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.