Jasper County GaArchives News.....Jasper Reflections - Shady Dale 1970's ************************************************ 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: Suzanne Forte suzanneforte@bellsouth.net July 2, 2004, 10:25 pm Monticello News JASPER REFLECTIONS BY JOHN HARVEY Shady Dale Jasper County has two chartered cities. Monticello and Shady Dale. Monticello was discussed in a recent series of articles. Shady Dale also has an interesting history. The beginnings of the community of Shady Dale were in the late 1820s and early 30's. At that time it was a country crossroads near the home of Matthew Whitfield. The nearest community was Wynn's Crossing about one mile to the north, located on the Seven Islands Road, an early immigrant road to the west. Squire Whitfield was a political leader and land owner. Records of the 1830's and 40's show that he and Dr. Thomas Broddus were the largest land owners in the county. At some time in the 1830s the road was changed to run near the Whitfield house rather than through Wynn's Crossing. The Providence Baptist Church was also moved to the area to be situated nearer the main roads. About this time, J. L. Tucker opened a general store at the crossroad sand was followed a short time later by Banks, Davidson and Kelly Co., who opened a store and warehouse. Located in a large grove of oak and hickory trees, the name Shady Dale seemed a natural one. In the 1840's the railroad from Covington to Augusta through Eatonton was built and railroad yard and shop were built. Shady Dale was on the way to prosperity. Early newspaper describe its ideal location and the business opportunities to be found in the Shady Dale area. BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, Shady Dale was a shipping point for much of the cotton raised in Jasper County. In 1864 the town had a famous visitor, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman stayed for a few days in the Ezell House Hotel before moving on to Milledgeville on his "March to the Sea". After the War, Shady Dale again became a major local shipping point for cotton. O. H. Banks, a former mayor, has figures for 1909, the largest post Civil War year, showing that 68,068 acres were planted in the county yielding 25, 848 bales. The average yield per acres was 190 pounds. A large percentage of this cotton was shipped from Shady Dale. With the coming of the boll weevil in 1920-21 Shady Dale and many other towns like it suffered. Shady Dale was first chartered as a city in 1882, but this charter was found to be inadequate and a new charter was issued in 1904. The mayor and council under the new charter were mayor, W. D. (Dorse) Wynn, and councilmen C. R. Hodge, S. R. Baynes, T.C. Tucker and W. F. Baynes. Some of the older residents say that Mr. Wynn was also mayor under the charter of 1882 making him he town's first mayor. The new charter became effective in 1904 but some provisions of the old charter stayed in effect until 1906. Transcribed by Suzanne Forte (suzanneforte@bellsouth.net) from copies of articles contained in the Monticello News. There articles were prepared by Mr. John Harvey and published in this newspaper during the 1970's time frame. Permission has been granted by Mr. Harvey for use of these very valuable and informative articles. BICENTENNIAL BITS BY JOHN HARVEY "Visit Shady Dale and Machen" Some nine miles north of Monticello on Georgia Highway 83 are the town of Shady Dale and the community of Machen. Both are early settlements in the county. At the crossroads in the center of Shady Dale is the old well known as the town well. Until about 20 years ago there stood behind the well and to the left the hotel and stage coach stop. This building went back to the early days of Jasper County. Go out Ga. Highway 142 a few miles and the communities of Aikenton and Athon are off to the left. Just across the county line in Putnam County is the site of Turnwold where Joel Chandler Harris of "Uncle Remus" fame worked as a boy learning the printing trade. Harris was a frequent visitor to Shady Dale and Machen. "The Seven Island Road", a famous road over which many early settlers came into middle Georgia in the early 1800's, passed near Shady Dale and Machen. This road began at the Oconee River near Greensboro and parallel present day Highways 142 and 83 until it joined the "Old Federal Road" at the Ocmulgee River near Gladesville. Providence Baptist Church is one of the oldest churches in the County. In its churchyard are buried members of some of the pioneer families of this county. Among them, G.N.G. W. Boone, grandson of Daniel Boone and Seaborn Hawk, an American Revolutionary War veteran. At Providence Church are found the names of many of the early settlers of Jasper County. Many of the names found in the church yard are: Martin, Aiken, Preston, Lynch, Bailey, Green, McDowell, Newton, Roby, Ezell, Banks, Poteet, Pearson, Shaw and Cardell to name a few. Also buried in the church yard is Jacob Mercer a Revolutionary War veteran and father of the Rev. Jesse Mercer, founder of Mercer University. Two monuments are the rather unique interest, the first is to the Rev. J. Wardlaw. Rev. Wardlaw’s first wife died and after a period of mourning he remarried a much younger woman. A few weeks after the second marriage he was sitting in his house with his young wife when someone shot and killed him through a bedroom window, the perpetrator was never caught. The second is a very impressive monument to Col. Umbus Davis, born in Campbell County, 1849 and died in Jasper County 1896. It is said that Col Davis was a school teacher who lived in the old hotel and was found one morning in his room where he had died. The monument was erected by friends. Could it have been by former students: This is an area that has much history and one visit is not enough to get it all. There were two groups of early settlers who came into Jasper County through this area between 1805 and 1825. The first (1805-1810) directly from Virginia and the Carolina’s. The Second beginning in 1817, who had first settled around Powelton in Hancock County before moving into Jasper, Morgan, Putnam, Newton and Walton Counties. Machen was named for the Chief executive officer and vice president of the Athens and Macon Railroad (later the Central of Georgia), Mr. Eli Machen. The railroad was built in 1886-87. Among the interesting houses it contains are the Dr. Bullard house built just before the Civil War, the Willis Newton House and the Leverett House. The Willis Newton House is said to be an exact replica of Jefferson Davis’s house. Mr. Newton was County School Superintendent in 1884. He admired the President of the Confederacy and it is said that he went to Mississippi and made copies of the Davis house there. Joel Chandler Harris was a frequent visitor to the Leverett House and is said to have written some of his stories here: began the unfinished manuscript, “One Miles to Shady Dale”, which was to have been his autobiography. As you return to Monticello on Ga. State Highway 83 there is one more place of interest near by. On the left hand side of the road just before you get to Murder Creek is the Newton Family Cemetery. It is off the road a short distance. Buried there is James Mitchell Newton (1715-1828) one of the early settlers of Jasper County who lived to be 113 years old. Mr. Newton came to Randolph (Jasper) County shortly after the Revolution. He received one of the land grants on Murder Creek (most of these grants were made to ex-soldiers). He came with a party of settlers from Mecklingburg County, Virginia. Many of these settlers settled on Murder Creek and Little River. Mr. Newton was one of the principal signers of the Treaty of Indian Springs in 1823. This treaty led to the Creek Indians being moved to Oklahoma and the death of Chief William McIntosh who signed it. Also buried in the Newton Family Cemetery is Mr. Oliver (Ollie) Newton believed by many to have been the first county wide teacher hired by the Jasper County Board of Education. Sources: Mrs. Mattie Thompson “Pete” Newton Miss Kitty Thompson Additional Comments: Transcribed by Suzanne Forte (suzanneforte@bellsouth.net) from copies of articles contained in the Monticello News. There articles were prepared by Mr. John Harvey and published in this newspaper during the 1970's time frame. Permission has been granted by Mr. Harvey for use of these very valuable and informative articles. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/jasper/newspapers/gnw204jasperre.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 9.0 Kb