Emanuel-Jenkins-Bulloch County GaArchives History - Schools .....THE HISTORY OF SEED TICK 
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Gene Funderburk GeneFunderburk@msn.com September 8, 2003, 8:49 pm



THE HISTORY OF SEED TICK
by Ann Walden

Seed Tick located in "Red Bug Hollow", about eighteen miles northeast 
of Twin City, was once a Methodist Church and was also used for a 
school. No one knows exactly how it got its name, but the old 
building holds happy memories for the very few still living who 
remember going to church meetings or school there.

The land on which Seed Tick is located once belonged to Richard Gay. 
In 1873, Mr. Gay sold this land to John W. Johnson at $1200 for 
482 acres. In May of 1916, Mr. Johnson sold 224 acres of this land 
to Benjamin F. Johnson and Miley Kimball Johnson for $1 an acre. 
In October of 1925, the Johnsons sold 180 acres to Mrs. Susie A. 
Cowart. Mrs. Cowart gave her son John I. Cowart a portion of her 
land. In 1973, Paul Johnson and Nick Johnson bought 46 acres from 
Mr. Cowart.

Today one may see the original shingles on the building made of 
wide boards. Trees were split to make very simple furniture such 
as benches and some desks. Two large windows were on two sides 
of the building. As most buildings were constructed at the time, 
this one, too, had a high floor and high ceiling for coolness. 
A fireplace was probably the source of heat in the winter, even 
though no one could remember exactly. Even though the shingles 
have been replaced with tin, and the high floor removed to ground 
level, the wide, original boards remain. The windows have been 
covered since the building was last used as a tobacco barn. Even 
though changes have been made on the building, the huge old cedar 
tree still stands, and the original road can still be seen where 
horse and wagons and ox carts traveled many times going to 
Seed Tick.

Several of the people whom I interviewed have relatives buried in 
the old cemetery there. Due to the changing owners, the area 
where the cemetery once was, is now farmland. Because there were 
no stone markers, no one could tell a cemetery was there.

Rail fences led to Seed Tick. During this time, the only kind of 
fences were made of wooden rails. Because the fences would burn 
so easily, they had to be kept clean and free of weeds or 
anything that might cause them to be destroyed by fire.

Barney Davis, Rosa Davis, Mamie J. Scarboro, and Annie J. 
Williamson attended Sunday School and church there. Maggie Sikes, 
Susie Bell Sikes, Tom Sikes, Frank Davis and Carrie Davis Lanier 
are a few who went to Seed Tick as school students. Of course, 
Mrs Lanier did both. (Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Scarboro, Mrs Williamson, 
and Mrs. Lanier are still living.)

According to several people who went to church there, the Rev. 
Mathew Williams was the preacher at one time. He and his wife, Beulah, 
and their eight children walked to church many times. Finally, 
the family got a horse and wagon. The preacher's only pay then was 
horsefeed. Probably different members carried bundles of hay or 
fodder with them to church, whichever they could afford to give up.

The Rev. Math Williams was born in 1848 and died February 11, 1925. 
His only living daughter, Mrs. Sally Brown, of Portal, GA., who 
will be 94 years old June 11, 1975, remembers walking to church 
with her father and mother and family. Mrs. Brown, whose father was 
a Confederate soldier in the War Between the States, says her 
father founded and built several churches. One, Payne's Chapel in 
Jenkins County, is still used today, and consequently, the Rev. 
Williams is buried there.

Mrs. Mamie Johnson Scarboro recalls going to Seed Tick to Sunday 
School. Mrs. Scarboro went there to a "singing school" with her 
mother. She remembers an old tin cup hanging near a water spring 
where everyone drank water.

Mrs. Scarboro, 11, and her sister Mrs. Annie J. Williams, 14, were 
coming home from Seed Tick once when their mule, Kate, was frightened.
Lewis Gay, who was driving an old ox pulling a cart, came up behind 
the sisters. When Kate saw the ox, she began running. As mentioned 
earlier, rail fences were the only kind of fences most farmers could 
afford. As it happended, rail fences lined both sides of the road 
and Kate was not to be stopped by a rail fence. Mrs. Scarboro had a 
brand new red straw hat and even though rails were "flying everywhere",
all Mrs. Scarboro could think about was her red hat. Even though Kate 
was undaunted by a rail fence, a neighbor lady who heard the excitement 
ran out and "swung onto her bridle rein" as they went by. Fortunately, 
this saved the girls. (These sisters happen to be daughters of 
John W. Johnson, who once owned that tract of land.)

According to Mrs. Scarboro, the Rev. Everett and the Rev. Wills 
preached there, also; however, she could not remember their first names. 

Mrs. Rosa Davis recalls going to church at Seed Tick. Mr. and Mrs. 
Barney Davis were married in 1913, and she remembers her husband 
saying, "Rosa, let's go to Seed Tick". Mrs. Davis' grandparents were 
buried there. His grandfather was "hauled from Portal in a Jersey 
wagon," according to Mrs. Davis.

Mrs. Carrie Davis Lanier, born in 1891, is the daughter of Jane and 
Tom Davis who are both buried at Seed Tick. Mrs. Lanier carried her 
lunch approximately three miles. She said, "On short days, they would 
leave before day and get home after dark."

Mrs. Ellington, who rarely had discipline problems, taught children 
from ages 6 to 17. Unfortunately, many children did not get to go to 
school until they were 17 because they had to help take care of the 
farm. Everyone was in one room, but there were several different 
groups according to age. Mrs. Lanier brought out that everyone had 
to buy his own books, and the higher the grade, the more the books 
cost. Even though Mrs. Lanier went to school there mostly, she also 
remembers having "church services there under a brush arbor."

The girls wore mid-length dresses and wool stockings in the winter. 
Mrs. Lanier remembers her mother knitting her stockings and gloves 
and weaving cloth for other clothes. Her mother would spin her own 
thread.

People think the school was last used 1910-1915.

     
      

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