Adel GA | Ray City History Blog

Dr. Woodard and the Charter of Adel, GA

January 13, 2024 at 5:38 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Remedies and Medicine)
Tags: Adel GA, Adel Telephone Company, Alonzo Augustus Webb, Arlington Ansel “Arlie” Parris, C. D. Shaw, Cauley Hammond Shaw, J. A. J. Parrish, J. L. Williams, James Thomas Wilkes, John Henry Kennon, Mark Shaw, R. R. Folsom, road duty, Stephen Alexander Juhan, William Clements

Dr. Woodard and the Charter of Adel, GA

Robert Crawford Woodard taught in the schools of Berrien County, GA. — Dr. R. C. Woodard was born and raised near Ray’s Mill (now Ray City), GA. He entered medical practice at Adel, GA. In 1900, he was elected to serve on the Adel City Council.

In 1900, Dr. R. C. Woodard was elected as one of the town councilmen of Adel, GA. Woodard, a native of Ray’s Mill (now Ray City), GA attended the Medical College at Augusta, GA and graduated from in 1899.

Adel News
Oct 19, 1900
Election Held Wednesday

The regular annual municipal election for the town of Adel was held Wednesday of this week, the entire ticket recently nominated being elected. There was a little scratching, but no organized opposition to the ticket. Forty-eight votes, all white, were cast and the following is the ticket elected:

For Mayor,
A. A. Parish
For Aldermen;
J. T. Wilkes,
S. A. Juhan,
Wm. Clements,
J. A. J. Parrish,
R.C. Woodard.

Mayor [John Henry] Kennon and Mayor-elect Parrish are both out of the city and the new men have not been inducted into office yet. As stated last week they are all gentlemen of strong capabilities and business qualifications and we look for the town’s affairs to be wisely managed during their administration.

Woodard was sworn into office on October 22, 1900. He served on the Adel City Council along with James Thomas Wilkes, Stephen Alexander Juhan, William Clements, and J. A. J. Parrish. Arlington Ansel “Arlie” Parrish was mayor. The council appointed Alonzo Augustus Webb as secretary and treasurer. J. M. “Mark” Shaw was appointed Marshal of the town; The Marshal was instructed to collect all rents and taxes owed the town.

Hog Law

The Adel City Council directed that the town ordinance against obstructing or littering the streets was to be strictly enforced, but enforcement of the Hog Law would be postponed until January 1, 1901. These two decisions were not unrelated. Under the Hog Law farmers were required to confine their stock. Loose hogs were taken to the pound, a corral or pen where livestock was held or “impounded” until the owners paid a fee to retrieve them. But in Tifton, the newspaper observed, a “town needs the services of those tireless scavengers just now when stale fruit and vegetables and other things deleterious to health are lying around loose. It is a fact that the hog law does the town more injury than good.” Leaving hogs free to eat the garbage in the streets, saved the cost and labor of having it carted away. On the other hand, free roaming and feral hogs were a major cause of the spread of Cholera, a disease which caused the loss of thousands of dollars a year in pork production. In Ray City, GA free-ranging hogs were a nuisance even into the 1930s. David Miley, lifetime resident of Ray City, recalled one particular swine that was notorious for stealing kids’ lunches at the Ray City School.

The Adel City Council declined to award the telephone franchise to R. R. Folsom and J. L. Williams. Ultimately, the telephone franchise went to the Adel Telephone Company, Inc., with William Clements, Arlington Ansel Parrish and C. D. Shaw as the principles.

The matter of a new charter for the town was taken up as the most important order of business.

According to the new city charter, the town council was responsible for provision public streets and grounds; establishment and assignment of “road duty” compelling citizens to participate or support road maintenance; food safety and inspections; building codes, building inspections and fire safety; regulation of the sale of “spiritous liquors”; and establishment of public schools under the supervision of a board of trustees.

“The authorities of said town shall also have power and authority to prevent injury or annoyance to the public or individuals from anything dangerous or offensive; to prevent dogs, hogs, cattle, sheep, horses, mules, goats, asses, and all other kind of animals and fowls from going at large in said town or any prescribed territory therein; to protect places of divine worship; to abate anything which in the opinion of the authorities is a nuisance; to regulate the keeping and selling of dynamite, gunpowder, kerosene and all other hazardous articles of merchandise; to regulate or prohibit the operation of blacksmith shops or other businesses that endanger the property of others in said town; to regulate the running of steam engines, whether for factories, mills, or any other kind of machinery propelled by steam engines; to regulate the running of any and all sorts of vehicles, however drawn or propelled, that may be used on the streets of said town; to establish quarantine and regulate the same, and to regulate the burial of the dead in said town.“

The town council was also the authority over municipal taxes,

…able to levy and collect a tax upon all and every species of property in said town subject to State and county tax; upon banking and insurance capital employed in said town; upon brokers and factors; upon each and every business, calling, trade or profession carried on in said town; upon billiard and pool tables, bowling alleys, bank, insurance, telephone, telegraph and express agencies in said town; to tax all theatrical performances, shows or exhibitions for gain or profit in said town; to tax all itinerant traders and peddlers, all venders of patent medicines, drugs, books, nostrums or devices of any kind; to tax all solicitors or canvassers selling wares or merchandise by sample at retail to consumers.

According to his memoirs, Woodard “convinced Adel’s electorate to support the establishment of a graded public school system, the first of its kind for a town of that size in Georgia.” The town council was responsible for the city schools and for the election of a board of trustees to oversee their operations.

The duties of said trustees shall be to establish two schools in the town of Adel, one for white children and one for colored children, which shall be entirely distinct and separate; to provide school houses by building, rent or otherwise; to employ teachers and provide the curriculum of said schools; to fix the salaries of teachers…to employ for said schools those teachers only who have a license to teach in the common schools of the state…that said schools shall be open for not lest than six, not more than twelve months in each year and shall be free, except a matriculation fee to be fixed by the mayor and council, to all children between the ages of six and eighteen years, whose parents or guardians reside within the corporate limits of the town of Adel.

Woodard opposed liquor sales in the town and voted to set the city liquor license fee at $10,000 dollars.

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R. C. Woodard Attended Medical College of Georgia

January 7, 2024 at 5:11 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Remedies and Medicine)
Tags: Adel Chamber of Commerce, Adel GA, Adel Institute, Augusta GA, Bessie Griffin, Cecil GA, Charles McDonald Brown Scholarship Fund, Charles X. Jones, Cross Creek School, Dr. H.W. Clements, Eugene Foster, Grand Bay Academy, Griffin School House, J. D. Patten, J. J. Roberts, James Alfred Weaver, James Marcus Patten, Jensie Nichols, Joseph E. Brown, Knight Academy, Leila Woodard, Marcus Sheridan Patten, Mary Jane Woodard, May Park, Medical College of Georgia, Milltown Academy, Neal McCranie, Paige Touring Car, Perry Thomas Knight, Pine Grove Academy, Pine Grove School, Ray's Mill Academy, Rev B. F. Elliott, Robert Daniel Woodard, Robert H. May, Roberts School House, Sallie Parrish, Social Circle School

R. C. Woodard Attended Medical College of Georgia

In 1896 Robert Crawford Woodard was presented with the opportunity to pursue a career in medicine. Woodard, who was born and raised near Ray’s Mill (now Ray City), GA, was then teaching in Adel, GA. His ambition to enter medicine may have been influence by a family connection to Dr. Crawford W. Long of Georgia, the first physician to use ether as an anesthetic in surgery.

The opportunity came in the form of a full scholarship to attend the medical college at Augusta, now known as Augusta University. In July 1896, Woodard learned that he would be a recipient of The Charles McDonald Brown Scholarship Fund, established at the University in 1881 by the late Hon. Joseph E. Brown, Civil War Governor of Georgia. Two white students from each Congressional District of Georgia were appointed annually by the Governor to receive scholarships, and R. C. Woodard was selected from the Second Congressional District. The scholarship was actually a loan, and recipients were expected to repay the endowment after graduation.

Thus, R. C. Woodard moved to Augusta, GA, in early October to study medicine at the Georgia Medical College. His wife and children followed on Saturday, October 31, 1896 to join him in Augusta.

In Augusta, the Woodards rented a home at 619 4th street near the corner of Watkins Street, about seven blocks south of the Savannah River and fronting on May Park. The Woodard’s place was just a six block walk from the medical college building at 558 Telfair Street. Also boarding with the Woodards was fellow medical student Henry W. Clements, of Ray’s Mill, GA (now Ray City). Another classmate at the medical college was Charles X. Jones, who established his medical practice at Ray City, GA and was influential in the incorporation of the town.

The Woodard residence in Augusta is long gone, the lot now occupied by the Richmond County Jail. It bordered on the Olde Town Historic District which still preserves many houses along 4th street and Watkins built in the late 19th century, homes typified by simpler elements and a lack of detail in comparison to the larger Greek Revival and Victorian townhouses closer to the river.

May Park, Augusta, GA photographed circa 1900. Dr. R.C. Woodard rented a residence across the street from the park during the period 1897-1899 while attending the Georgia medical college (now Augusta University). May Park was named after Robert H. May, mayor of Augusta during the Civil War and from 1879-1891. In 1898, the Augusta Herald described the setting, “This park was developed under his administration. It is noted for its beautiful large trees, lakes, flowers, hillocks, rustic houses and pavilions. Just across from May Park lies “the city of the dead,” the most beautiful spot in Augusta, whose broad avenues are lined with magnificent magnolia trees. The choicest flowers and shrubs the south can produce can be seen here. It is a vast flower garden – with gleaming white statues and shafts arising amidst its setting of green shrubbery and brilliant flowers. Many statues and tombs are works of art by the most renown sculptors of fair Italy.” – Augusta Herald, October 12, 1898

The medical college at Augusta was described in 1902 in the Standard Medical Directory of North America:

GEORGIA UNIVERSITY, Medical Department, Augusta; Dean Eugene Foster; Medical Academy organized 1829; suspended 1861-65; present title 1873. Admission: Certificate from high school or equivalent. Graduation: Age 21, attendance on three lecture courses of six months each, the last at this school. Fees: $100.00, examination $30.00. Faculty: Professors 10, demonstrator 1, instructors 7. Property $36,000.00. Recognition: I. S. B. H., U.S.N.Y. Matriculates last session 145.

Medical College of Georgia Dissecting Room, 1896-97 — Medical College of Georgia, dissection room, 1896-97.

Pathology Laboratory at Medical College of Georgia, 1896-1897.

Robert Crawford Woodard was elected class historian for the Class of 1899, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA.
Augusta Herald, Nov 4, 1898.

In January 1898, the Tifton Gazette reported that Robert Crawford Woodard was the teacher at the Rays Mill academy. He apparently took the job at Rays Mill between courses of study at the Augusta medical college.

Tifton Gazette
January 21, 1898
There has been quite a changing of teachers in South Berrien this year. Prof. M. S. Patten is teaching at the Roberts school house, J. J. Roberts, Social Circle; R. C. Woodard, Ray’s Mill academy; Miss Sallie Parrish, Griffin school house; Miss Jensie Nichols, Pine Grove; J.M. Patten, Grand Bay; J. A. Weaver, Green Bay; P.T. Knight, Cross Creek, and J. D. Patten at Milltown.

R. C. Woodard and family left Adel on October 4, 1898 to return to Augusta so he could complete his final term of enrollment at the medical college.

Woodard received his medical degree in 1899. Throughout his life Dr. Woodard continued his medical education each year by taking graduate courses in medicine, even traveling to New York to attend some courses.

Following completion of his medical degree, The Adel News reported his return, “Dr. R. C. Woodard returned home Tuesday afternoon [April 11, 1899]. He has finished his medical course in Augusta and is now ready for practice. He deserves success, and we extend congratulations as well as best wishes for your future, Dr. Woodard.”

Return to Adel

Even after entering into his medical practice Dr. Woodard remained actively engaged in Cook County civics and education. The announcement of Fall 1903 classes shows that he was then serving as president of the Board of Trustees for the Adel Institute.

It appears Woodard moved his parents about 1902 to a small house in Adel on Railroad Avenue, perhaps on the corner of Eighth Street. About 1910, Dr. Woodard purchased from his father a small house and lot in Adel, GA, but it appears this transaction may have been more about providing funds for his father than providing a property for Dr. Woodard. Dr. Woodard’s mother, Jane Crawford Woodard, died December 3, 1912 and his father, Robert Daniel Woodard, died January 7, 1914; both were buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Adel, GA.

On Tuesday, May 3, 1904 tragedy struck the Woodard household with the loss of their little daughter, Jane Woodard. The Adel News announced the death. The little girl was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery, Adel, GA.

Grave of Mary Jane Woodard (1902-1904), Woodlawn Cemetery, Adel, GA. Image source: Cat

Adel News
May 20, 1904

The Death of a Child

Little Mary Jane Woodard Died on Friday Night Last.

Mary Jane, the little nineteen-months-old daughter of Dr. and Mrs. R. C. Woodard, died on last Friday night. For two or three weeks the little one had been ill and several days before her death it was see that her case was a grave one. All that the skill of physicians and the tender nursing of loved ones and friends could do was done for the little sufferer but it continued to grow worse until its pur little spirit was transported to a fairer clime.
The little girl was a bright and attractive child and will be missed not only by the family, but by the neighbors as well, who were accustomed to seeing her almost daily.
The funeral services were held at the residence Saturday afternoon and were conducted by Rev. B. F. Elliott, who spoke tender words of sympathy and comfort to the bereaved ones. Some sweet songs were sung by the choir and the services were very impressive. The interment was in the city cemetery. The sympathy of all our people go out to the family.

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Professor R.C. Woodard

January 6, 2024 at 1:41 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Remedies and Medicine)
Tags: Adel GA, Adel Oil and Fertilizer Company, B. F. Hill, Berrien County Sunday School Association, Berrien County Teacher Institute, Bowling Green College of Business Administration, Cecil GA, Cecil School, Empire Garden Mid-Summer Fair, Fellowship School, Grand Bay Academy, James Madison Knight, James Rembert Anthony, Jonathan Perry Knight, Knight Academy, Lyman Byrd Lovett, Merritt E. Johnson, Milltown Academy, Nashville Baptist Church, O. H. Pafford, Peabody Institute, Perry Thomas Knight, Ray's Mill Academy, Robert Franklin Cary, Samuel Dowse Bradwell, William J Northen

Dr. Robert Crawford Woodard (1867-1949)

Robert Crawford Woodard’s early life was spent near Ray’s Mill (now Ray City), GA.

After studying at Bowling Green College of Business Administration Robert Crawford Woodard returned to Berrien County, GA. He became a teacher and was in charge of a school near Ray’s Mill (now Ray City), Ga by 1892.

On March 18, 1892, the Tifton Gazette reported, “From Ray’s Mill…Mr. R.C. Woodard has a school of sixty odd pupils at the Knight Academy two miles south of here. He is assisted by Mr. L. Lovitt [Lyman Byrd Lovett].” Meritt E. Johnson, a native of Ray’s Mill, later served as a Trustee of the Knight school.

The Ray’s Mill Academy was taught that term by Jonathan Perry Knight; The two men would later work together as state legislators.

In those days, few teachers were college educated. Most teacher training “involved a very important, now almost forgotten, American institution – teaching institutes. At these, teachers gathered for instruction in subject areas and teaching methods…Throughout the nineteenth century, most U.S. elementary school teachers received no special training. Those who completed eight elementary grades, or the few privileged to attend secondary-level academies, won teaching positions by passing state subject-matter exams.” In Berrien County, the annual examination of applicants for teacher’s license was held in the summer at the county seat at Nashville, GA.

For the convenience of the teachers, The Berrien County Teacher Institute sessions were held on Saturdays during the summer and locations were rotated to towns around the county. Sessions were taught by the more qualified teachers and sometimes by outside experts. R. C. Woodard was a frequent attendee, and presented on such topics as Methods for classwork in Arithmetic, and Capital letters and the rule for their formation. Among other well-known presenters at Teacher Institute were R.L. Patten, William Green Avera, Johnathan Perry Knight, and J.M. Guilliams.

“In theory, these institutes augmented the former training of teachers, bringing them up to date on new theories or new knowledge. In most of America, these short sessions provided the only contact elementary teachers would ever have with expertise in the developing profession of public school teaching. Teachers came to institutes to learn, to gain inspiration, and to develop a sense of professional identity. The larger public attended evening lectures. Parents gained pride in their schools, and young people committed themselves to teaching as a career. The gathered teachers enjoyed the fellowship with other teachers and the home hospitality offered by local families. Institutes were the camp meetings of the teaching profession, and the ablest, most sought-after instructors the evangelists of the public school movement.” – Peabody College: From a Frontier Academy to the Frontiers of Teaching and Learning

Like the public schools of the time, the Berrien Teacher Institute was for whites only. African-American teachers in Berrien County were required to travel to attend five days of separate, mandatory training at the Peabody Institute which was held on consecutive weekdays at a central location serving multiple counties.

For the fall term of 1893 Woodard took the teacher’s position at Milltown Academy.

Tifton Gazette
July 21, 1893
Milltown has a flourishing school now under the administration of Prof. R. C. Woodard.

In the spring of 1894, Woodard came back to Adel to act as associate principal in the South Georgia Normal School at Adel. The January 6, 1894 issue of Educational News reported that Woodard had entered a partnership with James Rembert Anthony, of Taliafero County, GA. ”Captain J. R. Anthony will leave Crawfordville, and, in conjunction with Mr. R. C. Woodard, will establish a normal and business school at Adel, Ga.“ J.R. Anthony was an early student of the University of Virginia and a Confederate veteran; At the close of the Civil War he had assisted former Confederate Secretary of State Robert Toombs on his escape to Cuba.

1895 advertisement for Tifton, GA’s big expo, the Empire Garden Midsummer Fair

When Governor William J. Northen and Education Commissioner Samuel Dowse Bradwell visited Tifton on June 4, 1894, they were received by Tifton Mayor Columbus Wesley Fullwood “and a select party of gentlemen,” Robert Crawford Woodard among them.

In the Summer of 1894, Woodard was back for a Teacher’s Institute convened at Sparks, GA. He co-presented with B. F. Hill on “Spelling – Old and new methods explained and illustrated.” While the Institute was in session the teachers held a little “competition to suggest a suitable name for a fair to be held at Tifton, GA. To make the contest interesting a five-dollar gold medal was offered to the one proposing the most suitable name for the fair. Among the rest was “The Empire Garden Mid-Summer Fair” suggested by Prof. R. C. Woodard, of [Adel], and this name was adopted and the medal was awarded to Dr. Woodard. The Prof. was elated at his success and valued the medal very highly.” The Empire Garden Mid-Summer Fair became a great success and by 1897 was drawing 5000 attendees annually.

Around this time, R. C. Woodard served a term as principal of the Grand Bay School near Ray’s Mill, GA. An appreciative pupil was James Madison Knight (1879-1953), a great grandson of William Anderson Knight who was the first pioneer to settle at Grand Bay. The Grand Bay School had been built by J.M. Knight’s two grandfathers, Jonathan Knight (1817-1886) and James Madison Baskin. The Grand Bay School was consolidated with the Milltown School in 1923.

In April, 1895 Woodard took the position of Principal of the school at Cecil, GA. In addition to teaching, he served as a vice president of the Berrien County Sunday School Association, which convened for its annual meeting at the Nashville Baptist Church.

Tifton Gazette
July 26, 1895

Prof. R.C. Woodard is now teaching the Fellowship School, two miles east of Cecil, with an attendance of about nintey pupils. He is ably assisted by Prof. R. F. Carey, late of Emory College. Prof. Woodard is a hustler in school work and is never out of the harness long at a time. He has been tendered the Cecil school for another year. – Adel News

That winter he returned to Adel.

Tifton Gazette
November 29, 1895
Prof. R.C. Woodard has moved into town [Adel] again and receives a warm welcome by all.

In the spring term of 1896, Professor Woodard was again teaching at the Cecil School. When the Berrien Teacher Institute met in Adel on Saturday, February 15, 1896 his students gave a performance. “At 9 a.m. the teachers and visitors were treated to a song by the Cecil School, ‘Sailing O’er the Sea,’ which reflects credit on Prof. Woodard, and his assistant, Mr. O.H. Pafford, and their pupils. This song, which is a very pretty one, is sung by the school every morning before entering upon the duties of the day.“

During this period Woodard tried his hand working in accounting and farming, as well as teaching.

In 1896, Robert C. Woodard was admitted to the Medical College at Augusta, GA.

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Dr. Robert Crawford Woodard (1867-1949)

January 1, 2024 at 7:27 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Remedies and Medicine)
Tags: Adel GA, Bowling Green College of Business Administration, Jane Crawford, Jane Woodard, Lilian Ida Parrish, Robert Daniel Woodard, William Pendleton Nunez

Dr. Robert Crawford Woodard, born near Ray City, GA in 1867, photographed August, 1920.

Dr. Robert Crawford Woodard (1867-1949)

Early Life

Robert Crawford Woodard was born in 1867 near Ray’s Mill (now Ray City, GA). He was a son of Robert Daniel Woodard (1831-1914) and Jane Crawford Woodard of Berrien County GA. He was one of the Medical Men of Ray’s Mill and became an important figure in medicine and education in Wiregrass Georgia.

His father, Robert Daniel Woodard, was a Confederate veteran. R. D. Woodard enlisted as a private in Company E, 54th Georgia Regiment on May 6, 1862. Among R. D. Woodard’s Confederate company mates were J.D. Evans, H.M. Talley, Littleton Albritton, William J. Lamb, Jehu Patten, Stephen W. Avera, Matthew Hodges Albritton, James M. Baskin, Samuel Guthrie, George Washington Knight, Jesse Lee, John Lee, William H. Outlaw, Rufus Ray, and Benjamin Sirmons. Woodard was on special detail as a teamster for most of the Civil War and served in coastal Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi. According to available service records and pension applications, he was on duty until about the first of April 1865 and was on furlough at home when the war effectively ended with the surrender of the Confederate Army on April 9, 1865. Woodard’s application for a Confederate pension would later be denied by the State of Georgia on the grounds that he was not present with his unit at the time of surrender. On July 30, 1867, Robert Daniel Woodard swore the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and was again permitted to register to vote. (Through the act of secession, the US citizenship of Georgia residents had been renounced.)

Robert Crawford Woodard, the subject of this sketch, was born December 6, 1867, during Reconstruction. In his autobiography, R. C. Woodard reflected that his family had lost nearly everything in the devastation of the Civil War. But the Georgia Agriculture Schedules for the Census of 1870 show his father still owned a one horse farm near Ray’s Mill, GA (now Ray City) with 390 acres, 30 acres under cultivation and 360 acres in unimproved woodlands. His father kept milk cows and beef cattle, sheep and chickens, and cropped corn, oats, and sweet potatoes.

A synopsis of Woodard’s autobiography provides the following:
Woodard recounted his early enthusiasm for hard work and thirst for education. In his teens, he resolved to get a better education than the school afforded in his home county, so he made application and was accepted at the present Bowling Green College of Business Administration, Bowling Green, KY. Studying there for several years, he then returned to South Georgia and became a teacher.

In 1886, the Bowling Green College of Business occupied the building of the former Bowling Green Female College, which had closed a year earlier. The school taught typical business skills such as bookkeeping, shorthand, telegraphy, pensmanship, and typewriting. A five month course in business was $45. The college’s eight typewriting machines were of the double keyboard type, which had only been invented in 1884. No typewriter instructor and no text were used; the method of touch typing had not yet emerged.

Bowling Green College of Business occupied this building on College Street, Bowling Green, KY in 1886. Robert Crawford Woodard attended the college in the late 1880s.

After returning to Berrien County, R. C. Woodard taught in the common schools of the area.

On August 25, 1892, Robert Crawford Woodard married Lillian Ida Parrish. She was the eldest daughter of Susan Mathis and John A. Parrish of Berrien County, and granddaughter of Primitive Baptist elder Ansel Parrish. The wedding ceremony was performed by Primitive Baptist minister William Pendleton Nunez, a Confederate veteran who with other men of the area had served in the 26th Georgia Regiment.

Marriage certificate of Robert C. Woodard and Lilian Ida Parrish

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Roster of Company D, 3rd Regiment Georgia Infantry U.S. Volunteers

July 6, 2019 at 12:25 am (Spanish-American War)
Tags: 3rd Georgia Regiment U.S. Volunteers, Adel GA, Berrien County GA, Camp Northen, Carl R. O'Quinn, Charles A. Courson, Company D 3rd Georgia Regiment U.S. Volunteers, George A. Martin, George C. Flowers, Griffin GA, Hahira GA, James L. Jordan, James M. Bridges, Love Culbreath, Minas Cuba, Nashville GA, Nuevitas Cuba, Pythias D. Yopp, Rome GA, S.S. Roumania, Samuel Z.T. Lipham, Spanish-American War, Sparks GA, W. Dutchman Stephens, Walter A. Griner, Zachary T. Hester

In 1898, nowhere was there greater fervor for the Spanish-American War than in Georgia. “When the United States became involved in war with Spain, Georgia furnished according to population more volunteers than any other State of the Union.”

A number of Berrien County, GA men volunteered for service in the U.S. Army.

Walter A. Griner, Carl R. O’Quinn, Pythias D. Yapp,, Zachary T. Hester, W. Dutchman Stephens, Samuel Z.T. Lipham, James M. Bridges, Charles A. Courson, Love Culbreath, George C. Flowers, James L. Jordan and George A. Martin all enlisted in Company D, 3rd Georgia Regiment, U.S. Volunteers. Aaron Cook served as a private in Company E, Third Regiment, U.S. Volunteer Infantry. Other Berrien countians serving in the Third Regiment were Luther Lawrence Hallman and William F. Patten, both in Company B.

Company D, 3rd Georgia Infantry, US Volunteers, Spanish-American War. Image source: http://www.spanamwar.com/3rdGeorgia.htm

The Third Regiment was organized at Camp Northen, Griffin, GA over the summer of 1898 and mustered into the service of the United States on August 24, 1898, with 43 officers and 1,243 enlisted men. The Third Regiment was assigned to Second Brigade, Third Division, Second Army Corps on October 7, 1898. The regiment left Griffin November 21 and arrived at Savannah November 22, 1898. It appears the Third Regiment encamped at Camp Onward, awaiting embarkation.

On New Years Day 1899, the Savannah Morning News reported smallpox outbreaks in Cuba. The Army ordered that all soldiers awaiting embarkation were to be vaccinated immediately.

The 3rd Georgia Regiment sailed from Savannah on S.S. Roumania on Friday the 13th of January 1899; arrived at Nuevitas, Cuba, January 18; changed station to Minas, Cuba January 30 and February 1. The regiment sailed from Nuevitas March 25, 1899, and arrived at Augusta, GA, March 29, 1899. The Third Regiment Mustered out of the service of the United States at Augusta, GA, April 22, 1899, with 46 officers and 945 enlisted men. Casualties while in the service: Officers – died of disease, 1; Enlisted men -died of disease, 24; killed by accident, 1; deserted, 50. – Correspondence Relating to the War With Spain

Company D, 3rd Georgia Infantry, US Volunteers
Muster Roll

Stewart, Henry J. Captain. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 28; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, 1898-06-25; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 9, 1898 (later captain of Co. K, 43 Georgia Infantry US Vols); buried Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome, GA
Brock, Benj. T. 1st Lieut. Residence, Trenton, GA; age, 32; born, Trenton, GA; occupation, Lawyer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, 1898-06-25; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 9, 1898; buried Brock Cemetery, Trenton, GA
Land, Max E. 2nd Lieut. Residence, Abbeville, GA; age, 26; born, Bullard, GA; occupation, Lawyer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, 1898-06-25; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 9, 1898; buried Sunnyside Cemetery, Cordele, GA
Omberg, Frank Cleveland 1st Sgt. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Bk-Keeper; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898; buried Rosemont Cemetery, Newberry, SC
Culver, William H. Sgt. Residence, Atlanta, GA; age, 30; born, Greenville, GA; occupation, Mgr. Compress; enlisted, Atlanta, GA, July 13, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 16, 1898
Baumgartner, Fred C. QM Sgt.; Residence, Rome, GA; age, 22; born, Knoxville, TN; occupation, Cabinet Maker; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; Mustered in Camp Northern, July 8, 1898; buried Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome, GA
George, LaFayette F. Sgt. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Molder; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898; buried West Lawn Cemetery, Henryetta, OK.
Logan, Eugene P. Sgt.. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 24; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Motorman; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Gunn, Donald G. Sgt.. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 19; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Stone Cutter; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Lipham, Samuel Z.T. Corporal. Residence, Sparks, GA; age, 21; born, Berrien County, GA; occupation, Lawyer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 16, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898; buried Dade City Cemetery, Dade City, FL
Logan, Ernest J. Corporal. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 22; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Candy Maker; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Porter, Bernard L. Corporal. Residence, Trenton, GA; age, 22; born, Trenton, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 7, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Mardell, William V. Corporal. Residence, Cordele, GA; age, 24; born, Bainbridge, GA; occupation, Bk-Keeper; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 30, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 2, 1898
George, Rugar E. Corporal. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 18; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Machinist; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 23, 1898
Gwinns, Payton. Corporal. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 19; born, Winchester County, VA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; Mustered in Camp Northern Griffin, July 18, 1898
Bell, DeWitt. Corporal. Residence, Farrill, AL; age, 24; born, Casandra, GA; occupation, Fireman; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Brock, William H. Corporal. Residence, Trenton, GA; age, 18; born, Trenton, GA; occupation, Student; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 7, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Byrd, Phil L. Corporal. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 18; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Ellis, Flisha F. Corporal. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 19; born, Kingston; occupation, Wood Worker; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Howell, William M. Corporal. Residence, Abbeville, GA; age, 25; born, Lumberton, NC; occupation, Merchant; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
King, Spencer B. Corporal. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 18; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Allums, John J. Private. Residence, Douglasville, GA; age, 37; born, Henry Co., GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 30, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Arnold, John H. Private. Residence, Dallas, GA; age, 23; born, Dallas, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Camp Northern GA, August 6, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 6, 1898
Atkins, Tom. Private. Residence, Reasling, Floyd County, GA; age, 20; born, Floyd County, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 13, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 19, 1898
Baumgartner, Schubert. Artificer. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 18; born, Knoxville, TN; occupation, Cabinet Maker; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 21, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 23, 1898
Baxter, Homer E. Private. Residence, Vans Valley, GA; age, 18; born, Vans Valley, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Baxter, John R. Private. Residence, Vans Valley, GA; age, 23; born, Vans Valley, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 3, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 5, 1898
Baxter, William A. Residence, Six Mile Sta., GA; age, 28; born, Floyd County, GA; occupation, Six Mile Sta., GA; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 1, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Black, Fain B. Residence, Calhoun, GA; age, 26; born, Dalton, GA; occupation, Milling; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 29, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 30, 1898
Brannan, James F. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 25; born, Cumming, GA; occupation, Mill Operator; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Bridges, James M. Private. Residence, Adel, GA; age, 21; born, Yorksville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Adel, GA, July 21, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898; buried Sparks City Cemetery, Sparks, GA
Bunn, Chas. C., Jr. Private. Residence, Cedartown, GA; age, 18; born, Cedartown, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 3, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 8, 1898
Chasewood, Richard A. Private. Residence, Atlanta, GA; age, 40; born, Newton County, GA; occupation, Shoemaker; enlisted, Atlanta, GA, July 29, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 31, 1898
Cliett, Hugh A. Private. Residence, Powersville, GA; age, 21; born, Bowersville, GA; occupation, Druggist; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Collier, William. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 24; born, Peeks Hill, AL; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Courson, Chas. A. Private. Residence, Hahira, GA; age, 21; born, Dupont, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Sparks, GA, July 23, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898; died of typhoid fever at 1st Division Hospital, Savannah, GA, December 23, 1898; buried Friendship Cemetery, Hahira, GA
Culbreath, Love. Private. Residence, Hahira, GA; age, 18; born, Troutman, NC; occupation, Mill Hand; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 28, 1898
Culpepper, Morris P. Private. Residence, Mingo, GA; age, 23; born, Mingo, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; Mustered in Camp Northern, Griffin, July 15, 1898
Davis, Chas. T. Private. Residence, Benn, GA; age, 21; born, Benn, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Davis, Robert L. Wagoner. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 25; born, Spg Garden, AL; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Dorminy, Andrew J. Private. Residence, Dorminy Mills, GA; Record ID age, 20; born, Dorminy Mills, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 11, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Dunford, John. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 27; born, Rockmart, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Dunwoody, Chas. A. Private. Residence, Cedartown, GA; age, 35; born, Roswell, GA; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Earle, Marcus B. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 28; born, Everett Springs; occupation, Railroader; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Earp, Will G. Private. Residence, Sulphur Springs, GA; age, 18; born, Jasper, TN; occupation, Saw Milling; enlisted, Trenton, GA, August 2, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Eustice, Hilliard. Musician. Residence, Rising Faun, GA; age, 18; born, Silver Plunk, CA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 14, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Flowers, George C. Private. Residence, Sparks, GA; age, 34; born, Avery, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Sparks, GA, July 22, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
Fountain, John T. Private. Residence, Tippettsville, GA; age, 21; born, Hawkinsville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898. Died, disease, December 8, 1898, at Savannah, GA
Fowler, Columbus S. Private. Residence, Likeme, AL; age, 21; born, Melton, FL; occupation, Brickmason; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Gillwater, Chas. E. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 39; born, Eufaula, AL; occupation, Brick Mason; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 23, 1898
Graham, William F. Private. Residence, Fitzgerald, GA; age, 23; born, Independence, KS; occupation, Carpenter; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 25, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 30, 1898
Griner, Walter A. Private. Residence, Nashville, GA; age, 19; born, Nashville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Haholzer, Mike. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21; born, Pittsburg, PA; occupation, Tinner; enlisted, Rome, GA, 1898-08-01; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Hall, Burress. Musician; Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age, 21; born, Rising Fawn, GA; occupation, Musician; enlisted, July 18, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Hawk, Mitchell. Private. Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age, 21; born, Rising Fawn, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 14, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Herring, Eugene. Private. Residence, Lindale, GA; age, 23; born, Marshall County, MS; occupation, Mill Operator; enlisted, Rome, GA, 1898-08-02; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 4, 1898
Hester, Zachary T., Jr. Private. Residence, Sparks, GA; age, 18; born, Glenville, MS; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
Hoffman, Frederick. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 18; born, Jacksonville, AL; occupation, Shoemaker; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 23, 1898
Jackson, Central Z. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21 8/12; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Jobe, Henry W. B. Private. Residence, New England City, GA; age, 21 3/12; born, Trenton, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 7, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Johnson, Earl L. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21 2/12; born, Elberton, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 16, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 23, 1898
Jones, George H. Private. Residence, Goldsboro, N.C.; age, 28 7/12; born, Goldsboro, NC; occupation, Sawyer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Jones, James A. Private. Residence, Tippettsville, GA; age, 27 2/12; born, Tippetsville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Jordan, James L. Private. Residence, Adel, GA; age, 25 7/12; born, Valdosta, GA; occupation, Mechanic; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Keith, Ben. Private. Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age, 21 3/12; born, Valley Head, AL; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 15, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Keith, Thomas M. Private. Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age, 25 11/12; born, Valley Head, AL; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 14, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Kersey, Ike T. Residence, Cole City, GA; age, 29 5/12; born, Long Island, AL; occupation, Brakeman; enlisted, Trenton, GA; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA
King, Robert N. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21 11/12; born, Curryville, GA; occupation, Motorman; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Langham, Nash. Private. Residence, Namnie, GA; age, 25 1/12; born, Dykes, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Lawham, Virgil. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 23 8/12; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Oiler; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 16, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 23, 1898
Martin, George A. Private. Residence, Hahira, GA; age, 21 5/12; born, Quitman; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Sparks, GA, July 23, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
McGiboney, Chas. W. Private. Residence, Siney, GA; age, 21 9/12; born, Cave Springs, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 1, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Murray, Elmore E. Private. Residence, Savannah, GA; age, 21 1/12; born, Barton, Vt.; occupation, Teacher; enlisted, Sparks, GA, July 21, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
O’Quinn, Carl R. Private. Residence, Nashville, GA; age, 18; born, Dupont, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Porter, Aleck. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 18; born, Cave Springs, GA; occupation, Clerk; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Porter, F. Private. Residence, Cole City, GA; age, 21; born, Long Island, GA; occupation, Guard; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 18, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Posey, Thomas. Private. Residence, Margie, GA; age, 18; born, “Don’t Know” AK; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 2, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 5, 1898
Rawlins, Marvin M. Private. Residence, Stockbridge, GA; age, 21; born, Snearsville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Sparks, GA, July 21, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
Reid, Ed. Private. Residence, Rome; age, 20; born, Rome, GA; occupation, Laborer; enlisted, Rome, GA, 1898-08-01; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Richardson, Wm. H. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 21; born, Coaco, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Rouse, Allen G. Private. Residence, Hahira, GA; age, 22; born, Fayetteville, N.C.; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Sparks, GA, July 23, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
Rustin, David L. Private. Residence, Reidsville, GA; age, 31 1/2; born, Reidsville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Sanford, Rowan G. Private. Residence, Graham, GA; age, 23 2/12; born, Graham; occupation, Mechanic; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Shannon, Oscar. Private. Residence, Etwah, GA; age, 20 7/12; born, Cleveland, TN; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Cleveland, TN, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 30, 1898
Shelly, Lewis. Private. Residence, Cedar Bluff, AL; age, 19 3/12; born, Cedar Bluff, AL; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 4, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 6, 1898
Sisk, Elijah W. Private. Residence, Everett, GA; age, 19 3/12; born, Plainsville, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, 1898-08-02; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 5, 1898
Slaton, Purcelle. Private. Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age,21 3/12; born, Rising Fawn, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 15, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Smith, F H. Private. Residence, Atlanta, GA; age, 23 3/12; born, Gadsden, AL; occupation, Candy Maker; enlisted, Atlanta, GA, July 28, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 30, 1898
Snider, George W. Private. Residence, Morristown, TN; age, 27 4/12; born, Maryville, TN; occupation, Med. Student; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 7, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Snow, Henry O. Jr. Private. Residence, Abbeville, GA; age, 22 2/12; born, Brookville, Fla.; occupation, Med. Student; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 16, 1898
Stappins, Wofford. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 22 10/12; born, Cartersville, GA; occupation, Mill Operator; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; Mustered in At Camp Northern Griffin, July 18, 1898
Stephens, W. Dutchman. Private. Residence, Sparks, GA; age, 20 5/12; born, Wadley, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 27, 1898
Swift, Mathews T. Private. Residence, Fitzgerald, GA; age, 21 11/12; born, Wrens, GA; occupation, Engineer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 25, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 30, 1898
Tidwell, Williams. Private. Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age, 18 1/12; born, Rising Fawn, GA; occupation, Painter; enlisted, Rising Fawn, GA, July 7, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Walden, William H. Private. Residence, Cason, GA; age, 22 3/12; born, Cason, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Walker, John S. Private. Residence, Rising Fawn, GA; age, 26 6/12; born, Cedar Grove, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, August 2, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Webb, Wiley. Private. Residence, Long Island, AL; age, 34 8/12; born, Cole City; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Trenton, GA, July 18, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Wheeler, Floyd T. Private. Residence, Trenton, GA; age, 21 4/12; born, Trenton, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Griffin, GA, July 10, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 20, 1898
Wilder, Robert T. Private. Residence, Lindale, GA; age, 22 7/12; born, Cherokee Co., AL; occupation, Mill Hand; enlisted, Rome, GA, August 2, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, August 3, 1898
Wilkinson, Ernest C. Private. Residence, Atlanta, GA; age, 19 11/12; born, Wilmington, N.C.; occupation, Electrician; enlisted, Atlanta, GA, July 13, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898
Williams, Arthur E. Private. Residence, Jacksonville, GA; age, 19 3/12; born, McRae, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 11, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 15, 1898
Yapp, Pythias D. Private. Residence, Nashville, GA; age, 19 5/12; born, Dublin, GA; occupation, Mill Hand; enlisted, Abbeville, GA, July 9, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 28, 1898
Young, Joseph. Private. Residence, Rome, GA; age, 23 6/12; born, Canton, GA; occupation, Farmer; enlisted, Rome, GA, July 8, 1898; mustered in, Camp Northern, Griffin, GA, July 18, 1898

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Charles Bruner Shaw

June 2, 2018 at 12:55 am (Law and Order, Register Family, Shaw Family)
Tags: Aaron Anderson Knight, Adel GA, Alapaha GA, blind tiger, bootleggers, Brodie Shaw, Brooker Shaw, C. H. Jones, Cauley Hammond Shaw, Charles Bruner Shaw, Charles Bruner Shaw Jr, Charley Thomas, Charlie Ruth Griffin, Charlie Ruth Shaw, Coffee Road, E. L. Mercer, Francis Arthur Shaw, Francis Marion Shaw, Frostproof FL, Georgia Lavenia Griffin, Gertrude Albritton, Glory GA, Haines City FL, Hass Griffin, John Harris, John Levi Allen, John Williams, Joseph Varn Nix, Juanita Shaw, Juanita Victoria Shaw, Landers Everett, Lois GA, Lynette Narcissis Shaw, Margaret Frances Griffin, Mary Ellen Griffin, Mayhaw Lake, Milltown GA, Mollie Register, Moonshine, New Ramah Church, Newt Hatcher, Odum Dunlap, Pecola Shaw, Pine Grove School, Pleasant Church, Possum Branch Road, Prohibition, Rachel Allen, Rachel Moore Allen, Ray's Mill GA, Rebecca Griffin, Rebecca Jane Parrish, Robert Bruce Griffin, Sara Rebecca Griffin, Sarah Laura Parrish, scarlet fever, Sovin Knight, Sullivan Jordan Knight, Victoria Giddens Knight, W. W. Griner, Wesley Griner, White Pond School, Will McSwain, Willacoochee GA, William Franklin Griffin, William Harrison Griffin, William M. Register, William Register, Willie Henrietta Griffin

Charles Bruner Shaw (1888-1950)

Special thanks to Bryan Shaw for sharing photos and content for this post. Portions reprinted from Shaw Family Newsletter: Charles Bruner Shaw

Born in 1888 in a corn crib on the John Allen farm just outside Ray City, GA, Bruner Shaw would later serve as a police officer for the town. He was a son of Francis Arthur Shaw and Victoria Giddens Knight.

Bruner Shaw in police uniform about 1926. Photographed in Florida. Image courtesy of Bryan Shaw.

After Bruner’s mother died of scarlet fever in 1889, he and his brother Brodie Shaw were raised by their grandparents, Francis Marion Shaw and Rachel Moore Allen Shaw. The home place of Francis Marion Shaw and Rachel Moore Allen Shaw was just west of Ray City, at Lois, GA just off Possum Branch Road. Bruner attended school through the eighth grade at the two-room Pine Grove School. The Pine Grove and Kings Chapel schools were filled at various times with the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of Rachel and Francis Marion Shaw.

Bruner Shaw circa 1905

At a young age, Bruner Shaw married Mollie Register, daughter of William M. Register (1852-1926) and Sarah Laura Parrish Register (1854-1933), and granddaughter of Elder Ancil Parrish, the old Primitive Baptist preacher of Berrien County. The Registers were a prominent family of Nashville, GA. Bruner and Mollie were married on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1905, in a ceremony performed by Bruner’s uncle Aaron Anderson Knight, of Ray City, GA. Reverend Knight was then primitive Baptist minister of Pleasant Church, just west of Ray City, GA. The bride was one month shy of her 20th birthday; the groom had just turned 17.

Marriage certificate of Charles Bruner Shaw and Mollie Register, December 31, 1905.

Bruner farmed for a while at Ray City, GA near his brother, Brodie Shaw. The census of 1910 shows other neighbors included Mack Speights, Joseph S. Clements, Bryant Fender, and Frank Gallagher.

A Year of Tragedy

In January 1911, when his aunt and uncle, Eliza Allen and Sovin J. Knight, moved to Brooks County to a farm on the Little River near Barney, GA, Bruner went along, moving his young family to an adjacent farm. But shortly after their move to Barney, “on April 16, 1911, just 26 days after the purchase of the new farm, Sovin suffered a severe heart attack and died in his new home.

After this family loss coupled with the death of his infant daughter, Pecola, Bruner Shaw sold his Brooks County farm and returned to Berrien County. Just six weeks after the sale, his wife, Mollie Register Shaw, died of Scarlet Fever. She was buried at Pleasant Cemetery, near Ray City, GA.

Bruner’s widowed aunt Eliza later moved her daughters, Kathleen and Rachel, back to Berrien County to live in the farm home of her parents (Bruner’s grandparents), Rachel Moore Allen Shaw and Francis Marion Shaw, just outside of Ray City, GA.

Grave of Mollie Register Shaw (1886-1911), Pleasant Cemetery, near Ray City, GA. Image source: Cat

The young widower soon enlisted the help of a teen-age girl to help take care of his children. Fifteen-year-old Charlie Ruth Griffin was the youngest child of William Harrison “Hass” Griffin and Rebecca Jane Parrish, born June 25, 1897 in her family’s cabin on South Old Coffee Road in Berrien County. Her siblings were Sarah Rebecca, Georgia Lavinia, Mary Ellen, Margaret Frances “Fannie”, Willie Henrietta, William Franklin, and Robert Bruce Griffin.

Charlie Ruth Griffin while a student at White Pond School. Original image detail courtesy of www.berriencountyga.com

Charlie Ruth Griffin while a student at White Pond School. Original image detail courtesy of http://www.berriencountyga.com

As Charlie took care of Bruner’s children, they grew very close to their nursemaid. After a very brief courtship, Bruner and Charlie were married November 23, 1913, at the home of the Reverend Aaron Anderson Knight in Ray City. Reverend Knight was then serving as the first pastor of the newly organized New Ramah Primitive Baptist Church at Ray City.

Marriage certificate of Charles Bruner Shaw and Charlie Ruth Griffin, November 24, 1913, Ray City, GA

Charlie gave Bruner three more children, Francis Marion Shaw, Lynette Narcissis Shaw, and Charles Bruner Shaw, Jr., and raised Bruner’s two children, Juanita and William Arthur, as if they were her own.

Bruner and Charlie Shaw were a part of society and leisure at Ray City, GA and Berrien County. In February 1914 Bruner was among the people from Ray City attending the carnival at Nashville. Others from Ray City included Annie Mae Carter, Margie Dasher, Pearl Hardie Knight, Mr. and Mrs. G. V. Harvie, W. H. Luckie, George Norton, J. J. and J. S. Clements.

In 1914, Charlie Ruth and her husband, Bruner Shaw, and daughter, Juanita Shaw, were also seen at the Mayhaw Lake Resort on Park Street near Ray City. Mayhaw Lake was “The Place” in Berrien County for more than a decade. It was built in 1914 by Elias Moore “Hun” Knight, of Ray City. The amusement park was such a popular spot that the Georgia & Florida Railroad gave special rates for picnic parties from all points on their line. People from all over the area would journey to Mayhaw Lake, especially on holidays such as the 4th of July and Labor Day. A boarding house [later the home of Effie Guthrie Knight] up the road towards Ray City was opened up by the Paul Knight family specifically to provide lodging for the Mayhaw crowd.

Posing in front of the roller-skating rink at Mayhaw Lake in 1914, left to right: Burton Moore; Tom Parrish; Manson Johnson; unidentified lady; Charlie Ruth Shaw with her husband, Bruner Shaw, and daughter, Juanita Shaw; lady; Viola Smith Davis; lady; Mrs. Burton Moore and daughters, Kate Hazen, Thelma Register; Lonnie Smith; boy; man; Shellie Ziegler; and Jessie Ziegler Touchton. Members of the band in the background include Rossie Swindle, Glenn Johnson, Lonnie Swindle, and J. H. Swindle.

It was about this time that Bruner began his life-long pursuit of the law enforcement profession. Bruner entered police work through occasional employment as a deputy at Ray City. At that time the Police Chief at Ray City was Bruner’s cousin, Cauley Shaw.

An incident report in 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 [Nashville, GA] 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.

The Tifton Gazette also reported the incident:

Tifton Gazette reports Bruner shot while serving an arrest warrant, October 6, 1914

Tifton Gazette
October 16, 1914

C. B. Shaw, C.H. Jones and Charley Thomas were shot by a negro named John Williams, near Rays Mill Oct. 6, says the Milltown Advocate. Thomas has some trouble with the negro about hauling some cotton and the negro fired at him. He went to Rays Mill, secured a warrant and returned for the negro. The negro opened fire and slightly wounded three of the party who returned from Rays Mill with Thomas. The negro escaped.

Over the next few years, Bruner did stints in the police departments of Milltown (now Lakeland), GA and at Willacoochee. By early 1919, Bruner had been hired by Berrien County Sheriff J. V. Nix as a deputy at Nashville, GA.

Until 1919, most of the activities of a peace officer involved chasing down petty thieves, and raiding an occasional “skins” (gambling) game…

Production and consumption of moonshine – illegal liquor – was also a problem for law officers. State-wide prohibition in Georgia had passed in 1907, with Ray City’s own representative Jonathan Perry Knight among those leading the charge.

However, with the passage of the 18th amendment to the Constitution (prohibition), a whole new illicit business was the target of the county sheriff and his deputies. “Blind tigers”, as they were commonly referred, brewed alcohol in what was known as a “lard can” still, using syrup and meal processed through a copper worm. The product was a high explosive liquor with enough alcohol in it to burn like gasoline. Drinking of such had been known to cause blindness, if not death. Thus, the name “blind tiger.”

By 1919, reports of drunkenness and lawlessness in Ray City were making newspapers throughout the section. There were plenty of “blind tigers” running stills and selling bootleg liquor in Berrien County and Ray City, and gambling, too, despite the efforts of lawmen like Bruner Shaw, Cauley Shaw, Gus Clements, Frank Allen, Marcus Allen, Jim Griner, Wesley Griner, and W.W. Griner.

In April 1919, part-time deputy Bruner Shaw was again shot by an assailant.

1919 Tifton Gazette reports Bruner Shaw shot by John Harris

Tifton Gazette
May 2, 1919

Shaw Shot by Negro

Nashville, Ga., April 23- Bruner Shaw, a well-known young farmer who has served as special deputy sheriff a number of times, was shot from ambush Saturday at the home of Will McSwain, a negro farmer living near Lois, this county. Shaw recognized his assailant as John Harris, a young negro whom he had arrested at Adel several months ago on a misdemeanor charge. The wouldbe murderer used a 23-calibre Winchester rifle, and the bullet entered the left side of Shaw’s head. He was able to come to Nashville today and swear out warrants against the negro, who is in jail here, having been captured by Sheriff Nix.

While pursuing his law enforcement career in other towns, Bruner Shaw maintained his Ray City connections. In 1920 Census records show Bruner and Charlie were residing in Ray City. According to Bryan Shaw, Bruner’s last child, Charles Bruner, Jr., was born on February 6, 1920, in a home on Trixie Street behind the Marion Shaw home in Ray City. Bruner and Charlie resided in the home for three more years, participating regularly in the events of the community, especially dances and song fests.

Nashville Herald
March 15, 1923

News from Ray City—Everybody that wants to laugh as they haven’t since the war, come out on “Dad’s Night” . . . Last but not least will be some very fine singing by several of our gentlemen singers. They alone will be worth your time, should we have no other attraction. Mr. Bruner Shaw has promised us they will give at least four selections.

Later that year, Bruner Shaw was present at the startup of Ray City’s first power plant.

Sometime that fall Bruner, Charlie Ruth, and their five children moved to Polk County, Florida, where Bruner was hired as a deputy. There was steady work tracking down bootleggers and their moonshine stills. Details of big raids appeared in the papers:

The Polk County Recorder
March 2, 1924

“With drawn guns and expecting a battle to the death, sixteen deputies from Sheriff Logan’s force [and two federal agents] surrounded an abandoned sawmill camp in Eastern Polk County. Deputies Hatcher and Shaw volunteered to be a party to call for the surrender of the men sought.”

•∏•

Tampa Tribune
March 31, 1924

Lakeland Deputies Catch Moonshiners

Still of 100-Gallon Capacity Is Haul; Several Arrests Are Made

(Special to the Tribune)
Lakeland, March 30. – Lying in the woods near Bowling Green, Deputies [Newt] Hatcher and Shaw of the sheriff’s office Friday night watched a suspected bootlegger uncover two gallons of moonshine near the hiding place. Floyd Douglas, it is alleged, was getting the liquor to sell to Federal Officer Standau, unaware of the officer’s identity. Five gallons more were found in a search, and Douglas and the liquor were taken into custody. This is said to be Douglas’ second offense.
Just before the Bowling Green visit, the three officials made a big haul at Mulberry, where a 100-gallon copper still, 18 barrels of mash and six gallons of ‘shine were found in a swamp a mile from town. A negro man and woman were arrested as operators of the still.

•∏•

The Tampa Times
April 19, 1924

Raids Discourage Makers of ‘Shine

(Special to The Times.)
Bartow, April 19. – When the home of a Mrs. Beaumont, just over the Polk county line in Hillsborough county, was raided Wednesday the officers making the raid captured 244 bottles of 4 1/2 percent beer and three half pint bottles of shine. The arrest was made by Polk county Deputy Sheriffs Hatcher and Shaw with Federal prohibition Officers Standau and Dugan, who took the prisoner and evident to Tampa.
The recent series of captures of “shine” outfits conducted by Sheriff Logan and his deputies seems to have discouraged the moonshining industry in Polk county, according to reports from the sheriff’s office and judging from the record of convictions of violators of the prohibition laws in the criminal court combined with the sentences imposed by Judge Olliphant it seems highly probably that bootleggers of Polk county will decided that business isn’t so good in these parts.

In July 1924 Bruner served as Night Police Chief in Haines City, FL. His friend and colleague, Newt Hatcher, was the Day Police Chief.

Bruner Shaw in front of his squad car at Haines City Florida. Image detail courtesy of Bryan Shaw

The exploits of Officer Shaw were occasionally reported in the Tampa Tribune. On December 21, 1925, the paper reported C. B. Shaw was involved in a gun battle with a murder suspect.

December 21, 1925, C. B. Shaw in gun battle with Odom Dunlap, alleged murderer of Owen Higgins.

Later, Bruner Shaw served as chief of police at Frostproof, FL. A high-profile case while Bruner Shaw as chief of police at Frostproof Florida was the kidnapping of E. L. Mercer, well-to-do citrus grower.

June 6, 1928, Tampa Tribune reports Frostproof, FL police chief Bruner Shaw investigating kidnapping of E.L. Mercer

In the fall of 1929, the Shaw family returned to Berrien County, GA where Bruner sharecropped the John Strickland property on the old Valdosta highway. While the family went about bringing in crops of corn, tobacco and cotton, and the children [Marion, Lynette, and Charles, Jr.] were attending school at Kings Chapel, Bruner found temporary employment with the Berrien County Sheriff and the Ray City Police.

By November 1930 Bruner Shaw was named Chief of Police in Alapaha, GA and moved the family there. He was once again again in pursuit of “blind tigers.”

Nashville Herald,
December 18, 1930

Last Wednesday afternoon Chief C. B. Shaw and Deputy Sheriff Wesley Griner and W. W. Griner went over near Glory and went down in the river swamp about one mile west of Glory and found 180 gallons of corn mash. There was no still found with this buck. The officers poured out the contents and busted up the barrels. The people of Alapaha are pleased with the work of Mr. C. B. Shaw since he has been Chief of Police. We all hope that Mr. Shaw will stay on here as he is doing such good work and helping to clean up the community by catching blind tigers.

Moonshine still bust about 1930 near Glory, GA on the Alapaha River. Chief of Police, Bruner Shaw, 2nd from the right. Other identified is Brooker Shaw, brother of Chief Shaw, 2nd from the left.

It was the midst of the Great Depression, and though his work was appreciated, the pay was meager. In the summer of 1931, Bruner removed his family from Berrien County for last time and the Shaw family moved back to Frostproof.

The Shaw Family Newsletter: CHARLES BRUNER SHAW, SR: Have Badge, Will Travel, by Bryan Shaw, relates the story of Bruner Shaw’s life, law, business, and family.

https://www.fmshawfamily.com/Home

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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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Cliff Brown and the South Georgia & West Coast Railroad

August 6, 2013 at 1:45 am (African American, Railroads)
Tags: Adel GA, Cliff Brown, Georgia and Florida railroad, Hampton Springs FL, Hampton Springs Hotel, James Oglesby, Ray City GA, South Georgia & West Coast Railroad, Zenas Oglesby

South Georgia & West Coast Railroad. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/147636

In the summer of 1917, Cliff Brown was a resident of Ray City, Berrien County, GA when he registered for the draft for World War I. Cliff Brown was African-American and, at age 22, he was of medium height and build, with black hair and black eyes. He was a native of Hawkinsville, GA born May 15, 1895.

An interesting fact from his draft card was that while a resident of Ray City, Brown was an employee of the South Georgia & West Coast Railroad. He gave his place of employment as “Adel, Ga. to Hampton Springs, Fla”

1917 Draft Registration of Cliff Brown, Ray City, GA

The South Georgia & West Coast Railroad was built by brothers Zenas and James Oglesby of Quitman Georgia, and ran from Adel to Hampton Springs, FL. In Adel, the line connected with the Georgia & Florida Railroad which served Ray City, GA, running from Jacksonville, GA to Madison, FL.

Hampton Springs, FL, the southern terminus of the South Georgia & West Coast Railroad, was the site of the famous Hampton Springs Hotel, once labeled “Dixie’s Famous Spa.” While the hotel was very popular with the railroad’s white passengers in the early 1900s, African-Americans like railroad worker Cliff Brown were no doubt denied access to the resort.

In its heyday, “The hotel was world renowned for its sulfur springs and baths known for their healing and medicinal powers. The luxurious hotel boasted lush gardens with elaborate fountains and planters. The resort had a covered pool with foot baths fed by the springs, a golf course, tennis courts, stables, casino, grand ballroom, outdoor dance pavilion, and railroad depot. The nine-hole golf course was among the first in the region. The hotel had its own bottling plant and shipped the healing sulfur water nationwide. It also had its own power plant and the majority of the food served in the dining room was grown and raised at the hotel farm. The hotel had a private hunting and fishing lodge on Spring Creek six miles from the hotel site and an excursion boat with a covered launch.”

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Year of the Tiger

May 8, 2013 at 3:09 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: 3rd Georgia Cavalry Battalion, 4th Georgia Cavalry Regiment, Adel GA, Alapaha River, Argyle GA, Battle of Olustee, Berrien Tiger, Cecil GA, Clinch County GA, Duncan L. Clinch, Fellowship Baptist Church, George Harris, George W. R. Stone, James Harris, James Stewart, Jim Hightower, John L. Harris, John's Island SC, Julia Ann Westberry, Mary Alice Stone, Nancy Howell, Nancy Ursery, Okefenokee Swamp, Providence Primitive Baptist Church, Quitman GA, Ray City GA, Richard Bennett, Thomas B. Stewart, Thompson Harris, Union Church, William Harris, Wiregrass Georgia

In Wiregrass Georgia, 1849 may have been the Year of the Tiger. Several previous posts have related the story of the Berrien Tiger, a large panther which attacked Jim Hightower (aka James Stewart, step-son of Thomas B. Stewart) near the Alapaha River in 1849 (see Eyewitness Accounts of the Berrien Tiger).

Here is a family story shared by reader Lloyd Harris, of another “Tiger” encounter which occurred that same year near Argyle, GA, about 35 miles east of Ray City.

When I was young my grandfather related a long ago memory of his grandfather’s encounter with a panther or panthers in the south Georgia wilderness. Our family story coincides with the Berrien Tiger accounts as they happened at approximately the same time. My great great grandfather, James Harris, told this story of his own childhood to my grandad when he was young.

James Harris, 1880s. Image courtesy of Lloyd Harris.

The incident happened when James Harris was about five years old, and coincides with the 1849 date of the Berrien Tiger.

Family of James Harris

James Harris was the first of eleven children born to George Harris and Julia Ann Westberry. He was born near Quitman, Georgia, February 16, 1844.

His father, George Harris, was the son of Thompson Harris (1784-1870) and Nancy Ursery (1784- ) A Confederate Widow’s Indigent Pension application for Julia Ann (Westberry) Harris in 1908 reflects George Harris’ birth in 1817 in South Carolina. Another source relates that he was born in Appling County, Georgia between 1817 and 1822, after which the family lived in Clinch County. George was a blacksmith and in addition assisted his father Thompson Harris in constructing covered bridges. His father’s work was known throughout Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. A trademark of their bridges was the integrated use of iron and bored wooden pegs to hold the timbers together.

George was a blacksmith and wheelwright. Family tradition relates that he assisted his father Thompson Harris in constructing covered bridges throughout Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

The church records of Union Church show that George and Julia Harris were received and baptized into its membership August 7, 1841, and were dismissed by letter March 12,1842. They became members of Providence Primitive Baptist Church near their home soon after that church was constituted in 1844. Their subsequent records cannot be traced due to the loss of church records.

The Harris home and farm in Clinch County, Georgia was on lot 325 in the 7th District which lot was traversed by the county line between Clinch and Ware Counties when Clinch was created in 1850 from Ware County. This property is situated about three miles north of the present village of Argyle. George Harris was granted this lot from the state on June 3, 1849; also granted the adjoining lot 324 on October 3, 1848. He sold lot 324 to his brother, William Harris, November 2, 1849, and then lived on lot 325 until he sold that parcel of land to Richard Bennett on August 12, 1852.

Tale of the Panthers

There is a family tale handed down through many generations relating to frontier life. The event happened in 1849 during the time the Harris family was residing in Clinch County. George Harris was away leaving his wife Julia and the children home alone in a pioneer homestead. Speculation would be that he was away with his father building bridges or hunting. During one night panthers roaming from the nearby Okefenokee swamp menaced the home ranging closer and closer to the cabin. To keep the predators from entering the home the frantic family prayed through the night and burned their beds, and chairs keeping a large fire going. The tactic flushed the space with light and served to repel an attack by the curious cats.

The Harris family story of a young pioneer family praying, hanging blankets over windows, and burning the bed, tables and chairs was passed down serving to entertain several generations with a true historical drama of frontier Georgia living in the nineteenth century.

George and James Harris in the Civil War

George Harris and his son James both served in the War Between the States. George Harris enlisted as a Private in the fall of 1862 as a member of the 3rd Cavalry Battalion which was formed during the winter of 1861-1862 with six companies. He along with his unit served on the Georgia coast, scouting and patrolling, until a reorganization of troops occurred on January 1, 1863. George Harris’ unit was merged into the 4th (Clinch’s) Georgia Cavalry Regiment , and he was placed in Company I. Lieutenant Colonel Duncan L. Clinch and Major John L. Harris were in command.

At the reorganization, James Harris joined his father’s unit, Company I, 4th Georgia Cavalry as a private. He participated in the Battle of Olustee, Florida and in the battles around Atlanta. Family tradition relates he contracted measles during the siege of Atlanta and was in the city when it fell to the Union armies under General William T. Sherman. His unit apparently left him outside of the city but in the line of the advancing enemy soldiers. James was convalescing on a farm (place unknown) when “Yankees” were seen approaching. He was hidden by the host family in the stump of a huge oak tree that had “bushed” up. James remained concealed in the oak bush throughout the hot summer day until the Yankees left. Though suffering from sickness, and within a stones throw of the Union soldiers, he remained quite and motionless evading capture! Records also indicate he participated in battle at John’s Island, South Carolina. He surrendered at Thomasville, Georgia and was paroled at Tallahassee, Florida on May 15, 1865.

After the war James Harris married Mary Alice Stone. She was born February 16, 1842, the daughter of George W. R. Stone and Nancy Howell. The Harris and Stone families are listed in the 1850 Census of Ware County. James and Alice raised a family and engaged in farming near Adel, GA in present Cook County. He was a skilled blacksmith and wheelwright, as well. James Harris is listed in the 1880 and 1900 census of Berrien County, Georgia.

For James Harris, 1897 was a particularly trying year. That summer a hailstorm hit the Harris farm, damaging his house and property.

James Harris’ plantation hit by storm, 1897.

Tifton Gazette
June 18, 1897

Storm Near Cecil.

Cicil, Ga., June 12. – A heavy and damaging hail storm passed three miles north of Cecil late yesterday afternoon. The cloud traveled in a southeasterly direction, touching the plantation of Mr. James Harris, three miles northeast of this place. The storm was accompanied by a terrific wind, which destroyed a large amount of Mr. Harris’ fencing and a portion of the roof of his dwelling. No deaths or personal injuries have been reported.

In November, 1897, Harris took another blow when his gin was burned down.

James Harris’ gin house hit by fire, 1897.

Tifton Gazette
November 19, 1897

Gin House Burned

Cecil, Ga., Nov. 17 – At a late hour last night the gin house and contents of Mr. James Harris living two miles northeast of this place, was destroyed by fire. The origin of which is unknown, but is thought to be an incendiary’s work. The amount of the damage could not be learned to-day, but it is thought that it may exceed $1,000. SHEBA.

James’ father, George Harris, died between 1892 and 1894 in Echols County, Georgia. His mother, Julia Ann Harris, applied for a Confederate Widows pension in 1908 and 1909 in Berrien County, Georgia. George Harris and his wife are buried in Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Lanier County, Georgia in unmarked graves.

In 1919, James Harris sold his farm near Cecil, GA.

James Harris sells out in Cecil District, Georgia, 1919.

Tifton Gazette
August 29, 1919

Adel News. There has been a good deal of activity in the sale of farm lands in Cook county this week. Mr. W. S. Kirkland sold his farm to Mr. Jim Buck Whiddon and later bought Mr. John Taylor’s place which he also sold. It is understood that the first brought $15,00. Both of the places are in the Brushy creek neighborhood. Mr. James Harris sold his place in the Cecil district to Mr. General Taylor for $15,000 also.

James Harris was a resident of Cecil, Georgia in Berrien/Cook County until his death. He died in Adel, Georgia December 12, 1928. Alice died October 28, 1928, in Adel Georgia. They are both buried at the Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery in Cook County near Cecil, Georgia.

Special thanks to Lloyd Harris for the contribution of images and content for this post.

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Kiss of the Red Scorpion

January 27, 2013 at 12:41 am (DeVane Family, Remedies and Medicine)
Tags: Adel GA, Atlanta School of Medicine, Cecil-Milltown Road, Connell's Mill District, James Gordon DeVane, James Patrick DeVane, Mary Elmina Morris, Medical Corps, Pleasant Church, Red Scorpion, Spanish Influenza, Sparks Collegiate Institute, Sparks Institute, Striped Scorpion

Medical Men of Ray’s Mill
Dr. Gordon DeVane

"The striped scorpion (Centruroides hentzi) is a sandhill / coastal plain species. They are occassionally found in homes and cabins but their favored habitat is under bark of either alive or dead long-leaf pines and slash pine. They can hide under bark that is quite flat to the tree and thus are not frequently seen..." - http://gregsnaturalhistory.com/729/scorpions-of-georgia/

“The striped scorpion (Centruroides hentzi) is a sandhill / coastal plain species. They are occasionally found in homes and cabins but their favored habitat is under bark of either alive or dead long-leaf pines and slash pine. They can hide under bark that is quite flat to the tree and thus are not frequently seen…” – http://gregsnaturalhistory.com/729/scorpions-of-georgia/

Although a fairly common species of the Wiregrass piney woods, scorpions are rarely seen by most Georgians. But as a young man living a hundred years ago in the Connells Mill district of Berrien County, GA, Gordon DeVane came face to face with one of the critters.

Tifton Gazette
September 27, 1907 Pg 7

While at Pleasant church Sunday, Mr. Gordon DeVane was bitten on the lip by a red scorpion. His lip swelled considerable and he had to seek medical attention. Mr. DeVane was tying his horse to a tree when attacked by the scorpion. – Adel News.

James Gordon DeVane stung by red scorpion, 1907.

Naturalist Greg Greer has photographed and written about the scorpions of Georgia at http://gregsnaturalhistory.com/729/scorpions-of-georgia/ He identifies the scorpion common to the area of Ray City and Pleasant Church as the striped scorpion, Centruroides hentzi. Not a deadly scorpion, but still, who wants to get stung on the lip?

Born May 10, 1886, James Gordon DeVane was a son of Mary Elmina Morris (1866 – 1918) and James Patrick DeVane (1863 – 1945). The DeVanes made their home in the Connells Mill District GMD 1329, at a farm on the Cecil-Milltown road. The father, “Patrick” DeVane was a farmer, and owned his place free and clear of mortgage. The census of 1900 shows that “Gordon” DeVane was “at school.” Later records attest that he attended the Sparks Collegiate Institute at Adel, GA.

Sparks Collegiate Institute, Adel, GA, circa 1904.

According to the Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929 James Gordon Devane was educated in Adel at the Sparks Institute before attending the Atlanta School of Medicine. Was it that scorpion’s kiss that inspired him to study medicine?

The Atlanta School of Medicine was formally opened in October 1905, merged with the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1913, and became a part of Emory University in 1915. At the Atlanta School of Medicine, Gordon DeVane may have been a classmate of Ray City doctor George H. Folsom who attended the medical college sometime between 1906 and 1910.

Gordon DeVane graduated from the medical school in 1911 and was subsequently licensed to practice medicine in Georgia and Florida. But at the time of the Census of 1910 Gordon DeVane had returned to the Connell’s Mill District GMD 1329 where he was enumerated in the household of his parents, Patrick and Elmina DeVane. Perhaps in anticipation of his graduation, he gave his profession as “physician” and his occupation as “general practice.”

In 1911 Gordon DeVane married Lottie Bell Patilla or Patills, of Atlanta, and for a while the couple made their home in Winter Garden, FL where Dr. Devane engaged in general practice. But about 1914, Dr. DeVane moved back to Berrien County to practice medicine in Nashville and Adel, GA.

When James Gordon DeVane registered for the draft for World War I in 1918, he gave his permanent home address as Adel, Berrien County, GA. He was 32 years old, medium height and build, with blue eyes and brown hair.

Like other Berrien County physicians, Dr. DeVane was called to serve. Dr. F.M. Burkhalter was sent to Fort Oglethorpe, then to France with the American Expeditionary Force. Dr. Lawson Rentz went to Camp Wheeler, then to the Embarkation Service in New Jersey. Dr. Guy Selman was sent to Camp Jackson, SC. On Dr. DeVane’s registration card there was a note: “Has been commissioned and accepted as First Lieutenant, Medical Reserve Corps.”

Gordon DeVane, WWI Draft Registration

Although the war ended before Dr. DeVane was deployed to Europe, he would fight his final battle on the home front. The Spanish Flu epidemic that killed so many soldiers was not sparing their families.

The most deadly epidemic to ever strike the United States occurred in 1918. As America prepared for war, a soldier at an Army fort in Kansas reported to the base hospital with flu-like symptoms. There, he was diagnosed as having a strain of flu that was called Spanish Influenza (since it was erroneously believed the strain had originated in Spain). Before the year was out, 675,000 Americans would die from the flu — more than the total of all Americans to die in all wars in the 20th century. The 1918 strain of flu created not just an epidemic — but a global pandemic causing 25,000,000 deaths. In the U.S., the epidemic’s worst month October, when almost 200,000 Americans died from the virus. October 1918 was also the month the flu epidemic hit Georgia… – http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/1918flu.htm

The same papers that carried news of the October 1918 sinking of the HMS Otranto also reported the flu epidemic at home…

Thomasville Times Enterprise, October 12, 1918 reports spread of Spanish Flu epidemic.

As the epidemic reached its peak entire families in Berrien County were stricken. Along with other medical authorities Dr. DeVane did his best to respond to the crisis.

CENNTENNIAL EDITION – THE ADEL NEWS
Adel, Georgia
April 22, 1973

Dr. James Gordon DeVane

     Dr. James Gordon DeVane was a general practitioner in the years 1917-1918. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick DeVane of Berrien County, he was born in 1886.
     He was a graduate of Southern College of Medicine and Surgery in Atlanta. He married Miss Lottie Bell Patills of Atlanta in 1911. They had 2 children, Mrs. Margaret (Jack) Parrish, and James G. Devane.
     Before coming to Adel, Dr. DeVane practiced in Winter Garden, Florida, and in Nashville, Georgia. Preparations had been made for his entering World War I when the Armistice was signed.
     When Adel was hit by the “flu” epidemic in November, 1918, he administered and cared for his stricken patients – entire families in some cases. Nearing collapse, he brought prescriptions in to the drug store for his patients and went home for his first night’s rest in several days. Within 24 hours the young doctor died — a victim of the terrible epidemic.

http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/cook/bios/devane.txt

Grave of Dr. James Gordon DeVane, Pleasant Cemetery, Berrien County, GA

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Cauley Hammond Shaw was Ray City Police Chief

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