Quitman County GaArchives History .....Union History from "The Quitman Echo" 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Donna Eldridge DonnaEldrid@aol.com July 2, 2004, 2:27 pm


                                UNION

     The community was made up of settlers mainly from North Carolina and was a 
farming community.  Among the early settlers were the George Ellis family, Mrs. 
Adeline Lee Crumbley and her family, (Mrs. Crumbley's husband had died on the 
way to the new land) the Hollman family, and the Atwell family.

     The Union Methodist Church was established about 1836 and was the first 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the area. It stood about a mile southwest of the 
present church in the woods on land owned by the Crumbleys.  It is known that 
there were old graves at this first site.

     It is said that the second church was across the highway near the 
cemetery.  After the Civil War a great revival was held in a bush arbor, it is 
not known if the old church had burned or perhaps it was not large enough to 
hold all of the people that attended.  It was decided to build a new church.  
The deed was recorded in 1865 and work was started in January of 1866, the 
church was also dedicated that year.  Trustees of the church were Abraham 
Shields, John Phillips, Thomas S. Bryan, James Suggs, William Lewis and one 
other man.

     Walter Cleveland Crumbley Sr. was the son of James Jernigan Crumbley and 
Fannie Sarah Raines Crumbley.  He was born 18, 1868 and was raised at Union, 
along with  his brother Sidney and his two sisters, Fannie and Rosa.  Walter 
farmed in the area and  operated a general store, he was also the post master 
at Oak Grove.  This was the second post office.  It is believed that there were 
two stores.  There was also a school at Union, this small building yet stands 
at the side of the Union Church.

     There are many stories told about the county and one that was remembered 
about Union and was a true story was about a man that moved back into the 
community with his wife during the share-cropper years, traded with a man to 
farm his land and upon moving found that there was no well at the house.  He 
asked the owner to dig a well and was told there had never been a well and he 
could do as everyone who had ever lived there had, tote his water from the 
spring.  The share-cropper, being a pretty smart fellow, dug his own well with 
the help of his wife.  He would go into the well-hole fill a nail keg with dirt 
and his wife would draw it to the top of the ground, empty it and lower it back 
into the hole.  They had plenty of water and made their crop.  When it was time 
to move on, the man was seen at the well shoveling dirt.  He was asked if 
something had happened to his well, he said there had never been a well at that 
house before he moved there and there wouldn't be one when he left.  Took  him 
a couple of days but the well was filled in and there was never another well, 
everyone else got their water from the spring.

"The Quitman Echo - Quitman County, Georgia" - Jacquelyn Shepard, (page 16) 

Additional Comments:
Published by Jacquelyn Shephard, Transcribed and submitted by Donna Eldridge
with permission from Jacquelyn Shephard

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/quitman/history/other/nms23unionhis.txt

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