R. C. Woodard Attended Medical College of Georgia

January 7, 2024 at 5:11 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Remedies and Medicine)
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R. C. Woodard Attended Medical College of Georgia

Robert Crawford Woodard taught in the schools of Berrien County, GA.
Robert Crawford Woodard taught in the schools of Berrien County, GA.

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
Medical college at Augusta, GA

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
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)
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Dr. Robert Crawford Woodard (1867-1949)

Robert Crawford Woodard taught in the schools of Berrien County, GA.
R. C. Woodard taught in the schools of Berrien County, GA.

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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A Brief History of Beaver Dam Baptist Church

June 27, 2020 at 12:26 am (Baptists, Faith and Begorrah)
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In 1874 when Mercer Association missionary Reverend J. D. Evans came to Ray’s Mill, Thomas M. Ray was deeply moved by the Baptist’s message.  Evans and Ray were both Confederate veterans and US Census records prior to the Civil War enumerated them as “slave owners”.

During the Civil War, Evans had been Captain of the Berrien Light Infantry until he deserted in the summer of 1863.  After the war Evans took up the gospel as a layman. In 1871 he organized a Sunday School at a log house near Morven, GA and was a founding member of Philadelphia Church there.  Shortly afterwards he was ordained by Philadelphia Church and took up missionary work helping to found a number of Wiregrass Baptist churches. In 1874 this work brought him to Ray’s Mill.

At first the Missionary Baptist church meetings were held in the old log schoolhouse and big revivals that were held at Ray’s Mill in May and July 1874. Thomas M. Ray must have attended the events for he became instrumental in the formation of a Baptist Church at Ray’s Mill (see Men at Beaver Dam Baptist Church.)  On September 20, 1874, a small group of followers met with Reverend J. D. Evans at the home of Thomas and Mary Ray to organize the church.  Thomas M. Ray and David J. McGee were elected to represent the new church to the Mercer Baptist Association and were sent as messengers to the Valdosta Church. The Reverend J. D. Evans wrote a petitionary letter which they carried to the association. In November 1874 Thomas M. Ray was appointed to a church building committee along with James M. Baskin and David J. McGee. Ray served on the committed that selected and procured the site for the construction of the church building; He continued to serve on the building committee until his death.

The original wooden church building at Beaver Dam was constructed by William A. Bridges and James M. Baskin (see Baskin Family Helped Found Ray City Baptist Church).  Construction began in January of 1875.  Baskin and Bridges hand hewed the timbers to frame the church.   Sawn lumber was purchased but had to be dressed by hand. The building was finished with windows and siding. The pulpit, table and pews were all built on site. J. M. Baskin made the doors himself.

Pastors of Ray City Baptist Church

John D. Evans 1874-1875
William E. Morris 1875-1876
George M. Troupe Wilson 1876-1876
John D. Evans 1876-1878
T. W. Powell 1878-1880
William Adolphus Pardee 1884-1887
John D. Evans 1887-1889
William Henry Dent 1890-1898
Malcolm Augustus Grace 1898-1900
J. L. Milner 1900-1901
H. C. Strong 1901-1903
W. J. Odom 1903-1903
W. J. Ballew 1903-1903
A. J. Gross 1905-1906
E. L. Todd 1906-1913
Perry Thomas Knight 1913-1917
M. L. Lawson 1917-1917
N. C. Wilkes 1917-1918
Clayton Samuel Yawn 1918-1921
W. Harvey Wages 1921-1922
J. C. Moore 1924—1925
A. W. Smith 1925-1925
Walter Branch 1925-1935
Carl W. Minor 1936-1937
C. Schwall 1937-1940
John W. Harrell 1941-1945
P. T. Peavy 1945-1945
John W. Harrell 1946-1953
Claude Tuten 1954-1958
C. C. Lynch 1959-1962
J. Ray Allen 1962-1963
Bob M. Brown 1964-1967
Allen Bates 1967-1972
Wiley Vickers 1973-1977
Dr. William Rathburn 1978-1990
Lee Graham 1990-2006
John E. Patten 2006 –

 

Men at Beaver Dam Baptist Church

Baskin Family Helped Found Ray City Baptist Church

Pearl Todd Baptist Retreat

Wilmont Pierce and the Valdosta Baptist Association

Perry Thomas Knight Attended Oaklawn Baptist Academy

Mixon Graves at New Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery

Owen Clinton Pope, Reconstruction Teaching and Preaching

Spanish-American War Vet Rests at Ray City, GA

Mary & Saunto Sollami Buried at Beaver Dam Cemetery

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Death of Mack Talley Bradford

September 30, 2017 at 1:26 am (Families of Ray City, Uncategorized)
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Death of Mack Talley Bradford (1874-1919)

Mack Talley Bradford was a son of Thomas Bradford and Martha Connell. His father was a native of Lowndes County, GA but as a young man had moved to Sumter County, Florida.  After serving in the Florida Cavalry in the Civil War, his father returned to Berrien County, GA where Mack Talley Bradford was born on July 7, 1874.

Mack Talley Bradford grew up on his father’s one-horse farm in the 1157th Georgia Militia District, Berrien County, GA. As a man, he was of medium height and build, with blue eyes and black hair.

On September 29, 1901, Mack Talley Bradford married Maggie R. Gaskins in Berrien County, GA. She was a daughter of Fisher H. Gaskins.  The marriage was performed by H. B. Peeples.

Mack Talley Bradford and Maggie R. Gaskins marriage certificate, September 29, 1901, Berrien County, GA

Mack Talley Bradford and Maggie R. Gaskins marriage certificate, September 29, 1901, Berrien County, GA

Mack and Maggie Bradford made their home on a farm in Connells Mill District on the Nashville & Valdosta Road, not far from the farms of Flemming B. Gaskins and Harmon Gaskins.

Children of Mack Talley Bradford and Margaret R. “Maggie” Gaskins

  1. James Albert Bradford (1902 – 1990)
  2. Leon Bradford (1905 – 1962)
  3. Cora Bradford Strawder (1907 – 1994)
  4. Perry E. Bradford (1910 – 1936)
  5. W Henry Bradford (1912 – 1913)
  6. Olan Jackson Bradford (1914 – 1962)

Mack served as a traverse juror at spring ad-term, 1905, Berrien superior court, which met on the second Monday in June.  M.T. Bradford was a member of Woodmen of the World, a Mason, and a southern Baptist. In 1909 Mack Talley Bradford attended the Program Union Meeting of the Southern District Mell Baptist Association held at Staunton church, January 29-31. The Saturday morning sermon at that meeting was delivered by Reverend Perry Thomas Knight. Mack Talley Bradford delivered the Sunday morning Devotional.

M.T. Bradford was among the Ray City investors who received a State Bank Charter to open the Bank of Ray’s Mill. The bank opened for business on August 14, 1911.  The principal bankers were Benjamin Perry Jones, President of the Valdosta Bank and Trust, and Vice President Clarence L. Smith.  The other investors were J.S. Swindle, J.H. Swindle, W.H.E. Terry, Riley M. Green, and J. F. Sutton, all of Berrien county, and Charles Lee Jones and  J.B. Griffin, of Lowndes County. The Bank of Ray’s Mill would later be known as the Citizens Bank of Ray City.

On September 12, 1918, Mack Bradford registered for the draft in Nashville, GA.  He gave his address as RFD Route #2, Ray City, GA.

Mack Talley Bradford, WWI draft registration, Berrien County, GA

Mack Talley Bradford, WWI draft registration, Berrien County, GA

 

Tifton Gazette August 29, 1919 reports death of Mack Talley Bradford.

Tifton Gazette August 29, 1919, reports death of Mack Talley Bradford.

Tifton Gazette
August 29, 1919

Fall From Ladder Kills Berrien Farmer

Mack Bradford a young Berrien county farmer is dead from injuries that he received a day or so ago when he fell from a ladder. Mr. Bradford did not know his injuries were serious and in a short time after the accident he walked out into a field where he had some men at work. Later he complained of feeling badly and sat down to rest. Not feeling any better he sen his small boy who was with him to a nearby branch for some water. When the boy returned he found his father in a dying condition and before he could summon help Mr. Bradford was dead.

Grave of Mack Talley Bradford (1874-1919), Pleasant Cemetery, near Ray City, GA

Grave of Mack Talley Bradford (1874-1919), Pleasant Cemetery, near Ray City, GA

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Bayings from Green Bay, GA ~ 1896

November 20, 2016 at 3:40 am (Uncategorized)
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Green Bay Community of Berrien County, GA

Green Bay, now long gone, was once a community in south Berrien County, near Ray City, GA.  In the late 1800s, Green Bay had its own newspaper, the Green Bay Herald,  and Green Bay School was attended by many students associated with the town of Ray City.  In 1896, the teacher at Green Bay was James Marcus Patten.  James Marcus Patten and Minnie Clements Patten would later run the Ray City School.

Tifton Gazette
March 13, 1896

Bayings

        GREEN BAY, March 10. – Mr. P. T. Knight, one of Green Bay’s students received a very interesting letter from one of Lowndes county’s Cahoosiers.  He puts a very fantastical name to his epistle.  The initials of so called name is J. R. F. He offers a reward for the one who will give the Cracker the right name.
Mr. Jasper Cook, had the misfortune to lose a five-year-old mule last Friday, apparently the mule was all right until a few hours before he died.
Well what are the people of Green Bay community going to have connected with their academy next? They have two or three societies running there, and Monday morning they rolled in a $125 organ. We know of nothing better to elevate the growing youths than good societies, and there is nothing like having their wants supplied.
This is the third school in which I’ve been instructed by Prof. J. M. Patten and I must say that this one is quite different from any of the others. Why? He has adopted the method of working all problems mentally. Some might say that students could not do that, but it is an evident fact that he has five in his school that have worked up to 167 page in Wentworth’s arithmetic.
The Green Bay Singing Society convenes next Sunday, and a large attendance is expected.
The Green Bay Literary Society will hold their meetings on Friday evening instead of Saturday.  We have made a division in our society. One for the larger members, known as the Advanced Class literary and the other as the Juvenile Society, as the time was too long between intervals, we have simmered down to semimonthly.  For the Advanced Society we elected J. A. Weaver, president; Miss Amanda Clements, secretary, Miss Lillie Clements and B. L. Wilkerson, Editors; J. M. Patten and P. T. Knight, critics, For Juvenile, W. P. Patten President; Miss Jennie Lee, Secretarys; Lucius Clements, critic.

Mr. Mathew Patten killed some more of those porkers this morning, and now for another fresh feast.

AJAX.

 

 

March 13, 1896 notes from the community of Green Bay, Berrien County, GA

March 13, 1896 notes from the community of Green Bay, Berrien County, GA

 

Notes:

Professor James Marcus Patten was running the Green Bay School. His wife was Ida Lou Hall Patten. Professor J.M. Patten was college educated, having completed the teacher education program at North Georgia Agricultural College. His lifelong career was teaching in the common schools of Berrien County. In 1911, he and his wife were teaching at the Ray City School.

James Alfred Weaver was a member of Union Primitive Baptist Church, and was elected in 1901 as its clerk.

Perry T. Knight attended Oaklawn Baptist Academy  and went on to became a teacher, lawyer, soldier, chaplain, railroad commissioner, legislator, and public service commissioner.

Lucius J. Clements, son of Levi J. Clements and Elizabeth Rowena Patten, later  attended the Georgia Normal College & Business Institute,  and managed the Clements Sawmill at Ray City until the Clements family sold the business.  He became a businessman, license inspector, and assistant tax collector.

Lillie Clements, sister of Lucius J. Clements, married Fisher H. Gaskins.

Benjamin L. Wilkerson became a dentist and later moved to Miami, FL.

Jennie L Lee (1882 – 1974), daughter of Moses C. Lee and Amanda Lee Clements,  married Sam I Watson, 1900.

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Perry Thomas Knight (1877-1955)

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

http://berriencountyga.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

Advertisement for Southern Normal University, 1901.

Advertisement for Southern Normal University, 1901.

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

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

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

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

 GOSSIP AT THE CAPITOL

Atlanta Constitution.
Feb 7, 1905 pg. 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perry Thomas Knight, WWI Service Record.

Perry Thomas Knight, WWI Service Record.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Children of Perry Thomas Knight and Annie Duggar:

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

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

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

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

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Let Us Unveil

October 11, 2014 at 12:55 am (HMS Otranto, Knight Family, WWI)
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Following the WWI sinking of HMS Otranto , October 6, 1918, Berrien County sought to establish a permanent memorial to the soldiers who perished in the disaster. Of the 25 Berrien men killed in the Otranto disaster, two from Ray City, GA were  Ralph Knight and Shellie Loyed Webb.

 

berrien-doughboy

Enter a caption

While the country celebrated victory over Germany and the Central Powers, Berrien County struggled for funds to pay for a monument to its dead.  It stands today as an enduring reminder of those young men from Berrien who gave their lives in WWI. Located at the Courthouse Square, West Marion Avenue at North Davis Street, Nashville, GA.

The Art Inventories Catalog of the Smithsonian Institution describes the monument titled “The Spirit of the American Doughboy,”  Viquesney, E. M., 1876-1946, sculptor:

“Figure of a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of No Man’s Land. He holds a Springfield rifle in his proper left hand, with peep site in rear, and a grenade in his upraised proper right hand. His uniform consists of an ammo packet, canteen, backpack, bayonet scabbard, gas mask and helmet. The sculpture sits atop granite base with shield shapes on each side and stars and stripes decorations. The granite pedestal sits atop a paved brick footing.”

“Funds for the sculpture were raised by a memorial committee headed by Rev. Perry T. Knight (Ray City, GA). The sculpture was erected between 1920 and 1923 and was dedicated ca. 1921 or 1922. It was left veiled until late 1923, pending completion of fund raising efforts. The sculpture was originally installed in the middle of Marrion Avenue, facing north approximately 50 feet west of where it now stands. It was moved in the early 1950s and rededicated when Marrion Avenue, Georgia Highway 129 was paved. A member of the Parrish family who had a monument carving company in Nashville possibly may have assisted in carving the base.”

 The following paragraphs are extracted from:

1918 Sinking of the Otranto Leads to Purchase of The Doughboy Monument for Berrien

By Skeeter Parker

Fund Drive Begins

As if the flu pandemic in 1918 were not enough, the pall of death hung even heavier over Berrien County at a time when the rest of the country was celebrating the end of hostilities in WWI. However,the local citizenry was determined that the soldiers’ names would never be forgotten, as it says on the Doughboy monument “LEST WE FORGET.” A monument fund was announced on the front page of Nashville Herald on November 29, 1918, and readers were told “Every public spirited man, woman and child in Berrien county should contribute liberally to this glorious cause.”

Because most of the Nashville newspapers from the 1920s were destroyed or missing when microfilming was done, details surrounding the Doughboy statue’s coming to Nashville mostly come from various internet sources. According to one of those sources the statue was ordered in the spring of 1921 and erected in the middle of Marion Avenue in late July or August 1921. Different sources also say that while the monument was installed in 1921 it remained under covers until 1923 when “payment for the sculpture and impressive base was completed.”

This is borne out by a January 18, 1923 article in The Nashville Herald in which the writer said:

“It is an everlasting shame and a matter to cause the people of these three counties to feel badly over that this handsome memorial now stands veiled, because it is not paid for.”

The reader should keep in mind that in October 1918 Cook and Lanier Counties had not been formed yet and were still part of Berrien.

In January of 1923, Reverend Perry Thomas Knight  made a personal appeal to the people of Berrien County to pay off the final balance owed on the statue.  Knight grew up at Rays Mill (now Ray City), GA where he attended the nearby  Green Bay School, and later attended Oaklawn Baptist Academy at Milltown (now Lakeland), GA :

Letter to the Editor
Nashville Herald
January, 1923

Let Us Unveil

   There stands erected at Nashville, Ga., a suitable Memorial to the memory of the World War Veterans, but the veil must be lifted, “Lest We Forget.”

    J. W. E. Powell of Nashville has a complete record of every person who has donated to the Memorial Fund and the amount donated by each.

    If you have subscribed to the Memorial Fund and have not paid your subscription, please do so at once. Our boys did not fail us when they were called to service.

    We are writing the builders of the monument, asking that they give us until Wednesday, Jan. 31, 1923 to finish paying a balance of Two Thousand Dollars.

    Will you contribute $10.00 and by that be one of the Two Hundred to lift this obligation? Just as soon as the amount is sure to be in hand we will announce the day of the unveilling.

    Send your contribution to J. W. E. Powell, Nashville, and tell him what it’s for.  Do that today. We expect to have printed in the Nashville Herald, beginning next week, a list of the donors and amount given, until we reach the $2,000.

    Talk to your neighbor, to the stranger, to the Veteran, to the Everybody until we raise the money. It must be done.

    Send The Nashville Herald a card now saying: “I am one of the Two Hundred and will pay $10.00.”

    P.T. Knight 

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Perry Thomas Knight Attended Oaklawn Baptist Academy

May 18, 2013 at 12:16 am (Baptists, Education In the Wiregrass, Faith and Begorrah, Knight Family)
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Perry Thomas Knight, subject of previous posts, studied the ministry at Oaklawn Baptist Academy in Milltown (now Lakeland), GA.  Perry T. Knight was the son of George Washington Knight and Rhoda (Futch) Knight, and the grandson of Aaron and Nancy (Sloan) Knight, and of John M. and Phoebe (Mathis) Futch.  Knight grew up in Ray City and became prominent in local and state government.

Perry Thomas Knight image detail. Original image courtesy of berriencountyga.com

Perry Thomas Knight image detail. Original image courtesy of berriencountyga.com

While a ministerial student at Oaklawn Baptist Academy in 1909, Perry Thomas Knight was already a popular preacher.

While a ministerial student at Oaklawn Baptist Academy in 1909, Perry Thomas Knight was already a popular preacher.

Young Preachers’ Good Work

Milltown, Ga., April 28 – Rev. P. T. Knight, one of the ministerial students of the Oaklawn Baptist college, who is pastor of Good Hope Baptist church, near Naylor, is having phenominal success in his church work, Rev. Knight at almost every service gets an accession to his church.  In addition to being pastor of Good Hope Baptist church, Rev. Knight is also pastor of Brushy Creek church, near Nashville, Lois church and Waresboro church, near Waycross.  H. D. Warnock, W. O. Young, Willie Chism, other ministerial students of the same college are doing great work as missionaries for the Baptist cause.

Oaklawn Academy

Oaklawn Academy

Work began on the school in 1905 and the construction progressed rapidly.

The Valdosta Times
June 23, 1906  pg 7

Work on Milltown School   

Work has been progressing bravely upon the Milltown college, a large force of hands being already at work.  The construction is being pushed as rapidly as possible on account of the desire to be ready to open the school as soon as possible.   The original plans called for the construction of three large buildings, though it is thought now that five buildings will be erected.    The building grounds are said to be the handsomest in the state and the college campus will be one of the prettiest in the south when it is completed.  It contains fifteen acres and a pretty creek runs through the groves making it easy to convert them into a beautiful park.

The Atlanta Constitution
August 20, 1907

NEW  EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION IS BEING BUILT UP AT MILLTOWN

The new buildings of the High school of the Valdosta Baptist association, at Milltown, Ga….are rapidly nearing completion and will soon be ready for occupancy.    The larger building in the center, in which the classrooms will be located, is practically finished.  It will easily accommodate four or five hundred students.  The smaller buildings on each side are the dormitories, one for boys and one for girls, each having accommodations for practically one hundred.    The large building and one of the dormitories have been erected on small subscriptions, not a single give of more than $1,000 having been received.  The other dormitory is the gift of one man, who agreed to furnish the money for it, if enough to completely pay the cost of the other two buildings was raised.  Of this amount only $10.000 is now lacking and strenuous efforts are being made by the Valdosta Baptist association to raise this sum.     Rev. Graham Forrester, formerly one of the most prominent lawyers of the state, but now missionary of the Valdosta Baptist association, which includes portions of Lowndes, Berrien, Echols, Coffee, Ware, and Clinch counties, with headquarters in Valdosta, has been put in charge of the work of raising this money and is now in Atlanta for that purpose.    Mr. Forrester, in speaking of the school, said that it was one of the most promising institutions in South  Georgia, ideally located, and with no other school of like character in its immediate section.  Its graduates are fitted for the sophomore classes of the large colleges.  The school is situated at Milltown, in Berrien county, owns 15 acres of land, through which a beautiful stream runs, and which is heavily wooded with water oaks.    The institution had last year, when it was run in connection with the Milltown public school, an attendance of 200 and an increase is looked for this term.    Mr. Forrester declared his intention of staying in north Georgia until he got his $10,000, “for,” said he, “south Georgia has been contributing to north Georgia educational institutions for years and it is now north Georgia’s time to help us.”

By fall of 1906 construction had progressed to the point where classes could begin. The school opened September 17, 1906.  A partial list of the administrators and faculty who served at the school has been gleaned from newspaper accounts.

Board of Trustees
Dr. John E. Barnard, President
Dr. W. S. Patten
S. K. Patten
J. H. Bostic
Lucius M. Stanfill
Ewell Brown
J. W. Garbutt
Reverend A. C. Pyle, 1909

Principal
1906-1911 James Cuthbert Wilkinson, Science and English Bible
1911 J. A. Lott
1911 Sidney J. Underwood
1916-1921 J.A. Lott, Jr.

Teachers
1906
Reverend L. R. Christie
M. W. Bargeron
Miss Annie Hall, A.B. – English and History
Miss Ossie H. Burruss, A.B.  – Latin and Greek
Miss Leila Connell, A.B. Mathematics
Miss Annie May Arnold, A.B., B.M. – Piano and Coronet
Miss Belle Brinson,  A.B., B.M. – Violin and Preparatory
Miss Elizabeth Morgan – Preparatory
Miss Davis, Oratory

1908
Miss Lizzie Morgan
1909
Miss Jessie Elliot, Elocution

1910
Miss Lizzie T. Bennett, Latin and English
Miss Etna Shaw, Principal of 6th, 7th, and 8th grades
Miss Fannie Clements, Primary Grades
Miss Ethel Jones, Instrumental and Vocal Music
Miss Kitty Watson, Oratory
Miss Orrie Brown, Shorthand and Typewriting

1911
Ruth Smith, Expression
Miss Addie Stansell
Miss Wells, Music

 

Construction on the school continued for years, sometimes in the face of financial challenges.  By spring of 1909 the main building was nearing completion.

 

The Atlanta Constitution
April 24, 1909

Big Time at Milltown

    Milltown, Ga., April 23.  – (Special.) –  The local Masonic Lodge is figuring on having a big time on the completion of the main building of the Oaklawn Baptist college situated at this place.  The Masons will lay the cornerstone with the usual Masonic ceremonies.  They expect to have Grand Master Jeffries and Grand Senior Warden Henry Banks and, possibly some other men who stand high in Masonry.  The Oaklawn school will also have, on the opening day, several prominent speakers, and together with the Masons, they expect to have a big time.    The date for this big occasion will be announced later, as the carpenters and painters are putting the finishing touches on the building now.

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G. V. Hardie Was Visionary Merchant

July 3, 2012 at 12:08 am (Hardie Family, Historic Businesses, Remedies and Medicine)
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For about 30 years in the early 1900s Gordon Vancie Hardie was a merchant of Ray City, GA.  Among his marketing strategies was an arrangement with A. K. Hawkes Company to bring a visiting optician to Ray City.

By special arrangement, the firm of A. K. Hawkes, Optician, Atlanta, GA made visits to rural drug stores, like that of Ray City, GA merchant G. V. Hardie.

By special arrangement, the firm of A. K. Hawkes, Optician, Atlanta, GA made visits to rural drug stores, like that of Ray City, GA merchant G. V. Hardie.

G. V. Hardie ran advertisements in The Valdosta Times announcing this service for his patrons.

Feb 3, 1912 announcement in The Valdosta Times: G. V. Hardie, Ray City Druggist, brings optomistrist to town.

Feb 3, 1912 announcement in The Valdosta Times: G. V. Hardie, Ray City druggist, brings A. K. Hawkes optician to town.

A. K. Hawkes Company, eyeglasses and case. Image source: http://www.rubylane.com/item/634706-1003111/K-Hawkes-Co-Eyeglasses-Case

A. K. Hawkes Company, eyeglasses and case. Image source: http://www.rubylane.com/item/634706-1003111/K-Hawkes-Co-Eyeglasses-Case

About Gordon Vancie Hardie (1890-1937)…

Gordon Vancie Hardie was born in Pinetta, Florida on Tuesday, May 13, 1890, a son of Jessie F. and Lila D. Hardie. Gordon had a brother, Grover, who became a physician, and two sisters, Pearl and Maud.

Gordon spent his boyhood days in Florida; at the time of the census of 1900, his family was living in Withlacoochee, Madison County, Florida.

By 1910, Gordon’s father had moved the family to Georgia. Nineteen year-old Gordon was living in his parents household in Hahira, GA, where his father had acquired a farm.

While his father farmed, Gordon worked as a drygoods salesman. One of the merchants in town was Irvin “Plimp” Hodges. Plimp had spent most of his life farming in Lower Fork, Lowndes County, GA, but some time prior to 1910 he brought his wife and daughter, Addie, to live in Hahira, GA. Perhaps Gordon Hardie met Addie at her father’s store. Somehow they became acquainted and soon enough they were married.

Gordon Vancie Hardie and Addie B. Hodges were wed on November 25, 1912 in Lowndes County, GA. Perry T. Knight, Minister of God and native of Ray’s Mill, GA, performed the ceremony.

From about 1911 to his death in 1937 Gordon Vancie Hardie made Ray City, GA his home. He was buried in Beaver Dam Cemetery, Ray City, GA.

Grave marker of Gordon Vancie Hardie, Beaver Dam Cemetery, Ray City, GA.

Grave marker of Gordon Vancie Hardie, Beaver Dam Cemetery, Ray City, GA.

-30-

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Ray City Masons Celebrated Saint John the Baptist Day In 1936

February 20, 2011 at 12:03 am (Society and Leisure)
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Masons Lodge 553, Ray City, Berrien County, Georgia

Masons Lodge 553, Ray City, Berrien County, Georgia

A 1936 newspaper clipping commented on the activities of the Ray City Masonic lodge No. 553,

Atlanta Daily World
July 8, 1936 Pg 2
Valdosta, Ga.

St. John’s Day was held at Ray City last Sunday. Prof. C.O. Davis was the speaker. Prof. Davis is the Deputy Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Georgia.

Masons have been a part of Ray City, GA history since the beginning of the town.   The lodge in Ray City was constituted in 1909. In 1910, as the Methodist church was being organized in Ray City, a revival was held in the Masonic hall.

Ray City founder Thomas M. Ray was a Mason, as were Perry Thomas Knight, A. J. Pert, James Henry Swindle, Caswell Yawn, Dr. Pierce Hubert, Hod Clements, D. Edwin Griner and Lucius Jordan Clements among others.   In 1909, Lacy Lester Shaw served treasurer of Ray City lodge No. 553. From 1858 to 1878 Hardeman Sirmans was a member Butler Lodge, No. 211 in Milltown.

At the time of his death in 1907 Judge A. H. Hansell, of the Southern Circuit, was the oldest living Mason in the state of Georgia.

A marble stone set in the only remaining commercial brick building in Ray City, designates it as the “Masonic Building,” one time home of the Free & Accepted Masons Lodge No. 553.  At Brian Brown’s  Vanishing South Georgia blog, Ray City residents have commented on the history of this building, which once was home to the Ray City drugstore and later, the Victory Soda Shop.

Lucius Jordan Clements and Eugenia Watkins Clements in Masonic garb.

Lucius Jordan Clements and Eugenia Watkins Clements in Masonic garb. Image courtesy of http://www.yatesville.net/

The Free and Accepted Masons were active in the Wiregrass long before the formation of the lodge at Ray City in 1909.   Lodge No. 211 was incorporated 50 years earlier at Milltown (nka Lakeland, GA) in 1858.  Somewhat earlier, St. John the Baptist Lodge No. 184 was constituted at Troupville on November 2, 1854.   Circuit riding Methodist reverend John Slade was a member there,  as were Norman Campbell, and William C. Newbern.   Andrew J. Liles,  postmaster of Milltown, was a member. The Masonic lodge at old Troupville met on the first and third Tuesday nights upstairs in Swains Hotel, situated on the banks of Little River and owned by Morgan G. Swain.

According to the History of Lowndes County, GA, the officers  of St. John the Baptist Lodge No. 184 were:

Reverend Thomas W. Ellis, Worshipful Master;
Ephriam H. Platt, Senior Warden;
Benjamin C. Clay, Junior Warden;
Charles H. Howell, Secretary;
John Brown, Treasurer;
William H. Dasher, Senior Deacon;
J. T. C. Adams, Junior Deacon;
John B. Cashan, Tyler.

Other founding members in addition to  those mentioned above were:

William T. Roberts, James H. Carroll, Adam Graham, Thomas Moore, William Dees, Daniel Mathis, Thomas D. Wilkes, S. D. Smith, James Harrell, J. N. Waddy. William J. Mabry, George Brown, William Jones, J. C. Pautelle, J. R. M. Smith, Reverend F. R. C. Ellis, Robert B. Hester, , William Godfrey, W. D. M. Howell, Hustice Moore, J. Harris, W. H. Carter,  William A. Sanford, Willis Allen, Jeremiah Williams, William A. Carter, John R. Walker, William D. Martin, J. E. Stephens, R. W. Leverett, L. M. Ayers, S. Manning, James Carter, Willis Roland, John W. Clark, James A. Darsey,  the Entered Apprentices Judge Richard A. Peeples, William Ashley, J. J. Goldwire, snd Fellowcrafts William T. Roberts and Moses Smith.

Troupville lodge member William J. Mabry, moved in 1856 to Nashville, GA, seat of the newly created Berrien County, where he built the first Berrien court house in 1857 and also became the first Worshipful Master of Duncan Lodge No. 3. Later, the St. John the Baptist Lodge No. 184 was moved from Troupville to Valdosta, GA.

A post on the Masonic Traveler Blog by mason and artist, Greg Stewart explains the significance of Saint John the Baptist Day.

The Saint’s Johns appear to Freemasons in several places in our catechisms. Their proximity and use in our rituals have been questioned for many years as to their use and placement. Looked at together, saint John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist serve to represent the balance in Masonry between zeal for the fraternity and learned equilibrium. The Saints John, stand in perfect parallel harmony representing that balance.

From a historical approach, The Saint John’s festival is said to be a widely celebrated Masonic holiday. Traditionally June 24th (or the summer Solstice) is taken to be John the Baptist’s day, which is celebrated in many cultures around the world. According to McCoy’s Masonic Dictionary, the Festival of St. John in summer is a duty of every Mason to participate in, and should serve to be a renewal and strengthening of fraternal ties and a celebration of Masonry from “olden-times”. It functions as a connection between the past and the future.

More on St. John’s Day via Masonic Traveler: Saint John the Baptist Day, Duality in One. June 24th.

Other Ray City Masons:

  • Eddie D. Boyette
  • Philip Dewitt Carter
  • Lorenzo D. Carter
  • William I. Barker
  • Dr. B. F. Julian
  • William Lawrence Swindle

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