Valdosta GA | Ray City History Blog

Wild Men in the Wiregrass

April 17, 2013 at 1:19 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: Alma GA, Baxley GA, Calvin Byrd, Calvin Warren Dedge, Charles Holzendorf, Charles J. Medders, Dunnellon FL, Elias Howell, Estill E. Dedge, Floyd Dedge, George Milbry Gould, Honduras, I. L. Dedge, J. C. English, J.J. Lamprey, James Dedge, John R. Dedge, Joseph Gore Dedge, L. Holzendorf, Leb Dedge, Leon Roberts, Louvenia Johnson, M. M. Knight, Pearson GA, Sam Holzendorf, Syracuse NY, Valdosta GA, Walter Lytle Pyle, Waycross GA, Wild Man of Africa, Wild Man of Borneo, Wild Man of Central America, Wild Man of the Okefenokee

A previous post Counterfeit Coins in Berrien County noted the involvement of the Dedge brothers in a rash of fake $10 gold eagle coins appearing in Berrien County, GA in 1910 :

“Dr. J.R. Dedge, a dentist at Nicholls, Coffee county, Ga. and his brother, E. E. Dedge of Milltown, Berrien county, were arrested by United States secret service men and brought to Valdosta to-day, charged with being implicated in the disposal of counterfeiting $10 gold pieces.”

The Dedge brothers, sons of Joseph Gore Dedge and Louvenia Johnson, were John R. Dedge, I.L. “Leb” Dedge, Estill E. Dedge, and Calvin Warren Dedge. They were a family of dentists and doctors who became notorious for questionable and violent dealings. In 1896 Dr. Leb Dedge, D.D. S., was described as “a wild and desperate young white man” after he and Charles J. Medders assaulted a marshal, engaged in an armed stand-off with Dr. Julian and M. M. Knight in court, and led a riot along with Medders, L. Holzendorf, Sam Holzendorf and Charles Holzendorf at Pearson, GA. Dr. Calvin Warren Dedge was shot to death in 1901 by Leon Roberts in an apparent justifiable homicide. Roberts was acquitted on trial, but later murdered by James Dedge, son of C. W. Dedge, who was himself gunned down in by a marshal in Dunnellon, FL.

Dr. John R. Dedge, D.D.S. perhaps gained the widest notoriety of the Dedge brothers. He was born March 11, 1865, a native of Baxley, GA. Dedge lived, worked, and swindled his way across the Wiregrass. He was tried in Valdosta, GA and acquitted on the 1910 charges of counterfeiting. In 1911 he campaigned for governor of Georgia. In the 1920s J. R. Dedge and son, Floyd Dedge, would be tried for the shotgun murder of C. J. Medders at Alma, GA. After two mistrials, Dr. J. R. Dedge was finally convicted of murder in a third trial and sentenced to life in prison, but was freed on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court after serving only three years. But long before his sensational murder trials, even before he made a 1911 bid for the Governor’s office, Dedge was making headlines. As noted by the Waycross Journal , “It is an off year in South Georgia when Dr. Dedge does not announce some astounding piece of freak work …”

Around 1901 Dr. John R. Dedge, along with Charles J. Medders, hatched a scheme to exhibit a “Wild Man of Central America” Their plan capitalized on a Victorian Era fascination with the exotic that was reflected in pseudo-scientific accounts of “wild men.” Newspapers of the late 1800s and early 1900s had sensationalized stories of primitive humans with horns, reported from history or far away locales. “Human horns are anomalous outgrowths from the skin and are far more frequent than ordinarily supposed,” George Milbry Gould and Walter Lytle Pyle had written in their 1894 book Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, in which they described hundreds of cases of horned men. The popular belief in these horned men had been further reinforced by the 1897 work of Army Medical Surgeon J.J. Lamprey, Horned Men in Africa.

Dedge and Medders began their scam with Dedge making a trek to Central America, ostensibly to practice dentistry. The Thomasville Daily Times-Enterprise noted his departure from that city on June 5, 1901:

Thomasville Dailey Times-Enterprise
June 5, 1901

Dr. Dedge left here yesterday for New Orleans and thence to Hot Springs for a month’s stay, after which he will go to Central America to practice dentistry. Dr. Dedge is one of the most skillful men in the profession.

At Hot Springs, Dedge submitted his application for a U.S. passport to go abroad, in which he stated:

I solemnly swear that I was born at Baxley, Ga in the state of Georgia, on or about the 11 day of March 1865; that my father is a native citizen of the United States; that I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at Waycross, in the State of Georgia, where I follow the occupation of practicing Dental Surgery; that I am about to go abroad temporarily; and that I intend to return to the United States, with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein. Further, I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; So help me God.

J. R. Dedge, D.D.E.

Dedge’s description was given as 36 years of age, six feet one inches tall. He had a thin face with a light complexion, high forehead, black hair, dark eyes, regular nose, medium mouth, and round chin.

The real purpose of Dedge’s trip to Central America may have been twofold. First, in a precursor to his later counterfeiting schemes, it appears that Dedge obtained a large number of Honduras silver pesos while in Central America. These Honduran coins matched U.S. silver dollars in size, but were worth less than 50 cents in exchange. Dedge’s agents would later pass the foreign coins on unsuspecting Wiregrass merchants.

Second, the excursion to the little known region gave a plausible explanation for Dedge’s introduction of the “Wild Man of Central America.”

Calvin Byrd was billed as the Horned Man of Central America, 1902.

When Dr. John R. Degde returned from Central America and announced his discovery of a man with horns and tusks, the story made a sensation in newspapers all over the country.

Atlanta Constitution
March 8, 1902

HAS HORNS LIKE A GOAT: TUSKS LIKE AN ELEPHANT

Waycross, Ga., March 7. -(Special Correspondence.) – Dr. J. R. Dedge, of this city, has just received from Central America one of the greatest natural curiosities ever seen in these parts, and the presence of the freak in our town has created widespread interest.
     This freak is a man with two well-developed horns, similar in appearance to the horns of a goat, growing out of the top of his head and turning slightly back, with about the same angle and curve as goat’s horns. He also has two prominent tusks protruding from his mouth, extending probably 2 inches from his gums. They grow out in the place of eye teeth.
    The man resembles the North American Indian in appearance very much, being probably a shade darker in color. His father is said to be an American negro and his mother an Indian of the Black Hawk tribe. He has long jet black hair, a piercing eye, but seems rather stupid. He is 6 feet high, weighs 190 pounds and is said to be 23 years old. In every respect, except the deformities mentioned, he seems to be a perfect specimen.
    This freak of nature is said to be the result of a fright his mother received, and the horns and tusk represent the goat and the elephant. She was attending a circus one day, when in passing too near one of the goats, it jumped upon her, butted her to the ground and came near killing her. In the scuffle with the goat she got almost into an elephant’s mouth, being right under the monster beast’s tusks. When the child was born it had horns of a goat an in place of its eye teeth came tusks probably 3 inches in length protruding fully 2 inches from its mouth. The horns measure about 5 inches in length.
   It is said the man speaks both English and Spanish fairly well, but can be induced to talk but very little.
    Dr. Dedge secured him from his parents. The freak was born in Mississippi, but was reared in Central America.

Despite the apparent medical skill with which this fraud was perpetrated, not everyone was convinced by Dedge’s story. Noting a proliferation of wild tales from Waycross, GA The Dahlonega Nugget commented on the horned man , “Editor Greer, of the Waycross Journal, has discovered a bull frog with feathers on it. Dr. Dedge, of the same town, recently brought out a horned man, while the numerous jugs shipped into the place have created a whole museum full of boa constrictors, anacondas, and other monster reptiles.”

Even with the elaborate build up by Medders and Dedge, their “Wildman of Central America” fraud, along with the plot to pass off Honduran pesos as silver dollars was exposed in less than a week. The story first appeared in the Atlanta Constitution, and a few days later more detailed coverage was reported in the Waycross Weekly Herald, March 22, 1902:

Waycross Weekly Herald
March 22, 1902

Waycross Freak Exposed

The “Horned Wild Man” Comes To Grief in Valdosta.

Valdosta, March 14 – The horned wild man from South America, via Waycross, came to grief in this city this morning and one of his managers may have to face the charge of cheating and swindling, in that he has been passing silver dollars from Honduras for Uncle Sam’s coin, the Honduras money being worth less than half of the American.
    The story of grief began last night when the policemen arrested the wild man himself for discharging his pistol in the neighborhood of California hall where the negroes were having an entertainment. The wild man, whose name was placed upon the police docket this morning as Calvin Byrd, went out on the town after his performance and was picked up by the policemen a little later for having fired his pistol on the streets. The arrest disclosed one of the cleverest fake freaks that has appeared in this section in a long time.
    Byrd is an ordinary ginger-cake colored man and weighs about 160 pounds. He has had an incision made in his scalp and a thin piece of metal slipped under the skin. This piece of metal was attached to two knob screws about half an inch long and the horns were screwed to these little knobs for exhibition, give an appearance as though the horns grew from his head. His eye-teeth were gold-mounted and fixed so that the long tusk could be fastened to them so as to appear to be growing from the gum.
    Byrd professes to know nothing of how the operation was performed on his head, and says that it was done while he was sick with fever. The incision has entirely healed up, though the place is still sore. Byrd came here from Waycross with a couple of men from there, one of them said to be a dentist. A week ago all the papers of the state had a sensational story of the great horned wonder.
    The man who was arrested for passing the Honduras dollars gives his name as J. C. English. It is said that he has several hundred dollars of the money and passed them on a number of people here. The amount of the coin which he is said to have had with him gave ground to the belief that he was engaged in a swindling game – on money as well as with the freak.

In the same edition of the Waycross Weekly Herald, frontman J.C. English told his side of the story:

Waycross Weekly Herald
March 22, 1902

J. C. English Explains.

The Man Arrested For Passing Honduras Dollars Has His Say.
Below we publish a statement from J. C. English. A notice of Mr. English’s arrest, last Friday, in Valdosta, was published in Saturday’s Herald. He was tried before a special session of the City Court of Valdosta Saturday afternoon and convicted of cheating and swindling. The fine and cost in the case amounted to $56. Mr. English paid the amount and was released and returned to Waycross Sunday morning. Following is Mr. English’s statement:

Waycross, Ga., March 17, 1902.
I, J. C. English, the man that was arrested in Valdosta on the charges of passing Honduras dollars as Uncle Sam’s coin and cheating ans swindling, and as having hundreds of the coins in my possession, state that the charge is false. Therefore I desire to explain the whole thing fully to the public, and will truthfully do so.
Mr. Elias Howell is the man who had full charge of the said Calvin Bird and everything pertain to the concern, even to the Honduras dollars mentioned, and kept them in his possession in a large leather grip, and he took it with him all the time, to boarding places, etc. I did not own any interest in either tent, negro, coins, or anything else pertaining thereto. I was only employed by Dr. J. R. Dedge to go with Mr. Howell and act as door keeper and talk on the outside to the people for him for so much per day and railroad and hotel expenses paid; and as to my passing the coins across the counters as Uncle Sam’s money, I deny the charge. I did not do anything of the kind, and can safely say that if any of the Honduras coins were put across the counters that Mr. Howell is the man that passed them, and not I, and his manner of acting is almost full proof of it; for he left me in the night-time without letting me know anything of his leaving, which in my belief is sufficient evidence that he was uneasy about his doings and afraid to remain in town for fear that he would be dealt with, therefore he left me there to be accused and dealt with for his misdemeanors. J.C. ENGLISH.

[The Herald felt satisfied from the first that Mr. J. C. English had not been guilty of the charges made against him at Valdosta, and is pleased to publish the above statement from him.]

Despite this setback, it appears that Dedge and Medders were not deterred. It is said that they amassed a fortune touring the country to exhibit their horned man, variously billed as the “Wild Man of Central America,” “Wild Man of the Okefenokee,” “Wild Man of Africa,” or “Wild Man of Borneo.”

Calvin Byrd’s part in the story continued when he surfaced at a Syracuse, NY hospital.

Waycross Journal
August 26, 1902

Wild Man from Borneo Again

He turns up at Syracuse N. Y. and Wants Horns Removed.

Calvin Bird, the “wild man from Borneo” who started his career from Waycross some months ago and ran amuck at Valdosta a few days later, has again come to the front, this time at Syracuse, New York.
    Dispatches from that city say that Calvin Bird, a negro who hails from Pearson, Ga., and who has been touring the country with side shows ans circuses as the “Wild Man of Borneo,” appeared at the Hospital of the Good Shepherd today and informed the house surgeon that he had come to have his horns removed. The physician was somewhat amazed at first, but upon noting the earnestness of the man, made an examination of his head.
    Under his scalp was found that a silver plate had been inserted, in which stood two standards. On these standards, when he was on exhibition, Bird had screwed two goat horns, and thousands of people have paid admission to see his horns and hear him bark.
    Bird says he met a doctor in Central America who took him to the hospital in Pearson [GA] and had the plate inserted, first giving him an anaesthetic, and when he awoke he found the plates in his scalp, with two horns protruding. The plate will be removed tomorrow morning. The operation, the doctors say, will be a simple one.

In 1905, the Syracuse Journal of New York state reported once again on the “Wild Man from Borneo.”

The Syracuse Journal
Syracuse, NY
January 4, 1904

“Wild Man” is Better

Although a diligent search has been made by the police for James Woods, the negro, who it is alleged stabbed Calvin Bird, the “Wild Man from Borneo,” in the Oriental hotel last Saturday morning, no trace of him has been found.
It was stated at St. Joseph’s hospital that Bird’s condition has improved and it is expected that he will be discharged in a few days.

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The Elixir of Life

January 18, 2013 at 12:13 am (Remedies and Medicine, Society and Leisure, Uncategorized)
Tags: Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, Berrien County GA, Consumption, Dr. Charles S. Herron, Elixir of Life, Henry Banks Sr, J. B. Herron, James B. Herron, Milltown GA, phthisis pulmonasis, Ray's Mill GA, Scrofula, Smithsonian Institution, Tuberculosis, Valdosta GA

According to an interesting old newspaper article, there was in 1876 a mineral spring at Milltown (now Lakeland) in Berrien County, GA, not far from Rays Mill (Ray City), with amazing restorative powers. One wonders if the spring was promoted strictly for the tourist trade, or was it visited by the locals of Milltown, Rays Mill, and Berrien County?

In 1876, Dr. Charles S. Herron, of Washington, D.C., brought his brother, James B. Herron, to Berrien County seeking treatment for tuberculosis at the Milltown mineral spring . James B. Herron, a disabled veteran of the Civil War, worked as janitor for the Smithsonian Institute, a position he obtained upon the recommendation of General (later President) James A. Garfield.

Atlanta Constitution
December 17, 1876

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE.

Consumption and Scrofula Cured.

Berrien County Comes to the Front as a Health-Center for Consumptives.

    The resources of Georgia are almost illimitable. Her people are scarcely cognizant of her grandeur, her undeveloped wealth and natural advantages. Hundreds yearly flock to northern watering places when we have as good in our midst. Scores visit Hot Springs, Arkansas, when, as the subjoined letter will show, we have a more wonderful spring in our state.
    Quite a number of the citizens of Atlanta have tried the virtues of its waters for scrofulous complaints and were speedily cured.
    The following letter details a wonderful cure by this:

MINERAL SPRINGS NEAR MILLTOWN, GA.

    At Bank’s mills, near Milltown, Berrien county, Georgia, is a spring, the water of which possesses very decided medicinal properties. The value of the water for the relief and cure of disease is, I believe, of quite recent discovery. I first heard of the spring in 1874, from friends living in the state of Georgia, and such were the reports I received that I became interested and was anxious to have a test of its virtue under my own observation, but had no opportunity of doing so until January of the present year.
    In 1875 the health of my brother, J. B. Herron, of the Smithsonian Institute, began to fail and he passed into a rapid decline. His disease was phthisis pulmonasis (pulmonary consumption), the exciting cause of which was doubtless a wound through the lungs, received a few years since. I need not give a minute description of his symptoms or a history of the case. There was a general impairment of life, and the functions of nutrition were so prostrated that the tissues wasted by disease could not be repaired. He expectorated a great deal. His breathing became very labored, and he could not speak above a whisper without bringing on a paroxism of coughing.
    I had the counsel of the best medical talent in this city in his case, but the treatment proved only palliative. His case was considered hopeless, and I was told he could never recover.
    As a last resort I was anxious that he should go to Milltown and test the value of the spring in his case, and after a great deal of persuasion I induced him to go, and I accompanied him. When we left this city it was not expected that he would return alive, and on the way persons who saw him predicted that he was beyond all earthly remedies.
    We arrived at the spring on the 20th day of January, and he immediately commenced to use the water. For a few days I could discover no change in his condition, but in about a week the change for the better was very marked. His circulation improved rapidly, night sweats were arrested. His cough gradually subsided, and there was a better performance of the principal functions of the body generally. He regained his appetite and strength. His vitality was raised, and there was a rapid renewal of life.   He returned home in March, and has not been absent from the institution on account of sickness a day since his return.
    I used the water freely myself, and its effects were soon very perceptible. I became rapidly invigorated. There was a renewal of mental and physical activity, and I could perform more labor with less fatigue than I had been able to do for years.
    I have no personal knowledge of other cures affected by the waters, but I have been informed of quite a number of well authenticated cases, principally of pulmaonary and scrofulous diseases, and also a number of very aggravated cases of deranged menstrual function in females and diseases resulting therefrom, and in every case of this nature, in which the water has been tested, it has proved specific. Some of these cases were very remarkable, and were it not that a detailed account of them would make this article too long, I would relate them.
    For healthfulness, the locality of the spring is unsurpassed by any section of the United States, and is less subject to sudden changes of temperature than many places I have visited further south.
    Invalids and others who have a taste for hunting and fishing, will find there unlimited opportunities for its gratification, as game is abundant, and fishing is unsurpassed anywhere I have visited north or south.
    So confident am I as to the great value of this spring in connection with the genial climate and other pleasant surroundings that, when consulted, I shall invariably recommend invalids who contemplate going south to visit it.
    The spring is the property of Henry Banks, Sr., of Atlanta, Georgia. The accommodation for cure can be had in the neighborhood at very reasonable rates. Valdosta, on the Atlantic and Gulf railroad, is the nearest station from which conveyance can be readily obtained.     What I have written is entirely in the interest of invalids, as I have no pecuniary interest whatever in the spring. But I have an interest in it far above any pecuniary consideration, for under my own eyes I witnessed its curative effects in case of one who is very dear to me, who, from a condition considered hopeless one year agon, has been restored, and is now enjoying a reasonable degree of health and strength.

Washington D. C., Dec. 4th, 1876.
C. S. Herron, M.D.

In the Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the Year 1882, Spencer F. Baird, Secretary Smithsonian Institution, wrote:

The melancholy duty devolves upon me of announcing the death of two employes of the Smithsonian Institution during the past year. The two whose loss I have to record are Dr. George W. Hawes, curator of the department of mineralogy and economic geology in the National Museum, who died on the 22d of June, 1882; and Mr. Joseph B. Herron, janitor of the National Museum, who died on the 9th of April, 1882….

Joseph B. Hereon, a native of the State of Ohio, was born August 7, 1839, at New Cumberland, Tuscarawas County. He was engaged in the military service of his country at the period of the late civil war, having enlisted in 1862, in the 98th Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, at the age of 23 years.

It was but a few months after his enrollment in the national defense that he took part in the battle of Perry ville, Ky., on which occasion he received a bullet wound through his body, the ball entering the chest on the left side, passing through his lung obliquely, narrowly escaping the heart, and out at his back on the right side of the spinal column, near the right shoulder blade. He unfortunately lay on the battle-field from Wednesday until Saturday before receiving any medical attendance. From the effects of this severe and dangerous wound he never fully recovered. He was, however, restored to a moderate degree of health and strength, and was able to attend to light duties.

In 1866, on the recommendation of General J. A. Garfield and General E. E. Eckley, he was appointed by Professor Henry janitor of the Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, which position he held until his death. He was always gentle and courteous in his deportment; and though the injury to his lungs incapacitated him for exerting any special activity, or any great physical effort, he was always punctual and attentive to his duties. He was a member of the Society of the “Army of the Cumberland,” and of the “Grand Army of the Republic.” He was one of the Guards of Honor to the remains of President Garfield while they lay at the Capitol in Washington, and accompanied the funeral of the deceased President from this city to Cleveland. In these exertions he probably overtasked his strength; for on returning to this city from the state funeral, he went into a somewhat rapid decline, and though able to walk about his house to the last day of his life, he died rather suddenly of pulmonary consumption at his residence in Washington, on Sunday morning, April 9th at 7 o’clock, at the age of 43 years, after a service in this Institution of sixteen years.

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Robert J. Starling was at Emory College, Valdosta, GA 1948

November 7, 2012 at 12:12 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Remedies and Medicine)
Tags: Anna Martha Grissett, Barbara Swindle, Billy Creech, Bob Starling, Caswell Yawn, Coffee County GA, Donalsonville, Emory College, Fain Guthrie, Ferrell Herring, Frances Carolyn Singletary, GA, Henry Lavern Starling, Hubert Starling, Juanelle Starling, Juniper Griffis Starling, Kenneth Cameron, Lamar Hardie, Lois Burkhalter, Moseley Hospital, Ray City Glee Club, Ray City School, Ray City Symphonet Band, Robert J. Starling, Sadie Griner, Seminole Memorial Hospital, Valdosta GA, Wylda Starling

Emory at Valdosta

Robert J. “Bob” Starling, a son of Henry Laverne Starling and Allie Purvis, attended the Emory College campus in Valdosta in 1948. His father was the school lunchroom supervisor at Ray City, and his grandfather, Juniper Griffis Starling, was a pioneer settler of Coffee County, GA.

Bob Starling grew up in his father’s household on Park Street in Ray City, and attended the Ray City School along with his brothers and sisters. The Starling kids were all involved in the Glee Club. In 1939, Bob and his sister, Wylda Starling, played in the school’s Symphonet Band, along with Lamar Hardy, Fain Guthrie, Ferrell Herring, Barbara Swindle, Annie Martha Grisset, Lois Burkhalter, Kenneth Cameron, Billy Creech, Casswell Yawn, and Sadie Griner. His older siblings, Hubert C Starling and Juanelle Starling sang with the school chorus.

Robert J. Starling, 1948, Emory Junior College, Valdosta, GA

Emory Junior College, 1940s, Valdosta, GA

Bob Starling went on to become Dr. Robert J. Starling. He married a nurse, Frances Carolyn Singletary, and practiced medicine in Donalsonville, GA. He eventually purchased the hospital in Donalsonville and he and Frances operated it for many years.

A writer on the Donalsonville Forum: Remember the Good Ole Days, posted in 2011:

Dr Earle Moseley built the facility and it was known as Moseley Clinic and Hospital until his death in 1963. After that time, Dr Bob Starling purchased the hospital and it was renamed ”Seminole Memorial Hospital”. Dr Jake Holley came that same year and joined him. Later he was joined by Dr Lewis Chisholm for a while, then later Dr Charlie O Walker.

Another writer in 2008 recalled the doctor’s bedside manner:

“Doctor Starling was such a kind and gentle man. I was never afraid of going to him as a child. I wish he was still around for my own children. I cut my hand when I was a senior in High School, and he was on call in the emergency room that day at lunch. I had never been to him; we always went to old man Dr.B….But Dr. Starling took me in, and soothed me quickly. He had 6 stitches in my hand before I could squeeze out another tear for my mom !! I remember Fran and Scott Starling, Linda and Robert too.They always had the best Halloween decorations!”

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Rays Mill Wins Route for the Georgia & Florida Railroad

August 6, 2012 at 12:02 am (Georgia & Florida Railroad, Luckie Family)
Tags: Alue Plantation, Cat Creek GA, Dr. W.B. Goodman, Elizabeth Texas Ray, Georgia and Florida railroad, J. W. Webster, J.S. Swindle, Lowndes County Farmers' Club, Lowndes County GA, Madison FL, Nashville GA, Ray's Mill GA, Schofield & Sons, Southern Cotton Association, Valdosta GA, Valdosta Southern Railroad, William J. Oliver, William Tomlinson Staten

In 1907 when things began to firm up for the construction of the Georgia and Florida Railway line that would connect Nashville, GA and Valdosta, GA, railroad engineer J. W. Webster came through the area to lay out the route and to secure the right-of-way for the tracks. Webster was assisted by Dr. W. B. Goodman, who was the husband of Texas Ray Goodman and son-in-law of Ray City founder Thomas M. Ray. (see Thomas M Ray Founded Ray’s Mill in 1863)

The Atlanta Georgian and News, September 6, 1907 Engineers Secure Rights-of-Way for Georgia and Florida Railroad

The Atlanta Georgian and News
September 6, 1907

ENGINEERS SECURE ROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY

Special to The Georgian.

Valdosta, Ga., Sept. 6. – Assistant Engineer J. W. Webster, of the Georgia and Florida railroad, and Dr. W. B. Goodman, of Nashville, Ga., were in the city yesterday arranging for the right of way for the railroad into this city. They drove through the country, following the proposed line, and closed up options for a considerable portion of the right of way. The road will likely enter the city on the eastern border, with a sharp curve to the south, where a junction will be effected with the Valdosta Southern to Madison, Fla.
Engineer Webster states that work on the gap from this city to Nashville will begin in a short while, but owning to the fact that nearly all the railway contractors in the country have about all the work they can handle now with their present equipment, and a disposition not to invest money in increased facilities, it is impossible to state exactly when active work will begin.

The call for proposals to build the Georgia and Florida line drew the attention of some of the largest railroad contractors in the country (see previous post Whangdoodled on Panama Canal Contract, Billy Oliver put in a Bid to Construct G & F Railroad Through Ray City). With railroad construction underway all over the country in 1907, the original bids had come in too high for G & F’s liking. But by late August of 1907 it was settled that Schofield & Sons, of Philadelphia would do the grading as soon as their equipment was available to do the work.

In the final consideration, there were two possible routes for the G & F line from Nashville to Valdosta, one by way of Cat Creek and the other to run past Rays Mill.

The Valdosta Times, January 29, 1908 reported that two routes were surveyed for the Georgia and Florida line from Nashville, GA to Valdosta, GA. One route would pass through Rays Mill, the other by way of Cat Creek.

The Valdosta Times
Saturday, January 25, 1908, page 10,

Two Routes Surveyed for Road

The work of making the surveys on the road from here to Nashville will probably be completed this week, or within a very few days. Two routes have been surveyed. One of them comes in by way of Cat Creek and the other by Rays Mill. The route by Cat Creek also comes within a short distance of Mr. W.T. Staten’s place on the east, he having been assisting in securing rights of way through that section.

(missing line(s) of print)

routes will be accepted, as the costs of the road is to be considered and then some consideration will probably be taken of the concessions that are given by people along the route. It has not been announced when the work on the road will be undertaken again, but it will probably be when the present warfare on railroads and corporations generally is stopped.

^{Transcription courtesy of Skeeter Parker.}

William Tomlinson Staten (1866-1920), who was assisting the railroad in securing rights-of-way was well known as the Lowndes County tax collector, president of the Lowndes County Farmers’ Club, and committee member on the state finance committee of the Southern Cotton Association. He owned much property including town lots and plantations. It was Staten who sold lots to the government for the construction of the federal courthouse and post office in Valdosta, GA. He owned a big plantation called “Alue” near Valdosta. He was a big produce shipper so securing a rail route by his Cat Creek plantation would have been in his interest.

But despite the influence of Staten, the support of local citizens of Rays Mill were able to secure the route for the new railroad:

At that time Mr. J.S. Swindle owned much of the land around the present site of the town. It is said that he bargained with the railroad company to give them the right of way if they would give him a station. This agreement was made and thus started the town [of Ray City].

W. T. Staten would later be among those seriously injured in the 1910 wreck of the G & F train in Valdosta, GA.

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Whangdoodled on Panama Canal Contract, Billy Oliver put in a Bid to Construct G & F Railroad Through Ray City

August 1, 2012 at 12:38 am (Georgia & Florida Railroad, Uncategorized)
Tags: Army Corps of Engineering, Augusta GA, Berrien County GA, Georgia and Florida railroad, Lowndes County GA, Madison FL, Nashville GA, Panama Canal, Ray City GA, Sanford FL, Schofield & Sons, Valdosta GA, William J. Oliver

The contract to build the railroad line connecting Nashville, GA by way of Rays Mill (now Ray City) to Valdosta, GA, might not seem like a project that would attract one of the largest construction companies in America, but the 1907 call for bids for construction of the Georgia and Florida Railroad did just that. To be fair, the total contract concerned not just the 30 mile stretch of railroad from Berrien to Lowndes county, but about 70 additional miles of track to connect the various shortlines that comprised the Georgia and Florida railroad.

Perhaps the most prominent bidder for constructing the connecting lines of the G & F was William J. Oliver, the Tennessee contractor who earlier that year had submitted the lowest bid for the immensely huge task of constructing the Panama Canal. Oliver expected that the South Georgia cotton shipped over the Georgia and Florida Railroad would eventually find its way through the Panama Canal to meet the demand in Asian markets. When completed, the G & F line would certainly open the way for economic development in Berrien County, GA and fuel the growth of firms such as the Luckie Lumber Company at Ray City, GA.

William Jesse Oliver (1867-1925) was a prominent bidder for the contract to construct the Georgia and Florida Railroad.

In 1907, the early accounts indicated Oliver had a lock on the canal contract.

January 28, 1907, William J. Oliver to build the Panama Canal.

The first week of February, 1907, Harper’s Weekly Magazine gave a short sketch on William J. Oliver and his bid for the Panama Canal.

William J. Oliver, Harper’s Weekly, Feb 2, 1907

Harpers Weekly
Feb 2, 1907

THE MAN WHO BID LOWEST FOR THE PANAMA CANAL CONTRACT

      William J. Oliver, in association with Anson J. Bangs, has made a proposition to build the Panama Canal for 6.75 percent, of total cost, and this bid, at the time of writing, is under favorable consideration by the government. In the combination which made this bid, Mr. Oliver has the dominant interest. Other bids were for 7.19, 12.50, and 28 per cent.
      Mr. Oliver is thirty nine years of age. He was born in Mishawauka, a suburb of South Bend, Indiana. When he was sisteen years of age he started out on the Cotton Belt railroad with s fifteen team outfit as a railroad contractor. He has gradually progressed from one branch of railroad contracting to another, and owns one of the largest manufacturing plants in the United States for the building of contractors’ machinery.
       Mr. Oliver has also made a specialty of what contractors call “concrete work,” and has built a number of concrete buildings, viaducts, and river bridges for railroads. He has over $30,000,000 of contracts now under way including the tunnelling of Lookout Mountain for the Southern Railway company, concrete buildings in Louisville and Nashville, a concrete dam at Chattanooga, sixty five feet high,in which there will be 50,000 cubic yards of reinforced concrete work. He is also laying double tracks and building extensions for various railroads.
      In view of the announcement that Mr. Oliver purposes to use negroes from the West Indies as laborers on the canal, under the superintendence of white men from the South, it is interesting to recall the report that Governor Swettenham of Jamaica is opposed to the use of negroes from that island as foreign laborers, and has imposed a prohibitive emigration head tax to prevent the natives from leaving the island for America or Panama.
      In the case of an award, Mr.Oliver will go to the isthmus to superintend personally the work of construction; he will take over the entire plant owned by the government, and will at once proceed to ship additional materials to the Zone.

Ultimately, the contract for construction of the Panama Canal went to the Army Corps of Engineers. Oliver said he had been “whangdoodled” by President Teddy Roosevelt, but his manufacturing company did end up supplying some of the construction equipment. The completed canal is still regarded as one of the greatest engineering achievements of the modern world.

May of 1907 found Oliver not in the Canal Zone but in Augusta, GA to bid on the G & F construction project. In the May 20, 1907 edition of The Atlanta Georgian and News, he was still protesting the politicized award of the Panama Canal contract, but the paper also reported his comments on the global impact of the opening of the Georgia and Florida Railroad. “When this line is completed,”he said, “it will largely solve the problem involved in the big suits now before the interstate commerce commission in the matter of rates from the South to Oriental ports. All the cotton goods and other freight that must cross the Pacific will go over this line and through the Panama Canal when it is finished,” he said.

The Atlanta Georgian and News reports William J. Oliver will bid on the construction of the Georgia and Florida Railroad.

Within a few weeks, The Atlanta Georgian and News reported that The Georgia and Florida Railroad was ready to select a contractor.

By June of 1907, the selection of a contractor for construction of the Georgia and Florida Railroad was imminent.

But the bids came in too high and on June 22,1907 the railroad announced it would hold off on awarding a contract.

June 22, 1907 The Atlanta Georgian and News announcemed that the Georgia and Florida Railroad would not be letting a constrruction contract for some time.

June 22, 1907 The Atlanta Georgian and News announced that the Georgia and Florida Railroad would not be letting a construction contract for some time.

On August 24 the contract was finally awarded, but went to Schofield & Sons of Philadelphia.

August 24, 1907, the Georgia and Florida Railroad contracts for construction of new line.

-So in the end, the man who famously did not get the Panama Canal contract, also did not get the Georgia & Florida railroad contract.

-30-

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Bloody History of Gypsy the Elephant

March 7, 2012 at 12:01 am (Society and Leisure)
Tags: Barney Shea, Bernard Shea, Calvin Dampier, Claude Orton, Empress the Elephant, Fatty Shea, Forepaugh's Circus, Frank Scott, George West, Gypsy the Elephant, Harris Nickel Plate Show, Harry Cooley, John Kimberline, John Loudon, Maximo Gomez, Miles Orton, Nikola Tesla, O'Brien Circus, Patsy Hulligan, Ray City GA, Robert R. White, Thomas Edison, Thomasville GA, Tomás Estrada Palma, Valdosta GA, W. H. Harris, William Devoe

Valdosta Police Chief Dampier used a borrowed Krag-Jorgensen rifle to bring down the rampaging elephant, Gypsy, in November 1902.

In 1952, Billboard magazine reported that the bones of Gypsy the infamous man-killing elephant were in Ray City, GA. (See Bones of Gypsy the Elephant.) The elephant was killed in Lowndes County near Cherry Creek in 1902, after trampling her trainer and escaping from the Harris Nickel Plate Circus.

But the elephant Gypsy had a well documented history as a man-killer long before the bloody rampage in Valdosta. There were reputed to be notches filed on her tusks for each of her victims.

The Valdosta Times

The One that Didn’t Get Away!
The monster brute of the Harris Nickel-Plate Show trampled her keeper to death and ran amuck. After terrorizing the business portion of the city [Valdosta], she dashed out to Pine Park and was shot down six miles north of the city Sunday morning… After trampling her keeper and leading the townsfolk on a chase lasting all night and far into Sunday morning in the Cherry Creek area of the city, Gypsy was killed by Chief of police Calvin Dampier with a single shot from a Krag-Jorgenson rifle. This is said to have been the first animal of its kind ever killed by a rifle in the country.

For more than a decade, Gypsy had been one of the star attractions of W. H. Harris’ Nickel Plate Show.

Advertisement depicting Gypsy and Barney in Harris’ Nickel Plate Shows.

Circus historian C. E. Duble gave this description of the Harris Nickel Plate Show:

The Harris Nickel Plate Show
Bandwagon, Vol. 1, No. 10 (Oct), 1942, p. 4.

      One of the prominent old-time one ring shows of years ago was the W. H. Harris World-Famous Nickel Plate Show originated in 1893 in Chicago by W. H. Harris. This show was a big success. As far as I can learn the show was 10-car size during its long career. The show came to Jeffersonville, Ind., in the early 1890′s and the last appearance was on September 28th 1901. The writer passed bills for the show on that occasion. Admission was 10 and 20 cents. Among the performers were Miles Orton, principal bare back rider; the Millette’s aerial performers etc.; and the St. Leon Family Acrobats. One of these girls Elsie At. Leon was Star of the play “Polly of the Circus”. The side show and menagerie were under one tent.
       A parade feature was a combination Bandwagon and Lion Den, this being of elaborate design, with heavy carvings and mirrors; band rode atop under canopy over rear of wagon and drawn in parade by six or eight camels docked out in oriental robes and trappings.
      Show had one elephant “Gypsy” of immense size, appeared in parade and performance. Hand bills had a half tone out of the Lion Den referred to and a cut of the elephant with this exact wording “Famous Historic, Gypsy Still Lives – THE LARGEST ELEPHANT THAT WALKS THE EARTH.”
      The Territory of the Harris Nickle Plate Show was the middle West and South, Winter Quarters at the time were Valdosta, Ga. The elephant killed her keeper O’Rourke there, the Winter of 1902. W. H. Harris died about 1902 and Chas. O. Wilson became manager for Mrs. Harris. Later he was traffic Manager for years with Ringling Bros. After twenty-one years tour the show came to an end in August 1904 at Sebree, Ky.
      The old dirt ring bank remained at Jeffersonville for years. On the same spot where the tents of the Harris Nickel Plate Show were in 1901, the High School stands today.

Gypsy the elephant about 1894, with trainer Fatty Shea, and a smaller elephant possibly Pearl. During this time Gypsy was with the George W. Hall circus. http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/2010/03/george-w-hall-elephants.html

W. H. Harris had acquired Gypsy for the Nickel Plate Show around late 1885.

Purchased from the deep South’s W. W. Cole’s Circus, she proved to be a huge brute that put fear into everyone. Charley Curran, the trainer, examined her tusk stubs and noting many notches there-on, exclaimed, “I knew it!, this is Pogie O’Brien’s notorious outlaw and as she has nine notches filed into her tusks, she has killed at least that many people”. “Well”, dryly commented Harris, “we bought her as Gypsy, so don’t anyone mention her bloody history”. – White Tops, April 1930, Col. C. G. Sturtevant.

Indeed, the “bloody history” of Gypsy aka Empress was no secret. Just months before her purchase by Harris, she had killed a man in Philadelphia. Although Empress belonged to O’Brien’s Circus, she was temporarily being housed at the winter quarters of Forepaugh’s Circus in Philadelphia. The sensational story was reported all over the United States, even in the small communities of south Georgia:

The Weekly Sumter Republican
Americus Georgia
October 12, 1885

KILLED BY AN ELEPHANT

Philadelphia, Oct. 12th. – Yesterday afternoon R. White, about 55 years of age, an employe of Forepaugh’s circus, was attacked and killed by the large Elephant Empress, who struck him a fearful blow with her trunk and threw him across some cages with such force as to disembowel him.

October 16, 1885 news clipping: Killed by an elephant.

The New York Times told more of the story:

The New York Times
October 12, 1885

EMPRESS KILLS A MAN

An Ugly Elephant Attacks A Circus Employe [sic] Without Warning

    Philadelphia, Oct. 11. – The big performing elephant Empress added another victim to her long list today by attacking and almost instantly killing Robert R. White, a watchman employed at the Winter quarters of Forepaugh’s Circus, at the corner of Lehigh avenue and Edgemont street. As in almost every other instance where this beast has injured people the attack was made without provocation or warning. White was in the elephant building, which is detached from the quarters of the other animals, in company with a man named Allen and a song and dance man who has been connected with O’Brien’s Circus during the past season. When the men entered the building Empress trumpeted loudly and moved restlessly about in her stall. As she had received her quota of hay White knew that she could not be hungry, and for a time was at a loss to account for her uneasiness. He then jumped to the conclusion that she was thirsty, and told his companions that he would give her a drink. They knew her ugly disposition and tried to dissuade him from releasing the big brute, but he protested that he could manage her and entered the stall.
      Empress stood perfectly passive while White unwound the heavy chain that secured her foreleg to a stake in the ground. She obediently backed out of the stall and started toward the water trough at the other end of the building .   She had not gone half a dozen paces, however, before whe gave vent to a threatening snort, and raising her trunk in the air felled White to the ground with one tremendous blow. She struck him another blow as he lay prostrate, and then rearing on her hind legs brought one of her front feet down on White’s chest with the full force of her ponderous weight. She paused for a moment apparently to see whether her victim would offer any resistance, and when he moaned feebly she thrust down her immense head and with her tusk literally disemboweled him. In the meantime,, White’s companions, who had been rooted to the ground with horror for an instant after the attack began, ran from the building and gave the alarm. There were very few of the employes [sic] about, but those who were within call quickly assembled and held a hurried consultation at the door of the elephant house. They could hear Empress tramping about.
    Daniel Taylor, an attaché of the circus, picked up a spear, and dashing into the elephant house plunged it into the brute’s leg. She stopped thrusting at the prostrate man with her single but ugly tusk, and turned her head to look at her assailant. Taylor followed up his attack by plunging his spear into the beast’s side, meanwhile shouting at her. She turned toward him and made a movement as though she intended transferring her attention to him. Taylor never wavered, but continued prodding the brute with his spear, and commanded her to go to her stall. Empress hesitated a moment, and then doggedly turned and walked to her stall, where she was promptly secured. White was taken to a hospital, where he died very soon afterward.
    Empress has been traveling with O’Brien’s Circus during the past season. It is said that this animal has killed two or three persons and injured and maimed a dozen or more. Her last escapade in the city was on the morning of Aug. 31 last, when she was exhibiting at Broad and Dickenson streets. At the time a young man named John Kimberline, who was employed with the show as cook, stole into the elephant’s tent when Empress was lying down apparently asleep. Near her was a pile of hay, which constituted her allowance for the night. Kimberline abstracted an armful and spreading it under the lion’s cage made a bed for himself and went to sleep. His actions were watched by Empress, who after Kimberline had gone to sleep drew out the stake to which she was chained, picked him up with her trunck and hurled him across the tent. The young man was seriously injured, but subsequently recovered. Three months before this occurrence Empress attacked an old employe [sic] of the circus named John Loudon, and injured him so severely that one side of his body was partially paralyzed for life. Another employe had been attacked by the brute shortly before and severely injured. Several years ago she hurled a female performer across the tent and seriously hurt her. Soon after Empress came under the control of her present trainer, Mr. Colley, she took him unawares one day and, forcing him against a cage, thrust her trunk almost completely through his body and fractured three ribs. She is very intelligent, and performs some remarkable tricks with her trainer in the ring. It is thought now it will be necessary to have her shot.

But Gypsy was not shot. Instead, she continued to tour the country with circus shows.

The New York Times
March 26, 1896

KILLED BY AN ELEPHANT

Lion Tamer Scott Paid For His Ride With His Life at Chicago. Gypsy Resents Her Keeper’s Attempt to Direct Her Movements and Beats Him to Death with Her Trunk – A Woman’s Brave Battle with the Enraged Pachyderm – A Building Wrecked and the Police Defied by the Beast.

      Chicago, March 25. – W. H. Harris’s big elephant Gypsy became unmanagable at Winter quarters on the West Side this afternoon, and before she could be got under control, killed her keeper, tore down a frame building, and created an excitement which drew thousands of people to the scene.
     Harris’s circus is quartered at the corner of Roby and Jackson Street in a six-story brick building, and Gypsy occupies the greater part of the first floor. Her regular keeper is Bernard Shea, but Shea is at present in Omaha, and the animal was temporarily in charge of Frank Scott, a lion tamer.
     Scott this afternoon took Gypsy out for a ride in the alley. Gypsy did not seem inclined to stop at the boundary of the alley, and Scott gave her a jab with an iron hook. The beast became enraged, and, throwing her keeper from her head, where he had been riding, proceeded to pound him with her trunk, and succeeded in killing him and knocking him through a board fence.
      Mrs. Harris came to the rescue with a pitchfork. She was knocked down, but pluckily jumped up and gave the brute battle. She soon had blood streaming from wounds in the elephant’s side. Gypsy ran toward the end of the alley. Here was standing a large crowd, and many were scattering which took place when the elephant started out of the alley.
      Gypsy did not go far, but went back for Scott, who, in the meantime, had been moved into a wood building just opposite the elephant’s quarters. The animal knocked in the whole side of the building in her efforts to get at the man again.
      Mr. Harris had sent for all the bread and cake that could be bought in the neighborhood, and also telephoned for Claude Orton, his horse trainer, who soon arrived. The elephant quieted down somewhat while she was eating fifty loaves of bread, a large number of cakes, and other delicacies which were placed before her.

The Oswego Daily Times ran the same story about Gypsy’s March 25 rampage, adding:

Finally she walked into her barn and the heavy doors were shut after her. The door had no sooner been shut than the elephant, with one blow, shattered it and ran out again. By this time every street in the vicinity was crowded with excited people. Three wagon loads of police came to the rescue, but could do nothing further than keep back the crowds.
The elephant had her own way for about four hours, when she went back into her stall and allowed Orton to chain her.

The NYT article concluded with:

Harris has owned the animal for five years and has had no trouble with her before.
Frank Scott’s right name is unknown. He would never tell who he was, and although he had been with the Harris circus for six years, no one knows anything of him except that he went under an assumed name. His body is now in the hands of an undertaker, and will be buried from the home of Mr. Harris.

The story continued:

The Alexandria Post News
Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota
Thursday, April 2, 1896, page 7

Her Seventh Victim.

      Omaha, Neb., March 26.—Bernard Shea, the former keeper of Gypsy, the elephant which created so much trouble in Chicago Wednesday, will take the first train for Chicago to assume his old position. Mr. Shea has been Gypsy’s keeper off and on for the past ten years and says he has never had any troubles with her. In an interview he stated that Gypsy is only another name for Empress, the original old Empress, the first elephant imported into this country, and that the killing of her late keeper, Scott, makes the seventh victim of her vicious character.
      The first was Harry Cooley, in 1870, at Forepaugh’s winter quarters in Philadelphia; then George West had the life crushed out of him in 1874, traveling on the road with Robinson’s show. “Jimmy, the Bum,” was the next man, at New Iberia, La., in 1882, followed by William Devoe, with O’Brien’s show at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1886. Patsy Hulligan was the sixth victim, and he had his arm torn out at Cincinnatti in 1894, and died two days afterwards.

Glad to See Him.

      Chicago, March 27.—Trainer Shea arrived in town last night and made haste to reach Gypsy’s quarters. The meeting between the two astonished those who beheld it. Shea patted the elephant as he asked: “How are you, old girl?” Almost instantly Gypsy wrapped her big trunk around the waist of her friend and held him firmly, yet tenderly, for many minutes. Then, receiving a reassuring kiss from Shea, the monster slowly lowers him to the floor. While her trainer remained in her quarters Gypsy trumpeted merrily, and it was not until the keeper left the place that the beast ceased these manifestations of her joy.

After the death of Frank Scott, public sentiment rose against Gypsy. Pehaps too dangerous to show and too infamous to sell, Harris sought to exploit her infamy. He made a publicity stunt out of offering her to Tomás Estrada Palma, Maximo Gomez and Cuban insurgents who were fighting for independence from Spain before the beginning of the Spanish-American War.

The New York Times
January 2, 1897

OFFERS GYPSY TO CUBA.

Showman Harris Says His Elephant Would Help the Insurgents.

CHICAGO, Jan. 1. – Gypsy, the bad man-killing elephant, is not to be killed by electricity. She has been reprieved and may be sent to Cuba to trample down the ranks of the Spaniards.
Her owner, W. H. Harris, sent a telegram to Senor Palma last evening tendering the insurgents the four-footed terror, and she is now in her cage on the Pan Handle tracks in Rockwell Street, subject ot Palma’s orders.
Following is the telegram sent by Mr. Harris:

CHICAGO, Dec. 30.

Senor Palma, American Representative of Cuban Insurgents, New York:
       I have Gypsy, large man-killing elephant, on track, awaiting electrosecution, as she is too vicious for show purposes.
      She is a trained performer and will obey any command, and I think she would be serviceable in the rough country of Cuba, where it is, I am told, difficult to manipulate field pieces.
      I want to dedicate her to the cause of humanity and liberty. Will ship at your expense to any American port, and will agree to secure you animal man to go with her to Cuba.
      If Hannibal found elephants useful in battle, why should not Gomez conquer with Gypsy.
W. H. Harris

But harnessing Gypsy as a weapon of war was impractical, so the elephant remained in America. Talk again turned to her execution. Harris, of course, turned the prospect into a media circus, capitalizing on the novelty of electricity in 1897. Just four years earlier Nikola Tesla had stunned the world with an electric display of 200,000 lightbulbs at the Columbian Exposition of 1893. (It would be another 25 years before electric lights illuminated Ray City, GA. ) The Columbian Exposition was a triumph for Tesla’s alternating current (AC) over the safer direct current (DC) favored by Thomas Edison. For the next decade, Tesla and Edison battled for public opinon concerning the superiority of AC versus DC. Edison took to touring the country staging shows where he demonstrated that alternating current was deadly by electrocuting various animals. Not to be outdone, Harris proclaimed he would electrocute Gypsy the elephant. “He accordingly hit upon the idea of a public execution with a five dollar admission fee.” There was talk that Gypsy would be stuffed and exhibited on the Circus tour.

Gypsy the elephant slated for electrocution, May 6, 1897.

But once again, Gypsy was spared. Perhaps Harris concluded all the publicity over her pending execution made her more valuable alive than dead. It would remain for Edison to stage the world’s first electrocution of an elephant, an event which he recorded in 1903 with another famous invention, the motion picture camera.

By the end of 1897 Gypsy “the man killing elephant” was back on the circus show route, even appearing in Thomasville, GA.

1897 Advertisement for the Nickel Plate Show and Gypsy appearance at Thomasville, GA

The Thomasville Daily Times-Enterprise
December 8, 1897

THE NICKLE PLATE SHOW.

“Gypsy,” The Man Killing Elephant, Is With the Show.

Harris Nickle Plate Show will be in Thomasville next Monday, and with it will come Gypsy, the most notorious of living elephants; Wallick, the man-eating lion; a full company of acrobats, a long string of wagons, many horses, dogs, parrots, and all  the other paraphernalia that is the requisite of every first class show.
    Speaking of Gypsy, the man-killing elephant, the Atlanta Journal had the following notice on the occasion of the visit of this show to Atlanta last month;      “When the cars of the show came to a standstill this morning and the work of unloading began a crowd of idlers gathered around a mild-looking elephant of huge proportions. The mild-eyed mountain of flesh was Gypsy, the elephant who only a few months ago killed two men in Chicago and created excitement in the Windy City that lasted for weeks. Gypsy one day decided to run amuck and began operations by killing her keeper and another man who attempted to stop her.
      After these two murders she smashed several doors out of the big barn she had been placed in for winter quarters and started into the streets. Men ran from her, but a woman, and a woman of small statue, barred the way. This woman was Mrs. W. H. Harris, wife of the owner of the show. She had as a weapon a huge pitchfork that she used with vigor upon the head of the crazy elephant. Thousands of persons who had gathered at the place expected to see her killed,but instead the great beast came to a standstill and was finally secured. Gypsy was ordered killed by the authorities and Harris fixed the day and was to charge an admission, when the Humane society interfered and the life of the elephant was spared.

Five years later, in Valdosta, GA, Gypsy killed her final victim. For the story of that still remembered day, see Bones of Gypsy the Elephant.

How the elephant bones were brought to Ray City and what eventually became of them is not known.

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Bones of Gypsy the Elephant

March 5, 2012 at 12:03 am (Society and Leisure)
Tags: B. H. Jones, Barney Shea, Billy Mincer, C. E. Duble, Calvin Dampier, Charley Curran, Charlie Campbell, Cherry Creek, Clem Kerr, D. A. Sinclair, Dave Roberts, Don Robinson Circus, Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad, Gypsy the Elephant, Harris Nickel Plate Show, J. Duffy, James Gates, James O'Rourke, Krag-Jorgensen Rifle, Lawrence Walker, Lowndes County GA, M. A. Briggs, O'Brien Circus, Pine Park, Ray City GA, Roy Hightower, T. G. Powers, Valdes Hotel, Valdosta GA

A small note in the December 6, 1952 edition of The Billboard, entertainment industry trade magazine, unceremoniously observed the 50th anniversary of the circus tragedy in which Gypsy the elephant killed her trainer at Valdosta, rampaged through the town, and was shot dead. The article read:

Charlie Campbell, ahead of Don Robinson Circus, reports a resident of Ray City, Ga., has some large bones reputed to be from an elephant, Gypsy, executed there while with the Harris Nickel Plate Circus in 1901.

The Billboard, December 6, 1952 clipping reported bones of Gypsy the elephant at Ray City, GA

Gypsy the elephant was actually killed in Lowndes County near Cherry Creek in 1902, after trampling her trainer and escaping from the Harris Nickel Plate Circus. She was shot by Valdosta Police Chief Calvin Dampier. In the ensuing days more than 3000 people came to see the dead elephant.

Virtually from the instant of her execution, there was talk of preserving Gypsy’s skeleton. Eyewitnesses reported that some visitors took trophies and souvenirs from the body of the slain pachyderm, before the 12,000 pound carcass was finally hacked apart and burned.

Did the bones of Gypsy the elephant eventually make their way to Ray City, GA?

Valdosta Police Chief Dampier used a borrowed Mauser rifle to bring down the rampaging elephant, Gypsy, in November 1902.

Valdosta Police Chief Calvin Dampier used a borrowed Mauser rifle to bring down the rampaging elephant, Gypsy, in November 1902.

With a printing that came to be known as “the Elephant Edition,” the Valdosta Times broke the story that swept across the nation.

The Valdosta Times
Tuesday, November 25, 1902

ELEPHANT GYPSY GOES WILD AND IS KILLED NEAR HERE.

The Monster Brute of the Harris Nickel-Plate Shows Tramples Her Keeper to Death and Runs Amuck –

After Terrorizing the Business Portion of the City, she Dashes out to Pine Park and was Shot Down Six Miles Above the City Sunday Morning.

Valdosta experienced a sensation Saturday night such as no other city in the country has ever witnessed.
     It was a chase by scores of people after a monster five ton elephant, which had trampled its keeper to death and was standing in defiance of all who should come within reach.
      After a chase lasting all night long and far into Sunday morning, the big brute was killed by Chief of Police Dampier, six miles above the city, with a single shot from a Krag-Jorgensen rifle. The anima had been shot dozens of times in the past, and this is said to have been the first animal of the kind ever killed with a rifle ball in this country.
       The elephant belonged to the Harris Nickel Plate Shows, which gave two performances here Saturday and which broke tents that night to go into winter quarters at Pine Park. The animal was named ”Gypsy” and she had been seen many times in this city. She was one of the largest elephants in the world. The show was here for two weeks during the State Fair and gave two performances daily, the acts by “Gypsy” being features of the performances.
      The show went from here to Lake City for two performances and then visited Macon, Cordele, Tifton, and other places along the Georgia Southern road, returning here Saturday morning for the last two performances of the season.

Elephant under perfect control.

The big beast was in charge of James O’Rourke, who seemed to have her under perfect control. She was an exceedingly intelligent anima and her acts in the circus ring were the cleverest ever witnessed here.   Among them was the blowing of a harmonica. Gypsy being the only elephant in the word which had been trained to blow a wind instrument of any kind.
      All day Saturday, O’Rourke, the elephant’s trainer, complained of being sick and that afternoon he began to take quinine and whiskey in pretty liberal doses.   He was seen to take a drink of whiskey just before mounting the elephant to go to the park and one of the showmen spoke to him and suggested that he had “better cut that out.”
      At O’Rourke’s command, the elephant kneeled down and he crawled up on her head and then he gave the signal for her to move on. The great beast started off from the show grounds east of the city hall, toward Patterson street and thence to the Georgia Southern passenger depot where O’Rourke expected to get a change of clothing to put on. He remained at the circus cars a short while and started back up town along Patterson street, turning at Hill avenue toward the show grounds, but turning again at Ashley street toward Central avenue. The showmen say that the elephant expected to go in the car at the depot and when she was brought back up town it angered her.

      Turned Down Wrong Street

      The turn at Ashley street was made and Gypsy ambled along toward Central avenue, where a turn was made to the left, leading toward Patterson street, but crossing that street and continuing the slow pace toward Toombs street. A number of parties on the street called out to O’Rourke and told him that he was going the wrong way, but he paid no attention to them. Chief Dampier was sitting at his stable when the elephant passed there and he called O’Rourke’s attention to the fact he was on the wrong street, but a mumbled answer came from the man on the elephant’s head, and the chief supposed that he wanted to go a side street to get out of the way of the vehicles and street cars on Patterson street.
      Two young men, Smith and Christian, followed the elephant from Patterson street to Toombs and were close to her when O’Rourke fell off of her head. They stated that the elephant stopped a moment as if to wait for him to resume his position, but a moment later she kneeled down over him and crushed every bone in his body, rolling the limp body along with her trunk and tusks for probably fifty yards.

Her Keepers’ Death Reported.

      She then turned toward the side of the street and began grazing on the grass there as if nothing had happened. Chief Dampier heard her crushing O’Rourke and ran over close enough to see that he could do nothing for the man. He then went to the circus and informed the managers of what had taken place. In a short while the entire circus force was on the ground trying to control the animal, while Manager Wilson and Sheriff Passmore were trying to get the crowds to stand back.
One of the clowns , Barney Shea, who was formerly her keeper, undertook to lead her toward the depot and place her on the cars there and it was believed that he would succeed, as the animal knew his voice and followed him nearly to the Plant System depot. In the meantime, a large crowd had gathered and excitement was running high. A train was stopped on the crossing where the elephant was to pass and this, together with the excited crowds, seemed to rattle her.
      She turned back toward the Christian church, from which some of the members of the circus were calling to her in “elephant talk,” but it was apparent that she was getting thoroughly aroused. She grabbed an electric light pole with her trunk and shook it until the lights flew out all along the street. Then, she began to hurl bricks and pieces of timber through the air.

Elephant Thoroughly Aroused.

      Billy Mincer, another of the clowns in the circus, was hemmed in a rear door of the new Christian church but was pulled out and hurled some distance of the angry animal.   She started to renew her attack upon him but he was pulled out of the way by some parties who were near by. He was in an unconscious condition and was carried to the Valdes Hotel for medical. In the meantime Barney Shea and Clem Kerr, the latter being the advance agent of the circus, were in the new Christian church calling to “Gypsy” and trying to get her under control. Shea fired at her with a pistol several times, but the bullets did no harm except to make her mad.
      For a couple of hours the elephant was master of the situation in that section of the city.   She seemed to pay very little attention to home folks , but a number of times indicated a very keen desire to get hold of some of the circus crowd. They seemed to fear her more than anyone else, probably because they knew her better and they were careful to keep out of her way. Especially is this true of Barney Shea, her former manager, who stated that she had old grudges against him that she would never forget.
      After an hour or two spent in promenading up and down the side walk in front of the Valdes Hotel and the new Christian church, Gypsy turned up Toombs street in a full gallop and as far as the eye could reach under the swinging electric lights her huge form swayed along with the alertness of a rabbit. Her steps by actual measurement were eight or nine feet each. She followed Toombs street to the vacant lot beyond the residence Mr. B. H. Jones when she cut across to Patterson street and went on to the park.

The Big Brute at Pine Park.

       Then Chief Dampier and a large posse followed her to the park for the purpose of killing her, as she had proven herself entirely unmanageable and her owner, Mrs. Harris, had stated that she could not rest until she was sure the brute was dead. Her former keeper Shea got in the stand over the State Fair office and called her to him. She was in the rear end of the fair grounds but she answered his call. Chief Dampier and his posse were on top of the ticket office. The big beast walked up within fifty yards of them and stopped. The moon was behind the clouds and only a dim outline of her could be gotten. The chief drew his Krag-Jorgensen rifle and fired at her two or three times.
      The wounds were evidently painful, but not fatal to her. She gave one shriek and started on a full fun toward the fence in the rear of the grounds. She found a plank off and, with her huge trunk, brushed away a panel or two of the fencing like it was a row of tooth picks.     She took the cross road toward the Cat Creek road and turned up that to Cherry Creek. It was then nearly four o’clock Sunday morning. Chief Dampier and his posse followed her for some distance and then returned to the city get lunches, secure horses and wait for light to dawn upon the scene.

The Chase Toward Cherry Creek.

      By day light, the chief and his crowd were ready to go on the hunt again. His posse consisted of his first lieutenant, Mr. M. A. Briggs and Messrs. James Gates, D. A. Sinclair, Lawrence Walker, Roy Hightower, Dave Roberts and one or two other parties. Mr. Briggs and Chief Dampier were in a buggy, while the other parties were on horse back. They left the city about five o’clock and followed the big animal out toward Cherry Creek on the Nashville Road. At several places they saw where the elephant had stopped in the road and had stood there some time, the impression on the ground looking as if she had lain down.
      The first sight of t.he big mountain of flesh and blood was near Cherry Creek and all came to a halt. The elephant, blind in one eye, was standing across the road with his good eye turned toward the city evidently watching in that direction. Her big body was swaying to and fro after the manner that elephants sway themselves when standing still. When she caught a view of the crowd she turned toward the north and started off in a rapid walk.
      The parties lighted and started in pursuit through the woods. The elephant finally came to a stop and Chief Dampier ran around to her side, taking a position probably seventy-five yards from her. The excitement of the chase, together with its fatigue had made him nervous and he was afraid to try and fire at her without taking good aim. The chief got a good rest for his weapon on a fence and took deliberate aim at her head. The Krag-Jorgensen rifle cracked with a sharp “ping” and the big brute fell to her knees and then over on her side. One shot had done the perfect work of destroying her life and when the parties reached her she was nothing more than a huge bulk of inanimate flesh.

Elephant’s Death Reported.

      Chief Dampier fired one more shot into her head and other members of the party fired two or three times from their Winchesters and pistols. An examination of the death-wound showed that the bullet entered her temple and went probably three feet deep in her head. Another shot from the Krag-Jorgensen rifle had gone entirely through her neck. The Winchester shots had only entered an inch or two and had probably done no more than tickle her.
      Chief Dampier and his posse returned to the city and reported the death of the elephant, and the announcement came as a great relief to the circus people. They had been uneasy all night long and were really glad to know that the great brute had been killed, even though it was a big financial loss to them. All day Sunday large crowds went out on the scene of the killing and scarcely anything else was talked about on the streets. The tragedy of the night before and the excitement incident to the chase after the big animal made it the most sensational event that Valdosta has ever known.

Burial of the Dead Keeper.

      The body of the dead keeper, O’Rourke, was carried to Ulmer’s undertaking rooms and prepared for burial. It was found that several of his bones were broken and the body was badly bruised. It was placed in a very fine casket, bought by Mrs. Harris, owner of the Nickel Plate shows, and was buried in the city cemetery Sunday afternoon at four o’clock, the services being read by Mr. J. Duffy, of the Catholic church. The hearse was drawn to the cemetery by six beautiful white horse and all of the circus people, together with many from the city, attended the funeral.
      O’Rourke, it is said, had been with the circus for a number of years and had always managed the elephant. He came from San Francisco, though his family resides in New Orleans. It is said that he came near losing his life once or twice under “Gypsy’s” huge form, but was rescued. It is also said that several times, while he was intoxicated, the animal had picked him up and placed him in the car, and that on other occasions she has lifted him back on her head when he had fallen off. The animal was very docile at times, but on other occasions she has been perfectly unmanageable, having been sentenced to death a half dozen times and each time given a lease on life because the means of killing her were so hard to obtain.

Dead Elephant Draws Crowd.

      The body of the elephant was buried a short distance from where she fell dead Sunday morning. A half dozen horses were used to drag the remains to the grave, but they were unequal to the task and the body was finally cut to pieces with axes and moved a part at a time, four horses being used for the task.
    The dead elephant proved to be a drawing card for hundreds of people from this city, as well as the surrounding country. It is estimated that fully three thousand people visited the place where she was killed to get a view of her huge carcass, many of these walking six or seven miles to see the sight.
      Mr. T. G. Powers, of the Harris Shows, one of the animal trainers, was formerly in charge of “Gypsy” and knows her history as well as any other living man. He stated to a TIMES reporter yesterday that the animal was about sixty-five years of age and that she was among the first elephants ever brought to this country. She was imported by the O’Brien circus, which travelled through the country in wagons in 1847.   She has been owned by nearly all of the big shows in the country, each one of them disposing of her on account of her temper, though at fabulous prices owing to her wonderful intelligence.

Traits of the Big Animal.

      Mr. Powers stated that she had killed a half a dozen keepers in by-gone years and in each instance she had delivered the death blow only when she had every advantage of her keeper. Like all other elephants, she never forgot a kindness or an injury. She would harbor an unkind act for years and then avenge it after the one who did it had forgotten all about it. Last year, in Chicago, she ran amuck and was conquered by Mrs. Harris, a delicate, frail little woman, who had nerve enough to rush at her with a pitchfork and defy her. On another occasion she would have killed the same woman had not O’Rourke, who was killed Saturday night, run to her rescue. Mrs. Harris remembered this act when she gave an order for a fine casket and for the dead man to be given a decent burial.
      Gypsy is probably the only elephant of her size that has ever been killed by a rifle ball, and her death is a great advertisement for the Krag-Jorgensen army rifles, as well as for Chief Dampier who fired the fatal shot. Only a could of weeks ago on of the Barnum Elephants was carried twenty miles to sea out of New York, and three or four tug boats were used to hang her and sink her remains into the sea.

The Story Will Live for Years.

      The killing of an elephant in the woods near Valdosta will be a story which will be told to generations yet unborn and it is highly probable that the veracity of many a truthful man will suffer from having repeated the tale. Even now, it is almost hard to believe, but the bones and white ivory tusks will form relics that will be kept for years by many who desire to keep such trophies to substantiate the fact.
      There has been some talk of saving the skeleton of the big animal and mounting it for exhibition in this city. If such a thing can be done, the people of Valdosta can afford to pay a good price for it.
      The death of Gypsy has given Valdosta more publicity than anything that has ever happened here, as there is hardly a paper in country that has not printed the story of Saturday night’s chase and its final results.

The Atlanta Constitution published additional details of Gypsy’s final rampage at Valdosta:

The Atlanta Constitution
November 24, 1902

KEEPER’S LIFE CRUSHED OUT BY ELEPHANT
Infuriated Beast Tramples and Then Rolls on James O’Rourk’s Body.

ANOTHER MAN INJURED BY BLOW FROM TRUNK

Huge Animal Then Becomes Crazed After Shots Fired Into Its Body at Valdosta and Escapes. Found at Daylight and Killed.

      Valdosta, Ga., November 23. _(Special.) Gipsy, the huge performing elephant of the Harris Nickel Plate Show, became unmanageable after the performance in this city last night and killed her keeper, James O’Rourk. Another member of the show was also injured in endeavoring to capture and chain the infuriated animal.
      The show people lost all control on the elephant and after terrorizing a goodly portion of the people on Toombs street, she made her escape to the country, where she was followed and shot to death near Cherry Creek, 6 miles north of the city, after an all night chase.
      The mad creature’s escapade created intense excitement, and although it occurred after 12 o’clock at night, a large crowd was attracted to the scene.

Gipsy Becomes Unruly.

      The elephant went through her usual performance in the ring in an apparently docile manner, but became unruly before the tents were struck. It was the last performance of the season, the show going into winter quarters at Pane park, near the city. After the show O’Rourk started with the elephant to the park, riding on her head. He is thought to have been under the influence of whisky and is said to have left the show ground scolding and prodding the already maddened creature. Near the Baptist church the keeper fell off the elephant, striking the ground almost in front of her. All the evil in her huge body seemed aroused when the man struck the ground and before he could make a move to save himself she placed her ponderous feet on his body and crushed his life out. She knelt on the body and then rolled the insensible and dying man along with her trunk for 75 yards.

Former Keeper Injured.

       Only a few people witnessed the killing, but a considerable crowd soon gathered. Other members of the show attempted to secure and chain Gypsy, tossed the dead keeper’s body aside and went to eating the grass along the side of the street, A former keeper, to whom the animal once seemed greatly attached, called her name several times and went up to her. With rare cunning she allowed him to approach within arm’s length, when she threw her trunk out with lightning rapidity and knocked him half across the street, afterwards continuing her way out to the northern part of the city.
A crowd followed her out to the park, where an effort was made to kill her. Several shots from pistols and a mauser rifle were fired into her body, but their first effect only seemed to enrage her, and with vicious lunges she scattered the crowd, and then mashing the park fences made her escape. The pursuit was kept up but the crowd lost sight of the huge creature in the dark. She was easily tracked however, and a number of places were found where she had lain down, the shots from the rifle evidently having begun to take effect. About daylight the crowd came up with the sorely wounded elephant 6 miles from town, and another shot from the mauser rifle in the side of the head rolled her over dead.

With Show Twelve Years.

      O’Rourk, the dead keeper is said to have been from New Orleans, though his people live in San Francisco. He had been with the Harris show for ten or twelve years and had charge of Gipsy for the greater portion of this time.
      The elephant was one of the largest in the country and weight about 12,000 pounds. She had a bad record, having killed ten men previous to her break last night. She was splendidly trained, and notwithstanding her unenviable reputation was a very valuable animal. The Harris show is said to have refused an offer of $6,000 for her.
Mrs. Harris, the owner of the show, begged that Gipsy’s life be spared, but is said to have expressed herself as greatly relieved when informed of the elephant’s death this morning.
      O’Rourk’s body was interred at the city cemetery this afternoon.

Bloody History of Gypsy the Elephant

Ray City Carnival Photos

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Circus Train Wrecked in Tifton

March 3, 2012 at 12:15 am (Society and Leisure)
Tags: Harris Nickel Plate Show, Tifton GA, Valdosta GA

Circus Train

News article reported the 1902 wreck of the Harris shows circus train at Tifton, GA.

The November 23, 1902 issue of The Valdosta Times, reported on the wreck of the Harris Shows circus train at Tifton, GA. The story led with, “Valdosta seems to be a jonah for the Harris Nickel Plate Shows…” How prophetic that opening would turn out to be.

The Nickel Plate Circus in a Bad Smash-Up at Tifton

HARRIS SHOWS WINTER HERE

The Circus Train in Another Wreck at Tifton and one of Their Best Horses Killed – Lions to be Kept in Building at Pine Park - Where the Performers Will Go.

Valdosta seems to be a jonah for the Harris Nickel Plate Shows, in spite of the fact that the managers of the show like Valdosta, and the people of Valdosta have been very much pleased with the show and the people who are managing it.
      When the circus started for Valdosta a few days before the State Fair, they were in a collision, near Dothan, Ala., that destroyed several of they cars and came near costing human lives. Several of their best wagons and cages were torn up so that they had to be placed in the shops here for repairs.
      Last Saturday morning as the circus train was fixing to pull out of Tifton for Valdosta, it had a collision with an engine which was drilling some cars there, doing a good deal of damage. The show train, which was to be drawn by one fo the Georgia Southern’s engines, was backed into the switch train, which was then on the main line.
      The show train ran into this train in the rear, demolishing several of the cars of the Harris show, as well as the property of the railroad company. All the show people were aboard their coaches, and were badly shaken up by the jolt. Mr. Dorsey, the traveling representative of the show, was hurt worse than any of them. He was considerably bruised by a bump against the side of the coach, and has needed medical attention. Mr. Bowles, the band master, was bruised below the eye, from the fall of a flute which hung above his sleeping berth.
       The stable cars were next to the passenger coaches, with all the fine and valuable horses of the show. One of the best ring horses was thrown down by the jar, and several other of the horses fell over him, crippling him in such a manner that is was necessary to shoot the animal to relieve his suffering. This horse was valued at not less than $1,000.
      One of the heaviest of the show wagons was demolished in the wreck. This wagon was a costly one, requiring eight horses to pull it.
      The train reached this city about eleven o’clock and the tents were raised for the performances that afternoon. Two good performances were given and, afterwards, the property of the circus was carried to Pine Park where it will remain for four months , when the circus will go on the road again. The lions are confined in a little building adjoining the main entrance to the grounds, while the wagons, tents, etc, are stored away in a different part of the grounds and the horses are in the live stock stables.
Most of the performers with the show will join other troupes for the winter, though a number of them will remain in this city and go in practice for the next season’s work.

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Wilmont Pierce and the Valdosta Baptist Association

September 17, 2011 at 12:29 am (Faith and Begorrah, WWII)
Tags: Armstrong B. Baskin, Helen Baskin, Joseph Candler Pierce, Lanier County GA, Nancy Richardson Pierce, Ray City Baptist Church, Ray City GA, Ray City in WWII, Valdosta GA, Wilmont Pierce

Wilmont Pierce (1922-2009) An old newspaper clipping tells of the service of Wilmont Pierce, of Ray City, as clerk of the Valdosta Baptist Association during the 1950s. Pierce was a graduate of Lanier County Schools, and in 1938 was a member of the 8th District high school championship basketball team. He joined the First Baptist Church, Ray City, Ga., in the early 1940s and served as a deacon, teacher and in various other capacities. In 1943 he married Helen D. Baskin, daughter of Armstrong B. “Bee” Baskin. Pierce served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was stationed in France and Germany, as well as Fort Dix, N.J. Following the War he enlisted in the regular Army for service in the Panama Canal Department. After discharge from the service Wilmont Pierce farmed at Ray City with his father-in-law. In the late 1960s, the Pierces moved to Valdosta, GA and later moved to Axson, in Coffee County, GA.

Wilmont Pierce, of Ray City, GA, Clerk of the Valdosta Baptist Association, 1953

Clinch County News
November 6, 1953

Rev. Marvin Stedham, Lakeland, retiring moderator of the Valdosta Baptist Association, congratulates the newly elected moderator, Rev. Edgar Davis (center), Homerville pastor, who was named to the association’s highest office at sessions of the annual meeting in Valdosta Thursday. Wilmont Pierce, Ray City layman (right), was re-elected as clerk of the organization for his third term. Rev. Omer Graves, Nashville, who was named vice moderator was unable to attend.

Obituary of Wilmont Pierce

Wilmont Pierce, of Axon, Ga., passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, at his home following an extended illness. Mr. Pierce was born on Jan. 17, 1922, in the Mud Creek/Crisp area of Lanier County, the son of the late Joseph Candler Pierce and Nancy Richardson Pierce. Preceding him in death were his wife of 61 years, Helen D. Baskin Pierce, Axson, Ga., and his brothers and sister, Billy Pierce, Dilmus Pierce and Beatrice Pierce Everett, all of Lakeland, Ga. He was a graduate of Lanier County Schools. Mr. Pierce has served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was stationed in France and Germany, as well as Fort Dix, N.J. After his discharge he farmed with his father-in-law, the late A. B. Baskin of Lanier County. He was instrumental in re-organizing the Lanier County Farm Bureau and became the first insurance agent for the Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance Company in that county. He also opened the first Farm Bureau supply store that became a pilot project for Farm Bureau stores state-wide. He retired in the late 1990′s while residing in Valdosta, Ga. After moving there in the late 1960′s, he worked with the Grant’s retail stores, later managing hospitality properties for Jolly Inn. The King of the Road, Club House Inn and the Elks Club. He also managed properties in Thomasville, Ga. and Jacksonville Beach, Fla. In his early years, Mr. Pierce had been a member of Unity United Methodist Church in Lanier County. He became a member of First Baptist Church, Ray City, Ga., in the early 1940′s where he served as a deacon, teacher and in various other capacities. After moving to Valdosta he was a member of First Baptist Church there. He and his wife moved to Coffee County in 2000, and was a member of Stokesville Baptist Church where he served as a teacher of senior adults until a few months ago. He is survived by his sons, Michael J. Pierce (Lou), Axson, Ga., W. Candler Pierce (Mary Ann), Wyoming, R.I., Bobby L. Pierce (Kay), Axson, Ga.; his grandchildren, M. Andrew Pierce (Robin), Olathe, Kan., Holly Smith, Axson, Ga., Wade C. Pierce (Jennifer), Keith H. Pierce, Clearwater, Fla., Jessica and Andrea Pierce, Boston, Mass., Justin Pierce, Wyoming, R.I., K. Lynn Eslinger (Jason), Cleveland, Tenn., Kimberly L. Hunter (Tim), Valdosta, Krista L. Pierce, Valdosta; as well as seven great-grandchildren. Surviving in his extended family are J.C. and Evelyn Pierce, Crawfordville, Ga., Howard and Dorothy Faye Pierce Ray, Ray City, Ga., Jessie Pierce Hudson, Valdosta, McDonald (Jabo) and Betty Pierce and Burma Pierce, Lakeland Ga., Vanelle Baskin, Valdosta, Gloria Baskin, Groves, Texas, Hagan and Shirley Baskin, Atlanta; and 16 nieces and nephews.

Memorial services for Mr. Pierce were held at First Baptist Church, Ray City, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009, at 2:30 p.m. with the Rev. John Patten and the Rev. Bob Pierce officiating. Interment, with the Rev. Edgar Musgrove officiating followed in the Unity United Methodist Church cemetery near Lakeland, Ga., with military honors.

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Louelle Giddens’ Student Activities at G.S.W.C.

August 2, 2011 at 12:04 am (Georgia State Womans College, Giddens Family)
Tags: Georgia State Womans College, Mary Luelle Giddens, Ray City GA, Valdosta GA

A previous post noted that Luelle Giddens, of Ray City, attended Georgia State Womans College (now known as Valdosta State University) from 1933 to 1935 where she was a member of the Euclidean Club. Among her other activities while at G.S.W.C. she was also a member of the Valdosta Club and served as Treasurer of the International Relations Club.

As a graduate of Valdosta High School, she was also a member of the Valdosta Club:

The Valdosta Club is an organization composed of the alumnae of the Valdosta High School. It holds monthly meetings of a social nature, including luncheons, tea dances, and specialty features. The purpose of the club is to promote a friendly feeling between the boarding and day students, to emphasize the social life of the college, and to be a means of interpreting the activities of the day students and the town.

Doris Swindle, G.S.W.C. (raycityhistory.wordpress.com)
Elsie Quarterman, Noted Ecologist, Once Resident of Ray City (raycityhistory.wordpress.com)

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Ray City History Blog

Wild Men in the Wiregrass

The Elixir of Life

Robert J. Starling was at Emory College, Valdosta, GA 1948

Rays Mill Wins Route for the Georgia & Florida Railroad

Whangdoodled on Panama Canal Contract, Billy Oliver put in a Bid to Construct G & F Railroad Through Ray City

Bloody History of Gypsy the Elephant

Bones of Gypsy the Elephant

Circus Train Wrecked in Tifton

Wilmont Pierce and the Valdosta Baptist Association

Louelle Giddens’ Student Activities at G.S.W.C.

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