September | 2014 | Ray City History Blog

G & F Railroad To Open with Big Excursion

September 26, 2014 at 12:45 am (Georgia & Florida Railroad)
Tags: Broxton GA, Douglas GA, Georgia and Florida railroad, Hazlehurst GA, Madison FL, Nashville GA, Rays Mill Georgia, Valdosta GA, Willacoochee GA

Road opens with big excursion

Georgia and Florida railroad prepared to open. Atlanta Georgian and News, Sep. 26, 1908

Atlanta Georgian and News
September 26, 1908

To Open Road With Big Excursion

Valdosta, Ga., Sept. 26. – The businessmen of Valdosta held a meeting at the city hall yesterday afternoon for the purpose of perfecting arrangements for the entertainment of the people along the line of the Georgia and Florida railroad who are coming to this city on the big excursion which the road will run next Thursday. This event will mark the opening of a passenger schedule on the new line between Hazlehurst and Madison, Fla., via Valdosta, and it is said that hundreds of persons are coming to this city from the different towns along the line. Many of them will be strangers who have never visited Valdosta, and all will be given a royal welcome.
The track-layers on the gap of the line between Valdosta and Nashville joined the rails near Rays Mill last Saturday and this week has been spent in surfacing the roadbed and getting ready for the passenger schedule to go on October 1. The road is now in operating order from Hazlehurst to Madison, Fla.

First Regular Train on the G & F, The Valdosta Times, September 26, 1908 Pg 5

The Valdosta Times
September 26, 1908

Many are Coming Next Week

First Regular Train on G. & F. will Bring Large Crowds

It Will Arrive From Hazlehurst Next Wednesday with Five Hundred Excursionists to Spend the Day in Valdosta – Crowd Will be Entertained Here.

The first regular passenger train over the Georgia and Florida railroad will reach this city next Wednesday at noon from Hazelhurst, Ga.
The train will leave Hazlehurst that morning at seven o’clock and it will come through by Broxton, Douglas, Willacoochee, Nashville and other places, taking up a crowd of people at each station and bring them to Valdosta to spend the day.
The first train will be devoted exclusively to the white people and the officials of the road are working up the crowd to come here. It will consist of the best class of people between here and Hazlehurst, and the citizens of Valdosta have already decided to arrange some line of entertainment for the visitors.
A meeting will be held tonight to take up the matter and discuss what line of entertainment shall be arranged. It has been suggested that open-house be kept for the visitors and that lunches be prepared and served to them. One suggestion was to tag every guest with a badge, which should admit him to the place where refreshments are to be served. Another suggestion was to have the dinner prepared when the guests arrive and serve it to the visitors in a bunch, so that the citizens of Valdosta will have a better opportunity to meet them and talk with them.
The details of the entertainment will be arranged later, it having already been decided to make it all that it should be. Valdosta never lags when a test of hospitality comes and every citizen will do his part toward welcoming to the city the people on the line of road above here.
It is very probable that the meeting tonight will decide all about what kind of entertainment will be given the visitors.

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Cauley Hammond Shaw was Ray City Police Chief

September 21, 2014 at 12:07 am (Law and Order, Shaw Family)
Tags: Adel GA, Berrien County GA, Cat Creek Cemetery, Cauley Hammond Shaw, Charles Bruner Shaw, Charlie H. Adams, Charlton Hines Shaw, Douglas GA, Dr. John W. Barber, Hazel Annie Shaw, James C. Shaw, Julia Texas Peters, Julian C. Shaw, Lester H. Shaw, Milltown GA, Nashville GA, Ray City GA, Rebecca Jane Devane, Rebecca W. Barber, Sarah Mathis, Valdosta GA, Willacoochee GA, William Peters

Cauley Hammond Shaw (1883-1961)
Ray City Police Chief, 1914

Cauley Hammond Shaw. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and www.berriencountyga.com

Cauley Hammond Shaw. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and http://www.berriencountyga.com

In 1914 Police Chief Cauley Shaw was the officer responsible for law and order in Ray City, Ga.

The Shaw Family Newsletter: In the Name of the Law by Bryan Shaw, relates that Cauley H. Shaw served as Deputy Sheriff in Berrien County, 1907; Nashville Police Chief, 1908; Milltown City Marshal, 1910; Douglas Police Chief, 1911; Ray City Police Chief, 1914; Willacoochee Police Chief, 1920; and was the first motorcycle police officer in Valdosta, GA.

Shaw Family Newsletter: In the Name of the Law

Cauley Hammond Shaw was born November 5, 1883, a son of Charlton Hines Shaw and Rebecca Jane Devane. As a boy, he attended the local schools through the 7th grade. In the Census of 1900 Cauley H. Shaw, age 16, is enumerated in his parents’ household. His father owned a farm near Adel, GA where Cauley assisted with the farm labor. Cauley’s elder brother, Lester H. Shaw, worked as a teamster, while his younger siblings attended school.

As a young man, Cauley Shaw entered the profession of law enforcement, serving as a Deputy Sheriff of Berrien County in 1907. On January 16, 1907 he married Julia Texas Peters , in Berrien county, GA. She was the daughter of William Peters and Sarah Mathis, born May 20, 1883 in Berrien, GA.

A year later Cauley accepted the position of Police Chief in Nashville, GA. The newlyweds were blessed with their firstborn child on February 21, 1908, a boy they named James C. Shaw. Tragically, their infant son died just six months later on September 3, 1908 and was laid to rest in Cat Creek Cemetery, Lowndes County, GA. The following year on October 24, 1909 Julia delivered a second child, Julian C. Shaw. Again, tragedy struck, the newborn surviving just a few weeks. The baby Shaw was interred at Cat Creek Cemetery.

In April of 1910, Cauley and Julia were found in Hazelhurst. GA. They were boarding in the household of Rebecca W. Barber, widow of Dr. John W. Barber. Cauley owned a barbershop where he worked on his own account. Soon, though, Cauley returned to police work, serving as City Marshal of Milltown (now Lakeland, GA) in 1910, and Police Chief of Douglas, GA in 1911.

In 1913 a third child was born to Cauley and Julia, a daughter they named Hazel Annie. By this time, Cauley Shaw had moved his young family back to Ray City, GA where he served as Chief of Police.

Bryan Shaw relates an incident report from the Nashville Herald, October 9, 1914:

Considerable excitement was occasioned here Monday by a report that Cauley and Bruner Shaw and two other young men of Ray’s Mill had been shot about twelve miles down the Valdosta Road. Several gentlemen from here went in an automobile. But when they reached the scene, they found that the wounds were not serious. A negro for whom they had a warrant, shot at them with a shotgun loaded with bird shot.

Again, January 22 , 1915:

Officers at Ray’s Mill raided a skin game a few nights ago and brought in ten colored men and boys.

The first World War found Cauley Shaw and his family still in Ray City. On September 12, 1918 Cauley Shaw registered for the WWI draft in Ray City. Signing as Registrar on his draft card was the town pharmacist, C.O. Terry. He was 34 years old, medium height, medium build, with blue eyes and light hair. Cauley had given up his position as Ray City Police Chief to Charlie H. Adams, and was employed in farming at Ray City.

1918 Draft Registration for Cauley Hammond Shaw.

By the time of the 1920 census, Cauley Shaw had moved his family to Willacoochee, GA, where he had returned to law enforcement, working as a city policeman. When the Shaws were enumerated on January 2, 1920 they were renting a house on Vickers Street. The Shaw household consisted of Cauley, wife Julia, their seven-year-old daughter Hazel, and their niece Myrtie Smith, age eight.

The Valdosta City Directory shows, in 1923, Cauley and Julia Shaw were living in a home at 406 Floyd Street, Valdosta, GA. Cauley was employed as a foreman. His cousin, Brodie Shaw, owned home a few blocks away at 203 S. Lee Street, and was working as a “yardman” [lumber yard?]. By 1925, the directory shows Cauley was back in police work for the city of Valdosta. Brodie Shaw had moved even closer, to a home at 307 Savannah Street.

Some time before 1930, Cauley and Julia moved to Douglas, GA where Cauley had served as police chief in 1911. Cauley again took work as a city policeman. They first rented then purchased a home near the corner of Ashley Street and College Avenue. In 1930, their daughter, Hazel, married John H. Peterson, of Douglas.

Julia and Cauley remained in Douglas, GA. The census records show Cauley’s 1940 salary as a police officer there was about $23 dollars a week.

Family of Cauley Hammond Shaw , circa 1953. Left to right John Henry “J.H.” Peterson, Hazel Annie Shaw Peterson, Cauley Hammond Shaw, James Russell Peterson, Juliah Peters Shaw, Benajah Peterson, Mary Juliah Peterson. Front row: Sue Ellen Peterson, John Hammond “Pete” Peterson. Photo courtesy of Susie Peterson and http://www.berriencountyga.com

Julia Peters Shaw died March 16, 1956. Cauley Hammond Shaw died in Douglas, GA on March 28, 1961. Both are buried in Cat Creek Cemetery, Lowndes county, GA.

Graves of Cauley Hammond Shaw and Julia Peters Shaw, Cat Creek Cemetery, Lowndes County, GA. Image courtesy of Cullen and Jeanne Wheeler.

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The Ray City Skin Game

September 20, 2014 at 12:59 am (Law and Order, Shaw Family)
Tags: Cauley Hammond Shaw, Charles Bruner Shaw, Ray City GA, Skin Game

Skin Game

The Nashville Herald briefly reported in the January 22, 1915 edition:

Officers at Ray’s Mill raided a skin game a few nights ago and brought in ten colored men and boys.

According to Bryan Shaw’s In the Name of the Law, the Ray’s Mill officers at the time were Cauley Shaw and Bruner Shaw.

Ray City Police Officers, Cauley and Bruner Shaw. Image detail courtesy of www.berriencountyga.com

Ray City Police Officers, Cauley and Bruner Shaw. Image detail courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1897) provides the following definition:

skin game – n. A game, as of cards, in which one player has no chance against another, as when the cards are stacked or other tricks are played to cheat or fleece; any confidence-game.

The Online Etymology Dictionary adds:

skin game – In 19c. U.S. colloquial use, “to strip, fleece, plunder;” hence skin-game, one in which one player has no chance against the others (as with a stacked deck), the type of con game played in a skin-house.

Skin games were operated from towns large and small, New York City to Ray City.

At the gambling table.

Title: Migratory laborers and vegetable pickers playing “skin” game in back of juke joint and bar in the Belle Glade area of south central Florida. Image source: Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000037636/PP/

In Lights and Shadows of New York Life, James D. McCabe describes the skin game:

In gambler’s parlance, it is called a “skin game.” In plain English it means that the bank sets out to win the player’s money by deliberate and premeditated fraud… Here every guest must stake his money at the risk of encountering personal violence from the proprietor or his associates. The dealer is well skilled in manipulating the cards so as to make them win for the bank always, and every effort is made to render the victim hazy with liquor, so that he shall not be able to keep a clear record in his mind of the progress of the game. A common trick is to use sanded cards, or cards with their surfaces roughened, so that two, by being handled in a certain way, will adhere and fall as one card. Again, the dealer will so arrange his cards as to be sure of the exact order in which they will come out. He can thus pull out one card, or two at a time, as the “necessities of the bank” may require. Frequently no tally is kept of the game, and the player is unable to tell how many turns have been made—whether the full number or less. Even if the fraud is discovered, the visitor will find it a serious matter to attempt to expose it. The majority of the persons present are in the pay of the bank, and all are operating with but one object—to get possession of the money of visitors. The slightest effort at resistance will ensure an assault…

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James Dewey Calhoun and Mary Elizabeth Brogdon

September 15, 2014 at 12:49 am (Calhoun Family)
Tags: Alapaha GA, Beaver Dam Cemetery, Blancett Swilley, Buck Sutton, Densil Calhoun, Dewey Calhoun, Elias Moore Knight, First Baptist Church of Ray City, Howard Vinson Calhoun, James Dewey "J.D." Calhoun, James Dewey Calhoun, John G. Hall, John Levi Allen, Lois GA, Luvelia Luvenia Ray, Mack Bullard, Martha Virginia Calhoun, Mary Elizabeth Brogdon, Minerva Futch, Nashville Elementary School, Nashville Public School, Perry Lee Pittman, Rachel Bullard, Ray City GA, Rex Calhoun, Samuel Augustus Calhoun, Thomas Brogdon, Work Projects Administration, WPA

James Dewey Calhoun was born about 1904 near Ray City, GA. His grave marker in Beaver Dam Cemetery, Ray City, GA gives his birth date as June 22, 1904, but his Social Security records listed his date of birth as June 22, 1901. Census records place his date of birth variously at about 1902, 1904, or 1907. Based on the research of family members, the 1901 date is probably the most accurate. He was a son of Samuel Augustus Calhoun and Rachel Bullard, and a brother of Joseph Burton Calhoun. The image detail below, of James Dewey Calhoun and his father, is believed to date from around 1907.

James Dewey Calhoun as a young boy with his father, Samuel Augustus “Gus” Calhoun. Image detail courtesy of Mitchell Calhoun.

James Dewey Calhoun first appears in the census records in 1910, enumerated as “Dewey.” He was one of nine children in his parent’s household at Ray City, GA. Samuel’s mother was Rachel Bullard Calhoun, a daughter of Luvellia Ray and Mack Bullard.

1910 census enumeration of James Dewey Calhoun

https://archive.org/stream/13thcensus1910po172unit#page/n640/mode/1up

In the 1920s the Calhouns were living at Ray City, GA where Dewey’s father rented a place on the Valdosta & Ray City Road. Dewey had a common school education, but by age 12 he was working on the Calhoun farm assisting his father with farm labor along with his brothers. Just around the corner from the Calhoun place was the farm of Elias M. “Hun” Knight, businessman of Ray City and owner of the Mayhaw Lake Resort.

https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu235unit#page/n312/mode/1up

James Dewey Calhoun married Mary Elizabeth Brogdon on Saturday, November 24, 1928 in Berrien County, GA. The ceremony was performed by John G. Hall, Justice of the Peace. Dewey was 21 and Mary was 18 at the time of their marriage. She was a daughter of Thomas Brogdon and Blancett Swilley. Like Dewey, she had a common school education through 7th grade.

Marriage certificate of J. D. Calhoun and Mary Brogdon, November 24, 1928, Berrien County, Georgia

After marriage Dewey and Mary Calhoun made their home in the Lois precinct of the 1329 Georgia Militia District (Connell’s Mill District), where they began raising crops and children. Dewey rented a farm next door to the 260 acre farm of Minerva Futch and John L. Allen. The Allen place (formerly the farm of Jehu Patten) was on land Lot 454 of the 10th land district (see map), located just southwest of Ray City, near the farms of Francis Marion Shaw, Lacy Shaw, and Jesse Shelby Shaw (see http://www.audubon4tet.com/FMS/21_John_Levi_Allen.pdf). Lon Fender, one of the big timber men and turpentine operators of the Wiregrass, was also renting a farm nearby. The census taker who visited the Calhoun family to take their enumeration in 1930 was Perry Lee Pittman.

1930 census enumeration of James Dewey Calhoun

https://archive.org/stream/georgiacensus00reel338#page/n512/mode/1up

By the 1940s Dewey and Mary had moved their family to Alapha, GA where they rented a home on “Nashville and Nashville” road for $5.00 a month.

1940 census enumeration of James Dewey Calhoun

The employment data from the 1940 census shows Dewey was working 24 hours a week for the WPA while Mary kept home and the children attended school. In late 1938 the Work Projects Administration (WPA) began construction of a gymnasium for the public school in Alapaha, GA.

The Work Projects Administration was one of FDR’s New Deal programs, and the census asked if anyone in the household during the week of March 24–30, 1940, was at work on, or assigned to, public emergency work projects conducted by the WPA, the NYA, the CCC, or state or local work relief agencies. The WPA, established May 6, 1935, developed programs to move unemployed workers from relief to jobs. The WPA workers, among other things, rebuilt the national infrastructure, wrote guides to the 48 states, worked in the arts and theater, and assisted with disaster relief. The NYA, established under the WPA, gave part-time jobs to high school and college students to earn money to continue their education. The CCC, created March 31, 1933, employed men aged 18–25 in conservation work in the national parks and forests. http://1940census.archives.gov/about/

Other Work Projects Administration (WPA) projects in Berrien county include an annex added to the west side of the Berrien County Courthouse in 1938. In 1940, WPA workers assisted with the construction of the lunchroom at the Ray City School. Bill Outlaw described a WPA project digging a ditch in Buck Bay, then called Beaver Dam Bay, on the W.H. Outlaw farm previously known as the Jerry S. “Buck” Sutton Old Home place (See Bill Outlaw’s Georgia Centennial Farm application for the W. H. Outlaw farm for interesting commentary on Berrien County farm life over the last 150 years). WPA instructors were also involved with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at Homerville, GA where Ray City and Berrien County men were working.

Later the Calhouns were back at Nashville, GA. Census data beyond 1940 has not yet been released, but school photos from the 1950s show Mary and Dewey Calhoun’s children continued to attend at the Nashville public schools.

Children of Mary Elizabeth Brogdon 1909 – 2002 and James Dewey Calhoun (1901-1980)

Charles Rex Calhoun 1929 – 2000
Martha Virginia Calhoun 1933 – 2005
James Dewey “J.D.” Calhoun 1937 – 2013
Howard Vinson Calhoun 1939 – 1979
Densil Calhoun 1944 – 2008

Rex Calhoun, son of Dewey Calhoun, attended 1st grade at Nashville Public School, 1936-37. Image detail courtesy of www.berriencountyga.com

Rex Calhoun, son of Dewey Calhoun, attended 1st grade at Nashville Public School, 1936-37. Image detail courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com

Class photos from 1954 show Densil Calhoun was attending school at Nashville Elementary.

Densil Calhoun, son of Dewey Calhoun, 4th grade school photo, 1954, Nashville Elementary School.

http://berriencounty.smugmug.com/Schools/Nashville-Elementary/1954-Classrooms/17024719_X46qXD#!i=1288624316&k=fHz4KBF

The 1972 obituary of Joe B. Calhoun mentions that his brother, Dewey Calhoun was still residing in Nashville, GA.

James Dewey Calhoun died November 3, 1980. He was buried at Beaver Dam Cemetery, Ray City, GA. His widow, Mary Brogdon Calhoun, continued to reside at Nashville, GA but was a member of the Baptist Church in Ray City. Mary died in 2002 and was buried next to her husband at Beaver Dam Cemetery.

for May 6, 2002

Mary Calhoun

NASHVILLE — Mary Calhoun, 96, of Nashville, died May 5, 2002, in the Memorial Convalescent Center of Adel. Born on Aug. 26, 1905, to the late Thomas Brogdon and Blancett Swilley, she was a homemaker and member of First Baptist Church of Ray City. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dewey Calhoun, who died in 1980, and two sons, Howard and Rex Calhoun. Survivors include one daughter, Martha Gurganious of Nashville; two sons, Densol Calhoun of Nashville and J. D. Calhoun of Jackson; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, 2002, in the chapel of Lovein Funeral Home with the Rev. Clarence Luke and the Rev. Fred Hesters officiating. Burial will follow in Beaver Dam Cemetery. Visitation is today after 4 p.m. with the family receiving friends from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. — Lovein Funeral Home.

Graves of James Dewey Calhoun and Mary Elizabeth Brogdon, Beaver Dam Cemetery, Ray City, GA

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Henry Needham Bullard and Mary Ann Johnson

September 10, 2014 at 12:05 am (Bullard Family, Johnson Family, Shaw Family)
Tags: Alton Parham Bullard, Berrien Light Infantry, Company I 50th Georgia Regiment, Green Bullard, Henry Needham Bullard, Ida Isabelle Shaw, Ida Lou Bullard, Mallie Jones, Mary Ann Johnson, Mary Ann Knight, Mary Johnson, Ray's Mill GA, Richard Seward Johnson, Russell Aubrey Bullard, Woodrow Wilson Bullard

Henry Needham Bullard (1878-1938)

Henry Needham Bullard was born and raised near Ray's Mill, GA (now Ray City). Image provided by Aubrey Bullard. All rights reserved.

Henry Needham Bullard, son of Green Bullard and Mary A. Knight, was born February 16, 1878 and raised on his father’s farm just south of the Ray’s Mill community (now Ray City, GA). His father was a Confederate veteran having served with the Berrien Light Infantry, Company I, 50th Georgia Regiment, (see Green Bullard Fought Sickness in the Civil War) and a prominent farmer of Ray’s Mill. Berrien County Property Tax records of 1872 show Green Bullard owned 980 acres including all of lots 420 and 469 in the 10th land district. By the time of Henry’s birth in 1878 his father employed ten hands on his plantation. Henry was enumerated in the census of 1880 at the age of two.

1880 census enumeration of Green Bullard, Berrien County, GA

1880 census enumeration of Henry Needham Bullard, Berrien County, GA

The census records of 1900 show Henry Bullard, age 22, still single and living in his parent’s household, along with his brother Louis, and step-brother Adam A. Jones.

Enumeration of Green Bullard in the Census of 1900, Rays Mill District, Berrien County, GA

Enumeration of Henry Needham Bullard in the Census of 1900, Rays Mill District, Berrien County, GA

Henry married Mary Johnson on May 26, 1901 in Berrien County, GA. She was born December 11, 1883 a daughter of Richard Seward Johnson and Ida Isabelle Shaw. The Johnsons farmed on the Land lot adjacent to the Bullards.

Image provided by Aubrey Bullard. All rights reserved.

The wedding ceremony was performed by A. A. Knight. Bullard made a tall, blue-eyed groom; Mary Johnson, a 17-year-old blushing bride.

Marriage certificate of Henry Needham Bullard and Miss Mary Johnson, Berrien County, GA, May 25, 1901.

By 1904, Henry Bullard had relocated his family to Valdosta, Georgia. He was working as a rural mail carrier. When his father died in 1907, Henry Bullard was initially appointed as administrator of Green Bullard’s estate, but this was disputed with his step brother, Mallie Jones.

In 1908 Henry Bullard was a bookkeeper in Valdosta. By 1913 city directories show he was in lumber manufacturing, and he became known as a prominent lumberman.

Children of Henry Needham Bullard and Mary Johnson. Left to right: Russell Aubrey Bullard, Ida Lou Bullard Waits, Alton Parham Bullard, and
Woodrow Wilson Bullard. Image provided by Aubrey Bullard. All rights reserved.

Children of Henry Needham Bullard and Mary Johnson

Lena May Bullard (1903 – 1904)
Alton Parham Bullard (1904 – 1974)
Ida Lou Bullard (1906 – 1958)
Russell Aubrey Bullard (1908 – 1962)
Woodrow Wilson Bullard (1910 – 1977)

Mary Ann Johnson Bullard died May 20, 1914 and was buried at Cat Creek Cemetery, Lowndes County, GA. Later, Bullard relocated his family to Florida where he continued in the lumber business. Henry Needham Bullard died in 1938 and was buried at Cat Creek next to his wife.

Special thanks to Aubrey Bullard for contributions to this post.

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Rays Mill Gets G & F Depot

September 5, 2014 at 12:06 am (Georgia & Florida Railroad)
Tags: Berrien County GA, Georgia and Florida railroad, Hazlehurst GA, John Mathis, Madison FL, Mahlon Parker Bowers, Mathis Depot, Nashville GA, Ray City GA, Ray's Mill Depot, Ray's Mill GA, Richard A. Whitehurst, Valdosta GA

The railroad played an important role in the development of Ray City. It spurred the development of businesses like the Mayhaw Lake Resort and Luckie Lumber Mill (later Clements Lumber Company). It provided farmers with access to distant markets, and the people of Ray City with transportation to cities and connecting destinations.

By September 1908, the G&F Construction Company was nearing completion of the Georgia and Florida Railroad. The section running from Nashville, GA via Rays Mill (now Ray City, GA) to Valdosta was the last remaining track to be laid. A contract was let out to construct a “neat and commodious” train depot at Rays Mill at a cost of $1500 dollars. The contractor was Richard A. Whitehurst, of Valdosta, GA. In addition to the depot, the railroad built a number of section houses at Ray’s Mill. These were homes for railroad employees and their families. A big wooden water tower was constructed just south of Main Street on the east side of the tracks to provide water for the trains.

1908 announcement of the construction of a train depot in Rays Mill, GA

NEW ROAD WILL START PASSENGER SCHEDULE
Georgia and Florida Will Begin to Operate Trains Between Nashville, Ga., and Madison, Fla.
Valdosta, Ga., September 5. – (Special.) It is announced that a regular passenger schedule on the Georgia and Florida railroad will be inaugurated on October 1, and that trains will then be run between this city and Hazlehurst, on the Southern railway. The gap from here to Nashville, Ga., 26 miles, will be completed within the next three weeks or less, giving a straight line from Hazlehurst to Madison, Fla. It is understood that two passenger trains a day will be run each way.
Contractor R. A. Whitehurst, of this city, today signed contracts to build two depots for the road between here and Nashville. The first will be located at the place of John Mathis, about 8 miles north of this city, and the other at Rays mill, in Berrien county. The depots are to be neat and commodious structures, and will cost about $1,500 each. So far as known now these will be the only stations between Valdosta and Nashville, but there is a probability of one more being build. The new line opens a splendid territory in this and Berrien county.

By November 9, the depot at Rays Mill was ready to open.

Train depot at Rays Mill, GA was ready to open November 9, 1908.

Valdosta Times
November 6, 1908

The new depots at Mathis and Ray’s Mill on the Georgia and Florida road are nearly completed and will soon be ready for occupancy. The depot at Mathis was thrown open Monday and an agency established there. The agency at Ray’s Mill will be established next Monday [Nov 9, 1908]. The company has just received and put on several new passenger cars, which helps general appearances wonderfully. – Nashville Herald.

Mahlon Parker Bowers was later a Railroad Agent for the G&F Railroad at the Ray City,GA depot.

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Bessie Griffin Bazemore

September 1, 2014 at 12:44 am (DeVane Family, Griffin Family, Knight Family, Lamb Family)
Tags: Bessie Griffin, Captain Bazemore, David Passmore, Georgia Devane, Graham & Smith Landing Road, Guilford I. Parrish, Hazlehurst GA, Henry Harrison Knight, Ida Bazemore, James J. Bazemore, James Patrick DeVane, James W. Parrish, Jesse Carroll, Joel James Carter, John S. Carter, John Webb, Joseph S. Bazemore, Joseph Salem Bazemore, Lester Griffin, Levi J. Knight, Lillian Melissa Knight, Lower Fork District, Lowndes County GA, Mary Elizabeth McIntyre, Matthew Hodge Albritton, Millard F. Devane, Molcy Knight, Molcy Knight Parrish, Noah Webster Griffin, Rachel Passmore, Ray City GA, Ray's Mill GA, Sullivan Jordan Knight, Thomas M. Ray, Thomas W. Ray, William E. Fountain Jr, William J. Lamb, William W. Wilkerson, William Washington Knight

Bessie Griffin (1883-1983)

Bessie Griffin Bazemore. Image source: P.C. Griffin

Bessie was a daughter of Noah Webster Griffin and Lillian Melissa Knight, a granddaughter of William Washington Knight, and a great granddaughter of Levi J. Knight, and of Jesse Carroll, both pioneer settlers of the Ray City, GA area. Her parents grew up in the 1144 Georgia Militia District (Rays Mill District).

Bessie was born August 11, 1883. Tax records at that time show her father owned 175 acres on Lot #371, 10th Land District, Berrien County, GA, increased to 245 acres in 1884. The Griffin farm was in the Connells Mill district (Georgia Militia District 1329), just west of the Rays Mill community (now Ray City, GA), although at that time, the community of Ray’s Mill consisted of little more than the grist mill built by Thomas M. Ray and Levi J. Knight, and the store owned by Henry H. Knight.

Bessie’s early childhood, from 1883 through 1890, was spent on her father’s farm on the same Lot #371. Tax records of 1890 show Guilford I. Parrish, Molcie Parrish – wife of Elder Ansel Parrish, James W. Parrish, John S. Carter, Joel J. Carter, James P. Devane, Millard F. Devane, Georgia R. Devane, William E. Fountain Jr, John Webb, Thomas W. Ray, William W. Knight, Sovin J. Knight, and Matthew H. Albritton were among their neighbors.

Apparently, the Griffin’s moved to the Lower Fork district of Lowndes county (Georgia Militia District 658) before the birth of Bessie’s brother, Lester Griffin, in 1890.

Bessie Griffin married Joseph S. Bazemore on December 20, 1899, in Lowndes County, GA. The bride was sixteen; the groom was a 29-year-old farmer. Joseph Salem Bazemore was born March 10, 1870 at Hazlehurst, GA. He was a son of James J. Bazemore (1853-1893) and Mary Elizabeth McIntyre (1848-1924).

Marriage Certificate of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, December 20, 1899, Lowndes County, GA.

Image source: http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/u?/countyfilm,123494

Bessie and Joseph were married by William W. Wilkinson, Justice of the Peace. In the 1850s, Wilkinson had been a neighbor of Jesse Carroll and of William J. Lamb (see (Bazemore-Griffin Wedding 1899.

Bazemore-Griffin Wedding, Dec 20, 1899, Lowndes County, GA. Image courtesy of Jim Griffin.

In 1900, the newlyweds were renting a farm in Lowndes County, in the Lower Fork District No. 658, next to the farm of Bessie’s widowed mother. Boarding with them and working as a farm laborer was William J. Lamb, and his wife Mary Carrol Knight Lamb. Among the neighbors were David and Rachel Passmore and their children.

1900 census enumeration of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, Lower Fork District, Lowndes County, GA.

http://archive.org/stream/12thcensusofpopu209unit#page/n440/mode/1up

By the census of 1910, Bessie and Joe Bazemore had moved to the Hazlehurst, GA area, Georgia Militia District #1364. Their place was on “Rural Route Road #1” near where it intersected with Graham & Smith Landing Road. Joe’s brother, Captain Bazemore, and his wife Ida were living next door.

1910 census enumeration of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, Hazlehurst, Jeff Davis County, GA.

http://archive.org/stream/13thcensus1910po198unit#page/n463/mode/1up

Joe and Bessie, as well as Cap and Ida, remained in Hazlehurst through the 1920 census.

1920 census enumeration og Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, Hazlehurst, Jeff Davis County, GA.

1920 census enumeration of Joseph S. Bazemore and Bessie Griffin, Hazlehurst, Jeff Davis County, GA.

http://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu263unit#page/n466/mode/1up

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