Marvin and Arlie Purvis

May 26, 2018 at 12:57 am (Purvis Family)
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Ray City home of Guy Marvin Purvis and Arlie Guthrie Purvis on the southeast corner of Main Street and Park Street, Ray City, GA.

Ray City home of Guy Marvin Purvis and Arlie Guthrie Purvis on the southeast corner of Main Street and Park Street, Ray City, GA.

Marvin and Arlie Purvis lived in this Ray City home from the 1920s to about 1942.

Marvin and Arlie Purvis lived in this Ray City home from the 1920s to about 1942.

Ray City home of Marvin and Arlie Purvis

Ray City home of Marvin and Arlie Purvis

Guy Marvin Purvis (1899-1975) was a merchant of Ray City, Ga. He was a son of Mary Brantley and Lee Arnold Purvis. For about 20 years he owned Purvis Grocery Store in the town.  His wife, Arlie Guthrie Purvis (1890-1976), was a sister of Effie Guthrie Knight, John Guthrie, Sam Guthrie.

The Purvises lived in the house on the southeast corner of Main and Park streets. They had a nice houseful of furniture, dining room set, bedroom set in the master bedroom, iron beds in the other rooms. They had a nice little spool-leg dropleaf dinette set in the kitchen. In 1930 they had a radio, which was a rare thing in Ray City in those days. There were only eight radio sets within the city limits, the other owners being James A. Grissett, John D. Luke, Henry Swindle, Walter Altman, John Simpkins, Joseph Johnson and Fannie Parks.  The average cost of a radio in 1929 was around $139 dollars. In terms of comparable “affordability” for an average person in today’s dollars (2010 index) this would be like making a $7,600 purchase (relative worth based on nominal GDP per capita index – see MeasuringWorth.com). The house had a back porch and an outhouse at the very back of the lot.

Behind this house was the farm of Perry Swindle. Mr. Swindle and his wife Cynthia “Cynthy” Swindle. Perry Swindle had a large open truck and hauled goods and animals and people, too. He provided an annual excursion for the Ray City School students to Twin Lakes, GA.

By about 1941 Marvin could no longer make a go of it operating his Ray City store. Right after the Purvises lost the store, they moved about half a mile south on Park Street to live with Arlie’s sister, Effie Guthrie Knight, for a few months. This was right before WWII and Marvin got a temporary job helping to build the bridge over Beaverdam Creek. He was probably making more money at this job than he had made for quite some time in his failing store. Some of the other Ray City men working on road construction were Cranford P. Bennett, Edwin L. Mobley, Oscar H. Scarborough, and Clementine Mikell.

After a short while Marvin & Arlie Purvis moved into town where they rented some rooms.  They were living in an apartment that had been partitioned off a part of the home of Mrs. Nancy Mobley on North Street. Mrs. Mobley was a widow and residing with her in the main part of the house were her daughter and son-in-law, Eloise Williams Johnson and Bernard L. Johnson, and Eloise’s half sister Doris Mobley. Eloise was a teacher at the Ray City School.

Arlie Purvis made a little money baby sitting Jack Patten, son of Mabel Edith Cook and Thomas Penland Patten.

Later Marvin and Arlie moved across the street to live in the house on the southwest corner of North Street and Bryan Street in Ray City, GA.

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Perry Swindle and the Twin Lakes Field Trip

February 28, 2012 at 12:08 am (Ray City School, Society and Leisure, Swindle Family)
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Perry Swindle, born George Perry Swindle,  was a prominent businessman and employer of Ray City, GA, where he operated a general mercantile store. He was born March 24, 1889, a son of George Emory Swindle and Margaret M. Futch. As a boy, Perry Swindle attended Kings Chapel School, southwest of Ray City.

Perry Swindle married  Cynthia E. Pafford.  The Swindle home was located on the southwest corner of Main Street and the Ray City – Valdosta highway.  The Swindle family had neighbors like Dr. Lawson S. Rentz, pharmacist C.O. Terry, businessmen W.H.E. Terry and Arthur Miller, and Mayor J. Lacy Moore, among others.

The Swindle children, Helen and Earl Pafford Swindle attended the Ray City School.  In the 194os Perry Swindle provided an annual field trip for the students of Ray City School, an excursion to the Twin Lakes Resort Pavillion at Lake Park, GA.

In 1926 a developer opened the Twin Lake Resort Pavilion on Long Pond at a cost of $5 million, an extreme amount for then. Many South Georgia and North Florida residents remember picnicking and learning to swim and ski there especially during the 1940’s and 1950’s.

The Pier at Twin Lakes Resort Pavilion, Lake Park, GA. Image source: http://www.pinkstonrealty.com/galleries.php

The Pier at Twin Lakes Resort Pavilion, Lake Park, GA. Image source: http://www.pinkstonrealty.com/galleries.php

For 25 cents per student, Perry provided round-trip transportation from Ray City to Twin Lakes for the group of students on the back of his large flat-bed, stake-side farm truck. Students were excused from school for the entire day.  They brought their own bag lunches, usually fried chicken or other picnic fare, and spent all day at the park. Students paid an additional 25 cents for admission to the park where there was swimming and other activities.   For a small extra charge park patron could rent a swimsuit for the day, or take a trip around the lake in a big in-board motor boat.

For at least some Ray City students, the Pavilion was the place where they learned to swim. Indeed, the Twin Lakes field trips provided by Perry Swindle are still fondly recalled.

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