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 80th 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.
