Georgia: Elbert County: The History of Goshen District And The Town of Bowman, Ga. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store this file permanently for free access. This file was contributed by: Troy Colquitt telles@elberton.net ==================================================================== The History of Goshen District And The Town of Bowman, Ga. I will attempt to paint a portrait of this area from the time it was a part of Wilkes County in 1777 through the creation of Elbert County in 1790, to present day. This will include the early settlement and creation of roads and ferries; the war years of Northern Aggression, and the companies that went to war; the construction of Elberton Airline Railroad which caused creation of schools, churches, business, industries, and the professional people that located in Bowman; the paving of Highway Seventeen and it’s effects on this area, and its agriculture which was the engine that drove their economy; the decline of railroad usage due to the effects of Hwy. # 17, and loss of manufacturing companies due to cheap labor in other countries. The Early Years This area was part of Wilkes County, Georgia at it’s creation in 1777. Prior to the ending of the Rev. War there probably were a few settlers located in this area along Broad River. At the end of the Rev. War there was a lot of migration from VA., NC. and SC. by the war veterans and people who bought up land granted to the veterans. These people brought their families and all possessions, including slaves to this area. They began to clear land, cut roads and find the best places to put fords and ferries. They also constructed grist mills for grinding of their grains. The settlers must have really been impressed with their new land for it was named Goshen District with the number 201st GMD. The Hebrew translation for Goshen means land of milk and honey. These districts usually had a Capt. in charge with officers and sergeants for drilling every month that would protect their community. Each man between the age of eighteen and forty five were required to drill and furnish his own weapon and would be assessed a fine for not making muster. The rivers and creeks were full of fish and other aquatic life and was inhabited by a lot of game animals that would sustain these settlers for years to come. Many types of wild fruit were plentiful in spring and summer, Chestnuts, Chinkapins, Persimmons, Fox Grapes, Muscadine, Hickory Nuts and Black Walnut were plentiful in the fall. The map of 1796 shows main roads leading from Petersburg to Carnesville and from Elberton to Lexington. From 1807 to 1832 there was a lot migration of these settlers and their children to North and West Ga., also to TN., AL., MS, and LA. The map of 1834 shows the road leading from Elberton to Holly Springs and on to Carnesville. This map also has roads that connect the different farms in this area to the main roads. The ferries across Broad River are not shown on this map but are recorded in deeds by their owners. Some names of early settlers in the portion of Elbert County called Goshen District were Seymour, Parham, Moon, Hulme, Gaines, Edwards, Clark, Butler, Vickery, Dickerson, Burden, Thomaston, Webb, Gloer, Booth, Bond, Brown, Carruth, Colvard, Ginn, Hall, Hendrix, King, Pulliam, Rousey, Smith, Vaughn and Christian to name a few. Some of these family names will appear on the rosters for the war of 1812, and the Indian wars. The building of the Augusta Canal to power cotton mills would provide the farmers a shorter route down the Savannah River for their cotton. Also several cotton and woolen mills in Elbert County, including the Broad River Manufacturing Company at Anthony Shoals would use Goshen cotton. Migration of Goshen citizens to North East TX. during the 1850s further depleted families from this area . War of Northern Aggression Goshen District produced two companies that were sent to fight with the Army of Northern Virginia. The Goshen Blues was commanded by Capt.Robert Patten Eberhart and the other officers were W. T. Andrews, James Cicero Daniel, James C. Hall and John Oglesby. The Bowman Volunteers were commanded by John C. Burch who was killed at Garnett’s Farm in 1862. The other officers were Larkin L. Clark, John F. Craft, and Emory P. Edwards. Some of the battles these men participated in were Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Malvern Hill, Spotsyvania, Manassas, Cold Harbor, Chancellorsville,and Fredericksburg. A lot of the members of these two companies were killed in battle and are buried in several different cemeteries in Va. The rest had a lot of wounds including loss of limbs. At the end of the war the survivors made their way home to Elbert county and Goshen District to pick up the pieces of their lives. For the next ten years they were faced with military occupation and reconstruction. These peoples lives were changed forever, also changed was the way their farms were worked to produced a living. They were forced into a system called share cropping to be able to survive. After the end of military occupation things begin to improve. The map of 1864 shows a main road going from Goss to Shoal Creek in upper Goshen District where it crosses Broad River into Madison County. Building of Elberton Airline Railroad And The Progress That Followed Around 1875 Elberton Airline started to construct a railroad from Toccoa to Elberton. This construction was completed by 1878. Thomas Jefferson Bowman subdivided and sold lots along the railroad, and this was called the Town of Bowman. According to Mr. Glen Burden, two stores were built on the town square sometime in 1879. After the two stores were built a well was dug for the merchants water. A hitching post and watering troughs were installed for people in their wagons and buggies. The Baptist and Methodist Churches were established around this time. By 1880 My Great Grandfather’s brother, Dr. Joseph H.P. Colquitt had moved from Oglethorpe County and married Miss Sarah Edwards. He set up his practice at Bowman, and served the people several years before retiring. In 1882, land was bought by the Trustees of Bowman Collegiate Institute for a high school. The Bowman High School was ranked as the head of preparatory schools in Georgia according to the Star in 1889. Two educators of Bowman High School were Miss Mamie Wickliffe and Professor Pearman. An article in the Elberton Star 1889 titled: “Bridging Broad River”, shows the concern of being able to move people and goods. Headline; “A Project Not Favorable to Elberton: reads as follows: We learn that the citizens living in the southern portion of Madison county are now trying to induce their Ordinary, Dr. Daniel, to construct a bridge across Broad River at Moon’s or Harper’s ferry and take steps to enforce Elbert county to pay her pro rata part of the cost. These parties say they are anxious to trade in Elberton, but are prevented from doing so by the ferries. Besides, this bridge would be of great convenience to many people living in both counties, and near Broad River. The business men of Elberton do not look with much favor on this scheme and will use their utmost influence to defeat it. The building of this bridge; they very wisely contend, will take more business from our town than it can bring to it. It is quite natural that the trading public will seek the largest city within reach, even if there is no difference in prices. Broad River has assured to us a great deal of business and cotton that would in all probability would go to Athens if it was not for the trouble, danger and expense of crossing that stream. Throw a bridge over it and we would break a link in the chain that binds this trade to us. Again we do not believe that the project will meet with favor from a large majority of the people of Madison county, as it would greatly increase their taxes to benefit a small section. Elberton, however, is decidedly favorable to a bridge lower down the river, at or below Jones ferry, as it would bring to us a large portion of the trade in lower Oglethorpe and a part of Wilkes. An effort will probably be made to get our county officers to co-operate with Oglethorpe and build this bridge. Elberton will give a liberal private subscription to it. While our city highly appreciates the patronage she receives from Madison county, at the same time she realizes the fact that the security and preservation of her present business is her first and most important duty”. Elbert and Madison County would find their dispute in court over bridges going across Broad River until 1915. Covered bridges would be constructed at Moore’s shoals ( hwy 17 ) and Brown’s Ferry (hwy 172). Howard Parham remembers crossing the covered bridge at Brown’s Shoals with his mother in 1927 in a wagon to attend old Lystra Church in Madison County. By 1889, Goshen citizens were feeling the effects of the Augusta Dam and Canal that were preventing fish from migrating up Broad River. The canal had been enlarged and the wing dam had been replaced with a dam that extended to the South Carolina side. Legislation was introduced to rectify this problem. People began to move to this area after the railroad was built including my wife’s Great grandfather Joseph Marion Harris, who deeded land for Harris Academy. Joseph Marion Harris had moved from the Millstone Church area in Oglethorpe County in 1891 to the Pleasant Grove Church area so his children would have different people to marry. In 1893 The Bowman High School property was deeded to The John Gibson Institute, which provided a boarding school for white boys and girls at a cost of $75 to $85 for a nine month term. When this school was founded, there were only twenty eight high schools in Georgia. In 1898 M.B. Adams (Middleton B. Adams) executed a contract with L.L. Stephenson that was to commence on the first day of January, 1901 to construct a brickyard and railroad spur for the purpose of operating a brickyard, these bricks were used extensively in the building of Bowman and Elberton. The Twentieth Century In 1902 Mr. J.S. Colvard was serving his second term as Mayor, his first term being before he graduated from the law department of the State University. Mr. Colvard was one of two lawyers in Bowman, the other lawyer being Mr. T. L. Adams. Some merchants in Bowman in 1902 were H.G. Mewbourn, Ginn & Hendrick, E.H. Ward, Grover David, Cordell & Cann, B.P. Teasley & Son, E.B. Wickliffe, S.M. Mewman, N.M.Jordan, J.D. Conwell and C.D. Vaughn. There were two blacksmith, wood and repair shops; two barber shops and one shoe and harness shop, also a livery stable. There was a large ginnery, a roller paten flour mill and one mill on the waters of Beaver Dam Creek There was one hotel for the travelers that came on the four trains daily through Bowman. There was a migration to Texas by way of train during the early 1900s. One could leave Bowman by train and go anywhere there were connecting tracks. My father in-law, William Ogburn Harris was born in Tyler Texas in 1903, but his father moved his family back to Vanna, GA. because of the Texas weather. The John Gibson Institute’s name was changed to Gibson Mercer Academy in 1904, and was operated by the Mercer system of secondary schools. At this time Bowman was considered by some as the cultural and educational center of Northeast Ga. This school drew patronage from at least fifteen counties in northeast Ga. and sections of South Carolina. Joseph Marion Harris sold his land in upper Goshen District and moved to Bowman where the “Dr. Walker house” is now located, and died there. The 1905 map of Elbert County shows five ferries in Goshen District and no bridges . The name of these ferries were: Brown’s Ferry, Moore’s Ferry, Moon’s ferry, Vickery’s Ferry and Peyton’s Ferry. This map also shows a brickyard and pottery located on South Beaverdam Creek, below Bowman. There was a railroad spur leading from the Elberton Airline railroad down to where the bricks were made. There were several community schools houses, gin houses and stores shown on this map in Goshen district in 1905. The town of Bowman, Ga. was incorporated by the General Assembly in 1907 as a city with full powers. In 1909 citizens voted for Bowman to issued $9,000.00 in bonds to erect a two story brick grammar school on the north side of present day Highway Seventeen. Some of the teachers of this school were Prof. Rice, Delray Adams, Lula Peek, Bertha Hudson, Mrs. Thelma Teasley, Mauline Harris, Mrs. Ouida Adams, Mr. Ralph Oglesby and Mrs. Charles Allen. In 1909 M.B. Adams entered into an agreement of lease with the Elberton Brick Company for eight years to maintain and operate a brick manufactory plant and to maintain and operate the railroad spur from the Southern Railroad. This plant had eighty three employees that toiled ten hour days, six days a week. The employees would eat under a shed and sleep in cottages provided by the company. The production was fifty thousand brick a day. Elberton Brick Company was owned by W. O. Jones, W. E. Wallis and F. A. Smith. Fred A. Blackwell was the book keeper and kept up with employees time. These bricks and pottery was shipped out by the Southern Railroad to all parts of the country. The year 1911 found Bowman with the following businesses: W.W. Brown’s Drug Store which served cold drinks, paten and proprietary medicines and toilet articles; Mr. J.W. Eavanson operated a grocery store; The Farmers Bank had $25,000.00 in capital stock and counted seventy stock holders among farmers; Cordelle & Burnette represented old line life and fire insurance companies; The Bank of Bowman insured their deposits against loss from any cause and had $25,000.00 in capital stock; Cordell & Rice general farm supplies and dry goods with annual business of $60,000.00; Mrs. E.B. Wickliffe ran a millinery and ladies furnishings and notions; The firm of Ginn & Hendricks were cotton buyers and fertilizer dealers; Bowman Gin Company had a shoe and harness shop, also operated a blacksmith shop; J.V. Colvard operated a barber shop; W.E. Campbell sold grain, hay, heavy groceries and feedstuffs; Garrett Wallis was the liveryman and drummers friend; H.A. Harris was the depot agent; Bowman Lumber provided building supplies; Harris & McGarity operated a grocery store; O.L. Teasley insurance company represented seven fire insurance companies; I.L. Ginn & Company had general merchandise, fertilizer and cotton business; Mr. Frank Goss had a grocery business in the old bank building; The Bowman Telephone Company had an interesting history. A single phone was connected to the G.U. Burden residence and back to the Bell system at Harper, Ga. Brown brothers, G.W. and Andy G. Brown were the managers and their customers grew to one hundred and eighty phones in and around Bowman; W.A. David operated a grocery store which sold fancy groceries, cold drinks, cigars and tobacco. Agriculture was the engine that drove most of these businesses, with cotton being the main crop. Doctor S.B. Adair was the dentist who moved from Elberton to Bowman for the educational opportunities. Dr. A.S. Johnson was one of the finest physicians and surgeons in Ga.; Dr. O.B. Walker was a surgeon as was his father who practiced in the Bowman area around 1860; Scott Berryman and George A. Teasley had their law practice in Bowman and was a strong team. The schools at that time was a two story brick building grammar school which was public. Gibson Mercer Academy, was Baptist affiliated, and run by Mercer College. This denominational preparatory high school believed strongly in separation of church and state and didn’t want to run on any tax money. My Great Grandmother’s brother, Lock W. Collier was a trustee of Gibson Mercer Academy and he would bring my aunt Katie Lou Colquitt and her cousins from Oglethorpe County for their high school education at Gibson Mercer. This school was a two story brick building, which used a two story frame house as the boys dormitory, which sat to the left of Gibson Mercer Academy. A newly erected two story brick building was the girls dormitory and it sat to the right. Baseball was played by Gibson Mercer Academy with great rivals from Franklin, Hart and other surrounding schools including Elberton. In 1917 citizens from Goshen District and Bowman went to fight in France during world war one. Superintendent Holman and Coach Cochran left Gibson Mercer Academy and entered officers training school. The 1920s After the war this area experienced a lot of good times. Cotton prices were high and people enjoyed themselves during the roaring twenties. The year 1920 saw the black community come together and build a colored school in Bowman. These pioneers of Colored Education were Mr. J.H Bolden, Mr. Wyatt Geter, Mr. Eugene Geter, Mr. Frank Smith, Mr. Abe Bolton, Mr. Jack Latner and Mr. Jack Oglesby. The Good Samaritan Club also help in this endeavor. This school house was erected to the right and behind the Mount Zion Baptist Church on Rehoboth Road. These people borrowed $1,000.00 from W.A. Carrington to build this school. J.H. Bolden was the grandfather of James Bolden who lives in Bowman and Mr. Wyatt and Mr. Eugene Geter were Mr. Mac Geter’s grandfather and father, according to James Bolden . Gibson Mercer Academy had defeated Lincolnton High School football team in 1922, the only time any school from Elbert County would beat Lincolnton. 1925 was the last year Gibson Mercer Academy operated as a boarding school. Some early educators of Gibson-Mercer Academy were: Dr. Montgomery, Dr. A. W. Keese, Prof. Peter Zellars, Prof. J. P. Cash, J. A. Hunter, Rev. A. W. Bussey, Prof. J. T. Miller, J. W. Holman, Lawson E. Brown, Prof. A. B. Greene, Prof. W. C. Underwood, A. H. Redding, L. F. Jordan, and J. B. Brookshire. 1926 saw this school operated as a public high school for white students. In 1928 this school house burned, and the people of Bowman and Goshen District came together and constructed a new brick building for the grammar and high school. Crayton Phelps and his cousin, Sanford Moon are shown (1928) in a photo in front of the old two story brick grammar school building. Crayton’s father had left this area to go and help build the Panama Canal but returned back to Goshen District. 1929 was the first Class to graduate from the White Bowman High School. In 1929 the Colored School was moved to the old two story grammar school building. Some of the principals were: Fate Rice, Chester Rice, Mr. Willingham, Professor Fain, and Luther R. Neal, some of the teachers were: Hester Hopper ( he had taught at Hall’s Grove Church ), Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Epps, Mr. Welchel Long ( he was the agriculture teacher) and his Wife Mrs. Emma Long. 1929-‘30-‘31 saw Bowman High School football team defeat Elberton 7-0, 7-0 and 6-0. The 1930s The 1930s and 1940s saw hard times for this area during the depression. Charlie Pitts told me he worked for seven and one half cents per hour mixing fertilizer over by the railroad. Charlie was paid thirty cents per hundred pounds picking cotton before he entered the Navy. 1937 saw the paving of Highway Seventeen through Bowman. Charlie Pitts said he heard the old dirt road crossed the railroad tracks thirteen times between the county line and Elberton. Paving of this highway would bring a decline of the railroad and a new method of transportation for people to get their goods to and from market. In 1938 there were two thousand and three white children enrolled in Elbert county schools. Of these five hundred and thirty three were in high school and fourteen hundred and seventy in grammar school. Of those who reached high school, eighty percent finished. In the Colored Schools there were sixteen hundred and fifty three pupils, of these, twenty five were high school students. Seventy percent of the Colored Students reached the seventh grade. The white Bowman High School had 525 students, it was one of the largest schools in the state. The faculty consisted of eighteen members and a full time librarian, enjoying a unique distinction within the county in this respect. THE 1940S 1941 saw our boys go off to war again to fight in some far away land. Billy Vaughn went to fight in the Pacific against the Japanese after graduation. Many others from this area fought in Europe, Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. These men would sacrifice greatly during the next several years and should be thanked for preserving our way of life. After World War Two these servicemen and women returned to Bowman and Goshen District to pick up their lives. Some went off to school under the GI Bill to further their education. This would give rise to the biggest middle class of people in the history of the world. A lot of these service men and women would migrate to all parts of the United States to make their lives. The ones who remained in this area would continue to farm and work in the timber, granite and textile industry. THE 1950S 1950 saw the start of the Korean War, with men from Goshen District and Bowman being called on again to serve their country. This war has been called the forgotten war, but I am sure the men and women who served in that far away land don’t see it that way. During the 1950s and ’60s a lot of dirt roads were paved in Goshen District for the purpose of getting goods to market, these roads would be called farm to market roads. The schools in Bowman would undergo major changes in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the educators of Bowman High School were: Mrs. Jewel Thomas, Miss Maude Roberts, Mrs. Edna Jordan, Mr. W. B. Gaines, Mr. H. W. Powers, Mr. James A. Griffith, Mrs. James A. Griffith, Martha Bray, Woodrow Lavender, Mr. Hayes, Mrs. W. A. Chapman, Margie Wyatt, Mrs. Prince A. Hodgson, Mr. Prince A. Hodgson, Mrs. Woodrow Lavender, Mauline Harris, Sara Rucker, Mrs. J. L. Dickerson, Mr. James L. Dickerson, Evelyn Bryant, Mr. Earl Perry, Katie Lou McGarity, Wilma Kidd, Delray Adams, Mrs. R.E. Chandler, Mrs. Ruth Brough, and Mr. Hoke Fortson. Integration had become the law of land and the Colored Grammar and High School was in operation at the old two story grammar school for many years until 1958. Northwest Elementary school was constructed in 1958 for Colored Students. Luther Randall Neal served as principal for both schools from 1952 until 1970. 1958 was the last graduating class at the white Bowman High School, but this school continued to serve as a white grammar school through 1969, when it burned on the last day of school. On this property a sewing plant was later constructed which operated for several years until it went out of business. The Wright Garment Plant operated in downtown Bowman for many years, until it closed and moved out of the country. With the closing of the high schools, Bowman started to decline in the downtown area. People started to moved to the larger cities to seek employment. THE 1960S TO PRESENT Cotton farming was discontinued for the most part, and the farmers who tried to make a living on their land turned their operation into cattle and poultry farming. The 1960s an’70s saw the Country in another war on foreign soil in Vietnam, with citizens from Bowman and Goshen District making the sacrifice of protecting our freedom. Mayor L.B. Berryman made vast improvements to Bowman during his tenure and some people nicknamed him “Grant” Berryman for seeking people out to apply for grants that would build a Medical Clinic, Community Center and Recreation Park to name a few projects. The downtown area of Bowman is beginning to get some of it’s businesses back into town in the twenty first century. The one place in Bowman that’s been in business for a long time is the Bowman Drugstore, operated by Denny Seymour. Former Mayor L.B. Berryman operates Bomart, an establishment where one may find anything. Two favorite places to eat in Bowman are the Berryman House and Jim’s Grill. There are three antique stores, a grocery store, several convenient stores and a frame business in the old Wright Garment plant. During the past half century Mr. Glen Burden has been associated with the city of Bowman as City Clerk and consultant to the city, he still resides in Bowman. The plans for Highway Seventeen to be four lanes and constructed on the south side of Bowman will bring lot of changes to the area, as did the ferries, roads, bridges, railroads and the paving of this highway in 1937. In 2002 Bowman was provided a new Charter by the General Assembly to provide for incorporation, boundaries, and powers of the city. Already people are migrating to the Bowman and Goshen District for its fine climate and country living.