Georgia On My Mind

Old Dan Tucker

2012-01-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

As a young girl I became hooked on Laura Ingalls Wilderback when her books were the thing…..not the television show and the subsequentre-runs….but the honest to goodness turn-the-page books. When I read On the Banks of Plum Creek I had what I believe to be myintroduction to the song Old Dan Tucker.

Here are the lyrics as they appeared in Ingall’s book,but there are other versions as well.

Old Dan Tucker was afine old man
He washed his face in the frying pan
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died of the toothache in his heel

Chorus:
Get out the way for old Dan Tucker
He's too late to git his supper
Supper's over and dishes washed
Nothing left but a piece of squash

Old Dan Tucker went totown
Riding a mule and leading a hound
Hound barked and mule jumped
Threw old Dan right over a stump…..

Most references state Old Dan Tucker became a minstrel hit in 1843 when a troupe of white men whoperformed in blackface began to sing it. They sang in Black Vernacular English and called themselves the VirginiaMinstrels. Though the lyrics LauraIngalls Wilder placed in her book seem a little tame they actually tell thestory of how Dan Tucker visits a strange town where he is the epitome of a badguest. You name it he does it – hefights, he gets drunk, he overeats, etc. As other minstrel groups added the song to their playlist they removedand added lyrics as they wished.Just as there are manyversions to the lyrics there are just as many versions regarding how the songcame to be.

DanEmmett, the leader of the Virginia Minstrels, claimed to have written OldDan Tucker when he was 14 years old and living in Mount Vernon, Ohio. In interviews he stated he named thecharacter after himself and his dog, Tucker. Emmett is also credited with having written the song Dixie as well…..but that’s another storyfor another time.

The Georgia connection with Old Dan Tucker involves Elbert County. Their Chamber of Commerce promotes a story that states the Dan Tucker in the song actually lived in Elbert County where he was a farmer, ferryman, and minister. This particular Dan Tucker was originally born in Virginia in 1740 and ended up fighting in the American Revolution. As a ferryman he operated a boat that moved back and forth on the Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina and owned a plantation referred to as "Point Lookout." As a Methodist minister he worked with slaves. The slaves actually wrote the song to honor him. When Tucker died in 1818 he was laid to rest in a grave along Heardmont Road in Elbert County, Georgia where a state historical marker is located today.

Unfortunately, we may never truly know the source for the lively tune.

New Additions to the Georgia Blog Roll

2011-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a long, long time since I added new blogs to the blog list here at Georgia on My Mind, so what better way to get back into regular posting than by writing about one of my original purposes when I set this blog up....to serve as a hub for blogs owned and written by Georgians.

For some time I had wanted to get the 300 or so Georgia blogs I link to here into organized categories, but health concerns and other issues got in the way...plus at the time Blogger didn't make the process easy. I had to monkey with the HTML that creates what you see here to "get r done", and it was tedious. Now it's a little easier with Blogger's listing capability, so I'm ready to try again!

Even so the process may take me awhile, but there's no time like the present to get started, right? Check back from time to watch the lengthy blog list on the right sidebar slowly evolve into categorized lists.

So...here are the new additions to the Georgia blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind:

1. ATL Vino Wine Blog....the tagline at this blog states, "Drinkin' wine in the Peach State." That should say it all, but Katie further advises on her "About" page: The ATL Vino Wine Blog is intended to take a look at wine from the perspective of the average Atlanta wine consumer - no wine snobs allowed! I thought it would be more fun, and maybe less intimidating to explore how us "normal" folk can use wine to bring enjoyment to our daily lives. I invite you to join me as I write about various wine topics ranging from experiments, ideas, how-tos, cool wine products, wine events (most related to the metro Atlanta area), or any other topic that I deem interesting or humorous.

2. Proper Southern Woman...At first glance I love the look - the atmosphere of this blog from the deep red background to the great pictures placed at the top. This blog author had me hooked once I gazed upon the hydrangea and the Mason jar full of what else.....sweet tea! This blog is a journey of a Southern woman who realizes in order to become "a proper Southern woman" she needs to learn all of those things her "Momma" begged her to learn years ago. We are invited to follow her journey.....

3. The Georgian Revival....the tagline states this blog is "dedicated to the research and preservation of Georgia architects and architectural history." Revival Construction, Inc. owns and updates this blog. As a history educator and enthusiast this site makes my toes curl!

4. The Roycroft Report...the tagline explains this blog is for rants and random issues - PC free! Roycroft writes...I created this blog as my way of venting. Now it's become more than a hobby with followers growing everyday which gives me reason to keep writing. I don't expect everyone to always agree with my views, but if everyone agreed then what's the point of me continuing? It's all about provoking your thoughts.

5. Georgia Mysteries....a blog intended to provide a venue for the free discussion and discourse concerning strange and weird phenomena in Georgia...that could include haunting, cryptos, disappearances, UFOs, strange objects, etc. written by a college history professor. The most recent posting asks the question..."Were Georgia's Creek Indians Originally from New Mexico?"

6. Vanishing Threshold: Garden Life Home....This is one of Tara Dillard's blogs. Anyone who seriously gardens knows who she is, and if you don't she will inspire you to want to garden!

7. Sovereignty Farm....located in Woodstock, Georgia their Facebook page states we currently sell eggs - our chickens are pasture raised, organic fed and antibiotic free! Chicken, veggies and much more to come as we get up and running.

Enjoy these blogs and check out the others listed in the blog roll!

Love That Tree!!!

2011-11-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

Years ago I was saddened when Rich's closed, but was so happy that Macy's decided to keep the tradition alive concerning their Christmas tree.

It's such an Atlanta tradition!

Still, I miss it atop the Crystal Bridge over Forsyth Street. Lenox is a great location, but......

The tree standing atop the crystal bridge was on the cover of Time magazine in 1961 seen above.

This year the Great Tree is from my side of the town...Douglasville, Georgia, and is just a hop, skip, and a jump from my house.

The tree is 26 years old. This means that it was just a little sapling when I first moved to my home, and now.....it's become large enough to be chosen.

I think it will do just fine!

The family who owns the tree has elected not to be identified, so I'll keep that under my hat.

The tree will be cut tomorrow, Thursday...November 10th. It will then be transported and placed on the roof of the Macy's at Lenox Square on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Great Tree Lighting Show will begin at 7 p.m. followed by a fireworks display.

The Witham Banking Chain

2011-08-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

I didn’t count all of them but there are dozens and dozens of banks listed at at the FDIC site that have closed since October 1, 2009.

One of the more recent ones is Silverton Bank where the FDIC is suing 17 of the former directors due to “slipshod lending practices and for spending lavishly as the bank’s condition worsened and the economy weakened.” Silverton was a little different in that it represented other banks rather than the general public. This very fact means their irresponsibility caused a “ripple effect” leading to other banks failing as well.

Though banking procedures and laws having changed through the last hundred years or so…..nothing really has changed regarding greed and those we trust to handle our money….case in point…..the Witham Banking Chain.

As the South moved from Reconstruction into the New South era there was a sudden spike in the number for applications for new national banking charters by business men who had taken over as the new leading class. These men understood the New South philosophy calling for changes in the southern economy in the areas of industrialization and in the textile industry in particular. In order to get industries moving there had to be banks. In his book Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers David R. Goldfield states, “By 1910, Peachtree Street was emerging as Atlanta’s focus for commercial and financial activity. 13 banks were located within a three block area known as Five Points.”

One of the best known bankers during the New South era in Georgia and Florida was W.S. Witham. He was raised in LaGrange, Georgia during the Civil War and moved to New York City in 1867. By 1888, he had returned to Georgia and began building his banking system with his first bank in Jackson, Georgia.

Witham Banks were state banks, organized under Georgia laws with individual officers and directors and each had their own individual capital.

As this site advises Witham would arrive in a rural area….most of the towns that had a Witham Bank had populations of 1,000 or less…..and he would meet with local citizens persuading them they needed a bank. At many of his lectures he was promoted to citizens as the State Sunday School Association president [the meeting was held at the local Methodist Church] and he advised every merchant should take one or more shares, “for if we let this opportunity pass, we may regret it for years. The merchants, of all people, need a bank. The farmers need a bank…” The article goes on to state, “The earnestness of the speaker [Witham] commanded the closest attention of every one present, and his plea for better work in the Sunday Schools made a deep impression.”

By 1906 there were 72 Witham banks in Georgia and 5 in Florida. Witham had a sweet deal. After acquiring a few banks he had himself appointed fiscal agent of each affiliated bank. That position afforded him the right to shape bank policy and receive a fee from each branch of $750.00. Later Witham organized the Bankers Finance Company and conceived the idea of guaranteeing deposits before FDIC. In fact, one of his company mottoes emphasized how safe a Witham bank was…..”Safety First!”

The other motto was “Success!” which Witham promoted at every turn as he gave speeches, traveled across the country and resided in an elaborate Peachtree Street home referred to as Bide-a-wee that was between Peachtree Place and 14^th Street.

Witham took bank executives and their wives on extensive trips to build moral and preach his banking model to them. The financial family got together for yearly meetings at some resort at the beach or mountains. Sometimes as many as 200-500 people would go along. This article from Washington D.C.’s Evening Times for June, 1900 tells of a trip to Washington.

A New York Times article dated July, 1916 describes the trip to New York where an entire train was reserved for the banking officers.

By 1911, the Witham System had 125 banks. Capital had increased and the name was changed to Bankers Trust Company of Georgia. Witham stepped to the rear while W.D. Manley took the lead until the chain was forced out of existence in 1926. By this time Witham was spending most of his time in Miami speculating on real estate.

Vickers (see cite below) advises Witham hired Manley in 1900 with no banking experience, but he had been a loyal employee as a cashier of the Farmers and Traders Bank.

Manley had worked under Witham but unfortunately did not adhere to his conservative course. Manley’s course was aggressive and under his leadership the chain grew mainly in Florida. He also adhered to creative financing mean Manley would borrow from bank A to buy controlling shares of bank B. Once he owned controlling shares of bank B, it was simple to get a loan from bank B to pay off bank A. The shares of bank B could then be used to purchase control in bank C.

For example, Vickers explains the Banker’s Financing Company of Atlanta had $100,000 of capital. Manley raised the capital by personally borrowing $100,000 from his Farmers and Traders Bank and Maddox-Rucker Banking Company. He used the money to buy 1000 shares of the Bankers Financing Company which operated as a financial agent for member banks and provided fidelity insurance to members.

While Witham had his Peachtree Street mansion and invested in Miami real estate and textile mills, Manley lived lavishly. Vickers explains during the early 20s Manley’s family lived in an Atlanta Paces Ferry mansion surrounded by 62 acres. In 1923, a reporter described turning off Paces Ferry Road and rolling down a long drive to an Italian Villa. There was a butler, chauffeurs, and a Cadillac limo as well as shopping excursions to New York City and Europe for Manley, his wife, and four children.

During the months leading to the crash Manley purchased a 1926 Rolls Royce limo and large Marmon sedan. He also bought his daughter a Marmon sports car.

Valeria Rankin Manley was a spendthrift. In 1926 as the banks were failing she shopped at Atlanta’s Chamberlin-Johnson-DuBose Company which had been in operation since 1866 at their 5-story building. It was considered to be the most exclusive department store in Atlanta and in the South. Just during the first half of 1926 she bought 101 pairs of hose, 32 pairs of gloves, 23 dresses, 12 pairs of shoes, 10 handbags, 5 girdles and a kimono. There were also purchases for skirts, blouses, and costly jewelry. Let’s not forget the chairs, rugs, and other items that were purchased to decorate the home.

The Manleys ended up defaulting on the charges of course.

Mrs. Manley actually borrowed from her husband’s banks, and her purchases from January to July, 1926 represented ten percent of the capital from Farmers and Traders Bank.

Regulators finally began gathering evidence, but they kept a lid on it. Instead of curbing the crisis the official deception by regulators caused a debacle to grow beyond anyone’s control.

When word finally got out, panic hit depositors in Georgia and Florida. 117 banks closed in just ten days.

On June 28, 1928 a lawsuit was filed accusing Manley of massive bank fraud.

Days later 83 more banks in Georgia closed which were 20% of the state’s banking system.

Vickers advises, “At the time of the banking crash state and federal regulators tried to calm depositors by stating that Manley’s banks were small country banks that operated as independent units. But before the collapse in July, 1926 the Georgia State Bank was one of the state’s largest banks, with its branching network of 20 offices throughout the state.”

The bank failures shattered the economy in Georgia and Florida.

Many depositors lost their life savings. By the end of 1926, 150 banks in Florida and Georgia were closed and more than $30 million was missing.

In an online book titled King of Casselberry the author states a bank regulator by the name of Ernest Amos actually borrowed money from the same bank he regulated…..money that he “poured cash into land deals.” After the banks failed he then appointed his friends to be the receivers and attorneys for the failed banks.

The New York Times advised Manley’s wife filed a petition stating he had been queer for 14 years and had taken to leaving their house in his pajamas, wandering down the road, and hiding in the bushes as a defense to the criminal probe. The Commission found him sane and able to handle his affairs. They objected to the fact his wife wanted to place him in a private sanatorium with every need catered to while so many of his depositors had lost everything. An official with the State Banking Department said there were 82 communities in Georgia where 110,000 depositors were affected. The commission’s findings cleared the way for criminal prosecution for “fraudulent insolvency”. Manley was found guilty and eventually served seven years.

Even though Manley was found guilty and did serve time banking regulators laid the blame for the scandal at the feet of the depositors. One source quoted T.R. Bennett, the Georgia Superintendant of banks……“The trouble…is not with the banks, it is with the people…agitators and hysterical people are doing incalculable harm.”

Yes, how dare actual citizens become upset when their money is taken and used in such a reckless and irresponsible manner?

Witham’s obituary dated November 16, 1934 quoted him from an early interview saying, “My banks are a system, not a chain. Don’t call them chain banks. Chain banks are un-American and never succeeded here; probably never will.”

Witham’s banks WERE a chain, and they DIDN’T succeed.

Sources:
“The Witham Banks” by Day Allen Willey from Moody’s Magazine and American Investments, June, 1906

From God’s Capitalist: Asa Candler of Coca-Cola by Kathryn W. Kemp

From Branch Banking: it’s historical and theoretical position in America and abroad by John Martin Chapman and Ray Bert Westerfield

Panic in Paradise: Florida’s Banking Crash of 1926 by Raymond B. Vickers

Demolition by Neglect

2011-08-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

This past week I performed a little experiment. I threw the word “history” out to various people–friends, waitresses, store clerks, even a couple of surprised strangers–and asked them to tell me what immediately popped into their minds.

Various words were thrown back to me–events, dates, maps, wars, battles–and the list goes on.

None of the responses really surprised me, but there are other words to parallel with the word history. Words like preservation, remember, and trust come to mind and unfortunately, the words failure, greed, demolish, surrender, neglect, and ignore are on the flipside as I continue examining the winding path of history a cotton mill where I live has taken.

I shared the story over at Douglasville Patch last week where I have a weekly column regarding how Douglasville ended up with the cotton mill and how important the mill was to our economic health over most of the last century. You can see my column from last week here.

Now I want to share the rest of the story regarding how history can be neglected and forgotten by the very people we trust to preserve it. Sometimes in their attempts to improve the lives of citizens in the here and now they actually betray the trust handed to them by citizens who took their leave a long time ago. They also end up cheating future generations regarding our historical record.

History can also be used by folks who are just looking for easy outs in business in order to leverage property or satisfy some misguided need to collect historic properties, and then allow them to die a slow death of neglect for some strange reason I simply cannot fathom.

You can see the entire article here which mentions a few historic properties in Atlanta as well.

Butt Memorial Bridge: Georgia’s Lone Titanic Remembrance

2011-08-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

No matter the age of the student I haven’t met anyone yet that hasn’t been intrigued by the Titanic disaster. It certainly isn’t difficult to get students talking about the tragedy. They hang on every word regarding the stories of the dead and those who survived.   They love the details regarding the hunt and subsequent find for the wreckage.

I’ve always firmly believed the Titanic disaster is a great jumping off place to take a seriously look at the Progressive Era – the period of time between 1890 and 1920.   The bravado of the White Star Line and others regarding the unsinkable Titanic……the separation of classes on the ship lending to the social mores of the day……were in stark contrast to the social, political, economic, and education reforms the Progressive Era is known for.

Educators can find lesson plan ideas here, here, and here.

And of course you can always add in a little geography to the Titanic study by asking students to research various Titanic monuments and memorials around the country. Were they memorializing a group or individual? What had the individual done in his or her life to stand out so? Where is the memorial and does it still exist?

In fact, Georgia has her very own Titanic memorial – a bridge named for Major Archibald Willingham Butt. Major Butt is best remembered for being a military aide to both Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.

Military aides are very visible when the President of the United States is in public. One of their more contemporary jobs today is to carry the football – the satchel containing the nuclear war plan of the United States.

Major Butt was born into a wealthy Augusta, Georgia family who fell on hard times following the Civil War. His first love was journalism but he began his military career during the Spanish American War where he served in the Philippines.

While serving in the White House Major Butt wrote several letters from 1908 to 1912 to his mother and sister. Other letters include a few to Julia Ward Howe, author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. The letters are housed today at Emory University…see link here… and help to give insight to the administrations of both Roosevelt and Taft. From the Emory site, “Topics discussed are Butt’s service as a presidential aide; Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and other officials; the personal relationship between Taft and Roosevelt; the Roosevelt and Taft families; social life in Washington, D.C.; life in the White House, including notes on its furnishings, portraits painted of Roosevelt and Taft, and visiting dignitaries.

The story goes that Butt was extremely loyal to both Presidents Roosevelt and Taft and heartsick when it appeared Roosevelt and Taft were going to spit the ticket during the election of 1912. For more on the election you can see my post here. Major Butts was caught in an impossible situation since his loyalties were with both men.

He was so thoughtful of President Taft’s feelings that during a White House reception on New Year’s in 1912 he jacked up the counting machines by 1,000 people so the President wouldn’t realize how unpopular he was. Major Butt took his job very seriously. One account tells how Major Butt presented over 1200 people to President Taft in a single hour during a reception for leading judiciary members.

Butt had been unwell and Taft urged him to take a few weeks off and travel to Europe before the Presidential race began with the grueling primary season. Butt took President Taft’s advice and headed off to Europe and in mid-April he was ready to head back to the United States.

Butt’s friend, Francis David Millet – a famous painter – suggested they meet up on the Titanic and head home in style.

It has been reported when the ship hit the iceberg Major Butt was playing cards

There are several versions of his actions with many people telling how he helped hundreds of women and children to the lifeboats and kept many a passenger calm.

Mrs. Henry B. Harris, a passenger on the Titanic, spoke later regarding Major Butts saying, “The man’s conduct will remain in my memory forever..Major Butt was very near me, and I know very nearly everything he did…You would have thought he was at a White House reception so cool and calm was he.”

Even when others were losing it Major Butt remained calm. Mrs. Harris goes on to recall, “Major Butt shot one arm out and caught him by the neck and jerked him backward like a pillow. His head cracked against a rail and he was stunned.” Major Butt when on to tell the man that the women and children would be attended to first, and calmly added, “….or I’ll break every damned bone in your body.”

Major Butt’s remains were never recovered. A cenotaph, or monument, was erected and stands at Arlington National Cemetery today in Major Butt’s memory along with a plaque dedicated to his memory at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

President Taft spoke at the memorial in Augusta saying of his aide and friend, “If Archie could have selected a time to die he would have chosen the one God gave him. His life was spent in self-sacrifice, serving others. His forgetfulness of self had become part of his nature.”

Taft fell into a deep depression following Major Butts died, and often recalled, “Never did I know how much he was to me until he was gone.”

The city of Augusta dedicated a bridge spanning the Augusta canal to Major Butt shortly after the Titanic tragedy in 1914. It was the first Titanic memorial in the nation and the bridge remains the only Titanic memorial in Georgia.

President Taft returned to Georgia in order to dedicate the bridge. The image below is Taft speaking at the dedication.

If I was going to take a Daytrip: Cartersville

2011-06-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

I’m setting a few goals for myself regarding daytrips this summer. Whether I go alone or a family member trails along I’ve decided I need to get out more and see what the countryside has to offer in the way of museums and historical sites, and of course…….I’d share the details of the trip with you.

My perfect day trip means travel time is no more than an hour or 90 minutes, I try to hit no more than three destinations, and a great lunch and/or dinner location has to be included. The hope is to find a great restaurant spot that is NOT a chain-type place.

One of the spots I’m thinking of motoring off to is Cartersville, Georgia in order to visit the Booth Western Art Museum, the largest permanent exhibition space for western art in the country.

Yep, it's in Cartersville…..not Atlanta.

The idea behind the Booth Museum began when a Cartersville decided to share their collection of contemporary western art with the general public. Amazingly, they do so anonymously. The museum isn’t named for the family, but is named for a mentor and someone long admired by the family.

The Booth Museum has been an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution since 2006, is the only museum of its kind in the southeast, and is described as a contemporary western art museum which means the art dates from the late 19th through the 21st Century. Many of the artists are still alive and several visit the museum from time to time for lectures.

While western art does interest me one of the permanent exhibitions really excites me – the Presidential letters exhibit. My toes curl at the thought of viewing actual letters written by the presidents.

The permanent collection at the Booth Museum also includes Civil War art

If you don’t want to tour the museum on your own you can take a Highlights Tour offered daily at 1:30 p.m. Families who arrive with children might want to check out one of the saddlebags filled with activities that go along with the exhibits and help them get the most out of the museum.

The Booth Museum is located in downtown Cartersville. While there make sure you see the earliest outdoor Coca-Cola advertisement (1894), see the Grand Theater, and visit the Bartow History Museum. There are also various spots to have lunch downtown.

The next stop while in Cartersville would be the Tellus Science Museum and Weinman Mineral Museum with over 50 cases of gems, minerals, and gold. The museum also has fossil exhibits, an underwater exhibit featuring giant fish and reptiles native to Georgia, the 9-foot wide jaw of a Megaladon – a shark found in the oceans that was larger than a school bus, and many other things.

Of course, you can’t get anywhere near Cartersville and not visit the Etowah Indian Mounds dating from 1,000 A.D., but plan carefully because the park is only open from Wednesday through Saturday. I’ve written about them before here.

Looking over my list it appears that the day is already full. The Booth recommends two hours and the Tellus states it would take three hours for a proper visit…..add in the Indian Mounds, and it’s a full day.

Hmmm…..this might turn into an overnight at Barnsley Gardens which I’ve always wanted to tour as well….not to mention spend the night. It's down the road from Cartersville in Adairsville.

Rest a little……have a fantastic dinner at the resort and then on the way home hit up the tour at Roselawn, the home of Sam P. Jones, an evangelist and the gentleman the Ryman Auditorium was built for. No, Jones was not a country music singer. They Ryman Auditorium was first known as Union Gospel Tabernacle.

I’d also like to cross the Euharlee Covered Bridge built in 1886 by Washington King son of bridge builder Horace King…..see my past article here.

Well, I’m off to find my calendar and plan my little overnight trip…….It may take a few days, however, because my days are pretty full. Most certainly, I’ll post the results here as soon as I can.

A 'Possum Dinner for President Taft

2011-05-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

Last week I published a post at Douglasville Patch where I have a column concerning Douglasville, Georgia history. I focused on a few different things including the many high school graduations occurring this weekend. I mentioned how I remember attending my sister’s graduation at Atlanta’s Municipal Auditorium at the intersection of Courtland and Gilmer. I wanted to verify a few facts about the building and that’s when an interesting fact got my full attention.
For over 70 years the Armory-Auditorium as it was formerly know was Atlanta’s premier event center for concerts, theater and opera events, professional wrestling, the old-time fiddlers’ convention among many others, and the Gone With the Wind ball held in 1939. The 179th field artillery drilled there and also stored their ammunition.

I found it most interesting that the very first event to be held at the Armory-Auditorium was a ‘possum dinner held for 500 in honor of President-elect William Howard Taft. Thereafter, the portion of the building where the dinner was held was called Taft Hall. More than likely it is the same portion of the Municipal Auditorium that survives today as Georgia State’s Alumni Hall.

My research indicates there was actually a committee for procuring the ‘possums for the Taft ‘possum dinner.

This site detailing certain historical events from Worth County history confirms the ‘possums were obtained free of charge from the plantation of Judge Frank Park

Telegrams that went back and forth tell the story:

Sylvester, Georgia, January 2, 1909 – E.C. Caverly and Mr. Wilkerson, ‘Possum Committee, Atlanta: Worth County asks the honor of being allowed to furnish free to the ‘possum and ‘tater supper, the one hundred fat ‘possums required. Answer promptly so we can unloose the ‘possum dogs.

and the answer:

Frank Park, Sylvester, Georgia: We accept with pleasure and gratitude your offer to furnish ‘possum and ‘taters. Unleash your discriminating ‘possum clogs. [I’m thinking clogs should be dogs, of course.]

The Worth County history also goes into detail regarding the ‘possums and what took place once they had been “gathered”.

The deed is done! The suspense is over! The slaughter of the innocents is accomplished! The largest and most varied collection of ‘possums ever accumulated in the ‘possum state of the South went to their fate Wednesday morning not exactly like the lambs to the slaughter because they were ‘possums; and a ‘possum is not like anything else under the sun, except another ‘possum, neither is there any other creature……

How the deed was done. The ‘possum grasped firmly by his rat-like tail, is flopped with some enthusiasm, upon the ground chin down. Across the nape of his neck, is placed a broom-stick, upon either end of which the executioner places a number 11 foot (the number is important) without delay (for the ‘possum does not take kindly to this procedure) the southern extremity of the animal is smartly elevated by means of that convenient handle, his tail, and - snick! It’s all over. Another ‘possum has been gathered to his father’s in the great beyond, where perennial persimmon trees flourish, and there is no happy hunting ground.

Levi Colbert, Annie Daniels and Mahala Bennett were sent from Judge Parker’s plantation to Atlanta to help with the food preparations at the Piedmont Hotel. Mr. Colbert was a consulting cook and apparently was an expert when it came to preparing ‘possum. His method was as follows:

Immediately after the execution, the ‘possums are plunged in boiling water to remove the hair, dressed and placed in a cold salt water bath for twelve hours “to kill de animal taste, and bring out de ‘possum taste,” says Levi. Then they are parboiled… after which they are baked with the time-honored sweet potatoes; being basted during this process with a special sauce prepared after a formula newly invented by Signor John Blocoki, chief cook at the Piedmont Hotel.

At article in the New York Times advised the menu also included Turtle Soup, Broiled Georgia Shad, spiced watermelon, Boiled Wild Turkey with Oyster Sauce, Quail en Casserole. One hundred gallons of persimmon beer made by Mrs. Watson of Richard Street was served at the dinner along with champagne and claret. This counters the Worth County history which advises they’ll be no champagne or other liquid from foreign vineyard-the Georgia Prohibition law forbids.

New Georgia Encyclopedia advises Georgia had statewide prohibition from 1908 until 1935, a period that began before and extended beyond national prohibition (1920-1933).

I guess at some point the law was overlooked for the special visitor. The New York Times advised Georgia was a Prohibition state but it was not a temperance event. I should add here persimmon beer is not intoxicating, but the New York paper advised champagne and claret was also served. Asa Candler, of the Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Coca-Cola Company acted as toastmaster.

Once the dinner was in full swing, the ‘possum was brought to Taft in a chafing dish. The New York Times advised, Five hundred eyes were on the President-elect as he lifted the top of the dish and gazed at the boast of Georgia. The best dish I have toasted in weeks, said he, and judging from his satisfaction the ‘possum will become a regular White House visitor.

I just have to wonder if ‘possum ever made it onto the White House menu….

You can find out more about Taft’s trip to Georgia in 1909 over at American Presidents where I published a few more details centered on the President-elect including a bit more on his trip to the peach….er……’possum state.

You can find images and more information regarding the Muncipal Auditorium at Atlanta Time Machine here, here and here.

Happy Memorial Day!!!!!!

2011-05-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

Many thanks goes out to this family….who I just happen to know…. and many others who took the time this weekend to head out to cemeteries like Marietta National to decorate the graves of our military men and women…….the original purpose behind the holiday when you go back far enough.

I have a few pictures from other Decoration Days over at History Is Elementary (follow this link) along with a mention that today’s posting is my 800th at that site.

800!!! I’m glad it could happen on such a worthy day as this.

Have a great holiday!!!

Consulates and Trade Offices.....Oh my!

2011-05-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I posted a history column at Douglasville Patch regarding the Douglasville/Douglas County Cultural Arts Center as well as the history of the home the organization inhabits.

Currently the CAC is exhibiting Japanese block prints spanning the 1840s to 1910. The prints are on loan from the Japanese Consulate in Atlanta.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember Atlanta is home to over 50 different consulates, trade offices and chambers of commerce representing foreign nations, but we graciously welcome our foreign friends from Cyprus, Monaco, Nicaragua, Japan and many, many others you can see here.

It’s only natural Atlanta would have an abundance of international ties since we are home to one of the nation’s busiest airports, two deep water ports, and Georgia has access to over 80 percent of the U.S. industrial market with a two-day trip by truck. There are direct flights every day to Europe, South America, and Asia making Atlanta assessable to the more than 1,000 international businesses located in our city. In recent years Atlanta has become a major banking center and 13 Fortune 500 companies designate Atlanta as their headquarters.

We have most certainly come a long way since 1837 when Atlanta was known as Terminus and was the end of the line for the Western & Atlantic railroad line.

Beaux-Arts: Lovely!

2011-03-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Having been born and raised in and near Atlanta I’ve driven by the Candler Building, the building in the middle of this picture, many times, but never taken the time to really look at it.

One Sunday morning last October I found myself pushing my way through the glass revolving door at the Ritz Carlton on Peachtree blinking the sleep from my eyes and grasping my camera firmly.

I was determined to snap a few pictures along Peachtree Street. Within a two or three block distance I had taken hundreds……As you see; I have a weakness for buildings and architectural elements.

Atlanta’s Candler Building was named for Asa G. Candler, Atlanta’s 44th mayor, the man who took the Coca Cola formula and launched the company into the marketing icon it is today, and the man who is the brainchild and developer of the building in my pictures.

The building is located at 127 Peachtree Street and was built in 1906. At seventeen floors it was at the time Atlanta’s tallest and most innovative office building.

Built in the Beaux-Arts architectural style the Candler Building is also one of Atlanta’s loveliest structures. Beaux-Arts depend heavily on sculptural decoration along with flat roofs, and arched doors with pediments. The sculpture elements generally coordinate to follow along some sort of theme.

The Candler Building website states: The Candler Building's elaborately-carved facade and stunning lobby pay tribute to the world's leaders in arts and sciences. The marble busts and ornamental friezes were handcrafted by a select group of international artists. This stonework was carved from north Georgia Amicalola marble, personally selected by Mr. Candler and architect George Murphy.

This website states: Typical of the era, its exterior was visually and structural divided into three parts--a two-story base, a 12-story shaft and a three-story capital with large overhanging cornice. The interior of the Candler Building featured special floors designed for use by doctors, dentists, and surgeons; a banking hall; six passenger elevators which were "at all times under the charge of a thoroughly competent engineer"; a barbershop; and what were said to be the "finest baths in America," located in the first basement of the building. Duplicate air-cooling and electric systems were installed to reduce the chance of a total systems failure, and a building-wide "vacuum air-cleaning device" was installed. The triangular building had entrances on all three sides; the largest and most elaborate of these was on the Houston Street side and provided access to the Central Bank and Trust Corporation, which Candler organized in 1906 to occupy the lobby floor of his new skyscraper.

The interior of the building is full of marble, brass, Tiffany glass, and mahogany. In fact, the elevator cabs boast some exceptional mahogany carvings and can be seen in this video:

The Candler Building website contains some great past-present pictures of the building and surrounding neighborhood here, and this website has more images as well.

Another building in the Beaux-Arts style found in Atlanta is the Old Federal Post Office built by James Knox Taylor. Today this building is used as the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. You can find out more about the building here.

Every Little Thing is Just Peachy!

2011-02-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

Have you found That's Just Peachy yet?

It is my first stop when I want Georgia news. That's Just Peachy is set up like the Drudge Report, but specifically for Georgia. It’s the one-stop shop for news and views from around the state and covers headlines from across Georgia every day.

That's Just Peachy is an attempt to help connect Georgians to issues and stories that effect their everyday lives. Content for the website is pulled from a variety of newspapers, television and radio stations, and the ever-increasing-in-importance blogging community.

Oftentimes, it is easy for the urban, suburban, and rural areas of states to forget or not realize how connected we all are and That's Just Peachy tries to synthesize these important issues into a single site.

Head on over and take a look and tell them ElementaryHistoryTeacher sent you.

That's Just Peachy has been added to the Georgia blogroll which has recently been updated and fine tuned a little.

You can find That's Just Peachy on Facebook…….and don’t forget to “like” Georgia on My Mind on Facebook as well.

Time in a Bottle, a Box, an Old Pool, a Crypt.....

2011-01-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

I love the scene in the movie National Treasure when the Knights Templar/Freemason treasure is finally located and Ben Gates lights the room up with one flick of his torch. The river of fire glides along throughout the room up and down and all around illuminating the treasure indicating just how many things await discovery. That stream of fire just seems to keep going on forever and ever.

At that point all I can think of is how wonderful it would be to have the task of taking each item bit by bit into the daylight, dusting it off, and identifying where it belongs in our historical story.

I can dream, can’t I? Isn’t that the purpose of going to the movies? To escape into a story and imagine your life intertwined with the story’s events?

Look at the picture below…..

Doesn’t it remind you of the pictures of King Tutankhamen’s tomb prior to it being unpacked by Howard Carter in 1922?

King Tut’s tomb was not packed full of treasure. The purpose behind his tomb was to provide him with items he would need in the afterlife. The people who packed the tomb had no idea we would consider it a treasure.

The picture I’ve shown above does show a treasure of sorts, but it is an intentional treasure… the contents of a time capsule. Items man has set aside for men of the future to examine and analyze, so that there will be few unanswered questions regarding how we lived.

The words “time” and “ capsule” were first used together in 1939 by George Edward Pendray, an American public relations counselor, author, foundation executive, and an early advocate of rockets and spaceflight. He created a “time capsule” as a public relations stunt for Westinghouse at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, and the practice of setting aside certain items for folks in a future time to stuck in the American psyche.

The picture posted above shows the contents of a time capsule that was officially sealed in 1940 and is located in Atlanta, Georgia on the campus of Oglethorpe University.

The Oglethorpe capsule is known as The Crypt of Civilization. Pendray received his inspiration for the New York World’s Fair capsule after reading about the plans for the Crypt of Civilization.

Ever hear of Thornwell Jacobs? I doubt it. He was an educator, author, and a Presbyterian minister. He was also the president of Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University for 30 years beginning in 1915.

He also implemented the Crypt of Civilization. A Scientific American article from 1936 discusses Jacob’s ideas. Jacobs wrote of a unique plan to present a “running story” of life and customs. He wanted to show the accumulated knowledge of mankind up until his time.

Here is a Popular Mechanics article also discussing Jacob's ideas.

The 1990 Guinness Book of Records calls the Crypt of Civilization the first successful implementation of the modern time capsule.

The Crypt page at the Oglethorpe University webpage can be found here.

The contents of the crypt include items donated from King Gustav V of Sweden, classical works such as the Bible, the Koran, and Dante’s Inferno. An original script for Gone With the Wind along with recordings of Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Roosevelt. Sound clips from Popeye the Sailor and a champion hog caller were included.

Everyday items like dental floss, the contents of a woman’s purse, a pacifier, and a set of Lincoln Log are included. Microreaders and projectors are included so that the films and recordings can be accessed along with a windmill operated generator since current forms of electricity might not be in use in 8113 AD.

A very detailed list can be found here.

It is scheduled to be opened in 8113 A.D. Yes, I know. The proposed opening date brings several questions to mind such as will the Crypt be forgotten? Will it be lost to time? Will it matter to folks living in Georgia and the world in 8113 A.D?

Apparently the folks at the History Channel had the same questions making the Crypt of Civilization a focal point of their series…….Life After People.

Here is the first section of the series where it mentions the Cyrpt:

It is mentioned again at the end of Part 4 found here.

The International Time Capsule Society is also at Oglethorpe University. Their mission is to promote the study of time capsules. Their mission states: To maintain a registry of timed events of all known time capsules, to establish a clearing house for information about time capsules, to encourage study of history, variety and motivation behind time capsule projects, amd to educate the general public and the academic commumity concerning the value of time capsules.

This article from the New Georgia Encyclopedia details other time capsules around the state.

The city of Douglasville has a time capsule buried on the “old” courthouse grounds. The capsule will be opened in 2070, but you can find out what’s in it at this link.

Patch......A New News Source

2010-12-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

If you look up the definition of the word “patch” you discover a patch is something that covers or mends a small area. Synonyms for the word patch include cover or reinforcement.

The definition and synonyms can also apply to the Patch website found here.

Patch is the new online new source that covers a specific area and serves as a reinforcement regarding the news you need to know.

The Patch website is a link to various Patch sites quickly covering towns and cities all across the United States as evidenced by the map found at the Patch webpage.

Click on the state of Georgia and you can quickly see Patch is on the move across the Atlanta metro area and beyond covering cities and town such as Buckhead, Kennesaw, Holly Springs-Hickory Flat, and even my town of Douglasville.

The Patch page advises, “Simply put, Patch is a new way to find out about, and participate in, what’s going on near you.”

The information is community-specific, and the platform provided is news and information including events, photos, videos, and information about local businesses and schools. You can participate in discussions and even submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews. The site for your town is completely interactive.

Recently CBS News presented a short video package regarding Patch. You can see it here.

Check out your local Patch page today!

Non Sibi Sed Aliss.....Not For Themselves But For Others

2010-12-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

The image seen here is the official seal of Georgia.

Seriously…..it is.

Really.

Would I kid you?

I’m sure you have questions.

Questions such as…where is the arch with three pillars representing the three branches of government draped with the words “wisdom”, “justice” and “moderation”? Where is the soldier standing with his sword drawn? Where are the words “State of Georgia” and the year “1776”?

The image seen here is NOT the seal of the state of Georgia but it IS the seal of the Georgia colony and was used by the Trustees of the colony.

The Georgia Historical Society states, “The seal used by the Trustees represented the colony's role within the British Empire, as well as its emphasis on the production of silk. The seal, seen in the above sketch, incorporated a black mulberry leaf with a silkworm and cocoon (mulberry leaves were used to feed the silkworms in sericulture, the cultivation of silk). The motto inscribed was "Non sibi sed aliis," Latin for "Not for themselves but for others." The seal and motto are a symbol of Georgia's role as a mercantile colony established to be the source of silk, not for their own benefit, but for England's. “

Most Georgia history students are taught that due to the colony’s warm climate and southern location many felt it was the perfect location for the cultivation of silk. They are also taught that eventually the manufacturing of silk failed and other crops became more important like cotton. Usually, the silk industry in early Georgia is just a blip on the history map…..a mention lasting about ten minutes at the most.

That’s it…..a short little paragraph for students to grasp.

Well…..there’s more to the story.

The silk industry in Georgia began in 1734 with some experimental plantings of mulberry trees in the Trustee’s Garden in Savannah. The trees were planted because silk worms live off of the mulberry leaves. In fact, the cultivation of silk was so important all Georgia colonists were required to plant mulberry trees once they took possession of their plot of land.

After a few months the colonist had to admit there were significant issues regarding the silk worms themselves. The whole process was labor intensive. The Trustees decided the colonist who had been hired to manufacture the silk needed some expert advised so they invited an Italian contingent to the colony to teach them the ins and outs of manufacturing silk, but there were constant issues between the Italians and the “Georgians.”

In fact, an Italian skilled in the production of silk named Paul Amatis accompanied Oglethorpe to Georgia in 1732, and another Italian named Joseph Ottolenghe was responsible for erecting a filature at Reynolds Square, located on Abercorn between Bryan and Congress Streets. A filature is a structure used to house cocoons and where silk is reeled. The filature at Reynolds Square held a record number of 15,212 pounds of cocoons.

John Milledge was assigned a grant of land located on Skidaway Island sometime between 1754 and 1771 where he named his plantation Modena, supposedly after an Italian town that was the center of the silk culture. Milledge’s son, John, Jr., became the founder of Franklin College which eventually morphed into the University of Georgia.

Apparently, it didn’t take long for the Georgians to have some success with actual fabric being produced as James Oglethorpe was able to supply the wife of King George II, Caroline, enough silk for a gown she wore to the King’s birthday celebration in 1735.

I would love to write I was able to locate a painting of Queen Caroline wearing Georgia silk, but at this point I can only speculate. I did find a painting she commissioned by Jacopo Amigoni (Giacomo Amiconi) in1735….the same year she reportedly wore the dress created from Georgia silk. The cape the Queen is wearing in the painting is actually a state robe trimmed in ermine, however, the dress she is wearing could very well be the dress she wore for the King’s celebration and was made entirely of Georgia silk.

By 1742 enough silk was being produced for it to be a commodity and records show by 1767, a ton of silk was being exported each year.

The Salzburger colonists outside of Savannah were also experimenting with silk and had even more success than those in Savannah. One woman in the community was quite successful creating silk for fishing lines.

Eventually the industry could not overcome the ups and downs in the Georgia climate, and cotton proved to be a far easier and more economical crop to produce.

Even so silk didn’t just go by the wayside. It was still around in the 1830s as far inland as Cherokee County. In fact, the state of Georgia historical marker at the square in front of the courthouse states, “Early settlers tried to start silk production, but were not successful, and today there remains no trace of this except Canton, hopefully named for the Chinese silk center.

At that point silk then just became a chapter in the Georgia history books.

Benet House

2010-11-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

Stephen Vincent Benet, author, Pulitzer Prize winner, poet, short story writer and novelist writing such things as the book length narrative poem, John Brown’s Body and the short story, The Devil and Daniel Webster also has a Georgia connection.

A building that now houses the admissions office for Augusta State University is known as the Benet House, and the reason is simple enough.

Benet lived there.

Though Benet hailed from Pennsylvania he ended up in Augusta, Georgia from 1911-1915 and wrote his first book, Five Men and Pompey while living in the home in 1915 to much acclaim.

Benet’s arrived in Augusta in 1911 when his father, Colonel J. Walker Benet took command of the United States arsenal located there, and Stephen was promptly enrolled in Summerville Academy. The Benet family took up residence in the Commandant’s House where Stephen Vincent Benet remained during his formative years until he went to Yale University in 1915.

The home was placed on the National Historic Register in 1971.

You can find out more here.

Appalachia Grill

2010-11-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we headed off to the North Georgia mountains with Sunday brunch on our minds.

The husband wanted to try a spot new to us……Appalachia Grill. I’m always game for a restaurant adventure so off we went.

It was fantastic!

Appalachia Grill is located on Steve Tate Road in Marble Hill, Georgia….right outside the gate for Big Canoe. It would be easy to miss as you speed along the road as it sits back from the road in a nice stand of hardwood trees.

I ended up having the Sausage Omelet with peppers and goat cheese. My husband had the Crab Cake Eggs Benedict. We had sides of fried potatoes and grits.

These items aren’t on the regular menu but were available that day for brunch. You can find the menu at the main website here.

One important thing….if you go on Sunday and you want a glass of wine with your meal take your own bottle. Appalachia Grill is located in a dry county.

Join their Facebook page here…..I have!

Henry's Louisiana Grill Fits the Bill

2010-10-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

In order to be a great any night of the week type restaurant there are certain things I look for…..

*a really great area for waiting on those busy nights that includes a bar big enough to eat at if you so desire…..the bar at Rays on the River comes to mind or Stoney River Steaks at Cumberland.

*something magically appears on the table for me to munch on the minute I’m seated…….Ted’s Montana Grill has marinated cucumber slices……Mexican restaurants provide chips and salsa……even Carrabbas has the sinful bread and olive oil with spices for dipping.

*the salad course includes honest to goodness homemade croutons…..NO commercial chunks of goodness from a cardboard box, please, or I will promptly tell my waitperson their croutons suck. Most of the higher-end places understand this…..sadly, after George McKerrow, Jr. sold his Longhorn’s chain they changed their croutons, and the salads have just been ho-hum ever since.

*this one is a given but of course the place has to deliver on the food. It has to be prepared to perfection or close to it.

and the most important must-have……..

*ambiance, ambiance, ambiance……some sort of gimmick like great décor, a location along an old main street or inside an old storefront. Perhaps there is fantastic patio to sit at outdoors or the grounds surrounding the restaurant are attractive. Papadeaux in Marietta has a wonderful brick entry way and the views from the windows at the far end of the dining room are attractive. The Chart House along River Street in Savannah has the tugs and the cargo freighters moving up the river and even the dining room at the Resort at Brasstown Bald can only be described as rustic elegance with open beams and stacked stone fireplaces. The windows and wide porches provide a view of the setting sun over lovely grounds that just calm the soul.

Now a great restaurant in my book doesn’t have to achieve all of my benchmarks, but I sure do hope for one or two. This past Saturday night I visited a spot north of Atlanta that met ALL of my benchmarks.

Henry’s Louisiana Grill in Acworth, Georgia.

Recently Chef Henry won the People’s Platelist Contest by ABC’s Nightline, and now I understand why.

There is only one thing I can say…..Ooh La La!

Henry’s has a wonderful bar where my husband and I waited for a table. Even though the place was packed the wait didn’t take long and we soon had our table, however, I would have been just as happy to enjoy my meal sitting at the bar. While we waited Chef Henry Chandler, the owner and head chef, made his round talking to people. He’s known to refer to first-timers to his establishment as virgins.

No sooner had we reached our table a basket of sourdough bread and the best cornbread I’ve ever tasted magically appeared on our table.

From that point on our various courses were perfectly timed. We didn’t feel hurried, but we were never left without food for very long, and of course, Chef Henry made a second appearance at our table to bestow beads around my neck….a gift of welcome he provides all female customers with.

I instantly eyed the hushpuppies that were included in the appetizer section of the menu and was intrigued enough to order them. I’m glad I did, however, I have had delicious dreams of those wonderful bits of love flowing through my mind ever since. They were the most unbelievable bits of moistness I’ve ever tasted served up with remoulade sauce on the side.

Our ceasar salads were just enough for a salad course and yes…..the croutons were tasty.

Mr. Elementaryhistoryteacher ordered the Louisiana Ohh La La……..one of Chef Henry’s signature dishes that includes oysters, shrimp and crawfish flash fried and tossed with tasso, spinach, roasted garlic and Henry’s Cajun Cream Sauce. You can order the dish with just the shrimp, etc. but my husband opted for the whole thing. The dish is served over angel hair pasta or grits. The AJC has named this dish as one of the top 50 dishes to drive for, and they aren’t off the mark at all.

Though there were other items that caught my eye I decided upon the Shrimp and Grits. They were lovely with just the right spice topped with Parmesan cheese, red pepper and scallions

….and then for desert……cream brulee, of course. The twist here was a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a few white chocolate morsels on top …..

Finally, Henry’s Louisiana Grill does have the ambiance. It’s friendly, it’s loud, it’s comfortable, and it’s worth the drive.

Laissez les bon temps roulex……Let the good times roll!!!!!

Sundown on a Bald Mountain

2010-10-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

Over a week ago my husband and I were out riding in the North Georgia mountains. He suddenly got a wild hair to visit Brasstown Bald and climb from the visitor’s center up to the summit tower…..a distance of six tenths of a mile. The summit tower is seen in the picture to the left.

Two things need to be noted with a chuckle at this point……

First, that the husband got a wild hair since that patch on top of his head is mainly skin these days, and the fact that I was attempting to climb a trail virtually straight up in the air. My idea of a good walk is through Lenox Mall or through the streets of Atlantic Station, not communing with a steep trail and the possibility of a close encounter with a big old bear.

But….the husband wanted to see the sunset from the summit of Georgia’s highest peak……a mere 4,784 feet, and I have been in a cooperative mood of late, so off we went.

There were lots of stops along the way for me to gain control of my heaving chest and to contain the heart attack that felt so imminent. It’s a great trail, but I did wish we had gotten there before 5:30 in the evening so we could ride the shuttle to the summit…..oh well.

The name Brasstown Bald arrives in our current vernacular from the Cherokee Indians who used to inhabit the area prior to their rather rude removal at the hands of the United States government. They referred to the mountain as Enotah and it was named for a former Cherokee village…..Brasstown. White settlers actually misinterpreted a Cherokee word as they were prone to do and the name stuck.

So as I huffed and puffed to the summit I had to wonder……where in the heck does the Bald come into play? All I could see on both sides of the trail were rocks and trees, more trees, and even more trees. There is nothing bald about Brasstown Bald, at all.

Cherokee legend though tells of a story involving a flood….a great flood. This supports the facts every anthropology teacher and professor I’ve ever had who drummed it into me that every major civilization has a flood story to support their ancient history, and the Cherokees are no different. The legend goes that a great flood came to the area and the Cherokees who managed to get to their canoes survived and ran aground on the summit of a bald mountain where they remained farming the cleared land until such time the water receded. That mountain was Georgia’s Brasstown Bald.

Geographers use the term “bald” today to refer to any mountain where you can see the surrounding countryside in a 360 degree panorama. Here are some of the views:

I survived the climb and the husband did get his sunset picture at the summit……:) It was lovely and worth the huffing and puffing.

It's Fall.....Head to the Fair!

2010-10-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

The Georgia Mountain Fall Festival is currently underway through October 16th at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds in Hiawassee, Georgia. You can access their website here.

The festival includes musical performances, educational demonstrations, a flower show, and Georgia’s official state Fiddlers’ Convention.

We stopped by on Sunday and took a walk through the exhibits……and of course, we had a funnel cake.

Here are a few of the images from the festival:

The pottery booth.......I love to watch the wheel demonstration.

Ummm....this guy was kinda interesting. Look at his feet.....:)

Interesting crafts......I guess that's a good use of the old jugs found on any Georgia farm.

Lovely painted windows to hang on a porch or in a sunroom

The train was cute....complete with a real train whistle....

Hmmmm.......

I've never had a fair burger at the fair. I've always thought they were pretty good.

Authentic outbuildings dot the fairgrounds.....

Yes, that's a tree trunk table. They wanted $250 for it.

Wood splitting demonstration.

A bonafide country cabin....

The blacksmith demonstration

The old schoolhouse....

Of course, we had the ever predictable Elvis sighting.....

Yummy!

Elvis singing for the crowd....

Lovely views of the mountains from the fairgrounds.

Wordless

2010-09-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Georgia’s Stone Mountain……website.

Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

Also YOU can become a fan of Georgia on My Mind on Facebook. Click the “like” button over in the right sidebar.

Wow! There's a Damn Dam!

2010-09-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

I was headed to the post office the other day down a very curvy and hilly road, and suddenly I noticed it……..a dam. Didn’t even know it existed. I had to stop and snap some pictures.

Now….in my defense I haven’t exactly been living in Canton over the last few months until just recently, but I was a little shocked to this

These are images of Hickory Log Creek dam in Canton, Georgia. It is one of the largest dams in the state at 950 feet wide and 180 feet high. The reservoir it creates covers 4 acres and holds six billion gallons of water…..The purpose of the dam is to provide an additional source of drinking water for citizens.

Hickory Log Creek is a tributary of Etowah River

Follow this link for additional pictures at the Atlanta Journal site.

A City too Busy to Hate???

2010-09-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

I spent some time on Monday with my daughter and a very talented photographer. Dear Daughter was busy getting a few of her Senior pictures taken against the backdrop of the vibrant art and culture of the Little Five Points area of Atlanta.

However, if we had suddenly been transported back to September, 1906 our Little Five Points experience would have been very different……downright scary and dangerous.

You see….Dear Daughter and I are white and our expert photographer friend is black, and if the year had been 1906 we would have been caught up with the Atlanta Race Riot of that year since many of the scenes of violence were centered in the Little Five Points area.

It began on September 22, 1906 and by the time the event ended it has been reported twelve blacks and two whites were killed though some historians argue many, many more were killed. Some advise that some families took the bodies of their loved ones and quietly buried them not wanting to have the stigma of having taken part or having been a victim of a race riot. Others were quiet about the death of a family member because they understood the effect the riot could have on the economy of the city.

Things like that just didn’t happen in Atlanta.

After all……Atlanta is the city that is too busy to hate, right? It seems to me though the city was actually too busy to remember as the details regarding the riot have been mostly forgotten and not taught in schools.

The cause of the riot is actually very convoluted basically ranging from paternalism – a feeling blacks had to be taken care of to negrophobia – where whites believed blacks were always prone to crime and violence. The 1906 governor’s race has been held up as a major cause as the two men running for office both brought race relations to the forefront stating they would do what they could to keep black men from voting. Some historians blame the changing Atlanta economy – from an agrarian society to a highly industrialized transportation hub, and others state changes in black society also contributed. By 1906, there was a definite middle class that existed in Atlanta’s black neighborhoods and there were even a few wealthy families. Another cause had to do with several saloons or “dives”, as whites referred to them, on Decatur Street where black men frequented. Whites were worried about a rise in crime that could spill over into white areas. Add in competition between the races for jobs, a tug-of-war over civil rights, and other issues left over from Reconstruction...... a powder keg was most certainly brewing.

In the days leading up to the riots there had been some unproven reports black men had been attacking white women. Mob psychology took over. At the height of the riot reports state there were as many as 10,000 whites and hundreds of blacks involved. The violence occurred for a few days before the state militia was called out.

New Georgia Encyclopedia states the after effects of the riot include retrenchment of Atlanta’s black community, statewide prohibition and black suffrage, a turning away from the leadership of Booker T. Washington to W.E.B. DuBois who wrote a poem regarding the event titled The Litany of Atlanta.

Mainly……the event was minimalized and forgotten.

A Lone Grave

2010-09-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

We’ve become very accustomed to seeing macabre crosses and wreaths on the side of the road marking some terrible tragedy, but an actual lone grave on the side of the road begs some explanation even though hundreds of people pass it each day with nary a notice.

At one time someone did take notice and surrounded the grave with a fence and actually enclosed the grave with bricks and a marker. A bench was added, a decorative sundial and the remnants of a few plantings still exist.

The grave is at the intersection of Burris and Land Roads in the Clayton Community of Cherokee County, and is at the outer edge of the property belonging to Clayton Elementary School.

The grave is marked Aaron Burris…..1796-1864. The year of death leads one to think perhaps Mr. Burris was a soldier in the Civil War, and was slain by an enemy bullet, but look at the birth and death dates again. Do some elementary subtraction and we discover Mr. Burris was 68 at the time of his death – a little old to be traipsing off to whoop some Yankee butt.

The story goes Mr. Burris was one of a few handful of men who were left behind with the ladies while their men folk marched gallantly off to defend the ill-fated Confederate cause. Some ailment took hold of Mr. Burris and he passed away.

Suddenly the women living in the Clayton Community had a neighbor to bury and no men were around to do the necessaries.

Now…….I consider myself to be a very strong Southern woman. In fact, if you knew half of what I’ve experienced over the last four to five years you would beg me to let you off my crazy roller coaster ride, BUT….prepare my neighbor’s body for burial and dig the grave????

I’m not THAT woman, but – perhaps I need to rethink here – my quickness in doubting my abilities betray the memories of those women and one in particular Sarah Emmaline Land (Cline), wife of James Johnson Land, my great-great grandmother.

The Civil War/Atlanta page at The Examiner has more information regarding women on the home front.

Wordless

2010-09-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

This is the boyhood home of President Woodrow Wilson and is located in Augusta, Georgia.

You can visit their website here

Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

A Few Remarks Regarding Labor for Labor Day

2010-09-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

It seems appropriate this close to Labor Day to remember a few labor disputes in Atlanta surrounding the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill.

In August, 1887 a strike occurred when the owners of the mill decided to hire 25 black women to work alongside whites. Over 200 women and 400 men walked out. The strike lasted five days and even the New York Times took notice.

During the 1880s hundreds of women and children arrived at the doors of mills across the state asking for work because mill owners provided decent housing….something that was sorely lacking in Georgia at the time. By 1890, the New Georgia Encyclopedia states of the total of mill employees across the state 39 percent were men, 37 percent were women, and 24 percent were children.

Another more serious strike occurred in 1934 when various mills all over Georgia experienced walk outs. This strike is normally referred to in Georgia history as the General Textile Strike of 1934 or the Uprising of ’34. It wasn’t just a Georgia strike but included workers in the North as well as across the South. Approximately 44,000 workers walked out in Georgia. New Georgia Encyclopedia reports violence was scattered throughout the state including the towns of Cedartown, Columbus, Macon, and Porterdale. There were deaths in Trion and Augusta.

You can find an archive of historical images and information at the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill Digital Collection managed by the Georgia Tech Archives and Record Management.

Today, the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills now houses loft apartments for folks who want to live in Atlanta…..It’s nice to see historic locations preserved and used for more than just another museum as this video shows:

Wordless

2010-08-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday!

Isn’t this an interesting looking lady?

She is Etheldra Prothro King……Mrs. Walter Ernest – and she is dressed to go to the opera….can’t imagine one in Cuthbert where she was from, so she must have traveled to Augusta…..or perhaps she was traveling to the Springer Opera House in Columbus.

The picture vault at the Georgia Archives lists her as president of the garden club in Cuthbert and instrumental in the Iris Garden. The garden still exists today…..This link shows students from Andrew College working in the garden.

Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

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Two Randolph Counties?!?

2010-08-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

If you dig a little bit you discover that Georgia has not had one, but two Randolph Counties. One that was created in 1807, but five years later the name was changed to Jasper County. Jasper County has the distinction of being the home of Trisha Yearwood – country singing star. The second Randolph County was created in 1828 from a portion of Lee County, and has the distinction of claiming the very first pecan tree brought to Georgia from Texas – the mother tree that gave birth to the pecan industry here in Georgia.

So, why did the first Randolph County become Jasper County? The answer is very simple. Both Randolph Counties were named for John Randolph, a United States Senator who claimed Pocahontas as an ancestor. He is quite an interesting character, but THAT is story for another day. I can tell you that when he became the master of his family’s plantation he took to referring to himself as John Randolph of Roanoke…..the name of the plantation, because he didn’t want to be confused with a relative known as “Possum John”. Oh my…….my mind is turning over several possible reasons for that moniker!

It seems the Georgia General Assembly took offense to John Randolph’s negative position regarding the War of 1812…..In fact, the declaration of war was passed by Congress by the smallest margin recorded on a war vote….so Randolph wasn’t the only Congressman who objected to going to war with Britain, but the esteemed men of the General Assembly wanted to make a point to the Senator, and they had his name stricken from the records. It was only later following the war when minds forgot his infraction that the second and current Randolph County was birthed.

Atlanta: Mysteries, Myths and Urban Legends

2010-08-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have lived in Atlanta all my life and her mysteries, myths and urban legends never cease to amaze me. Her citizens and visitors alike walk over hallowed battle grounds every day and pass locations with significant or quirky history that is often ignored or overlooked.

Coca-Cola is about as Atlanta as you can get and their unique bottle design is recognized all over the world. Many people believe the shape was modeled after hobble-skirts popular in 1916 when the bottle design was approved. The company website mentions this. Still others including various Coca-Cola museum employees in Atlanta and Las Vegas state there was a desire to make the bottle into the shape of the kola nut or coca leaf since those two items are key in making the official drink of Atlanta. The story goes a researcher was sent out to discover the exact shape of the items but a mistake was made along the way since the bottle actually resembles the shape of a cacao tree seed pod which yields chocolate. Another theory advises the shape of the bottle actually has to do with a sense of recognition by feel. Back in the day the only way to get an icy cold Coke was to place the bottles in containers full of ice. The company wanted to make sure when patrons stuck their hands down in the icy slush they emerged with a Coke and not the drink of a competitor. The unusual shape helped to identify their product by feel.

More times than not when you locate a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center in Atlanta you will also find a Home Depot close by. Though the two companies are fierce competitors they seem to like to cohabitate the same area. The explanation has become an urban legend that has gone awry. It has also reached viral email proportions. A popular email chain letter that makes the rounds every so often states the reason for the close relationship has to do with a marital feud. The story goes a wife of one of the Home Depot founders was jilted and in retaliation she began the Lowe’s business. This is terrible misinformation as both companies were founded by men. Lowe’s began in 1946 while Home Depot hit the scene in 1978.

A little mystery surrounds Lenox Mall – the first major shopping mall in Georgia. A huge boulder was unearthed when developers were clearing the land. What made this rock so special is it bore the name Colonel McCormack. Researchers poured over Civil War rolls but no connections were ever made that could explain the boulder carving or how it came to be on the property.

Hundreds of people walk by an interesting cornerstone every day at the Carnegie Street entrance for the Peachtree Center MARTA Station. What they do not realize is the cornerstone does not refer to the station. It was the cornerstone for a building that stood on the property prior to the station being built. Jasper Newton Smith was a real estate investor who owned the commercial building that sat at the station site. Mr. Smith stipulated that if the building was ever torn down the cornerstone could not leave the property. It hasn’t. That was not the end of Mr. Smith’s eccentricity. He is resting quietly at Oakland Cemeterywith a life-size statue of himself sitting on top of his grave.

Atlanta has been known by several other names. School children learn all about Standing Peachtree which dates back to Indian times, Terminus which referred to the eastern end of the rail line that ended in Atlanta , and Marthasville named after the daughter of a Georgia governor, but many do not realize Atlanta was also known as Thrasherville at one time. John Thrasher was an employee of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. He and his crew lived in what is today downtown Atlanta while the rails were being laid and eventually Thrasher had a few homes and general store there. a state historical marker tells of Thrashers importance to the city of Atlanta located outside the Federal Reserve Bank on Marietta Street. Another tale explains how Atlanta got her name. Apparently an employee of the Western and Atlantic Railroad suggested the settlement should be called Atlantica-Pacifica but thankfully it was shortened to Atlanta. Instead of current citizens telling people they are from the A-T-L, they could be saying they hail from the A and P.

Sadly the battle that began Sherman’s March to the Sea – the Battle of Atlanta - remains somewhat of a mystery to citizens of Atlanta as well as her many visitors. The area where the fighting occurred is very heavily commercialized today and few markers tell the story. Most people simply know the story of the battle through the movie Gone with the Wind which makes it seem like the battle was one very long day as Miss Melanie was giving birth to Ashley’s baby, but in actuality the battle was a four month long siege and consisted of smaller battles such as the Battle of Peachtree Creek and the Battle of Ezra Church. The Atlanta Cyclorama is the best place to get a true feel for the battle.

The very emblem for the city of Atlanta contains a myth. A phoenix, a mythical bird from ancient times is depicted on the city’s seal. A phoenix will burn to ashes and then rise again. The cycle is thought to be a continuous process and fits the image of Atlanta dating back to the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War. A very popular statue in Atlanta titled From the Ashes aka The Phoenix Statue resides in Woodruff Park. Originally it was commissioned from sculptor Jim Segler by Rich’s Department Store. The statue depicts a woman holding a phoenix above her head. The statue symbolizes Atlanta’s comeback and rebirth of the Civil War as well as recognizes the 100th birthday of the department store in 1967.

Monday Morning in Georgia

2010-07-26T07:46:00.001-07:00

I’m a real fan of those snapshot in time activities – you know – the ones where you get an idea regarding what people are doing at the same moment across various locations.

I’ve always wanted to assign students to head off in all directions across campus armed with disposable cameras and synchronized watches. Then at the appointed time they snap pictures and take a few notes. The result would be a snapshot of our school at a particular moment in time.

Think about it – there would be images of students taking notes, students on the playground, a student checking in late, some classes working on math while others are learning a song on their recorder in music class.

A cacophony of learning – with the whole representing our school.

So, let me tie in the painting I’ve posted here. The title is Monday Morning in Georgia, and the artist is Gertrude Horton. I love the scene in this painting. Look at the lady at the washtub with what looks to be sheets she is washing. My eye carries to the lady sitting in the doorway with the child and of course, the man in the foreground really gets my attention. I love his stance. There is quiet a story going on here.

The painting belongs to a friend of mine and his wife and when I was in their home recently for dinner they shared it with me and I could resist share it with you.

The painting strikes several chords of interest with me.

First – Georgia is mentioned in the title.

Second – the history of the painting is interesting. The label on the painting advises the title and the artist. It also says the painting was commissioned as part of the Public Works of Art Program in 1934 for the 5th region where J.J. Haverty was the director. The painting hung in the Washington D.C. office of Congressman Richard Ramspeck from Decatur, Georgia. His biography can be found here.

My friend’s grandfather, Thomas Lee Camp, served as a staff assistant for Ramspeck, and at some point the painting was given to him. I would identify my friends but the label on the painting also says “property of the United States government”. I’d hate for the government to suddenly want their painting back, however I think the painting was retired from the inventory and that is the reason Ramspeck gave it to my friend's grandfather.

The Public Works of Art Program was part of the New Deal during the Depression and the purpose was to employ artists. It was the first government program to support the arts nationally.

From December, 1933 to June, 1934 over 3600 men and women took part in a general assignment that asked for works to portray the American scene. The artists had the complete freedom to create except for a certain few pieces. The best part about painting and all of the works completed for this program is they are a snapshot of life in all parts of the country.

The public works of Art paintings are some of the best sources of analyzing how people were living in the early days of the Depression.

A cacophony of life – representing the Depression.

Represented here is just one little sliver of Georgia during that time.

Links:

An article from a magazine titled Survey Graphic, 1934 regarding the Public Works of Art Program

My article at History Is Elementary regarding the Coit Tower paintings which were also part of the Public Works of Art Program

The Smithsonian collection of works from this program found here.

Shared Space

2010-07-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

I have never thought of myself as a groupie but I just may have to reconsider after visiting Hemingway’s on the Marietta Square last weekend to see a high school acquaintance perform. I’m ready to pack my bag and become a camp follower of sorts.

Jeff Pike is a bona fide Woodward Academy man having matriculated all twelve years at my alma mater. He and I weren’t friends in school as far as I can remember. In fact, he was a year ahead of me, and I doubt he ever knew who I was until we linked up on Facebook mainly because at one time we shared academic space – evidence enough that we are family of sorts…something akin to being blood brothers or sisters for life.

Right?

Actually…..I had seen several of Jeff’s Facebook updates regarding where he was performing next, so decided to see what the fuss was about and share some more space with him.

I’m glad I did.

First, the venue – Hemingway’s is a wonderful neighborhood bar and restaurant located on the square in Marietta, Georgia with lots of atmosphere. It’s been around since 1993 and is dubbed Atlanta’s “Parrothead Paradise” by the Atlanta Journal. There are plenty of tables inside and out on the patio yet the place isn’t too large. As Goldilocks would say the place is just right.

A long stacked stone bar was occupied with various patrons of all ages when I arrived, so I found a quiet table in the back where I could see the stage. The staff was moving about the place serving everyone with a smile, and doing exactly what I like – they look you in the eye and they check back often. Of course, as I looked around the place and noticed the molded tin ceiling tiles and the exposed foundation rock that can be seen as you traverse the stairs to the restrooms, I wondered about the history of the location…however, that will have to be another story for another time.

Now on to the Jeff Pike Trio, or JP3….This particular Sunday the trio consisted of Jeff Pike and Chaz McDonald…sadly, the third member James Cobb , was absent, but I’m sure I’ll meet up with him soon enough since I’ve decided to become a groupie.

One thing is for sure…..they know showmanship is more than standing on a stage and strumming a guitar.

Jeff expertly words a room making each and every person free welcome and takes the time to greet every person during his breaks asking for requests, visiting with people he’s performed for before, and getting to know new folks. He even make Elementaryhistoryteacher….ME…..who tends to stick to herself wallowing in her quirkiness with iphone and her current writing project (Yes, I take it everywhere I go) feel special and welcome. Thanks, Jeff!

Jeff and Chaz’s performance was just plain fun for laid back entertainment. Each set was filled with interplay between the audience and the performers that included several requested songs from the catalogs of Bob Segar, the Allman Brothers, Elvis and the Eagles. The best part of the afternoon was the Jimmy Buffet favorites such as It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere and A Pirate Looks at Forty

The afternoon evaporated all too quickly while soccer and baseball flickering on the large screen televisions scattered about Hemingway’s melted into golf. Song after song rocked me, relaxed me, and reminded me of times long past. Outside cars rushed by, people meandered down the sidewalk and families frolicked in the park as we became lost in the entertainment.

You can find out more about Jeff Pike and his wonderful career at his website found here and more about A1A, Jeff’s band that is known far and wide for presenting the Official and Original Jimmy Buffet Tribute show here.

Go on.....find out where Jeff will be performing next. Share some space with him. You won't regret it.

Amanda America Dickson....An Uncommon Woman

2010-06-07T15:31:00.001-07:00

This post first appeared here in January, 2007...

The image here is Amanda America Dickson….the daughter of a slave and David Dickson, who was a well known Georgia agricultural reformer. For most of her childhood Amanda Dickson lived in the home of her paternal grandmother and owner, Elizabeth Sholars Dickson, where she learned to read, write, and play the piano in stark contrast to other African American young girls at the time. It is said her father loved her very much and doted on her. She was known as “Miss Mandy” to the household.

In 1865 or 1866 Amanda Dickson married her paternal cousin, Charles Eubanks. They had two sons together, Julian Henry and Charles Green, before she returned to her father’s home in 1870 and took back the Dickson name.

In 1885 David Dickson died leaving the bulk of his estate to his daughter. The main part of the estate consisted of 17,000 acres of land in Hancock and Washington counties. This made Ms. Dickson the wealthiest African American woman of the 19th century. She took some of the cash from the estate and bought herself a house at 452 Telfair Street in Augusta, Georgia. This rankled many of the elite who lived along Augusta’s nicest street at the time.

Many of her white relatives contested the will and a Superior Court ruled in her favor in 1885. The decision was contested and finally the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision in 1887. The Georgia Supreme Court opinion said “….rights of each race are controlled and governed by the same enactments or principals of law.” Basically it meant that illegitimate children of mixed race unions have the same rights as white illegitimate children.

Ms. Dickson went on to marry Nathan Toomer of Perry, Georgia in 1892. An 1870 census has Toomer listed as the wealthiest freedman in Houston County. As a child Nathan Toomer had been bought by Colonel Henry Toomer of Houston County. Nathan served as his master’s personal assistant and learned how to live in White society. Nathan and Amanda Dickson remained married until her death in 1893.

Note: Nathan later married Nina Pinchback whose father was the African America Lt. Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction. Their son, Jean Toomer, became a celebrated author during the Harlem Renaissance.

The Hollidays, the Hamiltons, the Wilkes: A Connection

2010-06-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

This post originally ran here in February, 2008 :

One of the first historical periods I became captivated with was the Civil War era. By fourth grade I had read every book Eastern Elementary had to offer. By sixth grade I had worked my way through every book detailing the war in the juvenile section of the College Park library and had started on the adult section.

It didn’t matter what genre the book was. I looked at picture books, books on battles, biographies, autobiographies, expansive tomes full of fact after fact, and fictional accounts from Across Five Aprils to Gone with the Wind.

When Westgate Theatre (across Lakewood Freeway from Greenbriar Mall) had a special showing of Gone with the Wind my mother made sure she took me. I had loved the book, but I absolutely fell in love with the movie because the characters were brought to life so well. Who could read the book again and not see Scarlett, Mammy, Pork, or Melanie as the appeared in the movie?

When I first read the book the relationship between Melanie and Ashley shocked me. I was deeply disturbed by first cousins marrying. I knew it happened, and I love my family connections, but….the line has to be drawn somewhere, you know? In my own family we kid about family connections because my mom’s immediate relatives are the same on my grandfather’s side of the family as they are on my grandmother’s……..father and son married half-sisters.

Of course in the past marrying your cousin was an acceptable way for families to keep their holdings intact much like European royal families throughout history. As a young girl the cousin factor creeped me out, but it was clear the couple had great admiration and love for each other even though Scarlett chose to ignore it and plow ahead with what she thought she wanted.

Like any great author Margaret Mitchell wrote about something familiar to her. Growing up she had thrived on the stories of family members who had experienced the days before and following the Civil War, so it makes sense she would have based some of her characters on people she knew.

So what about Ashley and Melanie? Well, the story goes that Margaret Mitchell based the characters on her own relatives Melanie Holliday and John Henry “Doc” Holliday. Yes, the same Doc Holliday of O.K. Corral fame.

Like many other bits of historical trivia there is no definitive confirmation that Mitchell based the characters of Ashley and Melanie on her cousins….in other words I’ve seen no source quoting Mitchell verifying the fact, but there are some coincidences.
Doc Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia, but following the death of his mother the family moved to Valdosta where Holliday lived under the same roof with his cousin Melanie for some time.

Not wanting to reinvent the wheel this site uses Sylvia D. Lynch’s Aristocracy Outlaw as a source and words the events much better that I can stating:

Martha (Mattie) Holliday was the daughter of Doc's father's brother Robert. Doc's father had moved his family away from Griffin Georgia during the Civil War to protect them when Sherman did his famous "Marching Through Georgia" and its occupation, relocating them to Valdosta, at the southern end of the state. Robert Holliday, Doc's uncle was in the War, and at just about the same time as Doc's father relocated to Valdosta, Mrs. Robert Holliday and her children fled their home before the battle of Jonesboro, returning home later to find the house dissassembled for its wood, which had been used as breastworks. She then loaded her family up and headed for Valdosta, and sought refuge with Doc's family.

Mattie was among the children she brought with her and they stayed under the same roof for approximately a year. Bob Boze Bell relates that "Mattie forms a close friendship with young John.”

Significant is the fact that upon her death in 1939, Mattie, (Sister Melanie since 1883) had in her possession a photo of John, one of his graduation photos. Equally significant, in fact may be that Doc's Colorado obituary "reported that he had only one correspondent among his relatives. That person was his beautiful first cousin, Mattie Holliday, who was apparently the only family member with whom John continually maintained contact after he left Georgia. Many researchers have theorized that the young cousins were romantically involved and would have married if John had not contracted consumption and been forced to leave home." Mattie did enter a convent, did not enter service as a nun until 1883 (she served the next fifty six years as Sister Mary Melanie), her reasons are not known, but she had received her education at St. Vincent's Academy, where she later returned as a Sister of Charity novitiate. What is known is that she preserved the letters she received from Doc, and had reported to relatives that "if the world could see the correspondence she had in her possession, they would most definitely see a different John Holliday." Some relatives report that before her death, Mattie destroyed some of these letters. Lynch says, "It is regrettable that more than twenty years of John Holliday's life may have been chronicled in the letters he wrote to the one person in the world to whom he felt he could open his heart, and that information is now lost forever. When John and Mattie lived under the same roof during the final years of the War, John was thirteen and Mattie was about fifteen. It is very likely that the cousins were close and enjoyed a bond that lasted into their adult lives, as apparent from their continuing correspondence."

Those letters not destroyed by Mattie herself were later burned by another family member who "burned them to end curious inquiries into the nature of their content." This burning has backfired on that intent, since the destruction served to increase speculation, not quelch it. Lynch puts forward the scenario of "a caring nun who had a special cousin who needed someone in whom he could confide the anger, the frustration, and the disappointment he felt life had dealt him. Sister Melanie was most likely John's only contact with home and the world he was forced to leave behind, and may have been the messenger who carried word of his death to his father."

Tom Barnes has written the book Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone where he uses a mixture of verified facts and fiction to recount the relationship between Doc Holliday and Mattie and how Doc ended up heading west.

The relationship between Doc Holliday and Melanie aren’t the only mysteries surrounding the one of the better known heroes of the Wild West….this site provides not only the speculation that surrounds Doc Holliday’s real grave site but includes a photograph of Melanie as well.

Travel to Fayetteville, Georgia and you can visit the Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House, built in 1855 by John Stiles Holliday, Doc Holliday’s uncle. There are several exhibits to stroll through and the docents love to tell visitors about all of the Gone with the Wind connections.

There’s also the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum in Atlanta, and don’t forget historical Jonesboro.

Wondering why I’m re-running old postings? Find out HERE.

Memorial Day-2010

2010-05-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

On this day we honor and remember............

Its fuller reaches underneath the hammer!

The Four Georgians

2010-05-27T18:01:00.001-07:00

Here’s an interesting fact….Helena, Montana was founded by the “Four Georgians” following a gold discovery along the Last Chance Creek on October 30, 1864.

Hmmmm…..the “Four Georgians”.

Who are these folks and how did they get a label like that?

The four Georgians are thought to be John Cowan, D.J. Miller, John Crab, and Reginald (Robert) Stanley. History is really a strange thing because only one of the four was a true Georgian…John Cowan. The others hailed from other places. D.J. Miller came from Alabama, John Crab was an Iowan, and Reginald Stanley was from England.

Many folks who have researched the four men had come up with the theory that the gang of four was called the Four Georgians not because they were from Georgia but because they used the Georgian method of placer mining.

The four had moved about Montana for six weeks looking for gold and finally returned to one of the first places they had visited. They had aptly named it Last Chance Gulch because they decided to try it one last time before giving up.

On July 14, 1864 they found flat gold nuggets and gold dust and the Last Chance Bonanza had begun. Three years later the four men sold out their claims and went about their lives as wealthy men.

This site states, “Once the news spread about the gold discovery, Helena became a boom town seemingly overnight. In only a few short years, several hundred businesses opened up shop in Helena, and more than 3,000 people called Helena home. Also, many previous mining strikes in other areas of Montana began to play out. As a result, many miners in these areas gravitated toward Helena.As the gulch began to fill up with people, the miners decided they needed to come up with a name for the town. The name “Helena” was not immediately bestowed upon the town. The “Four Georgians” originally named it Crabtown after John Crab, one of the founders. However, many of the miners from Minnesota began to call the town Saint Helena, after a town in Minnesota. The name was eventually shortened to Helena, its current name.”

Today, the same creek where the Four Georgians found their gold, runs underneath Helena’s main street. Helena even has an elementary school named for the Four Georgians.

Of course, as many historical events go there are two sides to the story. John Cowan returned home to site of the old mill (the original burned awhile back) is now a great restaurant. The website for the The Old Mill Restaurant advises John Cowan did travel to Montana with his cousins Frank and Tom Cowan. Also along for the trip were John Boring, Bill Palmer, and Henry Rusk all from Forsyth County.

Notice that Cowan’s traveling companions are not the same men mentioned in the local area history I found for Helena listed earlier in this article.

The Old Mill Restaurant website further states that after several months John Boring and Tom Cowan returned home to Georgia. Along the way John Boring was killed by Indians, but Tom made it home. This left John Cowan, Frank Cowan, Henry Rusk, and Bill Palmer in Montana….four men, four Georgians.

Hmmm….the only Georgian we know for sure was in Helena is John Cowan.

I just hate it when I research something and can’t find the answers I want.

I’ve sent an email to The Old Mill Restaurant…..perhaps they can clear this up for us.

For now we have a mystery on our hands.

Yes, you aren’t seeing things. This post ran here at Georgia on My Mind in September, 2009 and the reason why I’m re-running it can be found here. I never did hear back from the Old Mill Restaurant. :(

Theodore Roosevelt's Southern Roots....The Bullochs of Roswell

2010-05-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

My parents were like many young people that come from a small town where everyone knows each other and more than likely has some sort of family connection to every face they see. Once they married they moved away, and in the case of my parents they exchanged small town Canton, Georgia for the big city of Atlanta.

As a little girl living in the southern suburbs of Atlanta I made the trek to Canton with my parents often and loved the trip. Over the years our route would change depending on which new roads had opened in an ever growing city. One of our routes utilized I-285, or the Perimeter, that totally encircles Atlanta. We would follow Roswell Road through Sandy Springs, Roswell, and enter Cherokee County via state route 140.

This was my favorite route to visit the grandparents. I loved to look out the window at all of the businesses, apartments, and restaurants that lined Roswell Road. I loved going across the Chattahoochee River and would get excited as we turned this way and that up the long hill towards the oldest part of Roswell. Funny.... today the hill doesn't seem to be as long, as curvy, or as steep as I remember it.

Even before the city fathers promoted their historical past, old Roswell had a historic atmosphere. Once we got to the top of the hill and passed by quaint shops and restaurants such as Panos and Pauls I would beg my mom to turn down the side streets so I could see the old homes such as Mimosa Hall, Barrington Hall, and Bulloch Hall.

Bulloch Hall had such a mysterious look to it. It looked worn and tired and was quite scary looking especially on a rainy day. It was to say the least intriguing to me especially once I read and watched Gone with the Wind in middle school. I knew the Greek revival mansion had to have great stories to tell. I’d pepper my mother with questions. Who lived there a long time ago? Did anyone live there now? Was the land once part of a plantation? Do you think any of your people or Dad’s people might have known the folks who lived there?

Mother wasn’t sure, but she did know it had been a fine home in its day. I would have loved to see the inside, but in those d ays tours weren’t given, and my parents didn’t normally take up time with things of that sort.

Since my childhood I’ve learned a few things about the family that lived in Bulloch Hall, and if you have ever learned anything about President Theodore Roosevelt then you have inadvertently learned a bit about Bulloch Hall as well.

Major James Stephen Bulloch and Martha Stewart Elliot were similar to my mother and father in that they married and left their own childhood home of Savannah. Many have surmised that the Bulloch’s move north was the discovery of gold in North Georgia, but it was actually due to a bit of a scandal as as this particular site attests:.

Mittie's father, the "impetuous" Major James Bulloch, after his fighting days were over, married his stepmother-in-law, Martha Stewart Elliott, and in a flurry of scandal over the marriage left Savannah behind, packed up his wife, their children from previous marriages, and slaves, and moved to Roswell, Georgia. In Roswell the Bullochs settled on land which the Cherokees had recently held, before gold was discovered and President Andrew Jackson forced the native people to walk to Oklahoma on the infamous Trail of Tears.

Major Bulloch was well known because he had been a highly decorated soldier during the Texas War for Independence, and Georgia’s esteemed citizen, Archibald Bulloch, was a direct decendant. Archibald Bulloch had been the Speaker of the Royal Assembly, the President of the Provincial Congress, and was instrumental in Georgia signing the Declaration of Independence. Martha was well connected in her own right as she was the descendant of General Daniel Stewart of Revolutionary War fame. Both had been married before so their family was an early example of the Brady Bunch with his, hers, and ours offspring.

Another draw to Roswell was Bulloch’s friendship with Roswell King, the former overseer for the Butler Plantation in Savannah. He encouraged the Bullochs, as well as a few other Savannah families, to move north for economic opportunities. Roswell was a prime location for various types of mills due to the rushing waters of Vickery Creek that flowed into the Chattahoochee River.

So while the Bullochs of Roswell did own slaves they did not necessarily have a plantation. In 1851, records indicate there were 29 slaves at Bulloch Hall, and today the slave quarters have been restored. A plaque rests there that name all 29 slaves though there may have been as many as 31, but the names have not been verified. The slaves were mainly house servants or assigned outside duties to keep the property in order as Major Bulloch earned a large majority of his income through the mills of Roswell and other concerns.

After the Major’s death in 1849, Martha Bulloch continued his work, but it didn’t take long for some of her fortune to wane. The family was not destitute, however, by the time her daughter, Mittie, was married she had to sell four slaves just to pay for the wedding festivities.

It’s with the wedding that the story of Bulloch Hall becomes entwined with the Roosevelt family. Apparently Mittie was very beautiful and there is a story that when Martha Mitchell was writing Gone With the Wind she interviewed one of Mittie’s bridesmaids. It is said Mitchell used her research to model the character Scarlett after Mittie. Many years later Mittie’s second son, Elliott, would grow up to father Eleanor Roosevelt who eventually married her fifth cousin once removed, Frankin Delano Roosevelt. Elliott described his mother as “a sweet Dresden monument”, and her daughter Corinne remembered her mother as someone who wore white all the time no matter the season and commented on the beautiful skin her mother had.

So, it is no wonder that Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., the father of Theodore Roosevelt, the President, would fall under the Southern Belle’s charm. Mittie and “Thee” were married in the parlor at Bulloch Hall in 1853 in what has been described as the social event for many years to come in Roswell, Georgia.

From a web article by Lu Hickey:

The young Mrs. Roosevelt, who had written her fiancé just weeks earlier [before their marriage] that he was the "only person who could so suit me and I put every confidence in you," now gamely set out with her new husband for the trip north. During the journey--partly in a carriage and partly by ship, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt had plenty of time to think about what she was leaving behind. She may have had some doubts about the family she was marrying into, but not because of any feelings of inadequacy about her own family tree. Quite the contrary, she had reason to sense a slight edge on her part, especially if she ignored money and counted up the many achievements of her ancestors. An unbiased observer might have backed her up. Seven generations of Roosevelts had lived in America without achieving much fame, but their star rose quickly after she married into the clan.

This post first appeared here at Georgia on My Mind in August, 2007 .

The Gift

2010-04-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Back during another lifetime in the 1970s you would have found me on Friday night sitting in front of our family television….the one where the knob had fallen off and we had to resort to using needle-nosed pliers to change it…patiently waiting for my favorite television show to air.

There I was – gazing up at the screen – watching a parade of commercials and happily munching on taco-flavored Doritos – then I would hear the theme song I can sing to this day and even if you won’t admit it, you can as well.

Here’s the story…of a lovely lady…who was bringing up three very lovely girls…All of them had hair of gold like their mother’s…the youngest one in curls.

Here’s the story…of a man named Brady…who was busy with three boys of his own…They were four men…living all together…yes, they were all alone.

I loved the Brady Bunch. They were different. They were not a cookie-cutter version of my very average family. Not everyone was related by blood, not everyone got along all the time, but there was a lot of love and acceptance. Take two families with former tragedy and throw in a dash of Alice and presto! An Instant American family I would have loved to be a part of.

Look around in any American classroom or neighborhood. We have more families with steps and halves and live-ins than ever before, and if you are like me you have often side-stepped an important facet of American History….our family history.

It’s easy to ignore these days , isn’t it?

I have had students who have their fair share of tragedy….parents on drugs, in jail, molestations, mental illness, a different uncle in the house every week or so, physical violence…a plethora of mixed families that make the Brady Bunch-type family impossible to achieve, so I can understand why educators might be leery of asking children to examine their families, to answer the question why their families are important, and to decide how their family fits into the American quilt even with all the baggage that sometimes accompanies family life these days.
But, how can we ask students to connect to a bunch of folks discussed in the study of history that they’ve never heard of and will never meet unless they can connect to how they fit in….how their family fits into our society no matter the baggage and no matter the circumstances?

A brand new book has dropped into my lap that I think would serve as a great reminder that families come in all shapes and forms. A family doesn’t necessary have to be a group of people all related by biology….they have to have things in common and those things bind us together in love.

The book I’m talking about is called The Gift. Its author and illustrator, Karen Craft, just happens to be my dear sister.

In The Gift, Karen tells the true story of Baby Boy who came to live with a family who wanted a little boy very much. The book covers numerous themes from family love, overcoming tragedy, and even an honest look at what makes the concept of family what it is and to be more precise what makes the concept of a mother….a mother.

As the first page of the book states, “A Mama isn’t just someone that gives birth to you. She’s someone that sits with you when you’re sick, and doesn’t mind. She’s the one who bakes you cookies late into the night, when you forgot to tell her earlier. She will clap louder than anyone at your piano recital. She reads your favorite book to you over and over. And over. She really listens to you when you need to talk and when you’re scared she makes you feel safe. She teaches you to be polite and chew with your mouth closed. She’s the last person you see when she kisses you good night, and the first person you want to see in the morning. You know in your heart that she’s your Mother, you Mom, your Mama. She’s your gift and you are hers. Sometimes biology just isn’t so important after all.”

The Gift is a great book to open the door to discuss adoption with students of all ages, to discuss blended families, to discuss losing a family member, and to discuss how non-family members….our friends and neighbors….are important parts of our families as well.

Children will love the story details regarding Da, Mama, Sister Dear, and Baby Girl. The story even has its own version of Alice in the guise of Nanni-K who in reality happens to be my dear niece.

It is a great resource for your classroom library, a media center, or a home library. Students, young and old, will love The Gift as a read aloud as they make Mother’s Day cards and presents, and the book lends itself well to small group reading activities for older students.

Karen Craft’s illustrations are brought to life even in more exact detail by artist Meghan Branscomb from Mornin’ Glory Studios. As you can see from the story illustrations I’ve scattered through this post they are exceptional and make the story even more entertaining. I’m already thinking about making a few slides of the illustrations in enlarged detail to show to students as the book is read.

It’s a great book to purchase for your child or another child you know. With Mother’s Day around the corner it is also a perfect gift for your mother, mothers you know young and old, and even those motherly-types you have in your life. I have a few of those….and I know you do too.

Visit Karen Craft's website, Just Sharing a Story, to purchase your copy of The Gift.

You can become a fan of Karen’s on Facebook and get updates on future publications HERE

This post originally ran at my other site History Is Elementary. If you are wondering why I’m recycling posts see my explanation HERE.

New Updates for the Blogroll!!!!!!!

2010-04-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a few new Georgia Blogs I’ve added to the blogroll:

1. Gena Knox...has one of the best cooking blogs on the Internet today. Gena states on her “about” page, “Like everyone who grew up in the south, my story is full of food, family, and tradition. Some of my earliest memories are of the smells and tastes from my grandmother’s kitchen. I remember the flavor of corn creamed as soon as it came off the cob, the smell of warm peaches, and the incredible sweetness of her caramel cake. All of them are still my favorites, although the caramel cake is a tough recipe that might take me a lifetime to master.”

2. Pink Roses and Other Passions…. Scrolling through this blog for the first time I quickly decided I would become a regular reader…..fantastic posts and the pictures are so inspiring…..I immediately came away with five or six ideas I could use for my home.

3. Plugged a business blog for RedBPower located in Statesboro, Georgia….a business offering powerful solutions for personal and commercial electrical needs.

4. Southern Georgia Living ….a blog that portrays family living in south Georgia…..Cairo, Georgia to be exact.

5.Vanishing South Georgia…..photography by Brian Brown....check out his blog index by county and by city to see all of the photographs. WONDERFUL!

6.View From a Hearse a blog by Bruce Goddard…..a humorist, motivational speaker, undertaker, and author. Lots of good reading here….

7. ….and finally, Rural Pen…..a blog that has been on the Georgia Blogroll for quite some time has been changed to Farmer South. In the “about” section the blog author states, "Trying to keep family farms alive in the face of corporate consolidation and sprawling land development.”

Changing Pockets....Again

2010-04-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

It seems appropriate that I would re-run this post today....tax day... since it begins with a discussion regarding how money seems to go from pocket to pocket, but actually this post is about a pocket that can exist in geography....

Money…it does make the world go round. It also seems to move around at a fast pace. Money hops from pocket to pocket to pocket. A famous quotation states, “Money is always there, but the pockets change.”

I agree. Pockets do change, but what you might not realize is the word pocket can mean more than a place to keep your money before it flies out into another’s pocket.

Sometime ago over at History Is Elementary I posted Historians Observe Their Surroundings. The post centers around an activity I use at the beginning of the year to help students understand our geography is constantly changing. Twenty years ago would you recognize the place where your home or office sits? Fifty years ago? One hundred years ago? Two hundred years ago? Mother Earth is constantly changing due to natural and human circumstances.

Do we give the past a second thought as we drive through our state? Do we wonder what might have once been in a pine thicket we zoom by along the interstate? Look at the picture I’ve posted above. It seems like a very rural, natural setting. Notice the ridge line. It’s important to my point.

Geographically speaking a “pocket” is a plain surrounded entirely by mountains and amazingly Georgia has one of these rare geographical features. GeorgiaTrails.com advises a pocket is a geologic formation that was formed when most of Northwest Georgia was covered by a vast sea.

Imagine that!

Weaker limestone was eroded and left the surrounding iron ore ridges. Out west this type of formation is known as a “hole”, and two of the most famous are Jackson Hole and Hole in the Wall.

An article entitled Remembering the Pocket by Daniel M. Roper from the Winter, 1994 issue of North Georgia Journal explores the history of Georgia’s pocket enclave that is now virtually abandoned except for hikers and fishermen who make the trek inside.

Hardy settlers first reached the pocket following the land lottery that was a result of the Treaty of New Echota which provided for the sale of the remaining Cherokee lands in Georgia. Many who received the right to own land in the area were elderly and they simply sold their right to settle to younger and hardier pioneer stock.

Between the 1840s and 1860s settlers carved out a settlement in The Pocket which had several farms as well as a gristmill and sawmill located on Johns Creek in the narrow gap between Johns and Horn mountains. A blast furnace also existed which utilized the iron ore from Horn Mountain and formed wash pots and skillets.

Researchers have been able to learn many things about the life of The Pocket settlers from journals and letters. James Elijah White and his son L.P. White maintained a journal from 1835 until 1935. The article refers to several entries that are just simply observations of daily life in The Pocket. Here is a sampling:

“Their was the greatest yield of hickory nuts in 1895”

“The night of May the 24 (1908) it rained a frog down the chimney.”

“On September 1913 John Blasengaines left for Oklahoma for the charge of fornication”

“1919 January the 12, Sunday morning a aroplane flew over this valley today about ½ after 9”

“Me and Sarah Elizabeth went to Villanow to hear holy rollers.”

The article advises by the 1890s there were several hundred people living in the valley. Farming and logging were the primary industries with tan bark being the most lucrative. Chestnut oaks were in abundance. The bark was hauled to the rails at Hill City to be taken to a tannery in Chattanooga. The tannin was then used on animal hides.

The Pocket was touched by the Civil War when the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Sherman’s lieutenant, Major General James B. McPherson, marched through Snake Creek Gap—the strategic route between Horn and Rocky Face Mountains—and flanked the Confederate army at Dalton. The Confederates retreated to Resaca where they engaged the Federal army in a major battle on May 14 and 15, 1864.

GeorgiaTrails.com advises when advancing through the area during the Civil War, men under the command of General James McPherson “discovered” the road, which was not on their maps. A great deal of concern was expressed in the Official Records about the accuracy of the maps.

Samuel Pilcher was a Pocket resident who served with the “Wright Infantry”. He was one of the lucky Confederates who made it home and lived along life farming on his land in the valley. He died in 1897 and his grave is maintained by the U.S. Forest Service. A nearby pond, Pilcher’s Pond, is named for him and many anglers have sought this secluded spot to wet a hook.

George W. Bailey was a Confederate from The Pocket who experienced being a prisoner of war. He served with the “Calhoun Blues” and was captured by Union troops in August, 1864 during the Battle of Atlanta. He was finally released from Fort McHenry nine months later where he returned to The Pocket and raised a large family.

The Pocket experienced many years of prosperity following the Civil War, however, by the 1940s most residents had left the area creating a virtual ghost valley. The combination of the boll weevil and The Great Depression hit The Pocket’s agrarian economy hard. Many residents were lured away by the offer of jobs in the factories and mills of Rome and Dalton.

The Pocket is a valley south of the community of Villanow, surrounded on three sides by the steep rocky ridges of Horn and Johns Moutains. To reach The Pocket you need to travel north on I-75 to the exit for Resaca (Highway 136). Travel 15 miles to the town of Villanow and take a left on East Armuchee Road. There are signs to follow by the byway that is known by hikers and bikers as the Pocket Trail”. Eventually if you follow the signs you are led back to the famous general store. Some sites mention that the signs at the left turn onto US 27 and the left turn onto Floyd Springs Road might be missing. Additional information regarding the location of the pocket can be found at North Georgia Scenic Drives.

GeorgiaTrails.com advises the area is rich in Native American, Civil War, and Civilian Conservation Corps history. Other attractions include Keown Falls, the Johns Mountain Overlook, Johns Creek, Johns Mountain Wildlife Management Area, and the Pinhoti Trail.

This post first ran in June, 2006.
Find out why I’m re-running old postings HERE

Another View of the Red Oak Train Depot

2010-04-12T14:42:00.001-07:00

I grew up in Red Oak, Georgia…..a little strip of real estate between College Park and Fairburn. I attended elementary and high school while living there…..I made life-long friends there…..I did the Girl Scout thing there…I was baptized there…..I learned to drive there……I LIVED there , and it was a fantastic place to grow up back in the early 70s.

I loved that place…..I still do even though most everyone I knew is long gone including me, my home, and even the train depot.

Of course….the train depot seen with this post was long gone before I ever moved to Red Oak, but I rode by its location at least twice a day for many years.

I originally wrote about the train depot in December , 2007 when I was lucky enough to locate the original building plans for the depot which you can see HERE along with some of recollections of my daily visits to downtown Red Oak.

Go on….click through….you KNOW you want to read that post as well. :)

At that time someone by the time of C.E. Waltz commented and advised his grandfather had been the postmaster until the mid 60s and his grandmother had run a store out of the depot as well. He also advised that instead of the building being demolished it had been torn down and moved….and it had become a restaurant.

So , now the plot thickens. I wonder if any of my Red Oak friends I’ve hooked up with on Facebook or new friends that find me through Google searches know where the old depot building wound up and if it is still a restaurant…….

I’m waiting, and I'd love to know the rest of the story…:)

I snagged the depot picture from the Atlanta History Center site……HERE. I hope they don’t sue me for posting it……I’m giving full credit though.

And……it’s the season of the mulligan here at Georgia on My Mind while I’m busy telling myself I can write a book I'm revisting some of my older postings…..for an explanation see the link HERE.

History of a Long Dirt Road

2010-04-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

The following post details my love of meandering down Georgia’s dirt roads and a little bit of history regarding on in particular. This post first appeared here at Georgia on My Mind in December, 2007.

I love dirt roads, and Georgia is simply full of them.

Unfortunately you have to travel further and further from the environs of Atlanta to find them anymore.

When I was 18 and a newbie on the college campus of my parent’s choosing I was a member of the Dirt Road Club. The requirements were simple…..you had to have enough money to invest in either gas or an appropriate beverage or two for you and your fellow club members, you had to be willing to devote an occasional Saturday or Sunday to what could be an all day, all night road trip, and if you were the official driver for that trip you had turn off the main highway every time you came upon a dirt road and follow it until you couldn’t follow it any longer.

Needless to say I’m quite the expert when it comes to private drives and logging roads all over North Georgia.

Just like the explorers of the 1500s and just like those folks who brave the elements to climb Mt. Everest members of The Dirt Road Club ventured forth because they were compelled to.

Our club motto was “Because it’s there!”

Yes, there were some dirt roads that were a bit scary, some that had a Deliverance feel to them, and some were just plain dangerous. Others were pure gems. Once when riding along through a forest the trees suddenly cleared and we found ourselves on a ridge where you could see mountain rise after mountain rise in the distance. Another time we found a mountain stream complete with waterfall and on the hills rising up all around us were hundreds of mountain laurel in full bloom. Those were the moments that kept us going down all those dirt roads.

The road seen in my image at the beginning of this post has the distinction of being the longest and oldest dirt road still in use in America. It is located on Ossabaw Island, a barrier island along Georgia’s coast. The island contains over 26,000 acres and archeologists have determined humans have lived on or used the island for the past 4,000 years.

Thought it had two other prior owners Ossabaw Island was owned by John Morel during Georgia’s colonial years and through the Revolution. He purchased half of the island in 1760 and the other half in 1763. Morel was a Savannah merchant and Council of Safety member who with the help of slave labor used the island for timber cutting and agriculture. Indigo, cotton, and rice were main cash crops cultivated on Ossabaw.

During Morel’s ownership the avenue of oaks that remain today were planted along the long dirt road that traverses the island. To make it easier to manage agricultural operations on the island Morel divided the land into tracts. Following John Morel’s death in 1777 the island was divided among Morel’s three sons with each receiving a particular tract. Bryan Morel received North End Place, Peter Henry Morel received Middle Place, and John Morel II took control of South End. I would venture that they shared the fourth tract known as Buckhead. After the War of 1812 the highly sought Sea Island cotton was raised on Ossabaw because it has stronger filaments than cotton grown on the mainland and it was very desirable by textile manufacturers.

During the Civil War when the Union blockaded the South the Morel family abandoned Ossabaw Island. At one point during Reconstruction a Freedmen’s Bureau location was there. In fact, the Ossabaw Foundation site states that many of the former slaves from Ossabaw eventually relocated to Pin Point, Georgia which is the home of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The remains of three slave cabins can be found at the northern end of the island. One is thought to date from 1820 and the other two date from the 1840s. Archeologists have found alligator teeth and racoon bones in the area surrounding the cabins along with the makings of a mojo bag along with blue beads. It was thought that the color blue would ward off any spirits. It was believed that spirits didn’t like the color blue because it reminded them of heaven.

During the Gilded Age in the late 1800s the island was controlled by the Wannamaker family of Philadelphia. They used Ossabaw as a hunting club.

During the 1920s Dr. H.N. Torrey built a vacation home on the island that in reality is a mansion. The Torrey family had moved to Savannah from Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1923 and when their Savannah home burned they moved to Ossabaw where they entertained many people. It has been reported that Henry Ford, who had his own Georgia plantation, was the first to sign the Torrey’s guestbook.

Eventually, the island passed to the Torrey’s daughter, Eleanor Torrey West. Along with her husband, Clifford West, the Ossabaw Foundation was created which launched many unique programs on the island, such as the Ossabaw Island Project. This interdisciplinary program supported recommended individuals “of creative thought and purpose in the arts, sciences, industry, education, and religion” to come to the islands to share their ideas with other creatives and pursue their work without interruption.

The island was turned over to the State of Georgia in 1978, and was designated as Georgia’s first Heritage Preserve with the written understanding that Ossabaw would “only be used for natural scientific, and cultural study, research and education, and environmentally sound preservation, conservation and management of the Island’s ecosystem.” The acquistition was made possible by the generosity of Mrs. West and her family, a personal gift to the State of Georgia from Robert F. Woodruff (Coca-Cola), the assistance of The Nature Conservancy, and the State’s commitment to preservation of the island.

Gee, just think…..all of that a dirt road to boot. Thanks, Mrs. West!

For further reading:

An AJC article from 2006 provides some interesting detail about life on the island for slaves and those that come later

This Smithsonian article also details slave life on the island.

A Georgia blog, Nature’s Harmony Farm, provides some information regarding Ossabaw pigs.

More history bits can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE.

…..and to find out why I’m re-running various posts see my link HERE

Georgia's Paul Revere...

2010-04-06T13:31:00.001-07:00

Listen my children and you shall hear
of the midnight ride of John Wisdom
on the third of May, in sixty-three….

Something isn’t quite right, is it?

I introduce The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Wadsworth, to my fourth graders when we discuss Lexington and Concord, and the visual I provide them with is the painting seen here by Grant Wood. Recently, over at History Is Elementary I detailed how I use other paintings by Mr. Wood in my classroom.

Near the end of the year as we are discussing the Civil War I spiral back to Wadsworth’s poem to remind children where we have already been in our studies. I write the opening words of the poem on the board except I switch the name Paul Revere with the name John Wisdom and the date.

As students begin to correct me I say, “Oh yeah, sure, it was John Wisdom. He warned people the enemy was approaching. He may have saved people and the towns of Lexington and Concord on his midnight ride.”

I love the chorus of no, no, no I receive from adamant students who love to point out when I’m wrong. They tell me that Paul Revere and several others were charged with the duty of calling out the Minutemen, and the date was 1775 not 1863. Our sprial review is successful and completed. Students have remembered information concerning the Revolution though it has been several weeks since it was taught.

I turn to present matters and pose the question…”Well, I wonder then why the name John Wisdom popped into my head? Who could he be? I wonder if he did something important? We are about to study the Civil War. Based on what you know already about the war write two or three sentences in your notebook predicting who you think John Wisdom is and why I’m bringing him up.”

Students begin to write and then share their predictions. Finally, I get my chance to share.

John Wisdom, seen in the picture here, was a real person. He was a mail carrier….you know, through the dark night, through rain, sleet, snow, hail…yeah, that mail system. It can be argued that he is the very man who saved Rome, Georgia from destruction during the Civil War at least for a short period of time. He is often thought of as Georgia’s version of Paul Revere.

In May, 1863, Rome was only about sixty miles south of the Confederate lines at Dalton, Georgia. There were only old men, wounded soldiers, and young boys available to protect the town and the arsenal. I guess you coul say the leaders of the South were asleep at the wheel as far as Rome goes.

Why would Rome have been important to the Union?

First of all, the city is located strategically at the point where the Etowah and Oostanaula Rivers meet forming the Coosa. Railroad lines that connected Atlanta and Chattanooga ran through Rome. Many of the farms in the region provided food supplies for the Confederates, and the hospital provided medical supplies and care for the wounded. The city had numerous foundries including the one owned by James Noble, Sr. and his six sons. Their foundry had been instrumental in providing the Rome Railroad with a locomotive by 1857. Cannons and cannonballs as well as other items to assist the Confederacy were manufactured in Rome.

Rumors abounded in the countryside the Union Colonel, A.D. Streight, was on the move. Was he heading for Rome’s arsenal? Was he attempting to cut the Confederate supply line between Atlanta and Chattanooga? Actually it was the latter, but Wisdom felt a burning need to let the countryside know the Union troops were nearby and up to no good. Haven’t you ever heard a rumor and was just dying to tell others?

Wisdom, apparently was unaware that General N.B. Forrest was already in pursuit of Streight and it was a good thing he didn’t know or didn’t care. Had someone have said, “Awww….Forrest is already after him,” Wisdom might have just gone about his duties as a stage driver delivering mail and other parcels. Nope, Forrest opted to get involved.

Forrest was able to capture Streight’s calvary after three to five full days (depends on the source you use) of marching and fighting. The Confederate officer managed to do this with a force less than half the size of Streight’s. Forest had several advantages over Streight, however. The Confederates were riding horses while the Union solders were using mules. In fact some sources refer to Streight’s group and others that utilized mules as “Jackass Forces”. It was hard for these forces to get around unnoticed as the mules often took to braying and could be heard for miles. At some point during the chase Streight (pictured at left) dispatched approximately 200 men to serve as an advance party to head for Rome to scout the area. It was this scouting party that Wisdom heard about and set out to warn his surrounding neightbors.

It is at this point I will defer to the website Rome.Georgia.com as it explains the arduous journey of Wisdom better than I can:

He left Gadsden at 3:30 in the afternoon by buggy and after 22 miles at Gnatville his horse was completely exhausted. A widow Hanks at that place owned the only horse- a lame pony- which she loaned to Wisdom. The pony only lasted five miles until he came to Goshen. Here he was able to get a fresh and stronger horse which carried him to Spring Garden where he was able to get two horses. At a point about one mile south of Cave Spring, Georgia, his mount was exhausted and darkness had come.

Farmers were relunctant to loan their animals nevertheless he walked on and even used a mule for several miles until he was able to get two good mounts in Vann's Valley in succession and raced into Rome after midnight.

Rome’s citizens were quick to act once they were alerted:

The covered wooden bridge over which the Union troops would be forced to move was barricaded with bales of cotton and the bridge floor covered waist deep with hay soaked in oil which was to be set afire in the event the invaders could not be stopped by other measures.

The engineers of the Rome Railroad made trips into the countryside warning the people and bringing the planters who responded to the call to arms. They brought their squirrel rifles, muskets, and muzzle loading shotguns.

The Union advance troop got a good look at Rome from the hill at Shorter College where they could see the fortifications the town had hastily put together. They knew even with their small number they could have taken the city with the element of surprise, but since the citizens had prior warning and had prepared it was fruitless. They returned to rejoin Streight’s command and eventually wound up as prisoners of war with their comrades.

Wisdom receieved $400 and a silver service for his basically unkown ride. General Forrest is honored with a statue at the corner of Broad and Mrytle Streets where Myrtle Hill Cemetary is located. One of the inscriptions state: “On Sunday, May 3, 1863, General Nathan B. Forrest by, his indomitable will, after a running fight of three days and nights, with 410 men, captured Col. A.D. Streight’s Raiders, numbering 1600, thereby saving Rome from destruction.”

Students always end the discussion asking about the fate of Streight. He ended up at Libby Prison outside of Richmond, Virginia. He escaped with 108 other prisoners in right under the noses of Southern guards through a tunnel on February 9, 1864.

Following the thwarted raid earthen fortifications were built to serve as some protection for Rome, however the city was eventually taken and held by Union forces. Union Gen. Jefferson C. Davis took Rome without specific orders in May, 1864 during his search for a bridge that didn’t exist across the Oostenaula River around the time of the Battle of Resaca. Gen. Davis communicated to Sherman that, “[Rome was] the strongest fortified place I have seen in Dixie.” More Union forces were sent to the city after General John Bell Hood began to strike at Sherman’s supply lines in North Georgia. It was from Rome that Sherman telegraphed Grant concerning his plan to “March to the Sea”. Once it was approved he set out from Rome around November 10th and 11th heading South. On their way out of the city many of the downtown buildings and Noble’s Foundry was destroyed by fire.

the Rome History Museum has a CD for sale that would be great to use in the classroom. The content of the CD gets children to think about more modern technology such as the radio. If the radio had been around on May 3, 1863, in what way would it have made a difference ? This would be a great question for students to ponder.

This post first ran in July, 2007 here at Georgia on My Mind. If you are wondering why I’m repeating certain postings see the post HERE for an explanation.

A Georgian Gave Texas Her Lone Star

2010-03-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

This post first ran here at Georgia on My Mind in March, 2007.

The little of town of Knoxville, Georgia is so small you wouldn’t have heard of it even if you drove right through it. It’s the county seat of Crawford County, but it only has about 800 people living there. Even John Pemberton, the founder of Coca-Cola left town as a young boy and moved to Columbus.

Who knew that small, unassuming Knoxville, Georgia would be the birthplace of one of the most recognizable state icons in the nation…dare I say the world?

Who knew that particular state icon would be the brainchild of a seventeen year old girl?

Earlier I wrote about the formation of the Georgia Battalion. As it moved through the Knoxville area on the return trip to Texas Johanna (Joanna) Troutman was moved by the romanticism of the moment and the fervor for independence….so much so she took one of her silk white petticoats and fashioned a flag…the FIRST Lone Star flag.

A San Antonio newspaper from 1934 mentions::

“on each side of the flag, in the center, was placed a large azure star of five points. Above the star on one side was the inscription, ‘Liberty or Death,’ and on the other the Latin motto ‘Ubi Libertas Habitat Ibi Patria Est’ (Where Liberty dwells, there is my country).”

Troutman presented the flag to Col. William Ward and it was raised high about the American Hotel at Velasco, Texas on January 8, 1836. Later it flew as the Georgia Battalion flag at Goliad. Col. James W. Fannin raised it as the Republic of Texas flag upon hearing the Texas Declaration of Independence had been signed.

Troutman never set foot in Texas, but an article by A.C. Greene advises two pieces of silver belonging to Santa Ana was sent to her after his capture in appreciation for her efforts. (Wouldn’t you like to know where the silver is?)

She died in 1879 and was buried next to her first husband near Knoxville. In 1912 her body was moved to the Texas State Cemetery where a bronze statue stands to honor her.

Johanna (Joanna) Troutman’s portrait also hangs in the Texas State Capital.

There’s more information about “The Betsy Ross of Texas” here.

…..and if you are wondering why I’m re-running some past posting my explanation can be found HERE

Mulligan Season...

2010-03-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Over at History Is Elementary I’ve declared this spring to be the season of the mulligan – see my explanation here.

Basically, it means I will be re-posting past articles here at Georgia on My Mind as well as History Is Elementary and Got Bible?. I’m doing this so I can concentrate on a book project with a looming deadline.

Don’t worry though….I’ll be checking in often, and I do have a few new Georgia blogs to add to the blogroll for your reading pleasure.

I also plan to get the Georgia Carnival up and running again in April….so look for the announcement and call for submissions soon.

Your continued attention to my meager efforts here is greatly appreciated….

….and I want you to keep Georgia on your mind because our great state is the jewel of the south, and it is always on MY mind.

When the Dead Tug at Your Sleeve....Thomas Edward Zellars

2010-03-07T05:14:00.000-08:00

Call me a bit different, but I find cemeteries to be very interesting places.
Every time I pass one I feel a tug on my sleeve. The community of the dearly departed calls out for me to take a minute, pull in, park, and walk about.

Now before you go off the deep end thinking I have some sort of death wish, please understand my desire to walk among the dead does not include my desire to rest with them.

Far from it.

As Robert Frost so eloquently put it, “I have miles to go before I sleep.”

Cemeteries are quiet places with interesting stories all around if you just surrender to that tug on your sleeve and simply stop and meander through the tombstones and markers. I love walking through them….from the simple church cemeteries that litter the countryside to the larger ones that cover acres with large tombstones and ornate mausoleums. Even those resting places that peek out from under years of growth and neglect with simple slab rocks for markers call out to me.

The people there…..they have such interesting stories to tell.

Take Thomas Edward Zellars, for instance. His resting spot is the Grantville City Cemetery in Grantville, Georgia. It might be easy to walk past his grave marker. It looks like so many others containing someone’s name and birth and death dates, but Mr. Zellar’s final resting place is also marked with a Georgia historical marker….you know….one of those green and gold signs you normally zoom past alongside the road.

….and Thomas Edward Zellars really does deserve his marker.

Mr. Zellars was born in 1898 in Grantville, Georgia…a unique hamlet in Coweta County. He was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, a favorite place of mine I’ve written about here, here, and here at other various blogs where I publish some of my work. Upon graduation in 1920 he was assigned to the USS Mississippi, also known as Battleship No. 41, in the position of turret commander and held the rank of lieutenant (junior grade).

During gunnery practice off San Pedro, California on June 12, 1924 there was a terrible explosion aboard the Mississippi in the very turret Zellars commanded. Naval history records state that Mr. Zellars along with 47 others were asphyxiated almost immediately.

However, Zellars did have enough time and enough wits about him to open flood valves that extinguished the fire which saved the ship and the remaining members of the crew.

The U.S. Navy honored Zellars for his action by naming an Allen M. Sumner class destroyer for him…..the USS Zellars. The ship named for Grantville’s military hero served in the Okinawa invasion force during World War II, and was one of the ships that subjected the island to a “systematic, long duration preinvasion bombardment.”

The USS Zellars is pictured below.

During the Korean War the USS Zellars’ primary mission was gunfire support for United Nations on shore and conducted coastal surveillance. Once source states the Zellars was available for antisubmarine protection but the threat never really materialized.

Later on the Zellars served as a Naval Reserve training ship and finally was decommissioned on March 19, 1971. It was sold to the Iranian government and renamed Babr. As of today….the ship has more than likely been scrapped.

The next time you feel that inexplicable desire to visit a cemetery don’t fight it. Go on…..answer that tug on your sleeve.

As the character Minerva states in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, “To understand the living, you got to commune with the dead.”

Another cemetery I’ve written about is Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery .

Murder Most Foul

2010-02-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Many of us grew up hearing the chant….Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done she gave her father forty-one……

…but, I’m thinking you’ve never heard this one:

Woolfolk, Woolfolk, see what you’ve done….You’ve murdered your whole family and never fired a gun!

Are you familiar with the story of Tom Woolfolk?

In the late 1800s he was big news not only here in Georgia where he lived, but Tom’s exploits were hot news all across the country. He even made the front page of the New York Times.

Headlines and blurbs regarding Tom Woolfolk included descriptions such as…..the bloodiest , blackest chapter in Georgia criminal history, the most shocking murder ever committed in Georgia, one of the most heinous crimes committed in this or any other state, and the most ferocious and harrowing crime ever recorded in the annals of civilization, and in fact, Tom Woolfolk was dubbed Bloody Woolfolk for the crimes he was accused of committing.

Soon after Tom Woolfolk was born, his mother died. While his father was busy with other pursuits, Tom and his two sisters were sent to live with his maternal aunt, Fannie Moore Crane, on Pulaski Street in Athens, Georgia. Tom lived in his aunt’s home for the first seven years of his life, and naturally he became very close to her.

Once Tom’s father remarried Tom went to live with his father and step-mother at their home right outside of Macon, Georgia. Over the next few years Tom’s father and step-mother added six more children to the family. Tom resented his step-mother and step-siblings seeing them as a stumbling block in order to receive what he thought was his proper inheritance.

Tom’s repeated failures in life more than likely added to his unhappiness. He had tried running a plantation, managing a store, driving a streetcar in Macon, and owning a grocery store. None of the ventures were successful. Tom eventually had to settle with working for his father for the sum of nine dollars a month.

Tom was unlucky in love as well. At the age of 27 Tom married Georgia Bird, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer. The union only lasted three weeks before Georgia Bird returned to her father, and she referred to him as just plain mean.

Tom returned to Athens often to visit with his aunt and following visits in March and June, 1887 his aunt would later remember Tom’s behavior as bizarre stating Tom talked incoherently, seemed suspicious, was constantly pacing the floor and carried a pistol.

On Saturday, August 6, 1887 sometime between 2 and 4 a.m. Tom’s father, step-mother, six step-siblings ranging from the age of 20 to 18 months along with a family friend were murdered.

Around daybreak Tom knocked on the door of Green Locket, a black man who worked for the family. He told Green something awful had happened. “Someone got into the house and killed my family,” he reportedly blurted.

Reportedly Tom tried to get Green to enter the house, but he would not. When a noise was heard from within Tom entered the house alone and after 20-30 minutes returned to advise that everyone was dead. There is some speculation that originally it was Tom’s intention to lure Green into the home, murder him as well, and pin the whole crime on him. Some also speculated that once Tom entered the home he realized that one of his victims was still alive and had put her out of her misery. The murder weapon of choice was an ax.

Once investigators entered the house they found several bloody footprints, and that the floor in the room Tom shared with his step-brothers had been scrubbed with soap and water. Tom admitted to cleaning up a little, and the only tracks ever discovered were all traced back to Tom.

One story from that night advises at one point Tom requested a drink of water. When a cup was brought to him he stared at it for a minute and finally just touched his lips to it before dumping the rest out on the ground. Later it was discovered Tom had changed his clothes and dumped them down the well thus contaminating the water with his blood soaked clothes.

Of course, Tom was under suspicion immediately. He had admitted the bloody footprints were his, there were specks of blood in his ears, there was a bloody handprint on his leg, and his behavior was off. There was absolutely no grief. There was also no evidence of forced entry into the home and there was nothing missing.

The sheriff didn’t even wait for the coroner’s opinion…..he went ahead and took Tom to the jail mainly to keep him safe. A large crowd had formed at the crime scene and they had already decided Tom was guilty.

Tom’s two sisters and his aunt remained supportive of him through the two ensuing trials and believed Tom to be innocent. However, during the trial process Tom seemed rather disinterested, and during his second trial he entertained himself by reading Joel Tyler Headley’s Napoleon and His Marshals.

A defense of insanity was never used, and Tom never too took the stand on his own behalf. State law prevented a criminal defendant from taking the stand at that time, but they could submit a sworn statement to the jury. Tom professed his innocence within his sworn statement.

Even though the case was based solely on circumstantial evidence Tom was found guilty and sentenced to hang. He was automatically given a second trial when courtroom spectators began to chant, “Hang him, hang him….” during the prosecutor’s closing argument, and the judge did little to stop the display.

During the second trial the attorneys gave closing arguments lasting 13 hours. In contrast, the jury took a mere 15 minutes to declare Tom Woolfolk guilty.

Public hangings in Perry, Georgia always took place in the same location during that time in a valley where Big Indian Creek joins Fanny Gresham Branch. Today the Dr. A.C. Hendrick Memorial Bridge spans the valley. Hundreds of people cross the bridge everyday unaware that the site below them was the scene of many grisly hangings. Tom’s hanging was one of the last public executions carried out in the state of Georgia, and was handled on October 29, 1890 with a crowd of about 10,000 in attendance. Many women and children were there and vendors meandered through the crowd selling possum sandwiches.

I can’t even imagine attending a hanging let alone eating a possum sandwich while doing so.

Tom professed his innocence from the platform. Unfortunately for Tom his neck didn’t break immediately. It took him 15 minutes to choke to death

Within the last few years two books have been written regarding Tom Woolfolk by Carolyn Deloach. The first is Shadow Chasers: The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Truth. In the second book Ms. Deloach advises the finding new evidence…..a diary belonging to Simon Cooper. Mr. Cooper was a handyman for the Woolfolk family, and admits his guilt within the pages of his diary. He says, “Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the damn family, but he was not at home.” A review for one of Ms. Deloach’s books can be seen here

It’s rather sad to think that an innocent man was found guilty, and it’s rather sad to think the cards were stacked against him based on his behavior and the evidence. Did the law enforcement officials even think of another suspect ? Was Mr. Cooper even interviewed?

I would like to think that this case is often trotted out in Georgia law schools as a prime example regarding circumstantial evidence. I would also like to think that today with all of our technology available to the police innocent people are never convicted of crimes, but……I know better.

Sources:

The picture with this post is the Woolfolk family burial site at Rosehill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

North Georgia Journal, Summer, 1994

Web articles by and about Professor Donald E. Wilkes, Jr. here and here .

New Georgia Encyclopedia

Old Capital Museum

2010-02-03T03:48:00.000-08:00

The place where Georgia legislators voted to secede from the Union…..and it was the first public building designed in the Gothic Revival style in America.

Visit the Old Capitol Museum website here .

Other bloggers are participating in Wordless Wednesday. You can find them here

Let's Strip!

2010-02-02T12:19:00.001-08:00

No....not like that. I mean....let's go to Atlantic Station and have dinner at Strip, the steak and sushi place.

Sunday night my husband and I took our daughter down to Atlantic Station to eat at Strip. We were actually there on a fact-finding mission to see if it was a place several high school friends of mine would like to visit for a mini-reunion dinner, but hey, no matter the reason it was a nice evening out.

Strip has been open since 2006 and is located in the middle of Atlantic Station close to Regal Cinema. There are three levels and various outdoor patios.

Tom Catherall of Here to Serve Restaurants is the owner/chef.

Their website advises.....“Strip allows diners the option of enjoying a great steak in a super-hip environment.” This is so true. Surroundings are most certainly hip and the steak was fantastic.

My daughter and husband tried the Sushi…..Tuna Rolls…..and commented how good they were. I’ve pictured the dish below.

All of us had the filet mignon topped with béarnaise sauce and crab meat. There was a small side of asparagus with a veal reduction.

We had baked potatos as well and the Cream Brulee we had for dessert was excellent.

Slowly but surely we are working our way through all of the restaurants at Atlantic Station. That's my goal, anyway.....and I think it's a pretty worthy one.

StoryCorps: Recording Personal History

2010-02-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

StoryCorps is an interesting site and organization. It is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. Since 2003, tens of thousands of people from across the country have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share and is also archived for generations to come at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to the award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. Select stories have also been published in the New York Times bestselling book, Listening Is an Act of Love.

Here is a link to one interview between Johnny Bradley and his daughter in which he recalls growing up in Georgia as the son of a sharecropper. Take a listen: at this link

I also conducted a little search at the StoryCorps site and found other interviews involving Georgians. My search results can be found here and include a student interview with a school custodian, a gang member professes what it is like inside a gang, former tobacco auctioneers discuss their work, and so much more.

If you are in the Atlanta area you can participate as well. this page provides information where you can go and have your very own StoryCorps session….make sure you read through all of the information since reservations have to be made and the slots fill up fast.

More information can be found in this ABC news story regarding StoryCorps:

Wordless: Georgia Tech

2010-01-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

Part of the Georgia Tech….Georgia School of Technology campus…..1888

Photo: Vanishing Georgia, Division of Archives and History, Office of Secretary of State

Other bloggers are participating in Wordless Wednesday. You can find them here

Wordless: Atlanta Street Scene

2010-01-06T05:51:00.001-08:00

This was taken heading down Peachtree on our way to Lenox Mall.....December 18, 2009.

Find other wordless images published by other bloggers here.

Wordless: Georgia Pecan Trees

2009-11-18T19:37:00.001-08:00

A road winding through a grove of pecan trees somewhere between Unadilla and Cordele, Georgia.

Happy Wednesday!

The Wordless Wednesday hub can be found here

Georgia Carnival: Edition 60

2009-09-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Bugs Hugs is a new blog to the Georgia blogroll presented by Andrea. She’s a stay-at-home mom and she likes to sew and do a little painting here and there. In her most current post, Go Green! Buy Locally! Eat You Vegetables.... Andrea advises, “Every year, the Georgia Farm Bureau Women’s Committee chooses a different commodity to promote. This year, it is vegetables, with an emphasis on being green and buying locally!

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments is also a new blog to the Georgia blogroll written by Maria, a self-taught artist creating unique sketches. She’s been taking orders since 1985. Seriously….go look. Her work is amazing and unique, but the look of her blog is pretty cool as well. ok See her latest work here.

Jewelry anyone? Jenjie's Crafty Stuff has some great jewelry and other things for you to look at and buy. This is a new blog to the blogroll as well.

Donna over at The Barefoot PhotographerⓇ presents Shelter Dog in May -- Art Show Entry in October…..a picture and post about about a very special pet.

Salmongirl has posted Dreams of A Secret Agent over at Ashes and Glass…….more artwork inspired by dreams….AWESOME!

Hot Button Issues Including Politics

Freddie Sirmans over at Doomsday Log Book believes the Economic Recover is BS and thinks Teaparties and Townhalls Are a Waste of Time

Project Logic GA takes a look at Fox News and MSNBC……Yellow Journalism or Healthy Debate
William Cotter presents Health Care Option posted at Paw Paw Bill

Dan Matthews shares What is the future of Oconee County, Georgia? posted at Oconee County, Georgia Politics - Recreation, News, Art, Music, Culture, Sports and More, saying, "Lots of frustrating questions with no simple answers about the future of Watkinsville and Oconee County, Georgia, a great place to live if we continue to work together to keep it so."

Over at The Other Athens James is advising about Property Tax Circuit Breakers and actions by the Athens/Clarke County Commission.

Out and About….Things to Do in Georgia

Sue over at Fieldtrips With Sue has some great ideas for trips with kids including picking your own apples, heading out to Piedmont Park, or Dauset Trail Nature Preseve in Hampton. Sue also clues us into a free parking deal at the Georgia Aquarium, and if you want to leave the state don’t miss her post regarding the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando .

Norcross recently hosted the Taste of Britain event….Felicia from Fluffy Flowers was lucky enough to attend and shares British Car Fayre.

Over at Southern Byways Apryl Chapman Thomas presents Southern Byways » Get Outdoors: “Hunting” for Treasures in Habersham County, Georgia.

Atlanta With Kid has a nice review of the Imagine It Museum for kids, and gives us 10 Fun Corn Mazes Around Atlanta

The Q Family Adventures wants to quell our camping phobia in 5 easy steps and gives us

five reasons why we like cruising with kids.

Georgia Sports

James over at The Other Athens provides the lowdown on South Clarke football here.

Georgia…in Days Gone By

Joe over at ATLHistory alerted me about this one….. Appalachian History provides a look at the Tallulah Falls Railway.

In case you missed it I posted a little tale about the four Georgians who founded Helena, Montana here earlier at Georgia on My Mind.

Watching That Dollar

Saving With Sadie provides some great information regarding Travel Bed-and-Breakfast Style

Georgia Eats

Visit Gena Knox for all sorts of recipes and food talk. Check out her Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting……yum! Yes, she’s also a newbie to the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind.

Georgia Lifestyle

Rich Single Momma provides 12 Ways to Thrive as a Single Mom…..married moms might glean some good advice from this one as well.

Social Media

Visit Media Connection….a program of conversations about social media news, trends and innovations. A recent posting includes a conversation with Marketing Expert Toby Bloomberg

Sherry Heyl presents Spotlight on Lens On Atlanta posted at LISTEN, CONNECT, INFLUENCE, saying, "I am very excited for PBA and for Atlanta that we have been able to launch this site as a means to connect the citizens throughout metro Atlanta."

Thomas L. Strickland presents More From the Director’s Vlog - Time Flies and Fair Is Foul posted at GRABBINGSAND, saying, "Our non-profit theatre company is producing Macbeth on the grounds of Barrington Hall. What better time to experiment with producing a somewhat irregular video blog?" So cool!

Georgia Gardens

Felicia Haywood presents Easy Gardens for the South posted at Fluffy Flowers where she explains what has kept her away from the computer so much this past summer.

Georgia Roads

Steve Williams, webmaster over at The Georgia Road Geek presents Georgia Announces Toll System Bid Winner. Which company won the bid for the I-85 High-Occupancy Toll?

Notices Received

I received an email notification from Brad Malone, Public Relations Supervisor at Six Flags Over Georgia. He was inviting Atlanta area bloggers to a phone conference that will take place on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 regarding the 2009 summer season, their plans for fall, and what’s already in the works for next season. Bloggers/citizen journalists will also have the opportunity to ask him questions. If you haven’t already received your e-mail invitation…..don’t worry. Six Flags will be posting a recording of the conference call on their website.

Sara over at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau advises Atlanta is extending tourism programs for a limited time. Her email explains the following:

Atlanta’s Backyard Adventure hotel packages, extended through September on Atlanta.net, offer reduced room rates and discounted admission to major attractions. In addition to hot offers like Sheraton Atlanta’s Beat the Heat package (guests pay a rate equivalent to the outside temperature on the day of check-in), participating hotels are including memorable perks such as shopping and dining gift cards, in-room movies, complimentary breakfast buffets, iTunes gift cards, room upgrades and more.

Atlanta’s MVP, or Most Valuable Package, provides admission to five of the city’s top attractions for just $89, representing a 35 percent savings over standard admission prices. Available through Oct. 4 on Atlanta.net, the package includes tickets to the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola, an all-day pass to Six Flags Over Georgia, an all-attractions pass to Stone Mountain Park, and an upper box section ticket to an Atlanta Braves game.

Other deals include:

Cheer on the Atlanta Braves as they contend for the National League Wild Card with home game series against the Washington Nationals (Oct 1-4).

See nearly 500 years of African American contributions to this country at America I AM: The African American Imprint exhibition, through Sept. 27 at the Atlanta Civic Center.

Witness the largest outdoor exhibition of British sculptor Henry Moore’s monumental bronzes ever presented in North America at Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Moore in America exhibit, on display through October.

Experience the Georgia Aquarium’s 10,000-square-foot interactive exhibit, Planet Shark: Predator or Prey, opening on Oct. 3.

Beginning Oct. 6, more than 50 of Leonardo da Vinci’s works will be on display at the High Museum of Art in the new Leonardo da Vince: Hand of the Genius exhibition.

After a $10 million transformation, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum will re-open on President Carter’s 85th birthday, Oct. 1, with a new exhibit featuring a unique area called A Day in the Life of a President.

And finally…..

The Margaret Mitchell House recently introduced a new visitor experience which includes a new exhibition, Margaret Mitchell: A Passion for Character.

Well, that’s it for this edition of the Georgia Carnival.

If you have a Facebook profile you can now become a fan of Georgia on My Mind. Look for the link to join the group located in the right sidebar.

Please support these fine Georgia bloggers by letting them know you have visited them with a comment. Your continued support with your links and shout-outs at your site helps to alert others to what we Georgia bloggers have to offer.

The next edition of the carnival will be found here at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, October 9th. Posts can be sent to gamind@mail.com or use the handy submission form. Submissions are due by Thursday, October 8th by 6:00 p.m.

Thanks for your continued support of the Georgia Carnival!

Rain, Rain....Go Away!

2009-09-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

So far my family has come off easy regarding storm/flood damage. While I'm in the lowest spot in my subdivision my home sits up fairly high. However, the creek that runs along the back of our property is very, very angry. It washed out the dirt around one of our trees and down it came. Luckily it missed the house.

It will be a long night. We have several large trees on the front of the house, and IF they fall....they WILL hit the house.

Still, I have many friends who report they have lost their homes or have severe property damage. They are hurting, and my hearts go out to them.

The Four Georgians

2009-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here’s an interesting fact….Helena, Montana was founded by the “Four Georgians” following a gold discovery along the Last Chance Creek on October 30, 1864.

Hmmmm…..the “Four Georgians”.

Who are these folks and how did they get a label like that?

The four Georgians are thought to be John Cowan, D.J. Miller, John Crab, and Reginald (Robert) Stanley. History is really a strange thing because only one of the four was a true Georgian…John Cowan. The others hailed from other places. D.J. Miller came from Alabama, John Crab was an Iowan, and Reginald Stanley was from England.

Many folks who have researched the four men had come up with the theory that the gang of four was called the Four Georgians not because they were from Georgia but because they used the Georgian method of placer mining.

The four had moved about Montana for six weeks looking for gold and finally returned to one of the first places they had visited. They had aptly named it Last Chance Gulch because they decided to try it one last time before giving up.

On July 14, 1864 they found flat gold nuggets and gold dust and the Last Chance Bonanza had begun. Three years later the four men sold out their claims and went about their lives as wealthy men.

This site states, “Once the news spread about the gold discovery, Helena became a boom town seemingly overnight. In only a few short years, several hundred businesses opened up shop in Helena, and more than 3,000 people called Helena home. Also, many previous mining strikes in other areas of Montana began to play out. As a result, many miners in these areas gravitated toward Helena.As the gulch began to fill up with people, the miners decided they needed to come up with a name for the town. The name “Helena” was not immediately bestowed upon the town. The “Four Georgians” originally named it Crabtown after John Crab, one of the founders. However, many of the miners from Minnesota began to call the town Saint Helena, after a town in Minnesota. The name was eventually shortened to Helena, its current name.”

Today, the same creek where the Four Georgians found their gold, runs underneath Helena’s main street. Helena even has an elementary school named for the Four Georgians.

Of course, as many historical events go there are two sides to the story. John Cowan returned home to site of the old mill (the original burned awhile back) is now a great restaurant. The website for the The Old Mill Restaurant advises John Cowan did travel to Montana with his cousins Frank and Tom Cowan. Also along for the trip were John Boring, Bill Palmer, and Henry Rusk all from Forsyth County.

Notice that Cowan’s traveling companions are not the same men mentioned in the local area history I found for Helena listed earlier in this article.

The Old Mill Restaurant website further states that after several months John Boring and Tom Cowan returned home to Georgia. Along the way John Boring was killed by Indians, but Tom made it home. This left John Cowan, Frank Cowan, Henry Rusk, and Bill Palmer in Montana….four men, four Georgians.

Hmmm….the only Georgian we know for sure was in Helena is John Cowan.

I just hate it when I research something and can’t find the answers I want.

I’ve sent an email to The Old Mill Restaurant…..perhaps they can clear this up for us.

For now we have a mystery on our hands.

Patriot Day...A Day to Remember

2009-09-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that we remember the sacrifice of the 2,993 casualties in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

I’m remembering…..and I’m sure you are as well.

A worthy website to visit regarding that terrible day is The September 11th Digital Archive.

Also…..this link will take you to my past postings at History Is Elementary regarding September 11th including my own personal experience that very sad an shocking day… here.

Georgia Carnival: Edition 59

2009-08-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Georgia Blog Carnival…

The bloggers featured here are all part of the extensive list of bloggers from Georgia I have listed in the right sidebar of this site. Any Georgia blogger can submit a post to the carnival, or a blogger from another state or country can submit a post for inclusion if the topic is Georgia related.

If you have a Facebook profile you can now become a fan of Georgia on My Mind. Look for the link to join the group located in the right sidebar.

I remain engrossed in my efforts to categorize all of the Georgia blogs on the blogroll. Several new categories were added this week including “painting and drawing”, “travel and tourism”, and “photography”. I will be adding new categories every few days for the next month. Check back often.

The next carnival will be published here at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, September 11th.
Submissions will be due Thursday, September 10th.

If you maintain a Georgia blog and would like to host the carnival at your site e-mail me to set up a date. It’s a great way to put your own personal spin on the carnival.The last edition of carnival can be found here and the carnival archives are found here.

Now on to the carnival:

Hot Topics…

James from The Other Athens announces a protest event against “the various healthcare ‘reform’ proposals put forth by congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration scheduled for tomorrow at Oconee Veterans Park.” More information can be found in his post Oconee Healthcare Reform Protest.

Jason with Georgia Legislative Watch provides data from New Polls Regarding the Georgia Governor's Race.

Jim Galloway with the AJC's Political Insider posted Kasim Reed's Thoughts on Gay Marriage. In case you are unaware Kasim Reed is a current Atlanta mayoral candidate.

GriftDrift at Drifting Through the Grift says Finally, the Mayor's Race Heats Up.

Buzz Blog shares Mary Jo Kopechne might have been a catalyst for Ted Kennedy's career

Is it immoral to complain about tax money going to bail out people who made poor decisions? Some on the Christian Left think it is. Over at Considerettes Doug discusses how good stewardship requires that we make good use of our resources both corporately via the government, and more importantly, “individually” with our charitable dollars in his post titled Economic Morality and Responsibility: The Prodigal's Older Brother.

Speaking of taxes The Other Athens shares The Howling where James states, “I’ve been making this same point for years. Whether it is the latest iteration of SPLOST, or Homeowner Tax Relief Grants, or an increased hotel/motel occupancy tax, we are constantly being assured that someone else will pay for our local expenditures. But it does not work out that way, does it?"

Ethnic Opining

Over at Project Logic GA Slyram is discussing that saggy baggy pants thing, and makes some very good points with Black Beauty, Sagging Pants and Funny Names.

Over at An African American Analysis Freddie Sirmans states, “Nothing has been more devastated by the welfare state than the African American community in the USA.” He also asks, “Why is there out of control violence in the African American community?”

High School Sports

High School football is off and running. James over at The Other Athens provides SCHS Pigskin Update and states, “This year’s campaign will not be an easy one, as several opponents on the [Stephens County High School] schedule are ranked in preseason polls: the AJC has Flowery Branch at #3 and LaGrange at #4 in its AAA top 10….”

Keep up with all the match-ups and scores at WSB-TVs high school sports page.

Parenting and Legalese Connections

Michael Neff over at Atlanta Personal Injury Blog relates interesting findings from a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Is anybody out there comprehending and listening???? Read Michael’s post, For Parents, Child Household Safety is Something that Can and Needs to be Taught.

Out and About in Georgia

Wren's Nest Online has published a few pictures of the interior of the home. See Sneak Peek of Wren's Nest Interior for some great views including Joel Chandler Harris’ bedroom. For those of you not in the know the Wren’s Nest is the home of Georgia’s own Joel Chandler Harris. From the site itself….Harris’ fame as a result of the popularity of the Brer Rabbit tales made him a reluctant celebrity in his day. Harris was second in literary fame only to his good friend and admirer Mark Twain. Theodore Roosevelt visited the home during his trip to Atlanta, and his gift to Harris, a stuffed owl, can still be seen looking down on the family’s library.

The Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island has published their most recent newsletter. You can read it here. It includes the newest update regarding development on Jekyll and several announcements.

Chris Moncus shares his Fourth of July photos (has it already been nearly 8 weeks?!?) here . All I can say is….WOW!!

If you are looking for something different to do with the kids….or even adults Southern Byways has a solution for you. Sometimes something different is right in your backyard. Check out Hidden Gems: Bear Hollow Wildife Trail in Athens, Georgia.

Fieldtrips With Sue recently began a new feature called Inside Scoop which is a series of questions with an attraction insider. Check out her post Inside Scoop on Atlanta Braves for Kids where Sue interviews Meagan Swindle with the Atlanta Braves regarding special activities for kids.

A little History, Of Course

Over at History Is Elementary I took a history question from a good friend and turned it into a post regarding German immigration during World War II with Putting the EZ Into Easing Into America.

In my post Thars Gold in Them Thar Hills I examine the nation’s first gold rush. No…..not 1849 and no, not California. Try North Carolina….even better... try 1799!

An Announcement from the Atlanta Audubon Society

Catherine with the Atlanta Audubon Society contacted me the other day to give me some information to relate about six distinctive gardens on display southeast of Metro Atlanta in Peachtree City and Fayetteville. The purpose of the tours is to demonstrate how people can preserve the region’s wildlife and, more broadly, its biodiversity by cultivating native plants and other essentials for wildlife survival. All of the sites have been certified by the Atlanta Audubon Society as wildlife sanctuaries. More information on the requirements of a sanctuary can be found here.

Tours will take place Saturday, September 12 from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale for $12 by calling the Atlanta Audubon Society at 678.973.2437. Tickets are also available on the day of the tour for $15 at the first and last sites. Children 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.

More information on the sites can be found here. I was very excited to discover two of the locations involve the Sams family of Fayetteville. What????? You don’t know who Dr. Ferrol Sams is!!!! Here’s a short article from Georgia Magazine and make sure you check out a listing of his works here. I read his short novel, Christmas Gift! to many of my groups of fourth and fifth graders and they always loved it (there were some parts I had to gloss over and leave out).

Georgia Roads

Georgia Road Geek's blogmaster, Steve, shows us what a wrongway multiplex is as he tries to navigate a confusing route through Rome, Georgia in his post Let's Get the US 411 Connector Built.

Literature and Art

Sara’s post titled The Feather and Butterflies over at Ashes and Glass is where she begins a series reflecting on a class she attended at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center . Go see her art and how it connects to her dreams. I love the colors!

Flannery O’Connor is one of Georgia’s most popular authors. Recently Paw Paw Bill took a trip to visit one of O’Connor’s home close to Milledgeville called Andalusia. Check out his post Flannery O'Connor's Milledgeville.

Felicia over at Fluffy Flowers has been celebrating the anniversary of Woodstock with Plushstock and through midnight on August 30th you have an opportunity to vote on her entry…PLUSH AMP. I agree with Felicia….Make Plush, Not war!

Writing Craft

Jennifer Escalona writes at a new blog on the Georgia blogroll titled The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer. On her about page Jennifer explains she is an Atlanta-based, Pushcart-nominated author and full-time freelance writer. Her goal in life (and I think this is a very worthy one) is to learn something new every day. In her post Heartsick, Footsore, and Addicted: Avoiding and Embracing Writer Stereotypes Jennifer takes an interesting look at the writing life and its consequences.

Jackie K. Cooper has been on the blogroll for awhile. His blog is the place to find all sorts of entertainment reviews and columns. Well……Jackie should be congratulated because he has been invited to become a regular contributor/blogger to Huffingtonpost.com . Check out his first contribution with his post Pat Conroy's Ode to Charleston.

Religion and Culture

Over at "Got Bible?" I ask the question, Is Your Wanter Stuck? Think about all the things or situations you want right now. I bet we could fill up a page or two with all the things we want from the insignificant (removing a hangnail) to the very significant (world peace)…from the small (a bracelet at the local department store) to the very large ( a new car, a cruise, or a new home). Yes! This is the post where I explore that so very Biblical concept…..”to covet.”

And Finally….An Announcement from the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau

Amanda Latson with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau contacted me recently to clue me in on several Atlanta opportunities. Here’s what she told me:

1. Outdoor Explorations: Backyard Adventures in Atlanta....60 percent* of people who plan to take vacations are hoping to economize their leisure travel by finding less expensive activities or meal options. Plan an adventure in your own backyard and take advantage of the free offerings and money-saving hotel packages this withBackyard Adventures, now extended through the fall. Not sure what you want to do this weekend? Play the How do You ATL?game and design a personalized, interactive picture of Atlanta based on your unique style and preferences.Tell us what you didin your Backyard Adventure and you could win your own Backyard Adventure prize package.

2. Take a Hike...VisitStone Mountain Sky Hiketo trek through the treetops on the nation’s largest family adventure course. During the day, explore Sky Hike’s quarter-mile course of suspended wooden bridges and ropes and finish off the night on the great lawn with Stone Mountain Park’s LaserShow Spectacular.

3. See the City in Style……Hop on a bike with Bicycle Tours of Atlanta and explore the city on two wheels. See the city’s architecture, historical sites, in-town neighborhoods, dining, entertainment and some hidden jewels off the beaten path. Also tour Atlanta with flare on Segway Tours Atlanta. Beginning at Underground Atlanta, this three-hour tour gives you a new and interactive way to discover the city.

4. Root, Root, Root for the Home Team…..Head to Turner Field and cheer on the Atlanta Braves as they contend for the National League East division title. Visit Turner Field on a Friday night and stay after the game for theFriday Night Fireworks Show.

Well, that’s it for this edition of the Georgia Carnival.

Please support these fine Georgia bloggers by letting them know you have visited them with a comment. Your continued support with your links and shout-outs at your site helps to alert others to what we Georgia bloggers have to offer.

The next edition of the carnival will be found here at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, September 11th. Posts can be sent to gamind@mail.com or use the handy submission form. Submissions are due by Thursday, September 10th by 6:00 p.m.

Thanks for your continued support of the Georgia Carnival!

Become a Fan of Georgia On My Mind on Facebook

2009-08-26T06:20:00.001-07:00

A fan page has been set up for Georgia on My Mind. You can find it at the link below or use the widget I’ve placed in the right sidebar.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Georgia-on-My-Mind/253221885715?ref=ts

Thanks to everyone who has joined the group already. Watch for status changes to roll across your Facebook homepage soon!

Georgia Bloggers: Painting and Drawing

2009-08-26T05:33:00.000-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss painting and drawing:

AMO

Cosmic Persona Designs

Dream-Create-Inspire

Eat It All

Foothills and Highlands

Southern Plein Air Painters

Zinnia Art Studio

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses painting and drawing I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: Tourism and Travel

2009-08-26T05:24:00.000-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss tourism and travel:

Atlanta on the Cheap

Film Georgia

Southern Byways

The Atlanta Traveler

Travel-Eat-Sleep

Urban Baboon

Walk of Shame

Wrens Nest Online

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses tourism or travel I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: Photography

2009-08-26T05:16:00.001-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that contain photos on a daily or regular basis:

Andrea's Picture of the Day

Strolling Through Georgia

The Barefoot Photographer

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses photography or serves as a photo blog I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Carnival: Edition 58

2009-08-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Georgia Blog Carnival…

The bloggers featured here are all part of the extensive list of bloggers from Georgia I have listed in the right sidebar of this site. Any Georgia blogger can submit a post to the carnival, or a blogger from another state or country can submit a post for inclusion if the topic is Georgia related.

I remain engrossed in my efforts to categorized all of the Georgia blogs on the blogroll. Several new categories were added this week, and I will be adding new categories every few days for the next month. Check back often.

The next carnival will be published here at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, August 28th. Submissions will be due Thursday, August 27thth.If you maintain a Georgia blog and would like to host the carnival at your site e-mail me to set up a date. It’s a great way to put your own personal spin on the carnival.

The last edition of carnival can be found here and the carnival archives are found here.

Now on to the carnival:

Hot Topic…..Health Care Reform

Slyram provides an opinion over at Project Logic GA with the post Palin Isakson and the Healthcare Debate stating, “Stop right there and let me give my take on the difference between misinformation and lying.”

Hmmm…..does something smell fishy????? James is all about the “fish” aspect of the health care reform debate. Check his post out titled Red Fish Blue Fish over at The Other Athens.

and here are the latest postings from some other political blogs on the blogroll:

Erick at Confessions of a Political Junkie offers CBO Tells Congress That Should Obamacare "Work", It'll Drive Up Costs.

GriftDrift at Drifting Through the Grift gives us Town Hall Twist and Shout….his take on Hank Johnson’s recent town hall meeting with voters.

Jason at JasonPye.Com weighs in with a notice……Jim Marshall to Hold Two Town Hall Meetings

Religion and Culture

Recently my pastor gave a series of sermons on building in margin in our lives…..slowing down, concentrating on what’s important….that sort of thing. Doug Payton over at Considerettes discusses a different kind of margin in his post Marginalized by the Bible. Doug tells me his post is part of a segment he does for the Shire Network News. He discusses an exhibit in Glasgow, England where patrons were allowed to write in the margins of a Bible. The results were not what the artist intended.

Out and About in Georgia and Beyond

Over at Fluffy Flowers Felicia shares with us a colorful visit to Lockerly Arboretum in Middedgeville, Georgia….. a former home of Georgia author Flannery O’Conner.

Speaking of Flannery O’Connor, Paw Paw Bill visited O’Connor’s Savannah home on Lafayette Square and shares pictures and tales of O’Connor’s backward walking chicken in his post Flannery O'Connor's Savannah.

I have to agree with Paw Paw Bill concerning his love of Savannah. I have my own love affair with the place well. My husband and I spent the day there on July 28th, our anniversary. Over at History Is Elementary I posted a video of images from various squares and other areas of Savannah complete with music and a little text thrown in here and there…….the video is titled Street Scenes From Savannah.

Mr. Elementaryhistoryteacher and I had actually been to MY St. Augustine….and hit Savannah on the way home and in case you missed it –

last weekend was spent at the West Georgia Balloon Festival.

Over at Atlanta With Kid Travel Blog we are given glimpse into one family’s trip to Asheville, North Carolina…..a great destination. Check out Weekend Escape From Atlanta....Asheville, NC. There’s so much more to Asheville than just the Biltmore estate.

Passing the time with our Passions

In her post Slow Exposures 2009 Donna, The Barefoot Photographer, provides a look at her two submissions to this years Slow Exposures photography exhibit, a showing that celebrates the rural south and preserves those images and scenes that we all remember and are gone.

Amy over at The Q Family Adventures Travel Blog provides 5 Tips for the Newbie in Family Backyard Camping……Amy states, “As a newbie in the camping world, I have learned a lot during our first family backyard camping. The vast varieties of camping products are mind-boggling. Who knows, there are that many types of tents, sleeping bags and sleeping pads.”

Hmmm…..Blogging and using social media can be a passion, can’t it? At least it is around here at my house. Sometimes I’m a little too passionate about it.

Mostly Media's own SpaceyG has decided to help us muddle through the social media jungle by providing us with Social Media Cooking School. I sincerely hope episode two isn’t far behind because I recently jumped into the mix at Facebook much to the chagrin of my 20-something son and teenaged daughter. Help me, SpaceyG!!!!!!

And what about security on the Internet and our privacy…..

Ariel Silverstone's blog has a tagline that states, “Leadership and innovation in risk management and information security”, and he’s also passionate about physical security, technology evangelism, and public speaking. In his most recent posting, The Maine Event....a Discussion Regarding Maine's New Privacy Law…..he gives us the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Literature and Art

Over at the Wrens Nest Online Lane has posted a great analysis titled 1967 Editorial Condemns Segregation at the Wren's Nest and Praises Uncle Remus. Lane states, "The editorial is a damning criticism of the Joel Chandler Harris Memorial Association that ran our museum until 1983. But it’s also an eloquent defense of Joel Chandler Harris and Uncle Remus that is just as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.” Go….go now and read……the post is top-notch!

Paul’s blog, Classic Ground, is a site that mixes beliefs and premises related to art, cultural literacy, and even a little Notre Dame football. He recently wrote about R.A. Miller, a folk artist. In his post titled, Lord Love You, Paul states, “[The exhibit] Lord Love You [is] drawn entirely from the private collection of Carl and Marian Mullis, [and] presents many of Miller’s best known themes – God, country, popular culture, and animals – plus some art highlighting his social and religious commentary.”

This Southern Thing of Ours

Where Insulin Meets Insolence: Lynne's Pancreatic Prattle is a brand spanking new blog to the Georgia blogroll. Lynne writes that she is a freelance writer and registred pharmacist (those are good to have around, ya know?) and she resides in North Georgia where she is very proud of her native status as a Georgian and loves the fact that she grew up in the rural south of our fair state. She also tells me she’s so full of herself that she maintains two blogs. Gee, do you think I should tell her I maintain three? :) Enjoy Lynne’s post, Southern By the Grace of God which examines all of those stereotypes that we native Southerners must endure.

Lynne’s other blog, I Have Measured Out My Life in MP3s also recounts her journey as a born and bred Southerner who is married to a wonderful man, a mother to a precocious four-year old, characterizes herself as intolerant, vain, opinionated, somewhat lazy, verbose, and fluent sarcasm. Yep, she’s a Southern woman, all right! Yet she continues that she does believe in Jesus, Rick Bragg, family values, childhood innocence, shoe shopping, and the Harvard comma. Lynne does have a secret though……..read her post She Don't Use Jelly to discover what it is.

Legalise

Another new blog on the Georgia blogroll is the blog of Michael Lawson Neff, an Atlanta based personal injury attorney. His topics range from national law topics to topics of local interest from a legal point of view. In his postDo Red Light Cameras Prevent Accidents?, a particular camera is examined that was reactivated in Duluth, and he provides some interesting data.

Colleen over at Facing the Sharks asks the questions, “Should the Georgia Court of Appeals candidates for judge be allowed to solicit donations from lawyers and corporations, even though they may appear before the judge for litigation?” See her post Justice For Hire ...Now Pay the Nice Judge a Campaign Donation

Education News and Views

Well, it’s begun…..the schoolyear, that is. Donna, over at Sew Blessed has posted the annual back to school pictures, yet something’s a bit different this year. Ian is beginning the 11th grade…..head on over to Yet Another First Day of School and see something unusual. Yes, examine the pictures very, very carefully. Let us know if you find something amiss! :)

Switching gears to address the money side of education James at The Other Athens compares one school system to the one in his area and asks, “What Do They Know That We Do Not?”

Well, that’s it for this edition of the Georgia Carnival.

Please support these fine Georgia bloggers by letting them know you have visited them with a comment. Your continued support with your links and shout-outs at your site helps to alert others to what we Georgia bloggers have to offer.

The next edition of the carnival will be found here at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, August 28th. Posts can be sent to gamind@mail.com or use the handy submission form.

Submissions are due by Thursday, August 27th by 6:00 p.m.

Thanks for your continued support of the Georgia Carnival!

West Georgia Balloon Festival

2009-08-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

I attended the West Georgia Balloon Festival this past Saturday, August 8, 2009. It was very interesting watching the balloons being launched. It was even just as interesting people watching at the event.

If you visit this link you can see another video (not mine) that includes the balloons after dark……Outstanding!!!!!!!!

Georgia Bloggers: Decatur/Dekalb County

2009-08-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss Dekalb County or Decatur, Georgia on a daily or regular basis:

Decatur-Dekalb

Decatur Metro

Dekalb Officers

in Decatur

Masterworks Studio

My Daily Struggle

Next Stop Decatur

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses Dekalb County or Decatur I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: Rural Life

2009-08-13T07:20:00.001-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss rural life on a daily or regular basis:

A Snowball's Chance in...

Andrea's Picture of the Day

Country Charm

C's Corner

Dottypants

Foxes Earth

From Melissa's Desk

Southern Somedays

Wayfarer's Journey

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses rural life I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: History and/or History Education

2009-08-13T07:15:00.001-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss history and/or history education on a daily or regular basis:

A Few Good Pens

American History Blog

ATLHistory.com

Buster's War

Cobbloviate

Downhome Traces

First Baptist Church, Lithia Springs...a History

Georgia on My Mind

Georgia Soul

Historical Books

History Is Elementary

History of Laurens County, Georgia

Laurens County African American History

Laurens County Sports History

Southside Atlanta Memories

Vinings Jawja

Why Do You Ask?

Wren's Nest Online

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses history and/or history education I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: City Living

2009-08-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss city living on a daily or regular basis:

Arc of Time

Ashes and Glass

Asian Cajuns

Atlanta's Blah Girls

Bombchell in Atlanta

Cable and Tweed

Drive a Faster Car

Duane Moody

I Saw It on Ponce

Inside the Perimeter

KISS Atlanta

Mermerings

Nia Knowles: Westend

Random Atlanta

ShawnAllison.com

Stumptown, GA

Do you know about a Georgia blog that discusses city living I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: Marketing

2009-08-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss marketing on a daily or regular basis:

Atlanta Marketing Center

Babyboomer Insights

Burning Desire Marketing

Chief Prognosticator

Concept Hub, Inc.

Event Streams

Marketing Through the Clutter

Do you know about a Marketing Georgia blog I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Georgia Bloggers: Going Green

2009-08-13T06:05:00.001-07:00

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss going green or living the green lifestyle on a daily or regular basis:

Green Peaches

Foodshed Planet

Organicasm

Sustainable Dunwoody

Do you know about a GREEN Georgia blog I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.