and in 1925, through the efforts of J. H. Green, a senti- ment was erected to vote bonds and a modern building was erected with ten class rooms, domestic science department, and an auditorium with seating capacity of 500.
About 1912 B. B. Jackson installed a modern tele- phone exchange, which was a great means towards the development of a modern town.
311
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
The Turpentine Industry By Mrs. Lon Dickey
The Pine Tree is the most valuable asset that Coffee County ever had. Perhaps the cotton crop comes next. There was not a turpentine still in Coffee County till after 1870. Among the first turpentine stills operated in Coffee County was operated by McNeil and McNeil. The still was located at Rock Falls, near the northern part of Coffee County. Their shipping point was Bare Lake on the Ocmulgee River. Soon after this business began Mr. William C. Vereen from Cheraw, S. C., joined the firm. Mr. Vereen located his still near the town of West Green. He secured leases on thousands and thousands of acres. In 1890 Mr. Vereen moved to Colquitt County and has become a very prominent, wealthy citizen of that county. However he was not forgotten in Coffee County by his friends here. A short time ago in speaking of Coffee County, he says : "I spent four very happy years in Coffee County and formed a number of friendships among the good people of that county, among them were John M. Lott, J. S. Lott, Mr. Samp Smith, Daniel Peterson, and others. I recall Rev. J. M. Wilcox, who lived near our place, as one of the best men I ever knew."
Among other turpentine operators in Coffee County were J. J. Lewis and Marshall Ashley. Another firm was Merritt and Powell, also McLean and Powell and Lott and McLean.
In the southern section of Coffee County, near Pearson, D. F. Bullard had a large turpentine place and became very wealthy. He moved to Savannah
312
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
but never forgot his Coffee County friends. Mr. J. J. Lewis was married to Miss Lou Ashley, a daughter of Captain Matt Ashley. Mr. Rufus R. Perkins, who was associated with Mr. John McLean in the turpentine business, married Miss Dora Lott, a daughter of Mrs. Jesse Lott of Broxton.
An interesting problem of the turpentine business was securing labor sufficient to operate so many stills. At the close of each year's work the turpentine men would go back to the Carolinas and secure negroes by the train-loads. They would unload at Hazlehurst and haul the negroes and their families out to the stills and deposit them in the cabins prepared for them.
At each of these stills a church was built for the negroes, which they attended with great regularity. They also had baseball clubs and other things for their entertainment. Most all negroes are religious and musical. They have guitars, banjos, fiddles, and they all sing. They all have what you call spirituals ; some- times they sing like fighting fire and sometimes like you are at a funeral. Here is a sample of a turpentine song :
"A ban' of angels done come after me, Come for to carry me home, Come on, bred'ren, jes' come an' see, Come for to carry me home.
"Come on, chilluns, and le's go home, Le's take us wings an' fly, Wrap me up in a little white sheet For I want to go to Heb'n when I die."
It is thought by. those well acquainted with negroes, their habits of thought and plan of living, that
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY 313
their religious inclinations is a very good thing. Negroes have a lot of energy which they work off in religious exercises in preaching, singing, shouting, etc. Of course all this is harmless. Many other nations of people work off their surplus energy in strikes and walk-outs and things of that sort.
Other turpentine firms are Mr. John Peterson, who married Miss Maggie Smith, a daughter of Samp Smith, who operates a business at Huffer, Ga. And Mr. A. G. Coffee is working the Vereen timber near West Green, Ga. Mr. John M. Cook of McRae has recently purchased the large turpentine interests formerly owned by J. L. Sapp and covers the same tracts of land formerly worked by McLean and Howell.
Another extensive turpentine operator in Coffee County was Mr. E. A. Buck. His interest was in the neighborhood of Douglas. One of the best known turpentine operators in Coffee County was Tony Howell. His name was Miles Wilson Howell. He came to Coffee County from Portsmouth, Va. Mr. Howell was born in Gatts County in 1845. He is buried in Fitzgerald, Ga. He was a great church man and gave liberally to all denominations.
314
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Fifty Uses of Turpentine
(By U. S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Office of Forest Products.)
Volatile thinner for paints, varnishes and wood fillers.
To accelerate oxidation of drying oils (as ozonizer).
Solvent for waxes in shoes and leather polishes, floor polishes, and furniture polishes.
Solvent for gums in lacquers and varnishes.
Ingredients of waterproof cement for leather, rub- ber, glass, metals, etc.
Solvent for waterproofing compositions.
Cleaner for removing paints and oils from fabrics.
Pharmaceutical purposes, including disinfectants, liniments, medicated soaps, internal remedies, oint- ments.
Raw material for producing synthetic camphor and indirectly, celluloid, explosives, fireworks, and ma- chines.
Raw material for producing terpineol and eu- calyptol.
Raw material for producing terpin-hydrate used in medicines.
Raw material for producing isoprene used in making synthetic rubber.
In the manufacture of sealing wax.
In glazing putty.
Ingredients of some printing inks.
In color printing, processes in lithography.
Lubricant in grinding and drilling glass.
As a moth repeller and in moth exterminators. Constituent of insecticides.
315
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
For cleaning fire-arms (alone or in combination with other materials).
In laundry glosses.
In washing preparations.
In rubber substitutes.
In wood stains.
In stove polishes.
In molding wax and grafting waxes.
In belting greases.
In drawing crayons.
In the manufacture of leather.
As a substitute of pine oil.
In flotation concentration of ores.
Solvent for rubber, caoutchouc and similar sub- stances.
Used to prevent "bleeding" in the manufacture of cotton and print goods.
Laboratory reagent, as substitute for more expensive organic solvent.
Oxygen carrier in refining in petroleum illuminat- ing oils.
Colored turpentine, reagent for wood and cork in Biological technique.
316
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Scab Timber
One source of wealth to the early settlers of Coffee County was "getting out scab timber" and running the same down the river to the markets, Darien and Bruntfort. Much of this timber in Coffee County was floated down the Ocmulgee River, the Satilla River, and other smaller streams such as Pudding Creek and the Seventeen-Mile Creek. The men who got this timber were called "Timber Cutters." They selected large trees and cut them down with club axes and then hewed the tree on four sides till it was square. These trees averaged from twelve inches to twenty- four inches square and were from twenty-five to fifty feet long. When thus prepared for market they were hauled to the water with mules and oxen and rafted on the water. The men then prepared themselves with provisions, got on the raft of logs, and drifted down to market. A raft would drift about twenty miles a day. The large logs would measure fifteen and sixteen hundred feet and would bring about twelve cents per foot. The smaller logs would contain about five and six hundred feet and would sell for nine and ten cents per foot. The farmers would "cut timber" in the fall and winter months when they were not engaged on the farm. Many of our most prosperous farmers, such as old man Elijah Tanner and his sons, the Gillis family, the Griffis, and other citizens along the big creeks and rivers. Many of men and boys got a good start in life by "scab timber." When the saw mills came this kind of business went out of fashion.
Scab timber was rafted and floated down the fol- lowing streams, to-wit: The Satilla River down to
317
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Burned Fort; down the Seventeen-Mile Creek into the Satilla River; down Pudding Creek; down Seventeen- Mile Creek; down Red Bluff into the Seventeen-Mile Creek. Burned Fort was the market for all "scab timber" floated down the Satilla River.
On the northern part of Coffee County the only stream was the Ocmulgee River. All timbers floated down the Ocmulgee River went to Darien, Ga., to be marketed.
318
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
A Study in Human Hands
Last Tuesday morning I looked into the hands of one thousand school children. Each little hand was open to receive a card or button which admitted the child to the Fair Grounds of Coffee County. I saw all sorts of hands. Some fat and some lean. Some long and thin and others short and chubby. But they were all human hands, the most unique piece of mechanism in all the world. Some of the little hands were full of plunder-pictures, cards, fruit, candy, strings and the like-that I could scarcely find room for a button.
When I was a little boy my grandmother took my hand in hers and said, "I wonder what these little hands will find to do?" It made a profound im- pression on my young mind. Now I find myself asking the same question about these thousands of Coffee County hands. I wonder what they will find to do ?
The Bible tells us about clean hands and bloody hands. There are also smart hands and lazy hands -hands that toil and hands that play, hands that steal and hands that bless and help. The world would be better off if some boys and girls had no hands with which to do mischief. God gave us our hands for a good purpose. It is a grand sight to see a thousand children hold up their hands. They are all charged with dynamite to the finger tips for good or evil. The poet has said :
"I wonder where their little feet will stray, And what their little hands will do, I wonder what their little lips will say, When they go from me and you?"
319
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
The human hand has played a large part in the history of the world. The most skilled labor is done by hand. What would a generation do who had no hands? Then if hands are so important don't you think we should make the best possible use of them ? If we have clear heads, pure hearts and clean hands life will be a glorious success.
So here is a good hand-shake for each child who reads this letter. Take good care of your hands while you live, for at last they will be laid across your breast, their work finished forever.
From Ward's Scrapbook, Coffee County, Georgia. Ward's Scrapbook, 1905.
320
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Education
There is no royal road to learning. In these good old days there was hardly a road of any kind. The state had no public school system. The churches had some colleges and the state a few, but the common people had not a place to learn a lesson till they pro- vided for it. The school masters were, as a rule, men who had made a failure of life, and who were hanging on to the ragged edge and taught for a living. A community would join together and hire a teacher and put him in some little out-house, with poor seats and no heat. Only reading and writing were taught. The teacher would board around with the parents and the school would last about three months in a year and many of the children would walk four and five miles to school. Children took their dinner to school, and the noon hour was spent in games, such as "cat," town ball, marbles, role-a-hole. People generally
wanted a teacher to be tight on the children. A teacher who did not whip was regarded as a poor make out for a teacher. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" was good Bible with them.
They paid the teacher about $15 and $20 per month and fed him. Of course, towns had better teachers and better schools.
Some of the old teachers who taught in this section were Prof. Nash, Elisha Graham, Samuel Isaacs, Prof. Holiday, W. B. Byrd, "Doggie" Young, J. M. Wilcox, Eton A. Howell, and others.
You must not get the idea that all the people in this section were ignorant. Many of them came here from Virginia and the Carolinas and had good educations.
321
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
But most people lived the pioneer life and paid little attention to education. Many of the best men and women who grew up in the forties and fifties could not read nor write, but in spite of these handicaps they made good citizens.
322
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Inferior Courts and Courts of Ordinary
The Acts of 1854, pages 294-6, approved February 9th of that year, creating Coffee County, provided that an election should be held on the first Monday in January, 1855, at which county officers, including five justices of the Inferior Court, should be elected. Justices of the Inferior Court were elected and given charge of all of the fiscal affairs of the county and charged with the duty of procuring land and locating the county site, and erecting the public buildings. The Justices of the Inferior Court continued to administer all the fiscal affairs of Coffee County up to and through the year 1868, when under the Amendment to the Constitution, approved the second time De- cember 5, 1851, the office and Court of Ordinary was created, and the first Ordinary of Coffee County was elected during the year 1868, and assumed office beginning with the year 1869. The last Justices of the Inferior Court were Daniel Newbern, J. M. Wil- cox, John M. Lott, and James S. Pearson, who went out of the office under the Constitutional Amendment at the end of the year 1868, and the first Ordinary who assumed office in January, 1869, was Daniel Lott. The first official act recorded on the Minutes by the Ordinary was to fix the pay of jurors in the Superior Court of Coffee County at the sum of $1.00 per day.
Coffee County Justices of the Inferior Court
Mark Lott, Jr. Apr. 8, 1854-Jan. 12, 1857 Joel Lott Apr. 8, 1854-Jan. 12, 1857
Alexander Mobly Apr. 8, 1854-Jan. 12, 1857
Hardy Hall . Apr. 8, 1854-Jan. 12, 1857
323
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Elijah Pickren . Apr. 8, 1854-Jan. 12, 1857
Mark Lott, Jr .Jan. 12, 1857-Jan. 10, 1861
Hiram Sears Jan. 12, 1857-Jan. 10, 1861
Hardy Hall . Jan. 12, 1857-Jan. 10, 1861
Hiram Swain
Jan. 12, 1857-
. Daniel Newbern . Jan. 12, 1857-Jan. 10, 1861
Calvin A. Ward June 15, 1858-Jan. 10, 1861
Mark Willcox Jan. 10, 1861-Jan. 25, 1862
John Vickers, Jr. Jan. 10, 1861-Jan. 23, 1865
Daniel Newbern Jan. 10, 1861-Jan. 23, 1865
William H. Walker . Jan. 10, 1861-Jan. 23, 1865
George C. Dearing Jan. 10, 1861-Jan. 25, 1862
C. A. Ward. . Jan. 25, 1862-Jan. 23, 1865
Micajah Paulk Jan. 25, 1862-
James M. Wilcox
June 20, 1862-Jan. 23, 1865
James R. Smith . Jan. 23, 1865-1868
J. M. Wilcox Jan. 23, 1865-1868
Daniel Newbern Jan. 23, 1865-1868
J. M. Lott Jan. 23, 1865-1868
J. S. Pearson Jan. 23, 1865-1868
324
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Hon. William M. Gaskin
Hon. William M. Gaskin, representa- tive from Coffee County in the legis- .
lature, 1880-1, had been impressed with rowdiness and drink- ing on passenger trains running through the county carrying excur- sionists to the sea- HON. WILLIAM M. GASKIN shore and he intro- duced, and had passed by the legislature, a general law giving the conductors on all passenger trains in Georgia the right of police power with authority to eject any passengers guilty of rowdiness, disorderly conduct or playing cards for value, or the right to arrest parties who violated any criminal law of Georgia and turn them over to the proper authorities of the county where the crime was committed, to be prosecuted for such of- fenses. The conductor was given authority to com- mand the assistance of the train crew and of any other passengers on the train to eject the offending passengers or to arrest them and deliver them to the proper authorities for prosecution.
This act is still in force in Georgia and was first incorporated in Acts 1880-1, page 138.
In honor of Mr. Gaskin and in memory of his great service for the State the conductors of the Brunswick
325
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
and Albany Railroad presented Mr. Gaskin with a gold medal about the size of a twenty-dollar gold piece with the following inscription, to-wit: "Pre- sented to Honorable W. M. Gaskin by the Conductors of the B. & A. R. R. for introducing bill No. 187, on July 11, 1881, passed September 13, 1881."
326
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
The History of Newspapers in Coffee County
One of the most outstanding pioneer newspaper men of this section of the state was James M. Freeman, of Coffee County, known to everybody as "Uncle Jim." He has been dead only a few years, but his memory will live for years to come.
It would be hard to give in detail his locations in the newspaper game but suffice it to say that he spent the last quarter of a century in Douglas with formerly the Douglas Breeze; later the Douglas Enterprise. At the time of his death he was Justice of the Peace for this militia district, a part of his time being given to writing "Uncle Jim's Note Book" for the Douglas Enterprise.
Uncle Jim was a typical country editor, loved the work, and knew every phase of it. He was quoted so often by the daily press, and known throughout the state. He began the work with the old Washington handpress, and long before the linotype was in evi- dence. Mr. Freeman was associated with William Parker in the publication of the Coffee County Gazette at Pearson, Georgia, and later with W. P. Ward in the publication of the "Waycross Head- light."
At one time during his career his newspaper carried at the mast head the names of "J. M. Freeman and Daughters, Publishers." Perhaps this was the only paper in the state with such an unique head.
Uncle Jim was not an old man at his death. He gave up newspaper work after he was elected J. P.,
327
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
only contributing weekly to his old love, the Douglas Enterprise.
Uncle Jim frequently made talks over the country. He was invited to all the gatherings, especially the singing conventions, where he would play his cornet and always made a speech, filled with anecdotes and stories of various kinds. The children all knew him and loved him.
During his last days Uncle Jim had an office at the court house. His friends from over the country and in the city called often. He always had a word for them and they enjoyed hearing what he had to say. He was "Uncle Jim" to all of them. His friends in the country would bring him various things to eat, often swapping them to him for a subscription to the paper. This was a great part of his life in his last days, and he would sit for hours with his pipe and tell them stories that would please them.
Uncle Jim never accumulated much money. He was not in a money-making game, but he earned more than money or fame, giving to the world an honest and useful life, always doing something to please.
Douglas Enterprise, formerly the Douglas Breeze, started in 1888. J. M. Freeman was editor for over twenty five years. W. R. Frier bought the paper in 1908 and is the present cditor.
In 1891, E. V. Newbern published the Coffee County Gazette for only a short time.
The Douglas Leader was operated by Quincey & McDonald for a few years about 1900. Later absorbed by The Douglas Enterprise.
Coffee County Gazette started by W. P. Ward in 1904 and was sold to The Douglas Enterprise.
328
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY
Coffee County News started in 1906 by S. H. Chris- topher and was sold to Douglas Enterprise.
Broxton, Georgia
The Broxton Journal was started at Broxton in 1903 by C. O. Beauchamp. Bought and operated for four years by W. R. Frier, in 1904.
Willacoochee, Georgia
The Willacoochee Times is operated at Willacoochee. Garrett, editor. Same plant was operated under several other names for several years, starting about 1910.
Coffee County Progress was started in 1912 by T. A. Wallace and others. Present editor, Fred Ricketson.
Nicholls, Georgia
The Nicholls News was started by a number of Nicholls people in 1912. Suspended in a short time.
WARD'S HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY 329
Map of Roads in Coffee County, Georgia
OLD
cor.
.....
QUINNEL
-PARTONTON GA
TOM OTRO
ROAD
...
ANAZLENY
DOUGLAS
......
CHATTERTON
ROAD
This map was drawn primarily to show the location of the roads. We have two hundred and fifty miles of graded roads surfaced with clay. We have six hundred and ninety-two miles of public roads.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.