Speaking at the Campbellton Lodge

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Campbellton Lodge 76 F &AM, or as many lovingly refer to it the Old Campbellton Lodge, to a crowd of folks including several young people Saturday night.

Just to spend a little time in one of the last surviving buildings of Campbellton was enough, but they let me speak.

Imagine that!

The lodge building dates back to 1848. It is the oldest lodge in the state of Georgia still hosting meetings. Many of Douglas County's earliest citizens were members of this lodge.

A few weeks ago in preparation for my talk Worshipful Master, James (Rocky) Rothrock invited me to the lodge for a little tour.

The building is priceless with many original furnishings and historical artifacts. The blue color of the meeting room upstairs gives the lodge its other name - the blue lodge.

A bullet hole is very visible on one of the walls. Possibly a stray bullet from a skirmish or two when the Yankees crossed the Chattahoochee on their way south.

The downstairs area of the lodge building was used as a general store and post office when Campbellton was a thriving town. The original shelves still adorn the walls.

My topic Saturday night happened to be two of Campbellton's best known citizens - Thomas Coke Glover and his wife Lizzie. I've written about their importance to Confederate history here and here.

Joining me on the program were the Wool Hat Boys. During the Civil War the name was given to a group of men from the Sand Hill area of Carroll County who formed Company H of the 37th Georgia Infantry Regiment. When it came to name their group they thought of the hats made in John Carroll's factory at Sand Hill. They were "hard to wear out", and since the men wanted their group to be strong and "hard to wear out" as well they took on the name Wool Hat Boys.

Today's group are Masons who are also members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Various members discussed how the brotherhood of Masons crossed the lines of battle during the Civil War as terms such as North and South and Union and Confederate did not matter. If a man identified himself as a Mason the brotherhood between the two men took precedence over the uniform they wore.

Several of the members spoke including Charlie Lott.

As did Jerry Vogler, Jr.

and Mr. Gonzalez, who discussed the education programs the group presents to local students. 

It was a most enjoyable evening!

Puzzle Pieces from the News Archives

When I'm asked about what I do I often use the puzzle analogy. I put together puzzles. Not the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles you purchase at Wal-Mart, but puzzle pieces involving history.

The puzzles I put together involve missing pieces, torn pieces, and ragged pieces, but all are important, and all of them have their place in the story. My job is to find the place where they fit.

I want to share some of my stray pieces of history with you. Some of the pieces add on to stories I've already shared, and some of the pieces present a quandary. I'm not sure where they go. I hang onto them hoping that eventually I'll find the right fit for them within the Douglas County story.

The resources I use in my research involve family histories, published scholarly articles, books, deed records, photographs, interviews and newspapers. Sometimes I run searches through the Library of Congress database just to see if any mention of Douglas County or Douglasville rise to the surface in hopes I might find a missing puzzle piece.

The database contains hundreds of newspapers that were published all over the United States going back to the early 1800s. Of course, my target year for a beginning point with Douglas County is 1870 since that's when the county was born. It is always amazing to me to find a mention of an event in Douglas County published in some newspaper from Arkansas, South Carolina or even California.

Sometimes the news I find mentions things I am already familiar with.

From the Marietta Daily Leader published in Ohio comes this story from April,1896:  Eden Park cotton mill was destroyed by fire at midnight at a loss of $125,000 and one hundred hands were thrown out of employment.

The Eden Cotton Mill was in town before the cotton mill we are so familiar with that finally and sadly succumbed to fire last year. The Eden Mill was located on Factory Street -- today's Church Street. You can read more about it here.

Sometimes far-flung news stories have more information than I was able to find out locally. Take my post regarding the poor unfortunate Italian peddler a few months ago. The Austin Weekly Statement published in Texas on May 10, 1883 advised:

In Douglasville, Georgia, about a year ago, the sheriff of the county, an ex-member of the legislature and several other prominent and enlightened citizens attacked a poor Italian image vendor, spat upon him, rolled him on the floor and then sat upon him, singing ribald songs and [telling] rude jokes. A jury recently gave the Italian $1,250 damages.

In my original post about this incident I didn't get a clear picture of what had been done to the peddler nor had I been able to ascertain if he received any monetary compensation.

Some situations where I find more information just leads me to another mystery. The Memphis Daily Appeal dated August 25, 1873 advised the people of Douglasville had succeeded in capturing and lodging in jail two noted desperados, murderers and horse thieves named James and Robert Seals. The article went on to note that Robert Seals was supposed to be an escaped murderer from North Carolina.

The name jumped out at me because back in January I wrote about a man who was murdered in 1875 by the name of James Seals. Had he gotten out of jail at some point, stayed in the area only to be murdered two years later?

Well, that's a story thread I'm holding open for sure.

Sometimes I find news we wouldn't consider real news, but I don't discount any puzzle pieces. They are all important or might be.

From the Hickman Courier in Kentucky dated March 25, 1887 we discover that Judge Massey of Douglasville killed eleven partridges at one shot. I have already written a little about Judge Massey here.

The Constitution in Atlanta advised on May 10, 1882 via the Douglasville Star Ephraim Pray had a cow on his farm that gave birth to twin calves the week before. One was male and the other a female.

April of 1894 must have been a slow news month because someone in Douglasville figured out there were 40 beautiful marriageable young ladies in town. The problem was that the town also was home to 28 ugly old bachelors and two men referred to in the article as "dudes". This bit of news reporting was also in the Constitution via the Douglasville Star.

Sometimes the news I find is just downright frustrating. The Worthington Advance for August 1, 1889 advised, near Douglasville, Georgia a few days ago a man was arrested on a warrant for whipping his wife. When the case was called for trial he filed a plea that since their marriage, ten years previous, he had only whipped her once, and then with his left hand. The justice of the peace trying the case sustained the plea and dismissed the warrant holding that a husband has the right to whip his wife once in ten years if he does it with his left hand. This decision settles very important marital rights.

Marital rights?  I'm hoping the good judge in Douglasville who was not named was just being funny, but attitudes toward women were a bit off the mark back then.

Another story regarding a judge in Douglas County was published in The Morning Call out of San Francisco on June 20, 1891. The case in question involved a lawsuit for damages to a tobacco crop. The paper didn't advise how the crop was damaged, but did explain the judge took some of the weed [let's keep things straight here...weed refers to the tobacco] and chewed it. He decided that [the crop] was damaged to the amount of 13 cents per pound and gave judgment accordingly.

In 1892, the Edgefield Advertiser from South Carolina ran a story involving the fastest courtship in history on September 15, 1882.  A man stopped at a house in Douglasville and asked the lady who answered the door for a glass of water. When he had quenched his thirst he asked her if she was married or single. She replied she was a widow. The man advised he was a widower in search of a wife. The woman then invited him in the house to talk the matter over. One hour later the twain were made one by the nearest minister.

Who was that woman?

On August 14, 1887 the Constitution captioned a story "Ten Rattles and a Button" which stated..., Mr. S.W. Smith who lives here brought to town a live rattlesnake six feet and two inches in length, and having ten rattles and a button. Mr. Smith captured the snake by throwing a noose over his head. The snake is now at Sweetwater Park Hotel on exhibition.

I have to wonder if the snake still had a noose on its neck when Mr. Smith took it to town, and I would hope he kept it on its leash.

Finally, from the Constitution in December, 1883 came the notice that English sparrows had become residents of [Douglasville] and their lively chirp can be heard at anytime.

Think of that - sparrows in December!

Campbell County Maps

Campbell County was created December 20, 1828 by the Georgia General Assembly from portions of Carroll, Coweta, DeKalb and Fayette counties.

It was named for Duncan G. Campbell who was a lawyer, legislator and one of the few men at the time who thought females should be exposed to higher education. Campbell was also involved in the 1825 treaty with the Creek Nation.

The first map I'm posting here is from 1830. I put this image up on the blog's Facebook last week to show how Trout Creek is noted on the present-day Douglas side of the Chattahoochee River. Today we know the creek as the Dog River.

By 1830, the population of Campbell County had reached a little over 3,300, and by 1835, streets and lots were surveyed and staked out. Construction had started on a brick courthouse and jail.

A rather quirky feature of the map below is it indicates Campbellton was on the opposite side of the Chattahoochee. That's wrong.  All of the town was on the southern side of the river.

During the 1830s and 1840s Campbell County officials attempted to improve roads to connect nearby communities. Rivertown (Pumpkintown) and County Line (Redwine) became post office stops. Other communities sprang up such as Rico, Goodes and Friendship.

Look at the map below from 1855. Notice on the north side of the river - today's Douglas County - the community of Dark Corner is noted, and at least this time Campbellton is on the proper side of the river.

By 1860, the population of Campbell County was over 8,500. Georgia passed its Ordinance of Secession January 18, 1861. Almost immediately over 1100 Campbell County men enlisted in various volunteer regiments.

Notice on the 1863 map I've posted below Salt Springs and Holly Springs appear for the first time across the river.

The 1864 map I've posted below includes two factories - the Sweetwater Factory we know as New Manchester - and another "cotton factory". Notice Trout Creek has disappeared and Dog River is in its place. Bear Creek is finally noted through it had always been there.

The final map I've included is from 1883. Douglas County formed in 1870 and took all of the land on the opposite side of the river along with some of what had been Carroll County.

Following the Civil War, Campbell County, like so many other Georgia counties had to deal with loss - loss with so many men who didn't return and loss from the effects of skirmishes that occurred in July, 1864 as Union forces crossed the Chattahoochee River as they headed south.

After the war the focus turned to Fairburn as it became the new county seat mainly due to the placement of the railroad.

It is interesting to note on the 1883 map (below) Douglas County appears. Within Douglas County you can still see the community of Dark Corner, the railroad  through Douglasville and the community of Weddington which would become Winn and later Winston.

What was left of Campbell County would eventually melt into Fulton County by 1932.

I do find it interesting that my hometown of Red Oak was part of Campbell County. I never really thought of that very much.  I really haven't moved that far away from roots!

The Rigors and Rewards of Being Raised in Bill Arp

One of the perks of researching and writing about Douglas County history is the fact that I constantly get to meet interesting people. A couple of weeks ago I met up with Neal Beard and his lovely wife Charlotte over lunch.

Neal is known to many in Douglas County as the author of a column that appeared in Chapel Hill News and Views called “Local Lore”. Many more know him as pastor currently leading the flock at Douglasville Baptist Temple.

Neal Beard is also the author of a book titled Buttermilk and Boxer Shorts which detail his experiences as he grew up in the Bill Arp community of Douglas County during the 1940s and 50s.

Neal explains he “writes stories plucked from [his] past…My southern roots drink deeply from a fast fading culture…There are few left who remember the rigors and rewards of being raised in the country – in the south – in Bill Arp.”

These types of first-person biographical accounts are vital to the historical record of a community, and I applaud Neal for his book. Plus, I found it a very entertaining read. More often than not I found myself laughing out loud.

Neal’s book begins with the Beard family’s move to Douglas County in October, 1945. Throughout the book Neal discusses various aspects of living in Bill Arp mentioning he survived “the bloodiest and best seven years” of his life at Bill Arp grammar school. He recalls, “Serious disciplinary problems among us first and second graders were handled in a long skinny room in the back called the cloak room…In this wretched retreat [Miss Floy] lectured longer than it took the Titanic to sink – with no hope of a lifeboat. She then applied the board of education to the seat of learning.”

Neal fondly remembers swimming in Bear Creek and speaks of Kings Highway and Big A Road during a time when asphalt was far into the future.

Describing his home Neal states, “Some homes in Bill Arp had five rooms and a bath. Ours had five rooms and a path.” Neal also introduces us to concepts long forgotten such as the party line and hog killing time which had to be done on a cold day.

Throughout Neal’s story we are introduced to various folks who resided In Bill Arp including Herbert Fouts who had a water powered mill on Bear Creek where Neal worked for a time.

Neal also fondly remembers the hub of Bill Arp’s community – Bart Duke’s Store by introducing us to a cast of true life characters stating, “Over half a century ago Bill Arp was home to some distinguished visionaries, philosophers and profound thinkers. The Supreme Court of the United States with its pomp, pageantry and professionalism wasn’t as impressive to me as were these country sages…Their seats of higher learning were empty upturned Coke and R.C. Cola cases. They smoked cigarettes rolled from Bull Durham, Prince Albert or Country Gentlemen while they deliberated current concerns.”

Among the many stories in his book Neal admits to being “the only male who ever held membership in the WMU at Prays Mill Baptist Church…If you need to know anything about WMU work in the late 40s I’m the authority.”

You’ll have to buy the book for the rest of the story.

I salute Neal on his efforts to memorialize his experiences growing up in Bill Arp. We need this type of historical record to remember times gone by, and to salute folks in our past.  

You can purchase Buttermilk and Boxer Shorts via Amazon including a Kindle version, or you can contact Neal directly at his e-mail address:  nealbeard@bellsouth.net. He advises he might include his autograph inside the front cover! 

The War Bond Submarine



 

Last week The Sentinel began publishing my history column. I'm thrilled!

It appears each Sunday. My first column centered around a picture I found of a submarine going through Villa Rica on the back of a flat bed truck in 1943.

Of course, 1943 was right in the middle of World War II, so I had to know more. The submarine itself was historical in value, and so was the reason why it was being pulled down Bankhead Highway.

I've posted a link to the column at the bottom of this post. You might want to read about the submarine's significance. I've posted the picture that was with the column below along with three others.

 

Here's another shot of the submarine in Villa Rica passing Boyd's Garage.

  



Earl Marsh, one of the folks who "like" the Facebook page for this blog gave me access to the next picture. It's the same submarine displayed on the square at LaGrange, Georgia.

Finally, here's an advertisement indicating the submarine was traveling around the county for a war bond drive.

You can access my Sentinel column regarding the submarine and find out its complete story here.

Tales of Falling Stars

In February of this year over 1,000 people were injured due to a falling star explosion above Chelyabinsk, Russia. The explosion created a sonic boom and damaged hundreds  of buildings. Scientists have estimated the object was 50 feet in diameter, and said it was the largest such blast in over a century. Here's a video showing the path of the object: 



You actually hear the sound in this next video:  



While I have seen a shooting star from time to time, I've never witnessed anything this large or this loud.

I can only imagine....

A falling star or a shooting star simply refers to the visible path a meteoroid -- a small particle from a comet or asteroid -- creates as it enters the Earth's atmosphere.

Once the meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere it generally burns up, but if it lands on the Earth's surface we refer to it as a meteorite. Objects several meters wide generally explode in the air and can cause severe damage.

Most explosions are heard several seconds after they occur. Sometimes people also report hearing crackling, swishing and hissing sounds.

Sightings of falling stars go back to ancient times, an as recently as this past Friday there were reports of meteors all along the east coast of the United States.

With today's technology and "instant" news fueled by social media, we know about falling stars almost immediately. However, for all of our knowledge we only recently were able to track a meteor from space through the Earth's atmosphere. The first tracking occurred in October, 2008 -- almost one hundred years to the day that Douglas County citizens along with hundreds of folks across northwestern Georgia heard a meteorite explode.

I first came across a mention of a meteorite in relation to Douglas County while researching something else. Similar to the scientists of today I had to "track" the meteorite, but instead of searching through space I had to search through a large volume of newspapers.

Because my access to the Douglas County papers that were published here during the late 1800s and early 1900s is limited, I often count on the Library of Congress and their huge library of newspapers from all across the country to provide me with history trails to follow.

I ran across this "dispatch from Douglasville, Georgia" that was published in the Keowee Courier from Pickens Courthouse, South Carolina on October 21, 1908 -- though the actual event occurred on Friday, October 9, 1908.

It said...

A dispatch from Douglasville, Ga. -- People for miles around here...were alarmed by the shock from the fall of a large meteor which struck the ground with enough force to be felt with a radius of fifteen miles. The crash came about 4:30, and within a few minutes afterward telephone messages were received from several places twelve and fifteen miles away asking what was the cause of it.

The dispatch went on to say that before it was determined to be a meteor other possible explanations were given as a large boiler somewhere in town might have erupted, but then citizens began to come forward to express they had seen large streaks of light across the heavens at the same time of the explosion and [there was talk] that it was a large meteor struck the ground.

The talk in Douglasville was correct because on the 10th of October the Atlanta Constitution printed a dispatch from Adairsville confirming the noise and confusion in the surrounding area for miles around. The dispatch from Adairsville confirmed the date and gave the time of the "explosion" around 4:45 in the afternoon.

The Adairsville dispatch stated...the houses shook and the windows rattled, but no flash of light accompanied it. Different themes are advanced as to its cause. The most plausible being a meteor bursting in the upper air. It was rainy and cloudy all day.

Ah....it was rainy and cloudy all day. That would certainly explain why so many folks heard the meteor across northwestern Georgia, but didn't report seeing it.

The Atlanta Constitution finally cleared up any doubt on October 11, 1908 when they printed a dispatch from Kingston, Georgia.

Kingston is located in Bartow County -- 11 miles from Cartersville and 12 miles from Rome, Georgia. The small town was a focal point during the Civil War and is remembered as the place where the General was delayed for over an hour which helped to thwart the Great Locomotive Chase in April, 1862.

Also, in May, 1864 some 3 to 4,000 Confederate regulars surrendered at Kingston -- the last significant Confederate regulars to surrender east of the Mississippi.

The dispatch from Kingston stated...

Friday afternoon between four and five o'clock a terrific explosion was heard near here, but no one seems to be able to locate the noise. Some thought it was at Rome; that a magazine or boiler had [busted]. A telephone message was sent to Rockmart, thinking possibly the explosion occurred there. 

Today it was learned the noise was produced by the bursting of a meteor.

It is thought that the meteor came to earth somewhere on the Best place, three miles from here as a [person] on the place says he saw the smoke from it, but the noise of the explosion was heard simultaneously in Calhoun, Cartersville, Dalton, Pine Log, Cartersville, and the surrounding county. rave

A man named Lee was hunting near Saltpeter cave, and when the concussion came gravel fell all around like hail.

J.W. Odom of Cement [a community about a mile and a half north of Kingston] and a [man] named Henry Pritchett say that they saw it burst in the heavens; that it sped through space like an immense red ball of fire in the southwest sky. They saw it break into ten thousand fragments accompanied by a noise that startled everyone.

Apparently, some of those "ten thousand fragments" were quite large. The Douglasville dispatch from October 21st indicated....the meteor struck the ground three miles south of Kingston and buried deep in the earth leaving a hole as large as a dwelling house. Hundreds of people visited the scene Sunday.

I was a little disappointed that the location for the meteor touchdown wasn't Douglasville. I was in high hopes...but, there are some thoughts to take away from this, I guess. Strange sounds and items falling from the sky are still big news, and for all of our  advances concerning technology we still can't control something if it wants to collide with our planet bad enough.

Shooting Promiscuously

This week's installment of Douglas County history begins in Lithia Springs.

The time period we are visiting is Summer, 1891. The Sweetwater Park Hotel had been open for awhile bringing hundreds of visitors each season to rest, relax and drink the waters. The Piedmont Chautauqua was also in full swing promoting education and entertainment.

Lithia Springs, however, was riding the fine line between a village yearning to grow into a town with upstanding and hardworking citizens or a frontier rough and tumble collection of buildings and folks...some of them with fighting, drinking spirits and even murder on their agendas.

Dr. C.C. Garrett, pictured below, had been elected mayor of Lithia Springs in 1890 to serve the term of one year along....so most believed...with the town council and the town's marshal, James M. Caldwell.

They served their year, however, when November, 1890 rolled around the election folks were anticipating was postponed. For some reason the election didn't happen. It was surprising news to many including L.W. James who had planned to run for mayor.

James actually showed up on election day at Lithia Springs accompanied by 20-30 friends who intended to submit their ballot for their friend. The would be voters were advised by Mayor Garrett there would be no election until after Christmas.

At this point in my research I'm not privy why Mayor Garrett and the Lithia Springs City Council felt they could postpone an election. I don't know the language of the city charter at the time other than there was no time specified for the terms to expire. I am also not knowledgeable to how candidate James felt about the situation, but once Christmas came and went voters were put off again until January. Finally, the announcement was made there would be no election until November, 1891.

The announcement meant the mayor, the city council and the marshal received an extra year in office. They continued serving in their positions with the same authority.

But did they legitimately have the same authority? 

Could those holding office extend their terms at will?

The question was brought up the next year in a courtroom belonging to the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Did candidate James finally have enough of the postponements and file a lawsuit regarding the usurping of power by the city officials?

No.

The whole matter regarding the election only came up as an attempt by a man convicted of assault with the intent to murder to get his conviction overturned.

During the middle of June, 1891 a group of men including brothers Jim and Dock Bohannon, Aleck Garrett, and Jim Hollis had gathered to drink and have a few laughs as men sometimes tend to do.

Today, in 2013, it matters not that the Bohannons and Aleck Garrett were black, but in 1891 reports of the outcome of the group's drinking and "fun" repeated over and over again they were black.

News reports from June 15, 1891 state "a crowd of drunken negro toughs became so disorderly in Salt Springs along towards midnight that Marshal Caldwell attempted to arrest Jim Bohannon."

Jim Bohannon didn't take kindly to the good Marshal interrupting his fun time. He pulled a pistol and per reports began "shooting promiscuously."

Marshal Caldwell saw that he needed help and called on his friend Postmaster John C. Bowden, who I have written about before here. Bowden was 65 years old at the time, so I'm not so sure how much help he could have been, but he was a respected man in the community. Perhaps Caldwell though Bowden could calm the situation down.

Unfortunately, the group of rowdy men continued to be unhappy about being interrupted.

"Knives and pistols were drawn", and per the Supreme Court records "Jim Bohannon fired his pistol at Bowden and then the other Bohannon stabbed Caldwell in the neck and body. Aleck Garrett threw Bowden to the ground and held him while Hollis struck him behind the ear."

Marshal Caldwell received three deep cuts in what the Atlanta Constitution reported was a riot. It was said that Caldwell's injuries were so serious they should have produced instant death.

Mr. Bowden's injuries were seen as "only in the flesh and his recovery would be rapid."

The group of drunken men scattered sending a posse of white men out to scour the countryside for the ruffians. Naturally, given the mentality of the times the white posse was out for blood.

Eventually, those involved were rounded up and taken to jail at Douglasville for safekeeping.

Joseph S. James acted as prosecutor. He understood the volatile climate between the races and instantly sent for John Slaughter Candler to make haste to Douglasville to oversee the commitment trial as the Superior Court judge.

You have to admit that having the middle name "Slaughter" an being a judge is interesting. Candler was the brother to Asa Griggs Candler, founder of Coca-Cola.

The commitment trial was held the next day while "Marshal Caldwell lay at the point of death and Postmaster Bowden was also in bed, badly injured but not dangerously hurt."

"The trial was largely attended, hundreds of people living in Douglasville [stopped] work and [went] to town. Marshal Caldwell was personally known to nearly all and a more popular  man [did] not live in that section. All were his friends, and had his death occurred humanity would have made a trial of the case unnecessary."

By the end of July, 1891 the trial was over with the men convicted and sentenced from eight to ten years in the penitentiary. The appeals process began the next year with the sentences upheld, so it would seem the Georgia Supreme Court felt Caldwell was indeed the authorized and legal law enforcement authority to keep the peace.

I'll keep looking to see when the citizens of Lithia Springs were able to exercise their right to vote again. Stay tuned.....