Another Visit with Dr. Massey

Last year I introduced Dr. Massey to you here where I recounted how he's remembered in Georgia history for saving the Georgia Statehouse in Milledgeville from the torch during the Civil War. I also discussed his time living here in the Douglasville area.

Recently, I located an interesting article where Dr. Massey was interviewed on the occasion of his 80th birthday by The Constitution.

The article is an interesting look at Georgia history over Massey's 80 years.

When Dr. Massey first opened his blue eyes to the light on a Morgan County farm, near the city of Madison, he was not blinded by any electric lights or even gas lights; nor did the scratching of matches or the hoot of a locomotive whistles break on his young years, for there were none of these things on the morning of October 15, 1820.

Looking back on his long life, Dr. Massey could remember the night when the stars fell in 1833.

Yes, the stars fell, or at least that's what early pioneers thought was happening.

Dr. Massey advised, "About four o'clock in the morning Uncle John, the faithful old negro man who always made the fire in my father's room every morning, came rushing in calling, 'Master, get up quick! The world is coming to an end. Judgment Day is here and the stars are falling.' My father got up at once and went to the window carrying me. Such a sight I never expect to see again."

Of course, it wasn't the end of the world. What most of North America experienced during the predawn hours of November 13, 1833 was the Earth passing through the tail of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. I've read descriptions from that morning stating the meteor shower looked like "fiery rain" comparing the meteors to "flakes of snow or drops of rain in the midst of a storm."

There are estimations that the rate of meteors was close to 10,000 an hour in 1833.

This blog provides a great article regarding the night the stars fell.

Dr. Massey could remember the frozen Friday of 1835 when the chickens, pigs, and ducks froze to death. Dr. Massey advised, "I remember how the old rooster and turkey gobbler looked after they got well from their combs freezing and dropping off. The stage driver from Madison to Watkinsville froze to death just before he got to the last place"

The winter of 1834-1835 was quite harsh throughout the entire United States. The Savannah River had ice as far upriver as Augusta. There are reports that one hundred year old fig trees along the coast were killed by the cold, and in January, 1835 thirteen to fourteen inches of snow fell in Georgia.

Dr. Massey remembered a time when the railroads had neither headlights nor any whistles and did not run at night.

If lighters disappeared today at least we would still have a match, but Dr. Massey could remember a time BEFORE their invention. He said, "Upon retiring at night the family always covered up a good size chunk of fire about six to ten inches deep in the ashes. Sometimes in the morning the fire would be gone out, and then somebody had to run post-haste to the nearest neighborhood to borrow a piece of fire and run back home to kindle a fire before breakfast could be cooked."

A "piece" of fire...imagine!

If you are like me you doubt that the U.S. Postal Service will still be in business by the time we pass on to our rewards, but Dr. Massey could remember a time BEFORE postage. He explained, "A letter going 50 miles cost 6 1/2 cents postage. It was then called a "thrip". If the letter was going from 50 to 200 miles the postage would be 12 1/2 cents, and the fellow that got the letter had to pay for it. There was no prepayment of postage."

I'm thinking that junk mail would never have been an issue if the folks getting the mail still had to pay for it.

Dr. Massey remembered when folks traveled by stagecoach during the days before railroads were even an idea. The fare was 10 cents per mile, and the stage generally went about 30 miles a day and stopped for the night along the way at regular stations. It took 8-10 days to go to Washington D.C. from Milledgeville, and 10-15 days from Madison, Georgia to New York or Philadelphia."

Dr. Massey could also remember a time when Atlanta didn't exist.

No Atlanta?

Well, yes, I know it's hard to comprehend, but Atlanta hasn't always been there.

Dr. Massey advised, "The first time I came to Atlanta was during the meeting of the Sons of Temperance Convention in 1847. There were 500 of us. Atlanta had accommodations for only 400 visitors in hotels, boarding houses and private homes, all total. At night the other 200 had to go either to Decatur or Marietta. The first night I went to Marietta. It was when they were digging up the stumps and trees in the middle of town for its beautiful public park.

It's hard to imagine a time when Marietta didn't have its lovely square and park The picture below is an early picture of the Marietta Square after the initial construction of the park.

After granting his interview to The Constitution, Dr. Massey lived on for another six years, but his last four were filled with illness. His obituary advises he died on a Thursday afternoon after being confined to a private hospital for several weeks.

One of Georgia's favorite men, one of Atlanta's favorite leaders, and former citizen of Douglasville was gone.

Dr. R.J. Massey: The Man Who Saved Georgia's State House

Through my months of research I’ve come to the conclusion that Douglas County history is packed with interesting people who contributed to our area and to our state in very important ways.   

Some of those people were born in Campbell/Douglas County, lived here and died here like Joseph S. James.   There are others who lived here for a time and then left to make their mark on the world like Hugh Watson, and still others who arrived in Douglasville for a brief time and then moved on like Dr. Robert Jehu Massey.

Dr. Massey was born near Madison, Georgia in October, 1828 and grew up near Penfield, Georgia.  He received his degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and began a medical practice in Penfield before moving to Atlanta, Georgia.  He married Sarah Elizabeth Copeland on June 16, 1850.

During the Civil War Dr. R. J. Massey assisted the Confederacy by serving as a surgeon.   He often worked right in the field.   In fact, an Atlanta Constitution article from 1908 concerning Dr. Massey’s 80^th birthday has him recalling his efforts to save the life of General John Bell Hood when he was severely injured at Chickamauga.   The article states, “When General Hood was operated on at the old Alexander bridge hospital……Dr. Massey administered the anesthetic.”  In fact, several sources indicate Dr. Massey performed approximately 2,000 surgeries using anesthesia.  Hood had been wounded so severely his right leg had to be amputated four inches below his hip. General Hood’s leg was sent along with him in the ambulance because it was thought Hood wouldn’t live much longer and at least his leg could be buried with him. 

Of course, Hood did live to fight another day….

As the focus of the war shifted towards Atlanta Dr. Massey ended up at the Brown Hospital and helped it relocate further south to Milledgeville as Sherman’s men advanced on the city.  Dr. Massey’s position was surgeon in charge. 

This website advises [Governor] Brown and other state officials fled the [Georgia state] capital ahead of General Sherman’s army.  The Union soldiers occupied the city of Milledgeville on November 23, 1864. 

Lee B. Kennett in Marching through Georgia: the Story of Soldiers and Civilians during Sherman’s Campaign confirms Brown Hospital and Midway Hospital were the only public institutions still functioning when Sherman’s men entered the city.

Basically…..you could say that Dr. Brown and the doctor in charge of the Midway Hospital were the only officials….of sorts…..available to Sherman during his brief stay in Milledgeville.

Kennett recounts how Massey asked for Union guards at the hospital to keep soldiers from ransacking it.   He had to do this more than once because the guards kept disappearing. 

Apparently Dr. Massey kept his eye on what the Union soldiers were doing in other parts of the city and in particular at the state house even though he had no power to stop them.   

  

It would seem that Dr. Massey’s visibility during the brief Union occupation of Milledgeville and his interaction with General Sherman helped save the state house from the torch.   Though the building was in great disarray when citizens returned to the city, important documents and records belonging to the state of Georgia were saved. 

Years later the Georgia General Assembly acknowledged Dr. Massey’s actions.

Kennett also advises how General Sherman left twenty-eight of his injured men with Dr. Massey.   Sherman told the doctor to give them a decent burial if the soldiers died, or if they lived to remand them over to the care of the prison at Andersonville.   In return for taking care of the soldiers Dr. Massey received ten gallons of rye whiskey that had been discovered.  

Apparently the whiskey had been hidden by the owner of the Milledgeville Hotel in hopes the soldiers wouldn’t get it.   Instead….Dr. Massey was able to use the whiskey at the hospital.

Another book…..Civil War Milledgeville:  Tales from the Confederate Capital of Georgia by Hugh T. Harrington discusses Dr. Massey’s efforts during the Milledgeville occupation and states Dr. Massey wrote his own articles in The Sunny South and the Atlanta Constitution regarding his war experiences that were published in the early 1900s. 

Dr. Massey’s obituary  from the Atlanta Constitution (March 19, 1915) states, “He possessed a wonderful memory, stored with vast knowledge of the pioneer history of the state, and his writings, which are written in a pleasing style dealt largely with this period.”

He was a great friend to Georgia’s Governor William J. Northern (1890-1894) and contributed over one hundred biographies to Northern’s book…Men of Mark in Georgia.   The Library of Southern Literature also advises Dr. Massey wrote for Uncle Remus Magazine at frequent intervals.

After the war Dr. Massey practiced in Gainesville, and St. Simons, followed by a move to Douglasville.   Dr. Massey’s son….Robert A. (Alexander) Massey….was an attorney, judge and Douglasville postmaster in the late 1800s.   I’ve written about him here.

In the book From Indian Trail to I-20 Fannie Mae Davis relates how Dr. Massey had a kitchen lab in his home which he used to concoct cures from herbs and roots he collected across the county.   One such extract he marketed was Compound Georgia Sasparilla which was billed as….”The best, cheapest and most complete blood remedy in the world.”  The extract could be bought directly from Dr. Massey at his office and at area stores for the sum of one dollar.   Apparently, Dr. Massey also operated a drugstore in Austell before selling it to Dr. C.C. Garrett around the turn of the century.

While he lived in Douglasville Dr. Massey cultivated his love of history and exercised his writing skills.   He was an early editor of The Weekly Star per Mrs. Davis.  She states, “He…added great interest in the early paper which gave away to The New South a few years later.....and…..of several legends, giving the original source of the Skint Chestnut name.  Dr. Massey’s story has been the most acceptable by lovers of local history.”

Thought he spent his last years writing Dr. Massey still practiced medicine.   He returned to Atlanta in 1893 and served as the lead physician for the Confederate Soldier's Home.  

Dr. R.J. Massey’s grave can be found in Douglasville’s City Cemetery.