Baldwin County GaArchives History .....History of Baldwin County - Reminiscences 1925 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 6, 2004, 12:39 pm PERSONAL REMINISCENCES Several years ago when asked to write the history of Milledgeville and Baldwin County, it seemed an impossible task, for task is must prove, though a pleasant one. The World War came on and the work was postponed, though not abandoned. The writing of a book being a new undertaking, advice was sought first of a gifted niece. Upon telling her the idea was to write it chronologically, she replied, "By no means, Aunt Anna, that would be dry, write it logically." Still unsatisfied, the request was put to a distinguished author who had himself written many books. He replied, "By all means write it reminiscently. A person who has lived for over three score and ten years in the same town, and whose ancestors were among the early settlers should have a vast fund of information and anecdotes." So the author decided to adopt all three plans, the chronological drifting into the logical and finally into the reminiscent. In the writer's large family was an older brother, the only son, and a very beautiful younger sister, the pet of the household, who claimed everybody's attention. The little girl between the two, (the writer) left much to herself, became a lover of nature and books, especially poetry. The father at night often read aloud to his family, not thinking that the little girl on her low stool was an attentive listener to extracts from Milton's "Paradise Lost," Young's "Night's Thoughts" and Pollock's "Course of Time." In the day, wandering through garden and woods; when older, along the village street to the school ----------------- p. 140 house a mile distant, the scenes were "Upon memory distinctly defined, With the imperishable colors of mind." However, childish impressions would give the reader very little idea of the village as it really existed hence we make no effort to reproduce them but briefly tell of the homes and families composing the historic village of Midway. Dr. Green, my father, having been elected Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum (now State Sanitarium) had recently moved from Milledgeville and occupied a large two story building near the Asylum surrounded by a wonderful garden. The walks were bordered by large bushes of cape jessamine and English privet. On the lawn were tall althea, crepe myrtle, white syringa, purple lilac, lagerstroemia and large live oaks. But the back yard with its large grass plot, its fig bushes and the immense oaks shading the large kitchen, served for our play ground. Across from the yard were the servant's houses, and the path through the field led to the vine covered cabin of "Uncle Ned and Aunt Aggie," who had come from "ole Virginny." But we would have to be such a word painter as N. P. Willis to picture the home of my childhood. A new road had been cut from Dr. Green's to the main Milledgeville and Macon road. This road brought into close association the families of Dr. Green and Mr. Sherrod Thomas, who was our nearest neighbor. He lived in a lovely house with ivy covered porch. There were acres in the front lawn. Here he dwelt with his sons and daughters: Miss Mary, than whom a lovelier character never lived; Miss Bessie, who married Mr. Wright, of Thomasville, Ga.; Mr. John Thomas, who was a graduate of Yale and married Miss Drayton, daughter of General Drayton, of South Carolina; Gen. Bryan Thomas, who married Miss Withers, daughter of Gen. Withers of Alabama; ----------------- p. 141 Henry, son of second wife, who was sister of the first wife, married Miss Campbell of Dooley County, whose daughter, Eliza, married Dr. Brannen for many years pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Milledgeville. Mr. Thomas's mother lived to be more than a hundred years old and often in the evening when we were returning from school we met her driving home the cows leaning on her stick and a negro boy following her. She would go into the long room where the old, gray haired negro woman sat spinning and say, "Bettie, my girl, how many hanks today?" The delight of our childhood was to visit Miss Mary, who spent hours in her wonderful garden of roses, sharing generously her many flowers and plants. She was a member of the Episcopal Church. On one Sunday when a little factory girl came down the aisle and approached the pew of a lady of wealth, of whom many stood in awe, and who at once shut her pew door, Miss Mary reached out and drew the child into her own. Yet on another occasion she and a young girl went to a large party at this lady's home where champagne and other wines flowed freely. On reaching home the remark was made, "Wasn't it wrong to give wine to those young boys and girls?" Miss Mary gently replied, "We were her guests." Across the street was the Ramsey home. Mr. Ramsey, a good Scotch Presbyterian, taught the academy for boys preparing for Oglethorpe University. His sons, graduates of Oglethorpe, became doctors and preachers. Mr. Elbert Ramsey married Miss Screven, daughter of a Baptist minister of LaGrange. They lived in Midway until his death. He was superintendent of the Sunday School for a number of years, judge of the county court, and a practical and successful farmer. Passing large groves and woodlands we reach Talmadge Avenue. There, to our right, stands the two-storied house where dwelt the Hon. Alfred Nesbit, his wife, two sons, Joe and Eddie, and three daugh- ----------------- p. 142 ters; Bessie, who married Dr. Joseph LeConte, Emmie, who married Mr. Polhill, and Sallie, who married Mr. Moffatt. Emmie and Sallie had a beautiful double wedding which was the sensation of the village. My sister, Mrs. Bass, was one of the bridesmaids. Leaving the Nesbit home, stroll with us down Talmadge avenue, named for the president of Oglethorpe University. To our left was the Male Academy where Mr. Ramsey taught. A little distance back from the village street was the home of the Lane family, of whom a sketch is to be given. Next we reach the home of Mr. Thomas Hall and wife, who was Miss Hansell, with their four sons and two daughters: James Augustine, who married Miss Adie Eliza Green; William Hansell, who married Miss Sarah Harris; Charles, who married Miss Aurie Kenan; Thomas Hartley, who married Miss Martha Kenan; Anne, who married Mr. Merrill of Thomasville, and Julia, who married Prof. Smith. The next large white house was the home of Col. David C. Campbell and wife with their three sons and three daughters, Bulow married Miss Jennie Orme; Charles married Miss Ellen DeBruhl Keen; Meminger was killed in battle in Virginia; Anne, who married Mr. Peterson Thweat; Harriet, who married Dr. Jarrett; Carrie, who married Mr. Allen. Farther up the street is the large colonial home of Mr. Harper Tucker, who bought it from Dr. Thomas Ford. (The family sketch of Mr. and Mrs. Tucker is given elsewhere.) Some distance beyond, set back in a large grove was the home of Mr. Daniel Tucker. A mile distant, on a high hill called Beckham's Mount, lived Major Beckham and family. There he lies buried under a tomb placed by the State in recognition of his services in the Revolution. At the end of Talmadge Avenue stood the magnificent building of Oglethorpe University with the large, beautiful residence of the president on the right. After Dr. Talmadge's death here lived alone his ----------------- p. 143 widow; in the yard her faithful negro servants, "Uncle Robert" Bailey and his wife, "Aunt Sallie." To the left and back of the college was the home of Mr. Robert Bigham; lower down the street the home of Prof. William Baker, with a large, interesting family. His daughter, Felix, married Dr. James Woodrow, uncle of President Woodrow Wilson. Returning down the avenue, to our left we find the cottage where Dr. Thomas Lamar brought his bride, Miss Rebecca Nichols from her home in Scottsboro. Here was born Mary, their oldest child, who married Mr. James McCaw, of Mobile, Ala. Next we reach the home of Judge Moses Fort, who married Miss Eudosia Moore, of whom a sketch is given. The last home on the street is that of Governor Herschel V. Johnson, his wife and her son, Willie Walker, and their children: four boys and three girls. Tallulah married Mr. Pearce Home, brother of Mrs. Lucius Lamar; Emmett, Winder, Herschel, Tom, Gertrude and Annie. Turning the corner, we are at the Female Academy opposite the house where Dr. Thornwell Jacobs lived. To the left of the academy was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Baradel Stubbs with their family of seven daughters and three sons. Now we are at the top of the long red hill leading to Milledgeville. Here we find the beautiful home to which Dr. Lamar brought his bride. Across the road, Mr. Tucker has built a large brick house. The first era of the history of Midway has drawn to a close. We have located the houses and leave to the imagination of the reader to people them with living forms. The Halls, Nesbits, Campbells, and Judge Johnson have moved to Milledgeville and other towns. Mr. Sam Whitaker has moved to the old home of ths Halls, Mr. James Whittaker to Judge Fort's, the Myricks to Gov. Hershel Johnson's, the Murphs to the Nisbet's, and Mrs. Nichols to Dr. Jacob's. The school is large and flourishing under Mr. Scudder. ----------------- p. 144 The third era brings us to the present time. All is changed. Not one of those families is in the old homes. These homes stand silent witnesses of the wonderful history of the village of Midway. It is by no means a deserted village, but smaller homes have sprung up and toilers give interest and thrift. Old Oglethorpe has been moved to Atlanta. Only one of the original buildings remains, being now used as a part of Dr. Allen's Invalid Home. There are few more imposing institutions in the South. Sketches of both Dr. Allen and wife have their separate places in the History. They speak for themselves. In giving this sketch the typist cries, "More incidents, give incidents and anecdote." To be of value they must be authentic, and how can we mar the story by unseemly or unkind revival of much that should be buried and forgotten? Life has its sunshine and clouds, but clouds with silver lining and many-hued rainbow, the bow of promise. Suffice it to say there lived people since distinguished in Georgia history. UNCLE JERRY Why Jerry! what means all this sadness and fear? Here's your bitters, man, why do you cry? Who told you I'd sell you? The trader that's here? By zounds, sir! He told you a lie! When I sell the ring from my dead mother's hand, Or the sword that my grand-father bore, When at Guilford his troopers made such a bold stand, I'll sell you and not before. Why, don't you remember my face as a boy When often I sat on your knee, Whilst you sang, in your rugged, monotonous voice, Your foolish old ballads to me? ----------------- p. 145 I wept at your sad ones, and laughed at your gay, And made you repeat them all o'er; Ah! when I forget my life's happiest day, I will sell you—and not before! You made me the boat that I launched on the tide, And my traps for the birds in the snow; You led my bay pony and taught me to ride, And half the good things which I know. You wept like a child when they sent me to school, To be absent for six months or more; When you are a villian or I am a fool, I will sell you—and not before. If poverty's cup I am sentenced to drain, I will part with you last of them all; Your kindness, old Jerry, would double my pain, And your sorrows embitter my fall. If fate or misfortune should cause us to part; There's a God will unite us once more. So drink my good health and console your old heart, And love me and serve as before. FAITHFUL NEGROES A true history of Baldwin county could not be written without giving some account of the faithful negroes who made a large part of the population, and whose labors and faithful services helped to make the county's record unsurpassed by that of any other in the state. It is to be regretted that a full account of the herioc deeds of many of them have never been given a place in the county's history. The instances of loyalty and affection that have come to the knowledge of the writer are here narrated as a simple tribute of appreciation and an act of justice. ----------------- p. 146 In 1869, when going on our bridal trip, my husband said, "Don't discuss the South of Slavery." We were out at Pewee Valley, near Louisville, Ky., when a lady from the north, wife of a prominent banker, came to my room to show me a picture in a book written by some southern writer. There was a kindly faced old gentleman standing by the bedside of a dying negro feeling the pulse while at the foot of the bed stood a lady with her face buried in her handkerchief weeping bitterly. "Now," she said, "You know nothing like that ever occurred in the south." When told that a similar scene had been enacted in our own back yard she closed her lips tightly and left the room without a word. Did there ever beat a kindlier heart than the one in our old nurse's breast? Never, no never would she have taught us anything that was wrong? The well educated negro who preached her funeral sermon, said no one could convince him that slavery, as it existed in the south, was altogether an evil institution when it produced such characters as Mother Harriett. For five years she had been blind and yet never uttered a complaint. Her words always sounded God's praises for His goodness to her. Her pastor was right. How often when we went to see her she would say, "Can't see you Missee, but know your voice. I'll soon be in Heaven with my Mistis." Another old woman whose loyalty could not be questioned was Sarah Battle, the mother of Jack Brooks, who followed our brother's fortunes through the four years of the Confederate struggle. Jack attended every Confederate Reunion and was carried to the grave by the white veterans. There was the neat little cabin of "Uncle Ned" and "Aunt Aggie" with the gourd vine over the door and bright flowers in the yard. She had come from "Ole Virginny" with our grandparents. How we children loved to play about her door. In our neighborhood was a woman who had been reared in the home of her mistress, who was ----------------- p. 147 very much attached to her. "Queen" had negro, Indian and white blood in her 'viens, but seemed to inherit good qualities from each. She married Joe Wiggins, a respectable mulatto brick layer, and reared four-ten children, besides responding to every call for service. In every true southern home there was the beloved old Mammy and the faithful black man. Wilkes Flagg, who belonged to Dr. Fort, was given his freedom, learned the trade of a blacksmith and today, Flagg's Chapel stands as a monument to his faith in God and his love and interest in his race. Many of the descendants of these negroes have inherited the good qualities of their ancestors and are now faithful and loyal to their own "white folks." Catherine Davis* two sons, Jack and William, give notes that are easily negotiable at any bank and one of them came to the lady from whom he rented a store and suggested that the rent should be more than he was paying. He evidently realized she was uninformed in such matters and did not wish to take advantage of her. Lawrence Randolph and his son, William, deserve mention for their intelligence and worth. Randolph's wife was one of the old servants of Ex-Governor Hoke Smith, of Athens, Ga. The record of the southern negro during the Confederate War for fidelity has not been surpassed by any race. Additional Comments: From: Part III HISTORY of BALDWIN COUNTY GEORGIA BY MRS. ANNA MARIA GREEN COOK ILLUSTRATED ANDERSON. S. C. Keys-Hearn Printing Co. -1925— File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/baldwin/history/other/gms247historyo.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 16.4 Kb