Amanda America Dickson....An Uncommon Woman

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

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

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

Its fuller reaches underneath the hammer!

The Four Georgians

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

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

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!!!!!!!

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.”