FREAKS, PHENOMENA AND THE FANTASTIC

 Over the years, many mysterious wonders of nature stories about freaks of nature, inexplicable phenomena or fantastic elements of nature. have captivated and fascinated newspaper readers across the state and the nation.  Here are a few more of these stories which happened right here in Georgia, many, many years ago.

 THE SPIRIT OF THE DEAD LIVES - Mr. H.A. Wrench, a credible Brunswick newspaper man, was walking through Greenwood Cemetery in the coastal city, when he noticed a strange and interesting phenomenon. African-Americans of the city often decorated the graves of their deceased loved ones with glassware and pottery.  Wrench observed that the oldest pieces of glassware, perhaps through exposure to the sun and the soil, had turned to "a beautiful wine color."  Local experts believed that the combination of the soil and the decaying bodies contributed to the color change to the once clear vessels as if they were filled with oxygen exposed blood of a living still soul.   Kalamazoo Gazette, February 12, 1898.

 HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN - M.P.  Hoyle, of Dawson, Georgia, lived just beyond the city limits.  Anytime Hoyle needed a shower, all he had to do was to walk out into his yard.  It all began in September of 1886.  In a 25' by 25' section of his yard, Hoyle and hoards of mystified and stymied observers noticed a constant rainfall.  The frequency of the rain varied from mist to regular rain.  Plain Dealer, October 7, 1886.

 That same phenomenon occurred in Dublin in 1920.  Whether it was cloudy or fair, there was a spot on the sidewalk of Columbia Street between Franklin and Washington Streets in Dublin where it was always raining.  Residents reported a light shower every day which began around 11:00 a.m. and ended in the mid-afternoon.  The phenomenon had been occurring for more than two years.  Mansfield News, Mansfield, OH, October 17, 1920.

 WAY UP ON THE SUWANEE RIVER - It was in the spring of 1842 when folks in Lowndes County, Georgia and parts of northern Florida noticed that the Suwanee River rose three feet higher in a matter of five minutes.  Those present also noticed the rumbling ground typical of a light earthquake.   Southern Patriot, June 4, 1842.

 THE SKY IS FALLING -   It was calm morning on in Pitts, Georgia.  Then, all of a sudden and without any warning, a fireball came streaking out of the northeastern sky headed toward the Wilcox County town.   As it approached, the meteor, which was seen as far away as Macon, exploded into smithereens.   The reports of a dozen distinct  explosions on April 21, 1921 was heard in surrounding towns up to 15 miles away.

 Residents reported machine gun like explosions followed by crackling noises of metal burning for several minutes.  Black, smoky streaks filled an otherwise crystal blue sky.   Several  chunks of iron were embedded as much as three feet into the soil.   The red hot meteorites, weighing as much as six pounds, were scattered primarily over a concentrated region.    

 One farmer, who was nearly hit by one of the interplanetary missiles, remarked, "It was red hot as it entered the earth, and it was too hot to handle after it had been excavated from its hole, which required a period of ten minutes."

 Souvenir hunters and curiosity seekers combed the area for weeks to pick up as many of the meteorites as they could find.  Some samples were sent to Atlanta for analysis.  The largest space rock is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.  Macon Telegraph, May 21, 1921. 

 FIREFLY FIREWORKS - On an early summer evening in the mountains around Ringgold, Georgia, several million fireflies descended from the sky toward the Chickamauga River.  Ringgold residents in the valley observed the trunks of trees filled with the illuminating insects.  Many reported that the entire mountain was lit by a "horde of fireflies fully forty feet high."  The lightning bugs took nearly a quarter of an hour to pass down the river's course before they flew out of sight.  Biloxi Herald, June 27, 1891.

 A TRAIN WRECK AWAITS -   People living near the tracks of the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad, noticed an unusual phenomenon.  The people there were used to seeing lime sinks where the ground appears to be swallowed up, but on this occasion, it was observed than on one sixty -foot section of the railroad the tracks were elevated by a mysterious force to a level of one foot or more during a single night.  Huntsville Gazette, May 19, 1888.

 A REAL MULBERRY CANDLE - Many people love the sweet, fruity scent of a mulberry candle.  One mulberry bush in Griffin, Georgia  was eager to become a candle.  It couldn't seem to light itself, but it did seem to emit smoke from all parts of it, a smoke which was described a thin, light smoke similar to cigar smoke.  Jackson Citizen Patriot, April 8, 1882.

 SURRENCY'S SPECTACLE - Some nine miles below the sandy soil of Surrency, Georgia lies a mysterious object unseen anywhere in the world.  With the use of powerful sound waves, scientists from Cornell University were scanning the 26-mile-thick crust of the Earth when they discovered a rare object.  Their instruments indicated that below the surface was a two-mile wide, contact lens shaped pool of unknown liquids, possibly carbon dioxide gas or liquid helium at an estimated temperature of 500 degrees.  Initial findings indicated that the pocket in the crust was created some 200 to 500 million years ago when North America and Northern Africa collided.  As the two continents parted, a small portion of Africa remained attached to North America running roughly from Brunswick to Americus to Alabama and below.  Augusta Chronicle, May 24, 1987.

 APPLERITION - Uncle Sam Allen, an ancient farmer living near Blythe, Georgia near what is now Fort Gordon, had seen a lot during his long life.  But Sam or no one else around had ever seen an apple tree which flowered in the autumn and bore fruit in January.  Allen's tree bore small apples about the size of a large strawberry.  The staff of the Augusta Chronicle believed they might be seeing an apparition until they tasted the fruit and confirmed for themselves that the fruits were indeed apples.  Augusta Chronicle, January 25, 1901.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT - STRANGE BUT TRUE TALES

BELIEVE IT OR NOT
Strange But True Tales

Green Pittman enlisted in the Confederate army on August 21, 1861 as a member of the “Wilkinson Guards,” which were designated as Co. I of the 3rd Georgia Volunteer Infantry.  His first major wound came at the climatic battle of the Battles of the Seven Days at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862 when his company suffered massive casualties in brutal fighting.   Pittman survived the horrific battles of 2nd Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancelorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania virtually unscathed.

Green Pittman suffered a terrible wound in the Battle of Hatcher’s Run on February 6, 1865.  The mini ball struck the upper part of his nose near his left eye. After the fighting subsided, Pittman was taken to a field hospital, where his wound was dressed and probed by an army surgeon.   Leaving the bullet in his head was the most acceptable option because of the risks of surgery.  He spent the rest of the war in a hospital.  Though Pittman knew that the mini ball was still in his head he rarely thought of it during his daily routines.  On a Sunday morning February 1869, Pittman was preparing to go to church when he felt something strange in his mouth.

As he was combing his hair, Pittman felt a large object which he almost swallowed.  There was no pain, no bleeding when the one-ounce two-pennyweight ball popped out four years after it entered his nose.  The grizzled veteran of many of the world’s most horrific battles cherished the iron ball as a reminder of his good fortune.  Augusta Chronicle, July 1, 1875.

A Swainsboro woman set what was thought to be a world record for going from the grave to the altar.  On Tuesday, January 30,  1906, J.J. Sewell, one of the most hardworking and honest men in that section of the state, died of tuberculosis leaving his entire estate to his widow Alice.  Mr. Sewell was buried on Wednesday. His wife was present, dressed in proper attire and showing the usual emotional distress at the death of her dear departed husband.  Also at the funeral was one Robert McDaniel, who had professed his love for the widow before Sewell’s demise. McDaniel accompanied the bereaved woman as she left the cemetery. On Thursday, the couple appeared in Ordinary Court Judge Yeoman’s office and obtained a marriage license.  The anxious couple quickly traveled to the home of Judge John Sutton, where they were instantly married and set off on their honeymoon. When questioned as to the timeliness of their marriage, Mrs. McDaniel said that she needed someone to comfort her and knew McDaniel had loved her a long time.  The editors of the Swainsboro Forest Blade took an opposite stance, when they wrote, “ Peace to the ashes of Mr. Sewell.  He is better off in his grave than hitched up with such a woman as this and hounded by a man who would marry her.” Washington Post, February 5, 1906. p. 1, Swainsboro Forest Blade, February 1, 1906.

It was a hot muggy late summer afternoon on September 15, 1881 in Dublin when a terrific thunderstorm struck around two o’clock.  James Hester saw the oncoming tumult and pulled his team of oxen under a large china berry tree about half way between Maas’s store and J.E.  Perry’s house.  Hester took the beasts of burden loose from the cart and was preparing to lead them around to tie them to a wheel when a stream of mysterious luminous fluid seemed to cascade down through the tree.  To those who were present, it appeared that the eery liquid coated a light sheet over the oxen and their driver.    The animals instantly fell dead to the ground, the one closest to the tree never moved.   Hester, stunned and dazed as if dead, was carried to Maas’s store and revived.   He soon became able to relate his experiences to the concerned and curious crowd which had gathered around him.

The thunderbolt was felt all over town.  A Dublin Post writer was standing in the office between T.A. Howard and William Linder, the paper’s printer.  While the writer felt nothing, Howard instantly complained that his right leg was broken, while Linder felt his composing stick being wrenched from his hand.  He complained of a pain in his wrist for half an hour.   In another part of the newspaper office, G.W. Stephenson complained of a pain in his right wrist.

Joel Perry, who was sitting on his porch when he saw Hester’s animals killed by the mysterious glow, did not hear the clap of thunder but did suffer a severe headache and ringing in his ears for a while.  Other citizens reported similar ailments.  Though the striking of china berry trees, Dublin’s primary shade trees, was not unusual, the calamity did cause quite a stir among local residents.  Dublin Post, September 21, 1881.

Jeannie Couey and Rachel Alligood were as close as sisters can be.  Despite the fact that they were nearly twenty years apart in age, the pair was inseparable. They had the same father, Nathaniel Franklin Gay, but Jeannie’s mother was Sarah Burch and Rachel’s mother was Martha Burch, both daughters of Alfred Littleberry Burch, making them cousins as well as sisters.  Confused?   Both women were members of Baker Baptist Church and did nearly everything together.  Jeannie died at 8:30 on the evening of January 4, 1928 at the ripe old age of sixty-four.  Less than twelve hours later, Rachel made her way to her beloved sister’s home.    When she walked in the room to view Jeannie’s lifeless body, she fell dead on the floor in grief. Both Laurens County sisters were buried in Gay Cemetery the following day, side by side, united in life as in death.  Augusta Chronicle, January 5, 1928.

     As a child has a 1 in 365.25 chance of being born on Christmas Day.  For most kids that isn’t such a great thing when it comes to presents and birthday parties. Christmas was a landmark day in the life James Erwin Loyd of Laurens County. Loyd was born on Christmas Day in 1866.  He died on his 82nd birthday on Christmas Day in 1948.  The odds of being born and dying on Christmas Day are 1:133,225.  His wife Leonia Wood Loyd was born on March 15, 1876, still known to some as “The Ides of March,” a day on which Julius Caesar suffered his mortal fate.  She died in 1944.  The date of course was March 15th, her 68th birthday.  The Loyds are buried in the Union Baptist Church cemetery on the Soperton Highway just north of Minter.

Dr. G.F. Green is authority for the statement that a number of snow flakes fell in this city yesterday.  At his home, Dr. Green states, it hailed for a minute or two and then snowed.  The falling of snow flakes was witnessed by several reputable people and there is no doubt but that the statement is true, strange as it may seem. Dublin Courier Dispatch, July 24, 1902.
   

FEBRUARY FOOTNOTES - AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

In the short month of February when the short days seem to fly by, I will present a series of footnotes of February in our past. This week, in conjunction with Black History month, here are some brief happenings which relate to the African American heritage of our community. THE KING OF THE SHOE SHINERS - There had always been a barber shop in the New Dublin Hotel on South Jefferson Street. In 1962, the shop moved across the street south of the old bank building. In 1902 Richard Hamlet opened the first shop. He was followed by Joe Underwood, S.F. Beasley, and J.C. Williams. For fifty of those sixty years, "Ether" Jackson shined shoes in the shop. "Ether" - he called himself that because he was so smooth that he put people to sleep - came with Joe Underwood from Gibson, Georgia, about 1910. He took on other odd jobs to support his family. Jackson figured that he shined between 25 and 35 pairs of shoes a day, six days a week, for at least fifty seven years. That is somewhere between three hundred thousand and a half million pairs of shoes. Ether was one of the most popular persons in the downtown area while he was shining shoes for thousands of Dublin's men. One day, Ether was having a conversation with State Senator and Courier Herald Publisher, Herschel Lovett. Lovett, bragging to Ether said, "Ether, you see that they have named that new bridge over the river for me." Yes, sir," Ether retorted," but they put it on my street, E. Jackson Street." Dublin Courier Herald, June 23, 1962, Aug. 30, 1967, p. 1. THE FIRST BLACK BUSINESSMEN - The first corporation organized by Black Laurens Countians was the Farmers Enterprise, Incorporated. The company dealt in farm equipment, supplies, and goods. Founders of the company included Rev. A.T. Speight, George Fullwood, George Locke, John Thomas, Ed Thomas, and Ed Foster. The corporation's offices were located in a building which was formerly located at the northwest corner of South Lawrence and West Madison Streets. Five months later, Dr. U.S. Johnson, Joe Hudson, and N.T. Brown incorporated the first black owned pharmacy, the Regent, on South Lawrence Street. DCH 1/15/1914, p. 6, DCH 2/19/1914, p. 8, DCH 5/7/1914, p. 4. HIS FIRST TIME ON THE STAGE - Little Lorenzo didn't go the movies very often as a child. When he did go, he always sat in a certain section of the theater. Lorenzo never got the chance to get close to the stage. He always sat in the back, up the balcony. He never even got to go on the main floor of the auditorium. You see little Lorenzo was forced to sit in that section. It was during the days before theaters were integrated. Little Lorenzo grew up and left his hometown for a higher education. Little Lorenzo became Lorenzo Mason, an engineer for an architectural engineering firm. Mason's firm was hired to design the engineering work for a theater. Mason, as the chief engineer, designed the removal of the old balcony, which separated the patrons of the theater by race and which was replaced with a new balcony - this time for sound, light, and air conditioning equipment. Mason and his colleagues had to find a way to keep the ground water out of the theater - a problem which plagued theater owners and patrons for forty years. That problem was solved in short order. Some of his friends and fellow construction personnel never knew that Mason was born and lived in that same town. The time came for the final inspection of the construction work on the theater. It was then, over thirty years later, when Lorenzo Mason finally made it to the stage of the Martin Theater (Theatre Dublin) for the first time - this time as the chief engineer of the project to renovate the theater where, as a child, he was never allowed to go on the main floor. As suggested by Richie Allen, formerly of Allen's Plumbing and Heating. A MIGHTY PREACHER MAN - The Rev. Norman G. McCall served as pastor of the First African Baptist Church of Dublin for nineteen years. Rev. McCall was a giant of a man and known all over for his Herculean strength. Rev. McCall worked on the riverboats and it was said that he could swim across the river with two sacks of fertilizer under his arms. Rev. McCall was active in the organization of the schools in the black community in the 1880s. His family lived in the southwestern portion of Dublin between Marcus and Marion Streets. Rev. McCall served on the Executive Board of Central City College and as President of the State Sunday School Board of Education. He was a member of the Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Laboring Friends. On June 15, 1904, after suffering for several months with dropsy, Rev. McCall fell dead in his field. His funeral procession was one of the longest in Dublin's history, nearly one mile long. Dublin Times, June 18, 1904, p. 1. DISTINGUISHED ELDERLY CITIZEN - One of the oldest, if not the oldest citizen of Laurens County, was Madison Moore. Mr. Moore died on November 15, 1912, at the authenticated age of 112 years. Madison Moore had lived most of his life on the old Gov. Troup place on the east side of the Oconee River. Madison Moore, who was known as "Hatless" Moore was a body guard and coach driver for his master, Gov. George M. Troup. His nickname came from the numerous times his hat blew off while driving Governor Troup. At his death Mr. Moore's descendants numbered in the hundreds. Many of his descendants live in Laurens County today. Dublin Courier Dispatch, Nov. 21, 1912. A TERRIBLE DEATH - Albert A. Lewis, of Laurens County, loved his country. He served for six years in the United States Army through all of World War II. When the United States entered into the Korean War, Lewis re-enlisted in the Army. Sergeant Lewis fell into the hands of the North Koreans and was sent to a prison camp. Word was sent to the American government that Lewis died of pulmonary tuberculosis. Nearly three years after his death the truth was revealed about the death of Sgt. Lewis. Lewis did not die from tuberculosis, but from malnutrition. He starved to death. "Dublin Courier Herald, July 16, 1955."

FEBRUARY FOOTNOTES

In the short month of February when the short days seem to fly by, I will present a series of footnotes of February in our past.  In a sense, these notes are merely frivolous. I hope in looking back to the days of yesteryear, that you will find them entertaining and informative, and just a wee bit humorous.

WOMAN MAKES LOCAL  HISTORY - Ruth Gordon had been around the army for decades before she came to Dublin to serve in the position of Laurens County health nurse.  A native of Fort Gaines, Georgia and a graduate of Vanderbilt University, Mrs. Gordon served as a nurse during World War I as did her first husband, a member of the American Expeditionary Force and a native of Oklahoma.  

The Dublin legion post had formed an auxiliary unit in February 1927, under the leadership of Mrs. George Ingram, Mrs. Kendrick Moffett and Mrs. Theron Woodard, but no female members had ever joined the veteran's organization. 

When she arrived in Dublin, Mrs. Gordon applied for membership in the theretofore all-male American Legion Post No. 17.  The members, under the command of L.D. Woods, accepted her into the legion and installed her as a member on February 5, 1942.  Macon Telegraph, Feb. 3, 1942. P. 2.

THE OTHER LIBRARY - Did you know that the first Laurens County Library was established in 1938.  The Carnegie Library in Dublin gave free service to only city residents at the time.  The ladies of the Parnassus Club sponsored a library for county residents.  The library was located in the county office building on East Madison Street, which served formerly as the post office from 1912 until 1936.  Virginia Graves served as the first and only librarian.  The library first opened on the morning of February 5, 1938. After a few months the Laurens County Library merged with the Carnegie Library.  County wide service began with the help of the W.P.A. which funded a traveling librarian.   Dublin Courier Herald, 8/6/1938, Laurens Co. History, 1807-1941, p. 239, 248, Macon Telegraph, 2/5/1938, p. 12.

SKINNY SNAKE - M.S. Taylor had seen many snakes in his lifetime, some big and some small.  But of all the snakes Taylor had ever seen, the one he picked up in February of 1931 was most unusual.  The slithering serpent was twenty-two inches long - nothing unusual there.  This specimen was so thin that observers described it as "thin as hay wire." The snake, which a writer described as a "hair snake," was most likely a nematomorpha, which is not a snake at all but a "horsehair worm."  Macon Telegraph, Feb. 17, 19731, p. 11.

GLADYS HAD A LITTLE ROOSTER - If Mary's little lamb followed her everywhere she went, it only stands to reason that Gladys Graham's  rooster would do the same thing. Gladys called her rooster, Johnny.  The brightly feathered chicken followed Gladys to school every day.   It seemed to understand and obey Gladys' commands.  Gladys would  yell, "Scratch!" And, the clever bird attacked the  Condor school grounds with his near razor-like claws.  Then the little girl commanded her pet to crow and Johnny crowed loudly, which drew a crowd of students.  To remove all doubts of the onlookers, Gladys yelled, "Come here, Johnny!"  The intelligent fowl then jumped into his master's arms.  Discounting her own ability to make Johnny do human things, Gladys remarked, "Daddy can make Johnny do more than I."  Macon Telegraph, February 20, 1942. 

ONE LESS LIFE TO LIVE -   One day in February 1926, a tom cat was taking a nap on a large belt of a Corliss engine at the Dublin power plant.  When the engine started without notice to the snoozing feline,  the oblivious cat was sucked into the fly wheel and thrown out the other side.  The victim kicked a few times and then stopped moving altogether.   When a worker grabbed a shovel to remove the cat's corpse and bury it outside, the tom, which only appeared to be dead, attacked the spade, rolled over and resumed his catnap.  After a sufficient siesta and a loss of one life, the dazed cat sat up, lightly scratched his ear and set out to find something to eat.  It will also be remembered that six years earlier, a frog took a spin on the same fly wheel for eight hours, traveled more than 500 miles and survived to hop away. Macon Telegraph, February 21, 1926, Atlanta Constitution, May 3, 1920.

WHEN THE GROUNDHOG SAW RED  It was in the early months of the Great Depression when the Laurens County School system ran out of money.  Realizing that the books were in the red that Ground Hog Day, School Superintendent T.M. Hicks shut down the 18 white and 35 colored schools and sent some five thousand  students home for an unexpected winter vacation.  With no credit available to fund the bankrupt system, the kids all hoped that the financial crisis would mean six weeks of vacation before the warming spring came.  Macon Telegraph, February 4, 1930. p. 2.

IT TAKES A THIEF - Some folks will say, "some people will steal anything."  That maxim was never more true than in February 1935.  Mrs. J.B. Williams was right proud of her newly planted pecan and peach trees which  she had placed in the yard of her home on Telfair Street.  Her pride turned to puzzlement and distress for on the next day, a thief or thieves transplanted the fruit trees to their own yard.  Macon Telegraph, February 18, 1935, pa. 2.

NO EXCUSE SIR! - Dublin Police Chief J.W.  Robertson had no patience with slackers and freeloaders.  After all, there was a war going on.  Charged with the duty of enforcing the city's ordinance requiring all able bodied men in Dublin to go to work or go to jail, the chief worked with local industries and businesses to develop a time card system for all of the city's employees.  Any adult male was required to carry the card on his person at all times.  If searched by the Chief or his men, the worker had to give a very good reason why he was not present at work for the last six work days.  "It just isn't right for our boys to be off fighting the war for the very lives of all of us and some able-bodied persons back home are laying off the job without any reason.  Sadly, Chief Robertson would all too soon become a victim of that war when his 19-year-old son Randall was killed in action on the beaches of Iwo Jima.  Macon Telegraph, Feb. 22, 1943. P. 2.

THE PROMISING PARSON - Rev. WH. Budd, Minister of Dublin's First Methodist Church, promised his congregation that he would vacate the pulpit if the members of the church did not pay off the loan on the building.  Rev. Budd proclaimed, "I  would rather preach under an oak tree with clear titles from God that hold service in a church building, magnificent as it may be, which is held as security for a debt."  Budd continued, "A church cannot be God's house while it pledged as collateral by agreement of the members without God's consent."   The congregation took the preacher's message to heart.  In  two weeks the members raised ten thousand dollars ($156K in 2015 dollars) to pay off the debt. Half of that shortage was raised the following Sunday and on the day of reckoning, a large glass bowl was placed on the altar. It was promptly filled with cash, checks and copies of deposit slips and the parson remained in the pulpit. Macon Telegraph, Feb. 27, 1918, p. 3.

 

THANKSGIVING

When did Thanksgiving begin?  Many claim it began in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts in 1621.  Proud Virginians have a strong claim that it was on the banks of the James River two years prior when American colonists first celebrated their blessings on a day of Thanksgiving.  The Northerners won the Civil War.  So, to the victors go the rights to write our history.  So, the traditional origin of Thanksgiving features the Pilgrims and Indians of New England.   You might be surprised to learn that a Laurens County man was the first to urge the adoption of the holiday in Georgia.

In 1619, a group of English settlers arrived at the Berkeley Plantation on the James River, southeast of present day Richmond, Virginia. Their charter of settlement provided, "We ordain that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for the plantation in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God."  That first celebration was held on December 4, 1619.

Nearly two years later in the fall of 1621, the settlers of the Massachusetts colony joined with their Indian friends in celebrating their good fortune during their first year on the North American continent.  The holiday was primarily celebrated on an irregular basis. George Washington proclaimed a Thanksgiving in 1795.  It would be nearly another quarter of a century before northeastern states revived the erratic celebrations.

The authorities of Augusta, Georgia proclaimed one of the first local Thanksgiving  observations in Georgia on Friday, November 7, 1823.  Members of the Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches joined together for three services to thank God for  His tender mercies over all the works and in whose favors, all are partakers.

The origin of Georgia's first official celebration of Thanksgiving Day came in 1826.  Governor George M. Troup, in his annual message to the Georgia legislature, asked the assembly to proclaim a statewide celebration of Thanksgiving Day.  Troup, a resident of Laurens County, was one of the most powerful and admired chief executives of Georgia in  the first half of the 19th Century.  Troup urged the legislators to set a day aside to render from time to time homage and adoration so justly due to that Being, who is the donor of all good.

Robert Rea, of Greene County, introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives on November 18, 1826 to set apart a day statewide for prayer and thanksgiving.  Madison County Senator Robert Groves introduced a similar resolution five days later in the upper house in acquiescence to the Governor's request.   Both houses adopted the resolution on December 4th.

Legislators acknowledged the many undeserved favors bestowed by the hand of providence.  In paying honor to the Almighty, the legislature authorized the governor to set forth measures to establish a state wide day of Thanksgiving to be held on the first Thursday of the next year, January 4, 1827.

On the 8th of December, Gov. Troup urged all denominations to assemble in their respective churches and celebrate the day with penitential hearts and uplifted hands to make grateful acknowledgment for the benefactions  received from the Universal Parent.

Thanksgiving celebrations continued to be sporadic in Georgia until the 1840s.  The corporate authorities of Savannah determined that November 25, 1841 be a day of public Thanksgiving.  Daniel Hook, the Mayor of Augusta, proclaimed that the last day of 1841, would be set aside as "A day of Public Thanksgiving to Almighty God for blessing our city with its accustomed good health."

On December 19, 1842, the Georgia legislature officially adopted the first Friday of November in 1843 to be a day of Thanksgiving, to be attended with appropriate religious services in the several churches throughout the state.   The statewide observance once again changed in 1845, when Governor George W.  Crawford proclaimed  the 13th day of February as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, in congratulating the people of Georgia on the introduction of this time-honored custom of the Eastern States.   A dozen years later, the legislature determined that the celebration be held on November 26, 1857, the fourth Friday of that month.

Known more for her authorship of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, is more responsible than anyone for the national celebration of Thanksgiving.   Mrs. Hale, is probably one of the most unknown successful women of the 19th Century.  She was the first to urge equal education for women and the first to start day care nurseries for working women.  And, Mrs. Hale was the first woman to serve as an editor of a woman's magazine.   It was Mrs. Hale who wrote to urge President Abraham Lincoln to issue his Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1863.

It would take another eighty years before the date was made uniform across the nation.  Amazingly, the designation of Thanksgiving Day as being the fourth Thursday of November, was not officially adopted by the Federal government until the day after Christmas 1941, two years after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt suggested the national holiday as a way of boosting the country's economy.

On this day of Thanksgiving, let us all acknowledge our gratitude for the blessings we have.  Celebrate the day with those you love. But remember those who are not as blessed, not only on this Thursday, but all the year long.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE FASCINATING AND THE STRANGE

BELIEVE OR NOT
The Fascinating and the Strange



I never tire of finding the strange, the bizarre and the unusual stories of our past. They are all true, or at least I think they are. You decide. The recent record rainfall on June 2-3, 2007 poses some interesting questions. Though the daily record was officially set on January 19, 1943 at 7.13 inches of rain, the official rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry was 6.90 inches measured in the rain gauge at the 911 Center. Radar instruments measured 8 inches or more along a stretch of eastern Laurens County. Along the Savannah Road area, the instruments estimated that more than 10 inches fell to the scorched Earth. The total rainfall measured more than all of the rain from February through May and erased a 7-inch deficit in a matter of a day. Did you ever think how much that rain weighs or how much volume such a rainfall would fill? A seven-inch rainfall evenly spread over the entire 813 square miles of Laurens County would weigh 4,776,470,300 pounds or the equivalent weight of 310,156 average African male elephants or 25,165,805 average American male adults. The water would fill a swimming pool with the area of a football field to a depth of 1645 feet or nearly one-third of a mile, more than 5000 average size homes or a canal, seven feet deep and forty feet wide, for a distance of 621.04 miles. It would fill the Empire State Building twenty times or both of the felled World Trade Center Towers six times. If you want to know how many gallons that is, it is 57,271,820.

A more mysterious rainfall began to occur in 1918. Every day for nearly two years from 11:00 a.m. and mid afternoon, a light rainfall could be seen on the sidewalk of Columbia Street, between Franklin and Washington Streets, rain or shine. The mist appeared to emanate from a nearby tree, perhaps it was a "weeping willow" or maybe a "rainbow shower tree." There really is one. Look it up.

The odds that Henry Jones' cow would give birth to triplets were one in one hundred and five thousand. But it happened. The first calf was born on the afternoon of March 30, 1913. The other two were born the next morning. Two were female and one was a male and all were born healthy. Emory Whittle was concerned that his usually reliant cow wasn't delivering her share of milk. She seemed healthy, so Whittle suspected somebody was stealing her milk. Whittle wrote to the Washington Post about the solving of the mystery. "Imagine my surprise when I found the cow was mothering ten baby pigs." Whittle continued, "It was the pigs idea to start, but the cow didn't mind, and they took to one another naturally." Whittle wondered if he would ever be able to take the piglets away from their surrogate mother, so that he could have milk for himself and his family. In 1889, it was reported that where was a nanny goat in Dublin which had lost both of her kids. Longing for something to nurture, the goat adopted two of her owner's new born hound dog pups. Every day the goat would come to front gate and bleat. Soon the pups would be seen running toward her for their daily serving of goats' milk.

During the year 1882 all of the children born in Dublin were males. The trend reversed itself when in 1883 all of the babies were girls. Mrs. Felton Lowery of Dublin gave birth to triplets on September 11, 1930. She named her three sons George Carswell Lowery, Ed Rivers Lowery and Dick Russell Lowery in honor of three of the leading Democratic candidates in the primary held on that very same day.

Col. Phil Howard had rheumatism which caused much pain and consternation. Howard had traveled to Flat Rock, Georgia for a January 1896 session of the Justice of the Peace Court. The courthouse was a somewhat shabby structure, with a rickety table and dilapidated benches. As Col. Howard began his closing argument, two dogs commenced to have a vicious fight. Howard, forgetting the limitations of his ailing body, leaped onto the top of the shaky table, figuring that he was safer there than in between the fighting fidos. Howard brandished his cane and braced for an attack. Col. Hightower attempted to join him on the pedestal but had to make arrangements of his own. Justices Thigpen and Drew grabbed as many volumes of the Georgia Code as they could hold, just in case they needed a protective projectile. After five rounds of fighting, the dogs went their separate ways. It was said that the laughter could be heard for a half mile, but I seriously doubt it. Howard did report that the symptoms of his rheumatism were gone.

Following the untimely death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841 just weeks after his inauguration, the ladies of Dublin decided to honor their fallen president by placing flowers on a small hillock in the old City Cemetery. The tradition continued for many years, but with the Civil War and other distractions to occupy their thoughts, the practice was abandoned. When William Henry Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was elected President, the old tradition was revived.

In the category of fantastic fruits and vegetables, consider these produce. J.M. Butler was proud of his sweet potatoes. He showed four of his prize spuds with a combined weight of fifteen pounds. He was also proud that he dug four to five thousand bushels of sweet potatoes from his ten-acre field. Not one to be outdone, Judge J.E. Page, of Orianna, brought a twenty-one-inch long ten-pound sweet potato into the newspaper office five days later in November 1917. The big tater was seven inches in diameter at its thickest point. Unless you were a cotton farmer, 1917 was a good year. J.H. Taylor of Dudley set out tomato plants in July and carefully cultivated them, protecting them from the summer's scorching heat and the fall's chilly nights. In early December, Taylor delightfully took a couple of beauties into Dublin to show them off. Have you ever seen a double watermelon? Well in July of 1900, J.W. Weaver brought in his unnatural oddity for believers and nonbelievers to see. J.N. Mullis, of Laurens County, may hold the record for the most odd clump of fruit. In 1891, Mullis brought a four-inch long twig from his prolific apple tree. To the amazement of the editors of the Eastman paper who saw it with their own eyes, the short branch had twenty-two well-developed apples attached to it.

DECEMBER DOINGS, A CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

YOU CAN'T FOOL ME, YOU TURKEY - Jordan Ellington was out in the swamps around Dublin  seeking to shoot a fat turkey hen for Christmas.  And so was Lee Davis, who heard the distinct call of the delicious bird.  When Ellington uttered his realistic turkey call, Davis fired, striking Ellington, the turkey who got himself shot by another turkey right before Christmas.  Greensboro, N.C. Daily News, December 14, 1922.  

FRANKLY MY SON, I DON'T GIVE A D#/N - George H. Williams had plenty of reasons to be proud of his son, Gladstone Williams.  Williams was an honor graduate of Harvard Law School and a talented writer for the Atlanta Constitution, the Miami Herald and the McClatchy Newspaper chain.  While he worked at the Constitution, Williams developed a brief friendship with Margaret Mitchell.  When Mitchell began to compose the character of Rhett Butler for her iconic novel, "Gone With The Wind," she often thought of the well mannered, handsome, well spoken and debonair Williams.

All of Georgia was excited as "Gone With the Wind" became an international best-selling book in the mid 1930s.   Georgians were more proud of their state with the premiere of Gone With the Wind at Lowe's Theater on December 15, 1939, seventy five years ago.  That is mostly everyone with the exception of George H. Williams.

In the days after the premiere, Williams told the members of the Dublin Rotary Club, "If it were my choice, I would destroy every copy and every film version of "Gone With The Wind."  "The book is doing more to rekindle hatred between the North and the South than  since the end of the conflict," Williams told the Dublin Rotarians.  It will also be noted that the elder Williams had a similar disdain for another Georgia icon, Coca Cola. 

WHERE ART THOU BROTHER? - The last time the Rev. A.E. Saunders heard from his brother, Edgar Sanders, was when he was out in Texas, nearly a decade before the turn of the 20th Century.   It was just before Thanksgiving 1934 while Rev. Sanders was attending the South Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church in Macon, when he was asked to pose for a photograph with three other ministers, who cumulatively totaled more than 203 years of service to the ministry of God.  

Edgar had gone to Texas in the early as the 1880s.  Not a trace of him had been known since he moved until his son read in a Texas newspaper that his uncle was pictured in the group photo.

The two began to correspond until they could be physically reunited. Macon Telegraph, December 9, 1934.

"I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS" - Jean Ellington, a 12-year-old Dublin girl, had spent all but two of her living years in a Philadelphia hospital suffering from the paralysis of her throat after a bout of diphtheria.  As the autumn session of her school in Dublin progressed, so did Jean, both physically and academically.  As the weather began to cool, Jean's thoughts turned to the best Christmas ever for which she hoped to receive a pencil box, vanity set, fruit and a typewriter from Santa Claus.  Macon Telegraph, December 11, 1935. 

  

A SECOND DAY OF INFAMY - In the dark days which followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the people of Dublin were making plans to return to church on the following Sunday to pray for America and for peace.  

Early in the morning of December 14, 1941 just before 7:00 a.m. as she was reporting to work, a nurse at the hospital of Dr. E.B. Claxton saw the smoke and flames and reported the conflagration to the fire department.  The nursing staff and Dr. Claxton leapt into action, bundling up some thirty patients, two or three of whom were sick with pneumonia or ailing from recent surgery.    The sickest of the patients were taken to other private hospitals while the remainder were taken into private homes to recuperate until their release. 

The inferno resulted in $100,000 damage to the building and the equipment.  The hospital, built in 1937 and thought to be fireproof, suffered substantial damage, but was repaired and remodeled. Augusta Chronicle, December 14, 1941. 

A COUNTRY CLUB FOR CHRISTMAS - For years, the erudite, elite and  athletically minded men of Dublin wanted a golf course to while away the hours on the links.  In 1921, they got their dream.    Located northwest of town adjoining what would become the dairy farm of Dr. E.B. Claxton, the members erected a 9-hole course centered along Hillcrest Parkway between Claxton Dairy Road and Brookhaven.    A club house was built on a lake at the western end of the course (now a part of St. Andrew Subdivision) just in time for Christmas.

To salute the opening of the 108-acre course, which included a swimming pool, tennis courts and other agreeable amenities, club members secured a Yule Log which they burned  all during the opening night.  Curtis Guttenber and his orchestra of Macon were hired to play an evening of holiday musical merriment.   Columbus Enquirer, December 24, 1921.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS -  Dawson Kea, Dublin's Judge of Recorder's Court, was known for decades as a fine, honest and thoughtful Christian man.  Kea saw  that in the week before Christmas in 1938 that Dublin's civic club's stocking fund was alarmingly low.  So it occurred to the future state representative that he had personal control over some extra money for the indigent residents of Dublin during the Christmas season.  Kea's plan was to divert an entire week's fines from city court toward the fund in the true spirit of Christmas. 

Dublin Mayor William A. Hodges doubted the propriety of taking from  one class and giving to another one.  Mayor Hodges believed, "That charity should come from the heart, and from those able and willing to aid the less fortunate.  Its needs should be fully met by a public consciousness, instead of depending on such methods as haphazard collection of court fines." 

The matter came to a final resolution five days before Christmas.  Mayor Hodges, who lauded Kea's magnanimous intentions, personally asked the entire city council to contribute to the fund.  The council responded with a resolution to donate $50.00 from city funds.  Then, to start off the personal donations, Mayor Hodges put in $25.00 into the collection box.   Kea, whose only motive was to see that as many of the needy be taken care of as possible, was satisfied with the end result.  Macon Telegraph, December 13, 14, 21, 1938.