Portrait of Rossie O. Knight

April 25, 2015 at 12:43 am (Knight Family, WWI)
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Rossie O. Knight as a young Soldier. Born August 28, 1892, Rossie O. Knight grew up in Ray City, GA.

Rossie O. Knight as a young Soldier. Born August 28, 1892, Rossie O. Knight grew up in Ray City, GA. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation http://www.berriencountyga.com

Rossie O. Knight

Rossie O. Knight, a son of Sovin J. Knight and Ann Eliza Allen,  and grew up on his parents’ farm near Rays Mill (now Ray City), GA.   He was one of many young men of Berrien County who served in WWI.  Rossie served in  France with the U.S. 1st Division, where he was engaged in major campaigns at Montdidier, Marne, St. Mihiel and Argonne. After the Armistice he served in occupation of Germany at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

Family member Bryan Shaw shares the following:

“Rossie Knight returned home after the war but was plagued with the effects of multiple gas exposures he received while fighting in France. Rossie remained single the rest of his life. He died November 16, 1963 at the age of 71.

“These photos of Rossie O. Knight are very revealing. First of all there is the young Rossie with tousled hair standing tall and almost innocent in his demeanor and facial features.

In the next photo, chest up and three-quarters, he is firm and self confident, ready for any challenge he is faced with, slightly older and more mature looking than the  first photo.

Then, almost a tragic contrast are the last two photos, one standing alone with hat in hand, the other with his two brothers, Mansfield in the center and Leland on the right. Rossie is on the left.

After all he had seen and endured throughout the war, the obvious effects on his mental well being is poignantly captured. He appears almost timid and withdrawn. He had emotional and health problems throughout the remainder of his life. A handsome young man, he came back from the war broken, and he never married.”

He is buried at the Pleasant Cemetery in the Lois community.”

Bryan Shaw

Rossie O. Knight, soldier. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation www.berriencountyga.com

Rossie O. Knight, soldier. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation http://www.berriencountyga.com

Rossie O. KnightImage courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation www.berriencountyga.com

Rossie O. Knight. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation http://www.berriencountyga.com

 

Rossie O. Knight returned to Berrien County after WWI, but never fully recovered from his wartime experiences.

Rossie O. Knight returned to Berrien County after WWI, but never fully recovered from his wartime experiences. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation http://www.berriencountyga.com

Three Knight brothers, left to right: Rossie O. Knight, Marion Mansfield Knight, and Leland Thomas Knight. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation www.berriencountyga.com

Three Knight brothers, left to right: Rossie O. Knight, Marion Mansfield Knight, and Leland Thomas Knight. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw and the Berrien Historical Foundation http://www.berriencountyga.com

 

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Magnum Post Office Briefly Served Pioneers of Old Berrien

April 20, 2015 at 12:03 am (Coffee Road, Governance & Civics, Sharpes of Old Lowndes)
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Lowndes County, GA,  1839

After south Georgia was first opened to settlers in the 1820s, the federal government established post offices to serve the pioneers.  But for many years, the  Post Offices of the Old Berrien Pioneers were few and far between.

As of 1836 there were only two post offices in all of Lowndes County, GA, an area which then encompassed present day Lowndes, Berrien, Cook, Brooks, Lanier, and parts of Tift, Colquitt, and Echols counties. These post offices are shown on the 1839 Map of Georgia & Alabama exhibiting the post offices, post roads, canals, rail roads & c.; by David H. Burr (Late topographer to the Post Office), Geographer to the House of Representatives of the U.S.

In 1836 area settlers traveled to post mail either at the county court house at Franklinville, GA, or at a post office on the Coffee Road which existed only briefly in Lowndes County. Contemporary accounts give the name of this post office as Mangum, although the 1839 Burr postal map, the official U. S. Postal Service Record of Appointment of Postmasters, and List of the Post-Offices in the United States give the name as Magnum.

1839 map of Lowndes County, GA showing post offices and stagecoach routes.

1839 map of Lowndes County, GA showing post offices and stagecoach routes. (Detail of 1839 Map of Georgia & Alabama exhibiting the post offices, post roads, canals, rail roads & c.; by David H. Burr (Late topographer to the Post Office), Geographer to the House of Representatives of the U.S.).

Actually, the Burr map was out of date by the time it was published in London in 1839.

In 1836, the Franklinville post office was located near  the Withlacoochee River about 10 miles southwest of the homestead of Levi J. Knight at Beaverdam Creek (now the site of Ray City, GA).  But in 1837 this post office was transferred another 12 miles farther southeast to Troupville, GA when the county seat was relocated to the confluence of the Withlacoochee and Little rivers.

The Magnum post office, as shown on the 1839 Burr map, was situated  another 15 miles to the west of Franklinville, GA.  Prior t0 1836 it was been known as the Sharpe’s Store post office, where Hamilton Sharpe served as postmaster and operated his country store on the Coffee Road. Sharpe, who had become busily engaged with politics and with the Indian Wars, stepped down as post master in 1836. The Sharpe’s Store post office was renamed Magnum post office, and John Hall, Sr. took over as postmaster effective April 1, 1836.

Milledgeville Federal Union, Apr. 28, 1836.

Milledgeville Federal Union, Apr. 28, 1836.

The Milledgeville Federal Union
April 28, 1836

THE POST-OFFICE, at “Sharpe’s Store” Lowndes county, Georgia, has changed its name to that of Mangum and John Hall Esq. has been appointed postmaster.

Postmaster John Hall, Sr. was a brother of Sion Hall.  Sion Hall, one of the very earliest settlers of Lowndes (now Brooks) county, had established a tavern on the Coffee Road about 1823.   Sharpe’s Store had opened about four years later near Hall’s Inn, which served as the first site of Superior Court meetings in Lowndes County.

The Magnum, or Mangum, Post Office was short-lived, though. Postal records show that on January 28, 1837 the name reverted to Sharpe’s Store Post Office, and Hamilton Sharpe resumed as post master. Sharpe served as postmaster until 1848, and the Sharpe’s Store Post Office continued under other postmasters until closing in 1853.

1836-37 Postmasters at Magnum and Sharpe's Store Post Offices, from official Records of Appointment of U. S. Postmasters.

1836-37 Postmasters at Magnum and Sharpe’s Store Post Offices, from official Records of Appointment of U. S. Postmasters.

After the post office moved from Franklinville to Troupville in 1837, the Knight’s and other early settlers of the Ray City area had a round trip of about 44 miles to get their mail.  The round trip to  the post office at Sharpe’s Store was about 50 miles, although it was may have been on the better travel route via the Coffee Road. But for the Knights, the bustling town of Troupville, with its social happenings, travelers and ramblers, commerce and trade, religion and  politics, court proceedings, legal affairs, amusements, hotels and inns, was undoubtedly the preferred destination. On the other hand, Hamilton W. Sharpe, like Levi J. Knight, was a political and military leader of Lowndes County, and the two are known to have had frequent associations.

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Perry Thomas Knight (1877-1955)

April 16, 2015 at 1:39 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Knight Family)
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Perry Thomas Knight (March 7, 1877  – September 16, 1955)

http://berriencountyga.com/

Perry Thomas Knight. Image courtesy of http://berriencountyga.com/

Perry Thomas Knight was born March 7, 1877 at Rays Mill (now Ray City) Berrien County, GA. He was a son of George Washington Knight (born 1845 in GA; private, Company E, 54th Georgia Regiment, C. S. A., serving four years; died 1913) and Rhoda (Futch) Knight (born 1846 in Berrien County, GA; died 1909).

P.T. Knight attended the Green Bay School near Ray City, completing there in 1896.  In 1897, he returned to the Green Bay School as a teacher. He made an excursion to Terra Ceia, FL in 1898 , then returned to Berrien County and taught at the Cross Creek School in east Berrien county.

Knight  then attended Southern Normal University in Huntingdon, TN.   He graduated in 1901 and returned to Berrien County to begin the practice of law.   His practice frequently included handling the legal affairs of residents and businesses of Ray’s Mill  (later Ray City, GA).

Perry Thomas Knight attended Southern Normal University, Huntingdon, TN in 1901. In 1908, the building became the home of the Industrial and Training School. Image source: http://tn-roots.com/tncarroll/photos/postcards.htm

Perry Thomas Knight attended Southern Normal University, Huntingdon, TN in 1901. In 1908, the building became the home of the Industrial and Training School. Image source: http://tn-roots.com/tncarroll/photos/postcards.htm

Advertisement for Southern Normal University, 1901.

Advertisement for Southern Normal University, 1901.

Perry Thomas Knight married Annie Lotta Dugger on July 19, 1903. She was a daughter of Wiley Jackson Dugger  and Sallie (Bowen) Dugger. Her father was a hotel keeper and Justice of the Peace at Boston, GA.

Marriage certificate of Perry Thomas Knight and Ann Dugger, Berrien County, GA

Marriage certificate of Perry Thomas Knight and Ann Dugger, Berrien County, GA

In 1905, Perry T. Knight   and boyhood friend Levi J. Clements  were part of a quartet of investors in the formation of the Bank of Milltown:

 GOSSIP AT THE CAPITOL

Atlanta Constitution.
Feb 7, 1905 pg. 7

  Application was filed with secretary of State Philip Cook yesterday for a charter for the Bank of Milltown, at Milltown, in Berrien county. The capital stock of the new bank is to be $25,000 and the incorporators are J.V. Talley, W.L. Patton, P.T. Knight and L.J. Clements, Jr.

 P.T. Knight  attended ministerial school in 1909 at Oaklawn Baptist Academy in Milltown, GA (now Lakeland) and served as pastor of Good Hope Baptist church at Naylor, Brushy Creek church near Nashville, Lois church, and Waresboro church near Waycross. He was a Mason and served as lodge master of the Lakeland Lodge 434 F&AM. He had a farm on RFD #2 out of Milltown (now Lakeland), GA and employed Robert Lee Mathis and Charles Anthony Ray to farm it.

P.T. Knight became prominent among the Baptist organizations in the region. When the Valdosta Baptist Association convened its annual session for 1916, “The body was welcomed by R.C. Woodard, of Adel, and the response was made by C.C. Giddens, of Valdosta. The introductory sermons was preached by P.T. Knight, of Ray City.”

During World War I,  P.T. Knight registered for the draft , his draft card being completed by D.A. Sapp on September 12, 1918 at Nashville, GA.  He gave his address as R.F.D. Milltown, GA. His occupation was Minister. He was of medium height, stout, with blue eyes and dark hair.  He was commissioned 1st Lieutenant and Chaplain in the  5th Infantry, 17th Division at Camp Zachary Taylor, KY .

Army Training School for Chaplains and approved chaplain candidates, Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Ky.,

Army Training School for Chaplains and approved chaplain candidates, Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Ky., “Lining up for Mess”. Original image courtesy of Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/pan.6a29832/

On Nov. 25, 1918 Knight was attached to 5th Infantry  at Camp Beauregard, La.    He received an honorable discharge on December 4,  1918.

Perry Thomas Knight, WWI Service Record.

Perry Thomas Knight, WWI Service Record.

Perry T. Knight was listed among the ordained ministers of the United States in the 1919 American Baptists Yearbook. In 1920 he joined the Baptist Chaplains Club, an organization of military chaplains dedicated to supporting the work of chaplains in the service and to securing legislation relative to the chaplains’ work. By 1925, he had served 4 years as pastor of the Baptist Church of Ray City.

In 1921 things were not going well for farmers in Ray City, GA or elsewhere around the state of Georgia. Perry T. Knight wrote an open letter to the members of the Georgia General Assembly proposing a special legislative session to consider the plight of the farmers and to enact legislation to protect them from looming financial disaster.

‘Corn has been sold at public outcry this winter for the pitiful sum of 15 cents per bushel’ the letter states, ‘and other produce has sold equally low. A one-horse crop sold under distress warrant for rent did not bring enough to pay the officers of the court. The landlord got nothing and the tenant had nothing left.’

‘The people of this section want an extra session of the general assembly called by the governor, and let them enact a stay law for a fixed period so that no creditor can sue any debtor for any contract or obligation up to the present time until after the stay period, and at the same time enact legislation that would not permit a debtor to dispose of nor transfer his property without the consent of his creditor.’

Perry T. Knight was elected as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from Berrien county 1921-1924, and subsequently served in various elected and appointed governmental positions (see Update on Perry Thomas Knight)

In 1923, Knight prepared a record of the outstanding accounts of the Ray City Supply Company in part to reconcile the estate of Francis Marion Shaw, who had an interest in the business.   He also led the fundraising effort to pay for the Doughboy Monument in Nashville, GA.

In the 1920s Perry Thomas Knight became active in state politics. He was elected to the Georgia Assembly and worked in various elected and appointed positions.  His career in public administration is described in the Georgia Official and Statistical Register.

Senator Perry T. Knight, of Ray City,  was appointed to serve on the Western & Atlantic Railroad Commission in 1925.    The General Assembly of Georgia, by an act of 1925, directed the Georgia Public Service Commission to compile all data pertaining to the Western and Atlantic railroad and instructed it to employ its consulting engineer, J. Houston Johnston, to prepare the report. The Western & Atlantic is the historic railroad line from Atlanta to Chattanooga, TN and is still owned by the State of Georgia.  The Western & Atlantic Railroad was the locale of the Great Locomotive Chase  of the W&A locomotive, The General, during the Civil War.

WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD COMMISSION
Governor, Ex-Officio
Chairman, Public Service Commission, Ex-Officio
C. Murphy Candler, Chairman, State at Large, Atlanta
Carl N. Guess, Senator, Atlanta
 William M. Sapp, Senator, Dalton
Perry T. Knight, Senator, Ray City
 Fermor Barrett, Representative, Toccoa
 Jud P. Wilhoit, Representative, Warrenton
Edgar B. Dykes, Representative, Vienna
Bessie Kempton, Representative, Atlanta
John M. Murrah, Representative, Columbus
J. Q. Smith, Representative, Cairo
John B. Wilson, Secretary to Commission, Atlanta
(Acts 1925, p. 278.)

While engaged in public service,  Perry and Annie moved to Atlanta, GA where they lived  until his death.

Children of Perry Thomas Knight and Annie Duggar:

  1. Loren Ray Knight (October 10, 1904 – June 17, 1911)
  2. Ralphi Lowell Knight   (Mar. 23, 1906 – Nov. 17, 1907)
  3. Rhoda Adella Knight (May 17, 1808– August 30, 1910)
  4. James Perry Knight 1911 – 1984
  5. Elwin Thomas Knight 1913 – 1972
  6. Lorena Idell Knight (Aug. 5, 1918 – May 30, 1921)

Perry Thomas Knight died September 16, 1955. He was buried at Union Church, Lanier County, Ga.(aka Burnt Church).  Annie Lota Dugger Knight died January 15, 1973. Buried at Union Church, Lanier County, Ga.

Grave of Perry Thomas Knight and Annie Dugger, Union Church Cemetery, Lanier County, GA

Grave of Perry Thomas Knight and Annie Dugger, Union Church Cemetery, Lanier County, GA

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Preacher Shaw and the Berrien Blue Jays

April 11, 2015 at 12:55 am (Berrien County Sports, Shaw Family, Society and Leisure)
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Preacher Shaw in uniform of the Berrien Blue Jays, 1948. Image courtesy of www,berriencountyga.com

Preacher Shaw in uniform of the Berrien Blue Jays, 1948. Image courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com

From at least the 1880s, baseball was popular among the small towns of Berrien County, GA.  Ray City has produced a number of high school, college and minor league baseball players and coaches, and at least one major league player.  One local baseball legend was Fondren Willie Mitchell Shaw of Ray City, GA, better known as Preacher Shaw.

According to family member Bryan Shaw, Preacher Shaw, was the seventh born child of Jesse Shelby “Dock” Shaw and Susie Bullard Shaw.  He was born May 13, 1906, in a log home on the west bank of Possum Branch, in the New Lois community near Ray City, Georgia and grew up in a nearby home. He was educated in county schools at Pine Grove and Kings Chapel.

From Bryan Shaw’s family newsletter comes the following:

[Preacher Shaw had a] great love of baseball. During his adult years, he became a gifted ball player, always ready to be coaxed away from the mule and plow to engage in any pick-up game his fellow ball players would draft for him.

In Lamar Blanton’s book, “Tales of Ray’s Mill,” he reflects on his recollection of Preacher Shaw the ball player:

The most famous of the baseball players in our part of the state was a man nicknamed “Preacher,” a title that he somehow obtained without any evident relevant behavior on his part.  Preacher was considerably older than the other members of our team, but age is no handicap to a pitcher who is the complete master of a baseball.  His repertoire included virtually every pitch that has ever been named in baseball jargon. Being past his prime, his fastball did not exactly whistle any more, but he resorted to a vast variety of curves, and speed did not really matter, for it was only an infrequent accident that the hitter was able to get his bat anywhere near a pitch thrown by Preacher.  And all of the time that old son-of-a-gun would just stand there on the mound, grinning with infuriating devilishment as batter after batter left the plate to sit down in complete frustration.

Some of the visiting teams refused to play unless it was agreed that Preacher would not pitch.  He could hold any other position, for he was no better than an average ball player in a non-pitching role, but it was considered an unfair advantage for him to be on the mound.

He and his brother Charlie, who played shortstop, were often recruited by the local ball clubs to beef up their rosters. (Charlie was killed in an auto-train accident in 1937). Preacher actively played he sport until 1948, being listed on the April roster of the semi-pro Berrien Blue Jays that year. However, he was not listed as an active player by the end of the season.

Reprint courtesy of Bryan Shaw.

Preacher Shaw (standing, far right), of Ray City, GA played for the Berrien Blue Jays semi-pro baseball team in 1948.

Preacher Shaw (standing, far right), of Ray City, GA played for the Berrien Blue Jays semi-pro baseball team in 1948. Image courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com

See more photos of the Berrien Blue Jays at http://www.berriencountyga.com

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Claudie Belle Hester and the Easter Egg Hunt

April 5, 2015 at 1:34 am (Ray City School, Society and Leisure, Uncategorized)
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Claudey Belle Hester was a student at the Ray City School in 1920.  She was born about 1906, a daughter of Annie L. Jolly and Luther Hester.  Her father died about 1909 and she, her brother and mother went to live with her grandparents, Julia and Colwell C. Jolly.  Her grandparents rented a home on Charles Street in Alapaha, GA. where her grandfather worked at a sawmill.

Her mother re-married in 1913 to John S. Cone, and Claudie went with her mother to live on her step-father’s farm near Ray City, GA.

At age 14, Claudie wrote an essay about an Easter egg hunt at Ray City, and submitted it to the Progressive Farmer for publication.

Claudie Belle Hester's 1920 essay about Easter at the Ray City, GA school was published in the Progressive Farmer.

, Claudie Belle Hester’s 1920 essay about Easter at the Ray City, GA school was published in the Progressive Farmer.

Saturday, May 1, 1920

An Egg Hunt and Candy Pulling

On Friday before Easter our teacher decided that we should have an egg hunt, and we then decided to have a candy pulling at the same time.
The children brought syrup and eggs on Saturday and the boys gathered fuel and built a fire in the stove. Two girls assisted me in cooking the candy. We cooked three lots, the first and last being pretty and white, but the second lot was not quite so good.
While the candy was cooling, we colored the eggs and got them ready for hiding. The candy was soon cool enough to pull, and we helped each other pull it until it was white and brittle.
After we had eaten some candy, we three girls and the assistant teacher hid the eggs. In all we had about 150 eggs, one was a large goose egg. The boy who brought this egg said the one finding it could eat it. We hid it in the mailbox, and guess who found it. The teacher. All the eggs were found but two.

Claudey Belle Hester
Ray City, Ga.

 

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